Break Your Little Heart

Holiday nudged Chloe 20 minutes after the blonde had fallen asleep. Without responding, Chloe flipped onto her stomach. The two had perfected their napping routine years earlier when Chloe had ended up with her front burned and her back snow white. It wasn’t until Holiday nudged her again that Chloe actually woke up. 40 minutes wasn’t nearly long enough to combat her jet lag, but it had refreshed her enough for the moment.

“C’mon lazybones, we’ve got a night on the town to prepare for.” Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Why are we going out again?”

“Because the girls want to see you!” Holiday exclaimed.

Chloe’s blank expression didn’t change. The girls Holiday was referring to didn’t actually hold any real importance to Chloe. Part of being a model was networking and that meant Chloe had come into contact with hoards of other girls doing the exact same thing. That was how she met Holiday after all. They all fell into three main categories: the professionals, the insecure, and the newbies. Holiday and Chloe both fell into the professional category, though not because of the length of time that had been working in the industry. A girl could model for her whole life and never make it into that class. In order to really be seen as a professional, a model had to banish all self-doubt. As long as they let the criticism so abundant in their line of work get under their skin and control them, they would always be an insecure.

It was ironic, really, that most models fell into the insecure category. You’d think that someone hired for their beauty wouldn’t waste their time feeling inadequate, but most girls did. It didn’t help that the industry pitted the girls against one another. That was the downfall of the insecures. They allowed themselves to get swept up in the drama of it all, never feeling truly confident. It showed when they interacted with other models, and Chloe spent a lot of her time avoiding them. It just wasn’t worth it. She had worked way too hard to conquer her own demons to deal worry about dealing with theirs.

She did like the newbies though. The girls who never lost their innocence or were just starting out. Chloe felt like it was her duty to look out for them before the insecures could drag them into the madness. Unfortunately, Holiday tended to spend most of her time with insecure models.

“Don’t give me that look, you’re going whether you want to or not.” Holiday said sternly, removing her sunglasses to give Chloe a hard stare.

“Why you enjoy spending time with shallow girls is something I will never understand.”

“Not all of them are as bad as you make them about to be. Just because you hate everyone doesn’t mean I have to.”

“I like you.” Holiday rolled her eyes.

“We’re still going out.”

Chloe sighed but didn’t argue any further. She figured if she let Holiday have tonight the brunette would leave her alone for the rest of her stay. Holiday beamed and began to gather their things up. Chloe frowned.

“We’re leaving now?”

“Yes, we're leaving now.” Holiday huffed. “It’s almost 2:30 and we both need to get ready.”

“What about your boy?” Chloe didn’t move from her position on the towel. Holiday glanced at the ocean and shrugged.

“He’s got my number. If he wants to do something with it, he will. Holiday Mason does not chase any boy, Chloe. You know that.”

Holiday held out a manicured hand, giving Chloe an expectant look. The blonde grumbled quietly before allowing herself to be pulled off of the ground. Holiday giggled excitedly as the two began to make their way back to the car and Chloe resisted the urge to stomp right back to the sand and spend the rest of her day alone in the sun. But Chloe had missed Holiday and she did love the girl. Love meant making sacrifices, so Chloe would sacrifice her sanity for the night because Holiday asked her to.

Chloe made a beeline for the liquor cabinet as soon as they had made it back to the apartment. Holiday didn’t object. Neither one of them had drank enough at the beach to be even slightly buzzed, so while Holiday showered, Chloe whipped up a concoction they had made up years ago. She passed a glass off to a nearly naked Holiday when she emerged from the steamy bathroom. Holiday took a drink and nodded appreciatively.

“A Tinkerbell, huh?” Chloe nodded. Holiday shrugged. “As long as you’re not passed out before we leave, have at it babe.”

“Oh, please, Hols. We both know who the lightweight is here.” Chloe scoffed.

Holiday didn’t respond, instead moving to let Chloe have access to the shower. 20 minutes later, Chloe poured herself another drink and joined Holiday in her bedroom. Both girls wore nothing save for a bra and underwear as they surveyed the brunette’s wardrobe. Holiday was giggling, already swaying slightly.

