Free An Almost Perfect Thing by Nicole Moeller

have.
    MATHEW
    After everything I've done for you.
    GREG
    I'll write that I don't know what's true anymore so, as a journalist, ethically, I can't continue.
    CHLOE
    You can't do that.
    GREG
    I have to.
    CHLOE
    Well… will you still be my friend?
    GREG
    I'm supposed to tell your story, not be your friend.
    CHLOE
    What if I tell you that he raped me every day? Will you be my friend then?
    GREG
    Is it the truth?
    MATHEW
    This is so stupid. I'm sorry.
    CHLOE
    You can decide if it's true. Whatever you want. Whatever makes the best story.
    MATHEW
    Please don't be mad at me. Just let me start over.
    CHLOE
    You can't leave me.
    MATHEW
    When we dance…
    CHLOE
    Remember when we danced? The way you held me?
    MATHEW
    The way you hold me. It's like I'm someone else.
    CHLOE
    It's my favourite moment of my whole life. Didn't you like it?
    MATHEW
    Do you ever feel that way?
    CHLOE
    I saw how you looked at me that night. In the 7-Eleven.
    MATHEW
    What do you think of my plan? Our new house. Our new life.
    CHLOE
    You think I'm pretty, don't you? Do you want to touch me?
    MATHEW
    Far from everyone.
    CHLOE
    I'll let you.
    MATHEW
    Just you and me.
    CHLOE
    You can kiss me.
    MATHEW
    I want to spend…
    CHLOE
    Kiss me.
    MATHEW
    I want you to…
    CHLOE
    Please kiss me.
    GREG
    Chloe—
    MATHEW
    I want you to marry me.
    CHLOE
    Please?
    GREG
    I can't—
    MATHEW
    I want us to be normal.
    CHLOE
    Like boyfriend and girlfriend.
    MATHEW
    Man and wife.
    CHLOE
    We'll run away. Be free. You don't have anyone else. I'll take care of you.
    MATHEW
    For the rest of my life.
    CHLOE
    Hold me. Please—
    MATHEW
    â€”let me have you.
    CHLOE
    Please.
    MATHEW
    I've waited so long. I need to touch you. I need to feel—
    CHLOE
    What will it take? Details, right? The worst punishment I got was when he'd stop talking to me. I'd rather be beat up, tied up, swore at, spit at, forced to wash his feet than ignored.
    MATHEW
    I'd see you reading or dancing around the kitchen and I wanted so badly to feel you. To kiss you. But I didn't. I'd go in my room and bang my head on the wall until I beat the thoughts out of me. Or I'd go to the street and pick up some woman and pretend she was you.
    CHLOE
    I'd lay awake sometimes, wishing I was asleep while he touched himself in my room. He'd bump into me so he could grab me or touch me without feeling guilty. And, after a while, I wanted him to touch me. So that I could be touched by someone. How sick is that, hey, Greg? I'll give you those details. I'll make them up if I have to. I need—
    MATHEW
    â€”you to touch me.
    CHLOE
    â€”kiss me.
    MATHEW
    Be with me.
    CHLOE
    Stay with me.
    MATHEW
    Please.
    CHLOE
    I don't have anyone else.
    MATHEW
    I can't wait anymore. I need you.
    CHLOE
    Please, please, please…
    MATHEW
    Please…
    CHLOE
    Please, please…
    Beat. Beat.
    GREG
    Give me his name.
    Beat.
    CHLOE
    No.
    SCENE TEN
    Shift. GREG and CHLOE address the audience. MATHEW is in his house. MATHEW's scene is the same as from the beginning of the play.
    GREG
    Miracle Girl Lies. Question Mark.
    I apologize. To you. My readers. When I began this, I had her and your best interests in mind. However—
    CHLOE
    I can no longer say without a doubt what the truth is.
    GREG
    Was Chloe Evans locked up? Did she suffer unimaginable physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a monster?
    CHLOE
    My story…
    GREG
    Or did she live upstairs willingly? Cook his meals, sleep in his bed, go on day trips, vacations even? Is she in on it? Does she still talk to him? Did she just want her fifteen minutes of fame?
    CHLOE
    You took my story…
    GREG
    Or… was she even there at all?
    CHLOE
    You undid everything.
    GREG
    Is any of it true? You deserve the truth and I'm no longer sure that I'm giving it to you. And for that, I'm deeply sorry. Like you, I wanted to believe her. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I let my compassion cloud my judgment. To the Miracle Girl…
    CHLOE
    I survived.
    GREG
    Telling the