Chapter Forty

Lee glanced down as Chloe slowly stirred in his arms. He watched her as she slowly sat up.

"Sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep on you." she yawned.

"It's fine, mind your bum a minute though." he smiled as he gently pushed her onto the sofa.

"Ow, I've got cramp." he hobbled as he stood up.

"Sorry, that was my fault." she said quietly. He turned to face her, a cheeky glint in his eye.

"I was just teasing you." he laughed. Before Chloe could say anything he quickly leant down and planted a soft kiss on her lips. Chloe smiled as he picked up the plates and took them into the kitchen.

"I'll wash up, you cooked." she called after him.

"It's fine, I'll put yours in the fridge for tomorrow and the other things can go in the dishwasher." he called back.

"Are you remembering that we are meant to be going to Mum's tomorrow?" he reminded her.

Chloe groaned quietly, glancing into the kitchen slightly nervous that he might have heard her.

"No, I forgot about that." she admitted.

"She's been nagging me to meet you for weeks." he told her.

"Why?" she frowned.

"Because this is the first serious relationship I've had, she's a bit over excited about it." he smiled as he walked back into the room, carrying some kebab sticks and a bag of marshmallows. Lee quickly skewered a marshmallow on a stick and handed it to Chloe. Chloe smiled at him and sat beside him at the fire.

"Try not to set it on fire." he chuckled as the two of them held their marshmallows over the fire.

"I'm more worried about it dripping on your carpet." Chloe giggled.

"Everything in this house is so expensive, it's stressful." she added.

"It's fine, everything in this house can be replaced." he told her.

"Only one thing is priceless." he grinned at her. Chloe smiled at him, realising instantly what he was suggesting.

"You mean worthless." Chloe muttered to herself. She slowly removed her marshmallow from the stick, gasping slightly as the gooey mixture burnt her finger.

"Why do you say things like that about yourself?" Lee sighed sadly.

"Because they are true, I'm homeless remember, a stray." she said quietly.

"You're not feral enough to be a stray." Lee smiled.

"I hate it when you say negative things about yourself." he told her gently.

"I only say it because it's true." she said.

Chloe glanced at Lee as he reached out and took hold of her wrist, gently pulling her hand towards himself. He maintained eye contact as he guided her finger towards his mouth and gently sucked off the marshmallow residue. Chloe smiled at the mischievous grin on his face.

"It's not true, and you are not homeless, this is your home." he told her in between seductively licking the marshmallow from her fingers. Chloe sighed quietly to herself, she didn't want to argue with him, but she knew that this house was Lee's home. Technically her home was still a park bench. She suddenly realised that if the worst was to happen and Lee and herself split up, she would have nowhere to go but back to the park.

"What are you thinking about?" Lee asked her, clearly sensing that she was deep in thought.

"That I really need to sort my life out." she said.

"If anything happens with us, I'll be homeless again." she added thoughtfully.

"No, you won't, I wouldn't kick you out." he told her. The two of them glanced at the fire as it eventually went out. Lee took hold of Chloe's hand and stood up, gently helping her to stand up too.

"Is it that time already?" she asked nervously, her voice trembling slightly as Lee led her upstairs.

"Not quite yet I'm going to run you a bath first." he told her.

"Why, I had a shower earlier?" she frowned.

"It's part of my plan, you'll see." he smiled.

"Okay you wait here, you can open your present while you wait." he told her when they reached the bedroom. Lee quickly let go of her hand and walked into the bathroom.

"Oh, I forgot this is for you." Lee said, peering his head around the bathroom door and handing her a tablet.

"Are you trying to drug me now?" she smiled as she took the tablet in her hand. He smiled slightly.

"It's a paracetamol." he told her. Chloe sighed and stared at the tablet in her hand, her heart pounding nervously as she was reminded of their plans.

"It probably won't make much difference." she muttered.

"I know but it makes me feel better." he told her quietly. Chloe nodded and quickly swallowed the tablet.

"Open your present." Lee told her, pointing towards the bed before disappearing back into the bathroom. Chloe slowly walked over to the bed and picked up the small gift box. She gasped as she opened it and saw a silver necklace with a heart shaped pendant on the end. In the centre was a blue sapphire.

