Chapter Text
“Good morning, my beautiful bionic people!” Leo exclaimed as he pranced into the living room. “Isn’t it such a lovely day?”
Adam, Bree, and Chase were sitting at the island in the kitchen watching in amusement as Leo started to dance around to music that only he seemed to be able to hear.
“Whoa there, Happy Feet.” Bree laughed. “What’s got you all pepped up? We’re just going to school.”
“Yeah, Leo. The only person who’s ever excited to go to school is Chase,” Adam said with a mouthful of eggs and pancakes.
Chase glared at him and looked in disgust at the bits of food flying out. “Adam, could you please try to avoid spitting on the rest of the food? Some people are still trying to eat.”
Adam shrugged and replied as he shoved more eggs into his mouth, “Hey, if you don’t want it, more food for me then.”
Chase rolled his eyes and turned to ask, “Leo, what’s going on?”
“Well, first of all, it’s Friday! Who wouldn’t be excited? And second of all, don’t you guys remember what tomorrow is?” Three faces stared blankly back at him. “Um, hello? The first Saturday of May, a.k.a. Senior Saturday? It’s only the night of the biggest party of the year!”
“Oh no, I can’t believe I forgot!” Bree cried out as the others looked at her. “I was supposed to go with Caitlin to the mall last Friday to get a new outfit, but she had to cancel since she had a family emergency. She hasn’t been at school all week so it completely slipped my mind!”
“Wow Bree, I can’t believe you forgot about a party.” She glared at Chase’s remark. “But as the name implies, isn’t Senior Saturday, y’know, only for seniors? And the last time I checked, we,” he motioned to Bree and himself, “are juniors, and you,” he pointed to Leo, “are a sophomore. Adam’s the only senior here.”
Leo shook his head. “Oh Chase, shouldn’t you know how these things work by now? It’s pretty much an open invitation to the whole school. It’s just that the current senior class is organizing the party. That’s why we,” he motioned to all four of them, mimicking Chase, “are going tomorrow night.”
“Leo, we can’t go. Mr. Davenport and Tasha are away on vacation and we promised that we’d stay out of trouble,” Chase argued.
“But that’s why this is the perfect opportunity to go! Plus, we haven’t been to a party in months. I need to boost my street cred back up,” Leo replied, popping a nonexistent collar.
“What street cred did you even have?” Adam asked with his eyebrows furrowed.
“Plenty,” retorted Leo. “But c’mon Chase, don’t be such a buzzkill. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Chase looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “Do you not remember the last party we went to? Adam almost got lost in the woods next to Stephanie’s house, and you were locked in a closet for almost an hour!”
“Well… you and Bree got me out before I could possibly die of oxygen deprivation, and we found Adam before he could possibly get mangled by wolves so…” The grin on Leo’s face fell as Chase just stared at him. “Okay, fine, we might not have the best of luck at parties, but maybe this one will be different! We’ll try to avoid anything potentially dangerous.”
“Gee Leo, that’ll convince him,” Bree murmured sarcastically. She turned to Chase and tried to persuade him to change his mind. “Chase, please? We’ve been so busy with missions lately and it’s been so long since we actually went out like this. I think we deserve to have some fun.”
Chase sighed. “Bree, I just don’t want anything to go wrong. It’s been a while since Mr. Davenport even let us stay at home on our own. If he finds out, we’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
She placed her hand on his arm. “I know, but we should still be able to go out and enjoy ourselves. I promise to keep an eye on these two so nothing bad happens. Please?” She gave an exaggerated pout as she kept pleading.
His gaze softened as he turned his head to look at her. After a moment, he sighed again. “All right, we can go to the party.”
Adam and Leo cheered as Bree threw her arms around Chase’s neck, nearly falling off the stool, and he wrapped his arms around her waist as he returned the hug. The two boys glanced at each other and slowly started to step away.
“Sooo,” Leo drawled out, “Adam and I are just gonna get our bags and head out. No need to wait for us. Bye!” They rushed out of the living room before the other two could say anything, probably too caught up in their own world to notice anyway.
