So I'm pretty proud of this chapter for some unknown reason. Sometimes I feel like I have issues with pacing chapters and having them not be long enough, but I think I'm getting better at it.
Shout out to CherrySlushLover for the super sweet PM she sent me. I'd recommend checking out her story, Impossible because it got me hooked!
Reviews are forever appreciated. Thanks so much for reading x
"Is he cuter than Liam?" Liz asked as she bought her takeaway coffee cup to her lips before scrunching her nose. "Wait... anybody is cuter than Liam, right?"
"He certainly is cute." I pushed my scrambled eggs around my plate with a fork. "He mentioned visiting Derek for Christmas next month."
"So I can pounce on him when he comes to town next month?" She teased. Simon was coming back for the holidays to hang out with Derek. The last time he was in town, Derek spent all his time working and left Simon and I to spend time with each other. He was a really cool guy - twenty five, a freelance artist and had just broken free from a long term relationship, just like myself. We grew to be pretty good friends by the end of that weekend and eventually exchanged numbers.
"Slow down, he just got out of a long term relationship." I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm.
"Maybe you guys can bond over your mutual recent heartbreak." She suggested, wiggling her eyebrows at me.
"Too soon." I shoved a piece of toast into my mouth. "I don't think I'll be dating for a while and besides, I don't think Derek would appreciate me jumping on his brother like that."
"The great thing about it being 2015 is that as a woman, you can date whoever you want." She teased. "What would be so bad about it? You say he's cute and has a decent career."
I shrugged. "He's cute and sweet, basically the perfect guy, but he lives two hours away. I can't see myself wanting a long distance thing." It was true. Simon was perfect, and there was obvious chemistry there with us both being interested in each other, but I had never been in a relationship where my partner lived so far away. If he lived closer then maybe...
"Gotta have it all the time right?" She winked. "You're just making excuses."
"You're gross." I said, standing up and throwing down a twenty to cover my breakfast. "We'll catch up soon okay?" I leaned in to give her a hug and hastily left the cafe. It was still freezing out and Liz and I had just finished up a work out that made me think we were both insane to do it in this weather. I hadn't seen Liz in months, but she was my best friend and was there for me when shit hit the fan with Liam. She even got stuck into Kari after finding out they were screwing around behind my back, knowing that I was too spineless to do it myself without breaking down into a mess of tears. She was the sweetest girl I had ever met, but she had a belly full of fire if you came across her, which is what I admired most about Liz.
I took the liberty of jogging all the way back to my apartment to keep myself warm. Leggings and a thin sweatshirt didn't quite cut it when it was on the verge of snowing outside. I was only two blocks away from the apartment building when drops of water hit my face, which didn't bother me. The light rain turned heavy as I picked up my pace, and eventually turned into hail that stung my exposed skin with every strike. I tried to cover my exposed face with my arms but it just made it more awkward to run, so I pulled the neck of my sweatshirt up over the bottom half of my face and bolted the rest of the way home.
I slowed down once I was in the comfort of the apartment lobby and breathed out a loud sigh of relief when the warm air hit my face. The two people who were already in there gave me a strange look - probably because I was soaked from head to toe - and then resumed what they were doing when I headed towards the elevator, deciding against the stairs for once and saving myself a few minutes. The sooner I could get into the apartment, the sooner I could have a hot shower.
I unlocked the door and hauled myself inside. "I'm so glad you've got the heat on, you have no idea how cold it is out there." I called out to Derek as I threw my keys on the counter and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. My roommate rounded the corner and hesitated when he took in my soaking appearance.
"You're soaking..." He trailed off.
"That's winter for you." I said as I gulped down another mouthful of water.
"Why would you go running in this weather?" He screwed his nose up. "You're getting water all over the floor!" He exclaimed, gesturing at the tiled kitchen.
I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll go and have a shower." I told him, putting my bottle of water back into the fridge and heading towards the hallway. Derek caught my shoulder before I reached the hall and stopped me.
"Wait here." He demanded.
"What?"
"Don't move." He held his hand up at me before disappearing into my bathroom.
