A/N: In response to the few meaningful reviews of the previous chapter:

Guest 1 - I'm glad you liked it.

Guest 2 - I'm okay with Saluna, but I liked Cheni more.

Guest 3 - Here's to hoping Chaz and Leni develop into something more in later episodes.

Guest 4 - And here it is.

Someguy - It's refreshing to know that Leni isn't a stereotypical shallow blonde airhead.

That ManX - This whole story was thought up because the image provided the perfect setup, and I just had to take it. There's going to be two more, this one, and a third, and possibly a bonus chapter too.

Zexo87 - Chaz doesn't have much of a personality shown in the sparse appearances that he's been in, so I'm kind of making it up as I go along.

Mondays…

Everyone hates Mondays, except if a holiday or inclement weather falls on a Monday, then everyone hates Tuesdays.

But mostly, people hate Mondays. A famous comic book cat immortalized the phrase and it entered the lexicon of casual speech for those who live the casual life.

Chaz hated the start of his particular Monday morning. His dad had to leave early for a construction project with his brothers' company, and he unfortunately didn't have time to make breakfast for his kids.

So Chaz and Dana were left to feed themselves. They couldn't have cereal, as the milk had spoiled into a goo vaguely resembling cottage cheese, and Chaz mentally slapped himself when they discovered that he forgot to seal the bread loaves, causing green, fuzzy mold to form around the crust.

They eventually settled for a bowl of microwavable breakfast in the freezer, but there wasn't enough for the both of them. Thinking fast, Chaz found some tortillas that were still fine. Dana heated them up and split the contents of their instant breakfast on the two tortillas. It wasn't much but hopefully it would get them through the morning period.

After freshening up in the bathroom, the two got dressed and prepared for school. He nearly had a small heart attack as he tossed and turned his room to find his homework. A honk from outside alerted them that their school bus was waiting.

"Chaz! Come on, we're going to be late!" Dana yelled.

Digging around, he eventually found the crucial item and lifted it triumphantly in the air before hastily stuffing it in his backpack and rushing to get to Dana who was standing in front of the vehicle's door, trying her best to stall for time as Chaz dashed in.

Seating themselves down at last, they were afforded a breather while they made their way towards Royal Woods High.

Passing through the neighborhood, he briefly thought about what happened yesterday, about his uplifting little speech he gave Leni, about that hug she gave him just before they parted, and Dana's little words of encouragement.

He recalled some of the nights Leni and Lori came over for sleepovers with Dana. He was sealed in his room for most of the night while Dana and her female friends were doing their girl thing. Feeling a hankering for a late night snack, Chaz headed down to the kitchen to check for some leftovers or other scraps he could scavenge.

Flashback…

Although it was dark, he could still see most of the kitchen. He saw that someone was already rummaging through the fridge, humming a tune in a feminine voice.

Presuming it to be Dana, Chaz walked up to the female figure, "Hey, mind if I get a bite to eat?"

The female suddenly jumped from her position and gave a loud scream, the next thing he knew, Chaz had a face full of tapioca pudding.

"Ow! What the heck?!"

"Ah! Tapioca monster!"

The female suddenly started attacking him with her hands, slapping him as fast as human hands could strike.

The lights went on as Lori and Dana entered the room, "WHAT IS LITERALLY GOING ON HERE?!"

Leni, who was attacking Chaz, ran up behind the two other girls, "Guys! It's a tapioca boogeyman!"

They turned towards the stout, messy pile sitting on the ground, covered in tapioca and a few light bruises. Dana rushed to him upon recognizing the food-covered boy.

Dana plucked a few sheets of paper towels to help him clean up, "Chaz! What the heck happened?"

"I just came down to get a snack when all of a sudden, I had tapioca on my face and someone attacked me."

Leni shrieked, "There's a maniac in the house!"

Lori pinched the bridge of her noise, "No, Leni, you attacked Chaz."

