A Place Of Hope And No Pain (Avenged Sevenfold)

Chapter 38

Matt's POV

I  was nervous, driving to Chloe's, nervous as anything. I had visions of her opening the door, still in her shorts and punching me in the mouth. I mean come on, this was Chloe, and that scenario was highly likely.

I pulled up out the front of her house, taking a deep breath and preparing for the worst. She opened the door and her face said it all, she was pissed, she was extremely pissed, but on a good note she was ready.

She kept glaring at me, so I kept glaring back, if she wanted to be rude I could too, but god, she looked beautiful. Her dress, her hair, her shoes, all of it, she looked really beautiful.

"Ready?" I snapped at her.

She of course didn't answer, but she followed me to the car. The trip downtown was silent, but I didn't care, at least she was actually here, with me.

I held the door for her as she got out of the car and once again I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. I couldn't remember the last time I thought about someone being truly beautiful before, I guess I'd been too drunk to notice, or I just hadn't come across anyone who I thought was beautiful, but Chloe was, she really was.

I grabbed her hand, glad that she didn't pull away and we went inside and as we were being seated I suddenly remembered. It was the weekend of the first visit, I'd come upstairs after spending the day with the boy's, Chloe was sleeping on the couch, that was the last time I'd thought someone was beautiful, that day, that was the day I first thought she looked beautiful.

Fuck, I had it bad for her, I really did. I really didn't realise how bad until she told me to get out of her life. I couldn't do it, I couldn't leave her alone, I didn't want to.

She was mostly silent, until Brian and Dani arrived, then she loosened up a little, participating in the conversation and I was pleased to see her smile, her smile was fantastic.

Occasionally, she'd glare at me but instead of backing away, I put my arm across the back of her chair, resting my hand on her shoulder. Nobody blinked an eye, including Chloe.

It was nice and I was glad I did what I did, making her come. She could try and push me away but it wouldn't succeed. I wasn't leaving her alone.

The biggest cringe worthy moment was Jerry showing up. Out of all the restaurants in the world, he had to be at this one.

The way he looked at Chloe, still looked at Chloe, infuriated me. I wanted to take him outside and beat the shit out of him, I really did. How dare he make remarks of that nature about her, about Chloe.

I watched him slink away from us and I clenched my fist under the table. The man just pushed all of the wrong buttons.

"He's so disgusting." Chloe muttered under her breath and I looked at her nodding, he was disgusting.

"Let's get dessert." Brian chirped trying to lighten the mood and we all agreed, ordering.

While we waited, I excused myself, heading to the men's room and I really shouldn't have been surprised when Jerry made an appearance, smiling widely at me as I stood at the basin.

"You and Chloe hey?" He asked, smirking at me.

I shrugged, washing my hands. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of answering. Frankly it was none of his business.

"I bet the rehab facility would be pleased to know she's sleeping with a client." He went on.

"Ex client." I snapped.

"What?" He asked, frowning.

"Well I don't pay anyone anything anymore, so technically I'm an ex client." I said, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Whatever Matt." He snapped. "I'm sure they'd be interested to know."

Great, now because of this douche, Chloe's job was in jeopardy. More reasons for her to hate me.

"Whatever." I mumbled, pushing past him to the door.

"Hey." He said, grabbing my arm, stopping me. "What's she like." He murmured. "Chloe, is she as good as I imagine?"

Was this guy fucking serious? I wanted to smash his mouth in, I really did, but not here and not now, I'd have my time.

I pushed past him, turning around, smiling and leaning in towards him. "She's more than you ever imagined." I whispered, turning and walking away. "The best I've ever had."

"I fucking knew it." I heard him hiss, but I ignored him.

"Woah hey." Brian said as I bumped in to him, leaving the restrooms in a hurry. "Everything okay?

"They will be." I told him, turning for the table.

"Matt." He said grabbing my arm. "What's going on, you know, with Lucy and Chloe?"

I looked at him, shrugging. "Lucy and I, well, I....."

He nodded. "Yeah I get it, you guy's haven't been right for a long time." And he was right, we hadn't been right for a very long time.

"And Chloe." I told him. "Well she's Chloe."

He smiled, patting me on the back. "And I'm guessing you like Chloe."

"A little." I chuckled, turning and heading back to the table.

Dani and Chloe were sitting there, eating their desserts and I was glad to see they were chatting. I wanted my friend's to like Chloe and I wanted Chloe to like my friend's.

She looked at me, glaring as I sat down and I glared back, but still, I put my arm around her shoulder as I did.

Once we finished our dinner we went for a walk along the beach, all four of us and I held her hand. She once again glared at me, but yet again, she didn't pull away.

Chloe was a closed book, I knew that. Some serious shit had gone on in her life and she didn't trust anyone, rightly so. I wanted to change that, I wanted her to open up to me, I wanted her to see that not everyone was a bad guy and not everyone would screw her over.

I hated her family for doing this to her, turning her into the untrusting person she now was, but I was going to change that, whether Chloe liked it or not.

I drove her home in silence and when we pulled up, I got out of the car, following her up the path, waiting while she unlocked the door.

"Look Matt." She snapped, opening the door and turning around, blocking it so I couldn't enter.

I guessed she wasn't inviting me in then. "Yes?"

"I meant what I said." She snapped. "I don't need people in my life, I don't want anyone, I like it the way it is, just me and Lucy."

Speaking of Lucy, she squeezed past Chloe, jumping on me, saying hello.

I petted her head, blowing her kisses while making sure Chloe had finished saying what she wanted to say.

"Finished?" I asked her, encouraging Lucy to go back inside.

"Um, yes." She mumbled.

"Good." I snapped, because now it was my turn. "I understand that, all that blah blah bullshit about not needing anyone, but guess what, here I am Chloe and I'm not going anywhere." She opened her mouth to object, but I cut her off. "So, thanks for a great night and I'll see you tomorrow."

"I work." She called out as I walked down the path towards my car.

"Well what time do you finish?" I called back.

"None of your damn business." She yelled back at me.

"What time do you finish?" I snapped back, unlocking the car.

"Three." She muttered, still glaring.

"See you then." I yelled as she went inside, slamming the door loudly.

I started the car smiling. I wasn't giving up on her and she'd better get used to that idea.