Disclaimer: I do not own any WWE superstars

When You're Around

Chapter 33

The rest of the work week had been pure hell for Randy. Chloe had been able to successfully ignore him the rest of the day Monday and Tuesday as they both had to work. Even at the hotel, with her now sharing a room with Rachel, he'd barely seen her. Ever since he'd told her he loved her, she'd been ignoring him like the plague. He'd invited her for dinner Monday and Tuesday and both times she politely told him she needed to get some sleep. She had "not heard" her phone ring when he invited her to breakfast Tuesday, she'd "been in the shower" when he called to see if she was up for a walk around the city that same afternoon and she'd conveniently "already ate with Rachel" when he stopped by her room to see if she wanted to get some lunch before their flight left on Wednesday, and of course she couldn't stop and chat with him as she had to "finish packing". He knew better. He knew her. He knew when she was avoiding him. Her ring on her phone was at the highest possible volume; no way could she have missed it. She never showered in the afternoon, only in the morning and at night. She made a point of keeping her things in her suitcase each night, just in case she needed to quickly leave. The only excuse that she'd given him that was possible was the lunch with Rachel thing, though he knew it was untrue because he'd just seen Rachel in the elevator to meet one of her coworkers for lunch.

He wasn't stupid. He knew when he was being ignored. But he wouldn't say anything. She needed time to think and he'd give her that. But that didn't mean he was giving up. No way in hell.

The first thing he knew he had to do was find out if it really was Sam who told the school about their relationship. He knew that, though a majority of it was his confession, her uncertain job future was really weighing in her mind and she was upset about it. As she should be, especially if her suspicions about Sam being the "anonymous parent" was correct. So he decided, first thing tomorrow morning when Sam dropped off Lindsey at his place to spend the weekend with him, he was going to confront her about it. He could tell when Sam was lying by her lip biting and nose twitching, so he needed to do this in person. He didn't want to accuse Sam of something she didn't do but he knew he couldn't not support his girlfriend. He needed to find out so he could do what was right.

The minute after Chloe walked into her apartment Wednesday afternoon, she picked up her phone to call the principal of her school. She had taken a shine to Chloe the minute they had met and she knew Mrs. Turner would back her up if she could.

After her call was connected and the principal's secretary greeted her, Chloe waited patiently to be connected to who could be one of her only allies. "This is Principal Turner speaking,"

"Mrs. Turner…this is Chloe Ryan," She greeted urgently.

The elder woman let out a sigh on the other end. "Oh Chloe,"

Chloe squeezed her eyes shut at the disappointment in her tone. "How bad is it?"

"The board is taking this very seriously." She said in a stern voice. "I highly advise you to attend the meeting on Friday to give your side as that may be the only chance you have at teaching here this year."

Chloe let out a breath. "I'm definitely going to the meeting." She said, almost insulted that she would think anything different. "What I want to know is who told you."

"I'm afraid I can't disclose that information. The individual has asked to remain anonymous and I must respect that." Mrs. Turner answered.

"Please," Chloe said in a desperate whisper. "Just for my own peace of mind."

"Chloe," She said in a much nicer tone, obviously feeling for the young woman. "You know I would if I could." There was silence over the phone for a couple moments. "Oh Chloe, what were you thinking?"

Chloe couldn't resist rolling her eyes in annoyance. "I was thinking that I'd finally met someone I could spend the rest of my life with. I was thinking how nice it would be to have something to look forward to after a hard day of work besides more work. I was thinking about the life I could build with this wonderful man and how happy I would be." She confessed, though her tone was getting more angry by the second as she remembered her relationship could very well cost her her job. "I was thinking way too much about the fact that he was one of my students father's which caused me to hold back for far too long. I thought about the contract I signed when I received my dream job and the strict rules that came along with it. I thought and I thought and I thought and I realized no where in my contract or the rules were anything about this sort of thing. So I finally let go and I finally let myself feel something that I've never felt before for someone I never thought I could."

Mrs. Turner was silent the entire time Chloe spoke and only when she finished and exhaled deeply did she speak. "You love him." It wasn't a question.

"I sure as hell do and I'll be damned if I lose my job over finding love." Chloe said passionately.

On her end, Mrs. Turner smiled. "Good, I have to get going but do me a favor and say that at the meeting on Friday." She said before hanging up.

Chloe slammed her phone down on the coffee table and let out a long breath of confidence. She looked up when she saw Jessica make herself known, it was obvious the woman had been listening to her conversation.

"So you do love him," Jess said with a wide smile. After picking up Rachel and Chloe at the airport, they'd said they caught an earlier flight than Randy did, so she knew something was wrong. After dropping Rachel off at her place and pulling into the parking lot of their apartment complex, it was clear Chloe was itching to do something so Jess offered to bring her luggage up so she could do what she needed to. She'd come inside just in time to hear the last half of her conversation.

"I do." Chloe said, with not a slight waver in her voice.

"And you've told him this?" She asked knowing the answer.

Chloe cocked an eyebrow with attitude. "What do you think?"

Jess chuckled and sat down next to her friend. "I think no."

"Ding, ding, ding." She said sarcastically. Her shoulders slumped and she let out a strangled breath. "Sorry, I'm being a bitch." Jess just shrugged, not taking it personally. "I messed things up with Randy. He told me he loved me. I told him he shouldn't have said that." She said, ignoring the gasp Jess let out. "I left and have barely spoken to him since Monday after you called." She summed it up.

Jess nodded. "And you're going to fix things." She stated.

"I have to," Chloe agreed. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll go over to his house and talk to him."

"Good." Jess said simply. "And I'm sorry about your job."

Chloe rolled her eyes, really getting sick of hearing about that. "I'll fix that too."

"You better," Jess joked. "If you don't come back next year, those poor kids are going to be stuck with the boring, hundred year old teachers."

Chloe cracked a smile. "They will miss me won't they."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't be surprised if they had a strike!" Jess joked to make her friend feel better. She was exaggerating a little but there was no doubt in her mind that the kids really would miss her.

Chloe looked at her friend and smiled. "Thanks." It really helped to have a friend who could cheer her up. "Oh, I got you something." She said, her eyes lit up.

Jess raised an eyebrow as she watched her friend reach for her purse and dig around in it. She knew that look. She was up to something. "You're not gonna, like, make a move on me are you?" She said her friend look up at her with amusement. "Cause I mean I like you and all but I'm way more into men." Jess cracked a grin to show she was just messing with her.

Chloe rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "I think you'll find this quite useful." Jess looked at her friends hand. It didn't look like she was holding anything. That was until she turned her hand over so her palm was facing up and she saw a small ripped piece of paper folded in half. She tentatively reached out to grab it. "Oh come on, it's not going to kill you just take it."

Jess did and once it was in her hands, she slowly unfolded it, keeping her eyes on Chloe. She saw Chloe's face light up as she looked down at the piece of paper. Jess followed her eyes and felt a variety of emotions. She wanted to punch Chloe, she wanted to throw the paper away, she wanted to put it in her keepsake shoebox like she would have done when she was little. But most of all, she wanted to put it to good use. She wanted to pick up the phone and give John call now that she had his number. She looked up at Chloe and beamed before embracing her friend in a tight hug.

A/N: Thanks for all your wonderful reviews! You guys are amazing!