The Green Clover

Rating: For now, T. Although it could be moved up to M, and all smut (if any) will be moved to my LJ. Don't worry, I'll be sure to notify people if this happens.

Summary: It's late when House finds Chase at the Green Clover, drinking whiskey without a care in the world. Being the curious man he is, House doesn't know how to leave anything alone. That night soon spirals into a relationship that neither House or Chase anticipate, and they find themselves entangled within each other, unwilling to move on.

Warnings: SLASH, mentions of former child abuse, alcoholism, possibility some smut (if I can muster up the nerve to write it), and slight Cameron bashing (I tried to keep it as low key as possible, but some might see it as bashing).

Disclaimer: I do not own House M.D., nor am I currently making nor intend to make any money off of this story. So don't sue, it's not worth the legal fees.

I thank everyone who reviewed, added it their story alerts, and put it on their favorite lists. You have all been a great inspiration, and helped me so much in writing this chapter.

Also, a special thanks to my beta; Linker27, whom without I could not have finished this chapter.

Chapter Two: Bittersweet Solitude

On Monday morning House woke up early, shivering from the early autumn chill and the pain in his right leg. Looking over at the clock on his bedside table he saw that it was five a.m. Too early to be up, and too late to have a cocktail of Vicodin and alcohol to help him go back to sleep. Nonetheless, he took the prescription bottle that was by the clock, and swallowed a pill.

After House had finished brushing his teeth he limped into his kitchen to find something to eat. He searched through his cupboards, and finally found a bag of potato chips that he didn't even know he had. He took a look at the dirty dishes in the sink and wished that Chase had stuck around long enough to wash them yesterday, and possibly cook him lunch. Perhaps it was a good thing that Chase hadn't stayed another day. If House got constant exposure to Chase being domestic and prancing around without a shirt on, then Chase would end up staying for a very long time, if House got any say in it.

Yes, it was much better that Chase had left when he did. Even if he did keep the bed comfortably warm at night. He took one last glance at the messy kitchen before going to his living room to watch early morning cartoons.

--

"So let me get this straight, you let Chase stay over your apartment for the night?"

House was eating his lunch with Wilson seated across from him, bearing an incredulous look on his face. The cafeteria was as noisy as it ever was, and House could see some of the numbers seated at a table near by. At Wilson's comment, he could see that Kutner had spit out his soda in surprise. Big Love handed him some napkins, while Thirteen was busy pretending that her crossword puzzle hadn't just been soaked by soda. Cutthroat Bitch was acting as if she hadn't heard a thing, but he could see how rigid her posture became. The other doctors, Brennan and Taub, were presumably minding their own business because House had yet to spot them.

"Yeah, we also managed to go at until six in the morning. So if you see Chase limping, you'll know why."

Wilson simply raised his eyebrows, assuming that House was simply making up stories in order to annoy him and the numbers who were listening. It worked on Kutner, who was choking on his lunch, but all the other numbers simply took this comment as House being House. Feeling as if they would get no information about their application status, they decided to leave. Although Kutner was still slightly shocked by House's admission, Big Love calmed him down by saying, "You don't really believe what he said, do you? It's House, he lives to annoy people."

Wilson waited until the numbers had left the cafeteria before saying, "Now that your little spies have gone, do you mind telling me why you even allowed Chase to sleep over? You fired him, after all. Unless you're starting to miss your old team again?"

An annoyed expression crossed House's face. "We've been over this. I don't feel guilty about firing Chase. He's learned all he could from me."

Wilson put his hands in front of him in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, okay. You don't feel guilty about firing him. Sowhy not send him to his own apartment?"

"It's being fumigated for rats, he had no place to stay." House could see Wilson beginning to object that statement, and beat him to the punch. "And he finally broke up with Cameron."

Wilson looked surprised, partially because Cameron and Chase had appeared to have a steady relationship, and also because House seemed almost gleeful about the break-up."You're... happy about this?"

House smirked. "Of course, I won the office pool on how long they would last."

Wilson rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Of course."

House bit into his sandwich, an air of smugness all around him. "You're just jealous because you lost."

"House?"

"Yes, my penniless oncologist?"

"Shut up."

--

Chase hated Mondays.

Being Monday, Chase certainly felt the oppressive gloom thatmorning brought. This Monday wasn't the most cheerful of all Mondays either. Dark grey clouds hung low in the sky, and it was starting to get cold in New Jersey. Chase knew that once it started to rain it would continue all day, despite the weather man's assurance that there will only be light showers scattered throughout the day. On the way to work he managed to pick up a cheap umbrella, hoping that it wouldn't break apart while it was raining.

Shivering, Chase pulled the jacket that he stole from House's closet closer to his body. He had some of his clothing in his locker, but hadn't had the chance to retrieve them after he checked into a hotel room yesterday. He was wearing House's clothes, deeming it too cold to wear his scrubs outside and also because he didn't have the money to buy a new wardrobe at the moment. (He did have to buy some new underwear however, he wasn't comfortable going commando in House's clothing.) With any luck, he would be able to move back into his (hopefully) rat-free apartment by Wednesday, but he wasn't looking forward to cleaning the apartment when he came back.

