A/N So I just went back and reread all the previous chapters and cringed at all the typos and missing words and misused comas so I wanted to apologize for that… For my other fics in other fandoms I usually send my chapters through two different betas as well as extensive self editing, but as a result I only post every couple weeks as opposed to the every couple days that I try to post this fic which I just give a once over when I'm done writing it…so I'm afraid my usual quality suffers a bit for speed, so please forgive me… Once again I need to give a big thank you to Corrin for her invaluable advice, input, suggestions, and knowledge of all things General Hospital….
Cameron dropped off the file of the last patient she had seen and glanced at her watch, happy to note that her stint in the clinic was up for the day. She informed the nurse on duty that she was checking out and made her way towards the cafeteria. Looking down at her watch again she saw that she would have just enough time to grab lunch for herself and House and make it back up to his office for them to watch General Hospital.
In the week and a half they had been back from Vegas, they had worked out a routine that seemed to disturb their coworkers thoroughly, as well as work out nicely for them. They had toned down the act when they had had a patient at the end of the prior week, both of them knowing where their priorities where, but even then, they had still managed to take the hour General Hospital was on to sit and eat lunch together each day.
It had been incredibly awkward at first, having to spend so much alone time with her boss on a daily basis, neither of them really knowing what to say as they sat next to each other on his couch eating their lunches in silence with all the blinds closed and the doors locked. Knowing that meanwhile their co-workers and friends were just outside theorizing on what was happening inside the shielded walls of the diagnostician's office. She had anticipated her own uneasiness at the situation, but it was House's discomfiture that really surprised her.
But after a couple of days acting like kids at their first co-ed dance they loosened up and actually started enjoying themselves. And now, while she was loath to admit it, even to herself, it was quickly becoming her favorite part of her day. It was refreshing to have an hour in the middle of her work day where she could turn off her brain for a few minutes and relax. It also didn't help that the outrageous plotlines were both absorbing and addicting, she now knew why House hated to miss it.
Standing in line holding lunch for two, she was well aware of the whispered conversations taking place around her. Even after two weeks, her seemingly sudden marriage was still the hot topic on the hospital grapevine.
"Is that her?" she heard a nurse that she remembered only seeing once or twice in the clinic say from her position behind her in line.
"Yeah, that's Dr. Cameron," one of the older nurses confirmed.
"But she seems so… not insane," the first nurse replied.
Cameron didn't even attempt to hide a smirk, while this nurse was obviously new, she had, it seemed, been around long enough to have a run in with the 'terrifying' Doctor House.
"I know," the other woman agreed, "she is one of the nicest doctors on staff. No one can understand how she puts up with working with him. But to marry him? She must know something the rest of us don't."
"I heard it was the other way around," the newer nurse said conspiratorially.
"What do you mean?" the second nurse interjected.
"I heard from one of the nurses in the ICU," she whispered just loud enough that Cameron was able to hear if she stained her ears, "that he knows something about her that could ruin her career and he blackmailed her into a marriage."
"Really? Because I heard that-"
"That will be $12.65," the young man at the cash register announced, interrupting her eavesdropping so that Cameron never got to hear what the second nurse heard.
The immunologist quickly paid and left the cafeteria trying not to burst out laughing when she saw the gossiping nurses quickly look away when she glanced over at them. Making a mental note to tell House the newest rumor she had just overheard, she made her way to the elevator bank that would drop her off closest to her department. She pressed the button impatiently knowing she only had a couple more minutes before the show started.
Stepping off the elevator she made a bee line for the conference room, knowing House would have already locked the exterior door to his office as he always did during their General Hospital hour to avoid interruptions. On her way through the conference room, she grabbed a bottle of water off her desk with one hand, while balancing the cartons of food and a bag of chips and a bag of pretzels in the other.
She could sense her colleagues eyes on her as she did this and chuckled silently. It seemed that it was little things like this that got them the most. The fact that they had a routine or that they would actually do little things for each other like any other couple would. Chase nearly poked eye out with his pen on accident earlier that morning when House had actually poured her a cup of coffee when they arrived.
"Don't offer to help or anything," she said sarcastically to the two of them as she tucked the bottle under her arm so that she could open the door to the office with the other. Chase started to move to open the door for her, but she quickly shot him down. "I got it," she told him as she disappeared into the adjacent room.
"There you are," House said as she breezed into the office without knocking, then locking the door behind her. "I was about to page you."
"Did it start, did I miss anything?" Cameron asked, handing him his lunch and flopping unceremoniously on the couch next to where he was already sitting.
"No, you're good," he reassured her, popping the lid off his sandwich container. "Cameron," he whined like a six year old and he peaked under the top slice of bread.
"What?" she asked, putting the oil and vinegar dressing on her chef salad.
"They put pickles on it," he moaned, holding the sandwich out to her.
"Sorry," she said rolling her eyes as she plucked the offending topping off and ate them herself. "I told the lady not to."
"Was it the unibrow woman?" House asked knowingly.
"Yeah, it was," Cameron laughed. "How did you know?"
"She must of known it was for me," he said with an exaggerated sigh. "She has it out for me."
"Well, what did you do to her?"
"What makes you think I did something to her?"
Cameron gave him a look that told him exactly what she thought about that.
"Alright," he conceded, "I might have made a couple comments in reference to the caterpillar growing between her eyes, perhaps a referral of electrolysis, but I had the best of intentions. And is that really any reason to take it out on my Rueben?"
