A/n: Hi. Just a Z/C thing. Trying to cure my slight writers block. It's like someone built a wall between me and writing talent. My comp will be down for a few days. So deal with it.

Chapter 1:

"And then..." Dana said, the torch under her chin. "She heard a disembodied voice say 'Don't look under the bed' So... naturally..."
"Please don't look under the bed please don't look under the bed please don't look under the bed." Begged Zoey closing her eyes. Nicole had point blank refused to listen to scary stories, but it was halloween. Scary stories were a must.
"She looked under the bed..."
"I told her not to!" Zoey wailed, covering her face with her hands.
"So what was under the bed?" Asked Logan curiously.
"Nothing." Dana said with a smirk.
"That's not scary!" Complained Dustin.
"The story isn't finished!" Pouted Dana. "Let me tell it!"
"How about not?" Zoey suggested timidly.

"So anyway... she tells herself 'It's just Mickey being stupid' but then... she remembers Mickey's at her boyfriend's house for the night... so she slowly straightens up... and... RAH!" Dana jumped on Zoey. Zoey screamed loudly and gripped onto Chase very tightly. Dana laughed and so did everyone apart from Zoey who was close to tears.
"It's only a story Zoey..." Chase said soothingly, trying not to lose his voice at the fact Zoey Brooks, his long time crush, was cuddling him as though her life depended on it. He slipped one arm around her and rubbed her back. "Only a story."
"Dana I'm gonna kill you tomorrow." She mumbled into his shirt. Dana laughed.
"That is... if you live until tomorrow, bed time." Zoey gave an anguished cry. She reluctantly followed a snickering Dana up to room 101.

Changing her clothes and climbing into bed Zoey shivvered.
"Dana..."
"No, you're NOT climbing in with me ok. And Nicole's on the top bunk. Deal with it." Zoey gave a frightened squeak and glanced under the bed. She screamed. Dana jumped.
"What!" She asked, a little fright in her voice. She hurried over and pulled the stuffed toy from under Zoey's bed and clouted her with it. "It's a TEDDY for gods sakes. Go-to-bed!" Dana growled and threw the toy at Zoey. Zoey watched for the next half an hour as Dana fell asleep. She was terrified. Stupid Halloween! Stupid scary stories! She kept expecting to hear a disembodied voice. Then the storm blew in.

High pressure and the fact that they lived near an ocean coupled together andintensified all storms over PCA. Normally she didn't mind the thunder, but due to the fact she was scared silly, it was just enough to tip her over the edge. Enough was enough. She placed her bare feet on the ground shakily, expecting something to grab her ankles from below the bed. She hurried out of room 101, and down the corridor. She grabbed a spare umbrella and coat from the hallway and ran out into the night. The moon was barely visible among the clouds and she could barely see anything infront of her because of the sheer amount of rain.

She crept into Bradford hall, removed the soaking wet rain coat and hung up the umbrella. She knew where she was headed. She stole silently up the stairs. Barely able to stop herself from screaming when the lightning illuminated her elongated shadow and made it look as though someone was following her. She hammered on room 32. There was no answer, and Zoey was frightened that they were all in bed. She considered knocking again when the door opened.
"Zoey?" Asked Chase in disbelief. His hair was tousled, his eyes were red and he had obviously been awoken by Zoey's knocking. He was wearing only a baggy T-shirt and a pair of boxers.
"Can I come in?" Zoey whispered.
"Sure." He stood aside and switched on the light. She stepped inside and shiverred.
"Dana scared me with her spooky stories... and then there was the storm and... it sounds really stupid but I got so frightened... I ... I panicked." She whispered looking at her feet. It was 2am. Far too late to be disturbing anyone. She felt incredibly guilty.
"It's not stupid." Chase assured her.
"Can I... can I stay the night?" She asked awkwardly.

Chase gulped. On the one hand this was his best friend. She was frightened and he was the only one there for her, of course she should be allowed stay! On the other hand he didn't know how he'd be able to contain himself with Zoey laying a few feet away from him. He nodded.
"Yeah sure..." He squeaked. He grabbed a pillow and a blanket from the cupboard and laid them on the floor for him to sleep on. Zoey deserved the bed.
"Chase can... this is going to sound really stupid but I was sort of hoping... maybe that I could share with you?"
"Share?" Ok, that did it! No way in hell would he be able to keep his thoughts to himself!
"Yeah... the bed's big enough... and I trust you." She told him. "I'm just... I'm really scared and... I could do with... it's stupid." She said again, avoiding his eye. He stood up and threw the blanket and the pillow vaguely in Michael's direction.

