It was a peaceful night at the lookout, the stars shone brightly and all of Adventure Bay blissfully slept through the night, all except for one pup.

Chase had been the first one to retire for the night after their mission was over, but he ended up being the last pup to be able to fall asleep. He turned and tossed and desperately tried to get some shut eye but he couldn't, his mind was racing with thoughts, and they were enough to keep the German shepherd awake.

After a while he gave up and stared at the ceiling of his pup-house. One thought led to another and he realised he wouldn't be able to sleep at all unless he let those thoughts out. He knew exactly how to but he was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this, nevertheless he really wanted to sleep so he against his will he got up and walked inside the lookout towards the elevator, pressing a button that made it ascend towards the room of the one person Chase knew he had to talk to.

The elevator stopped after a while and Chase exited it and crept towards Ryder's room, the door to his room was slightly open and Chase's sensitive ears could pick up the calm breathing pattern of the boy. He didn't want to wake him up and burden him with his problems and he even considered just walking away and trying to sleep again but he knew it wouldn't work and this was his last option.

Chase slowly opened the door a bit more so he could enter and doing so resulted in the old wooden door creaking loudly, loud enough to wake the boy from his slumber, considering he was somewhat of a light sleeper since he never knew when he could be needed for an emergency.

"Huh, wha- who's there?"

Chase froze in his spot, his voice stuck in his throat as he continued standing still, trying to speak. Ryder turned on his bedside lamp and looked towards the source of the sound.

"Chase? You alright there bud? What are you doing up so late? It's-" Ryder glanced at the wall clock in his room, before continuing "2:47 in the morning."

No response

"Chase?"

"Oh, uh- s-sorry Ryder sir! I didn't mean to wake you! Actually, I don't even know why I came here, hahahahahaha, Imjustgonnagonowsorrybye-"

Chase quickly turned around, ready to make a run for it when he suddenly came to a halt

"Chase wait"

Ryder got off his bed and walked towards his pup before kneeling in front of him.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"

"You coming into my room in the middle of the night says otherwise."

Chase didn't know what to say, there was no use trying to complicate the situation further so he just sighed as he looked at the ground.

Seeing that Chase felt uncomfortable, Ryder went ahead and scooped him up in his arms and carried him to his bed, placing him on his legs as he supported his back on the bed post.

"Chase, I'm gonna ask you again, are you okay?" Ryder's tone was soft and caring but stern, he didn't want his pup to deal with all his problems on his own, especially if he could help it.

The German Shepherd sighed, there was no turning back now.

"No, it's just..."

Ryder gently petted his pups head, ushering his to continue

"It's just, well, I've been having these thoughts, and they were racing around my head and not letting me sleep and I thought maybe talking to you about them might make me feel better, but-"

"But what?"

"But... Ryder I'm so sorry for waking you! This is stupid, I'm stupid! I'm so sorr-"

"Hey hey! It's okay! You're not stupid, none of this is, if something's bothering you, you ought to tell me! You did the right thing coming here. Just, please tell me, I promise I'll listen"

Chase looked up at Ryder, still unsure and not wishing to continue, but at the same time, wanting to tell him everything because he knew it would make him feel better. So he chose the latter option, he knew there was no way out and he didn't want to delay this further.

"Well, I know it's been a really long time, heck, it's been ages, but... you remember when you rescued me from Adventure City and brought me here?"

"Of course I do, that was the best decision I ever made I'm my life, you were the best decision I've ever made in my life!"

Chase smiled a little but it quickly disappeared as he let out a long breath.

"Well, then you're not going to like this..."

"Why?"

"I wasn't going to come with you, as a matter of fact, I was planning on running away again as soon as that van stopped."

Ryder stared at Chase for what seemed to be a really long time, and Chase started to worry.

"See! This is why I didn't want to tell you! Please don't be mad! Oh gosh, I shouldn't have said all that! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm-"

Ryder held his hand up to Chase's muzzle, making him stop.

"Chase, you don't have to apologise, I know you were scared and it was probably natural for you to not trust someone as soon as you saw them"

Trust, that was why he was here, that was what he had really wanted to talk about.

