Unexpected
Chapter 23
I waited impatiently for the bus to return to the hotel. As soon as we pulled up, I ran out the door and up to my room. I cleaned myself up so there was no trace of tears left on my face.
There was a knock on my door just as I was about to leave. I opened it and there was Tess and Zayn.
“You wanna go shopping, mate?” Zayn asked me, waving his credit card in my face. I had completely forgotten about going with them but I nodded anyway.
“Great, go get Liam and Niall and we’ll go.” He turned and walked down the hallway to the elevators.
I knocked on Niall’s door and let myself in. He was looking out the window when I entered.
“Hey, you ready to go shopping for Chloe’s birthday present?” I asked quickly.
“Harry, tell me what happened. The truth,” he said without turning around.
It took me a second to realize what he meant. “Chloe asked me to help her with her bags and, being the stupid boy that I am, I overloaded myself and tripped down the bus steps. I fell and broke my wrist and took my anger out on Chloe. None of what I said was true.”
He turned around and looked me in the eyes, willing me to go on.
“I wish I could explain it all to her. You know how bad I am with pain, will you help me?”
He thought for a second before answering. “Why should I? You really hurt her.”
“Because I love her,” I blurted out. We were both surprised by my answer, but it seemed to do the trick.
He nodded and grabbed his wallet and followed me out the door. Liam was standing in the hallway waiting for us.
“Are we leaving now?” He asked.
“Yeah, mate, let’s go,” Niall answered.
I followed them down the hallway and into the limo Zayn had called for us. when we climbed in, we were met by a kissing couple.
“Ew, guys, not in the limo,” Niall begged.
Zayn and Tess pulled away from each other and smiled.
“So,” Tess started, “Does anyone know what they’re getting Chloe?”
I nodded.
“What?”
“Oh, it’s a surprise,” I murmured. More like a bunch of surprises, I added silently.
We drove for a few minutes before pulling up in front of a large, two-story mall. We all piled out of the limo and walked in the front doors. The place was surprisingly empty so we didn’t have to worry too much about being bombarded by fans.
We made our way to the first store and looked around at what they had. This was a store that was full of nothing but jewelry; perfect. I looked at the others and made sure they were all occupied before I walked to the back where I knew all the most expensive jewelry would be. Almost immediately, I knew what I wanted.
I asked a worker to come over and take it out of the case for me and wrap it up. I paid and stuffed it in my pocket so no one would know what I got. I waited patiently as everyone else looked unsuccessfully for a gift.
We left the store and walked around for a while before coming to a make-up store. I knew this wasn’t one of the places I needed to go so I helped Liam and Niall look for something. I’d noticed Chloe doesn’t wear much besides natural colors so those two got her some natural make-up. They asked the woman who checked them out to wrap it and we were on our way to help Tess and Zayn find something.
We walked around for an hour or so hopping from store to store. When we finally left, we had clothes, make-up, and jewelry. I kept my present a secret from them, telling them I just didn’t have any luck finding something I liked and I would go out again tomorrow morning before the party. The whole ride back to the hotel I felt like shit. If only I knew how to control my temper…
*Chloe’s POV*
I heard someone come into the media room but I didn’t want to see who it was; I already had an idea of who it was. I let all of my emotions out until I had no more tears left to cry. Niall held me for as long as I needed and for that I was grateful.
“Thank you, Niall. I’m sorry I’m crying to you again,” I told him as I picked my head up off his shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it, love. I’m always here for you when you need me.” He flashed me his award winning smile and ran his hand up and down my back.
I managed a small smile and leaned back against the couch. “You’re a great guy.”
“So I’ve been told,” he replied jokingly.
We sat and watched some TV while we were driven back to the hotel. As soon as we pulled up front, I heard someone run off the bus.
Niall and I left the media room and saw everyone outside except Harry. He must be who ran off the bus. I let out a sigh of relief when I realized that meant I wouldn’t have to face him for a while. We all walked inside and found our rooms. Tess told me I could share a room with her and Zayn so I followed them to the elevators and into the room. There were two beds lined along one wall so I assumed Tess and Zayn would sleep in one and I would get the other to myself. Fine by me.
I walked into the small bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I had mascara streams all down my cheeks and my hair was a knotted and tangled mess. I quickly fixed myself up taking off all of my make-up and pulling a brush through the disaster on top of my head. I didn’t bother reapplying my make-up since I didn’t have anyone to impress anymore and I pulled my hair into a messy bun.
