Insomnia-Part 5-Vacation Day 2-At the Beach

[diagnosticmad]

When Cameron woke up the next afternoon, the after burn of deep dish pizza and rocky road ice cream gurgled a bit at the back of her throat. It had been a long time since she had gorged herself on junk food.

Last night had been surreal. House had brought back a small stack of horror movies on DVD which were still in their cellophane, which had given her pause since she almost wondered if he was waiting for such a special occasion as this one. Or if he just didn't own them, and he decided to go buy them. Although she hadn't spotted a receipt in the paper bag he had brought them in. She tried not to pity the man but she always recognized very quickly how he didn't quite realize how socially inept he was himself. Yet, if it didn't bother him, why would she let it bother her?

Night of the Living Dead, Creepshow and the original Dracula were unwrapped in between his wiry fingers while he frantically put in an order for two very large deep dish pizzas. The two gallon containers of rocky road ice cream were melting on her coffee table which had her scrabbling to the kitchen.

But Cameron got her Gladiator, and about a third way through the film, when House was through his second bowl of ice cream and working on some milk duds (House just happened to find the duds and bring them along for the movie night) their pizzas arrived.

They were so large that they barely both fit on her coffee table and although she had brought back plates from the kitchen and utensils like a good conscientious person would; House said he would break the plates if she brought them any closer to his vicinity. He claimed they were designated no fun items for the evening.

She fought for napkins for the sake of her carpet. He wiped his greasy marinara hands all over one and dropped it on the floor. Cameron had promptly picked up each spent one with a grimace.

She was at least grateful for the napkin breaks. It was able to keep House's attention off teasing her about her little infatuation with Russell Crowe.

Whenever Crowe would come on to the screen, especially showing bear chest, House went in for a dig. "There's your boyfriend," House had said, also adding, "Are you drooling yet?" or "Look at those pecs!" Cameron had taken that at least in stride. She never knew what it was to have a brother but she imagined House was as good as an indicator of what they were like when Russell Crowe took their sister's attention.

By the time the horror movies had come on, Cameron made sure all the food was cleared off the table to House's chagrin. Though she let him keep a soda and his candy. House had jumped only to certain scenes in Night of the Living Dead.

He was madly pressing the DVD remote searching for scenes closer to the end when everything went to hell and a hand basket. He went into an in depth analysis about why the little girl coming back to life was truly horrific.

"She's innocent. She shouldn't be corruptible, but horror recognizes all of us are given to the sins of the flesh," House had said.

"How about...its just scary?" Cameron had asked.

"Well that too," House had said bored.

Cameron thought she might lose her pizza during certain gory points in Creepshow. House had heard her audibly gag when the monster in the box had eviscerated a man's arm. House had smiled maliciously. She was a doctor who saw gore everyday and yet she was loosing her cool. It was a turn on for him in some deranged sick way. He didn't really question why but he loved that she reacted that way.

After Creepshow was over, Cameron had felt she couldn't take much more. But he was eager for more and he went through the DVD menu of the original Dracula with hungry eyes.

"Do you identify yourself with the creature trapped in the box who's blood thirsty?" Cameron asked while he displayed his mania. House could tell she was getting impatient, but he ignored her. He pulled the "this is too old to be a real horror movie" argument and "its actually a love story" excuse from his horror film buff pocket. Being that she was not a horror film buff, she fell for it.

"No, I identify with the man at the end of Creepshow who wanted to squash all of the cockroaches," House had said.

"But he dies..."

"As he deserves," House had said.

The very classic black and white film had lit up the front room oddly. House had turned off the lights. Cameron didn't protest. Though she worried the television light would hurt her eyes in a dark room. House had explained the original Dracula with Bella Lugosi was meant to be seen only this way since in the old Nicklelodeons (which you paid literally a nickle to get into) were all pitch black places. More like the darkness of old time theatres.

