wanderess

Basics

Name: Chloe Li

Nickname(s): Chlo

DOB: December 9th, 1994

Age: 26

Sexuality: Bisexual

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Hometown: Camden, Maine

Neighborhood: Bayside Bluffs

Occupation: Personal Trainer @ Rhode 2 Fitness

Traits: Firey, Strong, Cunning, Impulsive, Flighty, Intelligent, Compassionate, Adventurous, Loyal

He gave one nod of confirmation; it was fact hanging in the air now. He loved her. He had loved her for months on end, from dawn til dusk, on every day that ended in the letter ‘y’. His hands rested on her hips as they continued to sit in bed under the heaviness of the conversation. “We are a team,” he agreed.

“We’re the best team I think,” Kai continued. They had been working together in every other aspect of their lives– cooking dinner, cleaning, feeding Bart– it was all teamwork. His face instinctively nuzzled in the cups of her hands, grateful that Chloe was willing to talk this out. “I’m sorry for being a bad teammate,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to either palm. 

I love you too. Despite the seriousness of everything happening between them, Kai couldn’t help but smile as his heart began doing somersaults. Hearing the words made it so much more…real. “That’s mad cool,” he giggled, noses brushing as he gazed up into her dark eyes. “We love each other…” pulling away slightly, Kai began to mull over potential options for more cash. 

“Yeah, totally.” It was anxiety-inducing, but Chloe was very much in his corner. She had made that apparent, and for that, Kai was beyond grateful. “I could sell weed, or walk dogs or somethin’,” he looked over at Bart. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to fix this, Chlo. I can’t…losing you isn’t an option.”

~

“You’re not a bad teammate,” Chloe chided, a light couple of pats on his cheeks. “Far from it. This is the first time in a long time that I haven’t felt alone or like life is one sided. I just need you to know that you don’t need to hurt yourself financially, emotionally, or physically for my sake. Do you understand that?” She needed him to understand that. 

Chloe cracked a smile at his sudden change in demeanor when he processed her own words. A proclamation of love, no matter how quick and simple it was. She did love him, too. She loved him so much it scared her. It left her feeling like she was floating every time she caught the way he smiled at her, or the way he ran his hands across her or through her hair. It was the kind of love that left an ache in her chest whenever she saw his smile falter. Totally encompassing, and completely damaging. If anything were to ever happen, if she were to ever lose him– well, she didn’t want to think about what happen, because it would be impossibly horrible. 

“You won’t. I wouldn’t do that to you.” Not like it had been done to her, left to suffer in the lows, wander the country looking for a place to call home. Now that she had found it, she’d be hard pressed to ever give it up. 

There was more tension in the air than Kai would have liked, but it was much too late. He wasn’t great at reading people, but as the months went by, he liked to believe that he picked up on Chloe’s body language. Brows furrowed in confusion as she asked the question– hadn’t it been obvious? Was he not showing his love for her enough? “Well, I mean, I don’t really know or understand the difference of loving someone and being in love with someone, but I know that what I feel about you probably falls under both categories,” he fumbled out. 

So much was pouring out of her and Kai was taken aback. It wasn’t vicious per say, but it was turning into a more serious conversation than he intended. Removing his glasses, Kai pressed his face into his hands while he tried to process the words flowing out of Chloe’s mouth. “I know you don’t need anybody to take care of you,” he nodded, “you’ve mentioned it before. I know that you’re independent.” 

“But it’s like…I want to take care of you. Like…sometimes I think about the future, right? And I see…I always saw the way my dad took care of my mom, right? Nothin’ insane, but he kept the lights on and food on the table. That’s what I mean,” Kai spoke slowly, not wanting the situation to escalate. “I mean…eventually I think I’d wanna find someplace with you to live. Like, we could be on a lease together and call it ours, right? But I think I need money for that,” he groaned quietly. 

Kai didn’t want her to have to live in motels or paycheck to paycheck anymore. Not when he was there! Things should be easier with two people, at least in theory. “I wanna help keep the lights on, Chlo. Like…I know I’m just speakin’ about the things I think about, but I think it’d be dope for you to wake up one day and for me to be like ‘hey I paid the electric bill,’ and you not worryin’. I just love you and wanna be kinda better for you.”

