Chase’s day (END)
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When Chase woke up the next day, he felt like a truck had drive over him fifteen times in a row. He just felt like staying in bed and ignore the world around him. Everyone was doing their things, going on about their day, while Chase was stuck in this timeless space where a minute could stretch itself into hours of self-loathing. He didn’t want to stumble upon the others. He felt bad for thinking badly of them. He was the one in the wrong, he should be happy to have friends around him most days. One day without them didn’t have to mean the end, right? But it did. It did because he needed his friends the most on Father’s Day. And they weren’t there, by choice or not. If one of them called out to Chase to spend time with him because he needed someone, he’d drop everything to get to him. But Chase didn’t reach out. So, he really was in the wrong. But once again, they knew how that day was hard for him. He rolled over and expected to fall off the couch but was surprise to discover the couch was magically wider than he expected. He opened his eyes and quickly shut them up again. The sunlight through the window was blinding. Even if he was still hangover, he knew there was no window that close to the couch. He sat up, eyes still closed and patted around him. He was in bed, so someone must have brought him to a room, most likely his. He finally stood up and staggered toward what he thought was a door, but he didn’t even do two steps forward that he fell on the floor, knocking down a few things with him. He had hit his head on something hard and the once painful headache was even worst now. That’s what happen when you try to do something when your life is falling apart. He felt two hands placed themselves on his armpit and straighten him up. He still wasn’t stable on his feet, so he leaned on the person behind him.
“Chase, I’m maybe a superhero, but you’re really heavy if you put all your weight on me. Can’t you help me a little?”
He tried standing up, but his legs were still wobbly. He felt sick. Very sick.
“Batman.”
At this word, Jackie grabbed an empty trashcan in the blink of an eye and placed it in Chase’s hand. Not a second later, Chase’s head was buried in the trashcan, emptying his stomach. They both sat down on the floor, Jackie slowly rubbing Chase’s back. Even if his vision was still blocked off by the plastic of the trashcan, Chase knew that the others had meet up in the room.
“Chase... we’re...we’re sorry for yesterday.”
“Don’t... I don’t care anymore.”
It was silence in the room. He could hardly hear someone shuffling on his feet and someone else messing up his hair. He felt a hand on his shoulder and removed his head from the bin to look at Jamie that sign at him, smiling.
“But we do care.”
“It’s... it’s nothing guys. I’ll get over it. It was one of my bad days and it fell on Father’s day on all days so... don’t bother. It’s one of my depressing moment.”
“Then we’ll treat it as such”, said Henrik a little too loud for Chase’s ears. Chase then felt hands take his ankle and lift him up with the help of Jackie.
“Wait! What are you-”, began to say Chase before another wave of sickness took him. Henrik motioned Jamie with his head to stay near Chase with the bin, in which Chase didn’t wait to use again.
After a small trip throughout the house, with a few stops for Chase to be sick and some others for Marvin to also be sick, they finally arrived into the living room. Chase could remember how messy the place was after his drinking. Bottles were scattered everywhere, all pillows on the floor to let him have all the couch and the already messy floor was intact. But now, the room was cleaned up. Like nothing happened. No bottles, no snacks, no pillows on the floor. Henrik and Jackie gently placed Chase on the couch and wrapped him up in Chase’s bed sheets.
“What are you doing, guys?”
“Taking care of you, silly”, answered Jamie still smiling.
They all left the room, one after the other except for Jamie who sat down on the floor next to the couch. He looked up at Chase, his smile never leaving his face. Chase started crying softly.
“Why did you all leave me alone yesterday? I needed you...”
“Marvin and I forgot about Father’s Day. We are sorry. This day does not mean much to us, since we have no father, but we should have thought of you. It was selfish of us.”
“No, it’s selfish of me to think you should cancel something you’re excited about because of me.”
“I’m sure if you would have called us, we would have left the show in a heartbeat.”
Jamie looked around the room while signing, like it was a secret.
“Marvin’s magic tricks were better than this fraud of a magician.”
