The chains of the past that bind us

Chapter 10: Coming home

I have to say something or else she's going to suspect me.

"Chloe I've already told you that the first time I met her was the night of your birthday." When I try to reach out for her hands, she backs away.

"Are you sure that's all? How did you know she was in the hospital." She asks suspiciously.

"The security team I hired keeps tabs on all of us to ensure our safety. So when they called to alert me that she was in the hospital I panicked. I'm a very reputable man Chloe, if it came out one of our friends died on this trip, that'd put a lot of pressure on me." She becomes very quiet.

"I'm really sorry if I worried you babe. I shouldn't have left you there on your own like that."

"Would you...rush over like that for me?" She mumbled.

"Of course." I grasp her hands. "I couldn't bear to see you hurt, so of course I would." I pat her head gently.

Alessandria's POV:

Chloe had a serious look that I've never seen before on her face. I hope everything is alright. Although if he had left me for another woman like that, I would've beaten him half to death.

When I look over at Liam, he can't seem to look at me. I must've worried him when I disappeared, and not only that but figuring out I was in the hospital must be devastating for him. Suddenly he breaks the silence between us.

"So you were helping out a child and pushed her out of the way to save her from a car?"

"Yup. That's pretty much the whole story."

"When did you become such a super hero? Next thing you're going to tell me is that you're Wonder Woman." Then I throw the tv room at him.

"Shut up. It's not like I wanted this to happen." I let out a sigh and look out the window once again.

"So you're feeling better then?" He asked while grabbing a hold of my hand.

"Yes I am fine. I only had a couple of scratches and bruises spread across my body. They are going to keep me for the night and then I'm good to go back to the summer house." I reassure him with a smile.

"Alessandria...there's something you should know." Then you could feel tension filling up the air in the room.

"What is it?" I ask. He suddenly leans in close to me.

"Chloe was asking me earlier if you and Cole had feet for each other." A gasp from me takes my breath away and I just sat there in shock. Is that why Chloe had that serious look on her face earlier.

"Look I reassured her that Cole would clear up the misunderstanding if she just talked to him. However Alessandria are you sure there's nothing between you two?" He asks while slightly gripping my hand tighter.

I hate lying to everyone that I care about. I'm lying to Chloe about Cole and I's past. I'm lying to Liam about my feelings for Cole. It's just becoming to hard to bare. I wish I could tell them the truth. I wish it was that easy to him go, but it's not. So I have no choice but to lie once again.

"No. There's nothing going on between Cole and I anymore. At least from my end I...have no feelings for him." Liam leans over and gives me a hug.

"I trust you. I'm just so glad that you're okay."

"Alright. Alright. All of these hugs and sentimental moments are going to make me throw up." I laugh and Liam joins me. Then Chloe and Cole come in and join us again. Everything between them seems normal again so that's good.

"Alessandria are you sure that you're alright?" Chloe asks.

"If y'all ask me one more time if I'm alright, I will kick you all out." I laugh again.

"Yup. I can tell you're definitely feeling better already." Chloe chuckled. Cole tries to hold back his laughter as well.

"Well I found so many nice ideas for my wedding!" She squeals and sits next to me. That's Chloe alright, she always seems to make the conversation about herself. Oh don't get me wrong she's not being a b***h, she just gets excited and can't control herself.

"Well I'm dying to hear about it." They all gasp and have this look of worry in their eyes.

"I'm just kidding guys geez." All of us laugh as she proceeds to tell me about her wedding plans. She found a few dresses that she liked for the ceremony. She also knows that she wants roses for her flowers. Lastly she wants a French vanilla and Strawberry four tier layered cake.

"Hey maybe you could make the cake Alessandria! I know you used to bake all the time. Remember you made those homemade Oreo cheesecake cupcakes from scratch? They were amazing!" She rambles on and on. See I told you guys once Chloe has an idea that she's very excited about, she doesn't give up.

"Even though I appreciate the compliments, I will have to decline. I'm already your unexpected maid of honor." I chuckled.

"Fine. Fine." She pouts. A few hours had flown so quickly, two hours had already gone past." The time currently was almost 9:00, and Chloe had already fell asleep on the futon.

"It's almost time for you guys to go back isn't it?" I ask while eating some ice chips.

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay?" Liam asked.

"No it's alright, plus I'm in a hospital, if anything were to happen, they'd be there to help me."

"I mean if you want I could stay." Liam asks once again, and then Cole interrupts him.

"Are you deaf or hard of hearing? She said that she's fine so just respect her wishes."

