AU: Thanks to everyone who read in just the first few hours! Over 100 hits already. Now if only I could get some reviews! Seriously, though, thanks so much for reading
Cameron unlocked the door to her car from across the parking lot, causing the lights to flash. Now that the two girls were outside and on their way to be somewhere alone together, Thirteen had no idea what to say. She hadn't expected Cameron to say yes. Taking a deep breath she smiled awkwardly at the older doctor, who returned the look.
"Chilly outside." Thirteen remarked, feeling stupid and putting her hands in her pockets.
"The weather? Really?" Cameron teased, scoffing at Thirteens lame conversation starter. "And here I was thinking you were this mysteriously suave Casanova."
The girls got into Camerons vehicle and sat in silence for a moment longer. When they finally opened their mouths to speak it was at the same time, causing them to fall back into listening to the generic song on the radio. "Who said I was a Casanova?" Thirteen broke the silence, again, this time looking at Cameron sideways. Curiosity played on her features and she couldn't suppress the smug grin that was pulling at the corners of her lips.
"It's what you do isn't it?" Cameron rolled her eyes at the look the other girl was giving her. "House told me about when you took him to that lesbian bar. You didn't spend a dime, just shot looks all over the room and margaritas appeared in front of you."
"They were martinis, not margaritas." Thirteen couldn't suppress the grin at all now, so she looked out the window as she spoke. "And besides, if I didn't talk at all Casanova is an unfair analogy that I find flattering, but resent."
Cameron chuckles and kept her eyes on the road until Thirteen directed her to take a left and then a right. Pulling into the parking lot, Camerons eyes widened in disbelief. "Speaking of lesbian bars..."
"Nothing lesbian about the burgers inside," Thirteen shrugged and started for the car door. "Well," she paused in thought. "Unless we're talking in euphemisms. Come on. The food's great." She got out of the car and waited for Cameron, who followed reluctantly.
"You have been spending too much time with House," the blonde remarked. Thirteen didn't hear her, or pretended not to, Cameron couldn't be sure. Either way, she was a lot less bothered than she was pretending to be.
Inside the place could have been any other pub. That is, if any other pub was populated only by women and had the occasional rainbow object scattered throughout the place. Thirteen waved at a few girls in the area before pulling Cameron to a booth by her elbow. The older doctor could feel the pairs of eyes on the brunette and suddenly felt insecure. She had inadvertently gotten into an internal competition with the other girls in the room, smiling bigger and laughing harder at Thirteens jokes the more the younger doctor would shoot glances across the room at any other woman.
"Hey ladies, what can I get you?" A very pretty girl came to the table; a tray tucked under one arm, and winked at Thirteen. "Remy, haven't seen you in a while. How you been?"
"Good," Thirteen smiled apologetically at Cameron as their conversation became suddenly interrupted. "Hungry, mostly. How are you, Kate?"
"Most excellent. The usual?"
"Please. Two of them."
"Drinks?"
"I'll have a beer, you know my brand," Thirteen returned her gaze to Cameron, waiting for her to order a beverage.
"The same, thank you."
Kate smirked at Cameron a moment before looking back to Thirteen. "She's pretty." The waitress collected the menus from the table and dashed back to the kitchen with their ticket. Thirteen looked down at the table, pretending to decipher something a past patron had scratched into the table.
"First date and you're already ordering for me. I sense control issues," Cameron spoke, but the remark was playful, not offended.
"Everyone knows Remy wears the pants," Kate winked, returning with two frosty pints of beer. Thirteen looked like she wanted to say something sarcastic to both of the girls, but held back. "Food will be in fifteen or less." With a brush of Thirteens shoulder, Kate disappeared behind the bar to help some women who had been waiting impatiently. Cameron grinned and picked up her drink, sipping it and taking in the scenery.
"So. First date, huh?" When Thirteen spoke it was much closer to Cameron than she had been before. The young doctor had leaned forward on her elbows, less than a foot from Camerons face. She felt much braver suddenly. Maybe it had been the confirmation from the blonde that she knew she was being flirted with, or the reminder from various eyes around the pub that Cameron was hot. Either way, Remy Hadley felt her confidence come back and her Cassanova-esque charm return.
"Hmmmm," Cameron, refusing to turn directly to the other girl to avoid being completely caught off guard, sighed out a confirmation, taking another sip from her beverage. A girl across the bar, mistakenly thinking Cameron was looking at her, waved over. Now she was stuck between the beautiful doctor across from her who was being smug and the woman across the room giving her moon eyes. "Oh, hell," She finally turned to look at Thirteen, not wanting the other girl to come over. "Look, Doctor Hadley, you've been following me around the hospital, sometimes with nothing to even say to me. Helping me with things that aren't very difficult, when I've seen how helpful you've been to, say, Taub, when it's not medically related. How do you expect me to not notice?" Cameron leaned forward slightly, bringing herself that much closer.
"And you being here now means you don't mind?" Thirteen exhaled. "Well that's a relief. I knew I had amazing gaydar. How come House never teases you about being bisexual?"
