Can You Create Fate?-Ch.4 –Love Potion #9

The next day Chase walked into the office with trepidation.

Foreman and Cameron were already there, looking at him with mortified expressions on their faces.

"Chase"-they both started talking at the same time.

"We're sorry," they both said.

"Really, we have no idea what came over us! We're so embarrassed! Can you ever forgive us? Oh my God, I can't believe we did that!" Cameron had turned a million shades of red at that, and looked down.

"Yeah, man. I don't know what happened. Really sorry. Really, really, really sorry. What a mistake, what a big –"

"Got it!" Chase said, abruptly. Jeez, had it really been that big of a mistake? He'd kind of liked it.

"Look," he said in a slightly softer tone. "It's ok, really. Let's just forget about it, ok? Let's just relax. We're under a lot of pressure here. It makes us act strangely sometimes."

Cameron and Foreman looked relieved at that, but still insisted on doing things to make it up to Chase. They said they'd take him to lunch and do his clinic hours for the next month, and if there was any paper work that required late nights they'd take care of that, too.

Chase couldn't believe his good luck.

******

Throughout the day he was approached by Cuddy and Wilson, both of whom apologized profusely. Cuddy said he could take the next week off if he wanted to, and he gladly watched all this happening and called Chase into his office at the end of the day.
"It looks like things have calmed down," House grinned.

"Yeah, who knows why these things happen? Um, you're not feeling differently toward me, are you?" Chase hated the way his voice cracked on that last word, but he couldn't help it. He was worried that once again Kyle wouldn't know what the hell he was talking about.

"No, of course not." House motioned for Chase to come nearer to him. He kissed Chase very softly and said, "I'm just getting started."

************

They went back to House's apartment and had dinner. House was extremely affectionate throughout the dinner and afterwards when they were having a drink.

Chase got quiet.

"What's wrong?" House wondered.

"Hmm? Nothing. I was just wondering if you'd still like me if we hadn't slept together." Chase was mortified when the rest of the sentence escaped his lips. He'd wanted to just say "nothing", but the rest of the sentence came falling out of his mouth as though it had a mind of its own.

"What kind of a question is that? Of course I'd like you. I liked you before we slept together, didn't I? And by the way, we did not just "sleep together". We had sex. Wild, very hot sex!" Chase could see House was teasing him, but he couldn't shake the doubts that started to creep up in his mind.

"House- I don't think you like me for the right reasons!" Chase blurted out.

"What the fuck are you talking about? You're beautiful, sexy, have the best lips I've ever tasted, and a great ass. You have a body that turns me on, and you know what you're doing in bed. Damn, do you know what you're doing in bed!" House momentarily got lost in thought at what Chase had done to him the last time they'd had sex.

"So, since you like the way we are in bed-"

"Oh, no. You don't want me to say I want you for your mind, do you?" Seeing Chase's stricken expression he added, "I do like your mind. Seriously. I mock you, but then again I mock everybody. If I didn't like your mind I wouldn't have bothered keeping you on. And I wouldn't want to fuck you more than once. Stupidity bores me. And you know I can't take being bored." House could see Chase was still not convinced, so he continued.

"I like you, Chase. Like the way you are with people, like the way you care about what you're doing. I like your sense of humor. I admire that you're not afraid to put yourself out there when you want something, or someone. Like when you wanted Cameron, even though she kept denying that she wanted a serious relationship. I like you, Chase. I mean it. Now stop it,ok? I'm getting annoyed having to soothe you."

Chase shook his head. "You only THINK you like me. You're right when you say that I go after what I want. I've wanted you since I met you. I just never thought it was going to happen, so after a while I put my attention elsewhere. But I could never shake the thought of being with you. Not really. So, recently I'd been trying to get you interested in me. When it wasn't working, I took drastic measures."

House laughed. "What did you do, drug me?"

"No, but I- I drank this potion, aphrodisiac thing. And I think you think you like me because of that! And it won't go away, even though the effects have gone away on others. Because we slept together!" Chase said all of that in one breath, afraid to look House in the eye.

House's laughter made him finally look up.

"You really DO need time off, don't you? I didn't realize how hard I was working you! You've gone crazy!"

"House, stop it! I haven't gone crazy. See how Cameron and Foreman, and Cuddy and Wilson, and well, everyone including you had been acting toward me? That was from the potion."

"You can't possibly believe that!" House said, laughing as he did so.

"Yes! Yes I do! It's the only explanation! I was trying to create fate! But you cannot create fate, because then it's not fate, its voodoo!"

House was practically on the floor with laughter at this point.

"House, it isn't funny!"

"Yes, yes it is a little funny!" With an effort, House managed to slow his laughter down.

"Tell me, when did you start using this 'potion'?" House asked.

"The day that you first kissed me."

"Ah. And you think that's the first time I noticed you or wanted you?

"Well, wasn't it? You never said anything before then. In fact, you treated me like you wanted to fight with me a lot of the time!"

"Chase, have you never heard the term 'sexual tension'? That's what I felt with you. It's what I've ALWAYS felt with you. Why do you think I'd make all the comments I did about you? Your physical appearance, your sexuality, your interest in BDSM," House grinned, knowing that would get a response from Chase.

"House, I-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You didn't participate. I know. I don't believe you, but I know. Anyway, not the point. I liked you then. Wanted you then. I just never acted on it until the other day."

"Well, you see, that's because of the potion."

"It is not, you idiot. It's because I saw everyone else coming onto you. I realized that I was really jealous. I never believed your relationship with Cameron would last. But now, seeing all of them leering and touching you really pissed me off! I realized I'd better move fast, before you ended up belonging to one of them and not me."

Chase looked at House, trying to figure out if what he was saying was true.

"Really?" was all he could think to say in reply.

"Oh for fuck's sake, yes, really." House pulled Chase to him and kissed him again and again.

They both got a little dizzy from the force of the kisses, and Chase pulled away and rested his head on House's chest.

"I believe you," Chase sighed when he realized he actually did believe House.

"You're a moron, you know that, Chase? Potions!" House said this gruffly, but with affection and something Chase couldn't quite identify underneath. Fear, maybe?

"To think you'd even question me because you thought a potion made me like you!"

Chase smiled as he heard what House wasn't saying. "You almost walked away from me."

"I'm not going anywhere, House," Chase whispered.

"Of course you're not. Who said you were?"

"You did," thought Chase.

Aloud he said, "Well, even if the potion didn't make you like me we still owe it a debt of gratitude. Without the others being affected by it you wouldn't have showed me that you liked me."

Chase thought "I guess sometimes you can create fate."

Or maybe this was what had been fated all along.

~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Chase was determined to throw away the potion, but found the bottle already emptied and broken in his garbage can.

He smiled.

"I didn't know if it was day or night,
I started kissing everything in sight,
but when I kissed the cop down on 34th and Vine,
he broke my little bottle of-
Love Potion #9."