Thanks for the feedback yet again, it's unbelievably awesome! It's nice to know that people are reading this and making valid points in the reviews. :)

Lois13 ... I'm impressed that I have a french reader, and I hope that this fic is easy for you to follow. :)

I'd like to say to you that Thirteen realises her behaviour is wrong in this part and fixes it... but then the story would be over! So the angst will continue but there's more twists and like I said before, flashbacks. Stuff that will hopefully help people to understand Thirteen's actions.

She sat down in the office she shared with her fellows, numbly staring at the wall. None of her colleagues were there; it was just her and the empty space around her. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she didn't have to think. Her mind wouldn't let her thoughts process, and was repressing each and every memory of her relationship; protecting her from having to feel the pain and distress inside. Her cheekbone ached, a dull throbbing where she had been hit by her now former girlfriend, and in some ways the pain was keeping her sane. The constant, steady pulse of the bruise that was beginning to form reminded her that she was a human being; albeit an extremely broken one at this very moment in time.

When House walked in she didn't even notice at first. It wasn't until he deliberately dropped a file on the floor that she sharply turned her head in the direction of the noise, therefore noticing his presence. He observed her curiously for a few moments before he asked, "Which one of them hit you?"

"What?" Thirteen managed to croak out.

"Well it was either Cuddy or Cameron," he declared. "My money's on Cuddy. I say that because Cameron's the sort of girl who's more likely to snot all over your shoulder than show her feisty side and wallop you."

Thirteen sniffed, blinking back the tears she refused to let fall. She had to stay numb. She liked numb; it was good.

"She dumped you with style, I'll give her that," he added, trying to provoke a reaction out of Thirteen.

"I finished with her," Thirteen said quietly, correcting him. "It was for the best."

"So you do have feelings for Cameron?" He asked nosily. It was evident to Thirteen that he didn't care how she felt, but he wanted the latest gossip to share with Wilson.

"No. But after what I've done... I don't deserve Cuddy," she shared, not really knowing why but doing so all the same.

"Excuse me?" House sounded incredulous. "You're punishing yourself by ending your relationship?"

"That's about right," Thirteen replied dryly.

House rolled his eyes. "You're an even bigger idiot than I thought you were. If you want to punish yourself then go drink yourself stupid in a bar or play noughts and crosses on your wrists. Do something that's going to have an actual effect on you."

"This has an effect on me," Thirteen snapped. "This is the only thing that is going to make me realise I can't go around hurting those I love."

"Yet that's exactly what you're doing," House told her. "You've just broken Cuddy's heart."

Thirteen didn't reply, wishing he would shut up.

"Now, I might not know much about your relationship, but I do know that these past few months Cuddy has been somewhere in the region of happy. I did wonder why that was but now it's clear. You made her happy. This means that I've successfully been able to half my clinic hours and avoid various seminars and fundraisers." He paused. "You've just taken all that away from me."

"You think I care?!" Thirteen yelled, finally letting the anger she felt towards House, Cameron, the world, take over. "I've just lost the love of my life, and yes I might have been the cause and person to end our relationship but she deserves better than me! And right now I'm doing everything I can to hold it together, but you're making it unbelievably difficult!"

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something about it then!" House shouted back, frustrated by the fact he'd become some sort of weird agony uncle. His face showed nothing but annoyance and disdain for Thirteen and the stupidity of her actions.

"Like what?!" Thirteen exclaimed.

"I don't know," House held up his hands. "I don't really care. But if you leave things as they are you'll regret it; I'm telling you," he swallowed a couple of Vicodin, casually throwing them into his mouth. "And stop asking me for advice. If you want that I suggest Wilson; he's good at that sort of thing."

"Fine," Thirteen huffed, brushing her hair behind her ears.

"Take the rest of the day off," House instructed.

"Excuse me?" Thirteen was taken aback.

"You heard. Get out of here," he barked.

"Why?" Thirteen didn't understand. Was she being fired? That was all she needed on top of everything else; it would be the icing on top of the cake.

"Because you're no use to me in this state. Go home; think about what you want to do. In fact, take the rest of the week off," he rethought his offer.

"What are you going to tell the others?" Thirteen asked.

"You're sick. It's pretty much the truth anyway; you have to have something wrong with you to cheat on Cuddy," he said irritably.

Thirteen nodded, accepting his proposal. If she were honest she could really do with the time to clear her head and try and figure out what her next move was going to be. It was all well and good ending things with Cuddy now; but would she really want this in a few days' time? She might regret her hasty decision when she hadn't seen Cuddy for a while and truly realised what her choice meant. Of course, Cuddy may not want to take her back after everything even if she did change her mind, but for the moment, Thirteen didn't allow herself to think that far ahead.

Swinging her bag over her shoulder, she left for home.

When she saw the red flashing light on her answering machine, she couldn't help but grin wryly, despite the situation. She'd been gone what; fifteen minutes? Maybe a patient had been admitted and House had changed his mind? She doubted it was anyone else, after all. She threw her bag onto the couch and strode over to the machine, pressing the play button.

"It's me. If you're there then pick up. I promise that you'll want to hear this..."

Not House. Cameron apparently.

"Ok Remy, I have no idea what you've said to Cuddy but she's in a really bad way. I went to Wilson's office to see him about a patient just now and I went in without knocking. Cuddy was there... she was crying on his shoulder and I'm talking real crying, like hysterical. When she saw me she didn't say anything, she just turned away so I left and... well now I'm ringing you. And you're probably wondering why but the way I see it someone in this whole mess should be happy, and if it can't be me then I want it to be you. Anyway I... I hope you're ok. Call me if you want to talk."

Now that was the Cameron that everyone talked about. The selfless, caring person who always put others before herself. She didn't have to ring Thirteen and tell her anything, but she did. It was obvious that she wasn't getting anything out of it, she was only trying to assist Thirteen. She was fairly certain that Cameron didn't realise they'd broken up or even if she did, had no idea that Thirteen was the one to instigate it despite Cuddy's wishes. For a moment Thirteen considered ringing her straight back, before she decided that she'd leave it, wait until this evening to see if anything else happened in the meantime.

As ridiculous as it sounded, all Thirteen wanted to do was to sleep, or at least attempt to. Slouched over, she entered her bedroom and fell on top of the covers, not even having the energy to get inside. She looked at the empty pillow next to her, and it reminded her of what she'd had; what she'd given up. Sharply, she took in a breath, thinking it would help her to get rid of the lump in her throat that was weighing her down. The lump that represented her mistakes, the problems she'd had, the problems she had yet to face.

It didn't.

And so for the first time in as long as she could remember; she allowed herself to cry. There was no holding the tears back or plastering a fake smile on her face, no Oscar winning performance for a part that she had never wanted to play in the first place. Great heart wrenching sobs racked her body as she struggled to breathe and to stop herself from hating the person that she'd become. She cried for Cameron, she cried for herself, she cried for Cuddy. Somewhere along the way she'd turned into some sort of monster who came into people's lives under the pretence of making them happy; only to rip them to pieces.

How to sort this she didn't know. The only thing she was very much aware of at that particular time was the disgust she had for herself. She knew she had to rid herself of that but she honestly had no idea how she was going to achieve that.