Chapter 12 (several weeks later)

Beep. Allison's phone beeped with an incoming text. Casting a look to see if Lisa was watching (the brunette hated it when the cheerleaders were on their phones during games), she peeked down at the text. Her heart started to pound loudly. It was from House: You, me, library, Saturday.

Allison stifled a grin as she tucked her phone away. Their Saturday tutoring sessions were becoming a regular thing, something she eagerly looked forward to every week.

"Whooo! Gooooo eagles!" Riley screamed, waving her pom poms as Chase raced up the field. Chase looked up and blew a kiss at his admirers. Allison rolled her eyes. He was such a flirt. Suddenly, he locked eyes with her and slowly winked, causing her to nearly stop breathing. She had to control the urge to smile back. Chase is Lisa's boyfriend. She sternly reminded herself. Save the flirting for House.

House. Suddenly, her insides were flooded with warmth as she thought about her Anatomy and Physiology class that day. The teacher had left him in charge again, which basically meant that House and Allison worked on House's homework while the rest of the class did whatever they want. Allison started zoning out, recalling the scintillating conversation they'd had:

"Differential diagnosis for aphasia and seizures." House had written on the whiteboard.

"We're supposed to be working on…" Allison started, a wry smile forming on her lips. This was part of their routine. Every time the teacher left House in charge, House would force her to work on his homework (which were usually differential diagnosis's), and she would complain that they were supposed to be studying something else. Every time.

"Um, who's in charge here?" House snapped, his blue eyes glittering with excitement. It was the closest thing to happy Allison had ever seen him.

Allison bit back a smile. "You."

"That's right. Now, differential diagnosis for aphasia and seizures." He repeated impatiently, limp-pacing around the room.

"That's too hard." Allison protested.

"Is not." House retorted. "I've taught you enough."

"Umm…" Allison twirled her pen.

"What tests would you run?" House asked in an attempt to give her a hint.

"MRI to check for lesions." Allison said immediately. By now, she knew that off the top of her head.

"Good." House nodded. "During the MRI, the patient's throat closes up and she begins to go blind. What's next?"

"I don't know!" Allison snapped. This was way too hard. Yes, House had been giving her harder and harder cases each week because he believed that this would help "train her mind" and "hone in on her skills", but it didn't mean she was a doctor. She was supposed to be learning about the kidney, not diagnosing fake patients!

"Think, Cameron. Think." House urged, step-thumping around the room.

Allison closed her eyes. Behind her, she could hear the sounds of her classmates talking excitedly about their weekend plans, and here she was, stuck doing House's homework, If only he wasn't so damn intriguing.

"I'll give you a hint." House said. "When checking the house for toxins, ham was found in the fridge. What does that point to?

"I don't know. That she's poisoning her body with nitrates?"

"Clever. But no."

"Aphasia, seizures, trouble breathing, blindness, and ham." House repeated.

Allison recited the list of symptoms and clues in her mind. They seemed vaguely familiar, like something House had told her or she'd read online. Then, her mind clicked as she remembered the conversation she and House had had last week at the library.

"Tapeworm!" She practically shouted.

And for the first time ever, House smiled. It was something Allison would never forget. For the first time ever, House looked happy, as he stared down at her with his electric blue eyes.

"Sonny!" Lisa snapped her fingers in front of Allison's face, effectively breaking her thoughts. "It's almost halftime. Time to get ready for the show!"

"Sorry." Allison said, tightening her ponytail.

"Stay focused." Lisa advised as they got into position. "This is probably the hardest routine you'll ever have to do in your entire career as a cheerleader, and you can't afford to drift off."

"Right." Allison nodded. But even as she danced and cheered in time with Lisa and the others, her mind was still on House and the way her tummy had filled with butterflies as he'd looked at her with a mixture of pride, intrigue, and what seemed like the slightest hint of attraction.

