The quiet hum of central air whispered through Chloe’s private suite, carrying the faintest chill that never quite reached the warmth beneath the plush comforter. Moonlight spilled across the curved lines of Chloe’s modernist headboard and cast soft silvery shadows over the expanse of her bed, an impossibly luxurious piece of furniture that could’ve been mistaken for a runway, a throne, or a cloud, depending on the angle.
Sara lay on her back, her skin still flushed, her breaths deep and steady, like she was surfacing from a dream she didn’t want to wake from. The rise and fall of her chest slowed, her fingertips idly tracing along the hem of Chloe’s tank top, which had bunched up slightly during their earlier abandon. Her face, so often sharp with conviction or lit with mischievous confidence, now looked completely at peace. Disarmed. Unarmored.
Chloe was beside her, eyes half-lidded, her golden hair splayed across the silk pillow like liquid light. She didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. She just turned her head and looked at Sara with a gaze that held nothing but stillness and gravity.
“This was…” Sara began, her voice hoarse and intimate, still low with the weight of everything they’d just shared. “This wasn’t like anything with Kaitlyn.”
Chloe’s brow lifted, but she said nothing, encouraging her to continue.
Sara’s gaze remained on the ceiling, like the words had to gather in her lungs before being spoken.
“I don’t like comparing. I really don’t,” she said. “But I’ve never felt like this before. I didn’t think I could. Not again. After what happened…”
She swallowed.
“I wasn’t ready to move on. Not really. Kaitlyn left me wrecked, and I thought I needed time, to breathe, to make sense of what we even were. And then you came in. All certainty and fire. You didn’t ask, you just… you just were. You made it impossible to ignore. And what I couldn’t wrap my head around, what still trips me up sometimes, is that you wanted me.”
Chloe’s hand drifted over, fingers brushing Sara’s softly.
“I still do,” Chloe murmured. “Every second.”
Sara’s mouth twitched upward, but her eyes glistened with something deeper.
“I kept waiting for the differences to be dealbreakers,” she said. “You’re Generitech royalty. You believe in systems, I question them. You’ve never had to fight to be taken seriously,”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Chloe interrupted gently, but not defensively. “Being taken seriously has never come easily. Not when you’re a girl with power. Especially not when your last name’s Gracewood.”
Sara turned her head, locking eyes with her.
“Maybe. But still. You didn’t walk away. Even when I challenged you. Even when we argued about Littles and control and structure… You still chose me.”
“Of course I did,” Chloe said, leaning in just slightly. “You never pretended to be anything other than exactly who you are. That’s rare, Sara. You don’t fold for anyone. Not even me.”
Sara exhaled, eyes misting now.
“When Kaitlyn gave me that ultimatum, she wasn’t asking for partnership. She wanted surrender. She expected me to just go along with her plan because that’s what she decided. No conversation, no space to process. Just: ‘Tell the world or I’m gone.’”
Chloe’s jaw tensed slightly, the memory of Kaitlyn, a friend who had become a ghost who had hovered unspoken over their relationship, making her stomach knot. But she didn’t speak. She let Sara have the moment.
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye on my terms. I wasn’t given the chance to choose.”
Sara looked down now, meeting Chloe’s gaze fully.
“But with you? Everything’s different. You let me be. You don’t push, you invite. You don’t demand, you wait. You let me find my own way, and you met me when I got there.”
She took a breath, her voice thick with emotion.
“And it’s because of that… that I know this is love. Real love. Because when I say it here with you, I mean it in a way I didn’t know existed till right now. ”
Sara turned fully on her side, brushing Chloe’s cheek with the back of her fingers.
“I love you, Chloe Gracewood. And what I felt before… wasn’t love. Not really. This is.”
Chloe’s throat bobbed as she swallowed, her hand sliding to cradle the back of Sara’s head.
“And I love you,” she whispered, fierce and certain. “I knew from the start. Even when you tried to hide behind your jokes and that little deflecting smirk.”
Sara laughed through the emotion, eyes damp. “That’s my smolder, thank you very much.”
“It’s your defense mechanism,” Chloe said, pressing their foreheads together. “But it’s okay. You don’t need it with me.”
And for a while, they just lay like that, two girls from opposite worlds, wrapped in warmth, honesty, and a bond that didn’t need fixing or explanation. No more armor. No more shadows. Just Love.
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They are a good couple. I hope they marry after High school and they can have a house together and work on there own company instead of wasting time in college. Which they are way ahead to college trained business people already.
so far so good as far as their relationship is concerned. Time will tell if it wills and the test of the time but they are on a good path and Chloe does meet the Jordy Friendly requirement.
1) What time would it be a this point?
2) “Her face, so often sharp with conviction or lit with mischievous confidence, now looked completely at peace. Disarmed. Unarmored.” A little loving can do that to a person.
3.1) “This wasn’t like anything with Kaitlyn.” Damn it Reeves don’t bring up your ex.
3.2) “Chloe’s brow lifted, but she said nothing, encouraging her to continue.” not the typical reaction to that.
