I guess, as time went on, I fell for her…I just didn't really realize it.
Chloe was at the Benbow a month before anyone really realized it. She made an agreement with Sarah, saying that she would work around the inn where ever she was needed in exchange for living there. She worked in the kitchen; she changed out linens in the guest rooms and did the laundry of the inn's permanent residents (Sarah, Jim and herself.)
Jim was still trying to 'figure things out', but every time he was too engrossed in his thoughts, Chloe would come to him. Sarah still sent him off to be manly, so he mostly ended up repairing things around the inn. A leak in the roof, bricks falling off the chimney, broken window, loose weather vane; Jim ended up fixing it all, along with working on the vehicles of inn goers if they needed it.
The work itself wasn't too bad, earning Jim some money of his own, but it never kept his mind occupied. As he worked to repair whatever it was that needed repairing, his mind would wander first to his father, then to Silver. Jim would start to get depressed the more that he thought, because he was still stuck in the same place he was when he first got home. Something was missing…but what?
Every time that question crossed Jim's mind, Chloe would appear, almost as if by magic, usually bringing him food sent by his mother. The two would sit and talk, eating together. Once the food was gone, Chloe would go back to the inn to work while Jim continued with whatever he had been working on.
Chloe couldn't remember much from before her crash. She managed to pull insignificant things from deep within her mind. Her favorite color to wear was green, while her favorite color in general was strawberry. She didn't eat meat (which they found out the hard way when she entered the kitchen while it was cooking and got sick because of the smell). And she loved to read; she was constantly borrowing books from the Dopplers.
The authorities never got in touch with Sarah; she assumed that no missing person's reports had been filed. It made her rather happy to have Chloe around; the young woman was entertaining, and Sarah also enjoyed attempting to get Jim and Chloe together. The two young people were oblivious to Sarah's actions, which made things even more entertaining for the inn keeper/ matchmaker.
One night, a month after Chloe's crash landing into his life, Jim got up to get something to drink. His mind was working hard instead of letting him go to sleep; he thought maybe some purp juice would help him wind down.
A thunder storm was pounding the inn mercilessly; lightning flashed and thunder responded loudly. Jim could feel it vibrate within the ground under his bare feet as he walked. He went into the kitchen, but found that there wasn't any juice to drink. He sighed, returning to his room.
As he passed Chloe's room, thunder rattled the inn so loudly that Jim's eardrums rang. He heard a cry; Chloe must have been awaked by the storm. Jim knocked on her door. "Chloe," he whispered just loud enough to be heard over the storm. "Are you okay?"
No answer; thunder rocked the house again, and Jim heard another yelp of fear. He opened Chloe's door a crack, trying to see if she was alright. As lightning flashed, Jim saw a quivering ball lying in the center of Chloe's bed. Jim took a step forward, holding his hand out in front of him so he wouldn't run into anything. "Chloe?"
Chloe jumped at the sound of her name; she had her comforter wrapped around herself tightly, as if that would protect her from the storm. "J-jim," she stammered. The house shook again as thunder rolled, and Chloe yelped again, flattening herself against her bed as best she could.
Jim gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Chloe, are you okay?"
Chloe nodded despite her trembling. "Y-yeah…I'm f-fine. You can go back to bed."
Jim sat down on the edge of her bed, keeping a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You're afraid of storms?"
Chloe started to shake her head no, but when thunder rumbled again, she whimpered. "Yeah, but just the thunder."
Jim chuckled a little as he began to gently rub her back. "It's okay," he said. "It can't hurt you."
"I know that," Chloe said, her voice muffled by the mattress. "That doesn't mean it scares me any less."
Jim laughed a little as Chloe began to sit up. "I think the storm's passing, so you should be okay."
Chloe nodded, managing to give Jim a small smile. Then the house was rocked by thunder again, and she panicked. She launched herself at Jim, wrapping her arms around his stomach. Jim jumped as well, caught off guard by the sudden attachment. When he felt her shaking, he took to rubbing her back gently again. "Hey, it's okay; I'm right here. It's okay."
