The repetitive beep of his alarm tore Greg House from an otherwise peaceful sleep.

"BEEP BEEP," it rang, demanding his attention.

"Mff," House replied with annoyance, lacking enough energy to slam the snooze button.

"BEEP BEEP," it insisted, not satisfied with his response.

"Shut up," he barked now, burying his face beneath his blankets. He felt a body shift over him, leaning across to turn the alarm off.

"You can't talk an alarm clock down, House. That's not how it works," Cameron murmured, slipping back next to him and wrapping her arms around his waist.

He shifted slightly, nuzzling his face into the space where her neck and torso joined. Cameron shivered involuntarily, finding the feel of his hot breath on her bare skin exhilarating this early in the morning. She shifted slightly, rolling him over so she was straddling him as she gently kissed his chest.

He sighed, stretching his arms above his head, fully waking up under her touches.

"Again? Have you no limits, woman?" he asked suspiciously, smirking down at the brunette. The teasing, lusty look she shot him affected him immediately and he pulled her up, their mouths locking instantly.

He absently glanced at the clock, murmuring quietly against her lips,

"We're going to be late to work." Cameron, her eyes closed as she began to place heated kisses down his neck, simply stated,

"Work can wait."

House couldn't agree more.

-----------------------------

Foreman and Chase sat alone in the conference room, Chase pretending to do crossword puzzles and Foreman flipping through a medical journal. Work had 'officially' started over forty minutes ago and yet their boss and coworker had yet to make an appearance.

Their boss was understandable, of course, considering he seemed to make it his personal objective in life to be as late as possible while not getting himself fired.

Cameron, on the other hand, was always a stickler for time, even arriving unnecessarily early for work. The fact that they were both missing, however, only seemed to add fuel to the gradually growing flame of notion building within Chase. Foreman, however, seemed blissfully unaware. Or, who knows? He probably just didn't care.

Chase glanced at the clock once more, now seeing another five minutes had passed, and decided grudgingly that perhaps it was time to give his coworker a call.

------------------------------------

Clothes were being shed as they tumbled about the bed, House pinning Cameron between the sheets.

"House," she moaned huskily into his ear, nipping at it. House felt a shiver run down his spine as he began to work faster, trying to remove the ridiculous clothing obstacles between them.

They worked together now, their layers of separation gone. His fingers laced with hers and his lips met her throat, her whimpers and gasps filling the air.

"I love you," she cried out suddenly.

House froze, much to Cameron's discontent. She tried to keep the pace going, her hands working their way through his hair as her lips found his forehead, his cheek, his lips. Still, he refused to move.

"Why did you-?" she asked breathlessly, trying desperately to cling to that amazing high she'd had not moments earlier.

"What did you say?" House's voice was steady, his breathing completely normal. Cameron sat back for a minute, trying to think. What had she said?

She tried to remember, her haze of lust having taken control of her mind. They'd been rolling about, attacking one another. She'd felt so unbelievable, everything was so perfect at that moment that she said- … she said-

Crap.

Cameron opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. How could she have let that slip? House pulled himself off of her, staring intently at her eyes. This was wrong, all of this was wrong. She wasn't supposed to use the 'l' word. This was just an affair, not a relationship. Throwing that word into the mix ruins everything.

They stared at each other in complete silence, unsure of how to respond, when Cameron's phone suddenly began to ring. Relieved to find an out from this awkward situation, Cameron pulled herself from the bed and over to her pants a few feet away. Digging through the pockets, she found her phone.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" the familiar Australian's voice called. She sighed, running her hands through her hair.

"Hey, Chase. Sorry. I um…" she threw a glance at House, opting for a suggestion, but he stared blankly at a wall deep in thought. She just sighed, running her hands through her hair as a pathetic excuse came to mind.

"My car broke down. I didn't know what to do, so I called House. We'll be in in about ten minutes." House's gaze shifted towards her slightly before returning to the spot on the wall.

"….Oh…kay…," Chase murmured, drawing it out in suspicion. "We'll see you then, I suppose." With that he hung up.

The silence in the car on the way to work was agonizing. Cameron kept glancing at House in the rearview mirror, but his eyes were set on the road before them. He refused to even acknowledge her and his entire presence felt incredibly cold. The air was so thick with tension she doubted you could have even cut it with a knife. A saw, perhaps…

"House," she finally managed, no longer able to bear the tension.

"Don't, Cameron," he snapped in such a harsh tone she almost flinched. Was he angry at her?

"No, I just-"

"Forget it. You were just caught up in the moment. It's not like you meant it," he replied dryly, refusing to let her speak. You didn't really mean it. Obviously he'd known about her feelings for him; he'd always known. Having them confessed like that, though… He just couldn't handle it. This was a no strings attached affair; no emotions, just hormones. But no, she had to go and ruin it by muttering the forbidden word.

