It was almost embarrassing for House to walk into his office; while his name and his old title were still on the door and he was allowed to keep his office, it still didn't feel right. Like it was a slap in the face, but he was still thankful that Cuddy let him keep his space, though he had a feeling that Vogler had an issue with it. He rubbed his aching thigh as he almost limped over to his desk, tossing his backpack down before plopping in his chair. Closing his eyes, House let out a slow breath trying to calm himself down before he got to work with the team, but that was the problem, he didn't want to work with a team. He wanted to either have his title back or be alone just like he was before he had been given a team; in fact, he never intended on having the Ducklings, Cuddy had forced him to have a small team so he would stop working himself to death. Whatever. House managed just fine before and he would do it again, if they got in his way that would be their fault.

How was House supposed to act like nothing happened? His title was stripped from him, maybe the others didn't know, but his disappearing act raised some red flags; even those particularly like him must have known that he hadn't been around. Many jokes have been made during his absence that the hospital was finally peaceful without House running around causing a scene every ten minutes. While it was nice for most, the silence was almost deafening for others, including House's team. Foreman talked about how annoying House could be while he was around, but even he was beginning to miss him; turns out he liked the challenge that House brought to the team, forcing them to think outside the box. It wasn't like they had a choice on that, it was either think of everything or get bullied by House, which, depending on the situation, he could get pretty mean if he wanted to. Chase didn't seem to care one way or the other that House had been missing, though he would never admit that he had been missing him. In fact, Chase was one of the people who had been trying to get a hold of him the most, even stopping by his apartment one day to check in on him. Out of all the people that House didn't want to see, it was Wilson, which pained him to think about since that was his best and only friend. How long would that last?

House looked up when he heard talking coming from the hallway, the door to his office opened to reveal Chase and Foreman on the other side. For the past week, they've been coming to the office to see what their next case was, but they didn't expect to see House sitting in his usual spot. They stood there, their eyes wide as they stared at him. The reaction made House uncomfortable; this was what he was afraid of when coming back to work and what made the choice of showing up that much more difficult. He hated to explain himself. He hated having people worried about him. Best to get this out of the way now than later, House guessed.

"Yes! It is I," House said loudly, pushing himself to stand up, having to use the desk as support as that cramp in his leg was coming back. "I know you've all missed me dearly."

The two didn't know what to say. What could they say? They knew asking any sort of question about his whereabouts would cause him to ridicule them, but they had to know. He was their boss, or was, and they cared about him, even though he drove them insane most of the time. Cuddy and Wilson didn't mention the fact that House had been demoted, they didn't want to hurt him like that, and surprisingly Vogler kept his mouth shut as well. Here they thought he was going to blab to everyone that he was the one who made House step down like some sort of prize.

Foreman and Chase were both stammering, trying to find the words to say. He had been gone for a week! They thought something bad must have happened to him. They didn't know whether to be thankful or furious about the disappearing act. There were many times they would have needed his help.

"Where the hell have you been?" Chase was finally able to string some words together instead of staring at him like he was a creature. "We were all worried about you."

"You don't have to lie," House grunted as he sat back in his chair, massaging his right thigh as the cramps were turning painful once again.

"We're not lying," Foreman added, trying to hide the relief in his voice. He and House had their differences, but he was starting to learn his quirks as a person and as a doctor. "We're happy you're back."

He drummed his hand on the table for a moment, trying to ignore the pain but it was beginning to become too much, and it was getting difficult to even hear what they were saying. "Go get me a vial of Dantrolene."

They looked at him with their excitement slowly fading. Dantrolene? That's all he had to say to them? He had been missing for a week and he came back here making demands as he typically did? Sure, that was in character for House, do something concerning and never address it, but there had to be a line.

"That's all you have to say?" Foreman asked. He'd only seen House for a few minutes and was already beginning to feel frustrated at him again.

"No, I also need a… what're they called?" House made a hammer motion, trying to think of what it was called but the word slipped his mind. Knowing instruments by name wasn't his strong suit. "The hammer thing."

"…percussion hammer?" Chase asked. He wasn't too happy that House was brushing them aside like this either, but he knew that this was just how House was and there was no way to make him care about their concerns.

"Yes, that thing."

"Why?" Foreman asked, folding his arms over his chest. There was something in House's eyes that he could see, but couldn't put his finger on what it was. Something was wrong. "Is this about a patient?"

