House smiled to himself. He enjoyed it when his sometimes child-like team members had an argument going. He would of course make an effort to be the one to start an argument most days, and exactly that made him feel so in control and satisfied with himself. These free mornings without cases could be so much fun. Although to be fair, it seemed as though his ducklings were quick to adjust and do things on their owns without his interference. They hardly needed him to start the arguments anymore – they could find plenty of things to fight over themselves.

This morning, it was Foreman who started the fun as they were looking through some possible cases. One patient's file after another - nothing interesting yet. Everyone looked up from the papers spread across the surface of the table as Chase walked in the diagnostics room. He was ten minutes late and had been making a habit of it for almost a week now. Ten minutes wasn't that bad considering how House himself liked to sometimes sleep in and make up crappy excuses to an angry Cuddy. But for some reason, it was getting on everybody's nerves. Because they all knew exactly why the Aussie doctor was late. Chase was one big smile when he shut the door behind him, not even bothering to do it quietly. He looked goofy and overly joyful instead of embarrassed and regretful. He looked proud. Proud to be late once again.

"'Morning, people! Lovely day, isn't it?" His voice was very light and relaxed, making his accent slightly thicker and noticeable. He removed his jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair along with his messenger bag. As he was finally seated at the table, all eyes were on him. Tired, annoyed eyes – even Masters looked at him accusingly. House was giving him a grumpy look as usual and it made him chuckle a little too loudly. "Gotta love the atmosphere in this room. It's nice to feel so welcomed!" Chase added with a smile and grabbed one of the files.

"Oh, you are very welcome indeed," House answered him, trying to imitate the light and careless voice of his employee, "in fact, you are so welcome in this room that is would be nice to see you making an appearance even earlier tomorrow morning. As early as your fellow team members, shall we say? Now, that would be jolly good for a change!"

Chase raised an eyebrow, but his smile remained the same. He knew he wasn't really in trouble. Besides, it was easier for him to get away with things now that his wife had left him. It was as though people expected a certain reaction from him which hadn't really showed yet. A mental breakdown, perhaps. So when he was acting all happy and healthy instead, people just went along with it, making sure not to get in his way or do anything to ruin his good spirit. People were now used to letting him do whatever made him so god damn satisfied with his complicated life. Even when it included his flirting with the giggling nurses and showing up late as a consequence of that.

Foreman exchanged looks with an apparently indifferent Taub who only shrugged his shoulders. Then he opened up his mouth, ready to offer his opinion and start a new argument. (House wouldn't mind, that was for sure).

"So who was it today, Chase?" he asked, making eye-contact with his blond, blue-eyed, immature and slightly younger fellow. "Was it Sarah? Or Molly, or perhaps Wendy again? One of the nurses stalled you, I'm sure. Made you forget all about the time!"

Chase laughed at that and leaned back in his seat, not even trying to deny what Foreman had said. "Since when do you care who it was?" he asked. "Unless you're jealous? Perhaps you're interested in one of the nurses yourself and you want me to back off?"

"Yeah right! I know exactly what your type is and let me just say, I couldn't be less interested. Most people have standards, in case you haven't noticed. It's like you pick a new one every day, no matter how slutty or witless they come… I swear, those girls are getting dumber on a daily basis!"

"Whoa, Foreman! Enough with the prejudices!" Chase sent him a very surprised, yet amused glare. "What have you got against the nurses?"

"Yeah, Foreman, did they turn you down or something?" Taub offered with a wry smile, never noticing how House had folded his hands behind his head, leaning back into his seat. He was enjoying this already. "Even I got lucky with one of the nurses." He added proudly, even when everybody was aware of his guilty conscience. They knew all about his troubled marriage.

"Right," Masters interfered with a huff and kept her eyes on her sheet of paper, "it was only one of the nurses…"

Taub looked frustrated by her comment, but decided to play it cool and not object to what she had said. God, it was easy for her to be so judgmental when she had so little experience and was so young herself.

Foreman decided to ignore Taub and Masters, so he turned to Chase with a straight, serious face. "I don't get involved with the nurses – things get complicated and you might get in trouble. Girls talk and I'm sure you've already pissed off a lot of them by never calling them back. They might start a club one of these days and at their meetings, they will all discuss how much they despise you."

"Oh yeah!" House exclaimed. "I know all about those clubs! I'm responsible for at least a hundred of them! People are so sensitive, aren't they? They take everything literally, even when you're only promising them to give them a call to be polite!"

Chase smiled at House's statement, but made sure to answer Foreman in all seriousness. "Look, I never get involved for real, so what's the harm? Anybody knows I'm not ready for anything serious anyway. It's all about the fun of it. When was the last time you did something fun?"

"When was the last time you did something responsible?" Foreman knew that people thought of him as a killjoy, but his days of reckless, childish and selfish behaviour were over. He'd grown up and he was always professional at work, so he didn't understand why Chase didn't seem to follow his example. How old was he now? 30? He was still acting like a teenager who was too popular for his own good and not used to consider the consequences of his actions. Foreman knew that the divorce must have been devastating for him, but this was not the way of dealing with it. Throwing himself into the arms of anybody who wanted him… And unfortunately, most people seemed to welcome his company. How many people could one man stand to be with? When would he get enough of strangers and shallow, meaningless conversations with people who didn't know him at all?

