Title:
Clarity
Prompt 8. Soup
Getting House into the car, then out of the car, then in his front door, then into the bedroom had been a trial that Chase didn't want to repeat anytime soon. By this point House was barely conscious except for when he would suddenly blurt something out.
Chase had manoeuvred House into the bedroom, after stopping off in the kitchen to heat up some soup in the microwave, and let him flop down onto the bed. "Jesus Christ," he moaned. He was going to have to undress House. House his boss. House who barely even liked him. House who he thought about every night as he wrapped his hand around his cock.
"House?" he tried, hoping to get something intelligent back so he could explain what he was about to do in case House decided half way through to completely come round and accuse him of molesting him. "Gregory!" he tried, thinking that there was a small chance House would respond to his Christian name.
"No," House mumbled, his hand coming up to grab hold of Chase's. "Not now Dad."
Chase let out a sigh and looked over at the phone beside the bed. Maybe he should call Wilson, bet then the possessiveness came back again. Just because House and Wilson were friends didn't mean that Wilson should be the one who got to take care of House, even if it was hard work.
"I'm going to take off your shirt," Chase told him, his tongue darting out to lick his lips nervously, hands shaking just a little. He couldn't help himself, he ran his palms over House's clothed chest before he popped open the buttons. This night was going to provide months of fantasy material for sure.
"Chase?" House asked, blinking his eyes open. Chase's hands froze mid task just as they were slipping the shirt off of his shoulders. "Where's my ball?"
Chase frowned and looked down at him. "Your ball? Back at the office where it always is."
House just nodded, seemingly happy with this answer.
With a shake of his head Chase said, "You'd think a man of your age would be better at taking care of himself."
"Stay with me," House all but whispered as he reached up and took both of Chase's hands, pulling the younger man down on top of him.
"Oomph," Chase groaned, trying to get back up straight away, but House held him against him and began stroking his hair.
"Don't leave me," House told him, breathing in through his snuffly nose.
Chase resigned himself to the fact that he had become a teddy bear. He closed his eyes. This would be the only time he would ever get this close to House. Chase would have to wait for the next cold to even have a chance of having House's hands stroke his hair again. It broke his heart.
After a while Chase pushed himself up a bit so that he could look down into House's face. The older man wasn't asleep but his eyes were closed and his breathing was even. Chase was overcome with the desire to kiss him and he had to close his own eyes and bite back a groan.
"House, can you eat some of that soup now? It'll do you good," he said softly.
House could hear Chase somewhere, he sounded sad for some reason and very far away. He didn't want Chase to be sad. "Don't be sad," he said slowly, eyes still closed, not even sure if he was awake or dreaming. "I won't leave you."
He heard Chase chuckle and felt a cool hand on his forehead. "I think you're delirious," the accented voice said.
House loved that accent. He especially loved it when Chase was angry or embarrassed and his accent got thicker and his cheeks got flushed. "You're so pretty," he said aloud, unaware of pretty much anything at this point.
"What?" Chase asked above him, his hand feeling for House's temperature.
"Your mouth, Chase. S'a pretty mouth," House murmured as he got closer and closer to sleep. He felt good, he felt like he was floating in a world without consequences, without fears. "I want..."
"What do you want?" Chase prompted, looking down at his boss in disbelief.
"You," House whispered before finally succumbing to sleep.
Prompt 5. Caramel Frappuccino.
When House woke up the following morning the first thing he became aware of was the fact that his mouth was as dry as the Sahara, the second was that his body felt very hot and sweaty, as though a fever had broken in the night, and the third thing he became aware of was the very warm, very soft body curled up in his arms.
He opened his eyes and blinked a few times until the mop of blond hair came into focus. He recognised it as Chase's immediately and a surge of panic went through him.
What the hell?
"The last time I woke up feeling this rough with a pretty blond in my arms was last years staff Christmas party," he said, his voice rough from sleep.
Chase, who had been awake for over an hour already, tensed in his arms before raising his head and smiling at him sheepishly. "You wouldn't let me go," he explained. Wait, he thought, pretty? That had been the word House had used last night to describe him, more evidence for him to believe that House had in fact meant what he said.
House lifted his arm out from under Chase and rubbed at his face. "I feel like I drank a gallon of tequila."
"Nope, just the six cold capsules you took," Chase told him disapprovingly. Suddenly little snippets of last night came back to the diagnostician and he groaned.
"Yeah but it worked," he said, breathing with relative ease now and feeling much better. He reached over for the pint glass of water that Chase had placed there the night before. It was luke-warm but it was wet and that was all House cared about. He downed it all and turned back in the bed, feeling as though he had been knocked for six. He turned his head and saw that Chase had propped himself up on his elbow and was looking down at him with a soft smile.
"What are you smiling at?" House demanded grumpily. "What so you think because you took me home last night that I owe you now?"
Chase just continued to smile. "You've no idea what you said to me last night, do you?"
He saw the wave of panic and fear that flitted over House's face and it only made him smile harder.
"What... what did I say?"
"What do you think you said?" Chase teased, loving the fact that he had the upper hand for once.
"I... I was doped up. I'm sure that whatever I said was just the effects of the medication that I took," House said, sitting up and moving away from Chase. He suddenly realised that he wasn't wearing a shirt but still had his pants on. He darted a glance at Chase and found him to be fully clothed. Well that was unfair.
"Yeah, I don't think so," Chase said, getting up from the bed and walking over to the door. "Go and take a shower, I'll go get us some breaky and then we can talk."
House could practically feel his heart as it swam up his throat. "Talk about what?"
"About us and how you feel about me," Chase said softly, smiling once again before leaving.
~~~~~~
House considered his option while he showered. He could kill himself but then he'd never know who won American Idol. He could talk to Chase honestly about his feelings, but then he wasn't Cameron. Or he could completely deny it and laugh in Chase's face at the very suggestion... but then he'd make that hurt little wombat face at him and despite House's best efforts not to care, he couldn't help the fact that he did.
When he emerged from the shower he went and dressed, knowing that although they would be late, they really did have to go into work today. Maybe he could use that to buy himself some time.
Us. Chase had said, talk about us. He stopped with his t-shirt half way down over his chest. Was Chase implying that he felt something too? Well of course he did, House thought to himself, pulling the t-shirt down. The kid had never won the approval of his own father, then he had lost him never telling him how he felt. On top of that Chase had a serious case of hero worship. Maybe House should just take him to a therapist and leave him on the doorstep.
"House?" Chase called out from the kitchen and with a deep sigh House grabbed his cane and went out to join him.
He looked at the other man, who was sat at the table with two coffees and two bagels, which he had gotten from the café down the street. He really had no idea where to start, he wasn't even sure what he had actually said to Chase last night.
"Before we have this talk I want us both to be honest with each other," Chase said, hoping that House wasn't going to do his usual thing of mocking him and ridiculing him after every other sentence.
"I want us both to admit, right here right now, that we have feelings for each other, otherwise this talk will just be a complete waste of time."
House lowered himself down onto the chair opposite Chase and hooked his cane onto the back of it. A thousand different replies went through his head but all he could manage to say was, "Okay."
Chase's smile was brilliant, it was like sunshine. "Good." He let out a long breath that he had been holding in. House had just as good as confirmed that he truly did have feelings for him, he wouldn't push the older man into actually saying the words, knowing how hard it must be for him.
He handed one of the coffees over to House and the older man took it, opening the lid and sniffing it experimentally.
"Caramel frappuccino," Chase supplied and watched as House took a sip, happy when he took another one.
"We should get to work, I hear your boss is a total hard ass," House said trying to gulp the coffee down fast.
Chase knew what House was doing, he was trying to ignore the fact that they hadn't actually talked about where to go with this yet. "Yeah, it is a pretty firm ass," he said with a smile, happy when he saw that House couldn't stop himself from smirking. "We do need to talk."
"Why?" House asked, getting back up from the table and going over to his drawer to get out the keys to his motorbike.
"Why?" Chase asked in disbelief, getting up too. "Because admitting how we feel is one thing, but knowing what to do next is another."
"Next?" House asked, turning to him. "There is no next, Chase. Nothing is going to change. We're both going to go to work, I'm going to say mean things to you about your pretty hair, probably make Cameron cry, and go on with our day never once acknowledging the pink elephant."
Chase put his hands to his head. "God, you're bloody annoying."
"Duh," House retorted, snagging his keys and heading out of the kitchen, with Chase hot on his heels.
"You're happy like this, are you? Being alone, being too afraid to actually let yourself care for another human being?" Chase shouted.
House turned back to him as he reached the front door. He looked at the Australian for a moment like he was going to answer him but then changed his mind. "If you're not at work in thirty minutes you're on clinic duty," he said, opening the door and leaving.
Prompt 15. Quack.
When house walked into his office he was greeted by a startled Cameron and Foreman. Instantly Cameron started fussing around him, bringing him a bottle of water from the fridge, which he handed back and asked for a coffee instead. Foreman started firing questions at him, "Was he sure he was up to his work today?" "Wasn't he endangering people's lives if he still wasn't one hundred percent?"
Finally he rose from the chair that Cameron had sat him down on. "Ducklings," he cried. "Stop your quacking for God's sake. I had a cold, not malaria, and in case you forgot, I do believe we have a patient downstairs in need of saving."
Cameron and Foreman shut up instantly and waited for him to speak again. "Good," House said in relation to the quiet. "New symptoms?"
Foreman walked over to the white board and handed House the black marker. "She developed a slight wheeze with her cough," he offered, knowing it was useless information, but it was all they had to go on right now.
"I think we should look over the types of mould again," Cameron suggested only to have Foreman shake his head.
"We looked around her house, top to bottom, there's nothing there."
It was then that Chase made his way in, looking slightly flushed from rushing. He was wearing new clothes, so he had obviously been home before coming in.
"Sorry I'm late," Chase said, his voice cold and annoyed. "Should I go straight down to the clinic?"
The next eight hours were going to be hell.
Prompt 16. Storeroom.
House walked out of the diagnostics department as quickly as he could. He had given instructions to his ducklings to talk to the woman's husband and told them he had clinic duty. Usually he avoided the place like the plague, but today it was the lesser of two evils. He couldn't have stayed in that room any longer, with Chase looking at him the way he was.
He walked towards the elevator and stopped in front of it, pressing the bottom seven times in the lame hope that it would make the damn thing come faster. He turned at the sound of feet behind him and nodded to the nurse who smiled at him.
"We need to talk, you can't just pretend last night didn't happen," Chase's voice suddenly said from the other side of him. He turned sharply, catching the knowing and surprised look the nurse gave him, and grabbed the back of Chase's collar, leading him over to the storeroom next to the elevator.
Chase looked behind him at the nurse, who raised her eyebrows, only now realising that she was even there.
The door closed behind House and Chase couldn't help but let out a snort. "Yeah, `cos that doesn't look more suspicious."
House turned to him, clearly not amused. "Chase, I am not doing this. I thought I made that clear."
"Yeah you did, and you're full of crap," Chase argued. "You can't even have one conversation with me? That proves to me that you want this, you want me." Chase looked him over, the older man was studiously not looking him in the eye and he was breathing heavily. "Look at you," he said, his voice turning softer as he moved closer to House so that the older man backed up against the shelves. "Look what being close to me does to you," he said almost as if he couldn't believe it himself. How could he not have noticed this before? Because House always makes sure not to get this close to me, he realised.
House's eyes finally darted up to look at Chase as the younger man moved even closer, placing his hands on House's waist, no more than a centimetre between their bodies.
House pupils were dilated, though that could easily have been from drugs of some kind rather than desire. He licked his lower lip nervously, how long had it been since he had let someone touch him so intimately? Aside from when he was paying for it.
He tried to shake himself out of it, regain some of his control, this wasn't him, he didn't let other people get the upper hand. "Just because you want something doesn't mean you should have it," was all he could argue. "I would very much like a cigarette right now but that doesn't make it good for me."
Chase just smiled at him again, House had actually said it this time, said he wanted Chase. In one swift move Chase brought his hand round the back of House's head and pulled him closer, pressing their mouths together.
Chase kissed him slowly, his other hand stroking House's waist. At first House just froze but soon the feel of Chase's soft lips moving against his made his eyes flutter close and he couldn't stop himself from kissing him back.
The pressure of House's lips against his made Chase moan softly and his hand tangled in the older man's hair. He pushed his whole body closer, wanting to feel House against him, and felt a slight hardness pressing into his thigh which only made him moan louder. He wondered if House had been hard since he pushed him up against the shelves.
