Author's Notes: I am so so so sorry about the lack of updates lately. Asides from the fact that my muse ran away, I have recently been going through an extreme case of JDOCD… There's no cure and it usually flares up about the time a new movie is released that stars Johnny Depp (in this case it was Sweeney Todd followed by the Public Enemies filming)… and I'm hopeless for months….I think I'm just getting over it…

But, even though I haven't posted anything since well…January, I want you to know that I didn't not write anything for this story. I actually wrote a lot of scenes for future chapters and I also spent a lot of time wrestling with a decision that would effect the rest of the story. Whichever decision I came up with would determine how certain events happen and I didn't want to pick lightly. Well, I've finally decided which to use so that helped. :)

I spent all the time wrestling with the future decision because this chapter was killing me! I had a plan for it all written out…but it still refused to work with me. So, as a result, I'm not overly fond of how this came out, but hopefully, that's just because I'm my own worst critic. :)

I'm attempting to whiz through this episode because the majority of it doesn't change from the actual episode.

Hopefully, my characterizations are still there. It's been a while since I've written anything that wasn't art history research based…

Major thanks to naika7 for beta-ing this… and my sister slwmtiondaylite for helping with the storyline of the story. :D

Chapter Nine

Episode: "Honeymoon"

House sat alone in a semi-casual restaurant that was filled with businessmen and women, with a few families and dating couples scattered around. The dinner rush had begun and waiters and waitresses were bustling about to meet their customers' needs. It was a friendly atmosphere, perfectly suitable to hold meetings with potential clients, or in House's case, potential patients. He had agreed to meet with Stacy and her husband Mark, regarding the illness Stacy was sure he had.

House had arrived early, which was extremely unusual by his standards. He wanted to get this over with. But, of course, Stacy and Mark weren't there. He had come alone after dissuading Cameron from tagging along. She had sensed his discomfort at the situation and wanted to come along hoping to have a calming affect on him, mistaking his uneasiness for some sort of social anxiety at being pitted with his ex. House managed to talk her out of it, stating that he would be fine.

He had hesitantly told Cameron about his past with the woman whom he was now waiting for. His original intent had been to leave out all the sordid details about his past with Stacy and just pretend not to know Stacy as well as he did, but he found himself unable to do that to her. Cameron had shared her past with him regarding her husband. He knew that she didn't expect to be the only one in his life, so he didn't couldn't lie to her. Cameron had silently listened to his story, absorbing the rare moment of openness he had shared with her.

House sighed as boredom began to set in. He wasn't one for waiting. When boredom struck, his behavior was usually reduced to that of a child and this case was no different. He reached for the fork and spoon at his place setting and attempted to balance them on his wine glass. It was a difficult task and was sure to keep him occupied for the next several seconds until someone bumped his table, knocking them down. He gave an annoyed sigh and looked up to see Stacy taking a seat in front of him, a sly smirk on her face.

Might as well get this show on the road.

House had decided that in order to determine that Stacy's husband, Mark, did indeed need to go to the hospital, he needed to bring him there against his will. So, after doping him at the restaurant, House had the paramedics bring him to Princeton-Plainsboro. House and his team conducted the differential as usual.

Several hours and faulty diagnoses later, House and his team had decided on the possibility that Mark was suffering from early on-set Alzheimer's, which would be devastating if it panned out. House sent Cameron to the lab to perform the test, which was where she currently found herself. She was just finishing setting the centrifuge when she heard the lab door swoosh open. Looking up, she saw Stacy enter.

"Hey," Stacy greeted. She had a coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other. She looked tired, and Cameron couldn't blame her. She had been in her shoes once before: watching helplessly as her husband's health deteriorated. Only this time, Cameron made a promise to herself that she wasn't going to let Stacy helplessly watch her husband die. Not if she could help it. House would say that it was because of her pathological need to care for everyone who walked through the hospital doors, but Cameron didn't care, even if that meant she had to endure his teasing later.

"Hi," Cameron returned the greeting and pressed the button to start the test. She turned towards Stacy and leaned against the counter. "How are you doing?" she asked, her concern getting the best of her.

"Tired," Stacy admitted, confirming Cameron's thoughts.

The two women stood in silence for a few seconds before Cameron spoke up. "Um, can I ask you something? About House?"

If Stacy was surprised by the question, she didn't show it. Instead, she gave the younger woman a small smile and nodded.

"Has he always been…" she hesitated, wanting to find the right words, without giving away their relationship.

"An ass?" Stacy finished the question, a smirk on her face. "A jerk? A complete bastard?"

Cameron gave a small chuckle at Stacy's bluntness. "Well, I wasn't going to use those exact words, but yeah. What was he like before his leg?"

"Pretty much the same," Stacy replied, a wistful smile on her face.

Cameron gave her a smile in return. "And yet, you fell in love with him?" She wanted to give Stacy the feeling that she couldn't believe anyone would love House, but Stacy saw through it.

"Let's just say that there's something about him," Stacy replied, keeping an eye on her. She noticed Cameron attempt to hide a small blush and gave her a knowing glance. "You like him, don't you?"

