When Angels Fall (Fallen Angels)

by Jo Cattell

  She turned to Chloe and smiled. “I think you know. Go out there and remind him he’s with you. Don’t back down, either. I will put Miss Taylor in her place later.”

  When they came out of the bathroom, everyone had headed out to the lobby to wait for Mark to get the car. Chloe stopped dead next to Kevin and watched as Taylor had her arm linked in Nick’s and they were laughing.

  “Okay, I know I’ve only been your adopted brother for a few hours now, and he is my actual brother, but say the word and I will go and kick his ass for treating you like this. I can’t believe he’s being such a dick,” Kevin said, putting his arm around Chloe.

  “He can’t help it. She’s his friend and he doesn’t see it. Do me a favor. When we go to get in the van, stop her from getting in before me, so I can sit with him,” she said, thinking of the plan she was going to try.

  “Sure. Anything else, like kicking his ass?” Kevin laughed.

  Chloe laughed. “No, just wish me luck,” she said and applied her lip gloss. She put her shoulders back and took a deep breath. As she walked over to them, she felt her legs shaking. Why was she so nervous? He was her boyfriend and she would never take this from any other girl. As she approached them, Nick smiled at her.

  Taylor was about to dismiss her when Chloe took Nick’s hand and asked if she could talk to him for a minute. He unhooked his arm from Taylor’s and, as he was about to step away, Chloe put her hand to his face to make him look at her. Bringing his face to her, her lips brushed past his. She kissed him lightly at first, enticing him slowly by the light kisses, then opening more and kissing him deeper. She felt his hands on her face and smiled.

  She pulled away a little and he looked into her eyes. “What was that about?” he asked her, a little breathless from their kiss.

  She ran her thumb over his lips, removing some of her lips gloss. “You said after dinner you were mine. Well, it’s after dinner and I want you to be mine.” She was careful in how she worded it. She didn’t want him to think she was being negative about Taylor. But Claire was right. It was time to get him back. She could see Taylor out of the corner of her eye start to say something, and she kissed him again, lingering there for a few minutes and feeling his hands on her back. She ran her fingers through his hair and then nuzzled her lips against his neck.

  “Ugh, I’m suddenly not feeling well. Can you two knock it off, so we can leave? Mark just pulled up,” Taylor complained and stomped outside.

  Nick and Chloe walked to the van while holding hands.

  Taylor seemed to wait for Nick to get in. As he did, Kevin grabbed Taylor from behind and winked at Chloe, who followed Nick into the van.

  Once it was dark and they were on the way back to the house, Chloe continued to try and keep his attention. In the dark of the car, she slowly ran her hand up his leg. She felt his hand touch her face and she kissed him again softly, letting her tongue lightly touch his.

  “Hey, Nicky, when we get back to the house, you wanna watch a movie?” Taylor asked.

  “Nick, Taylor is talking to you.” Kevin smiled, knowing he was busy.

  Reluctantly, Nick broke away from the sweetness of Chloe’s lips. “What was that, Ta?” he asked in a whisper.

  “I asked if you wanted to watch a movie. Like we used to do. Chloe can come, too,” Taylor suggested, seeing that she wasn’t going to let him out of her sight again.

  “Um, not tonight, Ta, sorry,” he somehow managed to say, and then found Chloe’s waiting lips again.

  Arriving back at the house, Nick took Chloe’s hand and led her out the back doors. They walked in the moonlight to the boathouse. He opened the door and they entered into the darkness of the place. It smelled musty from being closed up, and as soon as he found the lights, Chloe noticed the covers on all the furniture.

  “No one must be staying here this week. Usually, it is opened up and smells better. But it’s warm. Well, it will be in a minute, and it is away from everyone,” Nick explained and went to the huge marble fireplace. Turning the knob, the fire went up in a blaze.

  She followed his lead, taking her boots and coat off.

  Nick took of the sheet from the couch and motioned for her to come over.

  Slowly, she walked towards him.

