16 Chapter Sixteen

Luke's P.O.V

I grabbed my keys, jumping up from my desk and headed to the door. I didn't care that I was just in gray sweat pants and a Bama t-shirt, I was going to get Chloe. She needed me.

"Where the hell are you going?" Jacob asked, glancing over from his Call of Duty game.

"To help a friend," I said and walked out the door before being questioned further.

As I headed out of my dorm, I couldn't help but wonder how Chloe, Hailee, and Marshall got there in the first place. It didn't seem like Chloe's scene, but maybe I was wrong about her from the start. Then again, Hailee and Marshall were there so I bet Hailee made her tag along somehow. She did ask for my help after all.

I got into my black, GMC truck and sped to the club where Chloe was located. Even though I enjoyed Chloe texting me first, it was a little surprising that she chose to contact me of all people. She was probably left with no other choice but me. I glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven.

I pulled into the club parking lot, seeing Marshall's black Porsche. I turned off my truck, shoved the keys into my pocket and ran towards the entrance of the club. I went inside and scanned inside the club, seeing drunken bodies grinding up on each other and spotted Chloe sitting in the corner of the room. I couldn't help but smile. If she could be further away from people, she would.

"Hey Chloe," I smiled as I approached her with my hands in my pockets.

Chloe looked up from her phone, biting her lip. She looked beautiful with that purple dress thing she was wearing, her honey colored hair straightened, and her mascara–at least I thought it was mascara, but I could totally be wrong–brought out her pretty brown eyes. I could have sworn she had been crying at some point, but I didn't want to bother her about it right now. All I knew was that she needed to get out here–pronto.

She stood up from her seat and twisted her hands nervously. "Thank you for coming here, Luke. I know you didn't have to, but I'm very grateful that you decided to help me out," she smiled slightly. There was a certain uncomfortableness in her eyes. She needed to get out of here.

"How about I just take you back to your dorm?" I said while looking around. People were starting to look in our direction and I had no idea why.

"But what would I do with Hailee and Mar–Chloe," she corrected herself, looking over at the dance floor.

"It's okay I call her Marshall too," I smiled and followed her gaze. I eventually spotted Hailee and Chloe Marshall dancing to their hearts content. I laughed at the way Hailee jingled her wrists and was a little shocked to see Marshall move her body like that against some random guy. They were obviously drunk, and they didn't need to be left alone to fend for themselves either.

"Do you know how to drive Marshall's Porsche?" I asked quickly. I suddenly regretted it when I looked in her helpless eyes. If she was in a capable state she wouldn't have asked for my assistance. "Never mind about that. Let's just get them out of here," I said, and she nodded.

We walked into the middle of the crowd. "Hailee, Chloe, we need to get out of here," I told them.

Hailee turned to look at me, laughed and tugged on my arm. "Dance with us, Luke. It's fun."

"I'm sure that it's fun, but you need to go back to your dorm now," I said, gently pulling away from her. I could smell the rank alcohol off her breath. She was probably going to regret drinking later.

Hailee latched back onto my arm and started pleading like a child. "Come on, please, Luke. I want you to dance with me."

I looked over at Chloe, who seemed to know what I was thinking, and she pulled her away from me.

"Let's go, Hailee," Chloe said and slung Hailee's thin arm around her shoulders.

"Chloe, let's go," I told Marshall and gently pulled her away from whoever she was dancing on.

"I don't want to go," she pouted and looked up to meet my eyes.

"Yeah, she said she doesn't want to go," the guy she was dancing with added. He was at least several inches shorter than me with a stocky body, but it appeared that he was less brain, more brawn.

"I'm her brother and I said that she needs to go. She's new to alcohol and Mom is worried about her," I told him and carefully pulled Marshall away from him.

Marshall leaned against my shoulder and nodded, and we slowly walked away without any further complications.

Chloe and I walked out of the building with Hailee and Marshall leaning against us until we reached the truck, where we cautiously helped them in and made sure they buckled in their seat belts.

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate you driving all the way here to help us," Chloe said as she went around the truck and sat up front.

"It's no problem, whatever I can do to help a friend," I smiled and wanted to kick myself afterwards. Really Luke? Whatever I can do to help a friend?

"Thanks," she smiled, and my heart skipped a beat.

I knew it sounded ridiculous but if she ever called me in the middle of the night asking for my help, I wouldn't care where she was, I'd find her and help her.

Other than the bustle near the club, it was rather quiet on the way back to the dorms.

"Whose idea was it to go to a club on a school night?" I asked as I stopped at a red light.

"Hailee and Marshall's," Chloe quickly responded, looking out of the truck's window. She seemed a lot more at ease in the truck versus when she was in the club. She had been a little more frantic.