"Well where did listening to you get me earlier? Oh right I remember now. Alessandria ended up in the hospital." Liam replies while rolling his eyes.

"Well...actually..." Before I could explain it wasn't anyone's fault except mine, Cole responds while standing up from my bedside.

"Are you trying to say what happened to her was my fault?"

"Your words not mine buddy, but you seem spot on to me. If you claim to care about Alessandria, you would've never let her go by herself!" Suddenly Cole pins him up against the wall.

"What did you say?" He asks and then I slam my hand on the table next to me.

"Enough! That is enough! Cole let him go now!" It's almost like he couldn't hear me. So I decide to try something a little more harsh. "If you don't let him go, I will never talk to you again." It's so childish and cringey, it might not work. Then he quickly let go of him and even fixed his shirt. Oh holy hell it actually worked.

"Jesus both of you love causing trouble for me don't you?" I lay back and start laughing slightly.

"We are sorry." They say at the same time. Honestly they're more alike than they realize. Both of them care about me so much, and I'm grateful for that.

"Alright it's time for you guys to go ahead and head back. Visiting hours are about to be over, and I'll call you when I'm heading back home."

"Are you sure you don't nee-" I quickly interrupt Liam before he could finish.

"I'm fine I'm not a damsel in distress, so please don't worry about me too much. Now I think it's time for you to head back now. So go ahead and take Chloe home."

As they head out I finally have a moment to take a breath. It's been a very lively day, but we have to be careful. Chloe is starting to have more suspicious of Cole and I. Even though there isn't anything definitive between Cole and I, there's no way to deny the chemistry between us. Even when I try to stay away from him, I always end up finding way back to him.

For now I should just get some more rest. I lay back down and close my eyes. When I wake up I should be able to head back to the house.

*The next morning*

The doctor has said that I can go, so the nurses come in and unhook the IV from me and help me pack.

"Oh Ms.Alessandria you have another visitor." The nurse tells me before heading out. I hope it's not Liam again, I already told him I didn't need an escort home. Suddenly the little girl that I helped yesterday leap into my arms.

"Oh it's you! Hello again, are you doing alright? I never got to check if you were alright yesterday." I gently pat her head.

"Mmm hmm! I found my mommy too!" Her mother comes in and greets me.

"Hello, thank you so much for helping my daughter yesterday. Sweetie isn't there something that you should say to her?"

"Yes mommy. I'm so sorry for running into the street like that. I'm also really sorry for you getting hurt." The little girl bows her head.

"It's quite alright. So I wouldn't want you to worry. I'm actually about to head home." I reply while letting her out of my arms.

"Well as a thank you, let us take you back home. Unless you have someone else to take you?" Her mother asks.

"That'd be great actually thanks." As I grab my things, they ended up taking me back to the summer house. This will be our last night here, and I'd like to enjoy it. It's currently 8:30am and I'm not sure if anyone would be awake. Suddenly when I walked in Chloe grabs me and holds me in a tight embrace.

"Alessandria you're home!"

"Welcome back!" Liam shouts and joins us in the embrace.

"We are so glad that you made it back alright! How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" They both shower me with questions, but honestly I can't keep track of both of their questions.

"C-Can't...breathe...!" Then they suddenly let me go. As I try to catch my breath, they took a lot of energy from me and I start to fall.

"Jeez you guys are trying to kill her." Cole quickly helps me up. He's always there when I need him.

"I thought he was a big girl that could handle herself?" Liam rolls his eyes at him.

"She just got out of the hospital you idiot." He shakes his head and starts to walk away.

"Don't just walk away you bastard! Aren't you going to check on her?" Liam shouts at him while following him.

"Isn't that what you and Chloe should be doing? I mean she was fine until you guys almost squeezed the life out of her." He says with a bit of menace behind his words.

"You condescending bastard at least we greeted her when she walked in! Alessandria don't you agree with me?"

"Of course she wouldn't agree with you guys squeezing the life out of her right Alessandria?"

"Wait where the hell did she go?" They both ask.

I've already walked upstairs to my room by now. I couldn't stand there watching them argue like dogs. They act like little children. Then Chloe walks into my room.

"Are they still arguing down there?" I ask while chuckling.

"Yes almost tearing each other apart. They really don't like each other do they?" She laughs.

"No I suppose that they don't. It is a relief to be home with all of you again." I head to the restroom and start to undress.

"Well we are all glad to have you back." She replies.

"Yea but I feel disgusting. So I'm going to go take a shower."

