Break Your Little Heart

The blaring of an alarm right next to her ear jolted Chloe awake far too early the next morning. She glared at the offending clock, wondering just why in the hell it was waking her up at 4:30 in the morning.

“Chloe.” Holiday moaned, pulling the blankets over her face. “Turn it off.”

Chloe did as told, reveling in the sudden silence. Her head was pounding from the leftover alcohol in her system. She laid back down next to Holiday and let her eyes slip shut, snuggling deeper into the warmth. Just as she was beginning to drift off her phone began ringing. Chloe didn’t even bother opening her eyes as she pressed the mute button. Ten seconds later it was ringing again. Holiday groaned, smashing a pillow against her ear as Chloe let out a frustrated sigh and brought the device to her ear.

“What?” Her voice came out whiney and Chloe shuddered, the sound of it grating to her sensitive hearing. The other person chuckled softly and Chloe knew who it was immediately.

“G’mornin, love.”

“Oli, why are you calling me so early?”

“Yeh have a flight teh catch darlin.”

“Fuck you.” Chloe snarled.

“Oh yeh will. Just 10 more days till yeh’re back in meh bed screamin meh name like usual.” Chloe growled lowly, hearing the smirk in Oli’s voice. He laughed. “Yeh set yehself up fer that one, love.”

“Just shut up, Oliver. I’m not in the mood to deal with your shit right now.”

“Ouch. That hurt, Chloeh.”

“Seriously, Oli. I’m tired and hungover. Fuck off.” Oliver sighed.

“Cloeh, I wasn’ lyin when I said yeh had a flight teh catch. Yer plane teh Baltimore leaves in a few hours.”

Chloe shot out of bed, yanking the blankets with her and eliciting a whine from Holiday. Her eyes roamed the room, finally coming to rest on the suitcases next to the door, a set of clothing laid out neatly on top of them. She glanced over at the clock again. There was an envelope placed just a few centimeters right of the device, which was now telling her it was 4:45. Her slim fingers flipped the envelope open, departure time written in bold letters immediately drawing her eye: 7:04

“I hate you.”

“Stop tellin lies and get up so yeh don’ miss yer flight, yeh silleh bird.”

“I don’t want to.” Chloe pouted, hating how desperate she sounded.

“It’s onleh 10 days, love. And yeh know how excited Zack is teh see yeh.”

Chloe frowned. She really didn’t like how close her cousin had become with Oli recently. Sure they’d known about each other for a while, Zack more in the loop than Oli, but Chloe had always made sure there was somewhat of a distance between them. It was just too risky. Zack had understood that Chloe didn’t want Oli knowing about All Time Low or any of the other guys, but that didn’t stop him from talking to the man his cousin was spending all her time with. Chloe knew that eventually she would have to tell Oli because he would figure it out at some point. After all, Zack and Oli would end up meeting. It was inevitable given the circumstances.

“Way to play the guilt card.” Chloe mumbled, dragging herself out of bed. Oli chuckled.

“It got yeh out of bed, didn’ it?”

“Shut up. I’m still mad at you.”

“Yeh’ll be singin a different tune when yeh see yeh cousin, juss yeh wait and see.”

“I’ll be sure to let you know when that happens, Oliver. But until then I’m hungover, it’s early, and I don’t have a burning desire to fucking go to Baltimore right now, so excuse me if I take that out on the person forcing me too.”

“Chloeh…” Oli sighed.

“No. What you did is wrong and you know it. It would have been just as easy to fly Zack out.”

“But then yeh wouldn’ be able teh see yeh aunt and uncle.”

“They could have come too, don’t even act like they couldn’t.”

“Stop it, Chloeh.” Oli’s voice was serious and Chloe paused.

He didn’t take this tone with her very often, more content to simply let her do whatever would make her happiest. It was because of this reason that Chloe stayed silent now. Whatever Oli was about to say was important to him, important enough to call Chloe out on her shit instead of letting it slide like he normally did. She heard him take a deep breath before speaking.

