Chapter Twenty Six

Kirstie sighed in frustration as she looked at her phone for about the tenth time that morning. She still hadn't heard from Ben since he left in a huff the night before.

"I'm sure you guys are okay." Chloe said sympathetically when she instantly realised what was bothering Kirstie.

"He can sulk all he wants; I haven't done anything wrong." Kirstie stated.

"He clearly cares about you a lot though, it's kind of cute." Chloe said.

"Not enough to call though." Kirstie sighed.

"Maybe you just need to give him some time to think about it, I'm sure he'll realise that there's nothing going on with you and Matt." Chloe said. Kirstie nodded slowly, watching Chloe closely as she picked up one of the sofa cushions and hugged it tightly.

"Did you manage to get some sleep last night?" Kirstie asked her worriedly.

"I got some, it's difficult to get comfortable though." Chloe admitted.

"I felt so guilty, sleeping in a comfy bed while you were stuck on the sofa." Kirstie sighed.

"I like being on the sofa, I meant because I'm sore." Chloe smiled.

"If I'd known that Michelle wasn't going to be home, you could have slept in her bed." Kirstie continued.

"It's fine honestly." Chloe told her.

"She's hardly ever here these days anyway." Kirstie said thoughtfully.

"How come?" Chloe frowned.

"I think she said she's seeing someone." Kirstie shrugged. The two of them stopped talking as the doorbell rang.

"That might be Ben." Chloe smiled.

"It's probably more likely to be Lee." Kirstie said as she slowly stood up to answer the door. Chloe glanced up as Kirstie returned a few moments later, closely followed by Lee and Nathan.

"Hey, my little Chlo Bo." Nathan said, quickly sitting next to her on the sofa and carefully pulling her into his arms. Chloe sighed and relaxed into his arms.

"You doing okay?" he asked her, placing a soft kiss on top of her head. Chloe nodded slowly.

"Lee and I have been talking and we were thinking that once you are recovered you can move in with me." Nathan announced quietly, glancing at Lee as he perched on the end of the sofa.

"Then you won't have to go back to the park." Nathan added when Chloe didn't respond. Chloe sat up quickly, wincing slightly. Her eyes wandered to Lee as she could feel herself becoming angry, first he'd told Kirstie her secret and now he'd been discussing it with Nathan. Lee was the first person that she'd told about her living situation. Even though she'd been working at the studio with Matt for the past two years, she hadn't even been able to bring herself to tell him, even though he often asked her why she would shower at work and bring her backpack with her.

"I really wish people would stop trying to interfere in my life, I'm not a child!" Chloe snapped.

"We're not interfering, we just don't want to see you back on the streets." Nathan said quickly.

"I'm not your responsibility or yours." she argued, glaring at both of them in turn.

"I can take care of myself." she added, quickly standing up, forgetting in her anger that she was wounded. As soon as she stood up, she yelped in pain and fell to her knees.

"Chloe, calm down. We just want to help." Nathan said gently.

"I'm not a charity case that everyone needs to feel sorry for." she muttered sadly, her eyes brimming with tears.

"We don't think that Chloe, we just care about you." Lee said quietly.

"It's okay to accept help when you need it." Nathan told her.

"I don't like being a burden." she said quietly, fighting to hold back her tears.

"You're not a burden Chlo." Lee said softly. Chloe sat silently, not believing their words.

"I just really want my Mum." Chloe whispered to herself. Nathan sighed quietly to himself and quickly knelt down beside her. As soon as he sat next to her, she quickly snuggled into his arms, holding onto him tightly.

"You will miss your family at a time like this." Nathan whispered in her ear.

"I just want to be with my parents again." she admitted sadly. Nathan sighed sadly as she sat in silence, tears flowing steadily down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I've made your shirt wet." Chloe said quietly.

"You don't need to apologise, it'll dry." Nathan said, smiling at her as she sat back and glanced up at him.

Lee watched Chloe as she sat in silence on the floor, occasionally glancing up at Nathan and smiling warmly at him. As he sat watching her, he sighed quietly to himself, wishing that he had the courage to tell her how he felt. Then he would be able to hold her in his arms and never let go.

"I got you a present." Lee blurted when he couldn't stand the silence anymore. Chloe watched closely as the pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to her. She gasped as she stared at the box and saw that it was a new mobile phone.

"You need to have something to use if there's another emergency." Lee explained.

"I can't accept this.... it's too expensive." Chloe whispered, feeling slightly guilty.

"It's the least I can do." Lee said. Chloe fell silent, not entirely sure what he meant.

"Call it an apology." he added. Chloe nodded slowly.

"Thank you." she said quietly. She stared down at the new phone thoughtfully.

"Do you think I'd be able to get my videos and pictures back?" she asked.

"That depends, did you have them backed up to Google Drive?" Lee asked her.

"I think so." she said tentatively, not entirely sure what he was talking about.

"I'm not very good with technology." she admitted.

