Disclaimer: I definitely don't own House. Or Sponge Bob.

Rating: M

Pairings: House/Cameron

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

Addiction: Chapter Eight

"House! You were scheduled for the clinic two hours ago..."

The rest of Cuddy's tirade was drowned out as House jammed the button to close the elevator doors, managing to squeeze in a sarcastic wave to a fast disappearing Cuddy, before the polished metal doors slid shut. Stepping out of the elevator as he reached his level, he was still in high spirits, mentally congratulating himself on a job well done escaping the dreaded clinic. His elated mood fell, as he saw Cameron place a mug of coffee in front of Chase, smiling sweetly at him. Foreman was absent. His grip on his cane tightened considerably when he saw Chase smile charmingly back at her. This was ridiculous. Although this scene was hardly normal, it certainly wasn't something to get so angry about- jealous even. In fact, if he were to walk in there now, he would bet his Gameboy, his piano, and his favourite bottle of vintage whiskey, that Cameron would jump up immediately and make him a cup of coffee too. Completely sure of himself, he strutted into the conference room.

Sitting down next to Cameron, he said to Chase, "Soooo, Patrick... where's Sponge Bob?"

Beside him, Cameron let out a snort of laughter, which she quickly turned into a small cough.

"And you, Sandy Cheeks, where's my coffee?" he said, trying to hide his surprise (and disappointment), that she hadn't leapt up to make him a mug as well when he'd entered.

"Coming right up, Mr Squidward Tentacles, sir," she replied in a serious voice.

Chase gave them both a look that clearly showed that he thought they were nuts, and took another sip of his drink.

House had to hand it to her: after (supposedly) only one viewing she had already picked up on his likenesses to Mr Tentacles. He allowed himself to smirk for a few seconds before turning to Chase to question him about the patient.

"I haven't been to see her recently, I was working in the clinic all yesterday afternoon," he said quickly.

"Shame. I'd have thought you'd be 'mates' by now. You could have a barbeque together, maybe even a sheep-shearing contest or whatever it is you Aussies do –" House stopped his speech abruptly, making Cameron and Chase stare at him curiously.

His blue eyes gazing at a spot across the room, he said quietly, "In the history, did she say anything about living or working on a farm?"

"No. Why?" asked Chase.

"Ask. Now." House snapped at Chase, "Go."

Chase left the room hastily, leaving House and Cameron alone together.

House contemplated casually asking Cameron to come over again that night, but decided against it. He reminded himself that rushing into things wasn't a good idea. Besides, she appeared to be having tonnes of fun with the Wombat. Without another word or glance at Cameron, he stood and limped into his office. Cameron turned with a steaming mug of coffee in hand to find the room empty.

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House heaved himself out of his chair with the intention of finally getting a coffee. Finding the conference room deserted, he poured himself a cup and sat down in one of the chairs, staring at the symptoms on the board, but not really seeing them. This thing with Cameron was absurd. Now that he had calmed down, he decided that she quite possibly wasn't flirting with Chase at all, and that he was being over possessive and/or jealous. That was what knocked him for a loop the most. Although he knew that once he slept with her, his feelings towards her would only increase, he didn't expect to find himself wanting to inflict bodily harm on Chase just for smiling at her.

He was once again considering asking Cameron to come over again tonight, when a mobile phone rang out, the sound breaking the pensive silence that filled the room. House thought it sounded like it was coming from Cameron's desk, and decided to just let it ring out. Tapping his cane against the ground, he became impatient when it continued to ring for a minute or more. Someone was obviously desperate to speak to Alison Cameron. Crossing over to her desk, he located the small black phone sitting atop some files in the middle of the desk. Picking it up he looked at the caller ID, which read "Scott".

Slightly suspicious now, he flipped it open and said, "Cameron's phone."

"Who is this?" came a man's voice from the other end.

"I might ask the same of you," he snapped back.

"Scott, ...an old friend of Alison's. Can I please speak to her?"

House frowned and said, "She isn't here. This is her boss."

