"Jax?" Chloe called out as she opened the door. "Jax?"

"I'm over here, Chloe."

"Hey." Chloe walked over to the lounge chair by the window. "You sounded funny on the phone. What's wrong?" Chloe sat down beside him.

Jax was silent for a moment. He didn't even look at Chloe. He just had this vacant expression on his face as he twirled around something shiny between his fingers.

"She left me, Chloe."

"Oh, Jax. Honey, I'm so sorry."

"I come home and find that she's moved out. And the only thing she leaves behind is this ring and some stupid goodbye note saying that she went back to Corinthos."

"Jax-"

"I should have listened to you, Chloe. Right from the beginning, you warned me about her, saying how I should be cautious, and that she was probably on the rebound from Corinthos. But did I listen? No!"

Jax rose from his seat and started pacing. He then started laughing. "And then, she cheats on me with him. And you would think by then that I would have got a clue! But what did I do? I took her back! I actually took her back, Chloe! Even though I knew that she had kissed him, and slept in his bed, and had been naked with him, all while I was sitting at home ordering room service for us! I ACTUALLY FORGAVE HER FOR THAT, CHLOE! WHAT KIND OF IDIOT AM I? DID THIS RING EVEN *MEAN* ANYTHING TO HER?" Jax held up the ring that he had been fiddling with. "WHY THE HELL WOULD SHE ACCEPT MY PROPOSAL, MAKE LOVE WITH ME, AND THEN LEAVE ME WITHOUT EVEN BLINKING AN EYE?!" In his anger, Jax threw the ring across the room. He then walked over to the couch and sat back down.

Chloe followed him to the couch.

"I'm so stupid, Chloe."

"No, no, you're not stupid, Jax. You're just in love. You don't want to lose Brenda. You don't want to lose what you had. It's okay to be upset."

Jax started to choke up. "The only thing I ever tried to do was to make her happy. Why doesn't she want me, Chloe?"

"I don't know, sweetie." Chloe wrapped her arms around Jax as he started to sob silently. "Hey, don't worry, everything will be okay." Chloe coaxed.

After a few minutes or so, Jax had started to calm down, but he was still pretty upset. "I just don't understand, Chloe. I gave her everything she could ever want and more, but that still wasn't enough. Is there something wrong with me?"

"No, of course not, Jax. There's nothing wrong with you! Jax, you're honest. You're sweet. You're *sexy*. I mean, Jax, if Brenda can't see that, then she doesn't deserve you. You deserve much better."

Jax sighed. He knew Chloe was right, but it still hurt to just let go.

"Jax, do you remember Mark Patterson?"

"That jerk who broke up with you at senior prom? Yeah, I remember him."

"Well, do you remember what you told me that night?"

"Yeah. I said he was a fool if he couldn't see how beautiful and wonderful you are, and that he didn't deserve you."

"Exactly. If Brenda can't see what she has right in front of her, then it's her loss. Jax, you deserve a woman who will love you with her whole heart, not just a part of it."

"I know, you're right. But it still hurts."

"I know it does. But you'll be okay, Things will get better, I promise."

Jax looked at Chloe and smiled. "I love you, Chloe."

Chloe smiled back. "I love you, too." She leaned forward and they embraced. "Hey, I know. Would you like a distraction from Brenda tonight?"

"I would love to not have to think about her tonight."

"Great! Okay, go change into something more casual."

"Why, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise! Now go change! And grab your coat because it's getting kind of nippy out there."

"Tada!" Chloe said when they had arrived to their destination.

"The fair! When did the fair come to town?" Jax asked excitedly.

"Just a few days ago! It came while you were away in Europe!"

"Oh this is great!"

Chloe laughed. "Well then what are we waiting for, Jax? Let's go get in line!"

For the next two hours, Jax and Chloe were acting like teenagers again. Riding all of the rides they could stand, visiting all the booths, and of course, eating plenty of junk food.

Chloe sat on a bench with her face buried in a cloud of pink cotton candy. Jax sat beside her, munching on some funnel cake. "I can't remember when I've had this much fun." Jax said.

Chloe smiled. "That was the point."

Jax smiled back. "Wow, we haven't been to the fair in ages, since, when was the last time we went to the fair?"

"Uh, junior year of college I think."

"Wow, that long ago?"

"Yep."

"Yeah, you're right. It was junior year of college. Then the next year you left me to go study abroad in Rome." Jax teased.

