Chapter 17

Cameron stared at House, not fully believing what he had just done. Before she had time to respond, her cell phone started ringing. She listened to Chase as he told her on the other line that the seminar had just ended. "Okay," Cameron said. "We'll meet you at the carousel in half an hour."

She shut off her phone and put it back in her bag. Placing her hands on her hips, she asked, "Okay, Sherlock. What's your plan?"

House banged his cane against the wooden boardwalk. "What's yours?" he taunted with a grin.

Cameron glared at him, then glanced around the area for an answer. She shut her eyes in irritation as she pointed towards another booth. Motorcycles for rent were lined out in front of the table.

"Oh, yeah," House grunted in his manly fashion. They walked over to the booth and rented a motorcycle for the entire week.

They hopped onto the bike. Cameron wrapped her arms tightly around House, her belly tingling at the memory of House pulling her arms around him the first time they rode together. If Cameron could have seen House's grin in front of her, she would have known that he was recalling the same memory.

At the Pier, House parked the bike and waited for everyone else to show up. House and Cameron watched Izzie, Foreman, Chase, Meredith, Cristina, Alex, and George step out of two taxis. Once they had convened in front of the carousel, House said, "Now that we're all here, let's all separate."

The women opened their mouths to protest, but the guys were eager to consent. Izzie, Foreman, and Chase moved towards the games as Meredith and Cristina went off together by the food stands. Alex and George bounded towards House and Cameron. George's big blue eyes melted Cameron's resistance when he asked, "Can we go with you?"

House moaned as he rolled his head in frustration. Cameron smiled at them as she said, "Sure."

The four of them headed towards the rides. House and Cameron fell back behind the other two. House leaned into her and asked quietly, "You realize why they're following us, right?"

Cameron feigned a serious face as she stared up at him with curious green eyes. "Why?" she asked, trying to keep a straight face. "Would it bother you if they were interested in me?"

"I don't mind George," he replied. "The kid is sweet, but he is still a kid. Karev, though, is another story. He's like an old huntin' dog running after a rabbit."

Cameron laughed. Secretly, that had been her observations as well. For the second time that week, she tucked her hand into his. He looked down at her, bewildered, then smiled. He squeezed her hand and then intertwined their fingers.

"I can't believe Derrick," Meredith whined.

Cristina brushed it off as she looked around. "He's a man," she informed her. "All men would have harems if it were legal."

Meredith licked off ice cream that had fell onto her hand from her cone. "He chooses me, and then he chooses her. Then he comes back to me. And now he still calls her his wife! I am so over men," she babbled.

Cristina didn't even respond. Moving on to her own problems, she said, "Burke is worried that I don't love him anymore."

Meredith grabbed a napkin of the table. "Should he be worried?"

Cristina's forehead wrinkled. "No, he was shot. But he's still Burke."

"Maybe he's afraid that it's changed you."

Cristina crumpled her napkin as she sighed.

……………………………

"It's okay if I don't get anything," Izzie said comfortingly. Foreman and Chase had been trying to shoot ducks and pop balloons for the last twenty minutes.

Foreman looked wild-eyed as he tossed a ring at a goldfish bowl. "No, we promised you a prize. We'll get you one," he vowed.

Chase pulled back his hair with his hand. "I have an idea," he said.

"What?" Izzie asked.

"Wait here," Chase commanded mysteriously. He walked down several booths to be out of earshot. He faced the worker and said, "Hey, pal. I'll give you fifty bucks for that bear."

The man's cigar was making Chase nauseous. He rubbed his stubbly chin as he coughed. "You have to win the bear, pal."

Chase rolled his eyes. "Look," he said, handing him a slip, "I'll give you a ticket like I played the game. And I'll pay you seventy-five dollars to let me win it."

The burly man stared at him inquisitively for a few minutes, puffing on his cigar. Then he pulled down the bear. "This chick must be something," he mumbled as he tossed the animal to Chase.

