"She's not that bad!" Chase shouted at Ryder, his glare intensifying, never wavering. Ryder looked back just as intensely. They were both very upset, their own stubborn souls not willing to admit the other could be right in such a dire situation.

"We both know she can't stay!" Ryder yelled back, leaning forward, angry. Chase wasn't being himself, and Ryder resented it. He had to show Chase the error of his ways. "She's broken! She isn't trained at all! She can't be a member of the Paw Patrol and that's final!"

Chase just cried. He couldn't take all the shouting and the rejection. He'd had enough. He thought Ryder would be supportive, helpful, caring. "I guess I was wrong." he thought as he ran out the Lookout doors, Ryder's suddenly desperate calls lost to the ocean breeze as Chase ran out to his puphouse to gather the one person he had left here. The only one who did care. His one true love.

He ran straight through the open door of his puphouse, nearly colliding with his love. "Gia! We have to go!" he gasped as he ran around trying to gather all his things, the Aussie Shepherd left sitting stunned in the corner of the room trying to process what was going on.

Gia was scared. She had only just gotten here yesterday! She was a runaway from Chattilan, having walked as far as Adventure Bay before passing out from dehydration in the hot summer air on the path between the mountains. Everest had found her on her way to visit the pups at the Lookout and had hurriedly taken Gia with her. When Chase saw her, and she saw him, it was magic; and Chase never left her side since, until now when he had quickly gone to ask Ryder for something huge; if Gia could join the Paw Patrol. She had proved to be well versed in rescue operations as she had been part of a smaller rescue team similar to the Paw Patrol in Chattilan before the owner went bankrupt and turned all the pups into alley dogs. Needless to say, now she was here, with her unadmitted love. She hadn't yet confessed her feelings for him, as she liked to play hard-to-get, but she had definitely warmed up to him and his haywire brain; he was just so cute. The previous night while Chase helped her to fall asleep he had quietly whispered his feelings for her, thinking she was already sleeping; she had heard the whole thing and was ecstatic for it. Her tail began to slowly wag as she remembered that overcast night and she had to nonchalantly pin it down to keep Chase from noticing. She snapped out of her near-flirty tranceful gaze of Chase's lovely face when he began to sniffle as he scurried about.

That sniffle turned to a hiccup, turned to a sob. Chase was crying. She tiptoed over to him and stopped him, holding on tightly to his shoulders as he tried to wrestle himself away from her grasp. He was still agitated, his one-track mind still processing Ryder's declination for his love Gia to stay. He Couldn't bear it. Gia held him firmly.

"Chase! Hey, Chase, look at me! Look at me!" She stared deeply into his eyes and he slowly stopped struggling. "We'll be okay. We'll be okay." She hugged him close, his body spasming from his gasping sobs. He just turned his head into her chest fur; she let him cry it out.

After about 5 minutes of hugging him and rubbing his back like a mother to her son, Chase looked up tentatively. "S-so what do we do now?" She could barely recognize the strong intelligent pup she held in front her. She slapped him, brisk and sharp, and he reared back in astonishment, holding his stinging cheek.

"Get it together Chase! So what if Ryder says I can't stay! If you truly love me, we will find a way."

Chase looked up in even more bewilderment. She knew? How did she know? Was it that obvious? Gia continued to glance him over, waiting for an answer, and Chase managed to stutter out, "H-h-ow?...Um, Okay…..so……" he tried to gather his frazzled thoughts. Gia looked almost amused. "What do we do then?"

Gia huffed, exasperated and downtrodden. "We run." She hated the thought, nearly forcing Chase to leave everything he ever loved. But what good was a future with a boy who couldn't accept the future?

Chase cocked his head, confused. "Run? But where?"

"Anywhere that's not here." Gia breathed, and Chase slowly shook his head. "No, we can't! I have a job! My friends…..Ryder…" He was torn; did he really have to choose?

Gia hugged him again. "I know it's hard; Trust me, I do. But what good is a future where nobody accepts who you are? Who you want to be? Who you want to love?" Chase's eyes widened at the sudden realisation and Gia knew she had hit home. He stepped away and bowed his head, thinking hard.

"Alright…..well……" He looked up and around at all the things he had compiled for their running away. He had initially wanted to run away with Gia, but he didn't even know where he had planned to go, and the fact was, he had been in such a frenzy that it hadn't occurred to him how radical an idea it was for him to simply run away from his life, everyone he cared for. Everyone except Gia. He knew now that she was his future, and that his life with her was more important than anything else.

"Then let's go." he said, determined. Gia looked almost surprised. Her little pep talk had worked! She hung her head in shame. 'Her pep talk had worked. The gravity of what she had just done hit hard, and she knew that this town would never be the same, but she also knew that Chase couldn't ever really be happy here. He had no real future here, under Ryder's near-controlling outlook. Chase grabbed his things, Gia right behind him trotting sadly, head down in regret, and together they ran off into the woods, looking back but looking forwards to the uncertain path they had just put themselves on. But they knew that together, they could do it. No matter the trial. No matter the cost.