a/n: After a few months, Zut Alors and I have finally released the first chapter of our joint fic. Just for some background info, it takes place while Dana is in school, and then jumps forward to when Chase moves to England. We had been talking about it, and honestly, who's to say Dana wasn't at Covington as well? We're aware that HerNameIsErika had a similar idea, but this will be very different.

Yes, it is about Dana and Chase. If you have a problem with that, why are you reading it?

Disclaimer: We don't own Zoey 101 and all associated works and products.

A frustrated and slightly depressed Chase Matthews walked around campus aimlessly, wondering why he, of all people, had to have the crappiest luck in the world. He was going to tell Zoey he liked her; okay, he was always going to tell Zoey he liked her, but this time he meant it. Too bad that stupid kid, who didn't even know Zoey like he did, got there first. He was pissed, but he knew how it would go: they would go on a date, Zoey would decide she didn't like the guy, break it off, and come running back to Chase. She always did. It didn't really matter to Chase; appreciated any time with Zoey, but he was starting to feel a little used nonetheless. And, okay, he was in eighth grade and dating wasn't the serious thing most people thought it was, but it still hurt.

His friends were cool; he and Michael had been tight since sixth grade, and Logan was, well, Logan. He had been getting used to his new life, and then girls came to PCA. Chase wasn't going to lie; he really liked the fact that girls were here. Especially during spring, when there were miniskirts. He wasn't complaining.

But now there was competition between the guys to see who could get the girls. And Zoey was the one they usually went after. The very thought of her with another guys made Chase's blood boil. How could he be so close, but so far? It wasn't fair.

He was so caught up in his own self-pity that he almost missed the sight of a girl crying by the field. What the heck? he thought to himself. Most students were usually in their dorms about now. On any other night Chase would be in his dorm, too. I should probably just leave. That's what he was going to do, until he realized the girl was Dana. Dana "Danger" Cruz. The girl so tough guys were scared to admit they thought she was hot, Chase included. If anyone saw her cry, Chase had a good feeling they wouldn't live to tell the tale. It was the smartest thing to walk away, and that's what he was about to do when he heard her say something.

"I know it's you, Chase. You don't have to just stand there."

Now he had to talk to her. He was fourteen, and immature, and humiliated by his crush on Zoey, but he wasn't an idiot. If he didn't talk to Dana, not only would he be the world's biggest prick and look really dumb, but he would betray Dana' trust and really hurt her feelings. He was also a little curious; he hadn't often seen Dana display her emotions. She usually kept them fiercely guarded, hidden by her cold and indifferent exterior. Chase knew she wasn't one of the bitchy girls, however tough she seemed; the fact that she had saved his dog from the pound while risking expulsion was enough to prove she at least cared about something other than herself, which is more than he could say for some people (Logan being the equivalent of some people). Zoey hadn't taken the risk, although they were best friends; no, Dana was the one to help him out. Plus, when Zoey thought she liked Logan, Dana didn't seem that pissed. Maybe she wasn't all that angry in comparison to how Chase felt, but he never saw Dana get angry. It was actually kind of weird, when he thought about it.

"Hey, Dana," Chase said softly, taking a few steps closer, praying he wasn't making a huge mistake. What if she started talking about feelings? He didn't know if he could take that kind of stuff, especially from Dana. He had an inkling she'd end up talking about drugs, or domestic abuse, or something like that.

Okay, so he was tad dramatic. But seriously, who knew what she was going to talk about?

"Hey," she replied, in an unusually flat voice.

"What're you doing out here? It's nine o'clock." Although it was still very warm in California into late October, right now the temperatures of late September were gradually cooling, and Chase could feel a slight breeze, making it almost a little chilly.

"I could ask you the same question," Dana said, turning to face him as he sat down near her. "It's Zoey, isn't it?" The attitude returned to her voice, but only just slightly. Chase reddened.

"How 'bout you go first?" he offered, hoping she would change the subject.

"Seriously? Chase, why do you like her? You deserve so much better."

"Hey! Don't say that about her. You don't know her like I do." Dana raised an eyebrow at his defensive tone.

