Sorry about the long long wait! My laptop crashed on me and I lost all my work.
I wanted to say a **huge** thanks to everyone who left reviews on the first chapter! I really appreciate the encouragement :)
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~~Chapter 2~~
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"Alright guys, visiting hours are about to start so we'll finish group for today. I think some of you are making really good progress. Keep it up. See you next week."
House rolled his eyes as he got up from the always uncomfortable plastic chair.
The blond doctor reminded him too much of Cameron's naïve optimism when she first started out. In the back of his mind he made a mental note to see what he could do to change that.
Turning, he started to make his way to the basketball court outside, when a different flash of blond caught his attention. A momentary feeling of panic gripped his chest.
He quickly glanced around the figure, seeing if anyone else had taken notice of him. Fortunately, the tightness in his chest released a second later as he saw a nurse asking if he needed any help.
A hand was pointed in his direction, then what felt like a blink of an eye, sure enough there was Dr. Robert Chase standing right in front of him.
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The whole drive to Mayfield he knew it was useless but Chase tried to prepare to see House. Tried imaging how he would look, not meaning the state of his clothes or hair as House mostly always appeared a little rough around the edges.
He was more concerned about the look in his face. From years and countless hours of past experience, he learned to distinguish whether or not the other man was in control based on the look in his eyes.
Now, as he was stepping onto the elevator, an unexpected flood of nervousness hit him. After two weeks, he still didn't honestly know what possessed him to come. He just knew he felt uneasy after talking with House. It wasn't that he felt guilty for turning him down as most might have guessed. There was something more happening and he needed to know what it was.
'This is probably what it feels like for House when the case is closed but knows there's still a diagnosis to be found.'
Chase smirked as he thought of all those times the team thought he was crazy as House wouldn't quit the case, like the teenage girl with heart failure whose condition was being aggravated by a tick she caught from having sex with her boyfriend.
Before he knew it, he was now standing in the main activity room of Ward 6.
Almost psychically, he immediately caught House's attention and witnessed an unfamiliar emotion flash on his face. Before he could try to decipher the look, his attention was distracted.
"Sir, can I help you find someone?"
He looked to his right and found a young brunette nurse smiling up at him.
"Uh, thanks but I see him." He said giving a quick point to House.
The nurse followed the direction of his hand, the smile dropped and then she quickly replied before leaving, "Oh…ok, then."
Chase wasn't fazed by this reaction toward House. After the nurse left, his gaze locked with the other man's and felt himself walk forward without a second thought.
With each step, he noticed his prepared topics to talk about proceeded to go right out the window just as he reached his destination.
"Hi."
"Hey." was House's reply after a short awkward moment.
Unfortunately, neither knew how to progress the conversation from there. Luckily, that ended quickly as a third body literally bounced into their space a second later.
"House! Yo, House. You got a visitor. Who is he?"
Not bothering for a reply, the man turned his attention to him.
"Who are you? What's your business with my main man House?"
Chase simply stared at the short man that was bouncing between House and himself.
"I'm…"
"This is my young hot step sister. Now beat it."
The man stopped bouncing, looking back and forth, before grinning at House.
"Ah…I get it. I get it. Phase 2, huh. Phase 2."
Again, not waiting for a response, he turned to Chase with a knowing nod and wink.
"The name is Alvie. You know, in case you need someone on the inside."
After watching Alvie leave, Chase looked back at House, eyebrow arched in question.
"President of your fan club?"
House's gaze shifted toward the window.
"Nope, even better…"
The eyes shifted back again.
"Roommate."
"I guess life has its own sense of humor after all."
"Oh yeah, I'm laughing on the inside. So…are you going to tell me why you're here? Somehow I get the feeling you didn't have a change of heart from out last chat."
House stared point blank and Chase could feel himself begin to fluster.
'Damn it. I don't even bloody know why I'm really here.'
"Well…you're right. I didn't change my mind…but…"
He stopped when he saw Alvie start to wander around them again, unsuccessfully appearing to not be paying attention.
"Is there somewhere else we can go to talk?"
House followed his eye line to see what prompted the request. He began to roll his eyes and think of a sarcastic remark until he saw Nolan glance over at them. After shifting his gaze back to Chase, he thought for a few minutes before replying.
"Follow me."
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"It's pretty nice out here."
House had taken them outside and started walking around the grounds. Thankfully, the feeling of fluster quickly passed shortly after. Outside was definitely more calming to his nerves in contrast to the walls of Ward 6.
"Yeah, all the crazies find it soothing too. Now, are you ever planning on answering me?"
"I…I dunno." Chase softly stuttered.
"Nope. Try again."
The younger man sighed, knowing that he wouldn't stop questioning until he gave an acceptable answer.
"Well, I guess I figured that seeing a friendly face might help in your recovery."
'It's not the entire truth but at least I'm not lying…technically.'
"Better. Now, once more with feeling."
"What do you mean? I just told you…"
House suddenly grabbed Chase by the arm, bringing their stroll to a stop.
"And now I'm telling you that I want to hear the truth…the whole truth. What really brought you here?"
The firm grip on Chase's arm had yet to let go, its owner clearly resolving to get an answer he was satisfied with. He tried again to find an adequate response.
"Look House, there's no ulterior motive here. I came because I wanted to."
"Good. Now. Last time. Tell me."
The grip stayed the same but now the intensity of the bright blue eyes increased tenfold.
Chase was too stunned for a moment to move.
A stray thought flashed through his mind, making him wonder if somehow House mastered hypnosis from one of the therapists. His mind quickly snapped back to reality, however, as the grip on his arm tightened and pulled him forward.
Forward…right up close to the man in front of him.
The fluster in his stomach chose right then to return with a vengeance. Luckily, before the blush could spread over his face, he managed to finally break eye contact.
"Alright! Alright!"
Chase took a deep breath before continuing, "After you hung up the other night, something…something left me feeling uneasy. And no, it's not because of guilt. Not because of pity. Honestly, I still don't' know the reason why. So after thinking about it for awhile, I thought that maybe a good idea to figure it out would be to come here and see you."
House looked away while he digested this new information. The look on his face clearly told Chase that House was expecting to hear something completely different. He was about to ask about it when the other suddenly spoke.
"And? Any grand epiphanies?"
He paused as he decided whether or not to ask what House was just thinking, and then quickly realized that he wouldn't get an answer. Well, at least not today.
Instead he shrugged, "Not yet."
"Well, I guess you'll have to keep coming back until you figure it out."
And just like that the grip on his arm was released and he stood staring at House making his way back to the main building.
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That's all for now. Hope you guys still like it so far. I'll try to update soon. Please keep the reviews coming!
There will be slash coming soon too. Hang in there with me a little more.