"Wow." she whispered, feeling slightly guilty at how expensive the gift looked. She hated that she was in so much debt that she couldn't afford to buy him anything at all, let alone something as expensive as this. She gently stroked the pendant with her finger, turning it over and frowning when she noticed an engraving on the back. As she peered closer, she noticed that her name was engraved on one side of the heart and Lee's name was on the other. Tears pricked Chloe's eyes as she stared, transfixed by her beautiful gift. Lee really was the most thoughtful person that she'd ever met.

"Do you like it?" she heard Lee's voice from behind her.

"I love it, thank you so much." she whispered, not turning around to face him so that he wouldn't notice her tears. She heard him cross the room and felt him stand behind her. He reached around her and took the necklace out of the box. Chloe remained silent as he gently placed it around her neck and fastened it, his fingers brushing against her neck as he did so. He hesitated for a moment before gently wrapping his arms around her shoulders and holding her tightly.

"I love you so much Chloe." he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too." she smiled, her legs feeling weak as she felt him sigh in contentment.

"Does being in love normally feel like this?" he whispered in her ear.

"No, I think this is unusual." Chloe replied, planting a soft kiss on his hand and resting her head against his arm.

"It's a good job we eventually stopped pretending to hate each other." he smiled. Chloe nodded silently, smiling to herself.

"You'd better get in the bath, before it gets cold." Lee told her, reluctantly letting go of her. She nodded slowly and walked towards the bathroom, briefly glancing behind herself when she realised that Lee was following her. As soon as she walked into the bathroom, she gasped as she saw the mound of bubbles on the bathtub, the room in darkness except for a few candles that were dotted around the room.

"Did you get carried away with the bubble bath?" Chloe giggled.

"Nope." Lee smiled, at her before miming zipping his lips closed.

"Get in then." he prompted her, laughing at her confused expression.

"Don't worry, there's not someone hiding in the bath." he quickly added. Chloe burst out laughing, before taking a deep breath and slowly removing her hoodie. She placed her hands on the material of her shirt and hesitated, suddenly feeling very nervous again. Lee smiled at how cute she looked before quickly turning his back. He heard her undress and climb into the bath. He waited a few moments just in case and slowly turned back to face her.

"I feel like I'm suffocating in bubbles." Chloe giggled. Lee smiled in satisfaction when he saw that only her head was visible in the bathtub.

"That was the plan." he smiled at her.

"To suffocate me?" she laughed.

"No, you don't like being naked in front of me because you are embarrassed so this way, I'm in the room when you are naked, but I can't see anything. Baby steps." he explained.

"Oh my god." Chloe mumbled, her voice breaking slightly.

"Too much?" he asked her, as he quickly picked up the hair clip from the bathroom counter and twirled it around in his hands. Chloe crossed her arms and leant them against the side of the bathtub.

"I just...." Chloe tried, but she couldn't hold it back anymore she buried her head in her arms and began to cry.

"I knew it was too much, I'll leave the room." Lee quickly said, his heart breaking a little for her.

"No, wait!" she called. Lee stopped in the doorway and turned to face her.

"Come over here." she said quietly, holding out her hand to him. He quickly walked back towards her and took her hand. As soon as he sat on the floor Chloe quickly leaned towards him and kissed him deeply, the tears still flowing freely down her cheeks.

"Please tell me these are happy tears." Lee said wiping them away with his thumb when Chloe eventually let go of him.

"Of course, they are, you are so amazing. You're everything I ever wanted." she sobbed. He smiled at her, his hands quickly gathering up her hair and placing the grip in. Chloe smiled slightly as Lee scooped up some of the bubbles and gently placed them on her nose. She laughed and scooped some up in her hand, gently blowing them at him, bursting out laughing when they stuck to his face.

"That's better." he said when he heard her laugh.

"My Dad would've loved you. I've finally found someone to take care of me." Chloe smiled at him.

"And I'm never going anywhere." he told her.

"Unless you ask me too of course." he quickly added, grinning mischievously. Chloe rolled her eyes at him and kissed him again.