Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies, I own no content save that which doesn't exist in the property in question.
A/N: I'm going to be upfront about this, but for the sake of argument, this fanfic is possibly going to be an AU as I'm dealing with side characters with nothing definitive known about them. Consider this canon separate from the series if new details on the show (if any) emerge that may contradict what is presented.
Now onto the story:
Chaz yawned again while lugging the bag full of soda bottles on his right arm. His sister Dana beat him at rock-paper-scissors to go buy a refill of soda, and he was in the middle of such a nice nap too. She owed him a favor after he got back.
Cutting through the park, he thought about his nice, soft pillow on the couch, and how he'd love to catch more Zs while resting his carrot-top on it. Just as he passed a tree, however, he heard something behind the bushes.
"What the heck is that?" he wondered to himself, moving around in order to find the cause of the noise.
As he rounded it halfway, he was surprised to find a blonde girl sitting down at the base, her teal dress covered in some kind of violet jam, hugging her legs and resting her forehead on her knees, crying in deep misery.
Feeling sorry for her, and wondering what happened, he moved closer so that she could hear him, "Hey, are you okay?"
Raising her head and sniffling, Chaz was surprised to see that it was one of Dana's classmates, Leni, beside herself with a look of pure anguish in her eyes.
"C-Chaz?" she managed to choke out.
"Leni, you look terrible, what happened?"
Without another word or thought, she lunged at him and gripped the threads of his clothes, catching him completely unawares.
"Whoa, Leni, calm down, what's going on!?"
"Adam… and Rebecca… and, and… plum pie…" The words coming out of her mouth seemed like nonsensical babbling, and other than two names and something about pie, Chaz could barely comprehend the meaning of those words as she continued bawling, her tears flowing across his shirt.
Chaz had no idea what happened, but seeing Leni like this was positively heartrending. He knew Leni wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box, but she was still a sweet girl with a good, caring heart. He wondered what, or who, in the world could push her into a state of such grief.
Reflexively, he found his left arm going around her waist and his right hand patting the back of her head.
"Leni, it's okay, it's okay, just chill out, I'm here, okay? Just relax."
His words seemed to have some effect as Leni slowed her pace and her breathing grew steady, though punctuated with a few sobs here and there.
When she was able to, Leni managed to say something to him, "Oh… Chaz, it was horrible…"
He continued patting her soft, blonde hair, "It's all right, it's okay, do you want to talk about it?"
Leni shook her head, it was still way too soon to talk about it. He sighed, though he wanted to help her, she needed to open up first before he could. Turning his attention to the traces of jam on her dress, he knew that there was one thing he could do to help her.
"Hey, my house is just a little ways away, and you look like you need to freshen up. It's just me and my sister, Dana, so what do you say Leni?"
She looked up at him, her eyes swollen in a red hue. After wiping some tears away, she managed to mutter an "okay" before Chaz helped her up and they went on their way.
At Chaz's house, his sister Dana was just lounging in front of her computer, mostly watching online videos about how to get the best weapon in her and Chaz's video game.
She heard the door open as she put down her earphones, coming down the stairs to meet her fat brother. She was a tad surprised to see Leni along with him, looking like quite the mess.
"Leni? Hey bro, what's she doing here?"
"I dunno, but as far as I can tell, she could really use the bathroom."
"Of course," Dana walked up to Leni, "Hey Leni, you can use the bathroom in my room upstairs, you need anything?"
Leni managed a reply, her voice low and forlorn, "Like, I guess a change of clothes would be nice."
Dana took note of the pie stains on her clothes, and walked with her back to her room, "Sure thing, Leni, follow me."
As he watched Dana and Leni head up the stairs, Chaz scratched the back of his head wondering what the heck happened to her. He almost forgot about the sodas in his hand and headed into the kitchen to put them away.
Later…
The doorbell rang and Chaz went over to answer it, "Lori, you made it."
The eldest Loud sibling was carrying a duffle bag by her side, "Hey Chaz, where's Leni at?"
"Upstairs, with my sister Dana. Thanks for coming by as quick as you could."
"I came as soon as Dana told me. This has literally got to be Leni's worst day ever."
Chaz sighed, remembering the story that Dana just heard from her, "Tell me about it. Anyway, you better go upstairs and bring in Leni's change of clothes."
Lori nodded and proceeded up to Dana's room. Chaz sat down in the living room to watch some TV.
Leni found out that the guy she was hanging out with, Adam, was just using her to make his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca, jealous so that she'd come back to him. He accidentally sent a message to Leni's phone intended for Rebecca to meet at the park, Leni brought a pie along as a gift for him, but then she found out and the two just dug into her, calling her dumb and a retard. Chaz found her moments later, a complete wreck still reeling from the callous treatment she went through.
