Fourth Part ^_^

Sun and Ice-Cream

House takes Cameron somewhere special

House grinned to himself as he tapped Cameron's butt with his cane. She looked back over her shoulder with a mix of a puzzled and irritated expression.

'House, why won't you walk next to me? Or even just tell me where to go, instead of steering me with your cane?'

'It's more fun this way. And besides, seen, in public, with you? Shock horror!'

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the front; House relented a little, and walked a little closer. They had ridden his motorbike to somewhere away from Princeton, in order for them to spend a relaxing day together. So, true to form, House had blindfolded her on the bike and made her grip him tightly, and now they were walking towards his planned destination. Once he heard the slight trickle of water in the distance, House limped faster until he was right behind Cameron, and placed one hand over her eyes – he did not want it ruined at the last hurdle. She wrapped her hands around his fingers, trying to pry them from her face, but his grip was too strong; eventually she gave up, but she did leave one hand over his.

House whispered into her ear as they slowed down their walking, 'Nearly there, but you just have to sit down first. After all, we would not want you to die from shock, hey?'

She smiled, trying not to chuckle, and sat down when he backed her against the bench. She took a deep breath and took her hand form his, and waited patiently for him to do the same. House gazed down at the brunette before him, and once again started questioning everything. What had he done to deserve such a beautiful person as Cameron to be his? He had not given any incentives to her, he had not made any promises, and nor did he have much to offer, yet here she was. She seemed happy with him, and this made House feel again. He had a purpose in life, one that was more meaningful than his job, and one he would do unconditionally from now on. There was very little that he would not do for Cameron, no matter what it cost him in body, spirit or money. She meant more to him than Stacey ever had, and this realisation scared him. He had thought it was the real thing with Stacey, until the infarction, but standing here now, he knew he had been wrong. For once in his life, he was not sorry about what happened to his leg.

'House, are you ever going to let me see where we are?'

'Yeah, but first, don't peek. I'll be back in… three minutes, 5 tops. And no peeking, otherwise you won't get what I'm getting you.'

She sunk down into the seat, resigned to her fate. House knew that she would not peek, no matter how much she wanted to – it just was not in her to do it. So he queued up, and ordered two large ice-creams, with flakes and sauce, and then he juggled them around a bit so he could use his cane; then he went back. He sat next to Cameron on the bench, placing his cane at his feet, and then took her hand, prised the fingers open, and placed the ice-cream in it, then spoke.

'Okay. Now you can look.'

She opened her eyes to look around, and then smiled. 'House, this is beautiful. Where are we?'

'A park. And you say you graduated from med school…'

That earned him a light slap on the arm, to he protested loudly, scaring a small child walking past.

'Cripple abuse! You saw that, didn't you? Bad Cameron.'

He glanced over at her, and snickered – she had started blushing, and became very interested in her ice-cream. They sat in relative silence for the next few minutes, eating ice-cream and absorbing heat from the sun. With a sideways glance, House saw Cameron had her eyes shut, bringing the ice-cream to her lips every so often. Carefully, he inched closer, being careful not to make too much noise or let the bench move too much. As Cameron rested her head backwards, House quickly snaffled the ice-cream from her grasp and took a huge chunk out of it before she looked at him.

'House! That was mine!'

'Mine now?'

'Fine. But you are so cooking dinner tonight. Deal?'

'But mommy...'

'Deal, or I take my ice-cream back.'

'Deal then...'

House pouted while licking Cameron's ice-cream, and she laughed at him, and then she hugged his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Thoughtfully, he licked his ice-cream before he removed his arm from Cameron's grasp. He saw a flicker of emotions run through her eyes, before he lifted his arm up.

'What? Come on then – the sun's making me behave strangely.'

A smile made its way to his lips as she scooted closer to him, and his arm rested over her shoulder. He held her close and squeezed her arm, pulling her into him. Once the ice-cream was finished, House held her hand, and kissed the top of her head. Maybe it was sitting in the sun, or the fact she had relinquished ownership of her ice-cream, but something made House realise a very important fact. He was impossibly and deeply in love with the woman he held.