Denial

Chapter Twelve

Elly couldn't hide the smile on her face as she headed to Lassiters Hotel to pick up Chloe for dinner. She was so excited to think that after everything she'd done to hurt Chloe and everything that had gone wrong for them they would finally be able to get things on track. As scared as she had been in the past at the idea of being with Chloe she was too excited by the prospect of beginning a relationship with the woman she adored despite how long it had taken her to realize.

"Hey, you," Elly greeted as she walked into Chloe's office.

Chloe looked up at her and smiled, "Hey, Elly, I'll just be a minute if that's cool."

"Take your time," Elly offered as she sat down on the couch in the office.

Ten minutes later, Elly was biting her lip as Chloe was still typing away on her laptop. Elly was trying not to get impatient that Chloe was too involved in her work to realize she was making them late for their date.

"And I am done," Chloe finally announced, halfheartedly apologizing, "Sorry about that. Paul is a slave-driver. So what are we doing tonight? Shall we pick up some dinner and hang out at yours or mine? Movie night? Binge the latest episodes of that show you like that I can't stand?"

Elly hesitated wondering why Chloe had seemingly forgotten she had already agreed to have dinner at the Waterhole with her, "I thought I mentioned we could just do dinner at the Waterhole. I mean if you'd prefer…"

"Right, sorry, my head has been consumed with work since you came over this morning," Chloe told her as she shut down her laptop and picked up her handbag, "Waterhole sounds great."

Elly nodded then stood up and reached out her hand for Chloe to take it but the blonde didn't seem to notice and walked straight past her as she turned off the lights. Elly exited the room in front of Chloe as Chloe closed the door behind her. Elly once more reached out her hand to Chloe but the blonde left it hanging.

Chloe's not the best date so far, what's going on with her? I thought this was what she wanted.

As they walked across the complex, Chloe broke the silence, "How did it go with Mark?"

Elly sighed but to be honest was glad to get the subject of Mark out of the way so they could spend the rest of their night concentrating on each other, "Mark was…pretty mad at me. I made the right decision to tell him down at the lake in public. He yelled at me quite a bit for lying to him which I completely deserved. He uh…" Elly paused for a moment before confessing, "Mark raised his hand to slap me but he stopped at the last second. I guess he realized what he was doing. I've never seen him that mad before. As much as I did love him and as much as I should not have lied to him it made me see a different side to him that I'm glad I got out when I did. I'm glad I'm with you. You make me so much happier than Mark ever did."

"Not that hard to do, Mark's always been about himself and doesn't seem to care about the person he's with," Chloe shrugged nonchalantly, before adding, "I'm sorry he nearly hit you. I don't know what I would've done if he had have. I'm glad he knows the truth even though it hurt him. We've all got a chance to get past it with a clean slate."

As they reached the Waterhole, Chloe went ahead of Elly to open the door, entering the bar and restaurant, "Where you do you want to sit? Bar? Bar table?"

"Can we sit at one of the corner tables; it's a bit cosier for dinner?" Elly suggested still feeling like she was doing something wrong or that maybe after everything Chloe hadn't forgiven her or thought that she wasn't ready to be in a relationship with her.

Just be brave, show Chloe you can do this.

Sitting down against the wall on the bench, Chloe was surprised when Elly sat down next to her instead of sitting opposite her in the chair on the other side of the table. Elly reached her arm out and placed it against the edge of the bench behind Chloe and cosied up to the blonde.

Chloe felt it was adorable when Elly got cosy next to her on the bench.

It might be a date…it's not a date…Elly's not ready to be in a relationship with you…but she's sure trying to get comfortable like one day she will be ready for this to be a date…it's not a date…

"So what would you like to drink?" Chloe asked.

Elly put her free hand up, "Nothing alcoholic for me tonight, I need to stay away from alcohol for a while. I want a clear head tonight and not let alcohol control what happens."

Chloe nodded in her own agreement, "You know what…me too. Good idea."

A minute later, Sheila came over to take their order, "Well you too look awfully cosy tonight, what can I get you?"

Chloe watched as Elly blushed a deep shade of red at Sheila's comment.

After they ordered their food and non-alcoholic drinks, Elly turned to Chloe and held her gaze into Chloe's eyes, "Thank you for everything you did yesterday and this morning. I know it wasn't easy to hear what I'd done…I just wish I knew the truth about that night and it hadn't sent me spiraling for the past 6 weeks. I wish we hadn't wasted so much time and had been here months ago."

