Stacy breezed into his office with a smug look on her face.

There was never any doubt that she would have spoken to Cameron and that look in her eyes was all the confirmation House needed.

He felt disheartened and empty; the white sheet of paper in his fingers was the only thing keeping him buoyant.

"What did you say?" he sighed in a resigned sort of way.

"Versions of the truth."

The dark cocky look in her eyes glistened maliciously.

"You twisted lawyers and your truths." he growled darkly.

"You wanted me... you've never wanted her." She shot back.

"I want her now!" House roared standing, towering over her from the other side of the desk.

"Are you sure?" She said shrewdly, her eyes narrowing. "I've seen you dismiss her. I've saw the pain you've already caused her. It was easy to play on things you'd already done rather than create lies. Like I said... Versions of the truth."

House sighed in defeat. He didn't doubt her words, it was her job to color and bend the truth to suit her will. He was disappointed in himself rather than angry with her.

"You have no one now. You're alone." she said haughtily as if she'd won some great battle.

"So are you." House said knowingly. She'd lost the war. "I told Mark. Everything. And I have a feeling that he's less likely to forgive you than Allison is to forgive me; she's kind like that."

"But..."

"He wasn't too happy actually." he said in a nonchalant tone, it truly didn't bother him. "Luckily he's still in a wheelchair so he couldn't exactly even things up and punch the other side of my jaw but he did try. He was pretty livid with you by the end of it."

"Why did you...?" she started.

"Because you went through Allison to get to me!" He shouted so loudly that he could swear he heard the glass doors rattle slightly. "You vindictive coward! What did she ever do to you?!"

She didn't answer him. She stayed silent with her head slightly bowed though he doubted it was with guilt and regret at the hurt she'd caused Allison only the loss of the husband she'd cheated on.

"You did this to yourself." House continued alleviating the last of the hate and anger he felt towards her. "You chose to sleep with me. You chose to betray him. We both made bad decisions... now we have to live with them." He said sadly.

He watched as tears formed in her eyes but he drew little pleasure from them.

"Leave." he growled.

"What?"

"You said you were going to leave so leave. I never want to see you again. You've ruined my life once and I'm not going to let you wait around while you wreck it all over again. You were a huge part of my life. Once upon a time. Now that chapter is closed. I'm starting again with Allison if she'll have me. I want her and not you and that's final. You've had your revenge...well at least you've made your pathetic attempt at revenge and it hasn't worked. So leave."

She turned and left quickly, her eyes watered but her cheeks dry.

He felt no guilt, no hate, no remorse or pity. He felt nothing towards her.

Looking down at his desk he saw the open letter that made his stomach lurch and the paper that kept his hopes alight.

She was okay. She was going to be okay.

He paged Cameron letting her know he had her test results; she'd have to come and talk to him.

Now for the hard part.

He felt almost physically sick as he paced his office waiting for her.

His mind whirred with questions and impossible answers. He wondered what exactly Stacy had told her. He wondered if he really could fix the hurt Stacy had caused her. He wondered if he would be enough.

The distinctive sound of her walk reached his ears through the hallway traffic, his body tensed.

She stepped into his office, her feet echoing the heaviness of her heart... there was no spring in her step. Her eyes were red and slightly puffy. The sight pained him.

A dense silence filled the room.

He stepped past her to close his office doors. Prying eyes were one thing; prying ears were a little too much. However he closed the blinds too.

"I told you not to trust her." He whispered as he closed the door.

"What does it matter?" She said bitterly in a tone that seemed to cut at his very soul. "Just give me my test results and I'll go."

"No." He said simply moving around her body to face her.

"Give me my results!" She demanded.

"Not until you tell me what she told you!"

"No," She said sadly, "If I did then you'd probably just think I was pathetic."

"Is that what she told you?" he said perceptively.

She stayed silent, her gaze lowered to the floor.

He stepped closer to her; he reached up to cup her cheek and lift her chin.

She flinched.

He stopped.

She closed her eyes.

He sighed.

The instant his fingers touched her skin shivers shook down their spines and Cameron stepped back quickly.

"Trust me. Please." House begged shuffling towards her standing closer than before. "Tell me what she said."

She shook her head, her shoulders quivered in anticipation of tears. Too much had happened today and the stresses were taking their toll on her fragile body.

"You're not pathetic." he whispered.

"You are." She said confidently and looking up at him, "Why would you get involved with a married woman?"

He winced. He had to be honest with her.

"Because I thought I wanted her."

"You thought you wanted her?" She asked with a small confused frown.

He nodded slowly, trying to convey the emotions he felt with his eyes. "Please tell me."

"She... She said that... that you thought I was pathetic. She talked about our date..." she winced at the memory of that horrendous dinner, "... She said that she went home with you last night." Her body shivered at the idea and begged with every fibre of her body that it was her he'd shared his bed with.

Little did she know that in his mind he had.

"She said that I should get over you."

"You haven't been under me yet, but either way works for me." He said in a low husky tone, a smirk around his mouth.

"House, I'm serious!" she protested.

"Allison... so am I." he said in a starkly honest tone.

She frowned and shook her head, she was so confused!

He touched her cheek, cupping it gently with his palm. She closed her eyes and let herself lean into the touch. He stepped closer.

She tipped her head forward, resting it against his chest.

He breathed deep and slid his arms gently around her small body, he lifted his chin, her head tucking perfectly beneath it. They were made for each other.

"Why did she say those things?" She mumbled into his chest.

"Because she was angry with me, she wanted revenge... she wanted to hurt me. So she hurt you to get to me and do you know what? It worked." He admitted. "This hurts. A lot."

