Author's Note: Hello, hello! Back again with a new Chase and Zoey story. This one takes place during Season 3, after Chase dumps Rebecca but before Goodbye, Zoey.

As is often the case with my stories, this is inspired by a song that reminds me of the two characters and their relationship. The song will become obvious when you read the story. (Just pretend the song was released about a year earlier than it actually was and everything works out fine.) Though song-inspired, it is NOT a song fic.

Disclaimer: I write fan fiction as a creative outlet, when my fingers are itching to type, but I'm not creative enough to invent my own characters and a whole plot line. These characters and lyrics do not belong to me. Never have, never will. Intellectual properties belong to their creators, i.e. not me.


"Ughhh. Where is it? It has to be in here somewhere."

Chase hastily removes the comforter from his bed and tosses it across the room, then begins to lift his mattress off the bed frame. When it's not there, he treats Logan's and Michael's beds the same way.

He steps over the mattresses and blankets strewn around the room and walks to the closet to resume his search when he hears a knock on the door.

"It's open," he yells from the floor of the closet.

"Hey, Chase, I need your no—um, what happened in here?" Zoey walks in and stops abruptly before she trips over Chase's pillow that's managed to make its way across the room in his haste.

Chase leans back from where he's still searching the closet floor to look up at her, then around the room to see the state it's in.

"Aw, man. I made an even bigger mess…"

"What do you mean, bigger mess? What's going on?" Zoey starts picking the pillows and blankets up off the floor, while Chase reaches for the various mattresses.

"Well, I was in here trying to get some homework done," Chase starts to explain, "when Michael and Logan came rushing in from playing basketball. Apparently they have dates tonight that they forgot about, so they started throwing clothes and towels around in a hurry to get ready. I stepped out to go get some History notes I leant to Jim across the hall and when I came back, they were gone but they left their mess behind."

Zoey nods along while he speaks, but when he stops, she gestures around the room at the clothes he was talking about.

"So that explains all this, but why were the beds ripped apart?"

"My phone rang," he shrugs, and his inflection almost makes it sound like a question.

"Your phone rang," she asks incredulously. "So, what? The sound of your phone ringing sent you on a rampage and you destroyed your room?" Zoey laughs lightly, kicking one of Michael's shirts closer to his bed.

"No. Well, sort of. See, I couldn't find it. I could hear it ringing, but it was muffled, so I couldn't figure out exactly where it was. I started looking for it, and then the ringing stopped. So I guess I started pulling the beds apart without realizing." He looks around sheepishly. "Thanks for helping me put them back together."

"No problem. Want me to try calling your phone again so we can look for it together?"

"Uh, sure. That would probably be safer for the room…" Chase admits with a soft laugh.

Zoey pulls out her phone and begins dialing as he drops to his knees to start searching the floor. Within seconds, his phone starts to ring and he freezes where he's at beside the couch.

Do you ever think, when you're all alone
All that we could be, where this thing could go?

Chase feels his face begin to heat up as his eyes go wide and he starts searching frantically. He crawls along in front of the couch sweeping his hand underneath it.

Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it real or just another crush?

Suddenly, his fingers connect with something hard buried beneath a pair of Logan's smelly gym shorts, far under the couch.

Do you catch your breath, when I look at you?
Are you holding back, like the way I do?

He wraps his fingers around his phone and yanks his arm out to cancel the call and stop it ringing. He remains kneeling beside the couch for a moment, refusing to make eye contact with Zoey. He knows she heard the same song that he did and he cannot believe he forgot that was set as her ringtone.

Chase clears his throat then begins to get to his feet, as Zoey registers what she just heard.

"Uhhh…is your ringtone Crush by David Archuleta?"

"Huh? Um. Uh. Well." Chase tries to look anywhere but at her. He scrubs a hand over his face, then drags his fingers through his hair, before he drops to the couch and sighs in exasperation.

"Actually, Zo. It's your ringtone. No one else's." He finally dares to look at her and she's staring back at him wide eyed.

"But," he interjects quickly. "I didn't set it. Logan and Michael decided it would be funny to sneak my phone and change your ringtone so that song played anytime you called me. I just…haven't changed it back…"

"So…" Zoey begins, "you don't have a crush on me?"

"Right!" Chase nearly shouts. "No crush over here."

"Really?" The look she gives him is difficult to read, somewhere between amusement, confusion, and hopefulness.

"Really," he responds halfheartedly. With that, he's almost certain she looks disappointed.

"Oh," Zoey says quietly.

"So…was, um—was there something you needed?"

"Oh, right." Zoey jumps a little at his question and he thinks he sees a slight blush creep up her cheeks. "I was going to see if I could look at your History notes from Tuesday. Quinn's latest experiment exploded and ruined mine. I can't read a single word I wrote."

"Those are actually the exact notes I got back from Jim earlier. Maybe we can study together for a little while." Chase walks toward the desk where he'd set the notes down before the hunt for his phone, then turns back to sit on the couch. He notices Zoey hasn't moved from her spot in front of the tv.

"Um. Zo? You alright?"

Zoey shakes her head ever so slightly before focusing her attention on his face. He could have sworn he saw her blush again.

"Ye-yeah. Everything's fine." She slowly makes her way over to the couch, but she sits down as far away from him as she can, hands in her lap and her back ramrod straight.

