(Yes I know it's March but I had this chapter on Wattpad and forgot to publish it on this site, anyway I hope you guys enjoy a Valentine's Day story a whole month late)
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What's not to love about Valentine's Day? You show how much you care about the people in your life, but when a dance comes up, a certain German Shepherd loses his confidence to ask out a certain Cockapoo. Will he be able to get his confidence back in time and ask her out?
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Friday
Adventure Bay during the holidays gets quite the snowy weather, ever since Christmas the streets were filled with snow but come February, it started to dwindle off, just random piles of snow strewn about on the streets, but that didn't stop a certain clumsy Dalmatian from falling into one of them.
The Dalmatian recovered from his mishap and looked around frantically but couldn't find what he was looking for.
"Ryder come in." Marshall called.
"Yeah, what's up Marshall? Did you and Chase catch those foxes yet?" Ryder asked through the pup tag.
"No, I was chasing one but lost it, I don't know about Chase though." Marshall replied.
"Ok Marshall, I think we should call off it for now, you and Chase have been chasing those little critters all day, come back to City Hall and we'll tell Mayor Goodway." Ryder told the Dalmatian.
"Alright, I'm on my way!" Marshall turned off the pup tag and headed towards City Hall.
~~~~~~
Chase, on the other hand decided to keep things quiet and let the fox's guard down before attempting to catch it.
The German Shepherd looked through a bush and saw the little fox lying down near some flowers. He inched closer and closer until...
"Hey Chase! Ryder wants you back at City Hall!"
Chase's pup tag turned on, alerting the fox and causing it to run away, Chase didn't have the energy to catch up and ended up responding to Marshall's message.
"Yeah, yeah I'm on my way!" Chase turned off his pup tag. "Next time Chase, remember to turn off your pup tag when doing things like this. That's the second time this week you stupid Shepherd!" Chase sighed to himself, got in his rig, and began to make his way towards City Hall.
~~~~~~
Chase finally arrived at City Hall due to him being a bit more farther than the pups, but regardless, he made it back to Ryder and the rest.
Mayor Goodway came up to Ryder and the pups and asked them about the fox situation.
"So did you and the Paw Patrol catch those foxes yet?" Mayor Goodway asked in a frantic tone.
"Mayor Goodway, the pups and I have been searching all over Adventure Bay for them, we managed to get a couple of them out, so maybe they'll leave the town alone?" Ryder questioned.
"Oh it's fine Ryder, I can't pressure you or the pups, you did your best and that's all that matters. I do hope those pesky foxes leave Adventure Bay alone, at least until the party is over." Mayor Goodway said.
"Party? What party?" Ryder asked.
"Well, I've decided to host a Valentine's Day party here at City Hall for everyone, including you all." Mayor Goodway answered the young boy.
"That's great Mayor Goodway, do you want any of us to help you prepare this?" Ryder asked.
"Oh no Ryder, it's quite alright, I can handle a little party set up, just wear something nice at the party this Sunday night!" Mayor Goodway answered again.
"Ok Mayor, but remember, whenever you're in trouble, just yelp for help!"
~~~~~~
Ryder and the rest of the pups were finally back at the Lookout after a long day.
They all entered the Lookout while Ryder went to get their food. They each got to their bowls and began to chat.
"Dude, who knew foxes could be so fast?" Zuma asked around.
"I know, I slipped into a pile of snow chasing one of them." Marshall said to the others as they laughed about the pups little accident. "What about you Chase?"
The pup was lost in thought, which immediately caught the pups attention.
"Chase?" Marshall called.
Still no response.
"Chase!" Marshall raised his voice a bit which finally caught the Shepherds attention.
"Ah! What is it Marshall?" Chase asked in a irritated tone.
"You weren't responding. You ok?" Marshall said with a concerned voice.
"I'm...fine, what was the question?" Chase asked as he rubbed his eye.
"What happened to that fox you were chasing earlier?" Marshall asked.
"Oh that, I ended up sneaking up on it but then right when I was about to catch it, you called me and it ran away." Chase answered.