Leni gasped, "Wait a minute… I'm the MANIAC!?" She screamed running back up the stairs in a panic.

Lori groaned, "I'm going to try and talk some sense into her, Dana, just help Chaz clean up and we'll meet you in your room."

Dana took her brother with her to the communal bathroom downstairs, where he washed the bits of food stuck on his face.

"Boy, Leni sure is a bit of a fighter, isn't she?" she said in an effort to lighten the mood.

"Yes… she certainly was…" Chaz replied, making no attempt to hide his irritation.

"Aw, come on, Chaz. Leni didn't mean it. You know how she reacts to unexpected surprises."

Drying his face with a towel, he turned to his sister and gave a loud sigh, "I suppose, but that was still pretty dang annoying."

"Well, put it this way, at least with Dad on that trip with our uncles, he's not around to chew us up for making so much noise."

"You mean chew you up, Dana."

She gave him a snide smile, "Oh we're both in this together, big bro, whether you like it or not."

"Whatever."

As they headed up the stairs and a little past the door to Dana's room, Leni could hear them speaking just outside.

"I still feel hungry, Dana." Chaz complained.

"Now you know what the doctor said, big bro, you gotta start cutting back on some of those calories."

He sighed, "I guess after that little heckling from Leni, I don't really feel all that hungry."

"Now don't be so glum, at least it'll be almost tomorrow in a few hours, and then I'll treat you to a nice breakfast, all right, Chaz?"

He nodded before going back inside.

The next day, Chaz awoke to the smell of something good coming from the dining room.

Walking downstairs and closer towards the scrumptious scent, he was greeted to a veritable feast on the table. A dizzying array of viands elegantly arranged and beckoning his salivating taste buds and ravenous belly to consume them.

Taking a plate and scooping up four strips of bacon, three pieces of sausage, a shortstack of blueberry waffles, a slice of omelet, and two French toasts, he wasted no time gobbling up the miniature smorgasbord like a school of starving piranhas.

Dana just laughed heartily at his appetite, "Well, someone woke up on the right side of the bed this morning."

"After the kind of nife I just haf… mornings like fis make… life worf living." He replied with his cheeks stuffed like hamster pouches.

"Careful, Chaz, you don't want to choke on your morsels now."

Slowing down in order to grind the food in his mouth more thoroughly and pushing it down with a mighty gulp, he resumed normal speech.

"I got it, I got it. Anyway, thanks for the breakfast Dana, you ought to work in a five-star restaurant or something."

"What are you thanking me for?"

Chaz looked confused at her reply, "Didn't you say you were going to make breakfast?"

She giggled, "Yes, but I only did part of it."

"Then… who prepared all this food?"

Dana handed him a little note. Chaz unfolded the little paper and read its contents.

It was a message from Leni, written in text language.

Hey Chaz,

So, like, I'm really sory I thought u were some kinda monster or maniac. Anyway, I made breakfast for u wit sum help from Lori & Dana. I could tell u were totes hungry, so I made as much as u could eat, since Dana tells me ur a growin boy.

Leni.

At the end was a little cartoon caricature of Leni's face smiling and a crudely drawn heart.

Chaz couldn't help but smile a little bit. Sure, Leni was a bit of a handful at times, but she always means well and makes up for it when it counts.

"You see, Chaz? Leni may have her pitfalls… well, a lot actually, but she's an absolute sweetheart." Dana responded, looking rather delighted.

He munched on a bit of breakfast sausage slowly as he looked the note over again, "I guess…"

All things considered, last night wasn't so bad. He had tapioca thrown in his face and Leni slapped him silly, but at least she didn't pull a knife or Taser on him, which would have warranted a longer-lasting resentment.

The two continued eating, Chaz cleaning his plate down to the last crumb, and you could barely tell that the plate was being used at all, before he belched a good one that resounded nearly throughout the whole house, "Well, that's the sign that the tank is full." He said satisfactorily, patting his belly.

