Chapter Twenty-Two

Sunday 22nd December – 3.30pm

Chloe found herself staring at Elly and Bea as the younger sibling was sitting on Elly's hospital bed, then noticed that Bea looked like she was close to tears over something.

Chloe decided, "I'm interrupting, I'll come back later."

"No!" Elly yelled out, immediately embarrassed by how desperate she sounded.

Bea couldn't help but almost half-smile at her sister's reaction to Chloe's arrival, "We were just…it doesn't matter. You two really need to talk so I'm gonna go."

"Bea, if you and Elly are talking about something important, I can come back. I can see Elly in the morning," Chloe suggested.

In the morning! Christ, Chloe, if you're gonna break my heart, do it now!

Yeah...I don't want to wait 'til morning…I was just being polite.

Bea stood up from the bed, trying to reassure Chloe with her actions, "It's all good. I should head home anyway; Karl and Suze are chatting to the police about Finn and someone here needs to go get Elly her hospital bag that she packed with all her spare clothes and whatnot that she made with the expectation of giving birth here. That didn't work out but the bag is still at home so I'll go pick it up and bring it back here since Elly's going to be stuck here for a few days. You two talk…you two really need to have a moment alone to talk."

Chloe nodded graciously at Bea, finding herself silently switching places with Bea, standing next to Elly's hospital bed, before turning back to Bea before she left the room, "Hey, Bea, if Karl and Suze are tied up talking to the police and you don't mind waiting a few minutes, Aaron's waiting for me by the entrance to drive me home. We can give you a lift home, if you want. Hopefully, Karl and Suze will be done not long after that and can bring you back here."

'Few minutes'…well at least Chloe isn't planning on dragging out breaking my heart…

"Sure, that sounds good. I'll wait for you outside, thanks Chlo," Bea replied before leaving the room.

Chloe turned back to Elly, "Is Bea okay?"

Elly shuffled in her hospital bed, feeling awkward having Chloe standing so close to her, "Yeah…she just…I just gave her some bad news about Finn. She's gonna need some time with it, is all. So…"

Chloe sat down on Elly's bed, unable to work out if Elly was happy for her to do so, knowing she'd treated Elly badly after blanking her love confession, "So…"

Elly stared up at Chloe, knowing she had to be direct with her ex-girlfriend, "Chlo…about what I said last night to you…the way you reacted…"

"I blew you off," Chloe remembered her actions, "I got the idea in my head how to rescue us from the shipping container and I got so overly focused on that instead of talking to you about what you said."

After a few seconds of silence, Elly replied, "Chlo…if you're gonna break my heart, do it now…don't draw this out cause if I need to get over you then-"

Chloe frowned, "Wait…you think I'm gonna break your heart?"

Elly glanced away from Chloe's eyes, "I get it, Chloe. You're over me, you're with Pierce, you don't want me, you don't want to be with a partner who has a newborn, you don't want to be with someone who has to put all their energy and time into their child instead of you, you don't want to be with someone who can't even afford to buy you a birthday present when you have a billionaire who can give you any luxury in the world that you want and give you the care and treatment that you're gonna need one day when you-"

Chloe held up her hands, "Woah, Elly, slow down…is that what you think? You think I avoided talking to you last night about all this cause…I'm over you?"

"Well, yeah…aren't you?" Elly asked trying to mask her broken heart at the thought.

Just break my heart, already…

"Elly, I'm not over you," Chloe told the brunette quietly.

"You're not?" Elly turned back to Chloe, full of hope.

"What you said last night…when you told me that…you're in love with me…I…see the thing is I…I have reservations about it," Chloe tried to soften her feelings to Elly.

Elly narrowed her eyes, "That I'm in love with you or that I'm in love with you as deeply as you love me?"

"All of it," Chloe decided, before telling Elly, "I don't know what to trust."

"Trust?" Elly repeated, "That I love you?"

Chloe reached out and took Elly's hand in her own, "It's the timing of it…your confession that you love me."

"I wasn't really thinking about the right…time to tell you that I love you…I thought you just needed to know," Elly pointed out, "What was so wrong with the timing?"

What, was I actually supposed to wait for the right moment to tell you, Chloe? I'm sure there's worse times I could've done so. Wait for Pierce to get around to proposing to you…interrupt you when you're walking down the aisle to marry him?

