Hello, there, reader!

Thank you all for the amazing reviews! Over 200! Woot!

Things are going to start to get pretty serious here, just because I kind of felt like it. I don't know why, but I had this idea and I just kind of decided to act upon it…

But I'll try to keep it pretty fluffy

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this, and I present to you chapter 9.

Chloe stared at the piece of paper in her hands. She couldn't believe her eyes. Its contents, who it's from, anything concerning the letter.

Brian Rezza the envelope read. Why in the world would he be trying to contact Chloe? She had made it very clear that she didn't want a thing to do with him. He could at least give her a month to cool down. But a week? Really? Just a week? Was he that desperate?

But the contents of the letter… that's what confused her the most.

Chloe,

I know I was a jerk. I shouldn't have beaten up Alek. I was angry and I wasn't thinking straight and he just walked right by the alley and I jumped him. It's as if some sort of cat-like reflex had taken over.

Brian probably didn't realize his mistake of comparing his instincts to the animal. Either that or he was trying to get Chloe to understand something about Alek that he thought she didn't know. Chloe spotted it instantly, however.

I really want to make it up to. I do love you, yes, and I probably will for a while, but our friendship is more valuable. If you could give me a second chance, I would be eternally grateful. Please, let me make things up to you. Meet me at the coffee shop near the water at eight on Saturday.

Love, Brian

At first, when Chloe saw the letter, she thought that this would be a trap. But the coffee shop was a pretty popular place, and Brian wasn't stupid enough to do anything to her in public.

Chloe was still confused as she read over the letter again.

I mean, they had tried to be friends. That didn't work. At all. In fact, he had pushed her into unwanted and uncomfortable territory even after she told him that she didn't want to go there. Is she really going to try this again?

On the other hand, she did kind of owe Brian something. Maybe a simple explanation in person would be enough. Yeah, that's it. She'd just meet up with him to gently let him down and tell him to piss off.

Although, Alek wouldn't be okay with Chloe going to see him, even if all she wanted to do was get him to leave her alone. Chloe was pretty sure that he would just rather do it himself.

Chloe decided to put it away for now. She still had time until Saturday, so she would think about it. But, for now, she had to run to work. Thank goodness for early dismissals. Chloe might actually be on time today.

The day at work was slow. Even the coffee shop attached to the store was empty. Probably because there wasn't any homework assigned tonight, so no one needed a dose of caffeine to get them through the night of writing essays until two in the morning. Why in the world this was going on was beyond Chloe, but, hey, who was she to complain?

Chloe leaned onto the counter and sighed out of boredom. Lana had left and told her to close up on time, but that all she had to do now was watch over the place. Chloe was looking at the boxes of new items that had just come in that rested on the other side of the store. She had to do inventory and then hang everything up. She was doomed.

That is, until her savior walked into the store.

Alek strutted in from the coffee shop. He had no homework to be done so he was just as bored as Chloe was. And when she saw her facial expression of dread regarding her tasks, he thought he might as well save her.

"Hello, there, love," Alek snuck up behind Chloe and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his head around her to kiss her on the cheek.

"Oh! Alek, don't sneak up on me like that!" Chloe giggled. She should be mad at him, but she couldn't help but just melt into his warm and strong body behind her. She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder and rolling her head so that her nose skimmed Alek's neck.

He called me "love"! Chloe mentally freaked out about how much she loved hearing that. Honestly, she would give anything in the world to hear him say that to her for forever.

"I don't want to do this work…"

"But don't you get paid for it? You have to earn the money somehow…" Alek teased. He laughed and Chloe could feel the vibrations tickle her nose.

"Yeah, but… I don't wanna…" Chloe complained like a little child.

"How about if I help?" Alek offered.

Chloe pulled back her head and leaned away from Alek to look at him in the eyes.

"Seriously? You want to help me take inventory in a clothing store? Do you even know the difference between a cardigan and a blouse?" Chloe looked at him amused.

"I live with two women in the apartment. I'm not necessarily proud of the fact, but of course I know the difference!"

