"Wakey, wakey."

Chase had just begun to barely wake up before House flicked him on the forehead, waking him up much more abruptly than he would have liked. He rolled onto his back, bringing a hand up to rub at his eyes, and groaned, "Mm... Why do you have to be so obnoxious?"

"Because I don't want you making me late, now get up," he replied, walking around the room almost too briskly for a crippled man.

Chase sat up groggily, rolling his eyes, "You're usually the last one to arrive, all on your own. This has something to do with me being in your apartment."

"Is that your final guess? Maybe I just don't want to get too cozy," he said sarcastically, grabbing his keys from a cabinet and heading for the door.

The Australian looked over his shoulder, seeing that House was about to leave, and suddenly he felt urgent in keeping him there, "You're not going to pretend we didn't kiss last night, are you?"

House sighed and was now the one to roll his eyes, "No, but I'm going to pretend that we weren't ten seconds away from fucking." He looked the young man over, "Brush your teeth and hair, you don't need to shower, and hurry. I'll be downstairs." He went to leave before turning back briefly, "And I'll know if you took anything." He then went out the door.

Chase wasn't sure if this was how House handled romantic relationships or if he was acting weird about it, there was really no way to tell, he was just being House. It was a bit confusing, but he didn't expect the man to change just because they had feelings for each other, he was still the same man Chase had fallen for, so he didn't exactly have any complaints about that. The fact of the matter was he wouldn't change House one bit.

...

They ended up arriving at the same time, Chase in his car and House on his motorcycle, so they had to walk into the building together. Chase felt like he should greet House, or at least say something, but he just couldn't come up with anything verbal, just a quick nod and a nervous smile as he fell into step with him. They walked in awkward silence through the lobby until they reached the elevator, which was thankfully empty. When the doors closed House smirked to himself and nudged Chase in the ankle with his cane, "I'd like it if the others didn't know about us." The blond had winced slightly at the cane hitting him, but then he raised his eyebrows at what he heard. So this was an 'us' situation. He quickly nodded, but he still wasn't able to find his voice. When the doors opened again they stepped out together, heading for the office. They reached the door at the same time causing them to both stop, not sure who should enter first, before House decided to barge his way in. "Chase and I arriving together? That's not suspicious!" House called out, looking for attention like he always did, which earned him confused looks from the two other people in the room. Chase hid his face in embarrassment, hoping that Foreman and Cameron wouldn't read too much into what their boss was saying. If House didn't want them knowing then why was he being so blunt? Supposedly if he joked about it no one would suspect it.

They all got situated so they could listen to House go on about yet another case which Cuddy had apparently informed him about that morning, which was probably why he was up so early. Chase watched him like he always did, looking like he was completely fascinated by every movement the older man made, which didn't go unnoticed by the diagnostician. They were about five minutes into the rant slash debate when House very clearly winked at the blond doctor. Chase sank down into his chair as a blush crept onto his cheeks and shrugged defensively when Cameron gave him a questioning look. Now it made sense, House just wanted to mess with him even more; well at least he was having fun with it. He actually kind of liked the teasing being paired with sneaking around; it was exciting, even if it was a bit perplexing.

Eventually he commanded them all to go to the lab, surprising everyone by following them. He didn't say anything, just followed them around the room as they worked, paying special attention to his new secret boy toy. It took a while but Foreman ended up finding something and called the others over. They gathered around him as he began to explain what he had found, and, of course, House made sure he was standing as close to Chase as possible. Upon feeling House standing so close Chase's body went stiff, he wasn't use to this kind of proximity between them. As Foreman raddled on Chase suddenly felt a light brushing along his lower back and it took him a second to realize it was House's fingers gliding across the area. A sort of adrenaline feeling rushed through him as the fingertips slowly went south and he glanced over at the older man with a quizzical look, House didn't even look back at him. Just as he was looking away House's hand moved further downward and cupped one of Chase's cheeks firmly. Chase jolted at the surprise grope, bumping into Foreman, thankfully only lightly, which caused the other two to look at him. This was the third time he got looks and he knew they'd soon be asking questions. House just stood there smirking to himself, this was fun, oh so very fun, and enticing, not to mention Chase had an extremely nice ass.

...

Now that House was back in his office Chase felt like he could finally have a private conversation with him, as long as no one else walked in of course. He walked through the office door in an almost irritated fashion, because, well, he was irritated. House looked up as the blond closed a few more feet of the distance, "Is this how it's going to be from now on? You're going to take every chance you can get to grab my ass and make people give me funny looks?"

House raised his brows at the intensity of his questioning before snickering, "They already give you funny looks, you just don't notice. The fact that you notice because of me is actually quite flattering."

Chase gave him a stern glare, "I'm not joking around, House."

"Neither am I," he shrugged, "I'm just having fun with a tedious situation."