"I came back, didn't I?" Chloe laughed. "And I was only gone for a year!"

"I know, but I still missed you. And I know, you had to go. It was a big opportunity for you."

"Yes, it was. That internship really opened some doors for me."

"Come on, Haley! Let's go ride the Gravitron!" A little boy in front of them shouted to a younger girl.

"Yeah! And then let's ride the Scrambler!"

Jax and Chloe smiled at the two children, who were probably brother and sister, as they ran to get in line.

"Reminds me of us when we were that age." Jax said.

"That's what I was thinking. Remember how we used to always go to the fair every year?"

"Yeah. We sure did a lot of things back then." Jax started to laugh. "You know, my parents still don't know about the time we sneaked out after dark to go see that monster movie."

"Oh my gosh! That was so much fun! But you know, we had to go! It was playing one night only!"

"And they wouldn't let us go because they thought we couldn't handle it!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Parents."

"Okay, I'm really sick of this funnel cake. I think I ate too much."

"Yeah, I'm really sick of this cotton candy. You know, we probably should have listened to our parents about not eating too much junk food."

Jax and Chloe looked at each other and started laughing. "Nah." They said in unison.

Jax and Chloe walked around looking at the different games. "Let's play that one." Chloe said, pointing to a game where you had to squirt as many yellow ducks as you could in 30 seconds with a water pistol.

"Okay."

The two stepped up to the booth and took a seat. When the man at the booth rang the bell, signaling the game to begin, Chloe started squirting the ducks like crazy. Jax though, had another idea. Taking the water pistol, he aimed it towards Chloe and started spraying her.

"Jax!" Chloe responded by squirting him back.

Jax and Chloe were having fun with their little water fight, but unfortunately it ended when there was a winner.

"Oh this is great, Jax! Now I'm all wet and if you hadn't have squirted me I could have won!"

Jax started laughing. "Chloe, don't you know by now? I always do that to you at this game."

Chloe wiped some excess water off from her face. Yes, that was true. Jax could never resist spraying her with a water pistol, even now at age twenty-nine. He was still a kid at heart.

Jax gave the man at the booth a couple of dollars and then proceeded to throw the baseball at the target. Chloe stood beside him, cheering him on. Jax threw it, and it went into the hole in the wall. Jax threw the second ball, and again, he scored. The third time, he made it again. Jax was really shocked. He couldn't believe he made it three times in a row.

"Looks like we got ourselves a big winner here!" The man at the booth said. "You can have any prize on that top shelf you want. What'll it be?"

Jax smiled at Chloe. "What do you want?"

"Um." Chloe looked at the row of stuffed animals on the shelf. "I want that one!" Chloe pointed to a big brown teddy bear.

The man promptly took the bear down and handed it to Chloe. "A bear for the beautiful young lady."

Chloe hugged the bear and smiled. "Wow, he's so soft. Thank you, Jax."

"You're welcome." Jax grinned. It suddenly seemed just like old times. Just he and Chloe, at the fair, and Jax winning all of the stuffed animals Chloe wanted.

"Hey, Jax, we haven't rode the Ferris wheel yet! We can't leave until we do that! Come on!"

Chloe tugged at Jax's arm and he followed after her.

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing." Jax said, referring to the hot dog he had scarfed down just before they left the fair.

"I can't believe you won so many stuffed animals! I'm drowning in teddy bears and cats, Jax!"

Jax laughed as Chloe struggled not to drop the animals. He took a few of them from her and put them on the couch. "If you like, you can just keep them here. You can pick them up later."

"Okay, but I'm taking my teddy bear with me. He's sleeping with me tonight." Chloe gave the bear a tight hug.

Jax laughed. Chloe and her stuffed animals.

"Well, it's getting late. I really should go. I've got a meeting with my cashmere supplier in New York tomorrow. Hey, do you wanna come? I could really use the company."

"Yeah, sure. I have nothing else planned for tomorrow, and I need an excuse to get out of the penthouse."

"Great. Well, the meeting's at 3:00."

"Alright."

"Okay, me and my bear are really exhausted. I hope I don't look too funny walking down the hall to my suite with this."

"You won't." Jax laughed. "Chloe."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for tonight. I really needed to get my mind off things, and that did the trick."

"No problem. What are friends for? You call me if you need to talk or if you get too lonely, okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight, Chloe."

"Goodnight, Jax."

To be continued…