"Oh...sorry about that." Marshall smiled nervously.
"It was my fault, I should've just turned off my pup tag while I was doing that." Chase assured. "I'm...uh...I'm gonna go to my pup house."
"Wait,aren't you hungry bud?" Marshall asked.
"No, I'm fine, can you ask Ryder to leave my food by my pup house?" Chase asked.
"Sure but how come you don't want to-?" Marshall was cut off.
"I'm just not feeling well, I guess it was just those foxes,I'll be fine if I just rest up at my pup house." Chase said before he left the Lookout.
"What was that all about?" Rubble asked.
"I don't know but we should check up on him later, you know how he can be." Marshall said.
The pups talked for a little bit and Ryder came back with the pup food, immediately noticing that Chase was gone.
"Where's Chase?" Ryder asked.
"He said he wasn't feeling good so he went to his pup house to rest, he also asked if you can leave his food by his pup house." Marshall explained to Ryder.
"Oh ok, he needs the rest anyway." Ryder said.
~~~~~
"Ok Chase just calm down, it's just a dance, nothing to worry about, except maybe get turned down by the pup you love and be depressed and hate everything—calm down Chase, you're overthinking things, none of that will happen." Chase said to himself. "It's simple, just ask Skye how you feel and ask her to the dance, come on you can't be like this! What happened to you?!" Chase was sounding crazy at this point and he wasn't noticing it. "You've been losing yourself for the past week, losing your confidence."
Chase shuffled back and forth in his pup house and accidentally knocked down some pictures he had. It was a photo booth picture.
It showed him, Marshall, and Skye laughing and doing silly faces, then showed Skye nuzzling Chase with a huge blush on his face as you can see Marshall laughing in the background.
He smiled at the picture and realized one thing. Maybe Skye does like him in some way, either way there's a 50/50 chance.
Chase decided to close his eyes and take a nap for a while.
~~~~~
Ryder poured the food into the pups bowls, set the bag down and decided to sit near the pups.
"Thanks Ryder!" The pups said in unison.
"So pups, who do you plan on bringing to the dance this Sunday?"
All the pups froze in place after hearing the question.
"What—what do you mean?" Rubble asked.
"Well, it is a Valentine's Day dance, that means lovers or best of friends get together and spend time with each other, show how much they care for each other." Ryder explained.
Out of all the pups to answer first, it was Marshall who jumped up and asked.
"Oh Ryder can I call Everest and see if she wants to go with me?"
"Sure buddy, I don't see why not." Ryder smiled. "What about the rest of you?"
Zuma and Rocky looked at each other and shrugged.
"Well Zuma and I could always go as best friends right?" Rocky asked.
"Sure!" Ryder shrugged also but he knew Rocky was lying about the best friends part, he knew how they both felt about each other.
"Well that's four pups down already." Ryder thought.
"I can just go for the food right Ryder?" Rubble asked.
"Well I don't know about that but I mean you might be able to." Ryder answered.
"Then that's the plan." Rubble laughed.
The pups laughed alongside him and Ryder asked the last question to the last pup, who was Skye.
"So Skye, who are you going with?" Ryder asked.
"Well, I'm not sure yet, the dance is Sunday night, so I have time to figure something out." Skye answered.
"Well fair enough. You pups have fun here, I'll be in the garage if you need me, let me just give Chase his food first." Ryder said to the pups before leaving.
Zuma and Skye decided to stay in the Lookout and play Pup Pup boogie while the others went outside.
"You think you can beat me Zuma?" Skye asked.
"I know I can, let's do this!" Zuma said confidently.
Ryder left the Lookout with Chase's bowl in his hand and approached the police pup's pup house, he opened the door and placed the food inside, noticing the pictures in his paw. Ryder smiled, closed the door, and left, leaving the pup to rest.
Skye and Zuma were competitive when it came to Pup Pup Boogie, even if it meant messing with the opponent.
Zuma was losing to the aviator pup by some points until he realized he could distract her with a question.
"Hey Skye?" Zuma asked.
"What is it Zuma?" Skye said as she kept her eyes on the screen.