After a few seconds, Bree spoke, “Thank you, Chase.” She pulled away enough to look at him and smiled. “And really, I promise to help watch Tweedledee and Tweedledum.” They laughed and she continued, her voice sounding a bit more serious, “I want you to be able to enjoy yourself tomorrow without having to worry about them all night, okay?”
He chuckled softly at her, their arms still around each other. She was reluctant to let go and he didn’t seem to be in any hurry either. She could feel one of his hands move to absentmindedly play with the ends of her hair. Her face started to heat up and her heart was beating a little faster, not doubting that he could notice even without his super senses.
“You do know I’m not much of a party person, right? So just have your fun and I’ll take care of them. It’s no big deal.”
She shook her head at him. "Like I said, I’m going to help, and you,” she pointed at him as he was about to interrupt her, “are not going to argue.”
He jokingly rolled his eyes. “Fine, you win.”
She grinned. “As usual.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the elevator to go down to the lab to get their stuff for school. The doors opened and they stepped inside. “And since I am so graciously offering my assistance, you can come with me to the mall after school later and help me find a new outfit for the party as a form of gratitude.”
“What?”
The sounds of Bree and Chase’s voices disappeared as the elevator doors shut and Adam and Leo walked back into the living room from where they were hiding in one of the nearby hallways. They were silent for a moment as they looked at the fake wall appearing in place.
“Could they be any more obvious?” Leo asked.
“Yeah, to everyone else but each other.”
“No way, they can’t be that blind. They’re probably just too chicken to say anything.”
“Should we try to set them up or something? ‘Cause honestly, I don’t think I can keep looking at their sad attempts at flirting,” Adam said with a grimace.
“You and me both, buddy,” Leo agreed, mirroring his expression. “But let’s just wait it out for a bit. I don’t know if I want to get in the middle of… whatever’s going on between them just yet.”
Adam nodded and they walked out of the house, locking the door behind them.
“Bree, we’ve been to three different stores already. Was there really nothing that you could find?” Chase asked as he followed Bree into the next shop in the mall.
“No, Chase, nothing looked good enough. I feel like I wanna rip my hair out,” she grumbled in frustration.
‘You’re telling me,’ Chase thought to himself.
She stopped and turned to face him. “Look, I promise this’ll be the last store. If we can’t find anything here, then we’ll leave, okay?”
“Okay. Well, at least this place looks more promising than the last ones.” They glanced around to see that there were a lot more clothes here than the previous stores they went to.
Bree gasped as she ran over to one of the racks of dresses. “These are so cute! Finally! Chase, go look around and find some other stuff for me to try on.”
He snorted and called out as he walked to a different section of the store, “Whatever you say, your highness.”
In her excitement, Bree nearly used her super speed while they looked around for the next ten minutes. ‘Ooh, this looks super pretty! And this one… and this one… this one, too!’
Chase walked over holding an outfit in each hand and raised his eyebrows at the pile of clothes in Bree’s arms. “What did you do? Raid the whole store?”
“Can you blame me? Now come on.” She led him to the fitting rooms. “Wait for me while I change. I’ll come out if I think it looks nice enough, so let me know what you think.” He placed whatever he had onto the top of her pile and she went inside an empty cubicle as he went to sit on one of the chairs nearby.
Judging by the amount of clothes it looked like she was planning to try, Chase figured they’d be here for a while. He pulled out his phone and decided to open up a new game that Leo introduced him to a couple of days before. As he absentmindedly moved his character around the screen, he could feel his mind start to wander.
Over the past several months, Bree had started to act differently. He didn’t really think much of it at first, not until a couple weeks ago when Adam made an off-handed comment to him about her, saying that all she did was stay at home and that she hadn’t gushed over any boys in a while. Since then, he couldn’t help but pay more attention to her (not that he didn’t before).