They heard footsteps outside and a hand on the door handle. Quickly they broke apart and Chase turned around, pretending to be looking for something on the shelf.
The door opened and Wilson entered, starting when he noticed he wasn't alone. He looked at them and frowned. "What are you both doing in here?"
House, who was looking straight ahead and nowhere near where Wilson was said, "We were about to compare sizes, why don't you drop trou and join us, the winner gets a night with Cuddy," he said.
Wilson rolled his eyes and walked past House to the other side to retrieve a new prescription pad. "Funny how fast I seem to go through these without ever actually writing any prescriptions," he said, looking pointedly at House, knowing full well that his friend used them and forged his signature to get more Vicodin.
House didn't reply and Wilson walked back over to the door, giving them one last funny look before leaving.
"House..." Chase began, moving closer to him again, but House just held up his hand and walked out, leaving Chase alone in the storeroom, feeling like he wanted to hide in one of the boxes for the rest of the day.
Prompt 6. War
It had been two days since their shared kiss in the storeroom and Chase didn't think he had ever felt so frustrated in his whole life. House of course was acting like nothing had happened and on the one time Chase tried to talk to him it had been like talking to a brick wall.
"I'm not your daddy, Chase," he had said to him as they sat side by side in the lab. "You can't please me with sexual favours to make up for the fact that you could never please your real father."
"You're sick, you know that right?" Chase had just said, turning away from him to watch the monitor. "You're an arrogant, insufferable, emotionally retarded child... you're nothing like my father."
House's eyebrows had risen at Chase's description of him. "I can see why you like me so much, but then you did used to be into the whole BDsM scene."
Chase turned back to look at him, gathering up his things. "I can't. For the life of me I can't figure out why I like you, and yet I do, I always have. I'm not too afraid to admit that," he said, looking at him pointedly.
House had just watched as Chase left the room, his head hanging down in defeat.
They had barely spoken one word to each other since then and Chase was about ready to snap. Of all things it was down to House's big pink fluffy ball that finally brought things to ahead.
~~~~~~
House had watched Chase earlier as he practically cuddled his ball to his chest while he spoke. He wondered if Chase was even aware of what he was doing. He looked like a little boy clinging to his comfort blanket.
Now House had the ball back and he couldn't help but bring it up to his face, breathing in Chase's scent. There was the faint musk of his cologne, it was something exotic, spicy almost, he couldn't place it but his eyes closed in pleasure at the smell of it.
In frustration he threw it at the wall, letting it bounce away. Stupid thing.
Two days later he found Chase with it again. He had actually gone into House's office to retrieve it. He couldn't believe the nerve of that kid.
"Get your own damn ball," he said to himself sulkily.
"What?" Chase asked, looking up at him, surprised that House was actually talking to him again.
House just shook his head and went to make himself a coffee. When just minutes later Chase went outside to talk to a nurse friend of his from ICU House quickly went over to the table where Chase had left the ball and picked it up before going into his office and hiding it in his desk drawer.
Another three days after that House walked into his office and over to his desk. Whilst rooting round for a letter he had left in there he noticed that his ball was missing.
He was on his feet in seconds and walking out into the main office where Chase was sitting alone on the floor, knees brought up to his chest, throwing the ball against the wall and catching it. He looked so terribly young, and that was the problem wasn't it.
"That's my ball!" House all but shouted.
Chase just looked up at him with a frown. "So?"
The little shit was purposefully trying to get a rise out of him. That was his ball and he wanted it back.
"Give it to me," House demanded, holding out his hand.
"Why? It was just sitting there in your desk. You don't even want it you just don't want me to have it," Chase argued.
This was war.
"That's beside the point. It's my ball! I can do whatever I like with it."
Chase got to his feet, squeezing the ball in his hand and held it behind his back. "No, I'm playing with it. Didn't your mother ever teach you to share?"
House could feel himself getting angry and all he could say was, "But it's my ball!"
"How bad do you want it," Chase asked him, his eyes glinting.
House just shook his head angrily. "And you accuse me of being a child."
Chase snickered at that. "I'm surprised you actually heard what I said, `cause you've been acting like you didn't hear a word of it."
"I heard you, Chase, I just chose to ignore you."
Chase pointed at him triumphantly then. "Ha! See, childish!"
"Give me my ball!"
"Come and get it."
House glared at Chase and took a step closer before changing his mind and stepping back again.
Chase smirked at him, knowing that House was afraid to come too close to him. "For the record, you don't know everything. You think the only reason I could like you is because I'm looking for someone to doll out spankings whenever I'm bad? If that were true then I'd still be with the girl who liked pain."
House couldn't help but smile a little at that.
"So take you damn ball, and please don't insult me again by suggesting I don't know my own feelings," Chase said, handing over the ball and making to leave.
"Chase," House called out, making the blond turn to face him again. "I'm not doubting your feelings," he said awkwardly. God he hated this, what were they, women? "You're like a really big cliff, asking me to jump from you. And all I have is this thin piece of rubber stopping me from plummeting to my death."
Chase frowned and tried to make sense of that. Trust House to turn everything into a metaphor. "So, my feelings for you are the piece of rubber? And you think it's not strong enough to hold you up?"
House sighed again. God, he really hated this. There was a very good reason why he didn't talk about things like this. "I'm saying that it's a hell of a big drop and before I let myself fall I need to know I won't land face down in a pool of my own blood... It's a very young piece of rubber."
Chase smiled softly. This was most certainly a breakthrough. "Right. Thanks for being honest," he said sincerely. "But just so you know, not only is the piece of rubber really strong but there's a also huge mountain of feather pillows below you." With that he turned away again and left the office, leaving a very open and vulnerable feeling House behind.
Prompt 11. Balloon
"Happy birthday, Chase," Wilson said as he walked past him in the cafeteria at lunch. House, who was walking with Wilson, filing his plate with food, turned to look at them both with a frown.
"Thanks," Chase said with a small smile. The young blond continued walking past them, giving House a secretive look.
"It's Chase's birthday?" House asked as they sat down at their table. "How did you know?"
Wilson stabbed his straw into his juice box and shrugged as he placed the straw between his lips. "We were talking yesterday at lunch... you know, when you stood me up?"
House looked over at the door Chase had recently left through. "I didn't know."
Wilson snickered. "Why would you? I bet you don't even know how old he is."
"Eighteen?" House guessed. He knew Chase wasn't quite that young but by God he was still so young.
Wilson shot him a look and shook his head. "You know, you could actually try getting to know the people in your life, House."
House stabbed his fork into a lettuce leaf and began studying it. "Yeah but then my gigantic brain would start pushing out all the useful information and I'd be... you."
"You really didn't know it was his birthday?" Wilson asked after a few minutes of eating in silence. "I'd have thought that Cameron and Fore... well Cameron would have made him a sparkly card with macaroni and glitter."
House frowned and thought about that. He had walked into the office late, started telling them all what to do without so much as a hi and how're ya doing. Chase's birthday... that might explain the tiny bouquet of balloons that were on the counter.
"Huh," he said aloud.
Later, after waiting a good half an hour before Cameron and Foreman finally left the room, House perched himself down on the table in front of Chase and snatched the soduko book out of his hands. "You didn't tell me it was your birthday."
Chase looked up at him amused and snorted. "Why? What would you have done, daddy?" he said, emphasising the last word, teasing House for his earlier assumptions about what Chase wanted from him. "Hired me a clown and a petting zoo?"
House smirked and handed Chase back his book before standing back up and going over to the coffee pot. He poured himself a cup and then, looking over at Chase who was still watching him, poured him one too.
"Don't get used to it, this'll only happen once a year," he said, placing the cup down in front of Chase before going into his own office without another word.
When Chase got home that night, declining an offer from some of the boys to go out for drinks, he flung his bag onto the couch and riffled through it for the cards Cameron and Foreman had given him. A part of him didn't want to admit it, but they were both good friends really. They were like three siblings all vying for daddy's attention. They would get on a lot better if House weren't around. The truth was though, Chase liked them both and he hoped that he had grown up a lot since first coming to work there. He had gotten past a lot of his old issues and he liked to think of himself as a more easy going, caring person.
His hand hit something soft inside his bag and he pulled it out, recognising the pink fluffiness instantly. He frowned, how had that gotten in there? House wasn't going to be happy if he found out Chase had accidentally stolen his ball. But then Chase noticed the small folded piece of paper that was pinned to the ball.
He un-tacked it, unfolded it and read it.
Happy Birthday was all it said. His face broke out into a big grin. It was the best birthday present he had ever been given.
Prompt 25. Date
As House and Wilson sat side by side on House's couch watching Sponge Bob Square Pants, Wilson couldn't help but find similarities in their friendships. He, of course, would be Sponge Bob, the slightly saner of the two. When he voiced this thought to House however he just said, "I see us more as Pinkie and The Brain."
"I'm Pinkie?" Wilson asked incredulously. House didn't answer him, he just tossed a handful of chips into his mouth. Wilson sat and thought about that for a moment. "Why does Pinkie's name come first when he's clearly the sidekick?"
That stumped House, he couldn't argue that it was alphabetical because it wasn't, and in everything besides cutness Brain outranked Pinkie. "Because otherwise the theme song wouldn't be so good," he finally decided.
It was enough for Wilson, he could buy that.
After Sponge Bob had ended House flicked over to South Park. He'd already seen this episode but it was a good one so he left it on.
"So do you and Chase often sneak off into storerooms together?" Wilson asked casually after a while.
House turned to look at him and saw the faint smirk. "We were... planning your surprise birthday party. Damn it, Wilson, you had to force it out of me. Now it's ruined. Surprise," he said lamely only for Wilson's smile to grow.
"Is there... something happening between you?" he asked. "I mean, what, are you planning on dating all of your team? Who's left now? Oh that's right, Foreman."
House snorted. "Yeah, I'd ask out Foreman but I'd be worried about getting my wallet lifted all night long."
"So?" Wilson prompted only for House to sigh and lean back in his chair.
"This doesn't bother you?" House asked, turning to face him.
"What that my best friend's having a mid life... homo-curiosity? It's not such a big deal. Nowadays it's all so fluid. Everyone's gay or bi... or Jewish."
House smiled at that and reached for more chips.
"You like him a lot?" Wilson asked him, knowing he was going to have to force it out of House. "I mean, the boy's prettier than all my wives combined, I can see why a previously straight man would wanna hit that... but is it more than just that?"
House didn't know what to say at first but finally he admitted defeat. "I gave him my ball," he said, hoping that would show Wilson just how much he liked him.
"My God," Wilson said, only slightly mocking. "Not even Stacy was allowed to touch your ball."
"It's a new ball, the bitch popped the last one during a fight. This time I made sure to get a rubber ball," House told him, thinking that now he was probably going to have to get yet another new one, it took ages to get the right feel of a new ball.
"So what do you plan on doing?" Wilson asked him, bating House's hand away from the chips so that he could get a look in.
"I don't know. Go to Toys R Us this weekend and get a new one?"
"I mean about Chase," Wilson said patiently.
House just shrugged. "He seems... very focused on what he wants. I'm not sure what to do."
Wilson grew serious then, he really wanted his friend to be happy and he was finally over his obsession with Stacy, so that could only be a good thing. Stacy who had screwed him up for any other woman... or man apparently.
"You have trust issues," Wilson pointed out.
"Duh."
"But House, if you don't trust people, if you keep yourself distanced from them, then yes you will spare the heart ache it can bring, but you'll also miss out on all the good stuff." He looked at House and could see in his eyes that it was really tearing him up. "Take a chance on Chase, ask him out on a date, something simple."
House looked over at him and thought about it before slowly nodding. "Yeah, a date, I can do that. Just one date." He got up of the couch and grabbed his phone
"You're doing it now?" Wilson asked, "With me in the room... isn't that kind of high school?"
House shrugged. "Then leave, or turn up the T.V."
House walked out into the hallway and lowered himself down onto the step.
"Hello?"
"Chase?" House asked, then rolled his eyes. How many other Aussies would be answering Chase's phone? "Uh, hi... it's..."
"House?"
"Yes."
"Is everything okay? Do you need me to come in?"
"Uh, no. I'm not at the hospital, I'm at home."
"Oh, okay. So... what's up?"
"Uh... did you have a good birthday?"
He could practically hear the smile in Chase's voice. "Yeah, I had an excellent birthday thanks. I got your present."
"Yeah... I was just too cheap to buy you something new."
"Right," Chase said disbelievingly.
"So, you aren't out tonight?"
"Nah, I didn't much feel like it."
"Oh, well... we could go out sometime, a late birthday thing if you wanted." Since when had he become so inarticulate?
