Chaula

[Lemurlou]

I don't know how bad this is going to get.

Chapter 1

It was really late, and Chase couldn't sleep. He'd tried tea, he'd tried getting some work done, he'd tried counting kangaroos (there were no sheep in Australia), and he'd tried Senocal. Three. His eyelids weren't even heavy.

He remembered House talking about an "escort service". Maybe that would put him to sleep.

Chase called the operator.

"Can you connect me to Princeton Escort Service?" Chase asked, blushing. There was a lsight snicker on the other end.

"Sure."

"Hello, this is Princeton Escort Service. Do you have a request?" Chase cleared his throat. He'd heard House mention Paula.

"Um, is Paula there?" He asked.

"She's out. Do you want me to connect her anyway?"

"Sure." Chase was regretting this, but there was no turning back.

"Hello?" a breathless, feminine voice answered.

"Could you... um... come to 14 Laurel Road when you're done?"

"Of course," she said. "I could come now, if you want. This guy's asleep."

Chase swallowed.

"Great. I'll wait."

Maybe he would get to sleep.

[house_crazy]

**Really quick before the next chapter....this is a fanfic that Lemurlou and I are teaming up on...please comment but please don't add more chapters...thanks!**

Chapter 2

*Ding dong* The doorbell at 14 Laurel Rd. rang thirty minutes later. Chase got up and walked to the door to answer it.

"Hi, this is Paula," the woman on the other side of the door answered.

Chase, a little embarrassed, ushered her in. He'd never really had an 'escort' before, he wasn't exactly sure how this worked. "So, um, do you want to..." he trailed off.

Paula could tell he was nervous. She had been when she first started, but it was a job requirement. She didn't get much support from her friends or family, and this job didn't pay nearly enough for what she went through.

Paula wanted to save Chase as much embarrasment as possible. He was just a guy being a guy. Even if she didn't like it. She quickly pulled his mouth to hers, quickly and quietly pulling him toward the bedroom.

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 3

Why were they called escorts anyway? Chase wondered, as he mashed his lips against hers. Paula really was the picture of a prostitute: badly dyed hair, revealing clothing, and thick makeup.

She started to undress him. Her swiftness was unnerving. Most of the time, this was supposed to be slow, something you enjoyed doing with another person you cared about. But as Paula threw Chase's shirt to the floor and started in on his pants, Chase became painfully aware of something.

For Paula, this was a job. She couldn't care less about the legions of men she slept with. It was mechanical. Not a big deal.

And that... that took all the fun out of the whole thing.

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 4

Paula sensed that he wasn't enjoying it. He was tense and awkward. She pulled away.

"You okay?" she asked. Chase sighed.

"This isn't working for me. I'll pay you the fee, but you can just leave now." Paula started putting her clothing back on.

"I'll hang out. They won't expect me back yet. I could use a break." Chase started getting dressed.

"Paula?" he began as he redid his belt.

"Mm?"

"Do you want to get together some other time? Just.. as friends?" Chase didn't really know why he said that. She just seemed so lonely.

"Yes," Paula agreed. "Yes, I'd like that."

[house_crazy]

Chapter 5

"Good morning, Dr. Chase," House said. "I hear you had a friend over last night. And by friend I mean hooker." House smirked. The man Paula had left was him. And he hadn't been sleeping, he knew where she was going.

Chase just looked away and went over to the coffee machine where Cameron was making coffee. She just looked at him coldly and handed him a cup of coffee.

Foreman, on the other hand, found this situation very amusing and was smirking at Chase. House was very open about his use of hookers, generally Chase wasn't a very open person. He shot a 'Did you really?' look Chase's way. Again, Chase just looked away and picked up a crossword puzzle.

"What was the seventh president's wife's name?" asked Chase. He wasn't very good at these.

"No clue," House said. "But I've got one. What's a six letter word for 'Chase's escapade last night?'"

