where the time went- chloe price

i am i am i am.

"oh my god, thank god you're here," chloe breathed as she opened the front door,
"sorry, i'm running late," i apologised, looking up into her eyes that were peering down at me softly,
"it's okay," she smiled slightly before wrapping her arms around me in a brief hug, her touch leaving me slightly dazed as she stepped aside and let me enter the house. as soon as i stepped inside the building my sense of smell was overtaken by the roast that joyce was cooking, the sweet honey, rosemary and lamb all making my mouth water in a sense of nostalgia at her meals. i followed chloe through the house, placing my bag at the bottom of the stairs and sitting down next to her on the couch, my shoulder touching hers and our knees brushing together as we sat in close confinements.
the tv was on creating a soft barrier of noise between us and joyce and david in the kitchen and casting a soft glow over chloe and i, i saw from the corner of my eye as her hand slowly drifted across her lap and into mine, her fingers dancing over my thigh and uncontrollably causing heat to flow down my body. she knew what she was doing, she knew that her touch was causing my breaths to become shallow, she knew that it was what made my body tense in a fight against itself to react to her touch in a way that wouldn't be appropriate with her mother in the other room. i felt as her fingers moved against the inside of my thigh, i looked up at her, watching as her eyes stayed in front of her as if she had no control over what her hand was doing, for a moment i really thought she didn't have any control over her hand until she ran her fingers over my core and i inhaled sharply, a soft smirk appearing over her face.
"we'll miss dinner if you keep this up," i whispered as i wrapped my hand around her wrist and moved it back onto her lap she was quick to fight against me, trying to move her hand back towards me, i thought she was trying to touch me again but then her fingers intertwined with mine, i felt the heat rise to my cheeks as a soft blush appeared across them.
we stayed like that, fingers intertwined and bodies touching until joyce's voice rang out throughout the house,
"dinners ready," as soon as we heard her voice our hands snapped away from each other and we sat next to each other like we were strangers until we stood, walking towards the table and taking the two seats opposite joyce and david, "it's been a while since we sat down and had a nice meal like this," she smiled as everyone started to season the plate of food in front of them accordingly, i added nothing to mine, knowing it was already perfect.
"i think we have chloe to thank for being so persistent about having this dinner," david spoke, i glanced at chloe quickly, her cheeks were red and she looked down at her food. i never thought she would have asked for a family dinner in her life knowing his defiant she used to be about them.
"it smells wonderful, joyce," i complimented her and she smiled warmly at me,
"i hope it's as good as you remember," she spoke before we all started to dig in to the food in front of us, all of us except for chloe who sat at the table very still, her breathing shallow and her leg shaking, "are you okay, sweetheart?" joyce asked her, her head shot up and she looked at her mother,
"y- yeah," she stuttered, i furrowed my eyebrows in concern,
"you sure, chloe?" i asked her and she nodded quickly,
"i, uh," she spoke and everyone seemed to stop eating, all eyes on chloe as she struggled to speak, "i'm gay," she said.
   she said it.
       she actually said it.
my heart pounded softly throughout my body as i stared at her, knowing how hard this was for her, not only in front of her mom, but david too.
holy shit.
   holy shit.
       holy shit.
"sweetheart, we know," joyce spoke with a soft laugh and chloe looked up at her with confusion in her eyes, "we thought you weren't going to tell us because we already knew,"
"you did?" chloe asked finally managing to find her words, joyce started to laugh softly,
"yes, we knew,"
"oh," she replied quietly and joyce and david started to eat their food again, clueless about the torment that this conversation had been causing chloe for years. "you didn't want to talk to me about it?"
"sweetheart," joyce sighed, "i tried," and chloe furrowed her brows, "as much as i care about rosie here, i wasn't just asking about her for me... i was trying to encourage you to speak about how you were feeling,"
"we're not," chloe and i said at the same time, joyce just sighed softly,
"we're not dating," chloe spoke again and i shuffled awkwardly in my seat, trying to allow my heart rate to slow down.
"okay," joyce spoke sweetly, shrugging her shoulders softly and cutting a piece of the succulent lamb in front of her, i swallowed and started to eat my meal too, before it got too cold. we ate for the next 20 minutes, mostly in silence, joyce and david carrying a light conversation between the two of them until our plates were finished,
"can we go?" chloe asked, joyce smiled and nodded and almost immediately chloe stood up and left the table, going upstairs. i was a bit slower and stacked everyone's plates up and bought them through to the kitchen,
"thank you for dinner," i said to joyce who was looking up at me with a gentle smile, she nodded once and i turned around ready to leave the kitchen and go up stairs but her voice called out behind me,
"rosie?"
"yeah?" i spoke turning around and looking at her again,
"do you wish your parents spoke to you about this?" she asked me, i nodded softly,
"yeah," i replied, "i think you should talk to her."