She had smiled only at his enthusiasm wishing people could see this side of him more often. In a way Cameron felt cursed to have any form of intimacy with House. She figured with his acid tongue and outwardly insensitive manners that no one would ever believe her if she told them indeed Gregory House could be intriguing and interesting. She understood why Stacy would have left him. But she didn't quite know if that was right.

Her mind winding around these strange thoughts, Cameron had fallen asleep somewhere at the beginning of the film. It was getting late after all and she had missed a lot of sleep in the last couple weeks. Plus she didn't have any medicine running in her.

When Cameron had woke up again, her head was leaning on House's shoulder and Bella Lugosi was hypnotizing a poor defenseless woman. House hadn't said anything when Cameron woke up from his shoulder. He thought she had seemed comfortable there. Why should he bother about it?

House hadn't said anything. He just had stared at her from the darkness as he had done the night before. Cameron knew what was supposed to happen at moments like these and she wasn't letting a moment like that one past her without a very clear mind.

"I better go to bed," Cameron had said.

"Yeah," House had said, and added, "Old movies sometimes put you to sleep. I'm old though, so I'm immune."

Cameron had laughed and then left the couch with unsure eyes. She wondered if he had noticed her insecurity.

"Good night, House."

That had been the night. The crazy night which now remained as only heart burn in her throat. Something in her head kept warning her that this was a big mistake letting him stick around and if she wasn't very careful something very bad was going to happen. Not that House was all that bad to have around for Cameron. She was used to his ways by now. But one never quite knew with House that it could be that bad.

Cameron left her bed straight for her shower. She wasn't going to check on the time. She assumed it was either noon or sometime a little after since things had run late. She wasn't going to bother running things how she normally ran them. Shower, dry off, dry hair, deodorize & perfume, pluck here and there, and dress up and then...a little milk for the heartburn.

No interruption from House? That threw her for a loop. She walked into the front room finding him gone, the couch surprisingly tidied up to her chagrin, and a note scribbled in barely legible writing, "Check the kitchen-House."

She went into the kitchen and on the counter found a wide black shoe box. It had a silver Nike logo on it. She opened it curious. There was crepe paper and a small note.

"Found out you like rollerblading while stalking you. Put these on and meet me at Beach Burgers-House."

Cameron knew Beach Burgers well. It was a new place off Carnegie Lake. When she used to rollerblade regularly, she past it on her daily route. Cameron unfolded the white crepe paper revealing a pair of gold wheeled roller blades. They were black and had a large Nike slash of white on them. They were gorgeous. Though she imagined not much for wear and tear. She would only wear these on odd days. These were the vanity rollerblades.

She checked the electronic clock on the oven. It was almost two o'clock in the afternoon. She had slept later than she thought. She didn't feel much up to rollerblading but she reminded herself House was probably in his own way insisting once again she broke out of her shell and enjoyed her week off. Besides, it would be a shame if the blades went to waste. Though she wondered if House wasn't perverted enough to just want to see her in tight spandex shorts.

She went into her bedroom and changed into her black knee length spandex shorts, a white sports bra, and threw a short cotton top over it. She wore a small zip up sweat shirt of gray since it was getting closer to autumn and the air off the lake would be cool.

She shrugged quickly into elbow pads and adjusted her knee pads for a close fit. She placed her crash helmet on snugly and tightened the band around her chin. Cameron tip toed outside her apartment in white sports socks with her long hair dangling around her chin cradling her new rollerblades. Her keys jingled in her sweat shirt.

Cameron sat on her front porch enjoying the cool air of late summer and placed the rollerblades delicately on her feet. She buckled them tightly and made sure her ankles were well supported. She hopped up onto the sidewalk and with a few tentative rolls she strided off down the block.

It was a sunny day and the sky was clear of most clouds but there was a cool breeze occasionally breaking through her arms as she propelled herself down the street. She practiced her hard stops a few times on corners and even jumped a few nasty potholes along the way.

Reaching the cement expanse of the beach boardwalk took around twenty minutes. There were other rollerbladers out to play, though none of their faces were very familiar. Children splashed and romped on the lakeshore while concerned or not so concerned parents stood and watched for calamity.

