Chapter Thirty Nine

Chloe slowly closed the front door behind herself when she got back to Lee's. She took a moment to steady her nerves about the evening before she walked into the living room, smiling as she saw the open fire burning. Lee glanced up from his laptop as she walked into the room.

"Something smells good." she said, suddenly noticing the smell wafting through from the kitchen.

"It's probably me." he teased her.

"Well, it's definitely not me, I need to shower." she smiled.

"Don't be too long, dinner is almost done." he told her, watching as she quickly left the room. As soon as she left the room, he folded down the laptop and sighed quietly to himself. Despite the fact that he wanted to make this night as special for Chloe as possible, he still wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation.

But he knew in his heart that it meant a lot to her, to give her virginity to him and so he had to do it for her. He wandered into the kitchen to serve the food, Chloe reappeared a few moments later.

"Where do you want to eat?" he asked Chloe as he handed her a plate of steaming risotto.

"We could eat in the living room in front of the fire?" Chloe suggested.

"Sounds good." Lee said, picking up his own plate in one hand, a bottle of wine and two glasses in the other. He frowned at Chloe as she rummaged in the medicine drawer, quickly taking out a tablet and swallowing it, before walking back into the living room.

"You alright Chlo?" he asked as he followed her.

"Yep, just making sure I don't bloat, I'm pretty sure you don't want to see that." she smiled, sitting cross legged on the sofa.

"I keep telling you that you are beautiful, when are you going to believe it?" he sighed, sitting beside her.

"Probably never." she admitted.

"It was so hot when you stood up to Jonny earlier." he told her, deciding that it wasn't the right time to keep talking to her about her looks.

"He's horrible." she said matter of factly.

"Yeah, I know." he chuckled.

"Speaking of which, are you hurt?" he added.

"Nope not really, it wasn't a bad fall." she told him.

"He totally fancies you though." he said. Chloe nodded and remained silent.

"So does Bobby." Lee told her.

"What, no he doesn't." Chloe frowned.

"He definitely does, he's like a lost puppy when you are there." Lee insisted.

"Chloe can you help me with this, Chloe I need to ask you something." he laughed, imitating Bobby.

Chloe burst out laughing. "Not a bad impression." she laughed.

"I keep telling you that everyone wants you." Lee grinned smugly at her. Chloe remained silent and stared into the fire.

"I have something I need to get off my chest." she eventually said quietly.

"Uh oh." Lee said nervously.

"I'm really unhappy that you spoke to Nathan about us." she told him.

"Yeah, I get that I regret doing it. I was just really worried about everything and I needed to ask someone who knew more about it than me." he explained. She frowned.

"I've never been with a virgin before, but Nathan has so I was able to ask him about it." he added.

"Like what?" she frowned.

"Mostly he just gave me reassurance and a few tips." he said, being slightly vague. Chloe sighed and put her plate of unfinished food on the coffee table.

"It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, the thought of you and your best friend gossiping about something which is my personal business. You are the only person that I've told, I lied to my friends, they all think that I lost it to Andy." she said quietly.

"Oh my god Chloe, I didn't know that." he said quietly, suddenly feeling really guilty.

"We weren't gossiping or anything though I swear, I just needed someone to speak to about it. Nathan actually thought it's really cute, so he doesn't think less of you." he added.

"I don't care if he does, that's not the point." she sighed.

"No, I know, I'm really sorry." he told her. She nodded slowly.

"I'll have a word with him about not speaking to you about it anymore." Lee said.

"He shouldn't be speaking to either of us about it, it's none of his business." she said.

"I know, he means well though." he pointed out.

"Yes, but it doesn't help. I felt so exposed earlier." she told him.

"What?" Lee frowned.

"When I went out to speak to Bobby, Nathan pulled me aside to ask me how I was feeling about tonight. I get that he wants to help, and if it wasn't for him, we probably wouldn't be together now, but I felt really uncomfortable." she explained.

"I'll have a word with him." Lee said sternly. Lee quickly poured them both a glass of wine and handed one to Chloe who smiled her thanks.

"Just one glass though, I'm not going to take advantage of a drunk girl." he winked at her. She smiled slightly.

"He did mention that you had bad dreams last night, it wasn't about me was it?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, for fuck sake." Lee muttered under his breath.

"I told him that in confidence." he quickly added.

"Great so he's a blabber mouth, that bodes well." Chloe said, shaking her head.

"He won't tell anyone your secret Chloe." he said, trying to reassure her.

"He'd better not. To be fair, he only told me about the dreams because I said that I had them." she told him. Lee stopped chewing mid mouthful and stared at her.

"You had them too?" he checked.

"Yes, I think we are both getting too stressed about it." Chloe said quietly, quickly finishing her glass of wine.

"Yeah probably." Lee agreed quietly.

"Just promise me something." Chloe whispered, her cheeks colouring as she thought about her dream. Lee nodded and waited for her to continue.

"If it gets too much and I ask you stop you will." she said nervously. Lee stared at her quietly, his heart breaking a little at her sad expression.

"Chloe you know I would." he told her gently.

"I know, the dream just freaked me out a bit." she admitted. Lee winced at her words, not quite able to bear the thought that he had done something to her, even though it was just a dream. She watched him closely as he placed his empty plate beside hers on the table and laid down on the sofa.

"Come here." he said, lifting his head to look at her and holding his arms open. Chloe quickly shuffled over to him and gently laid sideways on top him bending her legs into the foetal position. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and placed his right hand on her legs. Lee smiled at her as she sighed and snuggled her face into his collarbone.

"You need to make me a promise in return." Lee told her.

"Okay." Chloe said quietly.

"If it gets too much or you change your mind you tell me." he said.

"I won't change my mind." she muttered.

"You might." he told her.

"I won't but I promise anyway." she said.

"Just don't break my heart okay." she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. He sighed and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Once we do this, there's no going back, so don't cheat on me." she continued.

"I would never cheat on you; I have everything that I want right here." he reassured her.

"Don't get your hopes up, you haven't seen me naked yet." Chloe laughed.

"Please don't start putting yourself down again." he said quickly. Chloe sighed happily as she closed her eyes.

"This is my new happy place." she said.

"Me too." he said.

"Although I've just realised, I'm probably crushing you." she laughed when she suddenly realised that he was taking all of her weight. Lee glanced down at her. Despite the fact that she was on top of him, Lee still felt as though his large broad frame dwarfed her petite one.

"You're really light Chloe, it's fine." he said quietly. His mouth suddenly felt dry as he thought about their plans for later tonight. She seemed so small and fragile in comparison to him, he felt like he was going to break her. Chloe had fallen silent and he knew by her steady breathing that she had fallen asleep. Lee took deep breaths, trying to steady his nerves. He couldn't understand what this woman had done to him, he'd never been vulnerable before, but she'd managed to get under his skin, so much so that he would do anything for her. She'd managed to bring out a caring and protective side in Lee that he didn't even realise that he had. He wanted to hold her and touch her all the time, to feel the fire that felt like it was flowing through his veins every time they touched. Despite the fact that he'd never been in love before and didn't really know what it felt like, he knew that what he and Chloe had is something special and he would do anything to protect that. Chloe stirred slightly in her sleep as he gently rested his head against hers and closed his eyes, feeling comforted by the sound of her steady breathing.