Chase didn't say anything for a while and House was about to ask if he was still there when he spoke again. "Yeah, that'd be good."
"Okay."
"Tomorrow?"
"Sure."
"Dinner?"
"Fine."
"Okay," Chase said, trying not to sound too happy. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah. See you."
"Bye."
House hung up the phone and turned round to see Wilson grinning at him. "What'd ya know, it's exactly like high school."
Prompt 20. Candle.
Already, House was beginning to regret his decision to ask Chase out on a date. He stood and looked at himself in the mirror that lined the wall behind the bar. He was wearing a white shirt, the first two buttons undone, and a black suit jacket with a pair of dark jeans. He had even splashed on a bit of after-shave.
He looked like he had made an effort, he didn't like that one bit. He looked down at the rum and coke in his hand, downed it, and asked for another.
When he had arrived at the restaurant the maitrade had asked him if he could show him to his table. House had told him that he was waiting for someone... a business colleague, he added hastily. He didn't want to sit at the table and wait for Chase to show up, he didn't want to appear eager.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew instantly who it belonged to. He turned to look into the smiling face of Chase. God he looked gorgeous. His hair seemed even fluffier, lips even pinker. He was wearing a black, short sleeved shirt with black pants, it made his hair seem even blonder.
House no longer felt like he had made an effort at all.
"What, no flowers?" he asked, his eyes travelling over the younger man's body.
"You asked me out remember?" Chase quipped back with a soft smile. He licked his lower lip nervously and House's eyes followed the movement carefully, images of that tongue licking other things flooded his brain and he quickly turned to pick up his fresh drink. "So I did." He turned back round and motioned towards the table. "Shall we?"
Chase nodded and followed House over to their table. As they sat down House became aware of the candle in the centre. It bothered him. A candle was a symbol of romance, and that just wasn't House at all. When the waiter came over and went to light it, House stopped him, only making Chase smirked as he realised why.
"So have you eaten here before?" Chase asked, looking over the menu.
"Uh... couple of times, with Wilson."
Chase nodded his head. "Oh yeah? Should I be jealous?"
House's eyes darted up to Chase's face before moving over to the knowing waiter. "Um... the fish is good... very fresh."
Chase decided to take House's advice and they both ordered the fish. Once the waiter had left them alone Chase leaned forward in his chair. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
"You always make me uncomfortable," House told him, holding his eyes. "We wouldn't be here right now if you didn't."
Chase wanted to kiss him so badly. He still couldn't figure out what it was about House that made him feel the way he did. There was something about him, something that had grown stronger and stronger since Chase had met him, it made him want to devour him.
It had always been more than physical, in fact the physical attraction hadn't actually come until after Chase had worked with him for a few weeks. Listening to House as he uncovered a mystery, as he saved a person's life, as he made Chase blush with comments about his pretty hair. Perhaps it was his genius that he was attracted to. Maybe that was why he had a thing for Grissom on CSI.
"I was kinda surprised when you called me," Chase said after some time.
"So was I," House admitted.
"But I'm glad you did."
House didn't say anything to that, he just sipped at his drink.
Chase knew he was a manipulative little bugger. He had purposefully taken a cab to the restaurant, knowing that House would have to offer him a ride home. He knew it was probably not going to work, that House would make up some excuse as to why he couldn't come up, but Chase wanted him more than he had ever wanted anyone, and he was half hard just by the prospect of it.
They ate their food, talking about mostly safe topics such as work and House's love of watching The L Word on mute.
Chase had wanted to ask him about his sexuality at that point but he figured he wouldn't get a straightforward answer, not from House. It didn't matter anyway, not to him. Chase had always preferred men to women, mostly because a lot of the women he had fucked had been delicate little things who lied back and took it, though he did sleep with both. That wasn't what Chase wanted in a bed partner, that was probably why he had stayed with the burn-lover for so long. She had practically clawed his skin off in her passion.
Now they were in House's car, parked outside Chase's apartment. The younger man turned to him, eyes bright, and asked, "Aren't you going to walk me to my door?"
House looked at him, knowing what he was really asking. He wanted those fantasies about Chase's tongue to become real, but he wasn't sure about this. He had never slept with another man before, hadn't really ever wanted to... except for when he watched James Dean, but he was dead.
"Sure," he said, deciding to bite the bullet. He didn't know what would happen tomorrow, or the day after. He didn't know what Chase really wanted out of this, but he knew he wanted to bury his cock deep inside Chase's body more than anything.
He opened the car door and got out. Chase let out the breath he had been holding and slid out of the car too. He smiled at House almost shyly as he led the older man up to his apartment.
Prompt 17. Fur
Chase led them through to the living room. It wasn't a very big apartment and it was a little cold, seeing as the super never answered his messages about the vents with a mind of their own.
"Would, uh... would you like a drink? I think I've got some scotch that someone gave me at Christmas... or something to eat... no `cos we just ate," he laughed nervously. "I could put some music on." He walked over to his sound system, aware of House's eyes on him, never once straying from him. "I'm not sure what's in here, I think it's Michael Buble or something," he said pushing the play button. Soft jazz began filtering out of the speakers and Chase turned to face House. "Yep," he said. "I think he's um... he's pretty good."
House continued to look at him without saying a word, his bright blue eyes felt like they were burrowing into him and Chase swallowed hard as the older man moved towards him.
House let his cane fall away as he took Chase in his arms and brought their mouths together hungrily. Chase was gorgeous anyway but when he started babbling nervously that was enough to weaken the last of House's resolve. The persistent aching in his cock was maddening and he pushed it against Chase, feeling the younger man moan into his mouth.
Chase's hands went up into House's hair, tugging on it one second and stroking it the next. He wanted this so badly, he couldn't quite believe it was happening. House was holding onto him, and Chase didn't know if it was for support or not. He liked the idea of it, of House leaning on him, needing him, trusting him.
Their tongues duelled fervently and Chase knew he had to slow it down or he would cum too soon. He pulled away slightly, just enough to speak. "Sit down on the couch," he said raggedly.
House looked at the couch, it was just behind them. He untangled his arms from around Chase and moved backwards, sitting down as he was told.
He wet his suddenly dry lips and watched as the young blond stood in front of him, unbuttoning his shirt and displaying his smooth, toned chest to him. House felt glad that Chase clearly wasn't interested in him for his looks, there was no way he could compare, not even if he had still been twenty.
The shirt fell to the floor and soon so too did the pants, leaving Chase in just his underwear. House wanted to touch him, he wanted to run his fingertips over each and every inch of that golden, hairless skin.
When Chase came to knell at House's feet, pushing the older man's thighs apart and sliding between them, House had to close his eyes from the sight.
He felt fingers gently trailing up his thighs, over his clothed erection, making him gasp, and popping open the buttons.
House knew what was coming and he tensed. A wave of panic went through him, and a last thought about stopping it, but it soon left when Chase urged House to lift up so that he could slide down his jeans.
Chase's hand stroked over House's underwear covered cock before slipping inside and pulling it out. He licked his lips and leaned over, taking the older man into his mouth.
House groaned at the feel of the wet heat surrounding his cock and his hand flew to Chase's hair, grasping it, petting it. He leaned forward in his seat and undid his shirt, yanking it off and tossing it over the couch.
Chase, lips still stretched around House's cock, looked up and moaned. House's chest was well defined and had just the right amount of hair on it. Chase had always had a thing for hairy chests, not Sean Conory hairy, more Pierce Brosnan hairy. House was perfect to him. He reached up one of his hands and ran his fingers through the light dusting of fur, stroking them over each nipple.
He let his eyes lock with House's as he slid his mouth lower, taking in all of his cock and swallowing around it. House grunted and forced himself not to thrust up into that pretty mouth.
He broke eye contact and let his head fall back as he felt the younger man's tongue lick all around the head of his cock, teasing the slit and manipulating more pre-cum to form there.
When he heard Chase moan House looked back down at him and saw that Chase's hand was inside his shorts, stroking himself, squeezing himself.
"Jesus," House all but whispered, his hand tightening in Chase's hair. The triple sensory stimulation of the feel of Chase's mouth, the sight of Chase stroking himself and the sound of his desperate moans had House cumming all too soon for his liking. His hips bucked and he cried out as he spilled himself down the young man's throat.
Chase swallowed everything he was given and his hand sped up on his own cock, moaning around the sputtering flesh as he came himself, ruining his underwear.
It was a good five minutes before either of them spoke. Chase had let House's spent cock slip from between his lips and had rested his head on House's thigh, the hand still stroking it almost tenderly.
House was worried about what would happen at work. No one could know about this, not Cameron and certainly not Foreman, it would make work a hell. Chase was smart enough to know that... he hoped.
"Stay?" Chase asked, lifting his head from House's thigh and standing up, holding out his hand to help House up.
House looked at him for a moment, thinking about whether or not that was a good idea, before finally nodding. The hopeful puppy dog look in Chase's eyes left him with no choice really.
Prompt 24. Marsupial.
Chase looked over at House, who was lying next to him in Chase's bed. He couldn't believe this had happened. He couldn't believe that he finally had House in his bed. House's eyes were closed but Chase was pretty sure he wasn't asleep yet, who could sleep after what had just happened?
He felt kind of like he had as a kid on Christmas morning, waiting in bed until it was late enough to get up and wake his parents.
"Stop thinking so loud, some of us are trying to sleep. There's a good little wombat," House said, his soft voice indicating that he was close to sleep.
Chase smirked but then it quickly turned into a frown. "Why d'you call me that?"
House's tired eyes blinked open to find Chase raised up on his elbow looking down at him. "Because you're both fluffy and native to Australia."
He noticed that Chase's frown didn't lift and he rolled his eyes, waiting for Chase to speak again.
"You could have picked a manlier marsupial... like a kangaroo," Chase suggested.
Inside House's head he was grinning. This was one of his favourite pastimes, winding Chase up. On the outside however he just looked bored. "True, but I could have picked an even girlier animal, like a koala."
Chase just continued to look down at him, clearly not impressed at all. "One day I'm going to take you to Australia and leave you there to get beaten to death by offended locals."
House smirked. "Don't be dense. Australian's are too happy from all the beer and barbecues to ever do that. You could have threatened to feed me to sharks, or make me sit through your appalling soap operas."
"Says the General Hospital addict!" Chase pointed out.
Suddenly both of House's hands were either side of Chase's face and he looked down at the older man through wide eyes at the rare tender gesture.
"You really wanna know why I call you wombat?"
Chase swallowed and nodded slowly.
"Because you're both so cute," he said as though talking to a baby, pinching both of Chase's cheeks.
Chase rolled his eyes and flopped back down to lay flat on the bed.
"Now get your beauty sleep," House said, closing his eyes again.
Chase continued to watch him for a while until finally he thought House was asleep. He tentatively reached out his arm and placed it over house's stomach, resting his head just next to his shoulder.
Prompt 2. Aspirin.
They had driven to work in separate cars, had barely said a word to each other during the morning meeting while they discussed a new patient. House hadn't looked at Chase while he listened to his suggestions, but then he hadn't really looked at any of them.
"Chase get her... no Foreman get her history, Chase make me a coffee," House said finally, going into his office without another word, still not having looked at him once.
Cameron left ahead of Foreman and Chase didn't miss the smirk he received from the other man. "What'd you do to piss him off?"
Chase didn't answer him he just scowled and went over to make the damn coffee. House was starting to give him a headache. Was he going to be punished now because of last night? Was House going to pretend it never happened? He had barely said a word this morning and had seemed somewhat uncomfortable. He wondered if he should take some aspirin before going in there least his headache get worse, or maybe he should just swipe some of House's vicodin.
He walked into the office and House looked up at him for the first time. "Shut the door."
With an unsure frown Chase did as he was told before walking over to House's desk, on which the older man was perched, and placed the coffee down beside him.
"I uh..." House looked down at the floor before tentatively raising them to meet Chase's inquisitive stare. "You were right."
Chase's frown just deepened. "Right about what?"
"You said I didn't know everything," House reminded him of their conversation a few days ago over the ball. "I don't know what I'm doing," he admitted. He held out one arm and Chase walked into it, placing his own hands on House's waist.
"I know," he said. "I don't expect you to... just where work's concerned, don't avoid me or try not to look at me, they aren't going to know just from that, if anything it'll just look worse."
House closed his eyes and nodded. He knew he was acting like an idiot but he felt out of his depth here for the first time in years.
Chase couldn't help but smile, it was actually kind of cute to see House so unsure for a change. He leaned in and kissed him slowly, carefully listening out for footsteps in the hall outside. The kiss stayed soft and suddenly the memory of Chase on his knees went through House's mind and he wished they were somewhere a little more private.
