Healing for You – Chapters 4 & 5 – complete

Chapter 4

It was another few days of being allowed to hide from the world, before House rudely put an end to Chase’s self-pity party.

“Morning, sunshine!”

Chase could hear the uneven gait come closer to the bed, but didn’t extricate himself from his pile of pillows and blankets.

“Fuck off, House.”

“Nope. Get up, take a shower and get dressed. We’re going for a ride.” He punctuated his command by poking Robert in the leg with his cane.

“What nonsense is this?” Chase couldn’t help but be curious, and poked his head out of the covers just enough to see Greg. He was dressed in jeans and a leather jacket.

“A ride. Eric is going to lend me his bike. It’s a Harley, but it’ll work.” House had a look of distaste as he uttered the name of the motorcycle’s maker. “You’re going to get out of this bed, and sit that pretty ass on the back of the bike, and enjoy a little fresh air.”

“Go outside and play, Robbie. The fresh air will be good for you,” Robert said in a mocking falsetto. “You sound like my mother.”

House huffed. “Look, we all gave you time and space to grieve and be depressed and get over the worst of the symptoms. Boohoo. Life sucks. Okay, now get out of bed.”

House turned and started toward to bedroom door. Without turning back, he mimicked the high pitched voice Chase had earlier. “Don’t forget your coat, Robbie dear. Don’t want you catching cold.”

“Shit,” Chase said under his breath. He started the process of untangling himself from the less-than-fresh bedsheets. Maybe he really did need to get up and about.

After a quick shower, Chase dressed and headed downstairs. He hadn’t bothered to shave or do anything with his hair, but he figured he would be hiding it all under a helmet anyway. He really couldn’t be concerned with the effort to look any more presentable. Robert was still tired and moody. He wasn’t going to give House an inch more than he asked.

He trudged down the stairs and out to the front porch without running into either Eric or Ben. Chase figured they had their own pride business to attend to, and had finally gotten back to their lives after helping him. If he’d been in a better mood, Robert would have admitted that the sight of Greg House leaning on a motorcycle in the warm autumn sun was a good one.

That gave him an idea. If House was going to drag him out into the world against his will, the least he could repay him with was a confrontation on what had been brewing between them the past week. Greg had been at his bedside often throughout the past few days, and more tactile than ever. Robert would almost say he was being affectionate, which seemed pretty odd until all the pieces had fallen into place. House had an ulterior motive for helping Chase kick his bitch of a sentinel to the curb. The question was, would he admit to it?

Looking him up and down, House said plainly, “well, at least you’re clean. Let’s go.”

Chase donned the helmet set on the seat for him, swung a leg over, and sat down behind Greg. He decided to start pushing his boundaries and see how far he could get, so he moved in snug behind him and didn’t hesitate in wrapping his arms around House’s waist. Nothing more was said, and the bike roared to life under them, spitting a couple loose stones as it sped down the driveway.

They rode open county highways for a while, passing farm fields and wooded groves tinted with fall colors. Robert simply let himself enjoy the experience: Greg’s worn-soft leather jacket under his hands, the warmth of the sun tempered by the beginnings of autumn chill, the wind rushing over the noise of the engine. He let his mind wander over the events of the last week.

It had been up and down. Well, mostly down, but some ups. Greg had let him in on his secret, and been there for him in ways he hadn’t anticipated. If Robert was honest with himself, he was developing feelings. That was part of the reason he was pushing their boundaries, because he knew they must be reciprocated.

They had worked together for a few years now, and Chase realized that he had been attracted to the snarky, sarcastic man for a while. It wasn’t anything he really allowed to develop more than a passing thought, because he was bonded. In the wake of the mess that was his life collapsing around him, he found the thought of his attraction to House strangely freeing.

