A/N: Half of this was written by a close friend of mine. We worked on it together. I hope you like it.
One Strange Night
By: Mercilesstantalus and Friend
Chapter One
How did it come to this?
Staring at the door to the office as though he could burn a hole through it with his eyes, the young blond doctor considered his options.
Really doctor Robert Chase was at his last resort. If he had had -anyone- left in the entire world to ask, he would do so. But here he was, standing outside the door to the head of diagnostics. Now, normally this would be House's door. In which case he would be asking -House- if he wanted to head out for a few drinks after a stressful day of work. And, in spite of how much he wouldn't want to do that, he would actually take that over reality.
But the reality of the situation was that it was now -Eric Foreman's- door. At least, for the week or so while House was away with Wilson. Which meant that -that- was the man whom he was intending to invite out to drink.
Which, really, wouldn't have been a problem. Foreman was really quite an attractive man. Still, intense...but there was something alluring about that in and of itself. Chase was inherently drawn to people of power, such as his father and House...and Foreman was one of those men as well. In another life they might have managed to be friendly.
However, that was -not- the case. It seemed no matter how he treated the other man, which was really never badly, Chase could feel waves of dislike radiating off of him. Therefore, in order not to feel shunned, Chase had always responded in kind, and they had left it at that.
Chase wasn't sure why, but he felt the urge to just...not be alone, that night. It didn't matter if he would have to put up with insulting digs from the other man or comments about how he only ever kissed House's ass or his rich upbringing or whatever else the other man felt like yelling at him for. It was worth it to endure that, even, if it just meant there was someone else there. After recent events, there was no way Chase was going to ask Cameron, and they were really, sadly, the only ones in his life. He knew keep Foreman around would make him want to drink more, but not get completely sloshed. For some reason he had a feeling no matter how much Foreman disliked him, the other man would not let him drive drunk, and seeing as how he didn't have money at the moment for a ride and how Foreman wouldn't want to drive him...it seemed safest to just not drink too much.
Making a mental note to make more friends sometime in the near future, Chase sighed and pushed open the door to the office. "I finished my rotation in the clinic hours." He informed the other man first, knowing that was the signal that he could leave, as they didn't have a case at the moment. Pausing for just a minute he then said, "So, I...was thinking about going out for a few drinks..." Shrugging lightly, as though he didn't care whether Foreman came or not, and it was no big deal, he continued. "Cameron's busy..." That was a lie, but he was allowed, right? "So, I was just wondering if you'd like to come."
There it was done. Wasn't so hard, right?
Turning so he wouldn't have to face him, Chase slipped off his lab coat and grabbed his messenger bag, hoisting it over his shoulder.
It wasn't that Eric Foreman didn't like being in charge of the Diagnostics department. No, he rather enjoyed it, really, being in power, not having to answer to anyone... that was what he aspired to, being the head of a department... probably not diagnostics, as even though he did have some knack for it, and he'd learned a lot under House, he didn't want to constantly have to consider what House might do, or what House might think, every day for the rest of his career. Probably not even at Princeton Plainsboro, either, New Jersey was all right, but wasn't exactly Foreman's thing. It was ridiculous, he knew, but he didn't want to always be the black doctor who lived in a crappy apartment in the slightly shady side of town, even though he could have easily afforded something better... he wanted to be drive an expensive car and live in a specially built townhouse with a front yard, and walk out in his boxers every morning to pick up his paper... of course, he hated that idea as much as he wanted it, so it was likely that he'd keep living in his crappy apartment for a while yet. But anyway, that wasn't the point -- he liked being the head of his department. He just didn't like being head of his department simply as a replacement for House.
He was perfectly capable to do the job himself, after all, Foreman thought, scowling down at the multitude of papers on the desk which was usually House's. Being able to make any sense at all of his boss's organizational system qualified him for that, he thought. Not that he was making much headway, anyway.
Sighing, Foreman sat back in his chair, rubbing his temples lightly. Honestly, he just wanted to go home... but as Chase pushed open the door he sat up straight, looking entirely unlike he'd just been slumped over like that, ruffling his papers importantly, not really paying attention to what Chase was actually saying at first. By the time it'd sunken in and Foreman looked up at the other man, raising an eyebrow questioningly, Chase had already turned his back on Foreman, looking as if he was almost ready to leave.