"I'm not a dog!" I frowned.
Seconds later, he reappeared with a towel in his hand. "I'm not letting you drip all over the carpet." He said, tossing it at my head.
I grumbled some nonsense at him as I dried myself off as much as I could before turning to him. "Satisfied?" I poked.
"Still look like a drowned rat, but you may continue."
I threw the wet towel at him and proceeded to my bedroom where I grabbed a warm change of clothes, then moved to my bathroom.
The best part about having my own bathroom was the privacy, and I could take however long I needed in the shower. I peeled off my wet clothes and stepped in the sho- "WHAT THE HECK?!" I cried, jumping back and crashing down onto my butt. The water was ice cold. I scrambled up, grabbed a fresh towel and wrapped it around myself. "Derek!" I threw the door open and stepped into the hallway. "Why is the water so cold?!" I breathed grudgingly as my hopes of a hot shower were shattered.
He looked at me quizzically. "I took a shower ten minutes ago, it was fine. If you're complaining about cold then maybe you should put some clothes on." He gestured to my towel, making me blush.
"Go and stick your hand under the shower head and tell me it's fine." I demanded of him, and was met with an eye roll in response. "Humor me."
He sighed and peeled himself off the couch, following me into the already too small bathroom and held his hand under the water. "Yep, that's cold." He confirmed.
"So what do I do?!"
He shut the water off. "Well it's Saturday morning, management won't be taking calls until Monday."
"I need hot water! Can't you fix it?"
"Just use the en suite." He suggested, gesturing to his bedroom. "I wouldn't know how to fix it anyway."
I huffed and grabbed the fresh change of clothing and tentatively stepped through the threshold into Derek's room. Derek appreciated his privacy, and so did I. Before today, neither of us had stepped foot in each other's room or bathroom so this was unexplored territory. We very much kept to ourselves.
I marveled in the hot water as it hit my back and trickled down the drain, washing away the tense feeling in my shoulders as I rubbed them. A sigh escaped my lips as I turned the tap and the water heated up further. It was then that I realized I didn't grab my own shampoo, so I ended up using a tiny amount of Derek's in my hair. He wouldn't notice, right?
I finished up my business and pulled on my new clothes - a cosy sweater and a pair of sweat pants. After wrapping my hair up in a towel to dry, I cleared the bathroom and left it as it was when I first stepped in. Derek definitely wouldn't have appreciated it if I were to mess up his space. To get back to the rest of the apartment, I had to pass through Derek's room. I wasn't going to lie, I had a peek around just to get an idea of what he was like. All I came up with was that he was tidy and liked order.
"Snooping?" He crept up behind me as I peered around innocently.
"N-n-no, of c-course not." I defended, my cheeks blushing red.
"So it wasn't enough to steal my shampoo, you have to snoop around my bedroom too?"
"I-I-I-" I stammered, until a smirk slowly spread across his face. He was goading me. "Very funny." I said sarcastically as I made my way to his door. "Just trying to figure you out." I mumbled.
"You can always just ask." He offered.
"Yeah but where's the fun in that?" I paused in thought. "How did you know I used your shampoo anyway?" I asked him, frowning as I stood in the doorway.
A twitch of his lips flashed across his face. "You usually smell like strawberries." He closed the door.
Friday rolled around and I was getting excited for the weekend since I had plans to visit Simon 2 hours out of Buffalo. We had been planning this weekend for a month where we were going to go indoor rock climbing followed up with dinner at the new Italian restaurant two blocks away from his apartment. It wasn't a date or anything like that, but I was definitely looking forward to seeing Simon again and learning more about him.
I went about my day happier than usual, possibly having my over consumption of caffeine to thank for that. When I discovered that Julia, the woman who worked the morning shift, had completely filed away her work properly, I was beaming at the fact that I would be able to get through all of my workload without having to worry about hers too. The weekend was off to a great start... until I reached the last item on my 'things to do list'.
"That time of the year again, huh?" I turned to Angela, gesturing to the bottom of the page.
