Talia's biggest fear came true no less than a few days later.

She and Chase had been given a day off for once, which was a pleasant change. The hospital had been going crazy with the cases and they were growing in bizarreness by the second, so the calmness of their home was helping them regulate the madness. It was like their safe space. Talia hadn't managed to confront House on how he knew about Ryan, which wasn't the plan. He'd been specially flown across the country on a private case that seemed pretty serious - so she couldn't get him one on one, and he wasn't answering his damn phone.

"Babe, d'ya think we could get a cat?" Talia randomly asked Chase one evening. They were cuddled up together on the couch as they watched TV.

"A cat?" he chuckled, glancing down at her in surprise. "You actually like cats?"

"Don't you?" Talia blinked as she met his gaze with a frown. "Are you now telling me that you don't like nuns and animals? Sorry, does that sound normal to you or should we start getting you some real help?"

"Yeah, I just sound more and more evil by the day, don't I?" Chase rolled his eyes playfully. Talia giggled and slid her hand up his chest to cup his jaw. "Ohhh, here we go-" Chase murmured, knowing exactly what was coming.

"Are you telling me that you wouldn't get us a cat?" Talia tutted cheekily, pressing multiple kisses on his cheek in between each word whilst he desperately bit back a smirk. "Wouldn't you do it for your girlfriend of whom you love and adore?"

"I would do a lot for my girlfriend of whom I love and adore," Chase finally grinned, grabbing her face in his hand instead and darting his tongue over his bottom lip. "In fact, I have a pending surprise for my girlfriend who I love and adore-"

"Wait, you do?" Talia gasped, now sitting up straight. She couldn't stop smiling already, which just made Chase smile wider. "What is it? Where is it?!"

"You can get it later, I've got a whole thing surrounding it," Chase hummed innocently. But Talia was far too persistent for that, and she knew she'd be able to ween it out of him. She just needed to wait for the right time to strike.

"Fiiiine," she purred, eyes still firmly locked with his. "Be that way then." And with that, she jumped up, ready to flounce off to the bathroom - but Chase quickly grabbed her hand and yanked her back so that she came crashing back on top of him again. "Stop! Lemme go and pee?" she giggled, prodding at his chest.

"Pee, or go and pretend-sulk to trick me into telling you what the surprise is?" Chase grinned before pressing merciless kisses straight onto her neck, making her laugh and squirm even harder.

"No, I need to pee you evil man!" she squealed, wriggling around helplessly in his grip. So Chase finally let her go and she leapt across the living room and into the hallway, rushing into the bathroom. She was still giggling away as she sat on the toilet - it was unbelievable how happy Chase made her feel, how grateful she was for her job, and how beautifully life was going right at that moment.

She should've known.

Talia hummed away as she sat on the toilet, catching her breath after her boyfriend's mini-attack, whilst Chase himself was watching the rest of the cooking show.

Then he heard that sound. Talia's phone going off from where it had fallen out of her pocket beside him. He glanced down at it with a baffled frown.

"Babe? Your phone is ringing…should I get it?" he called across the apartment.

"Oh, yes please!" Talia called back without even thinking.

So he did.

"Hello, Talia's phone?"

"Who's this?" a rough male voice spoke, setting Chase back a few paces. "Where is she?"

"I'm…I'm sorry?" Chase found himself chuckling confusedly as he muted the TV.

"Who, is, this?" the man grunted again, a little slower than before.

"I'm Talia's boyfriend - and you are…?" Chase frowned. He wasn't taking well to his tone at all.

"So that's it? She got someone else after all she put me through? After what she did to me? Tell her to wait right there. She'll know who the f*ck this is."

And then he hung up, leaving Chase with nothing but the dialling tone. He didn't know what to do or how to react - he felt paralysed.

Was that fear?

By the time Talia had casually strolled out of the bathroom again, she was met with Chase pacing the living room and the TV was completely switched off. "Robert?" Talia blinked at him with a small confused smirk. "What-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Chase spoke bluntly, stopping his pacing to stare at her.

"Tell you… tell you what?"

