Disclaimer in part one

A/N: Back at school and gearing up for a fantastic and full semester. I'm not sure how even the posting is going to be, but keep watching, reading and reviewing! I really appreciate all your comments and criticisms.

The next chapter is another one from a Cameron-Chase kid's POV. I've written a little about why I love exploring the kids' motives and personalities, and I thkink that conitnues to hold here. Points if you catch some references/lines to canon events.

I know the inclusion of a date between a full-fledged doctor and a college junior probably squicked a lot of people out, but I really do feel it's important for several reasons. One, some of my favorite House episodes are entirely dependent on a narrator's POV, like "The Mistake" and "Three Stories," where details and facts were obscured because viewers knew we were being influenced by a character's interpretation. So far in this story, we've had several takes on several different characters, and none of them have been the exact and objective reality. For instance, almost every character has included his/her interpretation of Chase and Cameron's family life, and probably none of them are exactly right. Also, both Cameron and Wilson comment on Cameron's friendship with the chief nursing officer, and Cameron finds it completely innocent while Wilson views it as a friendship borne out of Cameron's attempts to find him a wife. Similarly, Elizabeth's personality and actions are often at odds with each other: She's smart and willful, with a base personality very much like her father's, but she does have some of her mother's instincts, and combined, she can be willful, manipulative, and even slightly amoral--but her family still adores her. We see another character's POV of her below. I'm trying to explore the other two girls' personalities and the ways in which they interact here as well. I'm trying to show how characteristics and people meld to create very gray personalities, with some honorable and some not-as-honorable tendencies. Please let me know how I'm doing as this develops.

Sophie

Wherever I Dreamed I Was

You Were There With Me

--Dave Matthews "Sister

Sophie yawned, stirring the chocolate more thoroughly into the milk. She'd been home at ten till midnight, as usual, made out with Jake for another few minutes before reluctantly dragging herself in. Her parents, who had been lying together on the couch staring at the History Channel (eh?), got up when she came in and announced they were going to bed. She watched them drag themselves upstairs and sighed.

There was something so very bittersweet and melancholy about her parents. She couldn't put her finger on it, exactly; she just didn't think they were very happy. Not that they were unhappy together; she and Ceecee were the only members of their group who had legitimate gripes about their parents' PDA levels. Outside the hospital, they were usually holding hands and had a language of looks that made everyone jealous. No, her parents were happy together, but neither of them seemed like they were naturally happy people. In public (and even around the kids) they were usually fine, but whenever she spied them alone, at the end of the day, they looked defenseless, even a little defeated, together. They were simply pretending to be happy, functional people for the kids, trying to show them how to succeed in life.

Which was stupid, really, because her parents were obviously pretty successful. They were doctors, for God's sake; doctors whom her science-oriented friends talked about in reverence. She didn't get what their deal was, but maybe that was the point.

The kitchen door opened quietly, and Elizabeth, dressed to kill, peeked in comically. When she saw only Sophie, her face lit with relief. "Sophie. Hey." She turned and quietly shut the door. "Are Mom and Dad still up?"

"Nah, they went to bed about half an hour ago," she sucked the hot chocolate off the spoon before setting it down. "Where've you been?"

"Out," Elizabeth began to move through the kitchen, finding her favorite mug and a tea bag. Her steps were quicker than normal.

"Are you drunk?" Sophie asked, slightly scandalized. Still, she was vicariously thrilled. Their parents were cautiously realistic about drinking, but still had definite issues when theory became practice.

"A little. I went out for a drink."

"At that bar you always used to sneak into?"

"How'd you know about that?"

Sophie was confused. "Mom and Dad. Duh." They'd told her years ago, in eighth grade, probably; used it as an example of how they were all-seeing and all-knowing.

"Of course they would know and not tell me," Elizabeth muttered, lazily swishing the tea bag.

"Anyways, who'd you go with?" she gulped her hot chocolate. "Do you know anyone your age in Princeton anymore?"

"Who said it was someone my age?" Sophie was even more confused, and Elizabeth relented. "It was Luke Haxby." Sophie was still confused, though the name sounded familiar. "He's one of Dad's fellows?"

"You went on a date with one of Dad's doctors?" Sophie said. "How old is he?" It sounded repulsive, but it also sounded like something that Elizabeth would do: She liked to intentionally provoke her parents (at 13 she dyed her hair a red so bright it practically pulsated; she accepted that I.D. from the creepy Princeton boyfriend; she would come home smelling like pot every 4/20 just to make them mad and start a fight), but she always did so within a carefully self-constructed set of middle-class parameters, so nobody, especially Elizabeth, was harmed. It was sort of silly, in Sophie's opinion. Elizabeth thought she got away with lots, had cultivated an image of cavalier hipster-esque behavior, but she was really massively concerned with other people's opinions, her grades, and everything that went along with those. The "rebelliousness" was not actually anything, and was a dumb way to get kicks.

"I asked him, it wasn't a date, I was feeling experimental," Elizabeth explained impatiently, avoiding the question. "How was Jake?"

