Chapter 14

Cameron was getting ready for work early that Tuesday morning. It hadn't seemed like two and a half weeks had gone by since House was shot, or since she and Chase had started dating. She had said yes to Chase to put an end to the chaos her life and emotions had become. Chase was safer and more dependable than House. For what seemed like forever, House had given her all the right signals, but when pushed for a direct answer he ran. Until, of course, he had a dream. A dream! She had to admit it was romantic, but incredibly frustrating. The chaos she thought would be quelled seemed to be getting worse. Her stomach still swirled when House entered a room and Chase was trying not to look worried, although it was obvious that he was.

Stepping out of the shower, Cameron knew what she had to do today. She had made up her mind who she wanted to be with and she had to make both Chase and House understand that they had to live with the consequences. The young woman picked out her favorite outfit and put it on. While fixing her hair, she heard a knock at the door.

Once she got to the front of her apartment, Cameron opened the door. Her smile faded as she saw the man standing across from her. "What the hell happened to you?"

Chase's long eyelashes swept his cheeks as he shut his eyes and rubbed his face. "House. House happened to me."

He had brought her flowers, but they were ignored as she pulled him in and sat him down on her couch. Cameron's fingers lightly brushed his cheek as she examined the black eye. Chase grabbed her hand and held it against his face. She didn't have to question him further. Chase continued, "I went to see House last night. I told him to stop getting in your head. The conversation got heated, and he didn't like what he heard."

Cameron slipped her hand from underneath his and placed it in her lap. "He can't get to me unless I let him," she admonished.

The words stabbed at his gut, the pain being worse than that from the punch. Her words eerily echoed House's comment last night. Chase wasn't stupid. It was clear yesterday at work that their boss was affecting her, which by their logic, meant Cameron was letting him. But Chase remembered Foreman's words from the night before as well. Fight for her.

He flashed her a bright smile, beaming, "That's not why I came this morning. I thought we could get some breakfast and then go into work together. How does that sound?"

Cameron put her hand over his. "Actually—"

"I also had something else to ask you. Have you heard about the new charity ball that is going to be thrown for the hospital Friday?" Chase interrupted. He radiated all things charming as he added, "Would you be my date?"

Cameron squeezed his hand. "Chase, I need to tell you something."

………………………

House arrived early to work on Tuesday. The nurses noticed the thump of his cane on the linoleum was uncharacteristically faster, as if there was a spring in his step. Cameron and Chase had to be unraveling, and they had not even been together for three weeks yet. Although he was afraid that his manly distribution of violence would endear Cameron to Chase, he hoped that he could turn the tide.

Wilson saddled up next to House, heading for his office. "You are quite dapper and sunny this morning," Wilson acknowledged. Then his eyes went wide as he smiled in a 'fraternity brothers' manner. "Way to go. You had sex last night!"

House kept up his steady pace. "Nope. I punched Chase."

Wilson nearly tripped over his feet and could have fallen over his bottom lip, which had considerably dropped. Once he composed himself, he said, "Let me guess. Chase told you to walk away from Cameron. You told him to bite you. He got even pettier and you hit him."

House finally stopped, his cane skidding at the suddenness. "Do you bug my apartment?" he asked, scrunching his face.

Wilson waved his hands in denial of the accusation. "Only a camera in your living room. Lisa refuses to know what goes on in the more interesting areas of your home."

House raised his eyebrows. "'Lisa,' is it? Two weeks and you've already found pet names. Adorable. What's yours? 'Mr. Dimple-Bottom'?

"How ever could you have guessed?" Wilson asked dryly as they entered the elevator.

"I'm going to ask Cameron to the ball."

Wilson swayed against the elevator wall. "You better kiss her before midnight. I've heard of terrible pumpkin tragedies."

House's baby blues scolded Wilson with a stare. "To the charity ball," he sighed.

"What about Chase?" Wilson asked seriously this time. His lips had formed a small, straight line.

House twirled his cane, then said, "If she says yes, then there no longer is a Chase to worry about."

……………………

As the team gathered around the bonfire, or in this instance, the whiteboard, House could not tell how Cameron and Chase stood with each other. Both were jovial and kind to one another. They had walked into the conference room together, laughing. Chase did not even seem to harbor any violent tendencies towards House. He became more and more agitated as the morning crept by.

Once House gave them their orders and sent them on their way, he turned to stare at the dry-erase board. He put his hand to his mouth. When he did eventually turn around, he jumped at the sight of Cameron sitting there quietly alone at the table. Her arms crossed, she smirked at him.

His body grew warm as he thought about how long she must have stared at him when his back was to her. Trying to push that thought away, he asked, "Why are you still here? I gave you a job to do."

Her green eyes sparkled. House thought he could see a faint smile. "You hit him."

Doing his best impersonation of a second-grader, he whined, "His face hit my hand first."

"I'm sure," she mocked.

"He got what was coming to him," he said, remembering the words Chase had uttered to deserve the blow.

Cameron just rolled her eyes. House went to her and picked her up by the arms from her chair. She bumped into him as his face got seductively close to hers. He looked down at her lips. Cameron watched his eyes focus on every detail of her face. They finally drifted back to her eyes. He was still holding her arms softly. She had worn one of her short-sleeved pantsuits, so his fingers grazed her smooth skin. Cameron had put her hand on House's chest when he had hauled her up in order to balance herself. She could feel the softness of the cotton t-shirt under his jacket. She could just make out the texture of hair underneath the shirt. Neither could catch their breath from the impact that touch had.

"Will you go to the dance with me Friday night?" House whispered. His face shined at the irony and chasteness of the question. He had tried to say it playfully like they were still in high school, but the importance of the question to him prevented that.

Cameron looked up into his eyes. Hers were filled with surprise from the question. She took a deep breath and said, "No."

He tore himself from her and turned around. Deep down, he had thought that the past couple of days had made an impact. Now, his soul sank down further into the abyss. Maybe she didn't really want him anymore. With his back to her, he muttered, "So you're going with Chase."

Cameron shook her head. "No. I broke things off with Chase this morning."

TBC