Staying in for now

"So, you wanna head down to the lake...?" Chloe asked after a while, when they were fully finished with unpacking their stuff and making their bed as well. "Could go for a swim before bedtime?"

"Nah, I dunno..." He replied, though he knew he'd actually enjoy it. The whole thing with Kurt and Victoria was making him restless and uneasy however, and he'd been listening constantly for any signs of trouble in the other rooms. "You could check it out if you want..."

"No, I'm fine!" She admitted, and then smiled at him faintly. "I just thought it'd make you feel a little better. Could as well keep an eye on them out there, I mean..."

"Heh." He let out a little chuckle and then turned his head back to look at her over his shoulder. "Am I really that easy to read to you...?"

"I've known you for a long time, Zack!" She just winked right back at him, before sighing and shaking her head. "Though I think just about anyone could've figured that much about you by now..."

"Well, except for Vicky." He shrugged. "I never seem to get through to her..."

"She might be a special case." Chloe laughed at him softly, causing him to give her another curious frown. "No, nothing special. It's just that I think she's a little difficult to get at. I'm sure you'll manage one day!"

"Thanks." He managed another bleak smile at her. "So what do you think it will take then? To get through to her I mean...?"

"Well, for starters...?" Chloe pretended to think about it for a moment. "Just tell her that you like her and stuff...?"

"That's... not quite as easy as it sounds." He sighed, while knowing she was probably right. She usually was. "Anything else...?"

"I dunno." She looked up into the roof for a moment as if giving it some serious though, but then decided to keep them to herself. She just laughed again as he tried to ask her though, until he'd actually threaten her with becoming a little more physical. "That'd be nice for a change! Though I doubt it would further your plans with Vicky!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked - with that confused and gloomy frown on his face -, which only made her laugh even more at him.

"Well... You might just think I'm being silly now..." She finally told him, while slipping a little closer onto his side of the bed. "But you should really try and convince her that there's no other competition."

"Like what...?" He insisted, while looking even more perplexed than before. "Why would she think that I've got someone else...?"

But his voice trailed off for a moment there, as he noticed the faint look of hurt in his old friend's eyes, and he came to realize what she was actually saying.

"And I think that's what I mean." She finally continued, with a soft sadness to her voice. "Just think about it, ok? And then go talk to Vicky when you feel you're ready..."

"Chloe, wait...!" He started to say to her, but by then she was already halfway out through the door.

This was something he'd had to spend a lot of time thinking about - which he didn't really have right now, if he didn't want to keep hurting his old friend's feelings....