"So, Brady, I didn't get the chance to thank you for taking me to the hospital the other morning," Chloe said as they drove to Salem Place in his van--"that hideous monster," as Chloe and Belle had earlier dubbed it.
Brady actually blushed *What am I, some school girl!* he admonished himself, and hated himself for it. "It was nothing. I couldn't exactly let you lay there unconcious, you know..."
Chloe laid a pink-fingernailed hand on his arm. "No, Brady, you could have called an ambulance, or you could have called your dad or Marlena, but you took the time and pain to carry me out to the car, without your cane, and take me in. I honestly can't thank you enough!"
"Yeah, well, uh, nothing to it, Chlo," Brady trailed off uncomfortably, *very* thankful that the couple drove up to and parked in a nearby parking lot. Before she could do it, and out of sheer habit, Brady went around to her side and opened the van door, helping Chloe out of the car.
"Thanks, Brady," she told him with a smile, and Chloe looked up into the tall man's eyes.
"Stop thanking me, Chlo, okay?" Brady said in exasperation.
*Well well well...fiesty, huh, Brady? Don't worry--Everything'll work out. And then we'll be together, and you'll be thanking me,* Chloe thought sweetly, a grin coming across her face as Brady grasped her hand protectively and pulled her across the quiet street.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"So, what do you think?" the brunette asked, coming out of a slat-doored dressing room. Her hands smoothed the skirt before Chloe turned to face him.
Brady, pulling his eyes from the USA Today in front of him, soon found it hard to look away. His jaw went slack at how gorgeous she was. Looking like a sweet teen star of a '50s movie, the black and white-dotted dress was shaped with a 'princess' skirt that fell to her knees, revealing shapely calves. Looking very reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Brady knew he had never seen any girl look lovelier.
"Um, yeah. Cute..." he said curtly, glancing into the mirror beyond her and then back down at his paper.
"Oh come *on*, Brady...I really wanna buy this dress, and I want to know what someone else thinks!" Chloe told him, her arms akimbo and a look of consternation crossing her features.
"If you *want* to buy it, Chloe, then go ahead and buy it!!! Doesn't matter what else you want!" Brady answered, needlessly biting.
Chloe was halfway back into the dressing room when she stopped, her hand on the doorframe, and looked back at him.
"Not even if I want you?
Had something been in his mouth, Brady would have choked. Had he been up, walking around, Brady would have tripped and probably broken a leg...or two. Had there been something close by, Brady would have hit her with it.
As not one of those three were happening, his jaw dropped for the second time in less than ten minutes. "Wh--what di--what did you say?" he finally got out, grasping the arm of the chair, in sudden need of support of some kind.
"I said," Chloe began clearly and clipped, "Not even if I want you?" At the lack of response, she posed another question. "Well? Didn't you realize it?"
Something in Brady's chest felt tight, and yet it was the feeling he'd felt lately.
"I think...I think that I did," he said slowly again.
Another silence passed, what Chloe would have normally broken with a statement regarding the 'pregnant pause' that hung in the air, and it turned out to be she that *did* break the silence.
"Stop looking at me like that, Brady! All I said is that I want you...but sheesh! If you don't want me back, I can deal with that perfectly!" Chloe told him, turning back into the dressing room. Five minutes later, a small tap came from the inside of the small cubicle. "Uh...mm...Brady?"
Brady looked up, his face coming from the cradle of his hands as he leaned with his elbows upon his knees.
"What, Chlo?"
"Well, see, I know that this is probably awkward, but...I can't get this dress unzipped..." Chloe trailed off in a soft voice. Brady couldn't help but laughing as he made his way to the door and slowly opened it, hanging on to the doorframe the second he saw her halfway bare back.
Suddenly, he couldn't find any type of thing to say...not even the weather, not even a crack about having to spend the day with her...nothing. "Uh...yeah," was all that Brady could get out, grasping the tiny zipper between his fingers and taking a step closer to the girl in front of him.
