Fucking Mai hearing.

{ / }

"You like him, don't you?" Her mother said, her voice sweet and unwavering.

"I do," replied Chloe, pain in her eyes and a lost look on her face.

"Then I don't understand why you've been so resistant to the idea of actually dating him," her mom said with conviction, her head occasionally bobbing side to side to accentuate her words. "cause I'm pretty sure he likes you too."

Chloe looked up at her mom and scoffed, even though she knew the words were true. Her mom would never understand, and that made her feel so alone. She really didn't want to talk to her mom now, not about this. She just wanted a few minutes to wallow. "Shouldn't you be meeting an investor?"

Her mom waved her hand dismissively. "The investor can wait," she said with a very slight smile. Chloe had to repress a groan, even though she knew her mom was only trying to be helpful. The whole conversation was just causing more turmoil for her poor heart. She sat next to Chloe. "Dating is confusing," she started, "especially when two boys like you, I get that."

Chloe knit her eyebrows together with a sharp frown. "You're going to keep giving me advice whether I want it or not, aren't you?" She loved her mom with all her heart, but she thought that she needed a little more time to sort out her feelings properly. After all, you can't rush love.

Her mother frowned right back. "I'm just worried that someone's going to get hurt, and it would break my heart if that person were you." Chloe averted her eyes and stared at the floor. "You have to be honest about your feelings, kiddo," Chloe brought her eyes back up to her mother's deep brown ones. Her mother nodded. "At the very least, yourself."
"But- I don't know what I feel." She felt so bad. Brian was so nice, so perfect. But she knew he wasn't perfect for her. Were they really having this conversation about Brian? Her mother normally was a genius at guessing Chloe's feelings, but she was a little off the mark on this one.

"I think you do," Her mother said empathically. "I think you know exactly what you feel," her mother shook her head softly.

Chloe felt the need to stop avoiding it, to tell her mother how she really felt. She felt it building up like a storm inside her, relentless. It pained her so much to say it out loud, and she would never admit this to anyone else, if she could help it. But this was her mother, and she needed to know. Chloe needed to acknowledge her feelings, to combat every piece of common sense she had, which was telling her to keep her mouth firmly sealed. She was on the verge of tears, captivated by emotions that were, for once, her own. She looked at her mother with sorrow and felt defeat in her words. She swallowed and tried to take a death breath. "Uh," she stuttered. "I- I think I'm in love with Alek." She almost felt better as she said it out loud, like she was finally swimming to the surface after sinking so far. "But I don't know how not to be," She shook her head. "I can't help it. How do I stop?"

Her mom's eyes were slightly wide. "Alek?" she asked, and Chloe nodded again. "I guess that's not surprising." She addressed Chloe's question with a sigh and a shake of the head. "That's a tough one," she exhaled. "Some things you just can't control. You love who you love," she trilled unhelpfully.

Chloe lowered her head and stared at the floor. She looked back up at her mother with a soft, hesitant smile. "Uh, you're gonna be late."

"Well I can cancel-"

"Nononono, it's a big deal," she insisted, glad to be rid of the conversation. "You've gotta go. Me and my heart will be fine." She said with a smile that didn't convince her mother.

Her mother looked at her with fondness. "You're amazingly resilient." She leaned forward and gave her daughter a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight,"

She watched her mom leave, and her shoulders relaxed a bit as she heard the door shut. She felt horrible for Brian, like she was betraying him somehow because she liked him a little teeny bit but she was in complete love with Alek. The reason she felt so hesitant towards love, that silly notion, was because she was afraid. She wasn't even completely sure what she was afraid of- getting too attached to another person, because they would just be put in more danger? But that made no sense, because he was in danger anyway. She was afraid of getting her heart broken and afraid because she just couldn't deal with anything else vaguely dramatic in her life. She had realized that fairytales were figments of imagination when her dad left all those years ago. Only in fairytale relationships did someone not get hurt, she tried to convince herself. She wasn't living in a fairytale.

She checked her phone for new messages- none- as she walked up the steps. She opened her door, content because she could finally get some rest and be left to her own thoughts.

