*Hello! And thank you for reading this…if you are. This song-fic is my first successful attempt at a The Nine Lives of Chloe King story. It is very AU. I would like to say that only the characters are the same. There are no Mai. It is all human. Oh, and Alek is in the military.
*This almost never came to be. I was sooooo angry with this document after my computer froze. It actually did not save all my work. All it saved was the first two hundred words. So, I had to start all over. Turned out well, considering I was about to botch the whole operation.
*Disclaimer: No, I do not own any of the books, the rights to the show (if I did, it would still be on the air), the characters, or the song. All that is mine is the idea and the words.
*I recommend, fully, honestly, listening to this song if you never have. It is amazing. That is all.
*Approximate word count: 5, 400
Forever and Always by Parachute
.—.
She's sitting at the table
The hour's get later
He was supposed to be here
She's sure he would have called
She waits a little longer
There's no one in the driveway
No one's said they've seen him
Why is something wrong?
.—.
"Chloe," Alek called from the bedroom as he adjusted his jacket collar.
Chloe walked in, frowning as soon as she saw his jacket on. "Alek, no. You promised…"
"I know. But it won't take long, this I promise. I'll be back soon, love," Alek told the girl.
"What are you doing that is so important?" Chloe asked, pushing back her anger, trying to hide it.
Alek nervously grabbed his keys to his car from the rack as he walked into the living room of their penthouse apartment, similar to the one he used to live in with Valentina and Jasmine a few years back. "Sergeant Simmons wants to meet with me and the rest of our team."
Chloe's heart dropped. They had talked about this through and through. "I can't believe this," the girl sighed deeply, as if she had far too much air in her lungs. "Please don't tell me you are going to sign up for another tour. Or do you want to see what happens if that bullet gets just a little bit closer to your heart?" She knew her response was just a tad snippy, but the girl could not help it. She would do anything to ensure that Alek remain hers forever and if that meant that he had to deal with her attitude about this subject every step of the way, then so be it.
Alek ran a hand through his blond hair, not nearly as long as it used to be since he had a growing military cut. "Of course not. My decision is the same as it was before. Nothing has changed, Chloe," Alek promised. "I want to be with you and my last tour almost diminished those chances." Self-consciously, he rubbed his scar from when the bullet pierced through his muscle and flesh that rested just underneath his thin shirt. "I will not let that happen and there is no way I would ever even think about putting you through that."
Chloe tried her best to keep in the tears that were brought on by the mention of Alek's near death experience. She ran into his welcoming embrace and sighed as she breathed in his familiar scent. He smelt of home. Pulling away slowly but careful to leave her hands resting on his narrow waist, Chloe's blue eyes met Alek's milk chocolate ones. "Hurry back," she stated with pursed lips.
The former Brit smiled a small smile, one that shone with happiness but did not require teeth, and kissed her forehead. "You never have to tell me to hurry back to you. I love you, kitten." Alek pulled away, swung his keychain on his right index finger, and finally let his left hand drop from Chloe's face.
"I love you, Alek."
As Chloe watched Alek leave, a heavy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach like lead. She felt as if something was wrong and it had something to do with Alek. Usually, her intuitions were never wrong, but this time she prayed she was.
.—.
Chloe was patient, but that was slowly diminishing with every tick the clock tocked. No matter how many times she had to slow her breathing the dead weight pulling her down did not go anywhere.
The girl paced the length of the free space of the floor at least twenty times before glancing at the clock resting against the wall. Chloe sighed each time; the actual time that had passed felt erratically shorter than in ratio to how long it felt that he had been gone.
She was sure he would have called, but she tried to remain optimistic. Maybe he had somewhere else to be. Maybe he had underestimated the time in which he needed. Maybe his phone died. Maybe something came up and he had forgotten to call. Maybe… There were too many "maybe" possibilities, all of which Chloe had a hard time believing in. She even tried to call him; nothing happened. Nobody answered. No matter what, Alek was not forgetful and he would have done anything to let her know. He knew how she tended to worry about him.
Normally she knew she would not feel this way. Chloe would spend some time alone, enjoying the fact that she was all by herself for a few hours at least. No matter how much she desperately loved Alek, an occasional day of allotted "me time" was nice. But this wasn't a normal feeling. Something was wrong.