Chloe's breath, already shallow, hitched as his knuckles made the lightest brush against her bare back, struggling with the small clasp, trying to pull the offending fabric free. "Heh...what is it about us a zippers?" she said uncertainly in an attempt to lighten the tension in the unusually small space.
Brady's thoughts were going a million miles a minute, and yet...all he could think off was the amazing feel of her smooth, soft skin. But he knew he had to get out of that dressing room in two seconds flat...before anything else happened. Brady grasped the small zipper in his hand one more time and pulled. Nothing happened.
"Chloe, I know this may sound a little wierd," she laughed at that, "but when I pull up, you go down, okay?" he told her, with a sheepish grin and a red face he was thankful that she could not see.
"Mm...okay, Brady, whatever..."
They tried that once, then twice, without the desired result. "One more time," he told her, and her head bobbed up and down.
Her bare skin felt like it was burning his hands, and his breathing was shallow just from looking at her neck, his fingers itching to touch its smooth line.
Both Brady and Chloe played a tug-of-war with the zipper, until Chloe warned him seconds before she moved to the side.
"Okay, Brady, if the fabric's caught on the right side of the zipper, I'll move...around to the left, I think, okay?" Chloe didn't wait for him to nod, just turned when she felt him pull the zipper for the fourth time.
The zipper unstuck with a small rip, and the force of both the turn and the pull landed Chloe nose to chest with Brady, and would have fallen onto the small stool...had his arms not been locked tightly around her.
"Brady," Chloe breathed, looking up into his eyes honestly. "Was that so hard?"
He had to shake his head for a second to figure out what was going on. He knew how he felt, Brady told himself, and...well, he was pretty sure he knew how she felt. The only thing that was hard was convincing himself that it was okay to feel that way.
One look into her eyes had him throwing that away for the second time, not something he did easily.
"Being without you would be, Chloe Lane. Not doing this would be even worse." With that, Brady leaned down, brushing a soft kiss over her lips and back, tightening his arms around her. "I'm never letting you go, Chloe," Brady told her as he rained tender kisses on her jaw, before kissing her with a passion Chloe knew only Brady had in him.
"See to it that you don't, Brady Black. Make sure you never let me go," she sighed. Things would be better with Brady, Chloe knew. All in one was a kindred spirit, a passion equal to hers and an incredible love that only her heart would know of, for now. But it was obvious that that love was shared by the man who held her in his arms, and neither the love, nor Brady, showed any sign of stopping.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The Cinderella really does get her prince, doesn't she, Belle?" Chloe asked her best friend that evening, lying face up on Belle's bed. The other girl smiled from her desk.
"No better prince to get, my lady," Belle said teasingly, tossing her a pillow.
"You're only saying that because he's your brother!" Chloe protested, still grinning at the events of the afternoon giddily.
"No, I'm saying that because you're happy. He may be my brother, but he happens to be a total beast sometimes," she told Chloe. "Speaking of, I think there's someone downstairs for you, Chloe."
Belle merely laughed as Chloe jumped from the bed and took off downstairs like a little kid at Christmastime.
Brady laughed too as she skidded to a halt at the bottom of the stairs and attempted to straighten her appearance. "Oh c'mon, Chlo, I don't mind," he said, smiling. Her face lit up uncharacteristically, and she practically jumped from the bottom of the stairs into his arms.
But Brady shied away from her mouth, pushing her hair back and placing a restraining hand on her shoulder when she moved closer to him.
"Uh, Brady?"
"Uh, Chloe?"
"What are you doing?" she asked him, her eyebrows cocked quizzically.
"Wait, just a second, Chloe," Brady told her, a gentle finger placed on her lips. The doorbell rang, and into the family room walked John, Marlena, Shawn, Belle, and as many people as Brady could find, each individual carrying a dozen, ribbon-tied roses. She could hardly contain her delight, but pointed an accusing finger at Belle.