"Want me to leave the light on?" He asked. She shook her head.
"I'm fine with the dark." She tried to reassure herself. He slid in beside her. They lay beside each other for a moment, completely rigid and ignoring the other. Zoey terrified of the dark and Chase terrified of Zoey, then it dawned on him. She was frightened. A cuddle wouldn't go amiss... surely? A cuddle between two friends?
"You uh... want to be held right now?" He asked daringly.
"Yeah." She whispered softly. He slid one arm under her waist and brought her closer to him. The other arm slid over her and held her in place. Both of her arms clasped around his waist. He could feel her breathing. He could hear her heart beating. It was almost unbearable. He stroked her back gently.
"It's only a thunder storm," He said soothingly.
"On Halloween..." She added.
"Halloween is just another day on the calendar." He promised her. She buried her head in his chest.
"I hate Halloween." She muttered. He smiled, oblivious to her, it wasn't Halloween anymore. It was November 1st.

"Zoey..." He trailed off.
"What?" She asked sleepily.
"Nothing... nothing." His grasp on her did not relent. Being so close to Zoey, close enough to smell her Cherry Shampoo. Close enough to feel her breath on his chest. Close enough to kiss... it was absolutely impossible. "Zoey... I'm in... I... I love you." He blurted very suddenly, at the same time a large crack of thunder sounded.
"Huh, I didn't hear the question sorry..." She asked sleepily. She didn't believe her ears. Had she heard what she had thought she'd heard?
"Um... nevermind." He mumbled. "Night Zoey..."
"Night." She whispered raising her head and kissing his cheek softly. "Thanks for having me."
"You're welcome. Night..."

For a while after there was silence. Chase was unable to sleep. How many nights had he dreamt about falling asleep beside Zoey? And now she was here. Zoey was scared of the thunder. She wasn't ready to sleep either.
"Chase..." She asked softly, testing to see if he was still awake.
"Yeah?" He was.
"What you said earlier, when the thunder drowned you out..." She trailed off awkwardly.
"Ah I told you, forget it." He closed his eyes, trying to block her out. He would not have this conversation!
"No... I THINK I heard it." She said awkwardly. "But uh... I don't wanna say anything unless I misheard, because I'll seem really stupid."
"It doesn't matter..." Chase promised her. "Drop it?"
"No... Chase tell me?" She pleaded. She heard his heart speed up. Was he as frightened of the thunder as she was?
"Ok... I said..." He took a deep breath. "I love you."
"Oh, well. That makes more sense than what I thought you said." She laughed.
"What... what did you think I said?" He asked curious at what she had believed nonsensical in comparison to 'I love you'
"Zoey, look out above you..." She giggled. "I thought you were trying to scare me."

"No." He mumbled.
"Chase, question." She said eventually.
"Shoot."
"You love me or you're in love with me?" She asked.
"Aren't they the same thing?" He asked cautiously. He was worried that any moment she'd pull out of the embrace and hit him. Or that he'd wake up.
"No. You love me. You love Elvis. You love Dana. We're all friends. You're in love with me... Logan's in love with himself. You understand?"
"Oh then uh... the second one. I'm in love with you." He blushed. He couldn't believe she was being so calm about this. He thanked god he'd not fallen for Dana, who would have belted him, or Nicole who would have screamed very very loudly and ran around yelling it from the rooftops.
"Oh..."

"We uh... have school tomorrow, we should probably get to sleep." He mumbled.
"Chase we should talk about this." She said gently.
"I don't want to." He muttered in annoyance.
"Suit yourself..." She whispered. "Goodnight."

