Chloe laid in bed and thought about Jax. It was five o'clock in Port Charles. Jax would probably be watching the news and working on something at his computer right about now. Chloe wanted to just pick up the phone and call him, but her heart kept telling her no. Hearing Jax's voice would only remind her of how much she missed him and how much she loved him.

But Jax was a part of her life. She couldn't keep dodging him forever, nor did she want to. But it was just so hard. She loved him so much, and it hurt that he did not feel the same way. Uncle Herbert couldn't be right. He had spent so many years hoping for a wedding between them that he had actually started to believe that Jax's feelings were true after all, Chloe decided.

Chloe closed her eyes again in an attempt to clear her head of Jax, but the silence made her think of him even more.

~1987~

Jax sat in his desk and tapped his fingers impatiently on the table. He looked at the clock again. It was 11:59; one minute away from noon, and Jax had just finished his last exam for the last day of his junior year. Now, if only that clock would hurry up and change.

And finally, it did. School was over and summer had officially begun!

Jax was the first out the door. He turned the corner of the hallway, passed his history classroom, which he had grew to hate this year, and waited by Chloe's locker.

It's the last day of school, Chloe! Come on, hurry up! Jax thought.

"Bye, Jax. Have a good summer!" Dorothy Miller said cheerfully as she passed him in the hall, swaying her hips and moving a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. Dorothy had a tremendous crush on him.

"Bye, Dorothy. You too."

Dorothy giggled and walked away with her friends.

Finally, Chloe appeared. "Hey," she said with a smile.

"Hey. Now hurry up! I want to beat the traffic! That student parking lot is a nightmare!"

"Okay, okay, I'm hurrying! I'm hurrying!" Chloe said as she got the last of her belongings out of her locker.

"Jax! Chloe!"

Jax and Chloe looked down the hallway to see Ned running up to them.

"You two are going to the party at the lake, right?" Ned asked.

"Of course!" Chloe said.

"Great, see you there," Ned said and walked away.

Chloe finally got her things out of her locker and they headed outside to Jax's car.

"What did you think of Mrs. Pope's algebra exam?" Jax asked.

"Oh, I can't believe I was stressing over it! It was so much easier than I thought!"

"Told you."

"I know, but you know how I always worry about tests, easy or not."

"You have a habit for over-studying, Chloe." Jax laughed.

Chloe threw her backpack in the back of Jax's car and climbed in on the passenger side. "I am sooo ready to get out of here!"

Jax started up the car and headed out of the parking lot. "Me too!"

"Well, at least it is finally over with! I am so happy, Jax! I don't think I have ever been this happy to have school end, well, except maybe when I was ten!" Chloe laughed. "Maybe it's just the thought of being a senior now!"

Ten minutes later, Jax pulled into Chloe's driveway and put the car in park. "Okay, I'm going to go home and change. I'll come back and pick you up in say, fifteen minutes?"

"Sounds great! See ya in a few!" Chloe grabbed her purse and backpack out of the car and dashed to the front door.

"Mom, I'm home." Chloe called out. Chloe rarely got to see her mom when she came home from school, but since she got out early today, she would get to catch her mom on her lunch break from work.

Chloe passed her mother's bedroom. She was on the phone. Chloe smiled and waved cheerfully. She was in such a good mood that she never noticed her mother's grim expression.

Chloe threw her things on the floor and decided to play her Madonna tape. She hadn't listened to that in a long time. She danced and sang to "Like a virgin," as she opened her drawers, getting out her bathing suit and suntan lotion.

A few minutes later, her mother appeared in the doorway. Chloe finished putting her hair in a ponytail and smiled. "Hey, Mom."

"Hi, sweetie," Valerie said softly.

Chloe could immediately tell that something was not right. "Mom, oh god, what's wrong?"

Valerie reached over for Chloe's stereo and turned off the music. "Sweetie, we need to talk."

"Something bad has happened, hasn't it?"

"Sit down, Chloe." Valerie sat down on the bed and Chloe sat down beside her. "Chloe, I just got off the phone with Herbert. Sweetie…I don't know how to tell you this. Your father…your father passed away this morning, Chloe."

Chloe froze. "What?"

Valerie, with tears in her eyes, took hold of Chloe's hands. "Sweetie, your father had a brain tumor. Apparently, he's had it for months now, but he never told anyone…"

"No!" Chloe said angrily as she stood up. "You're lying! Daddy was just fine when I saw him over Spring Break in Florida! He was just fine!"

Valerie shook her head and stood in front of Chloe. "Chloe, I don't want to believe it either, but, sweetie, it's true. Your father has been sick for a few months now. When the doctors caught the tumor, it was already too late, and he didn't want to spend the last months or weeks of his life in a hospital. And he didn't want to upset us, so he never said anything about it."

"No! No! No! You're lying! Daddy's not dead! He's just fine! I'm going to call him right now and you'll see!" Chloe picked up the phone extension and dropped it as her body began to convulse with sobs. Chloe collapsed into her mother's arms.