"Uh, could you give her a message? It's just that I have a gig for a few hours, so I won't be able to call again," said Scott hurriedly.

"Yeah, whatever," came the gruff reply.

"Could you tell her that I'm back in town again and that I'd love it if we could go out to dinner tonight at about seven o'clock," Scott said, "Thanks."

"Yeah, I'll tell her," said House before shutting the phone and tossing it back on top of the files.

Walking into his office (completely forgetting his barely-touched coffee) he sat on his chair and picked up his red and grey ball. He hurled it against the wall and caught it again, satisfied with the loud crashing noise it made. Great. Now, not only did he have Kangaroo Boy to worry about, he had some outsider who was apparently 'in town' and performing 'gigs'. Not to mention his slight hesitation before finally calling himself 'an old friend', after House asked him who he was. Something about that guy just rubbed House the wrong way, and House was willing to bet everything he owned that Scott and Cameron were more than just friends.

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She couldn't believe it. Occasionally she wondered jokingly whether or not he suffered from bipolar disorder. Now she was actually starting to wonder. House had been playful this morning (as playful as a cranky, misanthrope could be) and now he was flat out ignoring her. He had left without a single word to her into his office after sending Chase off to ask the patient about living on a farm and when Chase had returned he simply said, "Q Fever," before leaving the conference room and limping down the hallway. House hadn't even waited for Chase to affirm that the patient did indeed live on a farm (which Chase did a few seconds later anyway).

Stuffing a few forms into a manila folder, she went to deposit these on House's desk, before checking her watch and realising that she should be in the clinic in three minutes time. Hurrying out to the elevators, she stepped into the left one as soon as its doors opened. Inside was none other than House himself, who scowled when he saw her enter the elevator. Just what he needed, he thought. Now, he thought, should he tell her that Scott called, or just 'forget' to tell her? Deciding on the latter, he remained silent as the elevator doors slid shut again. It was then that he realised that he had inadvertently forgotten that that was the level he was meant to be heading to. Crap.

"So...are you gonna tell me what's got your panties in a twist?" said Cameron sarcastically, jabbing the emergency stop button with her finger, before crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Lemme think about that... no." he replied.

"You're unbelievable! One minute you're making breakfast for me and laughing at a children's television program, and the next you're ignoring me completely and scowling when I accidentally step into the same elevator as you!" yelled Cameron, her fists clenched at her sides.

Seemingly unaffected by her outburst, he glared at her and said in a quiet but dangerous voice, "Yeah, of course- you've been completely innocent. Hmmm, shall I fuck the pretty boy Australian or the crippled bastard? What a dilemma!"

Cameron just gaped at him. When she finally composed herself again, she said, "Are you insinuating that there's something going on between Chase and I? Because you couldn't be more wrong. You mean you've been sulking all day just because you think I like Chase?"

Feeling slightly foolish, he kept quiet.

Stepping forward and placing a hand on House's arm, she said softly, "Look, I don't know why you're fixated with the idea that I'm interested in Chase, but I'm telling you now, that I am not attracted to him at all."

Turning to look at her, he saw that her eyes were pleading with him to believe her. When he nodded, she gave him a small smile.

It was then that he felt something that he very rarely ever felt: guilt. He felt guilty for not telling her that Scott had called. But he knew that if she went out with Scott, she would probably forget all about him and what they had going now, and (yes, he could admit it to himself) that was something he definitely didn't want.

Pretending to be interested in studying the various buttons on the wall of the elevator and said in a nonchalantly, "Do you want to come over for takeout tonight?"

Trying to hide the wide grin that threatened to take over her face, she said casually, "Sure. Seven o'clock?"

He nodded, a foreign pang of guilt inside him once more as he remembered that that was when Scott thought he would be going to dinner with Cameron.

TBC...

Author's Note: Hope everyone's still enjoying it, thanks for bearing with me so far. I don't really like this chapter... but I've changed it around and fixed it up so many times until I couldn't bear to look at it anymore: so I posted it. I'm really hoping I'll do better on the next chapter. Thanks once again for bearing with me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. :)