The girl did not know what it meant, but it was something she simply could not shake, no matter how hard she tried.
Just then, after she hugged her arms tightly to her chest and tried to keep her breathing steady yet again, the telephone rang. With relief she ran to the phone and answered frantically. "Hello?"
"Hi, Chloe," Amy chimed.
Chloe's face and heart fell to the floor. "Hey, Ames," she sighed.
"Uh oh," Amy tensed. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Chloe lied. This was definitely not nothing, but she prayed it was and she was going insane for no reason.
She could see Amy in that moment. The brunette's arms were crossed in front of her chest, foot casually tapping on the ground while she wore the expression that read, "Oh, really? How about we try that again." And that was exactly what Amy was doing, except only one hand crossed her chest since the other held the phone to her ear.
Chloe warily sighed. "I just have this horrible feeling and I don't know what it means," she told vaguely, leaving out the sordid detailed thoughts she just could not shrug off.
"And care to tell me what the feeling entails? I'm not sure if I can help, but I'll do my best," Amy offered.
Chloe peered out the window, eyes scanning the tiny figures on the sidewalk below. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Everything is fine. "I don't really know how to explain. I was fine until Alek left. Then I got this…" she trailed, trying to find the correct adjectives. "…terrible feeling in my chest and stomach, almost suffocating me, weighing me down. I feel as if something bad is going to occur but I do not know the location."
"I'm sure nothing is wrong, Chloe. You're probably overacting. You want Alek there with you. You're lonely, and since he's left you for long periods of times, you just want to spend every waking moment with him to make sure he is real…alive even. Do you want me to come over?" Amy asked. "I can even bring Paul if you want."
"No," Chloe said immediately. She did not want company; she would rather suffer through this alone. If Alek arrived, she wanted to be the only one to greet him. What Amy said hurt her to some extent. "I may be overreacting, Amy, but I'm not lonely. Something is wrong, this I can sense. I don't expect you to believe me, but you aren't feeling this. If you were, you would not find some excuse for this."
Amy sighed. "I guess I can't help you then. If I see Alek, I'll tell him to call you," the brunette informed.
"Thank you," Chloe said and hung up. She did not even feel the need for a goodbye to her best friend. She dropped the phone on the table and sat in one of the matching wooden chairs, rubbing her face with her hands. This is crazy, isn't it? she thought. Chloe prayed she was just wrong, overreacting. Please, Alek. Just call.
.—.
She looks back to the window and suddenly the phone rings
A voice says something happened and she should come right now
Her mind goes to December
She thinks of when he asked her
He bent down on his knee first and he said
I want you forever
Forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together
Forever and always
.—.
Her prayers were answered then, in that exact moment. The phone rang, to which Chloe cried with relief and huffed airily, "Hello?"
"Is this Chloe King?" a stranger asked in a formal tone.
Chloe's heart pounded. "Y-yes. This is she." The relief she felt barely a moment ago was no longer there, so short it wasn't even a memory.
"We have a Mister Alek Petrov here in our facility—"
Chloe could not even hear the rest, her mind wandering and giving out. How could something like this happen? She just knew it, and that was the worst part…the fact that she knew something was wrong and she did not do a single thing to stop it. Chloe could not bear to lose Alek, not again, never again. She closed her crystalline blue eyes and covered her trembling rosy lips with her free hand, trying her complete best to hold in a loud sob that tried to escape from her throat.
She remembered it, she remembered it all. Back when they first met, back off the coast of North Carolina.
She had been visiting Camp Lejeune for the weekend with her mother and father. It was early March, the allotted time her middle school let out for spring break, and there was barely a single person walking the shores. Chloe was more adventurous than her mother, who had worn a sweatshirt to a beach, and she stripped off the top layer of her clothing, leaving her in only a red tankini bathing suit. She ran into the water, cautious at first but then running into the water and she shrieked when the extremely chilled water hit her legs, splashing around the trunk of her body. And yet, the blond did not leave the water, even when she felt her body temperature drop slightly and her legs and toes turned bright red, almost the shade of her suit.
That was when she met another person in the water, only he was actually swimming around in it and not being tortured by the cold water. Something grabbed her leg and she yelped at the foreign touch, losing her delicate footing in the sand beneath her pruned feet, causing the girl to be fully submerged in the salty ocean.
