Whumptober 2022 Oneshots + Alt List Oneshots

Prompt 15 : Emotional Damage

Subprompt : Breathing Through The Pain
Fandom : Dear McCracken (short film - 2019)
Pairing : Ozzie/Chase
Chronology : Extended version of the scene where Chase sees the photo of Ozzie's wife
Headcanon : FTM!Chase

Chase held the phone in his hand, looking at Ozzie's new wife. His new, pregnant wife. His new, pregnant wife that he was in love with, and that was completely fair because he was his own person and they hadn't even spoken in years but holy shit, it hurt.

"Chase?" Ozzie asked, concerned at the sudden state of distress that his friend seemed to be in. The blonde looked up at him hazily, tears welling up in his eyes. He hadn't cried in a while- That was one of the weirdest things about taking testosterone. He didn't cry very much. But, oh fuck, he was crying now. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing" Chase dismissed. Ozzie rolled his eyes. That was a big, fat lie and he was not buying it.

"Chase, you don't cry" Ozzie replied gently. "Something's up"

"It's just..." Chase trailed off. How could he possibly justify his feelings? It's not like he could just come out and say I love you, Ozzie. I've loved you since I first met you in high school and I never stopped loving you, so seeing you with this woman- I'm sure she's lovely, for the record- Fucking hurts. No. He couldn't say that. Not after everything that happened. Not after being away from him for so long. "Things are just so different now, I guess"

"Aw, buddy" Ozzie frowned, wrapping his arms around his friend once again. "You're still my best friend, Chase" he told him. "That never changed, even if we haven't spoken in a while" he assured the crying man. "I'm sorry we didn't keep in touch over the years"

"Not your fault"

"I'll give you my email before you head back to Seattle, yeah?"

"I'd like that" Chase smiled, wiping away his tears. The pain was still there in abundance. His chance was gone. He couldn't ever share how he felt for the man. There would always be that weird tension between them, and he didn't know how to deal with it, but...

"I love ya, man" Ozzie said warmly. "You're my best friend till the day I die"

Fucking kill me

"Yeah" Chase responded, swallowing harshly as he forced himself to bottle his feelings again and breathe through the pain. "Uh, you too, Oz"