Back when they started going to school, besides the time they had to train or go on missions, Bree was usually out of the house during her free time to hang out with friends from school or whoever she was dating at the moment, making up for her lack of a social life from the fifteen years or so they spent in isolation.
Truthfully, Chase had been upset initially. They were practically best friends growing up since they only ever had each other apart from Adam and Mr. Davenport, so it took a bit of time to get used to her not being around as often, but he couldn’t really get angry at her for getting a chance to have some sort of a normal life outside of the lab they grew up in.
But recently, Bree had stopped going out as much, opting to stay home whenever she got an invitation most of the time. She started hanging around Chase more often. Even if he was doing something she previously would have labeled as ‘nerdy’ or ‘boring,’ like working on some kind of new gadget for their missions or playing chess against a robot (it’s "so much fun!"), she would just be there asking questions, providing some help where she could, or even playing against him for a few rounds, much to his delight.
Looking back, she really hadn’t talked about any of her other friends besides Caitlin anymore, and she hadn’t mentioned any new crushes or boyfriends, which he didn’t really like to ask about anyway, feeling a flicker of jealousy as he thought about her previous relationships. But it didn’t seem to matter anymore; she hadn’t gone out with anyone else since she broke up with her last boyfriend, Nathan, just this past December.
He always knew he had romantic feelings for her. Was it really that crazy considering their situation? But once Bree started to date around, he figured he could also find someone new and eventually get over her, but after the few failed attempts he had, his feelings for Bree only strengthened once he realized he could never really feel what he felt for her with anyone else. It had hurt him to see her with other guys, but he figured if she was happy, there was no point in confessing.
Despite his intelligence, Chase was aware that he was sometimes a bit behind when it came to romance, but he would like to think he wasn’t that ignorant. He could see how Bree acted with him compared to everyone else, especially over the past few months, so he suspected that she might have some feelings for him as well, but doubt would usually take hold of his mind. They were best friends; that’s most likely the reason she’d act any different around him, right? It was easier to go on with the relationship they had now than risk confessing, only for her to not share the same feelings.
He shook his head to try and clear his thoughts. He had to stop overthinking things. He picked up his phone to check the time, having abandoned the game earlier once he knew he wouldn’t be paying attention to it. He furrowed his eyebrows as he noticed that it had been almost ten minutes since Bree went in. She said she would come out if she wanted his opinion, but he was getting worried. Standing up, he went over to knock lightly on her door.
“Hey Bree?” he asked. “Are you okay? You’ve been in there for a while. I just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong.”
She jumped slightly at the sound of his knock, having been lost in thought as well, unbeknownst to him. “Yeah, Chase, sorry. Uh, a lot of these… weren’t as, uh, nice as I thought they’d be. Just give me a second!”
“Okay, no worries, take your time.”
She heard his footsteps on the carpet as he walked away and sighed. She had been getting more distracted lately, the main reason being just outside the door of this fitting room.
‘I can’t think about him now,’ she thought. ‘I better hurry before he thinks I passed out or something.’
She super sped through the clothes she brought inside. Funnily enough, most of the clothes really weren’t as nice once she examined them closely. She narrowed it down to three outfits - one that she picked and the two that Chase had picked. She changed into the outfit she chose and looked in the mirror. It was a short black dress with a plunging v-shaped neckline and long lace sleeves. It was pretty, but maybe a little too short to be comfortable wearing around a bunch of hormonal high schoolers (then again, idiots will be idiots, regardless of what anyone wears). She contemplated it for another moment before deciding to show it to Chase.
At the sound of the door opening, Chase lifted his head from the magazine he was flipping through. His eyes widened slightly as she walked out. “Wow, um, you look great.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and turned around so he could see the whole thing. “What do you think about the length though?”
He took a second to think of what to say, not wanting to upset her in case she wanted to buy it. “Well, it’s quite… short. But you know, that shouldn’t stop you from getting it if you like it. It’s just, maybe not the best idea to wear that to a high school party? But again, it’s totally up to you. If you really li-“
She put her hands up to stop his rambling and laughed. “Chase, don’t worry, I wasn’t actually going to buy this for the party. I thought the same thing.”
