A/N: Ok, I think I'm on a roll here. I'm attempting to complete this by the end of the week, but we'll see. I'll probably get burned out first. That aside, enjoy, please, and review, review, review!! Let me know how it's going and if you have any suggestions for the end of this fic or any ideas for future ones. I love feedback!! It's the author's most important tool.
Chapter 15: musical chairs
The rest of the workday was a blur for Cameron. She checked in on Mary Ann before she left to get ready for the rehearsal dinner. The other woman was anxious.
"Oh, thank god you're here!! I'm freaking out here!"
Cameron crossed the room to her and hugged her tightly.
"I'm so scared," Mary Ann cried.
"It'll be ok. Everything's ready to go. And tonight will be fun, trust me. I've double and triple checked every possible aspect of this wedding. It will be perfect."
Mary Ann pulled away and looked her friend in the eye.
"Thank you for everything. I couldn't have done any of this without you."
"I didn't do that much."
"Oh, please, you practically planned this single-handedly."
She glanced at her watch.
"I gotta fly. Susan picked up her dress already. You can grab yours too, just so you have it." She breezed out of her office, and Cameron grabbed the hideous dress and made her own exit.
She headed for her apartment, thankful that she hadn't unpacked her suitcases yet. She flung open her closet doors and began flinging outfits on her bed. She tried about half on, and narrowed it down, until she picked a winner, dark purple button down shirt and black slacks. She put on a pair of Mary Janes, and put on some light make-up. She kept her hair down, then grabbed one of the suitcases and her purse before heading out the door to House's.
House arrived at home and flopped on the couch, seeing no need to change for the dinner. Then he stood back up and went to his trash can, pawing through it until he found Cameron's note. He went back to the couch and read it over.
Greg,
I'm not sure if you'll even read this, but I hope you will. I never meant to cause all this trouble, but it seems to follow me around. There is nothing going on with Dr. Porter and me. I approached him about lunch days ago to talk shop, which we did. He misconstrued the reason behind my invitation, which is what Sheila observed. I didn't let it get any further than that, and explained to Todd that I didn't feel that way about him and he had the wrong idea. And know also, that I don't feel that way about him because I feel that way about you. I know you're thinking that you already knew that, but I don't think you do. I can't even really describe what I feel for you, and I was hoping that you had a fraction of that feeling for me. Anyway, I'm running out of space, so I'll just say this: I'm so sorry for everything, and please know that no matter what happens, I'll always feel this way about you.
Allie
He carried the note to his bedroom and tucked it in the box in his dresser, removing the watch and putting it in his pocket. Then he heard the door and went into the other room to see Cameron standing there with a suitcase.
"Sorry, it wasn't locked," she said.
"It's ok." He took her suitcase and put it back by the couch where she'd had it before.
"I read your note."
Her face flushed, and she averted her eyes.
"I thought I was supposed to read it."
"Well, yea, before we made up." She looked him up and down. He looked the same as he had that morning.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yea." He held the door open for her and she stepped out, hearing him shut and lock it behind them.
She drove to the rehearsal dinner and he dozed off in the car.
"Do you ever not sleep?" she asked.
"I didn't much that night you were in my bed. Probably only a few hours that night."
"Did I snore or something?" She was horrified at the thought.
"No, not at all. I…just couldn't stop looking at you. That you were so close."
The admission brought a smile to her face, and she lifted her hand from the steering wheel and caressed his cheek before returning it to the wheel.
They arrived at the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner, and were shown into a private banqueting hall, and, as always, they were the last to arrive. House immediately squirmed as Doris's eyes were drawn to him the second they crossed the threshold into the room. They took their assigned seats, House across from Doris, and dinner was served a bit later.
"So, now what?" Chase asked, eliciting a quiet laugh from the other occupants as they finished eating.
"Well, tomorrow, it would be speeches next, right dear?" Mary Ann asked.
"Yea, I know Cameron has a good one planned." Wilson shot her a smile.
"I hope so," she replied, returning the smile.
"I knew I was forgetting something," House mumbled next to her.
"Then guess what you're doing tonight," she said, not surprised at all that he hadn't worked on his speech.
"But I had plans for tonight," he looked at her meaningfully.
"Speech first."
He fidgeted and she looked puzzled for a moment, until she looked under the table and saw Doris running her foot up and down his calf. Oops. She hadn't been thinking when she and Mary Ann had finalized the seating chart.
"Ok, now, we're going to go through a rough, very rough, re-enactment of tomorrow," Wilson announced. They practiced their entrances and exits and timings and where to stand. After several repeats of the whole process, wedding music included, bride and groom were both satisfied.
"All right, after the ceremony and the seating and speeches, we eat, do gifts, and then the dancing. I don't know what else to say, except thank you so much everyone!" Mary Ann concluded, and glanced at Wilson. "Did I forget anything?"
"If you did, then so did I." He kissed her forehead, and everyone awwwwd, save House, who gagged, only to get a swat from Cameron and Doris simultaneously.
"Quit ganging up on me!"
"Oh, stop it Gregory, you'll get your chance sooner or later. In fact, I remain shocked that no one has snatched you up. Next to my James, you must be the most handsome man on the planet." House scowled and didn't reply. Cameron elbowed him, giggling.