Chloe practically jumped on Alek in excitement and gratitude. She pushed her lips onto hers as Alek caught Chloe from her little hop onto him. His strong arms lifted her onto the counter as she wrapped hers around his neck to maintain balance. Alek could feel Chloe smiling against his lips, which made him smile. Seeing her happy was what made him happy. As cheesy as that sounds, it was true. That's how you feel about someone you love.

"You know, if Lana walks in right, I'm fired… again." Chloe reluctantly pulled away from the kiss, knowing that they should really get started.

"Ah, but she's not coming back today, is she?" Alek leaned in to try and recapture Chloe's lips. He managed to do so for a second, but Chloe pulled away quickly.

"Come on, Alek," she hopped off of the counter. "We have to finish by the end of the day, or else Lana will actually fire me. And I don't think that she has another abusive boyfriend for me to save her from."

"Fine. I mean, I guess, the sooner we start, the sooner we finish, right?"

Chloe simply nodded in response as she pulled out the inventory notebook.

"Can't I at least get a kiss to motivate me?" Alek gave her a puppy dog face.

Chloe raised one eyebrow before grabbing Alek by the collar of his button down shirt and pulling his head down to have his lips crash onto hers. Alek put his hands on the counter behind Chloe to trap her next to him.

Just as quickly as it started, the kiss ended once Chloe pulled away and snuck under Alek's arm before he could even react and trap her for longer.

"Come on, loverboy. Help me with those boxes over there."

They worked for a solid hour, almost wordlessly. Alek would bring the box over to Chloe and help her take out all of its contents. Chloe would then list what was in the box into the notebook and write down how many there were. She would then fold them or put them on a hanger before sending Alek to put them away in the right place.

Chloe would occasionally let her mind wander off somewhere. Specifically towards Alek and how his slightly baggy sleeves did absolutely nothing to hide his arms and how they flexed. Eventually, Alek took off his shirt, leaving him in just a black wife beater, distracting Chloe even more. He either got too hot, since he was doing most of the physical work around here, or just a little bit too cocky.

Black was such a good color against his skin…

They soon finished what they had to do with half an hour to spare before Chloe could close up. They waited fifteen minutes before deciding that no one was going to come in in the last minutes of the shift, so they began to lock up. Chloe turned the key at exactly six.

They lovebirds decided to head back to Chloe's house and watch a movie. An action movie, this time, Chloe demanded. Alek pretended that he would be okay with watch a chick flick if Chloe wanted to, but she knew that he wanted to see an action film and was really just being a gentleman.

Chloe honestly never thought that she would see this side of Alek. She had gotten used to the "jocko" Alek with his constant sarcastic smirks and teasing comments. But this side of him that was so caring and loving had come as a complete surprise to Chloe. She had admitted to herself that she did love Alek before she even knew and before they had gotten together, but seeing this side of him made her fall in love with him even more.

Alek was sitting on the couch, slightly leaning on the side to make it easier for his girl, with his arm draped over Chloe, who had her feet up and the couch and was leaning on Alek. About halfway through the film, Chloe stopped leaning on Alek and rested her head in Alek's lap, lying down completely. Alek's arm itself fell onto Chloe's waist.

In the middle of one of the high-action scenes, Chloe heard the door open, causing her to squeal. Alek didn't hear a thing and thought that Chloe was just startled by an explosion in the movie. He chuckled, thinking about how adorable his girlfriend was. Chloe blushed and attempted to hide her face from Alek, even though she was already facing away from him.

Their cute little moment was, unfortunately, interrupted quite terribly.

"Um, would someone like to explain to me what is going on here?"

Chloe sat up rapidly and turned around to find her mother standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and a pretty pissed off facial expression.

"Mom! You're home! How was Vegas?" Chloe tried to get away from the topic of what her mother just found.

"It was lovely, I was going to tell you all about it. But then I walk into the house to find a guy on our couch. And, I know I said that there were no boys in your bedroom, it was bed-boy, off all people! Really, Chloe?"

Now, it was Alek's turn to speak. Right as Chloe was about to open her mouth and speak, Alek intruded with his own thoughts.

