Chapter Thirty One

"Please don't tell anyone about any of the things I told you." Chloe said nervously, as she wiped away the last of her tears.

"I won't, I promise." he told her, slowly lifting his head off her shoulder.

"If anyone asks you why I'm homeless, just tell them I'm in debt or something." she said quietly.

"I don't think anyone is going to ask me." he said.

"No probably not, I just really don't like people feeling sorry for me. I'm not some pathetic person that needs pity." she explained.

"No one thinks that, you're one of the strongest people I've met, to have gone through everything that you have and come out the other side of it. I think you are stronger than you realise." he told her gently.

"That's what Danny says." she smiled.

"It's true though." he smiled at her. Chloe glanced at him, quickly looking away when she blushed under his intense gaze. She smiled to herself as she turned the page of the album and stared at the pictures of her and her Mum at the zoo, feeding a range of animals.

"You look so happy in those pictures." Lee said smiling to himself. As he gazed at the pictures, he couldn't help but notice how Chloe was even more beautiful when she was happy. She had a twinkle in her eyes that he'd never seen before.

"Mum and Dad paid for me to be Keeper for a Day for my eighteenth birthday." she told him.

"I bet you loved that." he said. Chloe nodded quickly.

"I was definitely in my element." she smiled.

"Have you used your London Zoo membership that we got you yet?" he asked.

"No, and I don't have it anymore." she said sadly.

"It was one of the things that he kept." she added.

"Along with the wedding rings." he sighed.

"Yes, I gave the police a picture of them, but I doubt I'll ever get them back, they've probably been pawned somewhere by now." she said quietly. Chloe fell silent for a moment, desperately wishing that she still had her parent's wedding rings in place around her neck.

"That's the last of the pictures." she said, trying to distract herself.

"What about the other pages?" Lee frowned, pointing at the album, where he could see some pages that were left.

"I never look at those ones." she said quietly.

"Are they embarrassing ones?" he chuckled.

"No, they are from when I was nineteen, which is the year Mum got sick. I don't like to look at them because you can see her gradually getting more and more frail." she explained. Lee sighed, the smile slowly fading from his face.

"I'm really sorry." he said quietly.

"It's okay, I just kind of blocked that year out of my mind." she told him sadly. Lee watched her closely as she carefully closed the album and reached up to place it on the coffee table. She gasped as an envelope fell out and slowly fluttered to the floor. Lee carefully picked it up and handed it to her.

"Is that the letter from your Dad?" he asked. Chloe nodded slowly.

"I remember being in a lecture at university when the police came and pulled me out of class to tell me what he'd done." she said quietly.

"It was horrible." she whispered.

"Yeah, I bet." he said.

Chloe sighed quietly as she stared silently at the letter in her hands. Despite the fact that she hadn't read the letter since the day the police gave it to her all those years ago, the words were ingrained in her memory. Her thoughts wandered to Lee as he sat beside her watching her closely, if her father was here, he would tell her to seize the day and tell Lee how she felt. He always told her to never live with regrets. Chloe carefully placed the letter safely inside the photo album, her heart pounding against her chest as she sat wracking her brain, trying to find the words and the courage to tell him how she felt. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She quickly brushed her hair out of her face, suddenly noticing that her hands were shaking.

"Are you okay, you look a bit stressed?" Lee asked worriedly.

"I need to tell you something, but I don't know how too." she admitted.

"Just tell me." he said, feeling slightly nervous. Chloe nodded slowly, taking a deep breath.

"Do you remember that day, after the gig that I came to your house?" she started.

"Yeah, and I was a dick to you." he replied quietly, suddenly feeling very guilty. Chloe nodded, smiling slightly.

"I came over to tell you that I think I have feelings for you." she blurted before she could stop herself. Lee's eyes widened as he stared at her silently. The silence seemed to stretch for an eternity as he stared at her, not able to process what she'd just said.

"And I was wondering if you maybe felt the same?" she prompted nervously. Lee remained silent, not even looking at her, his head a mist of swirling thoughts that made it difficult to even think, let alone speak. Chloe sighed to herself as he remained silent.

