AN: This story is going to be a series of one-shots, basically all the episodes Chase tries to tell Zoey how he feels, but doesn't. Leave a review if you enjoy!

The Play

Zoey, Nicole, and Chase were walking through campus after Mr. Fletcher had announced they were going to be putting on a play that Chase wrote.

"So what's your play about?" Zoey asked.

"Well, its kind of a classic love story. See this starship crashes to Earth from outer space and this female alien gets rescued by a life guard."

"And you're playing the lifeguard?" Nicole asked.

"Yes, I am."

"Well, I'm going to try out for the part of the female alien." Zoey declared.

"Me too!"

"Well cool cause this is the first year at PCA we've ever had girls to audition."

"Oh yeah." Nicole realized.

"Who used to play the female roles before they let girls in?" Zoey asked.

Chase paused and started to look almost sick. "I'd rather not talk about it." He said quickly.

"Well, I think it's awesome that you wrote a play." Zoey gushed.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us." Nicole exclaimed.

"Yeah, I was worried people might not think it was cool."

"Please." Nicole rolled her eye.

"It's totally cool." Zoey agreed.

"Thanks. I hope you guys get good parts. Trust me drama club is lots of fun."

"Can I read your script?" Zoey asked, "it sounds super interesting."

"Of course." Chase pulled a script out of his backpack.

"Alien Love? Real creative Chase." Zoey smiled at him.

"What happened to don't judge a book by its cover? Although I will admit I put a lot of work into it, but I had no clue what to actually call it, so trust me everything except the title should be amazing."

"Thanks, Chase, see you at auditions."

"Bye Zoey, bye Nicole." Chase waved as they split to go to their different classrooms.

A few hours later at 3:00 Chase was standing in front of the theater filled with aspiring actresses. "Alright everyone thanks for coming out and auditioning for the play!"

"OK first up auditioning we have Jodie Lockwood." Mr. Fletcher announced.

"Alright and remember, in this scene you just washed up on the beach and are being rescued by me. The hot lifeguard. OK? Here we go, Scene G."

Lots of girls wanted to be the lead, but it took a while to find the right actress for the role, with too much projection, too much singing, or too much Annie, everyone fell a bit short of who Zorka was meant to be. Until finally it was Zoey's turn to try out.

"You don't know what planet this is?" Chase asked, his gaze focused right into Zoey's eyes.

"No, I lost control of my starship." Zoey said, reading from her script. "And it plunged into the ocean so then I started swimming."

"Wait. You're an alien?"

"I am."

"It's not every day an incredibly cute alien washes up on my beach."

"You think I'm incredibly cute?"

"I incredibly do." Zoey and Chase stood there smiling as Mr. Fletcher started clapping, Chase could feel a slight heat rising in his cheeks, but he still stood there, slightly frozen hoping no one would notice.

"Excellent. Bra and Vo!" Mr. Fletcher exclaimed as the rest of the auditionees clapped after Zoey and Chase's performance.

"You were awesome." Chase smiled at Zoey.

"Thanks, you too." Zoey smiled back.

"Well Zoey, I'm going to talk it over with Chase and we'll let you know."

"Cool." Zoey walked off the stage.

Nicole was up next, but Chase already knew who he wanted to be his co-star.

After all the auditions were done it was just Chase and Mr. Fletcher going over their notes and making the final casting calls.

"Screamer?" Mr. Fletcher asked.

"No way."

"Yeah, I agree. Zoey?"

"Absolutely. Clearly the best." Chase tried to project his enthusiasm

"Agreed. So we'll give the hula girl role to Nicole and make Zoey our lead. I will say you two have great onstage chemistry together."

"Cool. Zoey it is, that's great."

"Is that because your character gets to kiss Zoey's character in the final scene?" Mr. Fletcher asked, giving him a knowing look.

"You know I completely forgot about the kiss." Chase said with a slight blush staining his cheeks.

Mr. Fletcher quirked an eyebrow in response.