Zuma smirked, knowing his question would catch the pup off guard.
"What's up with you and Chase? Are you two a thing or...?" Zuma trailed off.
Skye froze up when she heard the question but immediately got back into the game.
"No, we're just friends Zuma, I would ask him to go to the dance with me as friends but I don't think that's his type of thing." Skye answered as she did a flip to end the game in style. "Oh and next time don't try that again, it didn't work out too well for you."
"Well you can't blame a pup for trying." Zuma chuckled. "I'm going to go hang out with Rocky, I'll see you later Skye." Zuma waved before leaving Skye alone in the Lookout.
It didn't take long for the pup to find herself bored, she decided to leave the Lookout as well and take a stroll around. She passed by Chase's pup house and heard faint whimpering on the inside. The pup pressed her ear against the door to hear better and she was certain that it was whimpering. She called out Chase's name but there was no response. She knocked on the pup's door with her paw and eventually it opened, with the Shepherd not knowing who was knocking. Chase rubbed his eyes as he opened the door
"Yeah what is it?" Chase finished rubbing his eyes and realized that Skye was there, he fell back in shock and started stammering.
"Oh h-hey Skye, wh-what do you want?" Chase asked nervously.
Skye gave the pup a perplexed look and asked questions.
"Chase, are you ok?" Skye asked.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, no worries Skye." Chase nervously smiled.
"Well I heard you whimpering in your pup house and I wanted to make sure you were okay...so are you ok?" Skye asked yet again.
"Oh I was just having a nightmare, nothing too serious Skye." Chase said again in a nervous voice.
Knowing Chase for a long time, Skye could see that the pup really wasn't doing alright, honestly anyone could see that.
"Do you want to talk about it privately?" Skye asked.
"No!" Chase didn't mean to raise his voice. "I mean, I'd be more comfortable talking about it with Marshall." Chase said as an excuse.
"Do you not trust me?" Skye took the whole thing that Chase said in a wrong way.
"No, it's not that..." Chase couldn't come up with an excuse in time but eventually got one. "It's something that I have to talk to Marshall about, he would understand it more." Chase finally said.
"Ok, I'll...uh...I'll leave you to it then." Skye said. "Marshall is somewhere around the Lookout, with Rubble and Rocky." Skye soon left the Shepherd alone.
Chase ate some of his food and went to look for Marshall, who was currently playing frisbee with Rubble and Rocky.
Chase approached the three pups.
"Hey Chase, wanna play with us?" Rocky asked.
"No, I actually need to speak to Marshall for a minute." Chase said.
"Oh ok, go ahead." Rocky gestured.
There was an awkward silence between the pups, Chase decided to finally tell them what they had to do.
"I need to speak to Marshall ALONE please." Chase said once again.
"Why didn't you just say that then?" Rocky chuckled. "Don't take too long!" The two pups walked away.
"So what is it Chase?" Marshall asked.
"Well...I want to ask Skye out to the dance but I don't think I can." Chase replied.
"Wait, wait, I think I still have some snow in my ears, did I just hear that right?" Marshall teased.
"Marshall..." Chase said with a annoyed tone.
"Ok, ok, well my best answer to your problem is to just ask her out, what's the worst that could happen right?" Marshall questioned.
"She could say no and she'll hate me!" Chase exclaimed.
"Chase, buddy you're overreacting, Skye doesn't hate anyone and I don't think she would hate you over something like that." Marshall said.
"Look, it's getting late, try asking her tomorrow, just brush up and look good for her." Marshall said to the Shepherd which boosted his confidence a bit more.
Time passed and all the pups were fast asleep, ending the day.
~~~~~
Saturday
The sun rose on the Lookout, the pups slept soundly and it was time for another day in Adventure Bay.
Chase woke up feeling a tad bit nervous but overall confident.
"Ok Chase, it's very simple, just ask Skye out when you can." Chase said to himself. "Don't rush things. Go at your own pace." He left his pup house and grabbed his bowl from inside and went to the Lookout where the rest of the pups were relaxing at. He walked in and was greeted by the pups.
