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When You're Around

Chapter 45

"Hey you," Chloe greeted Randy later that night as she held open her apartment door. She looked down and smiled wide. "Hi Lindsey!" She said, bending down to give the young girl a hug.

"Hi Chloe," Lindsey said with a smile, sinking into the hug. "I've missed you,"

"Aw, I've missed you too honey," Chloe said, truly touched by her words. "Come on in," She said, gesturing for the two to come inside.

"Do you have a bathroom?" Lindsey asked.

Chloe smiled. "Of course, come on I'll show you were it is," She said before wrapping her arm around the girl's shoulder and leading her to the bathroom. After making sure Linds could find her way back to living room, she walked back to where Randy was.

He immediately wrapped his arm around and pulled her close. "Sorry again about Linds. My parents are both sick and I didn't want to have to ask Sam to watch her." He said, still very angry at Sam's recent behavior. "You sure you don't mind her coming?"

Chloe put an affectionate hand on his cheek. "Like I told you earlier, I don't mind at all and before you say anything, I already informed my parents that she was coming too and they are very excited to meet the both of you."

He grinned. "Great," He said before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her lips.

"Aw, look at the happy couple," Jess said as she walked out of her room and witnessed the couple making out.

Chloe and Randy broke apart and looked at Jess. "Hey Jess, how are you?" Randy asked, his arm still wrapped firmly around Chloe's waist.

"I'm doing really well," She said with a genuine smile. Chloe had spent most of the day helping her pick out an outfit for her date later tonight and she'd locked herself up in her room for the last hour promising herself that she wouldn't come out until she had perfected the loose curl look on her hair as well as the perfect smoky eye.

"Jess, you look amazing," Chloe commented as she surveyed her friends hair and makeup.

"Yeah, John's not gonna know what hit him," Randy added in his two cents.

She smiled proudly. "Thank you, I have to admit, I'm pretty nervous."

Randy gave a little laugh. "Trust me on this, John is just as nervous if not more nervous than you are." That made Jess relax a little knowing she wasn't the only one.

She turned her head when she saw someone walk out of the bathroom. "Hi there," She said amicably.

Lindsey smiled shyly and walked over to her dad and Chloe. "Hi,"

"Linds, this is my roommate Jessica," Chloe introduced.

Jess crouched down and offered the girl a hand to shake. "It's very nice to finally meet you Lindsey, I have heard a lot about you."

She blushed and shook the woman's hand. "Nice to meet you too. I like your name."

"Thank you, I like yours too." She glanced up at Randy and Chloe, who were both smiling, before looking back at Lindsey. "You are absolutely precious."

Another blush. "Thank you."

Randy smiled at their interaction. "Alright ladies, we should probably head out,"

Chloe nodded before walking over to the door where she'd left her shoes to put on before they left. She slipped into black pumps that accented her wine colored wrap dress perfectly. "See you later Jess,"

"Bye guys, have fun!" Jess yelled out as the trio left.

"I don't know why you are so nervous." Randy said about halfway to Chloe's parents house. He reached one hand out over the center console and gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

She rolled her head to look at him and let out a sigh. "I can't help it. I haven't really introduced my parents to that many guys I've dated."

Another squeeze of the hand. "It's going to be alright. They're going to love me." He said and shot her a grin.

She rolled her eyes and glanced back at Linds. "How do you live with this guy?" She joked.

Linds smiled. "I love him,"

"Good answer Baby," Randy said and smiled at her through the rearview mirror.

"Turn up here." Chloe directed him. A few minutes later they pulled up in front of her parent's house. The three of them walked up the walkway and once they reached the door, Chloe opened it. "Anyone home?" She called out, stepping inside and gesturing for Lindsey and Randy to do the same.

"Oh, they're here!" She heard her mom say to her dad in the other room. A second later, her mom was rushing to greet them, her father following more slowly. "Chloe, dear!" She greeted and wrapped her arms around her.

Chloe smiled. "Hi mom," She walked over and gave her dad a hug too. "Hey dad." She turned to face Randy and his daughter. "Mom, dad, this is Randy," Her mom immediately stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm so excited to meet you!" She said excitedly.

Randy laughed. "Me too, I've heard a lot about you." He turned to Chloe's father and offered a hand to shake. "Sir, nice to meet you."

He smiled and shook his hand. "Likewise. Nice handshake you got there." He commented after they released their hands.

"Thank you,"

"And, this is Randy's daughter Lindsey. Linds, this is my mom Jean, and my dad, Joe"

"Nice to meet you," Linds said shyly, sticking close to her dad's side.

"Hi Lindsey," Chloe's mom smiled. "It's so nice to meet you too."

"You know," Joe started causing the young girl to look up at him. "Us adults are probably going to be talking about boring things while we wait for dinner to be ready. What do you say we sit you down with a movie?"

She instantly lit up. "I say yes." She made a move to follow the older man but she stopped first to check with her dad.

"Go on baby," Randy encouraged and she smiled and ran off.

Randy followed to make sure she settled in ok but Chloe followed her mom into the kitchen. "Oh Chloe, he is so handsome." She commented.

Chloe smiled. "Isn't he?"

