Chapter 15
Chloe's eyes opened tentatively to the sunlight streaming in through her bedroom window. It blazed straight across her eyes and blinded her painfully as she rolled over to get away from it. This in turn did her no favours as a crushing pain slammed straight into her ribs. She'd felt it enough times to know she'd been kicked. Hard. But what the hell had happened? Had she been in a bar fight? The injuries matched. Upon doing a full check, she realised her wrist, head, ribs and legs hurt to varying degrees. Very basic for a beer-soaked brawl in a shitty bar that didn't card people. She remembered something else, too. Joyce had been yelling. Had she been yelling at her? No. There had been someone else there, too. But she couldn't remember who.
Looking around, she spotted her phone on her bed next to her. She picked it up and clicked it on before realising it had barely any battery left. Reaching over and trying to ignore the pain, she grabbed her charger and connected it up before relaxing back and letting the discomfort subside. Her body was already screaming angrily at her. Every muscle was sending the message of 'What the fuck have you been doing, you stupid girl?' and it was an incredibly good question. And the incredibly good answer would be to let her know if she found out since she had no earthly clue.
That was when she got another massive shock: the date. Her last memory was of the argument with Rachel at the end of their last date. She'd assumed that had been maybe a day ago. Two at the most. But instead it had been closer to five days! There was nothing from Rachel, but that was okay. She was rarely the one to make first contact after an argument. And with nothing better for an option, Chloe dialled her number. In her disoriented state, Chloe didn't know if she even wanted Rachel to pick up. But she had to try something.
"Chloe?"
"Hey, babe." Chloe said, trying to summon some energy. She knew she wasn't fooling anyone.
"Girl, you sound like shit." Rachel stated bluntly. "Are you okay?"
"Truthfully, I have no clue." Chloe replied. "I think I got in a bar fight and hit my head or something. I don't remember much. I just checked my phone and realised it's been five days and no one told me."
"What?" Rachel's voice carried a note of shock that Chloe knew from experience was genuine. "You suffered a head injury? Okay, I'm coming over!" With that, she hung up the phone. Chloe knew she wouldn't be long. But somehow, she couldn't decide if she really cared or not. She didn't feel much of anything at the moment. The room had begun spinning again and she felt her head crash back down onto the pillow unbidden. The darkness pulled her under way too easily. She was powerless to resist it.
When she opened her eyes again, it was in the embrace of the second warmest blanket she'd ever felt. It was very similar to when she and Max were kids. Sometimes she would wake up with a blanket draped over her only to find out it was breathing. It would have turned out that Max would have come in carefully so as not to wake her and curled up with her. Just like this time. Yet this blanket didn't feel quite as warm. And the hair was much lighter. More of a honey colour, really. Wait...
Chloe sat up to see Rachel lying half on top of her, one arm draped across her shoulders. On reflex, she looped her arm under her and pulled her closer. She was trying to be gentle so as not to wake her. Unfortunately, there wasn't much getting past the daughter of the DA. Even if she wanted nothing to do with him at this point. Her eyes opened pretty quickly and her grip tightened as much as it dared.
"Hey. I noticed your breathing was a bit laboured. Broken ribs?"
"Cracked, I think." Chloe replied. "At least one. Think I took a boot to the ribs. Not the first time. First time I don't remember it, though."
"Shit..." Rachel muttered. "What do you need me to do?"
"Just stay with me?" Chloe didn't know why she phrased it like a question. But it seemed to work as Rachel curled even further into her. She laid herself back and pulled her closer. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that something incredibly dear to her had been so close over the course of those five days. It was so close but just out of reach. She didn't know why, but she found herself mourning for the loss of it. But not just that- for the memory of it. The knowledge of what it was she'd lost in the first place. All she knew was that she missed it.
"So how are you feeling overall?" Rachel asked, her voice quiet. She didn't want to talk too loud in case it aggravated the concussion that Chloe quite obviously had.
"Shit." Chloe muttered, reaching up to rub her eyes. As she did, the bridge of her nose screamed out in agony. Clearly she'd been hit there too. Had she been aware of that before? She was too tired to remember. "But stronger, I guess."
"Good." Rachel beamed as she pulled herself up to look Chloe ever properly. "Mm-hmm. Yep. Bruising, abrasions and fatigue. Nothing life-threatening. You're just gonna feel like shit for the next few days. What you need is a distraction. Something low-energy but still in-depth enough that it takes your mind off it. Any ideas?" Chloe let herself relax back, brushing the blue bang of hair from her left eye as she did so. At that moment, she paused. An idea crossed her mind and she sat up again, wincing at the pressure change within her head.
"Actually, there is one thing..." With that, she hopped off the bed and headed to the door. Or tried to, anyway. She pitched sideways before she could save herself and only the slender yet strong fingers wrapping around her wrist and tugging her upright again saved her from crashing into her over-cluttered dressing table. "Thanks." Chloe couldn't keep the annoyance at having to be saved out of her voice. But that changed quickly as she saw Rachel rubbing at her own upper arm once she was back on her feet. "Have your own injuries not properly healed yet?"
"I've still got another eight months of physio." Rachel grimaced. "Fuck my life, am I right?"
"Yeah, I remember when I broke my wrist in that skateboarding accident." Chloe nodded. "Physio sucks."
"Anyway, what were you about to do?" Rachel asked as she took Chloe by the arm to support her and make sure she didn't go over again. Staying silent for the moment, Chloe led Rachel across to the bathroom. She opened the door and stepped inside, turning to Rachel and beckoning her in.
