Chapter Four: Guy Talk

Chase looked at his reflection in the nearby window. He couldn't believe what he looked like. His features seemed darker; his cheeks paler, his hair seemed to flop in his eyes more often now, considering that he really didn't care at the moment. He saw something move into his peripheral vision, actually two things: he easily recognized them as his co-workers.

"Chase?"

He felt a fingernail stabbing him in his shoulder: Cameron. He didn't bother to respond, the just let his head drop into the table in front of him. It had been a full two days, 15 minutes, and 15 seconds and counting since he and House had their "Talk", if one would call such heartbreaking a "talk". He wondered of Foreman kept his word about not telling anyone. His answer appeared quickly as he heard the other man's voice asking Cameron to go away because he and Chase needed to have what he called a "Guy Talk".

Chase looked up in time to see Cameron give Foreman a curious look before she left: she was obviously suspecting something, which meant no one had told her yet. Not even House. That is what amazed the flaxen at this moment. He expected Foreman to respect his request and keep his bathroom incident under wraps, and though he didn't know about Wilson (unless House had told him, which would lead Foreman to ignoring him because he couldn't stand to listen to House's gossip.)

He expected House to tell the world, because, as Foreman said at least a million times: "House is an ass", which was true. House was a total asshole, and yet…that's what Chase really liked about him. It was strange. He loved it when House would yell at him for messing up on something; the way his eyes flared into that vibrant blue. It was like looking into the sky…but better. Chase managed to make a slight smile as he looked up to his dreadful reflection in the window.

Foreman started of with a hesitant "Hey". Chase could tell he didn't exactly know what to say. Maybe he was afraid of hurting his feelings further, or maybe Foreman wanted to work his way to his point. No…that wasn't it: Foreman was the type of person who liked to get straight to the point, if anything.

"What happened?" Foreman skipped the small talk and got right to it. He did seem to have a sympathetic tone, though. Chase made the smile at his ghastly reflection bigger: if he didn't care, Foreman sure made it sound otherwise.

"What makes you think something happened?" he muttered. It reminded him of playing Hide-and-Seek with House in the Locker Room. He let his eyes dart around the food court now, eyeing everything in view.

"Your eyes look—when was the last time you slept?" Foreman blurted, though he spoke softly. "The way your features are changing: it's screaming 'something happened, talk to me'" Foreman smiled slightly, nudging the other man's shoulder.

"It's also screaming piss off…" Chase mumbled, more to his reflection than to Foreman. He looked at Eric's reflection in the window, with that half smile still rubbing itself onto his face…it seemed contagious, that smile. Chase let a smile crack his troubled demeanor, and in response, Foreman made his smile larger. The Aussie had to admit: Eric Foreman knew what he was doing; this guy knew his shit.

"I guess my grade school teachers were right…" he chuckled, finally turning to Foreman.

"About what?" Foreman was still speaking a bit soft, as if he'd just woken. He shifted his weight as he let his infectious smile subside.

"Smiles being contagious…or maybe it's just yours that has that effect…" Chase could feel his mood lightening as he was speaking. "It's actually pretty funny. I never thought…" he didn't finish his sentence, but gave a mix between a sigh and a chuckle. He looked town at the table, and found himself with a shy smile hiding in his monochrome reflection. He heard Foreman match his previous sound and looked up at him again.

"Thought what?" Foreman asked, letting that slow smile wipe itself onto his face. His dark eyes fell into Chase's own, and God…did he know what he was doing to him?

"…I—um…I guess…God, Foreman. I never thought that…you'd even bother to pretend to care." Chase's words ran together like train cars in a wreck. Foreman's half-smile faded and his eyes darted around the table. "Umm….Foreman…I said something wrong, didn't I?"

Foreman sighed. Chase thought he was pretending. Maybe he really should start pretending, and be taken seriously. He looked at the flaxen: his color had come back into his cheeks. He'd done what he'd meant to: lightened Chase's mood. He left his chair slowly, muttering only a small fib of "No." before leaving the food court. He could feel Cameron's gaze on him as he was walking, and he listened to the rhythmic clicking of her heels behind him.

"Foreman, what happened?"

