Chapter Seventeen

(Back to Brady's Loft)

Brady walked around the kitchen counter and handed Chloe a bowl of ice cream. She smiled thankfully and took her seat at the table. Brady sat across from her with his own bowl and grinned.

"Two scoops of Mocha Chip ice cream and a spoon. I think that's an appropriate choice, don't you?"

Chloe nodded enthusiastically. "It's my favorite."

"I know."

"Of course you do... You know everything."

Brady shook his head and took a bite of ice cream off of his spoon. "No, I don't. I just know everything important about you, Chloe Lane."

Chloe paused and let the ice cream in her mouth melt before she swallowed it. "And how is that? How do you know all of these things? These stupid, insignificant details about me that nobody else seems to care about."

"Because they're not stupid or insignificant to me. Every detail about you is important to me."

Chloe smiled at him and shrugged. "Well, it is nice to know that somebody out there is interested in even my quirkiest of habits."

Brady nodded and continued. "You mean, the way that you tie your shoes once, untie them, and then tie them again."

Chloe's eyes widened in surprise. "You've noticed that? Oh geez..."

"Noticed it? How could I not? You do it every single time you wear shoes with laces. EVERY time."

Chloe laughed softly and nodded in agreement. "I know. It's a stupid habit that I have. When I was a kid, I was always worried that they weren't tied tight enough, so I retied them every time. It's just a habit that's stuck. I know it's kind of obsessive compulsive of me..."

"Nah, I think it's cute. I like all your little quirks..."

Chloe smiled through her mouthful of ice cream. "At least someone does."

Brady grinned and continued eating his ice cream. They continued in silence for a few minutes until Chloe decided to speak.

"Hey Brady... You know what this reminds me of?"

Brady searched her face for a clue and then shrugged. "I don't know... The fourteen thousand other times we've had ice cream together."

Chloe shook her head. "No, just one specific time. Do you remember like a month or two ago? We went for a walk in the park, had ice cream, and then you pushed me off the swings."

Brady dropped his spoon and his mouth formed into an 'o' of surprise. "Pushed you? You fell off, you klutz."

"I know... I was just making sure you were paying attention."

"Well, I am paying attention. And yes, I remember that day. Your fainting spell scared me half to death. I don't think I can forget that too easily."

Chloe nodded and sighed softly. "I know, and I'm sorry about that. But, I'm talking about the conversation we had before that. Do you remember?"

Brady nodded and paraphrased her words of two months earlier. "You said that you used to come to the park and get ice cream when you needed to feel better. But, then, last summer, something better came along."

"That's right. And then I told you that you were the something better that came along. I just wanted you to remember that moment. You've been such a good friend to me, and I never want to lose that."

"You're not going to lose me. Why would you even be worried about that?"

Chloe looked away with a frown. "I just... I have this unlucky streak of losing everything that I care about eventually. I don't want that to happen to us too. What you have done for me, it means everything."

Brady nodded and reached forward to lay his hand on top of hers. "It goes both ways, you know. You've become such an important person in my life, and I don't plan on that ever changing. I promise I will always be your friend, Chloe. If you can rely on one thing in this messed up world, that's it."

Chloe looked back at him with an uneasy smile. "You know what else this reminds me of? The ice cream, the sappy friendship talk..."

Brady paused to think and then grinned at her. "Another Sarah McLachlan song?"

Chloe chuckled and nodded affirmatively. "Yup. So, tell me, Brady Black... How does a guy like you know so much about Sarah McLachlan songs? You don't seem the sensitive Lilith Fair type to me."

"Oh, I'm not. Not at all. But, I lived about 6 inches away from a teenage girl who IS the sensitive Lilith Fair type. That stuff just seeps through the walls whether you want it to or not."

"Ahhh... So you grew to like it?"

Brady shook his head vehemently, he then paused and began to nod slowly. "Well, not all of it. Just some of it. So, between the Sarah McLachlan songs and the whole Sound of Music thing... I have no hope of ever holding up my macho facade."

Chloe laughed hysterically through her last bite of ice cream and Brady frowned at her. "I'm sorry, Brady... But you're right. I know you're a big, strong, tough guy and all. But, deep down you're a sensitive artistic type."

"I resent that."

"No, you resemble that. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Women love that in a man. You're like the strong, rebellious type with a heart of gold. The kind of guy who will fight someone to defend his lady's honor, and then buy her a book of poetry or something. It's the best of both worlds."

Brady smiled proudly at her. "And yet, the female population of Salem has still remained cold and aloof to my manly, but gentle, charms."

"Oh stop... I don't even want to hear any more of that. You could have any woman in this town if you really wanted to."

Brady shook his head and gently squeezed Chloe's hand. "I don't want just ANY woman. I want one special woman."

Brady's eyes seemed to be boring a hole in her skull. He was staring intently at her, and Chloe began to fill up with fear again. All the signs were there, and yet neither of them could say exactly what they were feeling. She wondered if the problem wasn't that she was afraid, but that she was waiting for him to say it first. Praying that he would, so she could return his feelings. At least that's what she thought she was seeing in Brady's eyes, but a part of her was still unsure that he did love her as more than a friend.

Chloe decided to break the moment, afraid that it would turn into an awkward silence rather than a quiet moment of mutual affection between two friends. She broke into a grin and then wracked her brain to remember the lyrics to the song she had mentioned.

Chloe cleared her throat and Brady broke his gaze with a look of curiosity. She winked at him and began singing softly.

"Your love is better than ice cream.
Better than anything else that I've tried.
Your love is better than ice cream,
everyone here knows how to fight.

And it's a long way down.
And it's a long way down.
And it's a long way down
to the place where we started from."

Brady laughed out loud and immediately stood from his chair, with Chloe following him. He kept her hand in his and grinned. She went to begin the next part of the song but Brady put his index finger over her lips. "Hey now... My turn to participate in the sing-along... If I can remember how it goes."

Chloe nodded and motioned for him to continue. "The words aren't that hard to remember, Brady."

Brady nodded and continued the song.

"Your love is better than chocolate.
Better than anything else that I've tried.
Your love is better than chocolate,
Everyone here knows how to cry.

And it's a long way down.
And it's a long way down.
And it's a long way down
to the place where we started from."

Chloe smiled gleefully as he finished. "You know, not to sound too cheesy, but it is a long way down to the place where we started from. You and me."

"That's true. You used to hate me."

"No, YOU used to hate ME, remember?"

Brady snickered and shrugged nonchalantly. "We used to hate each other, okay? Is that better?"

Chloe nodded in agreement. "Fair enough."

But she had never really hated Brady. Despite all of their arguing, there had always been a spark between them. Something that connected them in a way she could not connect to other people.

Brady threw a glance towards the door and then looked at Chloe with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Hey... Why don't you say we go on a little field trip?"

"Mmmm... Where to?"

"Someplace that I know you will like. I promise."

Chloe nodded and rolled her eyes. "Oh, you and your promises. This ought to be interesting."

Brady grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "It will be. Come on."

Chloe groaned quietly as Brady dragged her towards the door. "Brady... How come most of our evenings together end up with us singing?"

Brady laughed as he slid the door open. "I don't really know. Perhaps we're perpetually stuck in a bad 50's musical."

They walked through the door and into the hallway. Chloe shook her head and smiled at him as he pushed the button to call the elevator. "No, I think it's a really good musical..."

One with a happy ending, she silently thought to herself.

***

(Song: "Ice Cream" - Sarah McLachlan. The episode where Chloe and Brady had ice cream in the park is what made me think to write this story... So, I had to use it, despite already using another Sarah McLachlan song in Chapter 15.)