"Oh, but I do. I do." She paused for a moment. The expression on her face implied that she knew something, but didn't want to say it. "She's my roommate. I know more than you think."

Again there was a silence. Chase didn't really know what to say.

"Look, this might be hard for you to hear, but I think you need to hear it. You know Zoey is never shy. She always goes after the guy she likes. Don't you think you'd know if she really cared?" The biting edge was back, and her words were venomous.

"Hey! That's not fair to either of us, Dana, and you know it."

"Yeah? Well life's not fair, is it?"

"Why do you even care? It's not affecting you. Why don't you go off and make out with Logan?" The second the words came out of his mouth, he regretted them. For a moment, he literally believed Dana was going to strangle him. He had touched a nerve, and a particularly sensitive one at that. Instead, her eyes flashed with anger, and her face crumpled, and just when Chase thought she was going to cry, she regained her composure.

"Chase, we're sort of friends, right?" she asked quietly. Chase really wanted to say no, not really, but felt it inappropriate.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, going along with her.

"Then, I'm just trying to do my job as your friend by trying to protect you from getting hurt before I leave." Her words hung in the air, like stones pressed upon the chest of the conversation.

"What do you mean, before you leave?" he asked cautiously.

"It's a long story," she said, glancing away.

"I didn't come out here for the short version." She sighed, but began speaking nonetheless.

"Well, I don't know if you know this, but my family's from France," she said, sniffling a little.

"Seriously? But you're Spanish," Chase replied, puzzled.

"My dad's Spanish, but my mom's French."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I've lived in the U.S. all my life, but my older sister hasn't. She used to live in France, with my mom and dad, before I was born."

"What's her name?"

"Ay, díos mío! Why does it matter?"

"I was just wondering. Jeez."

"It's Camille."

"That's nice."

"Whatever."

"Anyways, go one."

"Well, Camille is like, the uber-perfect, amazingly fantastic daughter, and the favorite of the family. She gets everything she wants, and in private she always lords it over me, like I'm supposed to be impressed."

"Well, that really sucks."

"Yeah. You have no idea how great you only children have it."

"Okay. But what does this have to do with leaving PCA?"

"My sister randomly decided she wanted to go to school in France. She hasn't even gotten in to any universities, but she wants to go. So of course my parents say yes, and not only is she leaving, but my parents decided to relocate the whole frickin' family!" She started crying again, though it was clear she was trying to fight it.

"Dana, I'm so sorry. That's not fair to you at all."

"I finally start to make friends and actually enjoy school, and my parents take me away to France with no warning at all? Damn right it's not fair!" This was making Chase uncomfortable. He wanted to make her feel better, but he wasn't sure how. He took the risk of getting the crap beat out of him and put an arm around Dana's shoulders. Surprisingly, she didn't claw his eyes out, but instead leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I know this has to majorly suck, but the gang'll understand. I mean, I'll still talk to you, even when you leave, and Nicole will most definitely call you, and you know Logan won't let you get away that easily." Dana smiled through her tears, and for the first time Chase noticed she looked pretty when she smiled. "When do you leave, anyway?"

"At the end of the year."

"Oh...that's not that far off."

"Did Chase Matthews just imply he'll miss me?" she asked sarcastically, but with a lighter tone.

"Well, I wouldn't say that, but..." Dana shoved him. "Kidding! Kidding." She leaned back so her head was leaning on his shoulder once more.

"Hey Chase? Would you mind not saying anything to anyone? I kinda want to tell them myself."

"No worries. I'd feel weird for saying something."

"And Chase?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Look, it's really not a big deal."

"Maybe not to you, but it meant a lot to me."

"Hey, we'd better get going if we wanted to make curfew."

Igonoring the questions of his roommates when he finally got back to his room that night, Chase just sat and thought about the conversation he had had with Dana. It was a completely different side of her that he had never seen of her before, and he wondered if she had ever acted like that around her roommates. He doubted it, and he rather enjoyed thinking that he was her confidante. No one had ever trusted him with secrets before.

For the first time in a long time, the klutzy eighth-grader fell asleep thinking of something other than Zoey.

