Escape 7
Title: Escape (7/?)
Pairing: House/Cameron
Rating: R/maybe ??
Spoilers: none - Season 3 starts in 4 Sleeps in Oz!! Whoppeee!
Word Count: 3600
Summary: Escape was the only way out for her……. But ones past always has a way of catching up.
Note: Sorry for the lateness - so to make it up to you here is an extra long chapter.
Chapter 7
She walked over to the balcony doors, contemplating on stepping out there, seeking refuge hopefully to put off the inevitable. Allison could see House’s reflection in the glass doors, he stood their patiently, hands resting on his cane in front of him; god he looked sexy she thought, standing their in his tux looking all suave and yummy.
Taking a deep breath she braced herself, if she was going to do this she might as well do it on her own terms - just like ripping a band-aid off, the quicker the better.
“So you want to know why I left,” she said still facing the glass door, she saw him nod, his eyes focused on her, keeping his face void of any emotion.
“And I want to know why you came here to find me,” she said.
House rocked on his feet a little trying to get the words to form in his mouth but failing to do so.
His only saving grace was the knock on the door to announce the arrival of sustenance.
* * * *
“What’s that,” she asked turning to face the door from the glass doors.
“Food, you do remember what food is don’t you?”
Allison rolled her eyes, taking a calming breath and counting to ten. Sometimes dealing with House was like dealing with a two year old child, he had the mentality of one as well on occasion.
House opened the door to allow the waiter to deliver the catering trolley into the middle of the room, then turned around and left wishing the occupants in the room a pleasant evening. Closing the door House made his way to the trolley rubbing his hands together in glee, Allison could only watch on in amusement at his actions.
“I love this place more and more,” he said.
“Why? Because they actually bring food at your command”
“Nah, I can get that anywhere. Here they don’t hang around looking at you with big puppy eyes waiting for tips,” he said mimicking the puppy dog eyes he detests for effect.
Lifting the silver covers from the plates he revealed the meals that he ordered.
“Ta da,” he said in a great flourish.
“Burgers and fries? Why did you get that for?”
“Well, commonly Dr Cameron, people consume this delicacy for nourishment. It is a scientifically proven fact that if the body consumes these items it increases the chances of survival,” he said.
Allison groaned at his remark; “Seriously House,”
“What? I’m being extremely serious, so you gonna join me?”
“I don’t think so. I’m not really hungry, besides I really don’t fancy hamburgers and fries.”
House covered the aforementioned meals with his hands, looking up at Allison with sorrow filled eyes.
“Don’t worry I’ll protect you from the nasty doctor who called you bad names.”
“What do you mean? Bad names? It’s a hamburger,” she said clearly confused.
“These, Dr Cameron,” House said standing up, “are masterpieces. These are kangaroo steak sandwiches and chips. How long have you lived in this country and you don’t even know the difference, there are subtle differences I know, hamburger means it’s on a bun, sandwiches indicate that it is contained between….”
“O.k O.k I get it, enough with the dialogue,” she finally realised just how annoying House could be, even after so long apart. It just never realised until then. “A Kangaroo steak sandwich? You must be joking right?” she queried.
“Joke? No way mate, a bloke wouldn’t do that to his sheila,” House said in a very convincing Aussie stockman drawl.
Allison shook her head, “I still cannot get over the fact that a nation is actually willing to eat a native animal which appears on their coat of arms, even if it does taste good.”
“Well, come on and join me in a bit of authentic Aussie tucker. You can’t get more authentic than eating an animal that is native to the country you’re in,” he said.
“House I told you I’m not hungry,” she pleaded, hoping the look in her eyes would be enough to persuade him.
But he gave her a sceptical look of ‘you must be joking right’.
“I’m not really,” she said hoping for him to drop the subject completely.
House moved away from the food cart, walking heavily without his cane, stopping in front of his lost duckling.
“Have you looked at your self lately?” his voice uncharacteristically gentle.