He smiled in relief. “All right, then. But it is a pretty nice dress. You could still get it if you want.”
She shrugged and replied, “Maybe, but we’ll see. I don't really have any reason to get it, so I guess I’ll put it on the side for now. But I do have two more outfits to try on.” With that, she went back into the fitting room.
Seeing the other two options that Chase had given to her, a black dress and a blue dress, she chose to try the black one next. She smiled at her reflection as she admired the dress. It was much longer than the first, with a slit at the left leg, long sleeves, and a small see-through tulle section circling her waist. The design was quite simple, but it was classy and elegant, and it made her feel more mature. She had to give it to him - he knew what she liked and what would look good.
‘I love this dress, but it does look really fancy though…’
She stepped out and he stared at her with his mouth slightly parted. It took him a few moments before he spoke, “You look amazing, Bree.”
Her face flushed. “Thanks, Chase. You have a good eye. I am absolutely in love with how it looks.”
“I figured you would like it. I’m not the smartest man in the world for nothing.” She slapped his arm as he laughed. “But seriously, you’re my best friend. Of course I’m gonna know what you’d like.”
She grinned at him. “I think I’m just gonna keep dragging you to go shopping instead of Caitlin from now on.”
“Oh joy, I can hardly contain my excitement,” he sarcastically replied and they shared a laugh. They both knew he would go with her if she asked. He continued speaking as he observed the dress again, “But honestly, I think that this might be a little too formal for a high school party.”
Bree pouted as she looked in the standing mirror nearby. “Yeah, I know, but…”
“How about you hold on to this one as well, and we’ll decide later? You said you had one more you wanted to try on, right?” She nodded at him and left to change into her last dress.
‘Ooh, I like this one.’ She really did appreciate how much Chase paid attention to her wardrobe.
This dress also had quite a simple look. It was short, but not as short as the first one, just stopping a few inches above her knee. It was sleeveless with crisscrossing straps across the top of her chest. She had a penchant for black dresses, but she loved the dark blue, almost indigo, hue. She even had a pair of nude colored heels in mind that she knew would complete the look.
“I think this might be the one,” she said as she stood in front of Chase, beaming.
“It’s perfect,” he replied softly and smiled, looking straight in her eyes.
She felt her cheeks go red again as she looked down, feeling a familiar flutter in her stomach.
“Bree! Are you almost done?” Leo called from outside the bathroom door. “I’m ready to get my party on!”
“Oh, hold your horses, I’ll be out in a second!”
She stood up and smoothed down the front of her dress. In the end, she decided that she would leave the longer dress behind and come back to buy it for another occasion if it was still available. Chase had tried to convince her that he would buy it for her, but after she was done with the cashier, she dragged him out of the store before he could do anything else.
She checked in the mirror one last time to make sure she didn’t have to do any last minute touches and smiled before walking out. She decided to put on a lighter amount of makeup than she normally would for a party. It was practically bare, but she liked how it turned out.
“Finally! Come on, people!” Adam exclaimed once Bree stepped into the living room.
“Adam, you just finished getting dressed. What are you even in a rush for?” Chase asked as he grabbed his leather jacket from the coat stand.
“I wanna get there before all the food runs out, duh.”
Bree rolled her eyes at him. “I’m pretty sure they’ll have enough for the night. Now, let me check you all before we leave.”
The boys stood in a line as she walked closer to inspect each of them. She had taken it upon herself to look through their wardrobes that morning to pick out their outfits.
“Hmm… okay… turn! Alright… perfect! I think I did a pretty fantastic job, if I do say so myself.” She stood with a proud grin on her face and her hands on her hips.
“I will admit, we do look good.” Leo smirked as he tugged his sleeves up.
“Yeah,” Adam agreed. “And I didn’t even know I had these pants before.”
Chase gave them both a shove forward.