"Morning..." Logan chirped, throwing himself off the bunk. "Woah dude, didn't know you had company." He snickered.
"Shut up." Chase muttered, going to wipe his eyes. Then he saw Zoey. He froze. He remembered everything that had happened last night. Everything that had been said. It was seriously cringe worthy.
"She spend the night?" He asked uncertainly.
"No..." Chase said sarcastically. "She just materialised here, infact I don't even know her name."
"Ok, ok..." He said rolling his eyes. "You wanna get her back to Butler before Dana and Nicole tell Coco she's been eaten by the thing under the bed. You know how girls get."
"I know." Chase nudged Zoey. "Hey, sleeping beauty... time to get up."
"Time s'it?" She asked groggily.
"Time for school, come on... up." He ushered her. She gave a dramatic sigh.
"I suppose I have to." She sat up blearily, looked at Chase for a moment then smiled as she remembered. "Thanks for last night..."
"Like I said, no problem..." He rolled out of bed, grabbed a pillow and hit Michael with it. Logan and Chase snickered as he sat up alert and yelled
"I'm up I'm up!"

"We do that with Dana." Zoey said with a wicked smile. "Only we attack her with water."
"Aw Zoey! Why'd you have to give them ideas!" Michael whined. Then he did a double take. "Zoey?"
"In the flesh..." She smirked. She suddenly felt the statement a little more appropriate. She was scarcely dressed in comparison. It didn't matter when it was 2am and she was running to Chase for help but in the cold light of day it seemed downright wrong. She blushed slightly. She had to get all the way to Butler unnoticed like this.
"Uh..." Michael turned to Chase. "She with you?"
"Yeah..." Chase mumbled, pulling out clothes for him to wear the following day. Zoey watched him for a moment, intrigued. The boy was 'In love' with her, self confessed.
"Chase?" She asked nervously. He didn't look up. "About what you said last night..." She trailed off awkwardly.
"I don't want to talk about it." He muttered.
"Chase! You don't just tell a girl you're in love with her and then ignore her, it's kinda rude."
"You what?" Michael spluttered.
"Dude! You told her!" Logan's eyes widened. Zoey guessed maybe he told them already...which was kinda rude too. Shouldn't she have been the first to know... well second including Chase himself.

"Look Zoey... just drop it ok."
"No I won't drop it." Zoey said slightly haughtily.
"I don't want to talk about it." He whined, still not looking at her.
"Well fine then." She said in the same haughty manner. "We won't talk..." She crossed to him and tugged his short sleeve. He turned around to tell her once again to drop it. She pulled him closer and kissed him very quickly. There was a second of awkward silence and Zoey panicked. She fled. She stumbled over Logan's skateboard and she practically jumped over Chase's guitar. And then she was gone. She careered down the corridors and into the main yard before she even thought of grabbing a coat or the umbrella she'd left behind. There was no need for an umbrella, as the weather was absolutely fine now, all remnants of last nights storm completely forgotten. However she could have done with the coat, as it was November first and 7am.

"Zoey?" Asked Nicole in disbelief. Zoey smiled.
"Ok, where've you been?" Dana questioned, towelling her hair softly. "You've been gone all morning."
"Would you guys believe, that I just kissed Chase Matthews?"
"GROSS!" Screeched Nicole childishly.
"What's so gross about it?" Dana asked in confusion. She thought it was about time. They had been skirting around each other for too long.
"He's Chase... he, and Michael are off limits Zo... you can't kiss them!"
"Hey hold on a minute, why isn't Logan off limits?" Zoey asked curiously. Nicole shrugged.
"He's kinda hot. So why did you kiss Chase?"
"He says he's in love with me." Zoey said with a light blush as she pulled clothes out of her wardrobe. "And I guess... I dunno I sorta like him. Sorta. I'm not ready to say the 'L' word just yet. But maybe soon."
"Aww..." Dana cooed. "Cute, but if you don't want to be late for art you're going to have to move quickly." And she left. Nicole nodded.
"Gotta go... see you Zo." She paused and smiled. "That rhymed."

Zoey was a little late but the art teacher was thankfully merciful. Many Halloween parties appeared to have gone overboard and some of the kids even turned up seemingly hungover
"Sorry." She whispered, sliding into her usual seat between Chase and Dana and across from Logan.
"You're late." Logan added snidely. "I wonder why?"
"I'm not that late, and I was getting dressed." Zoey complained. "It's not my fault."
"Well if a certain someone hadn't shown up in our room at 2am then she wouldn't be having this problem." Logan commented. Zoey blushed.
"Hey leave her alone!" Dana said jumping to her friends defence.
"Yeah, said someone's gonna punch you if you don't be quiet." Zoey didn't need Dana to defend her. She could fight her own battles.
"Is she now?" Logan asked with a smirk. "Chase your girlfriend's teasing me." He whined.
"She's not my girlfriend..." Chase mumbled, etching onto the paper he'd been given.
"Why not?"

