Wherefore Art Thou, Chase?

Author\'s Note: I apologize profusely for the extended wait for this chapter. I was extremely busy and, when my schedule began to clear, my muse abandoned me. ;_; Sadly, that means that this chapter might not be up to the standard that you\'re used to on the other chapters. Try to enjoy and I promise that I\'m doing my best to lure my muse back to me... *grabs voodoo doll of muse and whispers \'come back to PR, my muse\' in its ear* ^_^

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Chapter 11: Familial Woes

Huey sighed as he dropped the phone into its cradle. Chase looked up from his book at the young man, who was very pale and looked like he needed to sit down.

“Huey?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow. The eighteen-year-old shook his head slowly, slumping against a counter.

“Erin’s staying with her family until Thanksgiving…” Huey murmured dejectedly. Chase put down the book and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Well, weren’t you planning on going home for Turkey Day?” Chase asked. His parents only lived an hour or two away, but Huey was supposed to “come home” for nearly every holiday; his parents were way too over-protective.

“Yeah, but I wanted to introduce her to my family–” Chase snorted, rolling his eyes.

“Why would you do that to the poor girl, huh?” he asked, shaking his head. Huey smirked and pushed himself off of the counter, heading towards the fridge.

“Maybe because my family isn’t like yours, Chase?” he suggested, pulling out the pickings for a sandwich.

“Oh, you mean they’re poor and not snobs?” The younger man chuckled and nodded as Chase picked up his book again, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah…”

**********

“I don’t care, Addison! Just tell me what I need to know and I’ll leave you alone!” Lily shouted into the phone, her free hand clenching into a fist at her side.

“Lily, just let me talk to him! You’re never gonna get anywhere with your brother if you keep talking to him like that. And then you’re gonna end up throwing the phone into the cradle and nearly breaking it…Again,” Janelle reasoned with her cousin, holding her hand out expectantly for the receiver.

Lily rolled her eyes and barked, “Fine, Addison! I’m handing you over to Janelle,” before thrusting the phone over to the brunette. A scowl twisted her normally pretty features into something that Janelle vividly remembered the blonde only reserved for fights with family.

“Calm down,” the brunette mouthed to her roommate before taking the telephone from her. As Lily stormed upstairs with a huff, Janelle shook her head. “Why do you do that to her, Addison? You know you only get her angry…And then Erin and I have to deal with the Ranting Lily for the next week or so,” she said into the phone, settling onto the couch.

“Hey, how was I supposed to know she doesn’t like being called ‘Lily pad,’ huh?” the deep voice on the other end asked innocently. She could hear the laughter in his voice and she grinned, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. Hearing Addison’s voice reminded her of her family, which was a bittersweet memory, at best.

“She hasn’t liked it since you started calling her that thirteen years ago!”

“I was seven! You really expect me to remember way back then?”

“I expect you to remember that you’ve called her that at least once daily ever since. And that it always makes her upset.”

“Oh, c’mon, ‘Nelle. She’s always upset and you know it. She’s got some sort of permanent stick up her a–…What, Mrs. MacPherson?…No, ma’am. I’d never say anything like that, ma’am. Especially about my sister…” As she heard her cousin try to explain himself to his best friends’ mother, Janelle smothered her giggles into her hand. Addison was a real piece of work, but being around him was never boring.

“Just put a MacPherson on the phone, Addison!” she shouted over his excuses. “Unless you can tell me how Ava and Dermot are!”

“Yes, Mrs. Mac…I mean, no, ma’am…Aw, jeez, Mrs. Mac…Janelle wants to talk to Erin, so I’d better be go…Would you mind talking to Patrick instead, ‘Nelle, while Mrs. MacPherson rails at me s’more?” The last bit was directed into the phone and followed by a muffled, flustered denial of “any such ‘railing’” from Erin’s mother. Patrick was the second son of the MacPherson clan and about two years older than Erin.

“I did say ‘any MacPherson,’ Addison,” Janelle reminded her cousin teasingly.

“Alright, ‘Nelle…Handing you over to Pat now. Love ya,” the young man said, before another man’s voice came on the phone.

“Hello?”

“Patrick? Its Janelle…Addison and Lily’s cousin? Erin’s friend?”

Patrick’s weak chuckle sounded on the other side of the conversation. “I remember you, Janelle. I expect you’d like to know how Ava and the baby are doing?”

“And Dermot, yes…”

“Well…This is what the doctors have told us so far…”

**********

“The baby is in Intensive Care, ‘Nelle! Its a miracle he’s breathing now, what with the umbilical cord being wrapped around his neck when he came out!” Lily shouted, pacing the room restlessly. Janelle was massaging her temples, sitting on the couch and trying not to think of the thousands of TV shows that detailed the problems of birth. “I mean, he’s premature, too! That alone could kill him!”

