One more chapter after this should wrap it up. I'd hoped to have it done before Christmas, but unfortunately that may not be possible. I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter. Let me know what you think!

Chapter 4

Cameron spent most of the afternoon reading, and she then dozed off for a couple of hours with her book splayed across her chest. She knew that she'd been tired, but hadn't realized just how tired until she woke up and the room was half-dark with a grey twilight reaching into every corner. She rubbed her hand across her eyes, feeling the disorientation that always accompanied a nap. Her head felt heavy and it ached; just a dull thudding behind her eyes. Propping herself up on her elbows, the first thing she looked at was Steve's cage.

He was staring at her from the top ledge, the last bit of daylight glinting off his black eyes.

Reaching over her head, Cameron switched on the light and then squinted, noting with amusement that Steve seemed to be doing the same. She swung her legs off the sofa, barely noticing when her book softly thudded to the carpet. A quick, slightly stumbling trip to the bathroom for painkillers and then she was back and dropping onto the sofa again.

Steve was chewing alternately on the bars of his cage and staring at her. Apparently he thought she spoke rat. Luckily, he wasn't far wrong.

"What is it? You can't be hungry. Your bowl is still full. Don't tell me you want to come out again, because that's not going to happen."

The chewing stopped and he stared at her long and hard before starting up again. Cameron rolled her eyes. House hadn't given her any instructions about whether or not the rat was allowed out or how often or how well trained he was. Steve hadn't had a problem with her holding him, and he had crawled up her shoulder, but she still wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of letting him out and then having to chase him all over the apartment if he decided to bolt.

Steve started digging in his bedding, tossing it everywhere while continuing to rattle ivory hard little teeth along the black metal bars.

"Oh fine!" Cameron exclaimed. "But if you even think about running away, I'll string you up by your little naked tail."

She pulled back the lock and opened the door, reaching in slowly to pluck Steve off the floor of his cage. She didn't even get a chance to grab him before he was scampering onto her hand, and up her wrist and forearm. She instinctively pulled her arm back and close to her chest, and Steve wandered up her arm, crawled across her chest, sniffed her neck and then settled down on her shoulder, with his head under her hair.

"Comfortable?" Cameron asked sarcastically as she leaned back, keeping her hands at the ready to grab him should he decide to make a break for it.

After nibbling a few strands of hair, Steve skittered across the back of Cameron's neck and down her other shoulder until his head was resting somewhere in the vicinity of her right breast.

"Men," Cameron scoffed, rolling her eyes. "That something else you learned from your father? Of course you're showing a lot more interest than he usually does."

Steve had an uncanny knack for looking as if he understood every word, and he cocked his head and stared into Cameron's face. Then he made a bee-line for her collar and attempted to scramble down the front of her shirt. Cameron thought she was a pretty cool rat-sitter, but she had to draw the line somewhere. That line was her neckline.

She grabbed hold of Steve's plump body just before he made good on his quest to see what color her bra was. Luckily he didn't seem too upset about being thwarted, and was quite calm as she held him up to her face and scrunched her eyebrows together in an attempt to look stern.

"Bad rat. No peeking!" she told him before placing him back on her shoulder.

Seeming to decide that it was better not to tempt fate and wind up back in his cage, Steve settled in with his body beneath the fall of Cameron's hair, and his head sticking out just below her jawline. Cameron stifled her giggles as his whiskers tickled her neck, and reached for the television remote control.

Two hours later, and Cameron had watched one movie, made dinner, and was in the middle of another movie, with Steve perched on her shoulder nearly the entire time. She was guessing that he just liked the smell of her shampoo. The fact that she was idly feeding him bits of popcorn from the bowl resting on her lap, probably had something to do with his affections as well.

She tried not to give House a second thought, but of course that was rather difficult with his rat leaving track marks along the delicate skin of her shoulders and neck. Eventually she gave up on the attempt and put another movie in instead.

It was nearly eleven o'clock when the phone rang. It was only the third call she'd received all day.