"I could probably sort it; I could access it on my laptop and then put them on your phone." Lee said thoughtfully.

"I hope you don't have any embarrassing photos that he's going to be looking through." Nathan laughed, smiling at Chloe when he saw her cheeks colouring. Chloe glanced at Lee nervously, quickly racking her brain to try and remember exactly what had been on her old phone. Lee couldn't help but smile slightly as he noticed her squirming.

"As long as you haven't got any nudes on there, I'm sure it will be fine." Nathan teased her, gently wrapping his arm around her playfully.

"I've never done that." Chloe said quickly.

"What, never?!" Nathan said incredulously. Chloe shook her head slowly.

"I'm pretty sure nobody would want to see that." she muttered sadly. She could feel Lee's eyes burning into her as she sat silently, picking her fingernails.

Lee couldn't help but stare at her as he tried to process her words. Even though she often hid her body under baggy clothes, he couldn't help but remember the night of the record label party, on the night that he'd attacked Shayne.

The way that the fitted clothes had clung to her body perfectly. Her figure was breath-taking, but she didn't realise it, she was completely oblivious to the eyes that always followed her when she entered a room, and the people that were unable to stop themselves from staring at her. Everyone knew how naturally beautiful she was.... except her.

"Do you want me to go and get your laptop then?" Nathan offered, snapping Lee out of the thoughts.

"Yeah, you could do actually." Lee said, quickly throwing Nathan his car keys.

"I actually get to drive the precious sports car." Nathan grinned.

"If you damage it, I'll be fuming." Lee warned him. Nathan nodded slowly before quickly leaving the room, closing the front door behind himself. Chloe glanced up at Lee as she saw him stand up and rummage in her backpack, quickly pulling out the bag from the hospital.

"I need to change your dressing." he told her as he turned to face her.

"I can do it." she said quietly.

"It's fine, I don't mind." he said.

"I'm quite capable of doing it, if you give me the stuff." she argued, holding out her hand for the bag.

"I said I'll do it." he said shortly. Chloe sighed to herself as she scowled up at him. She knew how stubborn he was and that he wasn't going to allow her to change it by herself. She couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable at the thought of having to pull her shirt up in front of him. Even though she knew how difficult it would be for her to change it herself, due to the angle of the wound, she couldn't help but feel apprehensive about him touching her.

"It'll be easier if you lay down on the sofa." he told her firmly. Chloe nodded and stood up tentatively, carefully making her way over to the sofa.

Lee perched on the end of the sofa, watching her closely as she slowly laid down.

"You'll need to move your shirt up." he said quietly, resisting the urge to do it himself. Chloe's hands shook slightly as she slowly lifted her shirt up. Lee quickly shook the spray bottle that they'd given him at the hospital and sprayed some on the dressing. Chloe gasped as the cold liquid made contact with her skin. Lee couldn't help but stare at her as he waited for the spray to soften the glue on the dressing. His eyes were drawn to her bare stomach, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her pale, silky skin that he longed to stroke. Chloe flinched slightly as she felt Lee's fingers gently pick at the corner of the dressing. She squirmed as she felt the dressing slowly being removed.

"Just relax, I'm not going to hurt you Chlo." Lee said quietly. Chloe nodded silently.

"It's quite bruised." he said thoughtfully.

"That's probably normal." she said quietly.

"Okay done." Lee announced a few moments later when he'd applied the fresh dressing.

"Is that it?!" Chloe exclaimed. Lee nodded slowly.

"I told you, I wouldn't hurt you." he said quietly, watching her closely as she quickly pulled her shirt down and slowly sat up. She rested her elbow against the back of the sofa, placing her chin on her hand. Lee couldn't help but smile at her as she gazed at him.

"What?" she frowned.

"Nothing." he said quickly, not quite able to bring himself to tell her how beautiful she looked. The two of them jumped slightly as the front door opened and Nathan walked in, quickly handing Lee his laptop.

"Jeez, you must have floored it!" Lee exclaimed.

"Kind of." Nathan smiled. Lee rolled his eyes and shook his head, suddenly feeling slightly apprehensive about his car. Lee opened up his laptop, glancing at Chloe as she watched him closely.

"Do you remember your password for the Drive?" Lee asked her.

"I think so." she replied thoughtfully. Lee's skin tingled as she reached across him and typed in her password, her bare arm brushing against his as she did so. Chloe sat back, her eyes scanning the laptop as her pictures slowly began to appear.

"You're not in very many of these pictures." Lee stated, frowning slightly as he scrolled through the pictures.

"I don't like having my picture taken." she admitted. Lee smiled to himself as he suddenly noticed a selection of pictures from a few months ago, when the two of them were still close.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you kept these." Lee said quietly, smiling as he remembered the happy times they'd spent together.

"We used to have fun didn't we." Chloe said. Lee nodded, bursting out laughing when he saw the picture of Nathan and himself sitting on horses.

"I remember that day.... when you convinced us to go horse-riding on the beach." Lee laughed.