"Seriously."

"Whatever." He said, obvious disbelief on his face. "I'm going to go bring the boys in."

After Mr. Fletcher left the room, Chase picked up Zoey's super cute headshot. "I'm kissing Zoey." He quietly sang to himself, releasing a huge smile. That he was able to hide again when Mr. Fletcher came back in leading the boys who wanted to try out to their seats.

The next day was their first rehearsal and Chase was practicing a scene with Michael who was playing the lifeguard's friend on stage.

Zoey was sitting in the audience taking a quick break and watching the scene play out.

"I know I've dated a lot of hot girls, but I don't know, Zorka's different. And she's beautiful, more so than any other girl I've ever known. So beautiful…it almost hurts." Chase said, putting all of his emotion into every word. "And that's the scene."

Zoey, didn't know what she was thinking, because this was a side of Chase she had never noticed before. She had been having lots of fun practicing with Chase so far, he was still the same Chase she had always known, and she knew it was just a play, but it just felt like it was Chase talking to her when they were on stage together, and in a way she had never imagined before.

"Goosebumps! Bumps on geese!" Mr. Fletcher excitedly exclaimed.

"Wow, he's amazing." Zoey said softly to herself. She ran up on stage as her next scene with Chase was up, and while she was focused on her lines, she couldn't stop thinking about this new feeling that she couldn't quite place.

"Hey if you wanna run lines later, come stop by my room." Chase offered as they left the theater.

"Cool, thanks. I might come over later tonight." Zoey promised.

"I'll see you then."

Zoey, Nicole, and Dana were eating lunch together. "So how's Chase's play going?" Dana asked.

"It's going great, Chase is like an incredible actor. And his script is so amazing! I feel like it's just the right combination of original and cliché."

"You and Chase look so good together on stage, I totally believe that you're a cute alien and Chase is a hot lifeguard that love each other." Nicole congratulated her friend.

Zoey paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "Alright, I know this is going sound weird. But when we're on stage I see him as a different person."

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked.

"I don't know he just seems so sincere, and sweet, I can tell this play means the world to him."

"And in the last scene, you have to kiss him." Nicole reminded her.

"I know," Zoey could feel the heat start rising in her cheeks.

"Wait. Do you like him?" Dana asked.

Zoey shook her head, "I didn't say that. Chase is my best guy friend, and we're just having fun together, putting on a play. We're just playing characters."

"You didn't not say that." Nicole said excitedly, even Dana was sending a knowing look Zoey's way and she could feel her blush deepen. Zoey just tried to ignore them and focus on her salad.

Zoey and Chase were standing on stage, with Mr. Fletcher standing between them.

"Ready ready? And action!" Mr. Fletcher hopped off the stage so they could begin.

Chase took a deep breath in to calm himself. "So what do you think of Earth so far?"

"Earth is nice, we don't have beaches like this on my planet."

"We don't have girls like you on my planet."

'You mean girls with antennas and weird eyebrows?"

"No. I mean girls who aren't afraid to be themselves. Girls with passion, you're amazing. You're…you're perfect." Chase softly whispered.

The more they practiced, the more Zoey felt her heart speeding up, and how had she never noticed how gorgeous Chase's forest-green eyes were? Every time they rehearsed, she just got more and more lost in them, it was a wonder how she could even say her lines, something about Chase was keeping him on her mind constantly. Even more than usual. And she didn't know why.

"I can't believe this is actually going to work. Chase was talking to himself as he walked through campus.

"What's gonna work?" Michael asked.

"I'm actually going to get to kiss Zoey!"

"So have you rehearsed the kiss yet?"

"No. Mr. Fletcher wants to save it for the first performance to preserve the magic."

"Man, you've got it bad for Zoey don't you? Was this whole thing a plan to kiss Zoey from the start?"

"No, of course not. I'm not Logan. I wrote the play for an English assignment a few months ago. I never dreamed Mr. Fletcher would love it so much he'd choose it for the school play. In fact last year he wouldn't stop talking about doing Annie."