"Hey Chase, are you feeling better today?" Zuma asked.
"Yep sure am!" Chase replied.
The Shepherd put his bowl next to the pups and Ryder came by and filled it up, petting the pup in the process.
"That's good to hear, I was getting worried pal." Ryder said as he set the bag of pup food down.
"Well I'm ok now, I just needed to rest." Chase said to the boy.
"Oh hey Ryder, can you call Everest in a bit so I can ask her out to the dance?" Marshall asked.
"Sure pal come on!" Ryder gestured for the pup to follow him which he did.
Ryder and the Dalmatian went up the Lookout to call Everest while the rest of the pups stayed down on the main floor and finished eating.
"Hey you pups want to go play outside?" Zuma asked.
"Yeah sure!" All the pups said in unison.
All the pups were following behind Zuma until the brown lab stopped and looked at Chase.
"Dude, you should play some Pup Pup Boogie, it's been a while since you played it." Zuma suggested.
"Well I don't know, I mean sure I can use the practice to beat your score but it's not as fun alone." Chase said with a smirk.
"Wow ok dude, Skye how about you play Pup Pup Boogie with him and see if you two can beat my score." Zuma said.
"Ok, it's not that much of a score anyway." Skye walked towards the dance pad with Chase.
All the pups except Zuma laughed at what Skye said.
"She got you there pal." Rocky smiled.
Zuma soon laughed along with them and eventually they all left, leaving Skye and Chase alone in the Lookout.
The aviator pup started to set the game up while Chase stood there.
"Come on Chase, just ask her out to the dance, now is a perfect time more than any!" Chase thought to himself.
"You know, I like Zuma and all but I think he's a little too confident about his score on Pup Pup Boogie." Skye said as she set up the dance pads.
Chase chuckled at what Skye said. "You got that right." The pup got onto his dance pad along with Skye.
She started the game and the two started to dance to the rhythm of the song.
"He told me something yesterday out of nowhere, I think he was just trying to say that so he can win." Skye said as she focused on the screen.
"What was it?" Chase asked.
"He asked if you and I were a couple. I told him that we were just friends, I don't know why he doesn't see that." Skye said.
Chase's confidence dwindled down as he heard this but he was trying to hide it.
"Yeah, I...I mean we are just friends and it's fine like that." Chase said as he didn't want to make Skye uncomfortable.
"I don't know, I told him if he tried something like that again, it wouldn't end well on account of him still losing to me." Skye said.
Chase chuckled nervously and the two continued on with the game.
After what seemed like an eternity, the two finally finished with a draw and leaving Zuma's score in the dust. The two were exhausted.
"Come on, let's get some water." Chase said out of breath.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Skye agreed as she followed behind the Shepherd.
The two pups went to their water bowls and started to drink up. Chase couldn't stop thinking about what Skye said earlier.
Were they really just friends?
Chase had to do something at least before the dance, he decided to take a deep breath and finally make a move.
"Hey Skye?" Chase called out.
"Yeah Chase? What is it?" Skye asked as she stopped drinking water.
"I was wondering...if you would like to—." The timing couldn't have been worse, their pup tags rang and they had a mission to do.
Chase sighed as he went to the elevator. "Maybe some other time." Chase said as he met up with the other pups.
All the pups went up to the Lookout and got their gear, they hopped out the elevator and got into position.
"Paw Patrol ready for action Ryder sir!" Chase said.
"Thanks for coming so quickly pups, those foxes are back and roaming around city hall, ruining the preparations for the Valentines Dance, we have to stop them before they ruin everything!" Ryder pulled out his pup pad. "For this mission I'll need all of you pups, Skye takes the air and tries to spot them, Zuma checks the beach, Rocky, Marshall and Rubble will help fix up whatever damage they caused so far and Chase I'll need you to block the roads and help find those foxes!"
All the pups said their catchphrases and headed out to their assigned locations.
Ryder and most of the pups stopped at City Hall and got out their rigs. Ryder looked at the extent of the damage, it was fixable.