"She's even better," Chase answered gratefully. "Thanks."

He walked back over to Foreman and Izzie. Foreman was still trying to win a game. "I believe this is yours," Chase said proudly as he handed the animal to Izzie.

Her face brightened as she took it. "Oh, it's great. Thank you," she gushed.

"How did you get it?" Foreman asked, puffing from jealously.

Chase shrugged. "What can I say? I'm quite proficient at carnival games," he replied smugly.

……………………………………

After riding some of the milder rides, Alex asked the group if they wanted to ride a roller coaster.

Cameron glanced up House. He shook his head. "It'll tear my leg all to hell," he told her.

"Let's just get something to eat," she reasoned with the other two.

"C'mon, Allison," Alex pushed. "O'Malley can stay with Dr. House. It will only take a few minutes."

Cameron shook her head, but House interjected. "No, go ahead and go. You should get to have fun."

He pulled his hand away from Cameron's. She looked down, disappointed and slightly hurt. She wondered if this was his way of bailing out before they got too close. She got in line with Alex as George and House walked away towards the food stands.

George dejectedly plopped down onto a bench, resting his chin on his fists. House frowned as he twirled his cane. His stomach burned as he was sucked back into reality. He could not be the man that Cameron needed. They could pretend and hold hands and hold each other close on a motorcycle, but it wasn't enough. At the end of the day, he was still Greg House.

TBC

Chapter 18

After the roller coaster ride, House avoided Cameron's eyes. They ate lunch in silence, except for the idle chit chat Alex and George shared about Seattle Grace.

"So I heard you gave Bambi syphilis," House said.

George coughed on a fry as Alex's chin stuck out in defiance. "There was a nurse involved," he replied in his lowest rumbling voice. Alex had put up with the worst of the worse growing up with his father. Greg House was a furry bunny compared to that man.

House threw away his trash and stood in front of Cameron. "Ready?" he asked her, his voice void of warmth or politeness.

Her jaw clamped, she muttered, "Sure." She smiled down at George and Alex after she got up from the table. "I'm glad you got to spend the day with us," she said kindly. "See you later?"

"Yeah," George said animatedly. "I think we're all planning to meet at the hotel bar around six."

Cameron nodded and turned to leave with House. As they walked towards the motorcycle, Cameron took a deep breath before saying, "What happened to you today?"

House blinked as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "Nothing. We had fun, right?"

Her eyes trained on his as her jaw set even harder. "Is this about Alex?"

House winced. "No, it's about you."

Cameron gasped. She didn't know what had changed his opinion of her in such a short amount of time, but it felt like her chest was caving in. Cameron couldn't bear hearing anymore right now. She jumped on the bike behind House and they sped towards the hotel. Once they entered the lobby, Cameron stormed towards the elevator. "I'm going to go take a shower," she grumbled.

House stopped at the front desk and shouted, "Don't you want the painting?"

She spun on her heels, her hair whipping around her face. "Keep it. No one will notice me in it anyway, remember?" she spat and then turned back around.

………………………………

Cameron slipped on a simple black dress as she cursed herself for being so stupid. Nothing but pain and embarrassment had come from her feelings for House and she would be damned before she would allow him to control anything more than her professional life.

"It was that bad?" Izzie asked as she smoothed lipstick over her lips.

As she put on her high heel, Cameron glanced up. "It was as if he's got a split personality," she explained. "I was with Cary Grant all morning. Then after lunch, Greg House popped back up."

Izzie laughed. "If it's meant to be, Cary Grant will come back," she reassured her.

They went downstairs to the bar and met the rest of the group. House sat by himself at the end of the bar, nursing a Scotch. Cameron sat down next to Izzie, Alex, and Chase.

Meredith walked through the door, scoping out the seating arrangements. Not ready to chirp along with her friends, she sat down next to House.

"Where's your sidekick?" she asked, referring to Wilson.