A boy, approximately Chloe's age but taller, popped out of the water as soon as he could and reached for any sign of the cause of the giant splash around him. His fingers wrapped around an arm and he yanked with all that he had, exposing a girl on the other end of said arm.
"Oh, I am so sorry," the boy said in his thick British accent. "I did not realize someone else was here."
Chloe reached her feet, her shivering increased dramatically. "You were stupid then. It's a beach on a Marine base, and nobody else can be in the water except some foreign jerk who just made me fall into the freezing ocean!" Hugging herself, she tried to tread the small waves that led to the sandy shore, right where the plush beach towel was waiting for her.
"Hey, I said I was sorry. There is no need to name-call," he called after the trembling girl.
"How were you even allowed here, anyway?" Chloe grumbled.
"I imagine you are referring to this lovely accent of mine. Yes, I am British, and yes, I do live in Appledore, but my uncle, however, lives in the United States…right here, if I recall correctly. So I am allowed to be here." The boy wore an easy smirk and that made Chloe want to smack him. "And," he held out his waterlogged hand, "Alek."
Chloe stared uneasily at the boy's face and his outstretched hand. "Chloe."
Meredith called her daughter from her seat on the dunes, urging her to come closer.
"I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet you," Chloe looked down at her soaked suit and dripping blond hair, "but then I'd be lying."
Alek flipped his wavy hair off his forehead. "I don't know, Chloe. I have a good feeling about us."
Just as Chloe was about to speak, Meredith called again, louder this time.
.—.
It was high school in San Francisco, so far than her home back in North Carolina. But, that was also two years ago. So, her mother would argue that California was now their home. Chloe would agree and nod her head in agreement until she would think of her father all the way back in North Carolina, all alone. Then again, he wanted it that way, so he did not deserve her thoughts.
Walking back through the halls, Chloe met up with Amy, her good friend she was not expecting to meet. But her eyes were not welcoming Chloe back from the long summer. No, they were fixated on a tall blond boy whom Amy had never seen before.
Annoyed, Chloe followed Amy's lustful gaze. He was attractive, Chloe could not lie. There was something familiar—just slightly so—that she recognized in the boy. He suddenly lost all his appeal when he smirked and started talking. There it was…that accent she had heard apologizing to her after she was sent flying backward into the ocean. How it could have been the same British boy, she did not know. But she certainly was no fan of his. Her eyes dropped as soon as his looked into hers and his smile fell. She refused to believe that he recognized her.
"Ames, let's go." Chloe pulled her friend by her shirt and Amy glared in protest.
"Chloe, please. He is gorgeous." But Chloe did not care.
The day was relatively easy. Only one teacher so far gave her an assignment on the first day. But, as the school day reared to an end, there was only one class left. Walking into history, Chloe wished she didn't have to. Near the back—along with a few of the school residential jockos—was the familiar blond boy she had the unfortunate luck of meeting a few years back. She simply bowed her head in hopes for her to not be any sort of appeal to the boy. As she sat in the blue chair and organized her binder and pen just to keep busy, she felt a hand heavily resting on her shoulder. Without thinking, Chloe whipped her head to the left and saw that same know-it-all attractive smile that she regretted not drowning in that ocean.
"Chloe, if I recall correctly."
Chloe thought about lying, just so he would leave her alone, but she did no such thing. "Wow, you actually remembered something in that large blond head of yours."
Alek flipped his hair from his eyes. "I am more intelligent than you give me credit for, Chloe. But that's okay. People don't see me coming when they look at me with clouded eyes."
"My eyes are perfectly clear."
"You know, I have a good feeling that we will be very, very good friends."
.—.
Alek had taken them ice skating, which was nice considering she barely saw any sort of snow since moving to San Francisco. However, it was cold, very cold by her standards. After all, that was December for you.
As Chloe bundled up in her jacket and thin gloves, Alek grabbed one of her hands and pulled her slowly into the rink, steadying her as he held one of her arms near the elbow. "I've got you."
In more ways than one, the girl thought with a smile.
After a few dozen falls and twice as many almost-falls (thanks to Alek, the crashes were limited), Alek said, "And here I thought you hated me."