The young man seemed offended, "Is that what I am? Tedious?"

"No..." the older man responded like he was dumb, "The situation is. It's delicate. Is that a better word?"

Chase sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I just... I need to know if..." he couldn't find the words for what he was trying to say, this certainly was a delicate, and confusing, matter, "I need to know if you actually want to have a relationship with me." That was embarrassing, saying it felt odd, but that's what he wanted, he wanted a relationship. He didn't even know if he could handle rejection, but he braced himself for it.

That shut House up, even made him look stunned for once like he wasn't expecting that, even though he should have, he knew he was being elusive. He looked down at his hands, he suddenly felt so small and weak. He took a deep breath, "I don't even get why you'd want to be with me, I'm difficult, and I'll only end up pushing you away."

Chase stepped forward, feeling stern once again, "I know, don't you think I know that just from working with you? You're the most stubborn man I know. But somehow I got through to you, and I want to keep getting through to you." He was leaning over House's desk now, using his hands to hold him up, "I can't just push these feelings I have for you away; I'm embracing them. All I ask is that you embrace yours for me."

House's expression went from sullen to pleadingly sincere in a flash, something Chase had never witnessed, "I'm trying."

Chase's muscles relaxed and his features softened, the look alone had melted his insides, "I know, I can tell. Thank you..." His eyes drifted to where House's right hand was resting on the desk and he tentatively began to slide his over to it. House's eyes followed Chase's hand, every centimeter it crept caused more anticipation to well up inside of him; he wasn't used to this tingling sensation. Finally Chase's hand reached his and it felt so warm and gentle, the gesture was so emotional for House that his hand began to shake lightly; he was nervous, he was scared, he didn't know how to handle being in love. Chase squeezed his hand reassuringly to help with the shaking before running his thumb along it, "You make me happy... I don't know if it's noticeable, but I feel so good around you. You've always made me feel that way."

It was then that House finally cracked a smile again, a genuine one, "Believe me, I've noticed, you practically glow. There have been times when you'd beam so much I thought lights would shoot from your eyes," he chuckled lightly, causing Chase to chuckle as well.

He had no idea House could tell, either he is just really perceptive or Chase was really just that obvious, he hoped, and guessed, it was the first. He smiled brightly, a light blush on his cheeks, "So you were just going to let me keep having these feelings for you without telling me you had any in return?"

He looked up at him playfully, "Hey, I flirted, or did that go over your precious little head?"

Chase snickered, "I didn't know if you were just messing with me!"

House looked back down at their hands, shifting his so that he could brush his fingertips along the other man's hand as well, "No," he said quietly, "But I'll admit, I was in denial."

The blond chuckled lightly and walked around the desk, making sure their hands didn't break contact, "Well don't be!"

Because they were holding hands House had to spin in his chair slightly until he was facing the younger man, and because his legs were spread apart Chase instinctively stood between them, causing him to lean back in his chair just so he could see him. With a smirk he yanked Chase closer by the hand so that he was standing more snugly between his legs and quickly hooked the fingers of his other hand into the Australian's waistband, "I do like the secrecy though."

Chase wiggled his hips a bit, already aroused, speaking seductively with a flirtatious smile, "Mm... Me too, it's quite stimulating."

House practically purred at the sight of Chase all flushed and heated, that and the sound of his voice was quickly getting him hard. He yanked on the waistband a bit before sliding his hand around to grope at the young man's ass again, he kneaded at it as he pulled on Chase's hand so that he was leaning over him, "I'd fuck you right here on my desk if I thought we'd get away with it."

Chase's stomach coiled at those words and he almost lost his balance due to how weak in the knees he felt, "Fuck..." he breathed out and wiggled his hips again. He licked his lips as his breathing picked up and he brought his knee up to tease at House's erection, leaning in even closer, "You have no idea how badly I want that."

"I knew you were a bottom," he teased as he took his hand from the other man's and lifted it up to fist it into Chase's hair, pulling his face down so that their mouths were barely touching. Chase whimpered and ground his knee into the older man, causing House to groan as their lips gently caressed each other's. Chase continued to move against him, becoming unbearably aroused, he wanted so badly to get him off, to make House come for him right there in his office.

But as luck would have it Chase's pager went off, making them both pause what they were doing. Chase closed his eyes, whining in disappointment, before reluctantly pulling away to look at his pager, their current patient was having complications, "Looks like we'll have to continue this another time." Being left hanging was never fun but House understood, giving a slight nod but not saying anything, looking just as disappointed. Chase nodded back with an apologetic look before moving further away and going to leave.

"Chase," House stopped him just before he opened the door, the blond looking over his shoulder, "My house again, seven?"

Chase grinned, "Yeah, sure."

House smirked, "Good, let's make a habit of that." Chase bit his lip, still grinning, and nodded once more before leaving.