All right... how to deal with this? Foreman had never really... liked Chase, to be honest. Not that he liked House, or even Cameron; really, although she was in the head of that race... he respected House. But Chase... well, he could be a good doctor, but in the end he was a doctor because daddy had wanted him to be one, and things had been easy for him, and Foreman just didn't know how to put up with that kind of person.
He could work with Chase just fine, but actually, er... spending time with him? In a friendly, non-work setting? That was an idea almost as foreign-seeming as the man himself. Still... Foreman couldn't deny that a few drinks sounded really good at the moment, and he wasn't the type to allow himself to drink alone in the privacy of his apartment... that'd just be pathetic. And it wasn't like they'd actually have to talk or anything, would they? The pretty rich boy would probably have girls swarming over him in a matter of minutes, leaving Foreman to nurse his drink in peace.
"Alright," he agreed finally, off-handedly, as if he hadn't actually had to consider that at all. He stood up, grabbing his own coat from the back of House's chair.
As there was a rather long delayed pause from the time Chase made the off-hand sounding suggestion, the Australian figured that Foreman was just ignoring him. Which meant he either hadn't bothered to pay enough attention to hear the question or he had heard it and didn't deem it worthy of any kind of response. Right, well...no big deal... Chase thought to himself, taking a moment to adjust the strap on his bag, careful to still keep his back to Foreman. I'll just...
But whatever it was that he had thought he was just going to do...he never bothered to think that through. As that exact moment Foreman had suddenly -agreed- to come. Turning around quickly, rather surprised, Chase lifted a brow. Although he had asked and, sure, hoped...that he'd come, he didn't think that would mean he actually -would-. Hell Foreman probably had a girlfriend that he had to be getting back to. And they had never gone out as friends, aside from a few times when Cameron was there as well.
Still, Chase knew better than to question it, so he just closed his open mouth. Yes, apparently he had been gapping at him. Coughing to himself, somewhat embarrassed not only that he had been doing it, but that he had been doing it without -realizing- it, Chase answered. "Okay, great. I was thinking of going over to Lainvine...you know, that new place by campus...unless you know of somewhere better." Lainvine was your typical club, where mass of straight, bisexual and gay students rubbed up against each other like horny animals...but they -did- play decent music and served damn good alcohol.
Oh, great, not only was he signing up to sit around watching the pretty boy get swarmed by liquored up women, he was going to have to watch him get swarmed by liquored up college students? Yeah, that sounded like a blast. Oh well... Chase seemed surprised enough that he'd agreed to go that Foreman wasn't going to back out now. "Sure," Foreman agreed, shrugging his coat on. He glanced down at the desk for a moment, part of him wanting to at least arrange them a bit before giving up, but he finally decided against it, merely leaving them scattered there and moving toward the door. Did Chase actually frequent places like Lainvine? Foreman kind of wanted to ask, but... meh, that was his business. And Foreman didn't really care. "So what's Cameron doing?" he asked, glancing back at Chase, not because he really cared about that, either, but just to have something so say. "She have a date?"
Naturally instead of responding directly to anything that Chase had said, with the exception of one one-word answer, Foreman instead proceeded to ask how Cameron was and what she was doing. Which was typical, really, seeing as how the pair of them were apparently friends. Something that neither of them deemed him worthy of joining. Not that he cared, of course, they were probably only friends because Cameron forced it out of him when he thought he was dying, and he felt bad about stealing her article. But, still...
"Cameron? Yeah, I think she's dating that new head of dermatology or whatever it was he said he did." Chase waved off the question for two reasons. Mostly because he didn't -know- if she was or not...and he didn't bother to find out. But also...because talking about Cameron dating someone, well, he wasn't -jealous- or anything, of course. But still, they had had sex...even if she had apparently only called him as some kind of last resort because she knew he would do it and was high...but he had done it back. He had liked her. No, I hadn't. I just wanted her. Now I'm done with that. Yeah, as many times as he told himself that...it didn't make it any more true.
Following Foreman out the door, they walked together towards the elevator. "But, yeah, she's busy, hanging out with him...but wouldn't you know that anyway? I thought you two were all buddy-buddy now?" Chase kept his tone strictly curious as he glanced over at the other man. While he waited for an answer, he jabbed the 'down' button of the elevator with his thumb.
