Disclaimer: DOH

House taps his fingers against his lips, partly to bide the time and partly because the little kid on the examining table across the ER is doing the same. It'd seemed like a fun thing to do five minutes ago, but now it's irritating even him and what's worse is he can't stop. Turning his attention away from the kid, he focuses on Cameron beside him, elbow deep in charts.

She's been ignoring him since he walked in twenty minutes ago with nothing to say or do but whine. Her silence doesn't surprise him, but what does is that her handwriting is quick and furious with slashes that are forceful and dots that are stabs. Something's wrong and for once, it didn't start with him.

"Quit staring."

"I'm not."

Cameron grinds her teeth together as she signs another chart, trying to tell herself to breathe and not get too excited. He's a big kid and she should be used to his annoying actions.

"I'm serious, House."

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Whatever," she mumbles, closing one chart and opening another with harsh fingers and a loud sigh. "Would you at least leave?"

"But I'm not doing anything."

"Exactly! Why are you here? Go annoy someone else."

"Why don't you go somewhere else?"

"Because this is my ER." Cameron flips a page over the top without looking at him. "This is where I work. This is not where you work."

"I could work here, though. If I wanted to never think again, at least."

"Well, you don't. So get out."

He watches her mouth clench, her neck showing its taut tension and her mouth thinning into one single hard line. Something's sent her close to the edge. He should check himself and stop, but his curiosity is piqued and that's a dangerous thing.

"I didn't do anything wrong. You get out."

"You've been staring at me like some of kind of idiot for the past couple of minutes. We're short an attending and seven nurses. I don't have the time or the energy to deal with your pestering."

"That sounds like a personal problem."

She slams the pen down with a hard slap that makes her fingers sting with the force. Without saying anything, she rises out of her chair with a groan and reaches for his upper arm.

"That's it, House."

He barely manages to grab his cane before he's jerked to a stand, nearly tripping over his chair.

"What are you doing?!"

"I told you to leave." They start moving, Cameron continuing her lecture. "Since you won't, I'm kicking you out!"

His legs stumble over each other twice, each time nearly bringing them both the floor, but she holds them both up as she disregards the stares and open mouths coming from the personnel.

"Slow down, Cameron!"

All she can do is grip tighter and make her wide steps more hurried as they make it to the hallway and she finally lets go.

"Don't come back down here again, House."

"You can't order me!"
Taking a step back, he tries to tell himself he's not afraid of a foot shorter pregnant woman with her finger pointed to his chest. Her eyes are dark and fiery, face turning pink from anger and composure in front of colleagues.

"Don't you talk to me like that!" She leans into him, her heated breath nearly grazing his neck. "Say something smart. I dare you."

Pulling back slightly, she waits for him to take the bait. One hand grips the lapel on his jacket, just begging him to say something so that she can let her fury loose. She can nearly taste the want on her tongue. There's no way he won't give in.

It's strange that he can hear it in her voice, a string drawn just right that without a stroke the note can still be heard. How on Earth he knows to keep his trap shut is beyond him, but all he can do is look at her as she loses herself.

"Say something," Cameron whispers again. "Say it! You know you want to!"

He's pushed back by her, his cane nearly falling from his grasp as he tries to steady himself. He's gotten more than he bargained for, more than he knows how to deal with.

"Come on, House!"

Another shove and she knows she should stop. It's not his fault she's on the wire, but he hasn't helped, so maybe it's justified. The shock written on his face makes her want to grimace and apologize except there's no stopping her now. There's too much on the line and she can't face it. She doesn't want to.

So she slaps his shoulder with her palm this time. Then she does it again, fully intending to walk away but finding herself shoving him with both hands in sporadic breaks.

"Cameron. Cameron!"

"Just say something to me!"

House brings a hand to the wall, hoping to keep his balance while keeping himself calm.

"Cameron, what are you doing!?"

"Nothing!" This time a hard shove meets him and he loses his cane and she's almost satisfied.

"Calm down and q-quit hitting me."

She stills, one hand in mid air, ready to strike. "I am calm!"

He'd never pictured Cameron as one of those girls to slap him like a machine gun in the cheesy romance movies of old. But then again, he'd never pictured her having his kid. Feeling the hard wall of the hallway meet his back, House catches one wrist that flails at him before capturing the other as it pounds him against the wall.

She struggles. He struggles back.

"Calm down, Cameron." He glances down to her stomach pressing into his. "Calm down. Breathe. Breathe."

'I am breathing!" she hisses with a jerk of her body, hoping to gain leverage but finding none.

"What the hell are you two doing!?"

They both halt, looking at each other before simultaneously turning their heads to the woman running towards them and feeling their mouths drop slightly.

"Let her go, House!"

He does, releasing her wrists and backing himself up farther against the wall so that he's not so close to her body that's nearly seared through his clothes. She seems to follow his actions, moving her wrists behind her back and stepping away from him to speak to Cuddy.

"Cuddy, we –."

"This is a hospital, Dr. Cameron. Not Jerry Springer."

"My mistake," House interjects, stepping forward unevenly without the aid of his cane. "I thought –."

"No," Cameron moves to stand beside him. "I started it."

Cuddy stares at them before bringing a hand to her forehead, slowly massaging the newfound headache beating against her skull.

"Bonnie, stay here. Clyde, my office. Now!"

Any other time and he'd argue or have some sharp retort. This time, he turns around to pick his cane up from the floor, disregarding Cameron's stare as she watches him with something like embarrassment peeking behind her expression.

He limps away down the corridor, hearing the vague sound Cuddy's questions and Cameron's stilted answers before he rounds the corner, all the while wondering what's broken her silken string.

House shuts the refrigerator door, raising an eyebrow as the knocking quits and the television becomes the only source of sound. He grabs his cane and the glass of milk before making his way to the door, knowing who it is simply because he knows it'll be the one person he doesn't want to see.

By the time he makes it to the door, the knocking's stopped and he wonders if she's still there. He opens it quickly, startling her as she turns around to him with a frown.

Two cool beads of condensation drip down the glass to meet his palm, wetting his skin as they fall to trail down his hand, waiting for him to move and her to do so as well. They're close to his elbow before she speaks.