Chloe's Explanation, And Plan

Chloe grabbed a few pancakes made earlier and brought them to a plate while the others continued to stare at her, almost waiting for her to give them all an explanation. Chloe, on the other hand, had her mind preoccupied with two thoughts. First, which was the minor thought, that none of her friends would understand what Zack, Ashley and herself were starting. They wouldn't be able to comprehend why this could be a good thing for the trio, and they definitely wouldn't be able to get what Zack meant to the both of them. So Chloe decided that she wouldn't explain herself, she didn't owe anyone an explanation anyhow.

This brought her to the second thought, the much more pressing one, was Ashley still playing her? Sure things went well out in the woods, Ashley didn't seem to mind sharing Zack with her. She wasn't being possessive of him, didn't mind helping Chloe please him and didn't even seem to care assisting Chloe to do better in general. It all seemed to be good...too good. Chloe, rightfully unable to fully believe Ashley's word, couldn't get the nagging from the back of her head that Ashley wasn't done with her old tricks. So Chloe needed to test her, find out the truth. The only way to do that? Spy on Ashley when she's alone with Zack, see what she says to him behind closed doors.

Chloe took a bite of her food, knowing that she needed to give the pair a little time as right now they'd only be mauling each other. It still felt odd to the redhead, that she didn't mind Zack being with Ashley physically, despite her initial thoughts on the idea, Ashley turned out to be right, it didn't feel like cheating at all. To Chloe's surprise, it was a bit of a turn on, knowing that the man she loved was with another girl but at the same time felt wholly attracted and whole loyal to her as well. Chloe knew that as long as Zack and Ashley kept things fair between the three of them, not butting each other out of things or spending time wholly with only one of them, things would be okay. But only if Ashley was genuine about this triple relationship.

Suddenly Chloe was shaken out of her thoughts when Victoria worked up the courage to approach the redhead, deeply concerned for her well being. "Um, Chloe?" Victoria lightly asked while kneeling down next to her, "Are you okay?"

"Right now, yeah," Chloe nodded back with a rather upbeat tone, "I just need to figure a few things out still, but if everything goes well, then I'll stay that way."

"Chloe...Ashley and Zack are in your tent right now...you're okay with that?" Victoria slowly asked, gaging her for a reaction,

"Well, she's Zack girlfriend so..." Chloe smirked back causing Victoria's face to scrunch up in confusion,

"What are you talking about? Did you two break up? Did Zack leave you? What did Ashley do?" Victoria rapidly asked causing Chloe to let out an easy smile,

"No Vicky, nothing like that happened. Zack's just with us both now," Chloe replied as if it was the most common thing in the world, "If it stays that way...well, I'll find that out soon enough,"

"W-What?" Victoria stuttered back in confusion, feeling sick at the idea, "Chloe, Zack can't be dating the both of you,"

"Yeah he can," Chloe said with a quick nod, "Ashley and I talked it out, and we figured that neither one of us were going to back off so why not just end the drama by both winning,"

"But...Chloe, that's not fair to any of you. You're okay with your boyfriend just screwing another girl behind your back?" Victoria asked, "What type of relationship is that?"

"One built on trust," Chloe retorted becoming slightly offended, "Zack doesn't love me any less, he's just sharing it with Ashley. Nothing's changed Vicky; it's just been built upon. I trust Zack would do the right thing if started to go awry, just like he's been doing." Victoria shook her head slightly, not able to understand how Chloe could be okay with that, the thought of Gavin doing that made her skin crawl, "And just for your information, Ashley and I came up with the idea, not Zack. So if you think he's just trying to use us for only his benefit your wrong,"

"I wasn't thinking that Chloe! I'm just worried about you, after everything that you told me happened, I don't want you ending up hurt!" Victoria quickly exclaimed to the redhead next to her, "I care about you, Chloe!"

Chloe took in a slow breath, "Thank you, Vicky, really that means a lot to hear. But, you heard the stories I told you, how bad things were between Ashley and me. Hell, you heard us with your own ears in the hallway this morning. By doing this...I'm ending all that, making me happy, Zack happy and Ashley happy. It's the best thing for everyone...it's what I want,"

Victoria blinked a few times while her face still held an unsure look, "Alright," She said with a slow exhale, "If it's what you want Chloe, then I have no right to tell you otherwise..."

"Thank you," Chloe warmly smiled back, "Now, could you do me a huge favor?"

"Sure," Victoria nodded back,

"Please explain that to the others, I don't want each of them coming up and harassing us, it's already a bit weird for Zack, and I don't want him to be put under any more stress, you know?" Chloe explained sounding deeply concerned,

"Oh...okay, I guess I can...spread the word or whatever," Victoria reluctantly agreed, knowing that she was going to tell Gavin anyway,

"Thanks, I'm...I'll be back in a few," Chloe said while finally getting up and heading away from the center of camp while the group continued to watch her.

Chloe headed outside the campgrounds and then carefully started to sneak around the outskirts, slowly making her way behind the tent where Zack and Ashley were. She knelt down and very quiet started to approach it, from this angle her sight was blocked from the others and she should have unwarranted access to anything the pair said inside the thin tent. "Okay, Ashley...prove me wrong for once," Chloe whispered under her breath, she desperately wanted to blonde to have changed, but it was much more likely that Chloe's original instincts were correct, that Ashley wasn't done trying to steal Zack away.