Title: You’d Be Surprised
Series: Straw Into Gold
Part: 8 of 9
Word Count: 1,205
Rating: R
POV: Cameron
Summary: She’s not the same girl she was yesterday.
You’d be surprised, if you were here
We’d make up time, for all that’s disappeared
And I, I’d hold you like I never could
You’d be surprised, if you were here
We’d make it right, there’d be no tears
And you’d confide in me
And I’d be there.
She wakes up confused by the fact that she’s not alone in her bed. She looks at the back of the man that she’s slept with nearly every night for the last three months and suddenly remembers that he showed up at her door last night and apologized.
Her head is pounding and she tries to ease out of bed without waking him, knowing she needs some aspirin and a clear head to deal with this situation.
She’s on her second cup of coffee by the time he stumbles into her living room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looks at her warily, as if afraid that she’s changed her mind about accepting his apology. He couldn’t be further from the truth.
“There’s a pot of coffee,” she says. He nods and heads out to pour himself a cup. She waits for him to get situated before speaking.
“I have something I need to say to you,” she says. He looks as nervous as she feels.
“Look, I…” he begins. She cuts him off.
“You said your piece last night,” she says. “I need to say this.”
He sighs, but nods.
“I’m sorry.”
He looks at her, confused. “What do you have to be sorry about?” he asks.
“I’m sorry for walking out the other night,” she explains. “I should have stayed and we should have discussed the situation. I don’t know what came over me, but I realize now that it was an incredibly immature move on my part.”
“Allison, you had every right to be upset with me,” he argues. “I was a complete jerk.”
She agrees with his statement, but elects to keep that thought to herself for the moment because she knows he wasn’t the only one. “So was I.”
He starts to disagree with her but she cuts him off again. “I should have told you that people were talking. I knew that we’d discussed keeping our personal and professional relationships separate, but we were foolish to think that would last. Especially once we realized and admitted the depth of our feelings. It was bound to show. The only reason I didn’t tell you was because I was afraid that you’d react the way you did and want to end things. I thought it was better to not say anything and hope you wouldn’t find out so I could hold on to you.” She feels a tear slide down her cheek at her admission.
“Allison, how did two intelligent people like us end up in a mess like this?” he asks, leaning over to wipe away her tear. “I was worried about everyone finding out because I thought that if they all knew, it would hurt worse when you got tired of putting up with me and left.”
“Greg, I told you that I love you. That’s not something that I say lightly. You won’t get rid of me that easily.” They share a smile at her words. “But we need to figure out how we’re going to handle the work thing.”
“Let’s just go with the flow. If people find out, they find out. I don’t think we need to draw any attention to ourselves, but I don’t want to hide anymore either.” He takes her hand and she feels a jolt of electricity course through her body.
“What do you mean exactly?”
“I mean that when we spend the night together, I want us to drive to work together, not in separate cars. We can leave together and if people see us talking in the hallway or in the lab or in my office, so what.”
She considers this. It’s not exactly a public declaration, but he’s not one for public displays of anything and she realized after their fight that they both need to be willing to compromise if their relationship is going to work.
“That sounds fair,” she agrees and is rewarded with a smile. “After all, Chase, Foreman, and Wilson all know and they’re the ones we work with the most.”
“Exactly,” he says, leaning in to seal their agreement with a kiss.
***
Foreman corners her the moment they are left alone. “So you two made up, huh?” he asks.
She smiles. “Yes, thanks to the good advice you and Chase gave me last night.”
He looks puzzled, but shrugs and says, “No problem. I’m glad you’re happy.” He pats her shoulder and she thinks that this is what it must be like to have a big brother. “Now, we need to get working on this case.”
They start running tests and analyzing results. Wilson is called in for a consult and Chase is running patient interference. After several hours, they run across something highly unusual and Wilson takes it to Cuddy. The two are back in the lab within minutes.
“Where the hell is House?” Cuddy asks as she bursts through the door.
Wilson, Foreman, and Chase all swing their gazes to Cameron. She flushes under the scrutiny. “I don’t know where he is,” she admits. “I haven’t seen him since we got here this morning.” She feels her face turn red as she realizes that she just admitted to the Dean of Medicine that she is sleeping with her boss.
Cuddy seems unsurprised by the comment. “You two aren’t fighting anymore though, right?” she asks impatiently.
Allison knows her face is scarlet now. “No, we made up.”
“So he’s not off sulking somewhere,” Cuddy says. “Where else could he be?”
“Looking for me?” He walks in casually, as if there is nothing at all wrong with the fact that he’s apparently been missing in action for a few hours.
“Yes! Do you have any idea what is going on with your patient?” Cuddy is obviously trying to reign in her anger at her top diagnostician.
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” he says, walking past her to where Allison is standing.
Cuddy gives Wilson an impatient look. Wilson looks at House and his eyes widen in surprise at something; his reaction makes Allison nervous because she knows how unpredictable Greg can be.
“Greg,” Wilson says, an odd tone in his voice. House ignores him and stands in front of Allison. She notices that he has one hand behind his back and her mouth opens in shock when he reveals a bouquet of wildflowers.
He hands them to her and leans over to kiss her gently. Her heart races at this very public display of affection. He looks into her eyes and gives her an impish grin before turning back around to address the rest of the room.
“So, now, what’s going on with my patient?” he asks as if he hasn’t just given his girlfriend flowers.
Cuddy can’t keep the look of surprise off her face. Allison is worried that she’ll be angry and is surprised when she starts laughing. Wilson, Chase and Foreman join her.
“House, you always manage to surprise me,” she says. “But now we need to get back to business.”
Allison breathes a sigh of relief that Cuddy seems pleased about their relationship. She takes a moment to smell her flowers as Cuddy and Wilson bring House up to speed on their patient’s condition.