When We Were Young

Chapter 6: TGIF

DISCLAIMER: Hugh Laurie is the highest paid actor in the world and thus I can't afford him. So for now I'm only borrowing him for my own (and hopefully your) amusement.

A/N: Thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers! Sorry this update is a little late but it was a holiday long weekend here in Canada (happy birthday Canada!) and things got a little hectic. So without further adieu I give you chapter 6. Oh and happy 4th of July to the American readers ;)

"You're sure you're going to be alright by yourself honey?" Blythe House asked her son for at least the 3rd time that early Friday morning and he nodded.

"Mom, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry, I'm probably just gonna spend the weekend at Wilson's anyway" he lied through his teeth. He hated lying to his mother, would rather do it to his father but that would involve him speaking to his father; and that was something he wasn't terribly keen on.

"The boy will be fine" his father grunted as he picked up the last remaining suitcase in the front hallway; the rest of the car already packed up for their small weekend getaway.

"Okay" she smiled nervously as she patted her sons head. "The number where we're staying is on the fridge in case you need anything and if there's an emergency you call the Wilson's right?"

"Yes mom" he rolled his eyes. He had been given this speech 4 times already this week.

"Okay dear" she smiled as she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Be good, I love you"

"Love you too mom" he told her sincerely.

"Blythe" his father warned as they were now running behind schedule, something he never approved of.

"Alright, alright" she huffed before giving House's hair one last tousle with her hand before turning away and heading out the front door to the car; his father remaining behind for a moment.

"I'll be fine pop" House assured him as his father stared at him.

"That's your mother's job to worry about you" his father snapped back. "What I want is this house still in one piece when we get back, do we have an understanding?"

"Yes"

"Yes what?"

"Yes sir" House muttered; having to hold back from rolling his eyes at his father.

"And clean up after yourself you hear me? I don't want your mama coming back to a pigsty to clean up"

"Yes sir" House nodded.

"Alright, now get on to school before you're late" his father commanded and House was all too quick to comply; slinging his backpack over his shoulder and grabbing his motorcycle helmet as he followed his father out the front door.

The family car began backing out of the driveway and his mother waved and blew kisses to her son as they pulled away from him and House flashed a forced smile towards his mother before shoving the helmet on and starting up the bike.

To say it had been a long week would be a complete understatement. House had to make sure he attended every class and didn't get into any kind of trouble what with his father being home the last thing he needed was another reason to get yelled at. He tried to stay out of his way most of the time, spending much of his after school time at Wilson's but to his father's insistence he had to be home for dinner every night. He wasn't sure why, it wasn't like dinner with the Wilson's. They didn't all sit around the table and talk about their days like a happy family; in fact his father rarely even sat at the table, he preferred his spot in front of the television instead. But when John House spoke, you listened, so House was home for dinner promptly at 5pm every night that week.

Chase slid his earbud headphones into his ears and put his iPod on shuffle before returning it to his pocket as he set out on his short walk to school. His first week hadn't gone by as badly as he thought it would; things had certainly began to get a little bit better after that initial shaky Monday morning. Foreman continued to hold out his end of his deal with Mr. Cuddy which was alright with Chase because it ensured him someone to eat lunch with everyday and if he was being honest, he had rather grown to like Foreman and even his friends; besides House of course. Not to mention the fact that Cameron joined them for lunch every day was just an added bonus.

He had heard that House was throwing a party this weekend and although he had yet to be formally invited he was still hoping to be asked by Foreman to tag along. It was an assumed fact that Cameron would be there and even the thought of spending time with her outside of school was enough put a spring in his step all week. He couldn't stop thinking about her. House seemed to have little interest in her, he was more or less like a cat playing with a mouse on a string when it came to Cameron; seemed fun and exciting at times but after a few minutes he would become bored and walk away. Chase shook his head at the thought. How could anyone not be crazy for a girl like that? He thought to himself. Cameron deserved better than to be fawning over a guy who couldn't be bothered to give her the time of day; that Chase was sure of and he planned on letting her know that on Saturday night if only she'd give him the chance.