He didn’t have to worry about Greg’s emotional tone, because he couldn’t feel it. He didn’t have to worry about dishonesty, because he knew House well enough to know what kinds of things he would and wouldn’t lie about. He felt like he could be himself and expect House to do the same. He was so caught up in thought that he almost didn’t register when they started slowing down. He brought himself back to the present enough to realize they were pulling into a diner on what looked to be the outskirts of a small town.

They got off the motorcycle and stowed the helmets. The diner looked like one of those places found in every small town that has the best greasy burger for miles around. Chase realized that he was truly hungry for the first time in days. Maybe House has been right about getting out, but he’d never admit that to the man’s face.

Robert was smug when he noticed Greg surreptitiously adjusting himself when he thought no one was looking. Good. His little plan was in play, and he was confident he could get some real words out of Greg about his feelings by the end of the day.

There wasn’t really any conversation as they found an out-of-the-way booth and both ordered a cheeseburger with fries. Neither one of them seemed willing to fill the ensuing silence with inane small talk. Chase waited him out. Their food came and they both ate quietly. If he let out a couple soft moans of pleasure at the taste, Robert wasn’t going to admit to it, but it didn’t hurt his cause. It was a great burger, after all.

Finally, Chase decided he should play his hand. House had probably figured out he was up to something by this point anyway.

“Are we going to talk about this?”

House cleared his throat. “Talk about what?”

“How weird you’re being.”

“How weird I’m being,” House said evenly.

Chase sighed and gave in to being the one to talk first. “You’re more yourself out here. I mean – not out on the road – away from Princeton. Away from the hospital. I feel like I’m finally seeing the real Greg House all the time. Not just those little glimpses I caught over the years. None of the games. No pretending to be a sentinel.”

Robert paused and the silence was heavy.

“I can sense you’re attracted to me. How did I never realize that before? Not even when I was still a guide.” Chase’s voice wavered a little over the last word, but he wasn’t about to live in denial of what had happened just because reality was hard.

Greg was silent for a moment, and Robert wondered if he would get a real answer out of him after all. Their check was delivered and Greg payed. Just as Robert was about to give up and leave the table to head back to the bike, their unspoken standoff was broken.

“I’m good at compartmentalizing,” Greg said calmly. “I had to be to work closely with real sentinels and guides and get away with it. I have good control of my real emotions. Yeah, I let people see the obvious. It was easy to play up the cantankerous bastard stuff, while I made sure anything that could reveal my true status was locked down. You were bonded, so I put my feelings for you in the same category, and that was that.”

With that, House stood and limped out the door to the bike, Chase scrambling to shake off the shock of actually getting the admission he’d wanted and catch up. When he emerged, House already had his helmet on, hiding his face, and was sitting astride the motorcycle. Chase grabbed his helmet and got on, for some reason more careful with how he touched Greg than before. Apparently they weren’t going to talk about this any further, and all the ease of the morning was replaced with stilted awkwardness.

They rode the rest of the afternoon, only stopping briefly for a break and to get gas, but it was plagued with the awkwardness that lingered from lunch. House seemed to both drive aimlessly and know exactly where he wanted to go. It was early evening by the time they pulled up in front of the Fielding’s house.

As they dismounted, Eric came out to greet them and put the bike away. Chase thanked him for letting them make use of it, but House was clearly in a mood and stayed silent.

Eric addressed Robert as he checked over the bike. “Ben made you an appointment at the Albany S&G Center tomorrow if you’re up for it. They’ll want to confirm your severed bond and status with testing and reclassification, and you can file a complaint against her while you’re there if you want to press charges for domestic abuse.”

Chase scoffed. “She never hit me.”

“Maybe not, but you’ve been in the community long enough to know that the kind of emotional abuse she inflicted through your bond is more than enough to warrant punitive action. You didn’t deserve any of what she did to you at any point in your bond, and any sentinel or guide will back you up. In fact, it’s taken a great deal of self control on my part not to run down there and punch her, and I’ve only known you for a week. We protect our own, Robert, even if it’s from each other.”