"Someone who I'm guessing was your ex just called," Chase muttered, slamming himself into the sofa and burying his head in his hands in disbelief. "Are you still in contact with him?!"

Talia felt the ground almost cave beneath her feet. Her knees started to weaken.

"He….he…." she stuttered out as the colour drained from her face. She slowly sunk to the floor, landing on her hands and knees with her head bowed in disbelief. Chase just stared at her. "H-he c-c-called again?"

"Again? Talia, what the hell does he want and what does he mean by 'wait for him'?" Chase asked a little softer now, beginning to feel uneasy.

But she wasn't answering anymore - just heavily panting.

Chase wasn't stupid, so he showed no hesitation. He leapt up and rushed over to her before she could start seizing, propping her torso up on his lap and gently prising her shaking hands away from where they were now covering her face. But once he moved his hand, the amount of blood in front of him worried him even more.

"N-nose bleed," Talia whispered as the blood dripped relentlessly from her nostrils and into her mouth. "T-t-towels-"

"Yeah, I know, T. Stay upright for me, I'll be back," Chase ordered her quietly, propping her against the living room wall before running into the bathroom. Talia's mind was moving at a thousand thoughts per second and she could barely regulate each of them. So Chase had actually physically spoken to Ryan, meaning the last conversation she had with him really wasn't psychosis? It was real, it was more than real and now he knew who Chase was, no doubt putting him in just as much danger and-

HOW DID HOUSE KNOW?

"Here babe, move your hand for me," came Chase's soothing voice from somewhere in the distance, suddenly letting her know he was back. The panic in her eyes was enough to make him concerned, let alone the fact that she was now seriously hyperventilating. "T, who was that?" he murmured to her whilst applying pressure to her nose.

"R-Ryan," Talia stuttered, her stomach churning. Chase's hand temporarily fell from her nose in shock.

"I'm sorry - Stacy's Ryan?" he clarified loudly. "So all this time, you were right?! Talia, if he's really alive then we-"

"I f*cking told everyone!" Talia suddenly burst into tears, knocking her head back against the wall repeatedly in a sudden rage, startling Chase yet again, "I t-t-told them that I could see him o-outside my window for years and-"

"Outside your window? Oh my god, I didn't know he was stalking you!" Chase yelped as he simultaneously attempted to prevent her from bashing her own head in. But she wouldn't stop flinging it back, over and over and over again, each one more violent than the last. "Talia STOP. If you carry on like this I'm gonna have to give you stitches-"

"R-Robert, I knew it. I knew it, he c-c-called me that night-" Talia sobbed, now unable to distinguish between what was tears and what was blood smearing her cheeks.

"What night? What night did he call you?" Chase rambled out worriedly as he watched her grow increasingly distressed. "Oh, T-"

"That n-n-night where I couldn't sleep…i-i-it was cos he called me," Talia admitted shakily, still clinging onto him for dear life as if she was worried about being dragged away. Chase's mouth formed into an understanding 'o' as it all dawned on him. "Oh g-g-god and now he knows about you-"

"Hey, listen to me," Chase muttered down at her, stroking her hair out of her eyes. "Stop panicking. We're gonna get this sorted, we will, okay? You're safe. Why didn't you say anything, T? I thought we said that we'd-"

"I was gonna tell you, I swear I was," Talia promised, burying her face into his chest apologetically. He hushed her and held her as tightly as he could, not caring about the blood and tears staining his clothes. "B-but then your d-dad's will-"

"Oh god," Chase groaned sadly as he tipped her head up by his quivering jaw, "Talia, I'm more than capable of taking on more than one situation at a damn time! Especially one that's been eating you alive!"

"I know and I'm so sorry," Talia sniffed, feeling terrible for withholding this information and now accidentally getting Chase involved. "I am so, so-"

"Hey, stop," Chase murmured down at her with a frown. He held her face firmly in both of his hands instead of just one. "I'm sorry that you've been dealing with this alone. Is this the first time you've heard from him since…?"

"Since moving, y-yeah. So many people told me I was being stupid for so long, they said I was hallucinating," Talia admitted as the tears continued to run, "but if you physically heard him too and Hou-"

"What did he say to you that night? How did he get your number? Didn't you change it?" Chase continued to question her quietly as he gently dabbed away at her face.

