Forever Bonded || A Gallavich Fanfic

She Needs Us

Chloe

Chloe sniffles, looking down at her wrist. She feels so alone now. Her social worker is gone for good, the only person she could ever really trust. The two paramedics who actually seemed to care about her are gone for good, and she thinks she definitely scared off her friends for good.

When Chloe hears a knock on her door, she quickly wipes away her tears with her non-broken hand and tells the person to come in. Her face immediately lights up when she sees Ian walk through the door.

"Ian? What are you doing here?" She smiles. Ian smiles back and explains himself. Chloe nods, understanding, and Ian takes a seat in the chair beside her bed.

"So, did the doctor tell you how long you'll be in those casts for?" Ian asks, trying to keep a conversation going.

"Six weeks for both. Then I go to physical therapy for eight weeks to work on my leg, and then I just do some exercises for my wrist at home mostly." Ian nods while listening to Chloe. She sighs, looking at her casts. She doesn't know what to talk about now.

"Do you want me to sign your casts?" Ian asks after a moment of silence. Chloe smirks, thinking about it. She thought that was a childish thing.

"Sure." Ian laughs and pulls a pen out of his shirt pocket. He signs both the wrist and leg before sitting back in his chair. Chloe stares at his handwriting, trying to think of something to talk about.

"Do you know where they'll put me?" She asks, not looking over at Ian. When she notices that he probably doesn't know what she's referring to, she elaborates. "Which group home, I mean."

"Oh. No, I'm not sure yet. Somewhere good, I hope." Chloe laughs at that.

"Group homes are never good. There's always something wrong with them." Now Ian laughs at that.

"You're telling me." He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. Chloe looks at him now.

"You've been in a group home before?"

"Oh, yeah. And many foster homes before that." Ian smiles, thinking back to those times. They weren't good memories, so he doesn't really know why he's smiling, but he is.

"I thought you had like a golden childhood on the Westside or something." Chloe blurts out. Ian laughs again, shaking his head.

"No, definitely not. I grew up on the Southside."

"Really?"

"Really."

"What was the group home like for you?" Chloe questions, wondering if she'll have a similar experience. She's only ever been to foster homes, but she's heard some gruesome stories about group homes.

"Uh, well, I wasn't there long, but from what I can remember, it looked and felt like a prison. You were forced to work in the day, anywhere you wanted, but you had to be home for supper, and then you weren't allowed to leave. No girls allowed ever, and everyone was super homophobic so you know, don't fall into any traps."

Chloe nods along, keeping mental notes of what to expect. The last part Ian says, though, catches her attention. "Wait, are you gay?"

"Yes."

"Oh, cool. I'm bisexual."

"Are you?"

"Yeah. So I know all about not falling into traps, haha." Ian smirks at her comment.

"Yeah, the Southside isn't very welcoming, huh?"

"No. Except for that one incident a while back. Some gay Jesus rally or something? Do you remember that?" Ian's eyes widen. Yes, he definitely remembers that.