A Single Glance • •

[chase logan mcmahon]

Chase considered himself lucky to have Penny in his life. He was clueless, a workaholic, and there were many date nights where he zoned out due to sheer exhaustion or because he remembered something from work that was now holding his attention. He never claimed to be perfect, not even close to it, but there were plenty of guys out there who could make better boyfriends than himself. Chase was completely apologetic when he showed up late for dinner or forgot they had plans because he had been swamped at work. Every time he expected Penny to say she had had enough of him and his forgetful nature when it came to their relationship. And yet, she was still with him. He didn’t know why or how he had found a woman so understanding and who didn’t mind if he made up date night or showed up crazy late with only enough energy to take a quick shower, eat something and then pass out. What he did know was that he didn’t want to lose Penny.

She’d been there through a lot, and Chase honestly didn’t know how he would have managed without her sometimes. She at least made sure he had a good, healthy meal once in a while, even if she only dropped it off on her way home from work. Chase had a habit of falling down a rabbit hole lined with energy drinks and popcorn, and then had the cheek to go and talk to his patients about healthier approaches to their lifestyle. Thankfully, his patients didn’t see how he got through the day; only Penny and his close friends at the hospital knew he was scoffing popcorn as he looked over patient files. One day he might change that, but right now work was important to him. He was still proving himself, trying to secure his position at the hospital. He had a lot to learn, and no one ever said being a doctor was easy, but Chase wanted to know everything there was to know about his speciality and find more ways to help the people who to him. Unfortunately, many of them were seriously sick and there were some he could only make comfortable. Those nights were the hardest to come home from. He was guilt ridden, tired, and knew that they would never get any easier. Penny was there for him, even when he didn’t talk about it or even mention them. She did more than enough to make him feel a little less like a sterile bad news machine.

Chase had realised that he didn’t want to spend his life without Penny by his side. He didn’t want to be alone, or to look for anyone else when everything he wanted came in the cheerful brunette. He had taken some time picking out the perfect ring, wanting to spoil her with something he thought was worthy of her, but knowing that big, flashy jewellery wasn’t her thing; he had bought her enough little pieces to know she wasn’t into expensive rocks that size of her fist. Finally, his eyes fell on one with an opal centre, framed by two small diamonds on either side, with three delicate, tiny crystals on both sides of the band. It was different from so many others he had seen, but perfect for Penny. It was brand new but had a classic vintage quality to it that Chase found to be exceptionally charming.

He planned to propose over dinner. After working a full weekend, he was being forced to take two days off which meant it was the perfect time for it. He got all the fixings for her favourite meal and spent the afternoon in the kitchen, making three courses and figuring out what way he wanted to propose. He didn’t want to chuck the ring into a drink, or hide it in the cake he was baking for dessert. He figured the tried and true method of dropping to one knee and pulling the ring from his pocket was going to be the right way for them. He set Spotify to play a playlist Penny had made for date nights after Chase’s own mixes often had the Dr Who theme in them, or something equally as geeky and laughable. He knew she enjoyed some of them, but she had been right in saying they were too distracting on a romantic night in. He set the table, lit some candles and only had to wait for her to come home so he could surprise her with what could be the most thought out date night he had planned in his entire life.

• • •

TAGGED! Penny Michaela Kendall
WORDS! 777!
LYRICS! Love Exists - - - Amy Lee
NOTES!

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny's day had started out so well. She'd gotten up early that morning, with enough time to get in some mindful yoga before tackling Frankie's cage. He wasn't a daytime kind of creature but it was always easiest to clean his cage during his off-hours. He was less likely to jump around and want to play with her, which always distracted her from the task at hand and made her forget entirely why she'd really opened the cage. Thankfully, he'd only wanted to cuddle into her neck and she could clean his cage while he did that. Putting him back in when she was finished proved to be a task and a half because he was just so cuddly and cute and Penny wished she could take him out with her but she always feared he would get excited and run off then she'd lose him forever. She loved the little chinchilla but she didn't trust him to stay with her when he was out of his cage, sleepy or not. After that, she put the music on and worked through cleaning the apartment because she'd neglected those chores over the last few days.

She was just about to sit down and make up a list of what she needed from the grocery store when her phone rang and she was told someone hadn't shown up for their shift. In fact, they were an hour late. In record time, she was dressed and walking through the front doors of the restaurant to see what sort of chaos had befallen them. It was still really early, the first couple of hours in the day were always slow so she knew they could get through a couple of hours short part of the wait staff with little fear of being overwhelmed. However, they still needed to get someone in before the rush started and since she was there on her day off, she might as well go through the inventory notes from the night before while she ran through everyone she knew was off that day and seeing which of them would be willing to come in for an extra shift. It was up to her to decide what kind of perks she offered for coming in on an off day. Usually, she offered time and a half as an incentive because a little extra cash always sounded good; especially for college kids. It took her longer than she thought it would but eventually, she found someone willing to come in. She was just putting in a new order when her phone buzzed. She ignored it for a second, thinking if it was someone work-related, they would leave a message or because she was okay with texts, they would just shoot her one.

Once she'd sent off the order, she checked her phone to see it was Farrah who'd been calling her. She'd left a message and quickly, nervously, she checked it. Farrah liked to ramble, take her time to get to her point but this time, she got right to it. Her mother had her number now. So it was time to change it again before the crazy bat tried to call her. She would not give in to the emotions that were swirling around inside her heart. The woman tried to get Penny to feel bad but she'd developed self-esteem since she'd been a kid and knew she was better than what her mother wanted her to believe. She had great friends, a wonderful boyfriend and enough confidence in herself to know her mother held no power over her. Once Henderson showed up, Penny packed up again and went straight to the phone store to get her number changed. It would be a pain in the ass to tell everyone about the change but that's what mass texts were for.

