Author's Note: This story is what it would be like if Chase and Rebecca stayed together. As always, I am happy for reviews or criticisms or suggestions. I haven't written or published anything in a while and I may be a little out of practice. This is the first story I've published since my break up in January, and it is a step on my journey to healing. Thank you so much for reading. I may add another chapter or two if I feel so inspired. If you would like me to continue the story, please let me know!

"Zoey! Come on, would you stop for a second?" Lola and Quinn were hurrying after their best friend and roommate. As she turned left, storming out of Sushi Rox toward her residence hall, Quinn managed to snake a hand around her wrist and pull her up short.

Furious, Zoey wheeled around and pulled away from Quinn's grip. Quinn and Lola gasped and took a step back from the anger blazing in Zoey's eyes. Seeing the shock in her best friends' eyes, Zoey hung her head. Breathing in deep, Zoey was always pleasantly surprised by the sweet smell of salt in the air on campus. She always loved the beach; it had a calming effect on her. "Look, guys, I'm sorry. To tell you the truth, I'm having a hard time being around Chase right now. I just need to get some air, okay?"

"Chase is your best guy friend. What happened?" Lola's eyebrows were knitted together, blissfully ignorant of the pain her friend was in.

"I'll tell you about it later, okay? I really just want to take a walk for awhile. But I'll see you back at the dorm." With a small smile to reassure her friends, however false, she turned her back and walked away.

Michael, along with Chase and Logan, sat in silence. His silence, however, was not stunned at Zoey's uncharacteristic behavior. Minutes before, Chase had been telling the gang about this hole-in-the-wall film noir cinema Rebecca and he had stumbled onto last Saturday. Rebecca had warmed up to the group after her and Chase's argument about Zoey. They had come up with a compromise: every Friday night was gang night, and Saturdays were for couple time, and Chase was never, ever to hang out with Zoey alone.

Chase, in his two-month anniversary bliss, hadn't noticed the effect his decision had on Zoey. Michael, on the other hand, had all the time in the world to observe the changes in Zoey. Since Rebecca and Chase had solidified their relationship by surviving their first big argument, they were spending massive amounts of time together. Michael had become the third wheel; whenever Michael asked Chase to go see a movie, or have dinner or study together, Rebecca always came too. It had gotten to the point, where Michael stopped asking, and the only time Michael saw Chase without his girlfriend was right before they all went to bed.

It was no secret that the group didn't feel terribly happy about Chase's relationship, but Zoey had stepped in on his account.

One Saturday night, in the girls' lounge, Logan, Michael, Lola, Quinn, Dustin and Zoey were having a classic horror movie marathon. Chase and Rebecca were at the Malibu Aquarium for the day.

"I wish Chase was here," Dustin whispered as Logan was changing the DVD. The credits for Boris Karloff's The Mummy had just rolled out, and Logan and Lola were out voted 4 to 2 for The Night of the Living Dead vs. Psycho. Logan ruffled Dustin's hair as he walked by to take his place on the couch between Lola and Quinn, knowing how much Dustin looked up to Chase.

"He really misses out on some great nights," Quinn said "It's not the same ever since Rebecca came to PCA."

"I still don't like her," Lola sniffed, eyes focused on the opening credits. As zombies shuffled onto the screen, she reiterated her opinion on Rebecca. "She's stuck up, and she has no respect for how it was before she got here and –"

"Stop, Lola." Zoey cautioned, sensing a full-on rant coming on. "Chase is happy with Rebecca, and we need to support him. He is happy, and he still hangs out with us every Friday Let's not make it complicated."

The rest of the night, Zoey was quiet. Michael was sitting next to her, where she had her arm around Dustin, and her face was as blank as the zombies on the screen.

Ever since that night, Michael noticed how quiet she became around Chase, or whenever he was mentioned. She never came to hang out in their room after basketball practice anymore. In the classes she had with Chase, she moved to the front to sit by Quinn. It was concerning, but her face brightened and smile widened whenever she was away from Chase, and Michael didn't want to bring it up, he didn't want to exacerbate her pain.