“Thanks, Bree,” the two said in unison.
She snickered. “Yeah, yeah, you two. Now let’s go, you guys have been bouncing all over the place since we woke up.”
They ran out of the house and Bree and Chase sighed in mock exasperation, following them through the front door. After making sure everything was locked and the security system was working, Chase offered his arm for her to hold.
“Why, thank you, Chase.”
They made their way down to the sidewalk, keeping an eye on the boys as they weren’t that far ahead of them. The party was being held a few streets away, about a ten minute walk, at the senior-class president’s house.
“Thank you for helping us get ready. Leo was right, we do look pretty good.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling. “I do have to utilize my talents somewhere.”
“How did you even find this shirt anyway? I kinda forgot I had it.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “In your endless sea of plaids and polos, I’m surprised you even owned anything else.” He jokingly glowered at her, but her face remained the same. “Am I wrong?” At his silence, she let out a small giggle. “Well, I think your plaids and polos look very nice, in like a cute and dorky way.”
“Hey!”
“What? I said they look nice! Don’t be such a baby.” She jokingly went to pinch his cheek with her free hand and laughed when he swatted it away, the corners of his lips turning up at her actions.
There was a minute of silence after her laughter quieted down. He could hear the crickets chirping around them and the sound of her heels clacking on the pavement.
“I’ve been thinking…” She paused, slightly tightening her grip on his arm. He looked at her in his periphery and she carried on, “Can you believe that it’s almost the end of our junior year? And Adam’s about to graduate!”
He hummed. “Yeah, it feels like it was just yesterday that Leo brought us to school for the first time.”
“And now we’re about to be seniors in a couple of months. Seniors! Do you remember…”
He listened to her recount some of their memories as they slowed their pace.
‘Where did all the time go?’
They lived the majority of their lives in an underground lab, and it had only been over a year since they were accidentally discovered by Mr. Davenport’s new stepson. Then, everything seemed to change in a blink of an eye.
With all that they’ve been through, it felt like they had to grow up a lot faster than the rest of their peers. Sometimes, Chase wished they all lived normal lives; no bionics, no training, no missions.
Yet if they hadn’t been taken in by the Davenports, would they have known each other otherwise? Would they have met in school? Would they even be friends?
But right now, none of that really mattered. They weren’t bionic superhumans out on a mission to save the world. They were just teenagers going to a party on a Saturday night.
All he could think about was the fact that she was here with him at this moment, grateful that he was a part of her life and that she was a part of his.
He took in the sight of her.
Her hair swayed as a light breeze blew by. He could see a twinkle of amusement in her eye when she glanced at him as she talked about one of their particularly crazy moments. There was a carefree air about her and she seemed to glow under the moonlight. He knew it sounded cliché, but he didn’t care.
‘She’s beautiful.’
They had been at the party for over an hour. A playlist of current pop songs was currently playing, but it wasn’t blaring, which Chase’s ears were thankful for, the food was good, and so far, there were no signs of the house possibly burning down or flooding from a clogged toilet (even though this would be the first Senior Saturday party he would attend, Leo had plenty of stories of the shenanigans that allegedly occurred over the previous years that he shared with them all morning). True to her word, Bree had stayed with Chase and they were enjoying each other’s company as they watched over their brothers.
As they stood there talking and laughing, there were a number of guys that walked up to Bree asking if she wanted to dance with them, but she politely declined every time. After getting a "just not really in the mood" regarding the first three guys he questioned her about, he decided it would be best to not fight her on it.
At one point, a comfortable silence fell upon them. He glanced over to see her looking a bit out of it and decided to ask if she wanted him to get something to drink. She blinked and muttered out, “Sure, that’d be great.”
