Hi there everyone, thank you so much for all of your wonderful reviews for the last chapter…I really appreciate them :)

I'm sorry that this one took a bit longer to write, but in 2 days I'm leaving for Europe for a week, so I've been packing and basically running around like an excited lunatic heh…So as you can probably imagine, the next chapter probably wont be up for at least another week or so…But I thought that I'd better try and get this chapter posted before I leave…Enjoy :)

Somewhere Only We Know

Chapter Three

;';

"There something about you

That's like the sun

You warm up my heart,

When I come undone

You're like my soul mate

And on those days,

When I hurt

When I break

You are my band-aid"

...

"What?" House groaned in annoyance. His crystal blues widened suddenly behind still closed eyelids and he knew. Like the last piece fitting into a puzzle, he understood what, or more correctly who was standing on the other side of his desk.

"Damn it Cuddy." He said, slowly opening his eyes. "I was having a great dream about Meghan Fox and myself and then she suddenly turned into you." He paused to shake his head, desperately trying to rid his mind of such visions. "Single most terrifying moment of my life…and I've been through muscle death."

"I'm flattered Greg." She quipped simply, rolling her eyes. "You really know how to make the woman in your life feel special."

"Hey, you were the one that locked me in my office." He pointed out before quirking his brow. "You know in some countries that could constitute as sexual abuse. Hhmm, maybe I should consult my employee handbook."

Cuddy once again rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore his last comment. "I had to lock you in here. I got a text from Wilson warning me that you wanted to take Alex Cameron's case."

"Oh yeah, because it'd be wrong of me to try and help a dying child." House responded with sarcasm. "Whatever was I thinking?"

Cuddy looked House right in the eyes and crossed her arms. "Greg, dying children are diagnostically boring to you. Why do you really want to treat Alex?"

"I wish everyone would stop asking me that." House leant forward in his chair, looking up at his girlfriend. "I wish we lived in a world where people didn't have to explain their reasons for doing everything…where a chicken could just cross the road peacefully without being questioned about its motives."

Cuddy sighed. House, the master of deflection.

"He's Wilson's patient House."

A small smirk danced across House's lips. "And Wilson's my best friend. We share everything. Food, money, patients…women too if you're into that type of thing?"

"Greg…"

"Wait a minute." House quickly injected as a realization hit him. "You knew that Cameron was coming back but you didn't tell me?"

"You know that it wouldn't be ethical of me to divulge information about Alex's case to you."

"Yeah." House smiled sarcastically before turning serious. "Just like it wasn't ethical of you to tell Lucas about my hallucinations."

Cuddy suddenly felt guilty. Why was it that he knew exactly which buttons to push? "I was dating Lucas."

"And I'm dating you now…You could have told me." House involuntarily rolled his crystal blues. "Who else knows about Cameron and Alex?"

"Just you, I, Wilson and Foreman."

"Foreman?" House quickly asked in shocked disgust. "Who the hell tells Foreman anything?"

"Cameron obviously." Cuddy quipped simply. "Look Greg, she's moved back here so that Alex can be close to Wilson and his other doctors. The little boy doesn't need to be hospitalized fulltime at this stage, but we want to be prepared if that happens. They're both staying with Wilson until Cameron can find a place…The whole thing was so rushed she didn't get a chance to."

House quirked a brow. "Cameron's staying with Wilson?"

Cuddy nodded before looking back to House sadly. "I can't even begin to imagine what she's going through. I mean if something like this was happening to Rachel I don't know what I would do." She paused for a moment as a wave of sadness washed over her. "What I do know though is that she would be feeling so helpless at the moment…which is why I've given her back her old job in the ER. It has been an absolute mess since she's been gone, so I think it will be good for her to know that she's needed."

"Yeah, good for Cameron." House responded bitterly. "Also good for doctor Cuddy's ER."

"I'm not using Cameron to get the ER sorted out, and even if I was, she didn't seem to mind too much when she accepted the job."

"She's been head of Immunology at New York Mercy for God sake." House said, and Cuddy could sense the anger in his voice. "Going back to the ER is not going to make her feel better and needed, it's just going to make her feel worse."

"Immunology's full." Cuddy told him simply. "Trust me, I know that Cameron is way too good of a doctor to be in the ER, but I've done the numbers and it's the only place that isn't full…"

"My department's not full." House injected quickly. "That's where she's needed."