Chase’s laugh filled out the quiet room. His cheeks were still stained by his tears, but he knew deep down that he could count on Jamie and Marvin to distract him. Not long after, the other three came back in the room, all bringing something. Henrik had a tray filled with steaming cup followed by Marvin, also bringing a tray but this one filled with dry cereals. They gently put the two trays on the small table in the living room before Marvin plopped down on the floor next to Jamie and Henrik pushed Chase a little bit on the couch to have a spot. Jackie then entered the room and had so many bedsheets on him, the others could only see his blue shoes. Faking anger, he threw the sheets on the other four, making them disappear under the amount of fabric there was. They had wrapped Chase so tightly first, he couldn’t even move. After almost spilling his tea on himself, Jackie unwrapped a little bit Chase, without letting him have access to his feet.
A few movies later, and a few cups of hot drinks, they were all chatting happily together. Chase often tried to tell them they didn’t have to spend time with him but none of them wanted to hear him. They felt bad for leaving him alone at home and making him feel like drinking alcohol was the only solution. Chase didn’t want to dwell on yesterday, but he needed to know something.
“Jackie...where were you yesterday? When I didn’t find you, I thought immediately that you were fighting crimes in the city.”
“Oh..Uh... In fact, I was stuck in the basement.”
All eyes turned to him, a mixture of confusion and amusement in their eyes.
“A shelf fell off next to the door and broke the handle”, some laugh could be heard amongst them, “Stop laughing! I thought I was gonna die! Anyway, I decided to try breaking the window but since it’s at floor level, and it was raining, I didn’t want to flood the basement.”
“A light rain wouldn’t have flood the basement.”
“Shut up! I was panicking, OK? Anyway, after hours of going in circles, and after night fall, I THEN tried pushing the door to see if I could open it and...it did. I just had to push it.”
They all laughed together at how silly Jackie was sometimes. This guy was supposed to save people and he couldn’t even leave a room. Chase’s sides were aching. Maybe his day had been bad and depressing, but at least he hadn’t been stuck in the basement.
“Guys, calm down! Well, after I left the room, I went around the house and found you on the couch, clutching a bottle in your hand. You kept mumbling the same thing over and over, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. I’m the one who brought you to your room and cleaned up.”
“Oh, I’m sorry Ja-“
“Don’t you dare apologize. I had to at least do this for you. I couldn’t even spend time with you yesterday. None of us could. Sometimes, small actions have a big impact on people. I knew you’d wake up feeling like garbage today, but I wanted you to only feel like it, not be surrounded by it.”
“And I could have found a moment between two surgery to call you, see how you were doing. I was so caught up on making sure people around me felt better that I never thought of making sure you were alright. You’re my friend, my dearest friend, and I should have make some time to let you know how good of a friend and father you are.”
“Guys... Stop...”, whispered Chase with new tears falling from his eyes. Jamie shush him up with the wave of his hand
“We will not stop until you understand how good of a person you are, Chase. You are always there for us, even when you do not feel like it. You get joy by trying to help us and we should do the same to you. You are always trying your best, even if you are far from being the best at some things, like cooking. You are my inspiration Chase. I want to be as good as a person as you.”
“It’s my turn I guess... Chase, you’re like a father to me. I hardly ever tell you that. But you’re the most hardworking, kind and determined person I know. You’re always trusting us and encouraging us to try new things, even if it means we blow up the kitchen. No one should feel like they aren’t needed or like they can’t ask for help when in a crisis like yours. I want you to get through your thick skull that never in a million year would we feel annoyed by you asking for help.”
More tears rolled down Chase’s cheeks. He couldn’t understand how lucky he was to have such a good bunch of silly friends to have around. No one was perfect. But everyone of them tried to be the best. For once in a really long time, Chase felt like he deserved some happiness in his life. Not everything had to be grey and depressing, some moments could be lighthearted and colorful. Father’s Day was a bad day, like many other days before. But not all the following days should be like them. They could be better, or worst, but with friends like Chase had, every bad day could become a good one with a single call. He still had some doubts, he knew himself and asking for help would be harder than he thought, but he'd try nonetheless to be and to feel better. He stretched out his arm and they all hugged together, in a big messy pile of bedsheets and tears. Through tears, Marvin spoke softly.
“Without you, we’d fall apart.”
( I wrote it to apologize for the unwanted angst. It was nice to write something else than angst for once)
Tag List: @chase-brody-protection-squad, @enakane