After scanning to make sure the drinks were safe to consume, he walked back to her with a cup in each hand. He saw her staring at the living room where Adam and Leo were dancing with a faraway look on her face. He watched her for a few moments before he called her name. “Bree, you should go meet up with some of your friends. You don’t have to stay with me the entire night.” She jumped, not realizing when he came back, and opened her mouth to protest, but he kept talking, “Nope, no arguing. Just go have fun. We’ll be fine.” He gave her a smile that she found difficult to say no to and nodded, taking the cup he held out to her. She gave him a quick thanks and walked away.
She never really did tell them that she didn’t have as many friends as she used to. She started to drift away from them after her last breakup, and she slowly lost interest in the same things they liked. Bree never found it in her to force herself to stay in those friendships once she started seeing how shallow they really were. There were some that she could still be friendly with at school, but Caitlin was really the only other person she was close to outside the Davenport-Dooley household.
As there wasn’t anyone else here that she was interested in talking to, she aimlessly walked around the main floor of the house trying to avoid attracting any attention.
She felt bad as she realized she might have sounded standoffish earlier when Chase asked her why she didn’t want to dance with some of the other guys. It wasn’t a lie; she really wasn’t in any mood to dance with anyone. She was having a nice time talking to Chase and she was getting a bit irked every time someone interrupted them.
Bree sighed to herself. There was no point in lingering around inside the kitchen looking like a lost puppy. She gulped down the drink that she still had in her hand and threw out the empty cup, deciding to go outside to get some fresh air. She went out the front door since most of the people were gathered toward the back of the house. The air felt cooler than it was earlier and she shivered slightly, regretting her earlier decision to forgo a jacket.
Nobody else seemed to be around, so she walked over to sit on a nearby bench that she recalled seeing when they first arrived and sat down. She took in the sight of the city below as the house overlooked Mission Creek (of course, the Davenport mansion still had the best view). Looking up at the stars, she could hear the muffled music playing from the house and her mind wandered.
Why did she even want to come to this party? Well, she thought it would be nice to do something that no one in the house would have to plan or organize. And it had been a while since any of them had been to a party. She could see how much Chase had to deal with, especially with his responsibilities of being their team leader and all. As he mentioned the other day, she knew that he wasn’t too big on parties, but she thought the environment might loosen him up, even if just a tiny bit. Now she felt like it would have been better to stay at home (but letting Adam and Leo come here on their own, whether they snuck out or not, might be a worse idea).
She couldn’t help but think of Chase; he occupied her thoughts more often than not. Bree has had feelings for Chase for as long as she could remember. It wasn’t very clear to her at first, thinking that they were just close, but looking back, she realized how hesitant she was to admit how she felt. They practically knew everything about each other, and they’ve seen each other at their best and their worst. There really wasn’t anyone else that she could connect with as well as she does with Chase.
She didn’t think that she’d ever have a chance with him. Ever since they were allowed outside of the lab, she tried to see other guys in hopes of getting over her feelings for him. There were a few that she went out with that never got anywhere past a first date; her only long lasting relationships were with Ethan, Owen, and Nathan. She really did like and care for her exes, but her feelings for Chase never went away, which ultimately led to her breaking things off with each of them. She felt that she would only be leading them on as they liked her more than she could ever like them back.
There were only a few girls that she remembered Chase being involved with. She was always jealous of them, but figured that seeing him with someone else would force her to move on from him, but that didn’t work. And clearly, he didn’t have much luck with staying with any of those girls for long either (she would be lying if she said she wasn’t glad that he was still single).
She knew that she wasn’t exactly the most subtle with her actions over the past months. Once she realized and accepted how serious her feelings were, she decided that she didn’t want to get into any more relationships to try and get over him. As much as it hurt to think that he might not ever feel the same way, she tried to be around him as much as possible, hopefully without being too obvious or overbearing, choosing to be with him most of the time, like training in the lab or studying in the living room together. He never complained, and she knew he would say something if he really did have any issues, so she continued on with what she was doing.
He chose to spend most of his free time with her as well, much to her delight. Even if it was something small like going out to get some food or taking a walk around the nearby park, he would usually ask to tag along, which she always accepted. Knowing how much she neglected him as well as Adam and Leo once they had their first taste of freedom made her feel guilty, though no one ever really said anything about it, at least not to her face. She was happy that they were able to fall back on their close relationship and it seemed like it was stronger than before.