“Of course. What you think that I get dressed in the dark and viola I turn out like this,” she said indicating the cocktail dress she was wearing and hair and makeup done.
“No, I mean really look at yourself. As a doctor, not as a woman running on autopilot putting on all the crap that they do,” he said trying very hard to keep his voice even and gentle. But his frustration was starting to get the better of him. Surely this woman knew she was dangerously thin, his first thought after feeling the bones under his hand at the party was to pack her off to have her admitted to the nearest hospital for treatment.
Allison dropped her head, knowing that he was right; she had been neglecting herself, she just didn’t think it was noticeable. She just didn’t think; it was something that she had tried to avoid; but thinking just bought back memories she did not want, it just hurt too much.
“I didn’t want to acknowledge there was anything wrong,” she confessed still looking at her shoes.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, his large hands completely dwarfing her frame.
“Please, just try to eat a little. At least this way you get all of the necessary food groups in one meal,” he said with a goofy smile.
“What do you mean?” she questioned.
“Well look here,” he said walking back over to the food trolley lifting one of the silver lids. “You have grains and cereals in the bread, you have meat and dairy products in the cheese and steak, you then have your fruits and vegies - very important I might add in the salad stuff, pineapple and fries, just a little of the oil it was cooked in and finally the highly specialised variety of waters to wash it down with,” he said pointing to the two bottles on the trolley with the food.
“House, but that is a bottle of vodka and a bottle of scotch,” she said indicating the offending bottles.
“Really, I asked for a bottle of water and a bottle of iced tea. Bastards, never trust the help they are always out to get you,” his voice was serious but his eyes gave way to a playfulness that she had long forgotten he had.
“You can be such a dork at times,” she joked earning herself a cheeky smile from him, making him look even more dashing his tux.
“So, milady will you par take with me in this fine cuisine, that this land has on offer,” he asked.
“A little, I’ll try a little,” she offered.
House nodded, knowing that she had at least offered to eat something, and the trip to the hospital to admit her was postponed for a while at least.
“Do you…. Um…. I …do you think I could borrow a shirt or something. I’m starting to feel a little uncomfortable in this dress,” she asked.
“Sure. There should be a shirt in my case in the robe, the bathroom is just beyond the doors.”
“Thanks”
Allison made her way through to the walk in robe finding House’s suitcase. The thing that always fascinated her about House was that he never lived extravagantly, if anything he spent very little of the money he earned, but when he did he always bought quality items.
Her fingers travelled over the soft cotton of his shirts; they were expensive but you would never know as they had never seen an iron in their lives. She found his suitcase easily, hidden under the hangers; laying the case on its side to open she noticed a bulge in the front outside pocket of the case. Opening the sipper she pulled out the offending bulge.
“Perfect,” she whispered as she stood and entered the bathroom.
* * *
House paced back and forth in front of his bed. His next move would have to be calculated. He had travelled all this way to see her, to talk to her the last thing he needed was to offend her and make her run again. He had to take things slow, let her explain them in her own time. He had to act not like himself, but like himself; if that makes sense. Her comfort was necessary, if he had to cut back the snark then so be it. Sitting heavily back on the couch he loosened his tie, undoing the top few buttons on his shirt as he went. Sighing as he lent his head on the back of the couch closing his eyes for a moment; it was going to take every ounce of courage not to yell, berate and demand that she tell him why; he had to go slow - slow was just not his style.
* * *
Stripping off her dress, she noticed herself in the mirror through a doctor’s eye. Her frame was always slight, but now she looked positively skeletal. House was right, as always, she was bordering on a clinically unhealthy weight. She had to stop this, now, her menstrual cycle had become non existent in the past six months and she always looked gaunt.
‘This ends tonight,’ she thought.
Pulling on House’s shirt and giving herself a quick once over in the mirror before she left .
* * *
He was pulled from reprogramming his mind as Allison came into the room.
