You and I

For I never knew the art of making love

Although my heart aches with love for you,

Afraid and shy I let my chance go by

A chance that you might love me too.

Michael Buble, "You don't know me"

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He watched her in his own way. He was like a falcon watching it's prey; ever alert and watchful. But in true Housian fashion, he watched surreptitiously so that no one would guess that perhaps there was a bit of vulnerability and feeling left in him. The only person who was unconsciously allowed to catch a glimpse just shook his head and smiled at his best friend's soft stance. Then went and convinced Cuddy to go get a drink with him. This was one time when Wilson felt he owed it to House to distract Cuddy; at least this diversion would be for all the right reasons as opposed to House's usual reasons for escaping Cuddy during clinic hours.

At the departure of Wilson, House glanced around and gave a theatrical sigh, destined for everyone at his table to hear. All three of his protégé's rolled their eyes and the other people at their table just ignored him and continued on with their dull conversations. It was 11.30 and by this stage they were all hard pressed to fight boredom even in their slightly drunken states. Foreman and Chase struck up a conversation about the treatment of their latest patient which left House and Cameron - who for once was not interested in joining in - to amuse themselves. He was mentally checking through all the latest insults he could use on her and decided to make a dig about her HIV scare. Just as he went to open his mouth Foreman, who had noticed Cameron becoming tenser every second, abruptly stood up, leaving House's words hanging in his mouth, to his great annoyance. He'll pay for that one on Monday he grimaced in his head, with no small amount of pleasure.

"Excuse me for a moment. Allison, I believe Wilson wants to speak with you."

"What for?" she asked with a frown.

"Oh, probably nothing. Most likely wants to ask you about some lab results," replied Foreman evasively as he left the table. So with a frown in place, Cameron also left the table in search of Wilson.

Just as House had finished glaring at Chase and making him squirm, they both returned to the table.

"He didn't ask for me at all," she accused him suspiciously. "And why were you talking to the DJ?" She had her hands on her hips, which looked very comical seeing as she was glaring at a man a good head taller than her. Foreman just shrugged innocently and muttered something about his mistake and boring music. However, the whole interchange had not gone unnoticed by House, who had been watching Foreman discreetly but intently talk to the DJ for a brief period of time.

"Something's going on" he thought but stayed silent all the same.

10 minutes later had Cameron fiddling with the stem of her glass with tense fingers and Foreman checking his watch, while Chase was staring drunkenly at the centrepiece in wonder. House again when to remark on Cameron's health or lack of it when the music changed all together. It went from the usual, boring, formal tunes generally played at banquets to the catchy strains of Glen Miller's 'In the Mood'. Cameron's head bolted up immediately.

"Erik," she exclaimed delightedly, her tension all but melting away.

"What?" he said innocently, before breaking into a big grin and winking at her. "I couldn't let a killer dress like that go to waste!"

House was thoroughly confused by the sudden change in atmosphere at his table, and even more disturbed by some interesting feelings running through his head at the thought of her responding so enthusiastically to another man. Albeit, it was Foreman. Hmmm, good point. No need to worry there; he'd never seen two non-related people act so much like inseparable siblings in his life. However, all those thoughts froze in his head and changed in an instant.

With the most seductive laugh he had ever heard escape Cameron's throat, she accepted Foreman's offered hand and he gently tugged her on to the dance floor, both of them laughing the whole time.

Although this was quite a prestigious medical function attracting about a thousand people each year, there were very few people on the dance floor, giving Foreman and Cameron plenty of room to experiment. Although House was initially alarmed (and maybe a little jealous) at their closeness, he quietly snickered as Cameron feebly protested Foreman's attempts to get her to dance, thinking all the while how she wouldn't ever resist if he pulled her on to the dance floor.

His ego boosted, House went to turn away and drown himself in more alcohol when a flurry on movement caught the edge of his eye. Startled, he turned around and his jaw would have dropped to the floor if he was anyone other than House.

They were dancing together. Like pro's.

In fact, they were so damn good, that the whole hall had momentarily gone silent as they became the entire centre of attention. Then admiration and even a bit of applause went out to them before most people returned to their conversations. However, House didn't care what all those people thought. He didn't even hear their comments or more-than-occasional wolf whistle.

He was too mesmerized.

They went through a serious of complex manoeuvres and their whole bodies were totally involved and in tune with each other. Cameron let her head fall back as she laughed when they perfectly completed a particularly hard spin that they had practiced for weeks. She was rewarded by Erik's grin before he repeated the spin and led her through a series of swing out's. She had no idea that they were the centre of attention, which was a blessed thing in Foreman's opinion as if she knew, she would go all shy on him and he rarely had the pleasure of seeing her relaxed like this outside of dancing lessons. And in his opinion, it also had another huge advantage.

