Behind the Screen

Chapter 46

Emily and I were out getting coffee the next morning, and I was trying to fill her in on everything that had happened the night before.

"Damn...well I'm glad Luke was able to help," she said as I finished telling her about Mason.

"Yeah, I was instructed to tell you that I was impressed with how intimidating he was," I said with a grin.

"He's such a dork," Emily said as she rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh.

"True, but he did actually help a lot," I said, "and he's bigger than Mason, so that helped too."

"Good, at least he's good for something," she joked.

"Uh huh," I said with a grin, "and after all of that excitement, things got awkward with Chloe again."

"Uh oh," Emily responded, "was it bad?"

"No, not really," I sighed, "I just fell asleep and ended up all cuddled up next to her, and then she kissed me before she left."

"Is that...is that not what you wanted?" Emily asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "there's just been a lot going on and I don't feel like it's a good idea to jump back into anything."

"I don't want to do to her what I just did to Spencer," I continued.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Emily agreed, "so how did she take all of that?"

"Well I barely let her kiss me before I stopped it, but she did seem upset," I said, "she tried to say she wasn't, but I could tell."

"Yeah I'm sure she was," Emily said, "but she has to know that she kind of brought this on herself. I know it wasn't any easy situation, but she still did."

"I know, I think she knows that," I said, "she said that she knows she has to earn my trust back, which is true."

"Very true," Emily nodded, "but if it's what you want I'm sure you guys will get it figured out, it just might take a little longer than you thought it would."

"I just hope she's willing to give me time," I said.

"It sounds like she is," Emily responded, "and if she's not, then she's probably not worth it."

I looked up at Emily and she gave me a sarcastic grin. I smiled and shook my head at her.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, "I know you're right."

"I'm also hoping that Mason doesn't cause any other problems," I continued, "I'm not sure what he's going to do."

"Well you have the big, bad Luke to send after him if he does," Emily said sarcastically.

"I know," I laughed, "I just don't want to deal with any of that shit again, so hopefully he got the picture."

We stayed in the coffee shop for a while longer and continued to catch each other up on the last few days. It was always good to talk things over with Emily, it was almost always guaranteed to make me feel better.

***

When I got to work on Monday, I could almost immediately feel the uncomfortable air between Chloe and I. I had a feeling it was going to be like this after our kiss over the weekend, but I had hoped I'd get lucky and it wouldn't be.

"Hey, morning," I said as I walked by her office.

I could tell that the smile she gave me was forced as she waved at me on the way by. I went to my desk and sighed as I sat down. I understood why Chloe was upset about all of this, but she had to get why it was taking me some time. It wasn't like our time together had been easy by any means.

Any time we passed each other at work, it came with an awkward glance or wave, it was a lot to handle. I wished that we could just go back to talking like normal so I could at least attempt to figure out what I wanted.

                                        ***

The next couple of weeks went by exactly like that first day back after our kiss. I didn't know what to do to break us out of this rut that we were in, but something had to happen.

I missed talking to Chloe, but I didn't know if she wanted to talk to me unless I was ready to get back together. I probably should've told her that, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I was walking around my house one night, and I kept looking at my phone, trying to decide if I should call Chloe or not. I felt like I couldn't go much longer with the way things had been.

I felt like I was pacing back and forth in the kitchen when I heard a knock at my front door. I went and opened it to find Chloe standing on the other side, like she had been reading my mind.

"Chloe, hey," I grinned.

"Hey Katie," she said, not sounding quite as enthusiastic as I had.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I studied her expression.

"Yeah, I um," she hesitated, "I just found some of your stuff at my house and I wanted to bring it back to you."

"Oh..." I said.

Why did this feel like a breakup? She held out her hand that was holding on to one of my shirts and a necklace that I had apparently left behind.

"Thank you," I said quietly as I took them from her.

I reached inside and set my things down on the counter before turning back to face her.

"Yeah, you're welcome," she said, "well um, that's all I needed, so...yeah."

She took a step back, but I quickly reached out and grabbed on to her wrist.

"Chloe no, hold on," I said.

She looked down at my hand and then back up to me with a confused look on her face. Before she could ask me what I was doing, I brought her inside and pulled her body against mine.

"Katie, what are you -" she started.

My lips cut her off before she could finish her thought, and it felt like all of the tension between us was finally released.

I let go of her wrist and put my hands on either side of her face as I leaned into the kiss. Before things went much further, she slowly pulled away and looked at me.

"I - are you sure this is what you want? I know I haven't been...well I know I fucked up," Chloe said.

"Yes," I said definitively, "now shut up and kiss me."

                   ——————————————