It took some time but at the end of it, she walked out of the store with a new number and a headache from having to explain, without explaining, why she needed the change. At least these number changes had become less frequent, which meant she was actually remembering her number before she had to change them again. This last one had lasted two years! Rubbing at her temples, she unlocked the door to the apartment and dropped her things just off to the side of the door so it was out of the way but not properly put away. She could do it later after she'd taken something for her head. She hadn't been paying much attention so it took her a second to realise the date night playlist she'd created after a handful of romantic dates were hilariously interrupted by geeky theme songs. She loved them but they did not belong on every date night. "Chase?" She called out, finally noticing the lit candles. "Did I forget a date night?" She asked, worried that for once, she'd been the one to forget about a date night.

♦ ♦ ♦

TAG; chase logan mcmahon
WORDS; 828
LYRICS; Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) --Robert Palmer
NOTES; <3

[chase logan mcmahon]

Chase had once been described as painstakingly organised. He had failed to understand how that could be a bad thing. He was in medical school when a study buddy had said that to him, and it had made zero sense to the messy haired doctor-to-be. Chase had been raised in a home where days were heavily scheduled because that was simply how politics worked, and he had opted to go into a career where he could hardly rock up whenever the mood took him. He needed to know everything that was going on with his patients at every minute, required a calendar on his phone to let him know what his days looked like in terms of meetings, any scheduled appointments with other specialists, surgery if it was going to require his attendance…the list went on. Chase was forgetful at times, occasionally so focused on his job that he forgot about the rest of the world, but he was fiercely dedicated to those who needed to believe in him.

He wanted to show Penny that he was just as dedicated to her, too; even if he bungled it up sometimes and made an ass of himself when he ought to be trying to prove himself the best boyfriend ever. She probably had more than a dozen waffly voicemails from him, at least two dozen text messages saying the same thing, all fitted in when he was walking to and from his office with two minutes when he wasn’t thinking about blood work, or how he’d have to stay late to chase down some test results he would have liked back three hours earlier. Penny stuck with him, but Chase honestly had no idea why. He genuinely expected one of the knocks on his door one day to be Reilly, ready and willing to deliver a right hook or something worse on Penny’s behalf. No matter how many times Chase swung by the restaurant to meet his wonderful girlfriend, the Russian hostess left him feeling cold. He didn’t know whether to pity or praise the man who eventually ended up with her.

Chase heard the door and quickly lowered the heat on the stove so he wouldn’t burn anything while he gave Penny some attention. “No.” He chuckled, aware he had done that far too many times. “The world may be heating up, but hell hasn’t frozen over just yet.” He wiped his hands on the dish cloth and came out to greet her properly, pressing a soft kiss to her lips, trying to quell the butterflies in his stomach. “I worked a full weekend so I was encouraged to take a few days off. Figured I’d come surprise you with dinner.” His eyebrows furrowed, taking in the appearance of his girlfriend. There were many, many times when Chase was clueless, but this was not one of them. This was one of the rare moments when he sensed something was amiss. “But you look like you might just want to curl up instead. Or maybe sink into the bath for a while.”

• • •

TAGGED! Penny Michaela Kendall
WORDS! 519!
LYRICS! Love Exists - - - Amy Lee
NOTES!

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny knew that sooner or later, she would need to tell Chase about her mother. She'd touched on it a little bit but mostly kept to the good stories of her childhood and teenage years. For her, those were the important years. She didn't like to think of the time before they'd moved away. They were terrible and traumatic and it took Penny a long time to figure out that she wasn't actually the problem. When she finally did that, she decided it was best to leave what had happened in the past and focus on the present and the future. Those were the times that truly mattered. She didn't take the little things for granted because they weren't always going to be there. She had grown to be a completely different person than she'd been as a child. She was so much more confident in herself and her abilities to do anything. She had developed faith in herself. She might not believe in a lot in the world, it was hard to do with the way the world was but she did believe that she could do anything she set her mind to. And it wasn't her mother who had helped her see that, it was her father, her brother, her friends but mostly, she'd gotten there herself. She knew her self-worth and knew it had never and would never reflect what her mother had suggested so long ago.

However, that didn't mean that the woman couldn't get under her skin from time to time. It was usually years apart, like this time, but it happened. These days Penny just felt bad for the older woman, knowing that she couldn't have been very happy with her own life and that was why she'd taken it all out on Penny. That, or Penny had been exactly like her mother as a child and it brought back all the worst memories for the woman. Either way, Penny knew what she would do differently if she were ever to be blessed with children of her own. She would never say the things her mother said to her. No matter what happened to her growing up, there was never a cause to treat her own child so poorly.

Penny smiled, grateful for Chase in more ways than one. She wrapped her arms around his waist and just held on for a minute. "You, Doctor Who and whatever you're cooking are perfect." She promised him. "And maybe the world's quickest shower to wash off the smell of grease from the restaurant," she added, teasing. "Give me five minutes and I'll tell you all about it." She added, pressing her lips to his for another quick kiss. She would not continue this relationship with secrets, even if they might make her cry. She was in this for the good, the bad, and the ugly; and that included ugly tears. At least she wasn't angry anymore, it was just something that had happened. With reluctance, she stepped away and headed to the bathroom for that quick shower. She took a little longer than she'd said she would, simply because the hot water helped. She quickly dried off, put on some comfortable clothes and went back out to watch Chase finish cooking if he wasn't already waiting on her.

♦ ♦ ♦

TAG; chase logan mcmahon
WORDS; 552
LYRICS; Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) --Robert Palmer
NOTES; <3