“I know yeh don’ want ta do this. Yeh’ve made tha’ quiet clear. But yeh alreadeh have a ticket and Zack is excited and so are yer aunt and uncle. I don’ know wha happened ta make yeh hate yer hometown so much, and I’m not askin yeh ta tell meh. Wha’ I am askin yeh ta do is fly yer pretteh self to Baltimore and visit yeh famileh and then come home to meh. I don’ ask much, Chloeh, but this is somefing yeh need ta do fer meh and fer yerself.”

Chloe stayed quiet, still only halfway dressed as she nibbled on her bottom lip. The silence between them stretched on, Oli refusing to speak until Chloe did. Her eyes shifted to the clock. It was nearly 5 a.m. now and Chloe would have to leave soon if she was going to make her flight. Holiday was still nothing but a sleeping lump underneath the comforter and Chloe still needed to gather the little things she had left scattered around the house. She let out a heavy sigh.

“Okay.”

“10 days, love. 10 days till yeh’re back in meh arms and then I’ll nevah make yeh leave meh again. I promise.”

“I love you.” Chloe whispered softly, suddenly overcome with an intense longing to be back at Oli’s side. “I really, really fucking love you, Oliver.”

“I love yeh too, Chloeh.” Chloe sniffed, tears springing up in her eyes. “Don’t cry, love. Its okay.”

“I just really miss you.”

“I’ll see yeh soon, babeh. I love yeh.” Chloe let out a soft laugh.

“I’m still going to kill you when I get home, you know.”

“There yeh go wiff yer lyin again.”

“Goodbye, Oli.”

“Goodbye, my love. Call meh when yer plane lands.”

Chloe ended the call and quickly finished getting dressed before grabbing one of her heels from the night before and tossing it at Holiday’s slumbering form. The brunette groaned when the shoe hit her, shifting in her sleep without opening her eyes. Chloe picked up the second shoe and threw it as well.

“Staaaaaap.” Holiday wailed. Chloe smiled.

“Wake up, sunshine, I’ve got a plane to catch.”

Holiday jumped straight up in much the same manner that Chloe had 10 minutes prior. She rubbed her eyes with a look of confusion on her face, sleep still clouding her consciousness.

“What are you talking about?” She asked around a yawn.

“It’s the 28th, Hols.” Chloe sighed sadly, watching recognition dawn on Holiday.

The brunette’s lower lip trembled slightly, and Chloe ran a hand through her slightly dirty hair. Holiday was definitely hungover, and when she was hungover she had a tendency to become needy and emotional. Chloe was already off to a rough start for the morning. She really didn’t want to deal with a crying Holiday at this exact moment.

“Get dressed. I’m gonna go make us some coffee.”

Holiday nodded slowly. Chloe grabbed hold of her two bags and slipped out of the door. She set them down next to the entrance and turned the coffee maker on. A few bumps sounded from Holiday’s room, but Chloe stayed where she was, collecting the breakfast Lulu had made for her from the refrigerator and placing it into the microwave. The coffee finished and Chloe poured two mugs, setting Holiday’s down just in time for the girl to step into the kitchen. Chloe took her in appearance: there was a ratty pair of cloth shorts with her high school’s logo on them slipping off her hips; her hair was in a messy ponytail, her make-up from the night before still smudged under her eyes, one of her brother’s old zip-ups hanging off her thin frame. Chloe frowned, watching her best friend take a tiny sip of the hot liquid.

“Holiday…” Holiday quickly shook her head, looking up at Chloe with a tight smile.

“Nope. I don’t want to talk about it.” Chloe sighed.

“Hols, I have to leave in 10 minutes if I even want to make my flight. We’re going to have to talk about it.”

“Not right now. C’mon, get your breakfast out of the microwave and we’ll get this show on the road.”

Holiday jumped off of the stool and stalked towards the door. She shuffled around for a moment before pulling on a worn pair of TOMS and slipping her sunglasses over her eyes. Chloe removed her omelet and transferred it onto a plastic plate before tugging on her own shoes and sunglasses. Holiday lifted Chloe’s larger suitcase before nearly toppling over.