“Wow, that shirt never looked as good on me,” he quipped eyeing her up and down, noticing with arousal that she hadn’t ditched the heels, “The next time there is a formal function we need to attend, you’re wearing that.”
Neither noticing the “we” connotation in House’s statement. Allison blushed, she had procured an old lacrosse sports shirt, the number eighteen sat above her left breast with ‘House’ just above, the burgundy colour complementing her warm brown curls, the club insignia ‘Princeton Pirates’ on the opposite side. It stopped mid thigh and with the heels making her stretch her muscles deliciously as she walked; she was literally sex on legs. He knew before; but just seeing her like this now proved to him just how much he had missed her; all of her.
She curled down beside him on the couch in the suite and they ate in silence. After a while House couldn’t bare it anymore, he had to do it, watching her take tentative bites of her sandwich waiting for her to say something, he had to tell her; but seeing the look on her face with every mouthful was too priceless to miss. It was funny seeing someone eat something they were unsure of; much the same as the thought of eating snails.
“So, do you like it?” he asked as he picked up the last half of his sandwich.
“Mmmm. Not bad,” she commented taking another tiny bite of the half currently in her hands, beetroot and meat juices dripping down her hand to the plate.
“It’s not kangaroo by the way, its normal steak,” he said as a matter of fact.
“What!” Allison almost choked on the mouth full she was currently chewing and carefully placed the remaining part of her sandwich on the plate in front of her.
House just laughed at her reaction; it was better than he ever expected.
“You imbecile,” she smacked him hard on the shoulder as he continued laughing, “How could you be so mean?” she whacked him again as he laughed harder, she then started to laugh along with him.
It felt good to his ears to hear her laugh like that. Back at Princeton he heard her laugh often in the beginning of her fellowship, but it dwindled as time went on then faded out to nothing. He could not recall ever hearing her laugh in the last eight months she was there, but those months and the year and a bit apart seemed to melt away with just those few sounds of mirth.
For the rest of the meal they ate in a comfortable silence, the two bottles of liquor remained unopened; their purpose for which they were designed maybe put to use later in the night. The tension had eased and with it both House and Allison were able to relax a little.
“So for someone who wasn’t hungry you sure put a dent in that,” he said indicating the mostly eaten meal, only a few scraggly fries remained on the plate
“It was just what the doctor ordered. But I’m stuffed now,” she said resting back against the couch patting her stomach.
“Do you want a drink,” he asked indicating the bottles on the trolley.
“No, if we are to have this conversation, I want to be lucid; I’m only going to tell it once. Plus I had a fair bit before you and Maggie showed up at my door.”
“Fair enough, I’ll just put the trolley outside. No interruptions, if you know what I mean,” he said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. She just smiled.
By the time House had returned from depositing the food trolley and placing the bottles of booze on the counter, Allison had moved back to the position she had at the windows before.
Seeing the lights of Surfers Paradise spread out before her gave her strength. For being a hot tourist destination, Surfers had a calming influence on many people; it was comfortable and laid back. Women could walk the streets in bikinis and business suits and not feel out of place with the tall buildings casting their shadows. It seemed that every week a new building was being constructed; renewing itself, that was the reason why Allison felt so comfortable here, she was being renewed.
She could see him moving behind her through the windows reflection, taking a seat on the couch waiting. For this she was grateful; he was giving her the space she needed; to gather her thoughts before she spoke.
“I cannot give you a definite reason for why I left,” she said.
“Why?”
“It’s just not that simple, I used to think it was, but when things went array it got complicated. I just cannot give you one reason to explain everything,” she sighed, resting her forehead onto the cool glass.
“I just couldn’t get past of feeling overwhelmed, everything got too much. My judgement seemed to leave me at work, I lost all confidence in my ability; thinking I had made a huge career mistake, my family kept bugging me to visit; every time I spoke to them they made me feel guilty, I know that they didn’t mean it; but dammit I have responsibilities to my patients, I had a nonexistent social and love life,” Allison turned to face House on the couch, “I worked it out; do you know that I average having sex once every two years since I turned eighteen, once every two ears, do you know how degrading that makes one feel, to feel unwanted and unloved. I felt ugly.”
