A/N: Well I'm really sorry for the long wait for this update. I took a break on all of my stories except the one, because I didn't have a lot of time to begin with and I was so obsessed with my other story that I just began to work on it entirely and never these other ones. Anyways, this week (its Monday June 19th) is my last week of school, and I have exams. So on Tuesday I won't get to work on this at all, I'll be too busy studying, but the rest of the week I should get to since my other classes I don't have to study for— I mean, PE and a computer class? Puh-leeze. Anyways, please review, I know I dropped off the updating planet for awhile, but I am back and it was mostly school stuff.

Disclaimer: Again, not mine.

Hanging By A Moment

EilayAdnayVolieay

Chapter Four: Confusion

Zoey played the song again, twice. It didn't make sense... how could Chase love her? Was this all some big practical joke he was playing on her?

No. She realized. Chase isn't like that, and... it does make sense. All of it. At least, it explains things. But what doesn't make sense is... WHY he would like me. Now I know why he didn't want to tell me. This is something that could easily ruin any friendship. But... I won't let it. Oh really? The evil voice asked, snickering. How do you intend to stop it from ruining your friendship? Things will be much more awkward now. The voice added. Zoey groaned and held her head in her hands, shutting her eyes. Even so... I promised him, and I won't break that promise. I'll talk to him about it, so we aren't awkward about this. Zoey decided. She stood up and headed for the guys washroom, then stopped. Oh boy... this is exactly what Chase said I would do. I guess he knows me better than I thought. Oh, Chase... why did I have to keep asking you what the message said? Now... things might never be the same. She grabbed her sleeping bag, dragged it into girls washroom, then stopped. She walked to the guys washroom, dragging Chase's sleeping bag.

"I... I brought your sleeping bag, and... good night," she replied finally. She received no response, but she decided that was understandable. She quietly closed the door, and headed back for the girls washroom. Once Chase was sure that she was gone, he left the stall and grabbed the sleeping bag, sighing. Now, Zoey knew. At least she had been true to her word... she hadn't asked him any questions. He was relieved to see that, and he crawled up in his sleeping bag, thinking about how much more confusing things were about to become. No longer could he laugh it off if he did something that would make Zoey think he liked her— after all, now she knew he did. There were no more secrets between the two of them. Part of him wished she was a bit more smart and that she had figured it out on her own. At least then he wouldn't have to embarrass himself by making her listen to what had to be the most mushy song ever. Zoey... why did I have to tell you? I'm glad there are no secrets, and it feels great to have it off my chest, but... now I'm more confused than ever. Chase fell asleep, but he tossed and turned throughout the night, dreaming of Zoey rejecting him, dreaming that she told him they couldn't be friends. It wasn't until he dreamt that Zoey was confessing her own feelings for him, and leaning in closer to him for a kiss, that he rested peacefully. When morning came, he would forget he had even had the dream...

—

Nicole tossed and turned as she tried to get comfortable to go to sleep, but she felt guilty. Chase and Zoey were mad at each other, and true, in most cases talking was the best way to resolve things, but maybe it was too soon. Perhaps they'd end up even more mad at each other than ever, or perhaps they'd remain mad at each other, but also at her. I can't have them mad at me! I don't deal well with people being angry at me, I mean I'm a cheerful person and if people are mad at me, I get sad and if I get sad I look ugly and then nobody wants to talk to me. Nicole thought. She knew nobody else would want to let Chase and Zoey out of Sushi Rox... she was all alone in this. She grabbed the key, which Lola had taken from Logan, claiming she didn't trust him, and slipped on some flip flops. Then, as quietly as she could, she walked outside to Sushi Rox, and unlocked the door. The lights were off, and there was nobody in the main sitting room. Shouldn't they be here? Nicole thought, looking around. She saw a door open a crack, and pushed it open further. She saw urinals lining up along the wall, and frowned, grossed out. Ew! I can't believe guys go to the washroom like that... in FRONT of each other! She thought. She walked over to Chase, and shook him until he woke.

Chase, believing Zoey had changed her mind and come to tell him that their friendship was ruined forever and that she demanded answers, refused to open his eyes.

