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Chapter Text

Thinking back, Chase should have known that this had been a bad idea. When Cuddy had told him that he was supposed to accompany House and Wilson to some medical conference he hadn’t been overly thrilled. When she had told him that there would be a six-hour drive until they’d get there, he hadn’t been looking forward to it at all.

Being stuck in a car with House and Wilson for this long was bound to be a disaster. But all his protests had been useless and although Cuddy didn’t even explain to him properly why the hell he had to go to this stupid conference, Chase had just given up, knowing that any further arguing wouldn’t get him anywhere.

Therefore, he found himself standing on his doorstep at seven on a rather chilly October morning, waiting for them to pick him up. Chase shivered and pulled his jacket tighter around himself. He hadn’t expected the air to be this cold, and he quickly stuffed his hands into his pockets, trying not to freeze to death while he waited. Of course, House and Wilson were late and honestly, Chase wouldn’t be surprised if House had intentionally delayed them only to force Chase to stay out in the cold longer.

But finally, Wilson’s car turned around the corner and came to an abrupt stop in front of him. Chase saw House grinning at him from the passenger’s seat while Wilson opened the door to get out.

“Good morning, Chase”, he greeted, sounding as tired as Chase felt but still smiled politely at him. Classical Wilson.

“Morning”, Chase replied without much enthusiasm and followed the other man to the back of the car, where he loaded his small suitcase into the trunk. He decided to take his backpack with him to his seat and climbed in behind the driver’s seat.

“Wow, you really look like you just fell out of bed”, House greeted him teasingly from the front and Chase rolled his eyes.

“You’re late”, he muttered and crossed his arms in front of his chest, partly to show his annoyance and partly in an attempt to warm himself up. “And it’s freaking cold outside”, he added gruffly, before he leaned back in his seat and tried to relax.

“Oh, come on, Blondie. It’s really not that cold outside”, his boss replied and smirked at Chase, who didn’t bother with an answer. “You are really not a morning person at all, are you?”, House added when Chase ignored him, grinning a little too much for Chase’s liking.  

“If you two are finished, do you think we can start driving now?”, Wilson interrupted them, sounding somewhere between annoyed and amused.

“Killjoy”, House muttered but after shooting Chase another huge grin, he leaned back in his own seat and nodded towards Wilson, who started driving.

“How long until we get there again?”, Chase asked from the back of the car, after they had driven for maybe five minutes. House snorted.

“Already need a pee break, Blondie?”, he commented, and Chase rolled his eyes.

“Should be roughly six hours without breaks or traffic jam”, Wilson replied, and Chase nodded in defeat. Sadly, their time on the road had not just magically been reduced over-night.

“Stop looking so pouty back there, little wombat”, House said teasingly, “this is going to be an amazing road trip”

Chase highly doubted that.

“Why are you so happy anyway? I thought you hate those conferences as well and I didn’t even know you were capable of getting up this early, so why aren’t you all grumpy?”, Chase asked. House’s good mood was strangely unsettling in his opinion.

His boss just shrugged and grinned at him playfully again.

“I hate conferences, but I love road trips”, he replied and to Chase’s surprise he pulled out an old and worn-out flat cap over his head, looking genuinely pleased with himself. He reached for the radio and changed channels until he found a song he apparently liked and turn the volume up, humming along contently.

Chase really wasn’t sure what to make of this. His boss actually seemed to be enjoying himself, which was new territory for Chase.

“House”, Wilson complained and turned the volume lower, “it’s not even eight yet so let’s keep it down for now”

“Like I said before; killjoy!”, House replied and pretended to pout. As much as Chase tried not to, he cracked a small smile. Listening to House and Wilson bantering was always surprisingly entertaining.

“So, let’s play a car game then”, his boss suggested, still sounding annoyingly enthusiastic. Chase groaned and Wilson rolled his eyes, which unfortunately did not stop House in the slightest.

“I spy with my little eye…”, he began and looked around in the car, “…a grumpy Australian animal”

This time Wilson had to laugh and even Chase had a hard time suppressing a small smile.

“I think the Australian animal is going to take a nap”, Chase said and yawned. He was still pretty tired and figured he might as well get some sleep while they were just sitting there.

“You two are really just one huge disappointment”, House complained, whining dramatically.

“Maybe I’m just not too thrilled about having to drive six freaking hours to go to an oncology conference without even knowing what I’m supposed to do there in the first place”, Chase retorted.

He wasn’t even sure why he was in such a bad mood this morning and knew he was acting a little childish because although it probably wouldn’t turn out to be the best weekend of his life, it wasn’t the end of it either.

A small part of him was actually kind of glad to have something to do other than trying to come up with plans all by himself in his apartment, but he obviously wouldn’t admit that to House or Wilson. That would also mean admitting that he still missed Cameron and that he had a harder time dealing with the divorce than he pretended to. But still, he really didn’t understand why Cuddy made him go to this thing. He didn’t even know what House was supposed to do there, but he figured that his boss had just accompanied Wilson for fun.

“Maybe you’ll have the time of your life there”, House pointed out although the way he grinned at Chase told the younger man that his boss knew all to well that Chase most likely was not going to have a very nice time.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a big blast”, Chase scoffed.

“My goodness you two are annoying”, Wilson muttered but looked more amused than actually bothered. House smirked.

“Alright then, you heard the boss kiddo. Time for a nap back there”, his boss said and turned to look at Chase.

Although Chase was a little bit disturbed by the fact that he suddenly almost felt like the kid in the back of the car with his parents arguing in the front, he had to admit that it was also kind of funny to look at it this way. But he was too tired to think much about it anyway, so he just leaned back, trying to find a comfortable and more importantly warm position in his seat.

Finally, he decided to use his jacket as a blanket and took it off, to wrap it around himself. He really had no idea why he still felt cold.  

“You know it’s not even winter yet, Blondie”, House commented when he noticed Chase’s attempt to warm himself up. Chase rolled his eyes at his boss but to his surprise, House actually went to turn the heater up a bit, which made Chase smile appreciatively although House chose to ignore it.

Feeling a little warmer, Chase closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window. Taking a few deep breaths. He hadn’t really noticed it before, but his stomach felt a little queasy. Not too bad yet but he definitely did not want to get carsick on a road trip with House and Wilson. Therefore, he hoped to just sleep through the sensation, hopefully waking up feeling better.

House and Wilson had started talking again, but the constant humming of the car was oddly calming and slowly lulled Chase to sleep.

Chapter Text

Chase groggily woke up. He had no idea how much time had passed and how long he had been asleep for, but his neck was stiff from the odd angle he had drifted off at.

“Ah look who’s back”

Groaning audibly, Chase rubbed his eyes, and it took him a moment to remember where he was. When he did, he groaned again and was met with House grinning at him.

“How long was I asleep?”, he asked through a big yawn that made both House and Wilson chuckle.

“A little less than an hour”, Wilson informed him, and Chase nodded. It wasn’t as long as he had hoped but at least some time had passed.

Suddenly his stomach churned heavily, and the queasy feeling returned, only now ten times stronger than before. He swallowed forcefully, feeling like he might puke. This was not good at all. His pleas that the feeling would pass obviously had not been heard and he felt like the nausea could overwhelm him any moment.

“Are we going to take a break soon?”, he asked, trying his best to sound inconspicuous.

“I had thought maybe in half an hour, we could get some breakfast, and the car needs some gas as well”, Wison replied, luckily so focused on the busy street that he didn’t have time to look at Chase or think about the question any further.

Chase however was not happy with the answer at all. Half an hour. With his stomach churning like this, he would not make it that long, but he wasn’t going to tell them that.

“Why do you ask, Blondie? Don’t tell me you need to pee already”, Houe mocked him, but Chase didn’t reply, he was too busy with not throwing up at the spot.

What the hell was wrong with him, he never got carsick?!

