Disclaimer: FOX owns House...I wish I did.
purpletangerine: thanks so much, hon! i'm never really sure if i've got the characters right, and that meant a lot to me!
StardustButterfly: DON'T DIE! OKAY! JUST...DON'T DO IT! HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER!
Val'istar En'Alu: eh. i had a small problem with writing the 'engaged' scene, anyway...i couldn't stop laughing at house saying 'sugarpie' so it came out a bit shortened.
Author's Note: Well...I'm sad to say that there is, infact, only one more chapter after this one of Return Address. (sigh) o well.
btw, i have no idea where the hell they are for dinner. it's just some fancy shmancy restaurant. deal with it. :-p also, i made the waiter's name Matthew cuz that's BaltimoreAngel's brother's name, and his GF's name is Allison. I thought it would be funny. i also have no clue if house would even eat calamari and shrimp, or if cameron's allergic to shellfish. DEAL WITH IT, cuz it works for muh story.
ON WITH THE STORY!
THE NOT-A-DATE AND AWKWARD MOMENTS
The day of their official second not-a-date approached too quickly for House, and not fast enough for Cameron. The latter had been exposed to many hours of a taunting Foreman, an overly happy Wilson, and Chase, who was irritated that he hadn't been part of the three-way split of almost a thousand dollars.
The former, being House, only had to deal with Cuddy (who was sulking about losing to Wilson and Foreman), and the overly excited Jimmy Wilson.
"Where are you taking her?" Wilson persisted, following House into the clinic.
"Somewhere," House said, bending down to the child in the room. "Say 'Ahh'." When he didn't open his mouth, House sighed. "Listen, kid, I don't want to be here anymore than you do, so open up your damned mouth before I beat something with my cane."
The child complied, and House took a look down his throat. "Redness, with some white speckling." He felt along the boy's throat. "Swollen glands." He stood up and went over to where the appropriate cotton swabs were. "Strep test; yay." He swabbed the back of the boy's throat, and said, "We'll be back with the results in a minute."
"Tell me," Wilson insisted as they walked out of Exam Room three.
"No," House retaliated. "Because then you'll tell Cameron."
Wilson rolled his eyes. "So maybe I would. Why can't you tell me, though?" He stopped in his tracks, thinking over his words. "Wait..."
"I'm not telling you," House repeated. "So stop..."
"...asking!" Cameron said, glaring at Foreman. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't know where he's taking me?"
"You have to know," Foreman said, following her as she tried to get away. "And when you do know, you have to tell me. It's vital information."
She glared at him. "You made another bet with Chase and Wilson, didn't you?"
AROUND 7:30 THAT NIGHT
House tapped his cane against the ground as he sat on his couch, waiting for Cameron to come downstairs. His necktie was around his neck, untied, him having given up trying to tie it a while ago.
He checked his watch again and groaned. He had worn a suit, for the love of God. Couldn't she be on time? Did all women take this-
"Hey," came Cameron's voice from upstairs. "I'm about to make my grand entrance, so pay attention."
He pushed himself off the couch and balanced on his cane as she began her descent. When she came into full view, his jaw almost dropped.
She looked stunning in a silk, dark blue dress that fit her perfectly. Her hair was back in a clip, a few loose hairs having escaped. She wore jewelry, yes, but the things that were shining brightest were her eyes.
He gulped. This was going to be an interesting night...
He looked amazing.
As she got a good look at him, she decided that he had to wear suits all the time from now on. Her eyes swept over his form, stopping at his undone tie. She rolled her eyes and stepped off the stairs and towards him, taking the two long pieces in her hands and doing them up correctly. She shook the hair out of her eyes as she smiled and looked up at him, her hands tightening the tie. "There you go," she whispered, patting him on the chest. "All set."
Her hand lingered on his chest as their eyes remained connected. She could have taken it off by now, but his chest felt so nice, and warm...and firm...underneath her fingertips...
"Cameron?" he said, and was embarrassed to find that his voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat. "We should go." To his dismay and relief, his words caused to her hand to slip away from his chest and drop by her side.
"Right," she said. "Let me go grab my jacket."
"Don't bother," he dismissed with a wave of his hand. "It's warm enough." He stuck out his left elbow in offering. "Milady?"
She smiled at him, her cheeks tinting pink at the gesture. "Milord," she said softly, and took his arm.
"I cannot believe that you brought me here," Cameron hissed excitedly over her menu. "How did you even get a reservation?"
"Treated the owner's kid for..." He frowned, unable to remember. "Something. Being eternally grateful to me for saving the brat's life, he set me up for a table for two tonight. On the house, too." He frowned. "Don't make that into a pun."
"But why here?" she asked, putting her menu down. "It's the most romantic place around; not exactly what I would consider the appropriate setting for our 'not-a-date'."
House raised an eyebrow and scowled at her. "Would you rather I took you to Burger King?"
Cameron blushed in embarrassment and looked down at her menu again. "Oh," she said softly. "Well...thanks anyway."
House went back to his menu with a short, "Don't mention it." His eyes gradually drifted from the spices inside the soup du jour, to Cameron's bowed head. Fromover the very top of his menu, he could see that she was scanning her menu, her forehead furrowed adorably in concentration. He felt his lips attempt to twitch up into a smile, but the words 'NOT A DATE' flashed ominously in his mind. He opened his mouth to say something when a crash sounded from behind Cameron. She turned in her seat to see what had happened, giving House a view of her exposed back.
His eyes widened as they settled by her shoulder blade. What the hell...How had he possibly missed that detail about her?
