A/N: Sigh. This one is fluffy. Choppy. Probably angsty too. I'm having a steadily harder time writing this. Maybe it's a good thing.House is uncomfortable with his relationship with Cam, so am I.But I will keep on keepin' on, and if you like it then I did good.
Disclaimer: Nope, not today.
GHMDGHMDGHMD
House had woken around two in the morning with some pain in his leg from the awkward position he'd fallen asleep in. Using the key to the adjoining door, he returned to his room and slept the rest of the night dreamless in his own bed.
The next morning Nick picked them up for the funeral. The service was pretty basic; a few hymns, Psalm 23. Cameron's father and his family were the ones who believed in God. It was just as well, another person in her life dead and gone. The sad thing was that she'd mourned over her husband all those years ago more than she mourned over her own mother now. At least the weather was beautiful as they stood on a grassy hill saying goodbye.
After the service was over and most everyone had gone, Cameron lingered over her mother's grave and wondered what life might have been like had her mother not been sick.
"Hey, kiddo," her dad said. As different as they were, his voice always brought her comfort. "How are you?"
Cameron turned. "I'm okay, dad." Suddenly she smiled. "What about you? Any interesting dates lately? I've been so busy at work, I'm sorry I haven't called you in a while."
"I understand," he smiled back. "And no, no dates. But I see you came with one."
"Dad," she said sharply, "he is not my date." House, of course, walked up at just that moment. "Dad, this is Dr. House, my boss. House, this is my dad."
"Your daughter…saved my life a couple of months ago." House said without fanfare after shaking hands.
"I see. Well when she does call," her dad said with a wink, "Allison speaks very highly of you. I…appreciate you flying all the way out here to keep her company."
House looked down sheepishly. "It's no problem at all." He looked at Cameron as her brother came up behind them.
"Ready to go to?" Nick asked.
Cameron glanced between these three men in her life and sighed. "Nick, could you do me a favor? Just…tell grandma and everyone that I'm not feeling well." She paused. "I need some time to think. Dad, do you think you could lend me the truck for the rest of the week? I'd like to go for a drive."
"Sure, kiddo, I think I can do that. I'll take you two up to the house." Her dad nodded and went to bring his car around.
Cameron gave her brother a long hug. "I'll call you later. Thanks."
GHMDGHMDGHMD
After talking with her dad for a while and promising to be careful, Cameron and House climbed into an old army green 1957 Chevy. "Watch the ceiling," she said to House. "It's rusted, it flakes off pretty easily." They started back to the hotel.
"Well now I see where you got your good taste in music," he smiled. "And where that great smile came from." He paused. "Brace-face."
"House!" Cameron's mouth dropped. "I was in the bathroom for five minutes and he showed you a picture of me with braces?"
"It was sitting right there on the desk," he explained innocently. "Adorable. I won't tell a soul. Except Wilson. And maybe Cuddy." He pretended to think about it very seriously. "Actually, I think something like that needs to be in your file," he turned to look at her. "Why didn't you include this information in your fellowship application?"
Cameron surprised House by smacking him in the shoulder. Then she frowned and sat quietly for a moment, concentrating on the road. "Do you think it's wrong that I'm sitting here laughing when my mom's just been buried? I don't…feel sad anymore." Her voice became a whisper. "I don't know for sure if I ever did."
As they pulled into the hotel parking lot, House placed his long hand over hers on the steering wheel. "Death is different every time," he said slowly. "Therefore, it affects people differently, every time." He attempted to lighten the mood again. "See, aren't you glad I came? What would you do without a little comic relief?"
"Yeah," she said absently. "Okay, I need to grab some things from upstairs and then we can go." She walked quickly.
"Cameron!" House yelled after her. "Where are we going?"
She turned with her hand on the door and smiled that great smile. "Up to my grandparents' lake house. Just for the rest of the day. Do you need anything? Give me your key."
"No, I'll come up myself. Wouldn't want you to get any ideas," he grinned.
GHMDGHMDGHMD
After gathering what they needed for the day and stopping at the Red Apple grocery to fill a cooler full of drinks and sandwich fixings, Cameron pulled the truck south onto highway 3.
"Does this thing even get FM?" House asked, fiddling with the radio.
"Yeah," Cameron laughed. "Turn it to 95.7, they play classic rock." She stated simply.
They rode for a while just listening to music. House took in the sight of seagulls dipping in and out along the canal, rocky beaches, and the occasional boat. About thirty minutes into the ride, Cameron pointed in front of him. "That right there is Bill Gates' summer house, or something like that." She shrugged. "I guess it's impressive to some people."
The song changed to Fleetwood Mac's Landslide. House softly drummed his fingers on the door, his ears perking up when he heard Cameron begin to sing along. He looked over and Cameron blushed when she saw him smiling at her.
"Sorry," she said. "I always sing in the car. Just not usually when other people are with me."
"Not true," he replied smugly. "I've heard you before. Remember that day we went out to Belmar? Besides," he added, "your voice is decent. Don't stop singing on my account." He turned again to look out the window.
Another hour or so had them pulling up in front of a little A-frame shop. They were already on the grounds of the lake, 'Lake Cushman,' House had read on a sign. Cameron parked and hopped out of the truck. "I'm just going to get something I forgot on the way out. Need anything?" She asked.
"Nope." House watched her walk to the front door, smiling to himself. He was beginning to realize that for someone so much younger than him, Cameron had an old soul, as if she belonged in another time. But then again, she was quirky, silly, and…truly gorgeous, he thought. What am I doing?
She came back a few minutes later with a plastic bag full of…"What are those?" He asked, wrinkling his nose.
"Airheads!" She grinned. "Cheap taffy…I love 'em."
GHMDGHMDGHMD
They arrived at the cabin a few minutes later. It was a real log cabin, two stories, and solid. "My grandpa, my mom's dad, built this from the ground with help from some of his friends on the reservation. If he ever did one good thing in his life, this is it. He carved my name in the side, with my brother and my cousins' names too." She dug her hand into a planter that sat next to the front door and came out with a little plastic bottle that held a key. "There's no TV or food here, but at least we can use a real toilet," she explained as she unlocked the door.
House noticed that from the time they'd left the funeral until now that Cameron had…changed. She was like a child, wide-eyed and innocent, a characteristic he'd taken for granted when she had first started working for him.
"You're an enigma," he said as she walked through, testing the sinks and taking a rag to a cobweb here and there.
"What?" She stopped and gave him a strange look.
He closed his eyes for a moment, mentally kicking himself and wondering why now, of all times, he was starting to lose his cool. "Nothing. So where's the lake?" He finally asked.
"Let's get the cooler inside and then we'll go down. Do you feel up to walking? It's only about a mile from here, but the road is hilly."
"No, we can walk, it's okay." He realized he hadn't thought about his leg or felt any pain since that morning when he'd woken in the chair next to her bed at the hotel.
As they walked to the lake, Cameron pointed out some of the other cabins and homes that sat nestled between the pine trees. They came to the top of the first hill and saw the Olympic Mountains. Cameron smiled. "It's always so beautiful here," she sighed. "It's been way too long since I came up here. My brother and I used to ride our bicycles down these hills; we thought we were faster than light back then. I always wanted to live up here." She turned around to look at him, walking backwards for a while. "I'm glad you came along."
His eyes widened. She had said that in a dream. And that was when they finally came over another hill to the dock, the same one they had been standing on so many times in his dreams, the one where she'd said that to him.
Okay, Wilson, where are you now? He thought, secretly terrified.