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Chase comes out of the bathroom looking even more miserable than when he walked in. Before anyone can crack a joke about it, he sits at the counter and asks Tasha: “Do we have any midol?”
“Oh, sweetheart…” Tasha’s face falls, morphing into an empathetic gaze as she nods. “Of course we do.” She then goes to rifle through the medicine cabinets while Bree comes up to sit beside him.
“You okay?” she asks, giving him a look that tells him she’ll know if he lies. “How bad is it this time?”
Chase groans, letting his head drop into his arms folded on the counter. “The cramps are so bad, I feel like I’m gonna pass out,” he gripes. As if fate had decided to play a hilarious practical joke, the cramps somehow get worse. “Oh god-”
“What? What’s—”
Now there’s vomit on the floor of the empty space on Chase’s other side. A wave of nausea from the pain had rolled through him so fast that it’d been impossible to keep it down. Wiping his mouth, he reassures everyone who worriedly calls his name. “I’m fine, I swear. Feel a lot better after that.”
“You’re speaking in fragments,” Bree observes, shaking her head. “You only speak in fragments when you’re not fine.”
As Tasha sets two pills and a glass of water on the counter in front of Chase, she suggests, “Maybe you should stay home today, hon.”
“Now I wish I had a period,” Leo quips, trying to bring levity to the mood.
Chase takes the pills with the water and shakes his head. “No, I’ll be fine once this kicks in. I have a test today.”
“Oh, he’s serious,” Adam chimes in. “Chase loves his tests.” He walks up and rubs Chase’s back.
“He really does,” Leo agrees.
A groan leaves Chase as he forces himself to sit up, then tries to stand without help. He stumbles, Adam immediately righting him. The younger boy shrugs him off before stumbling back to the bathroom to brush the sick out of his mouth. When he finishes, the nausea has eased, but the pain is still very evident. He turns down his pain receptors as much as possible before splashing some water in his face and marching back into the living room with his siblings waiting.
Tasha gives him a skeptical look, but he waves her off. “I’m fine, Tasha. The midol will kick in soon enough and I’ll be good as new! I really can’t miss this test,” he explains as he grabs his bag and follows everyone to the door.
“Okay, well, text me if you need me to come get you, sweetheart,” she acquiesces, voice coated with motherly concern.
“Oh, that won’t be necessary!” he protests, then hurries out behind Leo. The second he shuts the door behind him, all his siblings are giving him equally stern glares—well, all except Adam, who just looks worried. “Come on; don’t give me those looks.”
“We will give you whatever looks we want to,” Leo fires back with folded arms.
There’s no time for this—if Chase isn’t at school at the correct time, it’ll throw his entire schedule off whack, even more so than nearly missing school for his time of month. Bouncing irritably on the balls of his feet and biting his lip to stop his tone from sounding more aggressive than he wants, he urges, “Can you just yell at me in school? We don’t have time for this!”
“Okay, okay, don’t get your boxers in a bunch, skippy,” Leo relents and makes his way to Adam’s car.
Chase follows Leo, but then Bree grabs his arm and nods to her car. “You can come with me. I know how sensitive you get and how Adam has the tendency to blow your eardrums out with his music,” she quips as she unlocks the cute yellow convertible and it beeps twice in response.
Honestly, she’s right. If Chase were to ride with Adam blasting music, he wouldn’t be able to control his emotions, which could result in uncontrollable sobbing or even Spike popping in. It would be a disaster.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he assents and hops into the passenger seat.
Bree keeps the volume much lower than usual due to his bionic hearing, and he’s extremely grateful for it.
Everything is going as well as it can while fighting off cramp pains, and the midol won’t kick in for another hour. His test is next period, so here’s to hoping nothing happens before then.
As he’s shuffling out of math, he makes a beeline for Leo and Adam hanging out in the hallway near the latter’s locker. “Ugh,” he groans when he reaches the pair who give him twin looks of concern. “I hate this. I hate this so much.” Leo pats his shoulder while Adam rubs his back, and while none of them have really been the super touchy-feely type, he can’t help but lean into Adam’s chest. It’s mostly to hide the tears he’s fighting back as another cramp violently rips through him.
Adam doesn’t move away or shove him off, just keeps rubbing his back like the worried big brother he is. “You sure you’re good? Maybe I should text Tasha—”
“No!” Chase practically shouts, lifting his head from Adam’s chest and giving him a pleading look. “You can’t! My test is next period and I can’t miss it!”
“Chase, some things are more important than a stupid test,” Leo cuts in with a no-bullshit tone. “You’re looking really pale, dude.”
Stepping away from Adam, the youngest Davenport folds his arms. Defiantly, he argues, “Period or not, I’m doing this damn test. There may be blood gushing out of my unmentionables, but I will keel over and die before I let that stop me from taking it.”
He must’ve said that a bit too loudly, because the next thing he knows, one of the jocks is giving him a funny look. It’s Braden Youngston, the quarterback that replaced Trent when he finally graduated. Being overtly nosy, he always has something to say. Chase’s heart hammers in his chest as he watches the gears turn in Youngston’s head. And then:
“What, so you’re on your period? I always knew you were secretly a girl, Davenport!” he jeers, grabbing the attention of a majority of the students ambling through the halls.