At the lack of an answer House turned around to look at him and his eyes widened just a little bit when he noticed the way Chase was sitting. The young man had wrapped both arms around his middle, was trying to take deep breaths and had closed his eyes, still hoping the feeling might pass.

“Chase?”, House started hesitantly, “you are not gonna puke, are you?”

Of course, House only needed one look to figure out was going on. Although his boss was trying to sound teasingly Chase could make out just a hint of worry hidden in his voice. He forcefully shook his head, although even he himself wasn’t convinced by that.

“Do you need me to stop, Chase?”, Wilson asked, now sounding alarmed as well.

Chase hesitated, his stomach and his pride arguing about the question. His stomach won.

“Maybe”, he mumbled quietly and ashamed but with his eyes still closed he at least didn’t have to see the way House and Wilson were looking at him.

“Pull over as soon as you can”, House ordered his best friend and went to turn his attention back to Chase.

“There is a stop in ten minutes”, Wilson informed them, “think you can hold on until then, Chase?”

Chase would have loved to just say yes but his stomach did another somersault, and he wasn’t sure he was going to make it ten seconds. He groaned and curled deeper into himself.

“I don’t know”, he mumbled shamefully and hang his head.

“I don’t suppose you have a puking bad somewhere, Jimmy?”, House asked hopefully but Wilson shook his head.

“There might be a plastic bag in my backpack but that’s in the trunk”, he replied apologetically. House sighed.

“Helpful as always, Wilson”, he muttered. “Take some deep breaths kiddo, we’re almost there”, he added in Chase’s direction.

Chase highly doubted that they were even close to the gas station but that didn’t change anything. He also couldn’t think too much about the fact that House had just tried to reassure him without mocking him for once. No, he was preoccupied with his angry stomach that was telling him it wouldn’t hold its contents for much longer.

The next few minutes were just one big fuzz for Chase. All he could feel was the nausea and all he could hear was the blood rushing through his ears. Everything else seemed blurry and he really hoped they’d stop soon because otherwise he would redecorate Wilson’s car.

Suddenly he had to gag and quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, already feeling bile building up.

“Speed it up Wilson!”, House hissed at his friend before he talked to Chase again. “Come on Chase, just two more minutes”

Chase felt tears building up in his eyes but didn’t have the energy to wipe them away. Suddenly, Wilson turned the steering wheel, and they were pulling into the exit lane. As much as that should be a relief, Chase’s stomach did not appreciate the abrupt change of direction at all. But the parking lot of the gas station was already in sight now and Chase was determined to make it that far.

Wilson pulled into the first available spot and the car hadn’t even stopped entirely when Chase unfastened his seatbelt and opened the door, bolting out of the car. He barely made it two steps before he fell to his knees and started retching.

Throwing up hurt. A lot. Chase had no idea why there was so much in his stomach when he hadn’t even had breakfast yet. At least his hair wasn’t long anymore so he wouldn’t have to worry about pulling it back from his face. While he was preoccupied with his gut turning itself inside out, Chase barely noticed the car doors opening and House and Wilson getting out.

“Stay with him, I’ll get some water and something for him to wipe his mouth” Although Chase had trouble focusing on anything other than his angry stomach, he was relatively certain that had been Wilson’s voice.

A moment later there was someone standing next to him and suddenly a hand appeared on his shoulder, when he felt himself swaying forward a little, preventing him from losing his balance.

“Jesus Chase, you really don’t do things halfway, do you”, House said more to himself than to Chase.

After what felt like forever, Chase’s stomach had calmed down enough for him to sit up straighter and he leaned back against House’s hand, panting heavily because he was a little out of breath from puking this much.

“Eww sorry that was gross”, he stated when he felt steady enough to speak and slowly pushed himself up with his hands.

“You got that right”, House agreed, “better here though than in Wilson’s car. Trust me, he always gets all crazy when I puke in his car”

“The fact that you puking in my car isn’t a one-time occasion is enough of a reason for me to get annoyed by it, don’t you think?”, Wilson argued closing the trunk before he went to stand next to them, “besides, you usually puke because you drank to much, which means it’s your fault while Chase is hardly to blame for getting motion sick”

Chase chuckled and despite still feeling a little shaky he managed to stand up and leaned against Wilson’s car. House’s hand only left his shoulder, once he was sure that Chase would not collapse again. Wilson handed him a bottle of water and a paper towel, which Chase gratefully accepted, wiping his mouth and taking a small sip of the water to get rid of the awful aftertaste the puking had left.

“Care to explain why a little kangaroo like you would even get motion sick? Aren’t you all immune from surfing the whole time?”, House commented, and Chase rolled his eyes.

“You know we don’t actually surf every day, right”, Chase replied, pretending to be offended, “but honestly, I don’t know what caused this. I don’t usually get carsick so easily. Sorry”

The last bit was mostly directed at Wilson, because Chase really did feel sorry for almost ruining his car and for forcing them to stop before Wilson’s time schedule. He was pretty sure that Wilson liked to be on time for everything and he had just caused them a delay. But Wilson didn’t seem to be that bothered by it.

“Nah don’t worry Chase, happens to the best of us”, the oncologist said reassuringly, “are you feeling better now?”

Chase nodded although truth be told, he was still a little queasy but figured it would pass if he just gave it a little more time.

“Good. There is a picnic table over there behind the parking lot. Why don’t you two go ahead and I pump some gas before I join you with breakfast”, Wilson suggested.

Eww food. Chase’s stomach wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of eating, but he also knew it wouldn’t be smart to continue driving with an empty stomach so maybe he’d try to eat a little.

“Make sure to pack some food that smells better coming up than the stuff he had for dinner last night”, House remarked, pointing towards the smelly mess on the ground. Looking at it only made Chase nauseous again and he quickly turned away to move towards the mentioned picnic table.

After another brief conversation with Wilson, House followed him. The table Wilson had been talking about was small and made of wood, but Chase didn’t care because he really just wanted to sit down. He collapsed onto the hard fabric and sighed.

This trip really couldn’t get any worse…

Chapter Text

House eyed Chase closely when he sat down next to the younger man. Although he had claimed to feel better, House wasn’t too sure about this because Chase still appeared several shades paler than usual. The kid had dropped his head into his hands and had closed his eyes.

House felt like he should be talking to him or at least make fun of him, but he felt strangely out of words at the moment. Although he didn’t like to admit it, he hated seeing the young Aussie suffer, especially after everything he had been through lately.

Hell, not wanting to see him suffer had been the only reason for House to convince Cuddy to force Chase to accompany them. Lately, House had noticed that Chase had been working longer than usual, putting in more hours at the clinic than required and his guess was that the young man was in fact not dealing as well with the whole Dibala-Cameron-disaster as he would like them to believe.

Therefore, House had thought it a good idea to bring him along, as a way to distract him and give him something to do other than working or brooding. And just maybe, although House wouldn’t even admit that in front of Wilson, he had wanted him to come for selfish reasons because he ´just liked spending time with the younger man and things were usually a lot more entertaining when Chase was around. So why the hell did the kid had to get motion sickness today of all days?

“Alright, I brought some things from home but also just bought some stuff at the store here, so have at it”

Wilson’s voice suddenly appearing next to his ear startled House and apparently Chase as well, because the kid’s head jerked upwards in surprise. Wilson hadn’t been lying though, he had brought a whole buffet and House eagerly reached for a sandwich and an apple, already cut into little pieces.

“When did you turn into a soccer mom again?”, he asked his friend through a mouthful of turkey sandwich. Wilson just rolled his eyes at him and started eating himself.

“If figured that if I actually want to eat some of the food myself, without you stealing it, I just had to bring enough for all of us”, Wilson commented and opened a box of cheese sticks.

House demonstratively went to immediately snatch one of them and stuffed it into his mouth.

“What?”, he asked, smacking his lips, “you know you had that one coming”

Wilson rolled his eyes again, but Chase snorted in amusement. House quickly looked at the young man next to him and noticed that he hadn’t picked up anything to eat or drink.