“Do you know how genius we are?” She asked a smirking Chloe. “I mean, seriously, whoever came up with Goose and Sprite was smart, but mixing it with Melon Schnapps and Limoncello? I'm telling you, Chloe, fucking genius.”

“I know, Hols.” Chloe chuckled, grabbing hold of her friend’s empty glass. “Here.” She sat the brunette down on the bed. Holiday wrapped her arms around the blonde’s thin waist and squeezed with a smile plastered on her face.

“I just love you, Chloe. I miss you when you’re off in England being beautiful with Oli.”

“I love you too, Holiday. You sit here, and I’m gonna get us both dressed.”

Holiday nodded and Chloe set to work, still sipping on her own drink. Holiday really was a lightweight. Chloe wasn’t sure why she herself wasn’t, seeing as both girls weighed the same amount and Holiday drank more often than Chloe did, but on nights like tonight, she wished it was the other way around. Most likely, Chloe would spend the night slamming back shot after shot and still end up taking care of an even more wasted Holiday who did nothing but take small swallows of whatever mixed drink she was given.

It took another drink before Chloe began to feel her nerves tingling from the alcohol. By now, the girls were dressed and doing their hair and make-up as they waited on a cab. Holiday was still obviously tipsy, but she had settled down some. A honk sounded just as Chloe finished her lipstick and the pair slipped on their heels and made their way into the cool night air. Chloe recognized the direction they were headed and felt a wave of nostalgia. Normally, she didn’t allow herself to miss the past, but LA had been the first true home she’d ever had outside of Zack’s house. Seeing the same street names, breathing the same air, it brought back those first feelings of freedom. For the first time since agreeing to go out, a smile found its way onto Chloe’s face.

Of course, there was no issue of waiting in line once they arrived. The club they pulled up outside of was a popular place among models. The bouncer even recognized Chloe and welcomed her back, promising her the drinks would flow all night long. Chloe kissed his cheek, the warm feeling of familiarity flooding her system again. It wasn’t hard to find the other girls and Holiday was immediately swept into a flurry of cheek kisses and plastic smiles. Chloe was offered the same but she brushed them off, taking a seat at the table without so much as a word.

“Gosh, Chloe, I can’t believe it’s been three years!” One of the bottle blondes chirped. Chloe offered her a wan smile.

“I know, right?!” A raven hair girl chimed in. “It feels like only yesterday that you were doing shoots with us.”

“Your face used to paint this town, right?” A red head questioned with a flash of white teeth.

“Where have you even been?” The same original blonde cut in. “I mean, seriously, we haven’t seen you anywhere.”

And so it begins. Chloe thought, recognizing the claws hiding behind their seemingly harmless words. She shot them a tight smile.

“I told you guys that Drop Dead stole her away from us.” Holiday stated, flashing Chloe a slightly apologetic look. Chloe shrugged.

“Aren’t the designs, like, full of guts and blood?” The other girls wrinkled their noses at the blonde’s words.

“What can I say? I am insane after all.” The girls didn’t respond, all of them silenced by Chloe’s mention of one of the many rumours they had started. “But hey, at least now you can all stop worrying about little ol me and get back to destroying the newbies and backstabbing each other.” Chloe hopped off of the stool, still smiling and pressed a kiss to Holiday’s cheek. “I’ll be at the bar, Hols.”

She sauntered away, head held high. Sure, she could have stayed behind and pretended like she cared about what they were doing with their lives and ignored all of the snarky comments they would be sending her as well as each other, but she didn’t want to. Holiday could spend time with the insecures and still come out unscathed, but Chloe couldn’t take their bullshit without dishing it back out. She had spent enough of her life being cut down by others. She refused to take it anymore.

“Well if it isn’t our own little Tinkerbell, back from the dead.” Chloe’s blue eyes met with a pair of pale green ones as she approached the bar.

