[Loren's POV]

"What are you doing here, Chloe?" The words tumble out of Eddie's mouth, accentuating his tightened jaw and blazing dark eyes. I stand and watch. Chloe's perfect face smirks at me before softening and turning towards Eddie.

"I saw your car outside and thought I'd stop by to say hello." Her voice seems pure, but I can see the desperation laced through it, tangled with bitter annoyance at his hostility.

"You said hi, now you can leave." Eddie spits the words out like they're poison she placed in his mouth. His fists repeatedly clench and unclench. He is obviously using all his power not to explode at her. I place a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"Eddie, I'm sorry for any pain I caused you. I just wanted to let you know that I will try to stay out of your life now. And I have Tyler to help me." She pulls the previously mysterious figure into sight. "Right, babe?" Her fake smile is bright.

Tyler, however, looks just slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah."

Eddie seems somewhat confused. I inwardly roll my eyes. I might not be the most experienced in the area of romance, but even I can tell what plan she's trying to work – jealousy. I feel a small sense of relief and victory that he barely responds to Chloe moving on. Or at least not in the way she's hoping. Instead, I see the hurt flashing through his eyes as heartbreak is put on repeat in his head. I push away my own painful jealousy and look at him. I know that even though he is aware of Chloe's real personality and that he may not be under her control anymore, he was completely in love with her at one point. And she crushed him.

Chloe makes one more jab at him, "Eddie, I've moved on and so should you. We both know that this little girl isn't worth your time, or anyone's at all. So how about we forgive and forget, and try to be friends?"

He stares at her in utter disbelief. "What?"

She flashes a cold grin. "I know we can make things work if -"

Her voice is cut off by Eddie's. "What? Chloe, you lied, cheated, and used me. I'm not planning revenge, but I sure as hell am not going to 'forgive and forget' so soon. It takes a little longer than a week or two to get over that." His volume increases with every word, his breathing growing rough and unsteady. I try to calm him down by softly stroking his arm, but he rips my hand off his shoulder and storms away. I watch helplessly as his figure disappears out through the back door.

Chloe smiles smugly at our exchange before turning to me. "It's not going to work."

"What?" I honestly have no idea what she's talking about.

"Your 'little miss innocent' act. He might be falling for it now, but there's only so much you can do before he finds out the truth." She smirks at me.

Fury boils inside of me. She can't talk to me like this. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, really? You mean you haven't lied to him about anything? Like, say, some things in your past?"

I swallow my guilt and try to avoid the question. "I would never purposely hurt him, unlike you."

She dodges the bullet and tries to change the subject. "That doesn't mean he won't hurt you."

"He won't. Eddie wouldn't hurt a fly."

She laughs. "Are you sure about that? Why don't you ask him how many girls' hearts he's broken? Why don't you ask him how many friends he's pushed away? Why don't you ask him why he won't talk to me?"

Eddie still hasn't returned. I remain silent.

"He's no better than how you see me. You think he has never lied, never cheated? No one can be that successful in Hollywood without doing some things that would sure shock a little valley girl."

"And you say you love him." My voice nearly breaks,

"I did. But then I realized something, and you better realize it too, or else you're going to be left in tears. Eddie is a rock star who can get any girl he wants. What makes you special? What could a famous, successful guy possibly want from a naïve little girl?"

I bite my tongue and hold down my tears. "You're wrong. You're so wrong. I don't believe you."

Another bitter, painful laugh strikes me in my gut. "That's your problem, not mine."

Chloe grabs Tyler's arm and turns away. She struts out the door, dragging the so-called 'bad boy' behind her. He lifts a hand to say goodbye and they disappear.

[Eddie's POV]

I snap myself out of it when a movement, accompanied by a loud sound, kicks me out of my angry haze. I look up through the glass door and see that Chloe and Tyler are gone. Relief pours over me until I see Loren's face and feel a harsh slap to my heart. What just happened? Her body is trembling, teeth grinding together; she's taking deep breaths in and out.

I rush back in, lifting her chin to try and make her look at me, but she refuses to turn her head towards me. "Lo, are you okay?"

She swallows before staring directly into my eyes. I almost take a step back. Big brown orbs shining with… tears? I see hurt, regret, doubt, and worst of all – fear. Fear of me. "I'm fine." Her voice is just a little raspy.

I don't believe her. "No, you're not. I'm sorry I left. What just happened?" She won't look at me anymore. I turn to Melissa and give her a pleading look.

She groans. "If you actually cared, you would be a lot more aware of the fact that Chloe just completely broke Loren's heart. And you weren't there for her."

I blink in confusion. What? Then a wave of realization hits me – oh no. I attempt to wrap my arms around Loren, but she pulls away. Melissa looks at me with a mixture of sympathy and disgust. I'm completely lost and am about to speak up again before loud footsteps interrupt me.

"Hey, what's going on here?" I lift my head to look at the woman that just appeared, who is quite obviously the manager. She glances at Loren and immediately softens. "Oh, sweetie, take the rest of the day off, okay?"

Loren reacts to this and nods slowly. She unties her apron and grabs her purse. Melissa gently pushes her out the door. I can only watch the scene unfold before me, muscles locked and frozen. My brain won't allow me to move, to help Loren or even apologize for something that I'm still baffled about. Melissa turns back for a split second and gives me a look that clearly says "you better figure out a way to fix this".

My feet feel like they weigh a thousand pounds and my body still won't react. Then the sound of the door closing hits me and I crumble. I fall into a chair, narrowly avoiding the floor. My head falls into my hands and burning cold, freezing hot emotions tear me apart. Only two questions race through my mind –

One, what in the world did I miss?

And more importantly, how am I supposed to get out of it?

A/N: So I just changed it a little because someone made a point that I agree with... I have the next chapter started, and the next few at least kind of planned out. Thanks for reading and please review!

- shimmeruponwishes