A Tangled Web • •

[chase logan mcmahon]

Chase still didn’t know what the right answer was. There didn’t seem to be some magical answer that would make everything better. He had spent too many nights tossing and turning, wondering what was the best option. When he couldn’t sleep he got up and read, watched episodes of Doctor Who that he could quote in his sleep, or went for a run through the park. It had stopped becoming a one off thing and was slowly turning into a bad habit. Chase didn’t want to talk about it with anyone else. He didn’t want to admit to not having the answers for the first time in his life. His parents, those who had adopted him, were amazing people. Chase owed so much to them and nothing could ever change that. However, like every other adopted child out there he had questions, curiosities about his biological parents. Now they had come forward, offered to be there for him if he wanted them, he found himself hesitating. Was it a betrayal to turn to them now to forge some kind of relationship after all this time?

It was impossible for him to talk about and taking baby steps seemed to be taking far too long. He had hoped a week or two would help him come to some kind of conclusion but instead the lines just grew blurrier. Chase didn’t know or understand half of what was going through his head, but he wished he could make it all go away. Part of him was thankful for the chance to finally meet his biological parents, to discover where he came from. Yet there was another part of him angry that they had walked into his life, screwing up what was normal for him and breaking his routine. Chase was happy with just getting on with everything. He had been fine with being adopted, he had grown used to the idea of maybe never knowing and now he was spoilt with what might have, could have been. It was even starting to seep out into his life, tarnishing everything that should have been special. The only thing Chase gained freedom with was his job. His job gave him the chance to switch his mind off from his personal worries and focus on those who needed him most of all. That was why Chase was spending more and more time at the hospital now, putting in the extra hours just so that he could stop himself from going crazy with his dilemma.

However, there were only so many hours he could put in there before his boss scowled and sent him away. The wastebin in his office was full of blood bag energy drinks and empty bags of popcorn and none of it could fuel Chase forever. He found himself in Central Park, early in the day. The snow was fresh on the ground and the air was cool against his face. Chase walked through to the Conservatory Gardens and took a seat on one of the icy cold benches there. He didn’t care about the dampness seeping through his jeans, but it seemed like a place where he just might be able to close his mind off from everything; work, his parent problems, just about everything. Maybe he should have called Penny, arranged to spend some time with her, but like everything else lately, Chase had been shutting her out too. Not intentionally, of course, but Chase was oblivious to women most of the time, and this had been one of those times. So he sat, alone, letting nothing but the sounds of the park flood his mind. So close to Christmas, it was exactly the quick escape he needed.

• • •

TAGGED! Penny Michaela Kendall
WORDS! 618!
OUTFIT! Dear Doctor!
LYRICS! Disconnected - - Five Seconds of Summer
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny was self-conscious still, despite everything having changed from when she was younger. She ran constantly though it was usually at the gym. However, since Lexi had gotten her new puppy, Penny had offered to take him for a walk a couple times a week. She loved dogs but wasn’t sure if she had the time to properly take care of one. She wasn’t nearly as busy as Chase or Lexi but she did have quite a bit to do in a day; most days anyway. Offering to take Winston for walks through the park meant she could test it out, see if she really did want a dog or if it was just the idea of one. She couldn’t cuddle Frankie like she could a puppy and she wasn’t partial to cats. But so far she was still undecided and Lexi kept letting her take Winston out so Penny wasn’t about to complain. Plus the little pug seemed to adore runs through the park and Penny wasn’t opposed to switching up her jogging locations.

She had taken Winston today a little earlier than she would have because she had hired a new hostess and she wanted to be there to get her paperwork situated so it didn’t run too much into her shift. And so Reilly didn’t make the poor girl piss her pants in fear of the blonde. Just because Penny found Reilly harmless didn’t mean everyone else thought the same. In fact, Penny had gotten a few complaints about her surly attitude towards them but she also knew what she was being surly about usually, because the blonde would come back to Penny’s office and rant about this patron or that one. And Penny would dig the secret bottle of vodka out from its hiding place with a couple shot glasses and poured two, one just a little bit more than the other. That was how it always went and Penny would stay on Reilly’s side until the end. But that didn’t mean she was going to leave the newbie all alone with the blonde either.

