Ok, so I lied! I'm sooo sorry! Lol I needed to build up the night before the Ketamine weekend party for House cuz I like 'continuitiness' in my stories.

And a special thanks to AtredesHeir for the little Melting Pot party:o)

Hope you enjoy! Jazy

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX – New Beginnings or New Ends?

A few hours later, Cameron stands in front of the mirror in her bathroom making sure every piece of hair was in the right place. Ten minutes later she gets so fed up when one strand won't cooperate that she ends up putting it in a ponytail with a clip in the back. Then panic sets in when she realizes Chase will be at the door any minute; it took her longer in the shower than she planned on spending so her time is now very limited.

"Ugh, this is ridiculous, Allie! Why are you so nervous?" she asks herself out loud. "It's just Chase; it's not like it's a date with House…"

DINNNNG DONNNNG…The doorbell suddenly chimes as butterflies flitter more erratically in her stomach. She quickly spritzes on hairspray, flattens the wrinkles out of her blouse and heads to the door, still fiddling with her bangs. She reaches for the door, takes a deep breath, smiles then opens it. Chase is standing at the door with a small bouquet of flowers in his hands, also wearing a bright smile. She pulls the door wider for him to come in.

"They're beautiful, Chase," she says as he hands the bouquet to her and she accepts them. "Let me put them in water before we leave."

"There's a 10:30 showing of the new Pirates of the Caribbean but I made 8:45 reservations at the Melting Pot. We won't have time to do both. The dinner itself will take two hours at least. I hope you are hungry," he calls out to her from the living room.

"Oh, that fondue place? Great," she answers as she comes back out with the flowers in a vase and sets them on the coffee table. "I've always wanted to go there. We can do the movie another time. That's fine. Ok, I'm ready."

The two leave her apartment and as they drive to the restaurant Cameron can't help but be more and more nervous, although she still has no idea why. Chase feels the tension but decides to keep quiet and wait for Cameron to talk to him; she remains quiet and continues to stare out the side window.

They arrive at the Melting Pot and are seated side by side in a secluded table in a corner. Cameron starts to object but then berates her self for being so stupid about it; it was just a date, after all. They'd even spent the night together, one she regretted, the other she didn't. She loved that he stayed with her and didn't try anything; she would have kicked him out if he did. She never did thank him properly for doing that.

They both watch their waiter in awe as he pours bowls of cheese, ale and herbs in the steaming hot fondue pot and then expertly blend the mixture together. The waiter leaves and again they share an awkward silence before Chase takes a fondue stick, pushes a piece of white bread onto the two spikes and brushes the bread lightly across the top of the cheese fondue.

Cameron does the same but completely dips the entire bread to the bottom of the pot, removes it then twirls the stick until no more cheese melts off before placing it in her mouth. She groans acceptance at the taste of the mixture of cheese and ale; she doesn't care too much for alcohol in her food (she much prefers it straight from the bottle on really bad days).

"How are your toes?" Chase asks after they've each had a few cubes of bread, carrots and Granny Smith apple pieces. "I've noticed you are hardly walking with any limp at all. I can't believe you didn't break any. But I'm sure you enjoyed wearing your sneakers. Nike?"

Cameron nods her head. "Still sore but they're fine," she answers quickly, almost too hastily.

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"Wilson!" a loud, whiney outburst hollers from the bed next to him. "Willie! Come out and play with Greggie Pooh!"

Wilson takes a slow, deep breath and tries to pretend he's still asleep, just as he's been doing the past hour. House has long since crossed Wilson's patience threshold.

First, House's Mom came in to tell him since he will be in good care with Cuddy over the weekend she is going home to check on a few things but will be back on Tuesday. At first he balked at the idea but Blythe would have none of that from her son. House made Cuddy promise not to tell his Mom exactly what they were doing that weekend and she obliged.

