"I wish Nadia would just dump that snobby jerk Jay and get together with Kyle. And why can't Drake and Kristian just tell everyone about that baby?" Belle was talking to herself as she watched the soaps that she'd missed during the school year.
"Hey, sis."
Belle jumped. She was so entranced in her daytime television that she hadn't heard Brady and Chloe come in. She noticed that Brady was actually grinning and Chloe was beaming like a headlight.
"Did you win the lottery, Chloe?" Belle asked, eyeing her friend suspiciously.
"Even better," Chloe answered happily. "I broke up with Philip, and he didn't draw blood!"
"You said that he couldn't hurt me anyway," Brady remarked.
"Okay, you two are really scaring me now. Were you two ... sniffing markers or something?"
"No. We were not doing anything of the sort," Chloe defended herself.
"That's right. She just broke up with Uncle Phil and thanked me some more," Brady added. Brady and Chloe both glanced and smiled at each other, remembering the kiss. On impulse, Brady leaned in towards her again and kissed her.
Why does each one have to be so sweet and euphoric to me? Chloe thought.
Belle's jaw practically fell to the floor. When she stopped babbling and formed actual words, she dared to ask them the question.
"Are you two together now?" she asked.
Chloe was startled by her question. I have no idea, Chloe thought.
"No," Brady answered, limping over to Belle and plopping onto the couch. "Miss diva over here wants to be single for a while, isn't that right? Without the black clothes this time?"
"Chloe, you are going to have guys asking you out left and right. Some of them are kind of creepy. Are you sure that breaking up with Philip was the right thing to do? You were safe then; he'd protect you."
"Oh yeah, I was so safe with Philip, the guy who beat up Jason because he called me a name. The guy who jumps down any other guy's throat if he speaks to me. I'm sure I was really safe, Belle," Chloe replied sarcastically.
"Philip would never hurt you," Belle insisted.
"Maybe not on purpose. He wouldn't hurt me, but he'd torture me."
"So...you really want to be single?" Belle clarified.
"Well, I want to go out with other guys, mostly just to make friends. I'm going to be single anyway, Belle; I wasn't married to Philip."
"Thank god," muttered Brady. The girls looked back at Brady.
"What'd you say, big brother?"
"I said, thank god," Brady repeated, louder. "You'd be like a rat trapped in a plastic bag, Chloe." The intense blue stare told her what Brady was thinking, all she needed to know. I'd never cage you in, Chloe; I'd never suffocate you. Chloe strode over to the couch and sat beside Brady. She leaned toward him, looking up at him, and whispered.
"Thank you."
Brady looked down to Chloe with a soft look in his eyes. His mood had changed quickly.
"You're welcome. Again," he whispered in return. Chloe chuckled and both of them smiled. Chloe reached up; Brady reached down, and they shared the most tender and momentous kiss. Belle observed her big brother and her best friend. They look so sweet, Belle thought. So comfortable in their position...so fitting with each other. Like they belong like that forever.
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