  When she was inches from him, he grabbed her and kissed her. “What the hell got into you tonight? Not that I’m complaining, it was a kinda sexy, but you’re never aggressive like that,” he asked, holding her close to him.

  She titled her head to the side and smiled a little. “Well, I wanted to get your attention. You seemed like you were a little busy with Taylor and I wanted you to notice me,” she confessed, as she put her arms around his neck.

  He kissed her neck and she giggled. “Baby, trust me, I have been noticing you. I’m sorry about dinner. She’s just really excited to see me, I guess. But, right now, it is just you and me. And honestly, since you went to work, I have missed being alone with you. Last night, things got out of hand. But I want tonight to be different.” He kissed her lightly.

  “How different?” she teased, running her hand down his chest.

  He cocked his brow at her, and then pulled her down to the couch.

  Chloe straddled his lap and ran her hand down his face.

  As her fingers reached his lips, he kissed them. “What are you thinking?”

  “Just that I love you and how I don’t want moments like this to end.”

  “I want this week to be special. I want us to spend time just being together. No influence from your family or friends. Just us,” he whispered and started to kiss her neck.

  She rolled her head back, enjoying the warm of his mouth. His hands slid up her side and she steadied herself on his shoulders. “I love when you kiss me like this.” Her voice was a whisper as he kissed her throat.

  He moved her from his lap and had her lay on the couch. Lifting her shirt a little, he kissed her stomach and smiled as she giggled. “How much of that wine did you drink tonight? You’re a little giddy,” he teased.

  “I had two sips. Are you sure no one is going to come out here?” she asked as his hands slid inside her shirt. “I really feel like someone is going to catch us any minute.”

  “We’re safe. Mark and Claire are hitting the hot tub, Kevin is watching a movie, Max and Collin are in bed, and my parents are going to be so bombed when they get back that they will go to straight bed,” he explained and kissed her stomach again. This time, she took a deep breath as his hands caressed her breasts. He could feel her open to him, her body unafraid to react to his touch. He was about to bring her shirt up higher when the door opened and he jumped.

  “Oh, my God, here you two are. I didn’t think anyone was here until I saw the light, and then I thought if the fire is going, maybe someone is staying. I was going to come in here and read. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Taylor said with a wicked smile.

  “Um, no, we were just talking,” Nick said, pulling Chloe up, so she could sit next to him.

  “Oh, okay. Wow, Nicky, do you remember the time we came in here and hid from Kevin and my sister? What, were we like eleven?” Taylor blushed.

  “I think we were. That was when we were making all those plans for when we were going to run away from home. God, that was so funny.”

  Taylor sat next to him and started talking about when they were kids again.

  Chloe could feel her blood boiling. He’d promised this was their time. And now she was there, again. And he wasn’t even trying to get rid of her. He just sat there listening to what Taylor was saying and forgetting about her again. Finally, she had enough. “You know what? You two sit and talk. I had a really long day and I’m going to go to bed. Nick, if you can find time for me tomorrow, let me know.” She got up and put her boots back on.

  “God, we haven’t seen each other in months. Sorry, if I interrupted.” Taylor stood up and acted like she was going to leave.

  “Ta, just wait here. Chloe, wait,” Nick said and ran after her.

&n
bsp; She was so mad that the cold air didn’t bother her. Instead of heading to the house, she went to the lake and stood there, trying to figure out what to do.

  “What the hell is your problem? She just came to hang out for a few minutes.” Nick grabbed her arm and made her look at him.

  “Are you really that blind? How is it that everyone can see what she’s doing except you?” She pulled her arm from his grip and backed away from him.

  “Chloe, she’s one of my only friends whom I’ve had since I was a kid. I did have a life before you. You can’t expect me to just drop people.”

  “I know you had a life before me and I can even accept your friends. But she has been purposely trying to keep your attention since we got here today. You promised me this was our time. I’m sorry, but I’m not spending our time with her!” Chloe yelled at him and looked at the boathouse where Taylor was watching everything.

