The Witch Uniter
By tenshinrtaiga
Disclaimer: I don't own The Covenant or The Nine Lives of Chloe King
Summary: Chloe is a witch of the Covenant moving to San Francisco to complete her Uniter duties. She meets Alek and feels an instant spark but can a witch and a Mai really work it out?
Hey, guys. Sorry I've been MIA for a few days. Not only did school start back up last week, but a friend of mine drove up from Virginia for a visit last Wednesday and we've been partying up in Syracuse at the Fair for the past few days. Originally, I had hoped to post this chapter last Wednesday warning you guys that I wouldn't be updating for a few days, but my friend got here alittle early and I didn't get a chance to finish the other half of the chapter until today. Also, because of school, I'm not sure if I can update every day anymore. I'm still going to aim for that, but a more likely scenario will be me updating every other day or so.
Chloe sighed as she spread out along the couch relaxing her muscles. All day, Amy had tried to corner her into telling her all the details of her night with Alek. Suffice to say the girl was severely disappointed when Chloe refused to talk. For the first time all week, Chloe didn't have everybody over at her house, hanging out. Instead, Chloe was lounged about, seconds away from going to sleep.
She didn't know how long she'd been snoozing lightly when she heard the opening of a door from the kitchen. Chloe blearily checked her cell phone and realized one of the boys must have come home from their classes. She looked up over the couch and noticed Caleb and Pogue in the kitchen. "Hey," She muttered blearily.
The two boys turned around, surprised to see her there. "Were you sleeping?" Caleb asked, slightly surprised.
"Just a nap," Chloe responded standing up and making her way over. She came up behind Caleb, who was sitting at the counter, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning into his back heavily. "I feel like I should do something to celebrate my first week of classes."
"Party?" Pogue asked as he grabbed a knife from the drawer and began cutting into an apple and eating.
Chloe shook her head, face still buried between Caleb's shoulder blades, "No. Way too tired."
"So what did you have in mind?" The boy beneath her asked before reaching out a hand toward Pogue in askance of a slice of apple. Pogue handed one over and Caleb reached back to wave it in Chloe's face, allowing Chloe to take a bite before Caleb finished the rest of it.
"Dunno. Burger bar?" She answered hesitantly. Caleb and Pogue both tensed in hopeful excitement.
"Burger bar?" Pogue asked, also hesitant, not wanting to get his hopes up.
Chloe nodded more surely this time. Suddenly a voice was heard from the garage. "Did I hear the words burger bar?" Reid asked in excitement as he and Tyler burst through the kitchen door, "Sweet!"
"I'll have to go shopping," Chloe said finally lifting herself off of Caleb, "We don't have enough ground beef and I need to pick up some peppers and cheese."
Tyler nodded absentmindedly, already texting Chase the good news. Chloe was an amazing cook but she hated doing it. However, once every couple of months, Chloe got into a mood and decided to cook something for the boys. Her burgers were out of this world; especially her specialty burgers.
Chloe climbed into her car and drove to the grocery store. As she perused isles, she texted her friends inviting them to dinner.
'I know you guys are probably sick of my face but burger bar my place if you're hungry.'
Immediately, she got a yes text from Paul. Soon after, Jasmine, Amy and Alek all responded with positive answers. The last one to agree was Mimi with a hesitant okay. Seeing that she had twice as many people, Chloe ended up turning around and buying twice as many ingredients.
She was just getting into her car when she received another text. This time it was from Alek asking if she could pick him up to talk. Chloe pursed her lips before agreeing. Apparently, it was time to define the lines.
"Hey," Alek smiled slightly, sliding into her Audi.
"Hey," Chloe replied passively, not giving anything away. Most of the ride was spent in awkward silence but as they left the city limits, Alek finally spoke up.
"About last night…" He trailed off awkwardly like he wasn't sure what he wanted to say, "What did you think?"
"..." Chloe raised an eyebrow.
Realizing how his words could be interpreted, Alek gave a little laugh, "I meant, how do you see us after last night?"
"The same way I saw us after yesterday morning," Chloe quipped.
"Which is to say…" Alek trailed off, hoping she'd continue.