"Really? Because I read the script, Zorka was never designed to be Zoey? She shows up on the beach, or at school out of nowhere, and you, the lifeguard help her out and immediately fall in love. The only thing different about this than move-in day was that she crashes the starship and you crashed your bike. And of course, the lifeguard isn't too chicken to admit his feelings."

"OK, maybe some parts of the plot are based on real-life events, but I never planned to actually perform it in front of the school. Much less with Zoey. My conscience is clear, obviously, the universe wants me to kiss Zoey as much as I do."

"Sure I believe you, just a few more things I've noticed, the hot lifeguard is named Casey, and his best friend is Mitchell. I'm glad you put in your play dude, and I'm glad to know we're best friends."

"Yep, what would I do without you Buddy? What can I say you are a genius in short pants."

"I have my moments."

"Wait do you think Zoey will think it was some big plot from the start?" Chase asked, suddenly scared.

"Well considering every time you've tried to turn on the romance or tell her how you feel you chicken out for some reason, I'd say so far she probably has no idea fuzzyhead. I only figured it out cause I'm your best friend Mitchell. And you've told me every single hopelessly in love thing that pops into your head about Zoey. And like you said, I'm a genius. In short pants."

"Alright, thanks dude."

Nicole, Dana, Zoey were all sitting outside working on homework together before Nicole got bored reading history and was ready to hear some more news about the play.

"So anything new happening on Zorath?"

"We're still having fun, and Nicole you're at practice, you should know what's going on."

"So how are things going between Casey and Zorka?" Nicole wiggled her eyebrows flirtatiously.

"Things are going great, I have my lines almost completely memorized, and of course, Chase wrote the thing so he's been amazing from the very beginning. Speaking of I have to leave to go practice in Chase's room in a little bit." Zoey said, checking her phone for the time.

"So have you practiced the big kiss at the finale? Dana asked.

"No. Mr. Fletcher wants us to save it for opening night."

"Maybe you should do some practice on your own when you go run your lines, you'll have total privacy." Nicole suggested with a giggle.

"No, it's nothing its just one kiss. And its for Chase's play, we're just playing characters. It's Zorka kissing Casey, not me kissing Chase."

"But it is Chase, and just for the record, Chase scored pretty high on my cutest lips chart. Let me see… Nicole flipped through her notebook. On shape, I gave 8, color 7, kissabillity 6."

"What even is kissability?" Dana asked, shaking her head in annoyance.

"Just how much I want to kiss him, I mean sure he's kinda cute but it would be weird to kiss him since we're friends."

"See exactly, that's why I'm trying not to think about Chase as being the hot lifeguard."

"So Zoey, using Nicole's criteria how would you rate Chase's lips?" Dana asked.

"I don't know, Chase is my friend. And this is just something we're doing to have fun together, and it feels good being on stage with him. You know?"

"No, why? "Dana asked.

"I don't know, it's like when we're talking together on stage, it's like were the center of each other's universes, like its only us that matter. Nothing else."

"She's starting to like him." Nicole whispered to Dana.

"You think?" Dana replied glancing between them.

"I don't know maybe I do like him."

"Well, now I have to come see this show." Dana laughed.

Tonight's the big night dude, are you ready? Got any breath mints? Micheal asked Chase, he was already in his lifeguard outfit, just swim trunks and a whistle.

No, I've got sweaty palms, what if I do it weird, what if I can't breathe? I already almost forget my lines just practicing with her, what will I do when I kiss her? What if I mess it up so badly that this is the only kiss I get, I may not get a second chance.

Chase relax, isn;t this what you've been wanting since the moment you saw her?

"Well, yeah, I mean not this specifically, and she just sees me as a friend."

"Then it will be a kiss between friends."

"Is that a thing?"

"I don't know I've never been that desperate, or maybe you'll do such a good job that she'll be willing to go out with you."

