An hour later, everyone was still hanging out in the living room. The movie had ended. The game had been forgotten. And somehow, Nick was still sitting right next to Chase. As usual. Chase was in the middle of telling a story when Nick suddenly interrupted. "Nope." "What?" "Come here." Before Chase could ask what he meant, Nick gently pulled him over to the other side of the couch. The room immediately went silent. "Oh no," Adrean said. "Oh yes," one of Chase's friends replied. Chase looked confused. "What are you doing?" "Making room." "There was already room." "Not enough." The room erupted with laughter. Chase buried his face in his hands. Nick looked completely satisfied with himself. Then he glanced at Chase and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. The room exploded. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" "AGAIN?" "NOT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!" Chase's face instantly turned bright red. Meanwhile, Adrean shot to his feet. "Oh, come on!" Nick looked over. "What?" "You can't just keep doing that!" "Apparently I can." "Nick!" "What?" The room dissolved into chaos. Half the group was laughing. The other half was arguing. Chase looked like he wanted to disappear into the couch. Eventually he groaned and pulled a pillow over his face. "I'm moving to another mansion." "No you're not," Nick said immediately. "See?" Adrean pointed. "That's exactly what I'm talking about." Nick shrugged. The argument continued. The laughter continued. And Chase remained hidden behind the pillow, wishing everyone would calm down for five minutes.
An hour later, the living room had somehow become even louder. Everyone was still arguing. Mostly about Nick. "You are impossible." "Thank you." "That wasn't a compliment." Nick shrugged. Meanwhile, Chase was sitting on the couch looking increasingly bored. The argument had been going on forever. Finally, he pulled out his phone. Nobody noticed. A few quick texts. A grin. Then he stood up. "Where are you going?" Adrean asked. "Out." The room froze. "What?" Before anyone could stop him, Chase headed for the garage. Everyone immediately followed. "Oh no." "CHASE." "Get back here." Chase ignored them. A minute later, the massive garage door rolled open. Sitting inside was one of Chase's motorcycles. Nick immediately crossed his arms. "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." Before the argument could continue, the sound of engines echoed down the driveway. Everyone turned. A group of motorcycles appeared. Then another. Then another. Several riders pulled into the driveway. Most wore leather jackets. Many had tattoos. A few had piercings. The second they parked, Chase lit up. "GUYS!" To everyone's shock, Chase jogged over and started greeting them with hugs and handshakes. The riders greeted him like an old friend. "Thought you'd still be recovering." "I was bored." "Fair." Adrean stared. Nick looked horrified. "Who are these people?" "Friends." "You have more friends?" "Apparently." One of the riders laughed. "He's been hanging out with us for years." The group immediately started getting their helmets ready. Which made everyone else panic. "Oh no." "Absolutely not." "CHASE." Nick stepped forward. "You are not going anywhere." Chase pointed at his motorcycle. "I literally am." "No." "Nick." "No." One of Chase's friends grabbed his arm. "You just recovered!" Another pointed at the motorcycles. "You are definitely not doing whatever this is." "We're just going for a ride," Chase said. That did not help. At all. Within seconds everyone was talking at once. Nick. Adrean. Their friends. Chase's friends. All trying to convince him not to go. Meanwhile Chase calmly put on his helmet. One of the riders looked at the chaos. "...Does this happen a lot?" "Every day," Chase replied. The rider nodded. "Fair enough." The argument continued. The engines idled. And Chase looked entirely too amused by all of it.
