Cameron nursed her glass of rum and coke and looked around the pub. It was about half full now, with most of the people flocking to the silent auction tables, the two rescue dogs who were brought in to charm the people into donating, and of course, the bar. Despite her usual aversion for unorganized crowds, she still found it nice that quite a lot of the people she knew from the hospital were there, willingly paying a bit more for their Friday night drinks for a good cause. Or at least that was what she told herself to find joy in being there and to keep herself from thinking too much.
She took a quick glance at her phone that was inside her bag. Nothing. She glanced up and smiled at Wilson, who briefly made eye contact with her while he was talking to someone, his way of checking if she was ok. She was alone at their table, which normally wouldn't bother her, but Thirteen texted her thirty minutes ago that she'd get there in at least one hour, and it made her feel awfully aware that not only was she alone, but that she wanted Thirteen to be there with her.
Wilson walked back to their table and took a seat, a sigh escaping from his lips as he leaned back into his chair. "Sorry," he said, noticing that Cameron looked at him when he made the sound. "Listening to Murray talk about the recent additions to his antique collection makes me want to break House's cane in half and stick them into my ears. I knew I shouldn't have said it was interesting the first time he mentioned it."
She smiled at him, choosing not to say anything in response. She set her eyes down her glass and watched the ice cubes spin around as she stirred her drink. Of course, she understood that Thirteen was working and that she felt terrible about not being there with her, but the truth was it didn't make her any less bad about it. She didn't realize how much she looked forward to spending time with Thirteen at the event.
"I know the drinks aren't great, but they're not depressingly bad either. Are you ok?" Wilson asked. She looked up at him and smiled again, nodding slightly. "Yeah, sorry, still waiting for the rum to hit me, I guess." Wilson then scanned the room from right to left, his eyes eventually settling back at her. "Find anyone interesting?"
She knew Wilson wasn't talking about someone interesting for himself because he was dating his ex-wife, but she also refused to follow where he was heading. She craned her neck from one side of the room to the next, pretending to look for a person in particular. "Someone your type? None so far, sorry."
Wilson scoffed. "You know what I mean." He went silent and waited for Cameron to make eye contact with him before speaking again. "Have you gone out with anyone recently?"
Cameron furrowed her eyebrows. She suddenly remembered their conversation at the cafeteria the day before, and Thirteen telling her about how Wilson had been bugging her about her dating life. Maybe he does have a bet with House. "What's with the sudden interest in peoples' dating lives, Wilson? You've been on this since yesterday with Thirteen, and you've never asked me about my dating life before. Is this some scheme you're running with House?"
"No, I promise you it's not," Wilson exclaimed, gesturing rejection motions with his hands. He put his hands down and let out a huge breath, as if to calm himself down. "I don't know. It's just that things are going so well with Sam, I feel like... I don't know. I just want other people to be happy too." He shrugged and took a sip of his drink in defeat.
She wasn't so sure whether to believe him or not, but it did sound like him to think of other people like that. And besides, she always found him a terrible liar. She chuckled and tapped his arm lightly. "Wilson, it's fine. You're happy. That doesn't make it your responsibility to make everyone else happy too. Just enjoy it."
"I guess you're right," he answered. He took a final gulp of his drink, his face now with a hint of excitement when he set down his empty glass. "Did you talk to Thirteen about her and Robin though? I'm not going to pester her about it now of course, but I really think they'd hit it off."
"Uhh, we did, for a bit," she answered tentatively. The conversation had been in her mind since it happened, but for a different reason than what Wilson probably thought. "She said she really wasn't interested."
Wilson pouted slightly in disappointment. "Oh well, her loss." Cameron then noticed him glance at something across the room behind her and do a double take. "Speaking of the devil," he muttered.
She tried to stay as still as she possibly can to hide hint of a reaction. Is Thirteen here? She watched Wilson's face and waited for him to continue and give her some clue of who he was pertaining to. He was smiling now, his eyes following someone behind her. From the look of his face, whoever he was looking at was approaching their table.
"Hi, ladies," he finally said as Cat and Robin slowly appeared in Cameron's peripheral vision. "Hey!" both women greeted. They were both dressed up, and looked remarkably different from their usual appearance in the hospital. Cameron even noticed a few men nearby checking them out. "Mind if we share the table?" Cat asked, holding the chair beside Wilson.
"No, not at all," Wilson replied, pulling out the chair for Cat. She placed her bag on the chair and took a quick look at the small crowd standing around the bar. "Maybe we can get some drinks first?" she asked, turning to Robin who already took the seat beside Cameron.
"I can go with you," Wilson interrupted. He stood up and felt his back pocket for his wallet. "I was just about to get another drink anyway. Rum and coke?" he continued, pointing at Robin and Cameron. Both nodded in approval and watched them head off to navigate the bar crowd.
Robin turned back towards Cameron, who then had gone back to watching her now almost empty glass. She'd been curious to see how Cameron's mood would be since they left the hospital. She and Cat knew that Thirteen was still treating their patient because they saw her turning over consent papers for a new treatment when they were about to leave. She thought it was interesting to see Cameron looking quite down. "You guys have been here long? Did we miss anything good?"
