An hour later, nobody was talking. Not really. The mansion was silent. Adrean sat on one couch with red eyes. Nick sat across the room with his arms crossed. The bikers had stopped joking around. Even Chase's boyfriend was unusually quiet. And Chase... Chase was just sitting there. Staring at the floor. Nobody could tell what he was thinking. Every now and then someone would glance at him. But he never looked up. Never said anything. The silence dragged on. Ten minutes. Twenty. Thirty. An hour. Then Chase suddenly stood up. Everyone looked over. He didn't say a word. Didn't look at anyone. Didn't explain anything. He just grabbed his keys from the table. And started walking. "Chase?" Nothing. "Chase?" Still nothing. His boyfriend immediately stood up. "Where are you going?" No answer. The front door opened. And closed. The room froze. "Oh no." Nick was already moving. Everyone rushed to the windows. Just in time to see Chase's car flying down the driveway. Way too fast. "What the hell was that?" one of Adrean's friends asked. Nobody knew. Then one biker pulled out his phone. His face immediately fell. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." "What?" Nick demanded. The biker looked up. "Underground fight." The room went silent. "What?" "He just signed into one." Every biker immediately stood up. "Move." The mansion exploded into chaos. People grabbed keys. People grabbed jackets. Within minutes everyone was in cars. Trying to catch up. Nobody was talking. Nobody wanted to say what they were all thinking. Because everyone knew Chase fought when he was upset. And right now? Chase looked furious. By the time they got there, the fight had already started. The warehouse was packed. People were screaming. Money was changing hands. The crowd was losing its mind. And in the middle of it all— Chase was fighting. The room froze. Because this wasn't normal. Not even for Chase. His opponent threw a punch. Chase dodged. Another punch. Dodged. Another. Missed. Another. Missed. Not a single hit landed. Not one. The crowd was going insane. Meanwhile Chase looked terrifying. Not excited. Not confident. Angry. Every movement was sharp. Fast. Violent. His opponent was one of the biggest fighters there. Normally someone Chase would have fun fighting. Tonight? It looked personal. The guy barely had time to react before Chase hit him. Once. Twice. Three times. The crowd erupted. The fighter stumbled. Chase didn't stop. Everyone watching immediately felt sick. Because Chase wasn't fighting for fun anymore. He wasn't fighting to win. He was angry. Weeks of frustration. Stress. Confusion. Everything seemed to be coming out at once. The opponent hit the ground. The fight should have been over. It wasn't. Chase was still moving. Still throwing punches. Still furious. The referee grabbed him. Chase shoved him off. Two more people jumped in. They got pushed away too. The crowd stopped cheering. People started yelling. "CHASE!" Nothing. It was like he couldn't hear anyone. His boyfriend was already pushing through the crowd. Nick wasn't far behind. Neither were the bikers. It took multiple people to finally grab Chase and pull him backward. Even then he fought them. Trying to get free. Trying to go back. "CHASE!" His boyfriend grabbed both sides of his face. Hard. "CHASE!" Finally. Finally. Chase blinked. The anger vanished. And was immediately replaced by horror. The warehouse was silent. Everyone was staring. The opponent was conscious. But barely moving. Chase looked around. At the crowd. At the bikers. At Nick. At Adrean. At his boyfriend. Then at his own hands. For the first time all night, he looked scared. Nobody knew what to say. Because none of them had ever seen Chase lose control like that before.
Five minutes later, things had somehow gotten worse. The warehouse was still tense. Nobody was talking. Nobody knew what to say. Chase was sitting on a bench near the edge of the room while people kept their distance. The bikers were watching him carefully. Nick was pacing. Adrean looked worried. And Chase's boyfriend hadn't taken his eyes off him for a second. For a moment, everyone thought he was calming down. Then Chase suddenly stood up. The room froze. He looked angry again. Not yelling. Not talking. Just angry. "Chase?" one of the bikers called. No response. Chase turned and started walking away. Fast. "Chase." Nothing. His boyfriend immediately followed. "Chase." Still nothing. The crowd parted as Chase headed toward one of the side exits. The second he stepped outside, everyone rushed after him. The night air hit them immediately. Nobody got more than a few words out. Because before anyone could stop him— Chase swung his fist. A loud crack echoed through the parking lot. Everyone froze. A section of the old brick wall beside the building broke apart. Pieces of brick scattered across the ground. The entire parking lot went silent. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Chase stared at the damaged wall. His chest rising and falling rapidly. For a split second, fear crossed his face. Real fear. Like he had finally realized what he'd done. Everyone saw it. And everyone immediately moved. "Chase—" "It's okay—" "Just calm down—" "We got you—" The bikers approached carefully. Nick was already halfway across the parking lot. Adrean wasn't far behind. His boyfriend reached him first. Then the fear disappeared. It vanished so quickly that several people wondered if they had imagined it. Because the next thing on Chase's face was fury. Pure fury. Not directed at anyone. Just there. Burning. His jaw tightened. His hands clenched. Everyone stopped moving. One biker quietly muttered: "...That's not good." Nobody disagreed. "Chase," his boyfriend said carefully. No response. "Look at me." Nothing. Chase was staring at the ground. Breathing hard. Trying—and failing—to calm himself down. Nobody had ever seen him like this. Usually Chase laughed things off. Usually Chase joked. Usually Chase talked. This version of him was unfamiliar. And that scared everyone. Even the bikers. One of them took another cautious step forward. "Man, just talk to us." Chase finally spoke. His voice was quiet. Dangerously quiet. "I'm fine." Nobody believed him. Not even a little. His boyfriend immediately answered. "No, you're not." That made Chase laugh. A short, bitter laugh. Which somehow worried everyone even more. The parking lot fell silent again. Nobody knew what to do. Nobody wanted to push him. But nobody wanted to leave him alone either. So everyone stayed exactly where they were. Watching. Waiting. Hoping the anger would burn itself out before Chase did something else he regretted.
