Ruined Part 3

It was snowing outside Princeton-Plainsborough Teaching Hospital and Cameron sat, staring out the large window of the conference room. She knew she looked too happy to be there but she couldn't keep the smile off her face as she thought of the upcoming holidays.

It had been a little over a month since she and House had started dating. If you could call it dating - their relationship was unpredictable at best. One day, House would treat Cameron delicately, using minimal amount of snark. But then the next day he might treat her as if they'd never slept together, with all the regular snark and sexism that was normally House.

Cameron would love the good days and let the bad days pass. It wasn't like if Cameron needed tests done on patients that House would wave his hand with permission. Cameron still had to argue her cases before he would give in. That much hadn't changed.

For her, now knowing House's feelings, and him knowing her's, it cleared everything away in her mind. She no longer felt the tension between House and herself.

Cameron stretched her arms over her head for a moment and yawned. She leaned around her desk to see if House was in his office.

No House.

She grabbed her winter jacket, gloves and scarf, throwing them all on quickly, her scarf covering the bottom half of her face. She felt like a little kid again, running off to play in the snow.

Cameron eased open the door to his office and decided he must be down in the clinic. She entered his office and went right to the balcony door. Swinging it open, you could immediately tell the balcony floor had been covered in at least one good foot of snow. She stepped out onto the balcony and looked over the edge, watching the hospital's maintenance men string the lights on some of the pine trees for everyone to see.

"Allison?"

Cameron turned to find Dr. Wilson in the balcony door of his own office. He stepped outside, closing his door behind him.

"Hi, Wilson!" She smiled cheerfully. "It's almost Christmas time!"

"What're your plans this year?" Wilson asked, shoving his hands deep into his lab coat to stay warm.

"Usually, I go to my parents' house for the weekend. But this year, I don't know yet."

"Change of plans? Staying here to sulk like the rest of us?"

"Well, if I go, then what about-"she caught herself, but too late.

"House?" Wilson smiled knowingly.

Cameron should've known that Wilson would know. House probably had run - or hobbled quickly - to tell Wilson all about it.

"I know what you're thinking," he began. "House didn't come right and tell me. I had to weasel it out of him." He paused. "So you two are dating, huh?"

"Who else knows?" Cameron asked, hoping it wasn't the whole hospital.

"Nobody. Just me."

"Not even Foreman and Chase?"

"Not as far as I know."

Cameron sighed with relief. "What should I do? Stay here and spend Christmas with House? I know he's always alone on Christmas. Or should I go to my parents'? I know he'd never want to come along."

"I don't know. You're going to have to work that one out on your own." Wilson replied, and then turned back to his door. "It's too damn cold out here." He went inside and shut the door.

Cameron sighed, then let herself lay back and sink into the snow. A few arm and leg strokes and she'd made a perfectly good snow angel.

She stood up, deciding now that it really was too cold and went back inside.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
Wilson sat in the diagnostic conference room, chatting with Foreman and Chase, while Cameron sat at her desk on the phone.

The next night was Christmas Eve and Cameron had already called her parents to let them know she'd be spending the night at home. She'd decided to go just for Christmas Day and not the whole weekend like usual. House had grumbled about spending Christmas with Steve McQueen and, later on, a sulky Wilson. Cameron knew he'd be glad to have her company for the holiday, even if he didn't show it.

She set down the phone and began to sort through House's mail when he barged into the conference room.

"Cuddy wants me to help decorate the clinic!" He announced in disgruntled disbelief.

Wilson turned to him, holding back a laugh at the thought of House decorating for a cheerful holiday. "She can't possibly expect you, Mr. Scrooge-"

"Oh, shut up." House said over his shoulder as he went through the doors that led to his office.

"What a cheerful time of year, it truly is." Wilson said dramatically. "When everyone can come together in peace and joy..."

Cameron laughed quietly, half way through House's mail. Foreman and Wilson back to their previous conversation and Chase got up for a cup of coffee.

They all jumped when House's office door swung open. "Who the hell made a snow angel on my balcony?!"

Cameron bit her bottom lip and tried to hold back a giggle. She looked over to Wilson.

"I confess!" Wilson let out. "I saw the newly fallen snow and couldn't resist."

Chase choked a little on his coffee when he heard Wilson's explanation.

"You have a lot of Christmas spirit, Wilson, for being Jewish." House cracked.

Wilson shrugged. "Everybody needs some holiday cheer."