"Clearly I misread the situation, I'm really sorry." she said, slowly standing up and pulling the sleeves of her hoodie down over her hands, wishing that she could hide her flushed cheeks.

"I shouldn't have said anything, I know that you are way out of my league." she rambled, starting to panic slightly.

"Can we just pretend I didn't say anything and go back to being friends please?" she asked quietly, finally glancing at him and frowning as she saw him staring at his hands.

"I don't think we can Chlo." he muttered, finally managing to speak. Chloe's heart sunk as she heard his words, it felt like someone had stabbed her in her chest as he rejected her. She nodded slowly, finally realising how ridiculous the thought of him being with someone like her really was. He was handsome, rich and successful, the last thing he would want is to be saddled with a pathetic homeless person. Before Chloe could stop them, warm tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Lee couldn't process anything; he didn't know what to say to her. Ever since she'd been attacked and he thought that he was going to lose her, he knew that he was in love with her. But never for a moment did he dare to hope that she felt the same. Given the way he'd treated her over the past few months, he knew that he didn't deserve her but here she was telling him that she had feelings for him. He suddenly realised that if he didn't tell her how he felt now, there would be no going back....and he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"Maybe you should go then." Chloe said, a small sob escaping her lips. Lee sighed quietly and eventually looked at her.

"Come here a minute." he said quietly. Chloe shook her head slowly.

"Please." he muttered, holding out his hand to her. Chloe sighed and slowly walked over, sitting awkwardly beside him on the floor. She placed her hands on her lap and stared at them, too embarrassed to look at him.

"I meant we can't go back to being friends because of the way we feel about each other." he said quietly.

"You think you feel something too?" she asked tentatively, still staring at her hands.

"No, I know how I feel..." he started, but trailed off when he suddenly felt nervous to tell her. Chloe shivered as he leant towards her and she felt his warm breath on her neck.

"I'm in love with you Chloe." he whispered in her ear.

"What?" she whispered, flinching slightly when she turned to face him and realised that his face was virtually touching hers.

"You heard me." he told her softly. Chloe glanced down at her hands as she felt him take them gently in his.

"Why would you love me, I'm a nobody." she muttered sadly.

"Don't say that." he sighed, gently resting his forehead against hers.

"But...." she started. Before Chloe could finish her sentence, Lee placed a soft lingering kiss on her lips.

"I've wanted to do that for so long." he whispered, gently resting his forehead on her shoulder, breathing in her familiar scent. Chloe remained silent for a moment, not quite able to process what he'd said to her. She watched Lee closely as he slowly raised his head from her shoulder and gazed at her longingly. She couldn't quite comprehend why someone would fall in love with her, least of all someone like Lee, who could have anyone he wanted. Before Chloe could say anything else, he kissed her deeply. A shiver travelled down her spine as he gently rested his hands on her hips.

"Why are you crying?" he asked her gently, when he eventually broke the kiss. Chloe thought for a moment, not entirely sure why she was crying, she hadn't realised that she was until he asked her.

"I don't know, it's just a lot to process." she admitted.

"And...." she started but trailed off, sighing to herself.

"What is it?" he asked nervously, slightly afraid that she didn't reciprocate his feelings for her.

"I'm afraid that you are going to hurt me." she admitted quietly. He closed his eyes for a moment, sighing deeply. Chloe slowly took his hands and removed them from her hips. He watched her closely as she placed them on her lap and squeezed them reassuringly.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, feeling slightly guilty that she might have hurt his feelings with her comment.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, I'm the one to blame." he said quietly.

"I am so sorry for the way I treated you." he added. Chloe nodded slowly.

"I didn't understand what I was feeling, so I pushed you away." he explained.

"To protect yourself?" she asked.

"No, I knew you wouldn't hurt me, I was just so confused and angry at myself for not understanding what I was feeling, and I guess in the back of my mind I knew that I'm not a good person to be in a relationship with." he told her.

"You've never tried though have you." she pointed out. Lee shook his head slowly.

"I will never treat you like that again." he said quickly.

"And I don't deserve you right now, but I will earn you." he added. Chloe smiled at his words, butterflies swarming in her stomach at the thought of being in a relationship with him.