House was clearly jealous. If looks could kill, Foreman thought he would have travelled to hell and back and still have some poison to spare.

So he smiled and laughed louder, held her closer, threw in a few of his more sexy moves and was rewarded with a few sultry looks on her part. Erik had loved Allison the moment he had met her, but as a friend and sister; no more than that. But because of their closeness, trust and mutual love they were able to pull of these looks and moves comfortably in each other's presence and he took full advantage of that, flaunting her in front of House. A thought suddenly struck him and he began to move her towards where Wilson was sitting.

Wilson had been admiring their style and tapping his feet in time to the music when he noticed Foreman winking at him. With a grin of understanding he excused himself from Cuddy, cutting her off mid-sentence, and discreetly stood near the couple, counting himself in.

Foreman grabbed Allison's arm and she breathlessly laughed, "You are such a devil" before he sensually grabbed her waist and spun her rapidly 10 times in quick succession. He let go of her hand abruptly and her breath caught at the unexpected absence, causing her to fall backwards. Just when she should have hit the floor, a strong and supportive hand caught her gently under her back and finished the dip. She looked up into the mischievous eyes of Wilson and squealed with delight, before he laughed back at her and seamlessly led her into the dance once again. She shot a poisonous look at Foreman, causing all three of them to laugh. By this stage, many of the men who had witnessed the exchange and knew how to dance were starting to form a circle around them. To her initial trepidation and then to her immense enjoyment, her partners started swapping themselves around and it became a game of who could take her hand most inventively. She let loose peals of laughter that rippled through the air, distinctive against the fuller sounds of the men laughing. By now, everyone had given up all pretence of conversation and were crowding around them or watching from afar. Many people were even clapping to the music.

For Cameron, the feeling was invigorating. In her ever-increasing depression since House had rejected her, she had forgotten how to live. But now, with all of her senses reawakened and her sensuality out in full force, she revelled in the feeling of being alive and resolved to remember this night and learn to live again and be happy. She had never felt so sexy and wanted and if House couldn't see a good thing right under his nose, well good riddance to him. As that last thought went through her mind, a slight frown unconsciously marred her delicate features. Foreman, who happened to be her partner, guessed its origins and pulled her into a series of spins that had her laughing again and the moment was forgotten. She twirled around and around and around and she couldn't keep the shine and excitement out of her eyes. She was so happy to be alive and wanted the whole world to know it and see it!

And so song after song blared through the speakers, with every song bringing a little bit more breathlessness, another dip or two and a few more touches; skin on skin, flesh on flesh, body on body. Everyone laughed and grew more and more excited and Cameron and her partners' became more flushed and energetic. Everone, except one man who chose to nurse a double whiskey instead.

There was no doubt about it now; House was completely jealous. What he was jealous of, he wasn't quite sure. It was the whole damn thing. Her. Them.

And that made him annoyed. Very annoyed.

Why the hell should he be jealous? He asked himself angrily. Hell, he was the one who had given her the clearest 'no' ever spoken in history. He should be happy that she had finally gotten over him, as was very apparent by her current body language. He should be congratulating himself on his escape.

But he wasn't doing that at all. In fact, if he was honest with himself, he was mourning his escape.

And so the night wore on. House was aware of two things only; his drink and her. In between the two, he also shot deadly glances at his team members for dancing with her, but saved the most poisonous ones for Wilson who simply shook his head again and laughed. To hell with you, Wilson thought, you've put her through too much shit House and she deserves the right to be happy at least on this one night.

Finally, 2.30 rolled around and House was still sitting in his seat morosely watching the ice cubes in his fourth whiskey swimming around in the amber liquid. There were only a handful of people left, and Foreman was slowly leading her around the floor to the soft, gentle notes of 'I've got you under my skin'. At the conclusion of the song, he gave her a final twirl and taking her hand, led her back to their table. She flopped down rather gracelessly onto her chair and closing her eyes, laughed softly to herself. Foreman, pointedly ignoring House, roused Chase from his drunken stupor.

"Chase my man, time to get you home".

Chase made a noncommittal grunt and attempted to heave himself off his chair before falling over. Foreman caught him just in time and Cameron hurriedly stood up to lend a hand. She laughed. "He is so drunk Erik, there is no way he's going to be able to drive home."

"Well, we'll just have to drag him into my car and I'll take him home."

Cameron shrugged her shoulders. "Sounds like a plan to me".

"Are you coming home with me?" he asked her.