House scoffed at this, “That, Cameron, is a lie; you do remember why I hired you?”
He sat forward, waiting to hear what she would say. She held his attention; which was hard to do; he would fiddle worse than a six year old forced to sit still while waiting to get on the ride at the fair.
“I’m a piece of artwork hanging in the foyer, so everyone can look at me and admire me,” the words dripped with sarcasm as they came out of her mouth.
“Now remember you were a commissioned piece of artwork, so therefore you are special.”
“And that makes me feel sooo much better,” she said turning back to the window, watching the cars below making their winding path through the buildings. “and then there was you; you made things so hard for me. You knew I liked you, maybe even loved you, but you threw it into my face. You had performed open heart surgery on me, taken my heart out, stomped on it and then had the audacity to replace it. You belittle people, you’re rude, abrasive, couldn’t care less if people like you; in fact you go out of your way just to make sure they hate you.”
House remained silent. It was true he did flaunt it in front of her. He had used this information for his own gain; thinking he had the puzzle pieces needed to work out her compulsion to ‘fix’ people.
Allison had to pause for a moment, taking a deep breath to bring together her thoughts, when she spoke next her voice was softer, “You’re a brilliant doctor, extremely intelligent, witty, sexy as all hell, always annoyingly right, you care for those around you; but hide it as much as you can. And no matter what I cannot get you out of my mind; it drives me crazy knowing you have this hold on me. It’s scary. I was scared, so scared. About everything, I ran. And now that you’re here, everything inside me tells me to run again.”
“I have made a life here for myself; I have some friends, I have a job, an apartment, I have Maggie,” she continued.
“Has your sex life improved?” he queried.
“You would think so with all those hot, young male surfers out there. But they aren’t into professional types; unless they are bikini models,” she scoffed.
“Really? Cor, I should get into surfing. What do you think my chances are with scoring some of that?”
You would think that with his smart arse comments Allison’s blood pressure would have spiked; but in actual fact she found it comforting and familiar. He listened when she spoke and hadn’t so far demanded a better explanation for her disappearance.
House wanted to tell her that he actually felt the same way she did when he was younger; except the sex life part; he felt lost at time, felt pulled in too many directions; whether it was family, friends, his career, his boss; he knew the feelings she felt. The only difference between them was the fact he was stronger than her, emotionally; that was the reason he stayed and fought. Many times he would’ve loved to have thrown in the towel and call it quits; but then he had Wilson to turn to; Allison had no-one.
“Some how I don’t think you could get a cane holder on a surf board,” she chuckled turning to face him again. It was good to laugh at little things. “So Dr I’m looking to score with a meter maid, I told you my story. Now tell me what did you say to Maggie to get her to help you?”
House stood up from the couch, the cheerful smile he had just moments ago gone. His face had become softer; his clear blue eyes took on a loving gaze.
“The truth, I told her the truth,” he said walking towards her.
He came to with inches of her body, his limp not as noticeable with his slower pace.
“What was the truth?” she whispered. Her heart rate increased dramatically, his masculine scent driving her body temperature rising, her breathing became shallow and her long dormant desire for him returned full force. She became light headed with his nearness, her arousal spiking further bordering on spontaneous combustion.
His warm, strong, life giving hands rested on her shoulders, fingers rubbing the sensitive skin beneath.
Leaning closer to her, feeling the warm shallow breaths leaving her lungs against his lips he whispered, “That I love you. Always had, always will.” With that he kissed her.
Authors Note; Sorry again for the lateness. I love the comments you have left they are inspirational. Just to let you know that this story will have its rating upped in the next chapter - you can guess why!
So thank you again and I hope you enjoyed this new addition.