"But it's alright. I promise, I'm not mad" Ryder looked warmly at Chase, making him feel a little relaxed.

"I didn't tell you why I was planning on doing that. You know I was abandoned, but thing is, it wasn't my first time."

Ryder's eyes widened, Chase continued.

"I never knew who my mom and dad were, or if I had any siblings, I do know however, that I was first picked up by a woman on a snowy day, she took me to her house and I was so excited to be part of a family, but that never happened. I remeber being pushed around and told to fetch items for them or work for them someway or the other. Turns out, they just wanted someone to serve them for free, they rarely gave me food or payed attention to me."

Chase could recall everything exactly as it had happened, it had hurt him horribly and scared him for a long time.

"Considering they never properly fed me, I became weak and limp and was then given to another family, however, this one promised to take care of me and love and care for me, and being the naive puppy I was, i believed them, but their promise lasted less than a week, then they did the exact same thing the previous owners had done."

Ryder held Chase closer to him, he had no idea about all this.

"But that wasn't the end of it, this continued on for pup-knows how long, everytime I was given to a new family, I was promised the same thing, and everytime I trusted them, only to be disappointed."

Chase began sniffing a bit, before turning to Ryder, "I wanted to believe that all people were good, I thought everyone was nice, but they weren't! People are cruel, they are horrible, lying creatures who make false promises just to ditch you in the end!"

Chase was bawling now, but Ryder was here for all of it, he wasn't going to let his pup suffer on his own. After a while, the crying slowed down but Ryder still didn't let Chase go, he didn't force him to continue wither but he did so anyway.

"Then when my last owners had had enough of me, they left me on the streets of Adventure City, they had promised to take me to a fun place and they just abandoned me like that. That day, I swore to myself that I would never trust another human ever again, they were all condescending, loathing liars, and I didn't want to go through anything like that ever again."

"I'm sorry Chase, I-"

"But that was also the day you found me."

Chase looked up at Ryder, a glimmer of hope in his eyes, his ears peeked up a bit as he gave a small smile.

"When you held out your hands at me, I wanted to run away, I knew you were lying, I knew you would abandon me like the others did. But despite everything that had happened, my heart begged me to believe you, to give humans one last chance, to give you a chance. To trust you."

By now Chase was beaming, his tail wagging, he felt happy at his thought process back in Adventure City, "And I'm so glad I did. Ryder, you were the best decision I ever made. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be here, I would've still been on the streets somewhere, or-"

Chase was enveloped in a tight hug, it took him a while to process the sudden reaction from his owner but he returned the hug and muzzled his head in Ryder's neck.

They stayed like that for a while, before Ryder finally let him go.

"Feel better?"

"A lot"

Ryder smiled, but something inside him was still trudging on one question.

"Chase?" Ryder said frowning a bit

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Well for one, I didn't thing it was important, and two, there was also the fact that I wanted to forget everything that happened to me before you came into the picture, but I guess I couldn't suppress it for long huh?"

"Chase, let me tell you something, your problems are never unimportant. They will always be my top priority, for now and forever."

Chase felt at ease, and finally letting everything out of his chest made him relax as he started to get drowsy.

"Um, do you mind if I sleep here with you tonight?" Chase asked in a small voice

"Of course you can." Ryder said, letting out a huge yawn. He slipped his head on his pillow as he pulled Chase into a side hug, with the latter snuggling his face in his chest. Ryder pulled the covers over himself and his pup and settled down.

"Goodnight Chase"

"Night Ryder, sir."

Before Ryder could completely fall asleep he heard his name being called.

"Ryder?"

"Mm?"

"I love you."

...

"Love you too bud."

A/N: Before you ask, no, this not the sequel to 'Silent Cries', when that does (eventually) come out, I will be sure to mention it. This is just a one shot idea I had after watching PAW Patrol: The Movie, the events here take place after the events of the movie. I was planning on making a one shot book but I'm not sure yet, so yeah.

Anyway, hope you liked it, until next time.

Lydian out!