Foreman refused to let his gaze drop, even as House struggled to answer him. He knew he'd pretty much just damned Nathan and his firm to some harassing phone calls at the very least. They could count themselves lucky that House was still on this side of the country. House apparently thought so too, although obviously the idea of dropping everything and flying to L.A. crossed his mind. God, he was an obsessive bastard. Foreman didn't know whether to be flattered or worried that he'd made House's list of people to be obsessive about. He raised an eyebrow at House's quick reference to Stacy. If anyone had a right to be jealous about long-over relationships, it was Foreman, since he'd seen that drama play out practically right in front of him. He was pretty sure House had slept with her before she'd left, too. And he'd been there after, seeing House's 'distractions' first hand. But he wasn't jealous--not the stupid, adolescent way he'd been about Terzi, or the anger he still felt about House's old boyfriend. Maybe because he'd seen it end. Because she'd left, and was still married, and either way not coming back. And because House knew it was over, otherwise he wouldn't have taken whatever had given him those migraines. Foreman realized, with a sinking feeling, that he didn't want to do that to House. He didn't want to hurt him.

"Hey," he said, reaching out to stop House from walking away. Not hard or grabbing. He put his hand on House's elbow and stepped in front of him, tipping his head to try and meet House's eyes. House seemed to have let go of some of his anger, and it helped Foreman to relax as well. If House really wanted to leave, Foreman would let him, but not before he had a chance to know what the hell House meant by saying Foreman hadn't said he was interested. "Since when does saying it mean anything to you?" he asked. Foreman couldn't believe House wanted to hear the words. He'd told House yes when House asked if he knew what he was getting into, if they should make this more than just sex. It turned out, if tonight was any evidence, that he didn't know what he was getting into, but he'd never stopped acting like he meant what he said. Even when House brought up how much Foreman's reputation would suffer by being with him, Foreman hadn't left or changed his mind. It was still a problem, it still bothered him, but he hadn't taken it out on House.

And it wasn't as though House had said it either, and his actions were a lot harder to forget and forgive. Foreman swallowed, wondering why the hell he kept doing this. "I'm interested," he said. "I'm not interested in being ignored."