"No. Not going to happen."

"Why not?" House asked, pretty sure he already knew the answer. "What? You think I'm going to upset her when we have another bitch fight in the halls?"

"Oh trust me, I think she had your measure." A small grin suddenly appeared on her features before disappearing completely. "You're not the problem…she can handle you. However incase you forgot, Chase is dating Macy. With everything Cameron's going through, I'm not going to subject her to having to watch her ex-husband make kissy faces at the new girl."

"I'll fire Macy."

"No, you wont. You can't just fire someone without a good reason."

"This is a good reason, and if that doesn't work, I can always use the "because you're an idiot" card on her…That would be the truth."

Cuddy heaved a reluctant sigh. This was pointless. "You staying at my place tonight?"

He thought for a moment, and nodded. She turned on her heals and began to make her way to the glass doors, before turning back and glaring at him. "I'm serious Greg. Stay away from Alex…and Cameron too for that matter."

And then she was gone.

House leaned back in his chair, and began to throw his favorite ball in the air…His mind deep in thought.

Cuddy had said that Cameron was staying with Wilson.

He quickly grabbed his cane, and started to limp out the door that Cuddy had conveniently forgotten to relock on her way out.

She had said that she didn't want him seeing Cameron or Alex…But she hadn't said anything about him not being allowed to visit Wilson.

...

Stirring slightly from where she was curled up on Wilson's couch, Cameron sat up and rubbed the remaining pieces of sleep out of her eyes.

Upon arriving back from the hospital, after a very intense encounter with one Gregory House, she had decided it would best if both her and Alex took a little nap to recover from their very hectic day.

She had put Alex down in the guest room, before making herself some tea and taking a seat on the couch. She let her mind drift back over the past few hours. Even though by coming back she and Alex had just set in motion a new chain of events that she couldn't even begin to guess at where it would take them, and a part of her was relieved to have finally made some sort of a decision…part of her really regretted it all the same.

She knew, she knew inwardly that Princeton was the best place for them. One because Wilson, and Alex's other doctors were here incase something suddenly went terribly wrong, and two because she just felt like she had so much more support here.

That's why she took the ER job the moment Cuddy offered it to her. Some of the other parents in a support group she attended for those dealing with a sick child, told her that it was essential that she worked, and kept herself occupied…And since she didn't want to have to deal with settling into a new environment, PPTH seemed like the perfect fit.

The one thing she did regret however was not telling Chase and House about her return with Alex.

She had run into Chase on her way out of the hospital. They spoke for a little while, before she told him about why she was there. He was shocked, he was awkward, however much to her relief, it seemed that her ex-husband had matured significantly since she had been gone…He even gave her a small hug on her way out, telling her that he was there for her if she needed support.

House however hadn't been as easy…He never had been.

Wilson had called her after lunch, informing her that he had told his friend her reason for being there…Along with the warning for her to be prepared.

With House, that warning was always extremely terrifying.

She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts by a loud knocking on the door, and the cold, desperate sensation of overwhelming panic suddenly filled her veins.

Even after almost three years, she still recognized that knock.

She reached behind her head and grabbed the blanket that lay there, immediately aware of the chill that permeated the interior of Wilson's apartment.

She pulled the blanket around her shoulders, and contradicting her better judgment she padded barefoot over to the door and pulled it open.

On the other side of the threshold stood House…His cane already lifted in the air ready to bang on the door again. "Hi." He smiled, putting his cane back down to the ground.

"Hi…" Cameron said slowly, before heaving a sigh of relief when she realized that he wasn't there to abuse her for slapping him earlier.

"Wilson in?"

Cameron searched his crystal blues in confusion. "No…It's three in the afternoon, he's at work."

"Oh, my bad. I thought it was three in the morning." House said cheerfully. "You see after that playmate kicked me in the head at the bottom of the slip 'n slide, my perception of time and space has been way off."

Cameron merely quirked her perfectly sculpted brow, not really wanting to know whether he was telling the truth or not.

"Can I come in?"

Cameron shrugged simply, and moved to the side to allow him to enter. After his little performance outside of Wilson's office today, she didn't want to risk it.

Once she followed him into the apartment and closed the door behind them, and turned to face House, the blanket still wrapped firmly around her shoulders…She told herself that it was because she was cold, but she knew inwardly that wasn't the reason.

