Chapter Twenty Seven

Michelle sighed to herself as she walked into the flat, flinging her bag onto the floor, frowning to herself as she saw Chloe curled up on the sofa. She slowly peered over her, feeling slightly confused when she saw that she was asleep.

"Why is Chloe asleep on our sofa?" Michelle asked Kirstie as soon as she walked into the kitchen.

"Nice to see you too." Kirstie said quickly, rolling her eyes.

"I do live here." Michelle stated.

"I know, but I haven't seen you for ages." Kirstie pointed out, feeling slightly frustrated that Michelle seemed to come and go as she pleased, without even keeping in contact with Kirstie.

"I told you I was seeing someone." Michelle snapped, getting slightly defensive.

"You've been seeing him a little while now, when do I get to meet him?" Kirstie asked.

"I don't know." Michelle sighed. Her heart sinking as she thought about her and Mark. She knew that she had strong feelings for him but couldn't help but feel like they weren't reciprocated. Even though she'd been trying to get Mark to commit to her for weeks, he still seemed as distant with her as he was at the beginning. She couldn't help but be plagued by insecurities that maybe she wasn't enough for him.

"Anyway, why is Chloe here?" Michelle asked, changing the subject.

"She was stabbed, so she's been staying here the past few days." Kirstie said quickly.

"Why?" Michelle frowned.

"I don't know why anyone would want to hurt her, but apparently it was a robbery. Kirstie explained.

"No not why was she stabbed, why is she staying here?" Michelle sighed.

"So that we can take care of her." Kirstie said quietly, frowning in confusion at Michelle's attitude.

"Surely she can take care of herself." Michelle pointed out.

"That's a bit heartless Michelle, I thought you are a nurse." Ben stated as he walked into the room. Michelle opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it, her cheeks colouring.

"Where's Lee?" Ben frowned when he suddenly realised that Lee wasn't in the room.

"He's gone for a shower." Kirstie told him.

"What?" Ben gulped.

"Not like that, he's been at the studio all morning, he came straight here to check on Chloe." Kirstie said quickly, slightly nervous that Ben was going to kick off again.

"Lee is here?!" Michelle asked quickly.

"Yeah, he's been taking care of Chloe." Kirstie told her.

"He's been amazing actually; he hardly leaves her side." she added. Kirstie rolled her eyes at Ben as she heard him snort sarcastically. Michelle glanced at the doorway, smiling widely at Lee as he walked into the room. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked with his messy hair and casual sweatpants and shirt look.

"Thank you for letting me use your shower." Lee said quietly, picking up on the awkward atmosphere but not entirely sure what was causing it.

"You did kind of smell." Kirstie smiled at him.

"We have a new choreographer and he's kind of a tool." Lee smiled.

"Is he overworking you?" Michelle said, smiling sweetly.

"A little, his routines are very fast paced and he likes to make us do them over and over." Lee explained, his eyes wandering into the living room as he saw Chloe fidgeting in her sleep.

"How's she been today?" Lee asked, turning his attention back to Kirstie.

"She's alright, very emotional. She's not getting much sleep either, because the nightmares are getting worse." Kirstie told him. Lee sighed sadly, his gaze wandering to Chloe again.

"Maybe she should take the sleeping tablets." Lee said quietly.

"They are quite addictive though." Michelle piped up. Lee nodded slowly.

"I'll speak to her when she wakes up, to see what she wants to do." Kirstie said, sighing sadly.

"Did you say yesterday that you and Ben are going shopping today?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, why?" Kirstie frowned. Lee rummaged in his pocket and quickly handed Kirstie his credit card.

"Can you get Chloe some new clothes, then we can get rid of her old tatty ones?" Lee asked.

"I'll text you the pin number, just get her whatever she needs." he quickly added.

"Are you sure?" Kirstie asked. Lee nodded slowly.

"Have I missed something, I thought you hate her?" Michelle piped up, frowning in confusion.

