This chapter is for Ariannapink12
Request: How about chapa parents are divorcing and chapa on the playground crying and Bose finds her crying and says chapa are you crying? And she says no and he asked her to come down and she said no and he came up to her and started comforting her and chapa and carry her to the man nest and sat her down and their boyfriend and girlfriend hope it’s not to much ty
TW: divorce
Chapa's parents don’t hate each other. At least she hopes they don’t. But there's a large difference between not hating someone and loving them. So, slowly their marriage degraded. It started with her dad staying later at work and then evolved into her mom not even saving him a dinner plate for afterward.
Once her dad slept on the couch after he got home late from work, and then he just never slept in their bed again. Sage didn't understand it, not really, but Chapa did. She knew the first time her mom didn’t save her dad a plate it was only a matter of time before their marriage reached its end. She grew frustrated, an already quick temper gaining a hair trigger. The others would ask what was wrong and she wouldn’t tell them.
She would say things about her home life that allowed the others to understand it wasn’t going well, but she never told any specifics, not even to Bose, the friend who would easily understand the best.
She knows they’re going to get divorced.
She still feels betrayed when she walks in on her dad packing his bags. “Ah, Chapa honey…I was going to tell you when I was done packing.” She crosses her arms, stubbornly ignoring the tears in her eyes. “I need you to know, no matter what, I love you. Okay, honey?” But Chapa is more upset than she’s ever been before. “If you loved me you wouldn’t leave!” She shouts in her father’s face before turning and running out their front door.
She doesn’t go to the Man’s Nest, not wanting her friends to see her like this. Instead, she goes the park by it; the park where Bose chipped a tooth and Miles almost puked at the sight of all the blood, the park where Chapa forced Mika to spin her until she puked, the park where their friendship has solidified.
She climbs on top of a set of monkey bars sitting with her knees pulled to her chest. She cries quietly into her knees for a while. It’s not until she hears footsteps, an hour or so later, that she looks up. Bose is standing under the monkey bars and looking up at her, a hand raised to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun.
“Hey Chapa! I didn’t know you were planning on coming here today! What’re you doing up there!” Chapa sniffles and yells back down, her voice watery from tears, “Nothing! I’m not really in the mood to hang out so please go away Bose!” Bose, however, frowns, “Chapa, are you…crying?” “Of course not,” Chapa scoffs but her voice breaks and betrays her.
“Chapa, can you please come down?” Bose pleads, worried for her now. “No, just go away Bose…please.” Bose ignores her and starts climbing the monkey bars up to her. “Hey,” he greets when he gets up there. Chapa glares at him, “If you were anyone else I’d push you off the monkey bars.” Bose grins cheekily, “Well it’s a good thing I’m your favorite then right?” Chapa scoffs but doesn’t deny it.
“What’s going on Chapa?” She answers with a question of her own, “What happened when your parents got divorced?” Bose sighs pulling his knees to his chest, “My mom’s been married five times,” he starts and Chapa’s eyes widen.
“I think my dad was number one or number two? It gets kind of hard to keep track of. But he wasn’t a good person, I don’t think. I was really young when they got divorced, I think I was about three. When I ask Mom about him she just gets sad and changes the subject, he never calls or writes. I don’t remember how I felt when they got divorced. I do remember though… The last divorce my mom had. Ah, I really got along with that stepdad, but he and my mom weren’t a good match. They fought all the time. The divorce was really rough. And I remember feeling so guilty because I was so upset they didn’t just hold it together for my sake…”
Bose lets his thoughts trail off and turns to see Chapa with tears on her cheeks, “Oh man, I’m so sorry. I made everything worse didn’t I?” Chapa shakes her head. “No, actually that really helped. Thank you, Bose. My parents are getting divorced and it’s the best for them, but I'm still really mad. It’s nice to know I’m not alone.”
“I think we should go to the Man’s Nest,” Bose finally says a while of comfortable silence later, “it’s getting dark.” Chapa frowns, “I don’t want to walk all the way there.” Bose smirks, “I could carry you,” he says as he makes grabbing motions with his hands. Chapa scoffs, “As if! If you carry me, I’m going to carry you next time.” Bose grins, “Fine with me.” He jumps from the monkey bars and waits for Chapa to do the same before crouching down, “Okay get on my back and hold on.” Chapa rolls her eyes, “I’m not a child.” She climbs on all the same.
The trip to the Man Cave takes a bit longer than normal, interspersed with Bose randomly taking sharp turns or spinning in place to make Chapa laugh. They’re alone when they get there, Ray likely in bed and Schwoz doing his own thing.
Bose drops her to the ground laughing and she pulls him down with her. They play spar for a minute, wrestling and faking punches. Bose finally cries mercy when he sees Chapa’s hands start lighting up. “Cheater,” he accuses breathlessly. She grins, “No cheating, just using advantages to get ahead.” Bose flicks her on the forehead.
They lay on the ground in silence for a moment before Chapa gathers her courage, “Can I tell you something?” She asks quietly. Bose rolls over to face her, “Anything Chapa, you know that.” Chapa thinks of sleepovers and late nights, holding hands during missions, and the butterflies in her stomach when Bose smiles.
“I think I like you Bose…like more than friends.” Bose's mouth hangs open for a moment and Chapa hurries to save their friendship, “And of course, I don’t expect you to reciprocate and I don’t want to make this weird and-” “Chapa.” Bose cuts her off softly. “Yeah?” She asks boldly because Chapa is a lot of things, but a coward is not one of them. “I like you too.”
Time freezes for a moment. “You do?” She double-checks. “Yeah,” Bose grins back at her, “I do. Want to go on a date with me?” Chapa laughs as she rolls her eyes, “Yes, you dork I’d like to go on a date with you.”
