A/N: I'm so sorry it's taken me forever to update this, a lot has been going on, a lot to deal with, all on top of moving house and starting my second year of university. Hopefully I'll get to update a little quicker from now on, I do have a lot of work due amongst other things but I'll try. Thanks for all of the reviews, I do appreciate them and love reading them. Anyway, enough of me blabbing on, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for. Enjoy.

"You left me. I woke up all cold and alone."

Cameron turned from the patients file she was signing to the voice that interrupted her.

"And you would've been happy with me waking you up in the early hours of the morning?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, looking slightly amused at the feigned hurt expression on the other doctor's face. "House, you can't pull off puppy dog eyes with me" she added with a grin. House immediately went back to his normal, emotionless expression.

"They work with Cuddy" he grumbled, looking down and lightly tapping his cane on the floor in thought. Cameron contemplated the man in front of her, there was definitely something on his mind, his eyes now staring intently at the floor and his brow furrowed slightly.

"House?" she prompted quietly, edging on the side of caution.

"You were talking with Wilson"

"I was..." Cameron replied, with a questioning look on her face, not really sure where he was heading.

"Why?" House asked shortly, stopping the tapping of his cane and looking at the woman in front of him closely. He didn't know why but seeing Cameron with Wilson in the cafeteria, the soft caring look that was on her face, had set off a torrent of different emotions. He didn't want to admit that jealousy was one of them, he had no right to be jealous, but there was certainly something, and it unsettled him.

"Just because you're not talking to him right now doesn't mean that I can't." Cameron replied curtly "He's hurting House, he needed someone to talk to, someone who understands just a little of what he's going through and..."

"and you jumped at the chance to care, move onto another charity case, someone else for you to fix" House interrupted sarcastically, suddenly feeling anger build up inside of him.

"What the...No!"

"Did you have a nice chat about how I ruined his life; how all I ever did was make him miserable, how I'm such a burden on everyone's life. I bet he played the concerned card and warned you stay away..."

"Damn it House!" Cameron interrupted, raising her voice slightly, taken aback by the sudden change of behaviour. "Not everything is about you. And even if Wilson did warn me to stay away, I am quite capable of making my own decisions"

"So he did warn you" House stated smugly.

Cameron let out an exasperated sigh "What does it matter if he did or not. Look House I don't know why this is bothering you but I have work to do"

House watched as she turned away from him and began looking through her next patient's file. Feeling his anger disperse, he let out a small sigh. "You should follow his advice" he said quietly.

Cameron turned back to face him at his words only to see his figure limp away towards the exit. Closing her eyes, she ran her hand over her face. He had made no effort to hide the emotion involved in his statement; the deep sadness that he felt day-in-day-out, the regret...Wilson had been right, he was trying to push her away.

House watched as his fingers traced over the keys of his piano. He didn't apply any pressure, he didn't want to break the silence that surrounded him, but he took comfort from the patterns he made, the combination of notes, the silent tune that played. Beside him on the polished wood grain of the instrument lay an untouched glass of scotch, the deep amber liquid catching the faint light of the room, adding its own contribution to the soundless masterpiece.

A gentle knock at his door cut across his musings and his fingers stopped their movements. He knew who was there; there was no one else it could be. Letting out a sigh he stood up and walked to the door, pausing at the handle. After the jumble of emotions he had felt that day he had no intention to see anyone. Despite this, he felt compelled to open the door and slowly opened it, though only enough so the young immunologist was visible.

"What do you want?" he asked "Expecting a hooker any minute, though now you're here maybe I should cancel" he added sarcastically.

"House, can we talk?" a defeated voice asked, not rising to his sarcastic taunts.

"Nope. Done talking"

"House, please"

"I don't want your sympathy Cameron" House replied, moving to shut the door and restore the barrier between them, the barrier that should never have come close to breaking in the first place.

"You were right" Cameron said quietly as he began to shut the door "Last night, what you said, you were right"

House hesitated and opened the door back to its original position, allowing her to continue.

"Turns out being nice is just as good as being a jerk. I don't have anyone...I never really did" she continued, her eyes firmly on the floor, afraid of what she would see if she looked up. House contemplated the woman in front of him before opening the door fully in a silent invitation to come in. Relieved, she walked in.

"Sit" House motioned at the couch before heading towards the glass of scotch at his piano. Downing the dark liquid, taking comfort in the burning heat down to his stomach he turned back to face the younger doctor and let out another sigh. "Why me Cameron?" he asked, the usual sarcasm absent from his voice. Cameron looked up at him. It was such a loaded question, held so many different meanings, something his eyes confirmed.

"In my past...I was hurt, many times, not physically but emotionally, mentally. People take advantage. Guys would always appear sweet and kind and promise the world but as soon as they got what they wanted from me their true self appeared and I was just left, discarded, wondering what had gone wrong. Me being me, I would always think that the next time would be different...it never was." Cameron started, looking down at her hands "My husband, he was different, he was the first person in my life to put me first, ahead of jobs, money, hobbies...whether it would've been different if he had been healthy I don't know, but..." she paused as House moved to sit beside her. Taking a deep breath she looked from her hands to him. "You, you don't hide the fact that you're damaged, you don't hide who you are, don't hide the fact that you will push and hurt people intentionally and unintentionally. What you see is what you get and I admire that. I never wanted to fix you, why would I when in my opinion there's nothing to fix."

House hadn't taken his eyes from her since she had began talking and now he found himself losing himself in her blue-green eyes, both sets showing their past demons. "I was right all those years ago" he said quietly, breaking the silence between them. Cameron gave him a questioning look. "You are as damaged as you are beautiful" he answered. Cameron didn't get a chance to contemplate his answer as suddenly she felt his hand placed against her cheek, his thumb stroking her soft skin with gentleness she never thought she would experience coming from him. The move had even taken House a little by surprise. Here was a woman who had long ago accepted him for who he was and he didn't know how to deal with it, and so, he did the only logical thing he could think of at that moment...he kissed her.

Leaning in, his lips grazed hers, tentatively at first, testing the waters before instinct kicked in and he deepened the kiss. By this point Cameron had gotten over her initial surprise and was kissing him back with the same amount of eagerness and need. The soothing motions of his tongue against hers made her forget about her past, about Chase, about Wilson, about everything.

Needing air the pair reluctantly broke the kiss, foreheads leaning against the other and their eyes locked in an intense gaze. House could see her eyes searching his eyes for answers, reasons. "Stop thinking" he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, and slowly the look in Cameron's eyes relaxed. "Stay" House added. Cameron's eyes widened slightly before breaking contact with his.

"House...I don't think..."

"Cameron I don't know exactly what this is between us and I don't particularly want to think about it right now" House interrupted "but what I do know is that last night when you were here was the first decent night's sleep I've had in a while. It's late, I'm tired so...just stay" he finished.

"Ok" Cameron answered, unable to help mimicking the small smile that had appeared on House's face. It wasn't much, but it was something, and Cameron was more than willing to take that.

A/N: I really tried to keep both House and Cameron in character during this chapter but I feel there are some bits that may have slipped a little OOC. Sorry if that's the case, any constructive comments will be appreciated.