“Jesus, Chloe, what do you have in this thing?!” Chloe giggled as she watched the small girl fight with the heavy bag.

“Don’t blame me, miss. You’re the one that said I had to get all of those clothes.”

“There is no way those few bags of clothes weigh the same amount as a bucket of bricks.”

“Well I had to bring all of my shoes out too…” Chloe trailed off, biting her lip guiltily as Holiday raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Hey! A girl can never have too many shoes!”

Holiday just rolled her eyes with a laugh and grabbed Chloe’s second bag instead. Chloe took one last look around the apartment before taking the heavier suitcase and dragging it out the door. The sound of the door closing behind her caused a pang of sadness to strike her heart, but Chloe swallowed the tears down and followed Holiday to the car.

The streets weren’t terribly crowded, the morning hour still a little too early for rush hour to have hit yet. Holiday kept the radio on low, singing along to distract herself. Chloe stared out the window. The sun was just beginning the break across the horizon, the city still mainly lit by street lamps and neon store signs. There was a breeze that sent ripples through the tree leaves. Chloe rolled down her window, taking deep breaths of the Los Angeles air. Her eyes closed as she focused on nothing but smells around her and the feeling of the wind blowing through her loose hair. All too soon the car came to a stop and Chloe peeled her eyelids open to find Holiday staring at her, the buildings of LAX shining behind her.

“You didn’t eat your breakfast.” Holiday pointed out, glancing at the plate on Chloe’s lap.

“I’m not hungry.”

Normally Holiday would have fought with Chloe until the blonde had at least four bites of her meal, but instead she just nodded and opened her door. Chloe followed suit, pulling both of her bags out of the back of the car. Holiday had somehow managed to find a cart and together she and Chloe loaded the bags onto it. Chloe held her hand out, Holiday’s fingers lacing through her own, before they took off towards the entrance. Neither girl said anything as they made their way through the doors, weaving around all the rushing business men and slow moving families. Chloe’s bags had already been dropped off at the curbside check-in, leaving one of her hands free to hold Holiday’s and the other to anxiously clutch at her ticket. Chloe felt like they were moving far too fast towards the winding line leading to the security check point. It was as if it was only seconds before Chloe was standing there, Holiday nearly sobbing in her arms as they said their goodbyes.

“I’m gonna miss you so much, Chloe.” Holiday cried. “Promise me you’ll come back soon and you’ll bring Oli too.”

“I promise, Hols.” Chloe’s voice was raspy, tears slipping from her pale eyes. “And I’ll make Oli fly you out to do some shoots with Drop Dead. I’m sure Tom would love to see you.” Holiday let out a watery laugh as they pulled away from each other.

“I don’t know why you two are always trying to push Tom and me together. You should know by now that it isn’t going to happen.”

“A girl can dream, eh?” Chloe smiled. The line started moving and Chloe knew she had to leave now. “I love you, Holiday. See you soon.” Chloe quickly kissed Holiday’s cheek, her lipstick leaving a faint mark.

“Love you too, babe. Don’t get snowed on!” Chloe scrunched up her nose in distaste, remembering the cold she was about to encounter. Holiday giggled, blowing her a kiss as Chloe was pushed forward.

The pair kept their eyes on each other until Holiday began to get lost in the crowd. With a heavy sigh, Chloe shifted her attention away from where Holiday’s figure used to be. She drifted through the security line, her lack of bags allowing her to get through fairly quick. Chloe made it to her gate just 10 minutes before boarding started. Oli had gotten her a first class ticket once again, so Chloe was one of the first on the aircraft. She pulled her phone from her pocket as she waited for the rest of the passengers to board and typed out a quick message before turning it off and curling up in her seat for a nap.

More than 2,000 miles away, Zack’s phone vibrated against his bedside dresser.

From: Bo
I’m on my way.