"Same," Chloe offered.

Sheila bought over their drinks, "Here you go, ladies."

The pair thanked her before Elly clinked her glass against Chloe's, "To a clean slate?"

Chloe smiled, "Yes, clean slate."

"Do you have any plans for the weekend?" Elly asked, nervously trying to come up with a better subject to start talking about.

"Not so far, might have a quiet one at home, do you want to hang out tomorrow?" Chloe asked.

Elly nodded in agreement, "I'd really like that. I've got to go to the doctor about my stress levels but aside from that my day is yours."

Chloe lent into Elly closer, finally starting to let whatever was happening between them happen whilst curious to see if Elly would embrace it, "Relaxing day on the couch together okay? I know you've managed to put a lot of your stress behind you today but if you're still stressed I could give you a back and neck massage."

Elly licked her lips at the thought, "Oh yes please."

Chloe almost licked her lips at Elly's reaction, starting to think that maybe she and Elly did stand a chance after how long Elly had denied her feelings.

The pair sat together discussing a few random subjects until their dinners were ready to be served.

Sheila interrupted them again to set their dinners on the table, "I hope you two are having an enjoyable night together," then repeating, "You sure look cosy…together."

Elly nearly rolled her eyes at Sheila and instead told her, "We're very cosy, thank you, Sheila."

As Sheila took off to take another order, Chloe stared at Elly, "You know Sheila was been nosy and wanting to know…"

"I know," Elly grinned, "You think I care what Sheila thinks of us. So this massage tomorrow…is clothing optional?"

Chloe nearly choked on her mouthful of food until she saw the glint in Elly's eyes that told her Elly was teasing her in a very flirtatious way, "Only if you're lucky."

Elly shifted her arm back to the table from the bench as the pair dug into their meals. As they started eating in silence next to each other, Elly caught Chloe's gaze and neither could break the look between them. They sat there staring deeply at each other as they ate their food.

When they weren't quite finished, Elly spoke up, "Do you think this massage could last until Sunday…you know considering how stressed I've been…it could take a while for you to help de-stress me?"

Chloe pursed her lips, "Damn, Elly, you're really hooked on this massage idea…I like it and if you play your cards right I could make it last until Sunday. Maybe even Monday morning."

"Oh I will play my cards right, Chlo," Elly promised.

The pair continued staring into one another's eyes fairly certain they were both talking about more than just a massage but unable to say exactly what they meant.

Elly moved her arm back to along the bench behind Chloe and Chloe found herself shifting closer to Elly, though they weren't actually embracing one another they were very close to it. The pair sat there in silence staring at each other wondering what it would take for one of them to make a move.

Mark entered the bar looking to drown his sorrows and grief but he immediately spotted Elly and Chloe looking cosy together in the corner.

"What's going on here?" Mark interrupted them, "You're an idiot, Chlo. Do you know what this bitch has put me through?"

Chloe felt a sting of guilt that her brother was in pain knowing he did have every right to be; she broke her gaze from Elly and looked up at Mark, "Yes, I do."

Elly spoke up for herself, but she didn't look away from Chloe, regaining Chloe's gaze she looked deeply into her eyes, she began talking to Mark but couldn't break her hold on Chloe, "Mark, I know an apology is not enough for what I did. You need time and I deserve your wrath but do you think you can do it another time?"

Mark watched on as the pair would not allow themselves to look at anyone else like they were in their own little world, "Are you two on a date?"

Chloe began shaking her head but Elly spoke up, "Yes, Mark, we are."

Chloe's eyes widened, "We are…? I mean, yes, we are."

Mark shook his head in disgust, "You're both as bad as each other. You deserve each other. At least then you won't be able to hurt another person."

Chloe and Elly relaxed as Mark stormed off and left them to their meal.

Chloe blinked heavily, "Did you mean what you said? That this is a date?"

"It's a date, Chloe," Elly repeated.

"Oh," Chloe was surprised and then embarrassed, "I have completely missed the signals. I thought this was just an evening between two friends who were working their way towards being on a date. I guess…I thought…I didn't think you were ready to be seen with me in public on a date."

Elly blushed before shifting her arm from the edging of the bench behind Chloe and rested her arm around Chloe's shoulders, "I am ready."