Chase blew out a shaky breath to calm himself before he replied. “I know all that, but a part of me knew from the beginning it wasn’t right, and I stayed anyway. I allowed the situation to get as bad as it did. She isn’t the only one to blame.”

“Agree to disagree, kid. It’s your choice, and I won’t take that away from you.” Eric said.

“Knowing the way the community talks, she’ll get enough punishment from her peers, anyway. I can’t imagine anyone who knows what happened will be friendly with her after this,” Robert pointed out.

“That’s true enough. Gossips, all of them,” Eric said with a small chuckle.

Chase realized that while he had been talking with Eric, House has disappeared inside. When he went upstairs, the door the House’s room was already closed. He thought about knocking, but he was beginning to feel quite tired from their day out and decided sleep was the better option, even though it was early. Besides, he had to go face more reality tomorrow at the S&G Center, and he’d need to summon some strength from somewhere for that.

– – – – –

Robert actually did sleep most of the night, and woke relatively early for his appointment. He found Ben in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Morning. I was planning to give you a ride to the Center, if that’s alright. I scheduled some time to catch up with their Guide Director on pride business and community news. You’ll be meeting with a staff guide who will assess your status. I already informed them of the general circumstances of your situation, and no one will push beyond the basic testing and information needed for your records.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Chase paused a moment. “House isn’t up yet?”

Ben chuckled. “No. I expect he’ll sleep late. He and Eric were still working their way through a bottle of scotch when I turned in for the night.”

Huh. Chase had passed out pretty quickly the night before, and slept soundly. He didn’t realize House had apparently stayed awake late into the night. He’d sort of hoped House would come with him today, but maybe it was better this way. He could get this taken care of, and then work out whatever was going on between them free and clear.

The more he’d thought about it the last few days, the more he realized he was attracted to Greg, and had been for a while. He never would have acted on it while bonded, and he’d always assumed he and Cameron would be bonded for life, but now he couldn’t let the idea go. Yeah, sure, he should probably take time alone to heal and accept his new status as a dormant guide, but the fact was that simply didn’t want to do that. He wanted Greg House.

After a quick breakfast, he and Ben drove Albany. Robert was directed to the medical wing for his tests, and he assumed Ben went off to attend his meeting. The staff were all courteous and the tests of his bond status and abilities as a guide didn’t feel as intrusive as he worried they would. The Center confirmed that his bond was indeed severed, and that he had gone dormant.

The morning passed quickly, and he and Ben returned to the house by noon. They both wandered back to the kitchen to find some lunch. Chase barked out a laugh at the sight of Eric sitting at the kitchen table slumped over a cup of coffee.

“Still hungover then?” Ben asked with amusement tinging his voice. Chase figured Eric was also having a bit of a hard time controlling his senses in the aftermath of the alcohol consumption, because he was dressed only in a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants and appeared to be cautiously inhaling the scent of the coffee. A grunt from Eric was the only response.

Chase chuckled and inquired, “House not up yet?”

Eric sighed, and finally looked up to meet Robert’s gaze. “He’s gone.”

“What?” Robert wasn’t particularly articulate with the shock of that statement.

“Gone when I got up. Left a note just saying he needed to get back to work and was going home.”

Chase was confused. “But why now?”

A moment of silence passed as they all seemingly contemplated the question.

Ben huffed suddenly. “That idiot. He knew you were going to the Center this morning.”

Robert stared at Ben blankly. He didn’t understand what him going to the S&G Center had to do with anything.

“He talks a lot when he’s drunk,” Eric explained. “He wouldn’t stop talking about you. If I had to guess, I’d say he wasn’t sure how the testing would turn out, and he figured you wouldn’t want him if you had any of your guide gifts remaining.”

“So he ran away,” Chase finished. “Idiot.”

Ben laughed softly and slapped a hand on Robert’s shoulder companionably. “Yeah, well he’s our idiot, right?”