When I went back to the room, I saw Tess and Zayn were gone so I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a plain T-shirt. I checked my phone and saw I had two new texts.
2 New Messages
------------------------------------
Tess:
Zayn and I are going out for a bit with Harry, Liam, and Niall. Be back soon.
--------------------------------------------
I didn’t text her back. I didn’t really feel a need to.
-------------------------------------------
Mom:
You haven’t called me in a week, is everything okay?
-------------------------------------------
I mentally facepalmed when I remembered that I hadn’t called my mom since we returned to New York. I punched her number into my phone and listened to the ringing on the other end.
“Hello?”
I felt myself smile when I heard my mom’s voice.
“Mom?”
“Chloe! You haven’t called me since you left, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Mom. I just forgot to call, I’m so sorry. We just left New York the other day, we’re in New Jersey now.”
“So you rode the bus? How was that? Where did you sleep?”
My breath caught in my throat when she asked where I’d slept. Should I tell her I slept with Harry? Then another brick hit me. Should I tell her I slept with Harry? I had to choke back tears when the memory came back. I had given him something I’d never given anyone else and he doesn’t even want to know me I’m so stupid.
“The bus was fun. There was an extra bunk that Tess and I shared,” I told her without thinking.
I guess I’m not telling her then.
“That’s great, honey. As long as you aren’t in the same bed as one of those boys.”
“Don’t worry, Mom, that’s not going to happen,” I told her, silently adding again to the end of my sentence.
“Well, I actually have to go now, I’m late for work. Call me in the next few days. Love you!”
“Love you too, Mom,” I said back as he hung up.
I sighed to myself and silently cursed myself for lying to my mother. I told her everything, why couldn’t I tell her this? Maybe it was just the fact that I wouldn’t be able to handle her disappointment. She’s been disappointed in me before, sure, but for small things like not cleaning my room, or forgetting to do the dishes, or getting a bad grade on a test, but I’ve never had to experience true disappointment from her. She’d be crushed.
This is something I’ll just have to keep to myself, I thought.
I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, hoping to get my mind off of the situation I’d gotten myself in to. There was really nothing good on so I clicked the on demand button. Flipping through the movies, I finally decided on Pitch Perfect. I’d seen it a few times before and loved it so I’m sure it’ll help distract me from everything.
Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep and didn’t wake up until the next morning.
There was a knock on my door just as I was about to leave. I opened it and there was Tess and Zayn.
“You wanna go shopping, mate?” Zayn asked me, waving his credit card in my face. I had completely forgotten about going with them but I nodded anyway.
“Great, go get Liam and Niall and we’ll go.” He turned and walked down the hallway to the elevators.
I knocked on Niall’s door and let myself in. He was looking out the window when I entered.
“Hey, you ready to go shopping for Chloe’s birthday present?” I asked quickly.
“Harry, tell me what happened. The truth,” he said without turning around.
It took me a second to realize what he meant. “Chloe asked me to help her with her bags and, being the stupid boy that I am, I overloaded myself and tripped down the bus steps. I fell and broke my wrist and took my anger out on Chloe. None of what I said was true.”
He turned around and looked me in the eyes, willing me to go on.
“I wish I could explain it all to her. You know how bad I am with pain, will you help me?”
He thought for a second before answering. “Why should I? You really hurt her.”
“Because I love her,” I blurted out. We were both surprised by my answer, but it seemed to do the trick.
He nodded and grabbed his wallet and followed me out the door. Liam was standing in the hallway waiting for us.
“Are we leaving now?” He asked.
“Yeah, mate, let’s go,” Niall answered.
I followed them down the hallway and into the limo Zayn had called for us. when we climbed in, we were met by a kissing couple.
“Ew, guys, not in the limo,” Niall begged.
Zayn and Tess pulled away from each other and smiled.
“So,” Tess started, “Does anyone know what they’re getting Chloe?”
I nodded.
“What?”
“Oh, it’s a surprise,” I murmured. More like a bunch of surprises, I added silently.
We drove for a few minutes before pulling up in front of a large, two-story mall. We all piled out of the limo and walked in the front doors. The place was surprisingly empty so we didn’t have to worry too much about being bombarded by fans.
We made our way to the first store and looked around at what they had. This was a store that was full of nothing but jewelry; perfect. I looked at the others and made sure they were all occupied before I walked to the back where I knew all the most expensive jewelry would be. Almost immediately, I knew what I wanted.
