Good Enough Ch 6: I Want Love
They sat in the restaurant, their Chinese leftovers boxed on the table. House broke their silence first.
"So I believe you said you had some information for me?"
Cameron sighed. She really should have thought more about this before jumping into it. How was she going to explain this?
"Yeah, about that. Um…you see.."
He quirked an eyebrow.
"Ok, I didn't want to you going to lunch with Wilson."
"But baby I told you that one time was just an experiment. We won't do it again." He said with a puppy dog face.
She rolled her eyes, avoiding the gazes of the couple in the booth next to them.
His stare went right through her and she resigned herself.
"He was setting you up and I couldn't let that happen."
"Setting me up? So nice of you both to care, but I told him that Cuddy and I were not-"
"It was Stacey." she spoke hurridly, cutting him off.
He looked at her, opening his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again.
She took in a deep breath.
"I was talking to him when he got a phone call from her confirming their lunch date today. I confronted him about it and he said that she left Mark and was hoping to get back with you. She asked Wilson to be a buffer for the two of you."
There was a flash of contained fury in his eyes before he looked down at his hands.
He was studying his fingernails intently when Cameron reached over and covered his hand with hers.
"I'm sure he was thinking that he was being helpful like usual. I don't think he meant it to hurt you."
He stared at her hand atop his and she removed it quickly, realizing her action.
"I just thought you deserved more warning than the split second you would get as she would walk up to your table. I know that it's not my place and I probably don't know everything about what happened between you two, but I know enough to know that she hurt you. I thought you deserved more of a say in what they were planning. I'm sorry if that makes me the meddler now but..."
He cut her off this time.
"Well it does you little meddler. It's not surprising that the bleeding heart of PPTH would try to save a friend from a fate worse than death." He spoke softly without the needed emphasis to make it serious, looking back in her eyes again.
She smiled softly at his feigned sarcasm.
He sighed loudly, rubbing his hand over his face.
"The last time she was here she was going to leave Mark for me."
Cameron looked surprised at his admission.
"But she left, and you loved her..."
"I told her to stay with Mark. He could give her what I couldn't."
Somewhere in the back of her heart, she felt a twinge of what could be jealousy. She looked away from his piercing blue gaze nervously.
"Well Mark is out of the picture so you can make your move now, on your terms." she spoke, putting on a smile.
He studied his tea glass for a few moments before speaking.
"Wilson and I need to have a little chat." He got up and grabbed his to-go box and his cane.
"Don't be too hard on him." She replied, grabbing her leftovers and her purse.
"Oh good ol' Jimmy knows by now what to get himself into and what to keep himself out of."
The ride back to the hospital was quiet; the only sound was the radio playing softly in the background.
Cameron felt her stomach forming knots.
She thought she was over this..this thing she had for House. She had packed up that part of her life and put it away with all her other past loves. But she couldn't help herself when she heard of Wilson's plan with Stacey. She had felt a rush of protectiveness for him wash over her and couldn't stop her impulse to shield him from his past heartbreaker. To find that House could have had her back when she worked for the hospital but turned her down was shocking. But now that there was no other man, would House go to her? His fake sarcasm provided no clue as to an answer. She felt the definite pang of jealousy now and knew she didn't want him to make his way back to her. But, she had no right to say anything to him of the sort. Heck, he probably wouldn't even take her seriously. He would think she was making him her rebound from Chase. This was going to be a mess.
House was thinking along the same lines but for other reasons.
He would always love Stacey, but realized a long time ago that he was no longer in love with her. She was most definitely boxed up and packed away in a far recess of his mind now. The fact that Wilson didn't even discuss this with him irked him more than anything. He knew that Wilson just wanted him happy, but was definitely glad for his bleeding heart's intervention. He glanced at her briefly before looking back out the window at the passing scenery. He would tell Stacey that they would never work; there was no doubt of that. It wouldn't be his finest moment: She would probably cry and he would hug her and start to feel awkward. But it had to be done. Somewhere in the back of his heart he felt a warm something at the thought of Cameron's protectiveness. It almost reminded him of days when he could remember feeling cared about by her every day. He may never have made it known, but if nothing else he loved the feeling of having someone care about him without agenda or expectation. He remembered what he said to Amber's hallucination on the bus. He was tired of being miserable. Going back to Stacey would be good for a while, but they would both end up miserable all over again. It was just their nature. He wanted to love. He glanced at Cameron once more, trying to picture her hair as it used to be. He didn't find it odd that he would do so, and found that he really did miss her. Not that he would tell her that. She'd get that smug look on her face and say I told you so. He felt that warm something again as they pulled into the parking lot and she smiled over at him.
He wanted to try to keep that feeling around, he decided. Whatever that feeling was.
They walked back inside the hospital together and both stopped when they saw the two figures conversing at the front desk.
Cameron looked at him awkwardly.
"Well, I should probably get back to the ER. You don't need me for this. Be nice to Wilson, and well just be happy with her ok?" she spoke quickly before trying to rush off.
He stopped her with his cane.
"Just wait." He spoke softly, looking her in the eye. His eyes seemed to plead with her.
She nodded absently.
"Ah Wilson, just the man I needed to see. We need to talk later about your indiscretions." He spoke a little harshly, leaning onto his cane heavily.
Wilson looked over at Cameron and back at House.
"House, I"
"But I got free Chinese out of it all so I suppose the idea did have its merit." He exclaimed while looking over at Cameron.
Wilson looked ready to speak again but Stacey beat him to it.
"Greg, lets just go to your office and talk…"
"Nope, no need. Plus, Cam here and I have some things to do so I will make this short. I will always love you, but I am not in love with you. I still can't be what you need. I'm sorry that Mark wasn't either. We will never work no matter how hard we try. End of story."
"But Greg maybe in private we could discuss-"
"This is the one and only time we will have this conversation. You weren't adult enough to come to me directly so I am not going to treat you like one. I'm not changing my mind. I hope you have a marvelous weekend, now I have lives to save. But you are welcome to stand here like juvenile lobby art with Wilson all you like. My superior lobby art is graduating to a private collection in my office. Excuse us."
"Wilson." Cameron acknowledged him before following House to the elevator.
As the doors closed on them she felt that warm feeling wrap her heart like a wool sweater.