“Lily!” she finally snapped, making the blonde stop her tirade. “Calm down…Its not like we’re doctors and we can rush down there and make everything better!” Janelle took a deep breath, letting out as much of the anxiety that had been building up in her gut as she could. “Now, just…Calm down; take deep breaths; and think, Lily…What good would it do to go rushing down there now? All we’d be doing is sitting there, feeling helpless. Here, we can go to school and work and not waste the gas money that it would take to drive home. That‘s money we need if we want to go home for Christmas.”

Lily looked down at her feet and pressed both palms to her forehead. “You’re right…And, I know you’re right,” she admitted, dropping into an armchair. “I just…I feel helpless here and I’m so scared for Dermot and Ava…You know how much they wanted this baby. And Erin’s the godmother. And Addison is down there, looking like he cares more about that family than I do…” The blonde sighed and the defeated look on her face tugged at Janelle. She hated seeing people she cared about like this…It always made her feel guilty and sad.

It was silent in the apartment for a very long time with both women letting the MacPherson’s troubles sink in. Finally, Janelle turned the phone back on and dialed the number for pizza. She doubted either of them was ready to go through the struggle of cooking. Not yet, anyway…Maybe tomorrow.

**********

Erin stroked her sleeping sister’s hair gently, her mind in a distant place. Fiona was sixteen, but was still very naïve and childish about the world. She still believed that almost everyone had a little bit of good in them, despite her sister’s experiences and warnings.

“You know, Addison Scott has some Celtic blood in him…And he isn’t so much younger than you, m’darlin’.”

The soft, lilting voice startled Erin out of her thoughts and she looked up to meet her father’s warm blue gaze. He smiled and she smiled back at the tall, balding man. “What are you saying, Papa?” she asked, patting the seat next to her. Her father sat and folded his gnarled hands in his lap.

Staring at his hands, he continued, “I’m sayin’ that I want what’s best for you, m’darlin’. And, I think Addison Scott–though not entirely Irish–has enough of the fire of an Irishman in ‘im that he can make you happy.”

Erin shook her head and continued to stroke Fiona’s hair, staring down at her own lap, which was where the younger sister’s head lay. “I don’t like Addison like that, Papa. He’s never been more than a friend to me,” she reminded her father gently, looking back up at him and meeting his gaze with her own. “Now, can you stop trying to force me to date the guys you and Ma want me to? I can find dates for myself, you know.”

“Aye, m’darlin’, that’s what you’re Ma an’ I are afraid of,” he agreed, fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat. “N-now, its no secret to us that you’re old enough to pick your own men, b-but your Ma an’ I are just…concerned for you, m’darlin’. What, with all the hap’nin’s with your uncle, an’ all–”

“Papa, what makes you think that being with an Irishman will make me any safer than I was with that man that you called your brother?!” she demanded, fire igniting in Erin’s eyes as she glared at her father. The pair was silent for a long while, each gaze warring with the other for some sort of authority over this decision. A deep, confused voice interrupted them. Addison had poked his head into the room they were waiting in.

“Hey, Mr. Mac…? Erin…? Faolan is out of Intensive Care…He’s breathing fine and they’ve got him on display with all the other babies…He’ll be the one with the blue cap all swaddled in blankets,” Janelle’s cousin informed his old neighbors jokingly. Mr. MacPherson chuckled and stood, pretending like nothing had happened.

“Should I wake Fiona?” Erin asked quietly. “I know she’d love to see the baby, but she was so tired…”

“I’d be willing to watch over her while you two go visit the baby…I’ve already seen him and, if Fiona wakes up on her own, I can bring her to the nursery,” Addison offered, rather surprised when Mr. MacPherson, who he’d known for a good chunk of his life, was looking at him like he was some sort of pervert. The younger man swallowed tightly and glanced at Erin questioningly. “What’d I do, Mr. Mac…?” he asked, trying not to be nervous under that intense, piercing gaze. The MacPherson patriarch seemed about to speak, when Fiona suddenly jerked awake.

“What’s going on?” she asked, stretching and yawning at the same time. She rubbed at her eyes tiredly while Erin informed her of Faolan Alaric’s–the newest member of the MacPherson clan–status. She jumped up, a huge smile spread across her face. “He’s okay? The baby’s okay?” she demanded. When her father nodded, also grinning happily, she let out a whoop and jumped in the air.

Erin grinned happily at her youngest sister’s enthusiasm. “Let’s go see him before they take him away again,” she teased, standing and stretching. Fiona led the way back to the nursery, skipping all the way.

