All At Once (Completed) - Finding You Book 1

Camden

I walk inside my apartment quickly after Harper drives away. I know what I have to do. Talking to Chase isn't optional and the sooner I get it over with, the easier it will be.

I knock on Chase's door twice. I wait a moment, but when he doesn't answer, I open it slowly. He's lying on his bed with his headphones in, tossing a baseball in the air and catching it. I wave my hand a little so I don't startle him, and Chase pulls out his ear buds.

"Busy?" I ask.

"Am I ever?" Chase says. "Didn't Harper come in?"

"No, she went to the store, remember? It's just us," I pause. "And we need to talk,"

Chase takes a deep breath an I have a seat on a folding chair across the room.

"I'm not okay with your suspension," I say. My eyes scan over my trophies and posters. I remember being young and wanting so many things; I wonder if Chase has dreams he worries might never come true.

"I'm not okay with fighting. Hitting someone is unacceptable, regardless of the reason. You said you punched them because they told on you. But you already apologized for what you did to that house. You weren't going to get in any more trouble for it,"

"They told the girl I like about it," he says. He stops throwing the ball in the air and sits up. "She's a nice girl, but Vic likes her, too. They're trying to sabotage me. They told her I came from a bad family. They told her my mom does drugs and my dad's in jail. I know it's true, but I just got angry. I just wanted to be normal. I just wanted someone to see me for me, not judge me because of them. I think I scared her off, though," he shakes his head. "So there should be no more fighting. I did put them in their place, though," he adds.

"How do they know so much about you?" I ask with a frown, ignoring his last comment. "I thought you weren't mentioning any of that to anyone,"

"Vic's Dad is the principal," he says quickly. "That kind of thing is supposed to stay confidential, but Vic goes in his dad's office all the time and snoops. I'm sure he got into my file or something,"

The kid has no luck. Thousands of miles from home and he's still reminded of the life he so desperately needs to escape. "It's bad enough knowing that my parents suck. I don't need other people telling me, too. And I don't need other people making fun of me for it, or giving me pity,"

I swallow and prepare to ask one of the most difficult questions I've ever asked anyone. I'm afraid of the answer, but I know I need to ask.

"Was your dad decent to you? I mean, he never hit you or anything?" I know Andrew's tendencies. If I want a relationship with Chase, I need to know everything, even if it hurts.

I'm afraid he's bottling up too many things inside. I don't want him to snap.

"No. He never hit me. I stayed in my room a lot. We went to see mom sometimes, but that was rarely good. Half the time she was asleep, but sometimes she was actually normal," he smiles. "I love my mom. She can't take care of me; I know that. I just wish she took care of herself,"

He pulls his baseball cap on and leans back down on the bed, tossing his ball in the air again. It's a good distraction; it gives us both a place to look instead of at each other.

"Dad and I aren't best friends or anything like that. We don't do things together. We never went to games; he never let me play baseball when I was a kid or when I got older. He said we didn't have the money, but I always knew why. He was giving it to Mom," he falls silent for a few minutes.

I'm not sure whether or not to interrupt. The thought of Andrew supporting her drug habit sickens me. He may as well have stayed married to her. The only reason he didn't was because our father convinced him otherwise. "A Fox man can't be married to a drug addict..." Dad told him simply.