A few seconds later, Joe and Randy walked into kitchen. Randy immediately walked over to where Chloe was sitting on a barstool and wrapped an arm around her. "Thank you guys for allowing me to bring Lindsey along. I don't know if Chloe explained things to you but my family are the only baby sitters I trust and both my parents are sick and my siblings are out of town so I had no other option." He said, feeling bad that he had been forced to change their plans so last minute.

"Oh nonsense Randy we are happy to have her here." Jean said as she poured them all a glass of wine.

"And I'm sure we have plenty of things upstairs in Chloe's old room that will keep her entertained if she gets bored." Her dad added.

"Oh, I didn't even check to see if she liked steak." Her mom piped in concerned. "If not I think we have an oven-baked pizza or something in the freezer."

Randy held up a hand in protest. "No need, steak is perfectly fine. She's not picky."

"Great," She said as she took a sip of her wine. "So Randy, you're a professional wrestler?" He nodded in confirmation. "How did you get into that?"

He shrugged. "Well honestly it was kind of like second nature. Both my grandfather and my dad were professional wrestlers so I always thought it was my destiny."

"Wow," She said impressed. "What a legacy you've made."

He grinned. "I really owe all my success to them."

"You're too generous," Chloe's dad inputted. "I've been watching the show since Chloe started working there. I don't really know all the in's and out's of the business but I can tell you have a natural talent."

"I appreciate that sir," Randy said honestly.

"Enough of this sir business. Call me Joe."

Chloe smiled at how well this was all going. Way better than she'd thought it would go.

"See that wasn't so bad," Randy said as he leaned in close to Chloe's ear. They had just finished dinner and the two had volunteered to do the dishes while Chloe's parents were playing a round of Candyland with Linds.

She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled as she continued to wash the dishes. "You were right. I mean I'm not saying I expected you guys to fight or anything, I guess I'm just a little surprised at how easily they welcomed you. Seriously it's like you all are old friends." She narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "Are you sneaking behind my back with my parents?" She joked.

He grinned and put down the wash cloth and the pan he had been drying and stuck his hands in the air guiltily. "You caught me. I come here at least twice a week."

Chloe laughed. "Thank you for coming tonight, I really appreciate it and so do my parents." She said before leaning over to give him a kiss. She'd expected it to just be a small peck but the minute their lips touched, Randy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She laughed as she held her arms out, not wanting to get her wet and soapy hands on his clothes. Eventually he pulled away and trailed kisses to her neck and down her collarbone.

"What do you say after we head out of here, we go to my place for a little nightcap." Randy suggested, pulling back to look in her eyes.

She grinned. "A nightcap or something else?"

"A nightcap and something else." He said with a wink.

"Perfect. The faster we clean these dishes the faster we can get out of here." She said, turning back to the sink. Fifteen minutes later after they were done washing the dishes, they walked out to the living room where her parents and Linds had started another game of Candyland. "We're probably gonna get out of here once this game is over." Chloe said taking a seat on the couch next to Lindsey.

"You've got a shark here Randy," Joe said, gesturing to Lindsey who was smiling.

Randy laughed, sitting down next to Chloe, reaching a hand over to rest on her knee. "Don't I know it. Linds can beat anyone at Candyland, huh Linds?"

She blushed and nodded shyly. Chloe grinned and reached over giving the girl a little side hug. After Linds won the game again, they all gathered by the door to say bye. "It was really lovely meeting you Randy, please come back soon." Jean said, pulling him into another hug.

"I would definitely like that," Randy commented and pulled back. He reached out to shake Joe's outstretched hand.

"I have to admit Randy, we were more than a little concerned about Chloe when she told us about dating you and the internship. But I think I speak for Jean and I when I say it's easy to see she's in good hands. You're a good man," Joe said approvingly. Chloe smiled. He turned to Linds. "And you, I'm going to practice my Candyland skills and next time, I want a rematch."

The little girl laughed before walking forward and hugging the man. "You're on." She pulled back and turned to Jean. "It was very nice meeting you too. Thank you for having me over." She said politely.

Jean grinned and hugged the girl. "Absolutely, hopefully we can see each other soon."

Linds looked at her dad before looking back at Jean. "I hope so too."

After Chloe gave both her parents a hug goodbye, the trio made their way to Randy's car. The ride back to Randy's was silent and halfway there Chloe looked back and saw that Jess was asleep. "You're parents were really good to her, thanks." Randy said when he saw her look back.

"I think they really like her."

Randy nodded and grabbed her hand. "I'd like to come back again." He said honestly, not wanting to beat around the bush. He'd had a great time with her parents and Lindsey even seemed to like them.

Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't expected it but as she thought back on the evening, she realized it made sense. She cared about him and vice versa and her parents had welcome Randy and Linds with open arms. She didn't want to get ahead of herself but it almost felt like she had a family...of her own. She started to feel herself choke up and she held back the tears. "I'd like you to come back." She said giving his hand a loving squeeze.

A/N: Thank you all for your amazing reviews! Jess and John's date up next! (P.S. I officially have a thing for the Dudebuster Trent Barreta. He's a hottie. haha)