Break Your Little Heart

9:32 a.m., November 3rd, 2011, and Chloe Danske was just waking up. She stretched, her joints popping into place. Without thinking, she turned to the side, prepared to cuddle into the man next to her. But her hands gripped nothing but a cold empty bed and Chloe frowned. She didn’t like sleeping alone, and now that’s what she would be doing for the next month. With a huff she threw off the blankets, immediately regretting the decision as the cold November air hit her nearly naked body. Of course he had forgotten to set the heat higher. With a sigh, Chloe snuggled back under the blankets and drifted to sleep again.

At 10:45 a.m. Chloe was pulled from her slumber once more. She knew she wouldn’t be going back to sleep again, so she forced herself out of the warm bed. She shivered and ran to the closet to grab one of his sweaters. Chloe slipped it over her head and wandered out of the room, making a beeline for the thermostat. Within 25 minutes the house was a toasty 20°C. Chloe stared a pot of coffee and grabbed the toast she had made while waiting for the house to warm. It was then that Chloe noticed the sticky note stuck to the refrigerator. Curiosity got the best of her, a smile working its way onto her face. Chloe’s blue eyes skimmed the words and what had started out as happiness at seeing his writing quickly turned to rage at what he had written.

So at 11:13 a.m. Chloe was gripping her phone tightly. Her blood was boiling as she dialed the familiar number and pressed the green button. Her lips set into an angry line. Though he didn’t know it, her boy was about to be plunged into the depths of Hell when he answered.

***

Halfway across the world at 6:00 a.m., November 3rd, 2011, Alex Gaskarth was lying awake in his bunk. He’d been dreaming of her again. Chloe Marie Danske. He’d been replaying one of the nights they spent together all the way back in high school. It wasn’t any special night, just another time she had begged him to come over and he had appeared just a short while later. They had cuddled in her bed, only talking every once in a while. Mostly, they were just content to lay together quietly. His hands had traced random, yet intricate patterns along her shoulders. Alex shuddered in pleasure as he thought about the way her skin had felt pressed against him, the way her breath had tickled his neck. Alex closed his eyes in an attempt to bring the dream, well memory really, back.

6:10 a.m. and Alex was tossing restlessly. He couldn’t bring it back. Sure, he could remember it, but in his dream it had actually felt like he was there, back in her bed with her. It had just felt so real. Alex wanted it back. He wanted that moment back, just lying with her in his arms, nothing more, nothing less. He tugged at his long hair out of frustration.

At 6:13 a.m. his phone went off. Alex scrambled to grab it. He watched her name flash on the screen and sighed. His finger slid across the screen, answering the phone before she could get too upset at his lack of answer. Her voice chirped through the phone, telling him good morning and she missed him. Alex responded with the same before saying he was tired. She told him to go back to bed and call her later. She told him she loved him. And Alex responded: “I love you too, Lisa.”