When they pulled apart House coughed nervously. "Um, I think we'd better not do that here."
Chase was disappointed, he had many fantasies about sneaking off with House at work for a quick grope, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed, knowing it was probably for the best anyway, and started to walk back over to the door. "Oh," he said, stopping and turning to face House. "Don't expect me to bring you coffee every morning."
"Well I was a guest in your home last night, so etiquette suggests you should have made me one this morning," House shot back.
"Well maybe if you'd said more than two words to me I would have," Chase replied, trying not to let the grin out. "Does that mean when I stay over at yours I get coffee brought to me in bed?" he asked cheekily.
House rose his eyebrows and picked up a folder from his desk. "We'll see."
Prompt 7. Snuggle.
House very quickly found out that Chase was a snuggler, a suffocating, crush your whole body snuggler. For someone who had never been keen of physical contact at all this was a big adjustment in House's life.
His prior relationships... being Stacy... hadn't been like this. There wasn't this constant need to keep touching each other. House thought that a puppy would be less demanding than Chase when it came to affection.
He didn't mind the kisses, in fact he very much liked the kisses, but mostly when it was leading up to sex. Chase didn't just kiss him during foreplay he kissed him all the time. He kissed him in the morning before crawling out of bed to go and make the coffee. He kissed him goodbye when they both left for work in separate cars, even though he was going to see him again in twenty minutes. He kissed him when he got up from the couch to go to the bathroom. That was the one that House couldn't get his head around, he was only going to the bathroom, it took five minutes.
There were long kisses with tongues and panting. There were soft butterfly kisses placed around the face. There were open-mouthed kisses that trailed down his entire body. The boy had an oral fixation.
When House was trying to do something Chase often came up behind him and hugged... no... snuggled him for behind, burying his face in House's back and breathing him in like he was going to disappear.
It had been a few months now and for the most part it was nice, House liked the sex on tap. He liked having someone to annoy and make fun off at twelve o'clock at night. He liked that he didn't have to get up to make himself coffee anymore. Despite House's insistence that the guest should have coffee brought to him, they had spent most nights at House's, seeing as Chase's heating never seemed to work and House was fed up of fixing it only for it to break again, and yet Chase was still the one to get out of bed and make the coffee.
It took some time but eventually House got used to the full body contact as he slept. He got used to the warm puffs of air on his neck and the soft hair resting on his shoulder. In fact, he soon found that he couldn't sleep without it.
So when Chase rolled away from him in his sleep, moving back over to his own side of the bed, it had woken House up. Good, he'd thought. Now I can sleep properly.
He'd laid there for a good ten minutes before he finally gave up and rolled over to Chase's side of the bed, wrapping an arm around the younger man's middle and burying his nose in the back of Chase's hair.
Prompt 9. Tofu.
"What is it?" House asked looking down at the plate that Chase had handed him.
Chase rolled his eyes and sat beside House on him couch. He pulled a cushion out from behind him and put it on his lap, resting his own plate on it. "It's dinner. I'm fed up of eating bloody mac and cheese whenever I'm over here."
"Right, but when you said you would cook I thought there would be actual cooking involved," House pointed out, stabbing some raw spinach and bringing it up to his eye line.
"It is cooked, I just don't burn and char all the goodness out of the food I make."
House took a bite of the spinach and quickly swallowed it, instantly reaching for his soda to wash it down with. "What the hell is this?" he asked, looking down at something that looked suspiciously like pork fat.
"It's tofu," Chase told him patiently, knowing full well that House already knew that. "Stop being such a god damn child and eat it will you?"
House stabbed the piece of tofu and put it in his mouth, making a show of chewing it as if it really were as tough as pork fat. "I don't like it," he told Chase, quickly forking the remaining pieces of tofu and moving them over to Chase's plate.
"You didn't even give it a chance."
"Have you considered smothering it in breadcrumbs and deep frying it?" House asked, moving on to the rice noodles. At least those had some flavour, he decided.
"Have you considered that you're a doctor and you should know better?" Chase retorted, eating the tofu that House had forced on him and purposefully making yum yum noises.
"What's for desert, fruit?" he asked sarcastically. "Oh God, it's not fruit is it?"
"It doesn't matter `cause you're not having any," Chase told him, his eyes focusing on the T.V as he ate his food.
"What? Are you kidding me?"
"Nope. You don't eat you're dinner you don't get desert," Chase told him smugly. "That's the rule."
"Where? At kindergarten?" House picked up his fork again and quickly stole back a piece of the tofu he had given Chase. He put it in his mouth and chewed it quickly, swallowing it and making a disgusted face.
Chase just leaned back and let House help himself to the tofu, smiling smugly because he knew he had just tricked him. It was a rare occasion when he got one over on House.
"Tomorrow we go back to mac and cheese," House warned him as he ate what he thought was a reasonable amount of tofu. "So, what's for desert?"
Chase finished chewing his mouthful carefully before swallowing and nicking a sip of House's soda. "I didn't get any."
"You what?" House asked, yanking back his soda.
"I never said I got desert. You just assumed."
"Well after I ate all that I'd better get something," House warned him, his voice changing and dropping to a more intimate tone.
Chase smirked and leaned forward to put his plate down on the floor. "I think there's some ice-cream in your freezer," he told him, moving closer to him on the couch. "Maybe seeing as you ate most of your dinner I'll let you have some."
House grabbed Chase's arm and yanked him over so that he was almost straddling House. "That wasn't what I had in mind." His hand threaded through Chase's hair and he pulled him down into a kiss. The kid worked better than viagra. In fact House had considered talking to Cuddy about cutbacks and suggesting that instead of prescribing viagra they just let Chase rub up against the patients for five minutes.
Chase's tongue entered house's mouth and he ground his hips down against him, eager to get even closer.
A knock at the door made them both start and pull away quickly, as though House's mom was about to come bursting in with a pile of laundry. Chase snorted and moved over to his own side of the couch. "Well? Are you going to open it?"
House just looked at him for a moment, his blue eyes making it clear that he didn't know what to do. "Maybe you should hide in the bedroom."
Chase just looked at him like he couldn't believe House had just suggested that. "I'm not going to be your dirty little secret, House. We're not doing anything wrong."
House ran his hand through his hair and got up when he heard another knock.
"It's probably Wilson anyway, you don't know anyone else," Chase pointed out. Wilson already knew about them, even though House still clearly felt uncomfortable whenever they were in the same room together. Chase wondered if House thought that he and Wilson would start swapping stories about him and it made him nervous.
Chase shifted on the couch so that he could look over at the door. When house opened it he only did it a little way so that he could see who it was before opening it fully.
"Cameron," House said, his voice a little too loud and a little too enthused. "What a surprise."
Behind him Chase quickly slid off the couch and tried to get to the bedroom as quickly as he could before House opened the door properly.
Unfortunately he was a little too eager and didn't notice when his foot hit House's plate, which he had just left beside the couch. Chase hit it with a loud smack and cried out a little at the pain, before falling over and hitting the floor.
House spun round to see what had happened and Cameron, wondering the same thing, pushed the door open to find a very guilty looking Chase, looking up at her from the floor.
"Chase, what are you doing here?" she asked, stepping into the room, past House who wondered if he could somehow make a pact with the devil into making the ground literally open up and swallow him.
Chase scrabbled to his feet, his eyes darting over to House who just rolled his eyes at him and mouthed the word idiot.
"I uh... I fell," he said dumbly, closing his eyes at his own stupidity. "I mean, I'm here because I..."
"He's my human pet," House said, interrupting him and moving closer to the other two. "We've joined a club. I put a saddle on him and ride him round down the streets. Pretty low maintenance really, eats less than the rat."
Cameron didn't even blink at House's comment, she just ignored it and looked Chase over carefully. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"
"Uh... no, not really," he said, using his foot to slide House's plate under the couch so that she wouldn't see two dinner plates and put two and two together. "I have a family thing... my aunty is sick and I wanted to pick House's brain about it."
Cameron nodded her head, completely disinterested about what they were actually doing there together. "Right."
Chase suddenly frowned. "Hang on, what are you doing here?"
Cameron's cheeks seemed to flush and Chase was about ready to out the both of them to her right now. Had she came here hoping for a second date? Well too late girly, Chase thought. He's mine now.
"I wanted to talk to you about something," she said turning to face House who hadn't moved. "But uh... I guess it can wait until tomorrow."
House nodded, just wanting her to leave. His eyes darted over to Chase and he saw that the younger man was scowling now. That's all he needed, a pouting Chase.
"Well we'll talk in the morning then," he told her and she felt it was a little too easy to get him to agree to talk to her. "Chase and I should get back to discussing his aunty."
"Right," she said, turning and smiling at Chase. "I hope she's okay."
"Thanks," Chase mumbled. He didn't have a bloody aunty.
Once she'd gone House let out the long breath he'd been holding. In future Chase was going to hide in the bedroom straight away without argument. He turned back to look at the younger man, hoping they could pick up where they left off, but he saw that Chase was glaring at him.
"It's not like I invited her round," House pointed out.
"She still has feelings for you," Chase told him, his arms crossing over his chest.
"So? It's not like I encourage it... and please don't start playing the jealous boyfriend, Chase. You're not my boyfriend, and I don't need this," House told him, moving closer to the other man. He looked down at the plate under the couch but decided Chase would have to get it, he couldn't be doing with bending down there right now.
"Then what the hell am I?" Chase demanded. "A distraction? A mid-life crises? A good shag, what?"
House couldn't help the slight smirk that graced his lips at Chase's last words. "You claim you aren't British and then use words like that."
Chase just shook his head. "What the hell am I doing? What did I think was going to happen here, huh? You told me you didn't want to fall without a safety net, when all this time it's me who should have been protecting myself," Chase said angrily, grabbing his jacket off the back of House's chair and moving towards the front door.
"Where are you going?" House demanded, getting in his way.
"I'm staying at my place tonight," Chase told him, trying to get past him but House wouldn't let him. He placed his arm around Chase's waist and pulled him against him quite forcefully.
"What do you want from me, Chase? You want me to hold your hand as we stroll through Ikea on Sunday mornings, picking out matching towel racks? That isn't me. It's never been me. I can't give you that."
Chase looked down, his shoulders slumping slightly. He suddenly felt very tired. "That isn't what I want."
"Then what do you want? I'll tell you what I want... I want you to stay, not because you're my boyfriend and I feel an obligation toward you, but because I want you too. If you're here then it's because I want you to be here."
Chase closed his eyes and leaned into House a little more. He slowly nodded his head before resting it on House's shoulder. He wasn't sure what he did want from House, he just wanted to be with him, and that was exactly what House was offering.
"Let's go to sleep," House suggested, stroking Chase's hair because it comforted him as much as it did Chase.
Chase nodded and lifted his head, allowing House to lead him to the bedroom.
Prompt 14. Art.
House's hands grasped Chase's naked ass, squeezing, marking, just needing something to hold onto as the young man rode him in his office chair.
House was still almost fully clothed, except for the fact that his pants were down his thighs. Chase on the other hand was naked from the waist down, his shirt open so that house could look at the mark he left on his glorious chest the night before. The dark red and bruised purple against Chase's creamy alabaster skin was more beautiful than any piece of art House had ever seen.
With his good leg House pushed against the floor, thrusting up into Chase's tight, hot body, his head rolling back as Chase squeezed his cock with his inner muscles.
"Jesus," House moaned, and he thought that perhaps he had finally found him.
Chase's hands bunched in House's shirt and his mouth latched onto his neck in an effort to muffle his cries. He slid up and down on House's cock, feeling impaled, feeling owned. He was panting against House's throat and the older man's hands tightened on his ass, urging him to move faster.
When Chase began to actually whimper against his neck, House knew that was the sign that Chase was close. He reached between them and took the younger man's cock in his hand, fisting it hard until it jumped under his touch and Chase came with a muffled groan, his teeth biting the flesh beneath his mouth.
Chase's spasming muscles set about milking House and the older man's head rolled back again as Chase continued to shallowly ride him, urging him to cum too. House thrust up best he could under Chase's weight and when he came he bit down on his own fist, which was covered in Chase's semen.
They stayed as there were for a while, panting against each other's skin.
"I'm really glad you decided to break the no sex at work rule," Chase said quietly against his shoulder where his head now rested.
House licked his now dry lips. "Well, my other ducklings aren't here yet and I figured we'd just tell them we were discussing your aunty if they asked why we've locked ourselves in my office with the blinds closed.