Penny was going on her final lap through the park, letting her mind wander about everything. Chase had been acting strange since Lafayette. She didn’t know what was up with him and unsurprisingly, Reilly hadn’t been any help. Penny had needed her to talk some sense and some advice but Reilly wasn’t exactly the person anyone should run to when they had boy troubles. Until Chase, Penny hadn’t actually had any real boy problems. She had boyfriends and when they got annoying or when they pissed her off, she said goodbye and was done with them. Chase had seemed so different from every other guy around New York and she had adored that about him. But now she wasn’t so sure. So she was making a plan. It was early enough that she could drop Winston back at home and head over to Chase’s office to confront him. It had been a long time since she’d felt unworthy and Penny had hated that feeling then; nothing had changed now. She thought herself a pretty damn good catch. She was funny, she was smart, she had heard from a number of sources that she was attractive; so what the hell was his problem?!

Her plan was to go and find out and then she saw him sitting on a park bench not fifty feet in front of her and her plan took a bit of a detour. But she had hyped herself up too much not just run by without stopping and she’d carefully thought out her speech. She squared her shoulders and continued forward at a slower pace than before, giving the little pug puppy a bit of a break. “Hey stranger. Long-time no see. Want to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me since we got back?” She asked, not bothering in the slightest to play nice or sweet. She wanted some answers and damn it, she was going to get some! But now that the words were out of her mouth and there was no taking them back, she could think of a hundred different ways to have gone about that. It was a shame she was stubborn and didn’t really think before she acted.

Tag || chase logan mcmahon
Words || 716
Clothes || On The Way!
Music || Risk It All --The Vamps
Notes || <3

[chase logan mcmahon]

Chase liked knowing his answers. He liked being confident in his choices and having rational reasons to back them up. He wasn’t the type of guy to just wing it, or to follow his heart and let fate decide. He had taken control of his life from the days when he had taken his first steps and spoken his first words. His adoptive parents had allowed him that much, had encouraged it even. They had wanted their children to make their own decisions, their own mistakes, and to learn as much about life as they could before they were truly to be on their own in the world. Obviously they didn’t let them run wild for the sake of his father’s position, but when it came to school choices or personal decisions the children usually got the final say, and they could ask for advice if they so desired. Chase could probably count on one hand the amount of times he had knocked on the door to the home office to seek out that advice. He was always so organised, so prepared for just about anything life could throw at him. However, it waited twenty-six years to hit him with a bitch of a curveball.

Something told him that the answer should be simple. He had spent his whole life debating this that he should already have a firm answer on the matter. It was the first time Chase had found himself confronted with something that wasn’t so easy. On one hand he wanted to know the people who had brought him into this world, but on the other what did he owe them? They had passed him over the moment he was born for a better life and he had lived that life happily up until now. Sure, he had been curious about his biology and genetics, but not enough to do anything about it sooner. Maybe that was the answer in itself. Or maybe he had just buried it beneath his work like he had done with so many other things in his life, ignoring it for later when his career wasn’t his top priority.

If he was a drinker he might have found his answer at the bottom of a bottle, but he only ever shared a drink or two with Denver or his dad. He wasn’t typically the kind to go on a binge when life became tough. Chase’s preferred vice was his work. He made people better and pushed himself harder to forget about the other worries in his life. At least he could be doing something good that way. Penny’s arrival shocked him out of his thoughts and he blinked up at her and then down at the panting pup. He had heard plenty about Winston from just about everyone as of late. “I’m not avoiding you. I’ve just been busy. This time of year they need all hands on deck at work.” It wasn’t a lie. With all the viruses, staff vacations, and winter accidents the hospital were grateful for another doctor to help out when his own patients were resting up. He didn’t want to burden Penny with problems he couldn’t answer, so giving her his hiding place just seemed logically like the next best thing, though Chase didn’t enjoy it one bit.

• • •

TAGGED! Penny Michaela Kendall
WORDS! 553!
OUTFIT! Dear Doctor!
LYRICS! Disconnected - - Five Seconds of Summer
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny didn’t date much. It just wasn’t exactly done. She spent most of her childhood thinking she was worthless and ugly and wouldn’t get anywhere in life and the thoughts, however ridiculous they were still stuck around in the back of her mind. That was why in high school, she didn’t date, not really. She had two boyfriends through her high school years and both of those relationships ended amicably. Things had just sort of fizzled out and it wasn’t anyone’s fault. But Penny had been waiting for the other shoe to drop most of that time. It didn’t matter that her friends told her she was pretty, told her she was funny and the ones that knew about her life before the news told her that her mother was stupid and insane and wrong; years of hearing you were worthless tended to stick around long after the truth was realised.

