Author's note: Sorry for the delay. I hadn't originally planned on making this into multiple chapters, so it has taken me a couple of days to lay out the direction of the story. Thank you so much for the reviews. They really inspire me. I hope you'll enjoy the story.

The morning after the gallery fundraiser, House got into work earlier than his usual time. He'd ridden his bike in which normally shaved off five minutes from his commute and left him in a much better mood. A quick glance around the parking told him that both Wilson and Cuddy were already there. He knew Cuddy had a budget meeting every Friday so luckily for him, her entire morning would be consumed with pie charts and deficits.

There'd be less time and therefore less chance for her to come looking for him so they could talk, or worse, to try and work things out. He knew a woman like Cuddy would never let her work suffer because of a relationship. He just hoped that philosophy applied to cover his work, too.

The office was empty when House pushed through the large glass door. He dropped his bag behind his desk and began flipping through various papers and oddly half opened envelopes left by Cameron the day before. There was no sign of her in the office. No coat or bag hung on the coat rack opposite her desk and more tellingly, no coffee waited for him in the coffee pot.

House looked at his watch. Even though he was unusually early, Cameron was glaringly late. Not a good sign. Not that he expected it to go smoothly this morning anyway. Just as he started to reach for the coffee filters and foil packet of coffee, Foreman entered the conference room carrying a cardboard beverage tray from the cafeteria with three large coffees inside.

"One of those better be for me," House barked at him. "Gimme," he said, holding out his hand while wiggling his fingers impatiently.

"I've worked here how long? Eighteen months?" Foreman said, as he let out an exaggerated puff of air from his chest between the two thoughts.

House looked at his lead Fellow suspiciously, wondering where he was going with his thought. "Give or take the week you took off for your old 'youth gang' reunion," he said, sarcastically.

"And in all that time…" Foreman continued on, completely ignoring House's last comment. "I can only think of two occasions that Cameron has ever been late. So, either she's hung over or it's because of something you did". Foreman's eyes locked onto House's disapprovingly.

"Wow," House replied back quickly. "I wouldn't have taken the coffee if I'd known you were going to be so judgey".

"Well, since Chase left town weeks ago, I'm going to assume this has all the earmarks of your handiwork," Foreman quickly shot back.

"Oh, relax," House replied. "It could have just as easily been something you did".

"No, not just as easily. What did you do?"

House's witty reply was cut off by Cameron's figure moving past the glass office walls and through the door.

"You're late," House said, as his eyes ran over her body.

Despite all the uncertainty of how the day would unfold, House couldn't help but have his first thought of Cameron be that of her clothing selection. She was wearing a straight skirt with ridiculously high heels and a form fitting blouse that wrapped interestingly around her small waist and tied in the back. Her hair was down and loosely fell over her shoulders. And House thought he detected a slight hint of more than the usual subdued amount of perfume she normally wore.

He cringed at the image he suddenly had of himself getting her out of that blouse, playfully twirling her body like a top as the ends of the blouse were untied and pulled.

"Technically, no. I'm not late," Cameron replied quickly, not looking at House. "Good Morning, Eric".

"I was down in HR submitting the personnel requisition for the fellowship vacancy. Interestingly enough, they already had five applicant packets on file," she said, as she roughly handed House the bulky folders and made her way to the coffee maker.

Foreman's head shot up. "Fellowship vacancy? What the hell are you talking about? Has someone heard from Chase?" he asked, looking directly at House.

"No, not Chase," Cameron redirected. "Me. My fellowship ends in five weeks and Cuddy wants applicants reviewed, and one selected before I go".

Foreman's eyes widened at the revelation and looked more than mildly confused. "So, you're leaving? When did you decide this?" he asked.

Allison looked sheepishly out from under her coffee mug. "Um…last night," she said, quietly.

"Last night?" Foreman asked, sharply. "You just had an epiphany about your fellowship between dinner and bedtime and decided it was time to leave?" Looking quizzically over at House, he said, "And you're supporting this?"

House broke the awkward silence. "She has a two year contract just like everyone else and this is a teaching hospital. You want job security? Get a practice with a mortgage, a receptionist and outrageously high malpractice premiums".

"But what about Chase?" Foreman said, now looking highly annoyed. "He's been here longer than Allison and you've never once said anything to him about leaving".

"Chase is on leave of absence. It's different," House chided.

Foreman shook his head in disbelief. "By definition that's the very reason it shouldn't be different," he said, as he threw his half full paper coffee cup in the trash can. "So, we're going to lose Cameron, train someone new…"

"Teach," House interjected.

"…and cover indefinitely for Chase? That's brilliant," he said, as he ran his fingers over his tightly cropped hair.

"Hey, I don't make the rules. If you've got a problem with it, take it up with Cuddy. Otherwise, we've got a patient to save. I assume you both remember her?" House asked sarcastically, his eyebrows lifted towards his forehead.

Disregarding House's explanation, Foreman rose from his seat at the conference table, walking over to where Cameron stood by the coffee maker. "Allison, you can't be ok with this," he said compassionately, his hand hovering in the space between them as if torn with the idea of touching her. "What's your plan?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she vacantly stared at her coffee. "I've got five weeks to help find a replacement for this department and hopefully a position somewhere for myself and then start packing. That's the plan".

"It's all right, Eric," she said, giving him a small smile. "I've been expecting this to happen. I'm ok with it, really".

Staring at her intently, Foreman slowly shook his head. "Uh, it's funny," he said, his eyes now locked on to hers. "I don't think I've ever heard you tell an outright lie before just now," he said, as he turned to give a glaring look to House who bristled at the implication of the comment, then set down his coffee mug and walked out of the conference room.