Chase was just about to settle with the sundae at the doctor's lounge when Cameron poked her blonde head through the door.
"Hey. I've been looking for you."
He pulled another spoon from the drawer and plopped down onto the sofa, inviting her to join him. The first bite told him that it had been a pretty bad idea; the ice cream was not your average flavored Macadamia nut or Bourbon vanilla, but bore a prominent hint of Jamaican rum. Consequently, Cameron wrinkled her nose and gave him a quizzical look. "Is that alcohol?"
"Don't tell anyone. It's Dr. Meyer's from neurology. He's got a bit of a drinking problem. I'm only trying to help."
"By stealing his stash. How very considerate of you." She gave him a half-hearted smile, and then put her hands between her knees, shifting uncomfortably on the edge of the couch. "Have you spoken to House?"
"Haven't seen him for days." Chase couldn't believe how easy it was to evade the truth when he was with her, and he slightly wondered what House would deduce from the fact that he had no problem in doing so. Trust issues, perhaps.
Cameron put the spoon aside. "He's working overtime. Maybe he's back to normal."
"Could be." He doubted it, but the last thing he wanted to discuss with her was House's state of mind. It was bad enough as it was; getting Cameron worried surely wouldn't help.
She kept looking at him in a searching manner like a stubborn child who was about to test their boundaries. "I want him to attend our wedding."
Chase felt a pang in his chest. "You know he won't come."
"Maybe, if we tell him how much it would mean to us…" Her voice trailed off, and she kept giving him that peculiar stare.
For a moment, Chase was tempted to find her looking almost guilty as charged.
"Tell him you positively don't want him to show up and spoil the happiest day of your life. That might work."
"We both should ask him to come. After all, he has offered to arrange the party. He wouldn't do it if you were just another ex-employee to him."
Chase fleetingly wondered if she felt disappointment, or some sort of childish resentment. He assumed that House was up to the task because a bachelor party was more to his taste than some romantic, solemn procedure where people were prone to shedding tears of joy or throwing rice up in the air. It had nothing to do with him, or Cameron. House was like a teenager in many aspects. A bachelor party was too good to give it a miss. A wedding, not so much.
Chase took her hand and gently squeezed her fingers. "Do you really want him to come? I could ask him if you like, but it's not like I'm very good at making House change his mind."
She rewarded him with an ironic smile, reminiscing Chase of his status in House's team; the ass-kisser, the guy-to-mock-and-grab-by-the-balls if everyone else resorted to mutiny. The plain fact was, he hardly ever had a reason to object, and that's why he would stick to House's opinion more readily than opting to inefficient opposition like Cameron or Foreman would have. He didn't regret it then, and he certainly didn't hold it against himself now, but the mark of being House's sock puppet had been stamped all over his face back then, and it didn't wash off so easily.
"You know how he is. He probably just needs to hear how much it would mean to us." Cameron leaned forward, her fingers curling absent-mindedly around his own. "I think I'd feel like something was missing if he wasn't there."
"He's not going to compliment on your dress."
"You think that's why I want him to attend?"
"To be honest, I don't know why you want it. It's not like he's part of the family or something." It's not like he even likes us.
"Neither are Cuddy and Wilson, or Foreman and Thirteen", Cameron pointed out. "Besides, if it hadn't been for House, we never would have met."
He kept holding her hand, tried to figure out what was on her mind. He couldn't find anything but the genuine desire to invite a man that had been their boss for the span of what seemed like a time of growing up, of maturing; the man who had turned them into effective professionals; the man who was somehow linked to their past, and always would be.
Making House jealous on her wedding day was a long shot, even for Cameron.
He shouldn't think that way.
He shouldn't keep up with this insane jealousy.
Hell, he was the one who got her in the end, not House. "If it makes you happy, I'll ask him."
"You're a sweetheart." She got up, and her hand slipped out of his grip.
Suddenly, Chase felt the urge to pull her back, but she was on her feet before he got the chance.
"Oh, and while you're at it, make him understand that Wilson hosts the party, not him. It's nothing personal. I would like to marry you unscathed, that's all."
oOo
Chase found House in his office stretched out on the recliner, sound asleep.
Well, it looked like he was sleeping, but he might as well pretend and listen to what was going on beyond those glass walls. A sleeping House wasn't necessarily a good thing; Chase knew from experience how alert his mind could be when he appeared to have dozed off.