"Right, it was kind of you, Foreman, to remind us all what a party pooper you are. Don't look so surprised, Masters, when did you ever see the man enjoy himself anyway?" House knew that Foreman would be offended by this, which was why he continued. "How fun the world must be inside your head! All that professionalism – I envy you so much!"

House batted his eyes and Foreman knew that he was being made fun of. He pouted, changed his position in the chair slightly and said as calmly as possible. "Look, it's not me who's being a party pooper. It's Chase who's being irresponsible and, well, promiscuous if you ask me!"

Chase's eyes widened at that. "Is that your professional way of calling me a slut?"

Now it was Taub and Masters who exchanged nervous looks, suddenly fearing the development of this conversation. They both just wanted to stay out of it.

House couldn't help but to study Chase without anyone noticing it. He was the pretty and handsome one of the ducklings and on top of that, very charming and aloof. No, that was an understatement. House didn't want to admit it, but he often thought to himself that Chase was the most attractive person he'd ever come across. It wasn't just the confidence and the playfulness, making him very fun and interesting to work with. There was something so golden about him. Maybe it was the blond hair, the blue eyes and the beautiful smile. The tan, the slim, fit body, the Aussie accent. It was all something which he very much appreciated in his employee. But it was also more than just that. According to Cameron, he wasn't damaged or broken like she preferred her men to be. But she never understood his person, did she? His mother's untimely death and his father's absence had made the kid all scared to be on his own. He was used to it, but he obviously hated it. It was like he had a constant need for other people's company. He wasn't clingy or needy; he was very laid-back about his personal issues. But behind the smiling façade, House saw someone very lonely, like himself, who longed for other people to recognize and acknowledge him. He needed approval and acceptance, even if he had to go from nurse to nurse on a daily basis to find it. He said he wasn't ready for anything to get serious, but that didn't mean he wasn't longing for love in his life. Now that House thought about it, Cameron must have been out of her mind. Because to him, Chase seemed like one of the most damaged, conflicted and self-contradicting people he had ever met.

Now the blond doctor was looking at his fellow team member with a very neutral facial expression. He wasn't smiling anymore, but neither did he look upset. "I'm not being a slut, Foreman, even if that's what you think. I'm merely a people person, did you ever think of that? Maybe you're the one who's too picky and too quick to turn other people down and judge them. You don't like the company of others which is fine by me, but don't judge the ones who do."

Foreman huffed and for the first time in ages, he even offered a wry smile. "So you're a people person, huh Chase? You're fine with being around people all the time, flirting with anyone who looks at you?"

"Well, I'm not uptight." Chase started to relax again and he laughed: "And I don't mind getting attention from others. That only makes my day more fun!"

"In that case…" Foreman paused and let his elbows rest on the table. "What do you say we make a bet? Because I don't believe you're serious. You must be turning at least someone down every now and then."

"Why should I? If people want to be friendly to me, why should I stop them?"

"All right then. If that's true, it would sure make my bet more fun for you!"

"What bet?" Taub asked. He couldn't help but feeling slightly curious now.

Foreman looked at everyone around the table, making sure that all team members were paying attention. If he was to make a bet with a white, rich kid, he wanted witnesses. "I don't think you can go one week without turning someone down, Chase. But if you can, I owe you 100 bucks. Just to be clear, though, this means that you'd have to say yes to anybody who asks you out or shows interest in you. If you are hit on ten times a day, you will still have the energy to act on it. Understood?"

"What the hell are you trying to prove, Foreman? That I am a slut who's way too easy to get into bed?" Chase looked rather sceptical. He didn't mind the idea of making a bet at all; in fact he had often encouraged bets himself. But this didn't make any sense.

"I am merely testing your statement. You said you were a people person. Now, prove it. Show me how much you enjoy the company of others even if that means not having any time to yourself. Show me how you make people happy with your presence, show me how you're a party animal and I'm a party pooper." Foreman smiled and it made him look slightly vicious. "Don't worry, maybe you're not as popular as you think and you won't get too many offers. Maybe you have overestimated yourself completely. Are you willing to find out?"

Chase paused, his hesitation making everyone stare at him. He felt pressured all of a sudden. "I don't know." He cleared his throat and thought for a second. "What if the entire hospital found out about the bet? Rumours spread, you know."

"Oh, come on already!" House exhaled dramatically and made a hand gesture to say that he didn't have time for this. "Foreman is finally being fun and you are not agreeing to his brilliant idea? Now, we can't have that! The party pooper needs someone to encourage his new way of thinking!"

"Yeah, Chase, come on," Taub agreed and nodded his head, "take one for the team! This will be very entertaining indeed."

"Guys, don't you think you should let Chase make his own de-" As always, Masters was interrupted, this time by Chase himself who got up from his seat and said:

"No, I'll do it. I still don't get what you're trying to prove, Foreman, but you've got yourself a deal. One week, I'll be the perfect Yes-man and you will owe me 100 dollars."

Foreman stood up to shake his team mate's hand and after that, the room became very silent. House was so caught up in his own thoughts; he couldn't believe that this agreement had actually been made. It was almost too good to be true.

"Now, let's find a case, shall we guys? Time to be professionals again!" Masters uttered, but House could not care less about work at this moment. Very abruptly he got off his seat, grabbed his cane and glared at his surprised employees.

"Would you kids excuse me for a moment? Momma's got a date with your favourite uncle Wilson!"

And with those words he had left the diagnostics room, sweat already starting to form under his thinning hairline. As he walked down the hall, he held his breath without noticing it. His heart was pounding so hard, he thought he'd have a blackout.