I asked a worker to come over and take it out of the case for me and wrap it up. I paid and stuffed it in my pocket so no one would know what I got. I waited patiently as everyone else looked unsuccessfully for a gift.
We left the store and walked around for a while before coming to a make-up store. I knew this wasn’t one of the places I needed to go so I helped Liam and Niall look for something. I’d noticed Chloe doesn’t wear much besides natural colors so those two got her some natural make-up. They asked the woman who checked them out to wrap it and we were on our way to help Tess and Zayn find something.
We walked around for an hour or so hopping from store to store. When we finally left, we had clothes, make-up, and jewelry. I kept my present a secret from them, telling them I just didn’t have any luck finding something I liked and I would go out again tomorrow morning before the party. The whole ride back to the hotel I felt like shit. If only I knew how to control my temper…
*Chloe’s POV*
I heard someone come into the media room but I didn’t want to see who it was; I already had an idea of who it was. I let all of my emotions out until I had no more tears left to cry. Niall held me for as long as I needed and for that I was grateful.
“Thank you, Niall. I’m sorry I’m crying to you again,” I told him as I picked my head up off his shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it, love. I’m always here for you when you need me.” He flashed me his award winning smile and ran his hand up and down my back.
I managed a small smile and leaned back against the couch. “You’re a great guy.”
“So I’ve been told,” he replied jokingly.
We sat and watched some TV while we were driven back to the hotel. As soon as we pulled up front, I heard someone run off the bus.
Niall and I left the media room and saw everyone outside except Harry. He must be who ran off the bus. I let out a sigh of relief when I realized that meant I wouldn’t have to face him for a while. We all walked inside and found our rooms. Tess told me I could share a room with her and Zayn so I followed them to the elevators and into the room. There were two beds lined along one wall so I assumed Tess and Zayn would sleep in one and I would get the other to myself. Fine by me.
I walked into the small bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I had mascara streams all down my cheeks and my hair was a knotted and tangled mess. I quickly fixed myself up taking off all of my make-up and pulling a brush through the disaster on top of my head. I didn’t bother reapplying my make-up since I didn’t have anyone to impress anymore and I pulled my hair into a messy bun.
When I went back to the room, I saw Tess and Zayn were gone so I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a plain T-shirt. I checked my phone and saw I had two new texts.
2 New Messages
------------------------------------
Tess:
Zayn and I are going out for a bit with Harry, Liam, and Niall. Be back soon.
--------------------------------------------
I didn’t text her back. I didn’t really feel a need to.
-------------------------------------------
Mom:
You haven’t called me in a week, is everything okay?
-------------------------------------------
I mentally facepalmed when I remembered that I hadn’t called my mom since we returned to New York. I punched her number into my phone and listened to the ringing on the other end.
“Hello?”
I felt myself smile when I heard my mom’s voice.
“Mom?”
“Chloe! You haven’t called me since you left, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Mom. I just forgot to call, I’m so sorry. We just left New York the other day, we’re in New Jersey now.”
“So you rode the bus? How was that? Where did you sleep?”
My breath caught in my throat when she asked where I’d slept. Should I tell her I slept with Harry? Then another brick hit me. Should I tell her I slept with Harry? I had to choke back tears when the memory came back. I had given him something I’d never given anyone else and he doesn’t even want to know me I’m so stupid.
“The bus was fun. There was an extra bunk that Tess and I shared,” I told her without thinking.
I guess I’m not telling her then.
“That’s great, honey. As long as you aren’t in the same bed as one of those boys.”
“Don’t worry, Mom, that’s not going to happen,” I told her, silently adding again to the end of my sentence.
“Well, I actually have to go now, I’m late for work. Call me in the next few days. Love you!”
“Love you too, Mom,” I said back as he hung up.
I sighed to myself and silently cursed myself for lying to my mother. I told her everything, why couldn’t I tell her this? Maybe it was just the fact that I wouldn’t be able to handle her disappointment. She’s been disappointed in me before, sure, but for small things like not cleaning my room, or forgetting to do the dishes, or getting a bad grade on a test, but I’ve never had to experience true disappointment from her. She’d be crushed.
This is something I’ll just have to keep to myself, I thought.
I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, hoping to get my mind off of the situation I’d gotten myself in to. There was really nothing good on so I clicked the on demand button. Flipping through the movies, I finally decided on Pitch Perfect. I’d seen it a few times before and loved it so I’m sure it’ll help distract me from everything.
Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep and didn’t wake up until the next morning.
6/16/13