Still, it gave him a welcoming excuse to postpone what seemed like a hopeless waste of time anyway.
Chase was in the middle of effective retreat when House unexpectedly (or rather, not so unexpectedly) opened an eye.
"It's true, I've killed people for less than interrupting my beauty sleep, but I don't think you're worth the effort."
Chase checked the adjacent room with a quick glance, making sure it was deserted. His best chance was to come right to the point. "You're arranging the party. Why don't you come to the wedding?"
"Weddings are boring. Bachelor parties, on the other hand..." He swung his left leg to the floor, and then dragged along the other, graciously offering Chase a seat on the foot rest. "Want to go for another round of the Exorcist?"
"So Amber's still here."
"You know what she said? She thinks you're the extended version of Kutner."
It did not lack a certain irony that House' subconscious mind compared him to a dead colleague. "Um. That's… kind of her."
House arched an eyebrow. "You think so? I think it's stupid."
Chase sighed, not sure what to make of it. Maybe he should get used to the idea that House had better access to the hereafter than he was acquainted with what was going on at the hospital. Or maybe adjust to the fact that he was talking nonsense. "I knew next to nothing about Kutner, but he seemed like a pretty smart guy, otherwise you wouldn't have hired him."
"A suicide", muttered House while his eyes went straight through Chase, like he wasn't there at all. It was an eerie look, so out of character for House that Chase felt a chill running down his spine. "Willing to destroy everything he had. You call that smart?"
"You want to talk about Kutner?"
He suddenly realized that everybody seemed to avoid the subject. It was probably a good sign that House wasn't.
However, his next words were cold, dripping with disparagement, and spoken in a tone of voice that was designed to rile Chase.
"This isn't about Kutner."
"Your problem with Amber is most likely connected with Kutner's suicide. It might have triggered the hallucinations in the first place."
House's eyes narrowed, scrutinizing him with sparkling interest as well as a hint of vexation. "You didn't seek me out to annoy me with some amateur opinion, and it's not about your boy's wild night out, either. So who sent you? Because I strongly doubt you were growing a care bear gene over night, unless it's contagious."
Why was it that he always felt like an idiot in House's presence? Chase sighed and decided to lay down his defenses. They were pretty useless around House, anyway. "It's Cameron", he confessed. "She wants you to attend the wedding."
"I'm basically unavailable for funerals, christenings and weddings. Way too depressing. It's nothing personal, much as she'd like to hear me admit it."
Chase ignored the insinuation. Everybody at the hospital was gossiping about Cameron having 'a thing' for her former boss.
It didn't matter.
It shouldn't matter.
Not anymore.
"I wouldn't have asked you if it wasn't for Cameron. I told her you'll find it meaningless and boring, and even if you attend, you'd find a way to ridicule the whole procedure, and that would be a serious mood killer. She asked me to invite you anyway."
His eyes shone up in sudden interest. "Did you ask her why?"
He didn't need an answer to that question.
And, truth to be told, he didn't want one.
He was doing this for the woman he was going to marry, not because of some sort of stupid self-flagellation.
"We're not fighting over some woman's affection," House said after a long, uncomfortable pause, his voice surprisingly sober. "We've never been, but surely you're aware of it. You're not some moron who resorts to Othello-mode."
Even without much effort Chase realized that he was right.
He was always right, and Chase had always been ready to respect that.
Then why did he feel like he was painting himself into a corner? Why was there so much insecurity, so much suspicion, so much not talking between him and Cameron?
"Cameron loves me," he said, like some mantra that would come true if he repeated it over and over again.
House, unusually distracted, spared him a snide retort. "Good luck with that."
"It's settled, then. You won't attend."
"You can count on me."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Chase left the office, feeling sheepish and a bit confused, but the relief was far greater than he thought it would be.
As much as he was looking forward to the party, he didn't want House to be around at the wedding.
It was going to be his happiest day, too.
Happy days and House just didn't go well together.
oOo
They were watching Fried Green Tomatoes on DVD, one of Cameron's favorite movies. The plot was lost on Chase, and he re-played their short conversation earlier that evening. Cameron had been thoroughly disappointed when he told her about House's firm refusal, but didn't press any further.
While Chase could live with his reasons, he couldn't quite wrap his head around the rest of their conversation. It didn't make much sense, but then again, House hadn't made much sense in the last couple of weeks.
