Hello lovely readers. This idea came to me when I was a reading to be forever young's Kickin' It story, All I Need, which you should totally check out, by the way. This is going to be either a three or five-shot, but I'm leaning toward five.

It's taken him a week or so of seeing her to know he's in love. Something about that seems wrong as runs that fact over and over again in his head. He can't help it- she's so mesmerizing that he fell in love, even from a distance. Fussy feelings pang in the back of his head, insisting no one is so perfect- flawless- like she appears to be.

"Does she always sit alone?"

Leo looks to his step-brother's target of sight. "Bree?" he supplies with a shake of his head. "Not always, Janelle sits with her sometimes."

Chase leans forward, his tray abandoned and untouched, the food chilling in the humid cafeteria. "Interesting..."

The smaller boy ignores the other's intense look to the brunette beauty across the room, bent over in an eerie focus. Instead, Leo greets his girl-friend-with-benefits with an eager, "Hey!"

Janelle gives a short wave of her hand and motions to Chase. "What's up with you?" she smirks. "You look as out of it as Adam." Chase shoots her a look before groaning.

"I can't help it," her mutters, "she keeps doing this to me."

His friend follows his pointing finger and smiles when she sees he means Bree. "I think she'd like you. Just go over there, Frankengenius."

"What if she doesn't like me?" Chase sucks in and releases the air noisily.

Janelle rolls her eyes, noting his nervous vibe. "You have nothing to worry about," she concludes, jerking him out his seat roughly and spiking up his hair. Chase glares, but she smiles mockingly. "Go on, Hun, she's harmless."

Chase shakes her prodding hands out of his hair and nervously glances back at them before mentally slapping himself, putting one foot in front of the other. Janelle sees his trouble and pushes him roughly, the boy stumbling nearly into the brunette beauty's table. Chase catches his breath and shoots daggers at his table mates, only to have them motion at him.

He turns and can't breathe.

It's because of her-she's staring at him. Up close, Chase sees they're an amazing brown and shine brightly. Like stars, he muses to himself. Her slender hand clutches his own, helping him sit the chair next to her.

He can't believe he even made this far.

"Uh, hey," Chase greets, hoping for a good response. No one has ever let him get it out before and as she waves back, his heart swells with such a pleasant feeling, he fears he might explode. "You're Bree, right?"

She nods again and flashes her right palm: Yes.

Chase pauses, unsure of what to say next. Unsure if she can even say anything back. "Can you talk?" he asks softly, making a gesture to lower his voice.

Bree bits her lip and glances everywhere except at him, unwilling to meet his eyes. Then she stops and flashes her right palm again: Yes.

Chase's about to say something else (not that he knows what it is) but is glad that she stops him by grabbing a small pad out of her pocket with a pen. Bree tips down hiding her message then revealing the neatly scrawled in the lines.

Your name is Chase, right?

Chase looks up at her from the notebook to see her biting her lip nervously, blinking innocently with a faint blush tinting her cheeks a shade darker. He smiles and grabs her right hand, leaning close. He slips it up so she can see the fading word: Yes.

Bree smiles in relief that he hasn't walked away yet. That he isn't yelling hurtful phrases or prying in too deep. Chase is still leaning close, his breath coming out in warm calming puffs on her cheek.

"I think," he whispers so only she can hear, "This is going to be a beautiful friendship."

Bree beams at him as he pulls away, Chase doing the same. She grabs her pad and scribbles again.

Of course it's going to be a beautiful friendship, I'm in it.

Chase laughs and shakes his head, staring at her such a way that makes her heart thump and face flush.

From a distance, Janelle smacks Leo shoulder hard. "Why couldn't you have been like that?" she scowls, glaring at him over the top of his magazine.

Leo shrugged. "I will not be turned into a sap."

…

Her heart is pumping. Pleasure spikes up and down her spine. Bree flips and gazes out her window happily. It's all because of him-her makes her feel so incredibly elated and she knows it's all because of him.

Chase.

She closes her eyes and wills her body to sink into her bed's soft sheets, imagining him down to the very last detail. His intelligent brown eyes send tingles down her arms and Bree doesn't want this feeling to end.

Unfortunately, it will, Bree knows it will. The same amazing heart pounding rushes faded into her fantasy again with the last boy she let in. Chase isn't Ethan; she lectures herself firmly, hoping the words are true. He's hung around this long and hasn't done anything. Yet.

Bree blinks once…twice…three times before keeping them shut and twisting again. She murmurs into her pillow, checking to see if it's still there. Still there under her heavy vow of silence.

Relief floods her core. It's okay now, it's still resting under the silence. A weak trickle of fear and shame contrast with the relief, churning badly in her stomach. Bree peek a cautious eye open, reassuring she's alone. She's the only one to her voice.

…

Chase is supposed to know everything. He's been raised on that his entire life.

And he does know everything. Everything but her: Bree. Something about her draws him closer, making his body react in the slightest tingles so foreign it scares him with that odd mixture of excitement that makes him crave this feeling more than he should.

