Chapter 17:

Author's Note: Ok ok! You've beaten another chapter out of me  LOL! It's quite fitting because right now I have to take a two week Microsoft course so this is uh …. Homework! LOL Not really, but enjoy anyway! Also FYI, Mr. and Mrs. Wonderful are those funny dolls that you can buy at novelty stores so the comment House makes isn't meant to be random, take a look for those dolls, THEY ARE HILARIOUS!

Cameron watched a muttering House with an amused smile as he pulled the car onto her street only fifteen minutes after they had left the hospital. She had completely forgotten about her goldfish "Fishington" in his little tank on the dresser, and insisted that they go and pick him up. She wasn't going to leave him there while she was staying with House and she couldn't keep asking her landlord to feed him every day.

"So what's next?" asked House impatiently, "are we going to go to and get some pink paint and wallpaper so we can redo my bedroom?

"No, but now that you mention it, I think we should go get some bubble bath and smelly soaps for the bathroom." Cameron laughed when House gave her a petrified look. "I'm just kidding House, don't worry. We can order pizza, drink beer and fart; all without getting off the couch if it makes you feel better."

"Dr. Cameron! I'm shocked! Such disgusting notions coming from your pretty brain, I think I'd better check your meds." House smirked and was about to suggest they go rent some porn, when he saw the flashing blue and red lights of multiple police cars in front of Cameron's building.

"Mr. and Mrs. Wonderful going at it again?" House tried to make a joke but sensed Cameron stiffening in fear as the detective from the hospital walked over to the passenger side of the car and motioned for her to unroll the window.

"Dr. Cameron, we suggest you find somewhere else to stay tonight," the detective said seriously, "we have a situation here."

"What's going on?" Cameron asked him quietly, already knowing the answer.

"It seems the man who robbed that store and assaulted you used the ID from your wallet to locate your apartment and broke in. Your landlord went to feed your fish and found him there. He managed to escape on foot, but we are devoting all our resources into finding and arresting him promptly.

Cameron nodded quietly, unable to speak. House saw that her hands had balled into tight fists and she was staring out the windshield, a blank look on her face.

"Thanks detective. You have my number if you hear of anything." House rolled up Cameron's window and quickly pulled away from the curb and chaos. He didn't say anything until they had driven five minutes away from her house and onto the highway leading to his apartment. "So, what should we get? Double cheese or double pepperoni?"

Cameron stared back at him, confusion etched across her face. "What?"

"The pizza, what type do you want? We could get double cheese and pepperoni if you like. I'm buying." When she didn't answer, House let it go and turned on the radio to a soft rock station, hoping to calm her nerves if only a little bit.

Twenty minutes later, House pulled her car up to his much quieter building and cut the engine. They sat in silence for a few seconds before House put his hand on her knee, causing her to jump and look up at him, startled. "Come on Cameron, let's go inside."

She nodded and unbuckled her seatbelt, taking a shuddering breath. "Ok, let me just get my bag."

"No way, I'll get your bag later. You need to get inside and lay down, it's freezing out here." House opened his door and got out, his body immediately pounded by the freezing rain and wind. He half-limped, half jogged over to the passenger side and opened the door, offering his hand to her. Shaking with the effort, Cameron wrapped her icy fingers around his and struggled to pull herself out of the seat without leaning too much on him.

They slowly limped to the front door and blew inside with a great gust of wind, the rain dripping from bodies and making a small puddle on the floor. "Here, you have to get out of this wet jacket." House removed his coat and hers, throwing them on the bench beside the door. "Come in and go sit on the couch while I turn on the fireplace."

Cameron did as she was told and sank into the cool leather, a chill radiating its way throughout her body. Grabbing the wool afghan and wrapping it around herself, Cameron eagerly awaited the gas fireplace's warmth.

"Cameron? I'm just going to go get the bag okay?" House limped into the living room, expecting to find her sitting on the couch filing her nails or doing something equally girly and was shocked to see she had already fallen asleep under his afghan. He quietly went outside, shutting the front door softly behind him.

