Hey, guys... Sorry about the delay but here's the thing. I didn't really get many reviews so I figured this fic was just a piece of crap and decided not to go on. Also, I spent more time traveling than I thought I would and I just got back home about two weeks ago. And I read the last review. :) Thank you, chhavi, this one's especially for you.

Of course, if anyone else wants to review, I'll be very happy. I know it's been a long time since I last posted a chapter and you might need to read it again but well, I'm back now. Enjoy...

CHAPTER 6

"Drop the pants"

Neither of them slept well that night. In fact, they didn't sleep at all. Cameron was disconcerted both because of the test as well as because of what she was starting to feel. She liked House. It was a strange feeling she rarely experienced. Guys were just fun for her, she never really looked for anything serious, she just enjoyed hanging out with them. This time it felt different.

She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to start an affair with her boss - old...er, weird, cranky and sometimes too annoying. But on the other hand she got to experience him in a different situation when he was nice to her, and he was nice enough to help her with her studies. Also he helped her a great deal and she couldn't help but think he was just hiding behind his sarcasm and rudeness.

After almost an hour of overthinking she reached out for her cell...


House was lying in his bed tossing and turning. There was just one thing on his mind. One person. His half duckling Cameron. This young and beautiful woman who stepped into his life and made him feel things he hadn't felt in quite some time. Things he didn't really want to feel. He was a little startled. He was staring at the ceiling and anytime he closed his eyes, he saw her face, he relived the kisses they shared, her touch and how it felt to have her in his arms. He shook his head angrily and reached out for his cell dialing a familiar number.

It didn't take long before there was a knock on the door. He got up and went down the hall to answer.

"Doctor House?" A young attractive brunette asked.

"Yes... Come in." He replied and let her in.

She walked in and made herself comfortable on his couch. He watched her carefully and then joined her sitting down next to her.

"I was told you were feeling lonely tonight." She said with a smile and started kissing his neck. House closed his eyes and took a deep breath when his phone beeped. He pushed the girl away to read the text he just received.

Thank you again for your help. I had a great time. Cameron

House gulped and shook his head imperceptibly. Then he tossed the phone aside and turned back to the girl next to him.


The next day there were just the three of them. Grumpy House who kept swallowing one Vicodin after another, Chase watching him quizzically and Foreman frowning. They were in the conference room discussing a case and everything seemed wrong with that morning.

"You idiots!" House yelled. "Give me something! Any idea!"

"You don't need to yell." Chase protested in a low voice, which annoyed House even more.

"Obviously I do, since you are useless!"

"Could be Vasculitis..." Foreman said trying to be helpful but all he got was another enraged look from his boss.

This hopeless situation went on for some more before the door opened and Cameron walked in with a big smile on her face.

"Hi, everyone..." She said and walked over to get herself some coffee.

House's expression changed a little, at first he even smiled slightly but then rubbed his forehead and turned to the whiteboard again. Cameron noticed something wasn't quite right and looked at Chase with a raised eyebrow.

Chase flashed her a smile and mouthed something like 'don't even ask'. She smiled back at him and rolled her eyes.

"You're late, Cameron." House growled.

"I was taking a very difficult test, Doctor House." She replied ever so professionally and slid past him brushing her hip against his. House jerked and looked at her angrily.

"Whatever..." He snarled and dry swallowed yet another Vicodin. "Chase, Foreman, get up and do the MRI."

"But we already have..." Foreman objected.

"Do it again!" House yelled and disappeared in his office.

The two young doctors got up and left. Cameron took a sip of her coffee and pouted not knowing what to do.


After a couple of crosswords she did while drinking her coffee she got up and made her way to his office. She knocked on the glass door and opened it carefully. He was sitting at his desk playing his gameboy.

"May I?" She asked in a soft voice.

"Huh..." House mumbled and turned to look at her. She walked closer to him and then sat across from him.

"Is there something I can do?" She asked with a smile. She knew he was in a foul mood but had no idea why.

"Can't think of anything. Enjoy the morning, go have brunch in the cafeteria." He said in a softer voice but still it wasn't the same House she had spent the past two days with. She gulped but then decided not to be bothered. He never replied after she texted him the previous night, he didn't even ask about the test. But after doing the two crosswords she didn't feel like solving another puzzle. Him.

"In that case, can I go home? I've got a lot of things to do and since my presence here is completely useless, there's not much point in staying." She said in a confident voice and ran her hand through her hair.

He watched her as she did so and licked his lips. He could smell her fruity scent and remembered that his sheets still smelled like her. He had to change them. Then he sighed and nodded. He suddenly didn't know how to talk to her, what to tell her. He was drawn to her but knew it was just wrong.

