I present you, reviewers, with the latest chapter. Thanks for sticking with me guys, and putting up with the suspense! I hope you enjoy it. There's enough Chalek to satisfy those of you who have been asking for more hopefully. Let me know what you think!
Relief. Alek's relief was so strong it had forced him and Chloe both to their knees. Chloe could feel his overwhelming happiness that his cousin was going to be fine. She didn't know the details but she knew what was most important. Jasmine would live, she was recovering. All that build up, all her fear, was unnecessary. She was so happy. It seemed like things were starting to look up. She and Alek had finally talked and connected. Jasmine was still breathing.
These were the last thoughts Chloe had before she blacked out. The thud of Chloe's knees hitting the floor had gotten Alek's attention so he caught her before she fully hit the floor scooping her up with a muttered four letter word. He gazed at her worriedly and carried her upstairs where he tucked her into her bed, brushing her hair out of her face. She was so beautiful it made his heart ache to look at her. Quietly he gave himself a second to absorb everything he'd heard in the last hour. Chloe returned his feelings. He knew he should probably be a bit more wary where she was concerned. She'd already broken his heart once. She'd seemed like she was warming to him before, but then she'd told her mum she loved Brian. Brian was gone now, which should leave him relieved. He no longer had competition for her affection, but did that make him the consolation prize? Was he second best?
No, Chloe wasn't like that. She'd said that her feelings had been muddled but, really, he'd always been the one. Chloe wasn't the kind of person to play games with people. If she said she loved him she meant it. He knew that before now they were at least friends and Chloe was unfailing loyal to friends, she wouldn't do that to him. Besides, he needed her too much to question her. He instinctively knew that she was telling him the truth earlier, he could feel it.
He wasn't too worried that she had passed out. He hadn't finished explaining to her what he'd found in his little research stint earlier. It took increasingly more power for the Uniter to bring herself back which meant that she would be exceedingly vulnerable upon her resurrection. She would be unable to sustain any use of her powers—her empathic gaze and use of Mai speed or strength would quickly drain her already low energy reserves. He was pretty sure that was what had just happened. She needed to rest and eat well in order to build back her strength. Chloe also needed extra protection now while she was at her weakest. Alek knew just the Mai hunter to watch over her and nurse her back to health too.
He let Chloe sleep and walked through the upstairs checking that all the windows were closed and locked. He did the same downstairs then headed to the kitchen to find something to feed Chloe. Valentina had always been too busy with pride business to really play the nurturing mother figure to him and Jasmine so they had both picked up some cooking skills through the years. He rummaged in the cupboards and found some veggies and a chicken breast. He decided to make Chloe some homemade chicken noodle soup. He moved through the kitchen chopping, stirring, seasoning, and tasting. Soon the only thing left to do was let the soup cook. He turned down the heat of the stove and went back upstairs to check on Chloe. She was out cold. She hadn't moved from where he'd laid her. He grabbed the extra blanket from the foot of her bed and threw it over her. She'd told him how cold she was last night. Ordinarily Mai's incredibly fast metabolism, part of the reason they healed so quickly, kept them warm regardless of weather conditions. Like Chloe's other Mai characteristics, her metabolism was being affected in her weakened state.
After three hours, the soup was done. Alek turned it down to a heat just high enough to keep it warm. He climbed up the stairs and peeked into Chloe's room. She was still sleeping but it seemed to be more of a light dose now instead of the dead log variety she'd been in before. He smiled in satisfaction and slipped under the covers next to her. Even in her unconscious state, Chloe rolled over and reached for him. She snuggled close to him, nestling her head under his chin. He wiggled a bit, trying to get a leg out from under the blanket (it was toasty under there) and she clamped onto him like a vice. He couldn't help it, he chuckled a little. The noise was enough to wake up the adorable girl in his arms.
As Chloe gradually returned to consciousness, she felt her head pillowed by something warm and firm. Well, that was confusing. Her pillows were soft, not firm, and she hadn't been warm for the longest time. She peeked through slightly raised eyelids and realized that her head was resting on the yummy chest of her personal cocky blond bastard. Not a bad way to wake up. Slowly the events from earlier in the day filtered back through her sleepy brain. Big confession, check; large helping of anxiety, check; and wonderful surprise of good news, check. She still had several things on her list of reasons to worry and issues needing to be dealt with, but today had taken a turn for the better. She was tired of her pity party, it was nice to soak up some good vibes. Besides, it was difficult to do the doom and gloom routine when Alek was being so sweet and taking care of her once again. Having him hold her made everything better. She felt at peace, complete.
