Always Gotta Make It Complicated
By tenshinrtaiga
Disclaimer: I don't own The Covenant or The Nine Lives of Chloe King
Summary: Third in The Witch Uniter series. Things are getting more complicated for Chloe as she juggles her new boyfriend, being friends with her old boyfriend and of course, The Order. And it doesn't help that her friend's lives are becoming just as complicated as hers.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys! To make it up to you, I'm posting a double update!
Chloe moaned as she stretched out in her comfortable bed, unwilling to get up. Shaking her head with a pout, her eyes still firmly shut, she snuggled back into bed and into the arms of her boyfriend.
Reid chuckled in response. He had been awake for a couple of minutes already and was just waiting on her.
"Shh!" she murmured, burrowing her face into the side of his chest, throwing one arm around his torso.
"Are you forgetting something?" Reid asked softly, reaching down to gently lift a strand of hair off her face and tuck it behind her ear. Chloe's response was to turn her face into his chest stubbornly. "You have a talk show interview today." He grinned when he felt her lower lip stick out in a pout against his skin.
"Bah!" she replied but threw herself out of bed, almost falling down because her eyes were still glued shut. He pressed his lips together in an attempt to stop himself from laughing, but allowed it out when he watched her accidentally walk into her wall in an attempt to navigate her way to the bathroom without opening her eyes. "Shut up!" she grunted, finally opening her eyes and making it into the bathroom.
Chloe gave a small sigh. She was not in the mood for more publicity and schmoozing. The awards last night were tiring and she wanted nothing more than to stay in bed and cuddle with her boyfriend all day. But Chloe was a working girl and sometimes that meant kicking herself out of bed at the ass-crack of dawn in order to do what needed to be done. On the bright side, it also earned her credit in the industry as a professional, which was worth a lot what with the excess of Lindsay Lohans in the world.
Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around herself and walked out toward her closet. Reid was gone, probably in his room getting ready himself.
She gave a fond smile at the thought. He didn't have to go with her. It was a Saturday. He should be sleeping in and relaxing or doing his homework for Monday, but instead he was waking up early to go with her to an interview, purely to keep her company.
Reid may act like a jerk sometimes, but he could be the sweetest boyfriend on the planet.
Perusing her closet, she pursed her lips and headed toward her 'publicity' section. Normally, she had her clothes divided into 'pants', 'jackets', etc. but there was a corner in the back that was mixed and those were the clothes that she bought purely to be used during publicity events like tv interviews or talk shows.
Idly fingering the expensive clothes, she looked for something to catch her eye. She was doing the interview to talk about her new album, so she wanted something that reflected "Notorious". But at the same time, she was exhausted from last night's awards show and didn't want anything too difficult or eye-catching.
With that in mind, she went to the back of the rack which held her admittedly rather miniscule pant suit collection. A smile tugged on her lips the minute she spotted the Antonio Berardi outfit. It was exactly what she was looking for. She slipped the green pants on and the sheer shirt over top. Then she put the small green jacket on. The jacket was purposely designed small so that it couldn't close. She used double sided tape to stick it to the sheer shirt underneath, effectively covering her breasts but leaving everything else (her chest, the v of her breasts and her stomach) to show. She finished off with her Chica sparkly black lace up booties.
Exiting her closet, she found Reid in his typical outfit of loose jeans, a hoodie and his black beanie. In his hand was his favorite black jacket. "You might want to grab one too," he said, noticing her odd look. "It's cold this morning." Ducking back into her closet, she returned with a floor length dark coat. "Ready?" he asked, waiting a minute to take in the view her outfit offered before holding out his hand.
With a laugh, she accepted, but she ended up being the one to drag him out the door. They made a quick stop in the kitchen to pick up an apple for breakfast each and then hopped into his Aston Martin to drive to the airport.
"Did you get a chance to turn on your radio this morning?" Reid asked.
Chloe shook her head. "No, why? Was it on?" The reason why her interview today was so important was because it was also the day her second single was released.
"No. At least, I didn't hear it while I was showering, but I only had the radio on for like fifteen minutes."
Chloe hummed in response but didn't say anything more. She was tired and a little bit nervous. She was used to the spotlight, but she still felt nerves in the pit of her stomach each time. Her label had chartered her a private jet to fly her to New York where she would be filming her talk show interview which would then be aired that night.
