Turn Around

By:

Summary: Sometimes, you really don't know what you have until it's gone. This story tells of relationships between House and Stacy, House and Cameron, and Cameron and Chase, and how it affects the staff of Princeton-Plainsboro.

Author's Notes: This is a story co-written by me and Lijep It was inspired by emails with my new friend Lijep and our many conversations about the aspects of our favorite doctors many relationships. It will be updated as often as we both have enough free time to write and update. I hope you like it!

JacobedRose

OK, I guess I have the same things to say! This is really interesting for us to write because we basically send emails to each other with our ideas in them and me formatting it all together on my computer. PLEASE R & R and let us know how it works! We'll love you forever I swear! And my profuse apologies for not updating my other stories. I have writer's block for both! Sorry!

Lijep

Disclaimer: Neither of us own them…how unfair!

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Chapter 1:

Turn Around

"You have to go see Stacy," Cuddy told House in her usual tone of voice.

"Why?"

"Because you're being sued…again. Now go see Stacy," she said, pointing down the hall towards her office.

"But I have a case."

"And since when do you care? Go, now."

Cameron had watched House leave the diagnostics room, talk with Cuddy, then limped down the hall towards Stacy's office. She knew he was being sued again, nothing new there, but that was not made her linger. It took her a minute for her breathing to return to its normal patterns.

She hated Stacy. She knew it was wrong, and probably uncalled for on her part, because Stacy had never done anything to her directly. She had even returned Cameron's own style of niceness one time. However, being nice to Cameron didn't make her like Stacy any more. And she knew why she didn't like her. Cameron didn't like Stacy because of House. Cameron didn't like Stacy because of what she had done to House, but it went deeper than that, mostly because of the fact that no matter what happened, House didn't want to seem to let Stacy go.

In some way, she guessed she was indebted to Stacy because she had saved House from himself. However, there were things she couldn't understand. Was there still the glimmer of hope that something could happen, or had Stacy stolen him completely away? The thought made her eyes start to sting and a small shudder to go throughout her body.

"Are you all right?" Chase asked coming up behind her.

Cameron whirled to face him, and nearly fell over. "It's nothing. We need to get back to work."

Chase slipped an arm around her waist and Cameron grimaced. It was true she had once had feelings for him, and yes she had used those feelings to her own advantage, but now, somehow she couldn't completely forgive him for his betrayal, maybe someday, but not yet.

She had to resist throwing another look over her shoulder at the tall handsome doctor that preoccupied her thoughts as they continued down the hall.

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House entered Stacy's office with an annoyed glare, due to the fact that he had much more interesting things to do at the moment, including playing his GameBoy and putting new music on his iPod. Also, he and Stacy weren't exactly on the best terms since he had found and read her file. On the other hand, he knew Cuddy had warned Stacy not to let this affect her work and House didn't want to make this harder for her, at least not yet.

Stacy returned his look, not even bothering to comment on it, "Sit down. That patient who came in last week with ear infection said he's suing you, so I need to know exactly what you did," she ordered, directing House into a seat.

It was the fact that she ordered him that kept House on his feet, "Well, hmm, I haven't been to the clinic in so long, I don't think I remember. Oh wait yes I do, he came in saying his ear hurt. I diagnosed and treated him, what's the big deal? I'm always threatening to be sued anyway, just wave this off like you wave the rest of them off. Now we have bigger fish to fry, I can tell you didn't sleep last night. Not only did you not sleep, you smell like cigarette smoke, meaning you were upset. Tell me about it, would you?" he said, smiling somewhat triumphantly and resting his free hand on her desk.

Stacy glared fiercely at her ex, "If you think I would do that, you have bigger problems than all of us thought. Now tell me about the patient."

House rolled his eyes impatiently, "It really bugs you doesn't it? That I read your file. And if you really want to know, it wasn't very surprising. I could have predicted most of it by all those subtle glances you keep sending my way."

Stacy lost her temper, slamming the file she held onto the desk, "Don't flatter yourself, House. If we are going to have this conversation, why don't we talk about you? We'll talk about you and Dr. Cameron. It's no secret she loves you, and call it an ex's intuition, but I think you love her too. You would have been dating her if I hadn't come along."

House stared at her in shock and an edge of anger, "You are obviously slipping, because Cameron's going out with Chase. Sorry, next question," he finished smugly.

Stacy stood from her desk so her face was inches from House's, "I would bet everything I own to say that it won't last. She's not happy, can't you see that? She's dying inside House, and since no one she knows has died recently, I'm guessing it's because of you." Sitting down again, she returned to her file, "Now what did you say to Mr. Jones?"

And House sat, for once, rendered into silence.

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"Cameron, can we at least talk?" Chase asked softly while they were sitting alone in the diagnostics room.

"There's nothing to talk about," Cameron insisted, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Chase.'

"You've been avoiding me, and when I'm actually around you, you're complaining."

Cameron sat down in her chair and stirred sugar into her coffee, silently wishing that her spoon would dig her a tunnel into the ground, where she could hide.

"Have you ever had something, but didn't realize you wanted it until someone else had it?" she asked, removing the spoon from her coffee and taking a sip, her eyes on Chase.

"I guess so," Chase said after a moment's hesitation.

Cameron glared at him levelly, her pretty green eyes burning holes in his head. He rubbed his eyes with his left hand, then rested his hands on the table. "Are you trying to tell me something here?" he asked.

"I don't know," Cameron said. "I just, I'm not sure if I can handle a relationship right now, Chase."

She got up and left the room, leaving him to contemplate her words and finish off her coffee.

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Cuddy had gone back to her office after sending House off to see Stacy. She logged onto her computer and saw an email from Stacy immediately, Subject: House. Cuddy sighed and opened the email, waiting to read the news it contained. It contained the information that Stacy was upset over something that House did, but wasn't mentioned at all in the email.

Cuddy sighed and hit the reply button on the email, wondering what House had done this time to get Stacy so upset.

Stacy sat in her office on the verge on tears when the reply from Cuddy popped up. It said that Cuddy would take care of everything, but that didn't calm Stacy down at all. Her conversation with House had upset her so much, that she just had to get him away from her. It upset her because she knew her chances of having House were slipping away quickly, because he was in love with Cameron. She clicked the reply button, typing a quick email to Cuddy that she could handle it herself.

Cuddy received Stacy's reply and deleted it somewhat worriedly. She felt the tension between the staff rising, but she didn't need to get involved since nobody's work seemed to be suffering. She logged off of the computer, all thoughts of work gone from her head.

Goodbye.

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A/N: R & R please! LOVE YOU!