Jax kept saying to himself, just one more day, and I'll tell Chloe that I love her, but that one day turned into a week, and that one week turned into several weeks until it was spring. The right moment just never seemed to come along. And yet, was there really a right moment to tell your best girl, the girl you had grown up next door to, the girl whom you had water balloon fights with as kids, that you suddenly had thoughts of making love to her every single night? Was there any rulebook on how to tell your best girl that you had visions of her sleeping in the bed wearing nothing but a satisfied smile?

"Stop it!" Jax told himself. He had to stop these thoughts. They were really starting to take over every facet of his life.

Suddenly, Jax heard a frenzied knocking on his door. Jax rushed over to answer it, and Chloe was standing in the hallway. She looked almost out of breath.

"Jax! Guess what!"

"What?"

"Nick-at-Nite is having a Three's Company marathon tonight! Six hours of it, Jax! Six hours! We gotta watch it!"

Three's Company was one of their favorite shows.

"Okay, great! We'll watch it!" Jax said excitedly.

"Cool! Well, I have to run back to my suite. Just thought I'd run over here and tell you that in person! I'm gonna be over here at 8:30!"

Jax laughed. "Get here early so you can make us some popcorn."

Chloe laughed. "Good idea. You might burn it! Okay, see ya later!" Chloe starting singing the Three's Company theme song as she stepped into the elevator. Jax couldn't help but smile at her. How could she walk around looking so incredibly sexy and not know it?!

Chloe, with a bowl of popcorn in hand, walked into the living room, killed the lights, and curled up on the couch with Jax in front of the television. "This is great. We haven't done this sort of thing in a long time."

"Too long."

"I bet you won't be able to stay up to watch the whole thing," Chloe teased.

"Nu-uh. I can stay up for six hours."

Chloe laughed. "Sure you can."

"I can!"

"Yeah right. Jax, you always fall asleep with stuff like this! I bet I'll stay up for the whole thing though!" Chloe teased again.

"I can stay up, Chloe."

"We'll see. Oh! It's on! Hey, you're hogging the popcorn!"

"Well why don't you scoot over a little closer then?" Jax said.

Chloe complied, and when her hand reached into the bowl, it brushed against Jax's. Chloe felt a tingle rush up her body. Little did she know that Jax did as well.

Jax kept nodding off, but he fought off sleep. He wasn't about to give in to sleep after he had boasted so much to Chloe about how he could stay up. So he fought it, and suddenly, he just wasn't tired anymore. And before he knew it, it was already 2:30 in the morning.

Jax started laughing as the credits rolled past the screen. "I told you I could stay awake through the whole thing," he said. Jax thought it was odd when he got no response. Jax looked over at Chloe and saw she was fast asleep. She looked like an angel. Jax reached for the blanket on the back of the couch and covered himself and Chloe with it. Then he turned off the television and fell asleep himself.

Chloe had been a little surprised to find herself sleeping against Jax's shoulder when she woke up the next morning. It was actually really nice.

Just then, Jax stirred, and he opened his eyes and smiled at her. "You fell asleep," he teased in a groggy and tired voice.

"I know, I know. After teasing you about falling asleep, I went and did it myself! Did you make it? Did you watch the whole thing?"

Jax shook his head. He decided to let Chloe have this one. "No. You were right. I couldn't make it. I must have turned the television off without even knowing it."

"Ha ha!" Chloe laughed. "You didn't make it!"

Jax laughed. That little white lie was worth it to make Chloe laugh.

"Oh, shoot! I gotta go!" Chloe hopped off the couch and grabbed her purse.

"Where are you off to?"

"Lila invited me over for breakfast at the Quartermaines." Chloe looked over at her watch. "Well, I'll just be a little late, but that's okay; that's expected." Chloe laughed and walked over to the door. "Bye, Jax. I had fun!"

"Bye, Chloe."

And just like that, Chloe was gone. Jax sighed.

After breakfast and just as Chloe was about to leave, Emily came rushing into the living room.

"Chloe, I'm glad you're still here. There's something I wanted to ask you." Emily walked over to the couch and sat beside Chloe.

