Chapter Seven

SPOV (Steve's)

I couldn't stop thinking about what Lauren had said about Derek hurting Chloe but when Chloe came in for dinner with a happy smile on her face I decided that she was just worrying about nothing. So with that in mind Chloe and I sat down to eat our spaghetti bolognaise with her chatting happily about everything that she did today. However, when she rolled up her sleeves so that she didn't get any food on them I saw something that made me freeze and had me re-thinking everything Lauren had said this morning. On Chloe's arm were bruises that looked an awful lot like finger prints. I decided that before I jumped to conclusions I should first ask her what happened.

"Chloe how did you get those bruises on your arm?"

She looked at her arm puzzled for a moment before answering.

"O..Oh I d..didn't r..realise it h..had bruised. I w..was spinning around a..and I f..fell but D..Derek c..caught me by the a..arm b..before I hit the g..ground." She stuttered.

"So Derek did that?" I asked trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Umm y..yeah b..but it w..was an a..accident"

I just nodded my head and went back to eating. I hated it when she said it was an accident because it was exactly what Lauren said would happen. Maybe she was right about Derek not being good for Chloe but I don't see how I can keep them away from each other when they live next door.

I was still thinking about what I was going to do about this when Chloe went to bed. I was sat in my study, which is my private sanctuary, and when I looked down on my desk I noticed the contract that had been sent to me a few days ago. An old college friend wanted to invest in my business and expand, this would mean that I would have to travel a lot more and we would also have to move closer to the main office which was why I was initially going to turn it down but now that I thought about it maybe this would be the perfect solution. A sure fire way to keep Chloe and Derek away from each other and to ensure that Chloe didn't get hurt.

***One Week Later***

CPOV

I was curled up on the nest of cushions in tree house crying. I felt like my heart had been broken in two and then stomped on, and the person who did it was my daddy. Daddy had just told me that morning that we were moving. I didn't really care about living in a different house, or going to a different school. What I did care about was that I had to leave Simon and Derek. That thought just made me cry harder. I had no idea how I was going to tell them.

As though my thoughts summoned him I suddenly felt a strong pair of arms wrap around me. I looked up through watery eyes and found Derek looking down at me with that very familiar concerned expression on his face.

DPOV (before he finds Chloe)

I was walking towards the gate separating the two gardens when I heard the sounds of crying coming from the direction of the tree house. I knew immediately that it was Chloe. I didn't hesitate a second before running as fast as I could to the tree house praying that she wasn't hurt. When I climbed the ladder and saw her buried in the cushions, when I saw the look on her face as she continued to cry her little heart of I knew she was hurt but it wasn't the physical kind, this was so much worse. I had only ever seen Chloe cry like this once and that was the day that I first met her back at the lab so I knew that whatever it was that had upset her it was bad. I walked over to her and silently wrapped my arms around her trying to comfort. When she looked at me with those eyes flooded with tears and I saw all the hurt in them I just prayed to whatever god was out there that I wasn't somehow responsible for it. I don't know how long we sat there, me holding her and letting her tears soak my shirt but I knew she would tell me what was wrong when she was ready. Eventually the sobbing turned to sniffles and after a while she wiped her eyes and looked up at me. I didn't say anything, I knew words weren't my forte. I just waited for her to feel calm enough to speak to me.

"I..I'm s..sorry." She stuttered.

"What are you sorry for?" I asked puzzled.

"F..For m..making you s..sit here f..for so l..long and f..for me c..crying all over you a..and g..getting your s..shirt all w..wet." She hiccupped at the end and that just made me hold her to me a little tighter.

"Chloe I couldn't care less about the wet shirt but I do care why you are crying." When I asked her outright she suddenly found her feet very interesting so I put two fingers under her chin and gently lifted her face towards me.

"Why?" I asked her simply. She took a deep breath before answering me.