"Yes! Exactly!" House said, perking up at the chance to help himself without revealing that he was the one who needed it. The pain was getting too much to keep hiding, he almost wanted to roll around on the floor and scream, but he couldn't bring himself to be vulnerable, even if he was in pain. "Demerol too!" He called after them.

"Is the patient in that much pain?" Chase questioned, stopping at the door.

"Who is the patient anyway?" Foreman chimed in. How did House get a patient so soon and that they weren't aware of? Something wasn't right.

"All will be explained in time, just go."

Chase and Foreman glanced at each other, but let it go for now. Something was up, clearly, but how were they supposed to get any information out of House? He always kept his cards close to his chest.

"What do you mean he's back?" Wilson questioned Cuddy as they were walking through the halls of the busy hospital. "He didn't say anything to me?"

"I can't imagine he's too thrilled about us right now," she said as she handed off some charts to the nurse's station before grabbing the paperwork she needed to fill out in her office. She was busy. She didn't want to deal with this drama right now.

"He didn't see me or anything-"

"It's House. He'd hold a grudge if you took the last cookie. Imagine how he feels that he got demoted."

"It's not like I purposely went after his job! I took it-"

"So he could still have the department, I know, and that's sweet of you. That doesn't mean he's going to see it that way. All he cares about is that stupid title."

"Can't you give him his position back? What's Vogler going to do?"

"Pull our funding," she sighed, turning and began walking towards her office with Wilson trailing behind her like a lost puppy. She didn't want to say too much on the floor anyway, the gossip around here was infectious; once she closed the door, she looked at Wilson, knowing that he wasn't going to like what she had to say. "He was on a week-long bender and sobered up enough to come back to work. I saw him this morning… had to patch him up."

Wilson scoffed, putting his hands on his hips as he couldn't believe what Cuddy was saying. Well, he could believe what she was saying, that's what House did. House couldn't have a little bit of anything, it was all or nothing. This included video games, gambling, drinking… anything that was addictive he would be stuck with it. They have been friends for a while, in fact, Wilson knows that he's House's best and only friend, how could he be so petty? Damn Vogler and his stupid funding.

"He never said anything…."

"Did you expect him to?" Cuddy sighed, wondering what all else she should tell Wilson. Maybe the events of what happened this morning was something he knew about but House was keeping from her. "Do you know if he's been having any issues with his leg?"

Wilson looked up from him, being pulled from his thoughts at the question. With his leg? That was a new one.

"No? Why? What's wrong with his leg?"

"It gave out on him this morning and he was having some intense muscle spasms, I was just curious if you knew anything was all. You know how he is."

"Yeah… I know how he is…."

House had his head down on his desk, still massaging the area of his leg that felt like a corkscrew being shoved into his thigh. This was the most intense pain he had felt in years and it wouldn't go away. What was taking them so long? How hard was it to get the stuff he asked for? Fine. He would go get it himself.

He was about to stand up, but the door to his office opened again to the two Ducklings with the medicine and hammer he had requested.

"Finally…." House mumbled, becoming impatient but still trying to mask the pain on his face.

"Now, who is this patient again?" Foreman asked as House took everything from them. He and Chase watched in confusion as House filled a syringe of the Dantrolene and shot it directly into his leg as Chase and Foreman watched with wide eyes. Well, they certainly weren't expecting that. House did a lot of out-of-pocket things, but take what was supposedly a patients medicine wasn't exactly up there. "What the hell are you doing?" Foreman reached out, grabbing House's wrist as he was going to inject the pain medicine next.

"I thought this was for a patient?" Chase snatched the vial of Demerol out of his hand, earning a scowl from House. "What's going on with you? You've been gone a week-"

"I know I've been gone a week! Just-" House tried yanking his arm away from Foreman, but he refused to let go of him. "Just let go!"

Foreman reluctantly let go of House's wrist, almost causing him to punch himself in the chest. His first day back and this is how they treat him? Like he's some kind of junkie? He was in pain, but he couldn't express himself enough to communicate that without them sounding like he needed help. He didn't need help, he needed to leave him alone so he could fix himself. House didn't need anyone, he could fix himself.

"The patient is in pain…."

"The 'patient' needs to use his words then."

