Isabella

Chapter 21

A/N - look who's back again....

~~~

I hated third-wheeling.

I don't think I'd ever met someone who could actively say that they enjoyed third-wheeling.

Yet I'd made an exception, only because it was Chase and Rory and they'd be heading back to university soon enough. They'd decided to take me out for food and then shopping; when the twins complained that they were being left out Chase simply told them that he wanted to spend time with one of the few sane people in the house. I'd gladly take that title.

"You can't go wrong with a McDonald's", Rory shoved a nugget into her mouth whole and groaned, grabbing Chase's upper arm as well as some chips, "here".

He opened his mouth and she wedged them in, he hummed and chewed slowly as his eyes searched the food court rapidly. He'd been on edge ever since we entered the mall, and at first I thought he just wasn't a fan of big crowds...until I saw him wincing at the noise.

"You guys are so in love", I sighed, "you okay Chase?". He faced me, side-eyed his girlfriend and then nodded twice.

"Headache", was all he said and Rory frowned.

"Why didn't you say anything?", she asked him.

"I'm not letting this-", he gestured to his right ear with a finger, "ruin my day". While I rarely saw Chase in general, I'd noticed he wore his hearing aids the majority of the time, however when he wasn't wearing them he seemed a lot calmer, maybe he didn't like them all too much?

"It doesn't have to ruin your day", Rory rubbed his arm and smiled, "but we can still go somewhere quieter right? We're done in here anyway". I nodded in agreement and after a few seconds, Chase did too.

~

So, after clearing up our rubbish, we started walking. Chase didn't have a car, nor did Rory; the pair of them apparently had their licences yet preferred to walk everywhere. God they were made for each other.

It was boiling today, so much so that my t-shirt literally felt like a fluffy hoodie, and I didn't blame Rory for wearing a crop top and skirt; or Chase for being in shorts and a t-shirt like me.

We came across this fucking huge park with a playground, a lake, parents watching their kids, people walking their dogs - someone walking a tortoise too actually. After soaking up some sun on a bench for a good twenty minutes while talking about random shit like whether pineapple belongs on pizza or not (it does), Chase received a phone call which threw a spanner in our plans.

"Xander's going crazy", he hung up the phone and gazed at the pair of us, "he's tearing up the place, he's punched Xav, kicked Cub, think a few walls have felt his rage too". Oh god Xander.

"What's happened?", Rory took the words right out of my mouth, Chase eyed me carefully for a split second before clearing his throat.

"Uh, Zane didn't say", yeah fucking right, "he wants us to head back though, I might need to take Caleb to the hospital". Hospital? Again? What was up with these guys?

"Shit", I cursed, ignoring his disapproving look; I was gonna get to the bottom of why they were all acting like this.

Xander

I remember the first time I was taken to a psychologist.

I was nine years old, had just given my twin brother a black eye and a busted lip, and suddenly everyone was telling me my temper was a cause for concern.

No fucking shit.

What did they expect when I was raised by probably the worst parents on the planet? Fuck that, they weren't parents, and I wasn't raised by them.