Chase wasn't meant to overhear it.

He had only swung by the Lambda Psi Sigma house because Brielle had his phone charger (again) and he really didn't want to spend another 24 hours with his battery at 2%. But the door was slightly ajar, and he caught snippets of his name. Not just his name; his and yours, spoken in that low, sharp tone girls use when they're worried but trying to keep it together. He paused at the corner of the hallway, just enough of the hushed conversation freezing him in his tracks.

"...she has to tell him eventually."

"She doesn't want to," another girl replied softly. "It's Chase. You know how he is. She thinks he'd freak. I mean, it's a baby. Who wouldn't freak out?"

A baby?

His heart nearly stopped, but he couldn't pull himself away from the conversation. Chase leaned in closer, confusion knitting his brows together.

"But he adores her. Surely he wouldn't... abandon her... right?"

After that, Chase didn't remember much. Just running. Running like he was late for practice or chasing down a final touchdown. His mind felt like it was collapsing in on itself. His lungs were on fire. He didn't even bother to knock—just burst through your door, chest heaving, his hoodie drenched from sprinting across campus.

You looked shocked when you saw him, like you'd seen a ghost. But Chase wasn't sure he looked any better.

"I heard," he gasped, trying to catch his breath. "The girls- your sisters. I didn't mean to- I didn't know- I just..."

He raked his hands through his hair, his heart pounding so hard he could feel it in his teeth.

"I should've known. I should've known. You've been pulling away, and I thought it was about me. I mean- okay, maybe it is about me, but not like that, right? God, I sound so- why didn't you tell me?"

He wasn't angry. He wasn't shouting. But there was a crack in his voice that wasn't usually there. His shoulders slumped, as if the weight of it all had just crashed down on him. "Don't you trust me?"