Dana smirked, "You are such a glue-ton"

Chaz laughed heart-heartedly at her butchering the word "glutton" as if to hit his nerve, "Ha ha, it is to laugh."

Rising from his seat with a satisfied sigh, he took his plate and utensils to the kitchen, where he briefly shrieked at what looked like ground zero. The kitchen was, to put it mildly, a "mess." A mess that saw no inch of the kitchen uncovered in grime, goop and slop, as though some hellion mushed food into a blender and sprayed the contents with a high-pressure hose.

Dana followed him not long after, looking unfazed by the disaster in the kitchen, "I tell you, though, Leni can sure leave her mark on a kitchen. We better clean this up before dad gets home and chews us out."

Chaz turned with a defeated gaze to Dana, who responded him with a cheerful look, before muttering something in resignation, "Good frickin' grief…"

End Flashback…

At school, Chaz prepared his material that he needed for homeroom at his locker, Dana getting hers as well next to his, "Hey Chaz, I'm going out with Joey on a date later this evening, and he asked me if you could watch his brother Skippy."

He turned his head to her after she asked, "Isn't that Benny's job?"

"Benny's got a skit with Luan tonight at the Chortle Portal, his dad is on deployment right now, and his mom will be visiting their grandmother in the hospital. His mom doesn't trust most online babysitters, and, as I've already stated, I'm going on a date with Joey, so that leaves you as the only one they'd want to watch over Skippy."

"Well, all right. I'll head over to his place once I've finished my shift at Moss. I heard Joey got Battlezone One and I've been meaning to check it out at his house." Closing up their lockers, the two of them headed out to their classes.

As he passed through the hallway leading to his classroom, he briefly eyed the ones known as Adam and Rebecca, chatting away with sickeningly sweet playfulness, as though toying with someone else's feelings just two days ago was of no consequence to them.

His brow furrowed at the two as he thought back to what happened that day. Although he was never there to bear witness, he can only imagine how horrible the whole thing must be, a feeling he himself was more than a little intimate with.

Chaz arrived in his classroom and sat at his usual position a little ways to the back, next to the wall and where no one would be able to single him out, at least, most of the time. Next to him was Joey, his erudite compadre and a worrywart perfectionist. Joey's father was a US Airman, and this meant that he found himself having to move to other countries if his dad wanted his whole family to stay together. Having just started school in America meant that he barely knows anyone to bond with, unlike his previous school, but his insecurities were alleviated after making friends with Chaz and scoring with his sister Dana.

"So Joey," Chaz asked in the direction of the studious boy, "Where are you taking Dana tonight?"

Joey looked up and turned to his buddy, "Well, she has been meaning to make me watch that new Marvel Woman with me."

"Oh yeah, I saw that with my dad a week back. It was surprisingly good, better than the last three films they did."

"That's good to know." He replied nonchalantly, going over his notes and homework again just to be certain that it was flawless. A minute later, Joey soon recalled something that Dana spoke with him about last night, "By the way, I never asked until now, but how is Leni doing?"

"She's been doing okay…"

"Okay as in… she's managing it? Or okay as in she's over it?"

Chaz shrugged, "I guess you could say she got over it."

"You wouldn't happen to have something to do with that, would you?"

Chaz raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

"I heard that you put the moves on her," he said mischievously.

Chaz blushed as irritation formed on his face, "W-What are you talking about!?"

He puckered his lips and made mock kissing sounds, "I heard from the grapevine that Leni gave you a little hug and looked positively beside herself with bliss."

Chaz turned aside and shook his fist angrily, "Dang it, Dana…"

Joey leaned in with a look of sly interest as his expression, "Wanna tell me all about it?"

"Look, Joey, it was just a friendly hug, okay? She was going through a rough time and I helped her out. There wasn't anything more than that." Although that was his reply, Chaz couldn't help but doubt a few of the words that came out of his mouth.

"It's not like you to be in denial, Chaz." Joey replied, while snickering under his breath.