Chloe ran her tongue over her upper lip, "Elly, you had just given birth to your son. You were…vulnerable."

"Vulnerable?" Elly raised her eyebrows.

"Elly, I'm worried that you're not in the right place to be declaring feelings when you're vulnerable after just giving birth. It feels like…you wanted Shaun to be there, you wanted the family moment with a partner you're in love with, you wanted…or should I say you don't want to be single and doing all this…raising your son on your own. I'm just concerned in your vulnerable state that's where it all came from," Chloe admitted.

Elly sat there in the hospital bed, listening patiently to what Chloe had to say, before wondering, "Is that what you really think? That I'm…so desperate not to be a single mum…that I…made up that I have feelings for you?"

Chloe sighed, "Okay, when you put it like that, it sounds harsh. I don't know what to think, okay? I'm really confused where this has all come from…I'm too afraid of this being for the wrong reasons…I'm afraid you don't feel how you told me you do."

"Chloe, I get your confusion but this is for the right reasons and I do love you," Elly tried to reassure, but sensing Chloe's hesitation, asked, "Can you let me explain some more?"

Chloe nodded silently.

Elly breathed deeply, "Chlo, I didn't just realize last night how I feel about you. I've felt this way for you for more than a month now…since your birthday…or it's more like…I came to accept that I love you. I think…I know I always have…it just took me a really long time to come to terms with it."

"A really long time," Chloe agreed.

"I know, okay, it's taken me a year to accept my feelings for you. I see exactly why you would doubt me after all I've done most of this year is hurt you…and most of the people in my life by lying to them but what I feel for you is real, Chloe. I love you," Elly declared.

Chloe found herself staring at Elly, trying to work out if she was telling the truth, hoping something in Elly's expression or eyes would tell her either way.

Elly took Chloe's silence as hesitation in feeling the same way, "I get why you'd be scared to believe me this time after how I hurt you after the wedding but you broke up with me several months ago because you never thought I'd get there with my feelings for you…and I have, Chloe. I got there with my feelings for you. I want to be with you."

Chloe ran her free hand through her hair, "I'm just not sure what to believe after all this time. And it's not just trying to work out what I believe over your feelings for me, Elly, it's…"

"I know this is complicated," Elly whispered, "It's not just about the fact that it's taken me so long to come to terms with my feelings for you and you need to find a way to believe me. You're…with Pierce, there's so much more in the world he can offer you that I can't-"

Chloe raised her eyebrow, "Elly, I'm not materialistic, I don't need-"

"No, I was more about to point out that Pierce can't offer you true love," Elly decided to use the line her Aunt had used on her a few weeks' earlier to make her see she might stand a chance with Chloe.

Chloe blushed shyly, "Good line."

"It's more than just a line, Chlo, it's how I feel about you and you know deep down Pierce isn't who you'll feel that way about," Elly reminded the blonde.

Unless I'm completely wrong and you do love him like he loves you…

"How I feel about Pierce…" Chloe tried to form her words on him compared to Elly but couldn't find the way to.

Is not how I feel about you, Elly…why can't I just say those words?

"But it's not just Pierce that makes things complicated, Elly," Chloe found herself saying instead.

"I know…I…just became a mum barely 12 hours ago and that's…the biggest complication that we might have between us because I can't give any time to you that you deserve. Not to mention having a newborn in my life will change absolutely everything and that may not even be anything that you even want to be involved in," Elly said, finding herself looking away from Chloe.

"We didn't break up because you were having…okay that you'd now had your baby," Chloe reminded her, "And I…probably haven't given much thought to the idea of…being a…role model in a child's life…"

But it doesn't mean I can't…why can't I tell Elly that? Would it give her too much hope when I don't know…how to deal with this entire situation…why can't I find a way to believe Elly is in love with me? Why do I need more than her telling me that she loves me because I still feel like the timing of this might be all off cause Elly needs someone now?

Elly glanced back at Chloe nervously, "I know the timing of this is probably all wrong. The last thing I need to be focusing on is any kind of romance. I need to focus on my son and being the best mum, I can be. I get where you're coming from believing that I could be too vulnerable for this, wanting you because I don't want to be alone but it's not about that at all…"

Elly paused expecting Chloe to have some response but she didn't.