"He was just breathing down my line the first time. I don't know how he got my number," Talia wept. Her sobs were literally breaking Chase's heart. "Chase, I'm f*cking petrified of him finding me-"

"He won't, T. Please stop freaking out, babe," Chase assured her before bringing her towards his chest for another bone-crushing hug. "Let's go and get you cleaned up. After that, I'm calling the cops."

…

Talia was grateful to see that the officer who'd turned up happened to be the same one from the station before Foreman got sick. It made everything so much easier - and as she sat there in a fluffy dressing gown all cleaned up, clutching a mug of sweet raspberry leaf tea whilst retelling the story of Ryan and everything pertaining to him, the ease was very much appreciated. "So you said on that day, you believe he was about to kill you? " Officer Leslie clarified as her partner scribbled something down. "And you…"

"I hit him in his face with something to get him off me because his chest was too firm and I wasn't doing much damage by hitting him there. He gym'd a lot," Talia nodded shakily, keeping her eyes focussed on the carpet. "His face was just a b-bloody mess when I was done and I must've knocked him out before I ran away. Kept running, didn't stop. There was no body found when I voluntarily turned myself into the police, but his mum held a funeral for him cos she believed he was dead but I knew he wasn't. I had a feeling and it wouldn't budge, for so long. The mother tried to get me arrested twice and I was released without charges both times because it was self d-defence a-and I was also beating to sh*t and he…I…they couldn't find his body or evidence of a murder. At first they thought I moved his body but I had too many alibis, and I was so out of it by the time they'd found me in the street that they declared I 'wasn't in the right frame of mind' to be able to dispose of a body. It was…horrible." Chase sat next to her, squeezing her knee in comfort as he heard her voice tremble.

"And you didn't hear from him again after that?" Officer Leslie clarified calmly.

"N-not directly, no. But I always saw figures in my window and there were guys that I'd see around that looked exactly like him when I was out and stuff. I literally had to move from place to place in the fear of him finding me, and I don't doubt that some of them were hallucinations b-but a lot of the time, they obviously were not, cos he's back," Talia explained, shakily placing her mug down on the coffee table. "He's definitely been stalking me, and now he's found me. He even got my new number. If there's anything I need, it's a damn apology from all the people that called me insane whilst invalidating my fear." Officer Leslie sighed and closed her notepad.

"Well I'm glad you mustered the strength to contact us, Dr. Talia. We know how hard it is," she told her assuringly. "The best thing we can do is take your phone as evidence and run it through our systems. We'll trace the IP of the recent caller and call for any arrests from there - given that you still have both physical and emotional scars from the damage done, including the pictures of your injuries that you saved…alongside harassment and possible stalking, it looks like he'll be down for quite a few charges. On a more positive note, I see it as very unlikely that he'll physically track you down. If he knew where you were, he would've done something to you already, people don't play these kinda mind games in real life, it's a very cinematic thing to do. In the meantime I would recommend you change your number and only give it to a select few trustworthy people, yes?"

"Thank you, Officer," Talia mumbled, lowering her head again. Officer Leslie stood up and placed a firm comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We will find him, Doctor," she nodded. "Trust us - we'll make sure you're safe." Talia shot her a brief grateful smile as Chase rose to his feet to see the officers out.

"Thank you so much," he thanked them with pure gratitude in his voice, leading them towards the front door.

"Not a problem, Dr. Chase - we'll keep you both in the loop as soon as we know more," Officer Leslie assured him.

"Thanks - also, I actually booked a holiday to Budapest in a week's time, it was meant to be a surprise," Chase explained as quietly as he could. "Should I…should I cancel that? Or…do you still think it's okay for us to go?"

"I think taking her out of this environment is honestly the best thing you could do," Officer Leslie advised him with a friendly smile. "That's a great idea, in fact. Keep her busy and distracted on your side, and we'll do our half of it and get this guy caught."