Cameron saw House's orange motorcycle parked in the lot though she couldn't spot him. She figured he would be back soon. So she waited for a few minutes. She didn't notice him sitting at Beach Burgers but then again with House things were never quite straightforward.

Beach Burgers lurked not too far away. It was a concession stand on a large deck right on the beach. It had a canopy of thatch grass sprayed in neon colors above where the customers ordered. The marquis presenting the burger stand was bright orange. A large tiki with a strange grin greeted the customers. Business was a little slow it seemed but it was pressing past lunch time and school had probably started by now for a few private schools at least.

Cameron felt her stomach grumble. She skated over to Beach Burgers out of breath. There was a young man with bleach blonde hair braided down to his neck giving a small boy a bag of chips. He had a few piercings in his nose and an ankh tattoo on his cheek of cherry red. His complexion was very pale so it made the red that more accosting to one's eyes on first sight.

She heard something frying back there. It smelled very enticing.
Cameron gave her best smile knowing she looked a little too girlish to be taken seriously in a crash helmet.

"Hi, ummm-have you seen-?" Cameron started to ask.

The man pointed at her in acknowledgment. "You're Cameron, right?" he asked with a squint. He sniffed. He threw some change in a register.

"House is on the beach doing his thing," the burger man said.

"His thing?" Cameron asked. She was keeping herself balanced with a hand on the counter. Her eyes were soft and curious.

"He calls it damage control. He does it every week during the summer. I was surprised to see him stop by today though. Says he's on hyena-itis or something. It's cool though. I give him the table and umbrella and he buys a burger." The young man leaned on the counter and gave his sexiest smile. Cameron rolled back a little on her skates.

"So you and House, huh? I can see that. Wow, he's a lucky man, just to even have you come over and meet him at the beach. Does he have a lot of money or something? Is that what you see in him?" he asked.

Cameron's mouth opened in confusion and she raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't know honestly. He's just a co-worker."

"He's still lucky. You are a spectacular woman Cameron," he said sly.

"Excuse me," Cameron said tightly.

She had no luck with the young guys. Always the ones with the bad vocabulary. Idiot, didn't even know the word hiatus. She wondered if House had been talking to him about her. But she figured the guy was just lonely or something else entirely.

Cameron sat underneath one of the large umbrella tables set up on the deck for eating. She took off her rollerblades and socks, stuffed them into the blades and walked down the deck stairs toward the sand with her blades in tow.

She searched the beach for him and after a few moments finally spotted him not too far off sitting at a small plastic table. There was a large multicolor umbrella stuffed into the sand providing him some shade.

A few plastic bins were on the table and a clipboard with some signatures on it. House sat back in the plastic chair restless but watching the shoreline. He was wearing an orange sleeveless top and blue baggy trunks. He was wearing magenta water socks which she found privately adorable. Two kids giggling grabbed their hands in bins and made a mad dash away. House didn't quite catch them in time since he had noticed Cameron.

"Hey kids! What are your ugly little ghoul names?" House stood up and cried with a frown.
The two kids had only laughed and ran away. Cameron flickered her eyes in confusion until she was closer and saw the little pop up sign on the table.

"Save your ears! Prevent swimmer's ear! Please take some ear plugs. Courtesy of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital."

"Hey," Cameron said to House as he scribbled something madly on the clipboard. "Having fun?"

"I'm going to remember those two little hooligans. The fat one I am going to call ghoul number one and the thin squirmy one I am going to call snake face. Every summer they steal extra ear plugs for no reason," House said angry.

"They probably are just doing it since they know it pisses you off," Cameron said. House smirked and shook his head indifferent.

"As long as they actually use them but I like to keep track of that sort of thing. This is the hospital's money I am using, though its negligible. Still, do you know how many parents let their children run out into that filthy bacteria ridden beach without ear protection?" House asked Cameron.

