Disclaimer- Mine all mine, just in the confines of my head. Oh, and there's no Chapter 13, I'm superstitious

Outer office 1.04pm

Cameron sat alone, mindlessly staring at the open textbook. Foreman and Chase had gone to check a patient's apartment, as instructed by House, both of them eagerly seizing the opportunity to skip school for a while. Clarkson was last spotted heading in the direction of the clinic. And as for House, well, she hadn't seen him since their awkward exchange in the lab that morning. As she twiddled her pen, she recalled how she had been paged by Cuddy earlier.

Cameron had been undeniably curious, unable to think what could have prompted Cuddy to have summoned her. After all she had only passed her ten minutes earlier in the corridor. Cameron had hurried along to her office, intrigued and slightly worried. On arriving, she had narrowly avoided a collision with Dr. Wilson, who was on his way out of the office, looking flustered.

'Dr. Cameron, thanks for dropping by at such short notice. Take a seat.' Cuddy smiled reassuringly at her.

Cameron had obliged, smoothing out her lab coat as she sat down. 'No problem, Dr. Cuddy. I was almost done in the lab anyway.'

Cuddy noticed that Cameron appeared tense, wearing her trademark expression of extreme earnestness. 'Do you have any idea why I asked you to call in?', she began.

Cameron shook her head. She couldn't think of any reason whatsoever, but it must be something bad she thought to herself. Cuddy was far too busy to call people of her ranking in, normally only summoning House to exchange a volley of bawdy banter or to slap his wrists about his latest ethical breach.

'Well, I apologise in advance for raising matters of a delicate nature, but as I'm sure you understand, I have an obligation to ensure the hospital runs smoothly. It's been brought to my attention, very recently, that there is a possibility you may not be fully concentrating on your work at the moment, due to matters of a personal nature. I just wanted to give you the opportunity to confirm or deny if that's the case.'

Cameron's eyes visibly widened, genuinely taken aback by the suggestion that she may not be giving herself fully to her work, and a split-second later, having dismissed the thought as utter nonsense, felt her cheeks flush with a mixture of embarrassment and indignation that anyone should be concerning themselves with her private affairs.

She would have blushed even more had she realised that Cuddy was talking about Clarkson, as Cameron had automatically assumed she had been referring to the ongoing battle of wills and crossed wires that defined her relationship with House.

'Here.' Cuddy passed Cameron a glass of water. 'I'm sorry if this discussion has made you a little uncomfortable, but I have a duty to follow up on any concerns that may have been raised. And I felt you should have the chance to state your position on the subject. To tell me that this little thing that's going on right now is not a problem, that it in no way affects your ability to do your job.'

Cameron was torn between spilling the water all over herself, in order that she could make an apologetically hurried exit, or frantically brushing at her lab coat, which always made her feel more reassured when under pressure.

'Dr. Cuddy, I can assure you that nothing is interfering with my work. Not now, nor at any forseeable point in the future. I'm just shocked that someone would say something so unkind, to accuse me of being unprofessional.' She felt herself getting emotional, tears pricking at the back of her eyes, and struggled to regain her composure. To ensure they remained there, not spill out onto her cheeks, and make her appear reactionary and hormonal.

Cuddy, having sensed that Cameron had not taken the criticism levelled at her particularly well, tried to lift the mood slightly. 'I'm sure no malice was intended on the part of the person who brought this issue to my attention, and I certainly don't consider you to be unprofessional. I realise you are a very talented and dedicated doctor. But, you're also human, and I know how things sometimes happen to us, over which we have no control, things that cause us momentarily to take our eye off the ball. Skew our judgement, derail out train of thought.'

Cameron was still looking disturbed at the topic of discussion. She was only half-listening to Cuddy now, as she racked her brain as to who could have approached her and planted the seed of doubt in Cuddy's mind. As far as she could recall, only Foreman and Chase had ever known how she truly felt about House. Yes, Wilson and Cuddy had been aware of their date, some six long months ago now, but they, as far as she knew, had not taken it terribly seriously, regarding it as a stunt she had pulled in order to make House pay for being such an as over the Vogler thing. For making her sweat about who he had chosen to fire. For accepting her resignation. Why would Chase or Foreman have spoken to Cuddy now, there was nothing to be gained from it. Apart from embarrassing her, but they knew of plenty of other, far more childish ways to do that. It didn't add up.

Having got herself a glass of water, Cuddy returned to her chair, and leant forward on the desk, trying to regain Cameron's full attention. 'Dr. Cameron, you are not the first doctor that has entered into a relationship with another doctor, nor will you be the last. And clearly whatever you choose to do outside this hospital in your own time, is none of my business. You've assured me that your feelings and the afore-mentioned thing you have going on, in no way compromises your ability to be a good doctor, and I believe you. And because of this, I have no real need to discuss the matter with him. I just want you to bear this conversation in mind and know that, should you feel the need to talk to anybody, my door is always open.'

Cameron had flinched at the word relationship. Cuddy thought she was in a relationship with House? Why would she think that? Had House set her up and Cuddy fallen for the bait? Or had that hopeless romantic Wilson been meddling, playing Cupid. House wouldn't appreciate this if he found out. And would tease her mercilessly. Mind you, Cameron thought, Cuddy hadn't dismissed the idea of them being together as a couple, so long as it stayed outside the four walls of the hospital. She hadn't said, 'what are you doing, are you mad, steer clear altogether.' And thankfully, Cuddy had stated that she wouldn't be speaking to House. That, at least was good news. He need never know about this conversation. Allow her time to clear her thoughts, put her house in order.

Cuddy, still under the misapprehension that Cameron believed her to be talking about Clarkson, pleased that she had resolved the issue and in her mind, proved House wrong, began to shuffle some paperwork, which Cameron took as a hint that the meeting was now over. Cameron thanked Cuddy for her frankness and left the office, making her way to the bathroom, to steady her nerves before returning to the outer office.

Cuddy, fully satisfied in her mind, that Cameron was not acting all lovestruck over Clarkson as House had initially suggested, began to consider the case that Wilson had stated just prior to Cameron entering the room. That House, as Cuddy had correctly assumed, had a bad case of Cameron, and was unwilling or unable to act upon it. That he may need a little help, some gentle nudging. And that if anyone was letting their emotions affect their ability to think straight and therefore allowing it to impinge on their professional capabilities at work as a result, it was House, not Cameron. Guilty on all counts. And if something wasn't done about his unrequited feelings towards Cameron, Cuddy feared it was only a matter of time before it would all get very messy indeed.