Pairing: House/Cameron
Rating: R/maybe ??
Spoilers: none - Season 3 starts in 4 Sleeps in Oz!! Whoppeee!
Word Count: 3600
Summary: Escape was the only way out for her……. But ones past always has a way of catching up.
Note: Sorry for the lateness - so to make it up to you here is an extra long chapter.
Chapter 7
She walked over to the balcony doors, contemplating on stepping out there, seeking refuge hopefully to put off the inevitable. Allison could see House’s reflection in the glass doors, he stood their patiently, hands resting on his cane in front of him; god he looked sexy she thought, standing their in his tux looking all suave and yummy.
Taking a deep breath she braced herself, if she was going to do this she might as well do it on her own terms - just like ripping a band-aid off, the quicker the better.
“So you want to know why I left,” she said still facing the glass door, she saw him nod, his eyes focused on her, keeping his face void of any emotion.
“And I want to know why you came here to find me,” she said.
House rocked on his feet a little trying to get the words to form in his mouth but failing to do so.
His only saving grace was the knock on the door to announce the arrival of sustenance.
* * * *
“What’s that,” she asked turning to face the door from the glass doors.
“Food, you do remember what food is don’t you?”
Allison rolled her eyes, taking a calming breath and counting to ten. Sometimes dealing with House was like dealing with a two year old child, he had the mentality of one as well on occasion.
House opened the door to allow the waiter to deliver the catering trolley into the middle of the room, then turned around and left wishing the occupants in the room a pleasant evening. Closing the door House made his way to the trolley rubbing his hands together in glee, Allison could only watch on in amusement at his actions.
“I love this place more and more,” he said.
“Why? Because they actually bring food at your command”
“Nah, I can get that anywhere. Here they don’t hang around looking at you with big puppy eyes waiting for tips,” he said mimicking the puppy dog eyes he detests for effect.
Lifting the silver covers from the plates he revealed the meals that he ordered.
“Ta da,” he said in a great flourish.
“Burgers and fries? Why did you get that for?”
“Well, commonly Dr Cameron, people consume this delicacy for nourishment. It is a scientifically proven fact that if the body consumes these items it increases the chances of survival,” he said.
Allison groaned at his remark; “Seriously House,”
“What? I’m being extremely serious, so you gonna join me?”
“I don’t think so. I’m not really hungry, besides I really don’t fancy hamburgers and fries.”
House covered the aforementioned meals with his hands, looking up at Allison with sorrow filled eyes.
“Don’t worry I’ll protect you from the nasty doctor who called you bad names.”
“What do you mean? Bad names? It’s a hamburger,” she said clearly confused.
“These, Dr Cameron,” House said standing up, “are masterpieces. These are kangaroo steak sandwiches and chips. How long have you lived in this country and you don’t even know the difference, there are subtle differences I know, hamburger means it’s on a bun, sandwiches indicate that it is contained between….”
“O.k O.k I get it, enough with the dialogue,” she finally realised just how annoying House could be, even after so long apart. It just never realised until then. “A Kangaroo steak sandwich? You must be joking right?” she queried.
“Joke? No way mate, a bloke wouldn’t do that to his sheila,” House said in a very convincing Aussie stockman drawl.
Allison shook her head, “I still cannot get over the fact that a nation is actually willing to eat a native animal which appears on their coat of arms, even if it does taste good.”
“Well, come on and join me in a bit of authentic Aussie tucker. You can’t get more authentic than eating an animal that is native to the country you’re in,” he said.
“House I told you I’m not hungry,” she pleaded, hoping the look in her eyes would be enough to persuade him.
But he gave her a sceptical look of ‘you must be joking right’.
“I’m not really,” she said hoping for him to drop the subject completely.
House moved away from the food cart, walking heavily without his cane, stopping in front of his lost duckling.
“Have you looked at your self lately?” his voice uncharacteristically gentle.
