I woke up to the sound of mr. Davenport and Douglas walking into the mentor quarters.
"Donnie, I'm telling you: I saw Leo defeat Adam in a basketball match!", Douglas said.
"Douglas, we both know that would never happen! Adam's like twice Leo's size!", mr. Davenport countered.
"I know! And still I saw it!", Douglas said.
Since they hadn't acknowledged me yet, I coughed and stood up: "Hey, what's going on?"
Mr. Davenport faced me, a little startled: "You've been here the whole time?"
When I nodded, he continued: "Well, then I guess you've heard the 'problem'. Douggie here is back to one of his old habits: lying."
"I'm not lying and I'll prove it!", Douglas said, taking the tablet he was holding and started typing.
By now, I was standing next to him and saw he was browsing through some security camera footage.
"Here it is!", he said as he clicked on a recording from about thirty minutes ago.
When the clip opened, it showed Leo and Adam playing basketball in the trainings-area. After two attempts, Leo passed Adam with the ball and scored. While Leo was cheering, Adam just stood there watching him instead of demanding a rematch.
"This is bad", mr. Davenport said "Is he really this down about the fight you guys had?".
"Apparently", I said, still staring at the tablet even though the screen had turned black after the video had ended.
"I'll go find Adam and have a talk with him", mr. Davenport said "Maybe I can cheer him up? You know, oldest brother to oldest brother…"
Douglas rolled his eyes: "Yeah, rub it in a little more!"
After mr. Davenport had left, I sat down on the couch with my head in my hands.
I felt Douglas sit down next to me, but I didn't move. I didn't have the energy to do so.
"How could this day have gone so wrong?", I asked no one in particular "This morning, I was sure I was gonna get that job and thought this would be the best day ever! Right now, I'm pretty sure it's the worst…"
"Everything will be fine in the end", Douglas said, trying to console me.
"… I don't know, Douglas", I replied, trying my best to hold back the oncoming tears "I really don't know".
"You don't know something?", Douglas asked, faking surprise "That's a new one!"
For once, I didn't reply. I just sat there, closed my eyes and felt a single tear escape my eye before I quickly swiped it from my cheek before Douglas saw.
But apparently, Douglas was a little more observant that I had expected.
He looked at me and opened his arms: "Come here, you."
I looked at him and wanted to refuse, but I couldn't hold myself back any longer.
I latched onto him and started sobbing like I hadn't done since that first fight ever.
Douglas just held me and stroked my hair, not saying anything.
At that moment, mr. Davenport walked into the room. When he saw us, he ran up to us and kneeled in front of us: "What's wrong?"
From the corner of my eye, I saw Douglas give him a look that simply said: 'You know what's wrong! Just shut up!'
After a few moments, mr. Davenport sat down next to me and stroked my back.
Five minutes later, my sobs had been reduced to sort of a hiccup. I gently pulled back and noticed Douglas' shirt was completely wet by now.
"Sorry about your shirt", I said, slightly ashamed about my outburst.
"It's okay, Chase", he assured me "You're way more important than my shirt!"
Mr. Davenport put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me a little closer: "Feel better?"
I took a deep breath and nodded: "Actually, I do. How was Adam?"
"Quiet", mr. Davenport said "He didn't really say anything aside from that he hoped you would like your job."
"I have to fix this quickly", I said "But I still don't know what to do…"
Mr. Davenport let go of my shoulder and faced me: "Think about it this way: how much do you want that job?"
"A lot!", I answered immediately "it's a great opportunity"
"And how much do you want to fix things with Adam?", Douglas asked.
I turned around: "More than anything in the world!"
A small smile appeared on Douglas' face as he replied: "I think you found your solution."
I thought for a moment before smiling back: "Thanks Douglas! You too, mr. Davenport!"
"You're welcome", Douglas said with a smile.
"You'd better go find Adam and tell him", mr. Davenport said "A sad Adam is no good for anybody!"
"I'll go find him right now!", I said, jumping up and running to the trainings-area.
Before I closed the door, I saw mr. Davenport and Douglas smile at each other.
I really hoped things between Adam and me would turn out just as good as they did between mr. Davenport and Douglas.
Author's note: And that's a wrap on chapter 3! :D
Thanks to everybody who is reading this, it means a lot to me! :)
Also: if you still have any requests on Lab Rats or Lab Rats: Elite Force, let me know!
I would be happy to help out! ;)