House swallowed the liquor swishing in his mouth. "Probably having sex with the other woman," he said cruelly. "Oh, wait. You're the other woman." Meredith glared at him, then ordered a glass of Tequila. "Where's your girl Friday?" House asked her.

"Probably having sex with her broken boyfriend," she replied drolly.

"Ah, there's never a short supply of broken boyfriends," House quipped, hating himself for falling into that quota.

"Speaking of," Meredith said, "You might not want to sit too close to me. I've been told that I have a tendency to sleep with inappropriate men when I'm depressed."

"You're the one that sat down next to me," House countered. "Are you implying that I'm the inappropriate man of choice?"

"How charming," Meredith said sarcastically. "No wonder Cameron likes you."

House shot a look towards Cameron. A thread of envy wound around his gut as he watched her joke with Alex. He had no idea that Cameron's smile was false. She had the animalistic impulse to throw her drink in House's face and rip Meredith off the bar stool by her hair. The emotion even surprised Cameron. She was not used to feeling that amount of jealousy or anger.

House tired of patronizing Meredith. As they both observed Cameron, he asked quietly, "You know why she's a real woman?"

"Because she can put up with you?" Meredith shot back.

"No," House snapped. "Because she doesn't have to put up with me. Unlike you, she doesn't judge her entire happiness on one person. She's strong as hell." He took a breath and then added, "Did you know that she married and became a widow before she even graduated? She was barely old enough to order a beer to cry into. And you're unhappy because a man screwed up." His eyes focused on Meredith, who was staring at him with a pale face. "Grow a pair and grow up."

Derrick entered the bar to apologize to Meredith. He saw that she and House were sitting closely together, not realizing that he was berating her. Derrick marched up to her, glowering over them. "You never wait very long do you?" he said snidely. "One man pisses you off and you just jump the next one."

Meredith's eyes flashed angrily, but House spoke before she had a chance. "Well, you know what they say about guys with big canes, McDreamy," House joked, raising his eyebrows.

Everyone in the room turned to see what was going on. "Shut the hell up, House," Derrick barked. "No one cares about you or your defect leg."

Meredith's jaw dropped. "That's enough!" she shouted. "I've seen you go low before, but you are the biggest spoiled brat I've ever seen. House was right. I'm stupid if I let you be the determining factor of my happiness."

She tossed down money for her drink and stormed off. House paid for his as well and headed for his hotel room. Derrick fell into a chair and ordered a glass of Vodka. Unable to mind her own business, Cameron stoop up and went over to Derrick.

Sitting down, she said, "So they call you McDreamy?" Cameron's eyes glanced him over, adding, "I can't imagine why. Guys like you tend to give me nightmares."

Derrick put his hand through his thick hair. "Do you need to be here?"

"Do you need to be a jerk?" she asked, disgusted.

"I thought that's what you liked," he retorted. "You're sleeping with House, aren't you?"

"You need to get something straight—for your sake and everyone that has to put up with you," she said like an angry mother. "House is rude, but he's a good man that tries to do the right thing. You're a charming man that does the wrong thing in order to get what you want. There's a difference."

……………………………………

House felt lousy. Although he tried to deny it, he wanted to apologize to Cameron. He needed to apologize to Cameron. She did not know why he had been a jerk to her today at the Pier and he knew that he had hurt her. Popping two Vicodin into his mouth, House grabbed his shoes and the painting from earlier that day.

He walked over to Cameron's hotel room. The memory of Cameron in her sexy black dress was driving him crazy. She had called him handsome, once, during their first date, and he wondered now if she would still think of him that way after everything he had put her through. House knocked on the door, but no one answered. Putting his ear close to the door, he heard cries of ecstasy that made his body ache all over. Alex, he thought enviously. Angry heat rushed through his veins as he uncontrollably busted the door open. "Get away from her, damn it!" he screamed as he stood in the doorway.

TBC