Going Nowhere At Full Speed

A couple of days later, Chloe and Kris finally found the two of themselves alone, and they could finally talk about what had happened between the two of them. Chloe looked over at Kris, after a few moments of silence. “So…” she began.

“Okay,” Kris said. “We just need to talk about this. We kissed, but it meant nothing,” he said quickly, looking over at her. “We were both caught up in the moment, and it didn’t mean anything.”

Chloe looked over at him. “It didn’t mean anything?” she asked quietly. It sure had meant something to her. When their lips had touched, it was like a shock had run through her body. She actually felt wanted, the exact opposite of the way she had felt for the last few years.

“No, it meant nothing,” Kris reiterated before looking down at her. “Unless, it meant something to you,” he added.

Chloe looked up at him with a confused expression on her face. Was this a trick? Was it supposed to mean something to her? “Um,” she said quietly. “Yeah, it did mean something to me,” she told him, deciding to go with the truth.

Kris looked at her, surprised. “It did?” he asked, his eyebrows raising.

“Yeah, but obviously it didn’t mean anything to you, so just forget that I said anything,” she added quickly.

Kris ignored her comment, grabbing the back of her head and pulling her closer to him, kissing her passionately. As he pulled away, he whispered, “I lied.”

Chloe closed the gap between them, and soon after, Kris suddenly pulled away. Chloe looked up at him questioningly. “We can’t do this,” he said quietly.

“What?” Chloe asked. “Why not?”

“Chloe, you’re my teammate’s sister,” Kris stated. “I can’t just date you and expect everything to be fine.”

“Brent’s not going to care,” Chloe explained. “Seriously, as long as I’m happy, Brent’s happy,” she told him, and when he didn’t respond, she continued. “What’s the real reason?” she questioned.

“What do you mean?” Kris asked. “I just told you. You’re Brent’s sister.”

“And I just told you that Brent’s not going to care. So, what’s the real reason?” she repeated. “If you don’t like me, just say it. I can handle it.”

“That’s not it, obviously,” he said, thinking back to the kiss they had just shared. “It’s just…we can’t,” he told her.

“Fine,” Chloe said, letting the subject drop as she turned around to leave.

“Chloe, wait!” Kris called, not wanting her to leave upset. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going home. You don’t want to be with me, that’s fine. I wish you’d tell me the reason why so I knew if it was something I did or what, but you’re not going to do that either. So, I’m going home,” she told him, turning back around and walking out the door.

“Chloe!” Kris called, but she either didn’t hear him or ignored him as he continued to watch her walk away.

Chloe drove back to her apartment, trying to keep her tears at bay. Why was she about to cry over a guy that she’d known for just a little while? They had only kissed, it wasn’t as if she was in love with him. But, the tears just wouldn’t subside as she got out of the car.

She walked up the stairs, determined to get to her room before she let her emotions take over and the tears to flow. She found the door unlocked, and she walked in to see Ava and Brent sitting on the couch watching television.

When they heard the door open, Ava and Brent both whipped their heads around to see Chloe enter the apartment. Chloe smirked, “Am I interrupting something?”

“Nope,” Ava told her. “We’re just watching tv.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, letting the subject go in order to make her way to her bedroom. Ava turned to Brent, giving him a look, wondering what was wrong with Chloe.

“I’ll be right back,” Ava told him, handing him the bag of chips she was currently holding. She walked back to Chloe’s bedroom and knocked on the door. “Chloe?” she asked. “Can I come in for a minute?”

“Yeah,” Chloe choked out, quickly trying to clear the tears off of her cheeks, but she wasn’t quick enough.

“Chloe, what’s the matter?” Ava asked, noticing Chloe’s appearance.

“Nothing, it’s stupid,” she told her, sniffling.

“Obviously, it’s not stupid if you’re upset right now. Come on, tell me what’s the matter,” Ava ordered.

Chloe opened and closed her mouth multiple times, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, she said, “Kris doesn’t want to be with me.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ava said, sitting down on her bed next to her and wrapping an arm around her as Chloe rested her head on Ava’s shoulder.

“He wouldn’t tell me the real reason why, either,” Chloe cried.

“Huh?” Ava asked, confused by Chloe’s statement.

“He at first said we couldn’t be together because I was Brent’s sister. But, then I told him Brent wouldn’t mind, that if I was happy, he’d be happy. So, I asked him what the real reason was, and he just said that we couldn’t be together,” Chloe explained.

“I am so sorry,” Ava told her, rubbing her back soothingly. The two of them stayed like that until Chloe finally calmed down and eventually fell asleep. As Ava was trying to lay Chloe down and put her blanket over her, she heard Brent come in behind her.

“Hey, I just wanted—" he began before Ava cut him off.

“Shhh,” Ava quieted him, pointing to Chloe. Brent simply nodded and covered Chloe up the rest of the way. He then left the room with Ava following him.

They walked out into the living room and sat down on the couch. “Is everything okay?” Brent asked.

“Besides your teammate being a complete jackass? Yes, everything’s fine,” Ava replied, angry at what Kris had done to Chloe.

“My teammate? Which one?” Brent asked.

Ava gave him a questioning look. “You’re seriously asking that right now?” she asked. “Kris!” she exclaimed.

“What did he do?”

“He doesn’t want to date Chloe, but he’s using you as an excuse, and we all know that’s not a legitimate reason,” Ava explained.

“Wait, back up. What?” Brent asked. “Start from the beginning.”

Ava suddenly realized that Brent didn’t know anything about Chloe and Kris, so she explained everything to him. “Okay, a few days ago, Kris and Chloe kissed, but they didn’t talk afterwards. She went to go talk to him today because she really likes him, and she wanted to know what was going on. Apparently, he told her that he didn’t want to date her because she’s your sister. When Chloe told him that didn’t matter, he just told her they couldn’t date. So, she was in there crying,” Ava told him.

When Brent didn’t say anything for a moment, Ava looked over at him. “Don’t you have anything to say?” she asked him.

“Yeah, stay here in case Chloe wakes up,” he told her, standing up.

“Where are you going?” Ava called.

“I’m going to go kick Kris’s ass,” Brent said, grabbing his keys off the table and walking out the door.