Break Your Little Heart

A splitting headache and raw throat greeted Chloe when she pulled open her eyelids the next morning. With a groan, Chloe rolled to her side. Holiday was still passed out cold next to her. Moving as little as possible, she climbed off of her best friend’s bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Blindly, she searched through the drawers until she found a bottle of Ibprofen and quickly swallowed two of them down. With a disgusted glance at her reflection, she stripped out of the dress from last night and into the shower.

After spending nearly 45 minutes scrubbing her night away, Chloe turned off the water and made her way out of the bathroom. Holiday was still asleep, the clock next to her flashing that it was only just 9:00 in the morning. Chloe scowled. Fucking jetlag. She hunted down her clutch from last night after dressing in one of Oli’s stolen tanks and a pair of shorts. After extracting her phone, lighter, and Turkish Royals, Chloe slipped on Oli’s jacket, a pair of sunglasses and her favorite TOMS. Quietly, she made her way down to the courtyard area outside of Holiday’s apartment. She curled up on a lounge chair, breathing in the fresh morning air, and began scrolling through the messages her phone was blinking with.

There was one from Tom telling her to enjoy her hangover, a sentiment she found all the Bring Me boys had echoed in their own text messages to her. Chloe grimaced. They loved giving her shit whenever she drank enough to actually be drunk, especially because she always ended up with a killer hangover the next morning. Both events were such a rarity the boys had learned how to milk them for every moment when they happened. Oli’s text was a simple I love you, call me when you wake that had her smiling softly. She remembered bits and pieces of their conversation, something that had her blushing like mad. She really didn’t like nights when Chloe’s desperation leaked through her cracks, and last night had been a major night of desperate leaks. With a heavy sigh, Chloe lit a cigarette, pulled Oli’s sweater tighter, and placed her first of a few calls.

“Good morning, love.” Oli’s voice was quiet, something she appreciated immensely.

“Hi.”

“How are yeh feeling?”

“Like complete shit.” Chloe took a long drag on the tobacco stick between her fingers, hating the way it burned her throat but loving the calm it provided her.

“Yeh were pretteh drunk las night.” Oli chuckled.

“Well…shit happens.”

“Want teh tell meh juss exactleh what did happened?” Chloe sighed, taking another deep breath of her cigarette.

“No.”

“Chloeh.”

“I just miss you.”

Okay, it was a lie, but just a little one and it wasn’t entirely false. Chloe did miss Oli. She always missed him when he left her for tour. And being in LA provided a distraction, but it didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t with her and she didn’t like it.

“I know, love, I miss yeh too. But it’s juss a few more weeks. And yeh start with GK tomorrah and then yeh’ll be wif Zack and yeh’ll get teh see yeh aunt and uncle. And then yeh’ll nevah want teh come home teh me.” He finished dramatically.

“I could never not want to come home to you.” Chloe whispered, a soft smile on her face.

“Good because I’d come find yeh anyway. I’m not opposed teh kidnappen.”

“My hero.” Chloe giggled, rolling her eyes.

“Onleh fer yeh, my love. Besides, who would do my laundreh? And make sure tha house stays clean? I need yeh in my life, Chloeh.”

“Nice to know the real reason you love me.” Oli let out a laugh and Chloe smiled. Then she heard him sigh and her smile quickly slipped away.

“I’ve gotta go, love. Sheep is callen fer sound check.” Chloe mirrored his sigh.

“Alright.”

“I love yeh.”

“I know.”

“Realleh? No ‘I love yeh too, Oleh’?”

“You know that I do. Now go sound check your things before Sheep pitches a fit.”

“Okay, I’m going. I love yeh.”

“Goodbye, Oliver.” Chloe said with a smile. Oli echoed her sentiment, Chloe detecting the smile in his voice as well, and the call was ended.

Chloe leaned back in her chair, eyes slipping shut behind her sunglasses. She wasn’t going to seep. It was nearly 5:30 back home, one of the reasons she had woken up so early. There was no way she would be able to fall asleep. Instead, Chloe finished off her cigarette, flicking the butt away and unlocking her phone again. Her fingertips danced across the numbers before she lifted phone to her ear, curious as to whether or not her cousin would actually answer at what would be considered such an early hour.

“Hello?” He grumbled out after five rings. Chloe grinned.

“Well good morning, sunshine.” She heard a yelp, a crash and then a groan and couldn’t help but giggle.

“Chloe!”

“The one and only.”

“Why are you awake at…” Zack paused trying to figure out what time it would be in LA. “10:30 in the morning?”

“You forget that would make it 5:30 in Sheffield.”

“Right, jetlag.”

“Bingo. So, I’ve got a question for you.” Chloe’s voice had hardened as she remembered the reason behind her call.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this question?”

“Because you probably won’t. Now. How the fuck did you let Jack Barakat get a hold of your phone long enough for him to find my number?”

“Jack called you?” Zack sounded shocked, which convinced Chloe that at least Zack hadn’t just given him her number. That provided her with a small amount of comfort, but not nearly enough. There was a reason she had never gotten in contact with Jack or Rian. Now Jack had fucked all of that up.

“Yes, Jack called me. What the hell, Zack?! You know I don’t want to talk to any of them and now he has my phone number!”

“I’m sorry, Bo! But…” Zack’s voice trailed off prompting Chloe to itch for another cigarette. She knew that tone of voice. “Have you ever thought…of maybe talking to the guys again?” Chloe sucked in her breath, her hands clenching subconsciously. Zack was quick to continue. “Not Alex. But Jack and Rian. I know they miss you, Chloe, they ask about you all the time.”

“I sure hope you don’t tell them a damn thing, Zack. You know how I feel about this. I don’t want any of them knowing anything about me. Baltimore…” Chloe faltered. This wasn’t something she liked talking about. “Baltimore is in the past. Jack and Rian and especially Alex are in the past. I can’t go back there, Mop.” Chloe’s voice had gone from a near yell to nothing but a whisper. “I can’t go back to that time.”

“Chloe…” Zack’s voice was soft.

“No.” Chloe cut through whatever her cousin was about to say. “Stop it, Zack. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Just make sure Jack loses my number, okay?”

“Okay.” He sighed. “But you can’t hide from them forever, you know.”

“I can damn well try.” Chloe grumbled out. Zack pretended he hadn’t heard her.

“Chloe!”

Chloe’s head snapped up at the sound of Holiday’s voice. The now awake and fully dressed brunette was standing on the balcony a few stories about Chloe’s head. Chloe waved and pointed to her phone. Holiday nodded in understanding and Chloe watched her begin to descend the stairs.

“I’ve gotta go, Z. The girls just woke up.”

“Alright. I love you, Bo.”

“Love you too, Mop.”

Chloe quickly ended the call, Holiday’s figure just a few feet away. She stood, smiling at her best friend who simply raised an eyebrow.

“Who was that?” Chloe gave her phone a fleeting glance before meeting Holiday’s eyes.

“Oh, it was Oli. I drunk dialed him last night.” She grimaced and Holiday let out a peal of laughter.

“You were so far beyond drunk last night.” The brunette giggled out. Chloe scowled. “Oh calm down, doll. You’re allowed to get wasted every once in a while. C’mon, I’m starved.”

Holiday looped her arm through Chloe’s, dragging the blonde with her down the street.