Break Your Little Heart

Alex watched, completely frozen as Rian made his way towards the stage. That was what Alex was supposed to be doing right now. The reason he was here was to collect Zack and Rian. But then he had heard it. Her name. And that had stopped him dead in his tracks. Why were they even talking about her? She wasn’t a part of their lives anymore. Zack was the only exception seeing as they were related. But Rian had absolutely no business inquiring after the girl. And Cassadee had never even met her! She needed to just stay the fuck out of it. They all did.

A pain in his palms made Alex realize he was clenching his fists. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Chloe had left him. He needed to forget her, even if it hurt him every day.

He hadn’t actually paid attention to what they were discussing, the momentary shock rendering him deaf for a few seconds. He did manage to catch the annoyance in Zack’s tone, and the fact that he was trying to get Rian to back off about it. That, at least, made the singer feel a little bit better. It seemed that Zack didn’t want the rest of the band knowing about his cousin anymore than Alex did. Cassadee’s whispered statement to her boyfriend as they left the dressing room swam around his head though. It was the only clear thing he had heard and it confused him more than anything else. What possible reason would Cass have for Googling Chloe?

Alex heard Matt yelling for him and shook his head. He had spent enough nights wondering about Chloe. He was done wasting any more time on unanswerable questions. Alex jumped around a bit to loosen up and then jogged to where his manager was standing. Screams were coming from just a few feet away, and Alex let the concert adrenaline flood his system. Chloe was forgotten. He had a show to do.

***

It was just a little after midnight in LA when Chloe’s plane touched down. While this might bother a majority of people, it was actually the way Chloe preferred to travel. In Sheffield, it would currently be about 7:00 in the morning. Begrudgingly, she gave Oli another point. As upset as she still was, she knew Oli was at least trying to make it up to her. Chloe was actually interested to see where she would be staying. And then, as she was collecting her bags from baggage claim, she saw her name written on a sign. Her eyes traveled to the person holding it and Chloe nearly shrieked.

“Holiday!” The small blonde launched herself at the girl standing just a few feet away.

“Oh my darling, Chloe!” Holiday smiled, wrapping her arms around the slim girl in her arms.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m your ride and your home for the next few weeks.” Holiday beamed.

“How did you even know I was coming?” Chloe’s eyes sparkled with happiness. Holiday looped her arm through Chloe’s and the pair grabbed Chloe’s luggage before making their way out of the airport.

“Oli called me.” She shrugged. Chloe grumbled. “Oh, hush, you. He means well. You go crazy without him at home and don’t you even try to deny it. And everyone here misses you so much, Chloe! Drop Dead has been hoarding you for far too long now.”

“You know it’s not like that.” Chloe said with a roll of her eyes.

“Oh, I know.” Holiday winked and Chloe couldn’t help but smile. Then her expression turned serious.

“I have to call him, don’t I?” Holiday shrugged again, but her eyes made it clear that was indeed what Chloe needed to do. Chloe sighed.

“I’ll go get the car, kay? You wait here.” Holiday sped away, leaving Chloe on the curb near the pickup area.

Chloe waited for her to disappear before turning her phone on again. It buzzed with messages she had received while in the air, but she ignored them. Her finger hovered over Oli’s name in her contacts. With a deep breath, Chloe’s glittered fingernail tapped the name and she pressed the phone to her ear. Oli answered after the first ring.

“Chloeh.” He breathed, sounding relieved.

“Hi, Oli.” She said softly.

“Are yeh…are yeh still mad at meh?”

“Yes. But I won’t be forever.” Oli sighed in relief.

“I just wanted yeh teh get out fer a bit. I hate leaving yeh behind knowin yeh’re miserable.”

“I know.” Chloe sat herself down on the curb, glancing around for Holiday’s car.

“So yeh’re in LA?”

“Yep, all safe and sound. Holiday just picked me up. You did a pretty good job of kissing up you know.” Oli laughed and Chloe smiled. She loved his laugh.

“Yeah.” Chloe could just picture him scratching his neck, cheeks pink with slight embarrassment. Her smile grew. “I didn’t want yeh teh hate meh.”

“I could never hate you, Oli.” Chloe whispered, clutching his sweater tighter around her.

“Good. Because I realleh do love yeh.”

“I know. Which is also a good thing.” Chloe stated matter-of-factly. Oli groaned a little.

“What did yeh do, love?”

“I just threw some things around the office. It could be worse.” Chloe did feel slightly guilty, but it had already been done and she couldn’t change that.

“Nothin too important, right?” He sighed.

“I left all of the designs alone, I promise.” Chloe was skirting the question and Oli knew it.

“What exactleh did yeh do?”

“Just toppled some of the empty racks. Tossed some things around.”

“What things, Chloeh?” Oli was getting irritated. There was only so much of Chloe’s vagueness that he could handle.

“The jar with the pens on it. Your mug. The picture…” Chloe tried to say the last part quietly but Oli still heard it.

“Damnit, Chloeh! I don’t care abou’ tha jar or tha mug, but did yeh realleh have ta frow tha picture?”