"If we're going to do this, can we take it slowly?" she asked nervously.

"Oh wait... you're a really sexual person, that's not going to work." she added quickly, suddenly remembering the conversation between him and Ben that she'd overheard a few nights ago.

"It's fine, I want to cherish this." he said quietly.

"Sex has always been a big deal to me." she explained.

"Honestly, it's fine. I think it's a good idea to take things slow, it'll give me time to earn your trust, and you can get some of your confidence back." he told her.

"Which I helped destroy." he added sadly.

"It's fine, you don't need to feel guilty about it." she said.

"Yeah, I do, I was vile to you." he insisted.

"You've made up for it since I was attacked though, you've been taking care of me." she pointed out. Lee nodded slowly.

"I'll always take care of you." he said, smiling warmly at her.

"You don't need to take care of me, just don't hurt me." she muttered. Lee sighed to himself as Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. The two of them quickly sprung apart as the front door opened. Lee glanced at Chloe as her cheeks coloured. Chloe's eyes snapped up as Michelle walked into the room, smiling sweetly at the two of them.

"Hey guys." she said, glancing between the two of them. Lee glanced at Chloe as she subtly moved away from him, hoping that Michelle wouldn't notice how close they had been sitting to each other.

"I got my dress for the ball." she smiled proudly, holding up the shopping bag in her hand.

"Good, I bet you're excited." Chloe smiled, trying to make the effort to get on with Michelle.

"Are either of you going?" Michelle asked innocently. Chloe shook her head slowly.

"Lee?" Michelle asked.

"Not that I know of." Lee replied, glancing at Chloe, suddenly realising that Chloe might want him to go with her.

"I was actually wondering.... if maybe you would like to escort me to the ball?" Michelle asked him.

"No thank you." Lee said quickly.

"Are you sure?" she tried again.

"I can't anyway, I have a girlfriend." he told her, smiling slightly to himself as he thought about the fact that he could now officially call Chloe his girlfriend.

Chloe smiled to herself and quickly looked at the floor, her heart fluttering as he called her his girlfriend.

"Really, since when?!" Michelle exclaimed in shock. Lee shrugged.

"So, you'll have to find someone else to take you." Lee told her.

"Alright no problem." she shrugged, quickly walking into the kitchen. As soon as Michelle walked away, Chloe turned to face Lee, smiling slightly.

"I'm glad you didn't tell her about me." she said quickly.

"Why, what difference does it make?" he asked.

"I just feel a bit awkward, because she likes you." Chloe admitted.

"So, she'll need to get over it." he shrugged.

"Although we haven't discussed whether you want to be public or not have, we." he added.

"Maybe we keep it quiet just for now, so that there's no pressure." she suggested.

"If you're happy with that?" she added quickly.

"If you're happy, then so am I." he said.

"Did you particularly want to go to the masquerade ball, because if you do, I could escort you?" he offered, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

"As a friend of course." he winked.

"No, it's okay, I'm really not that bothered." she said quickly.

"We can go if you want too?" he tried again, not entirely convinced that she didn't want to go. Chloe shook her head. Lee watched her closely as she pulled her clothes out of her backpack and began to rummage through them, separating them into piles of what she wanted to keep and what she didn't. Lee couldn't help but notice how different she was now that Michelle was home, when it had been just the two of them, she was relaxed and showed her vulnerable side, but now she seemed uncomfortable and tense. He glanced into the kitchen as he felt Michelle watching him. As soon as he locked eyes with her, she quickly looked away, pretending to be preoccupied with something. Lee quickly turned his attention back to Chloe, smiling at her as they locked eyes.

"You need to promise me something." he said quietly. She raised her eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

"That you won't keep living your life for other people, you don't want anyone to know about us because Michelle likes me, and you don't want to go to the ball because you think she doesn't want you there." he explained.

"I didn't say it was about Michelle." she muttered.

"But now that you mention it, I don't want to rock the boat with her, especially since I'm staying here at the moment." she admitted. Lee stared at her for a moment before quickly standing up.

"I need to make a phone call." he told her as he left the room.