A/N: I wasn't going to update anything for awhile, what with my semester starting and all, but I feel obligated to finish this fic, so I will keep updating until it's done! I have roughly 3 more chaps planned, give or take 1, so we're in the final stretch!! I have tentatively set a review goal of 100, but w/e. Please R&R if the mood takes you. I appreciate all the support! Enjoy!!
Chapter 16: the speech
The rest of the drive back was silent, due mostly to the fact that Cameron's imagination had run wild with all the possibilities of what could have happened at Wilson's last wedding between House and Doris. One, in particular, she preferred not to think about, but the chance that they had slept together wormed its way into her brain.
"Not that Doris isn't a sweetheart, but he's mine now, damnit, plus, you don't sleep with your best friend's mother, you just don't; I don't care how drunk you get."
She forced the thought out of her mind, determined not to react until she knew for sure.
They arrived at House's place and went in, and House went straight for the bedroom.
"I don't think so!" She said, pulling him back into the other room, or trying to. His feet were glued to his spot in the hallway.
He looked at her pleadingly.
"You need to write your speech for tomorrow," she said, adamantly, kissing the tip of his nose.
"Come on, I'll make it up as I go along. It worked last time." He grabbed her hand and headed for the bedroom again, but this time it was she who stayed glued to her spot.
\
"Not from what I heard. Wilson said it ended up being a tirade against Cuddy and clinic patients, along with the downside to taking a cruise in the Mediterranean. How do you arrive at that point during a wedding speech?"
"Long story," he said and kissed her on the mouth, putting his arms around her. She moaned quietly at the contact, and he used the opportunity to slide his tongue in her mouth. Instinctively, she wrapped hers around his, and closed her eyes. Then she slowly pulled away.
"Nice try. Very nice try, but no dice. You are writing that speech."
She knew, from the dinner earlier, that he wanted her badly, and she wanted him as well, but she had worked hard to plan this wedding, and their friends deserved a perfect day, with nice speeches from friends.
"The sooner you finish, the sooner we can…well…" she reminded him.
"Do the horizontal monster mash?"
"Yes, crudely speaking." She breezed past him to the bedroom, turning to look back at him as she did so with as sexy a smile as she could muster.
"I'll be waiting." She blew him a kiss, walking backward, and smashed into the doorknob.
"Ow!"
"Very nice. I'm seduced beyond all reason now."
Cameron rubbed her back where the doorknob had hit, glared at him, and closed the door.
"Be quiet and get to work," she said gently through the door. "You don't want to disappoint Wilson for the fourth time. He deserves something nice this time, and so does Mary Ann."
"How do you know my other speeches were duds?"
"I know because I know you."
He stood in the hall for another moment, hoping she'd reconsider. Then, giving up, he crashed on the couch with a pen and a notepad. He began scribbling, crossing out, and adding, a process that took what seemed like forever. The minutes droned on. He read the final product over, mumbling the words aloud.
"Too mushy, it's like Wilson wrote this himself," he said in disgust, and tore out the sheet of paper, balling it up, and throwing it at the TV.
Meanwhile, Cameron stripped down to her bra and panties and looked in the mirror.
"They don't match, but that's ok. Hopefully I won't be wearing them much longer, anyhow."
Then she hopped into bed, pulled the covers up to her neck and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
She began to wonder if he was still in the living room, or even if he was still alive. She glanced at the bedside clock.
"He should have been finished by now. I thought he'd only take about 10 minutes."
Curiosity overtaking her, she got out of bed, grabbing one of his discarded shirts to throw on over her underclothes. She opened the door. The light was still on. She crept down the hallway.
"Greg?"
She stopped at the entrance to the living room, and smiled.
He was fast asleep, snoring quietly.
"Mr. over-eager, and he goes and falls asleep," she thought with a shake of her head and a grin on her face. She padded over to the couch, and snatched the notepad from where it had fallen to the floor. The speech was half done, and was about nothing in particular, mostly Wilson's foibles, past girlfriends, and ex-wives.
She shook her head again. No good. She tore the page out and put it in the trash. Then she noticed the ball of paper in front of the TV. She picked it up and un-crinkled it, wincing every time the paper crackled. Once it was flat, she read it. There were tons of cross-outs and add-ins, but it was perfect. She hadn't even been aware he could think like this, and yet, here it was, all on paper.
"Oh, he's reading this. And if he refuses, I'm sure someone will volunteer to read it."
She stowed the speech in her purse, shut the light off, and went back to the bedroom, not wanting to wake him up.
When House woke up, the lights were off, and his notepad and pen were nowhere to be seen. He wiped his mouth, and yawned, wondering how long he'd been out. Probably about 20 minutes or so. He put his feet on the floor, and stood up, crashing back on the sofa immediately as his feet made contact with the pen on the floor. He picked it up and threw it on the coffee table, noting that the pad of paper was already there. Then he glanced at the clock.
"I was out that long!?"
First things first. He turned the light on and flipped through the notepad for his speech. It wasn't there. Oh, well, he'd make it up as he went along. Just like the other times. Wilson would survive and Mary Ann would get over it. She'd probably hate him like all the rest of Wilson's wives, but that didn't concern him at all.
All he cared about now was getting to Cameron. He shut the light off, and went to his bedroom, noting the soft glow of light that filtered beneath the door. The bedside lamp was on anyway. She was probably reading or something. He opened the door, already removing his shirt as he went. He pulled it over his head, and dropped it to the floor. An amused look appeared on his face as he observed the scene within.
She was asleep, the book she'd been reading on the floor next to the side of the bed. She was snoring lightly, and looked like she'd been asleep for awhile. She was holding one of his shirts, clutching it like a beloved childhood blanket.
He sighed, realization dawning on him that he wouldn't be getting any tonight. And there was no way they were having sex tomorrow night either.
"No way am I having sex with the knowledge that Wilson is also having sex. Ewwww"
He finished stripping in the soft light from the lamp and went around to her side of the bed, and shut it off, bathing the room in darkness. He went around to his side, and crawled in with as little motion as possible in an effort to not disturb her sleep, since he didn't know whether or not she'd be a total bitch at being woken up in this manner.
Once in bed, he reached for her, and pulled her gently to him. The motion made her open her eyes, and she smiled at their close proximity.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself. You should have woken me up."
"That would have been like setting a land mine off. You know how you get when you're woken up."
"And you're not like that?"
"You tell me. You woke me up." She kissed him softly, and cuddled closer to him, just enjoying the feel of being in his arms.
"I suppose sex is out of the question for tonight," he stated.
"This is just as good."
"Speak for yourself…wait a minute, I thought you wanted it tonight."
"I did…I do…I just…took care of myself tonight."
"What?!"
"Like I said, I wasn't gonna risk waking you up, and you just looked so adorable, all curled up on the couch, and…I just couldn't."
"I looked adorable?!"
"Yes."
He groaned. "Oh, my god. Torture me a bit more, o cruel mistress of the vibrator."
She rolled her eyes. "You'll make it." She kissed him again, and settled in to go to sleep, wrapping her arms around him as well, a smile on her face as she heard him muttering obscenities in the dark.
A/N: Well, what did you think? I'm bound and determined to keep my T rating for this story, so unfortunately, no smut. There's some in one of my other fics, if that floats your boat, but I just like this one without. Hope you liked it!
