"Cameron." Her name sounds like an unpleasant word coming from his mouth - just a bark, a grunt, three syllables hardly worthy of infesting his vocabulary.
She's memorized the way that his lips look when they form it, anyway.
If she'd pay more attention to how his eyes looked, however, she might have doubted his distaste.
"Yes?" Polite as always, careful not to look to hopeful. It's always the same, the slight plea, don't crush me.
When she bites her lip like that, he almost needs to break out his pills on the spot. Dealing with her is always more difficult.
Especially now.
"You never answered me." He says it simply, as though she should naturally know what he's referring to.
"When?" Her infinite patience is not seeming so infinite, now.
He's so nonchalant, she can never tell when he's actually speaking to her about something important. Not that they have the same definition of important.
"Why do you like me?" He asks this carefully, as though trying to coax a frightened animal into his embrace.
She's abruptly shaken from her thoughts, he's looking at her curiously. "You're revisiting the question that you asked me more than two years ago?"
She tilts her head to the side like a confused puppy, and his hand twitches again towards the pocket containing his Vicodin. She's impossible.
"I wouldn't have to if you'd give me a straight answer," he counters, narrowing his stunning eyes at her, visibly weakening any resolve she'd had to hold him off.
"I told you. That's a sad question," and that's not an answer, she thinks to herself, but it's honestly the best thing that she can come up with. Her mind simply refused to supply her with a legitimate answer to the question.
He inclined his chin at her in that infuriatingly knowing way. "You're afraid to be alone," he accuses, taking a lopsided step towards her.
She tries to scowl, failing miserably - her facial muscles don't seem too keen on cooperating with his proximity. His lip twitches at her indecision.
The soft flare of her nostrils is the only thing to alert him to her impatience, and for the umpteenth time that hour he's tempted to reach for his meds.
"And you're afraid to not be alone," she mutters, invariably aware of his increasing closeness. She's also aware of her incapability of saying anything useful, but she hopes that her awkwardness will suffice.
He scoffs. "And yet . . . here you are. As much of a fan of irony as I am, Dr. Cameron, how does your mind twist reality into any form where we could sustain a relationship?"
She sighs - how unsurprising this is. He's dangling everything that she wants directly in front of her in order to try and solve her.
"There's no right answer to that, House."
He looks at her as though she's a particularly unexpected flaw. "How do you reason that? Show me the working."
"You already know the answer, or you wouldn't be asking. You lived with a lawyer, House, you'd never ask your opponent a question you don't already know the answer to."
He's regarding her more and more curiously. "That's the rule when practicing law, but I wasn't under the impression that we were abiding by those rules. I never did pass my bar exam. Not that one, anyway."
She decides that now would be a good time to stop talking. He doesn't seem to appreciate it. He's beginning to feel like there's a magnetic attraction between his hand and his prescription bottle.
He's also beginning to feel like there's a magnetic attraction between himself and his subordinate. Of course, there was always the possibility that there was nothing even remotely scientifically applicable about his closeness to her.
"Of course, at this point, it doesn't really seem like we're abiding by any rules."
Her lips are familiar, and for the first time in hours he's able to completely take his mind off of his medication.
He is quite the fan of irony.
___
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Evie (xxeviexx). You continue to put up with my nonsense when I can't even put up with it myself.
And thank you, as well, to my lovely reviewers, especially those (two?) That left nice lengthy feedback. You make my life, and often put into words what I can only express in pitiful imagery.
So, that's it. I'm feeling much better, and decided to celebrate with some fluff. Love!
**Do not favorite or alert my story without leaving a review telling me why you are doing so. I will track you down and I will cut you.**
kthnxbi.