"I used to, at first," Chloe admitted. "That was before you changed my mind." She leaned into his supple pink lips for a kiss.
"Well I am one excellent persuader," Alek grinned.
Just then, the previous song ended and now playing was their song. The telltale melody of piano keys erupted from the skating rink's speaker. Chloe was in awe and Alek smiled. "You did this?"
"Guilty," the male stated as he began to swirl Chloe around on the ice, careful for her not to hit the ice once more. By the middle of the song, Alek stopped the rhythmic dance and said, "Chloe King, you are the most incredible person in the world. For if I never would have met you that day on the beach," he smiled at the memory and Chloe's sudden frown which diminished from her face, "then I don't know where I would be right now, but I do know that I would never be this happy. I want you forever, kitten, no matter if it's good or bad, perfect or hell, beautiful or ugly, because without you in my life, there would be no reason to even live." As delicately as he could manage in ice skates and ice underneath him, he made his way to his knee and Chloe let out a gasp. "Please, will you do me the honor of marrying me?" He pulled out a small velvet box and opened the lid, revealing the contents. The stone was not very large in size—Chloe was a practical girl and never enjoyed large diamonds. It was a good size, though, and the shimmery stone was encased with more, albeit smaller stones, that created a sparkly flower.
After Chloe relearned how to breathe, she yelped a yes.
Alek pushed himself up, almost falling in the process, hefted the girl into his arms and twirled her as if she were nothing.
.—.
She pulls up to the entrance
She walks right to the front desk
They lead her down a million halls, a maze that's never ending
They talk about what happened, but she can barely hear them
.—.
Without an ounce of clarity and her emotions running through her at every single speed besides "slow," Chloe grabbed her car keys as swiftly as she could manage, which wasn't that well. But nothing mattered. Only Alek. Forever Alek.
Stepping on the gas pedal harshly and shifting the car into "drive," she managed to reach the speed limit faster than the car ever did before. Even though she barely even could recollect the conversation with the woman who called her—and the hospital name that she told Chloe—the blond turned her car every correct direction, although not always safely. Quite a few times she found herself cutting some other driver off, and she was sure that she was getting many middle finger salutes. But how could she care about something so petty? She could not. She was numb. Her entire body was tingling and heavy, as if someone wrapped her up in a chain sweater. Better yet, a chain blanket. She cried the whole way.
As she came into the hospital parking lot and found a spot for her car, she zoomed in and slammed on the brakes, jarring her body. But she couldn't care about something like that. She didn't feel it anyhow.
Chloe ran out of the car and through the automatic doors. Did she even lock her car? Doubtful. Did she even have her wallet with her? No. So it didn't really matter. Only Alek. That's all that was on her mind.
She was breathless even before she reached the nearest desk.
Running up to one, she slammed her hands down on the top and tried to regain her breath as she talked between huffs. The woman with a nametag of Laurie was not able to understand her.
"Ma'am, can I help you?" Laurie asked.
As Chloe spoke again, a few word she picked out. "Room." "Please." "Alek."
"I'm sorry, miss. I didn't catch it. Maybe if you breathed," the receptionist offered.
But there was no time for her to breathe, Chloe thought dimly, but she steadied the pace of oxygen intake. "Can you please tell me the room of Alek Petrov?"
Laurie typed in the name requested. The computer listed that no one besides family was allowed to enter. "Are you family?"
"He's my fiancé," Chloe stated clearly, glancing down to the ring on her left hand.
"Follow me."
Chloe had never traveled this slowly in her life. Or maybe the trip just felt incredibly long. It wasn't until the woman stared at Chloe did she realize that she was being informed of something important. "I'm sorry, what?"
Laurie repeated what had happened. "The military offices were gunned down. Mr. Petrov was shot. The bullet entered…"
Chloe could not believe that this was happening. No, it was not allowed to occur again. Last time he was shot, he barely made it back to her. Could he deal with that again? Chloe was thinking nonsense. Of course he will. He did it once. He'll do it again. He loves me. Alek won't leave me.
"—short so he can get some rest. If he is to survive this, he needs sleep."
Chloe wanted to laugh. She knew Alek. She knew he was going to survive. For her, he would do anything.
.—.