Elly squeezed Chloe's hand, "Whatever timing or complications there are with this…it doesn't change the feelings that I truly have for you, Chloe. I'm in love with you…and I want us to be together."

Please tell me you want us to be together too…please, Chlo!

How can I tell Elly that…? I can't even work all this out in my head. I want to believe Elly…God I so want to but I'm so scared my heart won't recover if this isn't what Elly truly wants…how do I find a way to believe Elly really does love me?

"This…all of this…it's huge and I need to make sure I make the right decision…for you as much as for myself. I need some time to think about all of this, Elly. Can you give me that?" Chloe asked quietly.

"I made you wait an entire year for me to figure out I love you…my feelings for you aren't going to change…ever," Elly replied, not afraid to continue to remind Chloe of her feelings in the hope it would get through to the blonde that they are real, "Least I can do is give you some time."

"Thank you," Chloe whispered, before squeezing Elly's hand once more and standing up to leave, "I'll be back to see you here in a day or two, okay? I'm not going to leave you hanging."

At least there's that…Chloe won't leave me hanging like I left her for more than a year…whatever Chloe decides, I'm not going to fall out of love with her. However long it takes and whatever else I need to do…I'll have to find another way to make her see that I am truly, madly, deeply in love with Chloe…unless…

"Hey, Chlo," Elly called out to Chloe before she left the room, "Any chance you can do me a favour?"

"Always," Chloe offered.

"The favour is for Bea, actually," Elly half-lied, "Bea's fragile right now…I…when you got here before…I'd just told Bea that…Finn murdered Shaun."

Chloe's eyes widened in shock, "Wow, seriously?"

Elly nodded, "Yeah. Finn confessed it to me the other night after he took me. Shaun's death wasn't an accident, Finn set it up, messed with Shaun's equipment, paid off the guy who made the report that the death was accidental. Finn murdered Shaun as he didn't want to see his brother spend a life tied to me…his obsession. I told Bea that when the police come to take a statement from me, I'm going to report this to them so they can investigate it further. If…when Finn gets caught, there's a good chance he'll be charged with murder."

"It's the right decision, Elly," Chloe assured.

"I know. Bea knows too but she's…fragile and struggling to deal with everything that Finn put us through the last couple days and what he did to Shaun. Bea doesn't know how to separate Finn from the monster that he is again from the man she loves," Elly explained.

"You don't just fall out of love with someone in an instant," Chloe realized, "You want me to keep an eye on Bea, make sure she's coping, whilst you're in here?"

"Not quite…I mean if you wouldn't mind, that'd be great but I was more thinking of a smaller favour. Bea doesn't need to be running errands for me, not tonight. She needs to be at home with Suze and Karl for support to deal with what she's going through. Can you help me by getting Bea to stay at home with them tonight and you bringing my overnight bag here…later this afternoon?" Elly asked.

"Sure," Chloe agreed quietly.

"Cause like I don't want you to feel like you have to when you've been through a lot too all because of me and I know you probably want to go home to Pierce and curl up in his arms to reassure him you're okay but I could really use your help for Bea's sake," Elly rambled, trying to convince Chloe to help her, having barely registered that Chloe had already agreed.

Pierce? Go home to him and curl up in his arms…? Oh…I haven't told Elly that Pierce is half way across the world right now… It's not important.

"Elly, I already said I would," Chloe smiled gently, "I'll be back in an hour or so, okay?"

Elly blushed gently at Chloe before biting her lip, "Chlo…since you'll be…well you may as well…your Christmas present is in the top drawer of my bedside table. I want you to have it now."

"It's not Christmas, yet," Chloe pointed out.

Elly shrugged, trying to be casual, "Yeah I know but…I'll probably still be here over the holidays and…I want you to have it now."

"Okay," Chloe agreed, "I feel bad cause I haven't gotten you a Christmas present yet. Typical me leaving the important Christmas gifts to be bought a day or two before Christmas…and not to put the blame on Finn and all but I was planning on getting it done today but that's not happening now."

"Don't feel bad, plenty of time up your sleeve over the next few days…I'll see you in a few hours," Elly replied.

"I'll see you then," Chloe promised before turning away and leaving Elly on her own.