True
Chapter Eighteen
(Much
much much later... after room service...)
Chloe
laid on her stomach watching the TV screen in front of her as Brady laid
beside her and flipped the channels rapidly.
He stopped at a movie that Chloe had watched on video with Shawn and
Belle just a few weeks ago.
"No,
no, no, Brady... I just saw this movie. What
else is on?"
Brady
resumed his channel surfing and groaned quietly. "Come on, Chloe...
It's late... there's nothing else on except..." Brady paused and
gaped at the screen. "...National
Cheerleading Championships. Alriiiiiight."
Chloe
looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "You
MUST be joking."
Brady
shook his head vehemently. "Oh
no... I am totally serious. This
is fascinating stuff. Athleticism
and showmanship all in one night. Wow."
"Right.
Athleticism, showmanship and pert girls in teeny tiny skirts."
"Hey,
it has nothing to do with the skirts... I mean, I'm not going to complain
about them. But... watching
cheerleading competitions on cable is like passing a car wreck on the
highway."
"And
how is that?"
Brady
spoke with exaggerated drama in his voice.
"It's like... you know that it's going to be terrifying to watch,
but you can't take your eyes off it. You
try to look away, but it's impossible. You are completely glued to it."
Chloe
laughed softly and rolled her eyes. "So,
'morbidly fascinating' would be the best two words to describe it?"
Brady
nodded affirmatively. "Absolutely..."
"Brady
Black... you are a certifiable freak."
Brady
shrugged and grinned at her. "And
proud of it too..."
Chloe
laughed out loud. "Well,
that's fine... but I am NOT watching cheerleading."
She
slyly grinned at him and made a grab for the remote control.
Brady was too quick for her as he threw one long arm up into the air
and over until he was flat on his
back and she couldn't reach the remote anymore.
Chloe growled in frustration and and sat halfway up until she could put
both of her hands on his chest. She
kept him from sitting up as she put one arm across his chest as the other one
reached for the remote. Chloe
almost had it until he used his other arm to wrap around her waist and rolled
her until she was flat on her back and half of his body was on top of her.
Brady
smiled widely at her. "You
are no match for me, Chloe Lane."
Chloe
furrowed her eyebrows together and frowned.
"Is that so, huh?"
Brady
nodded happily. "Oh yeah...
You may be tough, but..."
Chloe
interrupted him by lifting her head to kiss him deeply.
Brady leaned into her kiss as she trailed her fingers gently up and
down his arm. Once she felt that
he was totally relaxed and off his guard, she deftly moved the remote out of
his hand and into hers.
Brady
broke off and looked at her in shock. "That
was so unfair..."
Chloe
laughed hysterically as she stared at Brady's look of disappointment. "I
win... You just can't resist me..."
Brady
rolled away from her and laid on his back.
"Well, when you play that card, I have no choice but to give
in."
Chloe
laughed again. "It was too
easy... Men are so dumb sometimes."
Brady
frowned and jokingly nudged her in the side.
"Fine then... what does Princess Chloe want to watch?"
Chloe
pondered the remote for a moment. She
aimed it at the TV and hit the off button, tossing it to the floor when she
was done.
"Nothing
actually..."
"Ahhhh...
so you just like to fight?"
"No,
I'm getting tired... I want to turn the light off and get under the covers and
say goodnight."
Brady
sat up and sighed. "Okay
then... I guess it is past our bedtime."
Chloe
sat up next to him and smiled. "Brady...
sleep with me tonight."
Brady's
jaw dropped in shock and his eyes widened.
"WHAT?"
Chloe
laughed and playfully smacked him on the arm.
"I don't mean like THAT, you sleaze. I just meant that... every now and then I want to wake up
with you next to me. You know...
like the first couple of nights of the trip."
Brady
smiled slightly and nodded. "Right...
of course. That's exactly what
you meant."
Chloe
rolled her eyes at him as she crawled to the other end of the bed and turned
down the covers. She got
underneath them and Brady followed, turning the light off before he laid down.
Chloe snuggled close to him as he wrapped one arm around her and she
put her head on his shoulder and sighed.
"Brady..."
"Mmm-hmmm..."
"Tell
me a story, please."
"A
story? Which one do you want,
Rumplestiltskin or Hansel and Gretel?"
Chloe
chuckled softly. "No, not
like that. It's just... we always
talk about me and my sad sorry life. Now
it's your turn. But, not the sad
parts... tell happy stories."
"Like
what? The time I won first place
in the 50 yard dash on field day in the 3rd grade?"
Chloe
laughed and kissed him gently on the cheek.
"While I'm sure that is an enthralling tale of triumph over
adversity, that's not what I had in mind.
Tell me what it's like to have a sister, or tell me what you know about
your mother. There's a lot I
still don't know about you, Brady."
Brady
snickered under his breath. "Maybe
that's for the best. Maybe you
don't want to know."
"Oh
please... stop beating around the bush. Just
talk."
"Alright...
alright... Let's see... where to start. Obviously,
I don't remember my mother at all. I was just a baby when she died."
"Well,
tell me what you know about her."
"She
was beautiful. Anyone can see
that just by looking at pictures of her.
But, my dad says it wasn't just what you see in the pictures. She had a way of smiling at you and looking at you like you
were the most important person in the world.