After hearing about it from Dana, Chaz didn't really know why, but he was really teed off about it. Dana invited Leni and Lori over for sleepovers every now and then. Leni was, to be frank, a bit dull and airheaded, but she made up for it by being the nicest person he'd ever known. He helped her out during those times when her daftness got the better of her, and even if she did grate on him at times, Leni would always flash a smile and gave Chaz a little something as her way of saying thank you, and he would mostly forget why he was annoyed with her in the first place.
Nobody deserved to be treated like that, to be played like a fool and then kicked into the mud, especially not someone like Leni.
After she was finished with cleaning up and changing, Lori accompanied her sister to their van, looking a little better than she was earlier, though the sting of a personal betrayal still loomed across her expression.
Lori turned around to Dana, "Thanks Dana, I'm really glad you guys were there for her."
Dana gave a soft smile, "No problem Lori."
Leni hugged Dana, who called to her brother to come over to the door, "Hey Chaz! Come on and say goodbye!"
Not really wanting to get up and go but unwilling to seem rude either, he acquiesced to her request.
Lori gave them a wave as she was halfway towards Vanzilla, "Well, we'll be seeing you guys later."
Leni decided to bid both of them goodbye before she followed her sister. As soon as Chaz was next to Dana, she managed to speak up, "Thanks you guys." She said as she hugged Dana, who likewise returned the gesture, "It's my pleasure, Leni."
She then turned to Chaz and gave him a hug too, "Thanks for finding me behind the tree, Chaz, I, like, would have had no idea what I would have done."
He had to admit, Leni hugging him without feeling too sad felt really nice, "You're welcome Leni. If you ever need anything else, me and Dana will be right here."
After the two Loud siblings drove off, Chaz and Dana turned to their living room TV, booted up their console, and started their session on Imperial Warriors.
The two barely talked all while they were busy, hacking their way through scores of nameless, identical, digital peons, broken with the occasional encounter of an enemy leader, running through the battle in their practiced routine. To break the ice as a lull came in the fighting, Chaz remarked on today's current events.
"I've never seen Leni all choked up on something before."
"Well, it was basically the first time she had a boyfriend, any girl would get her head in the clouds over it, Leni more so than usual." She said with a snide tone at that last phrase, "It's a real shame that he turned out to be some jerk. That's not a good experience for anybody."
Chaz sighed while his mind drifted to a similar situation that he went through. He used to be bullied a lot as a kid for being, in their words, a "tub of lard" but the worst of it was when they had a new classmate that Chaz seemed to get along with just fine. That is, until Chaz botched this one show-and-tell once, and the "Lard Club" as his jeering team was called, laughed at him. He was really hurt when the new guy ended up laughing with them, wearing one of their colored pins that showed he joined the entourage.
It took a whole year and a change of schools before he could trust people again. Because of that experience, the idea of betrayal was something of a sore subject for Chaz.
"Chaz? Chaz!" Dana shouted, trying to get her brother's attention as he was so distracted that he never noticed that his health bar was in the red.
"Holy-!" He managed to scream before pulling out at the last minute.
Dana turned to him with an annoyed look on her face, "Chaz, are you okay?"
He shook his head, "I'm fine, really! Just thinking about… stuff."
Dana just rolled her eyes, glad that her brother's little mishap didn't ruin their whole strategy.
That night, Chaz was alone in his room chatting with his buddy and Dana's boyfriend, Joey, on his Courier smartphone app.
"That's just harsh, bro. I've heard stories but I never heard of something like this happening in real life."
"I know, she seemed fine when she left, but it might still be there."
"Do you have a plan if you ever see her again?"
Chaz wasn't quite sure how to answer that, he really didn't think he would ever see Leni again so soon, to be honest, "I don't really know. I guess I'll just figure it out if it happens."
Next Day…
Chaz was walking the same path in the park which brought him close to the tree where he found Leni.
Today he felt like he just needed to go take a walk and be by himself for now, just pacing along leisurely with his mp3 player by his side. Perhaps some unseen force was secretly pushing him along as he continued up the way, or perhaps it was just some unforeseeable coincidence compelling two events towards some singular moment in time that neither he nor Leni could have known.
Whatever it was, Chaz's sight was drawn inexorably towards the tree where he had that peculiar encounter just yesterday. Standing there, carving something with a pocket knife against the bark, was Leni; he couldn't see her face, but judging by the tense grip on the implement in her hand and the amount of pressure she was pressing into the wood, he could tell there was definitely something on her mind.
