Disclaimer: House is not mine.

Rating: M

Pairings: House/Cameron

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

It's a long chapter today...

Addiction: Chapter Five

A cool breeze ruffled her hair, causing it to tickle her bare shoulder. Rolling over under the sheets, Cameron glimpsed the clock on the dresser, which informed her that it was six forty-five. Closing her tired eyes again as she realised that her mother's funeral was only a few hours away, she curled up under the covers, bringing her knees up to her chest and clutching the blankets tighter around her body. She didn't bother wondering if she would cry or not: she knew she definitely would. She could even see herself bawling her eyes out throughout the ceremony. The eulogy she had prepared would probably result in her blubbering during her delivery (she had had teary eyes while writing it), but she felt that on the whole, it expressed everything that she felt she needed to convey. Cameron sat up slowly, pushing back the covers and stretching. However emotionally taxing this would be on her, she knew that she would be able to regain her strength and begin to go about her life as normal after she had said a final goodbye to her mother. Getting out of bed, she had a quick shower, got dressed, and then went out to the kitchen. Only Rachael and Marie were awake, and they smiled at her when she walked in.

"Morning." Cameron said to them.

"Morning Alison," Rachael said in reply, "What would you like for breakfast? I'll fix something for you."

Sliding onto one of the seats at the counter, Cameron smiled at her and said, "Thanks, Rachael. I don't really mind, as long as there's a coffee thrown in with the offer."

"No problem," she returned before going over to make Cameron her coffee.

Settling into her seat, Cameron fidgeted with her rings while she waited for the coffee to be made. A few minutes later Chris entered the kitchen and said a quiet 'good morning' to everyone there. He sat down next to Cameron and gave her a small smile, patting her hand encouragingly. She smiled back, then thanked Rachael as she placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of both her and Chris. They were eating a breakfast of scrambled eggs and french toast, during which Marie went to go and wake Jacob and Bec, and probably Aunt Jo as well. Cameron could hardly eat, instead pushing the eggs around with her fork and only taking tiny bites of her bread. Finally, Chris announced that they should start getting ready in order to leave in about half an hour. She stood and went to her room, shutting the door slowly behind her. Moving to her suitcase, she took out the outfit she had been planning to wear to the event. It was a plain, black, sleeveless, knee-length dress, which she had worn only once before and didn't particularly like. Taking it out, she took off her clothes and then slipped it on. Fiddling with the waist until it sat right, she went to the bathroom to do her makeup. When she looked in the mirror, she saw that she was extremely pale and her eyes were dull and tired-looking, with shadows under them. She looked a mess and she felt distinctly nauseous. Going over to the toilet she put the lid down and sat on it. This was going to be harder than she thought. The idea of seeing the lifeless form of her mother wasn't akin to all the cadavers she had seen and worked with in medical school. It would be unnatural to see her motionless in the coffin, when Cameron was so used to seeing her constantly active in her home, tidying up the place, cooking in the kitchen, or tending to her precious garden. Tears rolling down her cheeks, already ruining her makeup, she stood up and grabbed a couple of tissues, attempting to stem the rapid flow of silent tears. She had to be strong, it was what her mother would have wanted from her. When Cameron called her to talk and ask for advice about things in her life, one of the things her mother told her most often was to be strong, to persevere, and to never give up. Redoing her makeup, she stood straight and with a last look at her self in the mirror, she walked out of the bathroom and went out to join her family.

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Dr Gregory House strolled casually through the hospital doors at quarter to ten. Half expecting Cuddy to pop out from one of her secret hiding places and try to force him into clinic duty, he picked up his pace slightly and headed for the elevators. Jabbing the up button with his cane, he looked up at the large squares above each elevator, waiting for one of them to light up. When the left one did soon after, (much to his dismay as he had been betting on the right one) he stepped in only to be faced with Cuddy herself. With an exaggerated 'Oh dear God', he mocked trying to escape through the doors again, only to find that she had pressed a button to shut the doors quickly, trapping him inside. Lowering his head in defeat he waited for her to yell his three least favourite words. Clinic. Duty. Now. He wasn't disappointed.