Sophie bit her lip. She'd been dating Jake since the beginning of the school year, and he was a genuinely nice guy. Funny. Silly, but a little dumb. Unfortunately, her mother's annoying reservations rang constantly in her ear: Drexel? He's not on the High Honor Roll? What do you mean, 'he doesn't like school'? Her mother's irritation made her want to stay with Jake even more; unfortunately, it made her like him even less.

"It was good," she said. "Movie at his place with a couple of friends." They'd gotten into a fight, about something stupid.

"Mom still hate him?"

"Not as much, now that she figures we're going to break up soon."

"You could stay with him, just to spite her," Elizabeth suggested.

"Not my style. I do like him, I just think it'd be pointless to stay together when I'm in Providence and he's in Philadelphia. He wants to try though, so we'll see."

Elizabeth nodded. "Makes sense. Can't wait till he meets House, though."

Sophie's brows creased. "Why would he meet House?" She'd had House catch her kissing her then-boyfriend under the mistletoe at the family's Christmas party when she was fourteen; she would never introduce a boyfriend to House, ever. Maybe not even at her wedding. If House even made it, she thought sadly.

"Because when he moves in, and I guess Jake will come over?"

"House is moving in?"

Elizabeth looked like she smelled something foul. "Mom and Dad didn't mention that?" Sophie shook her head. "Oh. Well, House needs someone to stay with him, and we have a first-floor guest room. So Mom, Dad, and Wilson decided that he's coming with us."

"He couldn't go with Cuddy?"

"Nope, she said no or something. Mom and Dad know more. House is having surgery tomorrow, and then moving in sometime next week, I guess."

Sophie raised her eyebrows. She adored House, but he was wearying. She didn't know how long she could take his constant scrutiny and presence. "He is?"

"Yeah."

"For how long?"

"No clue. I won't be here, anyways," Elizabeth pointed out.

"College is awesome. You get to run away from your family for the boring stuff and come back for the scenes," Sophie grumbled.

"Believe me, every hour at college is a scene in itself," Elizabeth said.

"Yeah, from a fun movie," Sophie retorted. She drained the last of her hot chocolate. "I'm going to bed. G'night, Lizzy."

"Night," Elizabeth said distractedly, then added, "Hey, Soph?"

"Yeah?"

"You busy tomorrow morning?"

"I need to run. Then I have rehearsals in the afternoon."

"You got time to run me back to the bar to pick up the car? Luke wouldn't let me drive. I'll give you … something really cool."

Sophie laughed. "It's fine. Yeah, I'll drive you back."

She padded upstairs, but instead of slipping into her room, she softly opened Claire's door and slipped in, rolling onto the free side of her twin's double bed.

Feeling the springs shift, Claire opened her eyes a crack and mumbled, "Soph? What are you doing?"

"We always used to do this," Sophie said.

"Yeah, well it's been a while. And only for the important stuff."

"Did you know House is moving in?"

"What? No," Claire propped herself up on an elbow. "When?"

"Sometime this week. Because of the stroke, I guess. Have you talked to Mom? Can he walk?"

"No clue," Claire said sleepily, leaning her head back down. "Can we solve this tomorrow? How was Jake?"

"Jake…wanted to enroll in a frequent-flyer program so that he could fly up to see me every other weekend."

"That's sweet," her sister's voice was cautious, but sleepy.

"Yeah," she sighed. "But is it what I want?"

"Who cares? College is months away."

"Yeah, but I feel like … Like, when we started dating I didn't think it was going to last. He was fun, and I needed to have fun. And then he turned into a better boyfriend that I ever expected him to be and I stayed with him. And now I don't know. College. I don't know if I want to stay together then, but I don't want to make that decision now. I mean, prom's in two months."

"You can't use him like that," Claire murmured.

"That's easy for you to say," Sophie said, stung. Claire was adorable, and dated, but she didn't "do" serious relationships—she was always too busy, she claimed, running a million clubs and racking up volunteer hours at PPTH. She wanted to devote time to someone, and she didn't have time. Sophie always felt that her goals were slightly inadequate compared to Claire's. Claire wanted to save lives and help humanity and was trying to do so already in a million ways; Sophie wanted to get a law degree. Claire also took harder science classes than she, which meant she was always doing homework.

"Yes, but it's also, you know, the right thing. That thing that you're supposed to do."

"I'm not using him; I still like him and want to date. I just don't see us staying together in college, and I don't see why he wants to talk about it right now. Let's just enjoy this time, you know?"

"Yeah. So tell him that," Claire turned over. "But, you know, try and be nice about it."

"I did try telling him."

"And?"

"He still wanted to buy the miles. They're cheap right now."

"He doesn't have to use them to fly and visit you," Claire said. "And I, for one, think it's really sweet of him."

"Thanks for your advice."

"You're welcome. Now I'm going to sleep. Get out or shut up."

Sophie yanked the covers up and slid under. "G'night, Ceece." She plumped her pillow and shoved her head down.