**********

Janelle stared at her ceiling as she tried to block out the soft music flowing up from downstairs. Erin hadn’t been home for longer than an hour before she and Huey were together again, holding one another and being very couple-ly. Janelle couldn’t help thinking of Chase whenever she looked at them.

She hadn’t seen Chase since their encounter at the day-care. They’d had separate shifts and, in light of the holidays, Professor Curtis had declared that there be no practice while she was visiting family in Arizona.

Thinking about Chase made Janelle restless and she stood, pacing her room. She flopped down on her bed again, soon, letting out an aggravated sigh. Not thinking about him wasn’t an option and thinking about him made her feel all sorts of emotions that she hadn’t felt since her early teenage years. She wanted–no, needed– to hear his voice, to let it caress over her like a loving touch.

Unfortunately, Janelle didn’t have a phone in her room and Erin and Huey were occupying the downstairs, which was where the most-commonly-used phone was. She knew Erin would move them into the bedroom if they got too carried away, but Janelle still didn’t want to catch them in any sort of provocative position.

Lily has a phone in her room, Janelle thought. Before she could rethink her decision, she was surging up off her mattress towards her door. She wrenched it open and tiptoed across the hall, knocking softly on Lily’s door. After many long moments, the blonde girl opened her door, a hostile look on her face.

“Janelle? Do you have any idea what time it is?” she grumbled as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. Before Janelle could answer, the blonde did it for her. “It’s one o’clock in the morning; why the hell aren’t you sleeping?” she demanded angrily.

“I need your phone,” the brunette blurted out as a way of explaining her actions. Lily’s jaw dropped disbelievingly and she just gaped at Janelle for a minute, before sighing and shaking her head. She retreated into her room, grabbed her phone receiver and handed it to her cousin before closing the door in her face and slinking back to bed.

“Thank you, Lily,” Janelle hissed through the door, racing back into her own room and dialing Chase’s home phone number simultaneously. Under her breath, she began to murmur, “Pick up…Just someone pick up…” When she finally heard a sleepy “‘Lo?” Janelle was a little surprised. She didn’t recognize the voice at all.

“Um, hi…Is Chase Nicholson there?” she asked nervously, tugging at a curl of hair and twirling it around her finger. It was a nervous habit she’d picked up from her mother, though she didn’t know why this habit had stuck.

“Uh-huh…I’ll go gettim,” the voice slurred, still tired. The sound of feet shuffling along and climbing stairs filled the other side of the phone. Obviously, the phone was being carried to Chase. A loud knock and a “Chase! Wakeup! Phone!” made Janelle jump a little. Finally, she recognized Chase’s voice, husky with sleep, filling the phone line.

“Hello?” he greeted, yawning. Even when he wasn’t being sexy on purpose, he managed to elicit shivers that skittered up and down her spine and make her body ache for his touch.

“Chase?” Janelle’s voice sounded small, even to herself.

“Janelle?” She heard the closing of a door and a bed creaking a little on his side. “You do realize it’s about one in the morning, right?” he asked, reminding her of what Lily had just said.

“That’s what I keep hearing,” she murmured, making Chase chuckle.

“So…Why’d you call?” he asked casually, making Janelle frown in thought. She couldn’t very well tell him that she’d missed him, that she’d needed to hear his voice…Could she?

“I…I was just…” Janelle sighed, embarrassed that she couldn’t tell him what she wanted to. He’s just a guy, Janelle, she told herself, knowing she was lying to herself. He wasn’t “just a guy”…He was “The Guy” that she’d wanted for the longest time.

Chase seemed to sense that she was having trouble telling him why she’d called. She could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “It couldn’t be to wish me a happy belated birthday, now could it?” Janelle blushed, flopping back onto her mattress. “You forgot all about it, didn’t you?” he inquired jokingly. She hadn’t forgotten that his birthday was three days after her own…She’d actually tried to avoid him then, because it was too close to her own birthday and what he’d given her had scared her a little.

“How could I forget your birthday?” she teased back, trying to avoid thinking too much about her first orgasm or when she kissed him in the limo and other things that had to do with intimacy with Chase. “It was too close to my own…” she added softly. There was a long, loaded silence on both ends and Janelle wasn’t sure if Chase was even still awake until he cleared his throat.

“So, uh…Uhm, d’you know what you’re doing for Christmas, yet?” he asked, seeming extremely uncomfortable. It surprised Janelle that he was already talking about Christmas…After all, Thanksgiving had just passed.

“Well, it’s a little early, but I’ll probably be doing exactly what I do every year…” she answered, smiling as a pause stretched between them again. This time, though, it wasn’t loaded or awkward; it was nice. Just nice.