"M..My d..daddy t..told me s..something at b..breakfast this m..morning." She took another shaky breath before answering. "D..Daddy said t..that w..we are m..moving"

By time she said the last word she was sobbing again and I felt like my whole world had just fallen apart. This couldn't be it, I had only just found Chloe again I couldn't let her leave. I decided to go to the only person who could help, my dad. He would know what to do, he always knew what to do.

KPOV

What was taking Derek so long, he was only supposed to go next door and ask if Chloe was coming over for lunch, and that was over an hour ago. Simon seemed to be thinking along the same lines because he chose that moment to come into the kitchen and ask the exact same thing. I walked over to the window and looked out before answering and spotted Derek walking towards the house with his head down but judging by how tense he held his body I knew something was wrong.

"Here he comes now" I told Simon.

Mere seconds later Derek barged into the house, the back door banging off the wall, and almost shouted two words, but I knew that those words were the hardest that Derek had ever had to say.

"Chloe's leaving"

"What do you mean she's leaving." Simon asked.

"Her dad is making her move away so that he can have some fancy job and never be home" by the end Derek's words were almost dripping with hate and anger.

I knew I would have to handle this very carefully, Derek still didn't know that Chloe was his mate, and I now had no doubts that there were mates not after observing them together for the past weeks, and to tell him now just when he is about to loose her again would only make him feel worse.

"But he can't do that." Simon shouted in outrage. "Chloe is our friend."

"I know Chloe is your friend, both of your friend and I know you will both miss her but this really isn't up to us, it's up to her father and that is who she belongs with"

It took several more hours of arguing, I had never seen Derek so passionate about an argument before, but eventually they conceded that however much they hated the thought of Chloe going away there wasn't anything any of us could do about it. They therefore decided to make there last days with Chloe as memorable as possible.

***One Week Later***

CPOV

Today was the dreaded moving day and I was stood on Mr Bae's front porch with Simon and Derek saying our goodbyes. I didn't cry now, I had shed so many tears this past week that I didn't think I had any left in me. We had all shared our goodbye gifts the night before, I had given Derek a leather friendship bracelet that I had made which he now wore and had sworn to never take off. I gave Simon the written half of the comic that we were making together about our summer together and he had given me one of his sketches of the three of us stood together in front of our tree house. Derek had given me a beautiful refillable note book so that I could put all my movie ideas in it. I even got a surprise gift off Tori the day before when nobody else was around, she gave me a very brief and awkward hug and told me that she was sorry to see me go but if I ever repeated that she would deny it and then hunt me down.

Simon walked over to me and gave me a huge hug telling me again how much he was going to miss me. When he released me he gave me one last smile before walking back into the house to give me and Derek some privacy. The moment the door shut behind Simon I ran straight into Derek's arms and he enveloped me in a hug. I felt the tears that I didn't believe I had begin to fall down my cheeks.

"I..I'm g..going to m..miss you s..so m..much" I sobbed, hugging him tighter. "You are t..the best f..friend I've e..ever had."

"you're the first friend I ever had and I couldn't have asked for a better one." Derek whispered in my ear.

"W..What about S..Simon?" I asked

"Simon was always more like a brother to me, even before he became my brother but you are my friend." I was so touched by what he said that I felt the tears flood my eyes so much that I could barely see. But just like he always does lately my daddy just had to ruin the moment by honking the horn signalling for me to get in the car. I hugged him tighter for one last moment and felt him do the same before I pulled back and started to walk away. Just before I got in the car I turned towards the house one last time. Simon, Tori and Mr Bae were all stood at the living room window, I gave them a small final wave before looking at Derek still stood on the porch, I gave him a small, sad smile before getting in the car and letting my dad take me away from everything I care about.

DPOV

She's gone. As I lay in bed that night I still couldn't believe that my Chloe is gone. Dad has been telling me all week to be optimistic, that I found her once when I didn't believe that I would ever see her again so what is to stop me from finding her again. The only problem I have with that is I had to wait two years last time and who knows I will have to wait this time. Who's to tell what could happen in Chloe's life between now and then.

Just so you know there will be a time lapse in the next chapter. Please review and let me know what you think.