"Don't you have homework to double-check?" Chaz replied with an annoyed huff.

Joey took the hint and decided to cut if off for now, "All right then, by the way, Dana asked if you could watch my bro Skippy tonight, you available?"

Chaz nodded, "Yeah, I'll head on over to your house after I'm finished with my shift at Moss, cool?" he extended his fist for a bump.

Joey responded with his, "Cool."

The morning periods went by rather quickly, and before they knew it lunch time rolled around the corner. Cafeteria food tended to be typecast as being a poor substitute for home-cooked meals and the fast food vittles, and on any given day, it could be like that depending on the moods of the cooks. Chaz, however, was not particularly picky, and he'd hoard all the stuff he could get his hungry hands on. The lunch ladies made it a point to ration his meals because, as much as they love how wholeheartedly he eats their stuff, they care about him enough to make sure he doesn't pop the button on his pants.

Once he'd gotten everything he needed, he left to find a good spot to eat up. For most other students, the most logical thing to do was to find one's friends amidst the hungry crowd and sit with them. He had Joey and Dana, but his instincts as a wallflower told him to go and find a quiet spot where he could eat in anonymous solitude. The hustle and bustle of so many people really grated on him and finding an empty corner to be himself (and by himself) was the greatest of blessings.

Scanning his surroundings carefully, and drowning out the overcrowded sounds of the background, he saw a nice, vacant dining table towards the far corner. Smiling to himself victoriously, he proceeded towards his destination eager to begin the scarfing down of his tray of stuff.

Halfway through his trek across the cafeteria, one errant diner hurriedly rose from her seat and turned about without watching her path behind her, and she and Chaz bumped violently into each other, sending food into the air and upon both of the teens.

The noise and spectacle roused the other patrons to give attention away from their meals and banter and towards the site of the disturbance that abruptly filled the dining hall.

It was Rebecca, the girl had wanted to get up and go someplace to stretch her legs and maybe bide her time before the next class period. Now she was like a soiled canvas covered in sauce and food bits, a humanoid abstract painting, if you will.

Shock and surprise became indignation in the short seconds between the unfortunate accident and her face twisting with petty anger.

"You…" she quickly rose to her feet, breathing hard and gritting her teeth, her eyes piercing through Chaz's confused and frightened stare, as though needle-sharp arrows would fly from her pupils and stab him in the throat, "…look at this mess! Can't you watch where you're walking you clumsy…" she stammered a bit as fury clouded her ability to conceive an appropriate insult to him, "…fathead!"

"S-sorry…" was all he managed to say, but he knew that saying that didn't amount to much, and if he suspected that Rebecca was "that" kind of girl, she was not about to let this kind of accident slide without some massive compensation on Chaz's part.

"It's going to take more than apologies to clean up this mess, bucko!"

As if that weren't enough, Rebecca's significant other, Adam, pitched in, probably eager to come off as the snot-nosed princess' knight in spit-shined armor.

"You show him, girl! So, nuts-for-brains, how are you going to pay us back for this?" he leered with a menacing grin.

Chaz's heart was starting to palpitate; one of his worst fears was unfolding before his very eyes: being the center of attention. He could feel the gaze of what was nearly the whole high school body looking at him; most of them looked with cold indifference, while the rest could not help but grin at this unfolding of drama and humoring themselves upon the misfortune of others.

Chaz needed to calm down and think of a way to diffuse this before it got any worse, "Okay, I'll… what do you guys want?"

"Hey!" Rebecca placed one finger on his chin and lifted it up so that he could see the spite in her eyes, and he gulped at the possibilities of what that look could mean, "Look at me when you speak, pinhead!"

He felt trapped, cornered, like an ant in a rapidly flooding burrow. "Just... please, leave me alone." He wanted to say, but he couldn't, the tension in the air froze him solid and his vocal chords seemed unable to form the response. Chaz hated this feeling more than any other thing in the world – to be stared at with hostile eyes and being forced to confront the victim of some blunder that was outside his capacity to avoid, much less foresee, and who was angry and not fully in control of their emotions.

