Promise?

Chapter 7

Dedicated to karebearlove12347.

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Chloe and Erica were getting ready for a party. Almost ready to leave. Erica had a very sexy black dress on; whereas Chloe stuck with skinny jeans and a cute top.
For once, Chloe didnt have her hair tied in a ponytail, but cascaded her shoulders in soft curls.

After about 2 hours and a very boring party, Chloe was regretting her idea to go there.
She was getting more and more self conscious and that wasnt helping either.
She wasnt used to leaving her hair untied.

Somehow managing to find Erica and forcing her a lot, they finally left the party.
Just as she stepped out, Chloe stood in front of a car parked, to check how she actually looked with her hair down. Not liking the way she looked, she started running her hands in an attempt to tame her slightly curly locks, not really paying attention to her surroundings.

She wasnt particularly fazed hearing Erica groan, but her next words made Chloe freeze on the spot for a moment.

" Alan, can you please tell her she looks good so she'd stop being so self conscious and checking how she looks every minute so we'd be able to go home?"

Turning around, she found a guy maybe of their age, almost half a foot taller, slightly tanned, dark hair and real shiny black eyes, which right now were staring back at her with amusement. A small smile came at his lips.
She instantly felt drawn towards him.

Not liking the way this had turned out she spoke in a rather snappy tone. " I'm not here with you Erica so guys would tell me how I look and try to flatter me."
And with that, she left without anything such as a last glance.
But she couldnt deny that she was still trying to recollect how he looked.

As his figure grew vivid in front of her eyes; she snapped them open, realising she had dreamt of the night they met once again.

Never was she going to be able to forget that night.

It always starts from somewhere. What may seem a start for us, might actually be a crossroad. Maybe the journey had started a long time ago.

Staring at her wall, thirsty, she waited fpr the sleep to come to her again. She did not want bags under her eyes the next morning.

Shifting in her bed, waiting a bit, she finally decided to go to the kitchen and have some water to quench her midnight thirst.

She made a mental note to keep a bottle of water for herself on her bedside table everyday from now on.

Lazily getting up, she headed towards the kitchen as the past came rushing back to her. Even after eight years, the night was still fresh in her mind. And try as she might, she just couldnt forget that day.

Pouring herself some water, she stood there near the counter, pondering her thoughts as usual. She knew she was crazy to care so much.

And that was when it hit her that all along these years, she'd been wishing like a moron to see him or talk to him, that somehow she could get her answers afterall.

And now that he is here, what did she do with that?
She just gave herself another reason to overthink, another reason to feel pathetic, another reason for the past to come back striking, another reason to let herself down, another reason to prove that somehow she wasnt good enough.

Sometimes, when we wish for something, we dont even think about its consequences. We just want it. And right now, standing there, she thought was it even worth it? All the pain, all the pondering?

She was so caught up in her thoughts, that when she felt someone present behind her, she couldnt stop the loud involuntary shriek leave her mouth. And as she did that, she turned around, splashing water on the person's face, another reflex, hoping to get sometime to hit rhe possible robber.
And as funny as it sounds, for the second time today, she felt her house was going to be robbed. Not a good feeling at all!

Shouting at the top of her lungs once again and preparing herself to pack a massive punch at the intruder, she froze as she got a sight of who it actually was.

Water dripping from his face, there stood a very stunned Alan.
And again, she thought if she was still dreaming or hallucinating.

It cannot be him she thought. He said he was leaving didnt he?

So whilst the realisation kicked in, she was again flooded with multiple emotions, understandably getting pissed at Alan that he still mattered so much.
"What do you think you're doing?" she couldnt help but shout.

" I saw you go in here, but you didnt make it back again for such a long time. So I thought if you passed out on the floor or something and came to check, you dont need to snap okay?"

"Oh really? What do you mean 'I dont need to'? She said air qouting what he said in annoyance.

" Listen, you splashed water all over me. I should be the one complaining and I am not. Cant you just let it go?"

" You scared me! You dont creep behind people in the middle of the night after you said you left. That brings us to square one, what are you doing here?"

" It was pretty late and I realised I dont have a ride back as Erica drove me here."

"So you decided to stay? Without even asking me? And then you scare the hell out of me and expect me not to shout?"

Alan narrowed his eyes, obviously pissed off by the way she was reacting. " I was just checking if you were okay." he said slowly.

" Why do you even care? And by the way its my house. Its okay if I go to the kitchen and decide to sleep there for the rest of the night."

" But no one decides to do that! Why cant you agree with me for once, Chloe?"

Chloe stood there, eyes closed, jaw clenched, trying to calm down. She was grinding her teeth so hard, that it was actually starting to hurt now.

Seeing the nerve on her temple and her jaw visibly clenching, Alan slowly lifted his hand, taking his fore and middle fingers of both his hands and lightly placing them on either sides of her temples.

He started tracing circles, ever so lightly, his touch as light as a calm breeze.
He sensed her tense at first at the sudden touch, then relaxing ever so slowly.

Feeling her breath get even, he then traced her jaw lightly, conveniently unclenching it just by his touch.

He saw her opening her eyes, staring back at him, holding numerous questions.

He let go of her face and held her hands, pushing her a little against the counter and giving her a sad smile.

His voice soft as a whisper he finally said, "I dont want to fight, Chloe. Not right now" staring right back at her all this time.
He stood there observing her face in the moonlight, as she did the same.

But Chloe knew what he was doing. He was avoiding confrontation, like always.

But try as she might, she couldnt be angry at him right now, now that he was so close.

He stepped back, took her hand in his again, this time guiding her towards her room and towards her bed, Chloe following him in shock.

He laid her on her bed, pulling up the covers till her chin, still holding her hand.

He sat besides her and using the free hand he closed her eyelids.

"You need to sleep. I know you hate bags under your eyes." he said as if replaying the moment in his mind when she had told him that.

Surprisingly enough, she found herself actually relaxing, thus drifting off to sleep; this time a slow smile gracing her lips as she did so.