"I don't think so, but anyway I'm not really kissing Zoey, I'm kissing Zorka, she's only doing this because she has to."

"Chase she chose to be here, she's had literally every chance to drop out if she wanted, she even has an understudy, I think maybe, and I know this will shock you, maybe she wants to kiss you too.

"What galaxy are you in? Zoey and I are best friends, nothing more."

"Dude, just relax and have fun, but also really? Zoey's your best friend?"

"Zoey's my girl best friend, you'll always be number one Buddy."

"Thanks, I love you too. Now go break a leg."

Zoey was looking in the mirror nervously adjusting her antennae in her hair, Nicole was in the dressing room with her.

Don't act coy Zoey, it's all you're thinking about, isn't it?"

"It's just acting Nicole. Nothing more."

"Nothing more than a little of this?" Nicole playfully puckered her lips and blew Zoey a few kisses.

"Real funny Nicole. It's just a kiss. It's just weird that it's Chase, and he's my friend."

"You mean its weird because you're starting to like him."

"Fine, maybe I do, but it doesn't matter, Chase sees me as just a friend."

"Well, maybe if the kiss goes well, he'll be open to being more than friends." Nicole suggested.

Opening night was filled with a packed house as everyone was performing flawlessly. Now it was almost time for the final scene, and the only thing both Chase and Zoey could think about was the countdown to the kiss.

"Thank you for pulling me out of the water." Zoey said.

"Hey, it's my job, and besides it's not every day an incredibly cute alien girl washes up on my beach." Chase replied.

"You think I'm incredibly cute?"

"I incredibly do."

"Earth is nice, we don't have beaches like this on my planet."

"We don't have girls like you on my planet."

Maybe I do like him. Zoey thought to herself.

Please don't mess this up. Chase silently prayed.

"Zorka, I know we haven't known each other for very long, but here." Chase reached into the pocket of his swim trunks and pulled out a white shell necklace. "I want to give you this necklace."

"For me?" Zoey took it from him and she froze up, her heart was racing and her palms were suddenly so sweaty that she dropped it onto the floor.

"Oops. I dropped it." Zoey said, with a small, nervous smile that Chase quickly picked up on.

"Yeah, why don't we get it." Chase smiled out to the audience as he and Zoey both kneeled to pick up the necklace. The audience let out a light round of laughter.

"Zoey are you OK?" he whispered

"Yeah, um I'm fine, I just dropped it."

"Don't be nervous, but if you are nervous about…about you know, the kiss, I understand I can just improv the ending and do something else. We don't have to if you don't want to."

Zoey took a deep breath to calm herself. "Don't worry Chase, we've come this far, we got this."

"Alright."

Chase and Zoey both stood back up. "Here's your necklace."

"Thank you." This time Zoey turned around so Chase could latch it around her neck.

"As I was saying, you're amazing. You're perfect."

"So are you."

"Can I…kiss you?"

Zoey paused once again, for a moment too long.

Chase just smiled at her. "It's ok to say no." He whispered.

Zoey took another deep breath in to wash the fears away. "Yes, you can. You're my hero. I don't know what I would do without you."

Chase stepped closer and gently caressed her cheek, both of them were looking straight into each other's eyes. As Chase leaned in he paused for one more moment. He whispered, just softly enough that only she could hear. "We can fake it if you want."

Zoey shook her head in the slightest of motions, not breaking eye contact.

So finally Chase closed the distance and his lips met hers just long enough for Zoey to feel a spark travel through her body at the contact. Zoey completely lost her train of thought until Chase stepped back after a few beats of her rapidly pumping heart.

Chase seemed at just as much of a loss for words too, and his entire face was stained red with a fiery blush.

While some clapping and wolf whistles ensued, Zoey and Chase just stood there both unable to look away. When the clapping died down they were still just standing there silently on stage.

Luckily Nicole noticed and she ran over. "So Zorka does this mean you're going to stay on Earth with all of us?"