Turning the corner to the next street Chase immediately dropped his head and put his hand to his forehead in an effort to avoid eye contact with the ever so bubbly Mrs. Alderman who was back at it again; Stewart of course in tow right beside her. She had stopped to admire a rose bush and Chase didn't miss the opportunity to rush past her as she had been looking the other way. He breathed a sigh of relief that he was able to get past her this morning without another 10 minute chat session like he had had nearly every other morning this week.

Satisfied with himself he turned up the volume on his headphones as a familiar song came on and before he knew it he unknowingly found himself bobbing his head to the beat and singing along loudly to the lyrics;

Cause she's bittersweet, she knocks me off of my feet,
and I can't help myself, I don't want anyone else.
She's a mystery, she's too much for me,
but I keep coming back for more.
She's just the girl I'm lookin for

Robert was so entranced in the song and the lyrics he was singing that he didn't even notice a figure coming up behind him until a hand landed on his shoulder and another gently pulled one earbud out from his ear and Cameron's voice gently whispered

"You… are such a dork"

She giggled before sliding the earbud back in and he stopped in his tracks; completely and utterly mortified. Had she heard exactly what he was singing? Did she know it was her who had put the bounce in his step this morning? God he hoped not.

"I… uh… I was…" he stuttered and she laughed again.

"Yeah sorry but you're busted. You can't charm your way out of this one no matter how cute you think that accent of yours is" she smiled at him and despite his embarrassment, it caused him to smile in return.

"Fine" his hands raised in defeat. "You caught me. I guess I just felt like singing…"

"It's okay, it's kind of adorable" she told him, batting her long eye lashes and Chase swore his heart was going to stop then and there. "Just don't do it in the middle of the street when you're all alone anymore, cuz then it's just kinda weird" she smirked and he chuckled, nodding his head in agreement.

"Agreed. So…" he stopped to clear his throat then turned off his iPod and shoved it into his pocket; much preferring the sound of her voice over any song he could think of. "What are you doing this weekend?" he asked casually.

"You mean am I going House's party?"

"Yeah…" he frowned with embarrassment.

"Yeah, I'll be there. Are you going?"

"Yeah, of course"

'you idiot' he immediately scolded himself. 'You're gonna look real cool now if you don't get invited!'

"Great, so I'll see you there then?"

"You bet" he smiled.

'Stop it!' his brain continued to scream at him but he couldn't help it. His brain didn't seem to function whenever he was looking at her.

They turned one last corner and were now trekking across the school grounds, making their way towards the front doors. Chase hurried up the steps to open the door for Cameron and she laughed lightly and shook her head at his chivalry but she'd be lying if she didn't admit she rather liked it.

"Thank you" she smiled sweetly at him as she walked through the front doors.

"So I'll… see ya later then? Lunch?" He asked hopefully.

"Yep see ya" she gave one last smile before the both headed in different directions to get to their lockers; a dumb smile playing on Chase's lips as he walked down the long hallway.

Second period was about to begin and upon entering the classroom House hopped up onto the long two-person desk that he and Foreman shared; sliding across it on his backside until he was sitting on his half of the desk with his knees bent and feet planted on Foreman's side.

"Can I help you with something?" Foreman scoffed as he tried to push House's feet off of his desk.

"Tell me about your new boy toy" House asked, wiggling his eyebrows at Foreman.

"Well he's single, you want his number? You guys would make a cute couple" Foreman immediately fired back and House pretended for half a second to be amused.

"I mean it, what's his story?"

Foreman shrugged; to be honest he didn't know a whole lot about him. "Just moved here back in August from Australia. Dad's some doctor and apparently wrote a pretty fat cheque to get him in here"

"I see" House tilted his head slightly as he took in the information.

"What?" Foreman was curious as to what House was upto now.

