Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,91

a deep breath and turned their hands around so that he ended up holding hers. "I'm sorry for what your dad's going through, and for what this is doing to you and your family, but don't you see how wrong this is? You're not here for me; you're here because of him."

"No…no! I still love you. I'm here because I still love you, and I want to ask for your forgiveness for what I did to you," she said, her eyes swollen from crying and halfway closed. Her speech had gotten heavier and harder to understand.

"We can't do this right now," he said with an exhale, and stood up.

This whole course of events was frustrating him to no end. Chloe fell back on the sofa, her eyes closed, and her body curled up around one of the cushions. By the time Jace decided that calling a cab at this hour and trying to get her home under these conditions wasn't proper, she had passed out on the sofa.

He went back to his room and texted Aislynn to let her know what had happened, asked her to please call him in the morning, and promised to explain everything else then. He didn't really expect an answer back as he realized she must be sleeping, but he wanted to make sure she was aware of what was going on.

It was hard for him to find his own sleep that night. Dreams about his time in the hospital and the horrible days he would have post chemo kept waking him up. At around five thirty in the morning, he finally gave up on sleep, and went to take a shower. He checked his phone and found a text from Aislynn with a simple "okay" that had come in at about four.

He walked out into the living room, his hair still wet from the shower, hoping Chloe was up and sober enough to go home. He wanted her out of his house and out of his life as soon as possible. The scene he found before him paralyzed him on his tracks.

He first noticed Chloe, standing in the kitchen, wearing one of his button-down shirts, her hair wet and pulled back into a ponytail. She had a glass of water in her hand, her eyes focused on the person standing by the door.

Aislynn.

Her face was pale white, her body still as a rock, and her eyes locked in on Chloe's face. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, the dark circles under her eyes visible even from where he was standing. The only things she held in her hands were her car keys, and they were trembling softly.

"Hey," he said, confused about what was happening before him.

"What's going on?" Aislynn asked, her voice hoarse and strained.

"I thought you were gonna call me," Jace said, worried now about the expression on her face.

Aislynn glanced over at Chloe and watched her pull out a stool from the breakfast bar. Chloe sat directly across from her, her legs slowly crossing and revealing she was only wearing panties underneath her shirt.

"You clearly have some things going on here. I'm gonna go," Aislynn said, walking backward toward the door.

"Wait! Let me explain," Jace said, his feet planted solidly in place, unable to comprehend what the hell was happening.

"You don't have to explain. It's fine. We're good. I'll see you later, Jace," she said, her voice flat and emotionless. She slammed the door behind her before he could reach it.

He ran after her, and stopped her before she was able to open her car door. He let out a deep breath and pulled at his hair in frustration.

"What the hell is going on with you?" he asked, his tone harsher than what he intended. He regretted it the moment he saw the anger set in Aislynn's eyes.

"Nothing's going on with me. I just…I have to go," she said, getting into her car and speeding off.

What the hell is going on?

Jace rushed back into the house and found Chloe drinking her water comfortably in the kitchen, not a hair out of place, not a worry line in her face.

"What just happened?" Jace said, anger and worry in his voice.

"Nothing happened. I got out of the shower, and she came walking in like she owned the place," Chloe said.

"Why were you taking a shower to begin with? And why the hell are you wearing my clothes?" he yelled and pulled at his hair again. "Argh, this can’t be happening!"

He grabbed his