Break Your Little Heart

Chloe didn’t pay attention to the street signs as she walked with Holiday, instead just taking in the sights and sounds of the city she had once called home. Sure, she loved Sheffield, but that was mainly because of Oli and Tom. And Baltimore was out of the running simply because Chloe refused to remember the good things about her hometown, instead choosing to remember only the negatives. And in the end, LA had been her safe haven. LA was where Chloe had finally gotten healthy again. Where she had found Holiday and a career. LA was where she had first met Tom, who of course brought her to Oli. To Chloe, LA was nothing short of perfection. She hadn’t even realized how much she missed it until this moment.

A sharp tug on her arm brought Chloe back to the present moment. Holiday grinned triumphantly at her, sweeping her arm dramatically and bringing Chloe’s attention to the building in front of her. A smile formed on the blonde’s face before she squealed excitedly and brought Holiday in for a tight hug. Holiday giggled and pulled Chloe through the front door of Lulu's Diner. The chiming of the diner door and warm smell of breakfast sent a rush of happiness through Chloe’s system. A plump older woman holding a pot of coffee caught sight of the girls and froze, staring at them with a startled expression before thawing and rushing forward to gather both into a warm hug.

“Chloe Danske, where have you been?!” She scolding lightly, failing to keep the smile off of her face as she lead the pair to a familiar booth looking out at the street.

“I missed you too, Lulu.” Chloe giggled, taking a seat across from Holiday, who playfully rolled her eyes at the older woman.

“I told you she moved to England, Lu.” Holiday cut in. “Actually, I think she told you that herself before she left.”

“I did.” Chloe nodded, still smiling. Lulu huffed, throwing her hands up in defeat before stalking away to get the girls their food.

“Good to know she’s still the same dramatic Lulu she’s always been.” Holiday let out a laugh at Chloe’s statement.

“That’s our Lu.” Holiday nodded.

Just then, the door chimed open. Reflexively, both Holiday and Chloe glanced at the brunette girl walking in. Chloe studied her. Something about her was familiar. Holiday let out an excited squeal, jumping from her seat to run to the girl. Chloe flinched, startled by the sudden noise. Holiday was happily chattering away as she led the girl to their table.

“Chloe, this is Cassadee. Cass, this is Chloe.” Holiday introduced, a goofy grin plastered on her face.

Chloe froze her face into a neutral expression. Cassadee was staring at her with curious eyes. Chloe forced a tight smile. She knew now why Cassadee looked so familiar. After all, even though Chloe had absolutely no interest in the knowledge, Zack was constantly telling her about his bandmates’ lives. It was probably just his subtle way of trying to keep Chloe from ignoring her past completely. It was thanks to Zack dropping those little snippets of information that Chloe was able to identify Cassadee as Rian’s girlfriend of almost 2 years. She could only hope Cassadee had no idea who she was.

“Nice to meet you.” Cassadee grinned, sliding into the booth.

“You too.” Chloe actually managed to make her voice sound normal. Holiday clapped her hands letting out a joyful squeak.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom. You two can chat and get to know each other while I’m gone.” Holiday shot Chloe a look, silently reminding her to be nice, and then sashayed away.

There was a slightly tense silence that enveloped the table at Holiday’s exit. Cassadee was openly staring at Chloe, who was openly staring right back. Finally, Cassadee spoke.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, you know.” She was positively beaming, an expression that set Chloe on edge. “Rian and Jack talk about you a lot.” Chloe ground her teeth together. “I swear I’ve heard the streaking story a thousand times.” Chloe stiffened, Cassadee’s light laughter fading into the background as Chloe’s mind involuntarily threw her into the memory.

“Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots!” Jack cried, thrusting a shot glass filled to the brim with golden liquid towards a skeptical and slightly disgusted Chloe.
The boys, along with Chloe and Kara, had gathered at Alex’s house. His parents had gone back to England for a small vacation and to visit some old friends. Alex had taken full advantage of the empty house, calling everyone over mere hours after his parents’ departure. It had just started out as all of them sitting around, sipping on beers and hanging out. But then Rian had accidentally broken the shitty plastic bottle opener Alex had, and Jack had sworn up and down he had one somewhere in his car. Instead of an opener though, he discovered an unopened bottle of tequila. And now the only one that wasn’t drunk was Chloe. She’d had bad experiences with the harsh liquor. Jack, however, was determined to get at least one or two shots down her throat.
“Shots! Shots! Shots!” The lanky guitarist sang out again, nearly spilling in his drunken haze.
Alex laughed, the sound sending vibrations down Chloe’s spine as he rested his head on the top of hers. Jack pouted, his brown eyes pleading with her. With a sigh, Chloe reached out and took the alcohol from him. Jack whooped in triumph, watching as the small girl took a sniff of the glass. She recoiled, letting out a revolted snarl. Alex chuckled again.
“You don’t have to drink that.” He said softly, his lips brushing her ear.
Chloe glanced up at the boy standing behind her. He smiled and Chloe pressed a light kiss to his cheek before glancing at Jack again. His bottom lip was stuck out again and Chloe whined. Jack knew he had her then and he watched gleefully as she steeled herself and then tossed the shot back. Her face screwed up and she slammed the glass down on the counter before quickly snatching a lime wedge out of Jack’s hand, sucking on it greedily.
Alex held back a chuckle. Jack quickly poured another one and shoved it back into Chloe’s hand. Her face scrunched up again, but Jack stared her down. Chloe averted her gaze, looking around at everyone else. Kara had found one of Alex’s Blink-182 CDs and she and Rian were dancing to the loud music, both laughing with an almost child-like happiness. Zack and Matt were wrestling, reminding her of a pair of puppies. The thought of puppies, of course, brought her back to Jack and his pouting face. Her eyes zeroed in on the small glass she held in her small hand. Everyone else was having a good time. Why shouldn’t she? With that thought in mind, Chloe swallowed the liquor down. Jack let out another yelp of happiness. Chloe rolled her eyes, laughing, before grabbing another beer and pulling Alex towards where Kara and Rian were still dancing.
Just an hour and a half later, Chloe was wasted. She and Kara, who were now the best of friends, were twirling around together, belting out the lyrics to My Heart Will Go On with Jack, who was on his knees pounding the ground dramatically. Alex was standing in the corner, an amused smirk on his face as he watched Chloe. Out of all of them, he was the least drunk. Somehow, he had managed to avoid Jack forcing more than one shot on him. Zack suddenly burst out of nowhere as the song came to a climax, sweeping Chloe off her feet and spinning her around. She let out a shriek, laughing loudly. Rian appeared behind Kara as well, planting a passionate kiss on his girlfriend’s lips. The song ended and Jack popped up, stumbling slightly. Zack set a grinning Chloe back on her feet, providing support for his swaying cousin. A mischievous glint sparked in Jack’s eyes as he looked around at his friends.
“GROUP SWIM!” He screamed, pulling Chloe away from Zack and scooping her off the ground.
Chloe let out another shriek as Jack sprinted out of Alex’s back door with her held tightly in his arms. The rest of the teens stood in a slightly stunned silence before hearing a loud splash followed by peals of laughter. A wide grin popped up on Kara’s face and seconds later she was running out of the door as well, Rian hot on her heels. Zack and Matt raced after them. Alex was the last one out. He spotted a completely carefree Chloe teaming up with Zack against Jack in a splash war. Without a second thought, he launched himself into the water, landing just a foot away from Chloe and sending a wall of water crashing over her. They both surfaced at the same time, and Alex stared deep into Chloe’s shining eyes. He swam to her, gathering the small girl in his arms and placing a kiss to her lips. Chloe sighed into his mouth, her tongue tangling with his in perfect harmony. Chloe pulled away after a few heated minutes.
“C’mon.” Alex whispered, pulling Chloe towards the ladder on the side as everyone began to climb out.
“My clothes are all wet.” Jack whined.
“So take them off.” Chloe joked.
Jack’s eyes widened as if Chloe’s suggestion was the smartest thing he had ever heard and he immediately began to strip.
“Jack!” Chloe cried.
“What?” He questioned, tossing his wet jeans aside and standing before them in nothing but his boxers.
“I was kidding!” Jack shrugged.
“Well I’m not putting wet clothes back on. Besides, now we can go STREAKING!” He set off down the street as fast as his long legs could carry him.
“Jack!” Alex called out.
