"Great chapter! Since tent and adam are friends in this AU (if I remember correctly), what if Trent starts bullying Chase or something and Adam follows him in doing so? I can see Donald having to get invloved., definitely!"-TheUnknownBlock

I am currently parked a block away from Mission Creek High, since, and I quote 'daaaad it's embarrassing when you pick us up', thank you Bree, always making people feel good about themselves. So to avoid embarrassing my children I am shunned from the school.

Usually I have Chase to keep me company, but today's his first day of middle school so I am alone. It's quite peaceful actually, I have no kids asking for money or a ride and Eddie is not wandering around aimlessly for my other employees to complain about.

Adam is first to the car, he sits in the passengers seat.

"How was your day?" I ask.

Adam jumps, as if I yelled at him, "Good, well not bad, so good. How was your day?"

That's weird; Adam is usually upbeat and can't stop talking about the wonders of high school. The last time he acted like this was when I bought him a car to congratulate him on his license, he crashed it and didn't want to tell me. Hence why he doesn't have a car. But I trust him, so it was probably something small like eating all the cookies, "My day was good Adam, thanks for asking."

Then we sit in silence, it was awkward. Adam kept fidgeting and glancing at me, he would open his mouth and then shut it. It stopped once Chase was walking to the car, his chin was tucked to his chest so his hair falls into his face, and arms crossed, Adam went completely still once he saw Chase.

Chase got into the seat behind me, and placed his seat belt on and backpack in between his feet. The atmosphere got worse, so I tried to change it, "Chase how was your day? Enjoying high school as much as you thought?" I joke, knowing how eager Chase was to start.

"Living the dream." Chase mutters.

I was about to press the issue when Bree slams to door (behind Adam) closed and starts ranting about some drama that happened today. Usually I don't care about Caitlin's problems with her boy friend Rodney, but today it was a welcomed distraction.

When I park the car all the kids rush to get out, "You're welcome." I say to the empty car.

Line Break

"Adam go get Chase, dinners ready." I call form the kitchen.

Adam is sitting on the couch playing video games, he glances over for a second before focusing back on the game, "I'm busy."

Now I expect that kind of tone form Bree, she has embraced her teenage years, but not sweet Adam.

"Pause it." I instruct.

Adam looks worried, "Just have Bree do it, she's the one with super speed."

"Hey!" Bree yells from her spot at the dinning table, where she is currently texting and writing a paper.

"Adam." I say, my tone says 'don't push your luck'

Adam sighs and pauses the game before stomping up the stairs.

I look to Bree, "What's his problem?"

She shrugs, "Maybe he finally wants to meet your girlfriend."

I blush and look back at dinner, "just finish your paper."

I can feel her grinning at me.

Adam trots down stairs, "He says he doesn't feel well."

"That's weird." I mumble to myself.

"Bree get your stuff off of the table, Adam set the table. I'll be right back." I instruct.

I hear Bree grumble something about Caitdney or Rodlin, whatever that is.

I jog up the stairs and knock on Chase's door. I thought giving the children their own rooms would be good, somewhere to escape to since it must be weird living in capsules, but right now I regret it.

"Chase, it's me." I say.

"Sorry dad, I know you worked hard on dinner, I'm just not feeling well." I hear Chase call through the door.

I open the door and poke my head in, "What's wr-" I start to say but immediately stop when I see Chase's face.

His right eye is wide with shock, and his left eye is a mixture of dark purple and black, it's also swollen shut. His headphones fall off his ears as he scrambles to prevent me from seeing his face.

"Dad! Privacy." Chase complains.

"My house." I say.

I sit on the edge of his bed, by his legs. "Chase what happened? I thought the bullying would stop now that you have your siblings, especially Adam, in the same school as you."

He looks away, I grab his face to look at his bruise, "That's a shiner, but luckily your bionics should have it looking be a ugly yellow tomorrow. We may have to apply makeup so no one notices the rapid recovery."

Chase pulls away and shrugs, "It's not like anyone noticed anyway."

