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Chapter 23

Cameron stood nervously outside Chase's door, holding a bottle of wine, waiting for him to answer.

A minute later he opened the door. "Hey. You could have just come in." He said somewhat irritated that he had to answer the door.

Cameron walked in and took off her coat feeling a little out of place. It had been a couple of weeks since she had been in his apartment. She glanced around the room to see if anything was new or different.

Chase shut the door and walked over and gave her a peck on the top of her head and didn't seem to notice the awkwardness she was feeling. "I hope you don't mind Chinese. I placed an order and it should be here soon." He said over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen.

Cameron didn't like Chase's little peck on her head. It felt impersonal to her but she shrugged off the feeling and followed him into the kitchen. "Chinese sounds great. Do you want a glass of wine?" She asked.

"Yeah. That sounds good. While you are pouring the wine, I'm going to step into the other room and make a quick phone call. I'll be back in a minute." He said and walked towards his bedroom.

Cameron stared at the back of Chase's head as he walked into his bedroom and pushed the door to. She couldn't help but wonder why he felt the need to talk behind a closed door. She took her focus off of the closed door and took down two glasses from the top shelf of the cabinet and filled them half way with the wine she brought and proceeded to the living room to wait.

A few minutes later, as promised, Chase walked out of the bedroom to join her when the doorbell rang. It was the delivery boy with their dinner.

Cameron wanted to ask Chase who he had made the phone call to but was afraid he wouldn't tell her, making the situation more awkward between them. Under normal circumstances, she would have asked without giving it any thought or he would have just told her but not this time. She didn't ask and he didn't offer.

They filled their plates with the variety of food and proceeded to eat while sitting on the sofa, watching Pirates of the Caribbean, which was one of Chase's favorite movies, neither one saying very much.

Cameron only nibbled at her food. She had too much on her mind to really think about eating. Chase was so involved in the movie, he didn't notice when she went to get the bottle of wine. When she came back into the room she took a deep breath, picked up the remote and pushed the mute button.

Chase didn't say anything, only sighed.

Cameron sat down beside him again, her knee brushing up against his. "We need to talk Chase." She said as she filled both their wine glasses again.

He leaned back into the sofa and swished the red liquid around in his glass for a minute contemplating what to say.

"I don't know where to begin." Cameron said first.

"What do you want Allison?" Chase suddenly said.

His question surprised her and she looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "It's a simple question. What do you want?"

Cameron stared at him for a few seconds, already not liking where the conversation was going. "It's not a simple question Chase but if you're asking what I want right now, I want us to work this out, to find a way to be together."

"Without you giving anything up?" He asked, his tone becoming colder.

Cameron could hear his tone change. "Are you talking about me working for House?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. You want everything your way."

Cameron took a big sip of her wine. "No I don't."

"You do from my point of view." He said, his Australian accent growing stronger.

Cameron sighed and collected her thoughts before continuing. "So, are you saying that if I don't tell House I have reconsidered working for him, that you and I are over?" She stared hard at him, waiting for his answer.

Chase leaned forward and looked away from her. "No. I'm not saying that but I'm really at the end of my rope here."

Cameron looked at him with a smirk. "What does that mean, at the end of your rope?"

"It means that I'm tired of you hanging on to House, which is what you are doing by working for him again."

"It does not." Cameron said, her voice elevated slightly. "I want to work in diagnostics again Chase." "Then why can't you work at a different hospital? I'll tell you why! Because House isn't at the other hospitals." He snapped.

"That is not fair. You knew that when I quit, I wanted to stay at Plainsboro. It was you who wanted to go somewhere else. I only agreed because you made me feel guilty." "C'mon Allison. Don't give me that shit! You didn't want to leave because of House and when Cuddy called, it was your ticket to stay."

"As much as you hate him Chase, he is the best in the country and to work with him, not as his student, but to actually work with him in his department will advance my career. Why do I have to keep defending myself anyway? Can't you trust me?" She said, trying to hold back the river of emotion that was screaming to escape.

"God Allison." He said more calmly than he felt. "Why can't you understand that you working for House is a problem for me?"

They sat quietly looking away from the other, both caught up in their own thoughts.

After a few long minutes, Cameron laid her hand on his leg. "Can we just work through this? Take it one day at a time?" She said in a pleading voice.

Chase looked at her and saw all the emotion in her green eyes. Without thinking, he reached up and touched her face and leaned in and kissed her deeply.

Cameron let his tongue run over her lips and enter her mouth, tasting her. She leaned in closer. She had desperately missed his touch.

The kiss intensified and Chase pulled her closer. He had missed her soft lips, the way she tasted and the smell of her skin but doubt clouded his head again and he pulled back slightly. "Do you love me Allison?" He whispered against her lips.

Cameron's body instantly tensed and she pulled back to look into his eyes. Her own eyes glistening with tears. "A part of me loves you. I'm trying." She said softly.

Chase pulled completely away from her. "Are you ever going to give yourself completely to me?" He asked.

"I'm trying Chase. I know I won't betray you." She reached out to take his hand but he pulled it away before she could touch him and stood up.

Cameron's heart hit the ground, draining her of all hope. She knew it was over. She couldn't stop the tears that were now falling freely down her face.

Chase looked down at her. "I want to believe you Allison but I'm having a hard time doing that. I need to step away from us for awhile… to see how I feel or if I want to try and make things work between us."

Cameron stood and avoided his stare. She knew there was nothing else to say or do but give him the time he needed. "I understand." She said barely above a whisper. "I need to go."

Chase let her walk past him and watched as she put her coat on. "Allison, I'm sorry." He said softly to her.

She raised her hand to stop him from talking. "It's okay. I'm sorry too."

Without another word, she walked out the door and ran to her car, standing outside her her door, fumbling for the keys. Once she unlocked the door, she quickly climbed in and stared out the windshield, trying to breathe. She was numb but it wasn't from the cold. She looked back at his door and wanted so badly to run back in and tell him she would do what he wanted but she knew she couldn't do that and it broke her heart. She started her jeep when she heard the vibrating of her phone that was tucked in her purse. She reached in and pulled it out to find that she had four missed calls from House, of all people. She shook her head. For a brief second she considered calling him back but decided the last person she needed to talk to right now, was House. Instead, she turned off her phone and slipped in back into her purse and headed home.

As she pulled away from the curb, tears were still falling down her face, she didn't notice the dark colored car that pulled out behind her and followed her down the street.