"Nah, I'll follow later. I brought my car along," she said boldly. Both men understood that she meant to stay a bit with House, but while it put a slight frown on both men for different reasons, such an exhilarating night had given her a lot more courage than she would normally possess.

"Suit yourself," he said with another shrug and together they hauled a feebly protesting Chase to Foreman's car.

That left House by himself. Wilson ambled over as House stretched out and yawned.

"So" Wilson said and left it at that, unsure of his reception.

"So" was all the reply he got.

Suddenly Wilson chuckled. "It seems you aren't as against her as you thought." Seeing Cameron coming back his way while House attempted to ignore him, he continued, "Well, now is your big chance. See you tomorrow Greg." House grunted and took a long swig from his whiskey. Wilson shook his head and made his way to where Cameron was. "You looked absolutely radiant tonight Allison. I had a wonderful time with you". He received a chuckle in return, "I had a fantastic time too James. Thankyou." and with that, he pulled her in close and gave her a quick hug and a kiss, on some part for his sake, on some part for hers but mostly, to piss off House. With a wink of encouragement at her, he left.

Cameron took a deep breath then continued to the diagnostics table and sat down, sipping at her water. Now she was here, so close to him and him acting so stony, her boldness seemed to have disappeared and she was beginning to regret her decision. There were very few people left now and they were mainly lying around unconscious on the tables. The only people awake, apart from House and Cameron was the DJ and the cleaners, who were out in full force. Just when the silence between them was becoming unbearably uncomfortable, Cameron decided that enough was enough. She turned around to gather up her purse and wrap when his voice cut through the air.

"This is one of my favourite songs, a classic."

She cocked her head and listened. Michael Buble's familiar rendition of 'You and I' was softly playing through the speakers. She hadn't even noticed; it had been too long since she had heard it. Memories of long ago when she was a child flitted through her mind; her parents dancing slowly together in the living room, in their own world, while she peeked through the doorway.

"Mmmmmm" was all she said.

House was unsure what to do. He wanted to ask her something, anything, but the misanthropic part of him refused to engage her. But he so desperately yearned to stand apart from the rest of them. He glanced at his leg, at her, eyes dreamy, lost in a memory and made a decision. He felt around for his Vicodin and threw two back down his throat.

"Will you dance with me?"

She closed her eyes. Words spoken from a dream, surely! Oh, how she had longed for a moment like this. It must be the alcohol speaking. She opened her eyes and glanced at him and her eyes widened in surprise as she realised that not only was this not a dream, but that he was staring at her intently; yet he seemed so unsure of himself at the same time.

She could have said many things. She could have made some excuse regarding his leg. She could have just left. She could have ooed and ahhhed before accepting. She could have yelled at him about the awful way he had treated her in the past few months.

"Yes."

He stood up and awkwardly offered his hand. She smiled shyly and again let herself be led onto the floor.

He placed one hand around her waist gently pulling her in close while keeping one hand clenched on his cane. One small, soft arm snaked around his neck and the other one gently covered the hand on his cane. He unconsciously relaxed his hand and they began to move very slowly around, mainly on the same spot. He pressed his head closer to hers and inhaled her scent. Such a sweet mixture, from her perfume to the coconut of her shampoo. He slowly traced patterns on the satiny skin of her back, marvelling at her smoothness. She caressed his hand and the back of his neck, intoxicated by his musky scent. Neither of them paid any attention to the time, so absorbed were they in each other. Before they realized, the climax of the song arrived and the passion with which it was sung seemed to amplify their own. Suddenly, he dropped his cane and, with a tender hand behind her to support her spine, he gently lowered her into a dip and gazed at her for a moment.

Then his lips were on hers. Soft, yielding, with a faint hint of whiskey. Her lips parted and they explored each other, slowly, sensually. In time to the music. They were perfectly content; neither deepened the kiss, they just enjoyed the moment, the implications, the taste of each other. And House was struck by an odd thought.

This felt so normal, so right. Like this was a practiced dance they had performed their whole lives.

With a sigh, he ended the kiss and brought her to her feet. They just stood there, not touching, but not pulling away, eyes closed, simply content to be near each other. After both an age and an instant in time, he pulled away and picked up his cane. Wordlessly, they walked back to the table where she collected her things and then they headed towards her car.

"Goodnight House," she whispered into the night.

He reached up and caressed her cheek. Her eyes closed and she leaned into his touch for a moment. Then she opened her eyes and after a brief glance at him, she lowered herself into the car. He watched her leave, standing there for a long time afterwards; his fingers tingling slightly form her touch.

"Goodnight" he whispered back to her. A sudden breeze swept past him, carrying his words after her. A promise for the future, perhaps. But for now, one kiss, one caress, was more than enough for him. And more than enough for her as well.