She observed him carefully but then smiled and nodded too. He turned in his chair so that his back was turned to her and though she didn't understand the sudden change, she just shrugged and got up. When she put the chair in its place and made a step to leave, she heard him speak again.

"Cameron..." House said still staring out the window.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Um... About the other night." He said and cleared his throat. Then he turned to face her and once again was struck by her beauty.

"Yes?"

"I believe it would be better if we forgot about... about what happened." He said in one breath and searched for her reaction. She stayed calm. Now she understood what was happening but decided to remain silent and wait for him to tell her some kind of stupid excuses. You deserve someone better kind of bullshit.

She raised her eyebrows letting him know it wasn't enough... he wanted to play games, so be it, she thought.

"Well... um..." House was lost for words. Such things almost never happened to him, yet there he was, facing his stunning and smart subordinate, trying to tell her things he didn't want to say at all. "You see, the thing is that you work for me, you're still a student and I realized..."

Cameron smiled. Then she even chuckled lightly, which made House narrow his eyes at her. Why was she smiling?

"Anyway, I realized...um..." He continued.

"I know..." She interrupted him.

"Huh?"

"You realized you couldn't date a student or have a hot plate in your office. It's in the handbook."

"I'm... I'm sorry?" House mumbled dumbfounded.

Cameron flashed him a fake smile and shook her head in disbelief. "Less General Hospital, more quality TV."

With that she turned and left.


House sat alone at a table in the cafeteria stuffing himself with the fries when Wilson stood in front of him.

"Booo!" He smiled and sat down.

House jerked lightly and then gave him an annoyed look without saying a word.

"How's everything? I heard Chase and Foreman saying nasty things about you in the lab. What happened?"

"Meh... They always say nasty things about me." House growled and took a sip of his soda.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Uh huh... And what about the only duckling that has got a thing for you?" Wilson asked.

"You mean the one that I feed bread in the park? Laid eggs recently. I'm not the father. We broke up."

"House, come on..." Wilson said looking for something in his friend's expression.

"What do you want to know? If I am sleeping with Cameron?" House snapped and looked at Wilson. "I remember you told me to stop messing with her. So I did. Happy?"

"Really?" Wilson was surprised. House would never go by the book, let alone listen to him or anyone else.

"Yes." House was upset and tired. "Spent last night with a hooker."

"Good for you." Wilson smiled. He was glad House didn't do anything stupid. And starting up with Cameron would be just stupid beyond description. "You did the right thing, House. Anyways, is the half duckling here? Cuddy wanted to talk to her."

"She went home. And so am I. My leg hurts. Bye, Wilson." House said, got up and limped away.


It was already around midnight and Cameron and her friends were downing one shot after another. She was sitting on David's lap while he was slowly running his fingers up her thigh. They were having a good time but Cameron felt a little lost. She finished her vodka and grabbed David's hand looking into his eyes.

"I'm not sleeping with you, my friend." She said and stood up. "Time to go home."

"Noooo! Allie..." Becky let out. "Just one more round. We need to celebrate that you passed the stupid test!"

Cameron smiled. "Nope... I'm done."

She took her purse and turned to leave.

"Stay!" They all tried to persuade her but she just shook her head smiling. "We've got a meeting with the Dean of Medicine tomorrow morning... I can't be hungover. I've got a real job now, slackers." She added and laughed.

"I'll walk you..." David said and got up too.

They were walking down the street in silence before David cleared his throat.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing..." She said and smiled.

"Guy troubles?" He asked.

"Ha ha... When did I have guy troubles? Ever?" She laughed and stumbled a little. David put his arm around her waist to steady her and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"True... You're above that crap, aren't you?"

"I like to think so..." She replied and closed her eyes.

"So there's no way I can get you to go out with me?" He asked again.

"I guess not, Dave... Sorry."

"What about sex? No strings attached?"

Cameron laughed. "Not my style..."

"Just so you know, I'm not giving up." He said and kissed the top of her head. "You're one of a kind, Allie."

She chuckled but felt better. "You're not that bad yourself..." She said in a low voice.

When they reached her dorm, David put his hand on her cheek and smiled at her. "Sleep tight."

"Thank you..." She said and disappeared through the door.


Cameron was driving her car breaking all the traffic rules. She was already late for the meeting with Lisa Cuddy and hated herself for having those last seven shots of Vodka. She stopped at red light and nearly screamed in desperation when her cell phone rang. Cuddy.

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" Cameron yelled before turning off the music and answering the phone.

"Doctor Cuddy?" She said knowing she was in trouble.

"Yes, Allison, hello..." Cuddy said in a somewhat restrained voice. "There's a meeting and..."

"I know, I know... I'm stuck in the traffic but I'm already on my way. I am very sorry."