Secondly, after Blythe left and a few words from House trying to wake Wilson up again, he began singing to the tunes on his MP3 player. At first it was soft, quiet and on key, but then grew to rough, loud and completely awful.

"Annnnn IIIIIIIII will alwaaaaaays luuuv you-ewe!" House blares out the worst Whitney Houston he can muster, which is worse than Whitney singing after taking her daily intake of amphetamines, if that is at all imaginable.

"HOUSE! Shut UP!" Wilson shrieks.

"AHA! That's an all time record for you, Jimbo! You lasted 57 minutes. I'm sooo proud," House teases as he wipes his cheek for fake tears then looks at Wilson, who gives him a small grin.

"What time is it?" Wilson grunts.

"It's 10:30," House answers. "'Bout time you wake up."

"I don't wanna wake up," Wilson mutters.

"Are you a Toys-R-Us Kid, too? Kewl beans!" House grows serious then asks, "You know I'm doing the Ketamine tomorrow morning, right?"

Wilson nods his head. "Yeah...to the tomorrow thing - not the Toys-R-Us thing."

"Well, I'll be gone this weekend. You'll miss me," House tells him.

"No, I won't," Wilson replies.

"Oh, yes you will."

"Nope, sorry, I'm sure I won't miss you. I'll enjoy the peace and quiet."

"You can listen to my MP3…wait, no, you can't. You might break it. But you'll still miss me," House teases.

"No, I said I won't, now shut up."

"You say that way too much. And, YES you will." There is no playful reply from Wilson as House waits for a response which never comes. "Loser," House says, turns his head and closes his eyes.

'I may be a loser but at least I'm not a dork. And I won that one, dork,' Wilson thinks to himself before he drifts off to sleep.

House doesn't fall asleep as quickly as Wilson does. Sure, his eyes may be closed but he is far from sleepy. Only several hours later, well after midnight, does he find all the energy drained from him and finally falls asleep.

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Chase has just turned over with his back facing Cameron and he smiles when he feels her body press against his, her arm around his waist and her chin nestle against the back of his neck. He grabs her hand with his and gently squeezes it. The two never made it to dessert…

By the time the last piece of chicken had been eaten they couldn't eat another bite, regardless of how tempting the chocolate covered strawberries might have been. They'd gone back to Cameron's apartment and she made them coffee; well, she had coffee while she made Chase hot tea. They sat on the couch, neither one talking.

"Chase…"

"Allison…" The two laughed when they spoke at the same time.

"Robert, I didn't mean what I said last week."

He frowned at her. "What did you say last week?" he asked, playing dumb; he remembered every word.

"Uh, whatever I said when you came over and my toes married the bottom of my couch," she said with a laugh. "I am glad you stayed with me. Thanks."

Chase smiled at her but didn't want to press his luck by going in for a 'you're welcome' kiss.

He'd actually gotten to her at dinner when he started a sword fight with the Fondue sticks. That is until a small sliver of apple was knocked off the prong and flew to the table beside them. Both of their eyes flew open and neither one said anything at first. When the unsuspecting neighboring diners didn't say anything Chase and Cameron bust out laughing. And Chase couldn't resist her any longer.

"Uh, I think you have…," he started to say as he ran his thumb over a corner of her mouth until the dried sauce disappeared.

"Chaaaa…"

And then he went in for the kill, cutting off her words completely by pressing his lips against hers. Their kiss was sweet at first, growing with more passionate and intensity than either had felt between them. She slid her flat palm against his warm cheek and slowly pushed him away.

"Robert, would you be my dessert tonight?" she had asked, with a mischievous grin on her lips.

"CHECK!" he hollered out for the waiter…

Well after midnight, Chase and Cameron had finally exhausted each other out from their lovemaking and snuggled up to each other.

"'Night, Robert," Cameron whispers in his ear as she wraps her right leg over his and holds him tighter.

"Night, Allison."

The two were soon sleeping soundly, peacefully and completely content.