"Steve's fine," she said as she answered it. "Was there anything else you wanted?"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a second and for an instant Cameron considered that perhaps she was wrong about the identity of her caller.

"We just got back to our hotel and I wanted to check in," he didn't actually specify who he was checking in on. "So he's tucked in bed?" House's rough voice sounded just a bit taken aback. It also sounded like he'd spent the last few hours shouting at the top of his lungs and surrounded by fumes and dust.

"Not quite. Since it's not a school night, I decided to let him stay up and watch tv. I hope that's okay, Mr. House," Cameron answered in her best school-girl voice.

"That's Dr. House to you."

"Right," she answered with a snicker. "Sorry about that."

He was quiet again, and Cameron wondered if she'd overstepped. It was possible that the two glasses of wine had made her a bit more uninhibited than usual. Then again, she wasn't really sorry. Maybe a push was what he needed. He kept calling her with the pretext of asking about Steve, but kept saying things that had nothing to do with him. She was tired, physically and emotionally, and just wanted to cut to the chase this time. If he had something to say, then let him say it.

"So he's been behaving," House said finally, and Cameron sighed and wondered how many exchanges it would take this time before the conversation veered away from the rat.

"Good as gold," she reported. "We're watching a movie."

"What?"

"The Great Escape."

His laughter was unexpectedly loud and strong, and Cameron chuckled a bit herself, feeling her fingers tingle and wishing that his laugh didn't have such an effect on her.

"How were the trucks?" she asked, after he fell silent.

"Good. Big and loud, just how I like 'em."

She smiled. "Gravedigger there?"

"Oh yeah, in all its glory."

"Maybe you can get an autograph tomorrow," she said, lightly sarcastic.

"If you're lucky, I'll bring one back for you too," he replied, equally snarky.

They were both quiet, listening to one another breathe. Steve's tail swept along Cameron's collarbone as the rat shifted to her other shoulder.

"House… why are you really calling?" She cursed herself as soon as the words were out. Putting him on the spot never worked! When would she learn that? But on the other hand, was she just supposed to wait forever for him to get to the point?

"You had a good time at the last rally," House said, seeming to ignore her question.

"Yeah," Cameron replied tiredly.

"Stacy hated them."

"Oh." It wasn't a question, just a statement, and Cameron managed to keep the surprise out of her voice.

"She didn't even like it when I went with Wilson."

"Well… you know--"

"Don't try to play Little Miss Understanding," House snapped.

"Fine, then what do you want me to do? What do you want from me?" Cameron snapped back.

She was surprised when he answered softly, "I don't know."

"Oh," she said, equally softly.

"I was wrong. I'm not what you need."

"No, probably not," she said realistically.

"But for some fucked up reason, I'm what you want."

She didn't answer.

"Steve should be in bed. So should you."

"I'm not a child."

"I know that."

"I'm sure you and Wilson have a busy day planned tomorrow. You should be the one in bed."

"Just as soon as I finish off the mini-bar," House was only half-joking.

"Save a little for breakfast."

"Ha." That dry little word that told her he actually thought she'd made a clever remark.

"Good night House."

"I don't apologize," he said suddenly.

She sighed, but it was more peaceful than resigned. "I know you don't. It's not your style," but she could read between the lines better than most after a lifetime of anticipating everyone else's needs.

"Good night, Cameron. Give Steve a kiss from me." He hung up quickly, before Cameron had a chance to reply. He was getting very good at that.

Her free hand moved up to stroke the top of Steve's head, and when he nuzzled at her fingertips she smiled. She was still smiling when she put him to bed, and that smile didn't leave until she was snuggled under her own covers and half-way to sleep.

The first thing Cameron noticed when she woke up was a rustling, clicking sound. She rolled over and grinned at the ceiling. Steve was running around in his wheel. Reluctantly, she forced the grin from her face. Clearly, she was getting far too attached to the creature. She was almost beginning to consider getting herself a pet after Steve went home.