New York men hadn’t fared any better and until Chase entered Penny’s life, she’d been thinking a life of solitude sounded pretty damn good. But Chase was sweet and charming and unintentionally flirty. And best of all Penny didn’t feel those childhood nightmares surfacing when he was around. It was the best she could hope for. And now she felt like a fool. Feeling stupid was what led to Penny teaching herself all those languages. She never wanted to feel that way and thought if she could learn all she could, she would never feel stupid again. She would never be the smartest person in a room but she wouldn’t be the stupidest either and that had been enough for her. Chase was keeping something from her and she didn’t know what it was and that made her feel pretty damn stupid. She was there for him to talk to when he needed to; she’d told him that a dozen or more times. And yet it was like he couldn’t see she was there for them.

This relationship might have been pretty new and it was obvious they were still trying to sort things out but Penny was there for Chase. But she was starting to feel like if he wasn’t going to confide in her, let her help him, maybe he wasn’t as interested as she’d thought previously. But then her mind wandered back to that first kiss and she had a hard time believing that he didn’t care. Frustrated didn’t even begin to cover how Penny felt, it was ridiculous. She just wanted to talk to him instead of trying to talk to her friends about it. They were nice but ultimately unhelpful. They all mostly said the same thing, confront him. Which was easier said than done since he’d taken on more and more shifts after they’d returned from Lafayette. “As true as that is, it doesn’t stop you from sending a text message or taking five minutes to call and reassure the people in your life you’re okay, Chase. Physically speaking, of course.” She said, feeling so completely awkward and unable to fix that or anything else. She felt useless again, just like she was a child once more. She hated it.

Tag || chase logan mcmahon
Words || 577
Clothes || Unlucky Lady!
Music || Risk It All --The Vamps
Notes || <3

[chase logan mcmahon]

Chase was an awkward man. He had always been that way. When friends had been finding their feet with charisma and charm, Chase was the one in the background just about managing a lopsided smile. His mother told him, when he dateless to the high school prom, that he didn’t need to worry about any of that; the right girl would love him for who he already was. Chase had never really cared about that. Other men might have wanted someone to fill that empty side of their beds, but Chase was occupied with his career. The workaholic habits he had seen from his father had been picked up by the son, and he was using them to make sure he made a mark at the hospital. It wasn’t that he wanted to climb to the highest rung on the ladder, but he wanted to shoulder responsibility. It was why he liked being the eldest child, the big brother, even the boyfriend. He just wasn’t tuned in enough to realise when he was screwing up.

He wasn’t deliberately keeping Penny out of the loop or hiding things from her. Chase didn’t mean to avoid her either. He was just burying himself in his work to try and clear his head and because of that he had no time to spend with the stunning brunette. All he was doing was working, and then making it home in time to eat and sleep; some nights he didn’t even eat. Then morning came and he ran with Alfie and the cycle started again. When he did have the time away from the hospital it was because he was forced to rather than because he wanted to. When that happened he just wasn’t in the mood for company, knowing he would only make the worst. He needed to figure out what he wanted to do about his birth parents, but the pros and the cons were equally balanced and just as strong as each other. He hated it, but he couldn’t forget about it, not completely.

Chase couldn’t explain it. He could verbalise it, but it wouldn’t help him. Talking about issues in his life had never helped him deal with them. His parents had tried themselves, and with the case of fire Chase had seen a psychologist for a few sessions, but that did absolutely nothing more than waste some money he had saved. He wasn’t a talker by nature. He thought things through, rationalised them and then acted. When he couldn’t he got stuck, or chose to avoid those things. Avoidance had worked best for the fire problems so far. Awkwardly Chase pushed his hands into his pockets. “Sorry. I just forget these things.” It was true. Chase was far too used and too comfortable to being on his own in the city that he forgot that he ought to at least check in with Penny on his busier weeks, even those that were self-inflicted because he didn’t want to face his personal issues.

• • •

TAGGED! Penny Michaela Kendall
WORDS! 504!
OUTFIT! Dear Doctor!
LYRICS! Disconnected - - Five Seconds of Summer
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

By nature Penny talked everything out, even if there was no one there, she talked through her problems. Growing up her father had expected her to go to him if she ever had a problem, even if she hadn’t been sure she needed to talk about it, she could go to him and just rant it all out until she’d gotten to the conclusion that would best solve the problem. Her brother had also let her go to him if she was having any sort of trouble. She’d had such a shit childhood that anything to make her feel like she wasn’t worthless, they would do for her. The best thing they had ever done was move away though. She hadn’t been picked on or treated poorly in Lafayette. She’d been just like any other kid in town, being called out to join in the fun. It had been a whole new experience for Penny and thankfully, she’d thrived.

