In My Dreams It's Me And You

“Who is it?”

Having just got back from the Club around ten minutes ago Chloe was far from looking her best- her blonde hair was sticking up in random directions making her look a lion while her make-up had smeared down her cheeks to give the illusion of war paint. She slapped her hand carelessly against the screen in order to see who was there, greeted by a large grin as it flashed up.

“ZACKY!” She cried, unable to resist from jumping up and down on the spot despite having little energy. It could be seen that it was hard enough for her to not rip the monitor off the wall and hug it. “Why didn't you tell me you were coming back today? I would have made more of an effort to look nice.”

He grinned. “You do look nice. The lion look is very in you know.”

She scowled in reply, her arms crossing across her chest. However Zacky quickly made up for his mistake as he leant close to the monitor, raising one hand to the side of his mouth and whispering to her.

“I've brought you back a present.”

If there was one thing that would make pretty much any angry girlfriend happy it was a present- this being especially true for Chloe as she grinned. “What is it?”

He wagged his finger at the screen. “You'll have to be a good girl and wait.”

A faint voice then called from the background, “I'm not going to wait out here all day.”

“Who was that?”

Waving back at the voice he then turned back to the monitor saying, “Brian. He's a bit testy because I've gotten to see my beauty before him.”

“Don't think I haven't forgotten the lion comment, Baker,” Chloe warned, reaching to the side and pressing the release button to open the gates and allow them in. “So don't try and think sucking up to me will do you any good.”

--

“It's so cute!” Chloe squealed, her arms clamped around a brown teddy bear that was easily taller than her. She could only just be seen behind it, her childish expression making both Zacky and Brian laugh as they dumped the last of their things into the hallway. “I'm going to name it Zacky after my real one!”

“Looks like you'll never get away from her now,” Brian chuckled, watching as the real Zacky tackled his furred clone, along with Chloe.

“Stop! You'll hurt him!” She whined, rolling out from underneath both Zackys. She then pulled the teddy from underneath him with a pout, clamping her arms around it. “You have to be nice to him.”

The real Zacky stood up and glanced over at Brian and said, “I think I've been replaced.”

Knowing it would annoy him Brian purposely walked over to where Chloe and the teddy sat, stroking it lovingly on the head before commenting, “I can see why. This one is much nicer.”

“Shut up Syn.”

He laughed as he ducked under the cushion that Zacky threw at him, the mischievous grin soon replaced by confusion as something wet dripped onto his head. As he looked up another drop fell onto his forehead, wiping it off with the back of his hand with a frown.

“Have you got a leak somewhere?”

“What?” Chloe released the bear and walked over to Brian's side, glancing up and noticing the damp patch spreading across most of the ceiling. “What the hell is that girl doing? She better not have fallen asleep in the bath again.”

“Wait- Nathalie's here?” Brian quickly asked, the water dripping on his head easily forgotten.

Chloe turned to him, placing a hand on her hip. “Well of course. She doesn't work you know- where else would she be?”

He shrugged. “I don't know. Her cell cut out last night so I thought she might have gone out somewhere.”

“Not that I know of,” Chloe replied, the frown deepening as more and more drops fell to the floor. “I'm going to go kick this girl out the bathroom, hang on.”

She walked out the room and just as she stepped onto the stairs she made a disgusted sound, lifting up her leg to reveal the sodden sock on her foot. “For fuck's sake Nathalie...” She continued up the stairs to an orchestra of squelching sounds, much to both Brian's and Zacky's amusement who followed her to the hallway.

“Nathalie! Wake up! You left the tap on again!” Chloe banged hard on the door, making enough noise to ensure even the heaviest of sleepers would wake up. However when there was no reply on the other side her voice became louder, along with the increased number of pounds against the door. “YOU'RE FLOODING THE WHOLE HOUSE! GET THE FUCK OUT THE BATH!”

Brian winced as her shrill screams reached them, turning to Zacky next to him. “How can you put up with that?”

Zacky grinned. “Because when I make her scream, it's because I've done something right.”

“You are such a man-whore, Zack.”

“And proud of it,” he added, just as Chloe appeared at the top of the stairs looking very agitated.

“Can one of you come open the door? She's locked it and I can't get it open.”

“Maybe because she's in the bath?” Zacky said sarcastically before shooting a sly look at Brian. “Naked.”

“Shut up Zack,” Brian grumbled, shoving his friend in the shoulder and following Chloe up the stairs.

Once he had got to the bathroom door he found Chloe banging away at the door again, the small cracks that were beginning to appear shocking both himself and Zacky. It was times like this when she scared him a little- how Zacky managed to put up with it was beyond him.

“Nathalie Amber Taylor, get the fuck up!” She stamped her foot as no reply was given, a noise sounding something like a growl escaping her. Considering she looked a bit like a lion right now, it seemed appropriate. “You're flooding the whole fucking house!”

By the way she was rearing up the next punch it looked like she was going to go clean through, but just before she could unleash it the door opened, revealing a very unimpressed Nathalie.

“Fuck Chloe, it's 8am!” She glanced sideways at the cracks in the door, rolling her eyes. “I’m not paying for that.”

Pulling the scarlet silk robe tighter around herself she pushed past her without even bothering to greet the guys, despite the three month parting. The smile Brian wore when he first laid eyes on her faltered as she walked away, looking almost as if his heart had been ripped out and crushed in front of his eyes. However Chloe wasn't one for being brushed off, even if it was by her best friend, marching over and forcibly turning her back with a tug at her shoulder.

“What the fuck is your problem today?” Chloe asked angrily, glaring at her friend. “The guys have just got back after three months and all you can do is act like shit.”

“Well maybe I am just nothing better than shit,” Nathalie challenged, her eyes watering as she spoke, her voice shaking. “Maybe I'm nothing more than a lowly whore who doesn't deserve to be near anyone remotely decent.”

As she ran a hand through her hair the sleeve of her robe fell back, exposing the red raw skin underneath. She must have noticed the others staring as she quickly pulled the sleeve back over it, but it was already too late.

“Nat... what the hell?” Chloe advanced slowly and tenderly picked up her arm, gently pushing back the sleeve and looking at the raw skin. Her gaze rose back to Nathalie's whose had since drifted, snatching her arm back and holding it with her other. “What have you been doing? Your skin...”

“It's nothing,” Nathalie replied quickly. “It's just the hot water.”

Chloe's eyes narrowed on her as her gaze dropped, resting her finger underneath her chin and tilting her head upwards. She gasped from shock as a faint bruise could be seen under the light, revealing more of the violent stain when she rubbed her thumb gently across the area, removing the foundation trying to hide it.

“Nat...”

“It's nothing, okay?!” Nathalie snapped as she sharply turned, walking down the hall and disappearing behind the safety of her bedroom door.

Once she had gone Chloe looked into the steaming bathroom, staring at the water coating the tiled floor in dismay. However when she moved to step in she instantly jumped back; unable to stand the sheer heat of the water there.

“No kidding about hot water,” Chloe murmured, grabbing a load of towels off the rack and tossing them about the floor before walking in, the material soon soaking up the majority of the water and heat. She then dipped her hand into the water in the bath before doing the same and snatching it back, rubbing the tips of her fingers where they had broken the surface. “This is boiling. How the hell could she stand this?”

Both Brian and Zacky exchanged concerned looks in the hallway as Chloe turned back to face them, frowning. “It's like she was trying to purposely burn herself or something.” She returned to the hall where Zacky put an arm around her, her gaze locked upon the closed bedroom door.

And those bruises weren't just nothing either.
What are you keeping from us?