dr_robchase | Homeplot: The Church

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Homeplot: The Church

Chase hadn't intended for this side trip, but after the conversation in bed, he had grabbed his keys and toyed with the idea of leaving the Doctor in bed to rest, but that meant spending time apart and with everything...he wasn't sure he wanted to do that. But it was a church and not just any church, but St. Patrick's Cathedral was more than just any church.

He went back and forth, changing his mind about a dozen times before getting on his best churchwear and standing in the door to the bedroom.

"Doctor?" he prodded, very quietly. "Wake up?"

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"Okay," the Doctor said softly, not really sure what that meant. He waited a moment, then walked inside, starting to admire the glass.

Chase was glad there wasn't much of a line as he excused himself into one of the booths and sat there, taking a deep breath. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been ten months since my last confession."

He went on to list his sins, including the sex with the Doctor, but more to the point, he described it as exactly what it was. A relationship condemned by the text he revered. He described his lust, his greed, his selfishness in wanting the Doctor to himself. His gluttony for lust.

He felt like this would go on forever and he knew he might burn in hell, so it was a surprise when the priest quietly replied, in an Irish accent. "D'you love him then? This man you're committin' all yer sins for." It was..strange to hear, but it was what he needed to.

"Something, I worry it isn't and that one day, I won't be enough."

"Best you talk to him, then," the priest replied. "Five acts of contrition, five Hail Mary's and ten Our Fathers. And figure out what you want from yer life, boyo."

How very stereotypical of his psyche. But nonetheless, he excused himself from the booth and sat down in a pew at the very back of the church.

Having not managed to dodge a well-meaning priest who told him all about the facades and the nave and the acoustics until he thought he really could have stood for a shot of Bushmills if he had to hear much more, the Doctor saw Chase sit down. He gave him a while, ten minutes or so, then sat silently down next to him, looking up at the front.

The fact he was in there without getting hives was something and he wasn't smited down, so that was something else and after the completion of his prayers, he was on his feet, wandering out to sit on the steps of the church to contemplate his acts.

He loosened his tie, gazing out to the street idly, wondering what exactly a contrite act counted as.

After a moment, the Doctor followed him, then leaned against the car (great fantasy, great parking place, apparently). He watched Chase watch the street.

From where he sat, it was all too easy to see the Doctor and his face lit up with a smile he didn't even know he was showing until he brushed his thumb against his curved-up lips and he ducked his head down to stare at the steps. What did he want?

A settled life. A son. A job to be proud of. Someone to come home to and bitch about the day and have more than just sex and a casual relationship. Someone who was his equal and would talk back. Someone who would understand when he started rambling about psychiatric terms and wouldn't mind rolling up their sleeves to cook a little and let Chase taste it as it went.

He wanted someone who would tease him as he got older with the wrinkles and the cricks and the grey hair, who'd sit there with him while he raised a little girl or boy under his name and just...be there for him, every time he needed someone.

And if the Doctor was his Right Person...

He took a deep, long breath, rubbing a hand over his hair.

The Doctor noticed, though he couldn't read Chase's mind by any means, and he saw the smile and then the deep breath.

He waited for him.

After another long moment and list of things he wanted, he pushed off the step and jogged down to join the Doctor at the car, having been going on about wanting to have a pet and maybe a plant, in his head. "Wanna go home?"

"Yeah," the Doctor said, leaning up to slowly press an almost-chaste kiss to Chase's lips (oh, fuck the pope's commentary on homosexuality). "If you are."

Chase just nodded, handing the Doctor a sheet of paper with all the things going through his head earlier written down, having scribbled them while he sat. "Don't open that until we're on the road, okay?"

"Sure." The Doctor put it neatly in the inside pocket of his suit jacket, then opened the car door. "Not to ruin anything, but could we stop and get Cokes on the way back? Never know how much you miss carbonation..."

"I miss it badly," Chase interrupted, figuring that this was one act of contrition, showing the Doctor everything he felt in one very long, tinily printed letter. "We'll stop at the grocer by the place, okay?"

Because he just wanted to get on the road before it got dark, which was what was starting to happen.

'By the place' was terribly vague, but the Doctor didn't mind. He got in the car and leaned back in the passenger seat.

Chase was glad to just drive in the silence this time because his thoughts were happy to consume him when prayers weren't flitting through his head. And he could think about Coke, now.

After about twenty minutes, the Doctor, who had been watching the (rather discomfiting) scenery of northern New Jersey pass by, reached in his pocket and pulled out the letter. He started to read, having to hold it a bit close because he hadn't had specs in this dream.

It was about five minutes after that that Chase pulled into a Safeway, getting out of the car and tapping on the roof. "Regular coke with all the sugar in it for my ADD-addled boyfriend?" he teased.

"Naturally," the Doctor said, distracted and only looking up for a moment. He was reading. "Thanks, love," he murmured and set back to it, hearts seeming to catch at every other line.

Chase just smiled to himself as he wandered inside to spend some more money and get a good case of the stuff, plus some snacks, before checking out and putting it all in the trunk, just watching the Doctor read from the rear view window, completely adoring the view.

The Doctor was able to tell as he finished the letter that someone was watching him, but he still impulsively brushed a kiss against the paper for half a second before putting it back in his pocket and turning. His lips quirked gently when he saw Chase, and though it was a lot, and like anyone would be, he was afraid, it was not anything that love and time wouldn't overcome. "Hey."

Chase lazily brought himself back to the car to offer the Doctor a can and a small bag of gummi bears. "Hi," he greeted, pretending like there had been no letter at all. Maybe this had been the point of everything.

Get his life in order.

The Doctor grinned at him, not really having to say anything anyway. His eyes said it. He took the can of soda and the candy, opening both, then fed Chase a gummi bear.

Chase let out a protest, munching on the food as he got the car started and said with his mouth full. "So now you're gonna be bouncing off the walls."

"Yeah, and?" the Doctor said, draining about half the can of soda in about five seconds and one swallow.

Chase just shook his head, a bemused smirk on his lips as he finished up the drive, feeling all kinds of exhausted. After so many months on the island, just the commute and the dating and the restaurants and work had sapped all of his energy.

"Just pointing out the obvious," he said, turning off the car and popping the trunk.

The Doctor, who had totally finished the can of Coke by then, fed Chase another gummi bear, then slid out of the car. "Wow," he said, blinking a few times. "I think you're right. Dear god, I feel like I'm going to bounce all the way into the house. This means I'll crash like mad, won't it."

But he was helpful with the bags, of course.

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