Disclaimer: I don't own House. I do own Scott, Chris, Rachael, Rebecca, Marie, Jacob, Josephine and all other people you have never seen on the show before.

Rating: M

Pairings: House/Cameron

Spoilers: Umm not sure but I'll say Seasons 1 and 2 just to be sure.

Addiction: Chapter Four

Pulling her luggage through the crowded airport, Cameron located an empty bench just outside the sliding doors. Sitting down, and immediately wishing her brother would hurry up and come get her, she eyed her surroundings nervously. She was far from comfortable sitting there, which could probably be explained by the surrounding smog spewing from the ancient buses that were lined up in the waiting bay, and by the creepy man who had been staring at her since she had sat down. Fortunately about five minutes later her brother pulled up behind the prehistoric buses and waved her over. Getting up quickly and hurrying over to his car, she opened the trunk and shoved her small suitcase inside. Shutting it, she moved around quickly and sat in the front passenger seat.

"How are you doing?" Chris said, after they had hugged quickly.

"I'm getting along as best as I can," she replied as he pulled out of the parking spot.

"Well it's been pretty hectic over on my end, but I'm doing okay. Aunt Jo came this afternoon, and Marie, Jacob and Rebecca are here as well. Scott came across yesterday, and I told him you were coming today. He's going to be over for dinner later," said Chris.

"Oh, that'll be nice," Cameron said with a forced smile.

In truth, she was incredibly nervous about seeing Scott Barton again.

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Limping into the conference room, House ignored Foreman and Chase as they sat together talking about the patient, and headed straight for the coffee machine. It was already made, presumably by either Tweedle Dumb or Tweedle Dumber, so he grabbed his usual red mug and poured some into it. After drinking a large gulp, it took all of his bodily control not to projectile spit the sludge across the conference room.

"What the fuck is this shit?" he shouted angrily, after swallowing- with difficulty- the horribly made coffee.

"That would be coffee," said Chase, in an annoyed tone.

"Yeah, coffee that's been pissed on by a cat, left in the sun all day, and made without coffee beans," House retorted, still trying to rid himself of the taste by drinking a glass of water.

"C'mon House, it wasn't that bad," said Foreman, in an attempt to restore the peace.

"Lemme think," he said to Foreman, and pretended to ponder it for a few moments, "Nope, it really was crap, and Chase is now banned from touching the coffee machine ever again. We'll see if you can do better tomorrow."

As House turned to go into his office, he saw Foreman grin gleefully behind Chase's back.

"Saw that Foreman. Try to be more discreet next time," he tossed over his shoulder.

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Chris droved up the stone driveway and parked next to a green pickup truck, which Cameron groaned at the sight of, as it meant that its owner- the ever-bitchy Aunt Josephine- was here. Stepping out of the car, she was immediately greeted by her cousins Marie and Jacob, as well as their daughter Rebecca, Chris' wife Rachael, and Aunt Jo. Marie came forward first and enveloped her in a warm hug. While the others hovered behind awkwardly awaiting their turn. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a figure slip out of the front door and recognised him instantly. Chris appeared next to her pulling her small, worn, travelling case, and she smiled a small smile at him, which he returned. Turning back to the congregation in front of her, her gaze moved to Rebecca, who bore a gloomy expression on her face. Walking towards her she bent down to her height and opened her arms out to her. The little girl immediately fell into her arms, gripping her tightly. Cameron rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her, as she sobbed heartily into Cameron's chest. When Bec stopped crying and looked up at Cameron, sniffing occasionally, she kissed the child on the forehead.

"It's gonna be alright. I know it's hard, but she would want for you to be strong. We're all here for you," she whispered in her ear, holding her close.

Bec nodded and they stood up. Everyone had already gone into the house. Except for him. He had waited. Cameron avoided his gaze and ushered Bec into the house, whispering that she'd be there in a second. Knowing she could not put this off any longer, she turned to him and finally allowed herself to look into his deep brown eyes.

"Allison."

"Scott," she replied, "How have you been?"

"Not bad. What about you? How's work? I haven't heard from you for years," he said softly, his eyes searching hers intently.

"Work's good," said Cameron, awkwardly, wishing she could escape back into the house.

Things were different now, and although she still cared a lot about Scott, she didn't really want to start something again with him. It would be pointless: she was only here for a week, and she didn't handle long-distance relationships particularly well. That was why she had refrained from contacting him over the years.

Stepping forward and grabbing the handle of her suitcase, Scott said, "Let's go in."

Walking ahead of him, she went into the house to find Jacob Chris and Rebecca in the living room watching TV and Rachael, Marie and Aunt Josephine talking in the kitchen. Scott moved around her and continued down the hallway, presumably to whichever room she would be staying in. Cameron hesitated where she stood, just inside from the door. She slowly walked further into the house, and then decided to go and see which room was hers. Moving down the hallway she glanced at all the framed pictures, pictures of her and her brother in their younger years, wedding photos of Rachael and Chris, and a portrait of her mother. When she reached a the first spare room, she decided to check there, but expected it to be taken by Aunt Jo or Marie, Jacob and Bec. Peeking in, she saw her battered bag resting on the end of the bed, indicating that this was the room where she was to stay. Going in, she sat on the end of the bed and looked around at the familiar room. It hadn't changed much since she had last stayed here. Sighing, she knew that dinner was probably ready, so she stood and walked quietly back to the kitchen. The setting was much the same as it had been before she went into her room, except now Scott was there, laying the table, a multitude of forks and knives in his hands.

"Ally, can you help dish out the potatoes?" called Marie, stirring something that was simmering on the stove.

Moving over to where Josephine was standing, she grabbed a white dish with a flowery pattern and started to spoon the hot mashed potato into it. Taking it over to the table, she placed in the centre along with the five other dishes that were there already. Everyone sat down to eat ten minutes later, Cameron sat to the left of Chris and Rachael sat to the right. Scott sat down next to Cameron, offering her a quick smile, and started loading roast beef onto his plate. Dinner consisted of amiable yet slightly strained conversation and continued passing of dishes across the table as everyone helped themselves to Rachel and Marie's dishes.

While everyone was still occupied with eating, Josephine looked over to her and said loudly, "You sure you don't want anymore potatoes? You're skin and bone, and you've barely eaten anything!"

This was the main reason she detested Aunt Jo. Most of the time she could handle her grating comments pretty well, but now the added stress of her mother's passing and seeing Scott again, enhanced her annoyance greatly. At least I'm not a fat slob like you, she thought. Knowing full well that saying this would mar the rest of the visit as well as spoil her mother's memorial, she bit her tongue.

Calmly, she said, "No thank you, I'm actually not that hungry today for some reason."

Looking back at her plate, she used her fork to push a couple of peas around. She felt a warm hand pat her knee and then rest there and she looked to her left to see Scott looking sympathetically at her. He wasn't even part of the family, yet he had still been on the receiving end of one of Aunt Josephine's blows before, as almost everyone in her family had. She smiled at him, silently conveying her thanks for the gesture.

After dinner, everyone mingled in the living room for a while, chatting conversationally. Cameron excused herself after helping to clear up and then went to her room. Shutting the door she moved over to the bed and bent down to rummage through her suitcase for her pyjamas. She had a quick shower, and went straight to bed. Slipping between the cool sheets, she lay back, staring at the bare, white ceiling. This was going to be a long week.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Please review:D I'm not sure if this chapter is any good or not... Anyway, in the next chapter I plan to explain more about Scott and his history with Cameron; I decided to leave him as a bit of a 'mystery guy' for this chapter.