Okay, no more promising to not write ChasexJamesxMarcus love triangle one shots; I can't keep myself away. It's an addiction, a drug. Well, this is a PREQUEL to all the other one shots I've done for this love triangle. It's mostly about Chase being in love with James but having to stomach him being with his friend Marcus (again, this takes place BEFORE "Bionic Showdown", so Adam, Bree, and Chase are still friends with their secret evil android brother). The song 'I Fell in love with My Best Friend' by Jason Chen inspired this one shot, hope it's good as the song! Disclaimer: I own NOTHING of Lab Rats and Big Time Rush, nor the song used to inspire this PREQUEL! I only own the plot of this PREQUEL! Again, enjoy!
Chase Davenport sighed, a wanting looking in his deep hazel eyes.
"Chase, you're drooling again." Leo said with a teasing smile, yet it fell when he saw his smart, bionic step-brother glare at him hotly.
"Not in the mood, Leo." He said simply, going back to looking toward the cafeteria, eyes longing again.
"What's his deal?" Leo asked in a low whisper to Bree, who seemed to know what Chase was so grumpy about from the look on her face. She sighed, brushing her soft, brown hair back.
"James and Marcus are going out." That was enough to make Leo's jaw dropped.
"What?! James and creepy captain Eyebrows, together?! No wonder Chase is down, who put mind-control juice in James' cereal?! I highly doubt he'd go for him on his free will!"
Adam sighed and wrapped an arm around Chase's shoulders, who for once didn't shrug off the touch in annoyance and just continued to stare as...James and Marcus came walking out of the cafeteria from an in-between class study session, laughing and holding hands, looking deeply into each other's eyes.
"James I swear, sometimes I think you pretend not to get Geometry just so we can spend more time together in school!" Marcus said with a chuckle, one arm around the older, taller pretty boy's waist. James let out a manly giggle and stopped their stroll in the middle of the hall, wrapping his arms around the other's neck; even though James was taller, and stronger than Marcus he was the "girl", so to speak, in the relationship.
"I swear to you right now I'm not faking, I seriously don't get along with Math! But if I was doing that to spend more time with you, would you be mad?" James asked, cocking his head to the side and making his sparkling hazel-green eyes seem wider than normal as he pouted.
Chase sighed; James always made that pout when he was trying to look innocent. Being best friends meant knowing the other's body language, and right now James was teasing yet at the same time truly curious.
'Best friends...'
The laugh Marcus let out broke the brilliant boy out his trance, he trying to not scowl when he leaned forward and kissed James lightly on the lips; the dark-skinned beauty was tomato red in the face, hiding his blush by burying his face into Marcus' neck.
"Nah, in fact I'm truly honored you'd want to spend so much time with me; after all since you know, your mom doesn't like me very much, I wish I knew why...!" A frown crossed Marcus' face, which James changed into a smile with a kiss to the cheek.
"Mom isn't always so easy-going with me and Shay dating; to her, we're still her little babies she has to protect all the time. But she'll grow to like you, you'll see-she hardly ever dislikes anyone, she doesn't even hold much of a grudge against my dad for marrying a woman fifteen years younger." James placated his boyfriend, smiling when his freckled nose pinched upwards in a smile.
"Always trying to make me feeling better, huh?"
"That's what good boyfriends do!" Marcus laughed again.
"They are so wrong for each other. James is so cool and Marcus such a creep; I bet they won't last more than a week!" Leo hissed; Bree rolled her eyes.
"Hey like it or not, Marcus and James are our friends; we have to support their relationship, plus James seems happy. Maybe your crazy ideas are literally blinding you, Leo."
"Chase isn't happy about their relationship." Leo pointed out flatly, that making Chase look at him.
"Leo, don't say that! I-I'm totally for them, like Bree says James is happy so-!"
"But you wish he was happy with YOU." Leo butted in; Adam looked between his step-brother and his baby brother.
"You know for probably the first time EVER, Leo has a point." He said.
"Thank you, wait hey!"
"Guys, shut it! They're coming over!" Bree warned them, putting on a smile for the couple as they strolled over to them on the staircase.
"Hey Marcus, hey James!"
"Hey Bree, Adam, Chase, Leo." Marcus and James said together, which made Marcus smirk and James blush again.
"M-Dog, Jamez, how's it going?" Adam asked, in his usual friendly 'tude. James rolled his eyes playfully at the nicknames.
"Only you Adam." He joked, elbowing said boy lightly in the ribs but not letting go of Marcus' hand.
"Hi guys." Chase said, hoping his smile didn't look as sad as he felt; James' eyes flickered, oh no.
He could tell something was up with the brilliant bionic (James knew the big Davenport family secret) boy.
'Man, sometimes I wish he couldn't read me so well!' Chase thought with a mental scowl.
"Hi Chase, what's up?" Marcus said good-naturally.
"Yeah Chase, what's up?" How James said it however, suggested more than just a simple greeting.
Bree, Leo, and Adam looked at one another nervously; they wondered if Chase was going to show how he really felt in his answer.
Chase, however, pasted on a fake smile and laughed. "Nothing, nothing just tired. You know, 'homework' is just stressing me out. I'm smart but I could use a break, ha!" He said; 'homework', usually around Marcus that was used to not spill about the secret missions the bionic siblings went on almost on a daily basis.
Normally James would believe it, but Chase was his best friend! He knew his body language, a pout was on the way! He usually pouted when nervous or worried about something.
"Ugh, I know that feeling. I'm stressed out too." Marcus said, trying to evade the awkward silence that was slowly coming up.
"Yeah you must be stressed up; scaring little kids is a full-time job." Leo said, making Bree slap her forehead in annoyance and James lightly glare.
"Leo!"