“Come on Blondie. Don’t let Wilson’s driving skills ruin your breakfast”, he said teasingly but was actually a little worried. Chase should feel better by now after they had stopped driving, but he still eyed the food with a look like he would puke again any second.

“I’ll eat something later”, Chase offered but House knew that not having anything in his stomach would not help at all with the nausea.

“Ah sorry not happening. Wilson has been putting so much effort into this and it would just be rude not to appreciate it”, he therefore replied and pushed a box of salty crackers and juice box of orange juice towards Chase.

Luckily, Wilson had apparently gotten the message earlier when House had told him to get food that would smell better coming up, actually obviously telling his friend to get some food suitable for an upset stomach.

Chase eyed the items critically, weighing his options but finally opened the crackers and nibbled on one of them. House grinned at him, very pleased with himself and then returned his focus to Wilson, not wanting to scare the kid from eating because he was staring at him.

Of course, he still observed Chase’s every movement like a hawk, but he was capable of doing that while he talked to Wilson.

“Are you doing a lecture this time?”, he asked his friend who shook his head.

“Oh no, the last time has been enough. I think I’m done with lectures for a while”, Wilson replied, “but an old friend from med school is giving one so I’m looking forward to that”

House rolled his eyes. Wilson was always the supportive friend. Okay, that came in handy when he was the supported friend but otherwise it was just annoying.

“Why are you done with lectures and what happened last time?”, Chase suddenly asked, drinking his juice box through the small straw. House noticed that some of the colour had returned to his face, and he seemed to be feeling at least a little better.

“Let’s just say it didn’t go exactly as planned”, Wilson replied, not looking at Chase. House grinned.

“The idiot almost ruined his entire career”, he told Chase and the younger man’s eyes widened in surprise and amusement.

“I need to hear that story”, he demanded laughing. House was about to start telling him when Wilson shot him an evil look.

“House”, he interrupted him firmly, “you swore to never tell anyone” House rolled his eyes. Wilson and his stupid pride.

Using one hand to shield his mouth from Wilson in the way little girls would tell each other secrets in school, he turned towards Chase and leaned forward conspiratorial.

“I’ll tell you the next time he needs to pee”, he whispered, and Chase snorted.

“You two are so annoying”, Wilson complained and started packing the food away, because nobody was eating anymore.

House noted that Chase had only eaten a few crackers but at least he had finished the juice and some water so he wouldn’t push the matter for now.

“Let’s get back on the road, we still have a few hours ahead of us”, his friend said and got up.

Chase groaned at the mention of more hours on the road but went to get up as well. House however held him back for a second.

“You feeling alright?”, he asked him, trying not to sound like he cared although he did. Chase shrugged.

“I’m okay”, he simply replied. House rolled his eyes.

“That’s not really reassuring you know”, he stated.

“Let’s just get back to the car, the sooner we get there the sooner I can go to bed and just sleep through the entire weekend”, Chase said, grinning at House.

“Now that sounds like a plan”, House agreed, and they both followed Wilson to the car.

Wilson had already gotten out the plastic bags and House placed them on the empty seat next to Chase together with some more crackers and water.

“You wanna puke again, just go ahead”, he told the younger man who just ignored him and climbed back in his seat.

Wilson started the car, and they pulled back onto the road. House looked at the time. They still had roughly five hours ahead of them and he had a feeling they weren’t going to just go by smoothly.

He looked at Chase who had leaned back against his seat, head resting against the window, watching the passing scenery. Although he seemed fine for now, House didn’t miss the way his hand was resting on his stomach, and he was pretty sure those plastic bags would not stay clean for long.

Chapter Text

Chase sighed when they passed yet another tree. It had only been half an hour since their last stop, and he really wished they would be there already. Despite puking earlier, his stomach did not feel better in the slightest. No, it was actually getting a lot worse.

Instead of just feeling nauseous, his stomach had also started cramping painfully about ten minutes ago. Apparently, it was not agreeing with what little he had eaten earlier. Slowly, Chase was beginning to think this might be something worse than just a little motion sickness. He swallowed and leaned his head against the cool window. Despite feeling cold earlier, he now seemed too hot, and the window felt like heaven on his overheated forehead.

“Let’s play another game”, House suddenly announced from the front. Chase groaned and not only because another sharp pain ripped through his abdomen. He really wasn’t in the mood to play games right now.

“House since when do you love car games so much?”, Wilson asked, sounding about as enthusiastic about the whole thing as Chase felt.

But House just smirked at them.

“How about ’20 questions’ or ‘what’s that on my head’”, he suggested, apparently being serious about the whole thing.

“I don’t really want to play games right now House”, Wilson complained at what House looked deeply disappointed.

“What about you, Blondie?”, he asked, turning his head to look at Chase.

“I’m with Wilson”, Chase mumbled and absently rubbed his aching stomach. House eyed him sceptically. Chase hadn’t missed the regular glances House had been throwing him over the last half an hour, checking up on Chase’s condition without actually asking. Chase wasn’t sure what he was supposed to think about that.

“Your stomach still hurting?”, House then asked him, sounding just a little bit concerned.

“Kind of”, Chase replied shrugging. He had given up lying about the way he felt for now, figuring it wasn’t worth it because House would see through him anyway.

“Hmm”, House muttered more to himself and nodded absently. “Alright my friend’s, let’s play ’20 questions’. I’m thinking of an animal. Go guess”, his boss said after a brief moment of silence.

At first neither Wilson or Chase replied anything, Wilson being entirely focused on the street and Chase on his stomach, but House would not have that.

“Either you start guessing now, or I’ll start singing old British folksongs”, he threatened and grinned mischievously at them.

“Alright, alright I’ll play”, Chase grumbled. His head was starting to hurt and he highly doubted that House singing was going to help with that.

“Are you an Australian animal?”, he asked grinning at House.

“Now how ever did you guess that Dr Chase?!”, House replied, pretending to be shocked. Wilson just rolled his eyes.

“Must be a gift”, Chase muttered but still smiled. The conversation was distracting him from his stomach.

“Are you a wombat?”, Chase continued asking but House shook his head, grinning widely.

“A kangaroo?”

“Nope”

“Hmm”

“For being from Down Under, you don’t know lots of Australian animals”, House commented, when Chase didn’t come up with another one.

But suddenly and fresh wave of nausea hit him, and Chase groaned, wrapping both arms around his middle when the pain in his stomach intensified.

“Chase?”, House asked alarmed, but Chase couldn’t answer. All he could think of, was grabbing the bag next to, fumbling it open with one hand before he held onto it for dear life when his stomach rebelled once more.

“Shit Chase!”, Wilson exclaimed, “do you need me to stop?”

Chase shook his head, although he was buried into the bag.

“’m fine”, he mumbled before he retched once more, bringing up a disgusting mix of crackers and juice. Eww, he felt so awful right now.

“Fine my ass”, House muttered, “don’t forget to breathe back there”

The last bit was added when he noticed how Chase was struggling to get in enough air. He tried to take some deep breaths and finally the retching stopped for now and he slumped back against his seat, closing his eyes, feeling utterly exhausted.

“Are you alright, Chase?”, Wilson asked, clearly worried.

“Yeah he looks just fine, what do you think?!”, House exclaimed before Chase even had a chance to answer. “Hand me that bag, kiddo. You keep smelling that and you’ll puke again, or I’ll puke”, he ordered, and Chase gratefully handed over the puking bag.

House closed it up, by tying the top into one big knot before he opened the window and threw it outside.

“House!”, Wilson protested.

“What”, House replied shrugging, “not like we need it again”

Chase snorted at that and his and House’s eyes met for a second, causing them both to burst out into a fit of laughter.

“Glad you are feeling better”, Wilson commented when he saw Chase giggling in the back.

