Disclaimer: Certainly don't own. Wish I did, though.
'This night is wild, so calm and dull. These hearts they race, from self control.'
Hands Down – Dashboard Confessional.
It had been a long day.
Cameron turned the key in the lock of her hotel room door, and pushed it open, stepping into the sun-lit room as she closed the door behind her. It was after 5, and yet the sun still peaked through the glass door that was connected to her balcony.
Coming to this conference in California had been anticipated for awhile, yet the circumstances to which she would come were not. It was July, and it was hot. And Cameron had been stuck in a stifling lecture hall for the last 3 hours listening to a middle age man drone on about the effects of Alzheimer's.
And she was stuck with House for 5 days. Alone.
Cameron had a certain ounce of hesitance when she found out Cuddy had only booked House and Cameron to go. She knew that the main reason Cameron had been instructed to go was merely to prevent House from doing anything that would bring humiliation to Cuddy or the hospital.
Cameron didn't quite know how to do either.
Dropping her bag on her bed and running a hand through her hair, Cameron walked over to the balcony and slid the glass door open. She had quite a beautiful view. The hotel was right on the beach, and her balcony looked over it. She leaned against the cement railing and looked out at the Ocean.
They had arrived yesterday afternoon from Princeton and spent the rest of the afternoon getting settled into their hotel rooms. Or rather, Cameron spent the afternoon settling in. She didn't know where House had gotten to. No sooner as she had dropped her bag on the bed, she had heard his door in the adjoining room slam close and his incessant limp down the hallway.
Cameron closed her eyes as a gust of air blew through her hair, and removed the stickiness she was currently feeling. The lecture had been one of the most boring she had ever been to, and the fact that her legs were becoming stuck to the seat about an hour in, made for an uncomfortable few hours. That and the fact that House kept on tapping his cane on the ground, or cocking his head to stare at her, or pass her scribbled notes that pressured her to stop paying attention. She rolled her eyes at the thought, and turned back into her hotel room, opting to take a quick shower before getting some dinner.
Stepping into the lukewarm water, Cameron ran a hand through her hair as the water drenched it. She felt her muscles relax as she stood in the shower, moving her head from side to side, allowing the water to trickle down her neck. Having House so close was something that certainly made her not only tense, but extremely tired. There were subtle things between them, rare moments in which she would catch his eye and he would hold her gaze. Holding up the charade of not caring was starting to take it's toll on her, and every slight brush against him made her stomach curl into knots.
She hated feeling like this, when she knew that there was no probable outcome.
What annoyed her the most was that it was starting to become a game to him. Like his twisted version of chicken. He would deliberately brush up against her, or tower over her just to hear her breath catch in her throat. Then he would smirk and turn away, knowing exactly what effect he had on her.
Preventing the effect was proving more difficult than Cameron realized.
Scrubbing the last of the shampoo out of her hair, Cameron turned off the taps and wrapped a towel around herself, stepping out of the shower and over to the mirror. She stared into her features and shook her head, smirking to herself. Self analysation was going to achieve nothing. It was all him. She just had to build up a resistance.
Cameron quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a short sleeve blouse, before walking out into her room, and grabbing the hair dryer out of her bag. She gave it a quick blow over, so that it was still a bit damp, and tied it back in a loose bun.
Cameron put on a pair of flat open shoes, before walking over to her bed and picking up her bag. She walked to her door, shuffling through her bag for her keys before she twisted the doorknob and opened it. She quickly jumped back when she realized someone was standing at the doorstep.
House.
'Jesus,' Cameron said, holding a hand up to her chest, 'You scared the hell out of me.'
House smirked, letting his cane, which was held up in preparation to knock on her door, fall down between his fingers. 'You're awfully jumpy,' He remarked, his forehead creasing as his cane began making swift tapping noises on the carpet.
'Yeah, well I get that way when men stand at my doorstep with cane's poised looking like they are ready to attack me,' Cameron replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she pulled her keys from her bag.
House chose to ignore that statement and looked at the keys in her hand. 'Where are you off to?' He asked, his eyes shifting in an attempt to get a good look at her hotel room.
'Eat. I've been sitting in a lecture hall for 3 hours and I'm starving,' Cameron replied, crossing her arms as she stared at him.
'Hey, I offered to get you out of there,' House said, raising his hand and shrugging.
Cameron rolled her eyes again. 'Correction, you offered to sneak us out of there. I'm sure Cuddy would have just laughed that one off,' She said.
House shrugged as Cameron eyed him. 'What's up?' Cameron asked, her key's firmly in her hand.
'Let's go,' House stated, standing up straight.
Cameron raised her eyebrows. 'Go where? House, I'm tired. I just want to grab some food and go to bed.'
House rolled his eyes. 'Where's you're sense of adventure? Come on, trust me,' He stated, staring at her as if his mind was made up.
Cameron stared at him. He nodded, taking that as her answer, and began limping down the corridor, leaving Cameron staring at him. She sighed, taking a look back at her room, before closing the door and locking it, following him down the corridor to where only he knew.