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Chase knocks at House’s door with anxiety. He’s not really sure how or even why he was doing what he was about to do. Chase just knows it’s the right thing to do, feels it deep within him.
Maybe it was, because he has no father to turn to, to talk about it with. Not that if that guy was still alive, Chase would’ve told him the news first. Never in a million years, actually. But just because he was dead, because House was the closest adjacent to a father figure in his life, even if he would hate that, Chase feels like he should tell House first. Kind of, like he owes him.
It was the most stupid thing he’s ever decided on. House would not be equipped for this conversation, he’d make fun of Chase for it, even, for sure. Nothing kept him from entering the office upon hearing House’s approval. Nothing stops him from nervously clearing his throat to start talking; “I have to tell you something.”, he declares, biting on his lip.
He consciously waited until Foreman and Cameron would leave for the night, he couldn’t be bothered concerning himself whether they were listening in or simply would pester him until he’d tell them too.
House nods, puts the ball he had been playing with down on his desk. He can immediately tell this was serious. Not that he would treat it as such, but at least reducing the stress factors to make his talking opponent have it just a tad easier, so House wouldn’t be stuck in the conversation any longer than needed, made him give up that ball. “Well?”, House gestures for Chase to talk, instead, Chase has to sit down.
He licks his lips, avoids House’s eyes and breathes shakily in, “I think, I’m trans.”, she confesses nervously. She doesn’t look up from the ground to see House’s reaction, she wallows in the silence and carefully listens to every intake of air she can hear from House. It was nice to at least hear him breathe, to know he hadn’t spontaneously died.
“As in…?”, House asks after a good minute. Both knew, House just wanted to confirmation. Wants to hear it, hear her say it.
Chase swallows, “As in transgender. I’m… a woman.”, she specifies, her eyes tracing House’s legs. They were unmoving, placed firmly onto the ground like a stable pillar out of stone.
“Look at me.”, House requests. His voice sounded so off to Chase, that she was scared she would get into real trouble with him. It was…whispery, husk and kept low. It didn’t fit House’s usual loud appearance at all.
Not able to disobey what her boss tells her and what her father kindly, too kindly, asked of her, her eyes dart upwards, finding House’s easily. His eyes were widened, but the entirety of his face didn’t seem mad, not even disappointed.
House seems to struggle to find the right words, “I… you…”, and Chase thinks, this might the first time for her, seeing House be at a loss for words. Just for that, this confessions was worth it, she thinks a bit proudly.
“So, are you going to be the new, blonde Cameron?”, House wonders after another silent minute, his lips carefully tucked upward into a contorted smile that didn’t quite fit his otherwise frowny face.
At this, Chase has to chuckle. She always laughs at House’s jokes, no matter how stupid, just to stay House’s favourite, but this time, she actually found it a bit amusing.
Chase smiles a bit uncertain, “I’m still me.”, she nods, “Just…”
“Just with tits?”, House kindly suggests.
Shrugging at it, Chase stops talking, “Sure.”, she gives in.
House’s eyes scan her up and down. He was still trying to formulate something and was still struggling with the words. Chase waited patiently for the moment to come and when it did, when House managed, he spoke up again, “I’m guessing everybody else already knows. Right?”, he asks, and the way he insinuates the last word, Chase can hear the disbelief that he’d be actually the first.
Which he was anyway, “Actually, you’re the first person I’m telling.”, Chase wants to look away from House again, but if she were ordered to look back up again to him, she might not be able to do it out of embarrassment.
“Why?”, House bluntly asks, chuckling, but not in a mean way.
Chase tilts her head to the right side, her shoulder long hair moving with the motion, “I felt like you deserved to know first. I guess I know you the longest.”, then she wets her lips, “I guess I like you the most.”
To this, House seems confused. Like he couldn’t fathom the idea of being liked—the most. House shakes his head, “So, you are going to turn into Cameron.”, he grins, making fun of the liking him the most part.
“Not like that.”, Chase frowns in disgust, but also not wanting to correct House. She’d die out of shame, if she would admit out loud that to her, House has long surpassed boss in her life. He’s become a role model to her, she can only strive to be like when she’s done working under him.
House clears his throat, “…Were you expecting me to say anything about it?”, he vaguely asks, because now that he knows that this was her first time coming out, she might have actually some expectations from him, which only fuelled to stress him.
Chase shakes her head, “No, not really.”, she says softly with a smile on hr lips. She hasn’t yet heard a single offensive thing from him, which is way better than any scenario she had envisioned before this meeting.
“Then why come to me first?”, House asks, like it was a problem to be solved. Like it might be his next case, like it would keep him up at nights if he wouldn’t figure out the answer. Even when it was right in front of him; because she likes him. That was such a weird concept to House, that he simply couldn’t accept that as reason. No one likes House. Everyone knows that.
Chase runs a hand through her hair, “I like you.”, she reinforces again.
House’s face contorts into a frown. He’s now the one to look away. His eyes were focussed on the wall next to him, the one he always stares at, when he’s trying to find the answer to a hard puzzle. After some time, which Chase willingly gave him, he stands up and walks around the desk to her.
Automatically without having to think about it, Chase also stands up. They were looking into each other’s eyes again, before House looks her up and down. He seems hesitant, even when he stretches out his arms and slowly lays them around Chase’s back, pulling her close into a hug.
Chase gasped at the touch, “House–”
But he broke her off, before she could tell him he wouldn’t need to do this, because he knew that he had to, because House knows what it means having a shitty, ignorant and bad father, “I’m proud of you, daughter.”, he whispers into her ear, patting her back.
Chase could feel his shoulder tense up as he tells her, the physical cringe he felt inside his body upon saying these affirming words. He said them anyway, because he knows that she needs to hear them, because that’s what House would’ve wanted to hear from his father.
Chase hugs him back, tightly. Hear head against his chest, she feels safe. Safer than ever before. She’s never been embraced like this before. The level of comfort, of this feeling of family inside her heart, made her nearly fuzzy, “Thank you.”, she whispers with a broken tint to her voice.
House hears the frail voice, he puts a hand in her hair, brushes through it and then cups the back of her head, pushing it closer to his body. House can’t remember whether he even once hugged anyone as intimately as this. If he ever let anyone this close to his heart. The answer was obviously no. Chase was his first kid, ever. By mere accident. He didn’t want her to get to House like she did. She weaselled through all the tough walls over the time anyway. House can’t be mad at her for it.