Foreman gave a slight snort, shaking his head. Whatever he and Cameron were now, it certainly couldn't be termed 'buddy-buddy'. Sure, he'd admitted that they were more than just colleagues, and they'd been kind of close in the immediate after-math of his illness, while he was trying on the whole 'living for life' thing, but... after he'd slipped back into the everyday, things between himself and Cameron had gone back to being... pretty much as they had before. And honestly, Foreman was kind of relieved about that. He got along with Cameron decently, sure, and he was still grateful that she'd been able to make the hard decision which would have saved his life, when even House couldn't have dealt with that... but that didn't mean he wanted to actually be... friends with Cameron, not in the traditional sense of hanging out outside of work and chatting about relationships, or whatever it was people did. Foreman would honestly just rather be alone.
Of course, that still didn't explain why he was standing here, waiting for the elevator with Chase, set on following him to some rocking co-ed hangout. He did wonder vaguely what did explain it, but... the other man had just seemed so excited -- well, perhaps that wasn't the right word, because that made it sound like a date... relieved? No, that did too... damn it -- to be accepted, that some part of Foreman would have felt guilty pulling out of it at this point. Damn... this was how Whitey got you, wasn't it?
Seeing as how Foreman didn't seem about to answer him other than a snort and a shake of his head, Chase decided to give up on trying to make conversation with someone who obviously didn't see the need to speak to him. Then why did he agree to come anyway...? Chase wondered to himself, sure that Foreman was asking himself that exact same question. But then, Chase -was- the one who asked him, so he probably should be thinking more along the lines of 'why did -I- ask him to come anyway, again?' but he would rather not think about the answer.
After all, if he doesn't think about it, he doesn't have to answer it, right? Right.
Only a few more seconds passed before the elevator arrived and both men entered it. Chase choose the first floor and the doors slid shut heavily. Looking down at the floor, Chase decided to distracted himself by counting the number of times the pattern of the carpeting had little horizontal lines. It wasn't that he -hated- elevators, exactly, it was more along the lines that he would rather think of something else than let his mind contemplate all the nasty ways it could end. Since he rode elevators often, this was almost second nature to him...it was either this or talk to someone and since Foreman didn't seem too chatty...
It took only a minute to reach the bottom floor and Chase was first out of the elevator when it opened. A thought occurred to him and he smirked lightly, turning to Foreman, "Hey...think if we run into Cuddy she'd actually buy that we're just out for fun? If we told her that, she'd probably think we're breaking into someone's house again and just don't want to tell her."
Foreman had actually relaxed a bit at Chase's silence, never one to try and make small talk, so when the other man spoke again he wasn't too on guard and actually let out a small chuckle as he stepped out of the elevator, although if you weren't looking for it might easily have been mistaken for a cough, or clearing of the throat. At least Chase understood how strange it was, the two of them going out 'just for fun,' as he put it... Foreman hadn't been sure he wasn't the only one thinking that.
"Wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption," he pointed out, an air of amusement still present in his voice. "Have we ever done anything else together before?" Hell, House generally sent one of them along with Cameron, anyway... Foreman wondered why that might be, not having really thought about it before. Humph, that was actually a little insulting... no matter what his personal views on Chase might be, he certainly wasn't going to be anything but professional around the man... even if having to act like a criminal around him might have made Foreman's pride shrivel up just a little.
Amused, Chase shook his head in the negative. "No, of course we haven't. But then again, we also don't have a specific case right now so Cuddy might assume we spent our off time going around, breaking into homes..." Only after he had said this did Chase realize that might have been something of a sensitive nature to the other man. But then again, everyone had their own sore spots, Foreman really had to learn to suck it up. Hell, everyone pays forever for stupid things they did once. Chase knew that more than enough with the whole 'ratting House out' incident.
Shaking that from his mind as they headed out, a thought suddenly occurred to Chase. They were going to have to actually -drive- there. This really wasn't that much of a problem but Chase would prefer it if Foreman did not see his car. If he did then his image of the 'rich boy' might be ruined. Which, well, it didn't really matter if it was or not, but then he might wonder why he wasn't rich with his father having been rich and now dead...and though he was sure Foreman wouldn't ask about it, he still didn't want the other man to even think about it.