"Sure, ask away!" Chloe said with a smile.

"Well, you can say no if you don't have time or whatever. But well, prom is coming up, and I've looked everywhere for a dress…"

"You want me to design a dress for you?"

"Well, you have such great taste in clothes and only if you have the time…"

"Oh, Emily, I'd love to! I'd be happy to design a prom dress personally for you!"

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Oh, Chloe, you're the best!" Emily gave Chloe a big hug. "Thank you so much!"

"You are very much welcome, Emily. What kind of dress did you have in mind?"

"Well, something gorgeous, but not too fancy. Something simple, but not too ordinary. Do you see why I'm having a hard time finding a dress?"

Chloe laughed. "Yes, I see why. Well lucky for you, you have a cousin who is a fashion designer!"

"This is so awesome, Chloe! I can't wait!"

"Oh, Emily, you're going to have so much fun!"

"Did you have fun at your prom?"

"Yes! It was one of the best nights of my life, which is pretty ironic considering it could have easily been one of my worst."

"What happened?"

"Well, it was the spring of 1988…"

~1988, Port Charles Country Club-PC High Senior Prom~

"Wow, Chloe! That dress is *amazing*!" Dawn Winthrop said as she admired the silky light blue fabric of Chloe's floor-length spaghetti-strap dress. Chloe had, of course, designed the dress herself and her mother had helped her sew it together.

"Thank you," Chloe said.

"I still can't believe you designed that dress yourself! You've really got some talent! Maybe in a few years, you'll be designing my wedding dress when I marry Ned." Dawn winked.

Chloe smiled weakly and glanced around the room. "Maybe."

"Chloe, is something bothering you? You look kind of worried."

"I'm just looking for Mark. He went to go get a drink and that was twenty minutes ago. I can't find him anywhere. Have you seen him?"

"Actually, yeah, I did."

"You did?"

"Yeah. I saw him go outside not too long ago."

"Thanks, Dawn."

"No prob. Now, speaking of guys, I need to go track down mine as well." Dawn dashed away with her big blonde curls bouncing behind her as she sang along loudly to Bananarama.

Chloe made her way through the crowded dance floor. She stepped outside, walking between crowds of couples just arriving, couples outside getting some fresh air, and couples making out under the stars. Chloe looked around until she finally saw Mark. She was taken aback though. Who was that girl he was talking to?

"Mark?" Chloe said when the girl he was chatting with left.

"Oh, hey, Chloe."

"Where have you been?"

"Just around. I was actually about to come look for you. A group of us are going over to Will's house. He's throwing a party. You ready to go?"

"But, Mark, we've only been here for an hour. You already want to leave?"

"You don't mean you actually want to *stay*, do you?"

"Well, Mark, it's senior prom!"

"Come on, Chloe, everyone knows the real fun comes after prom. You know, the parties, staying up all night, eating breakfast at the waffle house at dawn, among other things…" Mark laid a kiss on her lips and put his hands on her back, moving his hands lower and lower…

"Mark, stop," Chloe whispered, pulling back.

"Dammit, Chloe! Why don't you loosen up? You act like every time I touch you that I'm going to rape you or something!"

Chloe was silent. She couldn't for the life or her understand why she thought this guy was so great in the beginning.

"Well, what's it going to be, Chloe? Are you coming?"

"I want to stay here longer."

Mark rolled his eyes. "You just don't want to go because there's going to be alcohol and you still won't drink."

"Well, yeah, Mark. Spending the evening with a bunch of people that I don't know who are drunk and can't speak coherently is not my idea of a fun evening!"

"Chloe, we never have fun!" Mark complained.

"What are you talking about? We went to the movies last night. And the other night we walked along the river-"

"Chloe, I mean real fun, not some boring high schooler date thing! People don't do those kinds of things in college and we're graduating in a few weeks! When are you going to grow up, Chloe? Your idea of a fun evening is a Saturday night by yourself drawing those silly dresses of yours."

Chloe could feel the tears starting to well in her eyes. No one had ever been this cruel to her before. "Why are you being so mean to me?"