Several hours and several beers later, House sat fingering the ivory keys on his piano silently. Cameron hadn't stirred from her slumber and he was starting to get very bored and very hungry. Quietly, he rose from the bench and grabbed the phone off the coffee table. He ordered two large pizzas for delivery and sank into the armchair beside her; as if his careful gaze could keep her safe from the madman.

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A gentle shake on her leg roused Cameron from a deep and dreamless sleep. "Come on Snow White, you have to eat some yummy pizza!" House pulled the blanket off her body and shoved a paper plate with two slices of the delicious pizza under her nose. "Eat up! It's good!"

"House? What time is it?" Cameron rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took the plate from him, setting it on her lap.

"Almost eleven. You've been sleeping all evening."

"Oh." Cameron sighed, "You know House, this looks great but I really don't feel like eating; I just want to go to sleep. Maybe in the morning?"

House studied her pale complexion worriedly. She looked completely drained and beaten. Her bruises were beginning to lighten from black to a dark yellow and brown, but her face was drawn and the light was gone from her eyes. He saw that her bottom lip started to tremble under his gaze and she took a deep, shuddering breath.

She sensed his concern and tried to reassure him that she was fine, just tired, but he didn't believe a word she said. Cameron may have been tired (after all she had gone through a traumatic few weeks,) but he recognized her deeper struggling with the depression and anxiety that he himself had witnessed to in his own life over the years.

"Ok. But will you at least have a glass of milk?"

She nodded and took the cup he was offering her, drinking the nourishing liquid slowly. She swallowed the whole thing and replaced the empty cup back on the coffee table. "There. Happy?"

He nodded. "Thank you. Let's go to bed now."

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Cameron lay on her good side in the dark and silence of House's bedroom, staring at the numbers on the digital clock slowly tick later and later. They had gone to bed nearly two hours earlier and House had immediately fallen asleep, his breathing steady and reassuring. Despite his presence, Cameron still felt agitated and nauseous. Can he find me here? Can he? The question kept circling in her head, tormenting her every living cell. All the while she was in the hospital; Cameron pretended that she was safe in the walls of her sanctuary, that no one could harm her there. Now, as the gravity of her situation weighed on her, terror filled her soul. This guy was obviously not finished with her and was desperate enough to enter a locked apartment in the middle of the day. He was ruthless.

Slowly, delicate tears tracked down her face, over her nose and onto the pillow she lay on, staining it with emotion. She sniffled, almost inaudibly, but she felt House shift beside her and his hand move to her hip. He rubbed the skin there through her pajama bottoms in soothing circles. She wiped at the tears on her face roughly, trying to stop the flow as he moved his hand to her neck and kneaded the knots apart. She sensed him moving closer and he kissed the side of her neck, burying his face in her hair. He wrapped his arm around her chest tenderly, making sure not to bump any of the bruises or scars and whispered to her, "It's alright, just let them come out."

With the spoken invitation, a small sob wracked her body and Cameron covered her eyes with her hand, the emotions raging in her coming to the surface. House held her through her release, never intruding but just letting her cry. She had no idea how long they lay like that, her sobbing into the pillow and him whispering comfort into her ear, but slowly the intensity faded and she was left a sore and hiccupping woman.

House, realizing she was beginning to calm down, gently turned her onto her stomach. Shushing her when she protested, he got up and made his way to her side of the bed and sat down beside her. He laid his hands on her softly and began to massage her neck and shoulders. She moaned in appreciation as his skilled hands eased the kinks and tension from her back, restoring a feeling of peace within her. For nearly thirty minutes he worked on her and Cameron briefly wondered where he had learned that amazing technique before she drifted off to sleep.

House noted the change in her breathing and gradually he smoothed out the muscles in her back and covered her up with the duvet. He climbed back into bed and spread the extra blanket over the both of them before settling back down into the warm bed. He resumed his position wrapped around her and kissed the exposed flesh of her neck, easing himself back into sleep surrounded by her scent.

EXTRA AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really hoped that was an okay chapter! I wrote it over two days (day one being normal and day two found me sitting here with a bad cold and fever so I hope i made some sense! LOL! I hope you liked it!)

T.B.C….