Pas de Trois

PART TWO - Chapter 24: "You said never again."

Three months later...

"You know iTunes keeps track of how many times you play a song, right?" Chloe grinned when she got back to her room and found Slade had put on the same song he'd been playing nonstop since Danny left.

"Yeah, and?" Slade barely glanced up from her computer.

"My play count for this song is over a thousand."

"Wow, you must really like Taylor Swift," Slade raised his eyebrows. He was looking at Danny's instagram page...from her computer.

"I'd never listened to this song three months ago," Chloe laughed. "Can you stop stalking him?"

"I'm not!" Slade closed the page.

"You're a little obsessed," Chloe sat on her bed. "It's cute."

"I'm not obsessed," Slade got up. "I'm not playing this song because of him either. I just really like it."

"Really? I never said you were playing it because of him," Chloe had to point that out, she couldn't help it.

"Shhh," Slade bent down to kiss her. "If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times. I'm over it. We had feelings for each other, things got a little out of control and we both went our separate ways. He's got someone-"

"Had someone," Chloe corrected. They didn't know for sure, but from what they could guess off instagram it looked like Danny and Matt had broken up.

"I've got someone," Slade ignored her. "And I don't intend to let you get away from me anytime soon," he kissed her again.

"We'll see," Chloe couldn't help but smile. The old Slade was finally back.

Not that Chloe believed for even a second that Slade really meant anything he said about being over Danny. In fact, it had never been more obvious that Slade was hopelessly in love with him. And it wasn't just how Slade spent a lot of time stalking Danny's various social accounts - always from Chloe's, never from his own.

From the night Danny told him he was leaving, Slade seemed to go blank. He wasn't angry or sad, just empty. Everyone noticed the sudden change. Their ballet teachers even called for a meeting with Carol because he was so different.

Chloe ignored the looks and hushed conversations that followed Slade. She had to. Even if he was empty around her too she was also the only person who knew the whole story. To everyone else, it seemed like he was depressed or on drugs. Only Chloe could see that Slade was acting exactly like someone who'd just gotten dumped.

And just like anyone else recovering from a breakup, with a little time Slade came out of the void and back to life. It started about two weeks after Danny left with him playing that damn Taylor Swift song on repeat; then came other little things. One day when Slade reached for her hand he rubbed his thumb over hers. Chloe had looked up at him to see what caused him to be so sweet and he'd given her the tiniest of smiles.

After that it was one little thing after another. And aside from the Danny obsession, Slade was acting like the perfect boyfriend again. Maybe it would have bothered someone else but Chloe truly didn't mind. There was something about knowing she was right all along that was actually comforting. She'd expected it to hurt, but this just didn't.

Then again, maybe it didn't hurt because she still had Slade all to herself. It was hard to feel like you were a second choice when Slade still acted like she was everything he wanted. And with his hands making their way under her clothes as he kissed her neck, Chloe definitely felt wanted.

"Hey, you made me promise no more sex before a show," Chloe laughed.

"It's distracting," Slade nodded, kissing her collarbone. "Never again."