Fallout
Chapter Sixteen
(The following day...)
Chloe had decided to stop by
Dot.Com to grab a cup of coffee and see what new CD's had come out this week.
As she stood at the door, she hesitated to go in.
It had been a week and a half since the dance, and she dreaded having to
face her classmates. She stood
there, paused for a moment, until she noticed Belle and Shawn looking at some
magazines. < Oh thank God...
safety in numbers. >
Chloe went inside and greeted
her two friends, "Heyyyyyy guys."
Belle and Shawn turned
abruptly to face her and spoke nearly in unison, "Chloe!"
Belle smiled widely and gave
Chloe a quick hug, "Wow. I'm
so glad you're here. I was going to
call you later anyway."
Chloe smiled back at her,
"Well, now I've saved you the trouble of all that dialing."
Shawn grinned at them both,
"Thank God for you Chloe... now she doesn't have to worry about breaking a
nail on the speed dial button."
Belle gasped and punched
Shawn in the side, "SHAWN!"
Shawn reeled back in mock
pain, "Geez... sorry about that Queen B."
Chloe rolled her eyes and
laughed, "Ok, that's so cute it's almost sickening."
Belle and Shawn nodded
fervently in agreement and the group made their way over to an empty booth.
Shawn and Belle sat together on one side, and Chloe on the other.
Chloe directed herself
towards Belle, "So, Belle, what were you going call me about?
"Well...a LOT of things
actually. I mean, I wanted to find
out what happened with Phillip yesterday for starters..."
Chloe looked a bit perplexed,
"You mean, you guys haven't talked to him?"
Belle shook her head no, and
Shawn shrugged and replied, "Nope. I called his house this morning to talk, but Henderson said
he left early this morning and he didn't know when he'd be back."
"Well.
Okay then. Quick
play-by-play? Phillip tried to
apologize some more, and tell me how he's here for me as a friend, and anything
I need...blah blah blah. I told him
that I really appreciate it, and I do accept the apology, but...I can't be near
him right now. I just... It's hard
to look at him without remembering the bad things."
Shawn looked at her
pleadingly, "Chloe...he's trying so hard. He really is. He
doesn't expect to get you back, he just wants to be a friend. That's all."
"I know.
I do. I can see how much he's changing and growing up, but it still
hurts. I have to let it fade before
I can safely be in the same room as him. You
know, without wanting to smack him or something."
Belle nodded in sympathy,
"It's okay, Chloe. I think I
understand. The hurt can't just go
away in such a short time. My
family has much experience in lingering pain...Really lingering."
Shawn continued, "Just
don't rule it out, okay? Please?
You guys shared something really special, and I would hate to see you not
even be friends."
"Me too.
I really do want to try and be friends...someday.
I really did love Phillip, even though I never told him… and he loved
me. You just don't forget about
your first love. No matter what he
did to me, I will always care about him and I really want to see him be
happy."
Shawn looked at her very
seriously, "And you know, Chloe... that's what Phillip wants for you too.
He worries about you constantly, he just wants to know if you're okay and
if you're going to come through this okay.
What am I supposed to tell him?"
Chloe was silent for a
moment, and then smiled weakly at Shawn. "You
can tell him...that I'm okay. I'm
going to come through this just fine, Shawn.
What happened yesterday...was...amazingly helpful.
I know that I can't let what happened to me get me down, and I won't.
Yesterday's meeting with Mimi and talking with Phillip was like a weight
was lifted off my shoulders. Now, I
feel kinda 'talked out' about the whole thing, and I'm ready to start moving
on."
Belle smiled widely, "Oh
Chloe... I'm so glad."
Chloe smiled back at her,
"Me too. Besides, I have
nothing to worry about; I have the greatest friends in the world.
You and Shawn have been so great for me, and if I've forgotten to thank
you, I'm sorry. Without you and
Shawn and Brady..." Chloe broke off and hesitated at the mention of Brady.
"I...uhm....I don't know what I would do without you.
That's all."
Belle paused for a moment and
shifted gears. "Hmm.
Well, that leads me to my second line of questioning..."
Shawn interrupted with a
wicked grin, "Yeah. What is up
with you and Brady?"
Chloe dropped her jaw in
shock, but inside she could feel her face getting warm and prayed to God that
they wouldn't notice her blushing. "What
ever do you mean, Shawn Brady?"
Shawn waved his finger at
Chloe, "Uh uh uh. For shame,
Chloe... I mean, your lips are saying one thing, but your rosy red cheeks are
saying another."
Chloe didn't think her jaw
could drop any further, but it did. "Oh My God... What are you talking about?"
Shawn wanted to laugh, but
repressed it and continued. "It's
okay, you can close your mouth. Don't be so shocked. I
mean, Brady is just so obvious."
Chloe sputtered out two
words, "He is?"
Belle nodded
enthusiastically. "Oh yeah.
I was blind to not notice it a LONG time ago, but it's totally obvious.
He's got it bad for you..."
Chloe cringed in fear and put
one hand on her forehead. "Oh
nooooo..."
Shawn nodded, "We know
how it works. All that teasing and
insulting? It's playground kiddie
games. But, we didn't really start
to notice until recently."