Chase watched silently as Foreman and House bickered back and forth, they were no closer to figuring out what was going on since House was being so stubborn. It was a trait that Chase admired and despised about him. Both men were silently thinking it, but this patient that just appeared out of thin air after House had been gone for a week MIA couldn't even explain what was wrong with him. House huffed in frustration, there was no way Chase was going to hand over the pain meds now, so he was going to have to suffer until he was able to find a different way to get them. Like he told Cuddy, Tylenol wasn't going to help. Though there were methods jumping from Tylenol to an opioid, but the amount of pain he was in he couldn't care less. He needed the relief now.

House grabbed the percussion hammer, twirling it between his fingers as he looked up at Chase and Foreman. Wait. Something… someone was missing.

"Where's Cameron?" House finally asked, they were Ducklings, they rarely separated. "I've missed her enthusiasm and reluctance to give patients bad news."

"Don't change the subject-"

"I'm not! You guys are a team and you're missing someone. This patient could really use a good team…."

"Cameron… quit a couple of days ago," Chase said sadly, fidgeting with the vial in his hand. He still couldn't believe she quit, though he had assumed that it had something to do with House.

House stared at Chase as if he had two heads. What did he mean she quit? She would never do something like that. It was a tough pill to swallow, but House couldn't seem to create the connection that he might have been the reason that she was gone, even though he didn't directly do anything to cause it. Right? He grumbled something under his breath as the pain shot through his leg again, though not as intense as before. Maybe the Dantrolene was starting to help. House could only pray that this would be the end of this stupid leg pain.

"…House? House!" Foreman said, trying to draw his attention as he zoned out, staring down at the floor as he was lost in his thoughts.

God, this kid should be at home, Foreman thought, trying to get through to House. He was not in a position to be here. Asking for strong painkillers? Being gone for a week? Something wasn't adding up.

"I want Cameron," House breathed, massaging the area of his thigh where he had injected himself. "Bring her back."

"She quit, that means-"

"I know what that means."

"Respect her choice then," Foreman added, trying to catch his gaze, but House kept looking down at his desk.

"No."

"No?"

"House, if she quit-" Chase tried to intervene but of course that didn't work.

"I don't care that she quit."

"Yes you do," Foreman said trying to hide his smirk. So House did care about them. "Otherwise you would've let it go by now or celebrating."

House huffed, dropping the small hammer on his desk. He was sick of this conversation. He didn't like how they were looking at him, whether or not it was true, House assumed that they were looking at him with pity and he hated it.

"Go check on this patient," House mumbled, holding out a random file that had been sitting on his desk waiting for attention.

Chase and Foreman were silent for a moment, but Foreman eventually took the file from him. It was obvious they pushed his buttons too much and they didn't want to go any further. It was rare to see him snap, but in the small handful of times it happened the Ducklings were surprised at that anger he held inside.

"I'm taking this with me," Chase said, holding up the vial as he and Foreman left without another word.

Dammit, he needed that. Though, the pain was starting to fade now with the muscle relaxer in his system. Thank god for that. The pain was becoming unbearable and wasn't sure how much longer he could have put up a front. Chase could see through it though, he was always good at that.

"The leg pain could be anything. He probably hurt himself while he was drunk," Wilson mumbled as he paced back and forth in Cuddy's office who was trying to do paperwork.

Cuddy always expected and didn't mind whenever House paced in her office mumbling to himself, that was normal, but Wilson never had never done this before. The entire time he was talking to himself trying to figure out what could be causing the leg pain that Cuddy told him about.

"Why don't you stop pacing and go ask him yourself?" Cuddy finally said, not looking up from the papers she was signing.

"He's not going to talk to me."

"How do you know?"

"Because he hasn't talked to me all week-"

"He hasn't talked to anybody all week except for Stacy apparently."

Wilson stopped immediately.

Stacy? Seriously? House only knew Stacy for a few months while he knew him for about two years. House told Wilson everything, he vented to him about everything, and now he was going to throw that away over a stupid title? Damn Vogler. The money was nice but everything was changing for the worse. Wilson couldn't help but feel jealous about this and he thought he was being ridiculous being jealous over something like this. Stacy was a lawyer, one that House worked with often over all the malpractice suits he's collected, and he told Wilson a handful of times how attractive he thought Stacy was.

"Why would-"

Wilson was interrupted when the door to Cuddy's office opened. Chase and Foreman looked between the two and apologized for interrupting.