When Zoey had stormed away from her spicy California roll, and her five friends that night, Michael decided it was time to talk to his friend. As Lola and Quinn walked back in and solemnly sat at their table, Chase finally noticed something was wrong.

"Hey, is Zo okay?" He was still staring at the door Zoey had slammed a few moments ago. Quinn looked up and fixed him with a glare.

"Chase, why don't you ask her? It's not like you've done anything to help the last three months." Quinn was practically snarling, but Logan unexpectedly put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her a little closer. Chase looked stunned at this outburst, turning to Michael with deer-in-the-headlights eyes.

Shaking his head, Michael stood up. "I really have to work on this extra credit assignment for Mr. Bender. I bombed his last test. I'll see you guys later, okay?" He knew it was a lame excuse, but he had to catch up with Zoey.

Everyone knew Zoey loved the beach. The gang is convinced she was a mermaid in a past life. When Michael found her on Bonfire Beach, about a half-hour's walk from PCA's campus, he wasn't surprised. She had left her shoes along the boardwalk and was walking barefoot in the sand. Pulling off his shoes, he set them next to Zoey's, shoving his socks down inside them. He jogged over to where Zoey was, making sure not to sneak up on her.

"Hey Zo." Her hair was falling around her face, and he couldn't see her eyes. "I know Chase is hurting you. I also know that he doesn't know he's doing it."

"Does that make it forgivable?" Zoey was barely speaking, but she turned toward Michael, and he saw the tears brimming.

"No, it doesn't. But it is harder for him to make it up to you if he doesn't know he has something to make up for. Communication is key, Zo. That's what my mama always told me, and she and my dad just celebrated their 22nd anniversary. Whenever she gets upset with him, she sits him down and tells him. It's the only way he knows exactly what's wrong and how to make it better." Michael knew not everyone had the same experience with their parents, but he had never seen a better pair.

"Michael, what Rebecca said…it's fucking haunting me. I hear it every time I look at Chase. It's unbearable." Zoey dragged her hands through her hair, blowing out a forceful breath. "She's right, I mean, I had my chance to be with Chase. The problem is that I didn't even know I liked him! And now he's with skunkbag Rebecca, and I can't say anything at all."

"Why can't you say anything?"

"I can't screw up his happiness! That would make me, like, the worst best girl friend ever. His face fucking lights up when he talks about Rebecca, and she'll rip him a new one if I look at him for than 2.5 seconds." Without warning, Zoey plopped onto the sand, putting her head between her knees.

Michael sat down next to her, and wove his fingers together, holding his knees toward his chest. "Zo, Chase would hate to know that you are in pain. He cares about you. You have to tell him, because you can't keep torturing yourself."

"But Michael, I can't tell him I like him. It would-"

"I'm not saying tell him you like him. You don't need to say anything about that. I'm saying tell him that the distance between you two is hurting you, which is true, isn't it?" He looked at Zoey, and she wouldn't look at him for a minute, but when she felt his gaze, she looked over. She knew he was right; it didn't do any good to bury this. She had to stick up for herself, the way she always stuck up for her friends, the way she stuck up for Chase and Rebecca.

Sighing, she stood up and brushed the sand off her shorts. The sun was low, and setting fast. The water shone orange and red with every passing moment. "Better do this now, I guess." Leaving Michael to enjoy the sunset, she strode off back toward PCA.

Zoey Brooks was not afraid of confrontation. She was a leader. Her friends looked to her for guidance. Her brother looked up to her for good examples. But right now, standing outside Chase's dorm room door, Zoey had never wanted to run away more in her entire life. In most confrontations, she had nothing to lose. Now, she risked losing what little friendship she had left with Chase.

That was gut-wrenchingly, nauseatingly terrifying.