“Of course. What you think that I get dressed in the dark and viola I turn out like this,” she said indicating the cocktail dress she was wearing and hair and makeup done.
“No, I mean really look at yourself. As a doctor, not as a woman running on autopilot putting on all the crap that they do,” he said trying very hard to keep his voice even and gentle. But his frustration was starting to get the better of him. Surely this woman knew she was dangerously thin, his first thought after feeling the bones under his hand at the party was to pack her off to have her admitted to the nearest hospital for treatment.
Allison dropped her head, knowing that he was right; she had been neglecting herself, she just didn’t think it was noticeable. She just didn’t think; it was something that she had tried to avoid; but thinking just bought back memories she did not want, it just hurt too much.
“I didn’t want to acknowledge there was anything wrong,” she confessed still looking at her shoes.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, his large hands completely dwarfing her frame.
“Please, just try to eat a little. At least this way you get all of the necessary food groups in one meal,” he said with a goofy smile.
“What do you mean?” she questioned.
“Well look here,” he said walking back over to the food trolley lifting one of the silver lids. “You have grains and cereals in the bread, you have meat and dairy products in the cheese and steak, you then have your fruits and vegies - very important I might add in the salad stuff, pineapple and fries, just a little of the oil it was cooked in and finally the highly specialised variety of waters to wash it down with,” he said pointing to the two bottles on the trolley with the food.
“House, but that is a bottle of vodka and a bottle of scotch,” she said indicating the offending bottles.
“Really, I asked for a bottle of water and a bottle of iced tea. Bastards, never trust the help they are always out to get you,” his voice was serious but his eyes gave way to a playfulness that she had long forgotten he had.
“You can be such a dork at times,” she joked earning herself a cheeky smile from him, making him look even more dashing his tux.
“So, milady will you par take with me in this fine cuisine, that this land has on offer,” he asked.
“A little, I’ll try a little,” she offered.
House nodded, knowing that she had at least offered to eat something, and the trip to the hospital to admit her was postponed for a while at least.
“Do you…. Um…. I …do you think I could borrow a shirt or something. I’m starting to feel a little uncomfortable in this dress,” she asked.
“Sure. There should be a shirt in my case in the robe, the bathroom is just beyond the doors.”
“Thanks”
Allison made her way through to the walk in robe finding House’s suitcase. The thing that always fascinated her about House was that he never lived extravagantly, if anything he spent very little of the money he earned, but when he did he always bought quality items.
Her fingers travelled over the soft cotton of his shirts; they were expensive but you would never know as they had never seen an iron in their lives. She found his suitcase easily, hidden under the hangers; laying the case on its side to open she noticed a bulge in the front outside pocket of the case. Opening the sipper she pulled out the offending bulge.
“Perfect,” she whispered as she stood and entered the bathroom.
* * *
House paced back and forth in front of his bed. His next move would have to be calculated. He had travelled all this way to see her, to talk to her the last thing he needed was to offend her and make her run again. He had to take things slow, let her explain them in her own time. He had to act not like himself, but like himself; if that makes sense. Her comfort was necessary, if he had to cut back the snark then so be it. Sitting heavily back on the couch he loosened his tie, undoing the top few buttons on his shirt as he went. Sighing as he lent his head on the back of the couch closing his eyes for a moment; it was going to take every ounce of courage not to yell, berate and demand that she tell him why; he had to go slow - slow was just not his style.
* * *
Stripping off her dress, she noticed herself in the mirror through a doctor’s eye. Her frame was always slight, but now she looked positively skeletal. House was right, as always, she was bordering on a clinically unhealthy weight. She had to stop this, now, her menstrual cycle had become non existent in the past six months and she always looked gaunt.
‘This ends tonight,’ she thought.
Pulling on House’s shirt and giving herself a quick once over in the mirror before she left .
* * *
He was pulled from reprogramming his mind as Allison came into the room.