Belle continued, "It's
true, Chloe. After the dance that
night, Brady was beside himself with worry. All he could talk about was 'Is she okay?' 'Should I go see
her?', 'I hope she knows it wasn't me', and on and on and on."
Shawn kept it going,
"Not to mention... Yesterday
at Uncle Mickey's office...That boy practically threw the rest of us out of the
building so he could drive you home."
"Right, and when he got
home from your house. I said,
'Brady, how is Chloe holding up?' and all he could do was, 'Uhmmmmm...uhh...uhh...fine.'
and walk away."
Shawn leaned forward closer
to Chloe and stared her down, "Soooo... Chloe Lane, don't you find that
weeeeeeird?"
Chloe looked at her friends
in amazement, "Wow. You two
are good. Maybe they should give
you a job with the Salem PD interrogating the suspects."
Shawn and Belle sat back in
their seats with satisfied grins. Chloe
bit her lip nervously and decided it was now or never, time to spill the beans.
"Well, I'm gonna tell
you. But, do NOT freak out on me.
Brady kissed me. Twice."
Belle's eyes opened widely,
"TWICE? And did you kiss him
back?"
Chloe wrinkled up her
forehead, "Ohhhh yeah.
Belle looked slightly in
shock, "Aaaaand...what does it mean, Chloe?"
Chloe sighed deeply.
"I... I don't know. Brady
has admitted to me that he has feelings for me, and I... well I'm pretty
confused."
Shawn tried to urge her on,
"And, what are you confused about? Do you not feel the same for him?"
Chloe sunk deeper into her
seat and sighed again, "Well... It's not that.
I... I guess I do. Errr. Actually,
I *know* I do. I'm just not ready
for this all. It's not the right
time."
Belle looked at her
quizzically, "Because you're not over Phillip?"
Chloe shook her head,
"No, that's not it. I am as
over Phillip as I can be. I mean, I
know that I don't want to get back together with him. But, it's too soon to get involved in another relationship.
I have to wait until I'm ready again.
I just hope that Brady will wait for that to happen."
Belle replied, "He'll
wait. I'm sure of that.
But, what about you? What if
you're never ready?"
"No, I'll be ready
someday. I just need to fully close
off the part of my life where I was the girlfriend of Phillip Kiriakis...You
know, get on that path of 'being just friends again' with him.
And, more than that... I need to know myself before I can even attempt to
be somebody's girlfriend. There's a
lot about my own life that I don't know. More
than anything... I just want to know who my father is.
I want to know that he's out there somewhere."
Chloe fought back tears for a moment, and continued.
"So, are you guys totally grossed out about me and Brady?"
Shawn and Belle shook their
heads, and Belle leaned forward and grabbed Chloe's hand to reassure her.
"Not at ALL, Chloe. In
fact, I think it would be good for the both of you.
You're the only two people in the world who seem to understand each
other, and I know that Brady would be so good to you.
And, I know you would be so good for him, Chloe... He needs something
good in his life, and so do you."
Chloe smiled at Belle,
"Thanks Belle. I just, y'know,
when I'm ready... I want to take it slow. Especially with my previous track record in mind..."
Belle let go of her hand and
sat back in her seat looking somewhat distracted.
"Yup. Slow.
I gotcha there. I know what
'slow' means."
Chloe paused and a wicked
grin began to form on her own face, "Speaking of slow..."
Chloe paused and started to mock Shawn's earlier questioning of her,
"What is up with you *two*? Hmm?"
Shawn matched her mocking
with his own and spoke in a high-pitched impression of Chloe's voice, "Oh,
what ever do you mean Chloe Lane?"
Chloe shrugged innocently,
"Ohhh... I don't know, Mr. Brady. I just thought that maybe you could fill me in on the
definition of 'slow'? I'm not sure
what it means, exactly... can ya help?"
Shawn looked a tad bit
flummoxed, "Well... it means..."
Chloe interrupted, "It
means that you can go out once a week and kiss her whenever you feel like it,
but other than that... it's like the same old thing."
Shawn looked nervous now,
"Well... it just means that Belle and I are good friends, very good
friends. And, we don't want to ruin
that friendship by moving too quickly. That's
what it means. Yup. Right,
Belle?" Shawn looked at Belle,
hoping that she would bail him out of the situation.
Belle threw her hands in the
air and shrugged, "Whatever you say, Shawn."
Belle stood up and patted him on the head like a puppy, accentuating each
word with a pat, "Whatever. You. Say."
Shawn frowned and tried to
speak up to defend himself, but Belle grabbed Chloe's hand and dragged her away
from the booth before he had a chance. "Come
on, Chloe. I am all talked out.
It's time for caffeine." Belle
threw a quick wink and glance Shawn's way before running off to the counter with
Chloe, laughing all the way.
< Probably laughing at you, Shawn. You and your suave way with words. > Shawn groaned and put covered his face with both hands. < Ohh Shawn, you are soooo smooth with the ladies, aren't ya? You really hit that one out of the park, kid. Why can't you just tell her how you feel, you idiot? >