"Ok you three, fix up whatever you can and help Mayor Goodway, Chase I want you to try to sniff those foxes out." Ryder said.
"You got it Ryder!" Chase began to sniff for any kind of scent of the foxes but couldn't get one.
While Chase was sniffing around for a scent, Skye was scouting from the air near City Hall and managed to spot at least two foxes running around, the same thing happened with Zuma down at the beach.
"Ryder, I spotted some of the foxes near the beach, I'm gonna need some help with this." Zuma said.
"Same here, I spotted some foxes near City Hall, close by you Chase!" Skye called out.
"Alright, Marshall head down to the beach and help Zuma, Chase you go find those foxes Skye spotted." Ryder ordered.
"Yes sir!" Chase saluted and headed off to Skye copter while Marshall headed down to the beach.
~~~~~
Chase finally caught up with Skye as she landed her copter.
"I saw them close by Chase, come on!" Skye gestured for the pup to follow her.
Chase had mixed emotions being near Skye but ultimately brushed it off for the sake of the mission.
The two walked for a while near City Hall and heard a scuffle nearby, they turned the corner and saw two foxes digging near a trash can, they took off after sighting the pups, the pups chased after them and eventually it lead them inside City Hall.
"Oh man, these foxes are trouble." Chase said out of breath. "Did you see where they went?" The pup asked.
"I think I saw one of them over here." Skye gestured for the pup to follow him into a room.
Skye was right, there was a fox in the room but they didn't see it.
"Come on out little buddy, we're not going to hurt you, we just want you out of here." Chase said looking around the room.
Skye heard a noise near a cabinet and checked it out, she looked under and spotted a fox there, the little critter scurried from underneath and dodged the small aviator pup but couldn't get it off it's tail. Chase tried cutting it off and Skye jumped towards the fox but ended up missing it and crashing into Chase.
There was a silence between the two as they realized that their noses were mere inches away from touching.
Chase was nervous and had every right to be, him and Skye never had a mishap like that and if they did they would brush it off instantly but this time they didn't, even though they had a job to do. Skye was a little nervous also but not as much as the police pup. The two stayed like that for a little bit until Skye spotted the fox and hopped off Chase, letting out a gasp of air from the pup.
"Come on Chase, the fox isn't getting away this time!" Skye took off after it.
"Yeah, I'm right behind you!" Chase said as he got up and followed behind the aviator pup.
They eventually cornered the fox and Chase caught it with his net.
"Nice job Chase, let's get this one back to Ryder and get the other one, he can't be far." Skye said.
"Yep, come on let's go." Chase lead the way outside and they met up with Ryder. The pup dropped the fox near Ryder and lead it into a small cage.
"Good job you two." Ryder said.
"There's still one more fox around here, come on Skye!" Chase went back into City Hall with the aviator pup.
Soon after the two pups went back into City Hall, Zuma and Marshall arrived with two captured foxes. They had small cuts on them, which alarmed Ryder.
"Take them! Take these little DEMONS and put them in a cage please!" Marshall said out of breath.
Chase and Skye went back to where they first saw the two foxes and Chase began to sniff for the other fox's scent.
"This fox is tricky one." Chase said as he kept sniffing. "I think I got it, come on!" Chase followed the scent and Skye followed the pup.
Chase felt the scent getting stronger and slowed down. He motioned for Skye to come towards him and peeked around the corner, seeing the fox lying down on the ground. He stopped peeking and looked at Skye while turning off his pup tag. Skye noticed it and proceeded to do the same. They quietly moved towards the fox and Chase caught it with his net. The two pups left the area and went back to Ryder.
As they put the last fox in a cage, the two pups looked at Marshall and Zuma with confused looks.
"What happened to you two?" Chase said.
"We had to chase after those foxes and then after we cornered them, they POUNCED on us and gave us these!" Zuma explained.
Chase and Skye looked at each other and then back at them, the two began to snicker at what happened to the pups.
"These two weren't a problem for us, for the most part." Skye said.
Mayor Goodway came up to everyone and thanked them for their efforts.