“Wow, that shirt never looked as good on me,” he quipped eyeing her up and down, noticing with arousal that she hadn’t ditched the heels, “The next time there is a formal function we need to attend, you’re wearing that.”
Neither noticing the “we” connotation in House’s statement. Allison blushed, she had procured an old lacrosse sports shirt, the number eighteen sat above her left breast with ‘House’ just above, the burgundy colour complementing her warm brown curls, the club insignia ‘Princeton Pirates’ on the opposite side. It stopped mid thigh and with the heels making her stretch her muscles deliciously as she walked; she was literally sex on legs. He knew before; but just seeing her like this now proved to him just how much he had missed her; all of her.
She curled down beside him on the couch in the suite and they ate in silence. After a while House couldn’t bare it anymore, he had to do it, watching her take tentative bites of her sandwich waiting for her to say something, he had to tell her; but seeing the look on her face with every mouthful was too priceless to miss. It was funny seeing someone eat something they were unsure of; much the same as the thought of eating snails.
“So, do you like it?” he asked as he picked up the last half of his sandwich.
“Mmmm. Not bad,” she commented taking another tiny bite of the half currently in her hands, beetroot and meat juices dripping down her hand to the plate.
“It’s not kangaroo by the way, its normal steak,” he said as a matter of fact.
“What!” Allison almost choked on the mouth full she was currently chewing and carefully placed the remaining part of her sandwich on the plate in front of her.
House just laughed at her reaction; it was better than he ever expected.
“You imbecile,” she smacked him hard on the shoulder as he continued laughing, “How could you be so mean?” she whacked him again as he laughed harder, she then started to laugh along with him.
It felt good to his ears to hear her laugh like that. Back at Princeton he heard her laugh often in the beginning of her fellowship, but it dwindled as time went on then faded out to nothing. He could not recall ever hearing her laugh in the last eight months she was there, but those months and the year and a bit apart seemed to melt away with just those few sounds of mirth.
For the rest of the meal they ate in a comfortable silence, the two bottles of liquor remained unopened; their purpose for which they were designed maybe put to use later in the night. The tension had eased and with it both House and Allison were able to relax a little.
“So for someone who wasn’t hungry you sure put a dent in that,” he said indicating the mostly eaten meal, only a few scraggly fries remained on the plate
“It was just what the doctor ordered. But I’m stuffed now,” she said resting back against the couch patting her stomach.
“Do you want a drink,” he asked indicating the bottles on the trolley.
“No, if we are to have this conversation, I want to be lucid; I’m only going to tell it once. Plus I had a fair bit before you and Maggie showed up at my door.”
“Fair enough, I’ll just put the trolley outside. No interruptions, if you know what I mean,” he said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. She just smiled.
By the time House had returned from depositing the food trolley and placing the bottles of booze on the counter, Allison had moved back to the position she had at the windows before.
Seeing the lights of Surfers Paradise spread out before her gave her strength. For being a hot tourist destination, Surfers had a calming influence on many people; it was comfortable and laid back. Women could walk the streets in bikinis and business suits and not feel out of place with the tall buildings casting their shadows. It seemed that every week a new building was being constructed; renewing itself, that was the reason why Allison felt so comfortable here, she was being renewed.
She could see him moving behind her through the windows reflection, taking a seat on the couch waiting. For this she was grateful; he was giving her the space she needed; to gather her thoughts before she spoke.
“I cannot give you a definite reason for why I left,” she said.
“Why?”
“It’s just not that simple, I used to think it was, but when things went array it got complicated. I just cannot give you one reason to explain everything,” she sighed, resting her forehead onto the cool glass.
“I just couldn’t get past of feeling overwhelmed, everything got too much. My judgement seemed to leave me at work, I lost all confidence in my ability; thinking I had made a huge career mistake, my family kept bugging me to visit; every time I spoke to them they made me feel guilty, I know that they didn’t mean it; but dammit I have responsibilities to my patients, I had a nonexistent social and love life,” Allison turned to face House on the couch, “I worked it out; do you know that I average having sex once every two years since I turned eighteen, once every two ears, do you know how degrading that makes one feel, to feel unwanted and unloved. I felt ugly.”