She tries to keep a straight face as she walks into the room
She sits by his bedside, holds his hand too tight
They talk about the kids they're gonna have and the good life
The house on the hillside where they would stay.
Stay there forever.
Forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together
But always remember
Whether rich or for poor or for better
We still love each other
Forever and always
.—.
Laurie led her straight to the room in which Alek was. Chloe knew that she would not be going in that room with an entourage, and for that she was grateful.
After Laurie bowed her head and turned the direction in which they came, Chloe couldn't move her feet. She tired at first, but now, facing the actual reality that Alek is in there, probably dying, she didn't know if she could face it. Her feet were firmly planted to the hard floor, but she knew that she had to go in there. It was Alek. He would be fine. Trying to keep the worry and the evidence of her previous sobbing from her expression, she casually walked through the heavy wooden door, even though her nightmare was on the other side.
She took large strides, especially for her small legs. As soon as she saw a resting figure in the bed, covered in a stark white sheet, her legs halted. If she didn't look at the one side of his face, the one with the gauze pad taped to the side of his head, he almost looked peacefully asleep. But she knew the truth now. And she was facing it. No more delusions came; this was serious and his life was actually at stake. Chloe tried to push the thoughts away. Negativity would not help him.
Painstakingly, slowly, the male in the bed turned his head towards the door, right where Chloe stood. He smiled a little, weak, tiny smile as he held out his hand. "Chloe," he barely whispered.
Hearing his voice waver and crack, so did her tear ducts, allowing tears to fall freely, even though she told herself this was not a time to cry, that it was not about her, that it was about him and she shouldn't. He hated to see her cry.
The blond girl grabbed Alek's hands softly and sat in the uncomfortable and ugly chair by his side. He winced a little at her grasp, and she even tried to loosen it. But once she did, he would hold hers twice as hard, as if she was the connection to life and he was desperately clinging to it.
"I'm sorry, Chloe," Alek croaked.
"No, don't be. You have no reason to." And it was the truth.
"You never liked the idea of me being in the army. You thought it would take me to some faraway place overseas and take me, ultimately, away from you. You were right, but not the way you thought, huh." Alek started to cry then, just a little.
Chloe tried to hold in her tears, but she couldn't. "Don't talk like that. You're still here. You're not going anywhere."
Alek seemed unconvinced.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. When you recover, we're going to start doing all the plans we have. We're going to move out of the apartment and into a real house, you'll see. One with property, so our children can play with ease. One great enough that we would never want to leave. We would live there forever, just you and me, then the kids, and then you and me again. We'd even get a pool and a tire swing. Those are always fun."
Alek smiled at Chloe as she talked of the future. "What about trees? You love trees."
"Yes, that is a good one. The backyard will be half functional with activities and the other will be like a jungle. Oh! And don't forget about a large garage for your car," Chloe added.
"The car I always wanted, but you never let me get," Alek tried to tease.
"Go buy it. It's yours."
It was quite for a moment, and then Alek started, "I think I'd want a little girl. So she can look like you, but act like me. One hell of a combination."
"I feel sorry for the boy who falls for her," Chloe commented.
"Why?" the boy asked. "You can obviously handle me."
"It is not nearly as easy as you would imagine, trust me."
Their idle conversation was interrupted by the rattling cough that shook Alek's body. Blood came up and into his hands. Alek saw his palms and glanced up with worry at Chloe, who could only stare in disbelief. Both of them knew coughing up blood was definitely not a good sign.
Her eyes then tore away from Alek and rested on her left hand. There was only one ring on her slender finger. Suddenly, Chloe smiled. "Alek, I've got this amazing idea."
The boy only grinned widely at his fiancé's lit expression.
.—.
Then she gets an idea and calls in the nurses
Brings up the Chaplin
And he says a couple verses
She borrows some rings from the couple next door
Everybody's laughing as the tears fall on the floor
She looks into his eyes and she says
I want you forever.
Forever and always
Through the good and the bad and the ugly
We'll grow old together
But always remember
Whether happy or sad or whatever
We still love each other
Forever and always
Forever and always
Forever and always
.—.
A few of the nurses arrived with some flowers and a pair of rings that was so kindly donated from the man and woman next door. The set of rings was lovely, Chloe thought.