Chloe just stood there in amazement. Then she made the mistake of glancing over at Kara. Their eyes connected, an unspoken agreement passing between them. Everyone else was too distracted, giving the girls ample time to step back from the group grab the nearly empty tequila bottle from just inside the door and each down half of it. Alcohol rushing through their veins, the girls took one last look at the group of boys in front of them. In a burst of tequila fueled confidence, they ran through them, squealing as they pulled their shirts over their heads as they followed in Jack’s footsteps.
“Kara!” Rian yelled at the same time Alex and Zack cried out “Chloe!”
They received no response other than careless giggles. Matt let out a loud laugh at the expression on his friends faces. The three other boys took off after the girls and Jack. Matt walked behind the running boys, still laughing as he began to collect the clothing Kara and Chloe had left in their wake.
Chloe and Kara were down to their bras and underwear when they happened upon Jack. He was walking back towards them, sobbing loudly. The girls stopped short and Jack flung himself on them.
“I fell!” He wailed, shoving his right hand in their faces.
A large slice of skin was missing from his palm, right under his thumb. It was bleeding profusely and Kara turned a light shade of green at the sight, taking a step away. The sound of footsteps had Chloe turning around, Jack still clinging to his neck. Alex, Rian and Zack came to a halt as they took in the scene in front of them.
“Jack fell.” Chloe explained. As if to prove her point, Jack held up his injured hand again.
Kara caught another glance of the blood before turning to the side and puking everywhere. Rian immediately rushed forward and gathered the half-naked girl into his arms. Zack sighed and moved to take Jack off of his cousin’s shoulder. Chloe herself was pulled into Alex’s arms. Slowly, the group made their way back to Alex’s house. Matt met them halfway, Chloe and Kara’s clothing piled high in his arms.
Jack had finally managed to calm down by the time they walked through the back door. Kara had practically passed out against Rian during the walk. Zack and Matt hauled Jack off to the bathroom to bandage his hand and Rian placed Kara down on the couch. He peeled off his mostly dry shirt and slipped it over her head before lying down next to her, both of them falling asleep almost instantly. Chloe’s eyes had begun to droop as well, and Alex lifted her up bridal style before carrying her up the stairs and into his room.
Chloe left his side and rummaged through his drawers for a minute before extracting one of his shirts and pulling it on. Alex smiled softly, watching her pick her way through the clothing on his floor and then collapsing on his bed. She rolled onto her side, covering herself with his blankets. Chloe stared at him, biting lightly on her lip as he removed his shirt and jeans. She noticed his slight blush and giggled, closing her eyes so that he could put on a new, dry, pair of boxers. She kept them closed until she felt the bed dip behind her and Alex’s warm arms wrap around her waist, snuggling his face into her neck. Chloe turned so that she was facing him and brought her lips to his. The kiss was short, Alex fully aware that letting it go any farther would result in something they would both regret, especially with Chloe’s current state. Their lips separated. Chloe buried her face in his chest, inhaling deeply. She let out a content sigh, her eyes slipping shut.
“Goodnight, Lex.” She mumbled against his skin.
“Goodnight, Chlo. Sleep well.” She nodded, relaxing completely into his body.
Faintly, Chloe thought she heard Alex whisper, “I think I might be falling in love with you, Chloe Danske.” But her mind was too clouded with sleep and booze and she brushed it off as nothing more than an alcoholic hallucination.

“Stop it.” Chloe whispered, squeezing her eyes shut against the sudden white hot pain in her chest.

“What?” Cassadee stopped mid-sentence, cocking her head to the side.

“I said, stop it.” Chloe’s eyes flew open, the blue color of her irises frozen into ice. Cassadee’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. Chloe took a deep breath. “Since you’re not a model and Holiday seems to really like you, I’m going to assume you’re a really sweet girl. Actually, I know you are because you’re dating Rian. I’m honestly happy about that, Ri deserves a good girl in his life, but you need to understand right now that the Chloe Rian and Jack knew is not me. In fact, I haven’t spoken to any of them besides Zack in five years, and I don’t plan on talking to them any time soon. They’re a part of my past and that’s where they’re going to remain. I’m not that girl that they talk about and I never will be again.” Chloe’s eyes softened, her small hand reaching across the table to rest on the other girl’s. “I’m sorry, Cassadee, but nothing is going to change that.” Chloe caught sight of Holiday out of the corner of her eye and removed her hand. “Holiday doesn’t know about the boys and I would prefer to keep it that way. Please.”

Chloe’s eyes silently pleaded with Cassadee who just gave a small nod. Chloe smiled, an actual real smile, at her and then turned to greet Holiday who had just arrived back at the table.