Dearest Readers,

"You little pirate, where did you hide all that booty?"

This chapter has been shortened a little bit.

Read on, Cherubs.

Over and out.

Behind the Aura

"Oh, please! You're a lying little twit!" Aura cried as she stared disbelieving across the table at Chase who had an eyebrow raised and arms crossed.

Everyone was at the bar that they went to the first time Aura came to America. Talking about the dreaded days of high school, Chase seemed to have something to hide and everyone knew it. House had a smirk on his face as he watched his blonde lover glower back at Aura.

"If it weren't for me," Aura continued, "you would've had no friends! You would've been a loser, Loser. And what the hell was with that book you carried everywhere?"

"Hey! The Scarlet Letter is an amazing book and you know it."

"You're a hopeless romantic."

"Was...I was a hopeless romantic. But back then...yes, I was so shut up." Aura laughed and so did everyone else. Aura swirled her drink mindlessly, whistling some tune under her breath.

"Aura?" House asked.

"Yes, Master?" Chase rolled his eyes and took a sip of his Coke.

"Why did you shorten your name to 'Aura'? Did you just not like your whole name, like Robbie here?"

"I like my name." Chase injected.

"Liar." Chase huffed.

"Well, I do like 'Aurora' it's just it felt...right to shorten it to 'Aura'." Everyone's brow wrinkled in confusion. Chase excused himself to the restroom, House watched him leave cautiously. Aura, making sure that Chase was out of ear-shot, continued.

"Robbie wasn't exactly the happiest, bright person when we were growing up. Very dark, not only in dress, but also in attitude. It took me years, literally, to find out about his personal life. He really didn't want to talk about it and I didn't pry into it. I waited for him to open up on his own and he did over time." She took a sip of her drink and chuckled.

"I make fun of him all the time, but he's an incredibly smart guy. He loves reading classical literature and anything medically related. He usually kept to himself when we were growing up, so it was mainly just me and him. He didn't have many friends." Her eyes softened. "We're basically siblings, but I never knew what was going on in his personal life until we were in our late-teens." She looked up at House from across the table.

"I'm assuming you know some things that I'm…hinting at?" House nodded.

"Yeah, I know." The others looked between them curiously, but figured it was best to not pry. "And he was able to hide all that?" Aura nodded.

"Very well, actually. I never went to his house; either he came to my house, the park, or places like that; but we never went to his house." Cameron sat up slightly.

"So why did you shorten your name?"

"After Robbie started opening up to me, I became very worried about him. I was with him every time I could be. I walked him there, but never went inside. I even told my mother about him and she was the one who put the idea of shortening my name into my head." She laughed at the memory, "My mother strongly believed in karma and things like that. She told me that someone's aura was radiation that someone gives off...basically how they subconsciously come across to other people. She said that a person's aura never goes away and always remains close. I was always near Robbie. I never plan to leave him either. So...that's why I felt like I needed to shorten my name."

"Aura, I need your expertise." Chase said as he sat down next to House.

"Yes, Dearest Robbie?" Aura asked, hoping that he didn't hear any part of their conversation. Chase held up a purple squishy packet and a blue squishy packet.

"Moonlight Path?" Shaking the purple packet, "or Fresh Linen?" Shaking the blue packet. Aura stroked her chin thoughtfully.

"Hmmm...Definitely Moonlight Path."

"What are those anyway?" Cameron asked and Chase looked towards her like a child.

"Air fresheners."

"You stole air fresheners from the restroom?" House asked, trying not to laugh. Chase jokingly glared at him.

"Why don't you just take both?" Aura asked, a bit confused by her best friend's train of thought. Chase sighed dramatically.

"Because if I took both, then that would officially be stealing...and stealing is wrong, Stupid." Aura cocked an eyebrow in confusion. Chase sighed again.

"There are 2...count them: 2. if there was only one missing...no one would care. But if both of them were gone, then someone would care."

"I highly doubt that people in a bar are going to notice that the air fresheners are missing. Chances are, the people who normally go in that restroom are drunk." House said as they laughed. Chase pouted childishly.

"Fine," he said, pretending that his feelings were hurt, "I see how it is. You guys don't care about the hygiene of the air you breathe."

"'Hygiene of the air you breathe'?" Aura said, choking on her drink. Chase pouted again.

"That's what Febreze is for." House injected as Chase put the air fresheners in his pocket.

HouseXChase

"I hate you." House grumbled as Chase put the Fresh Linen air freshener on the mirror. Chase shot House a smile as he started the car.

"You don't hate me."

"I do too."

"You're silly."

"Look who's talking, Mr. I'm-too-cheap-to-go-to-Walmart-to-buy-myself-air-fresheners-so-I-steal-them-from-bars." Chase laughed as he continued towards their apartment building.

House glanced over at Chase to see a light smile playing on the young man's lips. His hair fluttered slightly as the wind from the open window passed through the car. He looked at Chase's left hand that laid on the opening of the window, eyeing his bare ring finger. He felt a smile creep to his face at the idea of having the ring on that finger.

HouseXChase

Alright Gang,

Like I said, I took a few things out of this chapter so it's a little bit shorter than it originally was.

As always, patience and reviews/PMs would be appreciated!

When-Rabbit-Howls