Hello, people of Earth. I thought that I wouldn't have time to write and update, but guess what! I did! Yipee!

Anyways, thank you for all of the reviews, and, as always, thank you to Kalilong7 who always helps me make up my mind

Now, without further ado, I present chapter 5.

"Hey, Amy!" Chloe smiled at her friend as she made her way over the seat next to her. They still had a few minutes before class officially started, so they had time to catch up.

"What was that?" Amy was referring to the scene that she witnessed as she walked by, where Chloe was tucked away in Alek's embrace, who was squaring off with Tyler.

"Oh, you know, Tyler was being an ass, and Alek was being, well…" Chloe drifted off and looked into a distance, a smiling started to glide its way onto her face. Her thoughts went to Alek and how primal and… just how hot he looked when he was protecting her.

"Oh, no. No, Chloe, you are not going to go all mushy and lovey-dovey on me now!" Amy whined. "Someone needs to make sure that I don't go insane from that! Being mushy is my job!" Chloe couldn't help but laugh at Amy as the bell rung.

"Oh, Amy, can I borrow a pencil? I kind of got side tracked earlier…" Amy sighed in response and handed her a pencil. "Thank you!"

Lunch came quite quickly that Monday. Alek waited for Chloe outside of her classroom to head to the cafeteria. Chloe somehow managed to walk by and not notice the British sex god waiting for her, so he decided to scare her. He silently walked up behind Chloe, wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off of the ground. He managed to turn Chloe around in his arms in the air so that, when he let her feet fall back down to the ground, her balance would be off and she would have to lean on him or wrap her arms around him to prevent herself from falling. Which is exactly what happened, of course.

No words were exchanged as Alek smirked at Chloe and she shot him a playful glare in return. Alek gently turned Chloe around in the forward direction, keeping one arm around her waist, and began to lead her to the cafeteria.

"That's what you get for ignoring me," Alek smiled. Chloe's response was to gently shove Alek in the arm. It wasn't very powerful, but it caught Alek off guard and caused him to stumble sideways a little bit and to unwrap his arm from Chloe. He quickly recovered and pulled himself back up to Chloe, draping and arm around shoulders while she placed hers around his waist. In this way, they made it to the cafeteria.

They decided to take a table to themselves. Alek didn't really want to share Chloe with his friends. Not yet, at least. The moment they placed their lunches on the table, Paul and Amy joined them. Eventually, Jasmine did so as well.

Until a few days ago, Alek could never have imagined himself sitting at a table with this group of people. But, after getting to know Paul and Amy yesterday, and after seeing how happy they made Chloe, he was more than willing to sit with them. Giving up his social life and his "friends" that couldn't come up with a witty retort if their life depended on it was totally worth spending time with Chloe and even being surrounded by imaginative dorks like Paul.

He was actually happy.

After school, Alek walked Chloe to work, instead of following her like he usually did. He had dropped off his car at Chloe's place because he knew that he would be there after her shift. Their fingers were entwined and they walked in a comfortable silence. They both stole glances at one another, but their glances were sometimes met by the other's and that made them blush, chuckle and turn away, but move closer to each other for a moment. They were having a great time together, and they weren't even really doing anything.

That moment, unfortunately, was ruined when Chloe glanced up and found Brian waiting for her in the shop. He smiled at her once she came into the store and into his sight, but the smile was quickly turned into an expression of fury as he noticed Chloe's hand in Alek's.

Oh, this is going to be awkward, Chloe had been dreading this moment for a while in the back of her mind, hoping that it wouldn't come to existence as soon as this.

"It'll be fine," Alek whispered to her as if he had read her mind, "It's better that we get this over with now, rather than later." His British accent somehow managed to soothe her worries a tad. But only a little bit.

The couple approached Brian, who was standing by the counter. He glared at both of them, millions of swear words racing through his thoughts.

"Hello, Chloe," He addressed her coldly and made a point of ignoring Alek.

"Hey, Brian," Chloe nervously replied.

"You know, this is a really low stunt you're pulling," Brian spat at her.

Chloe could feel Alek tighten his grip on her hand, attempting to restrain himself from teaching the human a few manners.

"Excuse me?" Chloe's blood was starting to boil. She didn't want to date Brian, and she said that ages ago. He really had no right to be speaking to her like this.

"You tell me you don't want to date me because you're 'not ready', yet, here you are, holding hands with some guy. What is he, your catch of the day?"

"At this point in time, I'd have it be anyone but you," Chloe was growling and her grip on Alek's hand was now tighter than his on hers. She didn't know where this anger was coming from, but she felt that it gave her a surge of confidence to set Brian in his place. That's what he gets for lying to her about waiting. That's what he gets for pushing her to do something that she didn't want to do by telling her he loves her. Karma, baby.

"Now, now, Chloe, you don't have to be rude. You've already stomped on anyone valuable already. God, Chloe. You're acting like such a whore," and that was the breaking point for Alek.