"How'd *you* get down here???" Chloe questioned her. Belle, roses still in hand, raised both in surrender.
"Well, Chloe," Belle laughed, "you were a little busy...so it certainly didn't take much to get out of the front door without your noticing..." she said, stopping when she realized Chloe's attention was already back to Brady.
"You..." Chloe told him, a grin in her eyes but a look of consternation trying to cross her face.
"Before you yell, Ms. Lane, look at the flowers!" That was the only hint he needed to give her, and without further ado, Chloe ran to glimpse into every bouquet.
"Phantom of the Opera..." She looked at him once, and Brady nodded.
"Go on," he prompted the brunette.
"Fiddler on the Roof...you!...Aspects of Love, Chicago...Brady, you're gonna get it!...oh lord, Brady...Puccini??? Chloe stared aghast at her...*what?* she asked herself, musing at the thought. *Boyfriend? Lover? Some person that I made out with in a dressing room yesterday?* The last came with a wry grin at Brady, and she leapt into his arms once again, hugging him and nuzzling into the smoothe-shaven skin of his neck.
Everyone laughed at the joy obvious on Chloe's face, something that many hadn't seen in quite a while. Brady's smile was the largest, and the 'tough-guy' felt a tugging at his heart that even Belle didn't produce, and he knew everything was perfect.
"But, wait...how did you...where in the world did you get the money for all these? I mean, these are Broadway!!!" Chloe exclaimed, pulling back and gazing into his eyes.
"He took out a loan of good confidence," John cut in, and Brady nodded.
"If I clean my room, I don't have to pay him back," he laughed, and Chloe joined him. "See this, you guys?" Brady addressed the group still gathered in the room, and Chloe pushed at him, a look of both amusement and embarassment on her face.
"Brady!" she laughed.
"See this girl? She is," he looked into her gorgeous eyes, "the most wonderful, amazing girl in the world. Chloe Lane is in my arms..."
"...and all, Brady, is right with the world," the object of his admiration finished. They never took the time to notice everyone leaving, just the two of them, surrounded by their own glow of love.
Brady actually blushed *What am I, some school girl!* he admonished himself, and hated himself for it. "It was nothing. I couldn't exactly let you lay there unconcious, you know..."
Chloe laid a pink-fingernailed hand on his arm. "No, Brady, you could have called an ambulance, or you could have called your dad or Marlena, but you took the time and pain to carry me out to the car, without your cane, and take me in. I honestly can't thank you enough!"
"Yeah, well, uh, nothing to it, Chlo," Brady trailed off uncomfortably, *very* thankful that the couple drove up to and parked in a nearby parking lot. Before she could do it, and out of sheer habit, Brady went around to her side and opened the van door, helping Chloe out of the car.
"Thanks, Brady," she told him with a smile, and Chloe looked up into the tall man's eyes.
"Stop thanking me, Chlo, okay?" Brady said in exasperation.
*Well well well...fiesty, huh, Brady? Don't worry--Everything'll work out. And then we'll be together, and you'll be thanking me,* Chloe thought sweetly, a grin coming across her face as Brady grasped her hand protectively and pulled her across the quiet street.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"So, what do you think?" the brunette asked, coming out of a slat-doored dressing room. Her hands smoothed the skirt before Chloe turned to face him.
Brady, pulling his eyes from the USA Today in front of him, soon found it hard to look away. His jaw went slack at how gorgeous she was. Looking like a sweet teen star of a '50s movie, the black and white-dotted dress was shaped with a 'princess' skirt that fell to her knees, revealing shapely calves. Looking very reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Brady knew he had never seen any girl look lovelier.
"Um, yeah. Cute..." he said curtly, glancing into the mirror beyond her and then back down at his paper.
"Oh come *on*, Brady...I really wanna buy this dress, and I want to know what someone else thinks!" Chloe told him, her arms akimbo and a look of consternation crossing her features.