The next day at breakfast, while Zoey and Nicole were flirting with some random guys, Dana discreetly passed him a note.

thanks for hanging out with me last night. Do you think we could do it again? Same time, same place.

When he met up with her later that night, she was already waiting for him. That night was first in a series of months where Chase and Dana sat and really talked. Sure, they covered their bases, like school, Zoey, and other campus gossip, but their conversations ran deeper. Chase had conversations with Dana that he had never had with anyone else. He was surprised at how deep they were. Chase couldn't recall conversations with other people that revolved around transcendentalist-esque topics, or debating over politics and whether society determines morals or vice verse. For the first time, Chase found himself actually really thinking. He found himself looking forward to talking with Dana, to see how she would react to his views on animal testing. Her eyes would sparkle if she laughed, her brow would wrinkle if she was concentrating...

The only thing that interrupted these talks was Zoey. At first, Chase jumped at any chance that arose when he could spend time with Zoey, but as he continued to choose Zoey over Dana, he saw how Dana reacted, and it made him confused. Her face would fall, and she would try to hold back her disappointment as she replied, sure, go have fun with Zoey, she didn't mind, really. Zoey's reaction to Chase not being around was almost indifferent, but when Chase had to be there, it was almost as if he had no choice.

Chase tried to justify spending more time with Dana by the fact that she was leaving soon, that she needed him there for moral support, or anything else, but it soon became clear that he had feelings for her, even if they were nothing compared to how he felt for Zoey. He finally admitted the possibility to himself a week before she left, which pained him to no end. This always seemed to be his luck. He was determined to make those last few days count, no matter what.

They spent longer than ever at their spot, as it came to be known, even under risk of punishment. At this point, Chase really didn't care, as long as he got to be with Dana. However, despite their attempts to make her last days as long as possible, her last day had finally approached. They hadn't gotten to see a lot of each other, because to spend too much time together would cause suspicion, and they liked having their little secret meetings. It would seem wrong for everyone else to come. As soon as they had their free time they gave their friends the slip and snuck off. Each had a thousand things they wanted to say, but for once they were at a loss for words. They sat much in the same way that thy did the first night; Chase's arm around Dana's shoulders, Dana's head resting on Chase's shoulder.

"Hey Chase?" Dana finally broke the silence.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I have my new address, if you want it." They broke away only long enough to retrieve Dana's address. To Chase, something about it carried an air of closure, or the end of something, and the end wasn't something he wanted to think about right at that moment.

But Dana did.

"Can you promise me something?" she asked, turning to face him.

"It kinda depends on what you ask."

"I'm really serious here."

"I know."

"Look, I just have something I need to say, so hear me out, alright?"

"Dana, I'm listening. It's okay."

"I know you like Zoey, okay?"

"That's seriously all you wanted to tell me?" Chase interrupted.

"No! Will you listen to me for five seconds?" she cried in exasperation. "Look, I used to have a big problem with your crush on Zoey, because, well, I had a crush on you," Dana was blushing, and Chase had a sudden impulse to reach out and feel if her cheeks were as warm as they looked. "But I know you really like Zoey, a lot, and I just want you to tell her. Because as much as I want you to be happy with me, I just want you to be happy," she said, and Chase could see tears brimming. "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but..."

Chase looked at her for a long moment before responding. "You don't always have to be the tough one."

For the millionth time, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, one he hoped seemed comforting. Suddenly, even more quickly than a lightning bolt touching down and striking, Chase realized his feelings for Dana were not ones he could brush aside. They were so much stronger than he had thought before. He removed his arms from around her, and lifted her face so it was close to his, so close their foreheads were almost touching. Slowly but surely, their lips met and Chase Matthews and Dana Cruz were kissing. It was quite short, and entirely chaste, but it was Chase's first kiss, and he doubted he would forget it. Both teenagers broke away, smiling.

"Promise me you'll never forget me," Chase whispered, barely audible.

"I couldn't if I tried."

The next day, as Chase flew home for Summer Break, he thought about every moment he had ever spent with Dana. The thought of never seeing him again tore at him. Fro the next week, he couldn't sleep or eat without thinking of her. He had missed his chance with someone he hadn't gotten to know until it was too late, and he wasn't sure if he would ever find her again.