"Undefined," She answered bluntly, pulling into the garage. Before Alek could respond, she'd left the car, grabbed the groceries and headed inside.
Alek jogged after her, catching up to her just as she was setting the groceries on the counter. "Okay. So we're undefined," He said, standing across from her on the other side of the island as she worked methodically, sorting out her ingredients. "How do I change that?"
Chloe raised an eyebrow but didn't look up from what she was doing. She was hesitant about having this conversation because she honestly wasn't sure where she wanted to go with the boy. She liked him. More than she'd liked anybody since Chase, but that was the problem. Chase had really hurt her. Hurt her more than she thought possible and in a way that she'd never experienced before. Being hurt like that again… the idea terrified her. It had been almost a year since her relationship with Chase. Was she ready to let go and try again? More importantly, was Alek the person she wanted to try again with?
"I guess you'll just have to ask me and pray you've impressed me enough in the few short days we've known each other that I agree to be your girlfriend." She'd purposely worded her response to Alek with slight negativity, hoping that he'd leave the definition talk for later, but she hadn't anticipated her own reactions to her words. Chloe's heart skipped a beat as she said the word girlfriend out loud, causing her to momentarily pause in her cooking preparations. Was that a sign that she wanted to be Alek's girlfriend? Maybe her heart knew what it wanted even when her head didn't.
Not one to back down, Alek ignored her negativity and plowed ahead anyway. He reached over and grasped her hand and waited for her eyes to look up and meet his own "Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked seriously.
Chloe blinked, startled when her heart skipped a beat, yet again, at the word girlfriend. Then his words sank into her mind and she felt her stomach do a flip in nervous anticipation, "Yes," She replied, barely aware of what she'd said.
Alek gave a slightly relieved grin as he made his way around the counter to plant a chaste kiss on her mouth. Chloe was still zoned out, surprised by her body's reactions to his words and surprised by her own response, but then she began to smile. She was happy. She was genuinely happy.
"Well," Pogue muttered from where he stood next to Caleb.
"I did not see that one coming," Tyler muttered from where he was crouched. Chase nodded next to him, also squatting as all five boys spied on Chloe and Alek's conversation.
"I thought she'd never get another boyfriend after what happened with Chase," Caleb muttered, backing away. The rest of the boys followed, congregating in the foyer where they'd been huddled spying through the living room doorway.
"I don't like it," Reid muttered, folding his arms across his chest, but Caleb rolled his eyes.
"That's because since Chase, Chloe's been mostly yours," Pogue pointed out, his skill with reading people showing through. Reid just scowled and turned away, his silence admitting the truth.
"I think this is good. Chloe's been shying away from relationships because she's been scared," Caleb spoke, "She needs to get over that. She needs to learn how to dive back in. Alek could be good for her."
"I'm with Reid," Tyler spoke, a tinge of anger in his voice. All the boys except for Pogue looked at Tyler a little oddly. They knew why Reid was mad, but why was Ty?
Pogue answered their question, once again proving how well he understood people, "That's because you're still in love with her."
There was an awkward silence as everyone processed what Pogue's words meant.
"What?" Reid asked, completely shocked, "Man, I thought you got over that years ago. She's you sister!"
"Not any more than she is yours," Tyler spat defensively, bringing up his arms to fold them across his chest.
Caleb shook his head, "Baby Boy," He said soothingly.
"Don't get all condescending on me, Caleb!" Tyler yelled before lowering his voice before Chloe could get suspicious and come investigate, "It's not like I want to still be in love with her, okay? I tried. I dated other girls. I watched her date other guys. But I still feel the same way now as I did when I was 13. I love her."
Once again, silence reigned over the boys as they tried to process Tyler's words. "Man, this is completely fucked up," Reid muttered, running a hand through his hair. Chase let out a small chuckle at the blond's words but no one made any other sound.
"What are you going to do?" Pogue asked calmly. He was the only one who knew that Tyler never really got over Chloe so he wasn't shocked by the conversation like the others were.
"Same thing I've always done when it comes to Chloe," Tyler scowled, "Absolutely nothing."