Cameron put her skates down and went to look at the ear plugs. She looked at him like he was unbelievable. And who says she was the only one trying to make everything right? He smiled an attractive grin knowing she was a little too impressed at his charitable concern. Finally, she compressed her lips and let it go.

"I don't know. Tell me," Cameron said flatly.

"Two out of three families think there is nothing wrong with sending their children into public swimming areas without ear plugs. This leads to a child population suffering from chronic otitis media and eventually swimmer's ear. All highly preventable if the kids had parents which were as concerned about their ears as them possibly catching a chill."

Cameron swallowed a little and smirked.

"Hence, I'm here as damage control for the long summers."

"No kid likes using ear plugs. I never liked using mine," Cameron said frank.

"Ah yes, but were yours in different colors and jelly soft like putty? See?" House asked her with a few wags of a purple plug.

She didn't quite understand him at moments like these. He could worry over something so small but in its own way so significant. Yet, the sensitivity in his own social life was sorely lacking. How could any one person ever be truly important to House? She saw the error so many times people made in judging him and she could see why he was bitter. But still, it gave him no right. No right at all to dismiss people so often.

But he always cared, so mindlessly it almost killed him and frightened him into a rage. Not the niceties, but the really hard stuff like death and suffering, that's what he let consume him. Allison Cameron understood this and it was the only reason it was so hard to completely hate his obnoxious arrogance at how he inserted himself into her life. He was truly infuriating.

House watched her inward dive with amusement. His stomach reminded himself that it was time to go quickly.

"Well, it was about time you showed up anyway. I was getting hungry enough. What took you so long?" he asked. House took his cane out of the sand and shook it a little. He collected the bins and clipboard and slowly limped toward the deck.

"Well, I had to get on my new rollerblades. Thanks, by the way," Cameron said while picking them up again.
House yawned and rolled his eyes.
"That's not why you are late. You were sleeping when I dropped off the blades. I think someone was catching up on lost time," House said with a gawk. They walked for a while quiet. When they got to the small stairwell up to the deck, House brought himself up the stairs slowly but at a steady pace. Cameron helped by taking one of the bins of ear plugs.

She made it up the stairs before him curling her toes to remove sand. She put the bin underneath one of the Beach Burgers umbrella tables, leaned the rollerblades against a stool and waited for him. House glanced at her with a small sniff of derision. He joined her at the table nonchalant.

"It was nice to sleep in. I admit," Cameron said non-committal. House nodded his head toward Beach Burgers.
"Bring the bin. Benny keeps them for me. You met him right?" House asked.

Cameron's eyes betrayed some discomfort at her brief encounter with the burger man. She brought the bin.

House smiled big, stuck his fist in his mouth, and made his eyes like saucers. "He didn't tell you were spectacular, did he?" House asked with glee.

"Yes, in fact," Cameron said confused.

"I paid him to say that," House said plain.

"Why on Earth would you do that?" Cameron asked.

House twisted his head in thought as they reached the Beach Burger counter. He knocked his cane against the large rectangular glass refrigerator which displayed ice cream and noodle salads. No one was in line.

"Hey Benny!" House cried and then quietly to Cameron, "I wanted to remind you of how desirable you are to men."

Cameron crinkled her forehead and opened her mouth in disbelief.

"Hey House!" Benny exclaimed looking from Cameron to House with an open grin. Cameron was giving House a look to kill.

"Take these off our hands, will ya?" House asked sliding his bin on the counter. Cameron put her bin on top with a frown.

"You coming back next weekend? Or is damage control over?" Benny asked House.

"Nahh...I figure after September fifth they are on their own," House said. "Besides, a man gets hungry. Let me have one of those jalapeno white cheddar burgers and Cameron wants a steak fajita supreme."

"House, I really don't eat red meat," Cameron said angry.

"Nursemaid's orders. You need iron laced protein," House said firm. He looked at her with hard blue eyes.

"Red meat is horrible for you," Cameron said low with a scowl.

"So is Chicken, Pork and Shrimp...it all depends on how you look at things," he responded swiftly.