"Hey!"

A girlish yell once more changed heads in the hall, and all eyes reflexively turned to the source of that voice.

But Chaz didn't need to guess as much as everyone else present as to whose voice that belonged to, so he wasn't surprised to find that it came from none other than Leni Loud; the girl who, after one rather peculiar weekend, now seemed to be on the back of his mind and took up half of his focus for most of the day. Standing beside her were Chaz's sibling Dana, and Dana's beau and Chaz's good friend, Joey.

Leni walked up to the spat unfolding in the cafeteria, her eyes seemed blazing with an uncharacteristically spirited fire that no one, save maybe her own family, had ever seen before. Her stride was firm and unyielding, her hands rolled into fists that spoke of the righteous fury building up in her, her head held up high and unwilling to back down, all signs of a person on a mission. Dana imitated her approach as she walked beside her, and though she seemed a bit calmer, she too was outraged by Rebecca's antagonism towards her brother and wasn't about to back down when her own flesh and blood was being threatened. Joey was the only one, it seemed, more interested in resolving the issue peacefully and averting the hypothetical bloodbath that things seemed to be heading towards.

Once Leni closed the distance between herself and Rebecca, she grabbed Chaz by the shoulder and yanked him away from her. "Hey!" Rebecca had a mind to butt in and chastise Leni for interrupting her personal business, but her resolve abated when she made eye contact with Leni, who actually looked sort of intimidating. This was definitely not the same airheaded Leni Loud that she and Adam shooed off just two days ago.

Leni turned to Chaz, asking him if he was okay, to which the latter nodded affirmatively.

Regaining her composure not long afterwards, her rage building up again, Rebecca hastened into Leni's personal space.

"Hey, retard! I've got business with the fatso, so would you please mind your own business?" she said holding little restraint in her tone of voice.

Without even looking at her, Leni replied in a cold voice, "Rebecca, leave him alone."

She continued to walk away with Chaz towards a bathroom where he could clean himself up.

At this point Rebecca was just about ready to blow her top. There were ten stages of anger, when this whole mess started, she was just at stage four, indignation, where she would tussle with her aggressor with some verbal jabs, but Leni's intervention just drove her two levels into stage six, infuriated.

In Rebecca's mind, it wasn't enough to just get her beautiful clothes all ruined by some portly ingrate. No, now the school halfwit Leni deigns to come to his rescue and expects her to ignore the whole ordeal and demand that she let it slide, like it was no big deal?

"LENI LOUD!" she bellowed with a voice like some raging banshee, "YOU AND THAT… THAT PIG BETTER COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT OR SO HELP ME, I WILL…!"

"…Literally become a human pretzel if you lay a finger on them!"

Everyone turned around to see Leni's older sister Lori, staring long and hard into Rebecca with eyes like the Devil himself would drag the boorish drama queen into the boiling, white-hot rivers of the underworld.

Lori is well known for being a bit bossy and overbearing to her siblings, but it was only because she loved them to death and, as grating as they can be to her at times, she would never wish the worst for them no matter how tempting the thought was at times. Stoking the fires of her silent rage was the fact that Leni was the sister she was closest to and no one would dare try to push her around while she was present, lest they be twisted like the salty snack that was Lori's retort to those that light the fire of Royal Woods High's golfing prodigy.

"Now Rebecca…" Lori said, as she approached, her words seething with an unseen heat, "…why don't you get out of here and clean yourself up before I bend you a new one so bad the doctors won't know which end to start with!"

Rebecca's own petty frustration paled before the sight of Lori's wrath, and a slow, creeping fear made her way up her spine. Now it was her turn to be afraid, and she seemed petrified on the spot as her body refused to acknowledge any command she sent it. Only when Adam came in and placed his reassuring hands on her shoulders did she finally come to her senses.

