They didn't have any patients again, so Cameron spent the early part of the morning doing paperwork while Foreman assisted Wilson. Chase and House decided to have a paper airplane flying contest, with her as the judge. They spent an hour making up a sheet of criteria for her to base her judging on. Most of the points were awarded for distance, but trick flying, flight arc, and how 'bad ass' the plane's overall appearance was were all additional points of interest. They typed a form up on House's computer and printed off four copies, one for each of the diagnosticians. House sent Chase to the resource center to laminate the sheets for long term use, and when he returned House handed Cameron two of the forms and a dry erase marker from their white board.
She pretended that she was focused on studying the "Judging Guidelines of Aerodynamic Perfection" as she watched the two of them make their airplanes. They were really going all out; they seemed to be taking it as seriously as any competitive sport she had seen. Once House looked up from the careful folding of his plane and caught her watching him, holding her gaze for several seconds. Her breath caught as they stared at each other from across the room and then he blinked once and continued working on his plane. It happened so quickly she wasn't sure if she had imagined it.
"Damn", Cameron thought as she looked back down at the laminated sheet, "Why can't we have a patient?" There was way too much time to spend watching House when there were no patients. The problem was, he looked adorable bending over his airplane, just as focused as he was when he was trying to figure out what was wrong with a patient. His brow was lined in his concentration and he was biting his lower lip in a distracting way. She reminded herself that she couldn't afford to be distracted by House for what seemed like the millionth time. He didn't like her. She'd do well to keep it in mind.
After what seemed like forever House and Chase decided they were ready for the contest and the trash talk began. Chase was no match for House in that department. "What's it been, 30 years since you've made one of these? Those are the wings...", Chase sniped, pointing to the wide slanted wings on House's plane.
"No, no, I've been making these all my life, Chase. I was raised in a middle class family of do-it-yourselfers.You're probably new to this though, right? I'm sure someone with your background had his daddy paying the butler to do that kind of thing for you...If you want to forfeit, I understand."
And so it went until they finally decided they would start the competition. House won. Although his plane wasn't so great with trick stunts, it certainly looked bad ass. It also flew 3.6 feet further than Chase's, on average during 10 flights. (They made her measure for posterity's sake.) House gloated, of course, but told Chase not to take it too badly. "I had an unfair advantage, after all." At Chase's curious look House motioned to Cameron. "The judge. She likes me much more than she likes you, don't you, sweetheart?"
She hated that. He knew what he was doing to her; she could tell by the look he was giving her. It was just like last week, when he had been arguing with Chase and Foreman and had turned to her saying "Cameron's my girl". The had wanted to look him in the eye and say, No, I'm not. But that would have been a lie. Yes, she was, and he was taking advantage of it. With every look, every word, every time he stood just a little to close to her, he was reminding her that she had feelings for him that he didn't return. Manipulating her. Suddenly she was angrier than she had ever been with him.
She stood and took four steps until she was standing directly in front of him, seeing the wariness in his eyes as he flinched back in an almost imperceptable manner. Looking into his eyes with an innocent expression, she placed one hand on his chest and one on his arm. She slowly trailed her fingers down his arm until she reached the paper airplane he was still numbly holding and gently pulled it away. She lifted the plane and trailed the tip lightly across his stubled cheek. "Of course I like you better than Chase, House. I like everything about you: your sweet disposition, your ability to put people at ease with just a word, the way you go out of your way to make me comfortable, the way you tell the truth 100 of the time," She moved the hand that was resting against his chest up to the V of his shirt where two buttons remained unbuttoned and lightly trailed her fingers over the exposed flesh."In fact, I think you may be perfect, House". He was staring at her, unmoving, with an unfathomable expression, but she could feel his accelerated pulse beneath her fingers, so she pressed forward. They were now standing so close that the smell of his soap seemed to radiate off his skin. Slowly tucking the airplane in the pocket of his shirt, Cameron spoke in a voice was just above a breathy whisper. "Of course Dr. Cuddy won't think you're so perfect when you show up fifteen minutes late to clinic."
House looked at the clock on the wall, which read 10:45, muttered a few words nasty words, and strode out the door. Cameron paused a moment and grinned, following him to the door and calling out, "Oh, Dr. House?" she called to his retreating back "You seem to have forgotten your lab coat." He didn't stop.
Turning back into House's office, she saw Chase still standing by the whiteboard, dumbfounded. Suddenly all the excitement drained out of her as she realized that her momentary victory was about to make her life much more difficult. "Oh, pick your jaw up off the floor, Chase" she said irritably as she strode out of House's office toward the maternity ward's nursery.