"Alright well I'll leave you to it. I'll be downstairs trying to calm down the boys if you need me." As I turn on the shower and look in the mirror, I never realized how badly bruised my ribs and shoulder was. When I got him by the truck, everything went dark so I didn't experience much pain. Maybe it was adrenaline but I'm not sure. Even when I woke up I just felt very sore, like the day after a huge workout at the gym. I guess my body went through a lot. Well I should go ahead and get in the shower before the water gets cold.

Cole's POV:

As we look around for Alessandria in the living room, Chloe comes downstairs stairs.

"Alright you two enough! Alessandria is upstairs." Then we quickly try to rush up there, but Chloe stops both of us.

"Where do you both think you're going?" He asks and lifts her eyebrow at us while crossing her arms.

"Yea Cole you should be spending time with your fiancé, but it's my job as Alessandria's boyfriend to make sure she's alright." He tried to slip past her, but then she stops him by putting her hand on his chest.

"Alessandria has went through a lot the last few days, and the only thing she wants is to take a shower. So both of you will leave her alone in peace!" She drags both of us down the stairs with her.

I almost forgot how much Chloe can be very strong willed as well. She really is an amazing person, and I hope that she can forgive me one day.

I decided to sneak upstairs and see Alessandria. We didn't get to talk each other much yesterday. Instead of startling her maybe I should take another approach, so I knock on her door and wait for an answer. When I don't hear anything else from her, I open the door.

I don't see her. When I saw her in that hospital it got me on edge. The only reason why Liam got underneath my skin, was because he was right. If I didn't say anything, Liam would've went with her, and maybe she wouldn't have gotten hurt.

"Cole? What are you doing in here?" When I look behind me, Alessandria is standing in the bathroom doorway in her white towel. Her soaking wet hair dripping onto the floor as she approaches me.

"I...was checking on you that's all." I quickly turn away from her so she doesn't see me blushing. I shouldn't be lusting over a woman who just got out of the hospital.

"Cole are you blushing?" She smirks while teasing me.

"Shut up dammit! Obviously you're feeling better and I had nothing to worry about!" Suddenly she starts laughing and puts on her robe.

"Oh do you find me amusing?" I ask while rolling my eyes. When I turn around, she gives the sweetest smile.

"I'm just glad you're back to normal."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Ever since I was in the hospital, you and Liam were treating me like a fragile damsel in distress." She walks out onto the balcony outside and looks at the ocean. "Although I do appreciate all of your support, and I am grateful for the both of you being worried about me, I do miss you treating me just like Alessandria." She turns to me with that beautiful smile again.

She's so beautiful. Even just getting out the hospital, it's like she's even more beautiful. Does that make me seem like some kind of pervert? The wind blowing through her hair, and the sunlight hitting those golden brown eyes. The way she looks at me, that's what I missed the most. That warm gentle smile of hers. I love this woman.

"Do you know what I mean?" She brings me back down to earth with that one question. I walk towards her and lift her chin up.

"So what you're saying is that you miss me?" She suddenly rolls her eyes and moves me aside.

"Where did you get that I missed you out of that entire conversation?"

"Your eyes Alessandria. They tell me everything that I need to know." She blushes and hits me in the ribs.

"Yea well your eyes are undressing me and that's unsettling. So now I think it's time for you to get out so I can get dressed." She pushes me towards the door.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay princess? It's not like I haven't seen your body before."

"Do you want me to hit you?" She quickly pushes me out of the door.

"Good day Cole." Before I could say anything, she shuts the door in my face. It's good to see that she's back up to her old self. I'm glad to know that she's doing better. Honestly I was worried that she wasn't feeling herself. Alessandria has always been one to put others before herself, because she doesn't want to make anyone worry about her. She has been that way ever since her mother died when she was 8 years old. She never wanted to worry her father, so she forced it onto herself to handle things on her own.

I won't make the same mistakes as I've done in the past. I will make it so she can be more open with me. Even if I can't be with Alessandria, I want to stay by her side as someone she can rely on.

When I head downstairs, Chloe is arguing with Liam over when he can see her. He's seriously like a child. Well I do have to give it to him, he made it easier for me to slip away from Chloe, so I guess it's fine.

"See where has he been then huh?" Liam tells while pointing to me. Never mind he's just a selfish jealous brat and I have no idea what Alessandria sees in him.

"Bathroom dumbass." I grab my coffee mug and take a sip.

"That's what you expect us to believe?" He glares.

"Believe what you want." I reply while taking one more sip.

"Greedy bastard." He mumbles.

"Slow ass bitch." I mumble.