She and Reid parked their car at the airport and passed through security before skipping through the many lines and making their way straight to the tarmac to board their plane. Chloe quickly nestled herself into the comfortable overstuffed chairs and pulled out her laptop. She was determined to keep herself busy before the nerves got the best of her. She vaguely felt Reid sit next to her and noticed out of the corner of her eye as he pulled out his computer as well, presumably to get some of his class work done.
The pilot interrupted them to let them know they would be taking off and soon enough they were in the air.
It took an hour before Chloe noticed something odd. Reid was listening to something on his computer. That by itself wasn't weird as Reid frequently did his work while listening to music. What was weird was that he didn't appear to be working and whatever he was looking at amused him.
Taking a not-so-subtle peak over his shoulder, she gasped and slapped him in the arm.
"Ow!" he whined playfully, taking out an earbud to give her his full attention.
"You're watching all of my past interviews!" she cried out in horror. "Why?" she asked, her cheeks turning red. There on his computer screen was a barely thirteen year old her on a news station giving an interview on her modeling career. She didn't wait for an answer and reached around him to grab at his computer, intent on shutting it off. But Reid was too fast and they ended up grappling rather uncomfortably. She twisted and he must have twisted as well because they both fell to the floor with a heavy thump. The duo stared in surprise at each other before bursting into laughter.
He stared up at her softly, reaching out to gently tug a strand of hair. She had straightened it for the interview so it did not spring back like her curls, but it was the familiarity of the gesture that mattered.
With a happy smile, she leaned down and kissed him, her hands braced on his chest. He reached up, tangling a hand into her hair as the kiss became more enthusiastic.
"Ahem. Ms. King, Mr. Garwin." The couple looked up in surprise to find the attendant in the doorway, face impassive and looking ahead, instead of down at their inappropriate tangle of limbs. "We are circling JFK as we speak. We should be departing shortly, if you would please take your seats." Not waiting for a reply, he returned to the cockpit.
The duo looked at each other wide eyed before bursting into laughter. She rested her forehead on his shoulder as she struggled to catch her breath. Once she'd mostly calmed down, she turned her head, her lips lightly tracing his skin as she went. "I love you," she whispered fondly in his ear before pulling back slightly to look him in the eyes.
He held a fond smile as well, his eyes soft. He reached out to gently tuck the same wayward strand of hair from earlier back behind her ear. "Me too," he replied, leaning in for one last kiss before getting up and returning to their seats.
The landed and quickly made their way through security. Private planes had their benefits and lessened security lines were definitely one of them. At the welcome area, stood a chauffer holding a white board with the name "Garwin" on it. It was easier to book things under Reid's name than her own because of her fame. They followed the man out to the idling limo and were quickly on their way to the studio to pre-film her interview.
"Nervous?" Reid asked. Chloe had been taking extremely deliberate breaths and he knew that to be a technique she used to calm nerves and a racing heart.
"No matter how many times I do this, I am still terrified I'll say something stupid," she replied, clenching and unclenching her hand. This was Part Two of her routine, if her breathing didn't work.
Reid shrugged and simply reached a hand out to gently skim the back of her head before reaching under the curtain of hair at the back of her head and resting his hand on her nape, thumb caressing her skin soothingly.
Chloe let out a small breath, closing her eyes and relaxing into the comforting sensation. One of the benefits of dating someone she'd known her entire life was that he knew her; he just got her.
She slowly felt the tension in her shoulders drain away as she focused solely on Reid's caress and the timing of her breaths. Soon, she felt him shift closer, his breath caressing her cheek warmly as he whispered, "We're here," into her ear.
When her eyes opened, she felt determined to get in there, do what she needed to do, and get done. Seeing this, Reid removed his hand and exited, reaching down to help her out. Immediately, there were paparazzi around them, snapping photos of her. She wished she could reach out and walk with her arms around Reid or even just holding her hand, but she knew she couldn't. Sure, the paparazzi would get photos of him and they'd mention their relationship in the articles, but this was about her and her interview.
She made sure to take graceful steps, smiling lightly and waving at the cameras as she entered the building, but the minute the door closed behind her, she released an annoyed sigh and reached out her hand to take Reid's immediately.
He gently led her to her dressing room where a makeup artist and hair stylist were there to touch up her look. Soon she was on her way to the stage where she's be filming. She shifted nervously as she waited behind the curtains for her cue.
Reid squeezed her hand in comfort, well used to this. The boys had been helping Chloe through her nerves for years and each one was well used to the routine. "You're up," he murmured, letting go of Chloe's hand as she walked out on stage.