"Does the term 'Guy Talk' mean anything to you?" He shot back, still walking with his back turned to the young woman. He couldn't believe himself: he was actually forgetting to be calm or cool or…any of that crap he'd practiced since he set it in his head that he was going into the medical field.

"Not really. Not when I know it's going to affect your performance here." She replied, taking his forced tone. "And don't you dare say that it isn't. I'm not stupid, Eric!"

He turned around at the sound of his first name. In the back of his mind, he wondered why she hadn't stopped following him. He was biting the inside of his bottom lip before he flared:

"Then tell me what's going on."

"You…you have feelings for Chase, but…he either doesn't know it or…has his heart set on someone else. How close am I?" she asked, now stabbing at the man with an almost innocent stare. "You don't exactly scream 'I'm so straight', you know that, right?" she joked, getting a little laughter from him. "I don't see why Chase doesn't know. I mean, I always thought gay guys had an eye for other gay guys…"

"I'm not gay…I'm just…not...straight." Foreman replied, now walking in the other direction with Cameron. There was still a whole 45 minutes he could be away form House (if House didn't come to the food court for lunch.).

"So, what're gonna do about it?" Cameron asked, a certain gleam now hanging in her eye. "I mean, I know you're not gonna sit here and go on with…you know."

"If he doesn't let me, there's nothing I can do." He shrugged, finding the table farthest away from Chase when they reached the food court.

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For his luck, Chase was actually going to get to go home, though it wouldn't change anything: he was still in his trance from two days ago, Foreman had started socially avoiding him since lunch, and House's stares seemed to stab the Aussie in his heart. He grabbed his bag, turned for the door, and nearly ran into Foreman. Chase nearly screamed: he really didn't expect anyone, let alone Foreman, to be so close to him.

"Um…How long have you been standing there?" Chase said nervously, reminding his mind not to pee on himself.

"Long enough," Foreman replied, seeming to step whenever Chase did, keeping from the door.

"I'm not good at dancing, Foreman; and I thought you were avoiding me…" Chase complained, stepping to his right, only to be blocked by the other man.

"You're better than what you give yourself credit for; and I was contemplating." They both took a step to the left.

"Contemplating what?" Chase asked getting annoyed. He saw a smile trying to ease its way onto Foreman's face. "And what's with people's like to see me irritated?"

"What? Am I smiling?" Foreman asked, a bit of a laugh escaping him, probably from the lack of awareness he had for the expressions on his face.

"Now you're laughing." They both stepped together again. "That's beside the point. Contemplating what?"

Foreman shrugged. "…uh, just whether I should ask you something or not; Nothing serious." God! He was using those eyes again! "Okay…maybe not 'nothing'. It's something…uhm…a kind of sudden something."

Chase stared at his co-worker for a moment: he'd never seen this man act like this. He seemed nervous, uncertain; not even the Eric part of him was expected to act this way. "How sudden?" Chase asked.

"About 6:00 tomorrow sudden. Are you going to be free?" Foreman replied, his eyes gaining a childish joy in them.

"Um…Yeah. I mean, I have clinic duty, so… Wait…. Are you asking me on a date?"

"It depends on how you look at it. Are we going to walk out of here holding hands or acting like we don't know each other?" Foreman smiled. God, Chase loved this man's smile. It always looked like a smart-ass smile, but it didn't let the smart-ass comments leave them now. In his mind, Chase was actually really confused: Foreman was usually mean to him, but ever since the whole bathroom thing…Eric Foreman had seemed, well…different.

Chapter Four-End

A/N:

Sorry for the wait peoples! Not only did I have writers block, but I also was grounded for a bit. I went Omar-Crazy during this time. (Now I feel like watching Love and Basketball) Er…Ooh. Here's a note: please don't get all technical and crap about the diagnosis. I'm fifteen and I ain't that bright yet. (I'm just getting into the 10th grade when the semester starts again. I'm not even in a specific science yet, nor will I be getting into a medical science.) I'd appreciate it if the technical/smarter people than me would lay off a bit.( I was upset for about a week. Call me sensitive, but you'd be mad, too.) Er…Thanks for reviewing…and adding to favorites. Luff pancakes for all who made me happy!