Lights Down Low ≫ tom holland

02

WHENEVER THE OXLEM'S ATE around the dining table they all had their own conversations. there were too many of them to try and keep up with one big group conversation. chase was always quiet while sitting at the table eating dinner. he kept to himself and rarely joined in conversation unless directly spoken to. each oxlem kid had a seat that they considered 'theirs' and chase's just happened to be at the opposite end of where his parents sat. penelope sat to his right and an empty seat was on the left. there was another empty seat next to that which sat at the end of the table, across from anthony—whenever he was actually there to enjoy a meal.

that night, tom filled in the empty seat at the end of the table. alec sat to his left and the two talked about baseball. no other conversation interested chase, so he decided to listen in on theirs. from what he could tell, tom wasn't on the baseball team with alec, but he seemed interested in whatever alec was ranting about. the coach was a complete asshole and was always negative. he never had anything positive to say and was one of those people that think "it's all about winning".

alec had started playing the sport when he was young because they needed more people on the team and ever since he has loved playing the sport. he enjoyed it and sure, he was happy whenever his team won, but he didn't throw a fit if his team lost either. it was all just for fun to him. he didn't plan on furthering his baseball career, so whenever coach would bring it up he would just walk away.

chase was one of the only oxlem's to not get into a sport. along with alec, jt played baseball and the twins played softball. matteo was on the varsity football team and brinley was a cheerleader. camila was in dance classes—which chase considered 'a sport' because she was active—and penelope was trying out for the freshman lacrosse team in the spring.

sebastian was the only other one that didn't participate in anything extremely active. he liked to draw and chase wished he could draw as well as his older brother. he could draw practically anything if you asked and was planning on going to art school once he graduated. chase was proud of him.

chase found himself sitting at the dining room table by himself only a little while later. he barley touched his food, but his mind was blank as he stared at the table. he hadn't even realized that everyone had gotten up until the table was cleaned and his mom asked if he was alright. of course he responded saying he was okay and she went to help jt take a bath. he could hear the twins and penelope screaming over a show in the living room, sebastian playing music in his room, and alec playing video games with tom in his room. there rooms were directly across the hall from the dining room, so it wasn't like he needed /amazing/ hearing to know what was happening.

when he finally decided to get up he tossed his food in the garbage and made his way to his room to change into his swim shorts. he grabbed a towel from his shared bathroom with matteo and headed out.

"are you going swimming?" pippa questioned, causing chase to roll his eyes as he unlocked the sliding glass door.

"no, i'm going to drown myself." he exited the house as the girls all decided they wanted to swim also and made his way over to the edge of the pool to dip his toes in. it was slightly cold since the weather was growing bitter, so he turned on the heater and tossed his towel to the side. he ended up playing chicken with the girls until they were called into bed since it was nearly midnight and the three of them were going somewhere in the morning.

chase lingered a bit longer in the water, resting with his back against the wall as he scrolled through his social media. he heard chatter from the kitchen and looked over to see alec and tom exchanging goodbyes. tom gave chase a small wave goodbye which the younger boy returned before heading out. alec made his way outside and crossed his arms over his chest.

"so mom got a call from your history teacher again, but i luckily answered instead." chase rolled his eyes, already knowing where the conversation was going. since their dad was rarely around alec was like a second father to him. "you have detention again, chase?"

chase only smiled. "i think it's a new record this month."

alec glared at the boy. "it's not funny."

"do you actually think i care about getting detention?" chase asked as he climbed out of the pool. he wrapped his towel around his waist as he continued to talk and walk towards the house. "i don't care how many go on my record. i don't care what my gpa is or if i'm failing classes. it's not like i'm going anywhere with life anyway."

the red head shook his head, saddened by the boy's words. "why are you always so negative about yourself? you know you could do so much better. you just choose not to try." he looked at his brother, waiting for him to continue talking because he had nothing to say. "all these detentions are gonna cause consequences and can prevent you from graduating next year."

chase faked a laugh. "i'm not gonna graduate next year. there's no way in hell. i might drop out before than anyway."

"stop this nonsense." alec huffed, following him inside. he locked the door before turning back to chase who was grabbing a granola bar from a cabinet. "you're actually pretty smart and if you actually paid attention in class you could easily be an a student—or at least a b."

"i'm going to bed." chase mumbled. "good luck at your game tomorrow."

alec frowned, "you're not going anymore?"

chase sighed, "i have saturday school and then i'm gonna work on some homework." he rolled his eyes as alec started to smile, giving him a small pat on the back because he didn't want to hug him since he was wet.

"that's my bro."

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this is prob gonna move a lil fast but idc next chapter will be more chase and tom action