"I'm ah…I just wanted to say I'm..." He trailed off, struggling with the weight of what he was saying. "I didn't know about Alex. I wouldn't have said those things to you if I had known."

Cameron gave him a tiny smile as she dropped the blanket back on the couch. "I accept your apology."

"I wasn't apologizing."

"Yes you were."

A tiny smirk danced across House's lips, and he didn't oppose what Cameron had said…Telling her that she had been right.

"I'm sorry for slapping you." She told him genuinely.

"That's okay. It didn't hurt anyway." He lied as he winced remembering the pain.

Cameron let out a small laugh. "Sure it didn't." She teased. "Oh well, I'm sure that if I hadn't, someone else would have anyway."

"What can I say?" House smirked. "Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate."

They both smiled, pleasantly surprised just how comfortable it had quickly become between them.

After a few moments, a loud "Mommy?" coming from down the hall, caused them both to jump slightly.

"That's Alex." Cameron said simply. "I'll be right back, I've got to get him out of bed."

"What? Can't he walk?" House asked in sarcasm.

"Actually no, the cancer cells have started to attack the area around his spinal cord."

Shit, good going House he thought to himself as he watched Cameron disappear down the hall. ..

House looked on in shock as Cameron reappeared with Alex. You wouldn't have known that the child had a fatal illness unless someone had have told you. Although he was small for his age, his bright blue eyes seemed happy and full of life, and his head of dark brown hair indicated that the chemo must have stopped working quite some time ago.

"Cute kid." He pointed out honestly. "I just hope the guy wasn't ugly…Might start to show when he gets older."

Cameron suddenly gulped. It had always hit her hard when someone had commented on Alex getting older, because in all honesty, she wasn't exactly sure just how old he was going to get. She wondered for the slightest of moments whether House had noticed her reaction, and after one look in his direction she knew that he had. He had a look of pure guilt on his face that she had only seen a few times in the years that she had known him.

She looked down to Alex who seemed oblivious, and he started to crawl over to House.

He stopped directly in front of him, tilting his head up at him curiously. He was a timid child, but that shyness also made him a very sensitive child, and he seemed to have picked up on the unresolved tension swirling between this strange man and his mother.

Cameron watched on as Alex reached out and grabbed House's cane, small giggles escaping from his throat.

House watched on, and for a moment couldn't seem to find any words, his features softening for the slightest of moments. "Hey, don't touch the cane…I just got it buffed." He joked finally.

"You know it's funny." Cameron pointed out, House's head suddenly snapping up as she spoke. "He's usually so shy around new people…but around you, the epitome of evil, he's not."

A small smirk danced across House's lips. "That's because he probably has the evil gene on his DNA…When he's sixteen I'll send for him."

House then suddenly let out a loud, evil laugh, causing Alex to make his way back over to his mother and hide behind her leg.

The corners of House's lips turned up into a grin, before looking back up to Cameron. "Want a drink? Wilson's paying."

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself."

Cameron watched as he disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a large glass of soda. He plopped himself down on the couch, and put both his drink and feet on the coffee table, obviously quite at home at Wilson's place.

"Oh, that reminds me." Cameron said suddenly as a thought hit her. "I've got to call Wilson and ask if he can pick up Alex's meds on the way home."

He watched as she disappeared down the hall, before blinking a few times in uncertainty as he saw Alex crawling over to him. He watched on as the young boy stopped near the coffee table and look up at him, confusion and amusement both clearly showing on his young face.

"Hello." House addressed him awkwardly, not quite sure what else to say. "How's things?"

He watched on for a moment as Alex's tiny hand grabbed the glass from the coffee table. "Hey don't steal." He told the child, who was still looking at his face in wonderment. "The Government hates competition."

Alex's tiny arm suddenly buckled under the weight of House's very generous drink serving, and he dropped the cup on the coffee table. Broken fragments of glass shooting in every direction, as soda began to drip from the table onto Wilson's beige carpet.

House watched on in disbelief as Alex's bottom lip began to quiver and tears formed in his crystal blue eyes. "Please don't tell me you're going to do what I think you are?" He quickly asked the child in panic.

House heaved a sigh of relief as Cameron suddenly raced into the room, and she spotted Alex sitting on the floor, as the little boy began to cry…Scattered glass fragments and dripping soda next to him.

She quickly crouched in front of her son, making sure that he hadn't been injured.