“I need to go talk to him.”

“Are you sure you want to do that so soon? You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want,” Ben offered.

“No. Thank you, but no. I – ah – I am fully dormant now, and the life I had with her doesn’t exist anymore. I’m not saying I’ve put everything behind me, but the only thing keeping me moving forward the past few days has been the chance of a future. A future with him.” Robert breathed a bit easier with the admission out in the open for the first time.

“If that’s what you want, you know we won’t judge. I can recommend a sentinel and guide friendly therapist for you in Princeton. You might find you want to talk some of this through as you continue the healing process,” Ben said kindly.

Eric stood. “I’m going to hit the shower. I should be mostly functional after that. We can drive you home.”

Chase sighed in relief. “That would be great. Thank you.”

He still had some trepidation about going back to places that were so familiar so soon, but Robert wanted to know where he stood with Greg.

Chapter 5

The sound of the doorbell clashed with the melancholy song Greg was playing on his piano. He knew he was being melodramatic, but he didn’t really care. He’d gone into the hospital that afternoon and generally stomped around and glared at people for a bit before giving it up as a lost cause and leaving. It wasn’t like they had any ongoing cases with most of their team gone for the last week. Now someone – probably Wilson – was here interrupting his quality time wallowing in self-pity. He sighed and pounded once on the keys before standing and making his way to the door. The sight that greeted him on the other side was a surprise, to say the least.

“Wombat. Didn’t expect to see you here,” Greg said after a moment of awkward silence had passed. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting all figured out at the Albany Center?”

“Did that. Bond was confirmed severed. Registered as a dormant guide. Came back to find you’d run off back home without me.”

Chase glared at him, and he felt a little bit of remorse at the way he’d left.

“We didn’t finish our conversation.”

House was confused. “What conversation?”

“I’m not blind to what you did, you know.”

Now Greg was getting a little concerned. “And what is it you think I did?”

He thought he knew what was coming, and it had the potential to go really badly for him.

“You admitted you were attracted to me,” Chase stated evenly. “And that leads me to believe that part of the reason you told me she was cheating was so you could conceivably have a chance with me.”

Well, shit. Greg knew he should probably start backtracking and say something apologetic, but maybe that wasn’t the best move here. Chase came all the way to his apartment to tell him this. He wouldn’t have done it if he was simply expecting an apology. Maybe he wanted him to be – well, himself.

House made his decision. “Oops. You got me, Bobby. So do I?”

That clearly hadn’t been the response Chase had been expecting. “Do you what?”

“Have a chance.”

The ensuing silence seemed to stretch out at length between them, but really wasn’t more than a passing moment.

Chase smiled. “Yes, you scheming evil genius. You bloody well do.”

Then soft lips were on his, and he realized Chase was kissing him. They both moved at the same time to step closer and embrace each other as the kiss deepened. After a few moments of nerve tingling bliss, Greg’s higher brain functions reminded him who he was kissing and why.

“I know I’m cock blocking myself here, but isn’t this a little fast? Maybe you should take some time to get your head on straight.”

Chase huffed in annoyance. “Wow, I was really hoping you would be the narcissist I’ve come to know and love, and just fuck me. All this politely thinking of my best interests is giving me blue balls.”

That momentarily stopped Greg in his tracks. Had Chase just admitted indirectly to being in love with him? He found he wasn’t completely repulsed by he idea. Yes, he’d been attracted to Chase almost since he met the man, but he didn’t really think much more into the future than that. He didn’t exactly have a great relationship track record himself. Things had been going surprisingly well so far. Maybe the world owed him this one.

House smiled. “Aww, you love me Bobby-boo?”

“Maybe I do. Let’s find out.”

Chase pulled him in for another kiss that had heat pooling in Greg’s groin. He lost himself in the sensations for a while before forcibly pulling himself back with a groan once again.