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I didn't mean to say that about your sketches. They're really nice. But look, you can't just stay at home all the time. You need to get out, do something! Now are you coming to the party or not?"

"Mark, are you coming?" The girl whom Chloe had saw Mark talking to just a few minutes ago was calling. She was leaning out of a car window with a group of other people.

"Give me a sec!" he called out. "You coming?"

Chloe didn't say anything. The one night that had started out so magical was suddenly turning into anything but.

"Fine, whatever, Chloe. If you want to stay here and listen to Footloose all night, that's just fine. You go on ahead and do that. Why don't you call me when you're not such a baby anymore?" Mark walked away and joined the people in the car and they took off.

Chloe felt herself starting to break in tears, and she really didn't want to start crying in front of everybody. The country club had a scenic lake with a gazebo over the water. As Chloe made her way over to the lake, Mark's words kept repeating in her head.

Why don't you call me when you're not such a baby anymore? Why don't you loosen up? You act like every time I touch you that I'm going to rape you or something! When are you going to grow up, Chloe? Why don't you call me when you're not such a baby anymore? Your idea of a fun evening is a Saturday night by yourself drawing those silly dresses of yours. Why don't you call me when you're not such a baby anymore?

"Chloe! Hey Chloe!" a female voice called out. Chloe pretended not to hear it.

Jax made his way through the couples on the dance floor. He finally saw Ned and Dawn. "Hey, have either of you seen Chloe around? I can't seem to find her."

"I haven't seen her," Ned said.

"Oh I did," Dawn said. "She went outside to look for Mark. That was about fifteen minutes ago."

"Thanks."

Jax couldn't explain it, but he just had an uneasy feeling. Chloe had just seemed to disappear, and that wasn't like her. Outside, Jax looked around, but still, no sign of Chloe.

"Hi, Jax," three female voices from behind him sang.

Jax turned around to see three girls, Caitlin, Maria, and Sherry. They were on the swim team with Chloe.

"Hey. How's it going?" Jax said automatically as he continued to scan the crowd outside for Chloe.

"So, wow, can you believe it? In just a few weeks, we'll be graduating!" Caitlin squealed in delight.

"Yeah, it's hard to believe."

"So what are your plans after graduation, Jax?" Sherry asked in a flirty voice.

"I'm going to PCU."

"What are you majoring in?" Maria asked excitedly.

"Uh, business."

"Wow, so what kind of business? Like, going into business for yourself, international?" Caitlin asked.

"Look, I'd really love to chat with you ladies, but I need to find Chloe. Have any of you seen her?"

"Oh yeah, we saw her," Caitlin said. "She went over towards that lake over there." Caitlin pointed off in the distance.

"We called out to her, but she didn't hear us," Sherry explained.

"Okay, thanks a lot. See you later."

"Bye, Jax," The three girls said melodically in unison.

"Oh my god, he is so-damn-sexy!" Caitlin said, gaping.

"Chloe is sooo lucky!" Maria sighed.

"Mmm! I'd like to see *him* in a Speedo," Sherry said.

Caitlin grinned wickedly. "I'd like to see him *without* one."

The three girls burst into a fit of giggles.

Jax walked towards the small lake. Over the water was the club's beautiful gazebo. It was usually lighted, but not tonight, so no one really cared to hang around there. Jax knew how Chloe loved gazebos, so he figured if she were anywhere, it would be there.

Jax walked closer to the gazebo. He startled the person there, who was sitting on the gazebo steps and crying. It was Chloe.

"Chloe." Jax rushed to her side. "Chloe, what's wrong?"

"Oh, Jax…" Chloe didn't finish her sentence. She couldn't. Her body was overcome with sobs. She threw her arms around Jax, and he held her tight.

After a few minutes, Chloe was all cried out. She told Jax what had happened with Mark.

"Oh, Chloe, I'm so sorry."

"Why couldn't I see how selfish he was? I'm so stupid, Jax."

"No, you're not stupid. Look, Mark is the stupid one. He's a fool if he can't see how wonderful and beautiful you are. He doesn't deserve you."