"Easy Lori!" he said while laughing sheepishly, his confidence crumbling like wet paper, "She was just caught up in the heat of the moment, weren't you, Rebecca?" He turned to her, her face looking like the expression of a terrified sheep cornered by a ghastly predator on the hunt, "Come on, Rebecca, let's just get out of here and clean you up before the next period, okey-dokey?"

With a spring in their step, the two obnoxious teens bolted out of the cafeteria.

Lori sighed as she felt her herself cool off from the tense situation, and then she noted that people were still staring.

"Will you guys just get back to your lunches or something!? Gah!" no further words were necessary for them to comply.

Dana and Leni waited outside the boys' bathroom wile Joey was helping Chaz clean up inside.

Dana glanced at Leni, who seemed to be as concerned as she was about Chaz. She couldn't help but smile at the thought that Leni would stand up to the girl that broke her spirit last Saturday and defend her brother's honor too.

She mused to herself in her thoughts, "Seriously, why aren't you his girlfriend or something?"

Leni noticed Dana's eyes, "Is there something on my face, Dana?"

She shook her head, "No, there's nothing Leni. I'm just happy that you helped my brother out."

Leni looked aside and fiddled with her hair, "Well, you know? Seeing Rebecca go after Chaz like that… like, that was totes uncool, he didn't even do anything wrong."

Dana gave a contented sigh, "Well, I'm just glad no one got hurt. Thanks for saving my brother's bacon."

"Rebecca wanted his food?" Leni replied, confused.

"No, Leni, I mean…" the door to the males' room opened and Joey and Chaz emerged.

"Well, it took a few minutes but Chaz is good as new! Sorta…"

Chaz still looked messy, but for the most part, he looked presentable, and that was the most important thing.

"So, Dana, did I miss anything important while I was in there?"

"Not really, but we're burning the hour away so we'd better head on over to class."

Before they parted ways to their respective classrooms, Chaz turned to Leni, "Um, thanks for what you did back there, Leni. It was real nice of you."

Leni gave him a cheerful smile and a hug, "Like, it was no big deal! I'm just glad I saved your pork!"

"Huh?" Chaz was briefly baffled but Dana told him to just go with it.

Moss…

Moss was part of a larger outdoor shopping center, just a short bike's ride away from Chaz's house and the high school. Dana decided to come along because she was eager to try and find a sweater that she had been eyeing at the store.

"O-M-G-O-S-H! Chaz, look at this!" Dana ran up to Chaz after spelling out the summary of her reaction, "This sweater is totally my color! The purples and the fuchsias really mesh well together!"

Chaz looked at the item in her hand, as far as he could tell, it was just a plain old sweater with purple and fuchsia horizontal stripes, it was no big deal, but then again he wasn't a girl who was into stuff like that, "That's fascinating, Dana."

"Come on, big bro, can't you show even a little interest, or support for your lil' sis?"

"Dana, we play video games, we watch the same movies, and talk about a lot of funny memes, like when pterosaurs attack and people are more interested in saving their margaritas. But I'm afraid this is unfortunately where the lines are drawn between our interests." Chaz replied matter-of-factly.

"Ah, you're no fun…" she pouted.

Looking over her shoulder, he spotted Dana's gentleman caller approaching, "Looks like your date's here."

Dana turned around and saw Joey walking towards them, "And so he is." She raised her hand to bump with her brother, "I'll be seeing you later at his house, okay Chaz?" he returned the gesture with his fist bump before she strutted towards Joey who welcomed her with a warm hug and led her out of the store.

About thirty minutes or so of time passed as Chaz continued his task, but mostly he was putting fallen pieces of clothing that people just carelessly and haphazardly put back on the racks. He supposed that he should be a little thankful since it means that he has a job, but it was still a thankless task and he eventually gets tired of the tedium of it all after a couple of minutes.