Cameron threw him a sidelong glance, her mind anywhere but at the Whistle Stop Café. "Do you think I should go and ask him myself?"
He didn't, and it wouldn't change a thing. "Why does it mean so much to you?"
"You know why." She stared at the screen again. "All our friends and colleagues will be there. We've been working for him longer than most of the people we've invited. I'm not saying he's more important than any of our guest, but I just feel like it would be nice to have him."
Idly, Chase curled a lock of her hair around his finger. He loved sitting with her on the sofa, even if it meant watching girls movies on TV and having her complain about the regular food delivery.
It just felt good.
It felt like something worth to come home for, and he wasn't willing to give up on that too easily.
Chase watched her distinctive profile, wondering if he would ever have the balls to confront himself with the niggling doubts he was silently harboring.
It was like a bomb that was about to blow off.
He certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to set fire to the fuse.
oOo
She kept holding the fort.
Like a chimera (which she undoubtedly was), Amber followed him through the clinic, kept nattering through the DDX, spiced up with annoying observations about his team.
"She's hot," she said with an approving look when he sent Thirteen and Foreman off to a strip club in order to complete Chase's wild night out.
"I don't pick my staff on pin up qualities."
"Yeah, right", Amber scoffed, "but you wouldn't mind having her picture in your locker."
"She's doing a good job."
"And she looks hot while doing so. Don't tell me you didn't take that into account when you hired her."
House felt more than a little bit tired of her ongoing analyses. Hiring a doctor because he found her sexually attractive? And yet, it was exactly what he told Cameron four years ago. He had been dismissive, of course, and he would like to pretend that he had selected all of his fellows to stricter criteria as to the attractiveness of their faces or cup size. Then again, he hardly knew anything private on his new team. He hadn't even noticed Kutner going down the road to self-destruction.
"Don't bother", Amber said reassuringly. "You had more important things on your mind than your employee's private life."
"It was different once," he said.
"Right, but that was when you weren't crazy."
He took the key of Wilson's apartment out of his pocket, unlocking the door. She followed him like she knew her way around; like she had the right to be here.
It annoyed him even more.
"The ice cream bar will be over here. Buffet's in the aisle to the bedroom, right?"
"You're alarmingly okay with a bachelor's party in your own apartment."
She shrugged. "I'm just a hallucination, remember?"
Hallucinations didn't live in apartments. Of course.
"You're really making an effort", Amber noticed and settled down on the sofa, watching him setting up the glass pyramid. "You wouldn't do it for anyone."
"I did it for Wilson. Numerous times, actually."
"He's your best friend. What's Chase to you, then? What did he do to deserve your attention? It's not like he's employee of the month or something."
Oddly enough, he didn't have an answer for that. Would he do the same for Foreman? For Taub?
He was never nice.
Not without reason.
Not without ulterior motive.
"Chase is the Oliver Twist among my people. I have a heart for the homeless."
"He is also the only one who can outmaneuver you. He's got the brains to do it. He thinks like you. One day he'll be as reckless as you are. Wouldn't you like that? Isn't that what you train them for? You teach them to become doctors who will act like you; doctors who will go beyond boundaries if necessary; doctors who give a shit on the Hippocratic Oath when it's just a hindrance. Chase has understood that. He trusts your judgment, and he acts upon it. One day he is to trust his own. And that'll be the day when he will turn into you."
He didn't want to listen to this.
"Of course, you can pretend that I'm wrong." She looked up at him with an unattractive smug on her face. "Or, you can simply admit it. Once they're married, he won't be under your thumb anymore but hers. The sad fact is, you're about to lose him. Who wouldn't be pissed about that?"
"What am I supposed to do? Pulling a Benjamin Braddock and kidnap him at the wedding to drive off into a glorious sunset?"
"Don't be silly." She crossed her legs and primly clasped her hands, then nodded towards the pyramid. "All I'm trying is to make you understand why you're doing this."
He certainly didn't do it out of some sort of ill-advised obligations.
Chase meant nothing to him.
It was fun to host parties, and there was no deeper meaning behind it.
"I'm good at this."
"You want him back."
"I fired him."
"And you would gladly have taken him back when he was the only one who came up with the correct diagnosis while a pose of hopeful aspirants cut your patient open. It was such a heart-warming moment, remember? You were clearly impressed. Proud of him, too."