Alek slowly stepped in front of Chloe and easily towered over Brian by a few inches. The fury that was in his eyes was the same that met Tyler in the hallway earlier that day.

"You will not speak to a lady like that. Especially to Chloe. Ever again." His voice was almost a whisper, but he made sure that Brian heard him loud and clear. His tone was so menacing that it caused Chloe to have a shiver shoot through her spine. There was fear in Brian's eyes for a moment before he shook his head to bring him back into the role that he was supposed to be playing: the "I will have my revenge" ex.

"Maybe in England you were raised to treat a lady like a lady under any circumstances, but here in the states, we play our cards a little bit differently." Brian threw a final glare in Chloe's direction before storming off. Alek watched the door for about twenty seconds to make sure that he didn't come back before he turned back to Chloe.

There was a smile of gratitude on her face that made him relax instantly; he didn't even realize how tense he was until he did so. Instead of uttering a word, Chloe lifted herself onto her toes and placed a kiss on Alek's lips.

It was a gentle kiss, but, behind the curtains, it was filled with fire and passion. Both were trying to restrain it, not wanting to ruin the moment. Alek gently placed his hands on Chloe's hips to steady their physical unity.

"I'll be over there, doing homework, if you need me," Alek whispered before he left Chloe to her work.

After her shift, Alek walked her home and said that he needed to grab something from his place and that he would be back soon. While he was gone, Chloe received a call from her mother.

"Hi, sweetie!"

"Hey, mom, how's Los Angeles?" Chloe sat on a bar stool surrounding the island in her kitchen and rested her elbows on the counter.

"It's good, really good. Maybe even too good…" Meredith drifted off as if she wanted Chloe to catch on to something. Which she did.

"You're staying there for a few more days, aren't you?"

"Just until next week, sweetie. I should be back Wednesday."

"Well, I'm glad things are looking up for you!" Chloe spoke sincerely.

"Thanks, sweetie. You know the drill?"

"I know where the money is, I know where the emergency credit card is, and I know where that giant, monstrously sized book of house rules is. Don't worry, I've got it under control."

"Thank goodness for that. It's so nice to know that I don't have a teenager who is in the stage of rebellion right now."

"Yes, mom. Good for you." Chloe heard a knock. "Hey, mom, I think there's someone at the door. I'll talk to you later?"

"Alright, sweetie. Make sure you have pepper spray in your pocket first. Just in case. I love you."

"Implied. Bye, mom." And with that she hung and approached the door.

Chloe found Jasmine on her doorstep. It was raining again so she was soaked to the skin. Chloe stepped aside to allow Jasmine to pass into the dry house. She started pacing and Chloe could tell that something was off.

"Jasmine… What's wrong?"

"Alek isn't here with you, is he?"

"No, I thought that he went home to grab something. He should be coming back soon. Why?"

"I was on the phone with him while he was walking somewhere, and then I heard him swear, I heard some sort of crash and then the line went dead."

"Should we call Valentina?"

"My mom's in Vegas, remember? There's no way she would time to figure stuff out or get here in time to fix it herself."

"Alright, alright, um… before we both flip out, maybe there is a reasonable explanation for this?"

Both of them knew that Chloe was just saying that, but she still received a glare from Jasmine telling her that now was not the time for her optimism.

"Alright, well, we don't know that he's in trouble. And we wouldn't know anyway to find him. I suggest that you go back to your apartment and I'll stay here. Alek would show up either there or here. If he's not back in thirty minutes, then we'll call for some reinforcements. While you're at your house, look for some phone numbers and keep them in front of you just in case."

Jasmine nodded to Chloe, a kind of silent "thanks for helping", before walking back out into the rain.

"Text me when you get home!" Chloe yelled after her, hoping that she would hear her. Even with their super hearing, the rain might still make it hard to hear.

About ten minutes later, Chloe received a text message from Jasmine saying that she got home safely and is now waiting for Alek and looking for numbers. It was a complete coincidence that someone knocked on Chloe's door just as she received the text.

Chloe was hesitant to open the door. Dear goodness knows who was at the steps. She began searching through the drawers in the kitchen, looking for the pepper spray her mom told her about.

"It's me, Chloe. Open up." The sound of the British accent drifted to Chloe's ears and her head shot up in worry. His voice sounded weak and tired, as if he had just run to the east coast and back.

Chloe jogged up to the door and swung it open. The sight that met her eyes stunned her.

Alek's face was covered in his own blood. There were scratches everywhere and a huge bruise was forming on his left cheek bone. His clothes were covered in black grease and mud. He was holding his shoulder very tightly, occasionally wincing in pain. Chloe didn't see blood, and Alek wasn't howling in pain, so Chloe assumed that it was just another growing bruise.

Chloe hurried Alek in and told him to take a seat in a chair. She rummaged through some cabinets looking for the first aid kit. Then, she took out her phone to text Jasmine.

