Cameron bustled about her place excitedly. Everything looked perfect. The black and orange tablecloth, the spider webs, the paper luminaries with black cats. Perfect.
She took a stack of newspaper from the recycle bin and spread it on the table. Had to catch the pumpkin guts. A colander stood by ready to strain the seeds.
There was a bowl of candy at the door, ready for any early trick-or-treaters. A knock at the door signaled that the evening's activities were ready to commence, one way or another.
She opened the door smiling, preparing to exclaim over some small child's costume. Eric Foreman stood there with a grin. "Hey. Help me with the pumpkins. There's 3 more down in the parking lot next to my car."
She smiled. "You got five pumpkins?"
"Sure, why not. They were the last ones they had. The ugly one," he gestured at a lumpy pumpkin, "we'll give that one to Chase."
Cameron grinned. "Let's go get the others."
"And the beer." Foreman said with a smile.
"Of course." Cameron said with a grin.
After they had arranged the pumpkins on the table, Cameron looked over at Foreman. The smiled and for the first time in a while, Cameron actually felt happy. It was nice having friends come over. She hadn't been very social for a while, but having them come over made her realize how much she missed spending time with people outside work.
"So," Foreman said, "why Halloween?"
"Why what?" Cameron asked.
"Why so much hoopla? I figured you're the kind of person who would go nuts over Christmas."
Cameron laughed. "Oh, I do. Trust me. But Halloween is special. You can be someone you're not. House was right. It's a holiday when you celebrate hedonism. Christmas is a family holiday. Valentine's and New Years are for couples. There are few holidays that allow you to just go wild."
"St. Patrick's," Foreman said.
"Yes, but you don't get to dress up or get candy. Just green beer and pinches."
Foreman chuckled. "That can be fun too though."
Cameron giggled. "Definitely. But not the same."
There was a knock at the door. "It's either kids or Chase." Cameron said.
"You didn't invite House?" Foreman asked.
"What do you think?" Cameron said with a grin.
"Ah," Foreman said. "And he's not coming?"
"Why would he?" A tinge of sadness crept into her voice and she clenched a fist in an attempt to squelch the feeling. "Anyhow, let's go get the door!"
Foreman pulled his mask on, a goofy looking alien. They opened the door. "BOO!"
"Christ!" Chase said. "Do you do that to the kids? You'll give them bloody heart attacks." He had a pair of sparkly devil's horns perched on his head.
"Chase," Foreman said. "I'm pretty sure that those horns are made for women."
Chase shot Foreman a withering glare. "I know," he said petulantly. "It's all that was left. Here's your stencils, Cameron."
Cameron took them and smiled. "We should start the carving now. Hopefully have one or two set out by dark."
They started carving the pumpkins.
"You people do this for fun?" Chase asked. He had removed the top of his pumpkin and peered inside. "What on earth do I do with this?"
"Scoop it out. Put it in the colander and I'll clean off the seeds." Cameron said. Then we put the seeds in the oven and roast them"
Chase looked at Foreman. "You Americans are crazy."
Foreman laughed. "Don't look at me man. I think this is a white people thing."
The three dissolved into laughter.
"This is disgusting! You eat this? It smells awful." Chase said.
Cameron rolled her eyes. "You baby. You're a doctor. And you only eat the seeds."
"You can buy those at gas stations," Foreman said.
"Not the same thing." Cameron said. She scooped out the innards and surveyed the pumpkin critically. "So… cat or witch?"
"Cat," said Chase.
"Witch," said Foreman.
"Or," Cameron said with a grin. "A cat witch."
Foreman and Chase rolled their eyes.
Wilson showed up at House's place and pulled the crutches and bandages out of the car. He knocked on the door. "House, it's me."
Greg House opened the door.
Wilson nearly dropped the crutches. "Oh my god. I can't believe it still fits!"
House stood there in his college ROTC uniform. "Of course it fits," he said gruffly. "Get in."
Wilson walked in. "It looks loose."
House glared at him. "It's fine. Now, wrap up my foot." He sat on the couch and slowly extended his bad leg.
"What exactly is this costume?"
House sighed. "I'm a wounded foot soldier. Get it?"
Wilson groaned. "That's horrible." He leaned over to wrap House's foot and sniffed.
"Any cracks about foot funk and you get a kick in the face," House growled.
"Is that… scotch? You've been drinking!" Wilson exclaimed.
House rolled his eyes. "And this is new?"
Wilson wrapped the foot carefully. He studied House's form in the dress blues. They were loose. House was losing weight. He sighed inwardly. Then, a thought occurred to him and he looked up. "Are you… nervous?"
"What?" snapped House, irritated.
"You are! You're nervous about going to Cameron's!" Wilson was gleeful.
"Bite me!"
Wilson grinned. "Fangs are in the car soldier boy. Foot's done. Ready to go?"
House sat up and smoothed his jacket. "Not really. But I'm going anyway."
House and Wilson walked up past the many doors. "Which one's hers?" Wilson asked.
House pointed. "The one with all the pumpkins." He looked at the jack-o-lanterns. "I can guess who carved what." The corner of his mouth curled upwards as he surveyed a cute cat with a witch's hat.
Wilson rang the bell. The door opened and the three doctors shouted "Boo!"
The were somewhat startled to see Wilson and House outside.
"Trick or treat?" House asked dryly.
Cameron felt her cheeks flare up as she studied him in the military uniform.
"Dr. House, Dr. Wilson…" she stammered. "Come in, come in."
Chase and Foreman fell back, somewhat wary. House surveyed Chase's horns with a red-rimmed eye. "Nice horns there, very… girly."