After a small bit of stunned silence, House blurted out, "Hooker!"

This was too much for Chase. One, he hadn't really slept with her. And two, it wasn't any of House's business. "Stop it! I didn't sleep with a hooker. Just give it up, House."

"Of course not. She wasn't a hooker, she was your 'lady friend,'" House snarked. He wasn't going to give up until Chase admitted it.

"She's my friend. Not a hooker. Well, technically she is, but she's your hooker. She's my friend." He kept repeating that statement, like saying it more often would make it true.

"You can sleep with your friends. You can even sleep with people that aren't your friends. Like Cameron, for instance." House quipped.

Cameron looked at Chase with a death glare. She still hadn't gotten over that. It was her fault for taking the meth, but he had taken advantage of her.

"I...I...Cameron is my friend. And so is your hooker." The word hooker sounded foul. He would have to find some good euphamism.

Again, Cameron gave him a look. This time it was more of a 'You didn't just say that. You just compared me to a hooker.'

"Oooh....conflict!" House said delightedly. Chase just got up and walked out of the Diagnostics Office. He had no idea where he was going, but anywhere was better than where he had just been.

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 6

Chase managed to avoid the Diagnostics Department all day, getting caught up with Clinic hours, paperwork, and NICU duty. When eight o'clock rolled around, he met Paula outside the hospital. She was clad in lots of makeup and a black, spandex behemoth.

"You're dressed like a prostitute," Chase told her.

"Really?" Paula looked taken aback. Chase smiled.

"You know what we're doing?" Chase asked. Paula shook her head.

"First, you're going inside and washing off that makeup. Then, you're getting something halfway decent to wear."

"I've got four hundred bucks. Big party."

"I can imagine."

And with that, Paula left. Chase couldn't believe himself. Making friends with someone like her?

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 7

Paula came back, makeup free except for some lip gloss. She pointed to a seedy-looking bargain clothing store across the street.

"There?" Chase shook his head.

"Come with me," He said, as he started off down the street.

Finally, they reached an H & M. Sort of a middle ground between preppy and prostitute.

"No, really..." Paula protested, but Chase took her wrist and brought her inside. A rack of mustard- and eggplant- colored sweaters and sea foam slacks greeted them. Loud music played, and Paula fingered a black-and-white striped knee-length sweater.

"Oh yeah," she breathed. "I'm gonna like this."

[house_crazy]

Chapter 8

After shopping, Paula looked somewhat decent. H & M certainly made a difference in her wardrobe, and they had gone to some department store she couldn't remember the name of for makeup. She didn't look like a hooker anymore.

"Do you want to get some coffee?" Chase asked.

Paula had never been asked that sort of question before. "Sure," she replied nervously.

They went to Starbucks for coffee and biscotti. Both Paula and Chase genuinley had a good time.

"Maybe we should do this again," Paula said.

"Sure," Chase replied. He did want to do it again.

[Lemurlou]

Chapter 9

Chase went home, feeling surprisingly fulfilled. But had he really done anything? Once a s*l*u*t, always a s*l*u*t? Or maybe he could help Paula turn her life around.

That was a surprisingly good thought.

The evening he had called her seemed like a mile away. Somehow, he got it into his head to call her again, at about eleven o'clock that night.

"Princeton Escort Service. How may I help you?"

"Can you send Paula over?" The woman on the other line chuckled.

"God, you cannot leave that girl alone. She's just getting back. I'll send her right over."

"Thanks."

Twenty minutes later, Paula arrived at Chase's apartment.

"You had better be intending to talk and give me a soda," she threatened. "I've serviced three guys already tonight." With a chuckle, Chase retrieved two Diet Cokes from his fridge and handed her one.

"We're friends, remember?" Chase said, his stomach burning with the fizz.

"You have no idea how grateful I am for that," Paula told him. "Absolutely no idea."

[Lemurlou]

house crazy? you out there somewhere?