“I've printed out all the letters, you just have to sign them.”

Cameron was still acting as House's personal secretary, writing the letters he was supposed to write, answering ignored emails, keeping on top of paperwork. Here she was, three hours after she should have gone home, when he'd done nothing but jab at her all day with overly personal digs – mostly pregnancy references, sly comments about Chase and at her sex life in general. She was just so worn down by it all, after suffering it all day, that she wasn't really hearing his words any more, a ghost of a smile being her only reaction to most things he said to her.

Standing up from his chair she turned...and found herself staring straight up into those impossibly blue eyes. She was frozen in time for a moment as his gaze held hers steadily, never wavering. He was stood mere inches from her and she couldn't deny the sexual tension between them. It had been there all the time, but until now they'd walked the thin wire of neither doing anything to tip the other off the edge. Because God forbid they actually had a shot at being happy if that ever happened.

Unnerved, Cameron tried to step backwards and put some space between them, but found the chair and desk to be in the way, blocking any route of escape she might have had...if she'd wanted to.

“No sarcasm? I-I'm surprised.”

She stuttered, trying to maintain her composure and cursing mentally that her voice had wavered so obviously. His sudden close proximity had really knocked her all off kilter.

“You asked me why I even cared.”

He spoke evenly, ignoring her shaky comment, a blank and characteristically unreadable expression on his face. She frowned for a second, completely lost by what he was talking about. That was, until she remembered an earlier rather-heated conversation. She'd demanded to know why he even cared that Chase had been the one to get her pregnant, it wasn't as if House himself would ever step up and actually sleep with her, so how was it any of his business if she slept with Chase? He hadn't replied.

Seeing the realization in her eyes, he answered that earlier question that had played on his mind all day. It had invaded his every thought, her words resounding in his head. He hadn't been able to tell whether it was a challenge from her or if she'd just been stating what she saw as fact.
“It's not like you'd ever sleep with me, so why should you even care if Chase did?”
He'd had a reply, of course, but he'd managed to contain it. He couldn't say those words out loud to her. It was too much, it would change everything. And as much as he'd tried to accept that not all change was bad, this was one thing he couldn't say. He'd had all day to formulate some kind of in-between answer. It still wasn't easy for him to let the words fall from his lips, but it was easier than saying the three words he was terrified of.

“You're not his girl, that's why.”

He was even closer to her now, his eyes never leaving hers, even when she broke the eye contact, trying to decipher his meaning.

“You're not his girl,” he repeated as she lifted her gaze to meet his once again, “you're mine.”

If she'd been confused before, now she was just completely screwed up. Was he toying with her again? Was this another depraved stab at her heart? He'd said she was 'his girl' before, but there'd been far too much humour and sarcasm in his voice for it to have actually been credible. Now though...now he seemed entirely too blunt for this to be some kind of joke.

“House, what are you-?”

He shut her up and answered her unfinished question all in one action. In an entirely House way, he took hold of her shoulders and pressed his lips firmly to hers. She instantly tensed in his hands and he'd felt her gasp in the split second before their lips had touched, but within moments she'd gone weak and started to respond to his kiss. Yet he could still fell the uncertainty in her, the uncertainty in what he was actually trying to achieve with this. But she wasn't pushing him away and slapping him, so that was a start.

When the need for air became to great, she was the one to pull back, searching his eyes for some kind of explanation for this sudden development.

“House...”

He didn't seem to be letting her finish any of her questions right now.

“You're mine, alright? Not Chase's.”

This sudden possessive behaviour was more than a little unexpected to Cameron. Pulling out of his arms, she turned away, her hand slowly rubbing her forehead as she tried to straighten out her thoughts, which were now spinning in unrelenting circles in her mind. That's what the touch of his lips did to her. She spun back to face him.

“I don't understand you!”

Her sudden, higher-than-usual tone sliced through the silence and even startled House.

“First, you tear me down continually in front of everyone, you break me down in every way possible and then as soon as I'm not right there for you to toy with and push away, when I'm not fawning over you and I'm finally getting 'over it' like you've constantly told me to, you...you pull this stunt. I don't know what the fuck you think you're playing at and I'm not sure how you could just expect me to fall at your feet again with one damn kiss. You can't always get what you want, House. Yes, I am...was in love with you. But it's not that simple any more. It could have been that simple, but you were the one who chose to push me away,” she could see he had no idea what he could say to this, so she continued, “You broke my heart enough times for me to realize that you weren't, and probably still aren't, good for me. And if you've forgotten, I'm also pregnant, so all these words are hormone-charged and we should probably forget them.”

She couldn't quite believe all that had come from her mouth. Since he'd first found out she had feelings for him, with all the little digs and comments she'd learned to just brush off, the emotional strain had caused this build up until one little thing – okay, not so little, he'd kissed her – had brought it all back and she'd snapped.

Had this happened a few months ago, she knew she would have been weak at the knees and would have happily ended up in his bed. After all, it was what she'd only thought possible in her dreams. She also realized that even now, he was still what she wanted, still the one man since her husband who had given her butterflies just by standing too close. He was definitely under her skin and she knew he always would be. But she also knew he wasn't just under her skin, he was in her heart. That was what made the difference. That was what made her completely contradict everything she'd yelled at him for by kissing him again.

---

Chase had been thinking about her all day, about the situation they were in and how it would effect both of their lives. He wondered what she'd say if he were to ask her to move in with him. He had run through as many possible reactions as he could and realistically, he knew she'd be sceptical and possibly say no outright. But another part of him wondered if the fact that she was carrying his child would sway her a little. She'd seemed relieved when he'd said he was willing to be involved and the little part of his mind that noticed it had immediately stirred. Which is what had set these ideas in his mind.

Maybe he could even push the boat out to proposing? House had sarcastically suggested it and he cursed himself for not gauging her reaction at that prospect. She'd slept with him, almost twice. That had to mean something, right? If House hadn't turned up, both of them were well aware where that evening would have ended up.And it was very different to the way in which it had actually ended. Chase pulling his clothes back on and awkwardly heading for the door, after Cameron had disappeared into the bathroom. Not exactly what he'd had planned for her.

He'd been working late that night, something he generally ended up doing more than he liked, but he knew Cameron was still around, having seen her hard at work in her adopted role as personal assistant, engrossed in typing some letter. He'd smiled to himself, noting the look of pure concentration in her delicate features, the way her lips moved ever so slightly as she skimmed over what she'd typed, the way she was completely oblivious to everything apart from the task at hand. He realized that every little quirk he saw in her, he memorised and never forgot.

Hoping she'd still be there where he'd seen her earlier, Chase made his way to House's office. When he got closer, his heart all but stopped. Right in front of him, behind the glass walls of the office, Cameron wasn't alone. House had one arm round her waist, the other cupping her cheeks and she was clinging to him, their eyes closed as their bodies pressed as tightly together as their lips. He almost flew through that door and hit House, much in the way House had hit him that one time. But what use would that do? It wouldn't make Cameron want him instead of House. It would more likely cause him to lose her even more than he already had. Who had he been kidding, thinking Cameron could ever really fall for him, that she could possibly agree to marry him? Backing up, Chase silently left with the image of Cameron and House locked in a fiery embrace imprinted in his mind.