He failed to notice that there was a new visitor that dropped into the store. She was here hoping to find something that was new and possibly fresh, something that would knock her socks off and sweep her peers off their feet.

What she didn't know was that there was a spark that was about to be lit and, had she maybe turned back now; life might have played out like business as usual. But there comes a time in everyone's life when the Fates feel like tossing them an unexpected curveball that few people saw coming. Like for example, when Chaz found her crying near a tree, when he helped her overcome the pain of another's treachery, and when she stood up for him when he was alone.

Leni was browsing for clothes when she accidentally bumped into Chaz, "Whoops, sorry."

"Leni?" Today was just full of surprises for Chaz, his eyes widening at seeing her again so soon.

"Oh, Chaz! Hi, how are you?"

He shrugged, "Well, I've been okay, just workin' my elbow grease."

She gasped, "You should totes clean your arm, you don't want that stuff to grow any blemishes!"

"No Leni, I mean…"

He had little time to respond before Leni squealed like an infant schoolgirl as she started going through the selection, "This selection is amazing! Oh, I can't believe they don't have this at the mall, I would go here every day for the rest of my life!"

"Classic Leni…" Chaz thought, shrugging as he continued his work, "Yo, Leni, if you need any help with anything, just give me a holler."

"OKAY!" She yelled, "IS THIS LOUD ENOUGH FOR A HOLLER, CHAZ!?"

He made a dialing motion with his fingers, "Maybe dial it down a notch."

So far, Leni was perusing every corner of Moss, but she still didn't find "the one" that girls would sell their mothers' gold teeth for. Whatever "the one" is Leni was having quite a difficult time of it because of Moss' enormous selection, something that Chaz's boss would brag about for hours, even if he had no eye for fashion and was only in the job because his mother was in charge of supply for other Moss outlets in the district.

"A sweater… a sweater… Dang it" she groaned in disappointment, "There's got to be a purple and fuchsia one around here somewhere…"

Chaz couldn't help but overhear what Leni was saying, not to mention the peculiar coincidence that Leni mentioned something that his sister Dana was gushing over like a kid getting boatloads of stuff at Christmas.

Unsure whether it was pertinent or not, he decided to at least show her the article that he had just seen a while ago. There was no harm in trying, and if she decided it wasn't what she wanted after all, then it was no big deal…

"Hey Leni, you want to check this out?" he picked up the sweater in question and presented it to her. Leni clasped her cheeks with her hands as the biggest, most excited smile formed on her face.

"Eeeee!" she shouted, "This is totes the one! Oh, it looks beautiful!"

She grabbed the item from Chaz's hands and spun around ballet-style while hugging the sweater that Chaz just gave her. Had she been watching her footing, she would have noticed a loose piece of carpeting and would not have suddenly tripped.

"Ah!"

With only a split second to spare before impact, Chaz impulsively reached out and tried to grab her hand. When that missed, he lunged further and placed both hands behind her before she could hit the ground, forcing Chaz to extend a knee in order to avoid tumbling down with her, both teens closed their eyes to anticipate the crash. Fortunately, no bodies would hit the hard floor.

"Are you okay, Leni?"

"I'm fine…"

Opening their eyes, they both blushed a slight pink when they realized how close their faces were from each other. Chaz could see the color of Leni's irises and Leni could see that Chaz's face was baby face smooth.

A wolf-whistle from one of Chaz's coworkers pulled him out of his stupor. Composing himself before he got any more flushed, Chaz turned his attention back to the task at hand.

"W-Watch your step." Was all he could say as he busied himself with his work.

"S-Sure…" Leni, sweater in hand, walked towards the cashiers to make her purchase.

Joey's House…

Later that night, Joey and Skippy were playing video games in the living room.

"Come on, Chaz! You're taking way too long!" Skippy exclaimed.

"Well, this is the highest difficulty in the game, you can't expect to just run in guns blazing like Sammy Stallion."

