All characters are fictional however the storyline is based on actual events of the past. Hope you enjoy.
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Mark’s day at work dragged on and on, he couldn’t concentrate. All he could think of was that today was going to be the day that he and Chloe went from friends to more than friends.
Chloe and Mark where a pair of typical country kids who had essentially grown up knowing each other most of their lives.
They had gone to the same country high school although not been in the same year level. Mark was 2 years older than Chloe however 3 years ahead of her in class as Chloe’s family had moved around the country a lot when she was in primary school before her mum and dad got divorced so had fallen a year behind her age group. When her mum remarried to a local farmer Chloe was able to settle into a single school at the start of year 7, that is when she and Mark met.
As is the case in most of rural Australia, High Schools are in the larger towns of a region with many of the children having to travel daily by bus for over an hour each way, or in some cases board for the whole term, to attend High school.
Mark lived in one of the small country towns that only had a primary school and so when he started high had to catch the bus. He didn’t really get on with many of the kids on the bus. He was “different” in many of their eyes as his family had always been “townies” who did mix with the families of the surrounding farms.
When Chloe moved to the farm with her mum and new step-dad she just happened to catch the same bus as Mark. She too was a loner on the bus. As the bus was well utilised, she often had trouble getting a seat by the time it arrived at her stop. That was until Mark started making room for her. Over the school years they became friends however if either had any thoughts of it being more, they didn’t tell the other.
The year that Mark completed High School was also Chloe’s last at the High School they attended. She completed year 9 with less than acceptable grades and had been struggling all her High School life. She was often picked on and bullied leading to all sorts of mental and health concerns. Chloe’s parents decided that she may be better of going to a private school away from the pressures. Mark and Chloe lost touch when they went their separate ways that last day at the local high.
That was until 3 years later when by chance Mark caught up with Chloe again and they restarted their friendship as if they had never been apart and over the next 3 years they continued being good friends. Nothing serious, definitely not boyfriend/girlfriend, just friends. A couple of times they discussed maybe taking their friendship further however as Chloe had plans to travel the country, they agreed that just friends was enough.
That was until last week. When they were talking about Chloe’s coming home for her 21st birthday Mark had definitely picked up a hint that she wanted their relationship to go further and he had plans of making today the first day of that journey. She had been working in the Northern Territory for 12 months as a Jillaroo so they hadn’t seen each other in that time. The phone bill however showed they were still good friends. Today she arrived home.
Chloe was scheduled to flying into Melbourne in the morning then catching the train and bus to their hometown. There was no flight to a nearby airport. Unfortunately, Chloe’s mum would not be able to pick her up from the bus stop, so Chloe had arranged with mark to take her the last step to the farm after he finished work. The house where he lived was only a short walk from the bus stop so Chloe would walk there, let herself in using a spare key Mark had left out for her and wait until he got home.
Mark looked at his watch, 4pm. Chloe should just about be at his home if the bus was on time. He still had an hour of work. Damn it.
4:30. Damn will this day never end…..
5pm. Yes, finally.
“Bye everyone, have a good weekend.” Mark said as he quickly grabbed his briefcase and raced to the door.
“Gees, someone is in a rush.” Jody said as he nearly knocked her over in the hall, “On a promise?” She queried jokingly.
Jody and Mark had been it the same year level at school and usually hung out on Friday nights with a group of their friends. They had been like brother and sister their whole school life and knew pretty much everything about each other.
“Chloe’s home from the NT. She’s waiting at my place for me to take her out to the farm.” Mark said breathlessly.
“Oh, Chloe. Well don’t let me hold you up.” Jody said with a wink and a smile.
It took Mark all of 5 minutes to get home. Country towns have their advantages. He walked into the house expecting Chloe to in the lounge, she wasn’t. His heart sunk. The bus must have been running late, hopefully she hadn’t missed the plane. She would have called him at work if that were the case, surely.
He went to his bedroom to drop of his briefcase and get changed. As he opened the door his fears were dismissed as he saw Chloe curled up in his bed asleep under a sheet. It had been a long day with the flight, train and bus trips.
Mark smiled as he looked on her calm sleeping face and quietly got undressed from his work clothes, fully intending on getting into something comfortable before waking Chloe up.
As he was pulling up his shorts, no shirt on yet, Chloe stirred.
“Hey handsome.” She said sleepily, “Not going to join me?”
Mark turned to see Chloe stretching her arms above her head out from under the sheet. In doing so she had pulled the sheet to the side. Mark’s mouth dropped open; he was lost for words.
“What? The cat got your tongue?” Chloe asked playfully as she smiled at him.
“No. Just. You know.” Mark replied.
“No, I don’t know.” Chloe said playfully, “What?”
“Just you are so beautiful when you wake up.” Mark had sleep near Chloe many times before. They had ‘sleep overs’ often when they had caught up in the past 3 years, but he had never seen her as she was right now.
It was clear in the current situation that Chloe had removed her top before getting into bed. The movement of the sheet had exposed a good portion of Chloe’s chest which was bare.
“Oh, flattery will get you everywhere.” Chloe said as she started to sit up, to Mark’s dismay she knew exactly where the sheet was and caught it so that it did not expose any more of her chest.
“Come here and say hello properly.” She said
At this stage Mark realised he was still holding his shorts at his waist, button and zipper still undone. As he moved, they started to drop, he tried to do them up. Chloe smiled at his fumbling. Mark gave up fumbling and sat on the side of the bed shorts open, boxer shorts on display.
He leant to Chloe and gave her a kiss on the cheek as they normally did in greeting. They had kissed on the lips several times before but friends didn’t do that, did they?