"House doesn't know," Cameron smiled triumphantly. "I have amazing prowess."
"Clearly. Impressive." When Thirteen spoke, she really did look impressed. She leaned forward more still, daring Cameron to do the same. When the blonde finally gave in, they were interrupted by their food.
"Sorry, ladies," Kate smile apologetically. "Last table of the night, and I gotta get outta here. Besides, if I knew Remy, the interruption won't dampen her plans." Kate gave that wink to Thirteen again, this time looking a little sultrier than Cameron would have liked, considering she'd just confirmed that this was, in fact, a date.
"No, yeah, no worries," Thirteen grinned back at the waitress. "Put a drink on my tab for yourself and have a good night."
Kate nodded her thanks and placed the food on the table, tucking the tray back under her arm. "Goodnight, ladies."
Cameron smiled awkwardly, suddenly not sure how she felt about being here. She was attracted to Doctor Hadley. She had eyes, after all. But now that she wasn't in her safe zone being followed around by the young doctor, she was starting to feel less special.
"What's wrong?" Thirteen asked her, mouth full of burger, concern creasing her eyebrow.
"It's nothing," Cameron jerked her head and took another swig of her drink before picking up the massive hamburger.
"Kate is straight," Thirteen smiled knowingly. "I come here a lot, that's all. She jokes, but it's really nothing."
"How did you know I was-"
"You would have stabbed her if your eyes were daggers, Cameron. Just sayin," Thirteen rolled her eyes playfully. "You got a little something on your lip." The brunette leaned forward wiping ketchup off Camerons bottom lip, causing the blonde to blush. "Besides, nearly every girl I bring here gets jealous of Kate." Thirteen grinned, making Cameron roll her eyes, and excused herself to go to the bathroom.
While she was in there, Thirteen couldn't stop smiling. She had imagined asking Cameron out a million different times and now she'd managed to do it without actually doing it. Truthfully, this had just been an innocent venture for food and beverages. On the surface, anyway. And now, here she was, with a beautiful doctor in one of her favourite places having her favourite non homemade meal. Washing her hands and tousling her hair a bit, she left the restroom.
"Oh, hell no," Thirteen muttered under her breath. Another girl had slid herself across from Cameron in the booth. Cameron was looking extremely uncomfortable, eyes darting around frantically for her knight in shining armour. The other woman was touching Camerons forearm and trying to force her into eye contact. The girl was pretty, which ticked Thirteen off even more. Marching over to her table, Thirteen slid in next to Cameron, putting her arm around her. "Hey, baby," she kissed the blondes temple and looked at the other girl pointedly. Getting the hint, the red head rolled her eyes and stood up, but not before snacking on one of Thirteens fries.
"Thank you," Cameron muttered. She turned to face the brunette, they're faces impossibly close together. "You don't have to keep sitting over here, if it makes you uncomfortable." Cameron offered up weakly, feeling the other womans breath grazing her cheek.
"I know," Thirteen swallowed hard and decided in a split second to lean in. The kiss was brief, but soft. Thirteen smiled into it at the end, giving Camerons shoulder a squeeze. Pulling back, she slid out from beside Cameron and back into her own side of the booth, taking a big drink of beer and stuffing fries into her mouth.
"At least you bought me dinner first." Cameron, probably the reddest she'd been the entire night, said down in the table.
On the car ride back to Princeton Plainsboro, the girls hardly spoke, except to acknowledge they both enjoyed the song on the radio. It was a quick drive, after all, and they'd done a lot of talking after their brief but memorable kiss. The conversations weren't deep or incredibly personal, but each one of them appreciated that. There was something comfortable with how much they already knew about each other just from being colleagues; they didn't have to push personal boundaries right away. They already knew most of each other's demons, House not exactly letting either one of them have private lives; now it was time to learn each other's favourite colour and song.
"Walk you to your car?" Cameron offered, having gotten a page asking her to come back in that night. She had planned on catching an hour or two sleep in the doctors lounge before heading back out to the floor.
"Who's the Casanova now?" Thirteen teased, opening the car door. Cameron rolled her eyes and got out herself, locking the doors behind them. They only crossed four stalls before they'd reached Thirteens vehicle, regretfully for both of the women. "Well," Cameron cleared her throat. "I guess this goodnight then."
"Guess so. Goodnight, Doctor Cameron," Thirteen nodded. She turned to unlock her car door and started to open it, when she felt a hand clamp on her wrist. Turning her body, she was greeted with Camerons lips. Thirteen deepened the kiss, placing her fingers delicately on Camerons waste. She felt Camerons hand slip into her jacket pocket and pulled back to look down.
"You're not one of those people who doesn't get any and never calls again, are you?" Cameron asked, lips hovering in front of Thirteens.
"If we only include the last six months of the time you've known me, then no." She raised an eyebrow, hoping that was a good enough answer.
"Good," Cameron whispered and patted the brunette's pocket, kissing her one more time. "Call me."
And with that, Doctor Cameron walked away, leaving Thirteen smiling like an idiot as she got into her car and drove away.