"Um, excuse me, Mrs. King?" Meredith turned her head towards Alek with a raised eyebrow. "With all due respect, I would like to intervene for a moment and apologize for our previous encounter. I'm not sure if this is the right time to do it, but I will anyways. I was in Chloe's room, yes, but I apologize for acting rudely towards you and pretending like it wasn't a big deal that teenage boy was in a teenage girl's bedroom. I'm not saying that we were doing anything, Chloe would never, but I understand your concern and I apologize."

There was a moment of silence between the three of them before Meredith spoke up, apparently with a change of heart.

"Not many attractive teenage boys are willing to apologize in such a manner right off of the bat. Therefore, I am willing to look past this and maybe even the bedroom encounter. How about you come over for dinner tomorrow and we can have a clean slate?" Both Chloe and Alek were in complete shock that those words had actually just left her mother's mouth.

"That would be wonderful, Mrs. King. Thank you," Alek smiled at her. Surprisingly, the smile was returned.

"Great, I will be seeing you tomorrow around 7, then. But, if you'll excuse me, I would like to speak to my daughter. Alone."

"Of course, Mrs. King."

"Chloe, would you walk your boyfriend out? I'll just throw my things in my room."

"Would you like me to help you with those, Mrs. King?"

"No need, Alek. Thank you, though." Both Chloe and Alek could tell that she was slowly warming up to him.

Chloe walked Alek to her doorway and he finally turned around to her when they were at the doorway.

"So, is your mother going to give you "the talk"?" Alek wiggled his eyebrows to stress his mockery.

"Ugh, the worst part of your statement is the fact that you might actually be right." Chloe laughed and groaned simultaneously.

Alek then came closer to Chloe, as he was about to kiss her. His lips were merely two or three inches away from hers, his hands having placed themselves on her hips. Her hands made their way to his shoulders.

"I'll be on your rooftop to tease you about this tonight." Alek whispered.

"I'll let you know when it's safe to come inside." Chloe whispered back.

"I love you." Alek was the first to whisper it, again.

"I love you, too." It was the first time that they had said I love you after the beach. Chloe thought that it sounded even more beautiful the second time.

Alek leaned down to press his lips gently to Chloe's. He released her reluctantly but within a few seconds to let her go back to her mother. He really hoped that things would be alright.

Chloe turned and shot Alek one final smile before closing the door and going to face her mother in the kitchen.

"So, that was…"

"Alek. His name is Alek, mom."

"I know, I know. So, what were you doing on the couch there?" Her mother asked inquisitively.

"We were watching a movie… What did you think that we were doing?"

"Well, your head was on his lap, so I kind of thought that you might be…" Meredith tried her best to avoid the actual words.

"Mom! I was not! I mean… I can't believe I'm about to say this, but… If I was doing that, I'd be on my knees in front of him, not lying down on the couch!" Oh, she knew that Alek could hear here. She was dreading what she would hear, although it might be an… interesting form of beginning a make out session… Maybe.

"Alright, alright! I was just asking! But, in all seriousness, he does seem like a lovely boy. It's a shame we met the first time the way we did, but at least he apologized. But, the most important thing is, does he make you happy?"

"He does, mom. He really does." Chloe leaned on the countertop next her mother. "Wait a minute, how in the world did you know that he was my boyfriend? I never told you that!"

"Chloe, sweetie, you do me injustice. I'm your mother. I know these things on my own."

"Alright, alright. So, how was Vegas? Do any gambling?" And thus, Chloe and Meredith caught up and gossiped for about an hour before Meredith decided that she was tired from her journey and headed upstairs to sleep. They exchanged "good nights" as Chloe made her way to her own bedroom.

She turned around and was surprised to find her bed empty of an Alek.

She spoke too soon, however, when she felt a pair of warm and protective arms engulf her and spin her around. Her hands reflexively placed themselves on Alek's pecs.

"So, you'd have to be on your knees, huh?" Alek teased. His lips were so close to Chloe's that she could feel his hot breath on her lips.

"Alek."

"Yes?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

Alek didn't even bother responding as he smirked and pushed his lips onto Chloe's.

BEFORE you decide to review and tell me something along the lines of "how could you end it here?" (which I'm sure many of you will) I must say that I'm not ending it here. I'm just going to start of the new chapter exactly where this one ends ;)

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