Foreman and Wilson laughed, and Chase glared, biting back the urge to tell his boss to fuck off.
Cameron went into the kitchen and came back with two plates with pizza. "We already ordered. There's beer in the fridge."
"I got Heineken," Wilson said cheerfully.
"Can I have one?" Chase asked. "Foreman bought Red Stripe."
House chuckled. "And he didn't look any less ugly holding the bottle did he?"
Foreman grinned in spite of himself. "Chase thinks that the only thing that's passable is Fosters."
The doorbell rang and Cameron ran to get the candy bowl. "Boo!" She said cheerfully.
Several children squealed in delight and responded with 'trick or treat!'.
House noted how her eyes lit up as she asked all the kids about their costumes. Cameron was positively glowing. Wilson caught his eye and winked. House shot him an evil glare.
"Dr. Cameron!" he snarled. "I believe we were promised zombie movies."
Chase nodded. "We watched 'It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown'. And Cameron cried."
"I did not cry!" Cameron said indignantly.
Foreman laughed. "No, but you said that Lucy was a bitch and that Charlie Brown's neighbors were psychos."
"Well who the hell gives rocks to children. That's how serial killers are formed you know." Cameron pouted. "Poor Charlie Brown."
House shook his head. "Let me guess. You wrote him a valentine when you were a little girl."
"No," Cameron said, avoiding his eyes. She blushed.
"Let's watch Dawn of the Dead 2004." Wilson said.
Cameron smiled. "Sure thing." She bent over to put the dvd in the player. Four pairs of male eyes studied her form.
They all looked at each other as the opening trailers started. Cameron had a couch and two armchairs. Wilson sat down in a chair. Foreman sat down in the other. Chase and House glared at each other, and Chase sat down on the end. House studied him for a second, and sat down in the middle, leaving Cameron next to him.
Cameron went to the kitchen and came back with a tray. "Fresh roasted pumpkin seeds guys, and I have old fashioned popcorn balls."
"Homemade?" House asked.
"Of course." Cameron said.
He looked at her suspiciously and tried a popcorn ball. It was heavenly.
Cameron sat next to House on the couch, sitting up as stiff as a board. Foreman leaned over to her and whispered. "Relax, he won't bite."
Cameron sat back awkwardly.
House leaned over and whispered to Cameron, "Foreman's right, the boogieman doesn't bite." Inwardly House noted that her hair smelled wonderful.
Cameron's ears burned.
As was expected, Chase jumped several times. And, during a particularly tense scene, when a legless zombie appeared in the parking garage, he let out a small shriek. House was content to have Cameron's warm form sitting next to him.
The credits began to roll and Chase moved to get up. "You have to watch the credits Chase," House said. "That's when everyone else gets eaten."
"You're joking," Chase said, and turned back to the screen. "You aren't joking."
House stood up and grabbed a crutch. "Beer's in the fridge?" He asked Cameron.
She nodded mutely.
He walked over to the kitchen awkwardly, unused to the crutches.
Cameron followed him. "I didn't know you were in the army," she said softly.
He looked at her for a moment before answering. "I wasn't. This is ROTC. I'm a wounded foot soldier… get it?"
"Oh," she said, and then smiled. "I get it. Nice."
He opened the fridge and pulled out a Red Stripe. "Hooray beer," he muttered. As he closed the fridge, a book fell off of the top. He stumbled to catch it. It was 'Better Homes and Garden's Book of Halloween Fun'. He looked at the book, with its various pages dog-eared.
Realization began to dawn on him. "This just wasn't a spur of the moment thing, was it? You had this planned for a while."
Cameron blushed furiously. "I… maybe…" she stammered.
"Did you think no one would come if you asked earlier?" He asked her softly.
She shrugged, looking down at her feet. "I still can't believe you came."
House chuckled. "I can't believe it either."
Cameron looked at him with sparkling eyes. "Why did you come House?"
House studied her face before he answered. "I think you know why I came Cameron. Free pizza and beer." He winked at her and smiled a little, and headed back out to the living room.
Cameron smiled a little bit. At least he was in good enough a mood to joke.
After the third movie, Chase and Foreman stood and announced they were leaving. "It's nearly midnight," Foreman said, yawning.
"I guess we should go too," Wilson said, looking over at House. "I need to drive you back to your place.
House nodded.
They stood and turned to Cameron, who suddenly looked much smaller in the now emptying apartment.
"Thanks Cam," Foreman said with a smile and hugged her. "This was nice. We should do this again."
"Thanks Cameron," Chase said. "Now I won't be able to sleep."
Cameron laughed. "Just remember to shoot them in the head Chase."
Wilson walked over and stood awkwardly in front of Cameron. "This was fun," he said smiling.
Cameron impulsively reached out and gave Wilson a quick hug. "Glad you could make it Dr. Wilson." She said with a smile.
House walked up to her and grumbled slightly. "You have good taste in movies." He said gruffly.
Cameron looked at House unable to decide whether or not to hug him. House met her eyes, and turned quickly and walked out.
Cameron stood in the doorway and watched him leave.
Wilson dropped House off at his place and left quickly. "Julies going to be pissed," he said apologetically. "You'll be okay?"
House sighed. "Whatever, get home then before the ice queen has your bag packed on the front porch."
As Wilson pulled off, House studied the front door of his house. It was far too shimmery under the streetlights. As he grew closer he realized why.
"Eggs. Why those rotten little bastards." He reached for the handle to see a fractured yolk dripping down the side.
He stared at the eggs for almost a minute. This, he decided, was a sign. He turned around.
"He who hesitates is lost," he muttered under his breath, as he stepped towards the corvette.