“Hey, Dale.” Chloe beamed, reaching across the divider to ruffle the bartender’s chocolate hair.

“Where ya been, darlin?” He placed an exact replica of what Chloe had been drinking earlier down in front of her, leaning on his elbows.

“England.” Chloe shrugged.

“Ah, The Motherland.”

“Isn’t that what they call Russia?” Chloe giggled.

“I honestly have no idea.” Dale grinned and Chloe laughed again. “Either way, why did you leave me for such an accented place?”

“Change of scenery.” She shrugged again.

“It was a boy!” The bartender exclaimed, causing Chloe to roll her eyes.

“No, it wasn’t. I stayed for a boy, but I didn’t leave for a boy.”

“But there is a boy.” He stated smugly. Chloe simply nodded.

“Speak of the Devil.” She muttered as her phone suddenly began to vibrate, Oli’s name lighting up the screen.

“Go answer that!” Dale ordered. Chloe shook her head, smiling.

“I’ll be back.”

Dale nodded, watching her disappear into the bathroom before moving on to a new customer. Chloe locked the door behind her, thankful that the club was nice enough that the bathrooms were individual instead of a room with stalls.

“Chloeh!” Oli slurred. Chloe sighed. Though Chloe and Holiday were out early, it had to be at least 3:00 a.m. where he was.

“Hello Oliver.”

“I miss yeh.” His voice was raspy, his concert probably having just ended an hour or two ago.

“I miss you too.”

“How come yeh don’ love meh?”

Chloe sighed again, dropping to the toilet and rubbing her forehead. Whenever Oliver was drunk it was always the same conversation. By this point, Chloe had learned the exact lines to repeat so that he would just hang up the phone and sleep it off.

“I do love you, Oli.”

“No, yeh don’.” He sounded like he was on the verge of tears. “Yeh hate meh, I know it. Why don’ yeh love meh?”

“Oliver, you’re drunk. You need to go to bed.”

“Not till yeh tell me why yeh don’ love meh!”

“Jesus Christ.” She muttered.

“What do I have ta do ta make yeh love meh, Chloeh?”

“You don’t have to do anything, I already love you. Okay? I love you, Oliver. You’ve heard me say it twice now, do you believe me yet?”

“Oleh, get off tha phone, mate!” Tom’s voice had Chloe letting out a huge breath of relief.

“Fuck off, Tom! I’m talkin teh Chloeh! She’s tellin meh she loves meh!”

“Oliver, please listen to Tom. Just go with Tom, okay?” Chloe begged, wanting nothing more than to escape back to the bar and the endless Tinkerbell drinks that Dale would provide her with, free of charge.

“Yeh love him, don’ yeh? Tha’s why yeh don’ love meh.” Oli was definitely crying now. “He’s tha nice one, yeh know. He’s a propah gent. An his eyes are so pretteh. Makes sense why yeh’d love ‘im. He’s perfect.”

“Fucking hell, Oliver!” Chloe cried, jumping from her seat. “I don’t love Tom, okay? At least not like that. I love you.” But Oli wasn’t listening anymore.

“Oi! Tommeh! Did yeh hear tha’? Chloeh loves yeh! Tha’s why she doesn’ love meh! Yeh fuckin prick!”

“OLIVER!” Chloe screamed.

A scuffle sounded on the other line, two grunts coming through the phone followed by a strangled cry and then a crash. She sucked in a breath and waited, but no other sound came. The phone cut off and Chloe pulled on her hair in frustration. She leaned against the side of the bathroom, trying to regain her composure. Her phone began to buzz and Chloe immediately answered it, anger now filling her system. She didn’t even doubt for one second that it was Oli, so used to his drunken tendencies by now that she didn’t bother checking the caller ID.

“Oli, I swear to fucking God, you do that shit to me one more time and we’re done. Do you hear me?”

“Chlobo!”

And just like that, Chloe’s anger disappeared. Because the sound of Jack Barakat’s voice coming through her phone was the absolute last thing she had expected at that moment.