"What are the chances that rich Daddy has a rich liquor cabinet?" He asked, raising his eyebrows slightly and Foreman frowned.

"House…"

"What?" he immediately scoffed. "We can't very well have a party without any booze and with your brother gone to college now he's certainly not going to score it for us anymore. Wilson's too much of a boy scout to take anything from his dad and me… Well I think we both know my old man would probably come after me with a shot gun if I even thought about touching his beer"

"I don't know House" Foreman was hesitant as he let a deep sigh escape him.

"Tell him Cameron's gonna be at the party and the kid will do anything to get in the door. Guy follows her around like a lost puppy, it's pathetic"

"You jealous?" Foreman had to ask; genuine curiosity striking him.

"I don't need to be jealous when it comes to Cameron" he reminded him and Foreman eventually nodded in agreement.

"Make it happen" House instructed before sliding off the desk and into the chair just as their teacher entered the room.

"Alright" Foreman reluctantly agreed; knowing House wouldn't let it go anyway so he might as well not bother arguing.

An hour and 15 minutes later and the bell had rung again; biology class was over for the two boys and lunch hour was about to begin. They packed up their bags and headed out of the classroom, Foreman going to find Chase and House going to find Wilson just as they had been doing every day this week at this time..

House strutted down the hallway making his way towards Wilson's classroom when he spotted Lisa Cuddy standing at her locker; fixing herself up in the mirror and being who he was, he never missed an opportunity to drive her crazy so he decided to make a quick stop in.

"Is it me, or do I get better and better looking every day?" He asked as he approached behind her and invaded her space in the mirror to check himself out.

"What do you want House?" she groaned, slamming the locker door shut.

"Still coming to my fiesta?" he asked casually, slumping back against a locker.

"Why, did all your other FRIEND bail on you?" she asked; emphasizing the singular use of the word.

House put his hand over his heart and displayed a mocked pout on his face. "Ouch" he whined sarcastically.

She chuckled a little. Those stupid faces he made almost always made her laugh and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards as he watched her trying to hold back a laugh. He was just as quick to hide it though as he put his foot up against the locker and launched himself off of it, walking backwards away from her.

"Saturday night, I want you and those party pants of yours there" he called out and winked at her and she shot him a dirty look before quickly turning around to hide the small smile that began to crack.

House swivelled around on his heel as Cuddy turned away from him and he continued on his way to find Wilson, nearly running right into him a moment later as he emerged from his classroom.

"Hey" he nodded at his friend.

"Hey"

"Buy me lunch?" House asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, come on" Wilson sighed lightly. He didn't really mind though, he was actually used to it. What would have been more surprising is if House had actually bought his own lunch or God forbid offered to pay for someone else's.

Foreman and Chase headed towards their usual table in the cafeteria; food trays in hand as Foreman was reluctantly forced to hear all about Chase's morning walk to school with Cameron.

"You have to get me into that party this weekend" Chase mentioned as the two boys set their cafeteria trays down on the table and took their seats across from each other and Foreman simply looked up at Chase with raised eyebrows.

"What do I have to do?" Chase continued to pester his; what he now assumed safe to refer to as; friend. "I'll do House's homework or something" he quickly bargained.

"Believe it or not," Foreman began before stopping to take a bite of his sandwich; "House is actually really smart. Doing his homework wouldn't be a favor for him because he'd more than likely get a higher mark doing it himself"

Chase scrunched up his face slightly as he took in that thought. Not to say he was surprised House was smart, he was just found it rather amusing that the guy was actually book smart as well as obviously 'street' smart. He didn't seem the type to care about grades or education in general but then again Chase figured there were probably many layers to Greg House that he, along with most everyone else except maybe his best friend Wilson, would ever see or know about. The guy had built himself up like Fort Knox; there was no getting in.

"Interesting" Chase mused; his brow furrowed as he tried to wrap his mind around who exactly Greg House was.