"Yeah. There's nowhere else in the entire galaxy that I want to be." Zoey smiled and grabbed Chase's hand.

"There's nowhere else I want to be either."

"Great then, Mitchell turn up the music, its time to party!" Nicole started doing the hula as music played from a boom box. Everyone else on stage started dancing as the curtains closed, before opening again so all the actors could take a final bow and take in the round of applause.

When the curtain closed again, everyone started moving on to the dressing rooms to get changed out of their costumes. But Zoey turned to look at Chase, after receiving quite a few pats on the back in congratulations from the cast members, Chase finally turned to look at Zoey again.

"Great job Chase, I told you your play was amazing, and you were amazing too." Zoey stepped forward and hugged him.

"Thanks Zoey, there is no one I wanted to be on that stage with than you." Chase said, snaking his arms around Zoey's shoulders in a hug.

When they separated again, they suddenly didn't know what to say to each other.

"Well I better go get changed, I think enough people have seen me topless tonight." Chase tried to joke.

"Don't worry, you make a very hot lifeguard."

"Thanks, and you are a very cute alien." Chase quipped back.

They both gave a light embarrassed chuckle before they both walked off, side by side towards the dressing rooms, but there was suddenly tension between them, a question both wanted to ask, but were too afraid to voice.

"Zoey?"

"Yes Chase?"

"Look, I know this going to be a dumb question, but…um…"

"What is it Chase?"

"I um, didyoulikethekiss?" Chase finally rushed out without taking a breath.

"I'm sorry? What'd you say."

"Did you like the kiss?" Chase said slower, and quieter.

"Yeah, don't worry Chase…you were a great kisser. And thank you for being considerate of my feelings. I'm sorry I got nervous, I knew the kiss was in there from before I even auditioned, it was just suddenly on stage with everyone watching I got a little stage fright. Not because I didn't want to kiss you or not that I did want to kiss you, I mean… Why did you like it?" Now both of their faces were a fiery scarlet.

"Absolutely, more than anything in the world, I mean. I uh, I'm sorry but, Zoey I really liked practicing the play with you, and even before then, for a while now, I've liked you…a lot, and I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me sometime, as more than friends?"

"Oh…Chase, I would like that, honestly, I've loved being a part of your play and practicing with you too. I think I kinda, you know, like you too. I felt like you were always talking to me on stage and I was talking to you. I think it made me realize I like you too, you're already my best friend, but as more than friends."

"Really? You really mean that?"

"Yeah, what can I say, you make a really hot lifeguard, and I can tell how sweet you are inside and out."

"Thank you Zoey, To be honest, from the first day I met you, I thought you were the most beautiful girl on the planet."

"Thanks, Chase, so where do you want to take me?"

"How about a picnic and a movie? The new Harry Potter movie just came out. "

"Sure I love Harry Potter."

"So does tomorrow night work?"

"Yep, it's a date."

"Great, I'll pick you up from your room at six."

"I can't wait." Zoey said, reaching out to give Chase's hand a squeeze. "And there is something else I can't wait for."

"What?"

"This." Zoey giggled, and stepped close, pressing her lips against Chase's for slightly longer than before just so she could feel the spark race through her again.

When she pulled away, Chase had the same dopey, adorable grin that he had on stage the first time.

"Bye Chase, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Zoey." Chase waved as she walked off. He couldn't help but stare after her until she turned the corner in the hallway, but Chase eventually got his wits back and walked into his dressing room where Michael was back in his normal clothes.

"Hey there's the man of the hour, are you still coming to Sushi Rox with the rest of the cast?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, just one sec." Chase grabbed a water bottle sitting on a table and opened it up and splashed it all over himself, flinching slightly as the cold water hit his face and bare chest.

"Dude? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me, everything is so great, I had to make sure it wasn't a dream."

"Oh I get it, you're still high off that kiss aren't you?"

"Even better, do I have a story to tell you." Chase could no longer hide his smile as he toweled the water off and put a t-shirt on.