CHAPTER 19
Not in a mood, Wilson
House shut off the bike, removed his helmet, and put the kickstand down while looking around. He wasn't sure if the place was where he was supposed to find Cameron or if Ryan had tricked him in order to get the tank he wanted. Then he noticed a bunch of people at the other side of the road and he supported his right leg with both hands, swung it over the bike as he got off. He unclipped his cane from its holder and took a few uncertain steps forward still rather unsure whether it was the best idea.
He recognized her immediately... She was wearing a leather jacket, gray hoodie and dark blue skinny jeans and a pair of black sneakers, her hair in a high ponytail as she was sipping coffee from a cup. She seemed to be intrigued in the conversation, smiling occasionally and he couldn't help but smile as he watched her carefully. Unintentionally he would take another couple of steps closer as he noticed a familiar dog running towards him. He panicked a little knowing she would notice him but he actually had to admit he missed Aupa and was glad to see her. The dog ran to him and nearly knocked him over as she wagged the tail licking his hands and whining happily.
"Hey there..." He said in a voice so soft it surprised him. "Looking good, my friend."
"Aupa!" Cameron yelled and her expression froze as soon as she saw her dog and the man she was with. At that point House looked up and their eyes met. He saw Cameron say something to the people she was with before she reluctantly made her way to him. At that moment Aupa turned quickly and ran back to Cameron and then back to House, panting heavily, as if she was unsure who to choose. As Cameron slowly got to House, neither of them knew what to say so they just smiled at the dog jumping around them.
"House..." She said a moment later. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't even know." House shrugged honestly. What was he supposed to tell her?
Cameron blinked in surprised and gave him a quizzical look.
"Looking for an assistance dog." He said with a soft, imperceptible smile. "Bum leg and everything."
Cameron snorted. "Yeah, the self-pity is a real turn on."
"Can I talk to you?" He asked and motioned for a bench nearby. She nodded and they walked the few yards in silence. As soon as they sat down Aupa nestled between them and House reached out to pat her funny-shaped head.
"So?" Cameron asked impatiently.
"You look good." He said without looking at her and her eyes widened.
"You came all the way here to tell me that?"
"Maybe..." He was nervous. Damn, he was never nervous, so why was this happening to him?
"House, what is it?" She asked again, her voice soft but decisive.
He gulped and looked up at her, his hand still stroking and scratching Aupa's funny ears. "We never really spoke about what had happened and I wanted to... I'm sorry."
"You don't have to..." She said but House jumped in quickly.
"I treated you like shit and you did the right thing when you left me..."
"House... don't." She sighed.
"No, let me finish." He objected as his eyes left hers and he stared absently at the cars passing by slowly. "I just wanted you to know that what... what we had meant... meant..." He cleared his throat feeling like an idiot. But he knew he had to tell her, it was his last chance. "Meant a lot to me. And I hope you can forgive me one day for what I did to you. You...you deserve better."
"House, please." She sighed and put her face in her palms rubbing her forehead. He looked at her again and took her left hand in his taking in away from her face. She looked at him again and smiled sadly. "I'm not mad at you. Whatever reasons you had for what you did, it's okay. It wasn't just your fault, I was pretty bitchy and tired and... overly annoying. I am well-aware of that."
"No... You didn't do anything wrong. I screwed up." House let out, her small hand still in his. He ran his thumb slowly and gently over her knuckles and he knew it was over. He could feel it.
"We both did." She said with a shrug. "But... it doesn't really matter anymore. I did love you and I've already forgiven you." She withdrew her hand from his and stood up. He heard her sigh as she gave him one of the saddest looks he had ever seen. "Harry and I are leaving in a couple of days. I... Don't beat yourself up, please. Whatever happened, happened for a reason and...well...I'm gonna miss you." With that she leaned closer to him and gave him an incredibly soft kiss on his forehead. "I have to go. Goodbye."
