Right Now

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A/N: Found this one on my computer the other day, fully finished, just sitting uselessly on my computer! I'm not sure why I never posted it.

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Unnecessary disclaimer: None of the characters appearing in the TV show "House, M. D." belong to me.

Abstract: The past belonged to others. The future would be taken from them all too soon. What mattered was right now. Implied/discussed character death.

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It took us a long time to get here, Cameron thought, walking side by side with House through the snow.

She had never really been one for focusing on the pleasure of the moment. She was always looking forward to the next thing. Hoping, planning.

He had never been that way either. His mind was always a million miles away, thinking about his latest puzzle.

They had never focused only on the moment at hand. But, this time, they had no other choice. It was all they had.

The past had belonged to others. They had loved before, and deeply. They had deluded themselves, then, that those loves wouldn't be temporary. But they were.

This love would be temporary too.

House didn't have much time left. A lifetime of booze and painkillers had ravaged his body. He had a couple of years at best. They hoped, silently, that this wouldn't be his last winter.

His limp was more pronounced than it used to be.

"Snow angels," Cameron said suddenly.

"Snow angels?" House repeated, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We should make snow angels! Come on, I'll help you," Cameron insisted with a childlike grin.

House shook his head, but indulged her. He always did.

Passersby probably thought oddly of the pair, a thirty-something and fifty-something lying in the snow laughing like children. Cameron just rolled her eyes and said they didn't know what fun was.

They cherished every moment they had left, these kind most of all. It had been a long, hard road to get there. The timing had been off for so long, for too long.

The past belonged to others. The future would be taken from them all too soon. What mattered was right now.

"I love you," she said, staring at the older man beside her, covered in snow, a flame-decorated cane dividing the space between them.

He smiled back at her. "I love you too."

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