The older doctor looked up at her and smiled. "Oh, not very long. And to be honest I'm not sure if there's anything to miss. What's going on now is what's been happening since we got here." They looked at the groups of people around them goofing around, some clearly already tipsy. Robin raised an eyebrow at Cameron and followed it with a playful smirk. "I hope Cat and Dr. Wilson come back soon with our drinks. I know a good drinking game we can play."
After about an hour, everyone at their table was several drinks in, and the three women were noisily cheering Wilson on as he tried to guess if Cat was indeed a Sagittarius. Guessing wrong meant another tequila shot as Robin's game rules imposed, and the oncologist was already clearly approaching drunk territory after guessing incorrectly three straight times prior.
"Ok, I think it's time we take a break from this game and get you a bit sobered up, Dr. Wilson," Cat said, standing up after watching Wilson finish his fourth straight shot. The area near the bar was full of people who'd set camp there, so she decided to go to convenience store beside the pub instead. She was standing on the sidewalk in front of the exit to check her phone first when she noticed a woman a few feet from her. The woman was also looking at her phone, although she seemed more like she was about to text someone and was thinking of what to say. When the woman raised her head and brushed her hair with her fingers, Cat realized who it was. She placed her phone back in her pocket and took a couple of steps closer. "She's at the table near the dartboards with Wilson, Dr. Hadley."
Thirteen turned, immediately recognizing Cat. "Oh hey! Nurse Cat, right?" she asked. She put her phone in her back pocket and walked closer to the ER nurse. Cat nodded in response. Thirteen took the hint that Cat was pertaining to Cameron with what she said, but she wasn't sure how much of what was going on Cat was privy to. "Who's near the dartboards?"
Right, Cat thought. She wasn't surprised, Thirteen was known for being private and quite evasive, after all. "Oh, sorry. I assumed you were looking for Dr. Cameron and Dr. Wilson. They're inside. Have to warn you though, Dr. Wilson is well on his way to getting hammered."
Thirteen smiled back. She felt that Cat knew of what was going on between her and Cameron at least to some degree. Cameron mentioned once that Cat was the one she was closest to in her team, although Thirteen also couldn't imagine that she'd told her everything. "Of course he is," she answered. "Thank you." The women separated ways, and Thirteen walked inside to look for Cameron.
"Look who's heeeere!" Wilson said loudly as Thirteen approached their table. He was off his seat, holding up an empty shot glass. Leave it to Wilson to get drunk at a charity event, the brunette thought. She turned to Cameron and immediately realized that she was probably a bit drunk as well, as evidenced by the slight redness on her cheeks. Cameron gave her a big smile as she took a seat and gently squeezed her shoulder. "You made it!", she said. Cameron's hand moved down to her arm and stayed there, which didn't go unnoticed. She felt an urge to take Cameron's hand and hold it but she resisted. Not here. Not yet.
"Sorry I'm late," Thirteen mouthed. She was totally distracted by the fact that Cameron's hand was on her arm but she knew she had to act casual about it. She glanced at Wilson to see if he noticed but he was distracted as well, his attention drawn to the lady on the stage at the other side of the room. "I tried to get here as soon as I can," she continued, leaning a bit closer to the blonde. Cameron looked straight into her eyes in a way that made her a bit nervous. "It's ok. You're here now."
Another hour passed and the crowd slowly dissipated in the pub. Cat and Robin had left, much to Cameron's relief. As tipsy as she was, she didn't miss the two women's subtle teasing about her and Thirteen throughout the night. She appreciated Thirteen trying to act clueless about it when Robin was jokingly (or maybe not so jokingly) flirting with her, and Cat sticking to knowing looks as her way of telling her she figured it out. She'll tell her about it soon, she thought. When she wasn't feeling like the room was spinning.
They were still at their table, watching over Wilson who was still occasionally taking sips of the water Cat gave him while lazily watching a couple of male nurses playing darts.
Cameron didn't feel as dizzy as she felt the hour before, thanks mainly to Thirteen making sure she stuck with water instead of liquor. She still did feel awfully warm, however, and she got a bit concerned that her appearance might not be at its best in front of a woman she was attracted to. "I need to go to the restroom real quick," she then said.
As she walked away, Thirteen contemplated on whether she should've offered to go with Cameron, considering that she didn't seem completely sobered up yet. She was about to stand up and follow when she noticed that Wilson was no longer watching the darts game and was looking at her instead.
"So when you meant you weren't interested," he started. "You just really meant you were already into someone else, right?" His eyes pointed at the direction of the rest room and then back at her.
Looks like he wasn't that drunk after all, Thirteen thought. She raised an eyebrow at him and an affirmative smirk. "Yeah, but, whether she's that someone is as into me or not is still up for debate, so don't start drafting up wedding plans just yet."
Wilson's face crumpled in confusion. "Are you kidding? You've been making googly-eyes at each other all night!" He placed his now empty water bottle down and further loosened the tie around his neck. "Don't play dumb with me, Hadley. I'm drunk, not blind."
