Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, the Boyle Heights Neighborhood ~

2:04 AM

Chloe frowned at the sound of her doorbell.

It seems that she cried herself to sleep again.

Who could be so late in the night?

She saw that the light is on in the living room and assumed that it must be Matilda or maybe someone who returned from the Chaos nightclub. Whoever it is, probably noticed the streak of light under the door, and came to check on Chloe because she technically disappeared for the weekend without a word.

Sure, Noah said that he will notify Mark but who knows if he told him anything. Chloe also remembered that on the previous day, when Noah took her away from the Long villa, Mark was there.

'Poor guy…', Chloe thought. 'It must be Mark. He returned from work and is checking if I'm OK.'

Chloe imagined Mark asking her how she is doing, and she was not sure how to respond. Was she OK? Her eyes still burned from crying and she imagined that she looks like a mess. The doorbell sounded again, and she rushed to open it before the whole floor gets alerted.

Chloe opened the door and inhaled sharply when she saw Noah. On a reflex, she closed the door.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Noah banged on the door with his fist.

"Chloe! Open the door!", Noah exclaimed impatiently. How dares she close the door in his face?

A soft clicking sound told Noah that she locked the door. His eyes flashed in outrage and he banged on the door with more force.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Chloe! I know you are right there! You can't pretend that I didn't see you! Open the door!"

Chloe leaned her back against the door and closed her eyes tightly. She knew that it was childish, but she didn't know how to face Noah and he was angry.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"I can do this all night!", Noah roared. "Aren't you worried that I will wake up your neighbors?"

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"You left my place without an explanation! What did I do to deserve this treatment? Chloe! Answer me!"

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Chloe, is this how you treat your fiancé? … What are you looking at? Yes! You heard it right! Chloe and I are engaged, and I'm about to break through this door. What are you going to do about it?"

Chloe opened the door and Noah stopped shouting.

"With whom are you talking?", Chloe asked with urgency while peeking into the hallway, but before she could see anything, Chloe ended up with her face stuck to Noah's chest.

Noah put his hand on the door and pushed Chloe back inside while forcing his way into her apartment.

Before the door slammed shut behind Noah, there was another sound…

CLACK!

Chloe's eyes widened in shock when she realized that Noah just secured a handcuff on her left wrist.

CRRRRR…

He attached the other side of the handcuff to his right wrist.

"What are you doing?", Chloe asked in disbelief while moving her left hand how much the handcuffs allowed.

Noah's right arm was not budging, like an immovable pillar and she looked at Noah, demanding an explanation.

"You told me not to let you leave, Chloe, and that I should tie you up to myself, so until you tell me what the hell is going on in that pretty head of yours and you promise not to pull such a stunt again, you are stuck to me.", Noah said in one breath.

He asked her to tell him what is on her mind, even though he knew that she would never tell him her grievances. Chloe is a girl who was mentally abused for more than two decades and she is used to keeping things in, or risk being punished. Why would she open up to him, the person who is the cause of her pain?

That is why he didn't go after her immediately, but he called Aiden in hope that Aiden will have some good advice. Of course, he ended up with a scolding from Sarah as well, but that only stressed the urgency of Noah to stick to Chloe and not let her escape.

However, before going after Chloe, Noah took his time to think about every moment they spent together and if he did anything to hurt her or cause her to misunderstand things.

Noah guessed that Chloe didn't leave just because of one open condom wrapper and a handful of unused ones. His little rabbit probably combined that with many other things, and he remembered that Daphne touched his shoulder in the restaurant, and he knew that Chloe's mood dropped because of that. And there was Chloe's low self-esteem, and the fact that she left the life she knew and stepped into a completely new world, Noah's world… and it all added one on top of another and escalated into a situation where she couldn't handle it anymore and ran. 

Noah's brows furrowed in worry as he observed Chloe's face. "You were crying."

Before Chloe could respond, Noah pulled her in his embrace. "I'm sorry, Chloe. I was stupid and I was not thinking. Tell me how to fix it. Whatever you want, I will do it."

He tightened his hold on her. "Damnit! I asked you not to leave me, and you left. I was browsing on my phone and daydreaming about us buying a house with enough space for a grand piano so that you can play anytime you want, and in the next moment, you were gone. I know you have your reasons for leaving like that and I wanted to stay away and give you space, at least until morning, but I couldn't. I need you, Chloe. You are my little rabbit and I need to know what I should do so that you stop running."

As Noah spoke, Chloe breathed in his perfume mixed with alcohol. Was he drunk? He didn't seem to be drunk, but the stench of hard liquor was present in his breath.

Chloe was overwhelmed. It was in the middle of the night, and Noah made a commotion to get into her apartment. He said many things, some sweet and some intimidating, and they are handcuffed to each other. How was she supposed to respond to any of this? And she wished that stupid tears stop falling already.

Noah felt Chloe's shoulders shaking. He lifted her head and wiped her tears frantically with his palms, lifting Chloe's left arm in the process as well.

"You are probably not in a mood to talk.", Noah said. "We can talk later…"

Noah lifted Chloe up and carried her into the bedroom.

He placed Chloe on the bed and covered her up with a blanket.

Carefully, Noah laid next to Chloe, without going under the blanket because he didn't want to appear too intrusive, but he didn't want to let go of her either.

Chloe found herself in Noah's embrace. He was holding her from behind and with every passing second, his hold on her was tightening. "Noah?"

"Hmm?"

"What makes you think that you can sleep here?"

"Where should we sleep?"

Chloe was surprised by Noah's question. It's one thing to barge into her apartment, but Noah self-invited himself into her bed. And why did he make sleeping a 'we' thing?

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