Before she could think about it too much, she rapped on Chase's door three times, a little louder than she had meant to. The sound jump started her heart, now beating much too fast.

The door opened, with a very ready-for-bed Chase, in his pajama pants and long sleeve gray thermal. Zoey smiled. One night, when she had forgotten her key and was locked out of her room, she and Chase and sat in his dorm room playing Would You Rather until one of her roommates returned. She was shivering, it was December and the heating was busted all over campus. Chase grabbed the gray thermal off his bed and let her wear it. It was two sizes too big and six inches too long, and it smelled like Chase. When she stood up, Chase giggled because it was practically a dress. She had joked she could put a belt around it and look super cute. He had smiled his big lopsided smile at her, and she felt warm under his gaze. He let her keep it for the walk back to her dorm. The next day, she lied and said she had put it in her hamper to wash for him, as a thank you. For the next four days, she slept with it on, feeling enveloped by Chase as she fell asleep.

The time between that moment and now had changed pretty much everything between Zoey and Chase. She hadn't seen the inside of his dorm room since that first day at the beginning of the semester, when she first met Rebecca. Zoey's heart squeezed at all the happy memories she could have made in here the past three months, if only Chase didn't pick Rebecca over her.

Chase didn't smile at her. He had one hand hooked over the top of the door, and the other hand stretched across, hand on the doorjamb. "Hey Zoey. What are you doing here?"

She took in a breath, pausing long enough to make it awkward. "I was wondering if we could talk." Biting her lip, she was anxious for his answer. Chase looked around, though there was no one in the hallway.

"Sure, Zo. Come on in." She followed him in, and shut the door softly. "What's up." It wasn't a question.

"Look, Chase, we never really talked about anything after that night you told me Rebecca didn't want you talking to me." She dove in, knowing if she took her time, she would never have the courage to say any of this. "I know Rebecca is important to you, and she makes you really happy. And I meant what I said, that the most important thing to me is your happiness." She looked up for the first time, and Chase was gazing at her. It shocked her, and her mouth popped open. She gaped for a moment, trying regain her train of thought, thinking she surely looked like a fish out of water.

"I just wanted to say that I feel really hurt. You chose Rebecca over me and you and I can't hang out together and I feel like I can't even look at you because if Rebecca gets mad at you it will be my fault. You're my best friend, Chase, and I lost you and it wasn't even my fault." Zoey's eyes were burning.

"Zoey, I'm sorry." He stood up from where he was perched on the edge of his bed. "I know we were best friends." Zoey flinched at the past tense. "But Rebecca…she's my girlfriend. And the truth is, I think I'm in love with her."

Zoey was dumbstruck. She didn't care that her mouth was wide open at his declaration. Just a few months ago, Lola and Quinn were convinced chase was in love with her, and now he was telling her he was in love with this horrible control freak.

"You're in love….with…Rebecca…" It was meant to be a statement, but it came out sounding like a question.

"Yes, Zoey, I am. I haven't told her yet, but I am. And I need to put our relationship first. We came up with the Friday night compromise, so it's not like I'll never see you again. But we aren't best friends anymore."

Nodding slowly, Zoey wrapped her arms around herself. "Okay, Chase. I'm happy for you." She turned quickly, and walked out of Chase's room.

Zoey was blindsided. This was the complete opposite of what she expected from that conversation. She couldn't go back to her room and fall apart in front of Lola and Quinn. She was not up to that conversation right now, not to mention trying to keep Quinn from blasting anyone with her freakish ray gun. She spotted the door to the roof, and ran toward it.

Three things were happening simultaneously.

Lola, Quinn, Logan and Michael were roaming PCA's campus, frightened, because they couldn't find Zoey.

Chase was on his bed, knees pulled up to his chest, wondering why he lied to Zoey.

Zoey was up on the roof of the boys' dorm roof, watching the moon light up the water of Bonfire Beach.