Rain soothes his thoughts. Chase follows that naturally calm beat with a pencil, tapping away on his desk. Bree was different, flawless, he decides surely. Her silence pulls him in, reeling the two together.

That has to be it, Chase realizes suddenly. Bree is silent, innocent even, something no one considers carefully. The rain grows fainter and fainter as he continues thinking. There has to be a reason why. When Bree and Chase hung out the first week, he chalked it up to voice loss or a mild sickness of some sort-nothing to worry about. He grew comfortable with her communication techniques watching her closely while they studied together or hung out at their place-the small jazz café downtown by the library.

The second week was when his curiosity almost slipped from his control, Chase nearly bombarding her with questions he eagerly wanted answers to. It's this week, the third week-the lucky number, he notes- that Chase is going to talk to her about it, whether or not she talks back.

Slipping on a jacket, Chase scribbles a quick note out on a Post It, promising he'll have his phone and he's not going far. Chase stands tall, running a nervous hand through his hair before bounding out of his bedroom. He's almost positive that this isn't going to go well. For who- he doesn't know.

Leo watches him from his spot on couch, focusing away from his cartoon for a minute or so, shaking his head as Chase walks out the door.

His relationship better be better than me and Janelle's.

…

This is where we had our first study date.

Chase feels his face flush, admiring Bree confidence in classifying it as a date. It was, the two being alone, studying for a huge math test with matching steaming coffees and listening to the jazz band that played there every day.

He chuckles, taking her hand in his own. "Yeah, it was."

Bree blushes, smiling as the waitress set down their orders. A comfortable silence settles between the two, and Bree can't help but play her game. It's a silly game, she admits, counting a certain color car that goes by, but this week, the color is purple. She gets to four before the jazz bands start the next set.

Chase smiles as he catches Bree tapping along, wondering if she'd be humming too. As the jazz band continues, ringing through the quiet building soothingly, Chase looks her straight in the eye. "You know can tell me anything right?"

She stops, her fingers frozen in mid-tap. Bree swiftly nods, clicking her pen and writing quickly.

I'll tell, just not today. Give me time, I promise I'll tell you when I'm ready.

Bree bites her lips, unsure what to label his question as. He isn't prying, or asking too much. She gives up finally, slinking further down into the soft, cushy seats. Flashing her eyes over, Chase meets her gaze and has the pad in front of him. He'd gotten her a new one earlier this week, after her mentioning her old one was almost officially done for.

"I don't want to push you," Chase seems to whisper, catching her attention. "I just want you to feel safe around me; it will stay between us."

The brunette hesitantly writes underneath her last message.

Thank you. I do trust you. Do you trust me?

Chase stands, and fear clutches Bree tightly, preparing for him to yell at her, scream and cuss before walking away in disgust- just like the last guy. Instead, he softly takes her hand and pulls her from the booth, leading her near the stage. Slowly, they wrap around each other, swaying to the beat. Bree places her head on Chase's shoulder, swearing to herself she saw the band member wink at the two. Blushing, she buries her face into Chase's shoulder, hiding her face.

"I need to tell you something," Chase whispers quietly, his breathe tickling her ear. Bree pulls away slightly, their foreheads touching. She blinks up at him, encouraging him forward. "I love you- so, so, much."

He holds his breath. She widens her eyes and fumbles with her hands feeling his hopeful gaze. Bree finally looks up, praying she remembers it right. Silently, she pulls one of her hands away, raising her thumb, index finger, and pinky so her middle fingers lay against palm.

Chase smiles broadly as she holds her gesture out in front of him, grinning up at him shyly.

I love you.

…

It is a few weeks after the confessions that Bree finds herself sitting alone in the kitchen with her dad out on business, when the whole house shakes. She jumps, heart rate speeding up and glancing fearfully at the door, the doorframe still vibrating and she fears the door will rock straight off the hinges from the impeccable force- an excited Janelle.

The curly headed girl races towards her, smiling crazily. She stops abruptly, shaking a newspaper in front of her. She gasps, panting in excitement, "Oh my God! You'll never believe this!"

Bree leans back, eyeing her friend warily as she slowly takes the slightly crinkly paper, scanning the open page. The headline is what truly catches her by surprise, her breathe stopping in her throat before she sobs in relief. The newspaper slips from her shaking hands, Janelle hugging her while jumping up and down, leading them both to the couch.

TEENAGER ARRESTED AT MISSION CREEK HIGH SCHOOL

The brunette leans back against the couch, letting out cracking sobs and choppy laughter. It feels good to laugh, Bree realizes with a grin. And it feels even better to know she can do as much laughing as she wants freely now-no more hiding in fear.

He's gone, he's gone, he's gone, he's gone, and he's gone.

The mantra continues to play in her head as Bree and Janelle skim the abandon article, tears streaming down their face but laughter shining brightly in the room.

I wanted this to be longer, but I didn't want to give too much and not give you guys enough, so this is what I came up with. I think it's pretty good for what I thought it was going to be. Hopefully the next one will be longer and come sooner.

Reviews are very much appreciated. :P