Disclaimer: I don't own Lab Rats, nor do I own any of the characters mentioned in this fic. The only thing I own are my thoughts and ideas.
Chase Davenport was smart. He knew just about everything about... well, everything. You name it, he knew it.
His intelligence in things like school, however, didn't get him very far when it came to making friends. He was often referred to as a 'loner'.
He sat by himself at lunch everyday if it weren't for the few times a week that his step-brother, Leo, would sit with him. Nobody ever said a word to him in class unless it was to ask for the answer to one of their homework problems - or ask if they could copy his homework.
He liked the time alone, though. He never got that at home, so it was sort of nice to know that he'd be left completely alone at school.
Leo was kind of worried about him, though. Chase was almost sixteen years old, and he'd never had a girlfriend, or even a real friend. He thought it was just because of the fact that Chase was locked in a basement for fourteen years - that may be a little insensitive, Leo added - but look at Adam and Bree. They had friends. Bree even had herself a boyfriend.
When Leo tried to voice his thoughts to his older step-brother, Chase would look him dead in the eye and assure him that he was okay. So, finally, Leo let it go; mainly because he knew Chase couldn't lie to save his life. Then again, neither could he. But, either way, he could tell when Chase was lying, and Chase didn't seem to be lying when he told Leo this.
He's fine, Leo tried to assure himself. It's Chase. Chase is a little weird. Nothing to worry about.
But, when one day, Chase didn't come home from school at the same time the rest of them did, Leo was the first one to spring into action.
"I can't believe you guys are telling me that you don't want to go looking for Chase. Your brother hasn't come home from school yet! You know Chase; he doesn't like to worry people or keep them waiting! Why in the world are you just sitting around doing nothing when you know this isn't like him at all?" Leo asked, enraged with his step-siblings.
"He's smart, he's fine," Adam replied from his spot on the couch with a dismissive wave of his hand. Bree nodded, clearly agreeing with Adam. "Yeah! And, Leo, why do you care so much? Chase can take care of himself."
Leo rolled his eyes at them. Sometimes, they could be so stupid. They clearly didn't understand the severity of this situation. He opened his mouth to continue his rant, when, all of a sudden, the front door opened. The three teenagers turned their attention to the door.
Chase was standing there with an unidentifiable expression on his face. Leo looked him up and down. He looked... fine. Strange - which, to be quite honest, wasn't unnatural of Chase - but fine.
"Where were you?" Leo asked, walking over to him. Chase smiled sheepishly. "I... uh, got lost?"
Leo was about to tell him to drop the act when Adam snorted. "How could someone like you get lost?" Of course Adam was buying this. But it's Adam. Adam would believe you if you told him that there was a unicorn flying in the sky.
Chase let out a breathy laugh. Leo's eyes narrowed. His step-brother usually did that when he was upset about something.
"I don't know. I guess my mind was just... on something else," Chase tried to act nonchalant. He walked off, Leo assumed to the lab, probably to change his clothes and get started on his homework, like he always did right after getting home from school.
Leo waited a couple minutes until he was sure Chase was already in the lab before coming down. He watched Chase sit down at the table the teens did their homework at and begin pulling his textbooks out of his messenger bag.
"I really hope you didn't expect me to believe that," Leo said, walking closer to him. Chase jumped before looking up at his younger step-brother. "You scared me."
"What happened?" Leo cut to the chase. Chase looked at him, narrowing his eyes slightly, appearing confused. Leo knew better. "What do you mean?"
Leo rolled his eyes. "You and I both know that something happened. You come home from school late, you laugh all weird - like you do when you're trying to hide something - I saw you limp-walk away... oh, and you're a terrible liar."
Chase's face turned pink. He knew he'd been caught. The only thing he could do was just tell Leo the truth.
"Trent," he replied quietly, looking down. Leo's eyes widened. "Trent?" Leo groaned in frustration.
"Well, yeah. Trent sort of... yeah," Chase said, pointing to his leg.
"How long?" Leo asked. He knew it couldn't have been the first time Chase had been bullied by 'their little friend'.
"Three months. But it's never been this bad. Usually he just calls me stupid names during school. I don't even think you could call it bullying, really," Chase laughed to himself. "But I don't know why it was any different today."
Leo took a deep breath. Okay, so Leo wasn't the only one having to deal with Trent's annoyingness - it's almost a word, okay? - during school. Great. Now Chase, who is completely defenseless - maybe even moreso than Leo - when it comes to standing up for himself, has to put up with Trent thinking he can dictate people ten times smaller than him.
Leo's been having to deal with Trent for years - he first moved to the neighborhood when Leo was in the fifth grade, so it's been about four years of hell - but the guy had never, not once, laid a hand on him.
"I'll go get Mr. Davenport," Leo offered. "No!" Chase practically screamed, grabbing onto Leo's shirt to pull him back. Leo looked at him like he was crazy.
"Why?! Don't you want Mr. Davenport to stop this loser?" Chase shook his head fast. "Just keep this between us for now, please? I really don't want Mr. Davenport or, like, anyone else to know," Chase pleaded.
Leo sighed, sitting down next to his older step-brother. "Fine. But if it gets any worse, I'm telling Adam so he can teach that punk a lesson."
Chase nodded, sighing in relief that his secret would be kept between the two of them for the time being.
Leo patted his back and sat down with him so that they could get started on their homework together. Chase smiled, knowing that his brother would always be there for him.
So, there it was! The first ever chapter to my first ever story! Wow, I feel really accomplished. I really hope you all enjoyed it. Please review and send feedback on how I could improve anything; I love hearing from you all!