Chapter 9
Chase smiled tightly at something Cameron said. She was joking. Probably. He didn't care. He glanced over at the closed blinds behind which, he knew, House was being told off by Cuddy.
He sighed shakily, knowing that he'd always remember today. The day when House stood up for him. Fought for him. Insulted a patient just for him. Chase felt warmth spread somewhere in his chest. House. The misanthropic asshole who saved lives of other people, but was miserable himself. The same guy who never gave anything to others. But this time he did.
Maybe he, Robert Chase, had found a tiny passageway into his heart.
***
"And don't you dare!" Cuddy finished her angry tirade and stalked out of House's office before he could retort.
House sighed exasperatedly and leaned back in his chair.
Why he had stood up for Chase, he didn't know. He denied to himself that maybe Robert loved him. People like House just couldn't be loved.
And yet he saw that shy fascination every time Chase looked at him. And just maybe, Chase could see the same in House's eyes.
He sighed again, rubbing his bad leg and wincing at the slight pain that had been dulled by his never-ending Vicodin.
House looked through the tiny crack in the blinds out at the main office.
Foreman and Cameron were chatting animatedly, but Chase… Chase was waiting for the blinds to open. When he saw House peeking through the small crease, he smiled softly. House mouthed: "My office. Now." To Chase and looked away immediately, apparently finding his wallpaper very interesting.
Chase got up from his chair and walked over to House's office. Cameron was staring icily after him.
The door closed behind Chase softly and he found himself looking into House's blue eyes.
House patted his lap impatiently.
Chase, though surprised, strolled over to the older doctor and sat in his lap, avoiding House's bad leg and leaning against House's chest.
House put his arms around Chase. They just sat there in silence, enjoying the closeness.
"What did Cuddy want?" murmured Chase, stroking House's led absend-mindedly.
"My blood. I swear, that woman is one filthy bloodsucker. That's why she dresses the way she does – she doesn't reflect in the mirror." Said House quietly, laqughing a little.
"She's your boss."
"I'm your boss. Do I try to make every second of your existence miserable?" asked House.
Chase raised one eyebrow.
"Oops, wrong question." Smirked House, kissing Chase's neck.
Chase smiled contently at House's affections. It wasn't often House showed who he really was and dropped the whole "I-don't-care-and-never-will" act.
"Can you believe this?" asked Chase, capturing House's lips with his own.
"What?" whispered House into Chase's mouth. Chase pulled back a little, so he could look into the other man's eyes.
"It anyone told you three years ago when I ran into your office for that interview my dad set up that we would end up married?" asked Chase, shaking his head.
House grinned and continued molesting his husband.
***
House strode into the patient's room, looking determined. Chase and the other ducklings were at his side, arguing loudly about some new symptoms they discovered earlier that day.
Ian propped himself up on his elbows a little and smirked haughtily when spotting Chase. Chase, still a little intimidated by this guy, tried to hide behind House.
"Exhibit A, teenager with serious issues and blood gushing out of every hole." Said House in his faux-cheerful voice that usually even made Cuddy want to curl up and die.
The teen just smiled, appearing quite unimpressed.
"So tell me, do you have and pains?" asked House, playing the ever good doctor.
"You are my only pain. In the ass." Said the boy, still smiling.
"Oh," said House, mocking seriousness. "And what treatment would you suggest?"
"You, the ugly woman and the thug get outta here and give me the pretty blond." Said Ian, his voice syrup-sweet.
Foreman scoffed, offended. Cameron turned visibly purple. Chase shrank behind House even more. House stopped smiling at once and said in a tone someone would talk in on a best friend's funeral:
"Insult my staff again, go smart with me, or heaved forbid you touch or even say anything I would consider slightly less than innocent to my partner again and I will make you bite your tongue off. Literally. Seizures are quite common, you know."
Ian glared at him intently, no longer smiling.
***
"What do you want for dinner?"
"Chicken!"
"What kind?"
"The kind that's in the shop!"
Chase rolled his eyes and then sighed, feeling like a bloody housewife (HOUSEwife, geddit?). He put the dishes in the cupboard and walked into the living room.
He stopped and smiled at the scene before him. House was lying on the couch, watching Tv intently with those electric-blue eyes and playinf with the remote absent-mindedly.
House turned at the sound of Chase's shuffling feet and his breath hitched in his throat. Chase was wearing light-blue jeans, barefoot and topless, a kitchen towel hanging halfway down one of his shoulders, his pretty hair messed up sexily and his smile soft.
"I changed my mind." Smiled House.
Chase just raised his eyebrow.
"I want something else for dinner."
"What's that?" Chase stepped closer and lowered himself on the couch beside House. He ran his fingers through House's short hair, staring into his eyes.
"You." Growled House and sat up swiftly, bringing his arm around Chase's neck. He crushed their lips together in a feverish kiss, both shuddering at the feel of their bodies pressed into each other.
House smiled into the kiss, feeling Chase whimper into his mouth. It was a small, helpless sound, though it was so sexy and aroused.
Chase pulled back a little and panted:
"House, you know I'm not ready -,"
"Yes, I know." Said House quietly, his eyes on Chase's. "But I can still kiss you, right?"
Chase flung his arms around House:
"Right."
House kissed his roughly once again and said, wiping his mouth:
"Tastes better than any meal." He grinned.
"But you can't survive on kisses alone, Greg." Chase smiled.
"Oh yeah? You have no idea." House winked and lowered his lips onto Chase's once more.