DISCLAIMER: Don't own it.
READ FIRST: I haven't yet watched very many House episodes, and I haven't seen the one with Robert's father in it, so I have no idea if this story is going to be very canon or not. Please take that massive margin of error into consideration while reading.
A/N: I actually write a lot more slash than it seems I do, I just usually post it on all slash sites. So though it may seem to some of my readers I'm all het, forget it baby, slash Rocks!
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House POV
I chose him because his dad made a phone call and saved me the trouble of sitting through a hundred more interviews and flipping through a thousand more applicant files, all under the duress of Cuddy, if not for the fact that it was more interesting to freak out the overqualified interviewees with my inane sarcasm and caustic comments towards their persons than to wade through cases I didn't have the proper help for anyway.
Let me just clarify, though, that I have no use for useless people.
Foreman wasn't just another profile in a sea of them with the same high credentials as any pompous, spoiled, rich kid who chose medicine over becoming a lawyer because their parents would be happy either way with one of those occupations, if only to try to prove that their children were much more than lay-abouts with daddy's money. He had something that no one else did: a skill that could actually come in handy.
Cameron was pretty…too pretty. She shouldn't even have been in med school, she should've wasted her childhood allowances on headshots and modeling auditions, not on medical journals and encyclopedias. She's willing to work her ass off, but she's also able to relate to the patients, the ones who want to see that a good looking woman is "really just like them". I hate it when people lie, especially to themselves.
And Chase…his dad made a phone call. I had parents calling me about their honor roll students and how they would make such a generous donation to the hospital if their son or daughter was accepted. I could've made this place billions just by picking three people based on those bribery conversations. But this one was different.
He wasn't offering money; he just wanted his son gone.
Oh, there was a bunch of crap about wanting his kid to learn from the best and all that, but the signs were there. In the way he said Chase's name with a hint of bitterness, in the way he obtusely referred to some past "authority" trouble, in the way he was pushing so hard to get his kid placed in the States while still remaining so polite.
With a father like that, the kid had to have come out with one screwed up personality disposition, not to mention a few quirks that should prove to be interesting.
That's what made Chase useful: his quirks.
When it came to following orders, he did so unreservedly, not hesitating once to question breaking into a patient's home for information, or administering a treatment that could possibly kill someone even when they weren't completely sure that the diagnosis was correct.
He could also think outside the box. He came up with the unique answers that worked, or at least inspired the rest of us to think of something better.
And let's not forget he's as cute as hell.
Chase POV
He's watching me again, and I wonder once more what he finds so interesting about me.
I've asked him before, he says Cameron and Foremen are easy to peg, he just can't quite figure me out yet.
Maybe it's because I understand him. At least a little more than they do, but perhaps not as much as Wilson, and don't think I haven't noticed the pretty boy theme he has going when it comes to people he likes.
His humor…I get it, and I don't mind it like everyone else seems to. I'll joke back, or I'll just keep my mouth shut. That can frustrate him like you wouldn't believe.
He needs people to respond, it's how he judges them, sizes them up, keeps them going, and finds all the right buttons to push. He can't function if he can't diagnose something. Whether it be patient or personality.
I don't react enough to him. Partly because I'm used to it after living with my father for eighteen years, partly because I know House loves puzzles, and if I stop presenting one, he'll lose his interest.
And I don't mind the way he watches me.
House POV
I stand up from my leaning perch on the desk and limp over to the table where Chase is sitting, pretending to be engrossed in a crossword, but by the steady hold of his eyes I know that he's really just thinking a lot to himself.
It's a slow day, no cases, and my Ducklings are all sitting on their hands.
Cameron is reading some romance novel hidden behind a medical science book. I can tell by the way she's holding it up and reading, instead of splaying it on the desk and taking notes. Also, she's biting her bottom lip at the corner every few words, a sign of guilty pleasure if I ever saw one.
Foremen's catching up on some paperwork with his iPod screaming a selection of opera music, similar to my taste, into his ears. I have never failed to notice our similar characteristics.
They're all being library quiet today, as if afraid that if they begin talking, Cuddy is going to hear with her supersonic ears and come down to put us all on clinic duty, or separate us into some other menial tasks. I plop down in a chair next to Chase and take out my gameboy, the beeping techno music failing to startle anyone into actually paying attention to me.
I tried to get Wilson to skip out with me earlier, but he was swamped, and if I take one of the kiddies along, Cuddy's going to see right through our front.
"I'm bored" Chase suddenly announces, putting down his crossword, "I would kill for a motorcycle ride right now"
Foremen, Cameron, and I all glanced at him. Me impassively, but the other two couldn't put their eyes back in their sockets because Chase wants to go on a motorcycle ride, and who in this damn hospital has a motorcycle besides me? Therefore, the logical conclusion would be that Chase wants me to take him for a ride.
"Well, what are you waiting for, me to let you borrow my sunglasses? Let's go" I said, standing up.
Chase POV
Cuddy bought my out-of-hospital lunch break story when she caught me signing out. House waited in one of the patient rooms (where he knew she'd never look for him) until she was gone and then came to sign out himself, having given Eric and Alison the excuse that they could say he was with Wilson.
"Why are we doing this?" I asked as I strapped on the motorcycle helmet and he revved the engine.
"Because we wanted to" House said, "Now get on"
And we took off.
I glanced back just before we left the parking lot to see Cuddy staring out her office window at us, she looked mad.
House
With no back support on the passenger seat Chase was forced to hang on to me.
It was different from the way Cameron had.
Her embrace was out of annoyance at the fact that I was making her ride with me at all, and fear that she might fall off.
Chase held on comfortably, like he really wanted to, and for some reason that relaxed me.
We just drove, that's it. No where to go, nothing to do.
I don't usually share my drives-for-nothing with people, hell, I don't share them at all, god forbid someone see me in a good mood and start rumors that I may actually be a nice guy after all.
Chase was different.
Not a friend like Wilson, just someone who understood me.
Chase POV
I could tell he was thinking and not thinking at the same time.
My stomach was turning at our closeness.
It was weird, being able to touch someone so untouchable. I liked it. I really liked it.
For these few hours we could connect.
House POV
His arms tightened slightly around me, and I couldn't remember the last time I had been hugged.
Even Stacey kept her distance when it came to sappy shows of affection like that.
And suddenly, I wanted it more than anything I had wanted before. Just to be held by someone.
We made it back to the hospital an hour before our shifts ended. Stumbling off the bike because of our disorientation from the speed…or each other, I couldn't tell.
Chase took off the helmet and grinned, his wide, cuddly wombat grin at me.
"Thanks" he said.
"Any time" I replied. And I meant it.
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(A/N: Tell me if you want more. If not, that's cool.