Capturing Memories

°•°Chapter 51°•°

"There is a crack in everything.

That's how the light gets in."

― Leonard Cohen.

Chloe's POV.

"Dan, I need help with this," I groan lifting the tripod which keeps hitting my car everywhere while putting it in, "You're tiny, Chloe. Hence the trouble," rolling my eyes at his comment, I hand it to him while placing the rest of the equipment in the rear seat.

"Hey, do you want to eat something?" I ask him realizing we haven't eaten anything since breakfast and it's already past 5 p.m., "I would never say no to food, darling," he flashes me a grin, showing his dimples making me smile back before leaving a quick text to Zach but instead of replying, he calls back. Typical Zach.

"Hey there," I say as a smile makes its way onto my face, "Hey, Sugar. How was your day?" nope, he didn't sound too well, he sounds exhausted and stressed out more than anything. Seems like it's been our thing ever since we got to know about Molly's adoption taking more time and it's already been about two weeks.

"My day went pretty productive. What about you, you sound tired?" I ask him trying not to sound too worried, but hell I can't lie, I am always worried about how stressed out he seems. "Just got off a call with dad, I need to go to Illinois for an important meeting."

"Well, when is that?" I ask him finally understanding the reason behind his stress, "Tomorrow," I raise my eyebrows at that before throwing my keys to Dan before getting into the passenger seat.

"That's very last minute, but when are you coming back?"

"Three days," he replies go monotonous making me sigh, he's torn between my safety which he still worries about and going to Illinois now, "Zach, stop overthinking it. We'll figure something out," I try convincing him earning a sigh.

"I hate this. Dad knows better than giving me less than a days' notice," unable to find any right words I reply trying to sound as comforting as I could, "I know, want me to come over and help you with anything?"

"No, I'm just giving some instructions to Mason and heading back home in half an hour,"

"Alright, meet you at home then, love you."

"Love you too, Sugar," he hangs up with that and I sigh, closing my eyes as I rest my head against the seat. I could feel Dan's concerned gaze on me but try not saying a word, not finding any energy to do so. This wasn't physical exhaustion, it was emotional and mental exhaustion with everything going wrong.

~•~•~•

Walking out of the closet, I realize Zach is no more in the room and walk out, following the sounds of wood planks. A smile makes its way onto my face as I see him in his shorts and a white t-shirt, fixing Molly's crib that was delivered a few days ago. He just keeps fixing on thing at a time every time he's vexed up and it scares me wondering how he'd react if something doesn't work out, leading to Molly just being adopted by someone else, "That looks really good,"

I say startling him before he smiles at me, "You could paint it if you want," he adds finishing the last piece of detail with Snowy sniffing the crib around curiously making me giggle, "You guys do make a great team though,"

Pointing that out, I walk out of the guest room and head to the kitchen while pulling my hair into a messy bun. We are literally sitting right in-between a grand mess and the only good thing that happened was Ethan being relocated to New York, at least Zach doesn't have to worry as much about my safety but hey, we're talking about my stubborn ass best friend. He's going to worry, no matter what.

I take out the subway sandwiches before pouring out the coffee into two mugs, "Zach, come on. Eat something!" I shout loud enough but realize he's already there making me smile.

He pecks my lips before walking over to the sink to wash his hands while I refill Snowy's food making him sway his tail in happiness, "So is there no way, you could join me on this trip?" Zach asks in a pleading tone while I take a seat on the barstool.

His arms wrap around my waist from behind before resting his head on my shoulder, "You know I've got work Zach," I sigh, removing his arms around me before pulling him sit on the barstool next to me. There you go, that's my hot best friend slash boyfriend giving me the most persuasive look ever. He just knows his way around me excessively well.

"Stop giving me that look,"

"What look?" he asks with a smile making it's way onto his face, "You and Snowy just know ways to make me comply to whatever you want but seriously Zach, I've got a photo shoot to get to tomorrow along with tons of work." I pat his chest before giving him a quick, lingering kiss and get back to my sandwich.

"Well, what time is it?" he asks me and I roll my eyes not answering, pointing out at my mouthful. He sighs, just giving up for now before eating his sandwich while stealing glances at me with a heart-warming smile.

Do I have a photoshoot tomorrow? Yes, just something that would last an hour and I'll be free but I can't leave Snowy at Eli's on such short notice or afford to not have my required workspace while I've got orders to complete. And the most important thing, planning his birthday!

Finishing my sandwich, I dump the wraps into a paper bag before getting to my coffee while checking the time. 7:47 p.m., "I think it's my fault that the background check had a loophole," I give Zach a confused look while he discards the wrap.

"What do you mean?" I ask him before grabbing his face in my hands, forcing him to match my gaze while my mind fills with concern, "You're probably going to hate me after this,"

"I could never hate you, idiot," I say giving him a heart-warming smile, "I crossed paths with Bryan after you guys broke up and after my relapse," giving him a confused look as to what my then-boyfriend had anything to do with this but wait for him to continue.

"He was the one who introduced me to the guy who offered drugs the first time and tried pushing me to relapse,"

"Zach-" he cuts me off as fear now creeps up my chest, "We got into a fight and that led him into a coma until last July for almost a year,"

~•~•~•