Cameron was going to retort, but was shushed when the soap began so she simply rolled her eyes again and sat back to watch.
"Wait," Cameron said twenty minutes into the show, gesturing at the TV with a fork impaled cherry tomato, "I thought that Sonny was Michael's birth father."
"No," House replied not taking his eyes off the screen, "Sonny blackmailed A.J. into signing away his paternal rights"
"Ohh, that right," she responded as she popped the tomato into her mouth, "wasn't that after A.J. burned down one of Sonny's warehouses?"
House actually turned away from the screen so look at her curiously. "How the hell did you know that?"
"I read it on she explained drawing an incredulous snort from the man next to her. "What?" she asked turning her head to meet his gaze.
"You would," he said simply.
"I would what?" she continued to press.
"Only you, Allison Cameron, would do research," he told her laughingly shaking his head.
"Hey," Cameron replied taking the pillow she was sitting against and smacking him on the arm with it, "you were the one who told me to figure it out myself. Don't blame me for wanting to know what was going on."
House snatched the pillow from her so he could whack her in the face with it, "And besides, everyone knows that ghhappenings2 is the site with the best General Hospital info."
The watched the rest of the show in mostly a companionable silence with one of them speaking up occasionally to make a comment about a storyline or faulty medical reasoning. It was only when Cameron was cleaning up after their lunch, gathering up the trash to throw away that she remembered what she had to tell him.
"Oh!" Cameron said dropping the plastic containers in the trash. "I forgot to tell you, I talked to a friend of mine that's a lawyer this morning and I talked to him about getting our annulment."
"Oh yeah?" House asked with feigned nonchalance. "So how long before I get to be rid of you?"
In honesty she was surprised by this announcement. He knew this had to be done, but he hadn't really given a second thought to it since they decided to get one day after their accidental marriage. He was startled that she had taken the initiative to get the process started and then rebuked himself for being surprised. He knew Cameron well enough to know that of course she would be on top of something like this. At least, he figured as optimistically as he ever got, he wasn't going to have to deal with lawyers, cause there nothing he hated more that dealing with lawyers. And its not like he didn't want to get this whole mistake over and done with as soon as possible.
"Looks like we're stuck with each other for a little while yet," she joked, drawing him out of his thoughts, "unfortunately, its not going to be quite as fast as we were hoping. He told me it can take anywhere from three to six months for an annulment to be finalized. But since we were both plastered when we got married and don't even remember it and since neither of us are contesting the annulment, it should hopefully be closer to three months than six. And all I can say is that it's a good thing neither of us are looking to get remarried by the catholic church," she added, "to receive an annulment through the church can sometimes take up to two years."
"Well thank god we're both heathens," House replied.
Cameron chuckled at the irony of his statement as she threw a stick of gum at his chest as she did everyday after lunch. He had made a comment the first time about her giving nature, but she had quickly informed him it was a completely selfish act on her part. She went on to explain that she always found the smell of sauerkraut repulsive, but never had any authority to say anything about it in the past. However, now that she was required to make out with him on a regular basis, she had every right to enforce regular gum chewing.
He laid back on the couch sighing dramatically as he popped the stick of wintergreen gum into his mouth. "Well I suppose I shall just have to put up with you for as long as I must and hope the extra time with you wont do to much damage to my reputation. Although, it will most indubitably improve yours dramatically."
"That's not what I heard today in the cafeteria this afternoon," she laughed.
"Well then, what's the word on the street?"
"Apparently some of the nurses in the ICU think you have some career ending blackmail on me and coerced me into this marriage so you would keep my deep dark secret," she relayed with another laugh.
"But they didn't say what the blackmail was?" he asked, his interest suddenly piqued.
"No," she replied, "just that bad enough to ruin me."
"I hate when my rumors bland out on me," House said standing and walking towards Cameron who was already unlocking the door so they could join the other duckies in the conference room. "When I started it I said that you were a candy striper during your undergraduate years."
"Well that's not bad," she said slowly, waiting for the catch.
"And that you used the outfit while you stripped, to pay for said undergrad years."
Cameron's jaw dropped as she looked at him in shock, "House! Why would you start a rumor like that?"
"Because I was going to say that you were a lesbian and in exchange for 6 months of sex on demand, I would provide you and your life partner with a baby...but I rethought that one."
"Why?" she asked in a tone that she didn't really want to know.
"That rumor would just make just me sound desperate," he said giving her his best 'duh' face.
Cameron rolled her eyes as shook her head in disbelief.
"You act like you're surprised I would say something like that. I would think you would know me better than that," he said wiping away an imaginary tear, "after all you are the one that married me. I knew you just married me for my body."
"Don't you have clinic hours to do?" she asked rolling her eyes for what felt like the twentieth time that day.
"I do," he said wrinkling his nose in distaste. "How about you walk me down and we do something completely work inappropriate in front of Cuddy's office."
Cameron rolled her eyes once more, sure they were going to stick one day, but allowed him to drape his free arm around her shoulders and lead her into the hall.
"And then we can find an empty exam room and a candy stripper uniform and you can show me your old act."
A/N And there we have it… the longest chapter so far! sorry it took me a little longer to get this up, but like I said before its hard for me to get online while at home….I've actually commandeered my brothers internet to post this chapter, so I should probably cut this short before he notices… let me know what you thought!!!