"Zoey, I told you, I'm not talking to you. Now that you know how I feel, its too... weird... right now." he replied, turning over. Nicole flicked the end of his nose, and he jumped up, holding it. "Uh, ow!" Chase replied. Nicole rolled her eyes.

"Oh come off it, it didn't hurt that much. And I'm not Zoey, either. So, you told her how you feel?" Nicole asked. Chase backed away quickly.

"I... no, what are you talking about?" he asked, playing stupid. Nicole rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, dragging him to a standing position.

"Zoey was the only one who didn't notice you liked her, well okay I didn't notice either until Lola pointed it out to me the first day she was here, but still, Zoey's the only one who didn't know. Are you... blushing?" she asked, noticing Chase's face turn a deep shade of red. He shook his head furiously, but his face turned an even brighter colour.

"N-n-no." he replied. "I, uh... was it that obvious?" he asked, a hint of defeat in his voice. Nicole nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I'm a little slow sometimes but the signs were obvious once they were pointed out to me. Listen, you leave first... but if anyone asks, you guys snuck out through a window or something. The ones in the bathroom don't lock, even though it looks like it, so its not so far-fetched. I'll go get Zoey, and... well, just go." Nicole replied. Chase nodded and ran out of the bathroom, out of Sushi Rox, and towards his dorm. When he saw Logan and Michael, he was going to kill them... both of them, until they were begging for mercy.

Nicole walked into the girls washroom and saw Zoey, sitting and leaning against the wall. She seemed to be lost in a deep thought, or at least, she was far from sleeping. Poor Zoey... poor Chase. I wonder if Zoey feels the same? I hope she does, they'd make such an adorable couple! Of course, that's if Chase ever talks to Zoey after this. Nicole thought. Just as she began approaching, Zoey looked up, and glared at her.

"Came finally, did you?" she asked. "I bet you all had a great laugh about this, locking us up in here. Now what, come to rub it in our faces?" Zoey asked. She hugged herself and stared at the floor, determined not to look anywhere near Nicole's face. If she did, she'd likely forgive her in a split second, and she didn't want that. She was determined to remain mad at her and the others if at all possible.

"I felt bad about locking you here. According to Chase, who thought it was you coming in to talk, he told you finally how he felt. How did he... I mean, he's been so nervous about the entire thing for so long. Did he just come out and say it?" Nicole asked. Zoey didn't answer, but instead stood up and walked out of the bathroom. Nicole followed, and Zoey turned on the song Chase had told her to play. Nicole was silent, all the way through it, until it was over and Zoey had turned it off.

"He told me to listen to this song, and not to talk to him, until he came to me again. He said... he needed time alone." Zoey replied. "I... was I the only one who didn't know? Even you knew, Nicole?" she asked. Nicole looked down at the ground and nodded.

"We all knew," she replied. "Chase didn't tell us, or anything," she replied quickly. "We just... figured it out. Well okay I didn't, but it was obvious once Lola pointed out the signs to me. I think its really cute, and it makes sense why he was always so different around you." Nicole added. Zoey looked up.

"He was different around me?" she asked. Nicole nodded, and Zoey sat in one of the chairs at the table. "I didn't even know one of my best friends..." she replied sadly. Nicole shrugged and immediately attempted to cheer her up.

"You knew him, he just didn't tell you that he liked you. That's... different," Nicole replied finally. "I know what would cheer you up— chocolate cake. Let's go eat some cake." she replied. Zoey looked over at Nicole sadly.

"I thought you were banning cake from your diet forever?" Zoey asked. Nicole waved her hand in the air impatiently.

"That doesn't matter, you're sad, so I'll eat cake with you. Come on, we'll eat cake, give Chase some space and before you know it, he'll be acting as if he never told you this." Nicole replied. She grabbed Zoey's hand and dragged her outside.

"But Nicole," Zoey replied suddenly, "it's still really late out. We'll get in trouble for being out of bed past curfew." Nicole grabbed Zoey's arm and dragged her towards the school.

"Not in our dorm, we won't. We still have chocolate cake there that you took from Dustin because he was too hyper for any more. Besides, all the teachers are already in bed, they don't expect anyone to be up now. It's like two in the morning!" Nicole exclaimed. Zoey sighed and followed her up the stairs and she was just about to go into the building when she saw a light on in Chase's dorm, and he was standing at the window staring into space. Chase...