Cameron pulled his arm and looked into his eyes to grab his attention.
"I don't appreciate being treated like a child," she said.

"You should have thought about that before you denied yourself sleep," House said mad. "Two sodas as well Benny."

Cameron clenched her jaw hard. House glared at her and took a few steps away and got out his wallet. He watched Cameron struggle with his severity but he wasn't apologizing. He popped a Vicodin and took a swig of soda Benny had just put on the counter.

Before too long their food came. Cameron had escaped with her food quickly. House mentioned to Benny that he would pick up the bins sometime next week and that he could throw away the little sign. They both pounded each other's fists.

Cameron on the other hand was sitting under the umbrella table doing a slow burn. Her fajita was sitting uneaten. Benny had reassured House that she was stellar.

"I know," House said. "That's what I am afraid of Benny."

"Don't fear what you can't conquer, House. Just make friends. Peace man," Benny said. House left with a sigh and brought his burger and drinks with him.

House sat down across from Cameron. He ate his burger immediately. After a few minutes of watching him eat, she reluctantly nibbled at the vegetable part of the fajita. It tasted pretty good to Cameron despite the fact it was a beach house joint. House glanced at her somber when he noticed she was enjoying the fajita despite the bad company. Suddenly, he put a pill next to her drink.

"What's this?" Cameron asked exasperated.

"A vitamin. You're probably suffering a mild case of malnutrition from your screwed up sleep schedule," he said. Cameron grimaced, took the vitamin, and drank some of her soda. She sulked while eating her fajita. House just swallowed his food and watched her. He felt a laugh tickle him at the back of his throat.

"You're angry," he said containing his laughter. "You're actually pouting, I think."

"Damn straight I am," Cameron said in between chewing her food. She pushed the fajita away and finished swallowing. House's eyes fell when he saw how serious she was about being pissed off.

"I'm trying to help. Beg your pardon," House said mean.

"I didn't ask for your help. I'm sure as hell certain you wouldn't ever take any help I might offer or affection," Cameron said hurt.

House stuck his tongue in his cheek. He wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"I'm a hypocrite. There, you happy now? Or would you like things to get uglier? Eat your fajita," House commanded.
Cameron laughed.
"I'm not even angry about that. That's your own screwed up problem," Cameron said disgusted. House dropped his burger and looked at her as if he was pleading for her to just stop talking.

"I'm mad I allowed myself once again to be sucked into a round of your little mind games. I've come to terms with my disease. That must be what it is," Cameron said anxious. "I like this." She finally looked at him calmly and was completely frightened. What had she just done?

House felt uncertainty twist his insides. She wasn't supposed to admit something like that. Wasn't that breaking the unspoken rules? But he caught the fear and pretended he didn't notice. He would play with her now that she had put herself out there. Cameron composed herself and tried brushing over the moment with a swig of her soda.

"You're afraid though. This time it doesn't feel like a game to you. It feels like to you I am actually entertaining a notion of caring about us in a relationship," House said smug.

Cameron's eyebrows shot up and her hand went immediately into the air. If she was afraid before, now she was really scared.

"Whoooaaa...us?" Cameron asked. Her lips were parted aghast.

"Yes. Us." House said spookily. He feigned a shudder. Cameron was frozen. House unwrapped his fried potato patty. "Here, have a potato patty cake. It will be all right." House had said that more for his sake than hers, but she would never know that. Cameron watched the potato pancake with a crinkled brow. No, he wouldn't do this to her.
"I'm not afraid of you. I'm a lot of things House, but I'm not afraid of you." Cameron wiped her hands on her napkins and bent over to get her rollerblades.

House spoke right on queue. "Then, why are you running away?" he asked watching her dip for her socks in the rollerblades.

"I'm not running away. I'm just-"

"Running away," House said looking up and away. He sighed. "I expected something like this might happen," House said. He rummaged around his shorts and brought out some sunglasses. He put them on and raised his eyebrows. Cameron paused, rolled her eyes, and put on her socks. Then she folded a bit.