Part of her felt like a coward. She was comfortable with how things were between them and she didn’t want to risk anything. There were times that she was close to confessing to him, but she would always get cold feet before the words could come out of her mouth. She was scared that he would reject her and it would put a wedge in their relationship, and potentially affect the team.
‘Is it even worth it? I want to tell him, but if he really doesn’t feel the same way…'
Before she realized it, she felt something heavy being placed on her shoulders. Her panic only lasted a second when she recognized that it was a leather jacket that belonged to none other than-
“Chase, what are you doing out here?” she asked as she moved over to give him space and he sat down on her right side.
“Well, I noticed you were distracted before and I figured that you’d probably come outside to clear your head instead of meeting up with your friends. When I looked out the window, I saw you here, but I thought you needed some time to yourself, so I just waited for a bit to give you some space. I regret not coming out sooner since I didn’t realize how cool it got and I forgot you didn’t have a coat or anything.”
She instinctively brought her hands up to tighten his jacket around her frame. “Don’t worry about it, Chase. I think I spaced out enough that I forgot about the cold, but thanks for the jacket. Now that you brought it up, it’s kinda hitting me.”
He chuckled. “You’re welcome. But you know, we have been trained to withstand worse temperatures than this. I could let Mr. Davenport know that we might have to revisit that…” he trailed off with a teasing lilt to his voice.
She rolled her eyes and bumped into him with her shoulder. “You’re ridiculous,” she uttered with a smile. He laughed and she couldn’t help but join him. As their laughter died down, she could feel his eyes on her.
“Do you wanna talk about it? Whatever’s on your mind?” he asked in a quiet voice. At her hesitation, he quickly added, “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. I’m sorry if it felt like I was pushing you. I’m just worried, and you know you can tell me anything right?”
Bree nodded at that. She was getting that fluttering feeling in her stomach again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry about me. I just… I don’t even know… I’m sorry-”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gently pulled her closer to him. Once more, she forgot all about the cool air around them as she leaned into his warmth. “Bree, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m always going to worry about you.” Then his voice lowered, and if she wasn’t right at his side, she might not have heard him. “You’re the most important person in the world to me.”
But she did, and with her heart pounding, she shyly replied, “You’re the most important person to me, too.”
She put her head on his shoulder and felt his head rest on top of hers a beat later. Her eyes slowly shut as she relaxed into him. It was nice to be alone and away from all the noise.
‘Alone? Did he leave Adam and Leo by themselves?!’
Her eyes went wide and she sat a bit more upright. “Wait, what about-“
“Adam and Leo?” She swore he could read her mind sometimes. “They’re fine, don’t worry. They promised they would behave while I came to check on you.” He laughed at the incredulous look she gave him. “Okay, I know how that sounds. But actually, they’re the ones who pushed me to finally do something that I’ve been putting off for a long time.”
“Chase!” He turned around from the window where he could see Bree sitting outside and found Adam and Leo a few steps away from him.
“Where’s Bree? Did she finally get a chance to run away?” At Chase’s glare, Adam punched his arm lightly (or as light as he could). “Relax dude, I’m just joking. I know you guys were together this whole time.”
“Well, that’s why I told her that she should just go meet up with some of her other friends since I didn’t want her to waste her entire night just staying with me, but…” He gestured towards the window so Adam and Leo could see her outside.
The two boys shared a look as they observed their brother. He was watching Bree with a worried look on his face, but they could clearly see the fondness that he held for her.
Leo spoke up first, “You should tell her.”
Chase kept the panic from coming out as he coolly replied, “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with us, smarty pants. We’re not blind, you know. You guys totally like each other.”
He wasn’t sure what to say.
“I can’t.”
“You can’t? What do you mean you can’t tell her? Of course you can!”
