I'M PRETTY SURE THIS WILL BE A ONE SHOT. I JUST DON'T HAVE TIME TO ADD ANOTHER MULTICHAPTER STORY RIGHT NOW. PLEASE REVIEW.

DON'T OWN HOUSE OR THE CHARACTERS.

Chase had actually done it. He had actually invited her for coffee. He couldn't believe it. Even though it wasn't a date per say, he still couldn't believe that he just asked the most beautiful woman in the world to have coffee with him. It wasn't a romantic gesture in any way, nor did he intend it to be. It was just a friendly invitation. But yet, it meant so much to him. He was still in a daze as he paid for their coffees, and took a seat in the corner of their local Starbucks. He finally came out of his daze when she spoke.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, sure." He said, blinking.

"You okay?" She asked, intently staring at him. He was captivated by her eyes, and almost forgot to reply.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I'm not the one having, uh, issues."

"I do not have issues. Well, if you don't count my dead brother, then I don't." She said.

"You don't have to joke about it." Chase said, alert again.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Thirteen said.

"Okay, now stop playing that game, please." Chase said.

"You do realize that you're confusing me, right?" She asked.

"You're pretending to be confused. You're a very smart woman, Thirteen. I'm sure you've done this dance with Foreman enough to know what I'm talking about. You're joking about something obviously hurts you in an attempt to cover up the vulnerability, and then someone says that you don't have to act so tough, that it's okay to open up, and then you pretend that you have no idea what we're talking about." Chase said, folding his arms.

"Oh, that's what you're talking about. I didn't recognize it because I don't do that." Thirteen said.

"B.S." Chase said.

"In the locker room, you looked like you were going to say something." Thirteen said, turning the tables.

"Yeah, I was asking you to coffee." Chase said, attempting to dodge the attack.

"No, before that. There was this look, you opened your mouth, then you hesitated, then asked me to coffee. That means that you were going to say something, then said about coffee instead." Thirteen said, raising an eyebrow in victory. She knew she was right, and when she did, she didn't back down. Heck, she didn't back down when she was wrong either, something Chase found attractive. It was a nice change from Cameron, he noticed.

"If we're going to talk about that, then we need to do it in private." Chase said, looking around.

"Um, okay. We can go to your car." Thirteen said.

"Yeah." Chase agreed, then led the way to his car. He spoke after a moment of them sitting there. "I killed someone, too."

"Your Dad?" She asked.

"No. The President of Africa." Chase replied nonchalantly.

"Oh." She replied.

"I mean, it wasn't like I knew he would die. Ultimately, it was Foreman's choice. I just, manipulated the test results to point towards a different disease. Foreman was set on his diagnosis, which we had pretty hard evidence for. But uh, Cameron talked him into going onto our side. But she didn't know I messed up the results." Chase explained.

"You couldn't have known that Foreman would change his mind." Thirteen said.

"No, but I should've known Cameron would do some mind trick on him. She used you to do it, too." Chase said, then instantly regretted his words. "Oops." He mumbled lamely.

"How so?" She asked, her head whipping back to him, her cat-like eyes wide.

"That your break up messed up his ability and confidence to make decisions. She said that he made the wrong decision firing you to save your relationship, and he just caved, thinking he was wrong again. I knew those stupid self-help books on assertiveness would hurt her one day." Chase said, shaking his head.

"Cameron read books on how to be assertive?" Thirteen laughed, despite the serious situation at hand.

"Yeah, and they were good, too. She can be really manipulative." Chase said.

"So you're telling me that you murdered someone. Technically." Thirteen said.

"Yes. If you tell someone that I technically murdered someone, I can tell someone that you definitely murdered your brother." Chase said.

"Blackmail. Wouldn't peg you for the blackmailing type." Thirteen said, downing the rest of her coffee.

"There's a lot you don't know about me." Chase said.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you just told me your deepest darkest secret." Thirteen replied.

"I'm guessing killing your brother is yours." Chase said.

"Nope." Thirteen said, smiling seductively.

"Really?" Chase asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep." Thirteen said, then turned her head to grab the seatbelt. Chase caught a glimpse of the mark on her neck. The one that he caused.

"How's your neck?" He asked.

"Fine." She replied.

"I really am sorry about that. Sometimes I forget how delicate you actually are." Chase said, feeling the bump. "It's really big, you know. Put ice on it."

"We already tried that, remember?"

"Okay, then try heat."

"We both know that's not going to work." She laughed.

"It's worth a try." He shrugged. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, she said,

"Oh, and if you ever call me delicate again, I will make you pay."

"Yeah, I regretted the words as soon as the left my mouth." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"Just shut up and drive." Thirteen laughed.

I'D REALLY APPRECIATE FEEDBACK, OF ANY KIND. ROMANCE ISN'T EXACLY MY FORTE, SO ANY CRITICISM, GOOD OR BAD, IS WELCOME.