~

“You love me,” Chloe repeated the words again. Not to question him, just to hear them out loud. To listen to the way it sounded, and decide why it made her chest ache so bad. Maybe, because she loved him, too. And, she had loved him for a while, but saying it out loud solidified it, and when something is real it’s harder to avoid. She was blowing it out of proportion maybe. This was inevitable when they agreed to get serious. But, a part of Chloe just figured that Kai would keep saying she was rad and cool all the way up to any proverbial wedding. 

“But, we’re a team,” Chloe countered, as if he didn’t know this, “And, if we’re a team, we can work together to do those things. Can’t we? You shouldn’t have to feel like you have to gamble your whole paycheck away for the sake of me noting having to pay the bills.” 

Do not give him an ultimatum, Chloe. Don’t do it. It suddenly felt so easy to do, but she didn’t want to drive him away. What good would it do to have him pick between her and gambling, when he thought he was doing it on her behalf somehow? No, she probably needed to navigate this which much more caution, and stop assuming. Just because she was an addict, didn’t mean everyone else around her was one, too. 

Turning around on the bed, she took his face in her hands, “I love you, too,” The words rolled of her tongue much easier than she imagined they ever would again, “And, I want to be your partner as much as you want to be my caretaker. There are better ways to make extra cash than something as risky as gambling. Fuck that, right?”

Kai let out a groan, not wanting to think about his losses. This situation was new to him– not losing, but losing when there was something…someone much more important on the table. Could he give it up for a few weeks? It sounded easy enough, but for the nights he wasn’t at Chloe’s? When he was alone with his thoughts and a laptop screen illuminating in the darkness? 

“I wanna believe that I can,” he started, “but I never had any of this before. Like…I never had anyone that I cared about or cared about me the way that you do, know what I mean? My losses were just losses, there was no real consequence other than a negative bank account.” Kai began to pull her hair back into a loose ponytail, if only to keep his hands occupied. “I never had a life with someone other than my parents, and then you showed up.”

“I love you Chlo, you know what I mean? I’m at the point where like…I don’t even wanna think about a life separate from you, but I don’t,,,I don’t know how to make that change, because when I’m on a winning streak all I can think about is how I can take care of you the way you deserve to be taken care of. But when I lose? A loser can’t take care of you,” he mused, throat tightening as the words rattled off. “I wanna be your guy as long as you want me too, but I’m just…I’m stuck.”

~

There were so many things swirling in Chloe’s head as she worked through everything he was saying, trying to quell the ringing in her ears. This is what Aless had meant when he had mentioned certain things coming to the surface. God, how did she navigate this without accusing him of something that might not have even been true? Maybe he just thought he needed to win. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as she blowing it up in her head. She was an addict after all. Half the time she existed in the world, she felt like she was picking up on red flags she had seen in herself. Maybe she was blowing this out of proportion. 

And, then he said he loved her. Not that she was rad, not that he really liked her; he said that he loved her. Her head felt like it was spinning as she tried to work through everything she was feeling. Firstly, she was scared. Scared that he was digging himself into a hole that was so hard to get out of. She was also scared of the fact that she loved him too. She hadn’t been in love with someone in years. The thought of giving her heart up to that again was petrifying. Secondly, she was angry. Angry at a world that made him think that having money, taking her on stupid dates, or being able to financially support her was the most important thing to her. 

She didn’t like the way her throat was tightening up when she was looking for the words to say. Her first instinct was to walk out the front door and potentially straight into the ocean. Her second instinct, somehow worse than her first, was to cave and take a hit off the stupid pen she knew he had with him. Her third instinct was the weaponize his proclamation of love, like that had worked so well when it had been done to her. 

When she finally felt herself be able to breathe again, all she croaked out was, “You love me?” She let the question hang in the air for a long moment, worried she had somehow misheard what he had said. Because, this was no small confession. Loving her was not an easy task, and she needed to be sure she heard him right before she held back the urge to talk him out of it. 

“Why do you think you have to take care of me,” The question rolled off her tongue before she could think through where this was going. She hated that he felt like he wasn’t good enough for her. All she wanted was him. Not the version of him that everyone else wanted him to be. Just him. “Why do you think you have to have all this money? I don’t need that. I lived in and out of motels for a year blowing the money I had on booze and–” This was not how she wanted to tell him about her addiction, “other unnecessary shit. I was living paycheck to paycheck until maybe last year. I’ve never had money or needed someone else to take care of me. Winner, loser, it doesn’t fucking matter. If it’s not important to me, why is it so important to you?”

Kai shook his head quickly, not wanting his friend to suffer Chloe’s wrath when it wasn’t warranted. “No, it’s not about him,” he said, “he and I are cool. More than cool, actually. Just, when we started…seeing each other, he like…,” Kai sighed in frustration. He never saw his hobby as an issue! It was still odd to view it as a problem, but they were going to have this talk eventually, right? 

“He mentioned that if I was going to be…serious with you that I needed to give up some stuff. You ever play poker?” he asked, genuinely curious. If she did, perhaps this could become a better deal than he envisioned. “I’m pretty good. It’s actually where some of my extra money comes from,” Kai tugged on the silver chain that still held the ‘K’ initial around her neck. “Especially around the holidays. But, I’m like…on a losin’ streak right now. It happens, y’know? But I thought I could double my paycheck and maybe take you out this weekend,” he shrugged. 

Now would’ve been an ideal time to hit his pen, but he refused to do that inside Chloe’s place. It was too cold to go outside, and he preferred to have Chloe sitting in his lap as their day wound down. “I’m like, not even sure what I’m trying to tell you other than I fucked up and lost two weeks worth of pay to some dude online.”

~

Chloe was doing her best to connect the dots in her head. Fill in the blanks of the things he was not say. Jumping from giving things up to poker. Which, Chloe never wanted him to feel like he had to give up something for her sake. A hobby, or whatever, was of new real issue to her. Or, at least, she thought so until he kept explaining where exactly the money had gone, and just how much he had lost in a single week. 

Chloe could feel her heart sink. She was no doctor, and certainly no expert when it came to anything involving addiction beyond her own struggles with it. But, there were certain things that came as an umbrella over multiple forms of addiction. They key one being not knowing when to stop. She didn’t want to accuse him of anything, it had been what drove the wedge between her and her ex in the first place, and the thought of losing him scared her. Though, wouldn’t it be poetic justice for her ex, wherever she may have ended up, for Chloe to suffer the same fate she had been put through? 

“Well,” Chloe started slow, trying to figure out how to walk this line, “You can just take a breather from it. Recoup your losses before you play again, right,” Her heart was hammering against her chest at this point, she just hoped he didn’t know. “You... you can just give it up for a few weeks. Right?”

“I’m a barber, not a hair stylist,” Kai reminded her, “I don’t have the skills to give you a bob. You don’t have the head shape for it anyway.” He placed her brush on the nightstand and began to rake his fingers through her hair, grazing her ears. His heart sank a bit at the phrase things happen. Things definitely did happen– surprise injuries, accidents, emergency vet visits– staying up til the early morning gambling did not fall under that category.

“I mean,” he sighed, looking down but away from her, “business is steady. Prom season is coming up in a couple months, so there’ll be some extra cash…” Kai licked his lips. “I, uh, I used most of my tips to buy weed and a soda today.” He grew quiet for a moment as his words hung in the air. Kai wasn’t the best at reading the room, but at the end of the day, he knew he needed to be honest with the woman who had him becoming (somewhat) responsible. 

“We’re like, pretty serious right?” Finally, his eyes met hers as he gulped anxiously. A brief thought to change the subject flickered through his mind, but it was far too late. “Serious to the point where we can like, have serious talks? Remember when we admitted to Aless that we were sleepin’ with each other?”

~

“You say that like I know the difference,” Chloe shot back teasingly. She would have almost been offended at the comment if she didn’t know he was right. The shortest she had ever allowed her hair to get was up to her shoulders, and that was as short as she could ever imagine herself going. Still, she was totally convinced she wanted to let him cut her hair just yet. That was a trust reserved for a very special few, not even granted to herself most of the time. 

“That’s good,” Chloe hummed, doing her best to catch his gaze to no avail. Something in her stomach clenched when he spoke of what he had done with the money. It wasn’t her money, and it wasn’t her place to judge, but it brought her back to how her behavior started in the past. Money blown on the bare minimum, and weed to get her through the week. 

“Yeah,” Chloe assured him as he met her gaze finally, “Yeah, we can have serious talks.” She grimaced slightly at the memory of him practically going into cardiac arrest on her couch when he found out, but nodded anyway. “Yeah, I remember. Is this about Aless?” He had promised to back off, but she wouldn’t put it past him to slip up with the way he tried to look after her.

location: Chloe’s apartment 

@chloexli·

Despite neither one of them wanting to admit it, things were serious. Whenever Kai stated he was going home to someone, now it meant that he went to Chloe’s. Her fridge was now stocked for two, containing selections from Kai’s questionable palate. Bart was stationed in his own bed against the wall, as Kai brought the brush through Chloe’s hair, something he looked forward to, as they discussed their days. 

“Your hair is so pretty,” he murmured, examining each strand. “There’s some split ends though. When are you gonna let me at least give you a trim?” Kai teased, sneaking a kiss onto her cheek. “But really, thanks for lending me that gas money this morning. I, uh, I thought I had more on my card but apparently…,” he sighed, well aware that his paycheck was blown after four terrible rounds of poker, “apparently not I guess.”

~

Things were growing more and more domestic between Chloe and Kai. As much as she hated to admit it, it was very real. Clothing was beginning to become split between their respective homes, and even the food in her kitchen was split with odd snacks that she never touched, but always managed to disappear after Kai being over for a couple of days. Not only that, but they talked about how their days had gone curled up in bed, with Bart curled in the corner. 

“I still don’t know if you’ll shave my head when I’m not looking, how do I know you won’t give me a bob if I let you near my hair,” She teased glancing up from him from her placed curled into him. “Don’t worry about it, things happen.” Chloe had been no stranger of living paycheck to paycheck. She still felt stretched whenever her old bike needed work or some sort of injury she couldn’t manage herself occurred. “Who isn’t tipping at the shop, send me in to beat them up next time,” She joked.

The smile that spread across the man’s face as he placed the cheese (and the plate) safely down on a flat surface before he embraced Chloe was immeasurable. They’d missed on at least two Saturday’s since he’d travelled and though the woman knew he was travelling it didn’t stop her from playfully joking about it even with the stark time differences that set them apart. In an uncharacteristic move, he went to give Chloe a brief hug, something that was rare unless there was something they were overly excited about, but being reunited after two weeks was something to celebrate, wasn’t it? “Your conscious can be cleared if you just pretend you never saw me, that’s how it works right?” Aless questioned as he proceed to pop in his first bite of cheese, smooth, delicate, hint of nutty flavors. He was slightly impressed. 

~

His trip was one of the few times that they had missed multiple Saturdays while on speaking terms. She would act a martyr about it, but she was glad that he had gone home for the Holidays. There was nothing that could have made her happier than knowing her friend was somewhere he loved, celebrating with people who cared about him, and introducing Ofelia into his world. The hug was unexpected but not unwelcome, and it was honestly a relief to see him outside of instagram. “Or, I can just use this as blackmail to talk you into doing something stupid with me,” She mused, a playful smirk on her face. Not that it usually took much convincing, Aless was only slightly harder to sway than Kai.

“Oooh you know how to make a doctors day don’t you?” he teased, grabbing some gloves and slid them on. Grabbing a stool to sit on and roll towards her, he reached into his pocket for a small light he kept for moments like this. “Please tell me there’s a decent story to go with this?” he asked, gently peeling away some of the tissue so he could inspect further. “Fight down a gang of crims, take out a mafia boss?”

“I’ve done cooler,” Chloe bantered, a little too calm for someone who was sitting in ER with a potentially broken nose. “I was doing skull crushers- aptly named, mind you -with 25 pound dumbbells, and lost control of the weight.” That was what she got for trying to beat her PR without a spot, but hey- life marched on. “But, we can go with single handedly fighting off a big burly biker bro who got a little too close to my bike, that sounds much better. Should have seen the other guy.”

where: Antipasto Station with: @kingsheadstarters· 

The minute his eyes landed on the station, Aless knew exactly where he would be heading. Hands carefully grabbed onto the ceramic plate, his brown eyes peering frantically through the mask as he looked at the plethora of imported cheeses, the different cuts of meat, the fruit, the array of wines. The aroma itself was tantalizing, though the true test of the cuts would come down to a simple science: just where Lily had imported them. He found himself asking the server on the other side of the table which cities each came from, before he had a plate filled to the brim. He stopped short just as he was about to pop in a piece of cheese into his mouth, “There’s plenty left, I just wanted a full table tour so to speak. Onestamente.”

~

Lily was nothing if not a genius party planner. She knew how to set up a show, and make an event worthy of Providence happen in a little town like King’s Head. She was dressed to the nines, the mask scratching gently at her face as she appreciated the effort that got put into the evening. For the most part, even masked, she was able to make out friends. One in particular, she wasn’t surprised to find standing in front of the food. When in doubt, look for food, and you’d find Aless. She stood a few feet behind him, impressed the clack of her heels hadn’t drawn his attention. Perhaps that was the magic of cheese? “I don’t know if I can allow you to eat all of that in good conscious for Ofelia’s sake,” She teased.

He smiled softly, “Maybe we could go someday.” A vacation with her wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, but then again…they were very much still in the honeymoon phase. A honeymoon phase that had Kai head over heels in a way he’d never experienced before. Her next statement, however, was…it was nice. She didn’t care about his ‘educational’ achievements, not in the way his parents did. They still loved him, but would occasionally harp on him for not reaching his full potential. But for Chloe? He was enough.

The feeling of her lips against his own felt like the first time, each time. His heart fluttered, and his middle finger went up to the passerby’s yelling at them to get a room. It was funny, how often that was beginning to happen, but Kai couldn’t help it– he was Chloe’s and he wasn’t trying to fuck that up. “Touch tank time,” he mumbled before placing her back down on the ground.

Fingers intertwined, Kai pulled her toward the touch tank section. “They even got starfish in here!” he exclaimed, leaning over the open tank. After receiving instructions (touch with two fingers, not the whole hand), Kai stuck his hand in carefully. “It’s cold,” he commented, “and uh, the starfish is…ew. Babe, feel this, it’s…it’s so weird!”

~

Chloe had done the relationship thing before. The honeymoon phase was real, and it made her whole world brighter. Laughing felt easier, smiling felt easier, it all made her feel so much lighter than anything had before. Granted, most honeymoon periods in her relationships had lasted a couple of weeks as opposed to a couple of months. But, she wasn’t one to complain, either. 

In her mind, PDA wasn’t a big deal. The general public? They couldn’t seem to stand it. Chloe’s own middle finger shot up at the stranger from behind Kai’s head. Jealous people were unnecessary to please. She was happy and Kai seemed happy and that was what mattered most at the end of the day. “Touch tank time,” Chloe echoed settling her feet back on the floor. 

The touch tank seemed to be just as magical as it sounded. Smaller sea creatures swam about with a nearby attendant reminding everyone of the rules of the tank. Chloe pushed the sleeve of her shirt up above her elbow as she reached into the chilly water next to Kai, and ran a tentative finger over the starfish. “That is weird,” She confirmed, the rough texture not quite what she expected.

Mating for life. It was a weird thing to think about, especially for someone that flew through life by the seat of his pants. Kai briefly considered that Chloe was his own otter, but quickly brushed that thought away. This was still new territory they were navigating together, but Kai was in this for the long haul. He hoped she felt the same way. “Otters know what they want I guess,” he bent down and kissed her cheek. “We’re sort of the same that way.”

“Mhm!” Kai nodded in agreement. “You’re really good at feeding my fish too,” he said, “but we don’t need scuba stuff. I think that’s where the college part comes in. I looked into it for a little, but my grades…,” Kai shrugged and smiled. “I like cuttin’ hair though. It gives me time for my own fish. And, like, now for you.” Most of his time was beginning to be taken up by Chloe, not that he minded. 

The grin on his face was lopsided, but still stretched from ear to ear. He didn’t think Chloe meant for the phrase to make his heart skip, but it did. Kai was beginning to see why otters mated for life, especially when she looked at him like that. “Yeah?” It was pathetic how everyone around them disappeared when Kai locked eyes with her. “I think the happiness has somethin’ to do with you,” he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. “Is that stupid to say?”

~

“I don’t know if I could ever scuba dive anyway. It sounds intimidating.” Chloe had always been a strong swimmer. She was on her school’s swim team and grew up in a beach town. But, she drew the line at scuba diving, that was the sea creatures home, and she wasn’t about to intrude on it unnecessarily because she was an overly curious human forcing herself to breathe underwater in a way it was never intended for humans to do. Nope, that was beyond even the realm of bravery that Chloe possessed. 

“Well, then, there you go. Who needs a degree anyway?” A sentiment she carried around strongly after dropping out. She would certainly get paid better with a degree, there was no doubt in her mind about that, but it wasn’t something that was in the cards for her. 

Seeing a couple in their own little world used to make Chloe want to scream, but now that it was her who felt the world melt away around them when she saw the way his face lit up it didn’t seem so bad anymore. No, she found herself craving the feeling of being next to him as much as possible. “Me? That’s crazy,” She teased, “But, not stupid, no. Sweet, actually.” Chloe leaned down to press a kiss to his lips, ignoring the glances in their direction.

LOCATION: Kingshead Memorial STATUS: Open

Christmas was the busy period of year no matter what you did, and it was not different to Matt. Hearing the familiar Dr Hastings to the ER, over the PA system he sighed a little and winked to one of the nurses nearby that he’d been flirting shamelessly with for the past hour. “I’ll be back.” he promised as he headed down and moments later was being directed to the patient he’d been called to see. “Ouch, what have we got going on here? What can I do for you?”

~

It was stupid. If she hadn’t dropped the weight in front of an audience, she wouldn’t even be going to the ER for a check in. It wasn’t even heavy weight, just a warm up on twenty pound dumb bells, and one had slipped from her hand. It landed on her nose, leaving a bloody mess in it’s wake, and a wave of overly concerned gym goers insisting she get it looked at. Chloe had done worse than this to herself in the past, but she couldn’t convince that many people it was fine as she seemingly bled out through her nose. So that was how she ended up sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, paper towels shoved up her nose, and bruising around the center of her face. “You might be re-breaking my nose, your call,” Chloe deadpanned.

“I think so!” he answered gleefully. “I mean, they did at our sixth grade field trip at least.” That trip was the first time he had ever been to an aquarium, the reason he developed a deep interest in sea creatures. Nuzzling his nose against her cheek, Kai was completely unaware of the crowd surrounding them. “Wandering sounds tight,” he agreed. There was no time limit, and they were in no rush. Kai would willingly stay until closing, if he could. 

Otters. He hadn’t known she liked otters, and he made a mental note to remember. Was there a gift shop? “Oh yeah? I didn’t know that,” Kai said, holding her close as they walked. “I like learning about you.” The main tanks were full of fish of varying sizes, some remaining closer to the bottom while others confidently swam around as if they were in a race. The music played softly, and despite there being screams of schoolkids and families arguing, Kai was in a trance. 

“Babe, look!” Kai pointed at a diver in the tank, who appeared to be feeding the creatures. “You know what’s wild? They gotta get like, wild college degrees to do that. To feed fish! Like…some sort of science or somethin,” he shrugged. “I would’ve thought you just needed to know to swim.” Nothing made sense to Kai, but it was fine. He had Chloe, and that’s all that mattered. She was all that mattered nowadays. “I told you earlier, but now that we’re here? This is so dope baby. I’m always happy, but like…I’ve never been this happy.”

~

“Well, then we’ll have to try and see if we can make it happen, that sounds awesome.” Chloe did have her doubts that it was a possibility, but it would certainly be the most pleasant surprise if they actually could. If they let elven year olds do it, there was no way that they wouldn’t allow two full grown adults to give it a shot, right?

“I feel like everyone likes otters, to be fair. I just think they’re cute even if they’re a little bit evil. The whole rocks, and mating for life stuff, too, is really cute.” It was a silly little thing that she liked the so much, but they were just some of her favorite animals to think about. She followed Kai’s gaze to the tank where a person in a wet suit was submerged, handing out food to the creatures like a lunch lady. The fish were practically lining up. “Really? I’ve fed your fish a couple times, I feel like it’s the same, just more fish.”

She glanced over at Kai with a soft smile. “I’m glad. I like seeing you so happy.” She was happy, too. The happiest she had been in a long time for that matter. It would be so easy to stay in a moment like this forever.

    Bash remembered his first motorcycle. Sure, he missed it but the goal had always been to get a newer one as soon as he got the first. Now he’d definitely be bummed if this one broke down, especially since it wasn’t that old. Not as old as Chloe’s at least. This one had surely been through some stuff, by the looks of it a very old model. ❛ For now, ❜ he told her, raising he brows a little as he worked on the kickstand that soon snapped into place. The last thing he wanted was for his friend’s bike to break down while she was driving it but he knew she came to regular check ups. ❛ See, sometimes all you need is a bit of violence, ❜ he chuckled before shrugging. ❛ Dunno. Mike’s? I think Ravi’s working. Or something lighter at Bews? You can pick. ❜

~

“It’s a big investment. When the time is right, it’ll happen.” It was always a possibility that the time wouldn’t be right until Chloe was stranded on some side road with no way to get home, but she didn’t want to think that into existence either. She took care of the bike, and she didn’t travel like she used to anymore. If anything it would peter out in its own time the longer she waited for the timing of a new bike to be right. “Mike’s sounds good to me,” She concluded.