Chase lifted his head from House's shoulder and leaned into kiss him. House had gotten a little more used to post-coitial kissing now, and kissing for just no reason, he even quite liked it.
"Damn it, I came on your shirt," Chase pointed out as he lifted himself from House's spent cock, make them both groan a little.
House looked down at his spoiled shirt with an amused frown. "Huh. Wilson keeps extras in his office, I'll just go steal one."
Chase smiled and shook his head, stretching out his well-used muscles, aware of House's eyes on his body. "Now I'm sleepy," he complained as he began to re-dress himself. "I wanna go back to bed."
"Yeah, damn sick people," House said, getting up and reaching for his cane, pulling off the condom and tucking himself away. "How dare they need healing after we've just had sex."
Chase smirked at him and went over to unlock the door that lead into the main office. He pulled back the blinds just as Cameron was coming in the door. "Shit," he said quietly, thinking that they had only just gotten away with it. He walked out into the main office as Cameron made her way over to make some coffee.
"Hey," she said with a faint smile, turning to face him.
"Hey," he replied, grabbing his half-finished crossword puzzle and sitting down at the table.
"Is House in yet?" she asked, fixing two cups of coffee.
"Um, yeah he's in his office... why?" he asked, knowing it wasn't any of his business.
"I just need to talk to him about something," she said dismissivly, picking up both the mugs of coffee and going towards his office. She shut the door behind her and Chase found himself glaring at the offensive door.
~~~~~~~
House looked up from his desk where he had just sat down to see Cameron coming in the door. She shut it behind her and walked toward him with a typical Cameron-smile on her face.
"Coffee?" she asked, placing the mugs down on his desk and sitting in the vacant chair opposite him. He reached for the mug and dragged it closer to her, looking at her expectantly.
"Do you want something? Or have you put some kind of mood stimulant in my coffee?" he asked, sniffing the hot liquid experimentally.
She smiled again and began wringing her hands nervously. It made House roll his eyes. "Oh for the love of God."
"I wanted to talk to you about something, but it's kind of... what's that on your neck?"
House's hand automatically went to his neck and he remembered that was where Chase had bitten him in his moment of ecstasy. "Ah, I was bitten by a little furry animal." Damn wombat!
Cameron frowned and leaned forward to get a better look only for House to pull his shirt collar up around it.
"Your rat?" she asked.
"Sure. Now what is it your avoiding telling me?"
~~~~~~~
"So," Chase said later as he found House hiding in one of the clinic rooms to avoid actually seeing patients. "What did Cameron want earlier?" He came round to sit on the other side of the bed and glanced up at the T.V.
"Shush, Rodrigo's about to tell Stella that he's actually his evil twin brother Carlos," House told him, his eyes focused on what was happening on the T.V screen.
Chase looked up at it again and frowned. "It's in Spanish... you don't speak Spanish."
"Damn it Chase, I can still understand the language of love," House said to him sarcastically. "And there is no love as pure as Carlos and Sandy."
"I thought her name was Stella," Chase pointed out.
"Whatever."
"You're avoiding the subject aren't you? You trying to through me with your House logic so I'll forget what I asked you," Chase said, knowing exactly how House's mind worked.
"Damn, foiled again. I'll have to think up better diversionary tactics," he said, running his hand up Chase's thigh to cup his groin.
Chase tried really hard not to smirk but he couldn't help it. He grasped House's hand and pulled it away before he started to like it too much. "Why won't you tell me what she wanted?"
"Because it's personal."
"Since when do you care about that?" Chase asked incredulously.
House gasped but didn't tear his eyes away from Stella and Carlos. "I resent that. What sort of a doctor would I be if I didn't care?"
"The kind you are now?"
"Haven't you ever heard of doctor/patient confidentiality?"
"You aren't her doctor," Chase pointed out, starting to get a little pissed off now.
"Yes I am, just last week she said she had a headache and I told her to take some aspirin and shut up whining about it," House said triumphantly. "See, I healed her... that's what doctor's do."
"Fine," Chase said, getting up from the bed and walking to the door. "Don't tell me." He opened the door and stepped out, still holding it wide open.
"Don't worry, House," he yelled as loud as he could. "I won't tell Cuddy where you are."
House shot daggers at him before his smile broke through. "Nice," he said appreciatively, watching Chase leave with a smirk as the sound of Cuddy's designer shoes got louder and louder.
Prompt 19. Tupperware.
House figured that seeing as he and Chase were now in a... he refused to use the term relationship... what was Chase's was also his. He opened the small refrigerator in the main office of the diagnostics department and started rummaging round, searching for Chase's lunch.
House was starving and Wilson was away on an Oncology seminar weekend, which was suspiciously located next door to a golf course, so he didn't have anyone to buy him lunch. He could of course pay for his own lunch, given the extremely generous wage he earned, but that just wasn't as much fun.
He spied a tinfoil wrapped sandwich and pulled it closer. He opened it a little and sniffed it, making a face at the smell. Not only was there tuna fish in it but it also had pickles. He could have forced himself to eat the tuna fish but now it was contaminated with pickles. Not just lying on top so that he could pick them off but actually smushed into the tuna. What kind of sickos did he have working for him anyway?
He quickly covered the sandwich back up and looked over at a styrofoam cup. He opened the lid and looked inside. Soup? Who the hell brought soup with them to work? His guess would be Cameron. It looked like Chinese soup, probably healthy, not at all House's kind of lunch.
The only other edible thing in the fridge was a small plastic container that seemed to have pasta salad in it.
"Oi, I asked you if you wanted any this morning," Chase said as he entered the office, his accent getting thicker as it got louder.
House just stopped himself from jumping at the voice and hitting his head on the top of the fridge. He turned and looked at Chase, pushing the container back. "Don't worry, it looks like something Mrs Johnson sicked up."
Chase frowned and put his hands on his hips, pushing his doctor's coat back and putting himself in a pose reminiscent of Wilson and Superman. "Who's Mrs Johnson?"
House straightened himself up, resigning himself to the thought of lunch alone in the cafeteria. "I don't know," he said with a shrug. "I assume we have a Mrs Johnson somewhere here in the hospital."
Chase rolled his eyes and went over to the fridge, pulling out his pasta salad. He looked in a drawer and retrieved two forks before going to sit down at the table. "You can share it if you want."
The idea seemed way more appealing than lunch alone in the cafeteria, where people were sure to come up to him and start a conversation, but the thought of sharing Chase's lunch with him seemed very intimate. It made him feel a little queasy.
"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry," he answered, his stomach betraying him and choosing that exact moment to let out an audible growl. Chase looked up at him with a knowing smirk.
"Wuss," he said under his breath, making House's eyebrows shot up.
"Excuse me?" House asked, moving closer to the table.
Chase looked up at him innocently. "No, I mean you're right, you should be scared to share my lunch. `Cos next comes commitment ceremonies and adopted babies from China, we don't wanna go down that road, right?"
House thought that Chase had become a lot more sarcastic since being with him. He liked it. "How about another rat?" he asked, sitting down next to Chase and grabbing a fork.
"Steve McQueen gets a girlfriend?" Chase asked, forking himself some pasta and putting it into his mouth.
"Chase," House said, turning to him in mock outrage. "How dare you assume to know Steve's sexual preferences. We'll love and support him no matter what, even if he decides to bring home a hamster for thanksgiving dinner."
Chase rolled his eyes and took another bite of his lunch. "Rats today, they grow up so fast. Next thing you know he'll be leaving us and going to rat college."
"Stop putting so much pressure on him. He might not wanna become a rat doctor like his parents, he might prefer to be a rat musician, busking on the subway..."
"With his hamster girlfriend... sorry, or boyfriend," Chase butted in.
They shared a small smile, both knowing how ridiculous they sounded. Where Chase found it nice that they were having such a stupid conversation House was mentally shaking his head at himself for sounding so cutesy.
There was a knock on the glass door and the both turned to see who it was, knowing that no one in this hospital ever bothered knocking.
"Dad," House said, getting to his feet as his father entered the room, quickly followed by his mother. "Mom. What are you doing here?"
"You're dad's golfing buddy's daughter's getting married, we're here for the weekend," his mom said happily, moving forward and kissing her son on the cheek. "I left a message yesterday as you weren't home when I called."
Chase sat where he was, unsure of what to do, very aware of the cold stare House's father was giving him.
Prompt 3. Shake.
"Um, Hi," Chase said to House's parent's getting up from his chair with a cautious smile and holding out his hand to House's dad.
"Uh you know what, why don't we go grab some lunch in the cafeteria," House sugested, interrupting them and stopping Chase from talking to his parents.
"Oh, we don't want to disturb you dear, if you're busy," House's mom said to him before smiling over at the handsome young blond doctor.
"Actually it's Dr. Chase we don't want to disturb, he's very busy," House lied, ushering both his mom and dad out of the door as quickly as he could.
"Looked to me like you were already having lunch," his dad said, glancing back at Chase who just stood there looking very uncomfortable.
He watched as House left, not quite believing that he hadn't even introduced them to each other. He wasn't expecting the older man to introduce him as his new boyfriend or out himself, but to not even want Chase to meet them seemed a little suspicious to him.
Was House ashamed of him? Of course he was, he'd made it clear how much he didn't want Cameron or Foreman to know about them. Perhaps that was more about Cameron than it was Foreman, maybe he wanted her to think he was still available. Maybe he was still available, it wasn't like he had ever said they were exclusive. Could he handle it if House started sleeping with other people? He didn't think so.
Sitting back down on his chair and placing his head in his hands he closed his eyes tightly. He knew that being with House was never going to be easy, but he hadn't quite expected it to mess with his head so much.
~~~~~~
By the end of the day Chase hadn't seen House once, he assumed that the older man was currently getting his parents as far away from him as possible, he couldn't deny that it hurt.
"Hey," he said from his place in the lab, making Cameron look over at him. "Did you see House earlier, with his parents?"
"No," she said, putting down her sample. "They're in town again?" she asked with a smile.
"Again? You've met them?" he asked incredulously. House and Cameron had been on one date and she'd met them?
"Yeah, they seemed nice."
Foreman snorted from where he was sat, peering into a microscope. "Makes you wonder how House turned out the way he did right?"
Chase ignored him and swallowed hard. He hated this. Why couldn't he have fallen for an emotionally healthy person? Someone who didn't make his head spin and his stomach ache.
He looked down at his slightly shaking hands and shoved them under his arms quickly. "I'm gonna get some coffee. Anyone want?"
~~~~~~~
Chase walked into the diagnostics office and over to the coffee pot. He poured himself a cup and one for Foreman then just left them on the counter while he went over to the window and rested his forehead on the cool glass.
"Chase," House said from behind him, standing in the doorway of his own office.
"Have they gone? Is it safe to talk to me again?"
House sighed and walked over to him, not really knowing what to say or do. "Yeah, they've gone."
"What are we doing?" Chase suddenly asked, spinning round to face him.
"Haven't we already had this conversation? You know how much I hate repeats."
"I feel like I've gone crazy. I get it now, why my mum turned to drink. `Cos when you love a man who isn't capable of loving you back it..." he stopped himself from talking at House's wide eyed stare. He quickly turned and picked up the coffee mugs, making to leave.
"What did you want me to do, Chase?" House shouted after him, stopping him in his tracks. "Invite you to have lunch with us? Let my mom and dad see you looking at me like a lovesick teenage girl? You don't see the way you look at me. I'm not the person you think I am. You look at me like I'm your hero, like I'm better than I really am. Well I'm not. I can't be the man you want me to be."
Chase just shook his head in defeat, never once turning back to look at him. "You don't get it do you? I don't have any grand delusions that you're something you're not. I know who you are. I know what you are. And you're still a better man than you let yourself believe." With that he left House standing alone, knowing that he had screwed up once again.
Prompt 22. Slurp.
"I think I screwed up with Chase," House announced as he barged into Wilson's office. Wilson put down his slurpee and his paperwork and prepared himself for the conversation he was about to have.
"Well if you were anybody else I'd comfort you and say It can't possibly be as bad as you think it is. But seeing as it's you what I'm actually going to say is Of course you screwed up, you idiot. You're you!"
House didn't look amused, he sat down on the vacant chair opposite his best friend. "Thank you, I know now why I come to you so often to talk about my feelings."
Wilson rolled his eyes and passed over his slurpee, which House took and sucked up through the straw.
"Would you rather I lie and coddle you and justify what ever it is you did to him, thus making you not get off your ass and fix it, thus lose him?"
"Yes," House answered simply, making a face at the drink. He didn't like orange and Wilson knew it. Bastard.
