Chapter 22

"I guess this weekend didn't go like we planned," said Chloe in the passenger seat.

Belle and Mimi had already gone ahead inside the Lockhart home to give Chloe some private time with Philip. After a very uncomfortable breakfast, they'd agreed that perhaps the girls should spend the remainder of their weekend at Mimi's house, to recover. They couldn't stay at the guesthouse with Mimi refusing to leave the bedroom. The girls had brought her some food and eaten together, separate from the boys.

Even though Philip understood this was for the best, he was still greatly disappointed that he'd have to give up the weekend alone with his girlfriend. So, his expression was slightly downcast, as he drove the girls to Mimi's.

"I'm sorry, it turned out this way, Philip." She covered his hand with hers, sensing his disappointment.

He managed a reassuring smile. "It's alright. Hey, that's the benefit of owning the jet and everything. We can reschedule. No cancellation fees."

She toyed with his collar. "Philip Kiriakis, are we bragging?"

His eyes twinkled. "Maybe. You have to admit though, there are advantages to dating a rich guy."

She gave him a playful poke in the ribs for his lack of modesty. "You're horrible." Then, she hugged him and sighed, when his strong arms tightened around her. Philip's long awaited surprise would have to be put off another weekend, but to Chloe, that was secondary in comparison to her monumental decision. Now, with her mind comfortable with the idea, she closed her eyes and remembered their intimate time together, when she first woke. Somehow, the jitters were more noticeable now with the introduced possibilities. However, her hand couldn't help but appreciatively run along his bicep. "Let's just say there are definite advantages to dating a jock."

He grinned, "Chloe Lane, I do believe that was a come on."

Smiling, she shared a farewell kiss with him and stepped out of the car. "I'll call you later?"

"Yeah. We'll see how it goes with Jase. See you later, beautiful."

After a soothing shower, Mimi emerged from her room in an old sweatshirt and jeans. She'd taken her time bathing, sniffing the familiar soaps and shampoos and finally wrapping herself in her fluffy towel. Her family wouldn't come back until tomorrow evening, so she could spend as much time in the bathroom, as she pleased, without her little brother and his puny bladder hounding her.

A happy yip came from behind. Speaking of hounding, she thought with much needed levity. The white furry pup rolled back and forth on his back in youthful bliss. It took three attempts to gain his feet without tripping over his long ears.

"Floppy," sighed Mimi, "You silly puppy." She picked him up to cradle him in the crook of her arm. "Did you miss me?" His tail wagged in the affirmative. "And how many of Daddy's shoes did you chew up this time, huh?" Floppy grinned and would've whistled, if he could. "Busted. What are we going to do with you, huh?" She gave his pink belly an affectionate scratch. Floppy wriggled in her arms, as she followed the female chattering to the kitchen. There, she found two shapely rear ends jutting from the open refrigerator. "I can't believe you guys are still hungry, after we gorged at Philip's."

Belle popped out with a jug of lemonade and hauled it over to the counter. "Not hungry. Just thirsty. Plus, it says a lot what people have in their fridge, you know?"

Chloe shut the refrigerator door after selecting a shiny little apple. "Hmmm, could anyone guess that she's the daughter of a shrink?"

Mimi smiled. Somehow this whole nightmare was almost bearable with her friends here to support her. "Thanks, guys, for staying with me and all. I know you probably had plans with, you know, Shawn and Philip." Her eyes dropped down to look at her darling puppy, as the tears welled again.

"Oh, Mimi," said Belle. She gave her saddened best friend a warm hug. "We're here for you. Besides, who needs men anyway?" She scrunched her face in feigned disgust to illustrate her point. Then, she piped, "Girl power!"

Mimi had to giggle. Leave it to Belle to be this peppy in the darkest storm. Then, she felt a calm hand on her shoulder and turned to see Chloe offer her quiet support, as well. She blinked in gratitude. Maybe, just maybe, things were going to be alright.