"Oh Ryder, thank you so much for capturing these foxes, the dance is saved! Remember to where something nice tomorrow!"
The pups packed things up and went back to the Lookout.
Things were quiet at the Lookout, Ryder patched up Zuma and Marshall's scratches and the went on with their day.
The night sky loomed over the Lookout as the pups were getting ready for bed. As Chase walked to his pup house, he was stopped by Zuma.
"Oh hey Zuma." Chase greeted.
"Chase, you're not going to the dance right?" Zuma asked.
"Yeah I'm not going, Skye just sees me as a friend and nothing more." Chase lowered his ears after saying that.
"Not if you surprise her tomorrow." Zuma said.
"What? What are you saying?" Chase asked.
"Chase, buddy, it's simple, she already knows you aren't going, she has no one else to spend time with at the dance, you know how Skye is with stuff like that." Zuma said.
"Can you get to the point Zuma? Chase was getting impatient.
"Show up later and surprise her with a dance and tell her how you feel. She'll have to say something." Zuma finally explained.
Chase thought about the pup's idea and came to the conclusion that it might just work.
"Alright, It's better than anything I can think of, thanks Zuma." Chase smiled at the pup.
"Anytime!" The pups went off to their pup houses and headed off to sleep.
~~~~~
Sunday
It was time for the dance, all the pups were dressed formally except for Chase and they went off to City Hall.
Ryder and the rest greeted everyone they could and stayed near the center of the party, the other pups separated with their own partner while Rubble stayed near the food table. Skye stayed near Ryder who was with Katie and sighed at the sight of everyone spending time with each other.
Zuma kept his eye on Skye and called Chase through his pup tag.
"Hey Chase, Skye's looking pretty lonely out here, start getting ready pal." Zuma said through the pup tag.
"Alright, I'll be there soon!" Chase said before hanging up.
~~~~~
Chase put his pup tag away and began to get dressed for the dance.
"Ok Chase, come on, this is your best chance you have right now, just surprise her and tell her how you feel. You got this!" Chase said to himself as he got dressed. He looked in a mirror and admired himself, boosting his confidence.
He left the Lookout and headed towards City Hall, he soon got another call from Zuma.
"Chase! She's gone! I don't know where she went, she was just here a second ago!" Zuma said as he was away from the party.
"What? Any idea where she went?" Chase said as he drove closer to City Hall.
"I'll ask Ryder." Zuma didn't hang up as he went to find Ryder. Eventually he found Ryder dancing with Katie and called out his name. "Ryder, where's Skye?"
"I'm pretty sure she went out to get some air, she should be back soon." Chase heard Ryder say through the pup tag.
As Chase was driving, he noticed Skye at the beach. "Zuma, I found her, she's at the beach."
"Oh ok, good luck buddy!" Zuma said before hanging up.
Chase stopped his rig and hopped out, he walked towards the aviator pup who didn't notice him.
"Beautiful night huh?" Chase said as he got next to the pup.
Skye looked over as she heard Chase's voice and was stunned not only by him showing up but how formal he looked.
"Ye-yeah it is beautiful." Skye said as she looked back at the moonlight. "I thought you didn't want to come to the dance?" Skye asked.
"Well, I wanted to surprise you." Chase smiled.
"Why?" Skye asked again.
This was Chase's chance to finally reveal his feelings.
"Well...it's because I like you, not as a friend, but as something more Skye." Chase nervously said.
Skye didn't know what to say to the Shepherd, she thought that was just a one-time crush but it wasn't.
"I've felt like this way about you for a long time Skye and I was always afraid that you wouldn't want to have anything to do with me anymore if I asked." Chase added.
"Chase...even if I rejected you I would still want to be friends with you, you're the bravest pup and most caring pup I know! I wouldn't trade that for anything." Skye said smiling. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like you too Chase, there's no pup in the world that can change that." Skye said as she nuzzled close to Chase.
"Happy Valentine's Day Skye." Chase said as Skye looked up at him.
The two got close and kissed under the moonlight.
"I love you Skye."
"I love you too Chase."
