A/N: Aww! You guys!! It's so cute that everyone's so worried about Katie. Just remember - it's me writing this people!!! LOL! It might get a little rough but it'll all work out in the end.

As for my compulsive updating of late – as some of you know – or don't LOL! I have so much time to write because at the moment I a) commute 2 hours a day by train and b) travel like it's my job. OK. Actually - it is my job. :) Cross country flights and layovers give me tons of time to feed my little hobby/obsession – either or - take your pick. ;)

Billie doesn't like Quinn for a few reasons that you'll find out soon. No, Nat sweetie, Kate's baby is not a vampire – but that's all I'm saying.

Ali – Chris is "technically" Rafe and Alison's kids grandfather b/c he's married to Elizabeth. He's not really related to them at all – it's just that I thought it sounded funny to say it. LOL! And I'm glad you got a kick out of Grant walking in on his parents. Teeheehee. :D

Ah well – will you look at that?? Chloe's not crying. LOL! Until 11! xox-G

Chapter Ten

Chloe took another deep breath, her father's words still fresh in her mind. "Pick yourself up and try again." He had told her.

It wouldn't be easy – but that was just what she intended to do.

She had decided she was going to wait a little bit and give it some time. She knew she needed to figure out a way to get him back and it wasn't something she could rush. Though everything in her screamed to just walk right in and tell him she had changed her mind she knew that it would be too much too soon. Grant never moved quickly. Ever.

He'd have to get used to the idea first.

Fate played a hand when she read the paper that morning. Chloe made her decision but was still scared to actually act on it. She had been sitting in her car for an hour. She had just gotten up the courage to go inside when she saw him leave. Twenty minutes later she was still in her car when she saw him drive up again.

She needed to stop stalling now that he was back.

"Now or never, Clo." She said to herself, taking a deep breath and opening the door. "Just remember it'll be a start."

She opened the door to the gym and looked around. She couldn't believe it had been a year since she had actually been inside.

Everything was just as she remembered. She smiled as she saw all the activity, and listened to the sound of music playing. It had been so long but the one thing she hadn't counted on was how close she would feel to her mother here. Her mother had loved working at the gym – it was what she had been made to do. After she'd left them Chloe had felt it had been too painful to be here and since she'd left Grant the pain just got worse.

Clutching the newspaper in her hand she moved towards the counter, giving the young girl behind it a smile. She must be new. Chloe thought to herself. Then she realized she might have been working there for a year for all she knew.

"Hi. I'm here about the ad." Chloe said, willing her voice not to shake.

"To join or the help wanted ad?" The girl asked, her voice bubbly.

"The help wanted. Is the owner here?"

"Yep. I'll go get him for you – hold on a sec." The girl almost bounced as she walked towards the office. She spoke to someone inside and then made her way back.

"He'll be right out." She said with a grin as she returned.

"Thank you." Chloe replied, her palms sweating a bit as she took another look around.

Still smiling over the scene he'd just left at his parents house, Grant walked out into the gym and his heart stopped. As he caught sight of Chloe, he didn't know exactly what to do. Almost as if by a will of their own, his feet carried him towards her. What was she doing here? She had told him to stay away and yet here she was – in a place she knew he'd be. The only thing he could think of was that something must be wrong.

"Clo?" He said softly. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes." She nodded as she turned to face him. Her eyes spilled over with love at the sight of him. She swallowed and said softly. "I – I – I just needed to talk to you."

"OK." He replied. He didn't know what to do. He recognized the look in her eyes. He never thought he'd see it again. He stammered a bit as he told her. "Ok - I just – umm – I just have to talk to an applicant first. I'll be back in a sec." Grant looked around to see who had come to inquire about the job and was completely confused. Chloe was the only one nearby.

Chloe smiled to herself. Her heart was pounding as she said the words. "You don't have to go anywhere, Grant. I'm the one applying."

Grant's jaw dropped. "What?"

