Solitaire
Summary: Chase notices Cameron's card-playing habit, and sets out to change it. Short and sweet little one-shot. Can be read as friendship or romance.
She played it silently. They couldn't even hear the cards flipping on the table. In fact, Chase didn't know she even played the game daily until the one day she came in later than he did, and she took the deck of out her purse and laid the cards on the table.
It was a strange ritual, he supposed, but then he understood how a daily routine could help one focus. After all, didn't he come into the office every day and pull out the New York Times just for the crossword? Every morning, he went by the coffee shop, grabbed a bagel, coffee, and doughnut, then walked to the hospital. He came in, drank his coffee, ate breakfast, and did a crossword. It was routine. It was comforting. He assumed that Cameron took the same comfort from doing the same thing over again each day.
After a few weeks of observing her over the top of his newspaper, Chase realized he could predict the mood she was in and as such, could also predict how she would act that day. If she drew her eyes close and pursed her lips as her eyes travel the cards, she was concentrating fully. She was content, stable, ready to take on any medical challenges the day would bring. It was the best mood for her to be in working for somebody like House.
If her fingernails traveled the edge of the table as she flipped the cards, she was distracted. She would still be sweet, composed, ethical, Cameron, but truthfully, not a very good doctor. She would spurt out a diagnosis that would have a good outcome and that was easy to treat. Those happened rarely, but they were clearly the days she did not want to be at work, the days she possibly didn't even want to be a doctor.
If she only flipped the cards with one hand, and the other remained in a clench fist, she was angry. She hated the world. She wasn't being herself. She would snap and lash out in a second. She would fight, dig her heels in, and not give in. Sometimes Chase would find it annoying, but to be true to himself most of the time he found messy, angry Cameron attractive. Her ferociousness just seemed to draw out her beauty even more.
Every once in a while, her characteristics wouldn't match her mood. But the more Chase observed, the easier he was to read her. Now, on some particular days, he entirely gave up the guise of doing a puzzle and just watched her. If she noticed his watching, she didn't acknowledge him.
"You don't stand a chance" Foreman would sometimes whisper in Chase's ear. Chase thought so as well, but ignored that feeling. He knew someday soon, he would do something. He would seize the day when it was the right day.
One day, he knew. He was there very early, so early the lights were still dim and the sun was just peaking through. He wasn't going to take a chance of not getting his one opportunity. He dealt the deck of cards he had put in the back of his bag into two piles.
She walked in, her eyes blurry, a coffee in her hand to awake her. She was evidently surprised. "Chase, what is this?" She asked, her eyes darting between the two stacks of dealt cards.
Chase smiled, seeing she had bit the bait. "Come on Cameron, you can't play solitaire forever."
She placed her bag on the chair, sat down, and smiled weakly. "I can't?" She asked, a small gleam in her eye.
Chase nodded. "No solitaire today."