"If you *want* to buy it, Chloe, then go ahead and buy it!!! Doesn't matter what else you want!" Brady answered, needlessly biting.
Chloe was halfway back into the dressing room when she stopped, her hand on the doorframe, and looked back at him.
"Not even if I want you?
Had something been in his mouth, Brady would have choked. Had he been up, walking around, Brady would have tripped and probably broken a leg...or two. Had there been something close by, Brady would have hit her with it.
As not one of those three were happening, his jaw dropped for the second time in less than ten minutes. "Wh--what di--what did you say?" he finally got out, grasping the arm of the chair, in sudden need of support of some kind.
"I said," Chloe began clearly and clipped, "Not even if I want you?" At the lack of response, she posed another question. "Well? Didn't you realize it?"
Something in Brady's chest felt tight, and yet it was the feeling he'd felt lately.
"I think...I think that I did," he said slowly again.
Another silence passed, what Chloe would have normally broken with a statement regarding the 'pregnant pause' that hung in the air, and it turned out to be she that *did* break the silence.
"Stop looking at me like that, Brady! All I said is that I want you...but sheesh! If you don't want me back, I can deal with that perfectly!" Chloe told him, turning back into the dressing room. Five minutes later, a small tap came from the inside of the small cubicle. "Uh...mm...Brady?"
Brady looked up, his face coming from the cradle of his hands as he leaned with his elbows upon his knees.
"What, Chlo?"
"Well, see, I know that this is probably awkward, but...I can't get this dress unzipped..." Chloe trailed off in a soft voice. Brady couldn't help but laughing as he made his way to the door and slowly opened it, hanging on to the doorframe the second he saw her halfway bare back.
Suddenly, he couldn't find any type of thing to say...not even the weather, not even a crack about having to spend the day with her...nothing. "Uh...yeah," was all that Brady could get out, grasping the tiny zipper between his fingers and taking a step closer to the girl in front of him.
Chloe's breath, already shallow, hitched as his knuckles made the lightest brush against her bare back, struggling with the small clasp, trying to pull the offending fabric free. "Heh...what is it about us a zippers?" she said uncertainly in an attempt to lighten the tension in the unusually small space.
Brady's thoughts were going a million miles a minute, and yet...all he could think off was the amazing feel of her smooth, soft skin. But he knew he had to get out of that dressing room in two seconds flat...before anything else happened. Brady grasped the small zipper in his hand one more time and pulled. Nothing happened.
"Chloe, I know this may sound a little wierd," she laughed at that, "but when I pull up, you go down, okay?" he told her, with a sheepish grin and a red face he was thankful that she could not see.
"Mm...okay, Brady, whatever..."
They tried that once, then twice, without the desired result. "One more time," he told her, and her head bobbed up and down.
Her bare skin felt like it was burning his hands, and his breathing was shallow just from looking at her neck, his fingers itching to touch its smooth line.
Both Brady and Chloe played a tug-of-war with the zipper, until Chloe warned him seconds before she moved to the side.
"Okay, Brady, if the fabric's caught on the right side of the zipper, I'll move...around to the left, I think, okay?" Chloe didn't wait for him to nod, just turned when she felt him pull the zipper for the fourth time.
The zipper unstuck with a small rip, and the force of both the turn and the pull landed Chloe nose to chest with Brady, and would have fallen onto the small stool...had his arms not been locked tightly around her.
"Brady," Chloe breathed, looking up into his eyes honestly. "Was that so hard?"
He had to shake his head for a second to figure out what was going on. He knew how he felt, Brady told himself, and...well, he was pretty sure he knew how she felt. The only thing that was hard was convincing himself that it was okay to feel that way.
One look into her eyes had him throwing that away for the second time, not something he did easily.
"Being without you would be, Chloe Lane. Not doing this would be even worse." With that, Brady leaned down, brushing a soft kiss over her lips and back, tightening his arms around her. "I'm never letting you go, Chloe," Brady told her as he rained tender kisses on her jaw, before kissing her with a passion Chloe knew only Brady had in him.