Cameron's eyes shot up to meet hers at the statement and she tried to debunk that theory but her reaction had already given her away. Stacy noticed her distress and, misreading it as fear of being found out and humiliated for by the object of her affections, placed a comforting hand on her arm. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. I won't tell him."

Cameron gave her a small smile in response. Was she really that obvious? If Stacy could tell in only a few minutes, then did anyone else know about it? About them?

Stacy pulled her away from harrowing thoughts by asking what they were testing for now.

Cameron, thankful for the change in subject (she really needed to learn to leave certain topics alone), went into doctor mode and asked Stacy if there was any history of mental illness in Mark's family.

"No, well, his sister did vote for Nader, twice." Stacy took a sip of her coffee. "Greg hates fishing. He's got something. What's his theory?"

Cameron wavered slightly; she still had trouble being the bearer of bad news. "The most likely diagnosis we have right now is Alzheimer's."

The breath left Stacy's body. There was no way; Mark was too young. "No," she said, trying to sound confident as she tried to recall any instance of a forgetful memory. "Yeah, he forgets where he puts his keys every now and then, but who doesn't?"

Cameron gave Stacy a sympathetic smile. The centrifuge beeped, signaling the completion of the test. Cameron picked up the readout and scanned it while Stacy stood by, watching nervously. Cameron felt a sigh of relief exit her own body at the results. "It's negative. He doesn't have it."

Stacy smiled and nodded. "I didn't think so."

It turned out that Mark suffered from acute intermittent porphyria, AIP. It caused his mood swings and his paralysis. Cameron was glad that House and she had been able to separate work from their personal life since day one. After being criticized for telling Stacy about the negative result on the Alzheimer's test, she, Foreman and Chase had to step in to prevent House from overstepping his bounds and injecting the patient with a cocktail of drugs designed to set off an attack.

The injection helped them determine the diagnosis for sure, but if the patient didn't want it, then they couldn't give it to him. Stacy, on the other hand, demanded that House inject him anyway. Cameron was relieved when House went along with Mark's wishes, only to have it blow up in her face when House took action when no one was expecting.

If they had not set the boundaries for their relationship in the beginning, she was sure that it would have caused problems at home a hundred times already.

After House's little stunt, Cameron needed to get away from him for a little while. She was furious that he would go against the patient's wish, especially after pretending to concede. With a glare in his direction, she stalked off towards the clinic. She would have rather dealt with paranoid moms and runny noses than stay near House, at least until her anger dissipated, which it was sure to do before the day was out.

House currently found himself standing in his slightly darkened office, tossing his tennis ball from hand to hand, watching the rain pour outside. He knew he had angered Cameron and that she had to be away from him right now in order to cool off. But he had needed to do what he did to diagnose the patient. He didn't care about Mark's request; he needed to solve the puzzle. And he did, so it was another job well done as far as he was concerned.

Cameron would get over it. She always did. Though, occasionally, he wondered if perhaps she was a little too forgiving when it came to him.

It was getting dark now, but he didn't want to head home just yet. He wanted to make sure that everything was okay between him and Cameron. He wasn't quite sure where she was, but he knew that she would find him when she was ready. He just had to be patient, which was not easy for him.

His ball tossing was interrupted when the office door opened. House, grabbed the ball and turned around to see Stacy as she stepped across the threshold.

"Hey," she said by way of greeting, a small smile on her face.

House acknowledged her with a nod, placing his ball back on his desk. He looked up waiting for her to say something.

"You fixed him," she said, her smile growing bigger as she stepped in front of his desk.

"De nada," he replied, shrugging off her gratefulness.

Stacy took a deep breath. "Thank you," she said, sincerely.

"He's gonna be fine," House said.

Stacy nodded and flashed him an appreciative smile before she turned and took a few steps forward. She quickly halted, and turned her head upwards at the ceiling as though she was contemplating her next words. Turning back around towards House, Stacy took a tentative step towards him.

House watched her with curiosity, wondering what she was thinking.

Finally, Stacy seemed to have drawn up enough courage to say what was on her mind. "I'm not over you," she said, quietly.

House wasn't quite sure what she wanted him to say, so he stayed silent and let her finish.

"You were," she took a deep, stepping closer to him. "You were the one. You always will be." There was a brief pause before she finished. "But, I can't be with you."

House took in her words. Now, he was really confused. He wasn't quite sure where this was coming from, because he was not aware that he had given her any indication that he wanted to get back with her. He decided to humor her, to see where she planned on taking this. "So…I'm the guy, but you want the other guy, who, by definition, can never be the guy. Is that what you're saying?"

Stacy flashed him a bright smile. "What's so great about you is you always think you're right. And what's so frustrating about is you are right so much of the time." She moved closer, so she was now standing directly in front of him and he had to look down at her. "You are brilliant, funny, surprising, sexy." Another deep breath. "But with you, I was lonely. And with Mark, there's room for me."

House looked at her for almost a minute, thoughts swirling around in his head. Did he give her a hint that he wanted her, or was she just assuming because, as far as she knew, there was no one else? Did she think that she was impossible to get over? He was over her, right? He loved Cameron, that much he knew. He knew Stacy was not out of his heart completely, but Cameron demanded a larger part of his affections now, but did that mean he was over Stacy? He mentally shook himself from those thoughts.

