A/N: Umm… let me just start of by saying this from the bottom of my heart… YOU GUYS ARE FREAKING AWESOME. I mean, seriously. 111 reviews on one chapter? I love you all. Words cannot express how amazing that is. Every review meant a lot.

Anyway, I am so sorry for the delay. I really couldn't get a big enough idea to build a chapter on. But then one hit me and I am now sitting at my computer typing away. And, you know, it's really nerve racking to publish the second chapter to a story that people liked so much. I really tried to make it as "good" as the last chapter was.

I tried to respond to every one of my reviews, but, if I didn't respond to yours, I am so sorry. I haven't been able to get to a computer for some time now, and when I did, the first thing I did was write this. And FanFiction wouldn't let me respond to some of them, considering some of you have you PM thing turned off and some were anonymous. So some of them I really couldn't respond to.

If you have any questions or suggestions, don't be afraid to put it in a review or just PM me.

Disclaimer: If Brian's still around, I don't own it.

"Wait, so you mean, just, absolutely gone. As in, not there anymore, nonexistent. Just… gone?" Amy questioned for what seemed like the millionth time as she and Chloe walked down the hallway as they waited for the bell to ring.

"Amy, I'm surprised to even remember his name."

"OK, so, something happened last night to make you forget all about Kitty Hat." Stopping in the middle of the hallway, much to some peoples' annoyance, she grabbed Chloe's arm, yanking the girl back beside her. "What was it?"

Chloe opened her mouth to respond, but when she glanced towards a group of lockers and noticed Alek standing there, obviously listening in on her conversation, she closed it. Hoping to change the subject, and realizing she had never gotten the chance to due to their fight, she asked, "So, how was your date with Paul?"

It worked. Amy started blabbing on about her music debut in front of a big crowd that wasn't just Chloe and Paul. "And then, when we were just sitting and talking, I mentioned how I noticed him crying. Crying. So then he tells me that he had stabbed himself with a fork so he wouldn't laugh!"

Chloe stared at her best friend incredulously, her eyebrows coming together. "He stabbed himself with a fork?"

Amy nodded enthusiastically, but the bell rang, signaling they had a few minutes to get to class, cutting off whatever she had to say.

The two parted ways, heading to their separate classes.

O.o.O

Just as they were before, Amy and Chloe were walking down the hallway, this time heading to their lockers before heading to lunch. And this time, Paul was with them.

Suddenly remembering what she had overheard last night, Chloe spoke up before the brief minute of silence was filled with Amy's chatter. "Hey, you guys wanna come over for dinner tonight around seven? My mom's having someone over and I really don't want to be stuck there without someone to talk to. I already asked her if a friend, or friends, could come over, and she said it was fine."

Paul was the one who answered her. "Who's she having over?"

"I'm… not sure." She looked pleadingly at her friends. "But I'm assuming it's some business dinner that will be really boring unless I have someone with me."

"We would," Amy piped up. "But we're eating at my place tonight. Sorry. And, hey. Maybe you could ask you-know-who."

Paul directed his next question to Amy. "Why would she invite Voldemort over for dinner?"

They stared at him for a minute before Chloe walked away in the direction of her locker, leaving Paul to deal with an annoyed Amy. That was a conversation that made her glad she could tune things out. She opened her locker and started exchanging books.

"So who, exactly, are you asking to dinner?" An accented voice asked behind her.

She jumped, narrowly missing banging her head on the top of the metal locker. She shot him a glare. "Do you ever get tired of doing that?"

"Doing what?"

She turned around, completely facing him. "Sneaking up on me. And, yes, I know. If I had been paying more attention, you wouldn't have been able to sneak up on me. If you were an assassin, I'd be dead. Anything else?"

"Of course. Who's coming to dinner?"

Looking into his eyes, she was reminded of last night. And the fact that he was really close didn't help anything. Resisting the urge to stretch up and touch his lips with hers, she commented, "You really are a close talker."

"And you're still the only person to have told me so. Now don't change the subject. Who do you have to invite to this so called 'boring business dinner'?"

She ignored the fact that he had listened to her conversation, something he told her not to do. "Well, since Paul and Amy can't come, why don't you? It should be… fun."

Alek pretended to think. "Alright." He shot her a smirk before walking away, calling over his shoulder, "See you at seven."

He disappeared before she could say anything about his eavesdropping. She shook her head, closed her locker, and jogged at a normal pace to catch up to Amy and Paul, who seemed to forget that she was going with them.

O.o.O

It was six forty-seven when Alek showed up wearing a black button down, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow and the first three buttons at the top unbuttoned, and black jeans. He had black sneakers on as well. He must be watching me tonight, she thought.

And now they were sitting on her couch while her mom was bustling around the kitchen, waiting for whatever guest was coming over. Even badgering her for fifteen minutes wasn't enough for her mom to let the cat out of the bag, no pun intended.

Of course, right when she had finally gotten comfortable and was in a very interesting discussion about the Mai (at a low volume) with Alek, the doorbell rang. She stood quickly, Alek following behind her.

Meredith King opened the door with more enthusiasm then Chloe had ever seen her open it since her father walked out of the door and never came back. On the other side of the door was a dark-haired man dressed in a business suit. So it is a business meeting, she concluded. That thought was thrown out the window when her mother greeted the strange man with a hug.

Alek seemed to recognize the man though. Beside her, he took on a slight defensive stance, one that only went unnoticed by Chloe's mom. That caused Chloe to go into one of her own. She trusted Alek; if he sensed any danger, then she should probably be prepared as well.

The next person to walk over the threshold was someone Chloe did recognize. "Brian? What are you doing here?"

By that time, Chloe's mom and the mystery man had left the room, leaving Chloe with a guy she used to like and a guy she still liked.