“Which is?” he prompted finally, making Janelle break into a fit of silent giggles with the tone of his voice. He was overly dramatic, which she took to be a sign that he knew she was joking around with him.

“Lily and I go to our grandparents’ house for Christmas Eve with the family. We stay in a hotel for the night and then we each go to our separate homes…”

**********

Chase woke late the next morning, very groggy and tired. He and Janelle had stayed up for most of the night, just talking to each other on the phone. He glanced at his digital alarm clock and groaned, flopping back onto his bed. He wouldn’t be able to function on only four hours sleep, but he couldn’t have stopped talking to Janelle if he’d wanted to.

She was funny, sexy, and adorable, all rolled into one. Rolling out of bed, Chase stumbled down the stairs in a fashion that somewhat resembled the Frankenstein monster, he was sure. When he lurched into the kitchen, Seamus was in the kitchen, poring over an old looking, thin book and sipping at his coffee. They barely glanced at each other as Chase made for the coffee, pouring the liquid salvation into a mug and draining it in almost one whole gulp. As he poured more, Seamus finally spoke.

“Tell your girlfriend that its impolite to call people after eleven in the night-time, Chase,” he grumbled quietly, looking up and rubbing his eyes. “My lawns are going to suffer now, because I’m grumpy and it’s all her fault.”

“Aw, leave ‘er outta this…You’ve got class today, anyways, so it isn’t like you’ll be working much.”

“I’m a landscaper, Chase…I’m always working.”

“Except in the winter, when there isn’t any land for you to scape,” Chase retorted, laughing when Seamus just shook his head and returned to the book he was looking through.

**********

Janelle practically fell down the stairs, very ungracefully, that morning. She had only gotten three hours of sleep after hanging up with Chase and what rest she’d gotten had been fitful, interrupted with guilty dreams about not telling him of the secret feelings she’d harbored for him for nearly nine years, now.

When she thought back on it, Janelle realized that neither of them had truly mentioned going “home.” They’d spoken about their families and she’d learned that he had a younger brother, but neither of them had told one another where “home” was…Both places were within driving distance, but that could be any number of places…

Janelle groaned, clutching her head and flopping into a seat at the kitchen table. It was too early to be thinking about these kinds of things…she reasoned, rubbing at her eyes blearily. Lily was glaring at her cousin and Erin, unaware of what had happened between her roommates, was staring at Huey’s butt, which was encased in the soft denim of his jeans, while he flipped pancakes.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Lily greeted her icily, making the brunette look at her confusedly. “I suppose you had a good time talking to Chase last night?” she added, lifting both eyebrows skeptically.

“Yes, actually, though I don’t remember telling you that I was calling Chase…” the older woman snarled grumpily. She’d missed her jog this morning, she was running on little-to-no sleep, and she just wasn’t in the mood to have her motives scrutinized by her cousin, who was only bent out-of-shape because Addison had called right before Erin returned home and he’d gotten on her nerves…again.

“You talked to Chase last night?” Erin asked, her ears pricking at the turn in conversation. She even managed to rip her eyes away from Huey’s ass and focus on Janelle’s downcast face. The brunette had returned to holding her head in her hands, massaging her temples methodically. “What’d you guys talk about?” she asked eagerly.

Janelle briefly recounted her conversation with Chase–leaving out certain parts because Huey still didn’t know the situation between his girlfriend’s best friend and his roommate and, besides, something should remain private…Even between friends.

**********

He waited patiently in his car, waiting for him to come out of the building. Today was the day. He wouldn’t be bothering Erin any longer. He was going to get rid of that scrawny bastard once and for all. Once he did, she would want him again and they’d live happily ever after, with the white picket fence and all that shit that every woman truly wanted.

“You sure you wanna do this, dude?” He looked at Justin, who he’d brought here. Justin was the star quarterback on his football team and a true friend. The blonde was also one of the most muscular men he’d ever met. Between the two of them, that fucking shrimp didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in Hell.

Yeah, he was ready. Ready to take back his property that that fucker had stolen from him.

Before he could answer Justin’s question, though, the door opened and he came out, swinging his keys and heading towards a crappy-looking Toyota. He got a sick kind of pleasure when he realized that the scrawny little girlfriend-stealer was whistling…He was actually whistling!!!

“There he is, man…Let’s go.”

**********

Huey whistled freely as he unlocked his car, not paying attention to the sound of two car doors slamming across the parking lot from him. His key always gave him some trouble, so there was no surprise when the door wouldn’t open at first.

What did surprise him, though, was his head being slammed into the roof of his car by a large, meaty hand. Pain shot through him and he was sure he tasted blood before he blacked out…