"Come on," sniffed Mimi, gathering her strength and taking some lessons from her friends, "You guys gotta see what me and my mom have been making for Floppy."

Shawn and Philip exchanged another look of concern. Then, they turned back to see Jason lying motionless on the sofa, staring blindly at the television. It was one of their favorite shows "The Simpsons," but their friend had hardly cracked a smile the whole day. Their attempts to draw him out of his silent shell had been unsuccessful. When a guy retreated to his mental cave, one could only wait, until he was ready to come out in his own time. His buddies sighed and focused back on Homer's beer gut.

"I have to feel for him. Poor thing."

"Chloe, he looks so cute!"

"Belle, that's the face of profound embarrassment."

"Hey, I think he looks adorable, and he keeps warm, when he goes out."

"Mimi, you've emasculated him. Aw," Chloe patted his little head poking out of a bright pink homemade dog sweater. Floppy licked her hand enthusiastically, oblivious to the world of pet fashion. "Don't worry, little guy. I won't tell your brother Merlin about this."

"Hey," sniffed Mimi, professing offense, when she felt a giggle in the wings, "It took me two weeks to knit that. It fits him perfectly."

"Well, congratulations, DKK-9. What's next? Bell bottoms for his tail?" grinned Chloe.

"Oooo, I know!" clapped Belle, as inspiration struck, "How about a matching scarf and hat? You know, with a little pink pom-pom at the tip?"

Chloe groaned, "Thank God, Nestlé stays with Shawn's great grandmother. Who knows what would've become of her, otherwise?"

Laughing, Belle gave her disapproving friend a good-hearted shove. "You know what? We should've had a puppy sleepover, too. Like a family reunion for Nestle, Merlin, and Floppy."

"Oh, no." Chloe shook her head in apprehension and looked at the dolled-up Floppy. "After what I've seen here, you two aren't coming near mine."

"Hey!" Belle grabbed a random pillow and bonked Chloe on the head with it. Her victim shrieked and took another pillow in defense and smacked Mimi by mistake.

"Ok, now it's on!" Mimi took the last pillow and bopped at random targets.

Mimi's bedroom became a flurry of loose goose feathers and airborne dog hair. The girls laughed and laughed, as très chic Floppy barked and hopped around in the chaos.

From the living room, Belle and Mimi could hear Chloe in the kitchen giggle then sigh. "Love you, too. Good night." Their friend returned to the living room with rosy cheeks, after she'd hung up the phone.

Shawn had called first to chat with Belle, before handing off the phone to Philip, so he could speak to Chloe. The girls made a special effort to keep their voices low, for Mimi's sake. Nothing was worse, when someone's heart was on the mend and people get all mushy and perfectly happy around you. Nevertheless, Mimi sighed. Life was so unfair. When would she know the same romantic bliss that her friends were feeling? Instead, she only knew disappointment and regret. She'd never even had her first boyfriend and now she'd already had sex. How screwy was that?

Feeling sorry for herself, she settled into her sleeping bag on the carpet, while her friends did the same. They wore the nightclothes, which they'd originally packed in their overnight bags. They'd called their parents to inform them that they'd spend another night at Mimi's. The gracious moms and dads barely contained their whoop to know that they'd have another night to themselves, but dutifully asked, when their children would be home on Sunday.

Chloe's eyes fluttered closed, exhausted from the previous night's events and happily remembered the feel of Philip's arms holding her. He'd been so gentle. And most importantly, at her weakest moment, he'd taken care of her. Finally, after seventeen tumultuous years, she knew unconditional love. Something her mother had failed to teach her, when Chloe'd been given away and bounced from stranger to stranger. No longer did she think that all the world was cruel and selfish, but there were genuine pockets of pure goodness and trust. Maybe with that knowledge, she now could learn to believe truly in herself and others.

"Hey, are you guys asleep?" whispered Mimi, moments later.

"Not yet," yawned Belle, obviously on the edge of consciousness.

"Chloe?"

"I'm still awake," she answered softly.

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?" replied a tired Chloe.