"Why did I ever go out with him? What did I possibly see in him that I thought was so wonderful? He's such a jerk!" Chloe's sobs seemed to be starting up again. "This was supposed to be the best night of senior year. The night I would remember forever."

"It still can be."

Chloe looked up at Jax. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, Chloe, maybe tonight, you could spend the evening with someone who actually cares for you. Do you want to be my date?"

Jax saw a smile on her face. She was so beautiful when she smiled. "Oh Jax…I'd love to." Chloe gave Jax another hug.

Jax smiled. "Well this works out great. See, I knew there had to be a reason that I came to the prom without a date."

Chloe laughed. She then looked down at her wrist and saw the corsage Mark had put on her earlier that evening. The flower already seemed to be wilting. "Oh, I don't want to wear this stupid thing anymore." Chloe stood up and leaned over the railing. She took the corsage off and tossed it into the water.

"Hmm, well, you need something." Jax stepped down from the gazebo and picked a flower from one of the bushes.

"Jax, I don't think you're supposed to pick those!" Chloe whispered. "It belongs to the club!"

Jax laughed. "Oh come on, Chloe, no one will notice." Chloe stepped out of the gazebo and walked over to Jax. Using the flower's long stem, he tied it around Chloe's wrist. "There's your corsage."

"I like this one much better," Chloe said as she leaned forward and gave Jax a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Chloe, Jax, there you are."

Jax and Chloe looked over to see Ned and Dawn.

"We were wondering where you two had disappeared to," Ned said.

"Oh my god, Chloe, what's wrong?" Dawn asked.

Chloe suddenly realized that she must look like a fright with her makeup all ruined from her crying.

"Mark Patterson is a real jerk," Jax said, saving Chloe from explaining the whole story over again.

"Oh, Chloe, I'm so sorry," Dawn sympathized.

"Chloe, do you want to go? We can all go someplace else if you like," Ned suggested.

"No, thank you, but that's okay. I came here to have fun, and that is just what I am going to do."

Dawn walked over to Chloe and laced her arm around hers. "Good for you. Come on, let's go fix your makeup."

"Okay."

Chloe emerged from the ladies' room, looking much better, and much more happier. Jax remembered that at that moment, Take My Breath Away was playing. Jax thought it was pretty ironic that that song was playing then, because the sight of Chloe truly did take his breath away.

Chloe smiled as Jax took her hand and led her to the dance floor. After dancing for a while, they got their prom picture taken. And after a short break, they headed to the floor to dance some more. They danced right up until the very last song of the evening. Chloe felt sad when the DJ announced that it was the last song, but she knew that every time she heard Time After Time, she would think of this beautiful moment.

As Chloe held on to Jax, she thought about how this really had turned out to be a wonderful night. This was the way prom was supposed to be, not a night filled with endless parties and beer kegs. She was happy that for just one night, Jax was all hers for the evening.

Jax walked Chloe up to the front door of her house.

"Jax, how can I thank you for tonight? You made prom wonderful again."

"Just stay as sweet as you are now, and that will be thanks enough." Jax smiled.

"What did I do to deserve a friend like you? You're always there for me, looking out for me. You're like an angel."

"You're the angel, Chloe. And you've got it all backwards. What did I do to deserve you?"

Chloe smiled, and she felt tears come to her eyes, but happy tears this time. She hugged Jax. "I love you, Jax."

"I love you too, Chloe." Jax gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Chloe smiled one more time at Jax before going inside.

Jax lingered on the porch for a few more moments. He hadn't expected to have so much fun at prom tonight, but yet, he also didn't expect to spend it with the one person who meant the most in the world to him.

"Oh wow!" Emily said, amazed at Chloe's story. "So Jax stepped in to be your date? That is so sweet!"

"Well he's a sweet guy. My best friend in the world. Well, I should probably go now. Call me sometime, Emily, so we can go over your dress, you know, color, style."

"Okay. And, Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks again."

"No problem, Emily." She leaned over to give the girl a hug. "I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Chloe left the mansion with a smile on her face, lost in the memories of her high school days. Prom really had been one of the most wonderful nights of her life.

To be continued…