  “Kinda like how I felt about you and Josh, except she’s my friend. If I wanted her, I would be here with her. I love you and she knows that!” he yelled back.

  “Really? She has a funny way of showing it. Ask your brothers and Claire. They all see what’s going on. Like I said before, if you can pull yourself away from her tomorrow and really spend time with me, let me know,” she said and stormed off to go inside.

  * * * *

  The next morning, Nick sat at the table spinning his ring and waiting for Chloe to come down. He was still in a fog about what happened the night before. And after talking with Taylor, he could see that Chloe was really jealous of his relationship with her.

  “Hi, Nick!” Max exclaimed as he sat next to him. He kneeled up, reached for the box of cereal, and poured it to overflowing into the bowl in front of him.

  “Hey, little Dude, having a good time?” Nick helped him put most of it back and then poured the milk, so that didn’t go everywhere.

  “Yep, me and Collin are going tubing today. Do you want to come? I can share my tube with you,” Max offered, shoveling a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

  Nick laughed at that. It was so funny the way he always tried to get them to do things with him. In reality, they all had been busy with other things to pay much attention to him anymore.

  Kevin sat down and Nick looked at him. “Max, how about, if we do a bro day, you, me, Kevin, and Mark?” Nick suggested.

  Kevin was shaking his head no.

  “Really? Like you three do? Just us four?” Max asked, excited.

  “Just us four what?” Mark asked as he, too, joined them.

  “Nick just told Max we would do a bro day with the four of us,” Kevin filled him in, looking pissed that he was now stuck with their little brother for the day.

  “You know what, Max, why not? You want to hang with your big bros? You got it. I will ditch Claire for you.” Mark smiled and poured him and Claire a cup of coffee.

  “Fine, I have nothing better to do anyway.” Kevin rolled his eyes.

  “I guess I can ditch Chloe, considering she isn’t talking to me,” Nick added.

  Mark hit him in the head.

  “Ouch!” Nick exclaimed.

  “What did you do now? Really, Nick, do you not listen to the brotherly advice I give you?” Mark shook his head.

  “I didn’t do anything! Stop hitting me!” Nick yelled at him and punched him back.

  “If you’re talking about Chloe, I think she’s still asleep. I just went to check on her and she didn’t answer,” Claire said, joining the conversation.

  “I better go check on her,” Nick said, getting up. He didn’t want this to keep happening. This was the second night they had fought and it had to stop.

  “Nick, you can’t back out on Max. It was your idea,” Kevin reminded him.

  “I’m not, little Dude. I just want to see if Chlo is okay. Talk to Mark and Kev about what you want to do,” Nick told him and went up the steps.

  He knocked on the door and waited for her to answer. When she didn’t, he went in. Quietly, he walked over to her and touched her arm. “Can we please talk about last night?” he asked her.

  “Nick, I’m really tired. I just want to sleep a little more,” she answered softly and rolled away from him.

  He was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. “Okay, go back to sleep. You’re on your own today. I’m going out with my brothers. I’ll see you when I get back,” he said and got up. Putting his hand on the door, he turned and added, “When you’re ready to let me explain and talk about how Taylor isn’t a threat, let me know. If this is the way you’re going to be this week, it’s going to be a long one.” When he got outside the door, he thought he heard her scream into her pillow, and then he heard something hit the door.

  Nick went back into the kitchen and looked at Max. “Okay, buddy, what do you want to do first?”

  Mark looked concerned. “She’s still pissed at you, isn’t she?”

  “No, I’m pissed at her. It doesn’t matter.” He glanced from Mark back to Max. “It’s your day, Max. What do you want to do?” Nick ignored their disapproving expressions as he asked again.

  “Do you want me to talk to her?” Claire asked.

  “No, she just needs to work it out herself,” he answered.

  Kevin looked at him. “Max, go get your stuff, so we can get going.” He waited for Max to leave.

  “What happened last night when you left the van?” Mark asked.

