A/N: This fic is a 2-in-1 special: Today is my dear friend cozy-cupcake's birthday, and she wanted a classic House/Cameron fic that shows things the way they could have/should have been, and this week's fic prompt at hughvillefics (on LiveJournal) was "describe House and Cameron's first kiss in detail", so I thought it would be perfect to combine them. Happy birthday cozy_cupcake!
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Cameron sighed and rolled over in bed for the millionth time that night. She couldn't get comfortable. The sheets were making her too hot, were too rough against her overly sensitive skin. The air in the room was too still. It was stifling her. She turned to face the sleeping figure next to her and gently placed a hand on his bare chest, just over his heart. His eyes opened and looked at her knowingly.
"What's wrong, Cameron?"
"Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you. How long have you been awake?"
"Long enough to know that that you won't be able to go to sleep until you get whatever it is you're obsessing over off your chest."
Cameron curled her fingers into his skin, felt the beating of his heart just underneath her fingertips. Strong, powerful, and even. In the still, quiet darkness of their bedroom, she met his gaze and calculated his pulse while he patiently waited for her to speak.
"Do you remember our first kiss?"
"What's this about, Cameron?"
"Have I ever told you about our first kiss?"
"No, but I'm pretty sure I was there, so, you know, that kind of ruins the ending."
"No, I mean… did I ever tell you about…" Cameron sighed in frustration. "House, just let me tell you, ok?"
His hand covered hers and pressed it into his chest protectively. He nodded once, then began listening to her story.
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"You really wanna leave?"
You towered over me as you took a step closer. You always used your physical stature to your advantage when you wanted to intimidate me, but I held steady and fought to maintain the upper hand.
"If you're not here, there's not much point in staying."
"I'm not dead yet."
I closed the gap between us, step by agonizingly slow step. The seconds grew lethargic, stretched out and wrapped around us, held us in a cocoon of suspended time.
"I know this must be a turn-on for you."
My hands hovered over your face for a beat, then I touched you, and you gasped. Like a jolt of electricity had coursed through your body the second my fingertips touched your skin. My thumbs brushed across your stubbled cheek and you watched me as I pressed my lips to yours.
You resisted at first. That split second of hesitation on your part stretched into an eternity. My entire body trembled with doubt. What if I had read you wrong? What if I really was just a piece of lobby art to you, something to be admired from a distance, but never meant to be touched? I willed you to give in. Let go, House. Just let this happen.
And then finally you relaxed into me. I felt the soft puff of air as you exhaled, felt your head tilt and your lips move on mine. Your tongue slid into my mouth and then I was the one gasping. For someone who was so reluctant to even touch me a few seconds ago, you were certainly being an enthusiastic participant now.
I won't deny it; I had thought of this countless times, of what it might be like to kiss you, of what you would taste like and how your lips would feel against mine. And the real thing far exceeded anything I could have dreamt up. Your tongue lapped at mine, creating a rhythm that drew me in. When you sucked on my bottom lip, I moaned softly and dug my fingers into your shoulders, kneading the muscles there. You felt so warm and solid and alive, and I couldn't help grabbing at you, holding you as closely as possible in an attempt to keep you there with me. Please don't die.
My hand moved down your body and lingered at your hips for a moment as I basked in the bliss of your tongue gliding across my lower lip. We had reached a point of no return, and I had a decision to make: buck up, push my emotions aside, and do what I had come there to do; or ditch my plan and see if this thing we had between us was real. Fuck it, this is too perfect to ruin with a stupid ulterior motive.
I altered the path of my hand at the last second, diverting it away from the pocket of my lab coat and instead sliding it underneath your shirt and across the bare skin of your chest. I pressed my palm flat against your skin, just over your heart. It was beating strong and fast, and I imagined the blood coursing through your veins, transporting life to every cell in your body. You were alive, and I wanted to make you feel alive, before it was too late. Breaking our kiss, I stepped back, pulled your shirt over your head, and tossed it onto the floor.
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"I definitely remember what happened next," House said with a waggle of his eyebrows.
"You don't get it, House." Cameron pushed herself up onto one elbow. "Yeah, it was a truly stellar kiss. The best first kiss I've ever had. But it was all a farce. I didn't go into your office that day just to kiss you. I had a needle in my pocket and I was trying to distract you so I could get a blood sample-"
"I know."
"-and then I just got so wrapped up in the sensations and the emotions, and I couldn't do it. Wait, what? You knew?"
"I knew."
"All this time, you knew?"
"Yep." House pushed Cameron back onto the bed and leaned over her, nuzzling his face into the slope of her neck.
"And you never said anything?"
"Nope." He began kissing her, and her fingers threaded through his hair as his teeth grazed her skin just over her jugular vein. He felt her pulse quicken under his tongue.
"So all these years I've felt guilty because I thought our relationship started with a deceptive kiss under false pretenses, but really you were onto me all along."
"'Fraid so." He kissed his way up the column of her throat and let his lips hover over hers for a second. "Who cares about your motives, Cameron? The fact is, it brought us together."
House touched his lips to hers and slid his tongue into her mouth, imitating the lapping rhythm she had described in her account of their first kiss. As his hands roamed her body, he tugged on her panties and drew them down her legs before discarding them on the floor. His pajama pants immediately followed.
"I thought you were dying," Cameron whispered against his lips. A single tear slid down her cheek. "I was terrified of losing you. I don't ever want to lose you."
House winced at her words. It was his fault she felt this way. He couldn't take back his actions, his careless treatment of the people who cared about him, but he could show her how much he loved her now. He placed feather-light kisses all over her face as he positioned himself between her thighs. She reached down and guided him into her and he whispered words of comfort as she enveloped him.
"Do you feel me, Cameron? I'm not dying." He began moving in her and she wrapped her legs around his waist and drew him in deeper. "I'm alive, and real, and here with you. I'm not going anywhere. I'll never leave you."