DISCLAIMER: I don't own any House-related characters.
CHAPTER 7
Cuddy and Wilson were at her home that night. Cuddy cooked a romantic candlelight dinner, and everything was going well. After dinner, they sat talking, when suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Probably Jehovah Witnesses," Cuddy moaned, getting up and opening the front door. She gaped at the sight of Cameron, shaking, crying, and her head bleeding on her doorstep.
"Oh God. James!" she yelled.
It was hard to say who was more surprised, Cameron or Wilson to see each other, but Cuddy didn't wait for them to react before drawing Cameron and her bags inside.
"What happened, Allie?" Wilson asked her gently, inspecting her head, as Cuddy handed her a mug of tea.
In between sobs, she told them what had happened and they were horrified.
"I'll kill him," Wilson murmured when she had finished.
"I-I don't know where he is, but I-I just had to get out of there," Cameron explained. "I didn't know where to go."
Cuddy squeezed her hand. "I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to stay here tonight. From tomorrow, I'm giving you all the vacation time House owes you, which is about four months worth, and you're going to get out of here. Go anywhere, relax and let House come after you."
Cameron stifled a sob. "I- I don't know if I want him to come after me," she whispered.
When Cameron was shown to Cuddy's spare room, and enjoying a bubble bath, Cuddy tiredly showed Wilson to the door.
"I'd say we should do this again, but I might be in jail for House's murder," Wilson said dryly.
Cuddy shook her head sadly and closed her eyes. "He did it. He finally broke her."
Wilson sighed. "Let me know where she goes?"
She nodded. "I will."
At two fifteen am, a drunken House stumbled into the townhouse. He had seen Cameron's car outside, but the house was dark. He blearily fell onto the couch and passed out.
Cameron quietly entered Cuddy's kitchen the next morning, where Cuddy handed her a mug of coffee.
"So, any idea where you're gonna go?"
Cameron smiled slightly. The place where she had hit her head was sore and bruised, and there was a mark from his hand on her cheek.
"Home to Chicago, I think. My family's all gonna be there to celebrate my dad's birthday. I told them earlier I wasn't coming, but I thought why not?"
Cuddy nodded. "Good."
"And I could use the time to think."
"About?" Cuddy asked gently.
Cameron wiped away another tear. "It's just... if I have to constantly reassure myself that he loves me and reassure him that I love him... I don't think that's a relationship I want to be in. I'm not going to give up my best friend who just happens to be my ex-boyfriend, and my memories of my husband so House doesn't feel neglected."
"Good for you. Do you want me to call the airport and get you a ticket while you shower?"
Cameron smiled and hugged the other woman. "Thanks. For everything."
"Forget it."
"Ok. On the way to the airport, maybe you can give me the goss with what's going on between you and Wilson," she grinned and headed out of the room.
When House woke up the next morning, it was ten o'clock. It was a minute before he remembered why he was on the couch and all the awful things he had said the night before.
"Allie?" he croaked, heading into the bedroom. When he saw it empty he thought nothing of it, simply assumed she was already at work and got in the shower. It was another half an hour before he entered his office, and his first sign something was amiss was the silence of the coffeepot.
"'Morning!" Foreman greeted him. "Where's Cameron?"
House paused. "What, she's not here?"
"No," said Chase slowly, exchanging puzzled looks with Foreman.
Confused, House went into his office and sat down. Chase followed him. "Cuddy's been calling every ten minutes. She wants to see you in her office."
"Probably a case," House muttered, reluctantly getting back up.
On the way down to her office, he called Cameron's cell twice, to no avail. When he entered Cuddy's office, he found an extremely angry Cuddy and Wilson waiting for him.
"What the hell did you do?" demanded Cuddy as soon as he sat down.
House sighed in understanding. "You've seen Cameron. Where is she?"
"Holidays," replied Cuddy shortly.
House gaped. "What?"
"You owe her at least four months of holidays over the past three years. I gave the time to her. She can come back whenever she wants."
"You're kidding right?" House demanded. "You can't just send my employees on vacation!"
Cuddy fixed him with her stare. "Yes, I can. I can also send away your girlfriend after you hit her!"
House froze and Cuddy was furious. "I cannot believe you. Everyone told you specifically not to hurt Allison! Here I was, thinking the worst you could do was say something insensitive, and you hit her! You physically hit her!"
"What's with the Allison? Since when are you two such good friends?"
"Since she showed up on my doorstep in tears and bleeding, and then I stayed up all night with her."
"Where is she?" House demanded quickly.
"I'm not telling you. She needs time away from you, away from Princeton, away from work. She needs time to think."
House glanced at Wilson. "You know, don't you? What does she need to think about?"
Wilson took a moment to reply and when he did, his voice was cold. "She needs time to think if she really wants to be in a relationship where she constantly needs to convince herself that you love her, and she needs to reassure you that she loves you. If she wants to be with someone who wants her to forget her entire life before him."
"People have histories, House" Cuddy said. "If you can't accept that, maybe you need to let her go."
House silently stood up and left the room.
"Was it a case?" Foreman asked him when he came back.
House looked at him before answering. "No."
It was two days before Foreman and Chase cornered House in his office and demanded to know where Cameron was.
"Is she sick?" asked Chase worriedly.
"It's none of your business," House retorted, glaring at him.
"House, she doesn't answer her cell, and you're being even more of a jerk than usual. What's going on?" Foreman demanded.
House sighed quietly. "I don't know where she is. We had a fight and she left."
The men exchanged horrified glances. "So, you don't know where she is?"
"No. Cuddy and Wilson do, but they won't tell me."
"They might tell us," Chase offered, and he and Foreman decided to go down and ask Cuddy themselves. They returned five minutes later, stunned.
"She told you?" House asked, hazarding a guess by their expressions.
"You actually hit her," Chase said quietly.
House took a deep breath. "Yeah. It was stupid, and I feel horrible about it. But I can't apologise because I don't know where she is!"
AN. Sorry, I know its a weird ending.
