A/N: I found this in an old drive and I thought I might as well publish it in case I lose it. My original note: First POVs (they will be a surprise!). May have a patient of the week case, but the main focus will be on the characters. Before season 3, def an AU, may have more than one ship. Feel free to leave suggestions :)

Prologue

I've been tired for so long... Because of so many things.. Tired of this job. Tired of the people that surround me. Tired to have to speak so much just so I can continue on being who I am. But mostly, I am tired of being alone

And having no one here besides me.

Chapter 1 - Routine

I woke up this morning with a srange feeling in my chest. I glance at my digital watch besides my bed and stare at it for a few seconds, still too tired to understand what those numbers mean. Passing my fingers through my eyes, I sigh and yawn. Great, 8:49. Why are those numbers important? Oh, yeah. Because I have to go to work until nine... Oh, SHIT.

The apartment seems like a blur now that I'm running between the furniture, desperate to find my clothes and other unacessery items for my day. I rarely oversleep in the mornings of working days (contrary to other people I knew.. no, don't think about him now) but it really didn't came as a surprise after the binge drinking I had past midnight. G-d, my head hurts. Where are my car keys?! Oh, here. Fine, no need to panic, it's just 9:07. I know someone won't probably be at the horpital this early.

When I finally managed to enter the Princenton Plaisnboro Teaching Horpital all I could pray for was that no one saw me. Least of all someone who I would actually have to spend the rest of the day with. Least of all... Him.

Lucky for me, all I saw were some nurses on the balcony till the elevator ride. Unluckily, when I finally got there all the people I didn't want to see greeted me with their appearence.

"Good morning, Cameron!" said Chase excitedly, in a tone that I would have appreciated had I not at the moment a monumental drinking-induced headache.

"Why so late?" asked Foreman with a skeptical glance that didn't seem to be as receptive as it could have been.

"Alarm clock didn't work" I lamely said to the floor, avoiding the last person of the group. He didn't seem so keen on adressing me either.

"Really? I thought you of all people would have set various different clocks around the house so you wouldn't even risk getting late for work!" some wombat is having difficulty picking on cues today, I thought, although it's not like that's out of the ordinary.

"You're one to talk, wombat. At least she doesn't have to wake up 6 am to work on the ICU because she actually has a life outside work." that surprised me enough to look up to see the sight of House avoiding eye-contact. Why had he said that? The sheepish way he was acting right then suggested he didn't know why either. But then, maybe that was just him covering his tracks, preventing more especulation that could lead my delay to him.

Chase gratefully shut up after that and we entered the elevator. The ride was silent, with Chase sulking, Foreman obliviously concentrated on the clipboard in his hand and House and I pretending everything was normal.

After that I went to my desk and House went to his office. Short of Cuddy coming through the doors with an important donator-related patient, my morning was probably gonna be spent answering emails while Chase and Foreman did... whatever. That was what I was thinking when Wilson appeared on the doorway to the conference room.

"Can I talk with you for a second?" he looked weary and wary. I got up and we went to his office, where he closed his door and seated across from me - where I was on one of his patient's chairs.

"What is it?" I asked simply. He sighed, looked at something in his table for a while and then looked at me, seemengly worried.

"What happened last night?" I tensed immediatedly and tried to calm down, but my headache wasn't helping any.

"I don't know what you mean." I answered shortly and maybe too bluntly.

"I mean... what happened between you and House last night." he seemed to be going for concerned doctor, but it still came across as tired and slightly condescending. It was easier to focus on his action, because my reaction was to try my best to look blank while having an intense urge to run and hide somewhere where I could cry.

I decided to pretend it didn't bother me, "I don't know what he told you, but I'm not too interest in discussing the details of what I did in my last evening off" with a little touch of exasperation at the end.

That elicited an even more tired look and an even bigger sigh.

"I wanted to talk to you because... What I gathered from the aftermath worried me." Again the comprehensible kind doctor. Shame I learned the truth behind his words long ago. This wasn't about being worried about House, and I doubt he gave a damn about me. No, all that act was because he saw an opportunity to act knight-in-shining-armor and save the day while having the pretense of helping a co-worker and his deared best-friend at the same time, and at the same time actually screwing us both up even more.

"I'm sure you got very concerned when he told you about last night, but I'm afraid the only information you're going to get is from him" I said with as much sarcasm and bite I could gather and got up, meaning to go to the door.

"Cameron, wait. Please." I just looked at him and saw a very well-crafted expression of concern in his face. I suppose pretending to be this caring while being able to use it to his advantage worked better than not being able to control it so badly it just served to get back at you.

"What?" I said impatiantly.

"I never really talked to him about what happened" he said slowly "I'm saying that now because what I saw of him last night". That worked well enough to get me to seat back at the chair.

"What do you mean, 'saw of him'?" I asked softly, or at least more soflty than before. I was genuinely curious now and a bit uneasy.

"Well" he paused, as if thinking about whether he should say it or not "I was at his apartment last night, after... You know." he looked apprehensive "And House looked, well, terrible would be one word that could describe it. He barely said anything besides telling me to go home, in a rather... unfriendly manner." If I wasn't so engrossed I would have scoffed. Leave Wilson to use such a term in relation to House.

"Yeah, I see the worrying signs. House acting unfriendly sounds like a really dire situation." I wondered if Wilson thought House acted more 'friendly' around him just because he called himself his friend. Maybe I was being unfair with Wilson, but I didn't want to think about what he just said and was too annoyed by the fact that apparently Wilson was at House's apartment after what happened last night.

"Yeah, shocking, I know." a self-depreciating smile that must have won most of his wives and extra-marital affairs. "It's just that last night he seemed - I never thought I was going to see this is on House and then say it in relation to him - but he seemed genuinely sad, Cameron. Almost... heartbroken." I barely contained a gasp. House... Heartbroken? No, it didn't make any sense. House was a bastard, a heartless, arrogant jerk. He didn't do sorrowful or sad, much less heartbroken.

"Maybe he just wanted you to go away and he pretended he was upset" I said a little earnestly and not wanting to believe it at the same time.

"I really don't think that. He..." he paused and this time I actually wondered if he really was reluctant to continue the sentence "He looked angry, yes, but also defeated. I've never seen him looking this dejected before." his eyes seemed to be urging me to accept the apalling words.

I couldn't do anything, had no words in my mouth. The inconciavable news were going around my brain like chemicals in a flask, never really reaching absolute solution and getting closer and closer to bursting all over me.

All the while Wilson stared at me apologetically and I had to look away. At that moment I was interrupted from my thoughts, or better said, saved, when someone opened the door.

"Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting anything?" Cuddy asked as soon as she saw me.

"No, I really should get going now anyway" I said getting up and looking briefly at Wilson "Thank you for the... talk"with that I flew from the office without any chance to see their reactions.