"Oh god!" Nathan groaned, smiling slightly.

"It was so much fun." she smiled.

"For you it was, remember when you galloped off and our horses bolted after you!" Lee laughed.

"And you ended up falling off." she giggled, turning to face Nathan.

"At least I had a soft landing." Nathan smiled. Chloe fell silent, her heart sinking slightly as she thought back on those times and how much she missed them.

"The two of you used to be so close." Nathan stated quietly, trying to prompt them. Lee nodded sadly, wishing that he could turn the clock back and go back to the way things were.

"That was before everything that I did annoyed you." Chloe said quietly, glancing at Lee sadly.

"You didn't annoy me." Lee muttered.

"I clearly did." Chloe argued.

"Either that or you realised that you hate me." she added, sighing quietly.

Lee glanced at Nathan who was watching him closely, raising his eyebrow at him, almost like he was giving him a silent cue to tell Chloe the truth about his feelings for her. Lee swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat and frowned as he noticed a folder containing videos.

"What are these?" he asked Chloe, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh, those are Dad's." she told them. She watched as Lee opened the folder, his eyes widening when he saw the large number of videos that were in the folder.

"He was a professional photographer, so he liked to record everything. Memories were a big deal to him." she explained, smiling fondly as Lee clicked on one of the videos and her father's face appeared on the screen.

"You have your Dad's eyes." Lee smiled as the two of them sat silently, listening to her Dad speak.

"I know, everyone used to tell me that." Chloe sighed.

"What was his name?" Lee asked.

"Paul." she answered.

"Dad!" Chloe's voice called out in the video.

"Oh no, I've just remembered which video this is." Chloe said, her cheeks flushing.

Paul instantly stopped talking and turned to face the doorway.

"What is it munchkin?" Paul asked.

"I need boy advice." Chloe said, appearing in the doorway, looking slightly flustered.

"I think I just got asked out." she added.

"You're not allowed to date; nobody is ever going to be good enough for you." Paul said, smiling at her as he teased her.

"Oh, c'mon Dad, I'm being serious." Chloe giggled as she quickly crossed the room and sat on his lap.

"I don't know what to reply." she said quietly, handing him her phone so that he could read the message.

"That you can't possibly go out with someone until your father has interviewed him." he told her, pretending to be stern. Chloe groaned and hid her head in her hands.

"You're only sixteen, maybe you should hold off on dating until you are a bit older?" he suggested.

"I don't want you to get taken advantage of." he lectured.

"I won't be." she replied, rolling her eyes.

"You'll be a prime target because you are so kind and you have your Mother's looks." he told her firmly.

"I give up, I'll go and ask Mum." she sighed, quickly standing up and walking away.

"Chloe, I love you!" he called after her.

"I love you too Dad." Chloe whispered to herself, sighing quietly as the video ended.

"Aww, that was really cute." Lee smiled, watching her closely to make sure that she wasn't upset.

"He always used to lecture me about boys." she said quietly, smiling to herself.

"Good, he was being a good Dad." Nathan piped up.

"He liked to tell me I look like Mum too, but I think I'm more like my Dad." she said thoughtfully, her head suddenly full of the happy memories of her family, before everything had been ripped away from them. Chloe could feel her eyes filling with tears as she thought about her parents and how much she loved them and missed them every day. Chloe shuffled closer to Lee, sighing sadly as she placed her head on his shoulder. Lee watched her closely as she carefully wrapped her arms around his waist.

Nathan couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched the two of them together. Lee didn't even tear his eyes away from Chloe when Nathan stood up and left the room, clearly realising that they needed some time alone.

Chloe sat silently for a few moments, enjoying the fact that she was curled up against Lee. Despite the fact that she hadn't felt safe since she was attacked, she suddenly felt relaxed and secure, almost as if she was where she was meant to be. She slowly lifted her head, her cheeks colouring as he watched her closely.

Her eyes flickered to his lips for a moment before she quickly realised what she was doing and sat back, tentatively moving away from him.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that." she whispered, staring down at her lap.

"It's okay, you were keeping me warm." he said softly, longing to pull her back into his arms. He hesitated for a moment before finally giving into his feelings. He quickly reached over and wrapped his arm around her waist, carefully pulling her towards him. Chloe sighed in contentment as she wrapped her arms around his waist. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as he carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulder, his fingers gently stroking her bare arm. She watched for a moment as he continued working his way through her pictures, carefully uploading them to his laptop. Chloe rested her head on his chest as she felt her eyelids becoming heavy. Lee glanced at her, his fingers still softly stroking her arm. He smiled to himself as he felt Chloe relax against him, her breathing becoming steady as she slept. As he watched her, he found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her, a warm feeling of contentment spread through him as he watched her sleeping peacefully in his arms.

"I love you." he whispered, softly placing a kiss on her forehead. Lee closed his eyes and gently rested his cheek against her forehead, cherishing every moment that he held her in his arms.