“No, Leo, I can’t.”
Leo crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t, or you won’t?” he challenged.
Chase clenched his jaw. “It’s not that easy.” He was growing frustrated, but mainly at himself. For all that he was supposed to be their ‘brave and fearless’ mission leader, when it came to confessing his feelings for Bree, he felt anything but.
Then he heard Adam speak, his tone sounding more serious than usual, “Chase, I’ve seen you grow up together. It might not seem like it, but I’ve noticed how different you two are around each other. We’re all close, but you guys always had something else. I know you know it, too.” Adam placed a hand on his shoulder. “And I know you can see that she feels the same.”
As much as he had his own suspicions, hearing someone else say it made it feel more real.
He finally turned to face them. “Do you think so?”
“Do you think we’d be talking to you about this if we didn’t? Chase, trust us. Go out there, woo her with your dorky charm, and the rest of us can finally stop having to watch the two of you awkwardly tiptoe around your feelings for each other!” Chase rolled his eyes at Leo’s antics as he spoke, but admittedly, it did soothe his nerves.
“And we promise we won’t mess anything up in here while you guys get all lovey-dovey and stuff,” Adam said, his face scrunching up at the end.
“Right, we’ll be here watching to make sure you don’t chicken out.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Chase could spot the two still at the window making good on their promise. He resisted the urge to tell them to get back to the party so they didn’t see him make a fool out of himself, but deep down, he was touched by how much they cared.
“Oh, is everything alright? Did you need our help?”
He shook his head at her. “No, I’m fine, it’s just…”
‘Now or never, Chase, now or never,’ he thought as he removed his arm from her shoulder. Her disappointment quickly turned to surprise when he held her hand.
He took a deep breath. “I like you, Bree. I think you probably already knew that. I mean, I wasn’t exactly hiding it, but… I want to be completely open with you. I want you to know how much you mean to me.” He turned to look out at the view in front of them, still clutching onto her hand.
She knew he needed a moment. She wasn’t sure she could even say anything at this point, certain that if she opened her mouth, the words would be caught in her throat. She mimicked his movements, turning to watch the lights flicker across the city.
“And…” She lightly squeezed his hand to encourage him to continue. “I think it scared me at first, how strong my feelings were. Are. And I was too comfortable to jeopardize our relationship. We were already close, but I wanted more. I want us to be more. I hope it’s not wrong or too selfish of me to say that I think you want that, too. But if you really only see me as a friend, I understand. I can probably… have our memories of this erased so things could go back to the way they were. Or I can keep my distance and stay away. I’ll make sure that you’ll only see me during training or missions. Whatever you want, I won’t say no. But I just… I don’t want to lose you.”
There was silence between them as they let the words of his confession hang in the air. The only sounds that could be heard were the music and laughter coming from inside the house.
She almost couldn’t believe what was happening. After all this time, hearing the confirmation of his feelings…
She didn’t feel like shouting to the world. She didn’t feel as if a thousand fireworks were going off. All of the pieces of the puzzle weren’t just suddenly falling into place.
There was something almost anticlimactic about it all.
When she pulled away to look at him, she could see the determination and fear written on his face as he waited for her response. But when she really looked at him, her heart swelled as she saw deep affection gazing back at her, and she had no doubt that he could see the same in her eyes as well.
“You're not running away that easily. Do you think I'm ever gonna let you go now?" she chided lightheartedly, earning a small laugh from him.
She lifted her left hand to settle it on the side of his face, her thumb lightly stroking his cheek. Leaning in, she placed a kiss on his other cheek, staying there for a few seconds before moving back. Her whole face burned as he looked at her in awe.
‘Hmm… it’s not anticlimactic. I feel…’
He pulled her into an embrace with his arms around her waist, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as the leather jacket fell onto the space behind her. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his hands caressing her sides tenderly.
"I like you, too, Chase,” she whispered in his ear. “You mean the world to me.” She felt another surge of affection as he tightened his hold on her.
‘Content.’
End.