"We're in this together." She sighed and hoisted herself up out of her chair. I followed her closely all the way back to the store room, carrying a step ladder for myself.
We cleaned the room every other month, and somehow it always managed to get trashed by the dentists. It was easy for them not to care since they weren't the ones who had to tidy it.
We started on separate walls of the room and worked our way to the middle, me dealing with mostly office supplies and Angela working with the dental instruments. We both knew that it would end in disaster if I tried to tidy all of the tools.
"What the hell-" Angela started. I looked over at her holding up a red lacy bra that she had apparently just found.
I raised my eyebrow in suspicion.
"Julia." We both said in unison, followed by smirks as my workmate discarded the lingerie in a trash bag.
The two of us continued to tidy when we were interrupted by the familiar ring of the telephone. We looked at each other briefly until Angela broke away to answer the call. I mentally celebrated that I didn't have to answer and deal with patient inquiries.
I peered at the top shelf with a box labelled as 'Post it notes', stretching to see if I could reach it naturally. Of course, I couldn't. I cursed my vertically challenged self and reached for the step ladder provided for these specific circumstances. Finally being able to reach the box, I gently slid it out of its place. It was stubborn, much heavier than I expected pens to be.
Once I was confident that I had the box firmly gripped between my hands, I gave it a good yank and it came toppling down onto the floor, taking me with it. A sharp pain shot through my ankle as I collided with the ground. I cried out for Angela once I realized what had just happened, and took in the cause of my fall - computer monitors. Two of them. Who the hell would put two heavy computer monitors in a box labelled 'Post it notes', let alone put them on the top shelf in a storage room? I grunted out of frustration, but it was short lived when my mind was bought back to my ankle.
"Chloe are you oka- oh God," Nate rushed to my side, trying to yank me up. I had to stop him, gesturing to my injured ankle that laid limp. "What happened?" I mumbled some nonsense as I cradled my head in my hands and noticed a small bump forming. "We should get you to a hospital." Nate said. He called an ambulance despite my protests and demands that I was fine, it was just a rolled ankle, no big deal.
Well it was a little bit more than a rolled ankle. It was broken.
"I assume you know you shouldn't be driving, do you have anybody to call?" The doctor asked me.
I sighed, grabbed my phone and dialed Liz's number. She picked up on the third ring. "Hey Chloe, what's up?"
"Are you in Buffalo?" I asked, hopeful. "I need a ride."
"No, I left to visit my grandma for the weekend. Why? What happened to your car?"
"Long story," I mumbled. "It's cool, I'll give somebody else a call. Talk to you soon, Liz."
After hanging up, I had a moment of panic. I was pretty sure that my parents were away for dad's work, and I didn't have anybody else.
Except...
"What is it, Chloe?" Derek's voice sounded gruff.
"Have you left work yet?"
"I was about to. What do you need?" He sounded impatient.
"Well... I'm kind of at the hospital. I can't drive and I need a way to get home and Liz is out of town and I don't know anybody else who can-"
"I'll be there in five." He told me and swiftly hung up.
True to his word, he was at the hospital before I knew it - or maybe time flew by because of the painkillers, I couldn't be sure. He showed up just as my doctor was giving me the typical speech about resting and not over-doing it, especially with the giant bump on my head I had acquired.
"You'll have to rest in bed for the weekend, keep taking those painkillers and get in contact with me around the six week mark so we can see how you're going. You should also take at least two weeks off work."
I opened my mouth to protest, but was cut off by Derek telling me to shut up and listen to the doctor.
Derek eventually wheeled me out of the hospital. With all of the meds I was on, I started to feel weird. I had never been high before so this was a completely new experience. Were my hands really dolphins, or was it just the drugs? "I don't understand why they gave me a wheelchair just to get to the car. They gave me crutches for a reason."
"Chloe, you're so doped up on painkillers that I'm not sure if you'd be able to use the crutches efficiently. How are you feeling?"
"Dizzy." I paused. "I don't think I want a cast."
A snort came from Derek. "I think it's a bit late for that."
"But... it's so heavy... and itchy."