"Falling in love."

Chloe's eyes blinked open. She flipped to her side to look at Mimi. Belle did the same, forming a triangle. They looked at each other, pondering the question.

"Well, Shawn and I have never talked about it, so I'm not sure, if… you know, if it's love yet…"

"Belle, you guys have been chasing each other around since forever," pointed out Mimi, "Just with the time factor, I think you qualify."

"Well…" began Belle, "We haven't really said it-"

"You haven't?" Mimi's reporter antennae perked up. "What's the holdup?"

"Well… I guess, after J.T. died and everything that happened… we kinda decided to take it really slow, you know?" When her friends nodded in understanding, she said, "I'm just happy to be with him right now, you know? We're trying to take it one day at a time…"

"If he was willing to wear that costume for you," grinned Chloe, "I think it's safe to say that the boy's crazy about you."

Belle giggled, "He did look pretty incredible, didn't he?"

"Girl," replied Mimi, "I saw a ton of other girls, drooling over him, but his eyes were totally on you and that silk number."

Belle grinned, then turned to Chloe. "How about you, Chloe?"

"I agree. The costume looked great, but Shawn's definitely going to have some explaining to do to his buddies."

Belle laughed, "No. Mimi's question. I mean, with you and Philip."

"Oh." Chloe blushed and looked away. "I don't know…"

"Come on, Chloe," said Mimi with a small smile, "We know you wanna talk about him, since you're gaga for him every time we mention his name. Give us the scoop."

"Ever think about working for the Enquirer or something?" joked Chloe.

"Seriously. What's it like, you know, being with him?"

Chloe met those entreating brown eyes. Her friend was looking for something - perhaps, some kind of solace after everything that had happened. "I guess, for me, I just feel… safe."

Her friends exchanged a confused look and blinked at her for further explanation.

"It's kind of hard to explain, because I'd never really loved anyone before. I mean, I still don't think I love my mother or Craig. Because… I guess, because I still don't trust them."

"But you trust Philip?" asked Belle, awed again by how much Chloe could hold inside.

"Yeah," she said without hesitation. "Especially with what happened at the party…" Chloe paused, unsure if Mimi could handle her talking about that night.

"Yeah, he was really worried about you," said Belle, "And everybody, like his servants, at his house. They dropped in and out throughout the night to make sure everything was ok. Philip never left your side."

Chloe's heart warmed. "He was really sweet…"

"Wow. Chloe Lane just called someone sweet," smiled Mimi, "You're definitely gaga over this guy. Does that mean that you guys… you know…"

Chloe blinked then blushed. "I think we should say good night now." She promptly scooted back into her sleeping bag and flipped over to her side, faced away from those inquiring eyes.

"Chloe…" giggled Belle, "Is that a yes?"

"Good night, ladies," replied Chloe.

"I think we've just been stonewalled," chuckled Mimi. "Fine, we'll just assume that you and him were shacking it up in that room the whole time."

Chloe resisted a giggle and closed her eyes.

When her friends finally threw up their hands and accepted that indeed Chloe was not going to kiss and tell, they settled into their sleeping bags. The early crickets sang out in the yard. After some time had passed, Chloe finally flipped over to face her friends, who were about to fall asleep.

"Mimi?"

"Yeah?" she yawned, ready to let sleep take her after that illuminating discussion.

"That night at the party, Jason told me that he really liked you." Mimi's eyes popped back open then shut in pain. "He seemed really sincere, but he said that since you didn't feel the same way about him that he'd leave you alone. He seemed… kinda hurt… then he kinda passed out… I can't really remember much beyond that, but I remember how much he said he liked you."

"Chloe," she said weakly, "It doesn't really matter anymore…"

"Yes, it does," retorted Chloe for the sake of her friend, "It means that… he's probably going through a lot of what you're going through right now, because… you really mean something to him. I just think that… even though things turned out the way they did… at least you should know that… you really mean something to him."

Mimi felt her eyes burn and sighed. What did it matter? Did it really matter?