Speaking of Alek, the devil himself broke into her train of thought teasingly saying, "Goodafternoon, sleepyhead, welcome back to the land of the living. How are you feeling?"
"Not too bad actually," Chloe said, "I don't know what happened. I haven't hit my head or anything recently." Alek quickly explained what he thought had happened and brought her up to speed on the rest of what he'd learned from the Oracle.
"Don't worry, Chloe, I'll make sure to keep a very close eye on you for a few days," Alek smirked and winked at her.
"Ya, ya," Chloe agreed. She was too tired to respond to his smug cockiness. She didn't really want to discourage him either. She liked that he was taking care of her. This sweet caring side of Alek was adorable. Suddenly, she was distracted by the mouth-watering smell of something delicious wafting to her sensitive nostrils. Chloe lifted her head with closed eyes, inhaling deeply. Her stomach rumbled with a sound like thunder fighting with a growling rabid dog. Alek looked at her and convulsed in laughter. "Was that your stomach? Or should I be worried about jackals again?" he asked. She glared at him but he only snickered in response. She blushed, now that she'd admitted her feelings she felt a bit self-conscious around Alek. The loud mutterings of her stomach were not very lady-like and she was feeling just a tad vain about her appearance. She hauled herself out of bed and scooped up some clean clothes on her way to her bathroom.
"I'll be right back," she assured Alek before disappearing. Quickly she splashed water on her face, ran a brush through her hair, and brushed her teeth. By the time she'd changed into fresh clothes she was starting to feel human again (as soon as she thought that she realized she needed a new turn of phrase, "human" wasn't really accurate anymore). Chloe was also feeling pretty ravenous. She gave her stomach a stern talking to though, "Now listen you, I have a boy out there waiting on me. I like him, so I'd like to appear charming and cute. I do not want to come off as a bottomless pit of unsatisfiable hunger. So enough with the growling, or I swear you will not be getting any junk food or chocolate for a week, so help me God." She walked downstairs, following her nose to the kitchen where Alek had already ladled her a large bowl of soup and set a spoon out for her.
Chloe dove on the food, moaning in delight at the delicious, homey, comforting dish. "Oh my gosh, Alek, did you make this?" she gushed. He was looking at her in interest, enjoying the noises she was making, "I'm glad you like it," he said, for once not seizing the opportunity to brag. He helped himself to a bowl and topped off her quickly depleting vessel before sitting at the counter beside her. "This is Jasmine's and my favorite comfort meal. There's something about good old fashioned chicken and noodle that warms you up, you know?" he made quick work of his bowl, speaking between bites. "Chloe, I'm sure you've already caught on by now," Alek told her, his tone cluing her in to the fact that he was being serious, "you need to take it easy for a few days. We won't be training until you're back at full health." "Once you finish your soup," he continued, "you should take a quick nap, I'll go pick us up some movies for tonight and tomorrow. Does that sound good?" Chloe nodded her assent. That sounded heavenly. Now that her hunger was sated, she was already getting sleepy again. She couldn't remember ever sleeping this much at one time and she was already ready to go back to bed again. She jolted a bit as she realized Alek had scooped her up off her stool and was once again carrying her up the stairs to her room.
"I can walk on my own you know," Chloe argued sleepily. She wasn't going to really argue though and they both knew it. Alek was holding her securely against his lean chest and she could hear the familiar pattern of his heartbeat thumping steadily in her ear.
"I know you could walk, but I love the way you feel in my arms. It makes me feel as if I can protect you from the world, if only for a few moments," Alek told her, looking into her eyes. Chloe didn't mind, he held her as if she were precious and fragile. It felt good. She didn't want to fight it. He tucked her in again and kissed her forehead. She looked up at him, content. She could already feel herself drifting off, she knew she was safe as long as he was with her.
This is my longest chapter yet to make up for how short the last chapter was. PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! Did you like it? Did you not like it? Tell me why.