"See to it that you don't, Brady Black. Make sure you never let me go," she sighed. Things would be better with Brady, Chloe knew. All in one was a kindred spirit, a passion equal to hers and an incredible love that only her heart would know of, for now. But it was obvious that that love was shared by the man who held her in his arms, and neither the love, nor Brady, showed any sign of stopping.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The Cinderella really does get her prince, doesn't she, Belle?" Chloe asked her best friend that evening, lying face up on Belle's bed. The other girl smiled from her desk.
"No better prince to get, my lady," Belle said teasingly, tossing her a pillow.
"You're only saying that because he's your brother!" Chloe protested, still grinning at the events of the afternoon giddily.
"No, I'm saying that because you're happy. He may be my brother, but he happens to be a total beast sometimes," she told Chloe. "Speaking of, I think there's someone downstairs for you, Chloe."
Belle merely laughed as Chloe jumped from the bed and took off downstairs like a little kid at Christmastime.
Brady laughed too as she skidded to a halt at the bottom of the stairs and attempted to straighten her appearance. "Oh c'mon, Chlo, I don't mind," he said, smiling. Her face lit up uncharacteristically, and she practically jumped from the bottom of the stairs into his arms.
But Brady shied away from her mouth, pushing her hair back and placing a restraining hand on her shoulder when she moved closer to him.
"Uh, Brady?"
"Uh, Chloe?"
"What are you doing?" she asked him, her eyebrows cocked quizzically.
"Wait, just a second, Chloe," Brady told her, a gentle finger placed on her lips. The doorbell rang, and into the family room walked John, Marlena, Shawn, Belle, and as many people as Brady could find, each individual carrying a dozen, ribbon-tied roses. She could hardly contain her delight, but pointed an accusing finger at Belle.
"How'd *you* get down here???" Chloe questioned her. Belle, roses still in hand, raised both in surrender.
"Well, Chloe," Belle laughed, "you were a little busy...so it certainly didn't take much to get out of the front door without your noticing..." she said, stopping when she realized Chloe's attention was already back to Brady.
"You..." Chloe told him, a grin in her eyes but a look of consternation trying to cross her face.
"Before you yell, Ms. Lane, look at the flowers!" That was the only hint he needed to give her, and without further ado, Chloe ran to glimpse into every bouquet.
"Phantom of the Opera..." She looked at him once, and Brady nodded.
"Go on," he prompted the brunette.
"Fiddler on the Roof...you!...Aspects of Love, Chicago...Brady, you're gonna get it!...oh lord, Brady...Puccini??? Chloe stared aghast at her...*what?* she asked herself, musing at the thought. *Boyfriend? Lover? Some person that I made out with in a dressing room yesterday?* The last came with a wry grin at Brady, and she leapt into his arms once again, hugging him and nuzzling into the smoothe-shaven skin of his neck.
Everyone laughed at the joy obvious on Chloe's face, something that many hadn't seen in quite a while. Brady's smile was the largest, and the 'tough-guy' felt a tugging at his heart that even Belle didn't produce, and he knew everything was perfect.
"But, wait...how did you...where in the world did you get the money for all these? I mean, these are Broadway!!!" Chloe exclaimed, pulling back and gazing into his eyes.
"He took out a loan of good confidence," John cut in, and Brady nodded.
"If I clean my room, I don't have to pay him back," he laughed, and Chloe joined him. "See this, you guys?" Brady addressed the group still gathered in the room, and Chloe pushed at him, a look of both amusement and embarassment on her face.
"Brady!" she laughed.
"See this girl? She is," he looked into her gorgeous eyes, "the most wonderful, amazing girl in the world. Chloe Lane is in my arms..."
"...and all, Brady, is right with the world," the object of his admiration finished. They never took the time to notice everyone leaving, just the two of them, surrounded by their own glow of love.