Once they were back inside the dorm, Zoey sat down on her bed and stared at a spot on the sheets for several minutes. Nicole finally brought over a piece of chocolate cake, but Zoey just glanced at it and put it down. She walked over to her own window, and stared out at the grounds of PCA. Chase, how could you like me?

—

The next morning, Chase was awaken by a shout from Michael and Logan. He sat up in his bed, glaring at them. He remembered how Nicole had told him to say that they had gotten out through the windows. If Michael and Logan didn't believe him, he'd just have to come up with some other lie so that Nicole wouldn't be found out. At least she had felt bad and came back, the rest of them had intended on leaving them in Sushi Rox the entire night if they had to. Chase got up and began grabbing clothes from his drawers. Finally, Logan came over to him, and spoke.

"Hey, Chase... so, uh, where were you last night?" he asked. Chase glared at him.

"In Sushi Rox, which you all know. We had to get out through the windows, which apparently only look like their locked." Chase added. Logan turned to Michael and punched him in the arm.

"I told you they'd figure that out! Why couldn't we have just locked the windows?" Logan asked.

"Because then you can't unlock it, last time they got locked Kazu had to replace the windows," Michael replied, rubbing his now sore arm. "That hurt..." he muttered, glaring at Logan. Logan punched him again.

"Stop whining! So, did you and Zoey at least talk, or was that entirely pointless as well?" Logan asked. At the mention of Zoey's name, Chase stared down at the ground. Zoey... I told her how I felt. Was I insane? Why did I do that? Chase thought. He didn't say anything to Logan or Michael, and walked over to the window. He saw Zoey walking with Nicole and Lola, and she seemed perfectly happy. Not at all confused, the way he was... or was that just an act she had put on?

"Chase?" Michael asked. He walked over and saw Chase looking out the window. He saw Zoey with Nicole and Lola, and realized that something was wrong. "What happened?" Michael asked finally. Chase looked over at him and then returned to looking sadly at Zoey. Logan came over, curious, and crossed his arms.

"Well, are you going to sit there and mope all day or are you going to tell us what happened?" Logan asked impatiently. Chase shook his head, and sat down on a chair, his head in his hands.

"I told her how I felt..." Chase replied finally. "Well, she demanded to know what could be so bad about the message that I wouldn't want to tell her, so I said... it was embarrassing, because it would ruin our friendship. She said that it was almost ruined as it was, so why couldn't I tell her what the message said and save it? I made her promise not to ask me questions or anything, to just let me... go to her. When I'm ready. And..." Chase shook his head sadly at this part. "I made her listen to Hanging By A Moment, I told her it would help her understand..." Chase replied finally. Michael looked shocked.

"You actually told her? Good for you! But then, why are you so sad about it?" Michael asked. Logan looked confused.

"Wait, you like Zoey? Dude, STILL! You're a sad, sad person..." Logan replied, shaking his head. He opened their small fridge and grabbed a drink.

"I'm sad about it because our friendship is ruined!" Chase exclaimed. "I mean, she doesn't like me so of course it will be ruined. She promised it wouldn't, but she also promised she wouldn't let the election come between us and it almost did, we both ended up dropping out to save our friendship." Chase added. Michael put a hand on Chase's shoulder, sitting down next to him.

"Listen, you told her not to talk about it with you, so how can you know that she doesn't like you?" Michael asked. "You never gave her a chance to tell you if she did or not, so maybe she does but she respected your wishes to talk later." Chase stood up again, and leaned against the wall, looking out the window.

"If she liked me, she would have talked anyways. Since she doesn't, she doesn't mind not having to talk to me." Chase replied. He turned around and opened the door of their dorm, and ran out. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to get away. Be by himself.

—

Zoey laughed at some joke that Lola had just told them, and turned her head just in time to see Chase running out of the guys dorm building. She wanted to go over to him, but she knew that if she did, he'd get mad and tell her she had promised not to talk to him about it. Well, he said for me not to talk about his feelings for me. I can go to him and talk about something else, like a movie or something. I told him this wouldn't ruin our friendship, and it won't. Zoey told Nicole and Lola she'd meet up with them later, and she ran over to where Chase had sat down.

