(A/N Hopefully this isn't as bad as the title leads you to believe. House M.D. House/Cameron (What else?) Word Count: 1778)
ANGEL WINGS
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And he's afraid she'll spread her wings and fly away intentionally.
He may be a doctor, but it's animals that are his forte. They are easier to understand and to love. Dogs, cats, birds, mice, ants, fish, rats, he's had them all and more importantly, loved them all.
When people bitch and complain about how much work it is looking after a pet, it annoys him. He thinks walking a dog once a day or cleaning out a cage every so often is a small price to pay for unconditional love…. Because it is unconditional. Animals don't leave for no reason, they stay until the end. They don't go when things get a little rough. Okay, a lot rough, but still.
He wonders if she'll mind if she finds out he's comparing her to the assortment of pets he's had over the years.
Of course she won't.
But the problem is, even animals leave, albeit unintentionally. Everyone dies. Hmmm, he should add that to his list of cheery catchphrases. Now he rhymes.
He stares at the windows, oversized tennis ball in hand, just thinking. His chain of thought is broken when Wilson sticks his head in the office and tells him to hurry up, because they're all going out to get drunk.
He actually doesn't want to, but he goes anyway and it turns out to be the best decision he's made in a while.
He fiddles with peanut shells while Wilson gets the drinks, watching as Foreman and Chase talk about a case, with Cameron occasionally adding something in the conversation.
He stares down at his hands, because he can feel her looking at him and he can't decide if he likes it or not.
Wilson returns, and its drinks all around. Chase's eyes are assessing him thoughtfully and House stifles a groan when the Australian he was stupid enough to hire pipes up with the suggestion: "Let's play 'I Never'!" and then proceeds to look smugly at House.
Damn those ducklings, they're trying to figure him out.
House surprises everyone when he hears himself all but growling –
"Fine."
Wilson goes first -
"I Never had sex in the hospital."
House, Wilson and Foreman slug a shot back. Cameron looks suitably shocked and Chase looks suitably impressed. House smirks.
"Foreman, you cad!"
He just shakes his head and smiles slightly at the memory.
Now Foreman.
"I Never …" he grins, and House just knows he's in trouble - "Slept with Cuddy"
House sighs and slams back a shot, and Wilson just laughs. Chase lets out a low whistle and Foreman's smiling very loudly in House's opinion. He doesn't look at her.
Chase is up.
"I Never had sex in a clinic room –"
House and Wilson go to take a shot when Chase stops them.
"Wait! I haven't finished! I Never had sex in a Clinic room … with a patient!"
House and Wilson look at each other and resume drinking their shot.
Cameron lets out a slightly hysterical giggle.
House's turn.
"Oooookay….I Never got a tattoo."
Foreman starts to drink and everyone is shocked when Cameron knocks a shot back.
Wilson is stunned but House smirks and says softly -
"Well, well, well, Alison, what else are you hiding from us?" in a voice Wilson is sure no one but them needs to hear, which implies so much more than 'us' and 'hiding'.
Cameron's cheeks stain a soft pink.
"Where is it?" Chase asks, all clinical interest that House is pleased to hear.
She whispers because she embarrassed "On my back."
"Let us see!" says Foreman, with a slightly teasing grin on his lips.
Her cheeks flush a darker pink and she still says bravely-
"Maybe later."
House tries not to look disappointed.
She adds, "If I'm drunk enough."
House then tries not to shout for the waitress to bring another round to the table.
An hour and a half later, the table's a little worse for wear.
"I Never … had sexsh on an airplane" slurs Cameron, and all 5 chug a shot, and Cameron collapses into giggles that set off Chase.
House hasn't forgotten.
"So Cameron, are we going to see your ink?" He's trying not to sound too eager.
She thinks for a moment, tilting her head to one side as she observes him.
"Foreman first."
Foreman pulls back his sleeve and shows the mark on his arm.
"What does it mean?" asks Chase, not picking up his head from the table surface, having seen it before.
Deciding to be honest, Foreman answers –
"No idea. Got it in prison, back when I was young and stupid." he shrugs "I think it's a gang symbol, to be honest."
Cameron traces it with a fingertip and House closes his eyes and takes a large gulp from his glass.
"Do you regret it?" she says softly, dragging her eyes from the tattoo up to his face.
"Not really, because I –"
"Cameron! Stop stalling and show us yours!" snarls House, eyes still closed so he won't have to see the startled deer look as he shouted at her.