That being said, Chase was changing once he got into the locker room. He wasn't comfortable wearing jeans and a tee-shirt to work, and House's clothing didn't fit right. The jeans were slightly too long, which led to Chase having to roll them up every couple of minutes, and the tee-shirt was too tight around his chest and arms. The jacket fit him okay, but it was slightly too long for him. When he stepped into the lobby to check in with the receptionist, he could see that a couple of people were giving him odd looks. It embarrassed him, and when he was done with the receptionist, he practically ran to the locker room to change.

When he came out of the locker room he was slightly surprised to see Cameron standing outside, the expression on her face practically screaming "We need to talk". Realistically, Chase knew that he would have to talk to her sometime but he didn't want to do it in a place so public. As self-centered as it sounded, he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of his colleagues by a screaming match in the middle of the hospital. He worked with these people for six days out of the week, he didn't want to lose any respect from them. Before he could ask Cameron to have this conversation somewhere else, anywhere else, she beat him to the punch.

"So, I heard you canceled the caterer."

Cameron was angry, something that Chase and every one around him could see. Chase could see some of the nurses gossiping down the hall, while some of the male orderlies gave him pitying looks. In Chase's opinion, she had no right to be angry. She broke up with him, hoping that by thinking he had 'lost' her, he would open up to her in an attempt to win her back. Now that Chase had started on canceling the wedding plans, she was angry that her attempt at manipulation didn't work. Frankly Chase was exhausted, and in no mood to deal with her this early in the morning. It was a Monday, and he had trouble falling asleep in his hotel room last night. The fact that he had a full day of surgery ahead of him didn't help matters.

"Can we just talk about this later Cameron? I have to get into surgery in about twenty minutes."

"No you don't. I called ahead and told them that you had an emergency issue to take care of. You're not expected to be in surgery for another two hours."

Chase stared at Cameron shock. "You lied in order to talk to me about our break-up? Cameron, it's over. You said so yourself. You have no right to do things like that just so you can yell at me."

Cameron's expression softened. "I'm not going to yell at you, Robert. I just want to talk to you about our relationship. I was angry on Saturday; I didn't mean what I said."

Chase wanted to take her words at face value, and get back together with her again. He was happy in the relationship he had with Cameron and it lasted longer than most of the relationships that he had with other women. In his previous relationships, he often broke it off before they started to get too emotionally involved. With Cameron, because she initially only wanted him for sex he didn't feel quite as trapped as he had with his previous girlfriends. Eventually, Chase proposed. He did it because it seemed like the next logical thing to do. He thought that he had finally found someone who understood him, and it didn't seem as if they were going to break up any time soon.

However, after they had gotten engaged Cameron felt like she needed to resolve every one of Chase's issues. She asked about his childhood, about how his mother had treated him and how he felt after she had died when he was only a teenager. She tried to find out information about his family, and the woman that his father had married after he had left Chase's mother. She even went so far as to contact his estranged step-mother in Australia so he could make amends with her. Chase never revealed anything about himself when she would ask him about his past, and she soon grew frustrated with his refusal to answer her questions.

She dumped him, and she had certainly meant it when she did it. That was all the reminding that Chase needed.

"We're not talking about our current lack of a relationship here. Let's go someplace private."

To Chase's surprise, she didn't kick up a fuss about and agreed. Unfortunately the only place that was empty at eight in the morning was House's office. The numbers should still be in the old anatomy classroom, and House never came in to work on time. Chase saw Cameron start to pace around the office as he pulled down the blinds. Before Cameron could get started, Chase sunk into House's chair and started playing with the over sized tennis ball that House always kept by his desk.

"You said you wanted to talk, Cameron, so talk. Since you so kindly made sure that I had the time to listen."

Cameron at least had the grace to look properly ashamed of the stunt that she had pulled in order to get Chase to talk to her. "I'm sorry Robert, but I had no choice! You wouldn't answer my phone calls, I didn't know where you were staying over the weekend, and I knew that you would brush me off as soon as you came into work. I'm sorry about what I said on Saturday, I was just frustrated about knowing so little about you. You knew everything there was to know about my life, I can't see why you are so unwilling to share your past with your fiancée!"

Cameron's speech would have once made him feel guilty about withholding information from her, but that was before things had started to go sour in their relationship. Now her words made him angry at the fact that she would not respect his wishes to keep his childhood to himself. He didn't want to talk about his mother, his father, or any topic that related to his parents.

"Cameron, I never asked you to tell me about your past, it was information that you willingly gave up. You knew that I didn't want to talk about my childhood, and you pushed anyway. You violated my privacy by contacting my stepmother, a woman that I haven't had contact with in over ten years, and afterwards, you still wanted me to 'open up'. I loved you Cameron, but how can you expect that we get back together after you tossed me to the side when you didn't get what you wanted?"