"Yeah, don't bother trying to figure House out" Foreman chuckled slightly. "Lost cause bro"

"Okay well isn't there something I could do?" Chase asked hopefully; his eyebrows raising when Foreman nodded slightly.

"There is" Foreman confirmed.

"Well?" Chase prodded impatiently. "What is it? I'll do anything"

"Supply the alcohol for the party and House might just dump Wilson for you as his new best friend" Foreman explained and Chase's shoulders slumped.

"How am I supposed to do that? I'm not old enough to-" he began but Foreman interrupted.

"If you want in, you'll figure it out. House doesn't care how you get things done, just so long as it gets done" he explained further and Chase furrowed his brow slightly in contemplation.

"Fine" he eventually agreed. "I'll figure it out"

"I'll text you the time and address tomorrow then" Foreman replied; rather impressed that it didn't take further manipulation to get Chase to agree. Apparently House had been right… again.

"Here comes Allie!" Chase lightly gasped as she caught his attention walking towards their table.

"I'll alert the media…" Foreman groaned in response.

Chase quickly shot Foreman a look that said 'lay off me' before quickly straightening himself up again as Cameron reached the table and sat down next to Foreman.

"Hi" Chase was all too quick to greet her as she sat down with her cafeteria tray.

"Hi" she smiled sweetly at him; Foreman rolled his eyes.

"Where's House? You guys seen him?" Cameron almost immediately wondered and Chase's shoulders slumped as his name left her lips; not going unnoticed by Foreman who had to hold back a small bout of laughter as he watched his defeated friend.

"He's probably got a sack full of adorable kittens to sacrifice or something" Chase mumbled; letting out a small chuckle at the end. It was pretty funny, he thought to himself. That is until he looked up from his plate to see Cameron staring daggers at him and Foreman shaking his head with his hand to his forehead.

"What?" Chase wondered aloud; unsure exactly what was so wrong about what he said. "Oh come on, that was funny. And House as a Satan worshipper can't be that far of a stretch" he tried to defend himself.

"Actually, it's not funny Chase" Cameron quickly scolded. Under any other circumstance Chase would've inwardly been dancing with joy that Cameron finally remembered his name but instead he just leaned back in his chair and swallowed the hard lump in his throat.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he tried to explain himself but Cameron just huffed at him, stood up and walked away; politely excusing herself to Foreman saying she had somewhere else to be.

"What the hell was that?" Chase immediately asked Foreman. "I know she likes the guy but it was just a stupid joke"

"It's not about House" came Foreman's simple answer; which only confused Chase more.

"One thing you should know about Cameron" Foreman finally continued; "is she's kinda got a thing for animal rights. She volunteers at the Animal Shelter every weekend, even belongs to a small animal rights group here in town. She's got a big heart for pretty much all things living and if you want a sure fire way to piss her off just make a joke about animal cruelty. You're lucky she didn't kick your ass right here" Foreman shrugged.

"Damnit" Chase cursed loudly; quickly lowering his head as he noticed just how loudly he had yelled. "What should I do, go after her and apologize?" He asked; his voice much lower this time.

"No man" Foreman shook his head. "Cameron's not some delicate flower" he tried to explain. "She's not going to go sit in a bathroom stall and cry. She just needs to be pissed off for a while and if you go and start begging her for forgiveness you'll just piss her off more and she might just kick your ass anyway. Best bet is to leave her be for now"

Chase slumped in his chair; somewhat confused. He knew enough about girls to know that flowers and an at least half-hearted apology usually went a long way, but apparently not with Cameron. She wasn't like other girls but then again he knew that about her from the first moment he met her; it's what had attracted him to her in the first place. He had to figure out some way to make things right again, and he was bound-determined to do exactly that.

A/N: Well that's it for today folks. You'll wanna stay tuned for the next chapter though as there will be an appearance from a certain someone you've all been asking about ;) I'll give you a hint "the bitch is back".

Song lyrics were from the song "Just The Girl" by The Click Five

Reviews are love :) not to mention they inspire my muse to write more ;)