Hi All

Ok, so it's been a very long time since I updated and I can't apologize enough for that. There's no excuse for taking so long to write a chapter, but it's one that I really struggled with. I don't know why, it just never came out right, every time I tried to write it, it turned into a conversation between two different people and not Chloe and Derek, and that just wasn't fair to the characters or to you the readers.

I'd like to say thanks to all of you that reviewed and favourite-ed me.

And of course a massive THANK YOU(!) to TEAMTWIHARD, who listened to my oh-so-many rants and helped me finally finish this chapter. Couldn't have done it without you girlie. She's an epic author herself and if you get a chance, check her out.

And for being so patient with me, I'd like to again say THANK YOU to you, the readers. It's for you I do this, so let me know what you think...

CHAPTER 4

CHLOE

Derek stalked into the room then headed for the bathroom.

"Hello?" I called, walking into the room and putting the groceries on the bed.

" Kit? Simon? Anyone here?"

Derek emerged from the bathroom, shaking his head.

"Apparently not." I turned and headed out into the hall, Derek following closely behind, opened the door to the girls room and stepped inside.

"Hello? Aunt Lauren? Tori?"

I looked in the bathroom, then turned to Derek, "I guess they went out?"

Derek returned to the doorway, looked down the corridor, then knelt on the ground for a moment.

"Their...scents aren't that old, they haven't been gone long."

"Think they got tired of waiting for us?"

"More like Tori got tired of waiting."

I ignored his comment, followed him into the corridor and closed the door behind me, then closed the door to the boys room too.

"Well, I'm starving. And you're always hungry. So... lunch?"

"Sure."

We left the motel and headed to a diner a few streets away. It was a little busier than I expected considering it was two in the afternoon, but easily found an empty booth by the window.

"What can I get you, kids?"

I looked up to see a waitress, her dark hair pulled back in a short pony tail, smiling down at us.

We gave our order to Julie, according to her name tag, and were quickly presented with a stack of pancakes for me, and a platter of bacon, sausages, eggs and fried bread and a double cheeseburger with fries and a side of onion rings for Derek.

Derek glanced around the room before directing his attention to his burger. I took a quick look around too, but didn't notice anything concerning. Though if there had been I knew Derek would've noticed and said something

Looking out the window I saw a group of high school girls walking down the street laughing. I wished for a moment that I was still normal, that I had an ordinary life with friends I could talk and laugh with, and that my biggest problems were the 'big test' or getting a zit.

Then I looked at Derek and a small smile pulled at my lips. I thought how boring that life would be and how if I had that life, I wouldn't have him.

I was in the middle of pouring syrup over my pancakes when Julie returned putting our sodas on the table, making me jump and spill the syrup on my jeans.

Derek looked at me then turned to glare at Julie. I kicked him under the table as I placed the bottle back on the table, and he glanced at me before focusing his attention on his burger again.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said.

"It wasn't your fault, don't worry," I replied, picking up a few napkins and starting to wipe at the syrup.

"That's not gonna work. Syrup's the worst thing to get out." She pointed towards a door at the other end of the diner. "The bathroom's through there, warm water will work a lot better than a napkin."

"Thanks," I answered.

She smiled "No problem, hun."

A bell dinged and she went to pick up another order.

I turned to Derek, who was finishing his burger. He looked up as I slid out of the booth and raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be back in a minute," I said.

He nodded and started on his onion rings as I headed towards the bathroom.

In the bathroom I took some paper towels, wet them with warm water and began scrubbing at the drying syrup on my jeans. I repeated the process again and again until it was mostly gone.

In my now clean but very wet jeans, I put the paper towels in the trash. As I turned towards the door I spotted a hand dryer on the wall next to it, and used it to dry the wet patch on my leg.

I looked at my watch as I stood there, and saw that I'd been gone nearly 10 minutes. I was surprised that Derek hadn't already barged in to check on me, considering how worked up he was about being so close to New York, not to mention our run in with Liam. I checked my nearly dry leg and figured it was good enough.

As I touched the door handle something smashed behind me.

A muffled scream escaped me as a hand clapped around my mouth.