"Did House already yell at you guys?" Cuddy was half-joking, but she wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case. He had a bad start to his day.

"He- well, yeah, but…." Chase walked into the office, putting the vial of pain meds down on her desk. "He said this Demerol and Dantrolene were for a patient."

"He's already seeing patients?" Cuddy questioned, tilting her head in confusion.

"That's what he said, but he injected himself with the Dantrolene and was about to give himself the Demerol."

Cuddy picked up the vial and examined it. Not too much has been taken out, not enough to give to a patient but enough to dull some pain. He was going to give this to himself, obviously from what they were telling her. The way he was complaining about only being given Tylenol and now this? Something else must have happened while he was gone, he's never been like this with painkillers before. Cuddy couldn't help but think that the whole leg thing was… no. House wouldn't lie like that, would he?

"I'll talk to him," Cuddy sighed, tapping the vial against her desk. Now she had to do an investigation. Those were never fun with House.

The rest of the work day went unbearably slow for House's liking. There wasn't anything too exciting to work on, so Cuddy had him working the clinic. She knew that he would rather do anything else but the clinic, but she wasn't trying to punish him, she just wanted to get him started on something slow for his first day back. Thankfully Vogler was out today with a meeting with his company, so no jabs at House. Yet. Though Cuddy had a feeling the moment House sees Vogler it was on sight and he could get pretty mean. The moment the clock hit five House was already punched out and out the door.

There was something he needed to do.

House sighed as he stood in front of Cameron's apartment door, debating on whether or not he really wanted to do this. Deep down he wanted to turn around and forget about her; if she wanted to quit then fine, let her quit. On the other hand, a stronger feeling of wanting things to be the way they were before getting demoted was what brought him here in the first place. House clearly wasn't a fan of changes, and not having Cameron around was a change he couldn't deal with. Not with everything else going on.

Ripping the bandaid off, House knocked a little too roughly on the door, eventually his knocks settled down into taps. He wanted to be annoying so Cameron would get the hint that somebody wanted to talk to her. God, he was hoping that she would let him. He stopped knocking, resting his shoulder against the wall when he heard the locks moving from the other side of the door, revealing Cameron as she opened the door halfway, as she wasn't expecting any guests.

"…House?" Cameron said quietly, her eyes widened a bit seeing her old boss standing at her doorstep. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I heard you quit," he mumbled, not able to look her in the eye as he was becoming vulnerable. "Why did you do that?"

Cameron sighed, not knowing how to explain her reasoning. Saying that she quit because House hadn't been at work and nobody could get a hold of him was pathetic, but it was the truth. Knowing that House had been ghosting everyone and hearing that he was fine from Stacy of all people rubbed her the wrong way. Why did Stacy know that House was okay? Did that mean that he was only talking to Stacy? Cameron had all these questions about what was going on between them and she hated it. She hated feeling jealous.

"You… left," she said quietly, looking down at the floor.

"So you quit? That's stupid. I was gonna come back eventually."

"And how were we supposed to know that?" Cameron questioned, her anger rising and leaking into her tone. "Nobody knew what happened or where you were! You can't just do that!"

"I'm-"

"I thought something bad happened to you…."

House hummed, tapping his fingers rhythmically against his thumb out of his anxiety, but he couldn't let her know that. He had to put up his front that nothing bothered him, and that he was always in control of any situation.

"Yeah, I've been hearing that a lot," he finally said. "I can't tell if that's flattering or insulting. You need to come back to work,' he stated.

"Are you going to tell me what happened? Why were you gone? Why did…." Cameron trailed off, trying to decide if she wanted to bring Stacy into this conversation or let it go, but it was bothering her so much. "Stacy… was the one who told us that you were still alive and okay…."

"See? You knew I was fine but you still quit-…." He trailed off, looking at Cameron's face, studying her. It didn't take long for him to realize that she was jealous. That was certainly flattering. "You think there's something between me and Stacy? Is that why you quit?"

Cameron was silent, which told House everything that he needed to know. House had no idea that Cameron had feelings for him, he always assumed that she was that awkward around everyone. Great.

"Are you… jealous of Stacy?"

"No. What happened with you?"

"A lot. Just… can't you just come back to work?"