They continued on in silence, House having just fallen back into thought when he heard her whisper,

"I did mean it."

His eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly regained control as he glanced out the window with an air of boredom before mumbling,

"Well, don't expect it back."

He found himself feeling pure anger boiling within him. How could she do this? What they had was so perfect, everything had been so perfect. He'd found himself smiling regularly for the first time in who knows how long and he'd become dependent on the feel of her body around him. How could she destroy what they had with these, these... these emotions!? How selfish of her, he mused.

Cameron set her jaw, a sudden fury welling up within her. How dare he! They had been together for months and yet here he was shirking at the thought of the word 'love'. Not that you could really call what they did as together, per se, but it had become all too real for her. She'd thought that they'd finally managed to make some progress together, and yet here he was retreating right back into his shell. How selfish of him, she seethed.

----------------------

Chase watched as House and Cameron filed into the conference room. Judging by the looks on their faces, he knew not to satisfy his curiosity and prod them with questions.

They looked positively homicidal.

"File," House demanded, extending a hand to Foreman. Foreman, caught off guard by the strange tone his boss was taking, hesitantly handed him the file. House scanned it briefly before mumbling,

"He has erythropoetic protoporphyria. I'll be in my office." And with that he stormed off, slamming the door behind him. The men watched in shock as he quickly closed the blinds, shutting them out.

Then all eyes turned to Cameron who sat in her seat at the table, tapping her fingers rapidly on the table top in frustration. She looked agitated at their stares, finally huffing a,

"What?" Foreman looked down instantly, not in the mood to deal with a pissed off Cameron. Chase, however, was a little more aggressive.

"What happened between you and House?" he asked suspiciously. Cameron's face began turning a slight hint of red from anger, as she was literally that mad, and Foreman decided this was the perfect time to disappear.

"I'll… go to the patient or something," he murmured, not that anyone was listening, and slipped out of the conference room's door. Cameron rolled her eyes at Chase before huffing,

"Nothing. Just him being himself." The way she seemed to spit the words out caught Chase off guard, as he was used to the reverent, awe-filled tone she typically took when speaking of House. So Chase simply nodded, dumbstruck, before returning to his crossword puzzle.

---------------------

Cameron waited until the other's had left before bursting into his office. He didn't glance up from where he sat at his desk, his feet propped up while he played away at his game boy.

"We need to talk," she started, closing the door behind her. House let out a short huff of a laugh before mumbling,

"Worst possible way to start a conversation, Cameron."

"Why are you mad at me?" she asked angrily, ignoring his sarcastic remark. He just rolled his eyes, refusing to look at her.

"Look, let's forget about it, alright? It never happened." He attempted to return to his video game, but she refused to let the topic drop.

"But it did happen, House! It did! It's out there and, honestly, I'm kind of glad I said it." She was a little surprised by her words and the relief they brought her, but she realized it was true. She was glad she'd said it. She'd wanted to say it for as long as she could remember. House's cold laugh quickly ripped all her relief away.

"Stop it, already. Your little school girl crush on me isn't lo..." he couldn't bring himself to say the word.

"Say it," she suddenly hissed in a low voice. "Can you not even say it?" He just rolled his eyes again, not at all in the mood for this discussion.

"This is just a game, stupid. It's always been just a game. All you're doing is ruining my fun by bringing feelings into the equation…," he shook his head with a disappointed look on his face while she stared at him, jaw open. There was silence for a moment and he thought that maybe she'd left, but as he glanced up he saw she was still staring at him, her eyes boring into his.

"It's not just a game to me anymore." She struggled out, her gaze unwavering. House just shook his head, not at all surprised by her answer. He had just hoped it wouldn't come to this.

"That's too bad." The finality in his voice hit her hard and she had to take a step back, her balance wavering a bit. His eyes stared at her, completely devoid of any expression.

"So…what? It's over now?" Cameron asked slowly, studying House's eyes for any hint of emotion. There was none.

"You tell me." She sighed, the weight of everything finally crashing down on her. This whole messy affair had been fun for awhile, but this was just too much. She wanted more and she knew he'd never be able to give her that.

"Goodbye, House," she mumbled firmly, struggling to keep her voice from shaking.

It hurt that after she'd finally had him after so much yearning she was here, walking away. He simply nodded, turning back to his desk. She stood in his office for a few more moments before turning and disappearing into the hallway. House waited until he heard the door close to let out the miserable sigh he'd been holding it.

And just like that, the affair was over.

---

So first post in quite a long time on this story; sorry about that. I went off searching for my muse and I think I've finally managed to catch her.

Oh no.
I wonder what's going to happen?
–totally knows what's going to happen-
Next chapter will be up soon-ish.