The storm was raging outside the confines of the hospital. The rain beat down hard on the black, solid paved roads. The lightning cracked through the sky. Illuminating the night with silver rivets. The thunder bolted, breaking the quiet of the evening. Chloe and Brady were lying in his bed when the lights went out.

Chloe sat up in bed. She looked around and all she could see was darkness. She was worried because the machines Brady was hooked up to needed electricity to function.

"Brady?" Chloe whispered.

"Hmm?"

"The power went out."

"It's okay"

"No, it's not Brady. All the machines stopped working. I have to get one of the nurses."

Brady could not help but chuckle.

"You find this amusing?" Chloe, questioned.

"Relax. The back up power should come on soon. And as for you going to get a nurse, how exactly do you plan on seeing where you are going?"

"I see your point" Chloe said, letting out her own laughter.

A few minutes later the generator kicked in and the backup lights came on. It was still fairly dark in the room.

"See. Everything is okay." Brady kissed Chloe's hand.

Brady was healthy enough to be moved back to his old room. Karen came into the room with candles and a flashlight. She checked on the machines hooked up to Brady. They too were running on back up power now.

"Here, I'm going to leave these candles. It will probably be a while before the lights come back on."

"Thanks Karen." Chloe said.

Karen left the room and went to do the same for her other patients.

"Do you know, what this reminds me of?" Said Chloe snuggling next to Brady.

"What?"

"The time we got stuck in the middle of that snow storm at my house. Nancy and Craig were away in Vermont skiing. You had come over to pick up Belle, but she had already left with Mimi hours before. You were covered in snow."

Brady closed his eyes for a minute, remembering that night just as well as she did.

"Yeah, and you let me in to use the phone. I called Belle at the Lockharts, and told her that she better stay over because the storm was getting worse."

"Then the power went out. Just like tonight"

"Yeah, and I remember you screamed and grabbed onto me." Brady let out a small laugh, recalling how she clung to him.

"I was so embarrassed and you just laughed. I told you that you should take your own advice and not try to go back out in the storm..... I asked you if you wanted to stay with me..... I told you it would be okay if you spent the night. Then you teased me..... You said the real reason I wanted you to stay was because I was scared."

"You were!" Brady laughed.

"I was.... But I didn't want anything to happen to you either."

"I was nervous to stay. I was just starting to realize how I felt about you. I was such a geek" Brady said, biting his lip, remembering what she used to do to his stomach every time he saw her back then.

"You weren't a geek..... I was nervous too because I thought you could tell how much I liked you. I didn't think you felt the same because you hadn't even asked me out yet."

"I really didn't know, well at least not until you kissed me."

"As I recall, it was you who kissed me"

"No you've got it wrong."

"I remember. I lit the candles and then we sat in front of them on the couch. The wind blew so hard that it knocked one of the shutters open. I moved closer to you and you put your arm around me..... I remember feeling so safe."

"I told you that everything was okay and we were going to be fine. It was just a little storm."

"I looked into your eyes. You leaned forward and moved my hair off of my face with your hand. Then you let it rest on my cheek."

"I remember your cheeks were so warm. Then you closed your eyes and pressed your lips against mine. At first I couldn't believe it but then...."

"You eased into it. Then we fell asleep in each others arms and it's been that way ever since. I guess we both kind of kissed each other first"

"Yeah. You have to admit that it was a great first kiss. Do you think that if we hadn't, have been stuck together that night, that it would have happened for us?"

"I always knew we would end up together. I just wasn't sure how long it would take. I'll never forget the way Belle's face looked when I told her we kissed"

"She was mad at me for like a week because I didn't tell her how I felt about you. I remember every time you came over to see Belle, I would make excuses to bother you two. When I looked at you, my heart would start to beat so much faster and my palms would get all sweaty. I felt so immature, like I was still a kid reliving his first crush." Brady revealed as he entwined his fingers with Chloe.

"Oh yeah, I remember. She knew that I liked you and said if she had known how you felt, we would have been together months before. I used to get all giddy when you would as you say 'bother us'. When you were around I was just always giggling it's like I couldn't control myself."

"Still, I'm glad the way it happened. It wasn't rushed. It just, ....sort of happened."

"Me too."

"Chloe, it took me a long time to tell you I loved you, but I want you to know that before I ever said it, I felt it. I think I might have always loved you. Even that night on the pier, there was just something so familiar. Then you took my crap and dished out some of your own. I was like 'whoa this girl is unbelievable'. I just hope you know that I really do love you and I appreciate what you're doing for me."

Chloe continued to play with his fingers as he talked.

"I felt the same. I was just as scared to say the words out loud, but I kind of think we didn't even need too. I mean we both sensed it from each other long before we made our feelings vocal. Even when we argued, we still had that intense passion."

"Yeah. I argue with you better than anyone."

"Same here. Brady I love you so much."

Chloe rested her head against Brady as they talked through the night.


To be continued......