The next couple of days were kind of a blur for House. He didn't even bother to go to work the day after he had seen Cameron, Cuddy called, Wilson called but House ignored it as he paced around his apartment slowly, picking up things, clothes, empty bottles and pizza boxes. Wilson came and spent about ten minutes knocking on the door, Jehovah's Witness came and spent about twenty minutes knocking on the door but House couldn't care less. Two days later when the apartment looked somewhat clean and didn't smell like a liquor store, House put a last couple of things in the paper box, took his car keys and left.
He never knocked when he was about to enter Cuddy's office and this time was no exception. He walked in, his cane in his right hand, the heavy paper box in his left.
"House! What the happened?" Cuddy shrieked and got up quickly. "Are you okay? I wanted to come by but I had to go through the patient files..."
He put the box on her desk and took out an orange bottle from his pocket. "The stuff you left at my place." He said indifferently and dry swallowed one Vicodin.
"What?" She let out. "Why?"
"Look, if you can't work with me anymore, I'll resign. But both you and me know very well it won't be easy for me to find another job as all the hospital administrators know what an SOB I am." He was staring at his shoes looking up with the last three words. "I'm sorry for... blindsiding you." With that he turned and limped away rather quickly leaving her in her office all shocked and confused.
He ordered a large cheeseburger and fries in the cafeteria, paid for it for the first time in his life and walked slowly to one of the booths sitting down with a sigh.
"What the hell is it again, House?" He heard a familiar voice a couple of minutes later. He knew it was Wilson but he didn't even feel like looking up at his friend. Wilson sat down across from him.
"Not in a mood, Wilson." He growled and took a bite.
"I just talked to Cuddy... What happened? She seemed upset."
House shrugged as he started stacking the fries in something that looked like Jenga. "She's gonna fire me."
"What?"
House looked at him and took a deep breath. "There's no point in deceiving her more. I was an idiot to hook up with her in the first place."
Wilson frowned but nodded sympathetically. "I guess you're right."
"I talked to Cameron the other day."
"Really? Where?" Wilson asked and stole a couple of fries from his friend, which made House growl again.
"She's happy with the new guy. As usual I screwed up everything... Now Cuddy will fire me and..."
"Oh, drop it." Wilson hissed. "You got yourself into a fine mess but it's not the end of the world. I'll talk to her."
"You don't have to protect me, Wilson!"
"I beg to differ. Look, I'm on call tonight and tomorrow but how about we hang out on Saturday? We can go bowling, I'll tell Nina..."
House just shook his head and took a sip of his soda. "No, thanks."
Saturday was another miserable day, just like Friday and Thursday but it might have been worse since House knew it was the day Cameron was leaving for Barbados with her young and rich boyfriend. He could see her in her tiny bikini laughing and snuggling to that jackass on a beach, drinking pathetic cocktails with umbrellas, as this stuck-up moron would wait for the right time to pop the question. Trying to erase the thought, House downed his Scotch and rubbed his aching thigh desperately. Harry wasn't pathetic, the cocktails weren't pathetic, actually it was him who was pathetic. He growled as his cell beeped again and he read yet another text from Wilson.
Okay, obviously you're not coming but if you change your mind, we're still here. W.
It was raining heavily, nice Indian summer long gone, soft rain turning into nasty sleet. He shuddered and got up slowly with a sigh filled with pain, and limped to his piano glancing out of the window before putting the glass filled with bourbon on his beloved instrument. He started playing various compositions trying to avoid those he had played to Cameron but it turned out to be rather complicated to find them. Another beep. Wilson again. He put down the piano lid quietly and grabbing his cell and his coat he walked to the door resolved to take upon Wilson's offer after all since he felt like a major loser.
However when he opened the door his eyes widened as he gasped. There she was... well, he wasn't really sure, the excessive amount of booze and painkillers dulling all his senses.
She just stood there, soaking wet, her hair dripping and he could see she was trembling.
"Hi..." She said simply with an apologetic look as she tried to smile at him a little.