"I don't hate her." Lee said quietly, glancing at Kirstie who smiled at him warmly. She had seen a completely different side to Lee over the past few days, a secret soft side to him that he liked to hide. Kirstie sighed as she glanced into the living room and saw Chloe fidgeting frantically on the sofa.

"She's doing it again." Kirstie announced quietly. Lee followed her eyeline, his heart sinking as he saw Chloe, still asleep but clearly in distress.

"Maybe we should wake her." Lee whispered, struggling to watch the fear on her pretty features.

"You might make things worse if you do that." Michelle told him. The four of them jumped as Chloe let out a small scream and bolted awake, clutching her abdomen in pain as she did so. Without hesitating Lee quickly left kitchen and walked into the living room.

"Aren't you going to check on her?" Ben asked Kirstie, frowning in confusion when Kirstie remained in the kitchen.

"I'm not the one she needs." Kirstie said.

"If you say so." Ben replied shortly.

"She needs Lee, not me!" Kirstie snapped, rolling her eyes at him. She couldn't understand what had gotten into Ben the last few days, but he was beginning to frustrate her.

Chloe jumped slightly as Lee sat beside her on the sofa. He watched her closely as she sat silently, taking deep breaths, trying to calm down. Her whole-body trembling in fear.

"He's going to find me." Chloe whispered to herself.

"Who's going to find you?" Lee asked her gently.

"The man who stabbed me, he wants to come back and finish the job." she rambled, still not completely awake. Lee watched her closely as she curled into a ball, resting her head on his lap. She quickly took hold of his trouser material and curled it into a fist in her hand. Lee could feel her whole-body trembling against him.

"Please don't let him hurt me." she whispered. Lee sighed sadly and gently stroked her hair, trying his best to provide at least a small amount of comfort.

"I won't let anyone hurt you.... ever." he told her softly. As Lee sat in silence, stroking her hair, he could feel her slowly starting to relax.

"You need to rest." he told her as she slowly sat up.

"I can't." she whispered, afraid to go back to sleep and return to her nightmares.

"I need to use the bathroom." she added, carefully standing up. Lee watched her as she slowly stood up, her eyes filling with tears. He knew that she was still upset by her nightmare but was trying to hide her feelings. Lee quickly stood up and followed Chloe as she slowly walked away. She stopped walking when she felt him reach out and take hold of her wrist.

"Chloe." he said quietly, trying to get her to face him. He heard her sniff quietly to herself. Lee gently pulled her towards himself and wrapped his arms around her tightly, trying to help her feel safe. Chloe placed her arms across her chest, finally allowing the tears that she'd been holding back to flow down her cheeks.

"You'll always be safe when you are with me." he whispered in her ear.

"I know." she muttered, her skin tingling as Lee softly stroked her hair. She sighed to herself as she finally felt herself calm down.

"I really need to use the bathroom though." she said smiling up at him. Lee nodded, reluctantly letting go of her.

He watched her as she slowly walked away. Lee's eyes snapped up as he saw Kirstie gesturing to him through the glass panel between the kitchen and living room. Lee quickly walked into the room.

"Did you want me for something?" he asked.

"Is she okay?" Kirstie asked quickly.

"I think so." he replied quietly.

"I was wondering if you could maybe stay over for a few days, she's so much more relaxed when you are here?" Kirstie asked. Lee thought for a moment, he didn't want to leave Chloe's side, particularly now when she needed him. He nodded quickly.

"I think she needs you; it took me ages to calm her from her nightmare last night." Kirstie said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I know she needs me." he said quietly. He couldn't help but feel slightly sad that in a few days time when she was feeling better, Chloe wouldn't need him anymore. He'd been by her side almost constantly for the past few days, and he couldn't quite bring himself to be torn from her side again.

"There's space in my bed." Michelle offered, snapping Lee out of his thoughts. Michelle wiggled her eyebrows at Lee as he glanced at her.

