Chloe jumped, her eyes flickering open as she heard a sound from the hallway. Her stomach plummeted as she gazed into the faint moonlight that was streaming in the window, and locked eyes with Lee.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" he asked quietly, sighing to himself when Chloe nodded slowly. She slowly sat up, gently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"I forgot about the squeaky floor board." he said, a small smile playing on the corner of his lips as he hovered awkwardly.
"What are you doing down here?" she asked, nervously.
"I came to see you." he told her.
"If you've come to make me feel guilty, don't bother, nothing you can say will make me feel any worse than I already do." she stated, her eyes brimming with tears.
"I came to check on you, because you haven't come to bed." he said quietly, watching Chloe closely as she stood up and walked into the kitchen. He sighed deeply to himself as he followed her. Even though he knew that her actions had been wrong, he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty that it was his comments that had caused her to leave the house in the first place. Anyone that knew Chloe, knew that she had always been insecure about the way that she looked and he couldn't help but feel that he'd accidentally opened an old wound for her.
Chloe glanced up at Lee, quickly turning away from him and hanging her head in shame. She tapped her fingernail against the kitchen counter as she waited for the kettle to boil, squirming slightly as she felt Lee's watchful gaze burning a hole in the back of her head.
"Have you warmed up now?" he asked tentatively.
"Yep." she said shortly, quickly wiping away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. She couldn't even bring herself to look at him, her brain completely scrambled with a mixture of anger, sadness and guilt at what she'd done. Her hands shook as she slowly poured the boiling water into her mug, carefully placing the tea bag inside. She closed her eyes slowly, taking deep breaths as she felt the room beginning to spin again. Lee frowned at her when he noticed her slowly turn, grasping the kitchen counter as she wobbled slightly.
"Chlo?" he frowned, as he took a step towards her. She slowly opened her eyes, frowning when she realised that Lee was only a few feet from her, yet his voice appeared distant, almost like it was calling to her from the darkness.
"I'm fine." she said quickly, the words echoing around her head.
"I think we need to talk Chlo." he said gently, reaching out to stroke her cheek, frowning to himself when she recoiled from his touch.
"Not at this time of night we don't." she said firmly, not really in the mood to talk to him, especially in the early hours of the morning. She ran her hand through her hair, blinking quickly as she tried to focus on her blurred surroundings. She gasped, watching as she dropped the cup, her gaze fixed on it as it fell in slow motion, before clattering onto the stone floor. Chloe fell to her knees, the last of her strength that she was using to hold herself up, finally waning.
"Chloe, what's going on?" he asked worridly, his stomach churning in fear as he watched her sitting on the floor, gazing in silence at the broken fragments.
"I don't know." she mumbled, almost like she was talking to herself. He stared at her, watching closely as she buried her head in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably.
"I gave you everything." she cried, her breath coming out in loud sobs.
"I'm sorry that I'm not good enough for you." she continued, continuing to sob as she slowly picked up the fragments. He stared at her, not entirely sure how to respond to her words. In all the years that he'd known Chloe, he'd never seen her acting in this way. Her expression was distant and vacant and she seemed to have no idea what she was saying or doing.
"Chloe stop." he whispered, quickly kneeling down beside her, his stomach churning with guilt when he suddenly realised how much he had managed to upset her.
"And I'm not good enough for Freyja either." she mumbled to herself, no longer having the energy to sob. Lee sighed deeply, gently placing his hand on her leg, trying to provide her with some comfort. He jumped as she quickly moved away from his touch.
"Don't touch me." she told him sternly.
"Go back to bed, I'm fine." she whispered, trying to convince herself as much as him. Even though she had no idea what was happening to her or why she was unable to think clearly or focus on her surroundings, all she knew was that she wanted to be as far away from Lee as possible. To face the fear that she was feeling, without him gazing at her. She stared down at the china fragment in her hand and curled it into her fist, suddenly feeling the need to grasp something. She stared numbly at her hand, watching the droplets of blood drip onto the floor.
"Chlo!" Lee cried, when he suddenly noticed that she was bleeding.
"Here, give me that." he said quietly, gently uncurling her fingers and removing the fragment from her grip. She stared at the ground in numb silence, not even reacting when Lee picked up a cloth and gently wiped away the blood, sighing quietly to himself as her hand continued to bleed. He placed the cloth over the wound, carefully applying pressure. His eyes were fixed on her as he placed a soft kiss on her fingers.
"Please can you just leave me alone." she whispered, her voice breaking slightly.
"I'm worried about you." he mumbled, his stomach churning nervously as he watched her.
"I'm fine." she whispered, closing her eyes when she felt the room beginning to spin. Her eyes snapped open as she felt herself slowly becoming warm. She placed her hand on the collar of her hoodie, pulling the material away from her skin, to try and cool down. She took deep breaths as she gradually felt herself becoming hotter and hotter. Lee glanced at her as she quickly pulled her hand away from him and removed her hoodie, desperately trying to find a way to cool down. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the purple lace baby doll nightgown that she was wearing. It seemed like so long ago that she'd told him she had a surprise for him later on that evening. He stared at her perfect body, not quite able to tear his eyes away, completely mesmerized by her beauty once again.
"I believe this is yours anyway." she said, snapping him out of his thoughts as she flung the hoodie towards him.
"You're so beautiful." he breathed, still not able to tear his eyes away from her.
"Don't you dare." she warned him, her tone slightly menacing.
"I thought having sex with me is horrible." she added, a note of bitterness present in her voice. She shook her head angrily, quickly placing her hand on the kitchen counter and slowly pulling herself to her feet.
She glanced down at herself, her cheeks colouring when she suddenly realised that she was still wearing the nightgown that she'd been planning to surprise him with. As she glanced back up at Lee, sighing deeply to herself when she realised that his eyes were still fixed on her, she felt the room beginning to spin uncontrollably. Her vision blurred, before the room was plunged into darkness.