However, laughing this hard triggered his stomach and he whimpered quietly as another sharp pain attacked his abdomen. House stopped laughing immediately and shot Chase a worried look.

“So not just motion sickness then”, he stated when he examined Chase with his eyes again.

Chase shook his head pitifully. “Feels worse than that”, he said through gritted teeth. Unbelievingly he still felt nauseous although he had literally already emptied his stomach entirely.

“Lean forward”, House suddenly ordered. Wilson and Chase shot him a confused look, but House insisted, urging Chase to move.

Although bending forward was really not helping his stomach pain, Chase complied and was surprised to see that House twisted his arm in an odd angle until he could reach Chase’s forehead, where he placed his palm to check the younger man’s temperature.

Chase leaned into the touch a little, because House hand was cool and unexpectantly soft.

“Yep, you got a nice fever there, kiddo”, House stated and withdrew his hand, although Chase kind of wished he would keep it there. The touch had been oddly comforting.

“How bad?”, Wilson asked, and Chase saw the concern in his eyes through the mirror when he leaned back against his seat, curling protectively around his stomach.

“I’m not a thermometer”, House argued and sighed. “But my educated guess would be around 101”

Eww, Chase groaned. That would explain why he had started feeling generally like crap. He shivered in his seat and wrapped his jacket around him again.

“What should we do then?”, Wilson asked, looking at House and Chase. Chase just shrugged, he was too exhausted to think and felt too awful to care.

“Chase is going to drink something and then he’ll go back to sleep, and you’ll stop driving like an old lady so that we might have a chance of getting to that stupid conference rather sooner than later", House decided and pushed a water bottle at Chase who looked at it disgusted.

“You know it’s just gonna come up again”, he protested quietly, really not trusting his stomach at the moment.

“Well, you are definitely going to get dehydrated if you keep puking like this”, House stated, “so drink it before I climb back there and force you to”

At that Chase let out a small chuckle and took a tentative sip, relieved when his stomach didn’t immediately protest.

“Are you sure you’re okay if we keep driving, Chase?”, Wilson asked him, looking at him doubtfully, “I would understand if you’d rather turn back home”

Chase wasn’t sure why he didn’t immediately agree to that offer. Some part of him really just wanted to go home and crawl into his bed, but that would also mean being miserable and alone. On this weird road trip to hell, he would at least only be miserable.

“No, let’s just keep driving, I’ll be fine”, he therefore replied and rested his head back against the window, allowing his eyes to close.

“Alright if you say so but tell me if you change your mind or need a break at some point”, Wilson said, and Chase felt like they were actually speeding up a little.

He tried to calm his stomach enough to fall asleep again, feeling incredibly exhausted and although he was too hot and too cold at the same time he managed to slowly drift off.

He really couldn’t believe that he managed to catch a freaking stomach bug on this one weekend where he was stuck in a car for most of the day.

Just when he was halfway asleep already, he had an idea.

“House?”, he mumbled, voice laced with sleep.

“Yeah kiddo”, his boss replied, unusual soft.

“Are you a koala?” He heard House chuckle softly.

“One point for the little wombat”

Chapter Text

Chase’s sleep had not been restful at all. His churning stomach made it difficult for him to even fall asleep and whenever he did, he was woken up only moments later again by another painful cramp in his abdomen. Chase was also relatively sure that his fever was getting worse because his whole body had started to ache and he was shivering violently, with his jacket doing little to nothing as a substitute blanket.

Furthermore, he had also used two more puking bags already, the last time not even bringing something up anymore but simply dry heaving painfully.

And as if things weren’t bad enough, they had been stuck in a traffic jam for the last fifteen minutes and were barely moving at all anymore.

Groaning when his stomach cramped painfully again, Chase gave up the hope of falling asleep and turned to watch the street again. Not that starring at not-moving cars was much of a distraction.

“Why is there always so much traffic around here?”, Wilson muttered to himself from the front. He and House had both been watching Chase closely the entire, sending worried looks in his direction ever so often, although House put a lot of effort into hiding the concern from his eyes.

“Maybe we wouldn’t be stuck here if you had agreed to taking my route”, House argued and looked accusingly at his friend. Wilson just rolled his eyes.

“You mean the one that would have taken us two more hours at least”, he retorted but House shrugged innocently.

“I told you already, I love road trips”, he pointed out, “besides, we definitely wouldn’t be stuck in traffic had we taken my way”

“Yeah, probably because you chose streets that not a single car has driven on for years”, Wilson replied, shaking his head before he let out a deep sigh when the car once more wasn’t moving at all.

Chase snorted at their conversation. As horrible as he felt at the moment, at least he had some entertainment. House turned his head to look at him.

“Having fun back there, Blondie?”, he commented when he saw Chase chuckling.

“Have to make the best of this horror trip somehow”, Chase replied grinning a little, before another chill ran down his spine and he shivered, hugging himself tightly.

House eyed him critically for a second.

“Time for a temperature check”, his boss announced, and Chase leaned forward without protest. House’s hand was cool and calming on his forehead and Chase let out a small content sigh, relaxing under the soft touch once more.

House seemed to notice this because he let his hand rest there a little longer than necessary for taking Chase’s temperature and he even briefly brushed back the few small strands of sweaty hair that were plastered to his overheated forehead.

“Your fever is up, kiddo”, House informed him with a sigh, when he finally withdrew his hand.

“How are you feeling, Chase?”, Wilson asked him concerned. This was not how the oncologist had expected this trip to go.

“Sick”, Chase stated tiredly because there was no other way of describing his current state. He simply felt incredibly sick with his angry stomach cramping painfully, his whole-body aching and shivering from the fever and his head throbbing mercilessly.

In theory, Chase knew he needed to drink something because he had started feeling dehydrated and got dizzy from simply sitting upright but he was certain the water wouldn’t stay down, and he really didn’t want to throw up again.

His throat was already raw from puking earlier and he felt too exhausted to go through the whole process again.

“Newsflash little kangaroo, but you are sick”, House replied, trying to sound teasingly but looked at Chase once more with worry in his eyes. The fact that Chase admitted to feeling bad was enough of a clue for how awful he felt.

“Maybe we should have turned around earlier”, Wilson said, more to himself than directed at House or Chase.

“Well, it’s too late for that now”, House stated angrily, although maybe he was simply frustrated. Chase definitely was. Because House was right, turning around now would only take them longer than to just keep driving to the conference.

That didn’t however make the prospect of being stuck in the car for three more hours at least any more appealing.

Suddenly Chase felt his lower stomach cramp viciously, grumbling threateningly. Oh no, Chase though when he recognized the signs.

“How fast can we stop?”, he asked hurriedly, wrapping his arms protectively around his middle when his stomach grumbled again, this time louder and more painfully.

“There is a rather large gas station not that far ahead, but we are still stuck in this stupid traffic, so I don’t know when we’ll be able to get there”, Wilson replied helplessly, looking at Chase in alarm. “What’s wrong? Why do you need me to stop?”

But Chase didn’t reply. He couldn’t. And he also knew he couldn’t stay in the car much longer. His stomach rumbled in agreement.

“There should be another puke-bag so just use it, if you have to”, House urged him, but Chase miserably shook his head.

“There is more than one way for stuff to leave you stomach”, he replied, through gritted teeth, curling deep into himself.

“Oh shit!”, House exclaimed and if Chase hadn’t been preoccupied with this stupid stomach bug, he would have laughed at the irony that ‘shit’ was exactly the problem.

Instead, he just nodded frantically. “I need a bathroom”, he whimpered and closed his eyes when tears were threatening to spill. If they came from the overwhelming pain or his embarrassment about the whole situation, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t care either.

“House what the hell do we do?”, Wilson asked, sounding as panicked as Chase felt, “we are in the middle of the road, I can’t just stop and even if I did, it’s not like there is a toilet around here”

When Chase opened his eyes to look miserably at his boss, he was scared to see the helplessness on House’s face. For once, not even the great Dr House seemed to have a genius idea.  