Chloe plodded on, knowing that she had come this far. She couldn't back away now. "I saw your ad. You need a new instructor. I'm available."

"Chloe." He said carefully, not completely sure what she was trying to do. "It's OK. I'll find someone eventually.

"As good as me?" She asked with a smile.

As good as her? Grant repeated to himself. His hands ached to reach out and touch her. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, his heart cried out to her. There is no one better than you, Clo. He wanted to tell her – no one in this world. He had been hurt so deeply he couldn't dare hope.

He stared at his feet, unable to look at her. His voice was a mere whisper. "This isn't a good idea Clo. There's no way it could work. Obviously, you aren't thinking. If you worked here you'd have to be around here – around me - every day."

The hurt she had caused him was almost visible. She knew starting over wouldn't be easy – but she hadn't realized how difficult it really was going to be to make him believe she still loved him. She knew it was all her fault. Somewhere between her arguing that she was asking him to go because she loved him so much and today he'd decided the real reason they were apart was because she didn't love him at all.

You have to start somewhere, Clo she said to herself. "I know." Chloe nodded. She reached out to touch him and watched him take a step back. Her heart broke as she was reminded again of how much damage she had done. She looked up and stared into his eyes. "That'll be OK with me."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Alison. Come on." Rafe said with a smile. She was lying across the bed on her stomach, clutching the pillow to her.

"We're never doing that again." She grumbled at him.

"Never?" He replied, pretending to be shocked.

"Yep. Never." She said, her face still turned away from him. Even with that he could tell by the sound of her voice she was smiling.

Rafe ran a hand down the length of her hair and let it rest on the small of her back. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Are you telling me you'll never let me touch you again?"

"Yes." She said, smiling wider as she turned around to face him. "Get your hands off me."

He ignored her as his fingers trailed up her spine, ending up tangled in her hair. "You don't mean that." He said softly, his lips a breath away from hers. "Alison...I love you..."

"I do so mean it." She said giggling as his arms tightened around her. Alison sighed as she moved to run a finger along his cheek. "I love you too – but God, Rafe." She smiled widely. "That was so embarrassing."

"Angel." He said as he kissed her. "It could have been much worse."

Alison sighed and nodded in agreement as he pulled away. She had to admit it was really funny in retrospect. She started to giggle louder as she inched closer to him.

Rafe laughed as he said, "God, Alison. You should have seen your face."

She knew how she must have looked. She blushed again as she replied her voice full of laughter, "You should have seen yours when I asked you to hide."

He smoothed the hair off her face and gazed into her eyes. He suddenly had an idea. "Someday soon..." He whispered against her lips. "I promise you. We will find time to be alone..." He said as he kissed her again. "No kids, no ringing phones, just you..." His lips touched hers once more. "...and me."

Just then, the front door slammed and Ella's voice rang out. "HEY! I'm home!!"

"Oh yeah? You think so? Good luck." Alison said with a laugh and sigh as she scrambled off the bed and went to greet her daughter.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Colin sighed as he brought Kate inside. She was actually asleep on her feet. He scooped her up and pressed a kiss to her forehead, carrying her inside and bringing her to rest on their bed. His hand ran over her hair as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. His mind filled with worry once more. Just a little bit ago she had looked and acted so much more like herself. Now, in the span of a half hour, she had fallen under again.

The phone rang and he eased away from her to answer it. His voice was distracted as he answered.

"Hello?"

There was a small pause before a voice finally spoke. "Hi. Colin? It's Dr. Oliver."

Colin's heart went to his throat. He swallowed and tried to find his voice. He was finally able to squeak out one word. "Hello."

"Is –" This was the worst part of her job, Michelle thought with a sigh. "Is - uh - is Kate there?"

"She's sleeping." Colin said softly. This didn't sound like good news. Part of him did not want to know – but he knew that once they knew what they were up against they could start fighting. "What is it? What's wrong. Please." He begged, his voice full of sorrow. "I need you to tell me."

"I'm sorry." The doctor replied. "Kate is my patient. I really should..."