"Oh," Wilson said, sitting forward in his chair and resting his arms on his desk. "In that case, don't worry about it, it can't possibly be as bad as you think it is."
House didn't speak for a moment, instead he studied the disgustingly cute mini emerald green, teddy bear on the desk that a patient had obviously given him. "I might have already lost him," he finally said. "What did you do with your wives when you screwed up?"
Wilson thought about it for a moment, moving the bear so that House wouldn't be tempted to chuck it out or rip it as he had done in the past. "I found a new one."
"Huh. Unfortunately wombats aren't commonly found in America," House just said, sitting back in his chair.
With a long suffering sigh Wilson said, "Talk to him, tell him what a jerk you are."
"I suspect he already knows."
"Undo what ever it is that you did," Wilson told him with a roll of the eyes.
"Hmm, that's a great idea," House replied sarcastically. "D'you suppose H.G.Wells would let me borrow his time machine?"
"This has something to do with your parent's, doesn't it?"
"Yes"
Wilson frowned and took another sip of his drink. "What, because you didn't out yourself as a recently bi-curious middle-aged man? I'd say that's fairly understandable, and a little selfish of Chase to think that you..."
"Because I didn't even want him meeting them," House told him, interrupting him.
"Ah."
"It actually says more about them than it does him," House pointed out. His parents weren't safe to be let out.
"But he didn't see it that way."
"Of course he didn't," House told him as if he were stupid. "His parents are both dead... he's so lucky."
Wilson raised his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair, mimicking House's pose. "Yes, he's the luckiest little orphan in the whole wide world."
"So what, I'm supposed to call up my parents and introduce him to them?"
"No, not unless you want to make your mother cry and your father drink," Wilson pointed out. He had met House's parents a few times. His mother was a doll, but his dad sure wasn't. Actually, having also met Chase's dad he'd say the two men had a lot in common. "You're looking at the symptoms here not the cause."
House tutted and shook his head. "And me a doctor."
"By not introducing him to your folks he now thinks that you're ashamed of him, prove to him that you aren't."
"It's amazing that you've been divorced four times," House said at Wilson's couple's therapy talk.
"Twice," Wilson was quick to correct.
"Soon to be three."
"Hmm," Wilson mused. "Well apparently I do much better at the psychology of male/male relationships."
"Maybe Chase has a friend?" House suggested casually.
"Do you think?" Wilson asked in mock interest. "That'd go down well in my divorce settlement."
"You could claim she drove you to it."
"It's amazing that you've never been married."
"Not really. Suppressed homosexuality," House pointed out.
"Ah so there was a reason."
"Could explain a lot about me, why I didn't sleep with Cameron for one," House mused, reaching out and stealing the teddy bear back from Wilson before pulling off one of its ears.
Wilson groaned at the needless destruction but said, "Yes, that really was a crime. Now go fix things with your boyfriend and leave my teddy alone."
House pulled a face and stood up, tossing the teddy bear at Wilson. "Ugh, don't use that offensive word around me."
"Sorry," Wilson said, tucking the teddy safely away in his drawer. "Would you prefer lover? Partner? Boy Toy?" he asked, knowing that was a sure way to get House to leave.
"I'm going," House told him with a glare before leaving the office.
Once the door shut Wilson couldn't help but let out a laugh. It was actually a nice change to see his best friend obsessing over something that wasn't Stacy. Hopefully this relationship would be a lot better for him.
Prompt 12.Vibrations.
Chase didn't like scotch but he drank the glass all down none the less. It was left over from one night when House had stayed and screwed his face up at the wine and beer that Chase had to offer him. House argued that scotch was the right drink to go with take out curry, so Chase had picked some up while getting the food.
It burned his throat but soon it settled into a pleasant warmth in his chest, drowning out the ache. His apartment was bathed in darkness, save for the gentle green glow of his sound system. The little bars moved up and down as the volume increased and he found himself fixing onto it.
Another thing that House had left there, CDs. "I'm not going to spend the evening listening to Brittany Spears and The Backstreet Boys," he'd said, handing over his collection to Chase.
So there he was, in the dark, a bottle of scotch, and House's CDs. He was sensing a theme as he looked through them. The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zeppelin, ELO. House had a passion for seventies British bands.
His phone had rung three times but there hadn't been a message so Chase just assumed it was House. His pager had vibrated in his pocket, his cell phone had beeped, but he couldn't answer them, not yet. He wasn't punishing House, he just couldn't face him yet. Not after what he had said. He couldn't believe he had just blurted out how he felt about the older man, he hadn't even really known that was how he felt until he'd said it. He knew he was crazy about the grumpy old bastard but love wasn't really something he had done before. He'd thought he was in love with a girl at school but it didn't really compare, it'd been puppy love, something he looked back on fondly.
Now he was drinking, alone no less, to drown out his feelings. They say that alcoholism is a genetic disease. With a look of disdain at the scotch he poured himself another glass raised it in toast to his dead mother and pushed it away.
He skipped through the current CD playing, The Who, and found a much mellower song.
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
No one knows what it's like
To be hated
To be fated
To telling only lies
But my dreams
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free
It could have been written about House, Chase thought as he lay down on the floor, resting his head on his discarded sweatshirt. Or maybe he was doing that thing that House was always accusing them off, seeing something because they wanted to. He covered his face with his hand, blocking out the green glow, and was nearly asleep, courtesy of the scotch no doubt, when there was a knock at the door.
He sat up quickly, looking at the door like it was about to explode. He was torn between staying where he was and pretending he wasn't home and running towards it.
Prompt 13. Xanex.
A/N: I just posted chapter 19 before this, don't read this one before you've read that :)
Chase contemplated going into his bedroom and swallowing a couple of Xanex until he passed out and wouldn't have to deal with this right now.
There was another knock, this time louder, firmer, and Chase reluctantly got to his feet.
He opened the door expecting to see House standing there but what he actually found was an uncomfortable looking Wilson.
"Hey," he offered, hands firmly in his pockets.
"Doctor Wilson," Chase said looking past him down the hall to see if maybe House was hiding round the corner, like a high school boy sending his friend in first.
"Can I come in, Chase?"
"Uh, okay." Chase held the door open for him and saw that Wilson noticed the bottle of scotch immediately.
"Hmm, this is going to last long if one fight turns you to drink," Wilson pointed out turning on the light, making Chase wince, and sitting down in the armchair. "Do you wanna know why it never worked out with Cameron?"
Chase frowned and cautiously lowered himself down onto the couch, using the remote to turn off the sound system.
"Because she never really loved him," Wilson explained. "She loved what she thought she could make him into. Trust me, I've been married enough times to know what women want. They don't want a husband, they want a project, a fixer upper." He bent down and picked up the discarded bottle of scotch and using the glass that Chase had been drinking from poured himself a shot.
"He can't be saved, Chase. You see, I'm a lot like Cameron, I need for everything to be okay. I need to be able to heal, to save, but I've been his friend long enough to know that he can't be saved because he doesn't want to be. And you know what? He wouldn't be House if he was. So before you go any further you need to ask yourself do I love him as he is? and if the answer's no then walk away."
Chase thought about it for a moment. A part of him wanted to tell Wilson to butt out but he knew that the other man knew House better than anyone. He was like Chase's tour guide in a country where he didn't speak the language. "I love him. Not who he could be or what I think he used to be but as he is, right now."
A small smile flitted over Wilson's face and he knocked back the drink. "Good. You love him as he is, Chase? Well this is it. This iswho he really is. He's going to screw up big at least a dozen times a year, he's probably going to make you cry weekly and insult you hourly. What happened today was just the tip of the iceberg of pain that he's going to cause you."
"Are you trying to talk me out of it?" Chase asked, sitting back in the chair, feeling a little more comfortable in Wilson's presence now.
"No, not at all," Wilson answered honestly. "Because I believe you, I think you really do love him, and it'll be nice to share the responsibility with someone for a change."
With another frown and a shake of his head chase asked, "You think loving House is a responsibility?"
"The biggest one," Wilson answered adamantly. "He doesn't let himself be vulnerable to anyone because if they know they can hurt him then they will. At least that's how he thinks. And yet he's allowed himself to trust you, to let you get close... at least closer than anybody's gotten in a long time. He's like a special needs child; he needs more patience, extra attention. When he's doing something stupid and usually damaging you're supposed to clap your hands and look impressed even if you really want to be talking him out of it. I let him think he's tricking me into buying him lunch everyday just so I can go to sleep at night knowing he's had at least one good meal, that he doesn't just live off Vicodin and scotch," he said holding up the bottle.
Suddenly Chase felt bad, like maybe he was the one in the wrong. He knew that House wasn't normal when it came to this kind of thing, and maybe he had blown up over nothing.
"I'm not saying you should let him get away with this stuff," Wilson assured him. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't give up on him so easily, because that's what he wants. He wants you to prove him right, hurt him, make him retreat even further into that shell of his."
"So what do I do now, Obi One? `Cos I feel kinda out of my depth here."
Wilson nodded and put the bottle back down on the floor. "You go to him, you tell him that he hurt you, that you aren't happy about how he dealt with it, but that you're not going to walk away from him. Tell him you aren't going anywhere. Show him you aren't going anywhere."
"I told him I love him, I think I freaked him out," Chase said quietly, drawing his legs up and holding them like a child would.
"Oh no doubt," Wilson agreed. "But after you told him that, he was in my office asking me how to make things right with you. If the prospect of you loving him was so horrifying to him would he have done that?"
Chase cracked a small smile and resisted the urge to go over and hug Wilson. "No, I guess not."
Wilson got up from his chair and contemplated taking the scotch with him, but he decided against it. "It's late, he might be in bed," Wilson told him, fishing in his pocket for a key. "Let yourself in."
Chase looked at him questioningly, like he wasn't sure House would like that. But Wilson just nodded and Chase figured Wilson knew House better than he did.
Prompt 10. Syringe.
His leg hurt more than it usually did and Wilson's words of, "It's because you're missing Stacy," went through his head. His leg did not hurt because he was missing Chase, because he felt bad, because House didn't feel bad about things.
Chase was a big boy, he knew what he was getting into when he'd kissed him in that storeroom closet. Stupid little wombat, with his big sad eyes and please love me, longing looks.
Damn his leg hurt.
He hadn't exactly worked out his apology. He knew he was going to have to give one or Chase wouldn't be staying over anymore which meant two things, one, that House was going to have to start paying for hookers again, and two, that his leg was going to hurt even more than usual.
He'd tried calling but Chase wouldn't pick up. How was he supposed to apologise when Chase wouldn't even talk to him? And he couldn't shake the thought that Chase had overreacted and that as he himself once had a father he should know better than to want to meet House's.
His bedroom didn't smell as good without Chase in it. It lacked that exotic spice that lingered to him from his aftershave and body wash. And his skin, which always smelled of the ocean even though Chase hadn't been to the ocean since he left Australia. House wondered if perhaps it was imprinted in his DNA.
He was going to have to take another Vicodin, even though he'd only taken one an hour ago. Maybe he needed something stronger, like a syringe full of morphine, but then Wilson would somehow know. He'd smell it on him tomorrow at work and give him that look that only smug oncologists who save the world on a daily basis can give.
James Wilson, Man of Steel.
He rolled over to the side where Chase usually slept and stopped himself before he smelled the pillow. How pathetic would that be? He couldn't even allow himself to do it when he was alone. He knew him, he'd be sure to mock himself for it.
He heard a key in his front door and he turned towards his open bedroom door. The only person who had a key to his place was Wilson and he really didn't want another pep talk from him right now. Unless he had actually come to help House drown his sorrows in beer and pizza, in which case he was more than welcome.
"Wilson," he called out, siting up in bed.
"No," came back a timid Australian voice as the light from the living room was suddenly blocked out around a silhouette of the young man. "Just me, sorry," he said lightly.
"Oh," House said, suddenly wishing he had popped another Vicodin. He remembered the speech Stacy had given him before she broke up with him, he wondered if this was going to be similar. "I love you, but I just can't live with you."
"Breaking into people's homes, that's something I'd never condone," House said, looking away as Chase walked into the room and sat himself down on the end of the bed.
"I got some tips from Foreman," Chase replied with a small cheeky smile.
"Nice," House complimented him on his Foreman putdown.
They sat silently for a minute, neither one of them knowing where to start. Finally House couldn't take it anymore, he needed for it to be over, to be quick, like pulling of a band-aid.
