A/N: Here's the promised House asking Cameron to come back. Sorry it took so long.
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It was with much trepidation that House found himself standing in front of Cameron's apartment. he'd been putting it off for days until Cuddy finally got fed up with his mood and told him that if he didn't suck it up and go ask Cameron to come back, she'd have a florist deliver roses to every female nurse at PPTH, all of them bearing his name and a love note. Which, of course, explained the grumpy doctor's presence outside Cameron's apartment. He sighed once and knocked twice, using his fist instead of the omnipresent cane. He figured this would work better if Cameron wasn't pissed at him for messing up her door.
There was no answer, but House could make out the sound of voices through the door. He should have turned around and gone back to his motorcycle, but his curiosity got the better of him. He opened his Vicodin bottle and dumped the little white pills into his hand. In true Hollywood fashion, he placed the opening of the plastic bottle against the wooden door, and pressed his ear against the other end. His homemade eavesdropping device worked, amazingly, and he could hear the basic gist of the goings-on inside the apartment.
"Oh, that would be amazing, thank you." He heard Cameron say. "Sure." She murmured. "Thank you so much, Will, you're an angel. Absolutely." House felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. This 'Will' sounded a little dodgy. He was probably an escaped axe-murderer who had conveniently decided to use Cameron's inherent niceness to his advantage.
House's musings (which were quickly moving towards the extremely bizarre) were interrupted as the door opened. He fell across the threshold, as he had been leaning into the door in order to eavesdrop. The Vicodin bottle was still in his hand, and it was painfully obvious that he had been listening in. Cameron took once look at the sight in front of her (or rather, below her), and burst out laughing. House put on his best "affronted dignity" face and dragged himself to a standing position.
"Yeah, you're laughing now." He said, "But I'm not the one about to head out to the house of an axe-murderer who wants to rob me."
"What?!" Cameron's laughter subsided and turned to confusion.
"This Will...obviously bad news, Cameron. Any idiot could tell that." This statement caused Cameron to collapse in giggles once again, and caused House to become even more indignant.
"Will..." Cameron snickered. "Is the Chinese place guy. He keeps me in lo mein for now, but I don't know. The way he answers that phone is just so damn sexy." She was mocking him now, and he knew it. His face flushed a little, and he stared down at his shoes, embarrassed to have made such a big deal about nothing. Cameron took pity on him.
"Come on." She said. "I ordered plenty."
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It took no time for the two doctors to arrive at "Wong's Chinese Palace", mostly because they had taken House's bike, which had the convenient ability to weave through traffic. When they arrived, they learned that Cameron's order wouldn't be ready for another twenty minutes. They wandered back out into the parking lot, looking for something to pass the time.
"We could go to the bar on the corner." House suggested.
"No. That'd take a lot more than twenty minutes, with your drinking habits."
"Fine, you suggest something then." House walked over to the bike, which gave Cameron an idea. She grinned tentatively. "What?" House wondered.
"Will you teach me how to drive it?" There was a twinkle in her eye.
"God, Cameron, could you be any more of a teenager?" She gave him her best puppy pout. "Fine, but if you break anything, you're going to be in the ICU faster than Wilson's divorces." Cameron grinned and slid onto the motorbike, and House climbed on behind her.
"Left hand lever is the clutch." He began, his hands on the handle grips beside hers. "Right lever is the front brake. Right handle grip is the throttle. Left foot shifts, and right foot is the rear brake. This will be a million times easier if you know how to shift."
"I do." Cameron replied, starting the bike. She pulled the left hand lever and shifted into 1st. The bike moved forward.
"Okay." House told her. "Now go back to neutral." She attempted, but couldn't get it. The bike stalled and House sighed. "Again." Cameron tried again, and this time got the hang of it. Before long, House let her shift up to second, and they were cruising around the parking lot.