Cameron could hear the desperation in his tone, one that she never heard before and it made her heart swell that it felt like it was going to burst. It was a simple gesture, wanting her to come back to work, but she wasn't sure. She couldn't bear to see the person she had feelings for being with someone else. First, she needed to know what really happened to House and why he had been gone for a week. There were rumours all over the hospital saying that he had been fired, transferred, or quit. The rumours that said that he had killed himself were the ones that hit Cameron hard, especially since nobody could get a hold of him, of course, that would be a solid rumour. God, she just wanted to hug him right now.

"Just tell me. Please." Cameron opened the door further, stepping aside so House could come inside, but of course, he didn't understand the gesture, so she had to motion him to come in. "Are you okay?"

House was too busy taking in the apartment once the door closed behind him. He wanted to explore everything in the apartment to get a better idea of who Cameron was as a person. Right now, based on how clean and free of clutter the place was, it certainly matched her personality.

"House."

"Huh? Oh." He looked at the picture frames, and one caught his eye. "Who's that?" He asked, pointing to a wedding photo. "You were married?"

"Stop deflecting."

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours. Deal?"

Folding her arms over her chest, Cameron let out a huff of frustration. How did she have feelings for someone like House anyway? He was so annoying that there were times when Cameron wanted to strangle him.

"He had terminal thyroid cancer, okay? We were only married for six months before he passed away."

"…oh…." Was all House had to say before looking away from the photo. "Sorry. I'm sure that was difficult."

"Yeah. Great. Now answer my question."

"I was gone for a week and now I'm back to work. Surprise."

Cameron said, feeling more frustration about to boil over if he didn't answer the questions properly. Why couldn't he be normal for just one minute? As much as she wanted to say exactly that, she knew better than to do that. House wasn't normal, everyone knew that and he made sure everybody knew that, that's just how he was. House thought normal was boring and that's another reason why he went out of his way to be loud and obnoxious at work, so seeing him acting so… different outside of work threw Cameron through a loop. Right now he was calmer than Cameron had ever seen him before, but she assumed that was because he was investigating her space.

"But why were you gone?" With a scoff, Cameron grabbed House's arm when he was trying to walk further into the apartment in an attempt to avoid this conversation. "Greg."

House's muscles tensed up underneath her touch both because of the physical contact and how she used his first name. He had major issues with people who didn't call him House. It was too personal, and he didn't think that he and Cameron were on that level yet.

"House," he corrected her, moving his arm away causing her to scoff again. "I was on leave because of Vogler, okay? He… made Cuddy demote me," he grumbled that Cameron wasn't sure she heard him correctly.

"Demote?" Cameron echoed, dropping her arm to her side, trying to study House's face to gauge how he was feeling. "I'm so sorry, House. Did they say why?"

Even though Cameron asked why she had a feeling why. It's just how House was at work. Again, loud, obnoxious, never checked in on his patients, and was always getting sued for medical malpractice. It was only a matter of time before he got demoted or fired, and Cameron was happy that it was only a demotion. Without warning, Cameron stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him, and brought him in close to a hug; she could feel House tensing up completely, his arms still at his side as he allowed the hug to happen. He didn't shove her away, so Cameron assumed that he didn't exactly hate the hug.

"That's why I need you back," he mumbled, resting his chin on top of Cameron's head, letting out a sigh. "I need some normality."

"You hate normal."

"I hate normal people. Something that you're not." House then pulled away from the hug, looking down at Cameron who had her typical puppy dog look. "I want you to come back."

"On one condition…."

"Oh god."

"Dinner." Cameron could tell by his confused expression that she needed to explain further. "Not just dinner between two colleagues. A date."

The gears were turning in House's head. A date? She wanted to go on a date with him? Why? All of these questions and more were spinning around his mind as if he couldn't comprehend it. Out of anyone in that hospital, why did Cameron have to have feelings for House? How long has she felt this way? God, House's love life was so jumbled right now that he couldn't think straight.

"You'll come back to work… if I go out on a date with you?" He asked, just to make sure that he had heard everything correctly.

"Yes." It was simple, but it was Cameron's determined expression that made it that much more powerful. She was playing House's own game against him and she loved it. Seeing him so flustered now knowing what to say or do was giving her a power trip.

"Fine. Okay. Deal," he mumbled, holding his hand out to her to shake on the deal. Cameron smirked as she shook his hand, making House believe that he made a huge mistake agreeing to this. "See you in the morning."