"Rules of Engagment"

Chapter Eleven- Mistakes.

i·ron·ic: (adj) Poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended.

People,

Sometimes they don't mean a thing

They move right through me

Just like my breath

But sometimes I think of you

And I just wanted you to know

My old friend...

I swear I never meant for this...

House was being overwhelmed by his own thoughts. It was a huge mistake, he knew that. Thirty percent of all dads out there don't realize they're raising someone else's kid. He had said it himself. Why couldn't he just let it go? It wasn't humanly possible that's why. What he had done was a huge mistake.

It was more than just a mistake. How he could ever do such a thing was beyond him. It was just one night. She stopped by to get him to sign some papers for the hospital. He invited her in. Cameron was out shopping so they were alone. He had more than a few drinks. House signed the papers for her but it didn't end there. He didn't know what had gotten into his drunken self.

House hated himself.

Sometimes I forget I'm still awake

and I fuck up...

Cameron. They were going to be married. He never wanted her to know about what happened. That would hurt her too much. How could he live with himself? He never wanted it to happen in the first place. He wished he could go back in time and simply close the door on Cuddy's face. If only time was not a fixed construct.

The sense of guilt inside his brain suddenly exploded out with great force like water running downstream. He just sat in his arm chair as tears began to heavily streaming down his face.

When he first found out Cuddy was pregnant he didn't think about who the father was. After using his medical knowledge and basic concept of time, he realized that it could be himself. If she was on the pill he wouldn't have this problem but he would still have the guilt.

He had confronted her. Cuddy was terribly upset. How could she do that to her best friend? Sleeping with your friend's fiancé isn't highly looked upon in most cultures. In her mind it was all his fault. In his mind it was all her fault. If she hadn't kissed him. If he hadn't deepened it. At the time he was thinking about Cameron. He had an incredible urge to stop. But he didn't.

Cuddy thought it would be best if they took a paternity test for some closure. He didn't want to but Cuddy didn't care what he thought. After all, she didn't want to live out the rest of her life wondering who the father of the child was. The test results came back positive, but they weren't the first to know. Why didn't they put themselves under false names? Butthen again why did they sleep together in the first place?

My old friend...

I swear I never meant for this

I never meant...

Cameron had been in the lab testing their current patients blood when the lab results printed out. She almost fainted when she read the results. She was feeling angry, surprised, hurt, heartbroken, and many other emotions at the same time.

He could remember it very clearly: when he found her in the lab she was hysterical. When she saw him she immediately started to yell. The whole hospital could hear her very clearly yet House didn't try to stop her. He didn't care to. She ahd all the reason to in the world to be angry. All he could bring himself to say was a very sincere "I'm sorry". Cameron didn't accept it, instead she continued screaming at him. About how he was the biggest bastard in the world and how he had just ruined everything they once had.

Don't look at me that way

It was an honest mistake

Just like he had done to her heart, she threw her engagement ring onto the floor. Then she ran down the hall, out the door, and into the parking lot. She drove her car back to their apartment. After ripping up all the pictures of herself with him she could find, she gathered up a few of her personal items in a suitcase. At that moment she never wanted to see House, Cuddy, the hospital, Chase, Foreman, Stacy, or Wilson again. Broken heart and all, Cameron hopped in her car and drove off. Just like Stacy, Cameron left House but this time it was entirely his fault. Cameron was steadfast on the fact that she could never look him in the eye again, let alone marry him.

He had left exactly forty four messages on her cell phone. Not one of which was returned. When he had called her parents they had refused to talk to him. Which meant she was probably staying with them.

House wasted away the rest of the week weeping. He did not show up to work. He barely even ate. He absolutely hated himself. Cameron didn't deserve him. She never did. All he ever wanted was for her to be happy. And he ruined it. He thought of himself as a terrible person. Wilson, Cuddy, and even Foreman each showed up to his apartment but he didn't let any of them in. He just sat in his empty apartment staring at the pictures she tore in rare. Remembering what once was.