Gradually, as the weeks passed, Chase forced himself to forget about Dana in order to maintain his sanity. He became so good at forgetting, he quickly fell for Zoey again, this time even harder. He became Zoey's boy toy and carried on as normal. But sometimes, when he was with Logan and Michael and they thought about their old roommates, he felt a pain in his heart at the sound of Dana's name.

"Zoey's leaving?"

"I want you to go."

"If you had told her to stay, Zoey would still be here!"

"I'm in love with her."

All of the events of the past few days circled in his mind, on constant repeat. Zoey, the one girl he truly loved, had left for England, and it was all his fault. God, why did he feel this sense of deja vú? His memories of Zoey forced their way through Chase's mind, like some sort of cliché montage. Just when he thought it was through, his subconscious brought forth the image of Dana, teary-eyed, telling him she wanted him to be happy.

Chase knew he was going to England. He had messed up once, he wasn't going to let it happen again.

"Oh, Hello! You must be… Dana! That's right. Dana. Got to remember that. Too many roommates for me to handle, just too many!" rambled a seemingly scatter-brained brunette, while taking Dana's bags into the dorm.

Dana giggled at her new roommate's attempt to help her. She may have only known her for a few seconds, but she knew she liked this girl.

"Here, slow down. I'll help! They are my bags, after all…"

"Oh yes, of course. I'm Tabitha, by the way. Sorry I didn't introduce myself sooner." They had finally made it into the dorm, and had set Dana's bags onto the empty bed. "So, where are you coming from?"

"France, to be exact, but America before that, California. I've pretty much hopped around boarding schools the past couple of years."

"You're talking about hopping around boarding schools! The girl that was in here before this wasn't here for two months before she shipped herself back to Malibu looking for some boy! And wouldn't you know it! Not a day after she leaves that very same guy she's looking for shows up at this dorm!" Tabitha told the story with exasperation. Dana could see how stressful it must have been to deal with this situation. "Now the poor the poor boy is stuck here for the rest of the year, while the love of his life is back in America! And don't even get me started on the girl before that! Now, that girl was bizarre!"

While unpacking Dana and Tabitha, who insisted she not call her Tabby, because that made her sound like a cat, talked about their lives here and there and everywhere. Tabitha told the lively story of the roommate before the Malibu girl, who got kicked out for doing "naughty things", as Tabitha had called them.

Dana could have only imagined the things this girl had done.

After the girls had successfully unloaded Dana's baggage, Tabitha insisted she get a private tour of campus. She was introduced to a million faces, some of which Tabitha told her she liked, and others she…well, didn't.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Dana said, after her and her new roommate had gotten some food after the extensive tour of Covington. "I need paperwork from the Dean, can we stop at the office before we go back to our dorm?"

Tabitha got up, throwing away her empty plate, and Dana following, "Sure, do you remember where the office is?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Dana gave a shy smile, and Tabitha returned it.

"Well then let's go!" and then they were off, Dana following closely on the Brit's tail."

"This is it!" Tabitha declared as they reached the office. A tall, somewhat gangly looking boy with black bushy hair was speaking in an urgent, frustrated tone. Fro a second, Dana thought she knew him, but convinced herself it wasn't possible. She had given up on seeing him again a long time ago.

"Please, you have to switch me. If I hear Colin talk again I'm going to strangle him, and then we'd have an international murder case!" he exclaimed, exasperated. His American accent was the clincher, and it dawned on Dana that this was the boy she had thought of daily for the last few years.

"Oh my God," she breathed. Tabitha looked over at her with a puzzled expression.

"Everything alright?" Dana nodded in reply.

"Chase," she whispered. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Chase," she called out. The boy turned, and he almost took her breath away.

Damn. He got hot, she thought to herself. Chase stared at her for a few seconds before a grin lit up his face and he called out in reply.

"Dana!" He began to make his way over, but then tripped over his untied shoelaces.

Dana knew this year would be great.

a/n: reviewing would pretty much make our lives...