Let him think Chase was a spoiled little rich white boy who never had to work for anything. That was fine with him.
"Mind if we take yours?" Chase asked in a casual sort of way as they headed for the parking lot. "Just seems easier to car pool and mine is kind of a...mess right now...you know." Chase told him in the best kind of lie he could. Although considering Chase was a terrible liar he didn't know if Foreman would believe him or not.
Foreman gave Chase a bit of an odd look. He hadn't really yet considered how they'd get to the bar, assuming that they'd each go in their own car, Chase presumably leading the way as he was so familiar with this club. Why Chase would want to leave his car in the hospital lot Foreman couldn't fathom; it was sure to be some shiny, red thing, worth more than half a year's pay, and something like that wasn't best left alone over night. And besides, traveling down in just the elevator had been awkward enough, what were they going to talk about for an entire car ride? Still, Foreman didn't know how to say no to Chase, or even question him, without inadvertently insulting him, so... what the hell.
"Alright," he agreed, digging his keys out of his pocket as he took a right turn, heading toward his own car. It wasn't anything special, but it worked, and it wasn't exactly a pile of crap... if Chase wanted to say anything then he could damn well do it, but the man was probably too non-confrontational to do that even if he was entirely disgusted with Foreman's car...
Still, he shrugged, pressing the button to unlock the doors and pulling open the one on the driver's side, slipping inside and waiting for Chase.
Without realizing he had done so, Chase let out a relieved sigh when Foreman did not question his not wanting to take his own car, and what's more, his desire to ride with the other man. Still, Chase was sure that had nothing to do with him wanting to be polite or caring at all...but rather, the exact opposite. Either he didn't notice, which wasn't likely, or he just didn't give a shit what Chase did so it didn't matter. Oh well, at least it worked out for him in this case.
Upon catching sight of Foreman's car, Chase had to restrain himself from telling him it was nice. It was, true, but -he- was supposed to be the one with rich tastes so it was out of character. Instead he simply got into the car once Foreman unlocked it, wordlessly.
Relaxing against the comfortable seating, it only then occurred to Chase that Foreman had no idea where the club was. "Right, you know where Cooper building is, on campus, right?" Chase asked the other man, glancing at him. He should. It was one of the central buildings. "Well Lainvine is just a block away from it. You'll probably have to park somewhere near there though. It's just off campus so it's really popular with the students but a lot of the younger faculty and other people frequent it too."
It was almost like he felt he had to justify why -he- spent so much time there. Not that he -cared- if Foreman thought he was a pedophile...no, of course not.
"Buckle your seat belt," Foreman ordered in response, not bothering to actually affirm that he'd heard Chase's directions, though he was glad the other man had volunteered the information rather than actually forcing Foreman to ask. Not that he wanted it to look like he knew where all the hopping college students, or the younger faulty either, for that matter, hung out, but asking for directions was classically unmasculine, and even though Foreman felt a little stupid for buying into that particular stereotype, he couldn't help it.
Taking his own advice, Foreman pulled the restraint across his chest, securing it before starting the car, glancing over at the other man for a moment before beginning to pull out of the parking space. "So..." he began, just a bit awkwardly, not having anything to say but simply not wanting to sit there in silence for the entire drive.
Rolling his eyes at Foreman's instruction, Chase just muttered, "Like you care..." But he did, nevertheless, obey the order and buckle his seat belt. It's not like he would sue Foreman for not making him or anything...but if a cop did pull them over, he might get in trouble for it. That and Chase really did not have any particular desire to fly through the window in case of a car accident.
"So?" Chase asked, glancing at the other man in amusement. It was funny, really. At work they had plenty to snipe at each other about...or to argue about, what with all the patients and everything. But now that they were out of the work environment and alone...they couldn't think of a single thing to say? How stupid was that?
"So, what do you think House and Wilson are up to?" Chase asked. When there was a lack of things to talk about...he supposed they -could- talk about work. It seemed to be the only thing they had in common, anyway. "Probably went to Atlantic city..." he mused out loud, "How long do you think it'll be before they're both drunk and doing each other?" It was hard to miss the affection the two men had for each other alone and Chase figured if they added alcohol...it was only a matter of time.
