Well, Rei, a little of everything will happen in this chapter. After you posted your review, I updated chapter 28 one more time, so you may want to go back and read the
last couple of paragraphs... He will, verlan! I bet he is, Pallada, and assioma, I know, he definitely is. I wasn't expecting Chase's move myself, zaffiro, but suddenly it
seemed like something he had to do :)
Chase was woken by a ray of sun falling through a gap in the curtains. He squinted into the light, trying to see, but when he did, he wished he'd kept his eyes
closed. He was in the same bed as his employer. Facing him. Inches from the man. Chase lay absolutely still, fear written on his face.
He wouldn't have thought it possible for the situation to get any worse, but at that moment, there was a crash right outside the door, as a cleaner banged his
tray into a potted plant. And in front of the Australian, gleaming blue eyes snapped open. House looked at his employee, seemingly unfazed. "If you raped me
in my sleep, please don't tell me." Chase felt his stomach churn. "House, I'm...I'm so sorry, I don't know – " Suddenly, the intensivist was grabbed roughly and
found his lips pressed on his employers'. "Mbel!" was all he managed to say, before his common sense took over and he began to kiss back.
Half an hour later, both doctors were lying on their backs, exhausted. House had an arm wrapped around his duckling and grinned as he said, "Now I know why
I hired you!" Chase glared mockingly and snuggled up to his boss. Suddenly, though, his eyes became worried as he remembered his situation. "Does...does
that mean I still have a job?"
"Unless you really did rape me...why not?"
"So – what do we do now?"
"You get up and go attend the lecture."
"Yeah, I just – I meant about us."
House looked right at his duckling. "Nothing's changed."
"Of course it has. Everything's changed. I never even knew I was...gay. Oh my God. I'm gay."
"No you're not. Not necessarily. You just slept with another man."
Chase rubbed his temples. "I know. I slept with my boss. I can't believe I did that."
"Oh, come on. Let's get past all the catholic guilt. We'll talk about this later."
"Later, what do you mean, later? Don't you realise – "
"Chase!" Even in his current state, some part of the young doctor's brain reminded him it would be wise to shut up and listen to his supervisor.
"Yes?" he asked meekly.
"We will talk – later. Now, I want you to get up, put on something decent, and get the hell downstairs."
Chase managed to get ready, and was finally out of the door twenty minutes later. The second he was gone, House grabbed his cell.
"House, what's up? I'm busy."
"None of your cancer kids can be more important than what I'm gonna tell you."
"You always say that."
"It's always true."
"Not...the word I'd use."
"Yeah, yeah. Shut up. I slept with Chase."
"Ow!"
"My success is physically hurting you?"
"I bumped into... – Loretta, sorry, I wasn't paying attention, are you alright?"
House listened impatiently as his best friend consoled the nurse he'd barreled into. Finally, the oncologist hurried on.
"House, are you saying you're...gay?"
"I guess. Relax, I didn't know before, so I haven't been trying to get you into bed. Except for maybe unconsciously. Very deeply buried."
"But what...you're not serious, are you?"
"Yes I am."
"But..."
"Wilson. It's true. I don't know how it happened, but it did."
"Well, what...what do you want me to say? I mean, do you want me to congratulate you? I'm not even sure I'm not dreaming all this, I just – "
"Don't freak out."
Wilson took a deep breath. "Sorry. But still, what am I supposed to say?"
House shut his eyes. "I don't know. Do you think we could...work out?"
"I don't know. He's younger. And your employee. Are you...in love with him?"
The diagnostician swallowed. "I think so."
"Well, what does he say?"
"I haven't talked to him. He's listening to that law thing."
"The lecture, right. So where are you?"
"In our room, I wasn't gonna put myself through all that crap."
"House, if Cuddy finds out..."
"How would she?"
"Okay...but still, you can't send Chase down there on his own."
"Sure I can."
"Well. You shouldn't. Not...not after what happened."
"I'm sure he's more comfortable away from me at the moment. And what happened doesn't change anything."
"It...kind of does."
"It won't."
"House, of course it will. Option A: You break up and fire him. That will mean someone new in your team, tell me you won't mind that. Option B; he stays on the
team, but you two break up...that will mean you have a history, and it won't be easy for either of you to be around each other. And option C; you don't break
up. Cuddy won't want you as his supervisor, so he'll be off the team, leading to the first outcome."
"You forgot about option D."
"What's that?"
"We stay together...and don't tell anyone."
Down in one of the hotel's lecture halls, Chase was sitting trying not to think about the morning's events. Futilely. He kept drifting back to the moment he woke
up and couldn't help but worry he'd be out of a job by the time he was back home. Sure, House had kissed him, not the other way around, but if House wanted
someone off the team...off the team they went. The intensivist sighed and stared at the sheet of paper he had used to jot down some of the facts the lecturer
was reeling off. Balling his fists, he willed himself to concentrate.
When the intensivist was finally released from his misery, hours of fighting to sit still lay behind him. The lecture had been followed by a workshop which
seemed to take ages – and after that, people had 'mingled', which Chase of course had felt obligated to join in on. Knowing his luck, if he left early, it would
probably get back to Cuddy that PPTH hadn't been represented properly, which would lead to House being yelled at. And if House was yelled at, his employees
suffered. So when the Australian arrived back in the lobby, clutching a folder of new material, he breathed a sigh of relief. Taking the elevator up to their floor,
that feeling faded and evolved to dread. Chase steeled himself and marched towards his room.
"Come in."
House was wrapped in a bathrobe, sitting on an armchair and reading a newspaper. He looked up when his duckling slunk in, but continued reading right
afterward. A couple of seconds passed.
"House?"
"What?"
"You promised we could talk."
"Oh, well, sure. I mean, if I promised, gee, of course we'll talk!" Chase looked crushed.
"But I really have quite a few questions, I mean – "
"Oh, relax. We'll talk. Meaning I'll talk, and you'll listen. And before answering, you will think. Got it?" The younger doctor nodded. He had long since ceased
being shocked by his supervisor's rudeness.
"Good. You have two choices. One, we carry on like normal. I'm your boss, and nothing else. And two, we see how being together works out. Either way, we
won't tell anyone about us. Understood?"
"I wasn't gonna tell any – "
"Understood?"
"Yes."
"So what's your answer?"
If Chase had looked at his employer, he'd have noticed the older doctor struggling to maintain his calm. But he stared at the bedspread, much too nervous to look at his employer.
"I... I'd like to try and...stay together."
House nodded and for a second, their eyes met. "Good."