"Okay," he finally answered. "While this is all very flattering, I just want to say that I think I've moved on. I've moved past us - what we had."

Stacy took in a quick breath, but tried to disguise her obvious shock at House's words. She recovered quickly and leaned forward, placing a kiss on his right cheek. House leaned into her and took a deep breath. He cursed himself as he closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of her perfume and shampoo. Neither had changed over the years and as a result he felt himself drawn towards her. "Good," she whispered in his ear. "I'm happy for you."

Stacy finally pulled away, for which House was internally grateful. He watched her as she gave him a small, sad smile, turned and left the office. Sighing, House picked up the ball once more and tossed it over his head., frustration coloring his movements. His once clear cut feelings were now scrambled and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. And it didn't please him.

"What the hell just happened?"

Cameron stepped off the elevator and saw House leaning against the wall down the hall. She had been looking for him for almost twenty minutes. He hadn't been in his office, the coma patient's room, the roof, or in Wilson's office. It was late, so he wasn't hiding out in the clinic. She just happened to try Mark's floor. She wanted him to know that she was over it; his little stunt; and that she was ready to go home.

She walked closer to him, but he didn't notice her. His attention was on the couple in their patient's room. Stacy was laying beside her husband on his bed, his arms wrapped around her. He would occasionally run his hand gently across her back. Cameron drew her gaze to House's face, trying to determine what he was thinking about; he looked so deep in thought.

Slowly, she took another step towards him in the empty hall. The sound of her shoes clicking against the tile finally got his attention and he turned his head towards her. She gave him a smile, letting him know that everything was okay between them. He responded with a nod, before returning his attention to Stacy and Mark. She stopped and stood next to him, and looked into the room as well.

A few seconds later, she looked up at him. "Are you okay?" she asked, concern in her voice. She knew about his past with her and the difficult time he had gone through after she had left. She thought that it had to be on his mind now that she was here.

House tore his gaze away from the room and looked into Cameron's eyes. "Yeah," he answered, reassuring her.

"Okay," she replied, not quite sure if he was telling the truth, but decided to drop it for now. She looked around the corridor, checking if it was still empty, save for them. "You ready to head out?"

"You go on ahead," he said. "Let yourself in. I'll follow you in a few minutes."

She nodded, "Okay." They always left the hospital a few minutes apart as to not draw attention to themselves. Occasionally, if Wilson was with them, they would leave together, but never in the same car.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked once more before leaving.

House resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes," he replied. "Now, get outta here."

"Okay, I'll see you in a little bit," she said, smiling. Unable to resist, she reached down and gave his hand a squeeze. He surprised her by grasping her hand in response. After a few quick seconds, she dropped his hand and turned on her heel, heading back to the elevator.

House kept his gaze on her as she entered the elevator. Taking a deep breath, he briefly looked back at Stacy and Mark before turning and making his own way to the elevator.

House grasped his backpack as he exited the elevator onto the ground floor. It was slightly busier here than the other parts of the hospital, but not by much, given the late hour. He limped across the lobby, making his way to the exit.

"House!" Cuddy's voice shouted after him.

He stopped and turned to see Cuddy walking quickly towards him. "Well, you're here late. J-Date not working out for ya?"

Cuddy ignored his jab, preferring to remain professional. "I wanted to run something by you."

House turned around and began to walk closer to the exit. "No, I will not have sex with you again! The one time was bad enough. All that administrative need." He shuddered, mockingly.

Cuddy rolled her eyes, refusing to bait him. "Stacy's husband is going to need hospital monitoring and I figured we could really use her around here, so I offered her a job, as general consult," she finished, with a hint of sympathy in her voice.

"What do I have to do with it?"

"She said that she would only accept it if it was okay with you."

House stopped walking and looked at her. He shrugged. "I don't care. Doesn't matter to me." He opened the door and took one step outside.

"Are you sure?" Cuddy asked, wanting to confirm that this would work out.

"Why does everyone assume I'm still into her?" House asked, frustration entering his voice. "Yes, it's fine."

Cuddy raised her arms in a sign of surrender. "Okay," she said. "I'll let her know."

"Okay," he replied. "I'm leaving now and I'm not going to stop again. Got places to be, people to do."

"I don't really care about your exploits with hookers," Cuddy said, slightly disgusted.

House opened the door and took a step outside before turning around to face Cuddy. Smirking, he said replied, "Who said anything about her being a hooker?"

Cuddy raised her eyebrow in question, but did not receive a response. Instead, House simply walked to his car as she stared after him, confusion written on her face. Did he just insinuate that there was someone in his life?

No, it couldn't be.

Could it?

A/N: Yeah, I switched the order of the last two scenes in this chapter… just felt better this way for my story.

And now, we are done with the Season One arc. I'll be moving to the Season Two arc (hopefully) shortly. But, don't expect things to follow season two exactly. Episodes will be switched out of order and events will swap places. Just fits my own timeline better :D