Just Between Us

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 1

"You really think I'm that easy?" He asked, watching Cameron playfully inch towards him.

"Yup. I do. I think you're every bit that easy, and more." They were moving backward, getting closer and closer to the wall.

"Maybe if you keep saying that, I'll have to prove you otherwise." Cameron laughed, slipping one thin, black strap off her shoulder. The revealing, form-fitting dress she'd worn for the Cardiology Benefit was feeling more and more constricting.

"As if you had the willpower for that," she teased. Cameron pressed her mouth against House's. She'd sat across from him through the whole hellish Benefit, watching him. Anticipation making the whle thing worse. Neither had the willpower anymore.

Cameron's mouth may have been busy, but her hands weren't. They slipped off her second strap, letting her dress fall to the floor. Then she started in on House's shirt, but he stayed her hand and pulled away slightly.

"Cameron?"

"Uh huh?" She was impatient, and he could hear it.

"This can't get out."

"It won't," she assured him, pulling him back in. They kept kissing as Cameron reached the bottom button.

"This stays between us," House reinforced. "Right?"

"Of course," Cameron said with a smile, playing with the black fastener on his tuxedo pants. "What happens in your office, stays in your office."

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 2

Both breathing hard, House and Cameron haphazardly threw their dress clothes back on when a knock came at the door.

"It's Wilson," House said as he peered around the curtains. Cameron was turning her stockings right side out.

"By 'it stays between us', you meant Wilson too." Cameron pointed out. She sighed.
"Everyone lies," House said, throwing his bowtie on the desk.

"Just let him in." He did.

"Well, I see you two have been having... fun," Wilson commented, taking in their misbuttoned clothing and choosing his words carefully. Cameron blushed crimson, and House laughed.

"You're jealous," He told Wilson.

"Yeah, I always wanted to do it on your desk." Cameron giggled.

"Is there something I need to know about you two?" she asked, her face still red.

"It's over between us. Really, we're just friends now." House answered. Cameron nodded, smiling, and stood up.

"I'm getting some coffee. You guys want any?" They shook their heads, and Cameron dissapeared into the dark Differential Diagnosis Room.

"You are unbelievable!" Wilson whispered loudly.

"Yeah, that's what Cameron said too." Wilson rubbed the back of his neck, taking deep breaths. Then, he looked back up at House.

"Have you even been on one date with her?" He asked.

"Nope. That's the beauty of hookers."

"Cameron is not a hooker! She's an educted woman, and worse, she's you employee! How exactly did you expect this to work?"

"Why did you really come in here?" House asked.

"Julie threw me out again," Wilson admitted.

"And so you've decide to give me relatioship advice. Sort of like the blind leading the blind."

"Yes. Exactly like that."

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 3

Wilson and House joined Cameron. They sat around the table, silently drinking coffee. The clock read five o'clock.

"I remember realizing something in college," Cameron began.

"What really could fit in bodily orifices?" House asked. She ignored him.

"No. I figured out that morning would come whether I'd slept or not," she said with a laugh. She lifted her mug to her mouth and took a sip. They all fell silent.

"It's two hours 'til the day shift shows up," Wilson said. "We can't exactly go to sleep now."

"Watch me," House said, and stood up. "Two can fit in my recliner, you know," he told Cameron, raising an eyebrow and half-smiling.

"House, I'm exhausted," she protested. House looked shocked.

"Of course," he said innocently. "That was why I was suggesting that we sleep."

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 4

Cameron woke up an hour later in House's lap, still wearing her crumpled evening dress. She became alert quickly.

"Come on!" She nudged him awake. "We have to change!" He woke up and reached behind the cushion of the recliner. He produced a green sweater-and-skirt set, then his own jeans, dress shirt, and Rolling Stones t-shirt.

"Magic!" He pronounced.

"Why'd you take my clothes from my locker?" She asked.

"A man can always hope, can't he?"

With a disgusted sigh and an eye roll, Cameron took the clothes from House and slid her dress off.

They were dressed just in time to here footsteps in the Differential Diagnosis Room.

"You go first," Cameron whispered, feeling like she was hiding from some sort of Disney-created villian.

"No, you," House muttered in return. Eventually, House pushed Cameron out his door, with a fully unhelpful send-off of "Look natural!"

