chapter 4

Exercise sucked. Quinn managed to force himself out of his room the day after Chloe had been round but he'd never struggled so much before. It hadn't been that long since he'd been for a run... maybe just a month. Maybe a little longer.

Still, the way his heart hammered in his chest after barely any time at all, the way his lungs screamed when the cool winter air hit them... he didn't think he'd ever been so unfit in his life.

He'd always been an active kid, into sports and cycling around. He'd never really gone so long without exercising and it showed. He pushed himself as far as he could, until he started to feel sick. He was shocked at how little time that took.

Still, he knew he was going to have to build his fitness levels back up. It shouldn't take too long. He just needed to stop eating so much greasy food and getting drunk most nights with Johnny.

After he showered, he put the finishing touches on his assignment and turned them in digitally, feeling a little guilty that it wasn't all him. Still, maybe Chloe was right. Maybe everyone else was getting help too.

The next night, Johnny went out with Pippa and left him to his own devices. That was ideal, really. Quinn had a plan. He was going to study for a little bit, then go out for a run, pick up something healthy from the grocery store on the way back, shower, eat and then relax. It wasn't hard. He was just weak.

He studied a little until his brain wouldn't focus. He didn't have that much to do anyway. Just as Quinn summoned up the energy to put on his running shoes and head out, there was a knock at the door.

He frowned. Johnny wouldn't be back yet and he certainly wouldn't knock. Quinn stood up and walked over to the door. He tugged down the hem of his shirt, annoyed that he was wearing one of the tighter ones.

He was surprised to see Chloe standing there with a bag of food bearing the Casey's logo.

“Hello?” he said.

“Hi!”

“What are you doing here?” he asked, confused.

“I brought you some food,” Chloe said. “Aren't you going to let me in?”

Her bright smile turned to a pout and Quinn didn't know what to say. He hadn't really expected for Chloe to come back; she wasn't someone he would ordinarily spend time with on his own.

“So... what is this?” he asked. “I think I'm good on the assignment for now.”

“Oh no, I know,” Chloe said. “We pretty much cracked that, right?”

“Well... yeah...” he said.

“I just wanted to bring you food, that's all.”

That explained nothing. The way she said it with such conviction, like it was something completely normal made it even stranger.

Chloe sat down on his bed and started to pull boxes of food out of the bag.

“I hope some of that is for you, too,” Quinn joked.

There was more than enough for the two of them, by the looks of it.

“Oh, no, I've already eaten,” she said.

Quinn frowned. He wasn't expecting that answer.

“Come, sit down,” she said, patting a spot on the bed next to her.

“What is this about, Chloe?” he asked suspiciously.

Was this supposed to be some sort of date? Had he been so obviously enamoured with food that she thought that would entice him? No, that couldn't be it. There was no way Chloe would be interested in him.

“I've already told you, I brought you food. You're going to eat the food and I'm going to leave. It's that simple.”

“What? Why?” Quinn asked.

“Because I want to,” she said. “What aren't you getting?”

“I just... don't...”

“Aren't you hungry?” Chloe asked.

“Well, yeah, I guess... I wasn't about to go out to get food,” Quinn said.

He conveniently left out the fact that he was going to go for a run first. He wasn't sure why. It wasn't like she wasn't well acquainted with men exercising. Still, it was like he didn't want her to know how badly he needed to.