“Stupid traffic”, he muttered before he turned to look at Chase. Their eyes met and Chase looked desperately at him, the irrational part of his brain believing that House would come up with a solution, that House would help him somehow because he always did, but what was there to do?

“Don’t panic, kiddo. We’ll get you to a bathroom, just hold on”, House said and although he didn’t sound too convinced by his own words, his voice was soft and calming and somehow Chase believed him.

His belief was shattered violently however, when a sharp pain ripped through his middle and let out a surprised cry, before he tried to curl even deeper into himself if that was possible.

“House”, he whimpered desperately because he was overwhelmed with pain and fear and didn’t know what to do anymore. He felt like he had never hurt this much in his life.

“Hang on, kiddo”, House said but his voice seemed to come from far away.

Suddenly though, Chase realized that House had moved his seat back as much as possible and had unfastened his seatbelt. Blinking in confusion, Chase realized that House was climbing from his seat in the front to the back.

“House! What are you doing?!”, Wilson exclaimed when he saw what his friend was attempting, “are you insane?! You’re gonna hurt yourself!”

But House ignored him and didn’t even apologize when he accidently kicked Wilson into his shoulder attempting to get his leg from the front to the back. Somehow, though Chase had no idea how, House managed to leave his seat and fell into the one next to Chase, rubbing his bad leg, that had gotten hurt while he had performed this little stunt.

Once his boss had caught his breath, he ignored the pain in his own leg and focused on Chase instead.

“Alright you miserable little wombat, let’s get that seatbelt off”, House told him and carefully unfastened Chase’s seatbelt. Immediately some of the pressure on his abdomen disappeared and Chase took a shaky breath.

“Thanks”, he whispered. House shrugged but gave a short nod, probably his way of saying ‘you’re welcome’.

Maybe Chase would have said more but his stomach rumbled again, and he felt like he was seconds away from having a horrible accident. Thoughts spiralled through his head and his breathing became unregularly. His head was dizzy, and he felt on the edge of a panic attack.

“Chase, hey Chase. Come on, you need to calm down or you’ll feel even worse”

House’s voice once more seemed so far away, and Chase wasn’t sure how he could possibly get any worse than he felt right now. But suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it briefly before it moved to his back, rubbing slow and grounding circles.

Chase tried to only focus on that sensation, House’s warm hand, and ignored everything else.

“Speed it up, Wilson”, House hissed without abandoning his current position before he turned his attention back to Chase. “Just hang on a little longer, kiddo”, he whispered comfortingly and continued to rub the younger man’s back which Chase greatly appreciated.

By some miracle, the traffic actually cleared up a little and they started moving again. Not nearly as fast as Chase had hoped but at least now the gas station seemed like a reachable place again.

Chase didn’t recall much of the following minutes; not even how much time had passed. All he still registered was his vile stomach and House next to him. Somehow, after Chase was sure they wouldn’t make it in time, Wilson pulled into the exit line again and parked the car as close to the bathrooms as possible.

“Go”, House urged him, but Chase didn’t need any encouragement. He stumbled out of the car, ignoring that he was almost too dizzy to walk and somehow made his way to the thankfully empty bathroom and collapsed into a small cabinet.

He had been wrong before. This trip had just turned a lot worse.

Chapter Text

House got out of the car and angrily kicked a little rock with his good leg before he rubbed his aching bad one. Maybe climbing through the car hadn’t been such a good idea. But watching Chase suffering and panicking hadn’t been much of an alternative. House sighed and leaned against the car.

So far, this trip could have gone a lot better.

“You okay?”

Wilson startled him. His friend had appeared at his side and eyed House with concern written all over his face.

“I’m not the one you should be fussing over”, House muttered and looked over to the gas station where Chase had disappeared only a few minutes ago. Wilson nodded and let out a sigh as well.

“You think it’s really just a stomach bug or something worse?”, his friend asked him, and their eyes met.

“Looks like a nasty stomach bug but who knows”, House replied, really hoping that it wasn’t something worse. Not like their situation wasn’t bad enough already…

“That’s just typical Chase, managing to get sick like the one day he is in a car”, he stated, surprised to hear the frustration in his voice. This shouldn’t bother him as much as it did.

The disturbing thing was, that it didn’t bother him because it was inconvenient or disgusting, no it bothered him because he didn’t want Chase to feel bad.

“Really bad timing”, Wilson agreed and looked at House. “You should go in and check on him”, his friend added.

“Wilson do you really think he wants an audience for this? I couldn’t tell if his cheeks were red from the fever or embarrassment”, House replied, aware that he was deflecting. Wilson rolled his eyes.

“No but he looked ready to pass out and he might need some help, and he definitely shouldn’t be alone right now, feeling as awful as he does”, his friend argued.

“So, you go check on him”

House wasn’t sure why he was being stubborn now. He had thought about following the kid straight from the car and only his aching leg had prevented him from going through with it.

“He will be more comfortable with you, trust me”, Wilson replied, sounding now frustrated as well, “and besides, you took pretty good care of him in the car so far”

“Then it’s your turn even more now”, House retorted but Wilson shook his head.

“House please, it’s been a long day. You know you’re worried, you know Chase shouldn’t be alone right now and you know you want to be there for him so please, just go”, his friend said and pushed a bottle of water towards him.

House eyed Wilson for another second, debating with himself if he should argue but then decided that it wasn’t wort it. Wilson had seen through his façade already and Chase might actually need some help right now.

“Take care of your little, wombat, kangaroo or whatever you call him at the moment”, Wilson added, and House rolled his eyes but left.

As fast as his leg allowed him, he walked towards the bathrooms, hoping that Chase hadn’t actually passed out.

When he entered the men’s room, he was shocked to find Chase sitting on the floor next to a sink. His eyes were halfway closed, and he had pulled up his knees, hugging them with his arms.

There was no other way of saying it, Chase looked absolutely miserable. At least he wasn’t on the toilet anymore and still conscious, so that was a good thing, House thought when he approached the younger man.

“Those bathroom floors are probably really gross, you know”, he said before he sat down next to Chase, “not that getting sick would be your main concern right now”

When Chase didn’t verbally respond and it seemed like he had barely registered House’s presence, the older man’s worry grew.

“Hey, you with me kiddo?”, he asked and placed a hand on Chase’s shoulder to get his attention, cursing inwardly at the heat that was radiating through his clothes.

Chase slowly lifted his head and groggily looked at House, his eyes seemed unfocused, and he was pale as a ghost.

“House?”, he asked, voice slightly slurred. This was really not good at all.

“Yeah kiddo, I was about to ask you if you feel any better but one look at you tells me more than enough”, House replied and shuffled a little closer to Chase, once more placing his hand on the younger man’s forehead.

To his relief, there wasn’t a big change in the temperature so while Chase was surely still feeling pretty awful, at least his fever wasn’t getting any worse.

Chase however just seemed incredibly exhausted, and House could feel him leaning deeply into his hand, when he checked the kid’s temperature. Although he had noticed before, that Chase seemed to be enjoying this kind of physical comfort, the younger man didn’t try to hide it anymore. Which really wasn’t a good sign.

“Can’t remember the last time I felt this sick”, Chase groaned and leaned his head against the wall, eyes halfway close. House sighed, not sure how to handle this situation. For being a doctor, he really sucked at taking care of sick people.

“I need a little more information, if you want me to help you”, he finally said, focusing on what he was good at: getting to a diagnosis from a list of symptoms. Chase turned to look at him, his face still far to pale but with deeply flushed cheeks.

“What do you want to know?”, he replied sounding incredibly exhausted, “that my stomach is killing me and that my head feels like someone is playing drums inside? Or that I’m freaking cold and dizzy, and I might pass out if I try to move even a little bit?”

