Exodus?

Zack lead Chloe through the house and into the kitchen where Victoria was grabbing a few plates, "Oh good, you guys were awake," Victoria said with a warm smile before looking a bit concerned, "You were up right? I didn't wake you, did I?" She quickly asked,

"Yeah, no worries, we fell asleep earlier, but we woke up half an hour ago," Zack replied while looking around, "Gavin?"

"Out on the deck, starting the grill," Victoria replied, "You want to help him out? I don't know if Gavin know's how a grill works," Victoria asked with a small giggle,

"Uh, yeah, probably smart unless we want to be eating charcoal dogs," Zack agreed with a soft chuckle, he headed towards the sliding glass door with Chloe in tow,

"Um, actually, Chloe?" Victoria asked causing the redhead to stop and glance over at her, "Would you mind helping me out? I just need to grab a few more things, but I don't think I can carry it all," Chloe looked at Zack then back to Victoria, clear confliction poured over her face, "It's okay, I can handle it," Victoria conceded, not wanting to trouble the poor girl,

"N-no," Chloe replied shaking her head and steadying herself, "No, it's okay Vicky, I can help," Chloe assured her while walking over to the counter,

Zack watched Chloe for a moment and questioned if he should leave her, Zack didn't think there would be any trouble with Kurt or Ashley, but he was still concerned with Chloe's state of mind. After a moment he opened the sliding glass door, knowing that Victoria would at least be watching over her while he was outside helped calm him as Victoria seemed to have become quite protective of Chloe ever since learning about Ashley, which Zack greatly appreciated.

As Zack left the kitchen, Victoria walked over to Chloe who was looking through the cupboards, "So, how are you feeling?" She asked while leaning against the counter,

"Scared," Chloe softly replied while turning around to face Victoria, "Really scared, Vicky," She said again while lowering her head,

"Don't worry sweetie, Zack won't let Kurt anywhere near you, neither will I, nor will Gavin," Victoria confidently assured her, "I promise you that,"

"I know," Chloe said with a nod, "That helps me when it comes to him, same thing with Ashley, I don't like them being here, but at least at this point I'm not the only one who knows about them," Chloe explained before glancing at the window, "What's scaring me more is Zack,"

"Why, what'd he do to you?" Victoria asked in a hushed worried tone,

"There was some minor stuff he said to me, and I think we handled that but..." Chloe answered before pausing and thinking it over, "I don't know if he should be here anymore,"

"What do you mean?" Victoria asked, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly,

"He's on edge; you saw the way he snapped at Kurt and Ashley when they got back. I'm sure he's gonna be like that every time he catches a glimpse of them and who know's what'll happen if they start fighting. Not to mention the fact that he's got to be thinking about Brandon too," Chloe explained, "Brandon is one of his best friends, and he slept with his girlfriend..."

"Oh, honey..." Victoria murmured while shaking her head, "I think you're freaking yourself out, I don't think anything bad would happen unless something serious happened. And Brandon didn't seem too angry with Zack earlier today, even after he learned everything he rowed you guys back,"

"But what if...what if he is mad and he fights Zack. Or what if Kurt tries something again with me or even tries to get payback? What if Ashley...what if she sneaks into our room and does something with Zack again?" Chloe quickly began to rant, getting herself quickly amped up,

"Easy, Chloe, just take it easy," Victoria calmly said while raising her hands, "Okay, you have a point, things could go wrong, I understand that. Maybe you're right, maybe getting away from them is your best option..." Victoria conceded while thinking about it herself, "But where would you go?"

"Home, I guess?" Chloe replied with a small shrug, "Zack and I live next door to each other so it's not like I couldn't see him every day,"

"That's lucky," Victoria mumbled back,

"But you and Gavin," Chloe said with a sigh, "We wouldn't be able to see you guys, not unless you came downtown,"

"Chloe, please, do not stay here on our account, do what's best for you and your relationship," Victoria quickly replied,

Chloe let out a slow nod, becoming disappointed in the idea of not cutting off the week she had left with both Victoria and Gavin, as they were the only other people in the cabin that she genuinely liked still, or at least didn't make her worried. The two girls finished grabbing the dinner supplies and headed over to the sliding door, "I just wish we had another cabin to go to," Chloe softly mumbled under her breath as they walked out causing Victoria to stop instantly, her eyes going wide with excitement,

While this was happening Zack made his way onto the deck where Gavin was fiddling with the grill, grumbling to himself, "Having fun?" Zack asked with a smirk as he watched his friend,

Gavin glanced back and shook his head, "Not really; the fucking thing won't turn on," Gavin explained while flipping the ignitor, "See?" He said to Zack as no flame came on,

"You did remember to turn the propane on right?" Zack asked causing Gavin to narrow his eyes and rub his brow slowly, "Gonna take that as a no," Zack said with a light chuckle.

Gavin watched as Zack knelt down and opened the propane valve, he flipped the ignitor again only this time he saw a flame show up, "Thanks, man," Gavin said while grabbing a few hot dogs and putting them on the grill, "So...how you doing?"