Chase sputters as his face burns and sweat floods from every pore in his body, heartbeat now so loud that it’s deafening in his bionic ears. “W-n-no, I—”
There’s a loud slam and a startled yelp, then Adam is suddenly pinning Braden to the lockers by his collar and practically choking him. “What did you say?”
Braden looks a little panicked at first, but then scoffs and practically leers at Chase. “Your sister forgot her tampons,” he cracks, but nobody laughs.
In the split second after that, Adam roars ferociously and slams a fist into Youngston’s jaw so hard there’s an audible crack. It doesn’t stop there, though; Adam keeps beating on the jock until he’s choking on his own blood and barely conscious.
Chase stands frozen in horror, then feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks over at Leo, who is glaring at Braden with disdain. Then he turns back to Chase and starts to guide him away. “Come on,” he says tenderly.
They end up outside in the parking lot, and then there's a strong gust of wind before Bree wraps her arms around him. “I heard what happened,” she says. “Adam just got suspended, and that dick, Braden, is getting an ambulance.” Impossibly tighter, she squeezes him. “I'm so sorry he said those things, Chasey.”
Chase blames the period messing with his hormones, but he starts bawling his eyes out. Bree just holds him and rubs his back as he wails.
Leo stares at the scene before him. “I take back what I said this morning. I'm glad I don't get periods– ow! ” He yelps when Bree kicks him in the shin. “Bad timing? Sorry.”
By the time they call Davenport to come get them and deal with Adam, Bree and Leo are sitting in the backseat of his expensive tesla, Chase squeezed in between them. His head is throbbing from all the stress and crying, and his uterus feels like it’s eating itself. At least he has his siblings to comfort him, though.
Bree has an arm around him and Leo is attempting to distract him with stories about what he and Adam get up to when he isn’t around. Just as he’s regaling him with a new anecdote about how Adam accidentally broke Davenport’s favorite golf club, the eldest Davenport kid and Davenport himself climb into the car. The two are silent, tension suddenly flooding the car. Chase had heard them talking when they left the building; Davenport pretty much blames Chase for not staying home. It’s no surprise when the man turns around to look directly at Chase with a stern look.
“Chase, after this, you’re staying home when you get your time of month. And Bree, Leo, next time you see Adam get worked up like that, get him out of there instead of letting him get suspended for a week.”
Chase bites the inside of his cheek to deter himself from digging his own grave and simply nods. On his left, Bree mirrors his action. To his right, though, Leo opens his mouth.
“He called him a girl , Big D! I saw the whole thing! He called him Adam’s sister! If you were there, wouldn’t you have punched him!?”
“If I wanted to get arrested, sure!”
“So you’re telling me you’d just sit back and let someone say nasty stuff about your own son!?”
“No, of course not! I’d handle it like an adult , without breaking any noses.”
“Oh, now you wanna act like an adult? Where is that adult dad when it matters, huh? Off playing with one of your new inventions that have a high chance of ending the world, that’s where!”
“Leo-”
“Of course you wanna be an ‘adult’ when it’s unnecessary! Can’t you see that everyone’s upset enough as it is? We don’t need to be told what we did wrong. We know what we did wrong, and we don’t care. Braden is a dick and he deserved what he got!” With that, Leo turns to Bree. “Come on, Bree, I’d rather you speed us home.”
Corners of her mouth slowly turning upward, the speedster unbuckles. “Couldn’t agree more,” she responds, starting with Chase.
By the time she speeds all her brothers back home, specifically to Chase’s mostly unused room so he can lie down, she pulls up Disney Plus on the smart TV.
“Alright, Chasey! Your pick.” She hands him the remote, which he graciously accepts.
Without a word, he puts on Meet the Robinsons , his favorite. As it starts, Bree speeds away to the kitchen and back for some snacks for everyone to share, plus a big tub of sugar-free vanilla ice cream for Chase.
Chase speaks up as they all settle in. “Adam, thanks for protecting me. You’re the best big brother I could ever ask for,” he says genuinely, smiling at Adam.
Adam immediately scoops him into a tight hug. “It’s what I’m here for, Chasey.”
“And Leo,” Chase says once Adam lets go. Leo turns to look at him, popcorn halfway to his mouth. “Thanks for telling Davenport off for us. You did what we’re always afraid to do.”
“Ah, it’s nothin,” Leo replies bashfully, waving his hand dismissively. “I hate the way he talks to us sometimes.”
“You did the right thing, though. No way was I about to sit through the most awkward car ride ever,” Bree says. She pulls Leo into a side hug. “Thanks for having our backs.”
“Anytime.”
“Okay, now that we’re done being cheesy, can we get back to the movie?” Adam cuts in impatiently.
They obey their brother’s wishes, but a few minutes later, Chase leans in behind Bree to whisper to Leo, “You’re the best little brother any of us could ask for. Thanks for giving me a chance to be your big brother.”
Leo just grins in response.
Davenport doesn’t bother them when he arrives home. He simply goes down to the lab instead, sulking about the argument with Leo.
When Tasha gets home, she finds the kids all curled up together, fast asleep as the end credits of Meet the Robinsons play. She immediately takes a picture and makes it her new lockscreen.