Fallout
Chapter Fifteen
Brady and Chloe sat in
silence for the entire drive to the Wesley home.
Every now and then Brady would glance over at Chloe.
He had wanted to speak so many times during the drive, but was afraid to
interrupt whatever it was she seemed so deep in thought about.
Chloe leaned her head against
the window. It was best to not be
looking at Brady right now, she thought. Despite all the pain she had endured today, that's not what
she was thinking about right now. She
couldn't believe it, but she couldn't get the thought of Brady out of her head.
All she could think about was how his lips had felt on hers, and how at
this moment, she wanted nothing more than for him to take him in his lean strong
arms and hold her tightly. <
AHHHHHH!! Stop it, Chloe! Get it
out of your head...you can't do this. You
just got out of a bad relationship, you can't think about being with someone
else yet. And especially not Brady
Black. >, she thought to herself.
Brady pulled into the
driveway of her house, and shut the engine off.
Chloe muttered a quick, "Thank you." and opened her car door to
get out. But Brady stopped her by
putting his hand on her arm.
"Chloe...wait.
Don't go yet."
Chloe shuffled herself back
into her seat and shut the door again. "Ok fine...So, why did you want to drive me home,
Brady?"
"Because Chloe...I
haven't talked to you since that day. And, I just...you know...wanted to talk."
"Ooookay, let's talk
then. You first."
"I just wanted to tell
you that I'm sorry for kissing you. Wait, no, scratch that.
I am NOT sorry for kissing you. I'm
sorry that it happened when it did. The
last thing you need right now is for someone to come along and confuse you like
I have. But, I'm not sorry for
kissing you, Chloe. To tell you the
truth...I've been denying it for a very long time, but Chloe... I feel something
when I'm with you. Something I've
never felt before. You're the only
person I know who understands me, the only one who gets through to me.
And… I really care about you, Chloe.
I may have shown it in funny ways, but I do care."
"You're telling me...So,
all the teasing and the insults about my singing?
Just clever ploys to let me know you care?"
Brady smiled, "Well,
it's kinda like the teenage equivalent of all the kindergarten hair-pulling and
sand down the pants kinda stuff. Stupid, I know."
Chloe grinned at him,
"Well...that makes sense I guess. And,
Brady… well, now it's my turn to admit something.
I...well, I feel the same. I
guess a part of me has felt it for a long time too.
I mean, I loved Phillip and all, but being near you felt different than
being with Phillip. With him...well
everything was about him, and he didn't always let me be myself.
But, whenever I'm with you...I'm just me...the REAL me.
You've never questioned that about me, Brady, and you've never once
forced me to be something I'm not. Not
even that kiss... I mean, I care
about you too Brady, but this is all happening at the wrong time."
Brady leaned forward and
placed one hand on her soft cheek. "Chloe...I'm
sorry."
Chloe opened her deep blue
eyes wider and gave Brady a half-smile. "There's nothing to be sorry for,
Brady...But...I..." Brady stopped her sentence with by pressing his lips
against hers. There was no way he
could let her get to the 'But', a sentence that started with 'But' almost never
meant something good.
Chloe wanted to resist his
kiss, his touch, but felt herself unable to move away from him.
Their kiss deepened and she moved forward until his arms were around her,
holding her tightly. This was exactly where she wanted to be, wrapped up in Brady
Black. For just a moment, she was
completely unaware of her setting, her situation and the pain she had been
through in the past week.
Brady didn't want to do it,
but he realized that he could go no further with this and broke off the kiss.
He gently kissed the tracks on her face where the tears had fallen
earlier, and softly whispered to her, "I know...Chloe...don't say it.
You're not ready for this."
Chloe backed away a bit and
nodded, "No. I'm not.
I wish I were, but I have a lot of healing to do still...before, I can...
Well, it just wouldn't be fair to you Brady, and if we went for this too
quickly... I would just end up hurting you."
Brady shook his head,
"You would never hurt me, Chloe. I
can see that in your eyes right now. Just
like I could never hurt you. Never.
I hate seeing your eyes so full of pain, and I'd rather hurt myself
before I caused you pain."
Chloe smiled slightly and
placed one hand on his face and ran it over to his hair.
"I know, Brady, I know. I'm
not sure how I know that...I just do. But,
now isn't the time. If you and I
are going to be together, I want it to be the right time."
Brady grinned at her,
"Well, when you figure out what that time might be, please let me
know."
Chloe chuckled softly,
"You'll be the first to know, Brady Black.
I promise."
Brady started to move away
from her and let her go. Chloe
leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, Brady. Thank
you for being you."
Brady smiled widely,
"Same back at ya, Chloe Lane."
Chloe slowly pulled away from
him and got out of the van. Brady
started the ignition and looked at Chloe as he started to slowly back out of the
driveway. He smiled gently at her
and the words he wanted so badly to say to her filled his thoughts, < I love
you Chloe Lane, and I'll wait for an eternity if I have to. >
Chloe smiled at him as if she could almost hear what he was thinking. < I love you, Brady. >