He's here. A bit bloodied up, but safe. –Chloe

Do you need me to come over? To help? –Jasmine

No, I think we're good here. I've got it under control –Chloe

Alright. Thanks for helping! Tell Alek I'm going to kill him if he doesn't have a good reason for disappearing on my like that! –Jasmine

Sure, no problem. I'll see you tomorrow –Chloe

Chloe started taking out some cotton balls and some rubbing alcohol, preparing to clean Alek.

"This might sting a little bit," Chloe warned as she began to dab the cotton ball gently onto Alek's scratches. She heard him hiss in pain and began to blow on whatever spot she just disinfected, cooling away the pain.

"So, do you plan on telling me what the hell happened?" Alek could tell that Chloe was a little bit pissed off. He didn't know if she was mad at him, but maybe she was. He had no way of knowing. Her tone also expressed hurt, empathetic, of course, along with an incredible amount of worry.

This concern gave Alek a confidence boost. He suddenly felt much better. He wished that he didn't have to get beat up to feel this way, or to have Chloe so worried about him, but he felt needed. He felt like Chloe was dependent on him and needed him to be okay. Which she did, although she would never admit it.

"Do you want to know the whole story, with every detail, or the basic outline?" Chloe tripped on her feet at that moment and Alek placed his hands on her hips to steady her. As she nurtured his face, he didn't let go.

"How about a non-vague, but basic outline?" She tried very hard not to blush. This would have been the wrong moment.

"Well, I was walking and then your favorite human, Brian, pulled me into an alley. He started to throw a punch here, give a kick there. I didn't really fight back, but then I noticed some guys showing up with ropes. I recognized a face or two from having fought them before. They were part of the Order and they had gotten Brian involved. They thought that he would be a good buffer, wearing me down so that they could capture me. I think they said something about using me as bait. I don't think that Brian actually knows that you, specifically, are the Uniter. He just knows that one exists. At least, that's the impression I got. I made it out of the alley before things could get worse and before I had the lovely opportunity to hear everything." Sarcasm never seemed to escape him.

Chloe didn't reply, just nodded her head in response. She had entered her own world for a moment as she put down the rubbing alcohol and uncapped a tube of Neosporin.

"Why in the world didn't you fight back?" She barely whispered, as if she was terrified to know the answer.

"In all honesty, I know that you had some feelings for him. I knew that you liked him at the moment, or at least didn't hate him, even after our encounter at your store. So I felt like you would be mad at me if I came out unscathed and he came out bloodied up."

"Well, it turned out to be the opposite, didn't it?" Alek could feel Chloe's mood changing from worried to amused.

"Yes, but now, you would be mad at him, and not at me. Therefore, I think I win in this situation." He shot Chloe his trade mark smirk.

"You still should have fought back."

"And why is that?"

"Because I only used Brian to make you jealous. I was holding on to some tiny thread of hope that you be aggravated by it enough to do something about it. I didn't even know if you liked me, but it was worth the shot. At least is worked!" Chloe tried to feign innocence as she dabbed her finger with some of the gel and rubbed it onto some of Alek's scratches.

He just stared at her with his mouth wide open. This was girl was capable of things more devious and more conniving than he thought she would ever be. This was a side that he hadn't seen before, and it was sexier than the confident, kick ass side, if that was even possible. But he just got played. Chloe practically made him play her game. Wow…

"You little minx…" Alek quickly wrapped his arms around Chloe's waist and ripped her from her balance into his chest. For some reason, Chloe's hands went into Alek's hair. The Neosporin covered hands that now made his hair all greasy. But that would be taken care of later.

"Well, what can I say? Don't hate the player, hate the game." Chloe spoke in a seductively low voice. She knew what they were doing now. It was yet another one of their games. Oh, how she loved their games…

"It seems that I've taught you well, King," Alek responded in the same seductive tone as Chloe had used.

Alek had expected a witty retort to fall from Chloe's lips at any second, but that didn't come. What in the world did this girl have in mind?

"Alek?"

"Yes, dear?" Ah, the universal phrase of giving in, again.

"Shut up."

"Yes, dear."

Alek saw the lust in her eyes as she leaned down to kiss him. Her lips teased him as they brushed against his, but they never really landed. Her breath tickled his face a little bit, and he was getting quite impatient at the moment.

"Chloe?" His need was obvious in his voice.

"Yes, dear?" She mocked him.

"Shut up."

Before Chloe even had a chance to respond, Alek's hand tangled itself in Chloe's hair and quickly pushed her head towards him, claiming her lips as his.

The end! Of this chapter, not the story, don't worry, haha. I think, but I'm not sure, that I might add a little bit of action to this. Not too much, but just to add a level of physical/battle protection to the story, not just from ass holes and stuff, haha. Tell me what you think of this idea.

Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you liked it! Please review!