Imagine her surprise when she found Alek sitting on her bed, the lion stuffed animal he'd gotten her out of it's usual spot on her bed and in his hands. He had a huge grin on his face, the biggest smile Chloe had ever seen him wear, devoid of any sarcasm or wit.

Her mouth dropped open and she felt her heart stop. Her eyebrows raised involuntarily and knit closer together. She tried to push back her horror and stuttered, "Alek?" She took deep breaths to steady herself. "What are you-" She started to say, and then decided to give up the pretense of playing it cool. "Did you hear me?" He stared at her with that huge damn grin and that was all the conformation she needed. "Oh God," she moaned, and leaned against the wall with her arms raised on her forehead. "Oh God," she repeated and closed her eyes. "I didn't mean for you to-why were you listening?" Alek thought she could still hear her muttering, "oh God, oh God," under her breath.

He stood and walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Turn around," he ordered, feeling happier than he had in so long. Everything was great now. "Go away," came back his reply, which just made him grin wider, if that was possible. "Turn around," he repeated, his voice firmer now. Chloe knew he wouldn't stop pestering her so she took a deep breath and turned towards him, her hands shifting to her hips. She didn't even have time to fully compose herself before his lips were on hers. It took her a few seconds to comprehend. She pulled away, though she couldn't think of anything better than just staying like that forever. "What are you doing?" She asked sorrowfully, because there was no way he really had comprehended what he had heard if he was kissing her.

"Don't you understand, Chloe?" Alex asked happily. "I love you too."

He gave her a moment for what he said to sink in, and he saw a huge smile beginning to form as he leaned forward to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around him, smiling into their kiss, as Alek led her onto the bed.

"Fucking Mai hearing," Chloe whispered fondly when they separated quite a few minutes later.

They had been so preoccupied they hadn't even noticed Chloe's phone go off quite a few minutes ago.

Alek just smiled at her. "Let's go," he said, his easy smile making Chloe realize once again how Alek's arms were the only place she felt completely safe. "What?" she asked, as if she cared. "Where?"

"That's for you to find out," he said, and scooped Chloe in his arms, racing downstairs and out the door in a matter of seconds, thanks to his Mai speed. She laughed and he only stopped once, to lean down and kiss her. Their destination was a nice restaurant not far from her work, which she had gotten out of him after threatening not to kiss him for the rest of the night.

They were about to leave the restaurant when Chloe realized exactly what she had left behind and what exactly she was expecting. "Oh no," she said. She knew there would be drawbacks to love. She couldn't believe she had been so wrapped up in love- Alek- that she had completely forgotten about her dad.

"What's wrong?" He asked immediately, staring at her intently.

She hesitated- she really hadn't wanted to tell him, but now it seemed as if she had no choice. "My dad," she began. "He started emailing me on my 16th birthday, when I first transformed. I know it's him, because there's a book we made together a long time ago, and he knows the words. Only my dad would know that. We each had a copy of the book. The emails started out short and simple and he said it was too dangerous to come home. But he emailed me earlier and said he would be in San Francisco tonight and that he wanted to meet up with me. He's a piece of the puzzle, I know it. I left my phone home."

Alek was silent for a moment. "You won't be going alone."

Chloe glared at him. She knew he would react like this. "Alek-" She started impatiently.

"No, Chloe. This could be a trap and no way am I letting you go alone. Someone else could have gotten their hands on this book, haven't you thought of that? Worst case scenario is it's a trap, and you have back up. Best case scenario is it's really your dad, and I hang back and don't interfere." She looked down, and Alek grabbed her face in her hands. "I care about you too much. You don't have to do it alone." She stared into his eyes and pouted.

"Fine."

He grinned teasingly at her. "That's better," he said, opening the door of the restaurant for her.

"Watch it," she warned as she stepped out onto the nearly empty sidewalk.

"Sorry, kitten," Alek said, which earned him a playful push on the shoulder from Chloe. "Hold on a minute," he said. "I need to call Valentina." He looked at Chloe. "Don't worry, I won't mention anything about your father to her." She smiled in appreciation. He took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts till he found her. He dialed and frowned after she didn't answer in two rings. He frowned deeper and deeper after every unanswered ring, until he hung up upon hearing her voicemail. He stared off into space for a minute, until Chloe shook his arm. "Is everything okay?"