Chloe felt elated and curled into Elly's embrace, "I better step up my game then because I have not been treating you like my date."

"Step on up, I want this with you," Elly told the blonde before wanting to clarify, "You know I wasn't talking about an actual massage earlier, I meant…you know."

Chloe grinned and tilted her neck to the side, "Oh I got that signal. Wait…maybe I didn't. Do you mean making out or something more?"

Elly licked her lips and replied confidently, "More."

Chloe blushed at the thought, "Yep…missed that signal. I just thought you wanted to keep things slow and private between the pair of us for a few weeks before taking it to the next level and I also didn't think you were ready to take this step with me in public. I guess we haven't been on the same page this evening."

Elly licked her lips once more, "Well there are definitely some things I want to keep private with you but I don't want to take things slow. We've wasted enough time. I have no reservations about people in our community knowing we are dating. So are we on the same page now?"

"We are," Chloe agreed, before confirming for certainty, "This page that we're on...you want to be with me in a relationship?"

"Yes, I want to be in a relationship with you," Elly confirmed.

Feeling brave, Elly lent forwards and claimed Chloe's lips with her own, kissing her softly. Chloe leaned into the kiss, unable to hide the smile creeping onto her face.

Sheila came over to them to check if they needed her to clear their table and was shocked to find the pair kissing gently, "Oh…I…um…carry on."

Elly blushed as she pulled herself from Chloe's lips and looked up at Sheila, then wanting to confirm the obvious, "Sheila, can you please get my date another drink?"

Chloe smiled brightly at Elly as Sheila went back to the bar; feeling a lot more secure with Elly's acceptance to being with her, "You know when it comes to Sheila and gossip the whole neighbourhood is going to know about us by the end of the night."

Elly shrugged, "Its fine by me. I'm proud to be with you, Chloe."

Chloe beamed up at the brunette, almost unable to comprehend this was the same woman who had spent months unable to admit her feelings for her.

Sheila came back with Chloe's drink; Elly thanked her whilst taking the glass from Sheila and placed the drink in front of Chloe, all the while not taking her eyes off the blonde. Elly then smiled as she addressed the town gossip and gave her permission to tell everyone and anyone, "Go for your life, Sheila."

Sheila immediately went back behind the bar where Amy and Gary had been sitting and enjoying a drink, "Elly and Chloe are on a date. You heard it here first."

"Huzzah, pay up," Amy instructed Gary.

Gary mumbled as he reached for his wallet and pulled out a $20 note and handed it to Amy. Amy gloated to Sheila, "I told Gary they were on a date and he didn't believe me so I told him to put his money where his mouth is."

Sheila shook her head at her son, "Never gamble on love. Have I taught you nothing Gary Canning?"

Chloe sipped on her drink and watched on as Elly saw the interaction between Sheila, Amy and Gary, "You really are comfortable with this?"

"Yeah, I am," Elly confirmed.

Chloe grinned, "I'm sorry I'm still just a bit blown away and not quite believing this is real."

"Believe it," Elly insisted before deciding, "You finish your drink and I'm going to pay for our meal."

Chloe opened her mouth to argue but Elly hushed her, "You can pay on our second date."

Chloe smirked at Elly, "Did you just say second date?"

Elly grazed her lips quickly against Chloe's, "Yes, there will be a second date and a third and a fourth and I can continue telling you how many dates we'll go on but we would be here all night and I still have plans for tonight."

Chloe beamed at Elly, "Oh you have more plans for tonight?"

Elly grinned without giving any clues to Chloe. Chloe sighed as Elly pulled away from their embrace to head to the bar.

Chloe finished the rest of her drink as Elly returned and sat back down next to Chloe, wrapping her arm around her shoulder once more. Chloe snuggled into Elly's embrace, resting her head on Elly's shoulder, "So what are we doing for the rest of the evening?"

Elly looked down at Chloe lovingly, "I believe you said something about a massage."

"I did say that," Chloe remembered, "Shall we head to my place or yours?"

"Your place, definitely," Elly insisted as she released Chloe from her embrace and stood up. Chloe joined her and Elly immediately took Chloe's hand in hers, not waiting this time for Chloe to take it on her own accord.

The pair smiled at each other as they exited the bar, holding hands as they walked away from the complex and returned back to Ramsay St.