"House, what the hell do you think you're doing, turning up at ten o'clock! You were rostered for the clinic since nine!" she shouted.

"Aww, rats. I had no idea I was missing out on clinic duty! I would have definitely made an effort to come in earlier if I had known," House snarked back.

"Ignorance is bliss then, I suppose," shot Cuddy, a scowl on her face.

House's smirk dropped slightly as he was immediately reminded of the time he had made a bet with Cameron that their patient's wife was poisoning him- attempting to kill her own husband. She had bet against him, probably standing up for a belief she held that all marriages were happy and perfect. Along with this, he was also reminded of an image of her pulling a small wad of notes out from where it was tucked inside the waistband of her pants. The soft creamy bit of skin he had seen as she lifted up her top slightly was something he wasn't inclined nor willing to forget in a hurry.

"Have you been listening to a word I've said?" screeched Cuddy, breaking House from his thoughts.

Thankfully for House, the elevator doors slid open with a ding before he had a chance to reply, and he limped quickly out leaving Cuddy inside. She must have realised that it was pointless to follow him any further, because he didn't hear the click-clack of her heels on the hospital floor (an ominous sound) behind him as he headed for his office. At the last minute, he changed his mind and went into the conference room instead, only to be faced with his two employees doing their usual activities in an extremely sluggish manner, and bearing 'thank god it's Friday' expressions on their tired faces.

"Do we have a case, people? Or is it 'Bum Around and Imitate Sloths' day today?" he barked as he limped into the room.

Looking up, Foreman replied, "Nope, no cases."

"Good. You're on clinic duty then," House replied.

"Aren't you supposed to be on now?" said Foreman indignantly.

"Not anymore," said House, giving Foreman an evil smirk, before he turned to go into his office.

His desk was in disarray, masses of unopened and unsorted mail covered it, which House had to sift through to reach his everyday items. His email inbox wasn't much better, so he had decided to avoid it completely now. House had also been reduced to going up to immunology to get his coffee, having decided that both Chase and Foreman were useless at making it. How on earth Immunology managed to have better coffee than any other department, he would never know, (he had tried all of them over the course of the week) but he chalked it up to a strange correlation between immunologists and really good coffee. Luckily, his own immunologist would be back on Monday, along with perfect coffee that he didn't have to walk phenomenal distances to get. With this in mind, he walked less grudgingly to Immunology, thankful that it was the last time he would have to do so for a while.

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Organ strains filled the local parish church to which her mother had once been an active member, and Cameron sat in the front row, Chris on one side with Rachael next to him, and Scott on the other side, who had been shooting concerned glances at her intermittently throughout the service. In truth, Cameron didn't feel as bad as she had thought she would. The service was beautiful, just as her mother deserved it to be and her brother had arranged for all her favourite songs to be played. Several bunches of lilies, which were her favourite flower, lined the altar, and a large bouquet was placed on her coffin. There had been a viewing ceremony before the mass, allowing friends and family to say goodbye before the coffin was closed. Cameron had kissed her mother's forehead and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, whispering a soft goodbye. She had delivered her eulogy towards the end of the mass, and yes, she had been crying heartily at times, but she managed to speak coherently majority of the time. When she went to sit down again, Scott had squeezed her hand and held it for the rest of the mass, rubbing small circles with his thumb. Now, as her brother, Scott, Jacob, and three friends and active members of the church with her mother, moved up to the altar and began to lift the casket in order to slowly carry it out to the hearse. Cameron stood along with the rest of the church, and bowed their heads as the procession passed them. Once the casket had left the church, closest friends and family proceeded out to follow the hearse to the burial place. Cameron moved with Marie, Josephine, Rachael and Bec out to join her brother, Scott and Jacob and they embraced each of the others in turn, offering comfort for their grief.