"She always answers her phone," he said while looking behind them. "I know it sounds silly, but… always. I don't have a good feeling." Chloe's face grew concerned and anxious. "We'll run back, really quick, to your house to grab your phone, and then we'll head to her apartment to make sure everything's okay." She nodded in agreement and they took off, making it back to her house in astounding time. When she grabbed her phone, she noticed "New email: Dad," on the screen. She read it and ran to her desk, tearing through the drawer until she found her treasured book. Hannah's last stop… She knew. She knew where he was waiting for her. "Did he reply?" Alek asked.

"Yeah. He said over an hour ago that he was waiting to meet me at the theather." She typed an email and sent it back to him. "I asked him if he was still there. I miss him, Alek. I've missed him so much."

Alek engulfed her in a huge hug, wrapping his arms around her and not letting go for a few precious moments. "We'll see if he's still there," he promised. "We just need to see if Valentina is okay. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Me too," Chloe said remorsefully. "I hope we're wrong."

Alek's eyes narrowed suddenly. "Brian's here."

Chloe's face contorted in confusion. "What is he doing here?" She said, mainly to herself. She enjoyed his company, but right now she was too busy to see him. She walked outside and saw Brian getting out of his car. "Hey," he said. "I know it's really late, but I just had this huge blowout with my father, and I really wanted someone to talk to." He held up a brown paper bag with a soft smile. "I was hoping we could have dinner."

Chloe frowned. "I would, I really would, but I'm busy. I'm sorry about you and your dad."

"Oh," Brian said with disappointment. "If you're sure…"

"I'm sure," Chloe nodded. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah." Brian opened the door to his car. "Bye, Chloe."

He was about to get in his car when Chloe called out, "Wait!"

He looked up at her curiously. "What's up?"

"There's something you need to know, and I really don't know how to say this, but…" Chloe could have sworn she could see Alek's huge grin. "Alek and I are together now. I'm sorry. I don't want to lose your friendship, though."

She saw his face fall, saw some of the light go out in his eyes. "Oh," he said after a moment. "Great. Have a nice night."

"I thought you should be the first to know."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" He asked, getting in the car and slamming the door shut. "You know how I feel about you, Chloe. I just… what's so great about him? Whatever. Have a good night, Chloe." He said, leaning towards the open passenger's side window.

"Good night," She called as he drove away, sorry that he didn't understand but glad she had gotten telling him out of the way. Alek appeared behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She felt horrible but he needed to know. "I have played that scene out in my head so many times," he said, satisfied. "Though it usually ended with him getting in a severe car crash on the way home."

"Alek," she said, not as sharply as she would have liked, with a roll of her eyes. She leaned into him.

"I hate to ruin this, but now that your wannabee-boyfriend has wasted so much time, we really need to get to Valentina's." Chloe blinked in surprise. She had allowed herself to become distracted, again! She sighed. "Let's go!"

They took off into the night, hand in hand, shrouded by the darkness, shielded by the light.

Disclaimer: Me no own Chloe King. Alek... well, I would love to stake my claim on Alek. c:
Update Oct 2: I'm still planning on writing a part 2. It might take a month or two though. So much to write, so little time. But GAHHHHH show is canceled? What bullshit ABC Family, you assholes. Maybe if I find time I'll write a season three from my point of view? I would love to but that is an awfully big project that I do not have time for write now. And I would need more ideas than I have. But if you think I should you should PM me/mention it if you review so I can know that people would be interested.
AN: First Chloe King fic haha. So this is an alternate ending to the summer finale... obvisouly. Part 2 coming soon, hopefully. But with school and stuffs I have so much to write and so little time! Gah. I didn't proofread this all that thoroughly, so if they're are any mistakes sorry, let me know. So yep yep... Did you like or not? Tell me :) Not my best piece... I think my Transformers fics are ten times better but I felt this mines well be shared. c;