“We don’t have to do this now. You haven’t really had much recovery time.” Greg cupped Bobby’s cheek gently as he spoke. “I waited this long. I can wait some more.”

That had apparently been the wrong thing to say, because Chase took a step back before angrily poking him in the chest.

“Fuck everyone and their opinions of what’s best for me! Fuck time to heal! Fuck healthy and normal and every other term a psychiatrist would be throwing at me right now. I want this! I want you! For once I’m taking something for myself, because it feels good. I really can’t be bothered to think about it more deeply than that.

“I realized through all this that I changed my whole life for her. For my sentinel. I cut my hair short for her. We got the apartment she liked decorated how she liked. I wore sentinel friendly clothes and used sentinel friendly grooming products. I bowed to her every whim, because I thought I was supposed to. That’s not me anymore. I’m not hers. I’m free to make my own choices for the first time in years, and I’m choosing you. Right now.”

Chase paused, glaring, out of breath and chest heaving. Greg thought he’d never looked hotter.

“Okay,” Greg said quietly. “I want you too.”

“Good,” Bobby huffed out as he stepped closer once again. “Let’s move this to the bedroom then.”

Greg smiled and grabbed his hand, and lead him quickly back to his room.

As soon as they were through the bedroom door, he turned and pulled Chase in by the shoulders for an intense kiss. They both plainly wanted this, and the emotions of the moment pushed the urgency higher. Greg was overwhelmed by the softness of lips contrasted with the hard body under his hands, but then came back to himself enough to start thinking through what they were doing. He wanted to give Bobby pleasure in ways he had probably been missing for a long time.

As the moments passed, he slowed the kissing from their initial frenetic urgency. He didn’t want to give Bobby the impression that he was hesitating once again, so he brought his hands to the buttons on the other man’s shirt and slowly began to remove Chase’s clothes. Hands reached to the hem of his own shirt, and they worked together to undress each other quickly.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” Greg breathed as he slipped his thumbs into the waistband of Bobby’s boxer briefs and slid them down his thighs.

Chase didn’t reply, but his face and neck flushed a soft red in response. Greg lightly prodded him in the direction of the bed, and watched him gracefully climb on as he shed the rest of his own clothes. Looking at Bobby spread out before him, Greg couldn’t help but reflect on how lucky he was, and he was not going to squander this gift of trust. He was going to give this man everything.

That was a novel concept; putting someone else first, but House found it was easy with Chase. Their relationship had always been one of give and take at work. Challenging each other and pushing each other. Now Greg was determined to make sure their personal relationship could be the same way. Giving and taking equally of pleasure. Giving and taking equally of trust.

“Are you going to stand there staring all day, or are you going to fuck me?” Chase said huskily.

House didn’t immediately answer in words. He simply walked to the side of the bed and sat down, running a hand up Chase’s lightly furred thigh as he did.

“Don’t rush me now. I’m enjoying the view.”

He turned and careful lay on his side next to the man sprawled on his back in the middle of the bed, and began running his hand over any skin he could reach. The occasional soft vocalization escaped as Bobby’s breathing got heavier. Greg soaked up every sigh. He needed more skin contact. Now. He rolled on top of Bobby, and they both gasped harshly as their cocks rubbed together.

Greg had planned to open Bobby up slowly – fill him up and take him apart – but he was quickly losing control at finally being in contact with the man he had lusted after for so long, and feeling more connected to him than any lover before. He figured that came from the inherent trust he seemed to have in Chase. He shifted his hips so their shafts lined up, and thrust. Bobby moaned into their kiss, clearly enjoying himself.

They were both rolling their hips steadily now. Greg’s leg was getting sore though, so he rolled them to their sides to take the pressure off of it. He paused long enough to grab some lube out of the nightstand and coated his hand.

They came back together with a clash of lips and bodies. Bobby gasped loudly whenGreg wrapped his hand around them both.

“That good, baby?”

Chase chuckled. “Don’t let it go to your ego yet.”

