Lee ran his hand through his hair in frustration, frowning to himself as Duncan walked away, slamming the front door behind himself. Duncan was one of his oldest friends, he couldn't understand why he refused to speak to him and seemed to be pushing him away in the same way as Chloe. Even though he knew that he hadn't spent much time with Chloe recently, that was a result of her not wanting him around. There was only so much hitting his head against a brick wall that he could take. He'd tried and tried to reach her, but she pushed him away each time, his heart breaking more and more when she did. To this day, he still had no idea what he was supposed to have done to make her hate him so much. His eyes wandered to the stairs as he found himself longing to follow Chloe and hold her tightly in his arms, but he knew that she wouldn't allow him too. It felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest whenever she rejected him or recoiled from his touch, almost like she was disgusted by him. He couldn't help but wonder if she still wanted a future with him or if he was slowly losing her and their baby for good.
"Hey, you know what you need!" Steph piped up excitedly, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"My little Chlo back." he mumbled thoughtfully, biting the inside of his lip to prevent himself from crying.
"You need one of these bad boys." she grinned, handing him a beer. Lee sighed quietly as he took the bottle that she handed him, his eyes flickering once again to the stairs as he hesitated.
"Oh what the hell." he muttered, finally deciding that it was easier to drown his sorrows than face Chloe's constant disdain.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Chloe blinked slowly, carefully reaching out to switch on the bedroom lamp, frowning to herself for a moment as she gazed at the unfamiliar surroundings. Her heart plummeted when she suddenly remembered that she was sleeping in the spare room in an attempt to avoid Lee's presence. Chloe's eyes misted with tears that she'd woken up from her dream where the two of them had been happy and playing with their baby. She couldn't help but wish that she could return to her dream, since it was better than her current reality.
She sighed to herself as she heard the sounds of joyous laughter coming from downstairs. Chloe glanced at the clock, rolling her eyes when she realised that it was almost one am. She snuggled under the covers, trying to ignore the constant commotion from downstairs. Her stomach swirled with anger when she heard Lee singing along to a song on the radio. Without even laying eyes on him, she knew that he had been drinking, his singing voice sounding more hoarse than usual. Despite the fact that she knew that he didn't care about her, she couldn't help but feel disappointed that he didn't seem to care about his unborn baby. He needed to grow up and be a good father, not spend his time drinking and messing about with Steph.
Before Chloe could stop herself she threw off the covers and angrily marched downstairs, no longer able to stand the constant noise. She followed the sounds of their voices, shaking her head slowly when she realised that they were coming from the pool room. Her stomach churned with anger as she stood in the hallway, peering in the window to the pool room, not quite able to tear her eyes away from them as they messed around together, both of their faces lighting up in happiness. A lump rose in her throat when she realised that she'd been right all along....he truly was happier when he wasn't with her. Her eyes flickered over to Steph when she wrapped her arms around Lee's neck, gazing into his eyes, hesitating for a moment before placing a soft kiss on his lips. Lee placed his hands on her waist, a stunned expression on his face for a brief moment before he closed his eyes and kissed her back, craving the comfort of human contact that he'd been deprived. Chloe placed her hand on the door handle, curling it into her fist as she gripped it tightly, feeling the need to grasp something as she tried to process what she'd seen. She dropped to her knees, no longer having the strength to support her own weight. It felt like the rug had been ripped from under her feet, the full realisation hitting her that she had lost Lee for good, like she'd begun to sense. He truly did prefer to be around Steph and was clearly more attracted to her, so much so that he was prepared to cheat on the person that he claimed to love with all of his heart. Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed down at the engagement ring that was still in place on her finger. She quickly tore her eyes away from it, resting the back of her head against the door as she stared at the ceiling, trying to process what she'd just witnessed. Chloe closed her eyes, a small sob escaping her lips when she saw the image of Lee kissing another woman swirling around her head. In that moment she knew that he had truly forsaken her and there was nothing that she could do about it.
"I'm sorry little baby, but I can't stay here anymore." she whispered, gently resting her hand against her bump as she carefully stood up, slightly afraid that she was going to fall over as a result of the shock at what she'd just witnessed. She hurried upstairs, holding tightly to the banister as she walked, fearful that her legs would buckle from under her. The baby was now the only person that she had left, the only one that hadn't abandoned her for someone else. Chloe had always known that she was worthless but now she had the final proof. As soon as she reached the bedroom, she pulled her suitcase from under the bed, flinging open the wardrobe as she stared at her clothes that were hanging inside. Tears filled her eyes as she angrily ripped her clothes from the hangers, flinging them into the suitcase. She frantically hurried around the room, picking up her clothing and throwing them into the suitcase, desperate to leave the house as soon as possible. Her breath caught in her throat as she pulled her memory box out of the cupboard and stared at the contents. She staggered backwards, quickly perching on the end of the bed, her gaze fixed on the box. Her hands shook as she slowly removed her photo album. Before she could stop herself she turned to the last few pages, staring at the picture of Lee with her mother. A small sob escaped her lips as she brushed her finger against the picture of her mother.
"Why does everyone always abandon me." she whispered to herself, not quite able to process that she'd been cheated on once again. She'd thought that her heart had broken when Andy had admitted to her what he'd done, but the pain that she was felt was nothing compared to how she was feeling right now. She loved Lee with all of her heart, the way that she felt for him, she'd never felt for anyone, and she knew that she never would again. Her hands shook as she carefully picked up the baby grow that Lee had given to her when he'd asked her to become his wife. She closed her eyes for a moment, her brain swirling with memories for when she'd stood at the top of the tower, gazing down at the landscape and the man that had stolen her heart proposed to her. Her eyes snapped open as she quickly picked up her phone from the bedside cabinet and phoned Duncan.
"Hello." he said sleepily.
"Duncan!" she exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief when he eventually picked up the phone. She frowned to herself when she realised how sleepy he sounded, her stomach churning with guilt when she glanced at the clock and realised how late it was. With everything that had happened, she'd completely forgotten that it was the early hours of the morning.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." she whispered, swallowing the lump that was rising in her throat.
"It's okay Chlo Bo, what's wrong?" Duncan asked, groaning quietly as he sat up in bed.
"You haven't hurt yourself again have you?!" he asked quickly, before she had a chance to respond.
"No." she said shortly.
"Can you come over and pick me up please?" she pleaded, her voice breaking slightly.
"I know it's late and I'm sorry to ask, but Amy won't be back until the morning and I can't stay here." she sobbed, no longer able to hold back the emotions that she was fighting.
"What's happened?!" Duncan asked quickly, climbing out of bed when he heard the distress in Chloe's voice.
"I'll tell you when you're over, please hurry Duncan." she replied, her heart pounding against her chest nervously at the thought of having to speak to Lee. To be face to face with the man who claimed to love her but clearly didn't care about her at all.
"I'll be right over." Duncan stated, snapping Chloe out of her thoughts. Chloe nodded slowly, flinging her phone onto the bed when she heard the dial tone. She stood up slowly, almost like she was in a daze, the tears still flowing freely down her cheeks as she quickly dressed, briefly glancing at her reflection in the mirror, before quickly turning away in disgust. Her heart pounded against her chest as her thoughts wandered to Steph and her slender frame. Chloe quickly picked up her photo album and hugged it tightly against her chest, slowly falling sideways onto the bed. She sniffed sadly to herself as she curled into a ball, closing her eyes, a small part of her wishing that she could fall asleep and never wake up, to escape from the pain.