"Hey Chase," she replied. Chase looked up at her, and stood, and began walking away. Zoey ran up to him and grabbed his arm. "Wait!" she exclaimed.

"Why, so you can talk to me about last night? I told you I wasn't ready to talk about it yet..." Chase replied. He looked away, determined to look anywhere but at Zoey's face. Zoey turned him around to face her.

"You also said you didn't want this whole thing to ruin our friendship, but it seems I'm the only one who's not going to let it. We don't have to talk about last night, but you don't have to avoid me just because of... well... that. Let's go play some Foozeball." Zoey added. She pulled Chase with her, and he couldn't say no. He felt weird, because now Zoey knew how he felt, but he also wanted to keep their friendship, and if that meant hanging out with her, so be it.

After they reached the lounge, they began playing a game. Chase won twice and so did Zoey... now it was just the tie-breaker game left. Finally, Zoey won.

"Oh! Too slow, Chase, too slow!" she told him, laughing. He laughed too.

"Well, I guess I'm just not up to my regular awesome standards today." Chase replied. "I'll win next time," he assured her. Zoey rolled her eyes.

"Sure, and we'll see Logan walk by wearing makeup and with his hair in pigtails." Zoey replied. Just then, Logan ran by, makeup on his face, hair in pigtails, shouting and a hysterically laughing Lola and Nicole ran after him with bags of cosmetics in their hands. Once they left, Zoey shook her head.

"That was weird." Chase replied. Zoey nodded.

"Definitely."

"I'm just going to get a drink, be back in a sec. Want anything?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"No thanks," she replied. As he walked away, she couldn't help but watch him. She couldn't deny that he was cute, because she had always known that. Chase would really be a perfect guy to like... she thought suddenly. He's cute, funny, nice, and definitely fun to hang with. Plus he's my bestfriend... who likes me... but do I feel the same? Oh Chase, you're not the only one whose confused... at least, I think you are. After a confession like the one you made last night, you'd have to be. When Chase came back, Zoey pretended to be interested in something going on outside. She knew that if she looked at Chase, who was now so close, she'd likely end up thinking out loud. She didn't know how she felt about him, and she didn't want him knowing that just yet. She might get his hopes up, just to tell him that she realized she didn't like him.

"What's wrong?" Chase asked finally. Zoey chanced a glance at him, and found that once she had, she couldn't look away. He was staring at her, concern etched across his face. She smiled.

"I... n-nothing." she replied finally. Chase looked at her, confused. Why is she so... nervous... all of a sudden? Chase wondered. She was fine just a minute ago...

"Are you okay?" Chase asked her finally. She looked at him, startled.

"What makes you think I'm not?" she asked, her voice no longer shaking.

"You just seemed a little funny a minute ago, that's all." Chase replied. He began to look over at the TV, but turned his gaze back to Zoey when he realized she was still looking at him. "What?" he asked her. She looked away quickly.

"I... ahh, nothing." she replied finally, staring at the ground. "I— I have to g-go meet N-n-nicole and Lola, s-s-so..." Zoey stopped talking and ran out of the lounge. Chase couldn't help but smile. She's even cuter when she's nervous... he thought, smiling to himself. But why is she nervous?

Meanwhile, outside, Zoey had leaned up against the wall of a building as far away from the lounge as she could get, and tried to catch her breath. Do I... like Chase?

A/N: Well here's the next chapter, sorry that I didn't update, when I actually had this update ready for some reason the documents wouldn't get uploaded, I finally managed to upload some documents so I could update, so it's all good, lol. Anyways, please review, let me know what you think. Sorry for the cliffie, I wasn't going to leave one, but I basically just decided as a last minute thing to add the "Meanwhile, outside..." part. Anyways, gotta go, I'm listening to Rooney! (A band I recently developed interest in, their like another favourite band now... I love "I'm a Terrible Person," by them because its like, "I'm a horrible person, I read her diary, I'm not to be trusted, I told all of her secrets, to the guys in town, they all laughed and slapped me five," lol... yeah, I'm weird, leave me alone! lol j/k. R&R!