-1Disclaimer - I do not own House M.D., and probably never will.

I usually don't write as quickly as this, so please don't assume anything of it. Also, I truly enjoyed reading the reviews that I have received so far. I think it just may have risen my self-esteem a tad to a new high that I haven't felt in a long while, and so I give a rare thank you to those who have put me in my warm and fuzzy place. Read on, read on…

Chapter 2.

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Ten seconds had passed since House had closed his eyes in hopes of relaxation. In this ten second time interval, he found no relaxation whatsoever. He was not sure as to why this was. Cameron. O, how that woman distracted him. Was he that curious about what had happened over her weekend? Or was he concerned that something bad had really happened. He was vexed by his own thoughts. Vexed by the fact that he felt even the slightest concern for her. So many thoughts ran through his head in just ten seconds. He would have thought about the whole dilemma all day without directly asking Cameron herself, but his thoughts were rudely interrupted when he felt a cool draft pass over him and enter his office. Knowing someone had opened the door and entered the room, he for once was looking forward to a conversation to escape his dreaded mind. He opened his eyes and shut off his music.

"Why the hell are you here so early?," House asked.

"House, I have to come in early. It's my job. Wait. Why are you here so early? And why does it smell like a pool hall in here?" Cuddy's face quickly turned to one of disgust. She hated that smell.

House decided to answer Cuddy's last question. "All the hot chicks dig this smell. I guess you're not hot. Well your face isn't anyway. That ass of yours, well…" House simply shrugged as if that finished his sentence.

"Are you drunk?!," Cuddy asked the glossy-eyed House. It didn't take an idiot to put two and two together.

"That may explain why I don't remember what had happened last night. Although I do remember an incredibly pretty girl coming to my house last night."

Cuddy raised her hand to put anything else he was about to say to a halt. "Okay, now, what happened?" She figured she'd get the question that was on her mind out of the way as soon as possible before he started to rant on about anything else.

"Who said something had happened?" House evaded the question, but honestly had no idea as to what Cuddy was talking about.

"Clearly something had happened between you two."

"Oh. Right!," House played. "Well I brought Glitter from the pool hall in here so we could have rough, wild, uncomplicated sex." House smirked.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "I meant between yourself and Dr. Cameron. I saw her march out of this office as if she was marching out of her father's funeral." Cuddy mentally slapped herself for using such a metaphor that toyed with the terms of life and death.

House paused at this statement. He could have sworn that he felt a small bit of guilt as he recalled his conversation with Cameron previously. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even realized that Cuddy was calling his name to get his attention. How long had he been staring off into oblivion? He shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. "Can I help you?," House asked in an irritated tone.

"In fact, yes. Yes, you-"

As House quickly got up from his chair he cut Cuddy off. "I have to pee." He was already in the hallway when Cuddy turned around face him.

"You have a case!," Cuddy yelled amazed at how fast the cripple could actually go.

"Desk!," House shouted back over his shoulder as he limped down the hallway.

Cuddy was surprised that House was semi-accepting the case without interrogating her about its interest, or his interest in the case, or her interest in the case. She shrugged it off thinking that it was to her advantage not being abused by House's this-is-a-boring-case speech. She had better things to do. Cuddy put the file on his desk and left.

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"You like her."

"I do not," House snapped at his best friend who was peeing two urinals away.

"If someone's on your mind for that long you like them," Wilson reasoned. House glared at him and then resumed to urinate. Why did he have to be right all the time? "You really ought to tell her how you feel. She always did have a little crush on you. I mean you better tell her something soon, before she goes on vacation and all." House quickly looked up at Wilson. "It is only going to be for the rest of the week," Wilson continued. "So you could just tell her Monday I guess, that is if you are planning on telling her anything that involves you and your manly feelings towards her at all."

"What vacation?"

"You mean you haven't heard? I figured you'd be the first she'd tell, being her boss and whatnot."

"Heard what?" Wilson had House's full attention.

"House, her father…passed away over the weekend." House stared wide-eyed at Wilson. "She's going to her parents' place for the week."

Was he feeling guilty? He was just joking about her father dying to her when, in fact, he actually did. He should feel guilty. He crushed Cameron's heart after it was already crushed by her father's death. Should he apologize? No, he shouldn't. That would be out of character for him. Damn. He zipped up his fly, washed his hands, and limped out of the bathroom. "Don't do anything foolish now!," Wilson yelled as the restroom's door slowly closed. Wilson was almost able to feel House's eyes roll. Wilson washed his hands and was left smiling at what seemed to be his best friend's new found acceptance with his emotions.

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House got off the elevator and made his way to the conference room, but only to find two male ducklings as he entered.

"We've got a case," Foreman said.

Chase continued on, "Seventeen-year-old male who's vomiting-"

"Where's Cameron?," House asked ignoring the other men.

"Uh, she just left actually. She decided she'd start her vacation earlier than planned and Cuddy gave her the green light," Foreman answered.

House looked at Foreman and Chase before rushing towards the elevator. Why was he feeling like this? He had never let guilt drive him before. This felt so different. The guilt-ridden House finally arrived at the parking lot.

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Once Cameron got in her car she immediately burst into tears. She had held in her emotions long enough so no one noticed that she was a mess on the inside. She took several deep breaths to calm herself down. Her frantic hands started the car. Oddly, she found this quite difficult. Her hands were shaking so much. She felt so miserable. She felt like a complete fool. She gripped the steering wheel in an attempt to lessen the shaking. She stared at her hands. Noticing whiteness in her knuckles just made her cry harder. Why was she so pathetically emotional? She could picture House saying something like that directly to her face.

At that moment there was aggressive knocking on Cameron's window. Cameron jumped instantly. She looked through the window at her sweaty boss who was also out of breath. Had he run here? God she loved it when he sweat, but despite this fact she wanted to be alone to wallow in her thoughts. She dug her face in her hands in embarrassment and anger, ignoring House's constant knocking. "Cameron! Open the damn door!," House yelled. When he received no answer he noticed the door was unlocked so he opened the door himself. He bent down at the waist leaning against the open door staring at the crying Cameron.

"Go away," Cameron barked.

"Cameron, I didn't know. I'm- I'm sorry." It was awkward for him to apologize at all. He didn't even know why he was doing so. His apology hung in the air for a few seconds.

"Me too," she said. It was almost a whisper. He stood up looking down at her. He stood back, allowing her enough room to close the door.

Tires screeched as Cameron drove off, leaving House standing in the lot, staring at the vacant parking space.