"Do I have to?" she whines, turning on the puppy eyes.
They don't work.
"YES!" all four men shout at her. She blinks,
"FINE THEN!" she huffs, but stays in her seat, her hands go underneath her shirt and behind her back as she apparently needs to unhook her bra, and Chase whimpers and House doesn't move.
She sighs, stands up, turns around and yanks up her top to her shoulders, almost flashing the bartender, and no one can say anything.
Because on her back in thick black lines is a pair of angel wings that span from the tops of her shoulders to the small of her back.
"How the fuck did I miss them?" Chase asks in amazement.
Cameron looks over her shoulder and smiles the smile that threatens to stop House's heart.
"It's called 'foreplay' Chase. Do it next time," she remarks innocently.
Chase scowls and House watches as Wilson and Foreman burst out laughing and Cameron watches House watching them, with a blank look on his face. It turns out it matches the blank thoughts in his head as all he can think of is… 'next time'?
He's just staring at her back, taking it all in. It has a bronzed look to it, her torso seems much more to look at then he'd paid attention to before. She stretches and the wings seem to flutter in a way, he tells himself, that isn't taking his breath away.
Wilson manages to spoil the mood with "Can you make it dance?"
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House has sobered up, but everyone else seemed to be too tanked to drive home, so everyone piles into his car, and with a sigh House starts to drive. Wilson is first to go, seeing as he was riding up front anyway. He waits just long enough for Julie to yank open the door before he drives away.
Chase lives in an upscale part of the town (what else) which isn't too far from him, and Foreman lives about 20 minutes from Chase. House noted with some sadness that he can't mock Foreman for living in the hood anymore, his home is miles better than Chase's, even after all of Daddy's money. Damn.
Now the only problem was currently lying in his back seat. He had no idea where she lived and she had managed to pass out on the way to Chase's.
Shit.
What the hell was he going to do? Well, he actually had a very good idea of what he was about to do, the only problem was that Cameron would freak.
Oh fuck it, and he spun the car toward his place.
Getting her out of the car was easy enough, but… Was he meant to carry her or something? Crap.
Alison Cameron is lying on his bed; in a short skirt and a tight shirt that was riding up because of the way he had basically thrown her onto his bed.
She looks wonderfully out of place in his room, lying on his brown and cream sheets.
Like a fallen angel, he thought cynically. He fought to stop himself from touching her cheek, to check he wasn't hallucinating.
He sighed and took off her high heels and her earrings, and then very, very slowly, put her under the covers on his side of the bed.
He sits on the piano bench and runs his fingers up and down the keys. He's tired, but Cameron's in his bed. He works up the nerve to be the uncaring, socially retarded bastard he knows he is, and 5 minutes later he stomps to his room. His last thought is of how much she reminds him of the lovebird he had when he was six that died of loneliness.
More than ever, because she has her own wings now, and he's afraid she'll spread her wings and fly away intentionally.
Alison Cameron wakes up with the sun in her eyes and a heavy arm pinning her to the bed. She really hopes it's not Chase. Again.
She turns her head slowly, and finds herself staring into the sleeping face of Dr. Gregory House, M.D., her boss.
Oh. My. Crap. She thinks loudly to stop her saying it out loud.
The smart part of her brain is telling her she's just fucked (no pun intended) her work life, the hysterical part is screaming at her to run, the rational part is telling her to at least check they slept together, and another part, the lesser known part was shouting 'Yippeeee!', cartwheeling and manically grinning that something had finally happened.
That was the stupid part.
She turned her head back round and moved backwards, so that her back was pressed firmly against his chest, and she closes her eyes and tries to stop herself from screaming at the crazy happiness swelling up inside of her.
Gregory House wakes up with wings pressed into his chest and stabbing pains in his leg.
He doesn't want to move but he really, really, really needs his happy pills - which happen to be on the other side of Cameron. He leans into and over her, and she moans softly, and he momentarily forgets what he's meant to be doing. He shakes his head like a dog with water in its ears and grasps his orange tube of faked normality, and he dry swallows two pills and moves back to Cameron.
He knows they can't stay in his bed forever, but he'll be damned if he'll break up his own little illusion now. He pulls her closer and goes back to sleep, not realising Cameron is very much awake… and that she's very nearly crying, for a reason she doesn't want to think about.