“I was angry, Oli! You fucking sprung that Glamour Kills shit on me without any warning! How did you think I was going to react?”

“Well I knew yeh were goin ta be mad, but I didn fink yeh would do tha to tha one picture I have of us!”

“If you had just told me if would be different! I thought after three fucking years you would know better than that Oli! Fuck, I love you, Oliver, but you can’t act like that. I’m not some play thing for you to do whatever you please with. I won’t let you treat me like you own me.” Chloe glared, even though she knew Oli couldn’t see her.

“I love it when yeh say tha'.” Chloe could hear the smile in Oli’s voice and it exasperated her to no end.

“Seriously? That’s the only thing you heard out of everything I just said?”

“No, I heard yeh, love. And I know what I did was wrong. I’m sorreh. But if it means hearing yeh tell meh yeh love meh more offen then I might have ta do it again.” Chloe was itching to scratch off the cheeky smirk she just knew was etched onto Oli’s face right now.

“It’s not like I never say it, Oliver. You know I’m not the type of girl to scream it in your face all the time.”

“I happen ta alreadeh like tha fings yeh scream in my face.”

“Oh, Jesus.” Chloe groaned, her face heating up.

“Yeh can juss call meh Oleh, love.”

“If this is going to turn into some kind of attempt at phone sex I’m going to hang up.” Chloe threatened.

“No yeh won’t. I know yeh miss more than juss my stunnin personaliteh.”

“Actually, I don’t happen to miss that at all.”

“So yeh juss miss my bodeh?” Oli’s voice was husky, making Chloe tremble. She stayed quiet in order to avoid responding with a shaking voice. “I know I miss yeh bodeh. Especialleh when it’s undaneath mine.”

“Shut up.” Chloe tried to snap. Her voice was too breathy though and Oli chuckled.

“Miss meh yet?”

Thankfully, Holiday appeared with her car at that moment and Chloe leapt to her feet. She hastily grabbed her bags and shoved them into the back of the car before Holiday could even move to help her. Chloe waved her friend off when she saw her eyebrow rise. Holiday laughed and Chloe quickly buckled in.

“I’ve gotta go, Oli. Holiday and I have a bit of a drive until we get to her flat.”

“If yeh wan me ta leave yeh all hot and bofered, tha’s fine by me.” Chloe scowled. She hated the fact that Oli seemed to think he was winning.

“If that’s how you want to play it, fine.” She growled out. With a quick glance at Holiday, who seemed preoccupied with figuring out how to get out of the airport, Chloe lowered her voice dramatically. “Just remember, while you’re out there touring in the cold, I’m going to be at the beach in that bikini you happen to love, spreading tanning oil on my arms and my stomach and my legs. And I’ll be needing someone to help me with my back, so Holiday will probably end up straddling my hips while I lie on my towel.”

Oli’s breathing picked up and Chloe smirked victoriously. Even though she knew Oli thought of Holiday as more of a sister, he was a guy. And that meant the thought of Chloe in just a few scraps of cloth, skin glistening in the sun with another girl on top of her had instantly turned him on.

“And then when I get home I’ll be so covered in sand and oil, I’ll have to take such a long shower. Remember our shower together the other night, Oli?” Chloe asked innocently. Oli made some sort of strangled noise. “Enjoy your boner, Oliver.” Chloe purred. She had just enough time to hear Oli curse before she ended the call.

“You’re evil.” Chloe was startled by Holiday’s voice, having been so wrapped up in teasing Oli. Chloe turned to her friend, blushing furiously at the sight of her smirk. Then it morphed into a grimace. “Did you really have to drag me into it though?” Chloe couldn’t help but giggle.

“Sorry, Hols. I couldn’t let him win though.” Holiday let out a peal of laughter.

“Oh, how I’ve missed you Chloe.”

Chloe grinned and gave her friend a hug from the side. They arrived at Holiday’s apartment within 30 minutes, traffic in the city surprisingly light for the time of night. Holiday yawned as she opened the door and dropped her keys on an end table. Chloe then realized it was already 1:30 a.m. and she instantly felt bad.

“Shit, Holiday, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what time it was.”

“Don’t even worry, doll. I wanted to come get you.”

“As sweet as that is, and as much as we need to catch up, sleep is first on the agenda.” Chloe said sternly, leading the taller girl into her room.

Holiday didn’t fight it. She slipped off her flats and stripped down to her underwear. Chloe wasn’t fazed at all, having seen plenty of girls in the same thing. It was just a part of being a model. Holiday snuggled in, kissing Chloe’s cheek when the blonde leaned down to do the same. Chloe smiled at her and then closed the door behind her. She entered the room just across from Holiday’s, the one Chloe assumed she would be staying in seeing as it was the guest room, and changed into a more comfortable outfit before unpacking her things. It was only 2:30 a.m. when Chloe finished, so she crawled into bed. Chances of sleep finding her were slim, but Chloe tried anyway. And not even 10 minutes later, it found her.