"What am I doing here? What is he doing here?" Brian asked in return, nodding towards Alek. When Chloe opened her mouth to respond, Brian continued, never removing his intense stare from Alek. "Never mind. Can we talk? Alone?"

Glancing at Alek with a look that told him not to follow, but only to listen in, she followed Brian outside. She stopped when they got a few feet from her house, far enough the adults couldn't here, but close enough so Alek could. She crossed her arms over her chest. "What?" she almost snapped.

"So you wanted to be friends so you wouldn't feel bad about dating him?" He replied, almost as angry.

Her temper flared. And she had a feeling it wasn't just her temper. "OK, one, we are not dating"- she paused when she felt a flash of hurt, causing her to wince slightly, but she continued nonetheless – "Two, that's not why. There are other reasons. And three, if you were really my friend, you wouldn't be bothering me about this." She turned to go back inside, but his reply stopped her.

"What are the other reasons then, huh?"

"I'd tell you, but I can't. Now it's your turn to answer some questions. Like, why are you here?"

"My dad wanted me to meet his new girlfriend and her daughter. But it looks like I already have."

"Your dad?" Well, that was a shock. Speaking of shocks, a jolt of them shot up her arm as Alek grabbed her arm and dragged her inside.

Pulling her into the living room, he mumbled, "Stay as far away from them as you can without seeming rude. I'll explain later."

She nodded. She trusted him. She'd do what he asked.

O.o.O

Dinner was tense, not that her mother noticed. Chloe did her best to ignore Brian, but he kept trying to talk to her. When his dad had taken his attention, Alek stepped in, effectively saving her from having to listen to Brian brag about all of the dates he obviously didn't have since she said they should just be friends.

She was heading back to the table after her 'bathroom break'. Her mom and Alek were in the kitchen. When her mom stated she was going to the kitchen, Alek jumped at the chance to work on the impression she had about him. The whole 'finding him on her daughter's bed' thing didn't make her mom too thrilled to see him when he showed up on their doorstep.

It sounded like Brian and his dad were in a heated argument. Chloe continued heading to the table, though. If they were arguing, they'd more than likely stop if she walked in. But she was the one that stopped, out of sight, when she caught wind of what they were talking about.

"But, Dad, I really don't see the threat."

His father's tone was condescending. "Oh, really? Why don't you go and tell that Xavier kid that there was no threat? Brian, you were given orders. Orders that must be followed. You seem to have forgotten them."

"I haven't."

"Then what are they?"

She heard Brian take a breath, hesitating, before, whispering, as if he didn't expect the two Mai to hear him, "To befriend Chloe King, the Uniter, and kill her as many times as necessary."

Hearing that, Chloe expected her heart to shatter, break, crack, something. She only felt angry. Angry at Brian for obvious reasons, angry at her mom for inviting them over, angry at the Order for trying to rid the world of the Mai, angry at the universe for making her a Mai, angry at herself for trusting Brian and not listening to Alek when he warned her. How could she have been so stupid?

She walked back into the dining room, cutting off whatever else was going to come out of Brian's mouth. They looked at her at the same time, both probably hoping she hadn't heard anything. Having to lie to her mother about where she was at night after training was the hardest thing she had to do. This, lying to two people she was beginning to really despise, would be easy enough. She put a fake bright smile on her face and sat back down, cheerily asking, "So, what'd I miss?"

O.o.O

Chloe was walking from her first day back at Varese Vintage, praying she wouldn't run into Brian, when she heard it. It sounded like fighting and it was coming from an alleyway. She ran quickly, not caring who saw. Ever since the thing with Lana, she had been on edge. Not even ten seconds later she was standing in the opening, shocked beyond words to find Alek and Brian fighting.

Alek obviously had the upper hand, but Brian looked like he had had a lot of training. She wasn't sure if she wanted to intervene, since Alek was doing fine on his own and she didn't want to be the one to distract him.

She made her decision when Alek was hit in the leg with a throwing star, almost the exact same spot she was hit in, but his looked a little deeper. Chloe ran to Alek's side, taking a defensive crouch next to him. Brian paused whatever attack he was planning on performing next.

"C-Chloe! W-what are you doing here?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Protecting someone I care a lot about." She was happy she didn't slip and say 'love', like she had wanted to. "What are you doing here? Never mind. That was a stupid question."

"Chloe, get away from him. You don't know what he is. You don't know what he's capable of. You don't-"

For a usually laid back person, she was getting angry really frequently. '"Oh, cut the crap, Brian. You know that I already know." She turned her attention from him to Alek. She took note on how heavily he was leaning on his right leg. There was no way in hell he would be able to walk on his own. With that thought, she put his arm around her neck, putting her own around his waist.

Chloe let Alek lean on her heavily, despite the fact that he had about twenty, thirty pounds on her. Before they were out of hearing range, for Brian, she delivered one last parting shot. "And to think I actually liked you." And then she kept walking…well, trudging, actually.

"Chloe, wait!" Brian called. But she didn't hear him.

Or, at least, she pretended she didn't.

A/N: Well, that was longer than I expected it to be. Again, I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for the wait. I would've had it up Thursday night, but my piece of junk computer decided that the Internet was unsafe and wouldn't let me use it. But my dad updated something and it's working again. And the first thing I did was publish this. Tell me what you think. Suggestions and comments are all welcome. All suggestions, if used, get full credit. And speaking of suggestions and full credit, I have to give credit to Knockout93 for suggesting I make Alek and Brian fight and Egyptian Kiss for suggesting they don't have a relationship right off the bat.

Oh, and yes, I realize Chloe can't feel what other Mai are feeling, but that will be explained in later chapters. So be patient!