House snorted, remembering the moment of weakness all too vividly. And, truth to be told, he hadn't been proud enough to beg.
Begging Chase to come back.
What an embarrassing moment of weakness that had been (weakness in the face of newly-gained Australian confidence, just to add insult to injury), and not heart-warming at all. Still, he said: "You're making it sound like Chase is some sort of prodigy."
She shrugged again. "Your words, not mine."
He locked her up in the apartment, fully aware that it was pointless.
She already waited for him in the back seat of Wilson's car.
"Wilson won't be happy to find his apartment turned into a brothel."
"He'll jump right in. He always does."
"Like Chase?" she suggested.
Just like Chase.
She smiled mockingly in the rearview mirror, then leaned forward to fill his right ear with another string of ludicrous revelations. "You like him. Why let him go? Why leave him in her hands? Who knows, if he's married long enough, he may even develop a conscience, and how boring would that be."
I'm sick with this, House thought, clutching the steering wheel and trying to ignore the cold breeze that her breath was. Get the hell away from me.
"Maybe we can put a spoke in her wheel", she whispered. "It would be better for both of them, and you know it."
Her words were like a migraine, and there was nothing he could do to shut her down.
God, he really needed to sleep.
oOo
Keeping the party a secret from Cameron was a fun game.
Chase was surprised to find out that it didn't bother his conscience too much. Surely, she wouldn't be enthusiastic about it, and she would probably disapprove, blaming him that he hadn't been completely honest with her, but he hadn't promised her anything yet, so he was in the clear, wasn't he?
Besides, Cameron herself had strained his goodwill when she told him of the legacy of her late first husband.
He was entitled to have his little revenge.
"Is something wrong?" Cameron asked while they were sharing luncheon at the cafeteria. "You're awfully quiet."
"It was a long morning", he lied. "Colectomy".
"I'm thinking about seating Meredith and Rebecca next to Steven and Lance. Meredith just recently broke up with her boyfriend, and the other three are currently single."
It took him a second to realize that she spoke of the arrangements at the wedding dinner. Of all the people she mentioned, he knew only Meredith, fleetingly. She was Cameron's best friend, and he didn't really care about her. As long as she sat far enough away from him, he'd be happy to oblige. "Do we really need to have a seating order? Why not have everybody take a seat where they feel comfortable?"
She gave him a quick frown. "I don't think Meredith would be comfortable sitting next to some lovey-dovey couple."
It never ceased to amaze him how meticulously she made plans. Experience had taught him that it was best to stay out of it. She was a stickler by nature.
"Fine with me", he said.
"Please make sure to pick up your shoes at Garisson's. You've paid a fortune to have them made."
God prevent he was going to wear the wrong pair of shoes on his wedding. "I'll go get them tomorrow."
"Don't forget to book accommodation for your friend."
"Already taken care of."
"And please get a haircut," she added.
Chase looked at her in slight surprise. "Is it too long?"
Cameron grimaced. "It's been too long for weeks. I've reminded you twice. Let it get cut before the wedding. Unless you want my parents to think I'm getting married to a hippie."
"They would never forgive you", he said teasingly, but she didn't return the joke.
"I wouldn't have asked you if it didn't matter to me."
He denied himself another joke at her expense. "Look, you don't have to organize everything to death. I don't want you to collapse as soon as the first guests arrive."
"We should have taken the Acapulco honeymoon", she said, oblivious to what he just said. "What if something happens at the clinic and we're not available?"
Chase leaned back, eyeing her suspiciously. "You're not concerned about the clinic. You're worried about House."
"Nonsense." She didn't sound too convincing.
"House has problems. It's not up to you or me to solve them. I wouldn't worry too much. Yesterday he was almost his old self again."
Another lie, but the truth would upset her even more.
She bit her bottom lip. "If he was his old self again, he might as well change his mind, don't you think?"
"No. That's not what I'm thinking at all."
"I'll go ask him," she said firmly.
"Allison." He grabbed her wrist to hold her back, unable to control the spark of jealousy. "It's a waste of time. Please let it go."
"I'm late already", she said. "See you."
Chase watched her leave the cafeteria with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
He carelessly shrugged it off (because he was good at that) and helped himself to her untouched glass of orange juice.
It tasted stale and artificial.