"Thank you Mrs. Wilson…Doris, you're too kind," he said batting his eyelashes, before his fake smile melted back to the scowl.
"Oh, always, Gregory. You know, this impending wedding brings back memories of James' last wedding. Do you remember?"
"I can't get it out of my head, Doris," House said, then muttered under his breath, "no matter how hard I try."
Curious for more details, Cameron reminded herself to ask him about it later.
"It's one of the better times I've had in my life, I think."
House made a groaning noise and inched away from Doris, who only inched closer to him. Cameron watched the exchange and chuckled, as did her fellow ducklings, who found their boss's attitude around his friend's mother nothing short of hilarious.
"So, I guess that's it. We still have about an hour or so on this room, though, so if everyone wants to stick around we can get drinks or something," Wilson suggested.
"No, let's do something fun. How about musical chairs? There are enough of them in here, and enough room."
Cameron clapped her hands at Mary Ann's suggestion.
"Whatever you want. You're the bride." Wilson conceded, and they all helped in positioning the chairs, save House, who crashed in one, and watched the proceedings.
"Oh, no, you don't, you're playing," Cameron said, grabbing his hand and attempting to pull him out of the chair.
"No way."
"Oh, come now, Gregory, it would be simply delightful if you played. Why, I haven't played this in so long, I feel as frisky as a schoolgirl again just thinking of it."
House made a face when she uttered the word 'frisky' that could have soured sugar.
"That's just wrong," he whispered, but finally allowed Cameron to pull him into a standing position and over to the chairs.
"Ok, now we need music." Wilson grabbed the boombox he'd brought and took out the CD of the wedding march.
"Anyone got any music in their car?"
"I do, James, I'll be right back." Doris headed out to her car.
House rolled his eyes. She came back with the Sound of Music soundtrack which she passed to Wilson. He asked for someone to take charge of the music, and completely ignored House's hand waving frantically in front of him, selecting Foreman instead and earning them both glares from House.
The CD was put on shuffle and they all trooped around the chairs as the song Sixteen Going on Seventeen blared. Foreman hit the pause button and there was a mad scramble for chairs. Mary Ann's cousin Susan was first out, followed by Chase and then Wilson.
The Lonely Goatherd began playing and those remaining circled the chairs cautiously, glancing at Foreman for a cue as to when the music would stop. Finally, silence hit, and Cameron found herself fighting House for the remaining chair. She wrestled with him for a minute, oblivious to the others in the room, and finally he pinned her hands behind her back and took the chair.
She made a face at him, and he stuck his tongue out at her, and waved her over to the 'losers pool' as he'd dubbed it. She walked over to the corner, feeling his eyes on her as she walked, and thinking about other things she wanted him to do with his tongue. She looked back at him as she sat down next to Chase. He wanted her. She could see it in his eyes. The feeling was mutual, but it was not going to get him out of working on his speech. She'd make sure of that.
Mary Ann and her brother Mark joined the losers pool in the next couple of rounds, leaving one chair, House, and Doris Wilson. Foreman started the player and Climb Ev'ry Mountain began to play. Doris kept her eyes on House's the whole time, and he tried hard to avoid hers, despite that might mean a trip to the losers pool. The CD stopped, and both dove for the chair. Cameron giggled to herself. They were actually pretty evenly matched between House's leg and Doris's age. House came out in the chair, and was about to yell victory when Doris sat in his lap and proclaimed a tie.
House turned white, and Chase snickered and nudged Cameron who laughed too. He began that nervous fidgeting he did around Doris, squirming around until she got up, and she saw the other, slightly less obvious reason why he wouldn't have wanted her on his lap. She covered a hand with her mouth to keep from laughing any louder. She felt sorry for him, yes, but still, it was so funny.
They put the room back in order, and said their good nights, and went their separate ways. Doris gave House a hug good-bye in the parking lot and whispered something in his ear. He clapped a hand to his head, and she left, winking at him as she made her exit. Cameron watched her leave and raised an eyebrow at him.
"What'd she say?"
"That it was an immense pleasure to sit in my lap, simply delightful." He groaned and slapped his hand against his forehead again.
Cameron broke into a fresh fit of giggles. "Yea, I bet it was a pleasure for her. It was for me too, and all I got to do was look."
"I do believe I have no idea what you're talking about." She smiled at him, knowingly, and caught the slightest hint of a blush on his face.
"Your ears are red," she giggled, as they climbed in her car.
"Are not."
"How do you know? You can't see them."
"I just know. I don't get embarrassed."
"Well, if I was you and I had a raging boner and some old lady with a crush on me sat on it, I'd be pretty embarrassed." She laughed as his ears got redder.
"That's just you then. I'm just honored I was able to give her a last thrill before she kicks the bucket."
"Greg!"
"What?! The old bag's ancient. She won't be around forever."
"Still, she's a sweetheart. Which reminds me, I was going to ask exactly what happened with her at Wilson's other wedding."
"I really, really, don't want to get into that right now."
His tone made her not push the subject and they arrived at his place, and went inside. She'd just ask Wilson.
A/N: Hope you liked this one, I hated it at first, but I guess it grew on me. Please R&R!! No reviews, no updates. Reviews let me know interest is still there. It's not much of an issue for this fic though, so thank you all for that!!
