A/N – sorry for yet another short chapter, two updates today though to make up for it!

Chapter 8

The next morning Chloe woke up to find Vince was yet again lying beside her with his head resting on her chest. She wasn't sure if he was awake or not but she couldn't resist lightly tracing his tattoos with her fingers. The ink work was exquisite and not for the 1st time she found herself thanking God that they'd not been damaged when Vince had been hurt. Chloe didn't realise Vince was awake until he spoke to her.

"That tickles you know." Vince had been awake for a while but had been enjoying having Chloe so close to him. He'd waited until she was asleep then crept into her room and her bed. He'd been too scared to sleep by himself because of his terrifying nightmares but he was too afraid to ask Chloe if he could sleep with her. He wasn't sure what he was more afraid off – showing Chloe he wasn't the strong man he should be or having her say no. In the end his fear of sleeping alone had won out and he'd found himself yet again in Chloe's bed wrapped around her body.

"Sorry, baby. I didn't mean to wake you up." Chloe wanted to ask Vince how long he'd been in her bed but she didn't want to make him think she didn't want him there. The truth was she loved having him there but she also knew that he had to confront his nightmares or he'd never find peace.

For the next few hours Vince and Chloe stayed in bed, snuggled up with each other – neither wanting to be the one to make the 1st move to get out of bed. It was Jesse's funeral that day and they were both wishing they could just lock the doors and pretend they weren't there.

Eventually they knew that they couldn't put it off any longer and got up. Conversation was non existent in the house that morning. Chloe couldn't help remembering her parent's funeral and Vince kept thinking how the rest of the team should be there to say goodbye to Jesse. He couldn't understand why Leon wasn't there – he was practically Jesse's blood yet they'd not heard anything from him since the failed heist. It was almost as if Leon didn't know anything had happened to Jesse.

"Chloe, did you call Mia and let her know about Jesse?" All Vince could think off was that Leon didn't know, if he had known about Jesse he'd have been there with them by now.

Chloe's heart sank when she heard Vince's question. How on earth was she supposed to tell him that she'd called his friends every night since the 'accident' to tell them how Vince was but they'd never answered the phone. She'd left messages and sent texts but Mia never returned her calls. When Chloe didn't answer straight away Vince came into her room to ask her again. He wasn't sure if she'd heard him or not and he needed to know the answer.

For the second time in 2 days Vince found himself standing in Chloe's bedroom doorway completely speechless. Chloe was wearing a black lace dress that stopped just above her knees and black, strappy sandals. Her hair was loose again and Vince couldn't stop himself from imagining tangling his hands up in it as he kissed her.

"Sorry, baby I didn't hear what……" Chloe turned to face Vince as she spoke to him and stopped mid sentence. Vince looked amazing – he was wearing a crisp white shirt and the new black suit that they'd bought the previous day. The most heart stopping thing about him was the fact he was completely clean shaven.

"I said – did you call Mia and let her know about Jesse?"

Yet again Chloe was saved from answering Vince's question, only this time is was by the doorbell. The undertakers had arrived and it was time to leave.

"Come on baby, we can't be late." The moment Chloe had been dreading had arrived – she'd not been back to the church since her parent's service and she wasn't sure how it was going to affect her. She knew she had to be strong for Vince but she wasn't sure if she could keep her emotions to herself. "You look fantastic Vince."

Chloe took hold of Vince's hand, walked through the house, took a deep breath and opened the front door.

"Brian, what the hell are you doing here?" Vince couldn't believe it - the buster was the last person he expected to see, especially not today.