Her hand moving in comforting circles on the little boy's back. His tiny arms encircled her neck, and Cameron pulled him into a hug. "Sshh…You're okay." She soothed, using one hand to run her fingers through his hair.

Noticing a small cut on his leg, Cameron looked up to House.

"We'll fix it." House said calmly as he gestured for her and Alex to follow him into the kitchen.

She sat Alex down on the counter, and stood in front of him as House rummaged through Wilson's cabinet, obviously familiar with where everything was kept.

"There you are." House said cheerfully as he retrieved the first aid kit. "He thought that he could get away." He told Alex, causing a small giggle to escape from the little boy's mouth.

"Talk about causing a scene. Me thinks that somebody just likes getting Mommy's cuddles...I know I would." House pointed out, momentarily pausing to grin at Cameron.

Cameron rolled her eyes slightly, and House smirked as Alex grabbed his mother whilst the alcohol was being applied to his tiny leg…further proving his point.

House rummaged through the first aid kit and pulled out a Ninja Turtles band-aid, before placing it over Alex's cut. "Lucky for you Uncle Jimmy is a big fat dork that never grew up, so you get a cool one."

"Thanks House." Cameron looked at him genuinely once he had finished, her hand still unconsciously rubbing Alex's head in comfort.

He shrugged simply, before his gaze met hers. He looked down to Alex who was still clinging onto his mother's arm, before looking back up at Cameron. "I had a look at his case." He said finally, softly almost. "There's a chance that another infection could be stopping the chemo from working. If you just let me run a few tests…"

"No." Cameron injected, looking down sadly. "Don't do this House…please."

"Why not?"

She let out a rueful sigh. "I was talking to Foreman. He told me that you guys had been loosing a lot of patients lately. He said that it was because you've been disinterested, you haven't even bothered with cases." She paused for a moment to look back up at her former boss. "House, Wilson has known Alex since he was born. I know that he will be one hundred percent focused on doing what's best for him…I know that you're a brilliant doctor, or at least you used to be, but I can't take the risk on a doctor that isn't going to be completely committed…especially not with my son."

House nodded slowly, not really sure what to say to convince her otherwise. He should have expected this to be the case. Cameron and Wilson had been collaborating and working on treatment strategies for Alex long before he'd even known about his illness. It was naïve to think that Cameron would suddenly just hand her son's case over to him based on the faith she used to have in his medical abilities. As far as she knew, her child was probably dying, and it was in both Cameron's and Wilson's personalities to want to keep Alex happy for the next few months, years, or however long he had, instead of subjecting the child to his insanity based on nothing but a last ditch, desperate hunch.

"Fair enough." House looked down for a moment, watching the bottom of his cane twirl around his feet. He looked back up to Cameron, searching her eyes earnestly. "We're okay though?"

She gave him a small, although genuine smile. "Yeah, we're okay."

He let a smile grace his features for the smallest of moments. "Good." He said simply. "Rumor has it that you're coming back to underachievers land…which I also like to refer to as the ER." He paused for a moment as she rolled her eyes slightly in mock-annoyance. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Cameron nodded, moving back slightly when she noticed just how close their bodies had become. "I guess you will."

"Well, I'd better be off…That porn doesn't download itself." House said cheerfully, wanting to get out of there before he said something else stupid that ruined what he had achieved with Cameron.

"House!" Cameron snapped as she quickly covered Alex's ears. "Don't say that…He picks up on everything."

"Mommy?" The little boy suddenly asked, causing Cameron to removed her slender hands from his ears. "What's porn?"

Cameron rolled her eyes, and a giant smirk quickly inhabited House's features. "Thank you so much." She said sarcastically.

"That's okay." House grinned. "I try to do all I can to help educate the children on the important issues."

Cameron shook her head and picked up Alex and ushered House towards the door.

He stopped momentarily, and she knew that he wanted to say something. "Although I think you're an idiot for taking a job in the ER, it's good that you're back." He paused for a moment. "The place hasn't been the same without you."

He said the last part so softly, that Cameron wasn't even sure herself if she had heard him correctly. She blinked her eyes, hardly believing that she had actually heard those words come out of Gregory House's mouth. She smiled, and have him a small nod of recognition as he walked out the front door.

And as she held onto Alex and stared at the door that House had just limped out of, one realization suddenly hit her.

He hadn't made one spiteful, nasty, or hurtful comment to her the whole time he had been there.