"I'll help you out," he said. "I'll start you off." He coughed into his hand and then forced his eyes to meet Chase's. "You've taken on more than you can handle. Now that you've had time to think about it you're not sure the idea of `us' is such a good one," he finished, holding out his hand for Chase to pick up where he left off.
Instead of saying anything Chase just leaned forward, cupping House's cheek, and kissed him soundly. He moved up the bed until he was practically straddling House and he deepened the kiss, loving the way House moaned into his mouth.
"I've made mistakes," Chase whispered against his mouth before pulling back just enough to look into his eyes. "I've hurt you too," he said, knowing that House would understand he was talking about Vulger. "I'm not perfect."
"Yes you are," House whispered back in a rare moment of openness.
Chase rested his forehead against House's and closed his eyes. "I love you," he told him, not able to look into his eyes as he said it. "I didn't actually mean to shout it at you earlier."
House snorted a little. "Yeah, that's not how it happens on General Hospital."
"This is real life," Chase pointed out, knowing that House wasn't going to say it back but confident that he felt it back. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised, kissing him again.
House's hands held onto him tight, like he was reassuring himself that Chase was really there and he hadn't ODd on Vicodin.
"We should get some sleep," House pointed out when they broke apart and Chase had taken has usual place snuggling into House's chest. "Not only do we have work tomorrow but that damn charity thing Cuddy's making us go to."
Chase stifled a yawn and buried his face in House's neck, breathing him in deeply. "Yeah, it won't be so bad, we could find another storeroom to hide in."
House pretended to consider this for a moment before nodding. "I like the way you think Doctor Chase."
Prompt 1.Cane.
House had been dressed and ready for the last forty minutes. He remembered when Stacy had been living with him, how she'd take forever to get ready for a night out. He'd assumed that being with another man would be different in that sense but then Chase did have very pretty hair that probably took even more care and attention than Wilson's did.
Tonight though, they were going to a charity event at the hospital, so Chase could take as long as he needed if it meant less time spent schmoozing on Cuddy's behalf.
He hated wearing a tux, he knew he made it look good, but he hated it none the less. He looked like James Bond with a cane.
He was so focused on his GameBoy and the destruction of Wario that when he heard Chase cough from the doorway to his bedroom he didn't look up.
"Is this alright?" he heard the younger man ask, just as Mario was about to unleash a world of FirePower hurt on Wario's ass.
"Uh hu," House mumbled, eyes still glued to the small screen.
He heard Chase sigh and could easily imagine that Chase's hands had gone to his hips like they so often did. "Are you looking at me?"
"Yes," House lied.
"No you're not," Chase pointed out in amusement.
"Then why did you ask?" He'd been hit, he no longer had FirePower and he was little again. "Are you wearing your short shorts? `Cos then I might look up"
Chase snorted and moved closer to House where he was sat on his living room couch. "No, I'm in my tux."
"Hold on, just let me complete this level," House said distractedly, running at Wario with all he had and jumping on his head.
"Pause it," Chase suggested, rolling his eyes at how House could be such a old grouch and yet such a child.
"I'm so close," House tried to reason with him, jumping on Wario again. One more jump and the bastard was dead.
"Oh, so Mario's more important than me?" Chase asked, standing right in front of him now and waiting for House too look up at him.
"Mario and I have been together longer," House explained. He jumped up to hit Wario on the head but got caught with his FireBreath and died. He was so close. He turned off his GameBoy with a defeated sigh and raised his eyes to look at Chase. "Whoa."
The young man was in a black tux with a black shirt, the bow untied and hanging loose through his collar. He was gorgeous. House felt his cock stir in his pants and he wondered if they could somehow get out of going tonight. Maybe he could talk Chase into wearing this around the apartment.
Chase smiled at House's appraising of him. It made him feel unbelievable good to know the effect he had on the older man.
"I had to burrow some of your dress socks," he said, stepping into House's now outstretched arms. "I completely forgot and put white ones in my overnight bag."
House ran his hands up and down Chase's thighs before circling his waist. He looked up at Chase and smiled a genuine smile, something Chase wasn't sure he had ever seen before.
He looked down into the face of the man he loved and brought his hands to House's hair, stroking it back and wondering if he could somehow persuade him to let him put some product in it.
"You've got dimples when you smile," he pointed out softly, only now noticing, his hands moving lower to move over House's face. "Hmm, I wonder why I haven't noticed that before," he said sarcastically, making House's smile turn into a smirk.
"You want me to smile more often? Stop stealing my socks." He rose from the couch a little awkwardly and Chase reached behind him for House's dress cane.
"You remember the casino night?" he asked as he handed it to House. "I was completely turned on by this."
House's eyebrows rose as he looked over the silver handled cane. "You're a strange little wombat, aren't you," he said before leaning in and kissing him quickly. "Now come on, the sooner we go the sooner you can take me and my cane home."
~~~~~~~
"Well don't we all look handsome," Cuddy said as she cornered House, Wilson and Chase by the bar. House thought about making a comment about her breasts but the dress she was wearing disarmed him. It was pushing them up in just the right way and he wondered if he looked like an idiot staring at them.
He quickly tore his eyes away from them and looked over at his two companions, both in tuxes, and then back at Cuddy. "We look like were at a gay commitment ceremony."
Wilson snorted and Chase choked. He couldn't believe House had just said that.
"There are three of us," Wilson pointed out. "I'm sure gay marriage will be legal the world over before bigamy will."
"We'll be gay Mormons," House suggested.
Chase smiled over at Cuddy apologetically and left them too it while he went to find Cameron and Foreman.
Once Cuddy had left them alone, threatening them if they didn't mingle, Wilson turned to his friend. "So everything's okay?"
"Peachy."
"You made it up to him?"
"No, didn't need to. He forgave me."
"Without you doing anything?" Wilson asked in disbelief. "House, you know his insecurities about you being ashamed of him aren't just going to go away like that," he said with a snap of his fingers. "The next time something happens you'll be back at square one."
House just sighed in annoyance and looked over to where Chase was standing talking with his other ducklings. "Fine."
Wilson watched in horror as House stalked over to the small group, knowing that he was about to do something very House-like and all he could do was stand there and watch.
"Chase is wearing my socks," he said loudly once he'd reached them, making both Cameron and Foreman stare at him like he'd finally taken that last step towards insanity.
Chase just looked horrified.
"Why is he wearing my socks you ask?" Even though they didn't. "Well there are three logical reason that I can see. One, he stole them. Two, he brought them on ebay from one of my stalkers. Or three, we've been having lots and lots of gay lovin' for the last few months. You work in diagnostics, you figure out which one is right." With that he turned and walked back over to Wilson, snatching the drink the other man was holding and downing it.
"Oh God," Wilson said with a sigh. "I think we're going to need the whole bottle."
Prompt 21. Champagne.
"You're drunk," House said, stating the obvious as he pushed Chase down onto the bed.
Chase giggled, the little shit actually giggled and it took all of House's restraint not to kick him.
The function at the hospital had certainly not been boring, that's for sure, not once House had made his little announcement to Cameron and Foreman. He hadn't expected Chase to react to his behaviour by getting drunk on champagne.
"Don't fall asleep," House commanded him as he went about getting himself undressed before he helped Chase.
Chase just stayed where he was, a contented smile on his face as he looked up at House through his eyelashes, watching the older man undress.
"You're very sexy," he whispered.
House turned to him, eyebrows raised. "You're very drunk."
"No, you are," Chase insisted as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. The room spun a little but he blinked it back into focus. "You're not Brad Pitt sexy obviously... but hey if two hotties like me and Cameron fancy you then it must be true."
"Don't forget Cuddy," House said, sliding off his shirt and letting it fall to the floor. "She wants the G-man bad."
Chase just smiled at him and held out his hands. "Come here."
House couldn't help but smile at his young lover and do as he was told. He stepped into Chase's arms and sighed when the younger man began trailing kisses down his chest.
House's hands went to Chase's perfect hair, he couldn't resist messing it up. He bent down to kiss Chase on the mouth and moaned at how pliant the alcohol had made him.
"Before you outed us to the room, Cameron told me what she wanted to talk to you about," Chase told him, his fingers trying to unbutton House's pants. "She wrote another article and wanted you to sign off on it."
House nodded and watched Chase's fingers as they fumbled with his fly.
"She didn't want a repeat of what happened last time so she asked you to keep it to yourself."
House batted Chase's hands away, he was clearly too drunk for undressing other people, and did it himself.
"I'm sorry," Chase whispered.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," House said to him as he pushed his pants down his thighs. "Zippers can be tricky."
Chase rolled his eyes and let himself flop back down on the bed. "Not for that. For overreacting."
House actually found it quite amusing, not to mention flattering, that someone as young and beautiful as Chase could be jealous over an old man like him. He walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth and when he came back he found Chase snoring softly, curled up around House's pillow.
With a sigh House pulled back the covers from under him and slipped into the bed, covering them both in the warm duvet. He glanced down in the area of his groin and said, "Sorry boy, not tonight."
He lay awake for a while, listening to Chase's snuffles, before carefully spooning up behind him and placing his arm around his waist.
"I love you too," he whispered into the darkness, knowing that he was the only one who would ever hear him say that.
Prompt 4. Screwdriver.
Chase was wearing his socks again, this was becoming a habit. Not that he could really blame Chase, given that it was freezing inside his apartment.
Chase was making popcorn in his kitchen while House glared over at the vent. He'd fixed the damn thing at least seven times over the last few months. It was a trick of finding the right place and the right tool and then smacking the shit out of it until it started blowing out heat.
He was beginning to think that when Chase left for work the super snuck in and broke it again. It was clear the fat, old man had a thing for Chase. House didn't really like it. He knew that Chase was a thirty year old man and perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but still, the super was creepy and House had seen enough B-horror movies from the eighties to know that somewhere in Chase's apartment was a spy hole that the old creep looked through while he touched his special place.
Chase came back in from his kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and sat down next to House, grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch and arranging it over both of them.
"Remind me why we aren't staying at mine?" House asked. The cold didn't help his leg at all and he liked having his things around. He liked to be able to sit at his piano and play, watching the look of awe that came over Chase's face before he fell asleep.
"Because I haven't been home in almost a week and with the amount I pay in rent I want to get at least some use out of it," Chase answered, snuggling into House's side, making the older man roll his eyes.
Chase knew that house didn't really mind it, he just liked making Chase think that he did.
"I can see my breath," House complained after some time.
"You cannot," Chase insisted, but turned his head to look just in case he was telling the truth.
"How much do you pay in rent anyway?" House asked after another short period of silence, during which the ad break had come on.
"More than I should be for an igloo. I think I should look for a new place, I'm just not here enough that it's a top priority," Chase explained. He kept thinking about Monday morning, two days from now, and how he was going to face Cameron and Foreman after House's confession at the charity event.
"Because you're always at mine." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "So why not just stay at mine?"
"What d'you mean?" Chase asked, twisting round to face him.
House felt uncomfortable, he hated these conversations. Why couldn't Chase just do what Stacy had done and move in without consulting him.
"I mean why don't you just stay at mine... permanently. Or, you know, at least until you find somewhere else," he quickly added, losing his nerve.
Chase looked at him, completely surprised. "Wow, that's..." he was going to say huge but he knew that if he made a big deal out of it House was likely to retract his offer. "Yeah, thanks," he simply said, snuggling back down again.
"Great," House said, pushing Chase off of him and standing up. "Then pack your things and let's go."
"Now?" Chase asked, placing the freshly made bowl of popcorn down on the floor. "You want me to move in right now?"
House grabbed the blanket and wrapped it round his shoulders. "Yes now. I'll go wait in the car where there's heat."
Chase just rolled his eyes and laughed. "You wanna go sit in your warm car at..." he glanced over at his clock. "Seven at night while I pack all my stuff? Do you know how long it'll take? How many trips back and forth in that tiny car of yours."
House frowned and pulled the blanket tighter around him. "Don't speak about the Vette that way. She isn't tiny... she's petite."
"And would you take that blanket off, old man, it's not that bloody cold," Chase said with a laugh, getting up off the couch and rubbing House's arms for him.
"So just pack the things you'll need over the next few days and we'll call a removal firm to get the rest," House suggested, pulling Chase into his arms and wrapping the blanket around both of them.
"In thirty minutes we can be in my nice warm living room," House said softly against his ear, making him shiver slightly.
Chase knew that at some point he would really need to learn to say no to House. He was seriously whipped.
"Alright," he whispered. "But you're not waiting in the car you can help me carry..."
"Can't," House said happily, looking down at his leg. It did come in useful sometimes, like now when he wanted to get out of something. He kissed Chase quickly on the lips and grabbed his cane from against the couch. "See you outside."
