Break Your Little Heart

Chloe couldn’t move. Her entire being was frozen as she listened to the lyrics pounding out of the oversized speakers in the club. Alex’s voice was still as perfect, if not better, than it had been in high school. But the words were laced with pain and a bitterness that cut Chloe straight to her core. Alex glanced over and caught her gaze. He offered her a smug smirk that made it clear he knew exactly what he was doing. Chloe flinched, tearing her eyes away. Alex looked back out at the cheering crowd, his grin stretching even wider. The fact that all of those people were deriving such pleasure from her pain was overwhelming.

“I want to hear every single one of you singing this next part with me!” Alex yelled before glancing back over at Chloe, that cruel smile still marring his face.

“She gets what she wants and she breaks what she gets/Get out while you can or she’ll tear you to pieces!”

Voices bounced off the walls as over 200 people helped Alex slice Chloe to bits.

“She gets what she wants and she breaks what she gets/Get out while you can or she’ll tear you to pieces!!!”

Alex turned away again and Chloe couldn’t help the tears that were beginning to form. Her eyes darted from Jack to Rian and finally to Zack, lingering on each form long enough to tell that they were not only pissed, but also filled with pity for her. Her gaze fell on a single piece of paper taped on one of the boxes stacked up side stage. She moved to get a better look at it and then wished that she hadn’t. It was the boys’ set list. Alex’s unmistakable handwriting was splashed across the top.

The Chloe Chronicles: dedicated to the only true bitch I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.

It was too much. Chloe turned on her heel and practically ran out of the steel door she had come through just 20 minutes ago.

As soon as the cold hit her, she fell against the bricked wall, sliding down until she was resting in a squat. She clutched Oli’s jacket around her like a lifeline. Chloe let out a single, soundless sob before her phone was at her ear, and she was desperately praying she wasn’t going to end up listening to a voicemail again.

“Ello?” Oli’s voice was rough with sleep and Chloe’s heart gave a lurch as longing swept through her.

“Hi.” Her voice was small, slightly broken and desperate, but Chloe couldn’t bring herself to care. There was a pause on the other line, and for a moment she feared Oli had hung up on her.

“Chloeh?”

“Yeah. It’s me. Hi.” Her relief that he was still there caused a single tear to slip down her cheek.

“Wha are yeh doin?”

“I don’t know. I don’t fucking know, Oli, God! I just hurt. Everything just hurts. And I miss you. Jesus Christ, I miss you so much I feel like I’m missing a part of myself. I don’t want to be here anymore, I just want to be with you.”

“Love, yeh tried teh break up wiff meh ova a phone message.” Oli sighed.

“I know.” Chloe sobbed. “I just couldn’t think straight. I thought I could blame you for making me come back here and that would take away all of the pain but it didn’t. It just made everything worse because I lost you and I can’t live without you Oli I just can’t. I know I’m a mess, and I know I don’t deserve you but fuck Oli I love you so much. Please, I need you.”

“Oh Chloeh.” Oli sighed again. “Yeh know I love yeh, yeh silleh bird. Do yeh really fink I would let yeh go? I’m sorreh yeh’re in pain, love. Tha was nevah my intention. I just wanted yeh teh see yeh famileh. I just wanted teh make yeh happeh.”

“You make me happy just being with me.” Chloe said quietly. “You make me happy just putting up with my shit and loving me. You make me happy without even trying. I don’t need vacations, I just need you.”

“Yeh know all I want is yeh. Yeh’re my world, Chloeh.”

“I love you so much, Oli.”

“I love yeh too.”

Chloe smiled softly. The pair said goodbye before ending the call. Chloe inhaled deeply and then let all of the air out in a whoosh. She wrapped Oli’s jacket around her small frame tightly. With a glance at the back door stage, she set out towards the car. Zack had given her the keys after arriving. She knew there would be plenty of other people willing to drive the boys home. There was just no way she could go back inside now that she knew Alex’s plan. They would understand. Cranking the heat, Chloe set off towards home.