Chapter Thirteen

As Chloe walked into the studio for her final day working with Eclipse, her heart felt heavy. Not every moment of the last two years had been a misery. Up until a few months ago the four of them had spent a lot of time together, regularly going out and doing things outside of work. They'd been like a small family, somewhere that Chloe had finally felt accepted and loved. She missed feeling like she was one of the lads. She'd have given anything to go back to those times, before Lee had suddenly turned on her, for no apparent reason. It was obvious that she'd done something to make him hate her like he did, but to this day, she still had no idea what it was. She hated the wedge that was now present between her and the boys. They were always with Lee and Chloe had started to avoid him for her protection, and as a result her relationship with the other boys had suffered.

She trudged one foot in front of the other, as she walked into the boy's dressing room. She jumped and frowned to herself as she opened the door and saw the four of them standing, staring at her.

"Um hi." she said nervously, not sure what was going on.

"We're not working today." Adrian said.

"You need to change out of your work clothes." Steven added.

Lee remained silent and handed her a backpack.

"What's going on?" she frowned, looking between the four of them.

"We're taking you out for the day to say thank you for everything you've done." Nathan announced.

"Like we used too." Chloe said quietly, looking down at the backpack in her hand.

"Exactly, now go and get changed, we're on a schedule." Nathan told her. Chloe smiled happily and rushed out of the room.

"I still can't believe we're doing this." Lee muttered.

"Don't start." Adrian sighed.

"We meant what we said, if you ruin this day for her, we'll never forgive you." Nathan reminded him.

"Just rewind to a few months ago and be kind to her, you guys used to be close remember." Adrian added. Lee nodded slowly to himself, feeling slightly sad when he remembered those times. Back before things got complicated between them.

The four of them stopped talking as Chloe returned wearing the black skinny jeans and top, they'd given her.

"I'm tempted to say that you guys have no sense of style." Chloe said sarcastically, referring to the fact that Lee regularly said that to her. Adrian, Nathan and Steven burst out laughing, even Lee cracked a smile.

"Where are we going then?" Chloe asked when they eventually stopped laughing.

"It's a surprise." Steven grinned. Chloe silently followed them outside to the carpark. Chloe smiled as she listened to Lee and Nathan argue over car arrangements. Lee wanted to take his car but since it was a sports car, they couldn't all fit into it, so they finally reached an agreement. Eventually they agreed to take both Lee and Steven's car.

"Chloe, why don't you go with Lee?" Nathan suggested, hoping that if they had some time alone, they would finally talk. As much as Chloe would have loved to ride in a sports car, she couldn't bring herself to be alone with Lee. Once the car was moving, she would be trapped inside with him, unable to escape if he decided to be nasty to her. She glanced at Lee who was standing next to his car, waiting for her decision.

"No thank you, I'll go with Steven." she eventually said, feeling slightly embarrassed that everyone was staring at her.

The car journey passed quickly and before Chloe knew it, they pulled up at an amusement park.

"You guys do remember that I don't like heights, though right?" Chloe asked, feeling her stomach drop as they climbed out of the car.

"Don't worry, we won't drag you on the rides." Adrian laughed as he took her hand and walked with her towards the park, Steven following closely behind. Adrian led her into the park and over to the crazy golf. As they queued for their balls and clubs, Chloe glanced around, wondering where Lee and Nathan had got to.

"Knowing Lee, they probably stopped to speak to a hot girl." Steven laughed, when he noticed Chloe looking around.

"Yeah probably." Chloe agreed quietly.

Adrian handed her a club and ball and the three of them went to sit on the bench as they waited for the others. As Chloe sat on the bench with them it suddenly dawned on her that was this was probably the last time that she would spend time with any of them. Despite the hate and anger that she felt towards Lee she was determined to put that to the back of her mind and make sure that they all had a day to remember.

Eventually Lee and Nathan arrived, looking a little flustered.

"What took you so long?" Steven asked as soon as they walked over.

"We got lost, we couldn't find the bloody place." Nathan told them.

"It turns out that Nathan is the worst navigator ever." Lee agreed.