It turned out to be Foreman in the other room, who took one look at her creased clothes, tired-looking eyes and sheepish expression and saw right through her.

"Let's see... now that Chase and House are checked off your list, am I up next? Or is Wilson?"

"Shut up," she said, trying to sound annoyed. But she felt like she was walking on air.

Because last night, she'd finally fufilled a dream she'd had since almost two years ago.

And it felt good.

[house_crazy]

Yay! Please keep going! So very very happy!!!!

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 5

"Coffee?" Foreman offered, smiling. It was funny to see Cameron so guilty-looking. She turned him down.

"I had a cup earlier," she explained. "You won't tell Chase will you?" she asked. Foreman shook his head, placing the pot back in the coffee maker.

"It's none of my business," He said. Cameron folded her hands.

"At least someone around here's behaving like a grown up." Foreman chuckled at this and cocked his head towards House's office.

"I'd say that last night's fstivities were pretty 'grown up'." He commented, and sat down at the table with his mug. They both fell silent.

Thunk, thunk, thunk. Wood against floor announced that House was coming out of hiding.

"Hmm... I see the car thief, I see the stripper. Where's that guy with the hair?"

"Chase is sick today," Cuddy announced, having heard the question and looking distinctly annoyed. House picked up on her irritation.

"Was that not quite PC?" He asked. Cuddy's expression didn't change.

"And I want to see you in my office," she said, leaving. Cameron stood up and walked over to House.

"What happened to 'just between us'?" Cameron asked.

"Everybody lies." He told her, and started to walk away. She grabbed his arm.

"You... I..." Seeing her anger and hurt, House backed off a bit, and decided to tell the truth.

"This time, I didn't mean to."

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 6

House sat in the chair in front of Cuddy's desk, resting his arm on the top of his cane. There was a butterfly family reunion being held in his stomach, but a Vicodin helped him calm it enough to speak.

"Did Wilson tattle?" House asked.

"Wilson knows too?" Cuddy asked. She was rustling her papers around, which was bad sign. Unneccesary shuffling meant Cuddy was really, really mad.

"You gave Vicodin to a Clinic patient." Cuddy's face was turning red. But House was relieved. At least she didn't know about last night's 'festivities'.

As Foreman had put it.

Cuddy stopped shuffling and slammed her papers down on the desk.

"What do you expect me to do with this?" she asked him, throwing up her hands.

"You save lives. You break some rules. You break a really, really big rule. But then you brign some single mother of six back from the brink of death. And then you do something bad enough that I really should fire you, but look! You've just saved the life of a young teenager!" She seemed to run out of steam at this point. "Tell me what I should do." House sat, motionless, arm still resting in his cane.

"You should let me keep saving lives."

"And let you act like a six year old too?"

"Yup."

"Oh. Well if that's what you really think... Come on. You know I can't do that."

"I won't give out Vicodin anymore."

"Well, that's at least a start."

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 7

Cameron quickly discovered that sex with House provoked a severe side effect: an inability to focus on anything.

As she tried to test patient 553B's sweat for cystic fibrosis, she found herself daydreaming instead of accomplishing anything. Ditto for throat cultures, e-mail writing, and listening to Clinic patients. And somehow, her endorphin-sodden brain decided that the only way to be able to work again was desensitization. Which meant a repeat.

Any excuse was good with her.

But if Cuddy knew, there was no chance. She'd just be doomed to an existence of being unable to do anything properly.

How very, very sad.

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 8

Foreman was in a state of amused shock. These people just could not keep their pants on, could they?

But in the back of his mind, he'd always known it was going to happen. Enough adoring glances from someone like Cameron could easily weaken the resolve of any guy. He didn't blame House, he just... well, truthfully, he was worried about the Team. Everyone was already weird enough. Chase and Cameron had gotten snippy and competitive after they slept together.

House was even more difficult and moody. How would he act?

Foreman wouldn't find out until the Team was working together again. on their next patient. That was shame. He was kind of looking forward to the show.

But in the mean time, he had a stack of paperwork that was more intimidating than a bone marrow needle. And unlike Cameron, he was able to concentrate.

[house_crazy]

Oooh! Interesting! Glad Cuddy doesn't know...Cameron deserves a repeat. And House better stop calling her a stripper and a hooker! Although I like 'the guy with the hair'! That was very funny.