The young Aussie let out a frustrated and painful sigh before he fully closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around his middle, breathing heavily through another sharp cramp that was attacking his abdomen.

Absently rubbing his bad leg, House tried to figure out what to do next. He knew he needed to help Chase somehow but there wasn’t really much one could do against a stomach bug. Especially while sitting in a freaking gas station bathroom. Suddenly remembering the water he had brought, House gently shook Chase’s shoulder and opened the bottle.

“Here, dehydration won’t help your headache at all, and you might actually pass out if you don’t drink something soon”, he said and tried to hand the bottle to his employee, who looked at the liquid, clearly repelled by the mere idea of letting anything into his stomach.

“You know it won’t stay down”, Chase protested weakly, “and I really don’t want to throw up again”

The last part was added more quietly, almost whispered and House thought that Chase appeared unbelievingly vulnerable right now. Gosh, he really sucked at this.

“Just take small and slow sips”, he proposed, trying to convince the young man without having to force the water into him. “You know you’ll feel better afterwards, and we are not in a rush. So just take your time and try to get some of the fluids you lost today back into you”, he added gently and fortunately Chase hesitantly reached for the water and took a tiny sip.

“Attaboy”, House praised teasingly although being actually glad that Chase had drunken something. Chase just rolled his eyes but winced when that triggered his headache. House sighed. They still had a long way ahead of them.

“Keep drinking and tell me when you feel like you might make it back to the car without passing out”, he told Chase, who nodded obediently, apparently too tired to argue anymore.

Slowly sipping his water, Chase squirmed around on the floor, not finding a comfortable position to sit in. It looked like leaning his head against the hard, cold wall wasn’t improving his headache at all and House was relatively certain that all the younger man wanted right now, was a way to lie down.

“Oh for Christ’s sake, Chase, just lean against me”, House muttered, trying to keep up the act of the annoyed boss and not showing how worried he actually was. But he still grabbed the young man’s shoulder and carefully pulled him towards him until Chase’s head was resting against his shoulder.

The shock and surprise at the gesture made Chase tense up at first, but he soon relaxed into House, repositioning his head until he found a somewhat comfortable position. Despite himself, House had to chuckle a little. Chase looked kind of cute, snuggled into his side like this and to his own great surprise, having his little wombat this close didn’t feel as wrong as he had imagined.

“You really are a handful, you know”, he commented quietly when Chase had finally decided on a position and leaned closer into him. The younger man just shrugged and took another tiny sip of his water.

For a moment, they both fell into a comfortable silence. House felt the heat radiating of Chase even through his sweater and could at the same time feel the shivers that were running through the kid’s body. That was some bug Chase had managed to catch.

“House?”, Chase asked quietly after a while.

“Yeah?”

“Why are you being so nice?”

House let out a quiet laugh.

“I’m always nice”, he replied smirking and felt Chase chuckle softly at this.

“No, you’re not, you’re never nice”, he argued back. House shrugged and repositioned them both a little.

“Does is it matter?”, he asked playfully, “I can also go back to mocking you about your hair, your clothes, your accent, your- “

“Okay, okay stop”, Chase protested laughing, “I guess it doesn’t matter for now”

“Good” House nodded, and silence fell over them once more.

“Won’t Wilson be pissed at us for being gone that long?”, Chase asked while drinking some more of his water. Satisfied, House noticed that Chase had almost drunken half of the bottle and so far, it seemed to stay down.

“Nah”, he replied, “Wilson is probably just all happy that he has gotten rid of both of us for the moment, trust me”

“I guess we, well mostly me, did ruin the trip a little”, Chase agreed sounding like he was feeling at least slightly better for now.

“Ah believe me, this is hardly the worst road trip Wilson, and I ever had”, House said and chuckled to himself, when he remembered all the time he and his best friend had been on the road together.

“Right now, I find that kind of hard to imagine”, Chase winced and massaged his stomach. House tried to ignore the strange sympathetic sensation around his heard, but he subconsciously pulled the kid a little closer.

“Oh, I could tell you stories, but Wilson would probably kill me”

“You still owe me the story about that last conference you two went to though”, Chase argued grinning.

“I guess, I did promise to tell you, but if we want to make it to that conference today in one piece, you should keep this from Wilson”, House stated and grinned as well.

“Cross my heart and hope to die”, Chase replied, pretending to be deathly serious which made House chuckle involuntarily.

“Alright then my little kangaroo, perk up your ears”

And then House began telling Chase about the lecture his best friend had wanted to give last time, the one he ended up giving in order to save Wilson’s career. Although Chase had been listening closely at the beginning, House could feel the younger man beginning to drift of on his shoulder. As much as he knew that Chase needed sleep, this bathroom floor wasn’t a good place for that.

They needed to get back to the car, where Chase would hopefully be able to sleep through the rest of the drive. Therefore, House gently shook the young Aussie’s shoulder.

“Come on kiddo, I’m not a pillow, let’s get you back to the car”, he said before he gently shoved Chase’s head of his shoulder and stretched his muscles before he carefully stood up, relieved when his bad leg didn’t buckle and kept supporting him.

Chase slowly pushed himself up, clearly struggling to keep his balance even though he had just drunken almost a whole bottle of water.

“You still dizzy?”, House asked when he went to support Chase by putting one arm around his waist and pulling him up.

“Hmm” Chase only hummed in agreement. House did not like this at all. Apparently, Chase wasn’t that much better yet.

“I would offer you my cane but then I’m afraid we both won’t make it”, he joked half-heartedly and was relieved to see the younger man cracking a small smile.

“I think I’ll manage”, he mumbled and slowly took a step forward without collapsing back to the floor.

House snorted. They must look like quiet the pair with him leaning on his cane and at the same time supporting Chase with a hand on his back, because although the younger man hadn’t passed out yet, he still stumbled along unsteadily, like he had drunken a few too many beers.

Somehow, they made it back to the car though. When Wilson saw them, he immediately ran towards them and was about to take Chase’s weight of from House, but House just waved him off.

“Clear the path, two cripples coming through”, he announced and smirked at his friend, who stepped aside rolling his eyes. “You could open the door though, my hands are kind of full”, House added and used his head to point at the cane in his right and Chase in his left hand.

“I can walk by myself”, Chase muttered quietly, so that only House could hear him.

“Yeah, somehow I don’t believe you”, House replied and helped Chase to sit down back into the car.

The way the younger man all but collapsed into the seat was proof enough that he wouldn’t have made it to the car himself.

“I need to talk to Wilson, so lie down and get some sleep”, House ordered and briefly patted Chase’s shoulder before he turned around to his best friend.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Chase pulling up his feet and lying down on the three backseats. House let out a deep sigh before he turned to face Wilson, who was grinning at him with this smug look that House used all too often himself but hated on others.

“So, I have some questions”, his friend said.

Chapter Text

Chase really wished to be home in his big, warm bed. Or any bed at all really. He wasn’t overly picky at the moment. Anything was better than the hard and uncomfortable backseat of Wilson’s car where he was currently lying on. It was still ten times better than the cold bathroom floor, but Chase knew he wouldn’t be able to get any real rest here. No, not with how crappy he still felt.

Despite being relatively sure that there couldn’t possibly still be anything left in his stomach, he still felt vaguely nauseous, and his stomach hadn’t stopped cramping either. Chase sighed and rubbed his aching temples. On any other day he would be highly embarrassed about everything that had happened today, especially the situation with House in the bathroom but he felt far too sick to care and way too feverish to even form a coherent thought. Was this trip to hell ever going to end?

“Chase?”

Chase only groaned in response but forced himself to open his eyes. Wilson was leaning through the door, eyeing him with a worried look.

“Yeah?”, he mumbled tiredly.

“I just wanted to ask how you’re doing. Do you need anything?”, Wilson replied and fidgeted with his hands, like he wasn’t sure what to do with them.

