Chapter 7: Valentine's Day For Chase
The sun shined bright the next morning as the pups all gathered in The Lookout. It was Valentine's Day! Many decorations were hung up inside The Lookout; white, red, pink, purple, and blue hearts filled the rooms with color, and the pups were all happy they could celebrate together as a family. While smiling and howling together however, Skye noticed a pup was missing.
"Hey, wait a minute. Chase isn't here!" Skye commented before everyone noticed the missing pup too.
"Could he be in his pup house?" Marshall asked curiously.
"I'll go check!" Skye replied before leaving. She walked out of the sliding doors and headed towards the pup houses. As Skye did though, she thought she heard someone - crying? Who would be crying, and why? Skye walked some more until she could hear the crying coming from Chase's pup house.
"Chase?" Skye called out, before knocking on his pup house door. Why on earth would Chase be sad on Valentine's Day? Chase opened the door and looked at Skye with sad eyes.
"S-Skye?! What are you doing here?" Chase asked slightly confused.
"The pups and I are celebrating Valentine's Day, and when I saw you wwren't with us, I wanted to check that you were okay," Skye responded. Chase looked down, even sadder.
"Why? Why should I celebrate Valentine's Day with you guys? Especially you Skye! I failed giving you a gift for this special day, and I ended up ruining everything somehow. You must be disappointed and sad because of me. I really did want to give you the best gift for Valentine's Day, but I couldn't! I'm sorry Skye. I'm so, so, SO sorry!" Chase explained as tears ran down his cheeks.
"Chase ... You didn't fail me. I'm not sad," Skye said nuzzling him, touched by his apology. Chase was a bit surprised by this.
"Why not? I ruined everything I tried doing for you. Like when I gave you those flowers! There was a bee in it and I chased into the lake by a swarm!" Chase retorted.
"You didn't know a bee would be in the flower. Besides, you giving me the flowers was nice anyways. The whole thing was an accident," Skye repliedv in understanding.
"What about the poem? I tried reading you a nice poem but it turned awkward since I had peanut butter on the roof of my mouth!" Chase pointed out.
"Yes, but even though the poem wasn't the way you wanted, you made me laugh," Skye responded.
"Still, I tried getting another job to buy a gift but Marshall got sick instead," Chase apologized.
"That wasn't your fault, Chase. Marshall at the chocolate himself. You didn't make him. In fact he told me you tried to stop him. I like friends who look out for others," Skye said.
"But the skydiving?! I mean we had a good time when skyfiving, and getting the parachutes, but we tangled up when we landed! Plus when I tripped and parachutes fell on everyone!" Chase mentioned.
"Chase, getting tangled up was a part of my training with Ryder when I joined as the flying pup. Getting stuck under parachutes are going to happen from time to time. I know what that's like," Skye retorted.
"What about when we were hanging out in my fort and got stuck under the pillows and bed sheet?" Chase said
"So? You looked cute as a bed sheet ghost. Besides, the wind blew the fort over. You didn't do anything!" Skye pointed out.
"But I didn't get you a gift for Valentine's Day," Chase said sadly. They separated from the nuzzling.
"Chase, you showed me what Valentine's Day means all this week. Yes, every activity wasn't as you planned, but you did those activities because you wanted to make me happy! You did those activities because you cared about me! I don't need a gift to be happy on Valentine's Day, I just want to be with friends and family who love and care about me, as much as I love and care about them!" Skye said sweetly.
"Really?" Chase asked shocked by his friend's words. Skye hugged him.
"Of course! Given everything you've done this week, I know you're one of those pups who treats me the way
I want to be treated on Valentine's Day. I really do appreciate everything you've done, Chase," Skye said before they separated from the hug.
"Come on, let's go celebrate!" Skye said as she started heading back to where their friends were. Chase followed her smiling, with happy tears rolling down his cheeks. Skye was right; Valentine's Day was about what comes from the heart, not a gift in a bag.