Don't look at me that way

It was an honest mistake

An honest mistake...

Cameron wasted away the rest of the week crying as well. She locked herself in her old childhood room and wept. She hated him. House promised her that he would never hurt her. He had slept with her best friend. To top it all off, he made Cuddy pregnant. She hated her too. Why did this happen? Cameron tried to find a reason but she came up with nothing. Flashbacks about how happy they were replayed in her mind. She told herself that she hated him, but the truth was she still cared about that bastard.

One week turned into two. House became dangerously depressed. He had impregnated his fiancé's best friend and in the process lost the love of his life. He was feeling deeper emotions than what he had felt when he lost Stacy. What he had with Cameron was real. The thought of having an unwanted child with someone other than his Cameron was devastating. Losing Cameron all together was completely unbearable. He grew so close to her that he couldn't function with out her.

Little did House know but hundreds of miles away in Michigan Cameron was feeling the same way. She coudn't function without him.

It was Friday, which meant he had lived three weeks without his dear Cameron. The messages on his machine piled up. Cuddy called him about hundred times to tell him that she was aborting the baby and how sorry she was. Wilson called about a thousand times, looking for any response from his friend. He even showed up at House's apartment and tried to breakdown the door. Foreman and Chase also called but nothing from Cameron.

As they days went on, he hated himself even more. He had ran out of Vicodin so his leg began to hurt almost as much as his heart: a lot. As strong as the pain was, he couldn't bring himself to go to the hospital and get another prescription. So he ordered a bottle from the Internet. One bottle was all it was going to take to finish the job. He needed to end the pain. He just couldn't live with what he had done.

After a lot of thinking, Cameron had realized she could never live with herself unless she went back there and talked things out with him. At times she hated him and at times she loved him like she once did. It had been a mistake. A very bad mistake, but a mistake none the less. She would never be able to forgive him, but she could always try. Her parents strongly urged her not to go but she didn't listen. She just walked right out the door.

He remembered their first official date. How terribly wrong it went, mainly because he refused to open up to her. He thought it could never work. Well, he was wrong. Everything changed that March night. She fell on top of him and they shared in their first kiss. He fell in love with her and she fell in love with him. It was mutual. It was perfect. After that their relationship developed. Everything was perfect even though they had some hardships, they always got through it. It is amazing how a single mistake could ruin such perfect relationship. He had loved her more than life itself and without her, there was no life.

My old friend...

I swear I never meant for this

I never meant...

She unlocked the door of their apartment. Awkwardly, she walked in. Only a single dim light lit the living room which was left in the same condition as she had left it. She walked over to his treasured piano and pressed down on a single key. It was out of tune.

"Greg!" She called into he emptiness of the apartment.

No answer.

"Greg!" Cameron yelled again. She walked then walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator which was empty. He hadn't been eating. With a frown on her face she closed the door. She then looked at the answering machine. '55 messages' it read in bold letters. Her stomach then dropped.

"Gregory House!" She cried. Cameron stormed off into the bedroom. The bed was unmade and clothes were all over the floor which was a reassuring sign that he was still here. She turned around and opened the door to the bathroom where she found him along with a finished bottle of Vicodin.

Cameron shook him violently but he didn't respond.

She was too late.

THE END

Author's Note: I am truely a terrible person. When I first started writing this fiction I wanted to make it revolutionary.I wanted to write something different. The end of summer has passed. AP classes and Varsity soccer practice has begun. I have no time...

But that is not thereason I ended it like that. Little do you know I have been planning this for weeks. I was going to waituntil a few more chapters though.I would like to say thank you to all those who read and/or reviewed! You guys were such an inspiration! This probably be my last fic for a while, but I invite you to keep in touch. My email is would never want this to happen in the show, trust me. I love House! I would never want a Cameron/House relationship anyway. I hope you all enjoy the second season!

And I leave you with the last words House said to Cameron:

"I'm Sorry" for ending it.

Credit: lyrics by the Bravery - Honest Mistake