  “Nothing, just things went too far and she got mad and ran away,” Nick answered, sat down, and started playing with a napkin on the table.

  “What kind of things? Where the hell did you two go?” Kevin pressed him.

  “Don’t worry about it. I am just tired of taking the blame, when this time she’s in the wrong,” he answered, throwing the napkin down.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Mark asked.

  “You know what? No, because I don’t need your brotherly advice on this one. She needs to get over being jealous of any girl who’s in my life. Let’s just go get Max and get the hell out of here,” Nick answered and went to get ready.

  They‘d been gone most of the day and twilight was just starting to set in when they got back. It had been a long day and he really missed her and wanted to get this over with. Nick went to her room and saw the there was no one there. On her bed, he found her sketch book. He’d never asked her if he could see it, but every once in a while, he caught a glimpse of the ones she’d worked on in class.

  He started looking through it, feeling, in a way, he had invaded her privacy, but the more he looked, the more he found that he couldn’t put it down. He knew she was good, but never realized she was this good. There was a sketch of Millie sleeping from over the summer. Chloe’s attention to detail was amazing. She had every crease of the blanket and every line in Millie’s hands.

  In an off sketch, she went into detail of her fingers and hand. Even the freckles were there. He knew now why the art schools had wanted her. He found one of himself that looked like he was trying to stay awake or sleeping. It was dated around the start of school. It had to be from history, because Mr. Green always put him to sleep. It looked as if she had traced his name over and over again on the paper. He had to laugh at that. Had she thought about him then?

  There were countless others, and as he got to the end of the book, he found one that really caught his attention. She ‘d drawn a picture of Shelly and her father. In Shelly’s lap was a baby, and behind her father was a lightly sketched image of herself. There was no detail in her image, it was transparent. This was how she had seen herself with her father. As nothing. Somehow, Nick knew he would have to try and make that up to her. His family had embraced her as one of their own, but she was still that little girl who’s wondering where her father was at Christmastime.

  Nick found Chloe on the dock, staring out at the frozen lake, her long hair blowing in the breeze. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her. By the look on her face, he could see she had been crying. “Chloe, we need to talk a
bout last night,” He hoped she would listen now.

  “What about exactly? How you would rather spend time with Taylor or that I’m a bitch who a few months ago who you wanted to tell off? Were you punishing me today by leaving me here to think about my actions, like they do?” she replied harshly.

  “Chloe, this has to stop. I’m not punishing you. We can’t keep fighting like this. Taylor and I talked last night and I realize now that you are threatened by and maybe a little jealous of her because of our friendship. But it’s you I want to be with. She even asked me where you were today. She’s really trying. I wish you could see that,” he explained.

  Chloe’s face went red. “She was with you today? I had to stay here and she was with you? My God, it is like my father all over again. Just leave me alone. Find a way for me to go home and leave me alone,” she said and started to walk away from him.

  “Are you breaking up with me? If that is what you want, Chloe, fine! I can’t believe you’re this upset over someone who is a really good friend to me!” he yelled at her.

  “Yeah, she’s such a good friend. Why don’t you go and ask her sister and your brothers what they’re seeing right now, since you’re so blind? Oh, wait, here she comes, again. Talk to her about it, and while you’re at it, tell her you’re free. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to take care of that for you,” Chloe said and ran back up to the house.

  “What was all that about?” Taylor laughed, seeing Chloe in tears.

  “I think we just broke up.” Nick turned and looked at the lake. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He had to talk to her. When he went to walk away, Taylor stopped him.

  “Maybe this is how things are supposed to be. Nick, she isn’t like you. You need someone who is stable, and from what I have heard, she is pretty messed up.” Taylor placed her hand on his arm.

  “Who have you heard that from?” He’d never said anything about Chloe or her past in front of Taylor, and this concerned him.

  “I overheard your mom and my mom talking. Listen, you and I need to talk. I realized so much when I was away at school.” She took his hand in hers.