Disclaimer: Not mine.

This is my best chapter to date (well, my juciest!). I hope you like it- please review!

"That didn't go so well."

He watched her closely as she turned around to face him. She looked like hell. He'd overheard part of what had been said in the patient's room, and he was willing to bet that his youngest duckling hadn't been expecting it.

"What are you doing here, House?" Her tone was weary.

"I could ask you the same question," he countered.

She shrugged, too tired to spar with him.

He saw it, and went on in a gentler tone. "What are you doing now?"

It was as if someone had switched on a light-bulb above her head: she would go home, go to bed and block out everything that had happened today.

"I'm going home."

"Right," her boss' tone was faintly sceptical, "and how are you getting there?"

It was difficult to think. She ran her hand through her hair in an effort to remember. "My car is out in the lot-"

House stopped her right there: "Cameron, you're not driving."

"Huh?" God, it was hard to concentrate. What was he saying?

"Cameron, you're in shock. You can't drive. You'll cause a pile-up."

His words came to her as if she were underwater. But they did seem to make sense. She began to pat her pockets and mumble something about calling a cab.

He sighed quietly. There was something so pathetic about the woman standing in front of him, searching in her pockets for a cell phone that wasn't there, with a shell-shocked expression on her face.

"Cameron," his voice caught her attention again, "I'll give you a ride."

She started to say that she couldn't ask him to do that, but he cut across her again: "Cameron, it's no trouble. C'mon."

He pushed himself off the wall and, without waiting to see if she was following, he limped towards the elevators.

The journey was a silent one. Each of them was wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Cameron shut her eyes and leaned back in her seat, trying to clear her head. But she couldn't. It was as if, with her tiredness, a fog had descended over her, and she was too weak to fight her way through.

She must have drifted off to sleep because, a short time later, they had pulled up outside her apartment block.

Allison struggled for a brief moment with her seat belt before House took pity on her and leaned over to unbuckle it himself.

She looked directly into his clear blue eyes and smiled. "Thanks." she whispered.

"I'll walk you up." he responded.

It was just as well that he had offered. If he hadn't, it was doubtful that Cameron would have made it into her apartment.

At her door, she struggled, first to find her keys, then to fit them into the lock. She couldn't; her hands were shaking too much. At last, House gently took them from her, his fingers only lightly grazed her palm, but they seemed, to her, to sear her skin. He opened the door and propelled her inside.

He set her keys on a table beside the door and turned to face her.

"You should, um, get back to the hospital." She was clearly struggling to sound normal, but her voice was strange, as if she hadn't used it for a while.

"Yeah." He didn't bother reminding her that it was late, and that his team had left for home hours ago.

Neither of them moved.

There was a long pause.

"Tea."

It wasn't what he had been expecting.

"Tea?"

"I'm going to make tea," she said it firmly, "do you want some?"

He suddenly smiled.

"Sure."

He pushed the door shut behind him with his cane while she made her way into the kitchen.

House seated himself on the couch and waited.

In the kitchen, Cameron was valiantly struggling with the kettle. She had faced her worst fears today, why couldn't she make a hot beverage?

She dropped a tea bag into each mug but as she tried to fill the first one with hot water she sloshed the water from the kettle over her left hand. Yelping, she dropped the kettle with a crash and angrily swept both mugs from the counter to the floor, where they smashed into tiny red shards.

She stood gazing at them for what seemed like an eternity, but what was probably only a few seconds, and then she burst into tears.

House had gotten to his feet as soon as he'd heard the crash, but it took him a while to reach the kitchen. When he did, he found Cameron sitting on the floor, surrounded by broken porcelain, crying her heart out.

He hesitated only for a second, and then he moved swiftly towards her, lowered himself awkwardly onto the floor, and, only briefly pausing to wonder what the hell he was doing, he put his arms around her.

She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around him, instinctively pulling him close.

"She hates me." Cameron sobbed.

House said nothing. There was nothing he could say to make her feel better, and platitudes would have been useless.

So, he just held her against him, breathing in the smell of her, until, finally, her sobs lessened and she grew quiet again.

Quite without warning, she became aware of her surroundings: she was on her kitchen floor, cradled in her boss' arms. And she was aware only of a desire to stay there, wrapped up in him, and to never have to face anything ever again.

House heard her sigh.

He could suddenly feel her heart rate quicken against his own, and then, just as suddenly, she pulled away from him and got to her feet. Allison looked down at him for a second, an unreadable look on her face, before reaching out a hand to help him to his feet. She handed him the cane he had discarded and dried her eyes.

There was an awkward silence.

"I must look terrible." She said, with a brave attempt at normality.

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but-"

"Shut up, House," she laughed, and then suddenly turned serious, "thanks."

He shrugged his shoulders, clearly uncomfortable.

Without warning, she stepped towards him, so that they were toe-to-toe. He could see every tear glistening on her lashes.

"What are you doing?" he asked in an almost breathless voice.

She didn't reply but instead slid her arms around his neck and moved towards him. She brushed her lips gently against his: they were like silk against his own.

He didn't respond, but he didn't push her off him either.

She pulled back for a second to look at him with half-fearful eyes, then she leaned back in and brushed his lips with hers again, this time more insistently.

For a moment, his mouth opened up to her, allowing Cameron to slip her tongue inside.

It was then that he moved, but not to pull her closer; he dropped his cane to pull her arms from around her neck with both hands.

She was bewildered.

He stooped to retrieve his cane, and looked at her for a moment, his face expressionless. "It's late. You should get some rest."

House exited the kitchen, and when he made it to the front door he called back to her: "See you tomorrow."

Then he was gone.

Cameron still hadn't moved: she stood in the middle of her kitchen, a look of absolute horror forming on her face. How was she going to face him tomorrow?

AN: Well, how was it???