[Lemurlou]

hey house crazy! i'm about to write a new chapter. write another one in addiction, okay?

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 9

Cameron hadn't eaten much dinner the night before (Benefits were notorious for their mediocre catering) and no breakfast that morning. Her hunger and her hope of running into House won Cameron over, and she shut down her laptop and started to get up, but House came into her office.

Cameron could feel her desire for food slipping away. It was quickly replaced with nervousness and... well, a desire for something a bit different.

"What... what did Cuddy want?" Cameron asked gingerly. She was kind of afraid of the answer.

"She wanted to know what she should do about my behavior." Cameron was shocked.

"She.. she found out?"

"Yes. That I was giving my pills to patients." Cameron felt faint with relief and practically collapsed onto House.

"I have a feeling I know what you want, too," House predicted with a raised eyebrow. Cameron straightened and mimicked his expression.

"Do you?"

"Yep. You definetly want to do some tonsil biopsies." She leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"I want to biopsy way more than your tonsils."

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 11

House was probably the only man in the world who thought that line was hot. And it hadn't come from nowhere: Cameron had locked the door as he'd come in, practically.

A month ago he'd been suceeding fairly well at ignoring Cameron's flirting. Last night they'd locked themselves in his office. What had changed? House knew perfectly well what the answer was. He was just trying his best not to think about it. nd it was easy enough to distract himself.

Cameron had already dealt with House's shirt. She seemed a little annoyed, though.

"Will you at least look at me?" she asked. In response, House shoved his mouth against hers and started locating the zipper on her skirt. He'd shoved all thought out of his mind. Pure instinct reigned.

Their clothes were quickly in a heap on the floor. Footsteps in the hallway caused them to pause momentarily, fear-stricken. The feet faded away, and they resumed.

Cameron was rapidly becoming miserable, despite House's best efforts. Her throat and stomach burned. Finally, she screamed.

"That good, am I?" House asked, laughing a little and panting. Cameron started coughing, hard. He quickly disengaged himself.

"Cameron. Cameron? Cameron!" But she was in too much pain to answer. Cameron tasted something salty and metallic in the back of her throat, but she couldn't stop coughing. The blood came up, and she stained herself and House with it.

House dressed faster than he ever had. Her skin was turning blue, and she was breathing intermittently.

She had a pulmonary embolism, he was sure. If he delayed treatment another second, her breathing might stop. If he took her out in the hallway naked, his might. But he couldn't let Cameron die.

He yelled into the hallway frantically.

"I need help in here. Now!"

To his surprise, he was crying.

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 12

The doctor who removed Cameron's embolism came into House's office after she had been transferred to the ICU. House had spent the past two hours trying to distract himself, nervous, certain that he was going to lose his job and Cameron was going to die.

"Dr. House? I'd like to speak to you. I'm Dr. Bergman." A tall young man with blue eyes and a voice reminiscent of James Earl Jones entered the room.

"I was doing her. That's why she was naked." House was angry, forcefully bouncing his ball against the floor. He was facing his window, his back to his visitor.

Dr. Bergman paused.

"I was the only one who saw her before she'd been put in a hospital gown," He said, "and I have no intention of reporting her state of dress or undress to Cuddy. That's not what I came here for." House swiveled in his chair to face the doctor and dropped his tennis ball.

"What did you come here for, then?"

"I needed to notify you that you're her medical proxy."

"I am?"

"Says so on her will. I thought you'd know. You've been her listed proxy for almost two years now."

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 10

She woke up in darkness, her chest pounding and sore. Where was everyone? Why was she here?

Cameron remembered the blood, the tingling in her fingers, the mask over her face. She'd had surgery. Why?

And she'd been naked, too. How much trouble was she in?

There was a piece of paper on her bedside table, which she unfolded and read.

Cameron,
I'm in my office. Page me if you need me. I know you're going to be wondering about a lot of things. You had a pulmonary ebolism. There's a scar. We're not in any trouble. Only Dr. Bergman saw you. He said it's just between us. Kind f a scary thought, isn't it? Threesomes were never my thing.
-House

She put the paper back down on her bedside table. She felt her ribcage. Sure enough, there was a rough raised line.

And it would never heal.