Okay, I just wanna make something clear. I really don't mind critiscism, as long as it's CONSTRUCTIVE. Don't just tell me the story sucks, tell me why it sucks.


Shock appeared on House's face. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to say.

"We looked so much alike that he couldn't tell the difference. And he was waiting in the bushes outside the house, just out of view of the guards, and just fired right away. Apparently he had great aim too."

"Stop." House said sharply, grabbing her shoulders and leaning down to make eye contact with her. "Stop this right now. This was not your fault! You couldn't have known that he was going to be there, and you certainly couldn't have stopped him. The guy was a nutcase!"

She started to cry even more than she already had been. "But it should have been me. I should have been there that night. Maybe if I had gone with her, he wouldn't have fired at all 'cause he wouldn't have known who to shoot."

"You can't torture yourself with the what if's," House told her.

"How can I not think about it? He wouldn't have even have been in our lives if it wasn't for me."

"Okay," House said, sighing. This clearly wasn't getting them anywhere. He put his arm around her shoulders and started to steer her towards the couch. "You sit down and don't move."

"What are you gonna do?" she asked, confused.

"Just stay there!" he said, as he started to head towards the back of her apartment.

Cameron heard the fumbling of pots and pans. Oh no, don't tell me he's going to attempt to cook, she thought. Hadn't she been through enough?

Five minutes later, he emerged from the kitchen carrying of bowl of something that appeared to be very hot.

She looked at it, and then raised her eyebrows at him as he set the bowl down in front of her.

"Chicken soup?" she asked.

"Yeah, sorry, Wilson's the gourmet chef, not me." He gave her a small smile, which she returned. "Now eat, woman! I'm betting you haven't in days!"

He knew her too well. She picked up the spoon and began to eat. It was nice, to just sit there and be waited on hand and foot. Especially from House, that was rare.

He sat there watching her for a few minutes, and then decided to ask a question that had been bugging him ever since he heard her story.

"Cameron?"

"Mmm?" she responded.

"Whatever happened to that guy? The one that killed your sister?"

There was a long pause as she set the soup down. "He went to jail. Got a really long sentence too, because of who my father was. The story was spread all across the front page of the papers for months. Everyone felt so bad for our family, and thought he was a monster."

"Well, he was," House said.

"Yeah, but the people there were really cruel. And no one ever lost interest in the story. They were always hounding us too. Wanting interviews, and statements. It was suffocating."

"So what did you do?"

Cameron sighed and looked down at her hands. "You can tell me," House said, trying to meet her eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just…hard to recount." He gave her a small nod, and it seemed to give her the strength to continue.

"When Emily died, my family started to fall apart. She was the glue. Always the more levelheaded one than I was, and got along with our parents better. They understood her better, and I think they loved her more than they did me."

"I'm sure they loved you equally."

"Oh, now you're gonna start sugar-coating things?" Cameron asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

House smiled. At least she still had her sense of humour, after everything she'd been through.

"Anyway, when she died, my dad shut himself off from us. He buried himself in his work, and didn't really pay attention to me or my mom anymore. It put a strain on their marriage, and my relationship with him. I remember thinking that all I wanted was to see him show me some kind of human emotion, but he was so determined to be a robot in front of me."

"He was just trying to be strong, for your sake."

"I know that now, but back then, it just annoyed the hell outta me. So, eventually, my mom got fed up with him. He wasn't being a husband to her anymore, so she decided to leave him. She took me with her, and we moved back to the States."

"So you lost all contact with him?" House asked, surprised.

"Pretty much, yeah. My mom said that if he wanted to get in touch with me, he would. And he never did, so I just took that to mean he didn't want me in his life anymore."

"Cameron"

"I know. But back then I was a very messed up fifteen year old. I believed what I wanted to believe. And I became very cynical. I even got into drugs in the later years."

Apparently this night was full of surprises for House. Cameron into drugs? On the other hand, he knew she was damaged, he just didn't know it was this bad. He almost hated himself for questioning her that day two years ago in his office. He was just toying with her; he had never expected what he had found out about her today. It was at this point that House glanced over at the clock. Wow, he had been at Cameron's apartment for four hours. And it was getting late. "You done with that soup?" he asked.

Cameron glanced down at her bowl. "Yeah, thanks, you didn't have to do that y'know."

"Yes I did. And now, I have to get you off to bed."

"House, I'm not even tired, I just slept, remember?"

"Yes, but you also were up at least half of last night, and who knows how many other nights, so you're still behind on sleep," he countered. Why could she never win with him? "Now, go on, off to bed young lady, or do I have to carry you?"

Cameron laughed. "You couldn't if you tried."

"Wanna test that theory?" House asked, leaning down to pick her up.

"No! No! Okay, I'll go," Cameron said, cringing as he came towards her.

"That's better," House said, as she started to get up. She reached for her soup bowl, but he intercepted. "I'll take it, you get some rest."

She smiled. "Thanks. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he said, and Cameron swore she saw a small smile from him too.

House headed into the kitchen, and deposited her dish in the sink. He thought about doing dishes for her, but he quickly noticed that there weren't any dishes in the sink, so it was pointless to use more dish soap now. Good thing I got here when I did, she probably would have become anorexic. Plus, it would have been weird for him to just be hanging around her apartment while she slept. Not only creepy for her, but too domestic for him. He hadn't had that since Stacy, and he wasn't ready for it again. She knew that. He'd made it painfully clear on their "date". He shuddered at the memory. Why was he so mean to her? If he'd known…but of course, there was no way he could have known. She hid it well. At least, up until the last few days.

Turning around, he made his way out of the kitchen, shutting off the light on the way out. He decided to check and make sure she was really sleeping before he left, so he walked to the other end of the apartment. He located her bedroom easily, and carefully opened the door. When he peered in, he saw her lying in the bed, sound asleep, and it appeared to be a peaceful sleep, which satisfied him. He closed the door and headed back down the hall. It wasn't until he reached the door that he saw a problem. When he left, he'd leave the door unlocked. He didn't want to leave her vulnerable like that. He didn't like it, and it wasn't safe. And he couldn't wake her up just to lock the door behind him He looked around. What to do, what to do. Then, a thought occurred to him. He opened the door and stepped outside. Reaching up, he moved his hand around inside a light just above the door. Finally, his hands grasped a metal object. He pulled it out. Perfect. Just like Cuddy, a spare key within three metres of the door. He smiled to himself, popped his head back into the apartment, located the light switch, flipped it off, and shut the door. After locking it with the newly discovered spare key, he did something rather bold. He may have been out of line, but he didn't care. He took out his key ring and attached Cameron's key to it. Without another thought, he turned on his heel and headed down the hall, smiling to himself as he went.


The key thing is going to come into the story later on. But I'm not going to say anything more than that:) Please review!