After the art gallery friendship date attempt between them that was more of a business event on Brian Rezza, Chloe King had gone home a bit disappointed on how the event had turned out,though she knew it hadn't been his fault. What had surprised her was his arrival at her house and wanting to go on a walk with her. And that was how they ended up over halfway across the bridge, walking and having a good time enjoying each other's company. Though Chloe couldn't help but feel guilty for having to abandon him at the gallery to help Amy, so she apologized. "Sorry I had to run out on you tonight."
"Don't be. You saved me from feeling massively guilty for making you go. Now I just feel a little guilty" Brian said honestly, though he was glad he had gotten to see her again. That she had agreed to go on a walk with him. He had things he really wanted to say to her. "Also that's one of the things I like about you best- you're always there for your friends."
"We're there for each other. It's good to have friends" Chloe said before frowning a little in concern as Brian stopped. "What's wrong?"
"We need to talk" the human looked at the blonde teenager in front of him, ready to just lay this out to her instead of pretending any longer. "I- I haven't been completely honest. In fact I've outright lied."
Confusion, fear and hurt rang in Chloe's voice as she spoke "What are you talking about?"
"I can't be just friends" Brian said, feeling a weight being lifted as he spoke despite his nervousness on how she would react. "I think... I think I'm falling in love with you."
"Brian, I..." Chloe stopped, the idea of rejecting him breaking her heart, despite the fact she knew she must. But as Brian leaned closer to kiss her, for a moment she forgot all about the curse. Finally, she snapped out of it and pushed him away, no matter how much she wanted to press her lips to his and melt into his arms.
A sharp heartache struck Brian as he looked down at the girl he had fallen in love with, confused because moments ago it had appeared as though she had wanted this as badly as he did. "What is going on?"
"I- I just can't. I'm so sorry. I can't explain it" Chloe said, stumbling over the rejection as she took in his expression and how it caused her chest to clench. "I like you so much, but I- I don't think I can see you anymore." And with that, she turned around and forced herself to walk away from him.
"Chloe" Brian called out, desperate for her to stop and explain to him what happened. A moment ago she had nearly kissed him and now she was running away. Without realizing what he was doing, he started following after her. "Chloe, wait. Chloe!"
One final call escaped his lips before he finally fell silent. He was about to retreat, let her just make the decision she had clearly set her mind to, when suddenly, further ahead, Chloe disappeared into an abandoned building and suddenly it seemed like a fight was coming from the area. He took off running, using the training his dad had insisted he practice, training Brian was not nearly as good at as his father would like. When he reached the alley, he saw Chloe getting thrown back against the wall.
"Hey, get away from her!" Brian said, moving to get between her and the man with knives that felt vaguely familiar, like he had seen him somewhere, but he had no idea where. He tried to hit the assassin but was easily blocked and shoved back
"No, Brian, run!" Chloe exclaimed. "He's not here for you."
"I'm not just going to leave you. You can stop seeing me after this if you really want to, but I need to make sure you survive first" he snapped. He wasn't sure what he would do if he lost her in his life. He hadn't known her a long time, but he felt a connection with her stronger than he had with anyone else in his life. After his mom died, there was no one really there for him. He made friends, but it was not good friends, not ones he fully trusted no matter what happened, not ones he would necessarily be willing to die for. Not until Chloe.
The knife wielding assassin was hesitant to make another move with the Rezza boy right there, the Rezza boy that should have been raised involved in this life rather than spending 18 years left unaware of the Mai and anything relating to the Order. Chloe took advantage of his brief hesitance and threw the Assassin across the room.
She looked over at Brain. "This is not your fight. Go before you end up dead because of me." If anything happened to Brian, if he died purely because she was not just a Mai but the Uniter, whatever that really meant, then she would spend the rest of her lives blaming herself. And it would be even worse than most other humans getting in the crossover because she thought she was falling in love with him too. But even the mere thought of that was enough to force down any and all of her feelings, knowing it was impossible. But even if it wasn't, her feelings were the last thing that should be on her mind, the first being making sure they both survive. But how was she supposed to do that?