He dropped his eyes back to his menu as she turned around. "So," he said conversationally. "When'd you get that tatoo?"
Her startled eyes rose to meet his. "What?" she asked.
"Oh, come on," he said, putting his menu down. "Your tatoo? The one just below your left shoulder blade?" He smirked at her shocked expression. "Like I wouldn't notice. I must say," he said, returning his gaze to his menu. "I didn't exactly take you for a Beatles fan."
She blushed, and raised her menu up to cover her red face. The waiter approached the table, decked out in the traditional and stereotypical garb. "Good evening," he said, taking in the two. His eyes lingered on Cameron's now upturned face, and he smiled slightly. "I'm Matthew, and I'll be your server tonight..." He trailed off, still staring at Cameron. House frowned, and hit the man in the shin with his cane. "Right," Matthew said, pulling his writing pad out of his pocket. "Can I start you off with something to drink?"
"I'll have a Sam Adams," House said, still glaring dangerously at Matthew. In his mind, he had already come up with twenty-nine very painful things to do to the new threat.
"I'll have some lemonade," Cameron said, careful not to look at their waiter deirectly. The fact that he was interested didn't go unnoticed by her, and he was attractive...but he wasn't her type. No, her type had greying brown hair, piercing blue eyes, a cane, and was sitting across from her, no doubt plotting numerous evil things to do to Matthew, most likely all of them painful.
"Okay," Matthew said, finally taking notice of House's hostility and Cameron's unwillingness to flirt. "I'll be back in a few minutes, and you two can decide what you want to eat." He hurriedly made his way to the kitchen, and out of the range of House's potentially dangerous cane.
House was tremendously enjoying his fried calamari with shrimp, his beer, and the company of one brunette doctor. His mildly scathing remarks on his doubt that she ate were soon disproved, if the way she was enjoying her steak was any indication. As it turned out, once you took Allison Cameron away from work and her precious lab coat, she made quite the companion.
At random intervals of their meal, she would lean forward to whisper comments about the stuffy patrons at the restaurant, and even once made him choke on his beer with a lewd comment.
Now, he forked a small portion of shrimp and held it in front of her. She waited until after she finished chewing and swallowing her piece of steak before asking, "What is it?"
"Shrimp," he said, waving the speared crustation in front of her face. "Have some."
"Oh, no," she said, pushing his hand away lightly. "No thanks."
He frowned. "Why not?"
"Allergic to shellfish," she explained, taking some of her salad and eating it.
He looked scandalized, as if her admission was insulting. "You're what?"
"Allergic. Feed me the right amount of lobster and I'm your next patient." She grimaced, perhaps at some distant memory that he had no idea ofor access to. "Found that one out the hard way."
He pulled the shrimp away from her and stuck it in his own mouth. "Fine," he said, his mouth full. "More for me."
She rolled her eyes at him and took a sip of her lemonade, glancing towards the door. She almost spat out her drink when she saw who was coming in, instead choking on the sweet liquid. She recovered quickly, however, and hissed out, "I don't believe it."
"What?" he looked towards the entrance, expecting to see Wilson, Cuddy, or Foreman. Instead, he saw a red-haired woman and her husband (who was easily ten years House's senior...better yet, Cuddy's senior), standing around and making idle chat with the hostess. He squinted at the already heavily plastic-surgeoned woman. "You know her?"
"Mary-Beth Rodgers," Cameron said, attempting to hide her face with her fanned out fingers. "She made my life a living hell in high school, stole my date at prom, and I had to put up with her during college, too. Last I heard, she married a plastic surgeon,if you couldn't tell." She lifted her fingers and groaned. "Oh, crap, she's coming over."
"Mary...Beth?" House repeated incredulously. "Please don't tell me that she has a-"
"Allison Cameron!" shrilled a dinstinctly southern voice. "Is that you?"
"-southern accent," House finished with a wince.
"Mary-Beth," Cameron said, greeting the quickly approaching woman with a strained smile. "Hey...how are you?"
The red-head laughed in an irritatingly nasal way, and waved her left hand around so that her large diamond ring flashed in the light. "Oh, you know," she tittered. "Jetted around the world, courtesy of Daddy, before I met Harold here. Harold Hampton. He's very successful," she added. "A thriving plastic surgeon." Her smile dropped a bit as she regarded Cameron. "What have you been up to? Working at a fast food restaurant yet?"
Suddenly, House became startlingly aware of why Cameron hated this woman. "Actually," he said, directing all the attention to himself. "Cam...Allison's quite the doctor." He winked at her. "My favorite duckling."
Mary-Beth raised a snooty eyebrow at him, placing one hand on her waist. "And...you are?" she asked coldly.
"Dr. Gregory House," he answered, and watched with a strange sense of satisfaction as Harold's eyes widened in recognition.
"Dr. House," he puffed, sticking his hand out for House to shake. "It's an honor." When House made no move to shake his hand, Harold tucked it away. "Sweetie," he said placing his hand on the small of his wife's back. "This is the nationally reknowned doctor I told you about a few weeks ago, remember?"
Mary-Beth stuck her hand out, palm down, as if she expected him to kiss it. "Mary-Beth Hampton," she drawled in what she must have thought was a seductive voice. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
House held out his hand, not for Mary-Beth, but for the check that Matthew was handing to him. "I wish I could say the same," he said, scrawling his name on the bottom of the paper. "But then I would be lying." He grabbed his cane, handed the check back to Matthew, stod up and held his hand out for Cameron to take. "Shall we?"
TBC...(one chapter left...)