Hello! I bet some of you thought I would never finish this story! Hehe... I have to admit that this is the last chapter, but I have to thank every single one of you who put this on your alert and favorites list! I've decided that this story was nice, but there are other things calling me their way and I must answer!

I'm sad that Cameron changed her hair color in the new season of House, I have to admit. I thought her hair looked beautiful before she dyed it black. She was the "light" in House's life and now that her hair is dark, that symbolism seems to have changed. I'm still writing this chapter as if Cameron had her beautiful hair back. I'm happy the actress wanted to change her style, we shouldn't be held down by anything if we want to do something, but I think Cameron the character isn't my favorite anymore...

Anyway, thank you so much for supporting this story, as short as it is, and I look forward to finishing "Pale Words" and maybe even writing another House story!

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Chapter Six

Cameron sighed as she flopped down in her chair, exhausted. Avoiding House was hard work when the doctor didn't want to be avoided. Last night had been awful, the worst date she had been on in a long time. After getting home, she had thrown her purse to the floor, slammed the door to her bedroom, and ripped off the red dress. Why couldn't she be happy with him? She was happy thinking of him before last night, excited and nervous at the same time at what was going to happen next, but his face in her mind was a painful reminder of what she was losing. Every minute she avoided confronting him was one more minute that slipped away, one more minute she couldn't take back.

She tried to find a task to take her mind off House; she completed her first shift of clinic duty earlier that morning and there was no case at the moment to solve. Unless someone came in without an appointment or an emergency case arrived, Cameron had nothing to do until her next shift. Tidying her already tidy desk, Cameron tried to open the plastic container that held new paper clips, the replacements to the clips that had been stolen to make her necklace.

Her necklace. She had ripped it off her neck last night, and Cameron put her hand up to the back of her neck where a paper clip had snapped and gently cut her skin. It didn't sting, but it was a reminder of what she had done. She had felt slightly guilty at ruining some of the paper clips, but the necklace itself was still intact, for the most part. If she wanted to, she could still wear it after replacing some of the clips.

"Main Office paging Dr. Cameron. Dr. Cameron, please come to the Main Office."

She sighed again as she heard her name over the intercom. If they wanted her, why didn't they just call her on her office phone? Cameron struggled with the box of paper clips for a few more seconds before deciding it was a hopeless cause. She wasn't going to stress herself over a small container of silly office supplies. At least not until she made her trip to the Main Office.

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Cameron immediately noticed her things had been moved when she entered her office. Papers were shuffled, her sticky notes were out, and the box of paper clips were open, an uncapped pen laying next to the plastic box. Tempted to roll up the sticky note that had her name at the top in the middle of her desk, Cameron bit her lip. He had been here, in her office, again. Did she really have to lock her things up every time she left? Curiosity taking the best of her, Cameron bent over the sticky note and read what House had written.

Cameron,

I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have made you pay. If you want your money back, leave me a note; I'll pay for my share for last night.

House

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House limped into his office, hardly surprised there was a bright yellow note stuck to his desk. He hadn't expected she would answer so soon, however; he had guessed the that the phony trip to the Main Office would have gotten Cameron so worked up she would be standing there herself, yelling his ear off. Pushing files off the desk with his cane, House picked up a pen and his half-pad of stolen sticky notes. He had taken half of what Cameron had in her desk, and several of her pens, too.

House,

Forget it. Just don't ever ask me to eat with you again.

Cameron

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"Dr. Cameron," the secretary called out, waving a folder at her as she passed by the receptionist desk in the lobby. "There is a folder here for you."

"From who?" Cameron asked, curious whether or not that was a case.

"I don't know," the secretary replied, honestly confused. "It's marked confidential, so I can't open it. Someone just left it here and I was going to page you to come pick it up."

Cameron took the manila folder from the lady and opened it, reveling a single sticky note stuck to the middle with a ten dollar bill attached to the folder with what else but a paper clip.

Cameron,

I didn't say you had to ask me for the money, I just said you needed to respond to me for the money. Here it is.

Would you like to come over tonight for dancing?

House

Furious, Cameron asked the secretary for a sticky note and a pen, taking the ten dollars and putting it in her pocket out of spite. She scribbled out a quick note and attached it to the inside of the folder.

"Page Dr. House and tell him to get down here to pick up his envelope," Cameron said, exasperated. "And tell him the elevators aren't working so he'll have to walk down every flight of stairs from his office to get here..."

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House was winded, but pleased with himself. He knew Cameron had told the secretary to tell him the elevators were not working because he had seen people get in and out of them on every single floor he had passed. Picking up the mantilla folder, House heaved a sigh and read it twice.

House,

You can't dance. Shut up.

You were a jerk last night and it's not happening again.

Cameron

The secretary warded House off and took her pens and notepads from his reach.

"I'm not a servant, doctor, and I don't need to be delivering personal messages like this," the older lady said defensively. "If you want to bother Dr. Cameron, you'll have to do it without my help."

"Alright then," House answered, up for a challenge, digging his own sticky note pad and pen from his jacket pocket to the disgust of the secretary..

He took the elevator to Cameron's office and stuck the note on her door, the office locked.

Cameron,

I'm sorry. Please come over? I'm only going to ask one more time before I become your boss again and forever more. Can you live with that?

I was upset the other week because I knew how you felt. I just didn't know what to do about it. Until now.

Love,

House

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Cameron ripped the note off her door and almost dropped it in the hallway. However, after reading what House had wrote, Cameron dropped her keys instead. How could he have known what she could and couldn't deal with? What made him think he knew her so well? Frustrated, Cameron tried and failed three times to unlock her office door, an intern assisting her with a concerned look in the end. Cameron dropped her files on her desk and took in a deep breath. How was she going to answer. If she didn't want to be with him any more, she didn't have to be nice about it. She didn't even have to answer. If she wasn't going to be able to live with her choice of throwing it all away after how hard she had worked to get him to notice her as more than a co-worker. And what was that last part about him being nasty just because he could pick up on the frustration she felt?

After almost a whole sticky pad later, Cameron had her final note to House. Slipping a few paper clips into her lab coat pocket, she walked to House's office and placed the note in front of him without a word.

House,

What time do you want me over?

I'll wear my necklace.

Love,

Cameron

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There we are! The END! How sappy is that! Hehe... I know, totally out of character, silly sappy romance stuff, but it's great to abandon all reason once in a while and just let your imagination fly! So, if I was a totally romantic, this would be perfect. Since I'm not, I'm disappointed in my own writing, but I have to say I had fun writing this story anyway! Thanks for being such great readers and I hope to write more for you in the near future! Thanks and Happy Reading!