Foreman glanced over to Chase briefly, giving him a mildly disgusted look, turning out of the parking lot and onto the road, heading away according to the other man's directions. He wasn't even going to comment of Chase's strange, almost passive-aggressive muttering, but... "I'd really rather not contemplate House's sex life," Foreman informed him. Although admittedly he'd wondered about it before, when Wilson would start... well, actually using how well he knew House to examine their own relationship and figure out that he was basically more married to House than he'd ever been to any of his wives and the two of them would finally go the last final step and go have hot, gratuitous man-sex. Er. Not that he'd actually spent any time thinking about -that- portion of the thing... no. So, instead... "It was pretty stupid of Wilson to put his job on the line like that."
At Foreman's words, Chase couldn't help but grin. It -was- pretty weird to talk to Foreman about House's sex life...but it wasn't like they hadn't done it before. Specifically Chase could clearly remember poking fun at why House would need a thousand dollars and musing over how many hookers he could get for it. Which meant that Foreman probably wasn't so much uncomfortable talking about House's sex life as he was talking about House -and- Wilson's sex life. Interesting...
Still grinning to himself, Chase shrugged at Foreman's next words. "Yeah, it was. But Wilson has always been stupidly loyal...at least to House." After allowing a few moments pause, Chase then added, "Which gives even more reason to believe they probably would have sex. Alone together, in Atlantic City...hookers are probably more expensive there." Not that Chase knew personally...just that people there were more willing to blow money on everything, so why not sex?
As he spoke, Chase watched the other man, wonder what sort of reaction that might bring. True, it was rather immature to bother your co-worker about sex and poke fun...but he really didn't have anything else to do for the car ride so he might as well have a bit of fun. "And you know what they say about Jewish foreplay..."
Foreman shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I said I'd come have a drink with you, not talk about --" What part of this was it that he was actually uncomfortable with? It being House? No, as Chase had thought, he and the other man had joked about their boss's sex life before... That it was House and Wilson precisely? And why would that be? He certainly wasn't jealous of either of them... he wouldn't sleep with House if he was the last person on the world and Foreman had just overdosed on Viagra, and he didn't really know Wilson well enough to think of him at all like that. Which brought him to... because they were talking about homosexual sex? Hn... Foreman was straight. Or at least, he thought of himself as straight, introduced himself, if he ever had to do so, as straight, and slept exclusively with women. Of course, he was an educated man, and that along with his natural impulse to rebel against anything to do with the life and culture he grew up in, which included rampant homophobia... Foreman had quite a progressive view of homosexuality. And he wasn't unfamiliar with the Kinsey scale, either... he'd call himself a one, but... he certainly wouldn't declare it absolutely out of the question that he'd never sleep with a man... so why was this conversation with Chase making him so uncomfortable? "...this," he finished finally, lamely.
Shifting in the car seat again, Chase looked away from Foreman this time, instead of at him. It wasn't really that unusually that Foreman didn't want to talk about it. Though it had to make Chase wonder why. Turning just his head a little, he looked over the other man discreetly. Had Foreman ever had anything close to sexual relations with another man? How did he stand on it anyway?
It was definitely interesting to wonder about, but Chase knew he was far too much of a chicken to try and find out. He would at least have to get a bit drunk before that.
"Right." Chase said instead, holding out the words as he spoke it, as though he didn't believe him, or thought that he had something to hide. "Well, we didn't specify anything that we were going to talk about...though which do you think would be faster? Would it be better to specifically state which topics of conversation are out of bounds?"
Foreman scowled slightly at the road before him, having the distinct feeling that Chase was making fun of him. But still, if he called him on it they'd actually have to... discuss that, wouldn't they? Which would be unpleasant. And really, setting limits on their conversation sounded like a good idea to him... "No sex," he said finally. "Nothing dangerous. We should probably stick to... work and the weather, I guess, since I wouldn't imagine either of us are particularly up to date on pop culture." Well, maybe Chase was, actually. Foreman didn't much know. But he wasn't, and he didn't particularly feel any more enthused about listening to Chase prattle on about what Mariah was doing that particular week, so... He stopped at a light, turning to glance at Chase. "Do you have anything you'd like to ban from the conversation?" he asked.