About ten minutes later, Chloe heard Jax's car horn outside. "I…I forgot to call…to call Jax," she mumbled as she wiped her eyes with her fingers.

"Do you want me to tell him to come back later, sweetie?" Valerie asked.

"No. No, that's okay. I…I need to see him."

"Alright." Valerie gave her daughter a sympathetic look and hugged her.

Chloe opened the door as Jax was getting out of his car. "Hey, I've been waiting out here for three minutes now! What took you so…" Jax's voice trailed off as he saw the tear stains on Chloe's face. "Chloe, what's wrong? You've been crying."

Chloe stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her. She sniffled and wiped her eyes again. "I need to get out of here, Jax."

"Chloe, what's wrong?" Jax repeated.

"I just need to get out of here. Will you please take me somewhere?"

"Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"Just…I don't care. Someplace quiet. Anywhere but here."

Chloe was silent in the car. She rested her head against the door as she watched the trees pass them by through the window.

Jax became very worried. He had never seen Chloe this upset before. He wondered what was wrong, but he wasn't going to pressure her into telling him. It was obvious that whatever it was, it was big, and Chloe needed time to sort this out in her head.

Jax drove down a dirt road that led into a wooded area. It was a familiar road for the two. As kids, they often road their bikes down it. At the end of the road was the river. It wasn't too far away from the tree house they used to play in.

Jax stopped the car and he got out. Chloe remained in the car, so Jax walked over to the passenger side and opened her door for her. She quietly took his hand, and he led her over to the river's edge under the shade of a huge tree. They sat on a nearby rock.

They were silent. Chloe picked a blade of grass and fiddled with it, tying it in knots before tearing it in two and tossing it back to the ground.

"My dad died," Chloe finally said. "This morning. It happened this morning. He had a brain tumor."

"Oh, Chloe…"

Chloe started to sob. "He didn't tell anyone he was sick. He didn't want us to be sad. I never got to say goodbye, Jax…I didn't get to say goodbye…" Chloe burst into more tears and Jax couldn't think of anything to do but to hold her.

[Meanwhile in Port Charles…]

Jax decided to turn his computer off. He wasn't getting any work done. All he could think about was Chloe, and how much he missed her. Jax decided to sit down and watch some television. Perhaps that would help get his mind off of her.

No such luck.

As Jax flipped through the channels, he came across The Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet. Jax thought that guy was incredibly stupid and gave Australians a bad name, but he found himself watching it anyway. And of course, anytime he had any thought of Australia, he thought of the time he had took Chloe there.

~1987~

It was supposed to be one of the best summers of their lives, but the summer of '87 was anything but great. Ever since the funeral, Jax didn't see much of Chloe. She became a recluse, holing herself up in her bedroom for hours. She wouldn't go out, and they didn't talk on the phone as much as they used to anymore.

Jax understood though. He couldn't possibly know what she was going through, but he did know that she had suffered a terrible loss, and she needed time to heal. Jax smiled at memories of camping with Chloe and her dad. Even though Chloe's parents had divorced, her father still managed to spend time with his little girl. And now, he was gone.

Valerie had called Jax over one day. She was awfully worried about Chloe. She wasn't eating, and all she did was sleep in her room with the curtains closed, completely shutting out the world.

Jax gently knocked on Chloe's door and he heard her say to come in very softly. He walked in and saw her in sitting on the bed, sketching a dress in her sketchpad.

"Hey, Chloe."

"Hi," she said softly.

Jax sat down on the bed beside her. He handed her some gardenias he had been hiding behind his back. "You're so pretty, and every pretty girl should have flowers, especially ones that smell really good."

And Jax had succeeded in what he was trying to do. He saw her smile. She reached over and hugged him, thanking him for the flowers.

On the drive back home, Jax suddenly had the greatest idea. He knew of the perfect thing he could do for Chloe. He walked into the kitchen and saw his mom drying some dishes and putting them in the cabinet.

"Hey, son. How's Chloe?"

"She's still pretty upset, but I managed to make her smile."

"It's a terrible thing when you lose a parent. My heart goes out to her."

"Mom, if I were to ask you for some money, and promise to pay you back someday, could you give it to me?"

"Sure. How much do you need? Fifty dollars? Hundred?"

"Uh, no mom. More like, a couple hundred. Maybe even more."

"Jax, what on earth do you need that much money for?"

"I want to take Chloe to Australia. She's always wanted to go, and I told her I would take her one day. I just thought that now would be the perfect time. It could be at least one good memory she could have for this summer. You know what, forget it. I know it's a lot of money."

Jax got up from the table and started to walk out, but his mother stopped him.

"Jax, I think it's a wonderful idea. Why don't you let me talk to your father about this?"

Jax smiled, knowing that he was already going to Australia with Chloe.

Chloe sat in her room and looked out the window. Jax watched her unnoticed for a few moments while she gazed out at the neighborhood children playing. He could tell she was thinking about going out.

"Chloe?"

Chloe looked up and smiled at Jax. "Hey, come in."

