Through Sickness and In Health

Talk to Me: Part 3

When Chase woke up, he was alone and in bed. He turned, yawning, to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table. 1034. He stretched, trying to think back to last night. His movements stilled as it dawned on him that he told House. He told House. House knew. The Australian's hand went to his hair and tugged.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God." He mumbled, rocking slightly, pulling his knees to his chest. "No, no, no, no, no, no." He had to swallow tears that suddenly formed in his eyes. House appeared by his side suddenly, reaching to calm the tugging hands.

"Hey, hey. What's the matter?" House asked gently, even though he had a pretty good idea of the answer. Chase stared at him, eyes fearful.

"I told you." He whispered, not trusting his voice. House smiled softly, pulling the younger man into his side.

"Yeah, you did." He pressed a light kiss to Chase's temple. "And I know how hard that it was for you, and I'm really proud of you." Chase looked into House's eyes, searching for lies, and saw nothing but truth. He blushed, turning his face into House's shoulder.

"We're gonna have to talk about it, aren't we?" Chase mumbled into his boyfriend's neck. He felt House nod against him.

"Yeah…but first, breakfast!" House kissed him again. Chase smiled uncertainly, and nodded, letting out a shaky breath.

HOUSECHASE

Chase pushed his cereal around the bowl, leaning his head against his hand, which was absentmindedly twirling and tugging lightly at his hair. He was too nervous to eat. His stomach rolled and clenched at the mere thought of his spoon passing his lips. He looked up from his bowl of soggy food as he heard House sigh. The older man pointed at the bowl, causing to Chase's cheeks to turn red.

"I'm not hungry." He whispered, continuing to push the spoon around.

"You have to eat, Rob." House told him softly. Chase nodded.

"I know…I really am just not hungry."

"Babe – "

"I'm just nervous." He interrupted, flashing a nervous little grin. House snorted, putting his own spoon down.

"Guess we shoulda started with 'the talk', huh?" Chase let out a little laugh, giving a small nod. House moved his seat closer to Chase's, taking the younger man's free hand in his. "Okay, I think you should try anti-depressants." House voiced slowly and gently. Chase looked down at his lap, biting his lip. "I completely get it if you do –"

"No! I, uh…I think you're right…" Chase looked up for moment before quickly looking away again. House was shocked.

"Wait, really?" Chase nodded hesitantly.

"I think so, yeah…" Chase whispered. "I have more bad days than good ones, and they've been getting worse lately. I was put on fluoxetine when I was sixteen, but it didn't really work so I stopped taking it after two years." He pulled on his hair some more, not noticing that strands of blonde was landing in his forgotten cereal bowl.

"Stop that, or you'll hurt yourself." House reprimanded softly, taking hold of the hand tangled in hair. Chase stared at his hand, frowning.

"I don't even realise I'm doing it." Chase says quietly. House kissed the other's hand.

"We can look into it, alright?" Chase nodded. "Do you want to try something stronger than fluoxetine?" Chase shrugged, sniffing suspiciously. House placed his fingers under Chase's chin, lifting his head gently to look at him. There were slow tears making their way down the tanned cheeks. House wiped them away with his thumb.

"None of that." He smiled sadly when Chase leaned into his touch. "Why the tears?" Chase sniffed again, and rubbed his eyes with a fist, reminding House of a small child who was tired.

"I just feel like I'm weak." He whispered, looked at the intertwined hands. "It feels like I'm a teenager again." He confessed, a few more tears leaking out of his ocean-orbs. House put an arm around his wombat's shoulders, pulling him close and kissing his cheek. Chase closed his eyes, sighing as he leaned heavily against the American. "I hate this." He mumbled.

"It'll get better, I promise." House whispered into the blonde hair.

HOUSECHASE

The pair spent the next few hours finishing off getting ready for Australia. They joked and teased each other as they cleaned the apartment and finished packing bags. Chase picked up his violin from by House's piano, feeling the smooth wood gently.

"Hey, Greg? Do you mind if I take it?" Chase asked, turning to face his boyfriend. House grinned at him.

"I was hoping you would." At Chase's questioning look, he continued. "I like it when you play, you're good. And I can see that it makes you calm." Chase's eyes began tearing up.

"You really think I'm good?" he asked quietly, looking down at his instrument. No-one had told him that before. House nodded, smiling.

"The best." He confirmed, placing an affectionate hand on Chase's cheek, wiping away stray tears. Chase rubbed his eyes violently, placing the violin back down.

"Why do I have to cry all the time?" he asked softly, accent thick. "I feel stupid." He rubbed his face again, sighing as House embraced him tightly.

"It's just your brain playing with your emotions." House explained softly, not caring that Chase was a doctor himself and should know all of this stuff. "Once you find some meds that work for you it'll get better for you to control." Chase nuzzled into House's body closer, closing his eyes. "Do you want to get checked out before we go away?" House felt a little nodded against his chest. "PPTH or General? I can see if Wilson will check you out, or I have a couple buddies at General if you would feel more comfortable there?"

"General." Chase mumbled tiredly into House's shirt, the emotional and busy day finally catching up with him, despite it only being 5pm. He sighed contently again; relaxing more in House's arms as the older man began stroking his hair.

"How about you go take a nap and I'll make an appointment for tomorrow?"

"'m comfy 'ere." Chase protested weakly, but not putting up much of a fight when House began to lead him down the hall to the bedroom. House laid his duckling down carefully, smiling when h e began snoring softly as soon as his head hit the pillow. The kid looked so damn young when he was sleeping. House ran a hand lightly through the blonde hair, causing Chase to sink deeper into the pillows. House frowned slightly when his fingers found a small bald spot in the midst of the sun-kissed locks. He would need to mention that to the doctor tomorrow. With a final look at Chase, he limped back into the kitchen, pulling out his phone and scrolling through the contacts. He looked for the number of a doctor at Princeton General that he trusted well.

"Hey, Stevenson. It's House." He said when the line connected. "I need a favour…"