"Allison..." He said unable to believe what he saw and hoping he was not hallucinating.
"Is...is this a bad time?" She asked in a low voice and sobbed, which made House wonder if it was the rain or tears on her face.
"No... come on in." He said in one breath and stepped aside as she slowly took a few steps into his apartment. "Are you okay? Geez, you're gonna get sick." He finally said and took off her coat quickly.
She nodded and turned to him slowly without saying a word.
"How did you get here?" He asked before realizing what a stupid question it was.
"By car." She whispered.
He raised his eyebrows as he gently took one part of her scarf and started taking it off her neck carefully. "It rains in your car?"
She smiled gently and shook her head before looking down. "I stood outside for a while."
His lips turned into a soft smile as he realized this was really happening - she wasn't in Barbados with her boyfriend, she was there... in his apartment with him. He removed her scarf and threw it on the chair. "Then I stood outside your door for awhile. Heard you play."
"Come on, you need to change into dry clothes." He said and put a strand of her wet hair behind her ear as she looked up at him and sighed when she felt his warm soft touch. "You left here your Peter Frank pajama pants."
"It's Paul."
"Tomayto, tomahto..." He said and limped to the bedroom to get her something to change into. As soon as he got back, he found her standing in the exact same spot and he cleared his throat handing her the pants, his Ramones T-shirt and a towel. "Go ahead."
"I... I just wanted... to talk to you." She said sheepishly.
"Sure... as soon as we make sure you won't catch a nasty flu. Doctor's orders."
He waited for her sitting on his couch, feeling restless and nervous while she was in the bathroom. When she walked back and he saw her in the pajamas and his T-shirt his heart skipped a beat. She slowly walked over to him and sat down on the couch as he pointed at her favorite large mug waiting for her on the table.
"Camomile." He said with a soft smile and she smiled back rolling her eyes at him before taking the cup and sipping the tea. "What happened, Allison?"
She gulped and looked at him again, her eyes glued to his. "I... I... Harry wanted to propose. And I knew it was wrong."
House moved a little closer to her and nodded gently.
"I couldn't. When you came to the dog park, I... How did you even know I was there?"
He knew there was no way he could lie to her ever again, and he didn't want to. "Help from a matchmaker. Cost me a lot."
"What?" She let out not getting it at all.
"The matchmaker was a little bastard who got my T28Prot but I knew I had to do anything to find out where I could meet you."
Cameron watched him closely and then looked around. "Are you high?"
House chuckled. "No... are you?"
"Shut up." She snapped with a smirk and he could see she was getting more comfortable.
"So... you broke up with him?" He asked a few seconds later and Cameron nodded before reaching out to cup his cheek and leaning closer to kiss him. The kiss started off soft, like a butterfly kiss, both of them happy to feel the other one again as she bit his lower lip gently and immediately felt his tongue trace her lips. He pressed the tip of his tongue against her lips, gently parting them, then slowly moving inside her mouth to meet her tongue passionately. They were kissing for what felt like an eternity, soft gasps and moans filling the room as her hands rested on his neck and his on her waist and lower back.
When House pulled back, she could see that his face looked different, relaxed and it made her smile.
"I missed you, Greg." She whispered and he was fairly certain it was the first time she used his first name. He kissed her softly again and then pulled her closer to him, her legs draped over his lap. His finger ran slowly down her cheek as he licked his lips tasting the tea she was drinking and mainly her.
"How 'bout we have dinner and talk?" He suggested and she gave him a nod.
Okay, it's not the end and I am definitely the worst writer ever because it takes me forever to update. There aren't enough apologies for that but last month I found supercheap plane tickets and nothing could stop me. I just got back yesterday. Also, it's summer so I am leaving soon again for 5-6 weeks but who knows? Maybe I'll post something and surprise you as well as myself. Thanks to anyone who's still reading this. If you've already given up, I get it. :) Have a great summer.