Cameron wore an expression of empathy. "Robert, that's what spouses do! We're supposed to share everything together and help each other through the rough times in our lives. You have problems with opening up, and I was trying to help with those problems. You never talk about your childhood or your parents, so it's clear that you have some underlying issues that relate to that. I was just trying to help you."

Cameron's words made Chase's blood boil. He didn't want his issues resolved, and if he had then he would have gone into therapy years ago. He wanted his issues to stay buried, he didn't want to deal with them ever again. He thought he had made it clear to Cameron when she had first started to push the issue. He told her everything else, yet she wasn't satisfied with the knowledge.

"You weren't trying to help me, you were trying to 'fix' me. If you really wanted to be a good spouse, you should have understood and accepted that it was something that I didn't want to talk about. You should have left the topic alone after I said that I didn't want to talk about it. You shouldn't have violated my privacy by digging into my past. Cameron, I don't want to get back together with you. The wedding is off, you'll get back whatever you paid for it."

Cameron's face fell. "I guess there's nothing that I can do to convince you otherwise, is there?"

For a moment Chase felt slightly guilty about refusing her offer in such a manner. While it was true that he was still angry at her for meddling in his affairs, he cared for her to some extent and didn't want to cause her grief. "I'm sorry Cameron, but I don't think that it'll ever work out. I don't think I would be able to trust you not to meddle. I don't want to face my past, I'd prefer it be left alone."

Cameron frowned, anger making her posture straight and rigid. "I guess I won't be needing this then." She took off the engagement ring and threw it on House's desk. She then stormed out of House's office and never looked back. Chase didn't bother trying to apologize, he was just glad it was over.

Chase looked at the diamond ring and recalled how much trouble he went through in order to get the perfect ring. He looked at hundreds of rings in order to find the right one for Cameron. He spent days asking her friends on their opinions, and even looked through her jewelry box in order to get some idea of her taste in jewelry. Chase found it funny that he spent so much time looking for the perfect ring, and the perfect way to propose, but through the entire process he had never really considered whether or not he wanted to marry Cameron.

Chase slipped the ring in his pocket and went down to the cafeteria to pick up a cup of coffee and something to eat. He still had an hour left before going into surgery, there was no point in starving before then.

--

House clocked out at around five in the afternoon, leaving the numbers to clean up after he left. He could see Cutthroat Bitch make an attempt to organize the mess of files on his desk and it made him smirk. He thought she already knew that any amount of sucking up to him wouldn't affect his decision on his final team. Amber Volakis was a determined woman who took whatever steps necessary in order to win, even if it meant being his lackey. It was a quality that House admired, but she was a bit too ruthless for his tastes. House knew that Amber wouldn't hesitate to sell him out if it meant keeping her job.

He had forgiven Chase's betrayal because he had grown attached to him in the monthsthat Chase had worked under him, and also because he knew that Chase would feel too guilty to try such a stunt again. With Amber, he knew that she would do anything to keep the job once offered. And if he was being frank, which he usually was, Chase's ass was far superior to Amber's ass.

As he limped to his car he saw Chase walking toward his own beat up old car. He could tell that Chase was cold, still unaccustomed to the colder climate of New Jersey. He watched Chase pull the jacket (that House knew Chase had stolen from his closet) closer to his body, and walk his car. With the dim light of the fading sun, House thought that Chase's ass looked as magnificent as it usually did.

--

It was seven in the evening before Chase got to the hotel. The hotel room was suitable to stay in for a couple of days, but Chase could hardly imagine staying there for a vacation. Despite it being only seven, Chase felt exhausted. As he got ready for bed, he resigned himself to another night on the lumpy hotel mattress. Before he went to bed however, he remembered the ring in the pocket of his work clothes. He took the ring out, admiring the way the diamond sparkled against the dim light of his bedside lamp. Chase looked one more time at the ring before setting it down on the bedside table. The soft clink the ring made as he set it down felt liberating to Chase, and he found that he didn't really mind sleeping on the uncomfortable mattress.

As long as he got his apartment back by Wednesday. As much as he didn't mind staying at the dingy hotel, he had no idea how much longer his back could take sleeping in the hotel bed.

--

Author's Note: So there's Chapter Two! I would like thank everyone who volunteered to be my beta, it was amazing to see the response that I got for my request.

The next chapter may be long in coming. My finals are coming up. I really hate to do this so soon in the story, but it can't be helped. I will try to get Chapter Three out as soon as possible, and I'm not sure how much of my time will be consumed by studying for my finals. If anything I will try to get it up before New Year's.

In case I don't get to say it before my next chapter is up: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, a Happy Yule, and a Merry Kwanzaa!

All I want for Christmas is reviews. (Take the hint people!) ;)