"We'll get you a scratch stick when we get home, I promise." He told me as he assisted me into the car, trying to make me as comfortable as possible.
I passed out on the way home and woke up on the couch with a cup of hot tea and a blanket draped over me. Pain shot through my ankle whenever I tried to move, the rest of my body ached.
"Good, you're awake. Can you move so I can get up?" A familiar voice grunted.
"H-Huh?" I grumbled, rubbing my eyes. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I realized that it wasn't a pillow that I was resting my head on - it was Derek. "Oh!" I exclaimed, scrambling off his lap, ignoring the aching in my joints. "I'm so sorry! You should have woken me!"
"It wasn't urgent. I was only just starting to get hungry. Does spaghetti sound good to you?"
"S-Sure." I replied, peering around for my crutches. I spotted them at the other end of the couch and made a move for them. Now I had never been on crutches before, so I wasn't entirely sure how they worked, but it couldn't be that hard, right?
Wrong.
After trying to use them on the hard-wood floor, they slipped out from under me and I came crashing down. I cried out in pain, alerting Derek to my failure, and he came rushing to my aid, gently helping me back onto the couch.
"What are you doing?" He asked. "How is it that hard?"
"I've never used crutches before and I wanted to get my laptop." I frowned at him. "Pass me the painkillers."
"Nope, you need to wait another two hours before you can have any more. I'll get your laptop, we'll eat and watch a movie or something and then you can have some more."
"But I'm in so much pain." I whimpered.
"I know. Just rest up and try not to move. Maybe you should call Simon and tell him that your uh... date is postponed for now."
"It's not a date." I frowned. "You're probably right though." I admitted, slipping my phone out of my pocket to dial Simon's number.
"Hey you." Simon chimed.
"Hey, so about tomorrow..." I trailed off.
"Indoor rock climbing still sound good?" A smile evident in his voice. He was obviously excited.
"Yeah that might be a difficult in a cast." I admitted.
"A cast?" He laughed. "You're a joker."
"No really, Simon. I'm on crutches. I kind of had an accident at work."
"Are you okay?" Concern laced in his voice. "Do you need me to come to Buffalo and help?"
I smiled at his offer. "I think your brother is helping out enough. Thank you, though. I just need to rest for the weekend so I thought I'd give you a heads up."
Simon sighed, sounding disappointed. "Let me know if there's anything I can do, okay? I'll be in town in a few weeks for Christmas so I'll see you then."
"Bye, Simon." I said before hanging up, tossing my phone to the side.
Derek had gone above and beyond to make me feel comfortable. He bought out my laptop, blanket, pillows and even made me dinner. We ate our food together in front of the television while a movie played and soon after, he allowed me to take more pain medication.
"I've got a meeting with a client tomorrow. Will you be okay if I leave? I can stay home if-"
I held up my hand. "Unless you really want to get out of working on a Saturday, there's no need. I'm sure I can survive for a few hours." I assured him when he gave me a skeptical look. "I should probably sleep." I yawned, the painkillers finally kicking in.
"Do you need some help getting to your room?"
"I've got a bung ankle, the rest of me still works fine. Stop being a worry wart." I rolled my eyes and stood up. Using my crutches to hobble to my bedroom door, I paused to look back at Derek. "See? Perfectly fine." I turned back to enter my room and promptly came crashing down to the floor once again when the crutches slipped. "Don't! I need to do this myself." I yelled to Derek as I heard him rushing to my aid.
"It's okay to ask for help, Chloe."
"I don't need it. If worse comes to worse, I'll drag myself across the carpet."
I could almost hear the eye roll from Derek, but was happy when he left me to pull myself up and make my own way into my room. Feeling the drowsy effects of my pain meds, I crawled into bed and pulled my covers up to my chin, taking in the warmth and comfort.
There was a brief moment of panic when I realized that I may not be able to act as independently with a broken ankle, especially considering how clumsy I was and how I wouldn't be able to stand on my own two feet for a while.
With Liz and my parents away and Simon living two hours out of town, the only person I had there for me was Derek.
This was going to be a long six weeks.