“Don’t you worry,” Greg said breathlessly as he thrust a bit into his grip, the slide of their cocks together delicious and perfect in his grip. “I’ll get us there.”

The fact was that it was very good for Greg, and he was worried he was going to embarrass himself if Bobby wasn’t on the same page. Unfettered access to miles of creamy skin and lean muscles that he’d been lusting after for years had him on edge too quickly. Judging by the soft moans coming from his partner though, he wasn’t alone in this state.

It was only the matter of a few more thrusts and a twist of his wrist and Bobby was coming with a startled gasp. Greg smiled and closed his eyes as he let go and let the building sensations finally take him over the edge too. Pleasure sang through his limbs, momentarily chasing away any pain and flooding his senses.

They both rolled to their backs and lay panting side by side, quietly enjoying the moment.

“Go get us a rag, Bobby.”

Chase huffed. “Why do I have to do it? I’m the guest here. You’re supposed to be wooing me.”

“It’ll take me longer, and that means it will be longer until we get to the cuddly nap portion of the evening.”

Bobby barked a laugh, but got up and padded into the bathroom to find a washcloth. After they were relatively clean and had crawled under the covers, Greg found himself lazily stroking Bobby’s back as he lay with his head pillowed on Greg’s chest. He was content to just enjoy the moment, but just as he was dozing off Chase spoke quietly.

“It was so much easier. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“What?” Greg asked groggily.

“Sex. It was easier. I didn’t have to deal with anyone else in my head. I couldn’t feel anyone else’s emotions bleeding off on me. I could just be in the moment.” Chase seemed utterly bewildered by the experience.

“It should always be easy,” Greg replied quietly. “It should always be fun, and feel good. It shouldn’t be something you have to work at for someone else’s pleasure.”

They lapsed into silence once more, but Greg didn’t grow sleepy again. He had a feeling more was coming. After a few minutes, he was proven right.

“I’m glad I’m not a guide anymore,” Chase said with a slight waver in his voice.

House felt a couple drops of moisture mingle on their skin.

“Me too, Bobby.”

– – – – –

Chase decided to go back to work the next week. It went surprisingly smoothly, and though he knew rumors were flying, he wasn’t hearing about it. They had started the hiring process to replace Cameron, but House hadn’t made any moves to interview anyone yet. Foreman was surprisingly easy going about them, considering he could probably smell what they got up to in the on-call room when they had a bit of spare time.

Chase hadn’t even protested the first time Greg had dragged him in there for a little mid-day break. He found he enjoyed sex more than he ever had before, and he figured that after his bond and relationship with Cameron collapsed so dramatically and publicly, he couldn’t ruin his reputation any further. The one thing that perplexed Chase in all this was Wilson.

House hadn’t spoken to him since they came back to work, to his knowledge. In fact, Greg seemed to be actively avoiding his best friend. Robert didn’t have time to worry about it too much though, because Wednesday evening, the doorbell rang in House’s apartment just after they finished demolishing some Indian take-out on the couch after a busy day.

“Shit,” House said under his breath.

“Do you know who it is?”

Greg huffed. “Probably a certain meddling so-called best friend.”

Chase sighed and began to clean up their supper mess. “Do you want me to go?”

“What? No,” House snapped. “Besides, where would you even go?”

Robert couldn’t hold in the wince at the reminder that he currently had no place to live. He wasn’t ever going back to the apartment he shared with her, and he’d been crashing at House’s place since they got back from up state. Granted that usually meant sleeping together in the same bed after incredibly hot sex, but he was still an unofficial squatter here.

“I don’t know, but I can give you space. I should start looking for my own place anyway.”

“Why?” House said, perplexed. The doorbell rang again insistently.

“What do you mean ‘why?.’ I’m not going back to that apartment, and I need a place to live,” Chase rolled his eyes at having to give the seemingly obvious answer.