"There's no need for that, the sofa is a big corner one, so you can have one side each." Kirstie said quickly. Lee's eyes flickered to the living room as Chloe returned. He quickly left the room, making sure that he was there for her.

"I'll go and find some blankets." Michelle said, quickly walking away. Kirstie glanced at Ben nervously, picking up on the tension in his body language.

"What's wrong?" Kirstie asked, when she couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"I just don't understand why you are inviting other men to stay over." he said quietly.

"I'm trying to do right by my friend, she needs him right now." she told him.

"I mean look at her." she added, gesturing to the living room where Chloe was curled up on the sofa, her head gently resting on Lee's lap.

"I know, but I can't help but wonder if you have a thing for Lee?" he asked.

"Well, I don't. I can't understand why you are so insecure, you're the one who has all the girls throwing themselves at you, and I haven't given you any reason to doubt me." she explained.

"I guess I know that I do trust you, I just don't trust Lee, I know what he's like with women." he sighed.

"Well, you're the one I love, you big idiot." she smiled. Ben smiled slightly before quickly placing a soft kiss on Kirstie's lips.

"You could stay over too, if it would make you feel better?" she offered, smiling slightly. Ben nodded and kissed her again.

"We need to go and get these clothes." Kirstie reminded him. Ben nodded as he followed her out of the back door.

Chloe glanced up from Lee's lap as Michelle walked into the room and perched on the coffee table opposite her.

"I found you some spare blankets." Michelle told Lee, smiling at him.

"Thanks." he replied.

"Are you staying over?" Chloe asked, lifting her head to look at him.

"If you want me too?" he asked nervously. Chloe nodded quickly, placing her head back on his lap and snuggling against him. He glanced down at her and smiled.

"I had an idea Chloe." Michelle piped up.

"Okay." Chloe said sleepily.

"Since you're staying here, you could always do our makeup for the masquerade ball?" Michelle asked.

"She's not up to doing that." Lee said quickly, before Chloe could respond.

"It's not for a few days yet anyway." Michelle said quickly, rolling her eyes at him.

"You could earn your keep." Michelle prompted when Chloe didn't respond.

"I'm happy to do it, who is going?" Chloe said quietly, her mouth suddenly feeling very dry, when she heard Michelle's words.

"Great!" Michelle exclaimed happily.

"Me, Kathleen, Kirstie and Louise." she added.

"It's a shame you won't be able to go." Michelle said, smiling slightly to herself when she realised that Chloe wouldn't be able to join them. Chloe nodded slowly. Michelle couldn't help but feel pleased that Chloe wouldn't be coming along, even though she didn't have anything against Chloe, she didn't want to be upstaged by her beauty. Whenever they went out as a group, Chloe was always the one that got most of the male attention.

"I can't afford a dress anyway." Chloe said sadly.

"Because you're homeless?" Michelle asked.

"What, how do you know about that?" Chloe said quickly, her head snapping up as she looked at Lee.

"Don't look at me, I didn't say anything." he said quickly.

"It's in the local paper that a homeless person was stabbed in the park." Michelle told her.

"Great." Chloe muttered, her cheeks colouring as she felt a wave of shame wash over her.

"What's it like, sleeping rough?" Michelle asked.

"Hard going." Chloe muttered. Lee placed his arm around her waist, taking her hand in his and squeezing it reassuringly.

"I just don't understand how you have a well-paid job but yet you can't afford accommodation." Michelle frowned.

"I don't want to talk about it." Chloe said quickly.

"I'm just curious, it doesn't add up." Michelle continued.

"She said she doesn't want to talk about it, so back off." Lee told her sternly.

"Alright, I was just asking!" Michelle snapped.

"Well don't, you're upsetting her!" Lee snapped back.

"I'm pretty sure that's your area of expertise." Michelle muttered under her breath as she walked away.