"No problem, Allison..." Cuddy replied and continued. "Um, House's not here, he wouldn't pick up the phone and I need him to be here. I was wondering, um... Could you please drop by at his place and take him with you? I'm sorry about that but I can't think of any other way how to get him here."

Cameron was relieved. House was still more of a trouble-maker than she was.

"Um, of course... I'm not too far from where he lives."Then it dawned on her. She didn't want to talk to him, let alone go to his place. She sighed.

"Thank you so much, Allison. The meeting is postponed anyways but I don't have time to deal with him now."

"No problem, Doctor Cuddy. Laters." When she hung up, she took a deep breath and put the music back on.

A couple of minutes later she was standing in front of House's place, hesitating whether she should really knock or not.

Then she very reluctantly did and waited for her boss to answer. Several minutes later he opened the door, his eyes puffed, his forehead covered in sweat.

"House... Are... Are you okay?" She asked, worried.

"What do you want?" He snapped angrily and ran his hand through his hair. She was shocked. Just a few days ago he was kissing her, caressing her and now he was just irritated and upset.

"Cuddy sent me..." She replied and realized that it was probably his leg that was causing his bad mood.

"Tell her to fuck off..." He snarled and tried to close the door but Cameron was faster and sneaked in. "What the hell, Cameron? Can't you take a hint? Go away..."

"Nope..." She said and made her way to his couch.

"Excuse me?"

"You've got a pain management problem..." She stated matter-of-factly.

"No, I have a pain problem." He said angrily. "Glad we talked, now get out."

At that point even she was becoming more and more annoyed. He was acting like a stubborn and spoiled eight-year old.

"Shut up and get over here." She said and looked at him with such a vicious look even House was caught off guard. He was staring at her before he reluctantly hobbled to her and sat down on the couch.

"Drop the pants..." She ordered and got up making her way to his bathroom. When she got back with some things she found there, she flashed him another angry look. "The pants!"

House was sick and achy but more than that, he was startled. What got in her?

"I'm not in the mood, Cammie..." He growled. "Also, I thought I made myself clear about..."

"House, shut up!" She yelled. "I promised Cuddy to get you to the hospital and I'll do it."

Truth be told, she was scaring him and so in the end he did what he was told and looked at her quizzically. He didn't want her to see his scar but somehow at that point he would even cut his ear off if she told him to.

"Are you going to take my pain away magically?" He mocked her.

She walked over and knelt down in front of him.

"Early bird special?" He asked.

"Aw, shut it, for God's sake..." She snapped and started massaging his scarred thigh. He had tried a lot of massage therapists, both hooker and non-hooker but the only thing that could take his pain away was Vicodin. On bad days, even Vicodin didn't help... And that was one of those days. He watched her mistrustfully but after a few minutes his thigh stopped hurting and throbbing and he couldn't believe it.

She saw him relax and slowed down a little before stopping completely. She looked up at him and caught him staring at her.

"How... I mean..." He mumbled.

She frowned and sat down next to him. "I've got a boo-boo, you've got a boo-boo, remember?" She said and leaned against the back of the couch. "But unlike some people, I try to solve things."

He remembered the scar on the right side of her back and how it felt to touch it, how it felt to touch her, to kiss her... He couldn't help it and grabbed the back of her neck gently making her turn to him. Before she could object, he pressed his lips against hers, kissing her softly yet holding her firmly close to him. This time it was her turn not to kiss back. She tried to pull back but he didn't let her and pushed his tongue in her mouth when she moaned in protest. She fought him a little but he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him still kissing her.

Anger bubbled inside her but his taste and scent was too much to resist. She soon gave in and kissed him back, teasing his tongue with hers, kissing him fiercely, angrily but mainly passionately. His hand wandered all over her taut belly finding its way underneath her T-shirt and caressing her soft skin with his fingerpads. She moaned and he smiled lightly against her lips as his hand stopped at the soft fabric of her bra. Their kiss became more urgent as his thumb brushed against her nipple through her bra and she pulled back trying to catch her breath. House didn't hesitate a second and started kissing her neck while his hand found its way under her bra and gently played with her beautifully shaped breast.

"House..." Cameron panted. "You said..."

"Shhh..." He let out and stopped kissing her neck just to take off her T-shirt.

She didn't know what to think, what to feel... She was angry but his hands felt so good. Her lips found his again when he unclasped her bra and took it off and he swallowed her moans with his kiss while his fingers played with her breast.

She arched her back and his lips found her soft neck again before going even lower making her hiss when she felt his tongue and teeth against her nipples.

"I hate you again..." She whispered between her moans but House didn't really notice. That's when there was a knock on the door.

TBC