"Couldn't you have just followed the brown signs?" Chloe frowned.

"That probably would have been easier." Lee admitted glancing at Nathan who looked slightly uncomfortable. Chloe couldn't help but feel like they were hiding something, but she decided not to dwell on it.

"Right, who's ready to get beaten then?' Adrian said, quickly standing up.

"Clearly you haven't seen me play golf before." Lee said confidently, wiggling his eyebrows at him.

"Oh, it's on." Adrian countered, before quickly stepping up for his turn.

"Not bad but prepare to be amazed." Lee warned. Lee expertly hit the ball, smiling in satisfaction as he got a hole in one.

"What the hell!" Adrian cried.

"I warned you." Lee laughed.

"Indeed, you did." Steven chuckled.

As they continued playing their way around the course, they could see that Adrian was becoming more and more frustrated.

"What the hell dude, four out of six hole in ones?!" he exclaimed when Lee did it again.

"I told you, I'm good at Crazy Golf." Lee smiled.

"Either that or there is some foul play going on." Adrian muttered.

"Yeah, you're right, I put a giant arse magnet in the hole and one on the ball too." Lee bantered.

"I wouldn't recommend putting magnets on holes and balls Lee." Steven said with a deadpan face.

"He'll be even more drawn to the ladies when he gets dragged towards them by his balls." Nathan added. Everyone burst out laughing loudly.

"There's a lady present, we should probably behave." Lee smiled when they had stopped laughing.

"I know what you are like Lee, late night condom runs remember." Chloe said quietly.

"Wait, what?" Steven asked.

"You sent Chloe out to get condoms for you?!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Yep, more than once too." Chloe said, enjoying the fact that Lee was squirming.

"Lee for god sake." Adrian laughed.

"Why couldn't you get your own?" Nathan frowned.

"I was usually drunk and couldn't drive." he answered, beaming like a child when he got another hole in one.

"Definitely magnets." Adrian muttered.

"I just have an amazing technique." Lee winked, wrapping his arm around Adrian who quickly shrugged him off.

"We've heard." Steven laughed, starting up the innuendos again.

"Seriously though, how did you get so good at this?" Chloe asked.

"Do you want me to show you?" Lee offered.

"As long as it doesn't involve magnets in awkward places." Chloe answered. Lee smiled slightly at her.

"Right stand as though you are about to take your shot." Lee told her. She quickly did as he asked and waited for the next instruction.

"Now visualise where the ball needs to go and then you can estimate the speed required." he told her.

"How do I know?" she asked. Lee sighed and walked over to stand behind her.

"First of all, you are standing wrong." Lee said. He placed his hands on her hips and gently turned her to a different angle. Chloe was very aware of his hands still in place on her hips as she tried to ignore the tingling sensation that she felt all over her body.

"Turn your shoulders too." he said. She did as he asked, feeling the hairs on her arms stand on end as she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck. She could feel Lee hesitate for a moment before gently sliding his hands down her arms and taking her hands in his. Chloe stiffened for a moment feeling slightly uncomfortable, she felt Lee sigh slightly against her. Nathan smiled to himself as he watched the two of them.

"Right now, swing back." Lee said quietly, guiding her arms back.

"And through." he added.

"Oh my god, I did it!" Chloe said excitedly as the ball rolled straight into the hole.

"Although technically you did it." Chloe smiled over her shoulder at Lee who still hadn't let go of her. A moment later Lee reluctantly let go of her, smiling slightly at how happy she looked. The five of them frowned to themselves as they heard one of their songs start to play. The four boys glanced at each other for a moment as the song got close to the chorus. As soon as the chorus started playing the four of them executed the dance moves in perfect harmony. Chloe glanced around as she saw people start to stare at them and whisper amongst themselves.

"You guys can stop showing off now." Chloe laughed.

The group of people that were watching them began to take out their phones and film them. As soon as the song ended all four of the boys burst out laughing.

"I think you're going to have some fans to speak to now that you've drawn attention to yourselves." Chloe told them.

"But it's meant to be your day." Nathan said.

"It's fine, I'll go and grab a drink and you can come and find me when you are done." Chloe smiled.