"So, shouldn't you be down in the clinic decorating?" Foreman asked House.

"Well, now I will go help decorate. I need to get away from all this holiday cheer crap." House headed for the conference room doors, tossing a worried and slightly disturbed look at Wilson before he left.

Foreman left shortly after to check on a patient.

"So really," Chase sat down at the table. "Did you really do that snow angel?"

Wilson rolled his eyes and looked over to Cameron, who shrugged innocently.

"Oh, it was Cameron." Chase laughed and caught her worried look. "I won't tell anyone. House thinking it was Wilson is pretty amusing." He shrugged and left the room with Wilson following behind him.

Cameron sighed. If House knew that she had made that snow angel, no matter what way he would've reacted, it would've revealed their relationship to their colleagues, then eventually the whole hospital. She knew he didn't want to be bothered about their relationship from others, especially Cuddy.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
It was finally Christmas Eve and Cameron was so glad to be heading home for the night. She threw on her jacket, grabbed her bag and left the office. Heading for the elevator, she began to wonder what Christmas Eve with House was going to be like. She was guessing it would be like any other night, except for the midsized Christmas tree she'd helped him pick out.

"Dr. Cameron." House said from beside her.

"Dr. House." Cameron smiled and entered the elevator.

House stepped in after her and the doors promptly closed.

"So, my place tonight?" he asked, watching the numbers above the door blink down.

"Sounds good to me. I just have to change and then I'll be over." Cameron smiled to herself.

The elevator doors opened and they both stepped out. They both reached their cars and, with his head nod returning her smile and wave, they got into their cars and drove to their separate homes.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
House sat on his couch, a small glass of eggnog in his hand and his eyes on Steve's cage.

"Steve, be a man." He said to the cage that seemed to have nothing in it. "You don't want that girly thing to think you're afraid, do you?"

There was a knock on the door and House shook his head as he pulled himself off the couch.

"Happy Christmas Eve!!" Cameron said happily from behind the stack of boxes she was carrying.

House could barely see her over the wrapped boxes. He stepped aside and let her set them down on a nearby chair.

She took off her boots and jacket when she was inside. "I didn't forget Steve." She pulled a tiny Santa hat out of her pocket and went to Steve's cage. "Where is he?"

House sat back down heavily on the couch. "He's in hiding."

"In hiding? From what?"

"From your present. Go hunt for it." House finished his glass of eggnog and set it down on the coffee table.

Cameron could see that House was deeply enthralled in A Very Merry OC, so she humored him and went down the hall.

Steve poked his head out from under his paper scrapings and surveyed the room.

"You better go back in." House mumbled to his pet. "Save yourself."

Cameron had almost reached House's bedroom when she looked to the side and saw that a red sticky bow - obviously from a bag of many - had been slapped on the bathroom door. She cast a questioning look down the hall towards House, then opened the door.

House winced a little when he heard her scream from down the hall. "Here it comes." He told Steve.

Cameron ignored the grimace on his face when she carried her gift back into his living room. "You got me a kitten??" She asked as she sat down next to him.

He looked at her wearily. "Someone left it in a box by the dumpster at the hospital." He lied. "And that is not a kitten. That is an evil little monster that tried to eat my best friend."

"She tried to eat Wilson?"

"Hello!" he pointed to the seemingly empty cage in front of him. "Steve is scarred for life!"

"Oh, I'm sure she didn't mean it!" Cameron lifted the gray and white kitten up to be eye to eye with it. "Did you?"

House groaned and turned back to the tv as she and the kitten bonded. After a few minutes, he let out a terribly loud sneeze. He immediately looked at Cameron.

"Oh no!" She said. "I hope you're not allergic!"

"We can dream." He was quickly regretting the kitten idea. Chase had been telling Foreman, a week before, about how he had won over a girl by getting her a kitten. He should've known it was a bad idea right then.

They spent the night on the couch, House drinking eggnog and Cameron drinking wine.

Lily, Cameron's new kitten, jumped around their feet and House resisted the urge to kick her away when she bit at his toes. She curled up on a chair not much later. Cameron made House open his gift; a few new games for his PSP.

They were both extremely comfortable and she was almost asleep, leaning against him, when he spoke up.

"Snow angels on the balcony?"

She smiled. "Purely a one-time thing."

"Good. I don't want people thinking I had a giddy moment while no one was looking."

"Wouldn't want that."

He nodded. When she was quiet again, he kissed the top of her head and then went back to watching David Letterman.



Ruined