Next came in the minister, dressed in his garb and bible tucked underneath his arm.
Alek signaled Chloe to bend down, and she obliged. Alek put a beautiful flower clip into her blond hair, one that had actual flowers…a tiger lily, her favorite.
"Let's proceed," Father Martin began.
Chloe and Alek held hands and the man began to speak.
"We are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony…"
Her mind wandered. She was actually marrying Alek Petrov. She was, in a few moments, going to be Mrs. Alek Petrov. She started to cry, and Alek was laughing slightly, which caused her to laugh.
"Chloe and Alek have asked to recite their own vows."
Chloe turned to her soon-to-be husband and smiled, wiping away some tears. "Alek. You are my entire world. In the beginning, it was not love at first sight, nor love at second. But for some strange reason unknown to me, I gave you a chance. I let you in when no one else was ever nearly close enough to even find the door. You taught me many things: How to be brave, be patient, crawl out of my shell, see the world for the beautiful masterpiece it is, and, most importantly how to love. I can honestly say that, before you, it was a terrible feeling to know that every day you will never be good enough for anything. For some reason, you invested your time in me and saw something that nobody ever did before. You believed that I was something better than what I really was. So thank you for your faith and borrowed courage…Love is something that you never even consider unless you're up for the challenge of living with someone that drives you crazy but makes you incredibly happy. You, Alek Petrov, have made me the happiest and craziest girl in the world. And I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I look forward to every fight and every makeup that we will ever have. Because even the bad cannot scare me away from you."
.—.
She finishes the vows, but the beeps are getting too slow
His voice is almost too low
As he says,
I love you forever.
Forever and always
please, just remember even if I'm not there
I'll always love you forever and always
.—.
Alek struggled to breathe for a few reasons. He was so incredibly happy and he loved Chloe with everything he had. But he realized that he may not have that much left to give in him.
"Chloe, my kitten. From the first moment I saw you, as I pulled you free from that ocean, I just knew that we would at least be great friends." His voice lowered a few pitches, and that scared him tremendously. "But falling in love with you was something that I never imagined you'd let me do. Making the move to San Francisco, I thought that I would never see you again, but there you were. You tried your hardest to ignore me, but I was persistent. And I'm so glad I was. Because, now look at us. It's you and me against the world. I know that we will be separated, and that we have in the past because of my job. But you must remember that, even if I am not there with you physically, I will always love you and I will always, always find my way back to you."
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Alek clutched Chloe's face as he kissed her sweetly.
They were officially married. Alek and Chloe Petrov. Mr. and Mrs. Petrov. What a beautiful ring that had.
After everyone cleared out of the room to let the newlyweds be alone, Chloe sat back down in the chair. "I cannot believe we're married," she grinned widely.
"Me…neither." Suddenly, he basically became incapable of breathing.
That's when he knew what was coming and he whispered a faint "I love you" before the beeping of the monitors took over.
"NO! HELP!" Chloe bellowed as she tried to shake Alek's lifeless form.
.—. .—. .—. .—. .—. .—.
Three Years Later:
Chloe maneuvered around her house quite easily to get to Arabella.
"Oh, baby," she cooed to the crying three year old.
"Mommy," the little girl pouted, sniffling quietly now. "It hurts."
Arabella was hefted up in the air and into welcoming arms. "I told you to be more careful, Arie," her father smiled as he kissed the soft cheek.
"I was, daddy."
"Try harder next time please. Now we have to wash that out," he explained.
"No! Mommy, tell him no. That hurrrrrts," the little blond with milk chocolate eyes whined.
"Sorry, Arie." Chloe kissed her daughter's little hand.
"I'm going to the store with Amy. Alek, are you sure you don't want to come?" she smiled a knowing smile.
Alek rested a hand on Chloe's swollen stomach. "As much as I love the thought of this little one, I hate going shopping for him."
"Mhm, I know." Chloe grabbed her purse and headed out the door, looking back at her husband and daughter, thinking how lucky she had been that he was able to be saved that fateful night in the hospital.
Oh, well. Was anyone expecting that? Or, did you think I left it like the song did? I honestly was, but I wanted something to be happy in this story. Hopefully I did that. It would be great to hear your input :)
—WithinTheTrenches