She was kind, and helpful and caring.
She was very very smart. And
funny... Dad tells me that a lot of people didn't know that about her either.
She had a good heart, but she was never weak.
She was a very strong person... and she never backed down from anything
in her life."
Chloe
sighed softly. "And she
loved you."
"Yeah,
she did. My dad told me that when
she found out she was sick, the thing that hurt her the most was knowing she
wouldn't be able to be there for me and watch me grow up.
She spent every last minute of her life with me and my father.
She tried to make the most of what she had left."
"And
Marlena named Belle after your mom then?"
Brady
nodded slightly. "Right... A
lot of people in Salem loved my mother, and admired her. It feels good to know that she made such an impact on the
people in her life. Belle is
named after her, my grandfather's magazine is named after her.
She was special to everyone who knew her."
"How
often do you think about her?"
"All
the time. Every day actually.
It's hard not to. She's always around me, no matter what."
Chloe
smiled in the darkness and placed a hand on Brady's chest.
"What were Shawn and Belle like when they were kids?
I'm curious..."
"Exactly
the same... only smaller."
Chloe
laughed out loud and Brady continued. "Well,
maybe not exactly the same... but there's not much of a difference.
Belle is always Belle. She's
always been sweet, and loving, and kind.
But, that's not all she is. She's
smart... very smart. And tough
too. She's always been that way though. A lot of people who don't know her well think that she's just
the perky cheerleader type, and they underestimate her as being 'weak' because
of how sweet she is. But, my
sister is not weak. My earliest
memories are when I was about five and she was only two years old.
I tried my whole life to pick on her, because I'm the big brother and
that's what I'm supposed to do, but she never let me get away with that stuff.
I used to tease her mercilessly, but she'd just give it back to me, but
ten times more."
"Good
for her. And Shawn?"
Brady
laughed at the memory of a young Shawn Brady.
"Ohhhh, Shawn... You know his tough guy act?
I hate to say it, but it's just the cool image he likes to project.
He acts tough, but really he's a big sensitive type.
I've got all the dirt on Shawn Brady."
Chloe
was intrigued. "Ohhhhh
really? Like what?"
"Okay...
When Belle and Shawn were about 8 years old, the house that Shawn's family
lived in had a wall surrounding the front yard. Well, Belle and Mimi used to walk on the wall all around the
yard and pretend they were gymnasts on the balance beam, or tightrope walkers
or something. So, this one day
Belle is doing her tightrope act and she slips and falls off the wall.
Shawn was so scared that he actually picked her up and dragged her into
the house. I don't know how he
did it, but he got her in there. By
the time he got her inside so his mom could help, Shawn was crying harder than
Belle was."
"He
cried and he's not even the one who fell?"
"Like
a baby. He was so worried about
Belle being hurt that he started crying.
He was just a kid, so it was understandable, but ask him today and he'd
NEVER admit it. Belle was okay,
but she ended up with a really terrible scrape though.
It went from where her shorts ended all the way down to her
ankle."
Chloe
nearly cringed. "Ouch."
"Yeah,
no kidding. Poor kid was in pain
for a while too. Let's see... what else can I tell you? Did you know that my little sis has a passion for roller
coasters?"
Chloe
lifted her head in shock. "Really?
That surprises me."
"Well,
it wasn't always that way. The
first time we went to Disneyland, she had just hit the height requirement for
Space Mountain, so we all waited in line for like an hour and a half.
Well, when you get closer to the front, you're basically standing right
next to where the ride is and it's completely dark in there and all you can
hear is the cars on the track and people screaming their heads off."
"That
would scare me away."
"Belle
too. She asked my dad if that's how it was in there, and when he answered yes,
she totally freaked out. She had
never been on a real roller coaster before so this was pretty frightening, you
know. So, Marlena had to take her
out of the line while Dad and I rode it.
We went back two years later, and got her to ride it that time."
"And
let me guess, she's been hooked ever since?"
"Basically.
Not only did we get her to ride it the next time we were there, but she rode
it 4 times in a row. Now she's
addicted. Whenever we went on
family vacations, she always begged Dad and Marlena to take her to theme parks
to ride bigger, faster, scarier roller coasters.
And she got her way most of the time too. She's got a pretty strong stomach."
Chloe
chuckled softly. "Well,
obviously... I mean, you've already told me the story about getting carsick...
She's got a stronger stomach than you do at least."
Brady
groaned. "Ohhhhhh... stop.
Don't remind me."
"So,
have Shawn and Belle always been stuck on each other?"
Brady
chuckled. "Pretty much.
They've been basically inseparable for an eternity, but obviously they
never saw it as anything more than friends until recently.
I guess if you look back on all the history they have together, it's
pretty much 'meant to be'. If you
believe in all that 'meant to be' kinda stuff, that is."
Chloe
sighed softly. "I think we'd
all LIKE to believe that, even if it isn't true."
"I
know..." Brady turned his head and kissed her forehead softly.
Chloe
snuggled even closer to him and yawned. "Thank
you for the bedtime stories, Brady. You
should tell me stories more often."
"I
will... I've got tons of stories like that... Better ones even."
Chloe
sighed again as Brady stroked her hair until they both began to drift off to
sleep. As he wavered in and out
of consciousness, Brady prayed that there would be many more nights of bedtime
stories in their future.