Walking up to her, Chaz could see that Leni was actually scratching out some kind of shape drawn on the tree. Her handiwork made it almost completely obscured, but he could see that it was vaguely shaped like some kind of heart.
He could have continued walking, to pretend as though he saw nothing, but curiosity can be a strong force, even when one knows better.
"Leni?" he said, more audibly than he thought he did.
Leni turned around with a start, surprised to see Chaz looking at her with a puzzled look on his face, "Oh, Chaz… um… like, hey."
He turned his head slightly sideways, looking at the mess that she made on the tree. He cracked an attempt at a joke on it, "So… man, you messed up the bark there real good. What did the tree ever do to you?"
"Nothing, the tree did nothing to me!" She said, clearly attempting to take attention away from it, "I mean, like, it's not like I'm just angrily scraping off the carved heart I made to commemorate me and Adam hooking up the first time and then I found out he was a jerk and now I'm just trying to get rid of this painful reminder of his betrayal. I'm, like, definitely not." She laughed half-heartedly at the conclusion of her sentence.
Chaz wasn't sure what to say, either tell her that she basically said what she probably didn't want to say, or ask her if she wanted to talk about something.
He thought it best to go with the latter, "So, you wanna hang out, or something?"
"Totes!" she said with a chipper voice.
The two teens walked a little down the park, talking about stuff… Well, Leni mostly talked about stuff, fashion and party-related stuff to be precise, and she did most of the talking, Chaz was just listening to his mp3 player and nodding his head whenever Leni turned to him with a question that boiled down to yes or no, though he learned to mostly say yes.
The two eventually came upon a snack stand selling some pocket pies, "O-M-G! Hey Chaz, let's get some pies, my treat!"
Chaz noted that Leni seemed a lot better today than she did yesterday, apart from that brief bit about the tree.
Leni was really digging into her plum pie, "Oh, this tastes so good! This reminds me of that plum pie I brought to Ad-" Leni cut herself off before her thoughts suddenly turned to that horrible moment when Rebecca splattered the plum pie on her dress.
Her spontaneous change of mood did not go unnoticed, as Chaz saw a flash of distress across her face.
Shaking her head, she gripped Chaz by the arm as she hastily decided for a change of scenery.
They arrived at Leni's favorite hangout scant minutes later: The Royal Woods Mall
Leni seemed beside herself with joy, "Nothing like hanging out in a girl's favorite place: clothes, makeup, shoes. Oh, they're, like, having a sale! I am totes going to check that place out!"
Chaz followed her as she dove into a nearby clothing retailer. In many ways, Leni was the quintessential teenage girl, a blissful specimen who loved fashion, being popular, and having fun with what she did. In a way, similar to Dana, but maybe dialed up a number, or two, or ten.
"Oh, this blazer absolutely matches my eyes!" She gasped upon eyeing another article nearby, "I must have this! It's practically essential for my wardrobe!"
She ran up to Chaz with the clothes she had in mind, "So, Chaz, which one do you think is a better match for me?"
As a guy, who didn't have many female influences in his life (except maybe Dana, but Chaz usually gave her a wide berth, and Dana knows not to bother him with feminine stuff) Chaz had no idea how to respond to Leni's question, "Uh… I dunno, they both look nice, I suppose."
She gave them both another glance, "You're right! It would be a shame to pick one over the other, I'll get both!"
"That's not-" Leni was already at the counter, chatting it up with the salesclerk as she made her purchase.
Walking out of the store, Leni beamed with pride over her acquisition, "This is so much fun! Pies out in the park and shopping at the mall; this is the greatest day ever! Even better than when me and Ad-"
Once more, a look of pain, and the sensation of a dam about the burst behind her eyeballs crossed her face. It was only for about two seconds before she managed to regain her composure. She quickly led herself and Chaz out of the store.
They strutted down the mall, Leni once more being the source of conversation between the two. She mostly talked about inane things as related to her. When their feet started feeling weary and their legs sore from all the walking and running about, they sat down on a bench in front of the mall's indoor fountain.
"So… Chaz, I heard, like, that you got a job?"
Chaz nodded, "Yeah."
"So… what kind of job is it?"
"I work at Moss"
Leni looked puzzled, "You work in the woods?"
Chaz emulated her expression as she said it, "Huh?"
"I mean, like, I guess it has its uses, but I don't think there's much demand for tree moss."
Chaz greeted his face with his palm at Leni's total ignorance, "No, Leni, I mean, I work at a place called Moss. It's a clothing store that's a few blocks from my house."
Leni gasped, "A clothing store? That's so cool! I bet you know all the latest fashion trends!"
He just shrugged, "Well it puts food on the table…"
"And they give you free food? That just makes it a whole lot better!"