Green light emanated dimly from her alarm clock. It was only six-fifteen and the clouds outside kept her room nearly dark. With a stretch and a yawn, Cameron rolled over again and grabbed her pillow, pulling it close to her body and studiously avoiding any comparisons between it and a human being.

She didn't get out of bed until eight-thirty. She'd tried to sleep later, telling herself that she deserved a nice long rest, but her body was too used to its routine, and even eight-thirty felt late. Slippered feet scuffed along the carpet as she made her way into the living room. Steve was busy gnawing on a thick cardboard tube and seemed happy enough. He paused long enough to look at her and she gave a little wave, feeling immediately foolish, and then retreated to the bathroom.

By nine o'clock, she was showered and dressed, Steve was fed, and she was nibbling on half a bagel, poking the occasional crumb through the bars of Steve's cage and into his waiting paws. The television was on and tuned to the morning newscast. Nothing much of interest had happened during the night, but there was a short human interest story about the monster truck rally. She smiled at the sight of a stadium full of people screaming and cheering, and imagined that she saw a cane waving in the air in one of the box seats.

It was ten when the phone rang for the first time.

"Sleep well?" This time she was the one asking him.

"Well enough."

"Well, you don't sound hung over, so I guess you didn't completely drain the mini-bar."

"Nah. You know how much they charge for those little bottles? Now, if Wilson was paying for my room, that'd be another story."

"What's the itinerary for today?"

"We've got passes to go back to the stadium and check out all the trucks before they load up and head to the next show."

"Sounds like fun." It really did, and Cameron was also surprised that House hadn't mentioned Steve yet. It was almost as though they were just a normal couple of friends having a normal conversation.

"Should be. What's the weather like down there?" An odd question for him to ask, and he sounded awkward asking it, as if he couldn't think of anything better to say, but didn't want to hang up.

"Overcast, but warmer than yesterday I think."

"That's good. Steve hates the cold and I haven't had time to knit him any little sweaters." Ah, there it was.

"He seems cozy enough right now. He's made himself about half his normal size and is squeezed into that blue tube of his."

"Yeah, he likes that thing."

Cameron chuckled a little under her breath, finding it amusing that House actually knew which toys the rat preferred.

"You guys still heading back today or do I have to think of some excuse to tell Dr. Cuddy?"

"You'd suck at lying to her, so we'll be coming back today," House informed her, with a hint of snark, but mostly just good-natured humor. "It'll probably be late, though. You don't have to worry about bringing Steve over. We'll straighten it out tomorrow."

It was with no small amount of surprise that Cameron actually heard the tiniest thread of insincerity in House's voice. He really did miss that silly little creature!

"It's no trouble," Cameron answered, without even thinking. "Just call me when you're back, and I'll come over. Not like I have some big date planned for tonight." Well, that was more information than she'd planned on revealing, but too late to do anything about it now.

"Yeah." House was muttering now, as if he knew he'd been discovered having an undesirable soft spot. "I'll think about it. If you don't hear from me, don't be surprised."

"Right."

She expected House to hang up immediately, and was surprised when he spoke again.

"How's your head this morning?"

"My head?" It was aching a bit, as usual, but the fact that House was the one asking about it threw her off balance.

"Your meds. They've been causing headaches. Dizziness too."

"I didn't tell Dr. Wilson that," Cameron said quietly.

"I know you didn't. Doesn't mean it's not true."

Cameron took a deep breath before speaking. "It hurts a little. No big deal."

"Tomorrow I'll give you something that'll counteract some of the side effects."

"I'm fine. Really, I don't need anything."

"What you don't need is to suffer in silence," House said, his voice a bit sharper, or maybe it was just the change back to normal after sounding so uncharacteristically caring. From soft to snappish in under a second. Yet he still sounded different than usual, or at least different than he had in the past two weeks with his callous one-liners and abject references. He'd sounded different since Thursday. "I'll call you later," he said, without taking a breath between sentences.

And this time he did hang up, as expected, and Cameron was left staring at her phone and wondering if she would ever understand him.