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Chloe had made him see that he was capable of love, despite it not being an easy emotion for him. She’d made him see that he’d been loving Ellie all along, even when he couldn’t name the emotion.

They were out of Barnes when Ellie spoke again.

“Did you notice there are no decorations in her apartment?”

He closed his eyes, not wanting to think about Chloe, or her apartment, or anything to do with her. Not wanting to think about that last morning, in his kitchen, when she’d been so adamant she had to leave.

He sat a little straighter, his heart thumping now as if to grab his attention. He’d loved Ellie, and he’d always shown that, but he’d struggled to acknowledge it. What if the same was true with Chloe? What if he’d begged her to stay, offered her millions, not just because he wanted a contingency plan, but because he wanted Chloe. Chloe Merry and no one else. What if he’d wanted her to stay for him, and just hadn’t known how to admit that? Just like he hadn’t known how to tell Ellie that he loved her?

“I offered to help her decorate but she said she’d do it on her own and send me a photo. I wish I could have helped her though. She deserves a beautiful festive home too, right?”

His gut churned. He turned to face Ellie and a thousand little prisms of light shifted to form one perfect glow of colour. “Right.” He stared at her for a long beat, his hand squeezing hers, and then he leaned forward, praying it wasn’t too late.

“Take us back to Barnes,” he directed the driver. “Take us back, immediately.”

“Tissues and pens,” she mumbled into a wad of toilet paper. “Why do you never have either when you need them?” She blew her nose and then sat down on the sofa, dropping her head forward and giving in to the sobs that were wracking her body. Hating the sadness, the loneliness, the uncertainty.

All she knew was that she missed both Ellie and Dimitrios like a limb, and she needed to fix it. Even if it meant accepting his offer. Living with them, knowing he’d not love her, knowing it would never be enough, but that it would be better than this.

But then what? They couldn’t keep sleeping together, pretending they had safe boundaries in place. Not when she’d gone and fallen head over heels in love with him.

She groaned into the toilet paper and stood up, pacing towards her kitchen, wondering if a cup of tea would help?

Her buzzer rang and she moved to it on autopilot, pressed it. “Yeah?”

“It’s us.” Ellie’s voice. “Can we come up?”

Chloe’s heart hurt. She closed her eyes, prayed for strength, forced a cheery tone. “Yeah, of course.”

She buzzed them in then bolted to the bathroom, where she discarded her toilet paper and splashed water on her face, dabbing it dry with a towel before super quickly pinching her cheeks and applying a single coat of mascara then a swipe of lip gloss, all before their knock sounded at her door.

Taking one last glance at her appearance to be sure her eyes weren’t too puffy, she stalked through the apartment and wrenched the door inwards. Ellie stood in front of Dimitrios, his hands curved over her shoulders.

“Ellie tells me you don’t have any Christmas decorations in your apartment.”

The statement came totally out of left field.

“I…have decorations. They’re just not up yet.”

“Right. So, we’re here to help.” He literally rolled up his sleeves as he said it. Her eyes dropped to his tanned forearms, her heart in her throat.

“Really, that’s very kind, but I’m quite capable⁠—”

“Love is a verb,” Ellie said wisely. “We’re showing you we care. If you’ll let us.”

Chloe’s heart tripped. She looked from Ellie to Dimitrios, then pushed the door wider by way of silent invitation.

“Ellie,” Chloe said, frowning. “The decorations are in my wardrobe, in my room. Why don’t you go get them and wait in there a moment. The lights will need detangling, if you can be bothered?”

“AKA, the grown-ups need to talk privately. I get it. I’m thirteen, you guys.”

Dimitrios glanced at her, a bemused smile on his face. “Give us five minutes.”

“I’ll give you ten, but only because there’s something on YouTube I want to watch.”

She disappeared from the lounge room and Chloe closed the front door, pressing her body against it. “What’s going on?”

He faced her for a long time without speaking, his chest moving with each exhalation. “When were you going to tell me?”