The grandfather clock in the living room made a loud ringing sound to signal that the night was putting into the old hours now and that bedtime had come for the younger children.

Chaz paused the game as he turned to the little boy, "Well, it's time for bed, Skippy."

"Can't we stay up a little longer?"

Chaz shook his head, "No can do, little buddy, I promised your family I'd take care of you, now get to brushing your teeth and I'll tuck you in, okay?"

"Fine…" Skippy replied in resignation.

The Loud House…

"Selfie!" Lori stated excitedly as she snapped a picture of herself and Leni, the latter wearing her new sweater.

Lori started scanning the handful of selfies that she and her sister took when Leni showed her the sweater, "Oh, this literally looks like the cutest one!"

"I know, right! This sweater is like, totes fabulous!" she said while shaking her hands giddily.

"I have got to hand it to you Leni, you literally always know what's fab in fashion today."

"Thanks," Leni moved to put her new article in the closet, "but if it weren't for Chaz, I wouldn't have found it."

"Oh?" Lori raised a brow, "did he now?"

"Yeah, I was having a hard time trying to find what I was looking for, and then he, like, just showed up with it in his hands. Isn't he just the most thoughtfullest?"

"Looks like somebody is infatuated." Lori said with a smirk on her face.

"Wait, I'm fat? Oh, I knew I shouldn't have gone to Burpin' Burgers four times last week."

Lori pinched her nose bridge, "No, Leni, it means that you like somebody."

"I do?" she replied, confused.

Lori sighed, "You are literally starting to like Chaz, aren't you?"

"H-huh, whatever gave you that idea?" Leni replied, a stammer in her voice, "I mean, just because he helped me get over Adam's trick and was really nice and considerate and then I helped him out at lunch to return the favor because I kind of think he's the best guy ever doesn't mean anything. It totes does not!"

As if on cue, Luna suddenly popped her head a little past the two oldest siblings' door, "I dunno, Leni, that definitely sounds like you got the hots for ol' carrot-top."

Luan burst in too, with her own interjection, "Yeah, he shot you like a duck in flight, and now you're falling for him, haha! Get it?"

Everyone present groaned at her incredibly lame pun.

"Anyway, I think it's kind of adorable how in-denial you are Leni, it literally reminds me of when Bobby used to court me before we found each other, looking back on it now, I don't know why I used to think he was so lame…" Lori lied down on bed as she thought of her precious Bobby, and sighed, "Oh, I miss my Boo Boo Bear so much…"

Just then, her cellphone started vibrating, speak of the Devil, it was Bobby asking to facetime with her, "Oh, it's Bobby! Hang on, Leni, I literally need to take this call, 'kay?" and with a skip, she went off to the bathroom to speak with her boyfriend.

Though she doesn't usually talk about it, Leni liked how close Lori and Bobby were. They were completely made for each other in a way that not a lot of people understood, and while she was happy for her sister, part of her wanted to find her own soulmate someday, her very own "Boo Boo Bear" if you will, to share her romantic moments with.

She thought she found it in Adam, but that turned out to be a dead end, a terrible dead end. She was almost considering giving up on love after that, were it not for Chaz and his unusually thought-provoking words.

Alone with her scattered thoughts, Leni still thought about how cool Chaz was when he comforted her yesterday, and a gentle, loving smile and blush gathered on her face as she thought about how, up-close, he actually looked kind of… cute?

She didn't want to admit it to anyone, even her siblings, but it was less because she was in denial and more because she wanted to be sure that he liked her back. Deep inside her heart of hearts, she hoped that he did…

Joey's House…

Chaz sneezed loudly as he tucked little Skippy in bed, "Ugh, not again!"

"Gesundheit." Skippy replied with a ratty smile.

A/N: I can't help but shake the feeling that I may used some words too many times in this story. Did I?

Also, I'm shocked (but not entirely surprised or upset) at how divisive this pairing is... oh well, at least it's fun to find that there are still shallow people out there to make fun of.