Jim moved a little, leaning up against the head board with his legs stretched out across the bed. He kept an arm around Chloe, his hand resting in the middle of her back. She clung to him tightly, cringing with every roll of thunder. Jim heard her speak, her voice muffled, this time by his shirt. "Sorry," she said, but snuggled closer to him as she did.
Jim laughed a little as he took to running his fingers through the ends of her hair. "Don't worry about it," he said. The two stayed that way, Chloe's head on Jim's chest until they both fell asleep.
XD XD XD
"James Pleiades Hawkins!"
Jim woke with a start at hearing his name being yelled. He was lying on his side, facing the door to the room he was in. His mother stood in the door way, her hands in her hips and an angry expression on her face. "Just what is going on here?"
Jim gave her a confused look, not entirely sure what she meant. Then he felt the movement in front of him; when Jim looked down, he saw Chloe, her arms wrapped around his stomach, her face buried in his chest.
Jim gasped softly, not remembering how he had gotten there. When he did remember, he smiled at the sleeping girl, gently brushing some of her hair away from her cheek. Chloe sighed in her sleep, snuggling closer to him.
Sarah began tapping her foot from the door way, but her angry face was replaced by a smirk. "I'll explain later, Mom," Jim whispered. Sarah shook her head, then nodded and pulled the door closed behind her.
XD XD XD
Chloe avoided Jim most of the day; she had been very embarrassed to wake up clinging to a very attractive man. Unfortunately for her, that day was Jim's twenty first birthday, so she had no choice but to interact with him that night at the party Sarah had insisted on having.
Sarah didn't say anything to Chloe after her son explained why he had been in the young lady's room; Chloe was grateful for that. She had been embarrassed enough when she woke up to find Jim gazing down at her; she didn't want to have to try and explain anything to his mother. Besides, nothing inappropriate happened. Jim had just been attempting to comfort a friend.
"Jim's my friend," Chloe thought as she went about her day, helping Jim's mother prepare for the party that night. "Friends can comfort each other like that, right?"
What Chloe couldn't wrap her head around was why every time she thought of Jim, her closest friend, her heart would go into over drive.
XD XD XD
That evening there was a celebration, the likes of which the Benbow Inn had never seen. There was food, drink and dancing in honor of Jim's twenty-first birthday. Morph even transformed into a crown and remained perched on Jim's head throughout the night.
Jim and Sarah had just finished leading a line dance, and the other party goers were wandering off in search of food and drink. Jim had taken a seat in a chair beside the window, politely refusing any alcohol that was offered to him. Just because he was of age didn't mean he wanted to drink the stuff; he hated the smell by itself. He doubted he would like the taste.
The Dopplers came over to see him, all four children presenting him with gifts. From Albert, Jim received a noodle portrait of the Doppler children with their 'Uncle Jimmy'. The blonde daughter, Clara, gave Jim a finger painting of what looked like Jim solar surfing. It was either that or a Candarian zap-wing crashing into a cliff. Jim couldn't tell which, but he smiled at the child anyway.
The brunette and red headed girls, Bertha and Phoebe, presented Jim with what looked like an ashtray. It was large enough for Jim to wear it as a hat, but he didn't do that because he was sure that would upset the two young girls. He smiled again, hugging all the children tightly before they were shepherded away by their mother. The Doc spoke with Jim just before the family left for the night, wishing him a happy birthday and handing him a wrapped package, which turned out to be a book on the mechanics of several different types of ships. Jim thanked him as he walked out the door.
Jim watched the party, glad to see everyone was having a good time. He could see B.E.N. dancing in his strange robotic way as other party goers alternated between dancing and drinking.
"Jim?"
Jim looked toward the stairs leading to the guestrooms; Chloe was standing on the third step up, dressed in a very pretty green dress. It was fitted on her torso, and then the skirt flowed down from her waist. It had short sleeves and a square cut neck line that was both modest and flattering. The skirt ended at her ankles, and Jim noticed that she was wearing new shoes, a pair of black boot like…things that cut off around her ankles. When Chloe noticed Jim looking her up and down, she blushed, shifting the package she was holding in her hands slightly.