"Jesus tap-dancing Christ, Chloe!" someone yelled. Chloe whirled around and spotted David. He was sitting on the porcelain god with his trousers around his ankles. Chloe let out an involuntary yelp as Rachel ducked out of the bathroom. Chloe could hear her fake-gagging from outside as she herself turned tail.
"Dude!" she screamed as she slammed the door behind her. "That's what we have a door lock for! If you insist on living here, fucking use it!" There was a sharp click from inside as David locked the door behind them. For once, he didn't have a gruff and exacting response to her attitude.
"Oh god!" Rachel practically screamed. "Two moustaches? Never thought I'd see that one!"
"Dude, that's gross!" Chloe protested.
"I can hear you, you know!" they heard David shout from the other side of the door. At that, Chloe and Rachel both burst out laughing.
"I figured since Mom was going for him, he must have at least some redeeming qualities." Chloe raised her voice and her sarcasm level in response. "Now I'm totally stumped as to why she dragged him here." That remark was punctuated by the unmistakable thump of David throwing something at the door.
Laughing heartily, Chloe and Rachel beat a hasty retreat to the room again. Once they heard David go downstairs, they came out again and crept along the hallway as though someone else was about to come out and bust them. Once they were inside, Chloe held her nose and grabbed a bottle of air freshener, liberally spraying it around to get rid of the stench of David. She didn't take her finger off until the stink of solvent was enough to take her breath away. Better that than the cloying aftershave vapour he left behind. That done, she gestured for Rachel to join her as she moved over to the bathroom cabinet. Opening it up, she tossed aside David's moustache grooming kit, Manscaped care package, shaving cream and razor set before reaching in and grabbing a bottle at the back with a blue hand print stained onto it.
"Yeah, I wasn't too careful when putting this back last time..." Chloe muttered as she stared at it wistfully before turning to Rachel. "Mind helping?"
"You want to re-dye your highlight?" the honey-haired girl asked.
"Nope." Chloe grinned. "I promised myself that one day I'd do it all. Wanna give me a hand?"
"Fuck yeah!" Rachel practically cheered. "I've gotta say, I'm hella psyched for this one."
"Cool." Chloe nodded. "If you can get everything set up in here, I'll go grab the old towel and an old t-shirt. Give me a few seconds?" Rachel nodded. But Chloe didn't move. For a few seconds, she realised how happy she was. How happy Rachel made her. In that moment, she was certain. The happiness she'd been so desperately longing for after their argument was never far away. And if it should ever slip away briefly, she could always find it again with enough time and patience. Something that neither of them had ever been good at. Before she knew what she was doing, she took Rachel into her arms and kissed her passionately. Rachel tilted her head to deepen it and returned it as Chloe felt her hands travel to the hem of the honey-haired lioness' shirt. But she pulled away. They had all the time in the world later and something to do in the meantime. Drawing back, she winked in a way that she knew Rachel was weak for and then headed for the door.
About an hour later, Rachel was lying on her front on Chloe's bed. She was flicking absently through the most hilarious book she'd ever read. They both knew Chloe had a habit of pouring her thoughts out into a journal. Something recommended by her therapist. Rachel knew she was seeing one. Or had been, anyway. After going through what she had, she'd be more messed up if she hadn't found herself needing one. If anything, that bit was reassuring. What Chloe needed to learn, on the other hand, was how much she really shouldn't leave those journals lying around. And some descriptions of her in the later entries were... Well, they were descriptive to say the least. And more than a little humbling in places.
As soon as the shower turned off, she threw it down in the rough direction she got it from before grabbing literally anything else. For all she knew or cared, it could have been a copy of The Communist Manifesto. Just literally anything else to make it look like she totally hadn't been reading through Chloe's diary for shits and giggles. Sure enough, Chloe walked in a few minutes later. The towel was around her head and Rachel could see small strands of blue poking out. The blue blotches on the old t-shirt were also a promising sign. Then the towel came off. To say it had gone well was an understatement. The bulk of Chloe's hair now glowed a vibrant blue, exactly like the bottle had advertised. Or what she could read of it, anyway. The blue finger marks Chloe had left from the first time hadn't made it easy. Without another word, she got off the bed, walked over and embraced the newly-crowned bluenette.
"Gotta say, the pink near the roots is a surprise." She reached up playfully to ruffle Chloe's hair as Chloe laughed and batted her hand away.
"Stop! I'll dye you blue!"
"You washed it out, right?"
"Yeah, but I've literally only just done it!" Chloe countered. "I don't want my girlfriend having hair dye on her hands."
"I should be fine." Rachel laughed as she stood on tiptoes to steal a kiss.
"And yeah, I think the pigment split or something." Chloe told her. "It's okay, though. I kind of like it."
"You know..." Rachel muttered as she let her hands wander up, pressing them against Chloe's chest. "You look damn hot in an old shirt with dye stains. And I bet you'd look hotter out of it." In an instant, the shirt was gone as Chloe practically tackled Rachel back onto the bed. And Chloe was right in the end. Dye transfer did turn out to be a risk. Rachel was also right. She was absolutely fine. Chloe's pillows, on the other hand...
Author's Note: I thought I'd put this in at the end just to give some AmberPrice cuteness. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The final update for this story will be Chapter 16 and the Epilogue as a double update on Monday. After that, I'll be taking a slight break due to life stuff. Not to worry, though. I hope to be back soon with a load of PriceField stories because we all know we can never have enough.