She’d built up the confidence that the people of New York saw when she walked down the street, even if there were days when she definitely didn’t feel like she was worth anything at all. Those were the worst days but everyone had bad days and hers usually occurred when there was news of her mother or Farrah. The last one had been when Farrah showed up on her doorstep in New York with news of their mother. Penny may not have had anything against her sister, she knew why she stayed behind with their mother but any news of the older woman left Penny empty inside and in no mood to deal with anyone at all. She understood talking it out wasn’t how everyone coped, it was really only a few people who did that but she honestly thought it was very therapeutic.

Penny sighed, unable to stay upset with Chase. She knew he didn’t quite realise he didn’t just have him in the city to worry about anymore. He had Penny. And she was always available when he needed to talk; about anything at all. But he didn’t see that. He was so used to working out his problems on his own, just throwing himself into his work until he was too exhausted to do much else that he didn’t realise he had other options now. It drove Penny completely mental. She’d been making plans to go into hospital for a volunteer shift, never to get to that point because she’d wandered off to his office to basically yell at him for being himself. And she couldn’t do that. Shaking her head, Penny sat down next to Chase and set her head on his shoulder. “You know, I had Reilly up hours before she even leaves her place to talk about this. I thought you might have been leaving me.” She confessed, looking down at Winston who was sat at her feet with his little tail wagging.

Tag || chase logan mcmahon
Words || 524
Clothes || Unlucky Lady!
Music || Risk It All --The Vamps
Notes || <3

[chase logan mcmahon]

Chase knew his life story read like a dream for every child given up at birth. He had a family who loved him, they had enough money to support him through anything that could ever happen, and there had been a small element of fame to his upbringing, too. It never neared Hollywood level, but at certain times in the political cycle there would be photo opportunities with his father, or just snapshots of them on days out, capturing his dad’s rise through politics. He and his sisters had been lucky in where they had ended up, but Chase knew it wasn’t the same for every kid out there. The only thing he had in common with them were the questions; “Why wasn’t I wanted in the first place?” The answers could hurt and Chase was still reeling from everything that had happened in Washington. Physically his injuries had healed, but emotionally and mentally there was still a lot to go through and he didn’t really know to tackle a lot of it. He didn’t even know where to begin talking about it if he did try to force himself through the discomfort of sharing.

Words had never come easily to him. Even when he was going to see his patients Chase found himself practicing in his head what he would say to them. When they asked questions he paused before answering, and thankfully he could pass it off as a thoughtful pause or interject a ‘well’ into there to buy him the time he needed to find his words. He was incredibly smart, and worked his ass off to be a good doctor, but when others could laugh and joke and charm their patients, he could only do the job he was paid for. Any more and he was bound to put his foot in his mouth, or say something to unintentionally offend. Making it this far in life hadn’t come without several instances like that and Chase didn’t really want to keep ringing more up if he could help it.

Chase knew he was a screw up when it came to anything away from blood and the hospital. He could control his work, tell his patients what he would do for them and what they needed to do, but away from that he was still trying to figure out how life was supposed to go. He might have been a grown man, but he was so wrapped up in thoughts that the rest of the world often just seemed like a blurry picture that made no sense to him. He tried to figure it out, but he’d forget things, or do the wrong thing at the wrong time. He might have been a doctor saving lives, but there were better men out there. Blinking, he twisted sideways and doing so shrugged Penny from his shoulder. “What?! That’s madness! Leaving you? Penny, I’m crazy about you.” He shook his head at her and ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. “God, I’ve screwed this up.” He mumbled, tilting his head back to look at the sky.