"Didn't we try this before?" she asked very tired. She had her arm thrown across the table and she was looking toward him in desperation.

House pursed his lips. She didn't know how serious he was and that's exactly the way he wanted to keep things as long as possible. He didn't even know why. Just made sense that way. Or maybe it was because he didn't know how serious he was himself.

"Oh, one date really isn't a try. More like a hiccup," he said playfully.

"Or an aberration," Cameron said bitter. She frowned. House wanted to tell her how adorable she looked frowning in a crash helmet but he could tell she wouldn't quite want to hear that at this moment. Maybe he was getting better at reading her. Or maybe she just didn't ever like listening to him.

"Look, I don't know if we should continue with this whatever this week is supposed to be," she said ambiguously.

Anger tightened in House's jaw. It was his turn to clench.

"Well, then I would like the rollerblades back and you owe me five fifty for the lunch and thirty dollars for the all the ice cream you ate," he said vehement. Cameron went agape, narrowed her eyes, tightened the buckles on her blades and gave him the dirtiest look he ever saw Cameron give anyone.

"Good-bye House," Cameron said skating off.

DAMN IT! he thought. The curse shrieked in him but this time he wasn't going to ignore it. It had hurt him the last time too much and he was just too selfish to let her get away again. It was just costing him too much pain. House slammed his cane into the deck with a loud stab. He felt the reverberation stick in his hand. No, he had just messed it all up again. He bit down on his lip.

"Allison," House cried. He took off his sunglasses and limped out of the shade after her. Cameron halted with her back turned away from him. She heard the desperation in House's voice as he called her by her first name. That was at least some consolation she figured. Though she didn't know why she would always make these exceptions for him. Or at least she was afraid to know why.

She did a half turn to face him. House could tell she was waiting for an apology. He wouldn't disappoint.

"I'm sorry. Alright? I was having a good time," he said looking from side to side. He was nervous. Cameron exhaled out her impatience.

"At my expense," Cameron said. House shut his eyes. "I didn't mean for it to come off that way. I just wanted you to have a good time and-"

Cameron raised her eyebrows as House hesitated to continue. She began to turn around and get ready to take a stride away.

House spoke a little louder. "And I just wanted to let you know I was here for you." A few passerbys looked at House and Cameron strange. Cameron wanting some privacy wheeled in closer to him.

"Besides, doesn't a man have a right to change his mind about a few things?" House said. He walked closer to her. Cameron swallowed her lips and wheeled her skates back and forth in place.

"He might. If he wasn't such a self-preening wise ass," Cameron said snippy. House smiled inwardly.
"You forgot to mention egotistical narcissistic humbug," House said soft.

"Guess there are never enough words for a jerk," Cameron said.

"Guess not," House said sadly and then added, "You look good in the skates." He raised his cane in indication of her skates.

"Thank you," she said meaning it. She thought maybe one of the reasons he didn't trust kindness was because no one was ever honestly kind to House.

"I have to go home and get cleaned up."

"Well, whatever you decide to do on your vacation. Have a good one. You've earned it," House said a bit regretful.

Cameron cocked her head, smiled at his self-winnowing, and folded her arms as House went toward his motorcycle.

"What makes you think I will let you out of your side of the bargain so easily? Remember, you are my nursemaid." Cameron's face lifted a little defiant and she skated toward him.

House's face dropped in shock. He looked exactly like the first time she had asked him on a date. He was frightened and completely bewildered. What the hell was she pulling, House wondered.

"Go home, House. I'm feeling stronger for now. I'll call you later," Allison Cameron said.

He watched her skate away. She took long laborious strides. He couldn't help but admire her thighs. The tension in them as she strained against gravity and the wind made him hold his breath. He shook off his fascination with her legs with a hard swallow. He got on his motorcycle and decided he was going straight home and demanding Wilson drop everything for an emergency guy talk. Maybe Wilson could offer some comfort in this time of utter confusion.