4) “You believe in systems, I question them.” Sara believes in some systems unquestioningly, not the same system’s as Chloe but still.
5) “Being taken seriously has never come easily. Not when you’re a girl with power. Especially not when your last name’s Gracewood.” That’d be very true of rich kids and nepo babies, Chloe’s not a slacker, but most of what she has or has achieved would be impossible for someone her age without family money, even Echo Riot isn’t something she could have done if she was from a family in Sara’s tax bracket.
6) “Maybe. But still. You didn’t walk away. Even when I challenged you. Even when we argued about Littles and control and structure… You still chose me.” Chloe wouldn’t have done let a thing like being challenged stop her.
7) “You never pretended to be anything other than exactly who you are. That’s rare, Sara.” most of the time Sara’s masking, I reckon, she lowers the mask around Chloe, but she definitely pretends to be someone else.
8) “When Kaitlyn gave me that ultimatum, she wasn’t asking for partnership. She wanted surrender. She expected me to just go along with her plan because that’s what she decided. No conversation, no space to process. Just: ‘Tell the world or I’m gone.’” Just like Sara did to Jordan.
9) “But with you? Everything’s different. You let me be. You don’t push, you invite. You don’t demand, you wait. You let me find my own way, and you met me when I got there.” bit of a low bar, but still healthy.
10) “I love you, Chloe Gracewood. And what I felt before… wasn’t love. Not really. This is.” First relationships often aren’t, because people don’t always know how to love the first time.
11) “And I love you, I knew from the start. Even when you tried to hide behind your jokes and that little deflecting smirk.” Good to see her say it back, and that Chloe could look past the defence mechanism.
1) middle of the night AM.
2)it is surprising what it can do.
3) lol
3.2) Well they were both friends with Kaitlyn so its probably a bit different.
4) I wouldn’t say unquestioningly she could just agree with the government policies. Its not an extreme take or view she has in this world. Chloe’s view would be more considered extreme then sara’s.
5) That is true but you can’t fault someone for the hand they were dealt. Chloe is doing what she can with the means she was afforded.
6) Well if someone has a reason and a logical basis that forms the foundation of the belief even if its in opposition to her own. She could still respect the argument even if its not one she holds.
7) Chloe is talking specifically about their interactions when together not Sara as a whole with the world at large. Sara hasn’t tried to be something she has not around Chloe. She believes littles are something between pets and person for instance and hasn’t changed her mind just to appease Chloe or lie about hte fact her belief is different. She just explained why she felt the way she felt. Even with Kaitlyn in this same episode. She didn’t hide how she felt she felt a certain way and was honest about it.
8) Sara isn’t Kaitlyn’s pet though and jordan isn’t viewed equally legally, societally or globally at large. There are pockets and groups of people who feel different. But i don’t think its fair to necessarily say its the same thing. As you afford your dog different rights then your neighbor. So its not completely out of pocket that sara would expect different from Kaitlyn or chloe then she would Jordan.
9) Well they aren’t that old. I didn’t want it to be to complex.
10) That is also a good point. you don’t know what something feels like till you feel and experience it.
11) She has known sara a long time. She should be familiar with the defense mechanisms as they were friends before the relationship was elevated.
4) I can understand that, my point was they both agree with and question different systems, but Chloe’s view being contextually more extreme makes Sara’s quote seem even worse.
5) Agreed, but you also can’t fault the people who are less impressed by the achievements of kids born with a trillion dollar head start,
6) That’s always a good skill.
7) I see, that makes more sense.
8) It might not be identical but there are distinct similarities that I don’t think can be over looked.
Kaitlyn was not treating Sara as an Equal, just like Sara doesn’t treat Jordan like an equal. Sara saw herself as Kaitlyn’s equal, just as Jordan did to Sara.
Both were Kaitlyn and Sara were trying to force Sara and Jordan to do something they pelived would benefit them even if they weren’t ready.
In both cases, there’d be people who support and oppose the decision.
Sara may have the lore and the law on her side in both cases; however, the thought processes are the same in both cases.
8) I agree with you on your point here. I hadn’t really ever fully clicked on the Kaitlyn – Sara parallel but you present good points here and I do agree with you that Sara is doing a bit to jordan what was done to her.
However i do think in Sara’s eyes its different because of political views and the status of littles within the u.s. and globally of the smallara world.
But I do agree with your points here and can understand where that line of thinking would happen.
6) if more people could do that. The world would be a better place.
5) This is true as well. CHloe has had an easier path for some things and because of her family and wealth is afforded certain advantages that others may not have.
It doesn’t negate the hard work and such that is still being done to make it happen. But it does make some things easier that cannot be denied.
4) Yeah, I can understand that.
8) Sara would hardly be the first hypocrite to think “it’s different when I do it.” But like I said, the law and lore are on her side.
6) Indeed.
5) She’s not a slacker, I did mention that, but there are plenty of people who work much harder than her and will never go as far because they weren’t born into wealth; she probably has a few working for her.