Thirteen was about to respond when a woman passing by suddenly stopped in front of them. "What are you two still doing here?"
Wilson and Thirteen turned and saw Cuddy, with a look on her face that mirrored their own perplexed expression. She understood their confusion and sighed. "I'm sorry for not joining you guys earlier, I had to make sure everything was settled with the organizers," she explained. "I thought you'd all gone home, why are you still here?"
"We're waiting for Wilson to get sober enough to drive," Thirteen answered, giving Wilson the side eye. "He doesn't want to call Sam because he doesn't want her to see him this drunk and reeking of ladies' perfume, and I offered to drive him home but he won't budge because his apartment is out of way from mine."
Cuddy rolled her eyes at Wilson. "Was not getting this drunk not an option?" She sighed and motioned for him to come. "Your apartment is on the way to mine. I'll drive you home, come on. We'll pick up your car tomorrow." Wilson slowly stood up and followed Cuddy, leaving Thirteen alone at the table.
Cuddy and Wilson were almost at the exit when they bumped into Cameron as she was making her way back from the rest room. The hospital administrator took one look at her and knew that Cameron was too intoxicated to get behind the wheel as well. "You too?" she asked, both surprised and mildly annoyed. "Do you want get a ride home with us?"
"I think she already has a ride," Wilson answered before Cameron could say anything. He gave Cameron a knowing look before leading Cuddy into the exit. "Tell Thirteen to drive safe." Cameron walked back to the table and returned to her seat, still a bit confused. "I think Wilson knows."
Thirteen smirked. It had been a fun evening, listening to Cameron speak out her unfiltered thoughts throughout the night. She knew the blonde was never one to hold back when it came to serious matters, but her words also always seemed so polished and polite during more casual interactions. It was great to hear her become more candid and a tad bit reckless in a more social setting. "Wilson knows what, Cameron?"
Cameron froze. She didn't know how to answer the question. Not only because she was still feeling a bit drunk, but also because she didn't know what to call what they had. What's the word for this?
"Let's go?" she said instead, trying to stand back up again. Thirteen chuckled, shook her head lightly, and stood up as well while holding Cameron's bag. "No way you're driving like this. I'm taking you home."
Thirteen lowered the windows of her car during their drive, hoping that the fresh air would help Cameron feel a bit better. Cameron leaned at the car door and extended her arm out the window, trying to feel the cool breeze outside. Both women stayed silent for a while, with Thirteen occasionally glancing at the older doctor to see if she was ok.
"When you meet women at bars, how does that happen?" Cameron suddenly asked as she further settled herself on Thirteen's passenger seat, her eyes set at some place distant.
"What do you mean how?" Thirteen asked back. She glanced again to try and meet Cameron's eyes but the blonde was still looking out the window.
"Like, do they just come up to you and tell you that they want to sleep with you? Is that how it works?"
"No, well... Wait, why are you asking this?"
Cameron finally turned her head towards her, her looking a little more serious. "I just want to understand how it works."
Thirteen gave her a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "Is that how guys usually are with you?"
The blonde sighed with a hint of frustration and shifted her body towards the direction of the driver's seat. "Come on, Remy. Stop deflecting for once and explain it to me."
Thirteen realized it was the first time she heard Cameron call her her first name out loud. They've agreed to address each other by their first names before, but they've only mostly done it through text messages until then. It felt like a new step.
"Ok... I'd say a lot more goes on before it gets to the point where a woman tells another that she wants to sleep with them, even in a bar setting where everyone's motives is pretty much known. In the same way that men play off of their confidence when asking women out, I think some women play off of being mysterious and hard to catch."
"Sounds like someone I know," Cameron quipped, shifting in her seat again. Thirteen smiled at her briefly and went back to driving. They stayed silent in thought for a while, which made Thirteen think it was the end of her alcohol-induced interrogation, but she was wrong.
"What makes you want a person?" she asked again.
"Uhh, you mean like my type? I don't really think of specific things like that,"
"I don't believe that. You must have some idea of what you find attractive."
"I mean, of course I do," Thirteen answered, unable to help herself from humoring her drunk passenger again. She took the last turn towards Cameron's street and parked in front of her apartment building. "But it's not like a checklist of specific qualities that I have in the back of my head. It's more like an instinct where my gut tells me if I want the person or not," she continued as she turned off the engine.
"Isn't it strange to not have a clear idea of what you want?" Cameron asked. Thirteen reached for the blonde's coat and bag from the backseat and placed them on her own lap before opening her car door. "Don't get me wrong, I know what I want," she answered with a smirk before leaving her seat.
Thirteen walked Cameron to the entrance of her apartment building. She noticed the blonde slow down her pace and stop as they reach the door. Cameron looked up to her and took a step closer. "Does it include.. kissing me?"
Thirteen pursed her lips, and straightened her body a bit, her eyes set on Cameron's. Not like this.
"You're drunk."
A smile slowly formed on Cameron's lips, like she'd just been told a secret. "That's not a no."
The younger doctor reached in and tucked some strands of Cameron's hair behind her ear. "No, it's most definitely not. Good night, Cameron."