A/N: I wrote my last House, MD fic at 2 in the morning, and didn't realize just how depressing how it was. So, this is my medicine.
Disclaimer: I am in my 20's. Brilliance has evaded me. Thus, I am in no way connected to anyone that writes for or acts in House.
Summary: Five times that Cameron thinks that maybe there's a chance.
The Worst Romeo Ever
One
On her first day working for Dr. House she brings muffins. The smell filters into the hall of his floor, past the nurses station, and into the office before she even walks in. They are blueberry, her favorite, and she suspects that maybe he'll like them too.
She doesn't realize that he hasn't had a chance to refill his vicodin yet, so when he throws the muffins actually at her, she freezes, then darts from the office.
Twenty minutes later he comes to find her (a practice that, she has heard, he never uses) and offers her a banana as an apology.
When she takes it, she sees him smirk.
Two
It takes her two weeks to realize that aside from Wilson and Cuddy, she's the only one that he seeks out to speak with. The sexual references slowly start getting replaced with questions about her opinion. Which, she decides, is good.
Three
One afternoon when Chase and Foreman are running tests for a patient and he's reviewing the file with her, he offers her coffee.
She's startled, but nods. "Sure. Cream and sugar."
The words are barely out of her mouth when he passes her the cup, already filled. A taste reveals that he already prepared it for her. He didn't need her to tell him how she takes it.
He refuses to look her in the eyes for the rest of the day.
Four
"It's no big deal," she argues.
He glares at her so angrily that she wonders if he's trying to go for that "looks can kill" thing.
"Oh yeah, sure. Saving people's lives-no big deal." His voice is climbing with alarming steadiness.
"That is not what I mean, and you know it." She's trembling from head to toe, but she clenches her fists to avoid being so obvious about it. Where the hell are Chase and Foreman? She's not exactly the only one of them to ever be late and it's easier to use them as examples if they're in the same room. Otherwise it's not exactly fair.
He starts pacing, making her antsy.
"I hired you because you said in your interview that you would make sacrifices for this job," he snaps. "If I had known that wasn't the case, I would have given Jane Martin a second look."
She blinks, lets it settle in. "I do make sacrifices. I'm listening to you lecture me about my personal-" She stops outright and stares at him. "Are you mad because I'm late," she asks, "or because I overslept?"
"What?"
A lack of a clever remark raises her confidence, and she can't help but grin. Widely. "You know I had a date last night."
He tries to look surprised. He fails. "As much as it may shock you to hear, I don't spend my evenings following you to discover more about the soft interior of a woman who doesn't even know how to be on time for work."
"You know because I told you."
There's a long silence that follows this revelation. She can see in his eyes a question that he'd never ask, an answer that terrifies him.
She sighs and takes a step closer. She rests her hands on his arms, looks up, and unflinchingly catches his eyes with hers. Her stomach falls somewhere to her feet as she says softly, "Just for the record, I went home alone. I overslept because I forgot to set my alarm."
Five
It's two days later and she can still feel his lips against hers. She knows it was a trap-she set him up, after all- but it had worked too well. She hadn't expected him to kiss back. She'd expected him to let her kiss him out of pity. It wasn't a secret anymore how strongly she felt for him, how much pain she was in on a daily basis.
But he'd kissed back. That had to mean something, right?