“Unless you have a bed hidden somewhere or better yet a time machine to prevent me from ever leaving the house today, I don’t think there is much you can do”, Chase told him before he closed his eyes again when he started feeling slightly dizzy once more.

“Yeah, I know, sorry”, Wilson said his voice sounding like it came from far away, “House is at the store to buy some stuff and whenever you’re ready I’ll drive as fast as I can to the hotel”

“Sounds terrific”, Chase mumbled tiredly, secretly wondering what House was buying but then again, he lacked the energy to really think about it.

“I’ll let you rest for now”

Before Chase could even try to formulate a reply, Wilson had already gently shut the door behind him and for a moment it was blissfully quiet in the car.

Chase had no idea how much time had passed since his brief conversation with Wilson, his clouded mind had been preoccupied with drifting in and out of consciousness. But suddenly the door was opened again and Chase shivered as the cool air form outside hit his face.

“Rise and shine little kangaroo”

That was definitely House. Chase groaned again while he slowly forced himself to move enough to properly look at his boss. House eyed him with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Wow you still look like absolute crap”, his boss stated, and Chase rolled his eyes.

“Well, I still feel like it”, he muttered annoyed and rubbed his eyes.

“Any changes?”, House then asked, voice less teasingly and genuinely interested. Chase just kind of shrugged.

“Not really”, he replied, “’m not as nauseous anymore but I’m not sure those stomach cramps are much of an improvement. So yeah…still sick I guess”

House huffed out a dry laugh.

“Didn’t expect you to get magically better while I went to the store”

When Chase didn’t reply anything, he added: “Picked up some stuff for you”

Only now Chase noticed the plastic bag House was holding in his left hand.

“I even went to check online and got everything you need to take care of sick little kangaroos”, his boss stated proudly, and Chase couldn’t help the small smile that escaped him.

“Didn’t know you are hoping to switch to being a vet”, he commented and House grinned.

“Well after all the practise I’ve had watching out for your sorry Australiuan ass I figured I’d give it a shot”

Chase laughed quietly but winced when once more his middle was attacked by a sudden pain. House’s face softened immediately, and he leaned a little further into the car, until he could look at Chase properly. The younger man still felt absolutely miserable.  

“Come on kiddo, let’s get you a little more comfortable and then I’ll threaten Wilson to speed it up, so you can pass out in a nice hotel bed and sleep this off”, he suggested and gently helped Chase into a sitting position again.

Half an hour later Chase was actually feeling a little better. To his surprise House hadn’t been joking when he was talking about getting everything they needed in that store. After making Chase drink another bottle of water and some Gatorade, he forced him to eat a few saltine crackers and also helped him to change into a more comfortable and more importantly fresh hoodie as well as a pair of soft sweatpants.

“Alright, time for some meds and then a nap”, House ordered and handed Chase two small fever reducers he had bought, which the young Aussie swallowed with no protest.

“Good, and now to my special treat”, his boss announced and paused a second for the dramatic effect before he pulled a large, incredibly fluffy blanket from behind his back. Chase’s eyes widened in surprise and House grinned at him.

“Got you a blanket”, he stated proudly. Chase blinked.

“It’s pink”, he replied, still starring at the to be fair very soft and cozy but also very pink looking fabric. House just shrugged.

“It was the largest and warmest they had and who knows, maybe pink will be your new colour”, he joked before he handed it to Chase who didn’t hesitate any longer to wrap it around him. House had been right; it was incredibly soft and more importantly warm. Chase let out a content sigh.   

“Thanks House”, he mumbled, eyes already halfway closed. His boss nodded shortly but Chase could swear that there was an uncharacteristic warmth in his eyes.

“I’ll try to find Wilson so we can get back on the road”, he announced and closed the door, leaving Chase alone in the blissfully quiet car for the moment.

Fifteen minutes later they were driving again. House had, to Chase’s surprise, decided to sit next to him in the back on the middle seat. The bag with supplies as well as some more puking bags was placed on the empty seat next to House. Chase was still curled up in his blanket, feeling considerably less like shit but he still hadn’t managed to fall asleep again.

“How long until we’re there”, he therefore asked, his words half muffled by the pink blanket. Wilson checked his GPS.

“Two hours if nothing goes wrong anymore”, he replied and looked at Chase through the rear mirror. Chase nodded absently and if possible, pulled the blanket even closer around himself.

“Speed it up Wilson, you’ll get a nice treat if you make it in less than ninety minutes”, House said, and Wilson rolled his eyes.

“You gonna buy me a pink blanket as well?”, he asked his friend teasingly. Chase snorted quietly, imagining Wilson, the esteemed oncologist sleeping under a pink blanket.

“We all know purple is more your colour”, House pointed out, making Wilson roll his eyes and Chase chuckle softly to himself.

Their teasing went back and forth for a while, but Chase didn’t have the energy to listen to it anymore. No, he was too exhausted to pay attention to anything and found himself slowly drifting off to unconsciousness. Just when he finally had almost nodded off, his head fell against House’s shoulder, and he jerked up apologetically.

“Sorry”, he mumbled and tried to find a comfortable position without using his boss as his pillow. But House just let out a deep breath before he gently pulled Chase towards him until the younger man was resting once more against his side.

“Just go to sleep kiddo”, he whispered quietly and briefly squeezed Chase’s shoulder.

Chase didn’t need to be told twice. He repositioned his head in a way that it was resting half on House’s shoulder and half on his chest before he closed his eyes. For a moment the only sound he heard was the soft humming of the car and the quiet beat of his boss’ heart. Just before he managed to fall asleep entirely, House was talking again, his voice vibrating through his chest in a very calming manner.

“You tell anyone about this, you die”

Chase wasn’t sure if he was talking to Wilson or him, but he definitely was never going to talk about this day again. Nobody needed to know he was snuggled into a pink blanket, using his boss as a pillow. Although he couldn’t see Wilson, he could very well imagine the smug look on the oncologist’s face.

The last thing he felt before he finally fell asleep was House’s gentle hand on his back.

Chapter Text

“Me made it”

House groggily opened his eyes. He hadn’t even realized he had fallen asleep. Wilson was looking at him through the rear mirror an unsettling expression on his face.

Only now House registered, that Chase was still sleeping with his head resting against him. To his surprise he also found his own arm wrapped around the kid’s back, almost hugging him in his sleep.

“You two are really cute like this, you know”, Wilson commented from the front of the car.

“Oh, just shut up”, House replied angrily but made no move to abandon his current position. No, he would not wake up Chase unless absolutely necessary. The kid deserved his sleep after everything he had been through today. Wilson shrugged and laughed quietly.

“I think it’s a good thing actually”, he said, “you, taking care of Chase and him trusting you enough to do so. That’s something you both could use”

“Yeah, yeah…save your psycho lectures for later will you”, House muttered and looked through the window. They were parked in a parking lot and the hotel was just across the street. “Instead of playing psycho-doc you should rather check us in so we can all sleep in a real bed for the rest of the day”

House was mostly thinking about Chase, but his own leg wasn’t so happy about being cramped up in the car for this long and he knew if he didn’t change his position soon, it would really start acting up. Wilson gave a short nod and started to unbuckle his seatbelt.

“I’ll be right back”, he said and got out of the car, leaving a sleeping Chase and an exhausted House behind.

House sighed quietly and rubbed his eyes. This trip had not gone the way he had planned. For once in his life, he had tried to do something nice, by bringing Chase along to keep him from being alone and becoming insane but of course fate was against him. Although House didn’t believe in fate this felt worse than just bad luck.

But to a certain point Wilson might be right, although House would obviously never admit that. Maybe, just maybe the whole thing had brought him and Chase a little closer together. After all, he didn’t just let anyone use him as a personal pillow.

True to his word, Wilson didn’t take longer than ten minutes to come back.