“I think all the sex we’ve been having is making you dumber. We should probably scale back so you don’t accidentally kill a patient at work.”

“Excuse me?” Robert sputtered.

“You can live here, dummy.” It was Greg’s turn to roll his eyes. “Wombats don’t require much space to exercise, anyway.”

As Robert realized what Greg was saying to him, he felt a smile slowly spread across his face. He leaned in and grabbed the man’s face as he kissed him hard. The doorbell ringing again registered in the background, but Robert was too busy licking inside Greg’s mouth to be bothered. Just when he was thinking about getting up to pull Greg back to the bedroom, they were rudely interrupted by the door clattering open.

“Oh.”

Chase pulled away quickly. Wilson had opened the apartment door to find them making out on the couch like teenagers. Well, this was sure to fix things between the two friends.

“Ever heard of knocking, Jimmy?” House said with obvious irritation in his voice. “I didn’t give you a key so you could cockblock me. I just wanted you to water my plants that time.”

Wilson huffed. “I was ringing the doorbell for ten minutes.”

“Oops. Guess we were distracted,” House shot back with an expression that dared Wilson to challenge them.

Chase was felt like they maybe needed to have this conversation without him around, so he stood to leave.

“I can give you guys some privacy.”

“No way, my adorable wombat,” House grabbed his wrist as Chase took an aborted step away from the couch. “Sit that tight ass back down. Whatever Wilson came to say, he can say in front of you since I’m guessing you’re the subject anyway.”

Wilson sighed and sat down in the armchair. “Cameron caused quite the scandal at the hospital. The rumors have been flying.”

House scoffed. “Oh, you know you love it. You’re the biggest gossip queen in the whole place.”

“Yeah, well you ran off with a guide who’s also your employee and we didn’t hear anything from you for a couple weeks. Now you’re both back, the Center contacted Cuddy to say Chase is dormant and unbonded, but still competent to practice S&G medicine, and on top of all that, you’re sleeping together!” Wilson panted as his rant ended.

They all sat in silence for a moment. Chase wasn’t about to get in the middle of the two friends, so he waited to see who would break the silence first.

“So?” House finally said.

“So?! So? That’s all you have to say for yourself?” Wilson sputtered. “If I’m connecting the dots correctly, and I think I am, don’t you think you’re taking advantage of the situation?!”

Wilson stood and started pacing.

“I had no idea Chase even liked working for you, much less actually liked you as a person, and now you’ve, what? Suddenly fallen into bed together after his sentinel betrays him like some romance novel?”

House stood and stopped in Wilson’s path.

“He likes me because if I ever want to fuck anyone else, I’ll tell him first. So far there hasn’t been anyone I’ve come across to match him in terms of intelligence and pure twinky sex appeal, so it’s a non-issue. Not that it’s any of your business, James.”

They stood toe to toe in a tense standoff.

Chase didn’t want this to fracture their friendship.

“I think I’m too old to be considered a twink, Greg.”

House laughed and broke his stare with Wilson to sit back down on the couch, patting the seat next to him for Chase to join him.

“Whatever you say, pookums. Get over here,” House made an exaggerated kissy face at him to punctuate his demand.

Wilson sighed and sat down again. Once they were all settled he looked directly at Chase.

“You’re okay? He’s not coercing you or something?”

Robert sighed. “I’m getting there. Turns out my bond was more unhealthy than I realized when I was in it, and it’s going to take a while to get over that. But I got some good help, and now I have Greg, which was a surprising, though pleasant, development .”

Wilson seemed to study him a moment longer.

“Okay.”

“Okay, then,” House replied as he sat back and clapped his hands together once. “Well, since you’re on board with the love fest now, want to help us move Bobby in this weekend?”

Wilson was instantly back to looking as shocked as when he’d first opened the door, and Greg looked smug. Chase just laughed. This was more than he had hoped for when he felt that tether to his sentinel break forever. Yeah, he really was getting better.