Chapter 14

Chase lay on his side; Jasper snuggled against him so that the top of head rested just below his chin. Chase quietly stroked her jet black hair, watching the moonlight shine against it as it moved and reflected how strange it was that this simple action made him so happy. Chase was no stranger to relationships, per se, but this was different in so many ways.

Chase had always dated a certain type of woman, high-maintenance, thin, blonde and generally vapid. Jasper was none of those things. In fact, she was exactly the opposite of everything that normally attracted him to a woman. She was down to earth, curvy to put it kindly, dark haired and utterly brilliant. Everything about her was such a contrast to his usual type that Chase sometimes marveled they'd ever gotten together.

Jasper stirred against him. His gentle stroking of her hair was making her sleepy, and she had dozed off for a few minutes. She breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of his aftershave and soap, and smiled. He was so much the opposite of what he appeared to be. She'd heard the nurses talking about him before they'd begun dating. She knew they thought was a pretty boy and a good doctor, but nothing special.

Jasper knew all those things were false. Chase was no pretty boy. His looks were just a part of who he was, but the implications that went with that label couldn't be further from the truth. At one time that might have been fair, or so he'd told her. But not now. He'd been hit hard when his father left him with nothing, but he got through it and was a better man because of it. He was brilliant, and threw himself into his work with a zealousness that impressed her. He was far from nothing special.

"Mikki?" Chase said, interrupted her thoughts. "Did you ask House about next Friday?"

"Mmm. He said its fine as long as I cover his clinic hours," Jasper replied.

"Like you wouldn't be doing that anyway," Chase snorted.

"That's what I said," Jasper said, smiling against his chest. She hesitated for a minute, unsure whether she wanted to bring this subject up again. "Rob, are you sure you really want to meet my whole family?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't," Chase said. "Do you not want me to meet them?"

"No," Jasper insisted quickly. "No. It's just, they're all going to be there. All my brothers and their wives, my parents, probably an assortment of aunts and uncles. It's going to be quite the crowd."

"Is this like a family reunion or something? Will I be intruding?" Chase asked. She seemed almost reluctant to have him meet her family. He knew it was a big step in a relationship, and he'd thought they were ready for it but maybe she didn't feel quite so strongly about him as he did about her.

"No, not that," Jasper answered slowly. She took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "I've never brought anyone home to meet them before. I mean a boyfriend. They're going to make a huge deal of it and I … I'm afraid they'll scare you off."

Chase smiled. She didn't want him to get scared off. That was good. He'd been obsessing over whether or not to say those three little words for days, but he'd thought maybe it was still too soon.

"I love you, Michael Jasper, and your family isn't going to scare me off," Chase said.

Jasper lifted her head out of Chase's chest and propped herself up on one elbow. She couldn't believe he'd just said that. She'd been toying with the idea of saying she loved him for over a week, but she'd been afraid it was too soon. When she had told him she was going to visit her family and he'd asked if he could join her she'd almost let it slip out.

"I love you too. And you may regret that you said that once you've met them," Jasper said, smiling now from ear to ear.

"Never. So you love me, huh?" Chase asked, grinning like a fool. Jasper nodded. "Show me." And she did.

Foreman sat on the couch in his living room, pretending to be completely engrossed with whatever was on the TV at the moment. He wasn't exactly sure who he was pretending for, it's not like there was anyone there to judge his performance. He just knew he wasn't going to give in and wallow in his misery that he was sitting home alone once again.

He sighed as he picked up the remote control and flicked through the channels. There was nothing on TV worth watching, and watching a really bad show or movie is only fun when you can crack jokes with someone else about how awful it is. He grinned, he and Rae had loved watching reruns of General Hospital on the Soap Network and picking apart the medical scenes. The grin faded quickly as he realized now the only person he knew who watched General Hospital was House. They certainly wouldn't be watching it together.

Glancing over at the clock on the wall, Foreman realized it was only nine o'clock. It was far too early to go to bed, but what else was there to do? Disgusted with himself, he jumped up from the couch and grabbed his jacket off the chair by the door. He'd go out and get a beer at the bar around the corner.

Ten minutes later Foreman was sitting on a stool at the bar and nursing a beer. Truthfully, he wasn't feeling much better than he had at home, but at least when House asked him what he'd done last night he could say he'd gone out instead of admitting he'd been home alone watching the walls.

"Foreman?" a voice said from behind him. Foreman turned and saw Price standing to his left. He had a beer in hand, and looked about as thrilled to be there as Foreman did. Foreman motioned for him to sit.

The two men began talking, and before long were laughing over med school pranks and bad date stories. Two hours later, Foreman glanced at his watch and realized with real regret that he'd better get home.

"It's after eleven, I've got to get some sleep," he said as he laid a twenty down on the bar and stood up to put on his jacket. Price did the same and the two men stared awkwardly at each other for a minute.

"I'm really glad we ran into each other," Foreman said.

"I'm glad as well. It's been a bit lonely here without a friend," Price said, shaking his head. "I even asked Dr. Cameron out for dinner a few weeks ago." He looked at Foreman and rolled his eyes. Foreman just looked back, unsure why Price thought asking Cameron out was so bizarre. Price looked at his shoes quickly and then to the door. "Maybe we could do this again sometime?"

"Sure," Foreman agreed. He put out a hand and Price took it. Surprising Foreman, Price leaned in and turned the handshake into a hug. Foreman hugged him back, and then nearly toppled over as he was positive he felt lips on his cheek. Before he could say anything, Price was out the door. Foreman looked around, confused. Did I just agree to a date?