He found her in the cafeteria. Don't ask why he was looking for her. Even he wasn't sure. But something compelled him to locate the blonde senior attending from the ER.

He sat across the table from her and tugged a lettuce leaf from her salad. "You don't mind if I..." he asked as he let the leaf slide into his mouth, head tilted back like a sword swallower.

Cameron shook her head and poked her salad with her fork. Her other hand pushed a photograph across the table.

House pushed it back. "I already know you and Aussie-Spice tied the knot."

"I want you to have it," she told him and pushed the photo toward him again.

"Why?"

"Because I want all our friends to have one."

"I'm not your friend," he fired back.

"Former bosses too," she countered. She wasn't making it easy for him to get out of keeping this photo.

He looked at her: head down, eyes cast away, fork toying with her salad, shoulders hunched. She was ready to fire something big at him. It wasn't going to be a sneak attack either. She was going to hit him with it head-on.

He told himself she learned that from him, though he knew she learned it long before he found her. He'd just honed it a little. A lot.

"I wanted you to be there," she told him. Her salad plate, actually, since she never made eye contact.

"Where" he asked, knowing exactly where she meant.

This time she did look at him. Tears glistening at the edges of her eyes, she answered, "The wedding." She put a hand to her nose, warding off sniffles. "Even if you'd have made an obnoxious toast or explained to the congregation why Robert and I shouldn't get married. You're a part of my life and my friend and I really wanted you to be there. I'm sorry you couldn't be."

She didn't cry. Though he thought she was about to. He'd been waiting for the waterworks. But she'd stayed strong through her little speech. As speeches go, really, it wasn't bad. Easier to take than some of her others.

He would never admit it, but he had wanted to be at her wedding. He'd even thought about it while he'd been at Mayfield, but after Wilson shut him out, he gave up hope of learning anything about the day until he got back to Plainsboro.

He looked up at her, hoping she wasn't crying. "Thanks," he said with a nod. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there."

Before she could say anything that might get him locked into a conversation, he took the photo and slipped away from the table. He'd forgotten why he was looking for her anyway.

End