"That isn't-" he sighed, might as well just go with it.
They sat on the bench for a few more minutes while Leni continued her one-sided chat with Chaz. Talking about fun times and misadventures with her family, like learning how to drive (and getting into an accident… several times), singing backup (and howling "backup" and "what's on the page!" off-key a few times to impress him) and her brief stint as a hotel clerk (she didn't even know she worked for a hotel… which she didn't).
"Wow, I knew you guys lived a colorful life, but that's on a whole 'nother level."
"I know, right? It's totes fun to talk about this with friends, just like when I told this to Ad-"
If Chaz had a penny for every time Leni's thoughts "accidentally" wandered to Adam and that big stink that happened yesterday, he would have had three pennies today.
Third times the charm, they say, but in this case, Chaz was rather fed up with how Leni seemed to be trying to take her mind off of Adam and Rebecca, but in a roundabout sort of way, ended up coming back to it. There was something in her mind that was dying to get out, but for her sake, and the sake of others perhaps, she kept it to herself. Chaz, however, had an inkling that it was eating away at her inside like the lunch rush at Burpin' Burgers.
"Leni? Are you okay?" he managed to ask.
She shook her head, trying to shake off her bad memory, and put up a big smile, "Oh I am totes fine! Why? Did I have something on my face?"
He knew this was going to hurt her more than it would hurt him, but Leni could not keep doing this to herself, "Leni, I think… I know you're still upset about Ad-"
She suddenly placed her finger on his lips to shush him, "You know what? I think we should go watch a movie! What about Tra La Land? I heard that it's super adorbs and romantic!"
Chaz, normally a quiet spectator who tried his best to blend in like a fat wallflower, frankly had quite enough of her charade, "Leni, just stop…"
Leni was starting to get nervous now, "Stop? Stop what? I'm not stopping anything… except maybe traffic when I messed up another driving t-"
"Leni!"
He didn't know how loud he just said that, but loud enough that those within earshot turned their sight towards the two, their curiosity getting the better of them.
Leni looked somewhat terrified after Chaz's outburst, but the shock gave way to a gnawing feeling in her heart that she's been trying to bury since yesterday, a feeling that she wished she could forget.
"Leni…" Chaz managed to speak in a calm tone, "…you're still upset about Adam, aren't you?"
She was trembling now, just hearing that name punctured her chest and strangled her lungs.
"N-No… Of course not… why would I… even remember that… creep?"
"Leni…"
"Chaz… I don't want to talk about it." She said, turning away from him, feeling something getting ready to evacuate her eyes.
"Leni, it's okay."
"Okay?" She said, turning to him with an expression of bitter resentment painted across her face, "Okay!?"
She closed the distance between their faces, any measure of self-control she once had thrown out the proverbial window.
"Oh I am totes okay! I am not thinking about Adam one bit!" steam was venting out of her nostrils as she held her deluge of emotions back, "I mean, like, I am completely okay about him using me to get back at Rebecca! I am okay about how he fooled me into thinking he was the Romeo for my Juliet, or the Pinocchio to Goldilocks!" That last part didn't sound right, but Leni was in no mood to think straight, "I was okay about him and Rebecca…" her voice began cracking, as did the emotional walls she was straining to keep back, "…stinging me with their words and letting them call me stupid and scatter-brained and… and…"
Quivering uncontrollably, unable to take it anymore, Leni finally dropped all pretenses of emotional stability. For the second time now, Leni pressed her face against Chaz's shirt and poured tears upon it, wailing and babbling incoherently while Chaz held her tight in his embrace. He was no psychologist, but even he knew that bottling up one's negative emotions would scar someone for life.
Other people who passed them by looked at them with curious expressions; Chaz shot them a dirty look as if to say "get out of here" since now was not the time for outside intrusion.
After Leni calmed down again, Chaz brought her to the food court for some frozen yogurt. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two, neither of them looking each other in the eye nor a whisper passing between them.
After a few scoops of her yogurt, Leni finally managed to speak, "I'm sorry…"
He gazed at her upon speaking up, "Huh?"
Leni sighed, "I'm sorry, Chaz. Like, I know I didn't show it, but I really was still angry about what happened yesterday."
He had a mind to tell her that he kind of figured that out by now, but he decided now was not the time for that.
Leni continued, "I just thought he was the one, you know? Like, the one I'd spend the rest of my life with."
She listlessly stirred the contents of her half-finished yogurt, "You know what? I think I am dumb."
In a more lighthearted setting, and if he lacked a bit in empathy, Chaz would have dryly responded to the effect of "That took you a while to notice."
Instead, he responded with a blank stare, "What do you mean?"