"I, uh…" she started before walking down the stairs and coming to stand in front of him. "Happy birthday."
Chloe held the package out to him; it was a rectangular shape wrapped in green cloth and tied with a light green ribbon. Jim smiled at her as he took it from her; her hands immediately went up to play with the end of her braid, which was hanging over her left shoulder and was held in place by a green ribbon which matched her dress.
Jim untied the ribbon around the package and then gently pulled the green cloth away. "That's actually a handkerchief," Chloe said softly as Jim inspected what it had been wrapped around.
A dark brown leather novel with the words 'Treasure Planet' printed on the cover and spine in an elegant script. "It's not holographic like the one you had where you were a kid, but I thought you would like it."
Jim smiled at her as he stood. "Thank you," he said, but was then unsure about what else to do. He stooped down and kissed Chloe's cheek, causing her to blush deep burgundy. "Would you like to dance?" Jim asked her, holding his hand out to her.
"Oh, uh," Chloe started, picking at her fingernails. "Jim, I can't even manage to walk down the stairs with almost dying on a daily basis. I don't think dancing will be a good idea for me."
Jim laughed a little as he took Chloe's hand in his. "Don't worry, I'll teach you."
Chloe began to protest, but Jim pulled her out amongst the other party goers as a new song started up. "Stand back to back with me," he said. Chloe did as she was told; Jim took hold of her hands as they stood back to back, lacing his fingers through hers. "Now we're going to go to the left; move your feet side-back-side-front in time with the music, okay?"
"Jim…" Chloe said uncertainly.
"Don't worry," Jim said, squeezing her hands, trying to reassure her.
They began moving to the music, traveling from one side of the room to the other. "Now turn around and face me," Jim said, quickly releasing Chloe's left hand and spinning her around to face him.
Chloe was caught by surprise and blushed at the sudden closeness. "Now what?"
"We go back across the floor the way we came, just facing each other." Jim pushed Chloe away gently, allowing their feet to have enough room to maneuver. They made their way back across the floor, and Chloe laughed. "You're doing it Chloe!" Jim said happily as they came to the other end of the room and the song ended.
"I did it!" Chloe jumped up and down a little, hugging Jim tightly around the neck. Jim hugged her back, his heart hammering in his chest, though he wasn't sure if it was from the dancing or from Chloe's embrace.
Jim glanced down at her just as she gazed up at him, and they both came to a realization. They cared for one another. After a month of friendship, the two young people had come to care about each other very much. Chloe was standing on her toes already as she kept her arms wrapped around Jim's neck, but she stretched herself up toward him just as Jim leaned down. Their lips met for the briefest of moments before they heard a distinctive 'awwww' from B.E.N., who had managed to find is way over to them.
Chloe jumped back slightly, her face flushed and a goofy sort of grin on her face. "Thanks B.E.N.," she said before turning away from Jim, her embarrassment getting the better of her.
"Any time Chloe!" The robot gave her a semi-salute. "Jimmy, there's someone at the door asking for you."
"Who is it?" Jim asked, giving Chloe one last glance before following the robot to the door.
B.E.N. shrugged before pulling the door open.
"Jimbo!"
Jim froze, a smile spreading across his face. Standing on his door step, wrapped in a black traveling cloak was John Silver.
Yippee! I've really wanted to write that dance moment for a long time. I'm thinking of attempting to draw Chloe's party outfit, but I'm worried it won't turn out well. If anyone's willing to help, let me know!
Also, I'd just like to warn everyone that Silver is going to seem like the bad guy in this fic for a bit. He'll come around eventually, I promise you, and he's not totally bad, he's just attempting to make a living and going about it the wrong way.
Also, thanks so much for reviewing! It means the world to me! Keep them coming, and I'll keep the chapters coming!
Lastly, the 'dance' Jim and Chloe do is one I made up; all you do is stand back to back holding hands and to a grapevine to the left till you reach the end of the floor. Then you turn around and do a grapevine to the right, this time facing each other. It's really fun!
Till next time!
XXOO~BBTM