"Please." Colin's voice was desperate. "I have to know."

"I know. I understand." She hesitated again, knowing that Colin wouldn't take no for an answer. She didn't discuss specifics, but gave him the information he needed. "There's something that showed up in Kate's blood work. I'm going to need to have her come in again. I've called in Dr. Ramsey to consult on her condition."

"Condition?" Colin gasped. "She has a condition now!?!" Colin's voice rose in fear and a bit of anger. "What is it? What's wrong? How come it's taken you so long to figure this out?"

His words stung but she knew Colin just wanted to find someone to blame. "Colin. Please. We aren't sure exactly what it is. But I promise you this. We are going to do everything we can to make sure she and the baby both get through this. OK? This is going to be a very difficult time for her. I need you to believe we'll figure it out and make her better. You need to stay positive so that we can help her fight this."

Fight this, she says. Colin's pulse raced and he felt useless. Despite it all, Colin knew that was true. Still he wondered where he'd find the strength to do what the doctor asked. "When?" He said almost too low for her to hear.

"I'm sorry?" Michelle asked, confused at his question.

"When should I bring her back?" Colin asked, his voice hollow.

"Let her sleep." She said softly. "Just stop by in the morning."

Tears welled up in his eyes as Colin nodded. "OK." He agreed. "We'll see you then."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Grant was completely stunned, too much was happening at once. Chloe was here, talking to him – telling him she wanted to see him.

He didn't understand what was going on. It didn't matter. This couldn't happen. It would never work out. It would be much too difficult to see her everyday. He couldn't do it. He had to try and protect himself at least a little. If he did this, if he let her in again when she left him he simply would not be able to survive.

Losing her once was hard enough. If he lost her twice it would kill him.

"Grant?" A voice called out and made his head snap up.

"Yeah." He replied, staring into Chloe's eyes.

She wasn't the one who had spoken. "Grant." The voice said again.

Confused he turned towards the sound, realizing then it was Cindy, the girl who had greeted Chloe earlier.

"Yeah. Sorry Cin - what is it?" He asked her. Chloe looked on with definite interest. She was still waiting for him to tell her to stay or go.

"April just called. She's not coming in – AGAIN." Cindy rolled her eyes. "Her class starts in ten minutes."

"What class?" Chloe asked, directing the question to Cindy.

"Yoga." She said with a grin.

Chloe placed the paper down on the counter. She unzipped her sweatshirt and pulled it off, shoving it in Grant's hands, leaving him more bewildered than before.

"Which studio?" Chloe called over her shoulder, already heading towards them.

"Cl – cl – Chloe." Grant stammered. "I don't – I mean – you don't..."

"Two!" Cindy chimed in.

"Thanks." Chloe replied, her heart pounding as she closed the studio door behind her and leaned up against it. Her hand moved to rest over her heart as she willed it to return to normal. She'd done it. Chloe sighed and hugged her arms around herself. She'd actually done it.

Grant looked down at his hands, the pale blue fabric of her shirt soft against his fingers. He'd let her teach the class, but then he'd tell her it wouldn't work out. At least that's what he told himself. As if in a trance, he brought Chloe's sweatshirt to his face and inhaled a bit, the scent that clung to it bringing countless memories of her to his mind. Despite everything he tried, a tiny glimmer of hope rose up and took hold of his heart.

"Boy that was quick. Looks like you found us April's replacement." Cindy said brightly, giggling a bit.

As Grant turned to face her with a mesmerized look on his face, she knew she'd picked up on something. She couldn't help teasing him a little. She had always thought a guy as incredibly cute as him shouldn't be alone. This was the first time in the year she'd worked there that she actually saw him show any interest in anyone. And he obviously already knew Chloe which was a great head start. Smiling over at Grant, she decided to give him a little nudge.

"She's adorable, boss." Cindy said giggling louder, her eyes bright with amusement. "You know what? You should ask her out. You two look like you were meant to be together."