"Food's done by now." House remarked, as they coasted towards the spot they started in. Cameron grinned as she stopped the bike and dismounted. She went back in the restaurant to grab the food and returned within minutes, a large bag in her hand. House produced his always-handy backpack, and the food fit in quite nicely.
"You can drive back." House offered, shrugging the pack over his shoulders. Cameron couldn't believe that he would let her drive his precious bike, but smartly kept her mouth shut. She started the bike, and in no time they were zipping through the streets of Princeton. House's arms found their way around her waist, and the cool night air rushed by. The happiness was intoxicating. Too soon, they arrived at Cameron's building.
"Not too bad." House told her as he waited for her to unlock the door. "But I will always be the king of the Honda."
"Of course you will." Cameron agreed, feeding his over-inflated ego. She pushed the door open and entered, leaving House to follow. By the time she returned from the kitchen with drinks, House had made himself comfortable on her couch and was engrossed in a marathon of "The L-Word". She grinned and sat next to him, handing him a bottle and grabbing a Chinese food for herself. She assumed the reason for his visit would come out eventually. For now, she just wanted to enjoy his company.
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Morning rays of sunlight streamed through the windows of Cameron's apartment as she awoke to find herself sprawled across her couch. As surprising as this revelation was, it was nothing compared to the next one. Not only was she lying on her own couch, but beside her was her former boss, the irrepressible Dr. House. One of his arms was around he waist, holding her close to him, and the other dangled off the side. As much as she enjoyed their current position, she knew she had to wake him. He did have a job, after all.
"House." She said gently, trying to ease herself off the couch. His arm tightened around her in response, pulling her back onto his chest.
"Ten more minutes, mom." He groaned into her hair. She smiled in spite of herself. The temptation to let him stay like that, half asleep and holding her, was overwhelming.
"You have to work." She said, sitting up. He finally opened his eyes and looked around in surprise. "We fell asleep." Cameron answered before he even asked.
"Sure." House replied suggestively, and she found herself blushing. She stood and crossed to the kitchen, busying herself with the coffee pot.
"We need to talk." She found herself saying to an adorably sleepy House.
"Coffee first." He replied. "Talk later."
"Okay." She conceded. "Hey, open the door and grab the paper, would you?" House obliged, opening her apartment door and reaching for the newspaper. He was just about to go back inside, when a voice stopped him. He looked sideways and discovered an elderly woman looking at him with murder in her eyes.
"Why are you at Allison's at 6 in the morning?" The woman asked accusingly. "You're too old for her! Plus, it's a sin to be sleeping with someone you're not married to. Didn't your mother teach you anything?!" She made the sign of the cross and knelt to pray, as House shut the door and retreated inside to find a hysterical Cameron.
"Your neighbors are crazy." He informed her.
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The coffee was done, and both doctors were sitting in Cameron's living room sipping happily. Cameron broke the silence.
"Okay, you've got your coffee. Now talk. Why did you come over here?" House started at his hands for a minute before answering her.
"I want you to come back." He said. "I've got Chase and Foreman back already, and Cuddy's okayed a pay raise and more benefits. She'd be willing to negotiate a department head position for you in a few years as well. Plus, you're that much closer to tenure."
"House," Cameron began, unsure of how to approach the subject. "You haven't even thought about what you're asking me. I didn't leave because I wanted more money or a better job. I said I'd gotten all I could from the Fellowship, but I meant I'd gotten all I could from you. I wanted more from you than you were willing to give. At some point, I just got tired of waiting. I wish it didn't have to be like this, but I can't come to work every day, talk to you every day knowing that you'll never see me the way I want you to. You're like Vicodin, House. It's impossible to stop liking you, even when I try. I'm sick of beating myself up over something you said. I don't want to spend every moment of my life wishing you'd give me what I want. I can't work for you because it hurts. Standing here right now is killing me. Don't you understand that? This is the only choice I have."
"You left your glasses" House said, dropping said object into Cameron's hand as he limped out the door.
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A/N: It will probably be a while before the next update, I am going to be in New York for a while.