"Fine, well, I mean as much as can be expected," Zack replied while he brought his good hand to his banged one, rubbing it as he began to feel a little pulsing pain again, "This sucks though," He added on while holding his hand up,

"I can imagine," Gavin agreed with a nod, "I mean, I don't think I've ever seen you hit someone before,"

Zack sighed and nodded as well, "To be honest man, I don't remember much at that moment. I like...blacked out or something, one second I was kneeling in front of Kurt the next I'm pulling myself off his **** body, it's fucked up,"

"Fucker deserved it," Gavin spat back bitterly,

Zack stared back at his friend for a minute before walking over and putting his hand on his shoulder, "I haven't thanked you for doing what you did, yet." Zack said causing Gavin to look slightly surprised, "You got Kurt away from her and made sure he didn't get near Chloe again, so thank you, that meant a lot,"

Gavin lightly shook his head, "No need Zack, Chloe's my friend too, and the thought of someone doing that to her made my blood boil...I hit Kurt too you know,"

"You did?" Zack asked with a small smirk, "Damn, look at us, manning up,"

Gavin let out a little chuckle, not fully agreeing with Zack's words, "You maybe, I was surprised I didn't shit myself," Gavin replied causing the two guys to break out into a short laugh,

"No, you may think that you're a coward man, but what push came to shove, you stood up and held your ground," Zack assured his friend while patting his shoulder. Gavin smiled back at him, feeling a bit more proud of himself due to Zack's sincere words, "Anyway, enough about that, what's going on with you and Vicky, anyhow?"

"Oh, um...well, things have gotten a little more complicated," Gavin replied while scratching the back of his head,

"Yeah? How's that?" Zack asked as he grabbed the tongs rolling over the hot dogs,

Gavin glanced towards the sliding glass door making sure Victoria wasn't coming out before leaning closer to Zack, "Well, last night Vicky and I...the condom broke," Gavin almost blurted out causing Zack's brow to raise ever so slightly, "And we couldn't stop," Gavin added on,

"Oooooh," Zack said nodding understandingly,

"Yeah...so Vicky's kinda decided we're done using them." Gavin continued, "Which would be nice if that didn't mean we can't have sex anymore. Seeing as we can't control ourselves and we don't want her to get pregnant,"

"Did you bring up that...other thing?" Zack whispered back with a quick glance at the door as well,

"I tried to, but Vicky's too scared of it hurting," Gavin dejectedly replied, "She doesn't think we know enough to do it right,"

"Well, obviously Chloe was new to it, but we managed with no trouble," Zack replied causing Gavin to blush slightly,

"Yeah but I'm guessing Chloe wasn't scared of trying it, right?" Gavin mumbled back,

"Uh...no, that'd be a...understatement," Zack awkwardly replied,

"Yeah, that's what I figured..." Gavin said with a nod before thinking, "Um, Zack...I was thinking that maybe if you two were-" Gavin started to say only to abruptly stop as the sliding glass door opened causing the two men to turn around, shutting up completely with their conversation quickly,

"Chloe, you're a genius!" Victoria exclaimed as the pair walked out,

"I am?" Chloe confusingly asked,

"Yes!" Victoria said with a quick nod while leading her over to Zack and Gavin, "Guys, Chloe just came up with a great idea,"

"I did?" Chloe asked again, still confused,

"Yeah, you did," Victoria affirmed, "Zack, Lisa's parents own a cabin twenty minutes from here, couldn't we spend the rest of the trip there?" Victoria asked causing Zack to become perplexed,

"Well, uh, in theory, I guess." Zack halfheartedly agreed, "You want to leave?" Zack asked looking over to Chloe,

Chloe nibbled her bottom lip and shrugged, "A little, I mean, it's...awkward here, and it's probably gonna stay that way,"

"Awkward..." Zack mumbled back as he ran his eyes over his girlfriend who was hiding in his sweater. It annoyed him slightly that she refused to admit to him that she was scared and didn't want to stay in the cabin anymore. Still, Zack didn't want to pressure her, at least he could figure out what was bothering her this time, "Okay, but why would we all go to Lisa's cabin, instead of just heading home?"

"Yeah, and Vicky, since when did you want to leave?" Gavin asked just as confused,

"Oh come on Gavin, you can't lie, you know you don't want to be here either," Victoria pointed out causing him to let out a short sigh and nod, "Exactly, us four need to get the hell out of this place, it's going mad. Sure we could go home, but if we did that, then we'd miss out of the rest of the vacation and wouldn't see each other anymore. If we got to Lisa's we get the rest of the trip and we'd be away from all the drama too, it's a win, win."

"That's if Lisa let us, it's her cabin after all," Gavin pointed out, "Did you even ask her?"

"No...I kinda thought that maybe Zack..." Victoria quietly murmured causing Zack to let out a scoff and cross his arms,

"I'm sorry, but you want me to go up to my Ex-girlfriend and say, Hey, I know it's been a long time but is it cool if me and my girlfriend crash at your place? Oh, and you think you could let Gavin and Vicky come too? I'm sorry guys, I'd like it to work, but I don't see that working out," Zack replied causing Victoria to lower her head,

"Fuck, I really didn't think about it like that," Victoria admitted, "I was just thinking you since you know her and I don't,"

"What about Chloe?" Gavin suddenly asked causing Chloe's eyes to go wide,

"Me?!" She exclaimed while pointing at herself, "Why me?"

"You heard Zack; it'd be weird coming from him, Victoria and I don't know her that well, that just leaves you." Gavin explained, "When she and Zack were dating, you used to hang out with her sometimes, you two were sorta friends."

"So? I'm in the same boat Zack's in, you want me to ask my boyfriend's ex if we could stay at her cabin? That's just as, if not weirder," Chloe shot back while tossing her hands up,

"Normally I'd agree, but Lisa seems like a good person," Victoria interjected, "She's been trying to help everyone since she got here and if you explained to her why I'm sure she'd understand. Chloe, you're our best bet,"

Chloe quickly looked at Zack who merely shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, they have a point, but it's completely up to you. Honestly, I'm fine with just driving us home, you're right next door so it's not like I'd lose you," He said with a little smile. Chloe let out a small sigh and shook her head before cupping her hands over her head, thinking things over for a moment.