House scoffed at this, “That, Cameron, is a lie; you do remember why I hired you?”
He sat forward, waiting to hear what she would say. She held his attention; which was hard to do; he would fiddle worse than a six year old forced to sit still while waiting to get on the ride at the fair.
“I’m a piece of artwork hanging in the foyer, so everyone can look at me and admire me,” the words dripped with sarcasm as they came out of her mouth.
“Now remember you were a commissioned piece of artwork, so therefore you are special.”
“And that makes me feel sooo much better,” she said turning back to the window, watching the cars below making their winding path through the buildings. “and then there was you; you made things so hard for me. You knew I liked you, maybe even loved you, but you threw it into my face. You had performed open heart surgery on me, taken my heart out, stomped on it and then had the audacity to replace it. You belittle people, you’re rude, abrasive, couldn’t care less if people like you; in fact you go out of your way just to make sure they hate you.”
House remained silent. It was true he did flaunt it in front of her. He had used this information for his own gain; thinking he had the puzzle pieces needed to work out her compulsion to ‘fix’ people.
Allison had to pause for a moment, taking a deep breath to bring together her thoughts, when she spoke next her voice was softer, “You’re a brilliant doctor, extremely intelligent, witty, sexy as all hell, always annoyingly right, you care for those around you; but hide it as much as you can. And no matter what I cannot get you out of my mind; it drives me crazy knowing you have this hold on me. It’s scary. I was scared, so scared. About everything, I ran. And now that you’re here, everything inside me tells me to run again.”
“I have made a life here for myself; I have some friends, I have a job, an apartment, I have Maggie,” she continued.
“Has your sex life improved?” he queried.
“You would think so with all those hot, young male surfers out there. But they aren’t into professional types; unless they are bikini models,” she scoffed.
“Really? Cor, I should get into surfing. What do you think my chances are with scoring some of that?”
You would think that with his smart arse comments Allison’s blood pressure would have spiked; but in actual fact she found it comforting and familiar. He listened when she spoke and hadn’t so far demanded a better explanation for her disappearance.
House wanted to tell her that he actually felt the same way she did when he was younger; except the sex life part; he felt lost at time, felt pulled in too many directions; whether it was family, friends, his career, his boss; he knew the feelings she felt. The only difference between them was the fact he was stronger than her, emotionally; that was the reason he stayed and fought. Many times he would’ve loved to have thrown in the towel and call it quits; but then he had Wilson to turn to; Allison had no-one.
“Some how I don’t think you could get a cane holder on a surf board,” she chuckled turning to face him again. It was good to laugh at little things. “So Dr I’m looking to score with a meter maid, I told you my story. Now tell me what did you say to Maggie to get her to help you?”
House stood up from the couch, the cheerful smile he had just moments ago gone. His face had become softer; his clear blue eyes took on a loving gaze.
“The truth, I told her the truth,” he said walking towards her.
He came to with inches of her body, his limp not as noticeable with his slower pace.
“What was the truth?” she whispered. Her heart rate increased dramatically, his masculine scent driving her body temperature rising, her breathing became shallow and her long dormant desire for him returned full force. She became light headed with his nearness, her arousal spiking further bordering on spontaneous combustion.
His warm, strong, life giving hands rested on her shoulders, fingers rubbing the sensitive skin beneath.
Leaning closer to her, feeling the warm shallow breaths leaving her lungs against his lips he whispered, “That I love you. Always had, always will.” With that he kissed her.
Authors Note; Sorry again for the lateness. I love the comments you have left they are inspirational. Just to let you know that this story will have its rating upped in the next chapter - you can guess why!
So thank you again and I hope you enjoyed this new addition.