Jax pulled up Chloe's desk chair and sat down beside her. "Chloe, I know that there is nothing I can do to take away your pain, although I wish I could, but I can make you happy. Here."

Jax handed her a nicely wrapped box with a ribbon on it.

Chloe smiled at him suspiciously. "What's this?"

"Just open it."

Chloe took off the ribbon and lifted the lid from the box. A look of confusion came across her face when she saw what was inside. "Jax, these look like plane tickets."

"That's because they are."

Chloe smiled at Jax. "We're going on a trip? Where are we going?"

"Look at the tickets."

Chloe took a closer look at the writing on them, and she gasped. "Australia!"

"Yep. I'm taking you to Australia, Chloe. You said before that you had always wanted to go. Well, here's your chance. I hope you haven't changed your mind because those tickets are non-refundable."

"Oh, Jax! Thank you so much!" Chloe threw her arms around him. "You are so sweet! Oh my god, we're going to Australia!"

Jax laughed, so happy to hear happiness in her voice again.

"Jax, where did you get the money for plane tickets?"

"My parents. And don't worry, they wouldn't have offered to pay for them if they didn't want us to go."

"Oh, Jax! This is so exciting! Oh, thank you!" Chloe hugged him once more. "Oh, I have to tell my mom!"

Chloe hopped up and literally ran out of the room and down the stairs with Jax behind her, trying to keep up.

"Mom, guess what! Jax is taking me to Australia!"

Valerie smiled. "I know, sweetie."

"You know?"

"Yes. Jane called me and we discussed it. We both agreed that it was a terrific idea."

"You're going to let me go? You're going to let me and Jax fly all the way across the world by ourselves?"

Valerie laughed. "Have fun, Chloe."

Chloe jumped up and down in excitement and ran over to the couch to hug her mother. "Oh thank you, Mom!" She then turned to Jax. "When do we leave?"

"Day after tomorrow. And we're staying three weeks."

"What?! Jax! Why didn't you tell me? I need to start packing!" Chloe started to run up the stairs and then stopped. "Oh, I need to pack warm clothes, don't I? It's winter there, right?"

"Oh, yes it is. But you know what, pack both kinds of clothes. We're staying with my aunt and uncle, and they live in northern Queensland. It's actually pretty tropical there. And don't bother bringing really heavy clothes. The rest of Australia doesn't get that cold."

"Oh! This is great!" Chloe ran over to Jax and kissed him on the cheek. Then she smiled and bounded up the stairs.

On the plane, they hadn't even taken off yet, and Chloe was already excited. "Jax, I've always wanted to see what the Australian outback looks like! And I have to see a kangaroo and oh, Jax! I want to hold a koala bear! Will they let you do that? Can we do that?"

Jax laughed. "We'll do all of that. I promise."

Chloe cheered and looked out of the window, anxious for the plane to move. Jax loved making Chloe happy. Making her happy made him happy, and that was all the happiness in the world Jax needed.

By daytime, Chloe was the happiest girl in the world. Jax's family welcomed her with open arms, and everyone was eager to show Chloe around beautiful Australia and help her cross off everything on her Australia "to do list".

But at night, it was sometimes a different story. That was when things were quiet, and that was when Chloe would think about her father.

One night after everyone had gone to bed, Jax felt someone watching him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Chloe standing over his bed.

"Chloe?" Jax said sleepily. "Is something wrong?"

Chloe lowered herself onto the bed, and when she did, Jax could see her face in the moonlight. She had been crying.

"I had a bad dream, Jax."

Jax sat up.

"In my dream, you had a brain tumor too…and you died." Chloe started to cry. "Jax, please don't ever leave me! I've already lost so many people in my life. I don't think I could handle losing anyone else, but especially you, Jax. Please promise me you'll never leave me. Promise me, Jax!"

Jax wrapped his arms around Chloe as she sobbed into his chest. "I'm not going anywhere, Chloe. I promise. I'm not going anywhere," he said soothingly. "Come here." Jax laid down on the bed and Chloe laid down with him. She rested her head on his shoulder and Jax held her close to him. Jax gave her a soft kiss on her forehead as Chloe was finally able to fall back asleep.

This wouldn't be the first time Chloe came to Jax in the middle of the night. During their trip, Chloe often had nightmares and would come to Jax when she got scared. She didn't come every night, but when she did, Jax would always hold her and they would fall asleep.

"Jax?" Chloe said one night.

"Yes?"

"I love you. You are the bestest friend in the whole world to me."

Jax smiled. He realized that that was the first time Chloe had ever said she loved him. "I love you, too, Chloe, and I couldn't ask for a better friend." He kissed her on the cheek and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

[Back in Milan….]

Chloe got out of bed and turned on her lamp. This was silly. Why was she trying to keep her distance from Jax when all she really wanted to do was to be near him? Jax was the world to her, and he had always been there for her. Chloe couldn't imagine life without Jax. She wanted to be with Jax, even if she was just a friend to him. Chloe dragged out her suitcase from the closet and began to empty her dresser drawers. She didn't need to be here in Milan. The fashion show was long over. It was time to go home.

To be continued…