"I figured," I went on. "I also figured Hailee brought you into this mess. Did you drink anything?"

"No."

I nodded. "Well that's good. At least someone had a brain in the group," I smiled and looked in my rearview mirror to see Hailee shift in her seat and shake her head vigorously. Marshall was in the seat resting next to her.

Chloe laughed a little. "I really like your truck by the way."

"Thanks, I do too," I grinned, and the light turned green.

Chloe sighed. It wasn't one of those frustrated sighs, it was more like a tired sigh. "Can you turn on the radio quietly?" she asked.

I nodded and turned on the radio and put it on my favorite station. Low and behold, "You Can't Hurry Love" by Phil Collins immediately started on the radio. "I love this song," I said before thinking.

"Really?" Chloe turned to look at me with amusement in her eyes.

"I actually have it as my ringtone," I admitted sheepishly. Maybe that was too cheesy. But I am cheesy.

"That's funny," she giggled, and I couldn't help but love the sound. Whenever she giggled I couldn't help but laugh in return.

"What's funny?" I glanced at her with a stupid grin on my face.

"It's just that it's one of the songs we play at halftime," she said and continued to smile as she looked out of the window.

"Oh yeah, I meant to tell you the other day that I really enjoyed the halftime show. I didn't really get to see it, but I definitely heard it. You guys sounded amazing."

She looked surprised. "Thank you. I didn't even know you could hear it from the locker rooms."

"Well, I stopped for a little while to listen before I almost got beaten by Coach Saban to get my ass back in the locker rooms, but even then, I could faintly hear you but still knew that you guys sounded good," I chuckled, pulling in the dorm parking lot.

She laughed and nodded. "I bet."

Something in the air changed between us tonight, and I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. Perhaps it was because we got along so well, or it was the music in the truck, but I felt happier than ever with Chloe in the shotgun seat. It felt natural to be with her and not as awkward as I expected it to be.

I put my truck in park and turned it off. We both got out of the truck and opened the passenger door. I was on Marshall's side and Chloe was on Hailee's.

"It's time to get up," I told Marshall, who responded with groans and shaking her head.

"I just wanna sleep," Marshall murmured.

"You can sleep once you're back in the dorm room," I promised her.

She nodded, and I helped her out of her seat, making sure she didn't fall or bump her head against the lining of the truck door.

Chloe and I helped maneuver Hailee and Marshall into the dorm, making sure that the people at the front desk didn't see them by taking the backway route. If we had been caught, who knows what would've happened to Hailee and Marshall.

We took the elevator and hobbled off the elevator and into Chloe's dorm. Even though I shouldn't have been excited about this, I couldn't help but feel ecstatic that I got to go into Chloe's dorm room for the first time, even if the circumstances were unconventional.

The room was decorated more than I expected. There was an obvious sailor theme with coral pink, navy blue, and stripes. One of the pillows on the couch was navy blue and white striped with an anchor stitched on. The room was clean, which was nice because if it wasn't I knew I would feel the urge to clean it up. Mom and Dad used to make fun of me for being a clean freak, but I argued with them that they should be happy I took care of myself. A clean environment was a happy environment.

"You can place Marshall on the couch," Chloe said as she went inside what I assumed was Hailee's room.

I placed Marshall on the couch and she immediately laid down, snuggled with a coral pink pillow, and closed her eyes. I would have never thought I would have had to help her when she was drunk in a million years, but I knew that if Hailee or Marshall needed my help I would help them, too. They were my friends after all.

Chloe came out of Hailee's room and shut the door. "Thank you so much for all of your help, Luke. I hope that someday I can return the favor."

I could think of several ways she could return the favor, but it didn't seem okay to ask right now. I wanted to hang out with her, but I knew I needed to take baby steps in order to get where I wanted to be. "It's no problem. If you ever need help in future don't hesitate to ask," I smiled at her.

Chloe genuinely smiled at me. It was a smile that I wanted for the longest time, and it wasn't until now that I got to see it. I had only seen that smile a couple of times throughout the years, but it had never been directed at me. I felt butterflies in my stomach and my heart felt light. She was so damn beautiful when she smiled like that. A smile was the best makeup a girl could wear.

"I guess I'll see you for the chemistry test tomorrow?" I asked while walking towards the door.

"Yeah. Who knows how late I'll be studying for the exam tomorrow," she yawned, her hand on her hip with the other covering her mouth.

"Same here. I was actually studying it before you texted me," I said and opened the door. "I'm sure you'll do great, Chloe. You always do."

"Thanks," she continued to smile, and I left her dorm room with the stupidest smile on my face.