• • •

TAGGED! Penny Michaela Kendall
WORDS! 522!
OUTFIT! Dear Doctor!
LYRICS! Disconnected - - Five Seconds of Summer
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Only a few short years before, Penny could have had her pick of places to go. Her grades were above excellent, she had acceptance letters from all over the world, not just the country and there had been a future in her sights that wouldn’t have been there if she hadn’t gotten the help she needed to break out of her shell. She wouldn’t have found herself in New York, without the options of the city’s excellent schools, choosing the Ivy League path of Columbia University. Ironically words were not Penny’s strongest trait or skill. She habitually bumbled through things and laughed at herself because of it. It was impressive that she had a love for language that was what it was. She knew so many languages, could speak them all like a native of them and yet, whenever she tried to put the right words in the right order in English, she choked. And more importantly, she never would have met Chase. Maybe, if she'd found herself pulled to New York from wherever she had originally landed but it was unlikely. More opportunities would have risen to the forefront and something other than the big apple would have taken centre stage for her. Who really knew for certain and Penny wasn't fond of the what if game.

Penny didn’t want to see the look in Chase’s eyes so she kept her own down and looking at the little pug in her care. She would have to bring him back home soon so Lexi didn’t start calling her frantic about her little Winston. But for the moment, she didn’t want to leave the park bench either. They needed to have this out. They really did, she just wished they weren’t in such a public place. Of course, if they hadn’t stumbled across each other in the park, the chances this conversation would even be happening was slim. She would have eventually just moved off, buried herself in work and her studies, learn yet another new language. She had her Russian almost flawless with Reilly’s help, maybe this time she’d try her hand at something a little more obscure. She had the most common already in her repertoire; she didn’t know Dutch yet.

“It’s not that bad. We had equal shares in this mess.” Penny said, shouldering some of the blame. She should have went to Chase immediately with how she was feeling but instead she’d let it sit and fester and then went to Reilly with outrageous and completely outlandish ideas and hyped it up so much that she’d scared herself. Chase and the relationship they shared had been the one thing in Penny’s life that she’d felt was actually going well for her. She loved her job but it was ultimately something she could turn her back on if the right opportunity presented itself. Chase though, Chase was incredible and made her feel so unbelievably special. Like she was one of a kind and it had been a very long time since she’d felt that way. As in never before. It meant something to her and she felt like by keeping her emotions to herself, she’d had equal part in the blame of whatever was happening to them. “You should have heard what I’d started with. Reilly talked me down to that.” Penny admitted with a choked laugh.

Tag || chase logan mcmahon
Words || 607
Clothes || Unlucky Lady!
Music || Risk It All --The Vamps
Notes || <3

[chase logan mcmahon]

Chase had never worried too much about his awkward social skills. He was always focused on excelling at school instead. That had been what mattered the most to Chase. Everything else in life could wait for him. He had wanted to become a doctor and he had fast tracked his way down that path, so everything else in his life had been shoved to the side. It was only his parents who told him when something couldn’t wait. They were the people who dragged him from his room when he was studying for too many hours, had forced him into socialising with people and actually developing the few social skills he did have. That was why Chase did fantastically well with people in the social elite classes, and could talk well when it came to discussing small talk, but he was absolutely awful at opening up and being honest about his own feelings and opinions on a personal level. Professionally, he was incredible, but take him away from the hospital and he barely made it through a week without saying the wrong thing or having someone wonder if there was genuinely something the matter with him.

“No. No, you’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve been a mess ever since Washington. My head’s not straight.” He sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and looking at the dirt between his shoes. Chase didn’t want to talk things over; it made him beyond uncomfortable. He was a gentleman though, and he felt as though he had put Penny through enough already. He wasn’t going to let her take the blame for something when he had been the one who was a royal ass in the last couple of weeks. He hadn’t done any of it intentionally, but his actions and the way he had buried himself in his work to forget about what was happening in his life had still spread to Penny, and that made him feel terrible. It was never supposed to have a negative effect on her. Getting beaten up and leaving her at his parent’s house had been bad enough, but this was beyond awful, especially now that he knew she had been worrying so much about their relationship.

He shook his head, clearing it of the thoughts. “No. I don’t think I want to know. I can guess that I’ve made a big mess of things here.” Chase let out another sigh and glanced around. The park was still kind of empty near them, their conversation thankfully private. He felt ashamed enough without adding an audience to the mix. “I never meant to make you worry, Penny. I didn’t want to upset you. I just…I’m a jerk, I guess.” He had done all of this without realising it. He’d caused this huge mess by simply being caught up in his own mind, avoiding his own problems. By doing that he had caused even more and now he just felt terrible about it.