Without really thinking about what she was doing, she grabbed a knife that had fallen and threw it at the assassin. Without checking where it landed, she grabbed Brian's hand and ran towards the exit. Brian looked back as they got closer and quickly shoved Chloe out of the way as a throwing star was heading in her direction. The weapon cut deep into Brian's side, and he inhaled sharply in pain.
"Brian!" Chloe exclaimed, her voice full of worry as his strength faltered, and she wrapped her arm around him, moving him to the side to safety before facing the assassin, her expression hard.
Then Alek, the blonde Brian had seen Chloe near from time to time, showed up and fought the assassin alongside Chloe, trying to get the man to quit fighting long enough for them to get away. Brian watched with wide eyes as claws ejected from Chloe's fingers, and she tried to claw at the assassin. The assassin knocked away Alek's blows before cutting Chloe's arm with the knife. Brian's eyes started to drift shut, but he forced them open.
Alek charged at him and knocked him against the wall. The assassin shoved a the throwing star he had within reach into Alek enough. It didn't kill him, but the focus of the assassin was a bit off after his head was banged into the wall. He got up and took off, knowing he needed to get back to report what happened involving the Rezza boy. The Order would be displeased, but there was nothing to be done about it now. If they had told the Rezza boy about the truth to begin with, he would be unharmed and not anywhere near Chloe King unless he was joining the hunt himself.
Once the assassin was gone, an injured Chloe made her way over to Brian in concern. She looked back at Alek, worried about them both as she said her next words. "We need to get out of here"
Alek looked conflicted but went over to help support Brian, despite his bleeding side. "We need to get him to Valentina's medical supplies. It will help him better than the doctors could."
Chloe agreed, and the three injured teenagers made their way to the house, the Mai supporting the injured human. They got him upstairs and onto the bed they used when their own got injured.
Jasmine quickly headed over to them in concern. "What happened?"
"Chloe was on a walk with him, and then she left his side and was attacked. I was close but clearly not close enough. We were lucky to have made it out" Alek said, a hand now on his wound as Jasmine worked on getting what they needed.
Brian was barely conscious, only somewhat hearing what was all being said as his body kept wanting to drift off into darkness, but he reached out and grabbed hold of Chloe's hand without thinking. The Uniter held it tight, wanting him to hold on the best he could. Their intertwined hands were both covered in blood, but neither of them cared. All that mattered was that they had each other.
After they were all treated by Jasmine, who knew about healing as much as she knew about fighting (thanks to her mother's rigorous lessons), Chloe sat in a chair with her arm bandages up with an unconscious Brian on one side and a resting on the bed Alek on the other. It was only once Jasmine left the room that Alek spoke again. "I should have been closer"
"You should have been closer? You're always following me. I bet you were watching earlier today while I was at the art gallery"
"Of course I was. It's my job to protect you" Alek said, looking at her.
"Is that all it is to you? A job?" Chloe questioned, wondering if everything he had done for her was because he was in charge of keeping her safe. But if that was the case, he wouldn't have stayed with her mother for hours to make sure she was safe.
Alek's expression hardened a bit. "If I hadn't been following you, you would have died again. And so would your human. Then again it's not the only time he nearly died tonight"
"I didn't kiss him" Chloe said.
"You were about as close as you could get before a kiss" Alek commented. "For a moment I thought you had kissed him"
"I didn't kiss him. And after that near moment, I ran away. It's not my fault he followed me" She sighed. "But he wouldn't be hurt right now if he didn't care enough to run towards the sound of a fight or to go on the walk with me."
"You need to let him go. Before you get him killed. In one way or another" Alex said.
"I know" she said softly, though that sounded easier than it actually was. "He saw our fight. We can't exactly pretend everything is normal*
"We'll tell him. And maybe then he will take the situation seriously and stay away." Alek said. "One of you has to. And it clearly isn't going to be you"
Chloe looked away from him and over at Brian, not saying anything, her heart aching painfully as she thought about how badly she wanted to kiss him and how she never could.
After about 30 minutes, Chloe stood up. "If I don't get home, my mom's gonna kill me. Or call the police on Brian," she said. "And we really don't need that to happen. Is he going to be okay here? Are you gonna be fine?"