"Thank you," Chase sighed in relief, smiling back at her. "Thanks so much." He let the officers out before shutting and locking his front door again, distantly hearing Talia sniff as she started getting ready for bed. He followed her into the bedroom and leaned against the doorframe as she stripped down into her underwear. "How you feeling, babe?"

"Tired," Talia murmured thickly, not looking up.

"Hmmm, I can imagine," Chase nodded sympathetically. "Have you called into work?"

"For what? I'm going in," Talia stated. Chase had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at her everlasting stubbornness, "I don't need to call in, I can update them in person."

"Wait, update them? They know already?" Chase suddenly asked, his arms tensing ever so slightly. Talia's head was already pounding. She didn't want to hash this out with him right now, but she knew she'd said the wrong thing from the way his voice had suddenly slowed down.

She just couldn't bring herself to care anymore.

"A few people know Robert, yes," she answered tiredly, shoving on an oversized top and climbing into bed.

"How many are a few? Does House know?" Chase continued on as his relaxed stance began to stiffen.

"Apparently so," Talia sniffed.

"Cuddy?"

"Yeah. B-but I didn't tell her. Cameron did-"

"Cameron knows?" Chase suddenly scoffed in irritated disbelief. "How does ALLISON know-"

"Alright, whilst we're at it - Foreman also knows!" Talia decided to put it all out there as she dragged her knuckles across her warm forehead, watching Chase's face fall. "Oh Chase please don't do this today. I already explained why I didn't tell you-"

"Right. And that's meant to make everything better, yeah?" Chase snapped back, already walking out of the bedroom.

"Oh my god Chase GIVE IT A REST!" Talia yelled after him as she jumped up from the bed and stomped out of the bedroom too, her tiredness suddenly evaporating. She marched into the kitchen to see him leant over the breakfast bar with his hands slammed over this face, trying his hardest to remain calm, but Talia was already pushed to her limit and so naturally - he would be too. "Look, I'm sorry for not telling you! I am sorry, I had every intention on doing it, but I neve-"

"Do you think I care less than House?" Chase suddenly challenged her. "Cos he knew before I did, and he cares just about f*ck all about anyone, let alone his own kid!"

"I DIDN'T TELL HIM! SPARE ME that narrative, please!" Talia snapped, tears running down her face all over again. She didn't even know why. She knew she should've said something earlier. "Sorry for not enforcing my own problems for you to fix as well, Superhero Chase! I was going to say something, you KNOW I was, but it's easy to-"

"If that bastard had called again without me picking up, would you have even told me?" Chase questioned her quietly as he looked back up at her again. But his face was different - the tears were also welling up in his own eyes. He was visibly shaken by the entire ordeal and Talia could see that. She was responsible for a whole new level of sadness and anxiety within him.

All because of her?

Regardless, she didn't answer his question because truthfully, she didn't know how to - and that was all Chase needed to hear. "F*ck, Talia. It's the first fight we ever had all over again but amplified by a hundred. I don't know what more I can do to show how much I'm willing to be there for you. It's like you don't trust me. You're preventing me from doing normal, regular relationship sh*t. I have to work so hard to figure out what's going on with you but all the secrets…they always get to this stage before they come out and it's THAT stuff that I can't do. I was beside you when you got that call. You should've woken me up…you should've-"

Chase gulped and shook his head, cutting himself off. He didn't know what else to say and Talia didn't either.

She had no energy to say anything at all, in fact. She could barely look at him.

"Are we done here? I wanna go to bed," was all she murmured out flatly. Chase clenched his jaw and looked up at her, looking like he was fighting himself to say something else.

"Y-yeah. We're done here - I'll sleep on the sofa," he finally answered quietly. Talia nodded and turned on her heel to walk back to the bedroom, but not before hearing Chase murmur out a blunt, "I love you." She paused and bit down on both lips to prevent herself from bursting into tears again.

"I love you too, Robert," she replied shakily without turning her head, before slipping her way into the bedroom and immediately crying herself to sleep.

…

a/n: hi this chapter made me cry and I'm so sorry for not updating last week! The UK just started loosening some of the lockdown measures so I kinda went out all weekend with my friends…maybe two chapters next week to make up for it, huh? YUP SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN!