#jojowrites

She broke off the kiss and felt her heart shatter. Nathanaël looked at her, a mix of emotions flickering on his face, confusion, sadness, worry and the worst one that made Chloe want to cry...uneasiness.

“Chloe?” he whispered softly and she wasted no time in grabbing her phone and began blubbering.

“Nathanaël, this was such a big mistake. Oh my word. I should not have done that. Can we please forget about this? I just- there’s too much going on now and fuck- I….I didn’t mean to do this-”

Chloe closed her mouth abruptly and sighed in defeat before looking at the artist with tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Without another word, she walked to the door and left the apartment.

**************************

Chloe woke up sweating and she ripped off her blanket to get rid of the excess heat.

“Fuck,” she whispered as she put her head in her hands.

It had been a few days after she had walked out of his apartment.

A few days after she had kissed Nathanaël.

The person she had tormented in high school.

The person who showed her unbelievable kindness.

The person she had fallen for so hard in a few days.

The person she promised herself that she would be friends with.

And friends only.

Ever since that day, she would avoid Nathanaël at all costs. Waking up earlier, dodging him when she saw him in the corridors and always keeping her head low. Even the slightest flash of red hair had her walking faster and it was slowly eating her alive. She checked her phone and groaned in frustration. There was only four more days till the gallery viewing and she wasn’t even sure if she was going anymore. Hell, was she even still invited?

She wouldn’t be surprised if Nathanaël took her name off the guest list.

“Even if I did go...would Nathanaël want me there?” Chloe whispered and she choked back a sob.

“Why...why did I kiss him? Chloe, you’re such an idiot!” she hissed.

Her phone began to beep and she let out a scream of frustration. She still had to go to work and she knew that Mr. Shelley wasn’t going to be be kind to her without Nathanaël by her side. She got up, got dressed, did her hair and brushed her teeth before ripping open a strawberry energy bar she had bought a few days prior. It was nothing like the breakfasts she had with Nathanaël but God knew she couldn’t face him.

 It was still early and she knew that there was absolutely no chance that Nathanaël would be awake, so she was in the clear. She walked out the door, her bag over her shoulder and turned to close the door before she saw a flash of red from the corner of her eye. Nathanaël was unlocking his apartment door and to her surprise, he didn’t seem to see her. She heard him curse as he dropped his keys and watched him in confusion.

“Is he...drunk?”she whispered to herself as she saw him release a few more swears in anger.

She sighed and even though she didn’t want to look at him, he seemed so out of it that she bagan walking towards him. 

“Nathanaël,” she said and immediately covered her mouth at how loud his name had come out.

He looked up and the look in his eyes had Chloe stumbling back. She could smell the alcohol on him and the glare he was giving her did not make her feel better at all.

“Heyyyy! Well...welllll...isn’t it Little Miss Sunshine? Come to bring dark clouds on my day? Oh, waitttt...youuuu already did that!” he slurred as he managed to pick up his keys and he shoved them into the lock.

Okay, so he is definitely drunk...shit this is bad.

“Nathanaël are you...okay?”

Nathanaël put a hand to his head and winced.

“Please stop talkingggg. You are so louddd,” he whined as he tried to turn the keys but his hands weren’t cooperating. “You knowww...I thought you changed Chloe...but you’re still the same manipulativeee, cold person you were in high schoollll,” he drooled and Chloe squeezed her fists so hard that she felt her nails digging into her palms.

He’s drunk. He doesn’t mean these things...or does he?

“I never thought you’d kiss meee...why did you pull away…?”

Chloe knew he was in no right mind to talk about his feelings. She felt his words sting but she couldn’t avoid them now. She needed to get him into his apartment before he hurt himself. She sighed heavily and put her hand on top of his. He tensed up and he turned to look at her, his eyes slightly red and watery.

“Nathanaël...I need you to let me help you into your apartment. Can you let me do that for you?”

For a minute he was silent before he nodded and let her open the door. She turned around and watched his legs buckle and she rushed in to catch his body from falling. He was heavy but she could manage getting him inside.

“Chloeeeee, Chloe, Chloe, Chloe.” he murmured into her shoulder and she shivered.

Why was it that even when he was drunk, hearing him say her name made her insides melt? She managed to get him to his bedroom and he collapsed on his bed, facedown.

“So softtt,” he said into the pillows and Chloe had to suppress a laugh. It was funny seeing him so loose and ditzy.

“C’mon. Let’s get you ready for bed-”

With those words being said, he turned his body and faced her, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

“What are you implying, my dear Chloeeee?” he purred and her jaw dropped.

“No. Get your damn brain out of the gutter, Nathanaël!” she squeaked but he cocked his head to the side, exposing the skin on his neck and she felt her stomach squeeze.

“But...you were all over me a few days ago? What changed hmmmm?”

“No, we are not talking about that now. How are you still able to embarrass me when you’re like this?” Chloe said clenching her fists but the blush was undeniable.

“Special talentsss.”

“I think you need a nice long nap,” she murmured, calming down and he gazed at her from the bed.

She took off his shoes and noticed that they were quite the make. She took in his appearance for the first time and her eyes widened. He smelt of cigarettes and vodka. He had on a dark purple shirt and black pants and he looked quite sweaty...like he had been dancing-.

“Are you serious, Nathanaël? You went out clubbing? You have four days till your gallery viewing!” she scolded and he winked at her in response.

“You little shit-” she breathed and he smirked.

“What? You gonna tell me that I should’ve stayed home? Waiting for you to come knocking on my door? Waiting for you to kiss me again?” he asked and she bit her bottom lip and refused to meet his eyes.

“Nathanaël I- I don’t have time to explain why I reacted like that. I need to go to work-”

“...Why did you leave me?”

Chloe closed her mouth and looked at him and saw how...broken he looked. He crawled over to her, his hands on her shoulders. Even though Chloe would usually be repulsed by the scent of so much alcohol on one person, she was still drawn to Nathanaël. The cologne he wore was intoxicating and the smell of cigarettes was sort of comforting. It reminded her of how she used to party...when she was still wealthy.

“Chloe…” he whispered and put a hand under her chin and tilted her head up so that they were eye to eye.

“Nathanaël I can’t do this-” she started but stopped when she felt his lips on hers.

They were warm and chapped but oh so familiar and wonderful that Chloe was lost for a few moments. She broke off the kiss, her heart hurting.

“I need to go-” he kissed her again and she succumbed to it.

No, get yourself together Chloe!

She broke it off again but found that he always had something to say and then he would kiss her again.

His words hurt.

Her feelings hurt.

Everything hurt.

“Don’t leave,” his words burned as did his feather soft kisses and she felt tears running down her cheeks. He began to kiss her tears away.

“You’re drunk-” she sniffed and he brushed her cheek with his thumb, leaving kisses along her jaw.

“That doesn’t make these feelings untrue,” he said as his mouth moved to her neck and she wanted to resist him so badly but his words...they couldn’t possibly mean anything since he was in this state.

“Nathanaël you’re not thinking straight-” she gasped as his mouth found her collarbone.

“My brain has never been clearer,” he murmured as he laid his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

Chloe stood still waiting to see what he would say but he was quiet. She relaxed when his breathing evened out.

Looks like he fell asleep.

Chloe was relieved. She wasn’t sure what she would’ve done if he was still awake. She managed to move his body under the covers and retrieved a bucket from under the sink incase he needed it later. She knew he was going to be nursing a bad hangover once he woke up so she left a glass of water and a headache tablet next to his bed.

She only noticed that she was trembling slightly when she left his apartment. Her stomach churned uncomfortably and she felt tears on her cheeks again. She thought helping Nathanaël would make her feel better but it only made her feel worse. Nathanaël’s words still echoed in her head.

I thought you changed Chloe...but you’re still the same manipulativeee, cold person you were in high schoollll.

I never thought you’d kiss me...why did you pull away?

What? You gonna tell me that I should’ve stayed home? Waiting for you to come knocking on my door? Waiting for you to kiss me again?

They had hurt. A lot. She exhaled and tried to stop her trembles by breathing in deeply. She wiped away her tears, knowing full well that her eyes would still be red and puffy but she could clean up in the restaurant bathrooms once she got to work.

“You need to go to work,” she told herself softly and began to walk away from his door when four figures appeared at the end of the corridor.

They looked like they had just come back from a club with their sparkly looking outfits- Chloe felt her gut squeeze for the tenth time that day and cursed inwardly. Adrien. Marinette, Alya and Nino were all standing there, all crowded around Adrien’s phone looking worried.

“Shit, we turn our backs for one minute and he’s gone!” Ayla groaned.

“Guys, I’m sure he probably just drunkenly got to his apartment. Which number was his again? There’s at least seven storys in this building.” Marinette said with a sigh.

“I think it’s 257? Or is it 377?” Nino murmured.

“Why don’t we know his apartment number?” Adrien said in frustration.

“He hardly invites us around because he’s almost always working, you know that!” Marinette said in a warning tone.

At that moment, Adrien looked up and his expression of worry turned into on of surprise.

“Chloe?”

Oh fuck, today just keeps getting better and better.

Alya, Marinette and Nino also looked up and stared.

“Hey Adrien,” she said trying really hard to make her voice not wobble.

“Are...are you okay?” he asked taking a few steps forward.

No. I’m not okay.

“Yes I’m okay...Nathanaël is okay. He’s in bed and he has a throw up bucket next to his bed if he needs it.”

Adrien nodded and they stood there awkwardly.

“Well, I need to go to work. Bye.”

She began walking and managed to get past them before a voice rung out.

“Wait! You really think you’re getting off that easily?” Ayla’s voice boomed and Chloe felt her veins fill with ice.

She spun around facing the four people. “What do you want from me, Césaire?” Chloe hissed.

I don’t need this so early in the morning dammit!

“Oh I don’t know? An apology? An explanation for why Nathanaël got flat out drunk tonight?”

“I don’t know why he did that! He’s an adult and he can do what he wants!”

Marinette grabbed Alya’s arm, “Alya stop! Now is not the time for confrontation!”

Ayla let out a humourless laugh.

“Marinette, this has been a long time coming. This girl needs to taught that you can’t just use people!”

“I never used Nathanaël! He’s been nothing but kind to me!” Chloe snapped.

Alya glared at Chloe.

“Then why has he been so miserable the past few days? Why did he have shot after shot of alcohol? Why did we have to drag him back from the club? Nathanaël never gets flat out drunk. Ever! People show you kindness and then you throw them away the minute you’ve used them to your fancy!”

Chloe was visibly shaking and Nino noticed.

“Alya, I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for all of this but Nathanaël is our top priority right now. We can’t waste time on arguments that are fueled by anger,” he said gently trying to calm down the angry journalist.

“Fuck that Nino! Nathanaël has been our friend for years and Chloe has always brought us down-”

Ayla turned to face Chloe again and she smirked.

“Nathanaël said you changed and I honestly didn’t believe him but I waited to be proved wrong. I was willing to give you a chance at the gallery viewing but clearly I was right.”

Alya walked forward so that she was only a few meters away from Chloe. Nino put a hand on her shoulder and looked terrified. Marinette was holding Adrien’s hand tightly and Adrien looked torn between his friends.

“You’re still the same spoilt brat-” Alya began and Chloe felt her body tense.

“-Soul-sucking, awful-

Chloe felt rage settle in her veins and tried to control her breathing.

“-person who feels like everything can be solved with money-”

Chloe bit the inside of her cheek and tasted blood.

“-who uses people! I knew it was too good to be true-”

Chloe saw red.

“But somehow Nathanaël saw something-”

Chloe inhaled sharply and felt her hand connect with Alya’s cheek.

The high pitched sound seemed to echo and Chloe could see the shock on Adrien, Nino and Marinette’s faces. Alya was touching her cheek, her expressions changing from shock to anger to surprise. Chloe knew it wouldn’t take her long to react so she started screaming.

“Don’t you dare claim that I am still the same person from high school when you hardly know me. I have changed, Alya. I know I’m not perfect. I went from having everything I could possibly want, gone in three months. I’ve had to work at a restaurant that hardly pays my rent, let alone food and other necessities. I’ve had to sell priceless heirlooms to make ends meet. I’ve seen all the shit in Paris. I’ve been harassed on the street. I’ve had to get my supper from garbage bins because I couldn’t afford groceries. I’ve had to go for days without showering because I couldn’t pay my water bill. I’ve been sexually harassed at my workplace!”

Chloe paused to breathe and for a minute saw the faces of the four people she was yelling at. They seemed to stop breathing.

“Nathanaël was the one person who has made me the most happy in a long time. He cared. He showed me kindness like no other. He checked on me everyday and made me food and always invited me over. I was stubborn and prideful but he kept pushing and trying to break my walls down. He taught me how beautiful the world could be. Hell, I apologized to every single classmate in our class because of him!”

Chloe wasn’t sure when she had started crying again. Her vision was blurry and her chest ached.

“I apologized to everyone. Juleka, Rose, Ivan, Max, Alix- everyone. I sat with them and listened to what a bitch I had been. I’ve heard it all. I was a terrible, awful, selfish, mean, shitty, bitchy, person. I get it. I always planned on apologizing to you. I was going to do it at the gallery viewing but…”

Chloe looked at Alya directly in her eyes and took a step forward and Alya flinched. She saw Nino step in front of Alya, his eyes burning with rage.

“You touch her again-”

“This doesn’t include you Nino. Your girlfriend started this and I’m finishing it,” Chloe growled and he glared at her. 

Chloe could see the shock ebbing away from Alya’s face but she still touched the sensitive skin on her cheek. Chloe moved so that Alya could see her face and she looked at the brunette coldly.

“It looks like you haven’t changed a bit either Alya. Always jumping to conclusions and never letting someone else tell their side of the story. Makes me wonder how you became such a renowned journalist. Don’t make assumptions about me until you’ve heard my story,” Chloe said darkly and there was some sort of comfort that she got as she told off the reporter.

She saw Alya’s eyes widen and the reporter touched her boyfriend’s shoulder gently. Maybe this was why she had enjoyed bullying people because she felt so damn powerful.

No, this is not what Nathanaël would want and suddenly she took a step back. She saw Adrien step forward, his expression full of anger.

“How can you say that Nathanaël is the only one who reached out to you? What about me Chloe? I tried! But you never let me in! You never answered my calls!” 

Chloe looked at him and nodded sadly.

“You have every right to be angry Adrien. I did shut you out. I didn’t want your help. I was too prideful to let you help me and….” Chloe trailed off and her eyes moved to Marinette, who was staring at her.

“You had Marinette. You had the one person I had bullied the most in high school and you were both successful. I didn’t want help from you because that meant getting help from her. Pride is an awful trait that I have but I wanted none of it. I cut you out and you eventually stopped coming over. I was okay for a while but when I started hitting the deep end and struggling, I wished that you would visit but I knew it was futile. You have every right to be angry at me Adrikins. I am sorry and I would like to think you could find somewhere in your heart to forgive me but...clearly nothing has changed.”

The four people looked at the tear stained waitress, who looked exhausted even though it was only the early hours of the morning.

“I’m already late for work. Goodbye.”

Chloe spun around and began to walk to the end of the corridor to take the stairs but stopped before she walked down. She knew they were all still watching her. She could feel their stares.

Chloe stood outside Nathanaël’s apartment and for the first time, was hesitant to go in. His flirty responses made her wonder if things were going to be awkward between them or if he was just going to act normal. Her phone rang and it was another message from Nathanaël.

Nathanaël @ 6:00

The door is unlocked.

When she was still invited to prestigious events because she was the mayor’s daughter, there were always guys flirting with her and she managed to handle that, but Nathanaël...she didn’t know if she could manage him. He was so unpredictable.

He could be the most gentle sweetheart, teaching her how to cook and making her laugh to his sudden anger showing with gritted teeth when he found out about Mr Shelley to his flirty winks, soft forehead kisses and taking her out to nice places to eat.

Chloe had butterflies and they were making her jittery with nerves. Ugh, just open the door! What’s the worst that could happen? she thought.

Chloe gripped the door knob and walked into the clean apartment. A heavenly smell hit her senses and she looked to the kitchen where a pot was simmering on the stove. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and she jumped in surprise when she was enveloped by darkness.

Ugh! Power outage? Now? Chloe groaned inwardly and groped in the darkness trying to find a stable surface to support herself on. She managed to find her way to the couch but crashed into a figure and the figure let out a cry of pain as they landed on the floor. Chloe recognised the tone and gasped.

“Nathanael! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you!” Chloe whispered trying to grab his hand to help him up.

“It’s okay. You’ve done worse like kick me out of my own bed,” she heard him and she could feel it in her bones that he was smirking.

“Don’t make me hurt you even more,” she threatened but was grateful that he couldn’t see her blush from how she had been cuddled him just a few days ago.

“Don’t you have a backup generator?” Chloe asked as she whipped out her phone and was temporarily blinded by the light emitting from it.

“Ow, shit! That’s bright!” she swore and Nathanael took her phone.

She noticed he was still wearing his painting outfit and he hadn’t removed the streak of blue paint across his cheek. He smelt of turpentine and acrylic paint and for some reason, made Chloe feel comforted.

“No, I don’t have one and don’t look at your phone in darkness like this, you’ll damage your eyes. Looks like I’ll have to get the candles. You okay with that?” he asked, the blue light from her phone making his features sharper.

Chloe’s mind was a buzz.

Candles.

Candles meant romantic atmosphere. Romantic atmosphere meant lingering gazes and subtle touches. That meant heartbeats speeding up and that meant feeling the person’s body heat as you leaned in closer to-

“Earth to Chloe?”

She snapped out of her daydream and nodded quickly as he went to the cupboard. The door creaked open as he got a few candles and a lighter. More lightning struck across the sky, making Chloe jump in surprise.

“Yeah, candles. Candles are great. I like them. I mean candles provide light and warmth and we can make roasted marshmallows. There’s also scented candles which are really nice too-”

Chloe realised she was rambling and shut her mouth immediately so that she could stop embarrassing herself. Nathanael moved around her and put the candles on the coffee table and lit each one, slowly filling the room with a dim golden glow.

“So, you hungry? I made spaghetti.”

Chloe was panicking again. First the candles now the damn spaghetti? Was this some sort of human version of Lady and the Tramp? Candles and spaghetti. All they needed was some stupid romantic music and-

“Chloe, you want some music in the background? I know that Nino still has some of Adrien’s piano pieces on his Youtube channel-”

Chloe was ready to explode because she knew that Adrien was a hopeless romantic which meant the all of his piano pieces were….romantic.

Play it cool Chloe!

“That’s fine, I didn’t know that you listened to Adrien’s pieces,” Chloe murmured as she watched him set up his phone and soft, delicate piano piece began to hum through the apartment.

“I was jealous that he could play to be honest. He always seemed so perfect but after I found out about his father...that definitely changed my mind,” Nathanaël sighed as he walked to the stove and opened the pot.

Chloe could hear the squelch of the spaghetti being spooned into the bowls.

Adrien had told Nathanaël about his dad?

“What did he tell you?” she asked curiously. Chloe knew everything about Adrien’s personal life because they had spent so much time together as babies. She had been there for his tears, his smiles and when it felt like the world was against her, he was there for her.

She would be lying if she said she didn’t miss him. He was the first person who had tried to help her once she was kicked out of the hotel but she had been too prideful and refused his help. He had come to visit her for days afterwards, trying to help her but she was too upset to see him. After a while, he stopped visiting and even though she wasn’t surprised that he stopped, she was still lonely and after a week,she was craving his friendship but she had no idea how to approach him.

“He told me how his dad had him on lock down most of his life. How he limited his time with his friends. How he had abandoned him when his mother left...everything.”

Chloe was silent and nodded as Nathanaël passed her the bowl and they sat down on the couch. She took a forkful of the spaghetti and began to eat. Between forkfuls of the pasta she pondered on everything that Nathanaël had told her.

“So, what were you up to today?” Nathanaël asked, eyeing her with a smile. “You were quite secretive.”

Chloe refused to make eye contact with him. “Just some errands. Nothing huge.” Chloe was still embarrassed about what Juleka and Rose had said that day. She was emotionally exhausted and did not need to talk to a smirking Nathanaël about it either.

“Enough about me,” Chloe said as she finished her food and looked over to the artist, “You’ve been painting. Any luck?”

Nathanaël hummed and smiled. “It’s been easier to paint lately. It helps since I only have one more painting to do before the gallery. Speaking of gallery...have you thought about coming to the gallery to patch things up with Marinette, Alya, Nino and Adrien?”

Chloe’s stomach flipped and she felt sick. She took a deep breath and Nathanaël looked at her anxiously.

“I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to make you worry. I won’t bring it up-”

Nathanaël felt a warm finger against his lips, silencing him.

“I’ll go.”

He stared and the blonde who looked a little pale but she gave him a small smile.

“I’ll go to the gallery, Nathanaël.”

“Are you sure? You don’t look to good-”

“Don’t make me change my mind, Kurtzberg! This is a ‘in the spur of the moment’ decision and even though I really really don’t want to see Marinette, Adrien, Nino or Alya at all right now...I’d do it to make you happy,” she mumbled the last part quietly.

Nathanaël was stunned. When did Chloe become so….selfless?

He reached for her hand and squeezed it softly. “Thank you Chloe...you have no idea how much that means to me.”

Chloe swallowed the ball of nervousness in her throat and gave him a huff. “Don’t count on me being there though! I’m saying this now because I want you to be happy but I might fall ill with the flu or something!” she said as she crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air.

Nevermind…she’s still the same, he thought with a roll of his eyes before he heard a small laugh from the blonde.

“Wow, your face was priceless!” Chloe giggled as she tried to collect herself. She turned back to him with a serious look on her face and gave him a small smile.

“But seriously Nathanaël, it’s the least I can do. You’ve helped me so much already I...I feel like I’m just trying to hide from them all the time. At least you’ll be there...” Chloe trailed off and only seemed to notice now how blue Nathanaël’s eyes were in the candlelight. The blue almost matched the paint on his cheek, that was beginning to crack, and Chloe found her hand cupping the artist’s cheek and gently rubbing the paint flecks away with her thumb.

“Sorry...it was distracting me.” Chloe said as she noticed the red skin under the paint.

Adrien’s piano piece was making it extremely difficult to concentrate and Chloe prayed that she wasn’t going red. Their faces were centimeters away from each other and Chloe swallowed uneasily.

“Nathanaël...I went to apologise to everyone I had hurt during high school today… that’s what I was doing the whole day.” she mumbled and she saw his give the smallest of smiles.

“I know. Rose told me.”

Chloe’s jaw dropped and she groaned as she let herself fall onto the couch, the closeness between her and Nathanaël broken.

“Rose and Juleka need to mind their own business! And François! That little snake spread rumours!” Chloe suddenly yelled and she covered her mouth in embarrassment.

Nathanaël raised an eyebrow in interest and put his bowl down on the coffee table and rested his elbow on the couch so that his whole body faced her.

“What rumours?” he asked and Chloe swore inwardly. There really wasn’t any use in lying to him.

“François saw me leaving your apartment a few days ago and it looks like we have a relationship going on according to some outsiders,” she said awkwardly. Nathanaël stared at her and let out a warm laugh.

“Well, we sorta do, since we’re fake dating for the sake of tricking your asshole of a boss.” He cleared his throat and look to his fridge. “Dessert okay now? I have strawberries.”

Chloe nodded enthusiastically and finished her last mouthful of food and set her plate down. Nathanaël got up from the couch and fetched the strawberries from the fridge before plopping himself back down next to her.

“It’s just that I don’t want the paparazzi finding out and suddenly hounding you because you’re ‘dating’ the ex-mayor’s daughter. I’d hate for your reputation to be ruined.”

“Why would my reputation be ruined? You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Nathanaël, you’re talking to the girl who made a whole lot of people’s lives miserable and even though I’ve apologised to the main people I bullied, there are still people who think I’m a bad person. My new co-worker, Camila, had friends at our school and she knew of how awful of a person I was! Word gets out and I was a pretty terrible person for the past few years. I can’t suddenly change years worth of tabloids overnight.” Chloe said bitterly.

Nathanaël looked at her sadly. He knew how mean the tabloids had been. They had negative views on Chloe while she was the mayor’s daughter but they still kept it tame so that her dad wouldn’t sue them. The second her dad wasn’t mayor anymore, they were ruthless. They bought up every negative aspect of her and now Nathanaël saw how badly Chloe had been affected.

She must’ve felt that the world was against her, he thought as he gazed at the girl who looked so small next to him.

He de-stemmed the strawberries in silence and they began to eat. Chloe enjoyed the sensation of the sweet strawberry juice in her mouth after the spaghetti they had eaten.

“There’s always benefits with fake dating but I do need to get a real job soon. Some job that I can depend on and not have to kiss the ground Mr Shelley walks on,” Chloe said, trying to change the subject and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth in the apartment. The strawberry dangled in her hand as she slowly slipped into sleep.

*********************************************************

Chloe woke up with a start and saw that Nathanaël had showered since he was now wearing his pajamas. The candles were still lit but all the melted wax indicated how long they had been burning. The electricity was still out and it took some time for Chloe’s eyes to adjust to the darkness.

“Hey sleeping beauty. Have a good sleep?” he teased and she weakly threw a pillow to his feet.

“How long was I asleep? And yes, it was a fairly good sleep.” she answered and reached for her phone.

Her hair felt like a mess and she was sure that she had drool on the one side of her mouth. She wiped it away and looked at Nathanaël groggily.

“About fifteen minutes. Why?”

Chloe yawned and checked her phone. She had to head back to her apartment. Every part of her wanted to stay another night with Nathanaël but...she was scared. She knew that she was slowly starting to like him more and more after each day and she wasn’t the person to hide her feelings but it all still felt strange. 

She went from being his tormentor in high school to someone who needed his help and now she was falling for him. It was a sick love story and no matter how much Nathanaël claimed that she helped him kick start his career, it felt awful to be the reason of such a painting filled with rage. She needed to be a better friend and not try to think of their relationship in a romantic sense.

Nathanaël changed a lot from high school.

He wasn’t this lanky, awkward guy anymore. He was confident, successful and loved what he was doing with his life. And they had only become friends a few days ago, the last thing on her mind should be a relationship with him. And they had only really properly gotten to know each other for the past five days. How could she suddenly have a massive crush on him? For all she knew he could just see her as a friend.

Yeah, right! A friend who kisses you on the forehead before going to sleep, makes you food, lets you sleep in his bed and getting you off from work. Yeah a real friend Chloe!

Chloe rolled her eyes at her inner thoughts and shook her head. She was Chloe Bourgeois and she had to go to work the next morning.

“You need to leave?” Nathanaël asked in surprise and she nodded as she got up from the couch and stretched, the candles basking her in a golden glow.

“It’s been a hella long day and I still have work tomorrow. Gotta go clean those floors early remember? Oh and how did you shower in the dark?”

“I have extra candles. I just lit those.”

Was it her imagination or he looked a little sad?

“Nathanaël...are you sad that I have to leave?” she asked and she saw him turn towards her, his face calm.

“Well, I did forget that you have a strict working schedule sometimes and as your ‘fake boyfriend’ I do worry about you being in the same working environment as that asshole, Mr Shelley and his girlfriend,” Nathanaël said smoothly but Chloe saw the tips of his ears turn pink.

“Nathanaël, you are a good liar but terrible at hiding it,” she muttered with her heart beating a little faster. She walked to his door and put her hand on the door handle. 

Be a friend, Chloe. Just a friend.

“Thanks for dinner, Nath. Next time you should come over and we can have some cake. Don’t ask me where I’ll get the cake from but I assure you that it’s good!”

She didn’t expect the hug but she wasn’t complaining.

He felt so warm and safe and oh, how she loved how much he smelt like the ocean. She immediately responded, turning to face him and wrapping her hands around his waist and resting her head on his chest.

“Thank you Chloe. For giving my friends a chance even though you must be hurting a little inside. I’ll try and make it as smooth as possible with them. I promise.”

Chloe nodded and tried to untie the knot in her stomach when he mentioned ‘friends’. Their hug lasted way too long for it to be a ‘just friends’ hug but Chloe didn’t want it to end. Suddenly, the lights flickered back on and Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Wow, just as I leave the electricity decides to switch back on.”

Nathanaël eventually let her go and opened the door.

“Goodnight Chloe. Sweet dreams,” he said softly.

“Goodnight Nathanaël. Sleep well.”

Suddenly, he leaned in and kissed her forehead lightly before giving her a smile and closing his door. Chloe’s heart was beating so hard she thought someone was going to hear it. She walked to her apartment quickly and fell onto her bed.

“He kissed me. On the forehead.”

The only time Chloe had ever received a kiss from Nathanaël was when he was faking to be her boyfriend.

He wasn't faking now was he? There was no reason to. There wasn’t anyone to fool. So was he trying to mess with me? No, that wouldn’t make sense. He’d never tease me like that.