"I'll keep an eye on him. We'll be fine, Chloe" Alek said. "Take Jasmine with you in case that member of the Order or any others are lurking about"
Chloe nodded, not wanting yet another near death experience in one day. It was bad enough needing to come up with a way to explain the dress to her mother. Of course she would have a dress this gorgeous in her possession and manage to get it ruined by the end of the night. Though maybe she would be lucky, and the blood could wash out well. Then it wouldn't be in that bad of a condition. "I'll leave my house early tomorrow and come check on everything going on here. Thank you, Alek." She looked at him for a moment before heading out of the room.
Jasmine looked over at her as she left the room. "Hey. How are they doing?"
"They're fine" she replied. "Brian is still asleep, but Alek's awake. I need to head home before my mom thinks Brian abducted me"
"Alright, then lets go" Jasmine said and headed over to the door before opening it. She picked up the suit jacket and held it out to Chloe. "It's Alek's. To cover up the blood. Your mom will think its Brian's"
Chloe took the jacket and headed outside. She put the jacket on and thanked her before she started walking with her. "Usually I would protest about needing someone with me, but I've already been in two dangerous fights today. If there's a chance I can avoid a third one, that would be great."
"I should have been there protecting you as well" Jasmine said, feeling guilty that Chloe's life had been in danger twice already.
"Jasmine, it's not your fault. I was spending time with Brian. Even if you were watching from a distance like Alek was, I probably still would have been attacked." Chloe said. " And I hate how much you both put your life in danger because of me when I'm the one with several lives left. Not that I want to die again. But if it's one of my lives or your one life, it's not a choice to make"
"Your life is more important than all of ours" Jasmine said, repeating what had been drilled into her by her mother.
"Because I'm the Uniter?" Chloe questioned.
It didn't really mean anything to her. It was just a word the Mai used to place her in front of others. And a word that meant she was going to die several more times before she died for good. It wasn't worth jumping in front of a throwing star to protect. What kind of a Uniter was she? Her mom had no idea what she was. She couldn't kiss Brian. Amy and Paul would never fit in or understand her life, no matter how hard they tried. A Uniter was supposed to bring the two races together. Not be split in two, stuck with one shoe in each. But no matter how hard it got to maintain at times, she didn't want to give up the human raised part of her.
"Yes. You're important in ways we don't even know about yet. You're supposed to unite the Mai and the human race. But you're also our friend, and we don't want anything to happen to you"
She looked over at Jasmine at her words and said "Thanks. But how do you think I feel? I care about both of you as well, and you nearly died trying to protect me. If anything happened to either of you because you were protecting me, I'd never forgive myself"
Her friend stopped and turned to face her and looked hesitant before pulling her into a hug. It felt strange hugging someone. It was not really something she was raised to do. But Chloe feeling that way meant a lot to her. More than anything her mother ever said to her. She wanted to express that feeling in a way Chloe was familiar with. Chloe was surprised by the hug, knowing Jasmine hadn't exactly been raised in a hug friendly environment, but she hugged her back close before pulling away.
Jasmine smiled a bit at Chloe as she looked at her. "I appreciate that. But you don't need to worry about Alek and I. We can take care of ourselves"
Chloe didn't push the topic, knowing it was no use. At least not right now. Instead she started walking with Jasmine again towards her house. It took them a bit to get there, but eventually Chloe said goodnight to her and headed inside, where her mother was waiting on the couch for her to return.
"So how did it go? Tell me everything" she said, looking at her daughter.
"There's not a lot to tell. It was... nice" Chloe said.
"That's it? This boy comes over here to give a date take two because his first one had business involved, and all you're going to give me is it was nice?"
"I'm just really tired and want to get out of this dress. I'll talk to you about it later" Chloe said after a moment.
"Alright," her mother said, worried but not pushing the subject, and she watched as her daughter headed upstairs to get out of her clothes.
Chloe closed her bedroom door and slipped off the jacket, looking down at the cut that wasn't bleeding but it wasn't gone either. She sighed and got changed before hiding her dress and the suit that both had blood on it before settling down in bed, trying not to worry about what was to come.