"What did you do?" She asked quietly.

He winced.

"We had sex last night." he said in an ambiguous tone. He could feel her body tense in his arms. "I... I said...I said another woman's name. I said your name. Allison." He breathed as he had done the night before. "Like I said I thought I wanted her... turns out who I really want is you."

She seemed still in his arms, corpse like even if it weren't for the feel of her gentle yet agitated breathing and her quickened heart rate.

"Allison?" he asked in a concerned tone.

She slipped from his arms and further into the room.

He turned and watched her, surprised at how much he missed holding her already.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course, I'm not okay!!" She hissed turning to him with anger in her eyes. "You've been chasing after her for months! The monster trucks were great. The dinner was terrible but I accept that that was my fault. I've always been honest with you. And the second she shows up suddenly whatever I felt for you became something to be mocked and laughed over." She stopped. "I became something to be mocked and laughed over."

"And I'm sorry, but the woman I'd longed for for five years came back!" He countered with equal zeal. "I couldn't see past the fact that the last time I was truly happy was with her before the infarction. I wanted that again and I thought I could have that if I had her... but I switched my mind off for two minutes and its wants disappeared." His voice became quieter, he stepped closer once more. "It all became insignificant compared to what my heart needs. You."

She closed her eyes to hold back the tears, she'd longed for him for almost a year. Now he finally wanted her back and a strange mixture of relief and conflict moved through her mind. It would be so easy to give into him.

He moved closer still, their chests practically touching.

She frowned and whimpered slightly feeling his breath on her cheek, the tip of his nose brush hers. She could tell he'd licked his lips by the moistness of his breath over her own lips that seemed to part of their own accord.

He touched his lips to hers tentatively still unsure if she needed more time or if she'd reject him entirely. He pressed a little more and received no resistance. He moved his lips softly against hers, his hand moving to cup her cheek gently.

Her breathing became laboured as she struggled to decide. She took her cue from him and let her mind drift. Her hands slid up his chest and her lips parted and moved with his.

His arms slid around her tightly as he kissed her more and more deeply.

They had been kissing for no more than 60 seconds and Cameron could remember ever having felt this turned on from a single kiss.

House held her closely. Everything about this felt right. His mind was distinctly absent, all he could do was feel and she felt glorious.

Lips parted moments later both completely overwhelmed by the kiss.

They breathed in harsh panted breaths. Her arms were tight around his neck and his wrapped entirely around her small waist. Her head rested on his shoulder and she leaned on him carefully as she tried to catch her breath. His hands stroked her back as he kissed her hair. He fingers teased the hair at the base of his skull making him shiver.

"You're okay." he whispered.

"I think that kiss deserves more than an okay." She muttered almost a joke, not quite able to remove the defensiveness from her voice.

"True. But I was talking about your test results. I had to know... and you're okay."

She nodded slightly against him, her body relaxing a little more against his as relief swept through her and yet more weight was lifted from her shoulders.

"Great news eh? Means we could hop on my bike and go have wild kinky sex right now if we wanted."

He felt her chuckle a little into his chest and her fingers pull slightly at his hair as punishment for the comment.

"Maybe later." She mumbled.

"Tired?"

She nodded.

"The couch is free if you want to take a nap, you can even pull on my leather jacket to keep you warm."

"Sounds good, but I want to try something first." she said pulling back, her fingers smoothing over her neck.

"What?"

She smirked and lifted her lips to his. His lips responded instantly to hers desperate for more of that sweet divine taste, more of the way his knees felt weak and the dizziness of his mind as it spiralled away from him and all that mattered was that he was holding her and kissing her. She sucked light on his tongue, caressing it with her own as her cupped his cheek smoothing over his stubble. Her body shivered against him.

They pulled back slowly still just as breathless as before.

"So...definitely not... just a first kiss thing." she said between panted breaths, wondering if the feeling of their first kiss would be the same for every one.

He smiled and brushed his lips against hers gently. "Definitely not." he agreed, his right hand lowered his cane to the ground to steady them, both leaning on each other a great deal for support. His left arm tightened around her. She was going no where.

"You really want me?" Cameron asked softly.

He breathed deeply and nodded. "Do you want me?"

She smiled and kissed him gently. "So much."

"You have me... and you can have me anytime you want." he said with a grin.

"Stacy said you were amazing in bed... was that a lie too?" She said with a smirk.

"You can decide for yourself." He murmured kissing her deeply once more.

His knuckles turned white around his cane, he wanted to hold her entirely but he knew they would have fell to the floor without the support of his third leg.

"I guess I should have that nap then." she murmured breathlessly as their lips parted, the effect of their kiss seeming to grow with each touch.

"I'll lock all the doors and sneak out the balcony and through Wilson's office. You'll have the place to yourself." He knew she needed time to sort everything out in her mind. A lot had happened today.

He led her to the couch, letting her sit in its depths before he retrieved his leather jacket.

"It'll squeak a little but it's the warmest thing I have." He said handing it to her.

She nodded and slid off her lab coat before pulling on his leather jacket. He was right, it was deliciously warm and smelled like him which comforted her greatly. "Thank you." She mumbled slipping off her shoes and lying down.

He sat tentatively at her hip and leaned over her to kiss her softly, his hand resting on her hip. "You're welcome. Sweet dreams." And he kissed her one last time before standing to lock all the doors. He looked back at her as his hand rested on the door to the balcony. She looked so wonderful and innocent, but her brow was knitted and tense with her troubles and it pained him too. They were on the path but it looked as though things were going to be bumpy to start but it would be worth it he was sure.

He smiled and headed over to Wilson's office unable to shake the feeling of pure joy in his heart.