Chase just watched him leave before slowly lowering himself down onto the couch again. He couldn't stop the smile that tugged at his lips. House had just asked him to move in with him. Actually he hadn't asked so much as told.
Chase had never lived with someone before, especially not after two months. This was either going to be the best thing he'd ever done or the worst. Living with House wasn't always going to be a picnic, he knew that, but he'd practically been living there already. So nothing would really change that drastically.
Thirty years old and he had never lived with anybody, but then he had never really loved anybody before either. He smiled again and got up from the couch and made his way to the bedroom to pack some of his things.
Prompt 18. Hamster.
It was late Sunday afternoon when House got home. He had just taken off that morning, kissing Chase on the lips before sliding out of bed and leaving him for the day. He couldn't handle seeing his home in chaos and it wasn't like he could help Chase put his things away because he really had no idea where Chase wanted everything. So he'd told Chase he'd leave him to it and off he went on his motorcycle.
He had been gone for eight hours and so when he cautiously looked around the livingroom, expecting it to be pretty much as he'd left it, he wasn't pleased to see boxes of Chase's crap strewn all around.
He was soon distracted however by the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. He tossed his helmet and keys down onto the couch and followed his nose.
"My God, you're cooking something with flavour," he exclaimed, walking over to Chase at the stove and looking over his shoulder. He placed one of his hands on the small of Chase's back and wasn't surprised when Chase leaned back into him, turning his head to give him a kiss. Damn snuggler.
"I've devised a clever plan to get you to eat something good instead of all those E numbers and additives."
House looked down into the frying pan and couldn't deny that it looked eatable. "What is it?"
"Eggs, vegetarian sausages cut up, onion, mushrooms, a little bombay spice, fold it all in like scrambled eggs and then add a small sprinkling of cheese," Chase told him confidently.
"Vegetarian sausage? I have the real things you know," House complained, sneering a little.
"Hot dogs in a can are not even real meat, they're snout and hooves and God knows what else. These ones taste great and are good for you," Chase told him, turning his head to give him another kiss.
House's arms came around Chase's waist and he pulled him away from the stove for a second and into a real kiss before Chase broke it with a smirk. "The eggs'll burn."
"Let them," House suggested, his hands moving down to cup Chase's ass.
"You're trying to distract me again so I won't make you eat my cooking, aren't you?"
House considered his answer for a moment. "Only partly."
With a snort, Chase pulled out of House's arms and went over to retrieve two plates.
"You didn't get far with unpacking then," House mused out loud as he walked over to the fridge to get some drinks.
"Well maybe I'd have gotten more done if you'd been here to help. Most of my stuff's put away, just a few things I don't know what to do with."
House opened a can of coke and went to a take a sip but froze when his eyes rested on the counter by the far window. "What the hell is that?"
Chase bit his lip as he turned to face House, already knowing what he was referring too. "It's a rat."
"It'stwo rats. I'm pretty sure when I left this morning there was only one." He put his coke down and walked over to the rats, each in separate cages but right next to each other.
"Well it's your own fault. You left me alone, I can't be held reasonable," Chase insisted as he continued dishing up the food.
"Oh what, you need constant chaperoning?" House asked turning to look at him over his shoulder. "I thought you said you didn't want me to be your daddy."
"I figured Steve needed a boyfriend, so he's not lonely," Chase pointed out.
"Is it your mission in life to make everyone gay?"
Chase smirked and put the full plates down on the table before going to stand behind House, looking down at the new member of the family. "No, just Steve... and you." He kissed the side of House's head and received a weak scowl in return.
"What if Steve doesn't like him?"
"He does, the guy at the pet store said to keep them in separate cages right next to each other so they can get used to each other and have a sniff and then let them out together," Chase told him, putting his finger into the cage. "And he's friendly, see?"
House still looked sceptical. "What's his name?" he finally asked as Chase opened the cage and pulled him out, handing him over to House, who held him awkwardly.
"Well I was trying to decide between James Garner and Charles Bronsan," Chase told him.
"The Great Escape... funny," House said sarcastically, holding the rat, who started squirming in his arms. The new rat was black, completely different to Steve.
"Complete with cages," Chase said reaching out to stroke him. "But I figured neither of those were good enough, so Steve McQueen," he said looking over at the other cage, at the rat who was climbing the bars trying to get a good look at the new one. "Meet James Dean."
"I don't know," House said. "I think James here will be a bad influence on Steve."
"I thought we weren't going to judge Steve's choice of life partner, be it male, female or hamster."
"This isn't Steve's choice, it's yours," House told him, handing the rat back to him. James Dean struggled a bit, not feeling secure as he was held out and accidentally scratched House's hand a little.
"Ow, it's scratched me," he complained as Chase put James Dean back in his cage.
"He didn't mean to, he was scared," Chase defended the rat. He grabbed House's hand and brought it up to his lips, placing a kiss over the tiny scratch.
"Did you just kiss it better?" House asked incredulously. "What the hell kind of medical school did you go to?"
Chase just laughed and went back to their food on the table. "He's had all his shots... and so have you, don't be a baby. Now come and eat your dinner."
House glared at the rat before going over to the table and sitting down. He stabbed a bit of the food and brought it to his mouth. He really wanted to hate it, he wanted to mock Chase some more, it was what he lived for after all, but he couldn't, because the food was actually good."
"Where did you get this recipe?" he asked, taking another bite.
Chase bit his lip. "From a cook book I got while I was out... How to Cook for Difficult Children."
~~~~~~~~
"That's too cute," Chase announced as he came into the bedroom. House was lying on the bed in just his shorts, reading a medical journal.
House looked up at him and let his eyes appraise the slender, smooth body in the doorway. "What is?"
"Steve and James were just nose kissing through the bars," he said happily before climbing into bed next House.
House tried hard not to roll his eyes and went back to his book. Soon though he was distracted by the hand that was slowly sliding up and down his stomach.
He tore his eyes away from the book and looked over at Chase who was doing his Snuggle Puss impression and wrapping himself around the older man. "Did you want something?"
Chase got even closer, if that were possible, and shut House's book before tossing it to the floor. He placed a kiss on House chest while his hand travelled lower. "You know I do."
House's eyes fluttered close as Chase's warm hand slid into his shorts and encircled his cock. "Tell me what you want," House demanded, sliding down in the bed and pulling Chase on top of him completely.
Chase kissed his chest again and worked his way up to his throat. "I want you to fuck me."
House moaned and let his hands slide down to grasp Chase's ass. He pulled the younger man hard against him so that both their erections were touching. With his right hand he reached into the drawer beside his bed and pulled out a box of condoms and a tube of lube.
"Viagra," House groaned out as Chase ground against him.
"What?" Chase asked, looking up at him horrified.
"You're better than Viagra," House explained, smirking at the terror on Chase's face at the thought of not getting fucked tonight.
"Oh," Chase said happily, going back to kissing House's neck.
He urged Chase's shorts down and lubed up two of his fingers. He revelled in the moan as his fingers stroked over Chase's opening before slowly sliding one inside.
Chase bit the side of house's neck lightly, he was such a bitter in bed, and it sent a shock of pleasure through House's body.
"How do you want me?" Chase asked him, pushing back down on House's fingers as another one slipped in. Chase never liked a lot of preparation. He liked the feeling of being stretched by House's cock.
"I want you under me," House told him, scissoring his fingers and drawing a gasp from Chase's lips as the brushed over his prostate gland.
As soon as House's fingers were removed Chase eagerly rolled over onto his back, urging House to come with him. Once settled on top of the younger man House reached for a condom and put it on himself.
Chase's fingernails ran up House's arms as the older man braced himself above him, guiding his cock to Chase's body.
The initial breach burned just right and Chase's head fell back and his eyes closed as his legs wrapped themselves around House's hips, urging him in deeper.
Chase had gotten pretty good at knowing where he could touch and how hard, concerning House's leg. The first time Chase had ridden him he had forgotten in a moment of pleasure and put all his weight down on House's bad thigh. That quickly put a halt to the proceedings. He had later made it up to House with a killer blowjob.
House rested on his forearms, either side of Chase's head so that he could look down into his face. He was beautiful, even more so when aroused. His eyes dilated and heavily lidded, his checks flushed and his mouth wet and pink from all the licking and kissing he did.
It wasn't long before Chase's hands were in House's hair, urging him down into a kiss. He panted into House's mouth and swallowed the groan he drew by clenching his muscles around the older man.
House thrust deep into him, revelling in the tight, heat that engulfed him. He closed his eyes and broke the kiss so that he could breathe better. Chase's nails had now moved to House's back and he clawed it desperately, urging House to move faster.
When Chase bit his lip to stop himself from screaming that was always House's cue that Chase was close. So when after some time Chase did exactly that, House reached between them and took hold of Chase's cock, stroking it firmly until it jutted in his hand and spurted between them.
Chase's spasming body massaged House's cock and the older man threw his head back as he spilled himself into the condom before collapsing on top of his young lover.
"Don't pull out yet," Chase asked softly into his ear as his hand stroked House's head which was buried in Chase's neck. "I wish we could stay like this forever."
"Yeah, but then who'd feed our rats?" House said, not being able to resist cutting the sudden seriousness with a joke.
"I don't wanna go to work tomorrow."
"You mean you don't want to face Foreman and Cameron," House told him as he lifted himself up to look down at Chase. "It'll be alright," he promised, giving him a quick kiss before gripping the condom and pulling out.
"For you," Chase said, wincing slightly at how empty he suddenly felt. "They wouldn't dare say anything to you, but wait `till they get me alone."
"Aww, don't worry, I'll protect you," House told him as he disposed of the condom in the wastepaper basket beside the bed. "I'll threaten to fire them." He held out his arm for Chase to come to him, knowing that he would even if he didn't offer an invitation.
Chase smiled and snuggled into House's side and muffled a yawn against his chest. "My hero," he whispered before closing his eyes.
~~~~~~~
The next day they drove into work together for the very first time. When House had gotten to his office he found a card from Wilson that said, "Congratulations on your coming out." He smirked and vowed to get his friend back by lunchtime.
While down in the clinic he had stumbled upon an interesting case that he was now discussing with his ducklings. Chase, he noticed, was more subdued than usual. He looked like he was just waiting for someone to say something about the two of them, which House knew they wouldn't, not while he was around.
Cameron could barely look either one of them in the eye and Foreman just looked bored, like he didn't really care either way.
When he was finished telling them all about their new patient, which apparently all of them thought was a ridiculous case that House had only taken to amuse himself, Foreman began packing up his things.
"Where are you going?" House asked him, looking away from the white bored.
"You're an ass," Foreman told him, thinking House was only torturing this poor guy because it was amusing to him to hear him talk with his gigantically swollen tongue.
"I know... where are you going?" he asked again.
With an annoyed sigh Foreman picked up his bag. "This is either a toxin, an infection or an allergic reaction. I assume you gave him epi so that rules out allergies. Put him on antibiotics in case it's an infection and if it's a toxin we'll keep him here over night, let the swelling go down, send him home," he said, making his way past House. "I'm going to the movies," he announced, looking back at the other two to see if they were coming with him.
Chase just kept his eyes on House. Even if he did think his boss was only doing this for his own amusement, he would still stay with him.
"Which one of you is House?" a man asked as he walked into the office without knocking. Chase turned to look at him with a frown until he remembered who he was. He was the husband of a woman they had treated a while back.
House turned to look at the intruder in annoyance. "Skinny brunette," he told him, glancing over at Cameron who just frowned at him and stood up.
"No, that's Doctor Cameron," the man told him. Chase looked him over, something didn't feel right and he didn't know what. He rose from his seat and came to stand next to Foreman.
"I'm skinny," House said. "How do you know her name?"
"I was a patient of yours," the man explained calmly.
Chase heard House spurt out one his typical responses but the words died in the air before reaching his ears as his eyes zeroed in on the gun the man was suddenly holding.
He fired his gun at House, and the force knocked him back, knocking over the white bored. Chase and Cameron both instinctively went to run to him but the shooter braked at them to stay away from him.
Chase stared at his boyfriend, unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to think as the gunman shot House again. As soon as he'd fired the second shot the man ran out of the building and Cameron dropped to her knees, putting pressure on House's neck wound.
Foreman ran to the door and shouted out for some help but all Chase could do was stare down at the lifeless body of the man he loved, bile rising in his throat, his entire body shaking.
He saw Cameron's lips move, she was saying something to him, shouting at him, but he couldn't hear her. All he could hear was the pounding rush of blood in his ears as his heart sped up violently.
The End.