Ever since Foreman told him that they shouldn't talk about 'sex', that was the one thing that Chase wanted to talk about. It was just...strange. Why should they ban sex from the conversation? Sex was a natural part of life...and besides, it was fun to talk about. But he supposed that might actually have been the problem. Chase found sex fun to talk about, but if Foreman didn't...if it made him uncomfortable for -whatever- reason, then as much as Chase wanted to poke fun at him...he was still grateful that Foreman was even coming, so he supposed he'd better behave.
Besides, if he obeyed what Foreman didn't want to talk about then Foreman would obey what he wanted to talk about. "Anything personal." Chase told him, turning to glance out the window as he spoke. "You don't want to hear about my lovely spoiled life growing up and I don't want to hear about how hard you had it. Let's just not discuss that at all." After a delayed pause, Chase then said, "I do however think that talking about the bounds that we place on conversation is a good topic, look we've already managed to get most of the way there without me having to point out what cold and gray weather we've been having."
Even though Foreman was driving, he couldn't help but look at Chase at that, raising an eyebrow quizzically. "You're admitting that you had a lovely, spoiled childhood?" he asked skeptically, his desire to ask over-riding knowing that he should obey Chase's rules so that the other man would obey his. "I thought you were supposed to whine about how things are all relative and the fact that you were swimming in money was balanced by the fact that mommy was an alcoholic and daddy worked too many hours a week and pushed you too hard?" He didn't ask this is a mean spirit, really, although he was sure it sounded that way... he was actually just curious and interested, for once.
Crossing his arms, annoyed that Foreman not only had decided to ignore the one thing he hadn't wanted to talk about, but also he chose to talk about it only to berate him, Chase scowled, staring out the window again. It was kind of ironic, really. Chase had only said that he had had a spoiled childhood, which he still didn't completely believe that he had, so that Foreman wouldn't pick on him about it and argue. And now, even though he -said- he had, Foreman was still giving him shit about it. Fantastic.
"Yes and you were supposed to not talk about this, if you recall, though I suppose you don't give a damn about that either, do you?" Chase sulked, still not looking at the other man. He didn't know why it surprised him, really. No one had ever cared what he wanted so why the hell did he think something as trivial as the topic of discussion should make any difference. Glancing over at Foreman moodily, Chase added, "I also thought you were supposed to keep your eyes on the road when you're driving, but what do I know?"
"I just can't keep my eyes off of you," Foreman muttered sarcastically under his breath, turning his eyes back to the road all the same and hoping that Chase hadn't actually heard a moment later. Because he'd let his colleague get to him for a moment there, and it was unprofessional. Foreman didn't like being unprofessional, especially in front of... well, the prim and proper little rich boy. So -- "And no, of course I don't care. I thought we were just trying to make conversation," he added meanly, on the defensive now. "Fine, you don't want to talk about that. Horrible weather we've been having, isn't it?"
Just as whenever House made any comments like that, Chase's reaction to Foreman was just to sigh and roll his eyes. As if it wasn't enough to make fun of him for his childhood and apparently lack of intelligence, House as well as Foreman now, seemed to take some sort of annoying pleasure in making fun of the way he looked. At least, that's what he -thought- he heard Foreman say. Was it really his fault that he looked a lot more like his mother than his father? Was it his fault he was the target of both younger girls and the odd homosexual patient? All the poking fun at him just gave him one more thing to feel self conscious about.
Slinking a little lower in his seat, Chase looked out the window again. Yes, they had been trying to make conversation, but -not- about that. "Yes, dreadful." Chase commented back, relieved when he saw the club they were going to in sight. It was already quite busy and even had a bouncer outside. "Um, just park somewhere near by..." Chase told him, even though Foreman probably could have figured that out on his own. "There...I think there's a spot by the side of the road over there..." The intensivist sat up a bit straight as he pointed it out.
Foreman nodded, turning the car to pull into the spot. He felt kind of good to have upset Chase like that, seeing as it'd... gotten the other man off of his back. No more teasing, right? But he couldn't say he didn't feel a little bad about it too... hn. No, he'd forgotten for a moment than Chase didn't matter. At all. Why was he here again?