"What happened? Did you tell Adam, I'm sure he would scare them off." I say.

"Adam knows, that's the problem." Chase whispers, his knees tucked under his chin and face pointed toward the floor.

"What?" I ask.

Chase glances at me, "Nothing." He says.

"No, I heard the first time, I just don't understand." I say.

Chase sighs, "It's nothing dad, really."

"Chase it's not nothing, should I call the school and have them explain?" I ask.

"No! Let's just let it go." Chase suggests.

"Chase, you were physically hurt, we can't let this happen again." I say.

Chase looks at me again, his eyes scan my face before he finally decides to tell me, "Trent got a little rough, he didn't mean harm."

My eyebrows raise in shock, I've known Trent since he was 5, sure he has always been a little abrasive but I didn't think he would hurt his best friends little brother.

"Was Adam there?" I ask.

Chase looks away again and doesn't answer.

"Chase? Was Adam there?" I repeat.

Chase nods, and a few tears leak out.

I pat Chase on the leg, "I'll bring dinner up to you, but later you and Adam need to talk."

Chase doesn't acknowledge me, so I'll take it as a yes.

Line Break

Adam and Bree are sitting at the table arguing about something, the food lays in front of them untouched.

I make a plate for Chase and they don't even notice.

They are still arguing by the time I sit down, "Bree you don't have to eat here tonight."

Bree smiles and grabs some food before leaving.

Adam looks at me guiltily, "Sorry, we were just arguing about who we think should get to drive us to school once Bree get's her license."

"Who said either of you were driving?" I asked.

Adam shrugs.

I wave my hand, "It doesn't matter. I want to know why you didn't help your brother today?"

Adam's eyes widen, he looks like a deer in the headlights.

"Adam, your brother has a black eye and he is scared, what happened?" I ask.

Adam gulps in fear, "Trent has always teased Chase, I didn't think he would actually hit him."

"Were you there?" I ask.

Adam nods his head 'yes', he can't meet my eyes and his cheeks are ablaze.

"Did you make fun of Chase?" I ask.

Adam nods his head 'yes' again, this time he is trying to stop his shoulders from shaking.

"Did you help Chase afterwards?" I ask.

Adam shakes his head 'no', tears are streaming freely down his face.

"Did you walk away when Trent left? And then joked about it afterwards?" I ask.

Adam nods 'yes', he is sobbing by this point. "Dad I'm so sorry, so sorry. I didn't mean to just Chase, it's just-" he doesn't finish, there's nothing to say. He fell into peer pressure, and hurt his little brother.

I shake my head in disappointment, "Adam I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"I know, I know." Adam says. He wipes his tears with the back of his hand.

I push my chair back, "I'm going to call Trent's dad, hopefully he's not drunk tonight. While I'm doing that you need to go apologize to your brother."

Adam obediently gets up and heads to the stairs.

By the time I get off the phone, with Trent's mom who has Trent tonight, Adam is walking downstairs.

He looks crushed, "I apologized dad, but he wouldn't look at me, he flinched when I went near him. I didn't see his eye before, but now I know. What do I do? Fix this." Adam pleads, he is no longer the sixteen year old who is bigger than me, instead he is a child who needs me to fix this.

I go over to him, "I'm sorry Adam, there's nothing I can do. The only thing that will work is time, you need to build up your trust again, and show him that you love him." I give Adam a hug, one he greatly accepts. I feel him squeeze me to tight, but I don't complain.

Then we hear Bree yell, "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE? I'm going to make someone wish the were never born."

I run to the sound, Adam is following me.

Chase is beet red as Bree looks over him, "Bree it's nothing." Chase insists.

A/N I'm uploading this a day early because I'm so excited for finales to be over with!

This was suggested by TheUnknownBlock. I'm trying to get to all the suggestions.

There will be no continuation off of this, I will leave Bree's reaction to Adam up to you. So please leave your thoughts in the comment box below.

I hope you guys enjoyed! Please leaving a review to tell me whether this is good, bad, or ugly.