"Aw, he's so funny!" Marcus brushed it off with a laugh, meeting James' apologetic eyes.
"Forgive Leo, his mouth is on overdrive today." Bree said, Leo about to remark when Adam patted him on the shoulder.
"Give it up, little bro; she will speed circles around you."
"N-Not literally, you know Adam means that I'm fast but not like super speed-fast, ha!" Bree elbowed Adam and tried to pull off his blunder as a joke; Marcus raised an eyebrow, lost.
"What's up, gu-?" He began to say, when James broke in.
"Sweetie, me and Chase have to talk." Marcus was surprised James was indirectly asking permission (their relationship was equal) but just shrugged and nodded, Bree catching on and pulling Marcus into a story about how Adam got his foot stuck in the toilet, dragging a reluctant Leo along with her.
James took Chase by the hand and led him to the cafeteria, sitting together at a table by the emergency exit.
"Okay, what's wrong? Something is up, and don't say you are okay because I can read you." James said, never letting go of Chase's hand and his soft, beautiful eyes on the other's face.
'What do I say? That I'm not happy, that I love you but you're going out with my friend and it's killing me seeing you two together?!' Chase's thoughts were rapid and everywhere, yet he sighed and smiled weakly.
"Is it that noticeable?"
"Pretty much. Chase, what's wrong? You know you can talk to me about anything and everything, we're best friends." James said softly, placing his free hand on Chase's right shoulder.
'Again, we're just...best friends! That's why I can't tell you the truth, because I want to be MORE than best friends! But that can't happen now, can it? As long as you're dating one of my friends?'
"I-I know James, I just..."
"What? Speak up, it's okay." James encouraged him, smiling softly to prove his point; man, he was making this really hard for the shorter, younger boy!
They've been friends for months, sometimes not such a big deal but to Chase it was; James was the first friend he made who knew about his bionics and his other life as superhuman teen always saving the world with his brother and sister. They've slept over each other's houses, they've spent late-nights just talking about nothing, they've shared stories and secrets. Chase often felt James knew him better he knew himself sometimes; it was an clear sign from how he knew he was upset, just from his body language.
They knew each other's likes and dislikes, they always said goodnight to each other and met up in the mornings to walk to school; they grew close in those short months, and in those short months...Chase fell for James.
He fell in love with his best friend.
He had fallen for James and he had been sure James had felt the same way...until the brunette told him that he was dating Marcus.
Chase wanted to hate James, for playing with his feelings but he knew deep down it wasn't his fault; Chase knew he's had MANY opportunities to confess but he blew them, and now he was watching the love of his life go out with his friend, his bro M-Dog.
"Chase?" Said boy blinked at the sound of his name, James looking at him extremely worried now.
'Okay, I...I have to tell him! If I don't he'll worry his head off and I'll hate myself for that! I have to tell him the truth!' That's what Chase's logical sense was saying, but his heart...
He could see how happy James was with Marcus; how his eyes shined, how he blushed that cute blush, how he smiled brightly when with the other boy and how in general the pretty boy seemed to glow with an extra spring in his step.
He...he couldn't break that; James hasn't had an honest, steady boyfriend in years (the last true, loving boyfriend was by the name of Kendall Knight, but they had to break up when he moved away from Minnesota) and Marcus looked happy himself. Could he really break that up, just because of unrequited feelings?
How can he tell him he loved him, when he is so happy with some other guy?
And he couldn't ruin everything they have with each other, the months of secrets and trust and close bonding; taking that risk sounded nice, but if it meant hurting James...
No, he couldn't hurt him. He's been through so much, he deserves to be happy. Even if...even if Chase wished it was HIM making the pretty boy so happy, instead of Marcus.
Sure he had been James' shoulder to cry on but not anymore; Marcus was making him happy, so no tears.
"I...just don't forget about me, okay? I mean, now that you're in a relationship with M-Dog." Chase said, going for a light teasing tone and smile.
James' eyes went wide. "Were you worried I'd brush you aside for Marcus, Chase?"
"Guilty." James rolled his eyes and laughed, cupping Chase's face in his warm, thin hands; the smart boy blushed, though hoped the lighting in the cafeteria wouldn't make it so obvious.
"Silly boy, where would you get that idea? Chase, no matter what you'll always be my number one!"
"Huh?"
James giggled and hugged him close, sighing as he closed his eyes. Chase didn't hold back; he held him just as tightly. "You'll always be my number one, the one person I will always count on and keep close, Chase. Nothing will change that; I do like Marcus, a lot, but...but he can never take your place. No one can ever take your place, you mean so much to me, Chase, ha you have no idea how much! So no silly ideas, okay? Chase Leonardo Davenport, I, James Dylan Diamond, will never, ever, EVER forget about you. You're the most important person to me, ever, my best friend and no matter if you or I ever have a boyfriend or girlfriend, we will always be close. Forever and ever, no matter what." James whispered, pulling away so their faces were inches apart.
Chase felt his throat dry out; he could see why he fell for James.
"I-I...sure! Friends forever!"
"Together forever!" James agreed, letting out another manly giggle and smiling.
"James, Chase! Class starts in five!" Bree called after them, she going off with Owen with Adam and Leo tagging behind while Marcus waited patiently for his boyfriend.
"Okay, thanks for the heads-up, Bree! See you after school, Chase! Don't think I forgot our movie night, we're watching that documentary on the pyramids like I promised! I know you've been dying to watch it! I'll bring the popcorn, later!" James hugged Chase quickly one more time before waving and heading back to Marcus, who waved bye too, lacing their hands together again as they headed for their Geometry class.
Chase took a few minutes to watch them leave, sighing to himself and smiling in spite of his breaking heart.
'I just had, HAD, to fall in love with my best friend.'