~I Know That I'll Regret It~

Allison looked at the clock. 3:00. She had an hour before tutoring. Deciding to get an early start, she grabbed her bag, being sure to grab her sunglasses and baseball cap. Maybe she could take a walk before and enjoy the nice day. Before leaving the house, she decided it would be nice to bring coffee for House again. She'd done that several weeks ago and House had commented that she made the best damn coffee in Princeton. Even though she was out of coffee beans, she figured it would be a nice gesture anyway.

She walked to Starbucks and placed her order, standing off to the side to wait. Such a nice day. She was contemplating taking a picture of the trees and sending it to Savanna, who loved painting nature scenes, when she felt someone behind her.

"So, I never got a thank you for the other night." Said a very familiar accent.

Allison whirled around. As she'd expected, it was Chase.

"What are you doing here?"

He looked amused. "Same as everyone else. Getting coffee."

"I mean, why did you sneak up on me?"

He leaned in real close. Allison could feel his breath on her neck. "I have a thing for hot freshman cheerleaders."

Allison rolled her eyes, but she had to admit that Chase's blatant flirting felt nice. "Stop." She pushed him away.

He straightened. "Where are you going with those?" He noted the heavy stack of books in her arms.

"Tutoring."

"With…?"

"None of your business." She couldn't tell anyone about House.

He nodded. They just stood there awkwardly, waiting for their coffee.

"Two lattes!" Called the barista.

Allison stepped up and grabbed her coffees. But because she loved to fall in front of Chase, she slipped in a puddle of spilled coffee. Just before her coffees hit the ground, Chase caught them.

"Careful." He said.

"Thanks." She said, her face flushed with embarrassment. I've got to quit doing that.

"Yep. No problem." He said.

There was another silence.

"Why are you so nice?" Allison said finally. "I mean, all I do is stomp on your foot and tell you to go away, and you're still so nice. If it were me, I woulda let you fall."

Chase shrugged. "I dunno."

"Why do you keep flirting?" She asked the one question that had been burning in the back of her mind since the first day of school. "I know you're a 'friendly guy' or whatever, but you don't flirt with others half as much as you flirt with me."

"You watch me?" Chase asked, amused.

"I, well, not the point here!" Allison stammered, flustered.

"I do believe it is." Chase grinned adorably. "As much as you try to tell yourself otherwise, you, Allison Cameron, like me."

"No I don't." She said quickly.

"Then if I kiss you you'll tell me that you feel nothing?"

"Absolutely." Allison nodded firmly. Within seconds, she felt his lips on hers. Almost immediately, Allison lost all sense of where she was and the potential risks. All she was aware of was how good it felt to finally be doing something she'd fantasized about for months. She forgot that she was Allison Cameron, good girl, and she was in a public place, back pressed against the wall, making out with a hot guy. In that moment all that mattered was Chase's hands tangled in her hair, his lips on hers, and how right this felt.

Suddenly, she realized what she was doing. Gasping for air, she pushed him away.

"What are you doing?" She gaped at him. "You're dating one of my best friends!"

He raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, you asked for it."

Without thinking, Allison slapped him. Hard. "You're despicable." She hissed.

As she stalked outta there, it occurred to her that she hadn't felt "nothing". In fact, it had been the opposite of nothing.

Just then, her phone beeped. A text from House. Allison clicked read, hoping that it wasn't him canceling. Tutoring was like the only thing she had to look forward to these days, and she needed a distraction from Chase. The annual tri-state area cheer competition was coming up, and Lisa was growing more and more edgy with each passing day, snapping at everyone. It was a good thing she was gone practically every day at lunch.

Change of plans. Hooker ended early, so come over to my place. Too lazy to go to library.

Allison nearly dropped her phone on the counter. Go over to House's place? Her heart started pounding. She'd never been to any guy's house before, let alone the house of the most notorious guy at school. Despite the fact that House would mock her relentlessly for this, she started to text back that she'd rather meet him at the library. But then a thought crossed her mind. House, who was very well known for being extremely secretive, was inviting her over into his home. His private sanctuary. That meant that he was inviting her into his world, that he was letting her in.

Allison deleted her text and grabbed her keys. There was no way she was gonna miss this opportunity to get to know House better.

Author's note: Yes, I took the case from the episode Pilot, which I don't own.