• • •

TAGGED! Penny Michaela Kendall
WORDS! 503!
OUTFIT! Dear Doctor!
LYRICS! Disconnected - - Five Seconds of Summer
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny had spent most of her life, trying to forget the child she’d been. Sure, there were some cute pictures and she did love them but there were others that she wished every time she saw them, she could burn. But they made her who she was, they showed a part of her life when most adults thought she was the cutest little thing because she’d been adorably chunky but made her feel so unbelievably terrible about herself that she could only look at the ones that had her brother in, too. She knew those pictures were taken on really good days, when she was happy and had been able to forget that her mother was constantly harping at her about being fat. It had never mattered that it was all baby fat and growing up showed her slimming down, not to mention the sports and martial arts that she did with her brother. Her mother had never been the nurturing type, had blamed them for the loss of her size two figure when she was still only a size four.

But all that meant was her children all had complexes about things that really shouldn’t concern them. Or in Reilly and Penny’s case, were determined to be better parents in the future than the mother that had brought them into the world. They’d been the lucky ones though, because they’d gone with their father and ended up having normal lives afterwards, developing acceptable social skills, made friends the siblings still talked to regularly and finally realised that they were so much better than the woman who gave them life because they would never treat people the way she’d treated just about everyone. “Stop taking the blame for this entirely. It’s on me as well really because I expect you to talk to me and you’re used to bottling it up, diving head first into your work and figuring it all out on your own.” She said with a shrug. She couldn’t expect them to become a couple and have things change immediately. Chase was used to working through things himself and she was used to talking her problems out until she came to a conclusion.

Penny chuckled, shaking her head. “I’m not about to tell you either.” She told him. The whole situation hadn’t sat right with Penny and talking it all through with both the Reilly’s in her life had only left her with one way to settle it. And it was the way she settled most problems; talking. Of course, that was a little hard to do with Chase who didn’t talk about anything at all. But she could try at least. “Well, you can buy me a coffee now and cook me dinner later to make up for it.” She said grinning as she stood up, holding her free hand out for Chase to take. She probably should have already been on her way to drop Winston off but Lexi knew she had him and would take care of him so she doubted it would be a problem if he wasn’t there when she got home from work.

Tag || chase logan mcmahon
Words || 558
Clothes || Unlucky Lady!
Music || Risk It All --The Vamps
Notes || <3

[chase logan mcmahon]

Chase didn’t know what kind of man he might be if he hadn’t been adopted. He didn’t know if he would have ended up in care anyway, or if he would have just struggled through childhood watching children have the things his parents never could have afforded even if they scrimped and saved. He didn’t know and trying to think about it hurt his head more than he liked to imagine. He had been lucky, adopted at birth by a couple who could give him more than he could ever dream and hope for while still ensuring his head was on straight. He went to school with some rich kids who were spoilt simply because they could be. They drove fast cars and wore fancy clothes for no other reason than they wanted to. Chase had always grown up knowing how different his life could have been and it wasn’t because his parents told him all about it. He just understood that from the moment he was told he had been adopted. That was why he worked hard and took none of what he had for granted. The chance he had was a lucky one and he wasn’t going to spoil it.

Chase had never talked through problems because he didn’t want to be a burden. His sister called it part of the ‘adoption syndrome’. That in itself was a theory she had made up about the three of them over the years. They all had things they would and wouldn’t do, habits they had developed that made them oddly alike despite not being blood related. Jennifer had decided it must be a symptom of being adopted and knowing about it. Like bottling things up, she said, was because they felt ‘whining’ about their problems to their parents might make them wish they had picked another baby to bring home. Chase felt it was wrong, but he had no other real explanation for some of his quirks, which only strengthened Jennifer’s belief in her theory. “And that’s crazy and selfish of me. Yeah, it’s how I deal with things that are bothering me, but I shouldn’t be pushing you away at the same time. I don’t mean to do it, but I don’t realise I’m doing it. You’re going to have to tell me and then I’ll try better.” He vowed, not liking the man he was right now. Penny deserved better.

He arched his eyebrows and couldn’t fight back the smirk that was growing on his face. “That bad? I hate to break it to you both, but I’m not that badass.” He said, deciding not to even think about the things they might have been saying about him when he wasn’t around. All he knew was that he was probably far too boring to actually live up to any of them. Grinning, Chase nodded his head and took her hand. “It’s a deal. Chicken or fish?” He asked, keeping his hand in hers as he moved in the direction of the nearest coffee cart.

• • •

TAGGED! Penny Michaela Kendall
WORDS! 512!
OUTFIT! Dear Doctor!
LYRICS! Disconnected - - Five Seconds of Summer
NOTES! <3 <3 <3