Chase definitely notices this and smirks a little to himself, while mentally questioning her odd behavior.

"Could it be possible that song hit the nail on the head? Why is she acting all shy all of a sudden?"

He passes her the pages of notes he had collected from his friend down the hall, making sure to graze her hand in the process, to gauge her reaction. Immediately, the skin on her arm erupts into goosebumps, which makes Chase feel quite triumphant, though he pretends not to notice.

She immediately reaches for her backpack to grab her notebook and begins copying his notes on a fresh page. Chase simply sits beside her with his History textbook open, while he softly hums part of the song that was occupying both their minds.

Why do I keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you
You've got me hypnotized, so mesmerized
And I just got to know

A few minutes later, Zoey hastily tosses his notes back at him and puts her notebook and pencil back in her backpack.

"Thanks, Chase. I, uh…I gotta go."

She starts to stand up, but Chase reaches out and grabs her wrist, tight enough she can't just slip away, but not tight enough to hurt.

"Wait, Zo. Can we…talk? Please?"

He looks up at her with pleading eyes, and she slowly makes eye contact before dropping back down beside him. His hand slips from her wrist down to her hand, where it sits on her knee and he inches closer.

"I…I lied." Chase drops his gaze to their hands, still on her knee. His fingers twitch around her hand, and she stiffens but doesn't pull away.

"You…lied?" He can hear the hurt in her voice. It's Spring Break and Gender Defenders all over again. Before this can also be blown out of proportion, he scrambles to clarify.

"Earlier. When I said I don't have a crush on you." He finally looks up at her face, just in time to see it softening.

"That was a lie?" Almost imperceptibly, he thinks her fingers twitch now.

"Well, yeah. I've tried to hide it, but Michael and Logan seem to think I'm pretty obvious about it." He's sure that his face is giving away his desperation, while her expression doesn't change.

Barely above a whisper, she asks, "how long?"

"How long have I had a crush on you?" She nods her head, just once, ever so slightly. "Since the day we met."

Zoey sucks in a breath, but doesn't look away.

"Chase, I—" she starts, but he quickly cuts her off.

"If I'm being honest, the way I feel about you is more than just a crush. I think about you all the time. I stumble over my words—and my feet—so much more around you. I'm always trying to think of new ways to make you laugh or smile. And I know you just see me as a friend, so I've tried pretending like my feelings weren't there. Even tried dating someone else. I don't have to remind you how that turned out." Chase pauses to take a deep breath, then says, "But I can't keep pretending I don't love you, Zoey."

The seconds tick by and Zoey continues to stare at him. She doesn't pull her hand away from his, she doesn't reply, she doesn't move a muscle. And then—

Her fingers twitch against his palm, this time he's certain, but the silence has set him on edge and he releases her hand as though it's burned him. He jumps to his feet and starts pacing across the room, scrambling to think of a way to take back what he's just said.

"You don't have to say it back. I-i, I mean, we're friends. I know you just think of me as a friend, so I don't expect—"

Zoey stands suddenly and steps in front of him. She places her hands on his shoulders to anchor him to the spot, and the moment.

"Chase, you're my best friend, but I have to confess something too. I have thought about it. A lot." She dips her eyes down and drops her hands from his shoulders. "Before I met Rebecca on move-in day, Quinn and Lola were convinced you wanted to tell me that you were in love with me. Of course I didn't believe them. We're best friends, have been from day one, of course you're not in love with me." Now it's Zoey's turn to start pacing, and Chase doesn't try to stop her. "I couldn't have imagined caring about you any more than I already did, but then I started thinking things I've never really thought before. I slowly started to look at you differently, wondering if you might look at me a little differently too."

Shellshocked, Chase remains rooted to the spot. When Zoey stops pacing, they're standing toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye. She reaches down and takes both of his hands in hers.

"I'm not going to say that I love you, but I definitely think I could."

Chase looks down at their joined hands between them, then looks back at her face.

"Really?" He's quiet and tentative. Unsure, but hopeful.

Zoey's face stretches into a wide smile. "Really." Then she reaches up on her tiptoes and places a soft kiss to his cheek.

His eyes go wide and all the color drains from his face. Zoey drags him back to the couch, as though he might pass out if he remains standing.

"Chase! Are you okay? Here, sit down." She frets over him as some of the color slowly starts to return to his face.

"Am I going crazy? Is this real?" He reaches out and pinches his arm to make sure he's not dreaming. Zoey giggles softly when he does. "I've spent so long holding that in, I can't believe I finally told you."

She takes his hand in hers again and gives it a squeeze. "I'm glad you did. Because it gave me a chance to say something I was too afraid to say out loud."

When Chase gives her a smile and squeezes her hand, Zoey smiles back before leaning toward him to kiss his lips for just a second.

"Are you sure I'm not dreaming?"

Zoey laughs and shakes her head at him, but leans in to kiss him one more time. Chase thinks to himself, I'll have to thank Michael and Logan later.

He leans back into the couch and props his feet up on the table in front of him, still holding Zoey's hand in his lap. She leans against him and makes herself comfortable.

"So, Zo…would you rather…"


Author's Note: There ya go! This turned out to be a lot more serious of a story than I initially intended, but I don't hate the final result. Hopefully someone else will like it at least a little bit. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think. I may be back soon with another story for this pairing.

Thanks for reading!
-Bethany