"Rebecca and Adam said that I was the dumbest girl in school." Leni's head continued to droop, "I mean, maybe I am stupid… I mean, I fell for Adam's trick. Like, I've gotta be stupid if I fell for it so easily."
Maybe it was the sight of her morose expression, or perhaps his own experiences dealing with betrayal, or maybe he was just tired of listening to her self-pity. Regardless of his reasons, it was Chaz's turn to lose his self-control, because even a guy who tries to keep to the background has his limits.
"You're not dumb" he said with an uncharacteristic firmness in his tone.
Leni suddenly looked up at him with surprise, "Chaz, what are you-"
"Leni, you are not dumb." Letting his emotions get the better of him, he did not notice that his hands had inched towards hers, and gripped them reassuringly, "In fact, I think the only stupid ones are Adam and Rebecca! They're just a pair of losers, so they're basically made for each other, but they don't deserve to call you dumb! Why, any guy is lucky to have you: you're nice, and helpful, and considerate and… and…"
Once the short burst of adrenaline subsided, he finally noticed two things: One, Leni was lightly blushing as he was going on his tirade, and two: he never realized how tightly he was holding her hands.
Flustered by his unconscious boldness, he withdrew before composing himself, "The important thing is… Leni, you should stop being all choked up over Adam, there are other guys who deserve you more than he ever did."
Chaz turned away, somewhat embarrassed to get carried away in the heat of the moment. The two sat in silence after that, not sure what to do or say next.
With nothing else to do, the two teens headed for their homes. Chaz asked if Leni wanted him to accompany her to her house, but she told him not to bother. Before getting to the door, Chaz felt something hold him tight; it was Leni, hugging him.
As she let him go, Chaz turned around to see Leni smile, not a fake one either, but quite possibly the first real smile she's had all day since yesterday.
"Thanks, Chaz. See ya." She said before skipping off for home.
As he opened the door, he was greeted by Dana, with the biggest smug smile on her face.
"Dana? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I saw what you two were doing." She said, while keeping her smug face.
Chaz looked confused, "What are you talking about?"
"You know," she turned around so that her back was facing her brother, then she brought her hands over her shoulder and waist, making goofy kissing noises.
Chaz suddenly turned a ripe red as he realized the implications of Dana's statements, "S-Shut up, Dana!"
She burst out laughing at her brother's awkward reaction, while he gently pushed her aside as he proceeded to his room.
Shutting the door, he laid himself upon his bed, purging all thoughts from his head so as to relax. Just then Dana dropped in again, and Chaz groaned.
"Dana, not now…"
"Don't worry, I'm not here about that. I just came in to say that I'm proud of you."
He looked up to his sister with a curious look, "Proud of me?"
"Yeah," she walked up to him and sat next to him, "I don't know what it is you did, but I don't think I've ever seen Leni look so… sunny."
He sat up to see his sister face-to-face, "Really?"
"Trust me, big brother, I can read other girl's faces like an open book. Judging by how she beamed at you, I can tell that she got over Adam and then-some, in fact… I think she may even like you." She said that last bit with a hint of snark.
"Oh come off it, Dana! Why would she be interested in a tub of lard like me?" He said, with some self-doubt in his voice.
She suddenly hugged him tight, "Stop selling yourself short, Chaz! You may be a tub of lard, but you're also the nicest boy I know. How you've never had a girlfriend yet, I'll never know."
"Dana!" a voice called out from downstairs, "come downstairs and help me in the kitchen dear, I'm making pot roast!"
"Coming dad!" she stood up and was about to leave, but she turned to her brother one last time, "You better think about what I said, big bro." With a wink, she departed to help her father.
Chaz reclined again on his bed, heaving a deep sigh, his mind drifted to thoughts of Leni, and that smile of hers before she left for home. Inside, he did think she was kind of cute, but there was no way that a pretty girl like her would seriously consider liking him… right?
The Loud House…
Leni was inside hers and Lori's room, doing her nails.
"Hey, Leni…"
Lori walked in and threw a book beside her.
"…could you put our high school yearbook away for me? I literally need to go see Bobby at Gus' Games and Grub in a few minutes, 'kay?"
Before she could respond, Lori already left. Picking up the book, Leni flipped the pages until she came upon the class where Chaz was in.
She didn't know why, nor was she conscious of her action, but her fingers slowly landed on Chaz's face, and a smile played on her lips.
Chaz and Dana's house…
Chaz gave a loud sneeze while he was playing Call of Valor on his PC, "Dang it…"
Final Thoughts: One thing I worry about as I consider posting this is if it's too "vanilla" or "generic" for some people... What are your thoughts?