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Cameron sat on the comfortable couch that sat in Scott's living room. He lived directly across the road from her brother's house, which was how she had come to meet him originally about six years ago. He'd moved in two days after her 25th birthday, and her brother (being the welcoming person that he was) offered to help him get his stuff organised and settled. Scott Barton had been alone in Indiana, with no family or friends, as they all lived in New York. He had felt he needed to get away from the big apple, so he had relocated here. Cameron had gone across to help her brother, only to come face to face with one of the most handsome men she had ever met. He had silky soft dark hair, deep chocolaty brown eyes, a tall, lean build, and a smile that made her want to grin broadly back for no reason at all. It took a week to move all of his possessions in, and on the last day, he pulled her aside and asked her if she wanted to go get something to eat with him afterwards. She said yes, and he blessed her with one of his dazzling smiles. When they were all done, she and Chris went back to their house, and Scott told her that he would be over to pick her up at about 7'oclock. Cameron had hurried to the room where she had been staying while at her brother's, and looked through all her clothes to find the perfect thing to wear. In the end, she had decided upon a flowing, light green dress, and wore her hair down. They hit it off on the date, and she found out that he was very artistic, particularly with music. He played the guitar, the saxophone and the trombone. By the end of the evening it was as though they had always been together. Outside her house, he asked her out again, and when she said yes, he kissed her gently on the cheek. Whispering goodnight he got into his car only to drive it a short distance across the road and into his driveway. When he got out they looked at each other across the road and then burst out laughing simultaneously. That was how their first date had gone.

They had been dating for two and a half years, when Cameron got two job offers, one to work as a fellow under Dr. Harrison and the other to work under Dr. House. Her mother and brother urged her to at least go to the interviews, so she did. Dr Harrison was based in New York, while Dr House was in New Jersey. Both hospitals accepted her, so she had to choose between them. She had heard about the world renowned Dr. House and decided to go to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. When she had told Scott, he was devastated, but they both managed to agree that a long distance relationship just wouldn't work out. So they parted ways. Now, six years later, she sat once again in his house, waiting for him to bring them both a warm mug of cocoa. Smiling, Scott handed her a steaming mug, and sat down on the couch next to her to drink his own mug.

After a few minutes he said, "Are you alright Ally, you still look a bit pale."

"I feel fine, maybe I'm coming down with something," she replied.

Scott swirled his remaining cocoa in the mug thoughtfully, before saying, "I never dreamed I'd ever see you again, Alison. I never did find anyone quite like you again."

Reaching over to squeeze his knee, she moved closer and said softly, "I know. I've missed you these past few years, but I think our decision was for the best, a long distance relationship wouldn't really have worked for us."

"I suppose you're right," he said, finally.

A few minutes passed in silence, until Cameron began to feel slightly awkward.

To break the tension, she said, "Why don't you play something for me? I haven't heard you play in a while."

He smiled at this, and got up and went towards an elegant piano that Cameron didn't remember seeing here before.

"Since when do you play piano?" she said playfully.

"I started learning a few months after you left," he replied, head bowed as he positioned his fingers on the keys.

When he started to play, Cameron remembered that House played the piano and she closed her eyes to let the music wash over her. She had glimpsed the Steinway piano in his living room when she had gone to offer her resignation. He had most likely played for years and was probably a great deal more accomplished at it than Scott was. The melody ended and she opened her eyes and clapped softly. He smiled at her over the piano and began to play a slightly more jazzy piece.

A little later when she heard the grandfather clock strike eleven, she looked over at him and said, "I'd better be going."

He nodded and they went over to his door. When they were there, he took her hand and said, "I'll say my goodbyes now, because I have a gig tomorrow so I won't be able to send you off at the airport."

She turned towards him and said softly, "Goodbye Scott, I hope I'll see you next time I'm visiting Chris. Good luck with the gig tomorrow."

He smiled and she reached up and kissed him softly on the lips and then squeezed his hand before letting go to open the door. With a last smile, she walked across the road back to Chris' house.

To Be Continued...

Author Note: I've just realised that I've been calling Cameron "Allison" instead of "Alison" (arrgghh) but now I've reverted back to Alison. Also, their living arrangements are a little bit off, I didn't mean to have Chris owning a house at 20 (oops), but oh well, blunders happen. Finally, the stuff I wrote about her job offers may be not be that accurate, (sheepish grin) so please forgive me if it's way off.