Zoey said nothing. Chase said nothing. Dana rolled her eyes.
"For the schools 'hottest' boy you don't know much about romance do you?" She asked.
"I happen to know a lot about romance, actually."
"It's a new relationship. They're shy around each other, they're awkward and it'll be like this for a while." Zoey leaned over and whispered at Chase.
"You think they'd have something better to talk about."
"Yeah... they seem preoccupied with us... weird."
"Hey at least they're not fighting." She added. He nodded.
"So...um... about that kiss earlier..."
"I don't want to talk about it." Zoey knew it was cold but it was what he had done to her.

"Suit yourself..."
"What? Wait... you're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad?" He asked. Zoey pulled a face. He was supposed to get incredibly jealous... why wasn't he getting jealous? Dah! He wasn't normal.
"I dunno... because I'm a hopeless flirt?" She suggested.
"No you're not... you're a good kisser that's what you are." He teased. Zoey blushed furiously.
"Wait a minute... when did I become the victim here?" She asked curiously. Up until a moment ago she had been the one teasing him. Chase shrugged.
"My pumpkin looks like an apple with a face on it." He complained. Zoey reached over and took his hand. She slowly lead his pencil.
"Like this..." He froze at the touch of her hand. She smiled and slid along the bench closer to him. Dana stood up and went to sit beside Logan instead.
"I wanna leave them alone." She whispered to him as he looked at her quizzically. She stared at Logan's picture of Freddy Kruger and then of her own picture of a skull. She hesitated then grabbed his pencil and added a black bow and lipstick. Nobody had said that was forbidden. And it looked cute.

"So..." Zoey said. "What're we?"
"I don't know..."
"Useful isn't it?" She smiled. He nodded.
"Um... I think it's finished..." He muttered looking at his finished pumpkin. Admittedly it didn't look particularly scary but...
"Enough to give a girl nightmares."
"Here's hoping." He teased.

The thunder cracked again and Zoey screeched. Dana threw a pillow at her absently. This time she didn't hesitate in running out into the rain and up to room 32. She knocked on the door shaking in the cold.
"S'open." Chase called. She hurried in and for a moment she just stood there staring at him. The light was off but the bedside lamp was on, making everything glow an ethereal orange. Logan snickered.
"Scared yourself again Brooks?" He asked. She nodded in fright as the thunder cracked again. Chase put down his book and crossed to her. He wrapped his arms around her.
"Zo you're frozen." He gasped.
"Yeah I forgot a coat." She said.
"Come on. Into bed." he ushered her into the bottom bunk. "Before your brother beats me up for letting you get a cold."
"Thanks."

After a few minutes she warmed up. Chase wrapped one arm over her and she took this as an invite. She cuddled closer. He slid his other arm under her and rubbed her back gently. There was a very long silence then Zoey whispered.
"Kiss me." It was a surprising request but Chase complied, placing a butterfly kiss on her expectant lips. She gave a gentle smile and lay her head in the crook of his neck.
"She'd better be gone by morning." Logan said from above.
"I will." Zoey promised.
"Leave when you want Zo, don't listen to him it's a Friday." Zoey checked their clock.
"Saturday." She corrected.
"Saturday." He laughed. As the lightning outside flashed ominously illuminating everything and elongating the shadows, she nuzzled into his shirt, causing him to blush.

"I love you." He whispered again.
"Heard it that time." She said softly.
"I wanna talk now." He said eventually. Zoey shook her head, cutely.
"I don't." She said. He sighed. She traced her hand up his stomach, causing him to shiver. She ran her fingers up along his chest on top of his shirt. He got jolts up his spine. She stopped at his collarbone, slowly drawing circles up his neck. He closed his eyes. How could she tease him like this? Her hand snaked around the back of his neck and she pulled him closer kissing him, a lot deeper than the first two times. He was shocked but didn't argue.

"No need for words." She whispered gently. He smiled softly and ran the back of his fingers down her cheek.
"Good." He leaned across and kissed her again.
"You know what..." She said, pleased with the kiss. "Dana should scare me more often."

A/n: Just a fluffy little oneshot. Reviews are welcome