“We are all checked in”, he said quietly when he opened the door, careful not to wake up Chase, “they booked us in for one room with two king sized beds. Which means two of us need to share”

House nodded absently. They’d figure out the sleeping logistics later. For now, it was more important to get Chase to the hotel.

“I’ll get our stuff, and you make sure Chase makes it”, Wilson proposed and handed House his own keycard.

“Sounds terrific”, he replied and waited for Wilson to leave the car before he carefully started to shake Chase’s shoulder, in an attempt to wake him up.

“Come on kiddo, time to wake up”

Chase stirred slightly and sluggishly managed to lift his head a little. House had to chuckle at the way the younger man’s hair was sticking in odd places from his head.

“Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty”, he said teasingly and gently nudged Chase’s shoulder again.

“Uhm…House?”, Chase asked sleepily and tried to focus on his boss.

“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either, but we actually made it to the hotel”, House replied and eyed Chase critically for a second, trying to asses his state. “How are you feeling?”, he asked.

It took Chase a moment to reply.

“Exhausted”, he finally settled on. House huffed out a quiet laugh.

“I bet you are, although you spent the last hour drooling on my shoulder”, he commented. Chase seemed to need a moment to comprehend what House had said and when he did his already flushed cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment.

“I…eh…sorry, you could’ve…ehm… pushed me away”, he stuttered, clearly not having the brain power to deal with the whole situation. But House quickly waved him off.

“Nah don’t worry I’ve been covered in worse stuff”, he replied, “Wilson checked us in and already carried our stuff inside, so all we got to do is get you to the room and then you can sleep for the rest of the weekend”

“Sounds good”

“Great. You think you can get out of the car and walk to the hotel without passing out?”

Chase hesitated briefly, pushing himself fully into a sitting position. House observed him with sharp eyes. He seemed to be a little better, although still looking pale and tired.

“I think I’ll manage”, Chase said and slowly started to free himself of his blanket.

“The colour is still hurting my eyes, you know”, he muttered while taking off his seatbelt and putting on his jacket. House chuckled.

“Don’t insult the blanket. But since you are so embarrassed to be seen with it, I will generously carry the pink beauty here and you’ll just have to worry about carrying yourself”

Chase grinned weakly before he opened the door and carefully pushed himself to his feet. House quickly followed him, relieved to stretch his leg.

“Alright then, let’s hop on you little kangaroo”, House said, smirking at Chase who rolled his eyes and took a few stumbling steps towards the hotel.

Somehow, they made it to the other side of the street in one piece. Although Chase managed to stay upright, he still stumbled more than once, and his steps seemed uncoordinated and sluggish.

When they reached the elevator, Chase leaned heavily against the wall during the entire ride, eyes halfway closed and one hand resting protectively on his stomach. House did not like at all how weak the kid seemed.

The elevator stopped but Chase showed no sign of moving at first. House gently tucked his sleeved and helped him to the long hallway.

“Almost there kiddo, come on, you can make it”, he encouraged him and Chase nodded weakly, allowing himself to be guided by House.

Finally, they reached their room and House let them in. The room was small, but clean and almost cozy. Wilson had already started to unpack a little when they entered.

“Look who made it as well”, House said proudly to his friend who turned to look at them.

“Took you long enough, I was starting to get worried”, Wilson replied, eyes resting on Chase.

“Hey, don’t rush two poor cripples”, House defended them jokingly before his attention turned to Chase as well who looked like he wasn’t going to stand for much longer, already leaning against House for support.

“Come on you clingy little koala, time for bed”

“Haha”, Chase muttered but took a few stumbling steps towards one of the large beds and pretty much collapsed onto it.

Ten minutes later House had forced Chase to drink and eat something again before he allowed him to lie down. Chase hadn’t bothered to change into his pyjamas, being too tired and too cold to do much. Instead, he had just curled up on his side and tried to suck in as much warmth as the thin hotel blanket would allow him.

“How are your head and stomach?”, House asked quietly. He had sat down on the bed next to Chase’s legs and wanted to check on him one last time before he would allow him to get some much-needed rest. Chase looked at him with glassy and tired eyes.

“Not much better and not much worse than before”, he answered with a small shrug. House nodded.

“Alright then, that’s probably all we could expect for now”, he said, “you should get back to sleep now. Just one more thing…”

He grinned mischievously at Chase before he pulled out the pink blanket once more. Chase rolled his eyes.

“Seriously?”

House smirked at him, clearly enjoying himself.

“Come on, even you have to admit that those hotel blankets are way too thin and you’re shivering so bad the whole bed is shaking”  

With that said, he gently placed the fluffy blanket on top of Chase, making sure to cover him fully. The effect was visible immediately and Chase let out a content sigh, clearly much warmer.

“Thanks House”, he whispered barely audible.

“Go to sleep, you poor little sick wombat”, House replied, patting Chase’s leg briefly before he got up. Chase didn’t need to be told twice and was out cold only seconds later.

“That’s been one of the worst road trips we’ve ever been on”, Wilson commented quietly, “but I’m seriously worried about us because there have been worse trips than this one”

“Only when you are driving though”, House retorted grinning and went to move towards the bathroom but as soon as he tried to move his right leg it buckled and he groaned, when a sharp pain radiated from his thigh.

He would have fallen, hadn’t Wilson shown his quick reflexes and caught him before he could hurt himself.

“Whoa, easy House!”, his friend exclaimed and guided him to sit on the empty bed. House desperately rubbed his bad leg, trying to calm the angry muscle.

“When did your leg get this bad?”, Wilson asked gently a comforting hand resting on House’s shoulder, that he would normally bat away out of principle, but he felt too tired to do so and, although he wouldn’t admit it, it felt oddly comforting.

“Been building up all day”, he replied through gritted teeth, “probably overstrained it, or it’s just bitching about being in a car all day…who knows”

He hated the defeat in his own voice but after so long he had stopped carrying why his leg was hurting. It simply didn’t make a difference. Wilson looked at him sympathetically.

“Don’t forget your little climbing stunt in the car earlier and you’ve been supporting Chase’s weight all day as well, that probably didn’t help either”, his friend added. House scoffed.

“You were the one who told me to take care of him”, he pointed out, sounding more frustrated than he had intended.

“You know that’s not how I meant it”, Wilson replied softly, “all I’m saying is, that Chase isn’t the only one who had a long and exhausting day. So maybe give yourself a break and let your leg relax for a bit”

House looked at his friend and saw the concern and compassion clearly Wilson’s eyes. Normally that would bug him but deep down he knew his friend was right. Therefore, he just nodded.

“You want to lie down here or on the other bed with Chase?”

“You want a bed for yourself, Jimmy?”, House asked, grinning at his friend.

“I just thought daddy and son might want to stay together”, Wilson replied, an unreadable expression on his face. “Besides, you could get a part of the better blanket”, he added with a small smile.

For once, House didn’t have the energy for a clever comeback. He really just wanted to lie down.

“Pink blanket it is”, he therefore said and with Wilson’s help he pushed himself up and wobbled the few steps until he could climb into the other bed next to Chase. He sighed with relief, when he could finally stretch out his leg and covered himself with the blanket.

“You two get some rest, I’ll head downstairs check out the program for the conference tomorrow”

“Not sure Chase and I will attend”

Wilson smiled softly at him.

“Didn’t really expect you to”, he said, “you are just here for the fun and some bonding time”

Before House could formulate a clever comeback, Wilson had left the room. Suddenly it was oddly quiet, the only sound was Chase’s soft, rhythmic breathing. House tiredly rubbed his eyes and looked at his sleeping employee.

This trip had not turned out the way he had expected but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. After everything they had been through today, he felt closer to Chase than he ever had and even more protective than before. House absently rubbed his leg. Taking care of Chase had been worth any pain he was experiencing.

He had no idea where their journey was headed but for now, as weird as it felt, they were in a good place.

With one last look at his sleeping little kangaroo, House allowed his own eyes to fall shut and drifted off into unconsciousness.