Chapter Forty-Four

Thursday 2nd January – 9:15am

Pierce knocked on Aaron and David's front door, before opening it, "Hello, door was open, anyone home?"

Not hearing anyone, Pierce walked into the house, then immediately spotted Aaron in the kitchen, "Aaron, hey, door was open, hope you don't mind me dropping in."

Aaron nearly dropped the food he had in his hands, "Pierce! What-what are you doing back?"

"Told you I was on my way home, mate," Pierce pointed out.

"I...I thought you meant you were jumping on your flight," Aaron cringed at his mistake.

"Yeah I know you did after your 'enjoy your flight' comment. Nice one, Azza. I should've called you back to clarify but thought it'd be a nice surprise. I still can't get a hold of Chloe. Have you seen her about this morning? Or Hendrix? I swear my house was too quiet when I walked in there, like no one's been there since I left," Pierce commented.

Aaron stumbled over his words, wondering if he could desperately text Chloe to give her the heads up about Pierce's return without Pierce noticing, "Ah…no…Pierce, mate…I haven't seen Chloe yet. Since I thought you were boarding your flight…I wasn't planning on heading over to…I mean I didn't see the rush in…getting onto Chloe…or Hendrix. Why…why did you come back early?"

Pierce found himself distracted looking around the living room, "This place is a bit of a…do you guys have someone here sleeping on the couch or something?"

Hendrix came down the hallway wearing only a bath towel around his lower half after his shower, announcing before he made it into the living area, "Aaron, I gotta say I'm gonna miss that shower of yours, the one at Dad's is-"

"Hendrix?" Pierce interrupted, "What are you doing here? Wait, are you living on Aaron's couch?"

"Dad!" Hendrix replied in surprise as soon as he spotted Pierce standing there, glanced over at Aaron to see the same surprised uncomfortable look on his face, "What are you doing back so early?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that like I shouldn't be back early? I never even said to Chloe I had booked that flight yet that was meant to get me back here Sunday morning, just that I was looking at it," Pierce told them.

"Right," Aaron said, "I guess we…expected a little bit more notice than…you being at the Melbourne airport telling us you were on your way home is all."

Pierce stared at Hendrix wearing the bath towel and all the clothes strewn over the Brenaka's couch, "Obviously you weren't prepared. Were you living here, Hendrix, on the couch, while I was in New York? I thought Chloe said that was only for the first couple nights because of what happened with Finn and she wanted to be at home with her family. If I'd known you were sleeping on the couch here, I'd have encouraged you more to go to Sydney with your mum and sister and for Lisa to get over that little stunt you pulled."

Hendrix sighed, feeling rejected by his father, as he walked over to the couch, sat down on it and started looking for some clothes to put on, "Yeah I bet you would've."

"Or I would've come back home earlier to be there for you if I knew you weren't living at home like I thought," Pierce back tracked realizing he had come off as insensitive to his son.

Hendrix shrugged but ignored his father.

Pierce shook his head in frustration, "Okay…well, you look well Hendrix so I'd better thank Chloe, Aaron, David and Kyle for looking out for you…take them all and you…and you out to dinner tonight or tomorrow," then turning back to Aaron, "Chloe in her room here?"

Aaron opened his mouth but took a moment to respond, "Uh…no…I don't think so."

"I thought you said you she may not have been up yet since she doesn't have work and that you hadn't seen her this morning which is why you didn't pass along the message I was coming home," Pierce pointed out.

Aaron chewed on his lip, "Right…oh ah…Hendrix and I went out for breakfast at the Waterhole and only just got back…bet Chloe was up and about and out of here while we were…not here."

"Okay, so where is Chloe this morning? I want to catch up with her as soon as I can," Pierce pushed.

Aaron and Hendrix both glanced at one another awkwardly.

Pierce suddenly picked up on the looks the guys were giving each other, "Alright, will someone please tell me what is going on with my girlfriend and where she is?"

Aaron and Hendrix didn't answer him.

Pierce crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Someone needs to tell me where my girlfriend is," then when they still didn't respond other than looking at Pierce awkwardly, Pierce asked, "Is Chloe with Elly?"

Aaron and Hendrix both raised their eyebrows as Aaron responded, "Well…that's…I mean…what makes you think that?"

"I called Chloe at New Years' Eve…heard the baby screaming in the background after what felt like Chloe was trying not to let me know…that she spent the celebration of New Years' Eve with Elly and Elly's baby. I don't know about you but that struck me as a very…un-Chloe thing to do to hang out with her ex-girlfriend and her ex-girlfriend's newborn son to bring in the New Year. I felt very weird about the whole thing so I booked my flight home immediately and was on the flight out of New York six hours later. Missed my own New Years' celebrations as I was on the flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne then," Pierce explained, "Now…is there a reason why I was right that Chloe being with Elly and her baby was weird and shouldn't have made me want to get back home to my girlfriend as soon as possible?"

Aaron pursed his lips before slightly caving, "There might be a...small chance...Chloe is...spending time with Elly...right now."

Pierce ran his tongue over his teeth tensely, "Is Chloe at Elly's place...spending time with her best friend?"

"It's possible," Aaron squeaked out.

Pierce glanced at Hendrix, "Pack your things, I want you back at home. I'll meet you there...after I go and find Chloe."

Aaron and Hendrix grimaced at one another as Pierce walked out of the house.

A few minutes later, over at the Kennedy household, Bea walked over to the front door to answer it when she heard someone knock.

Bea opened the door to find Pierce standing in the entryway, "Pierce! What are you doing back? You're back…early. Does Chloe know your back? Wait…why are you here?"

Before Bea could stop him, Pierce brushed past Bea, stepping into the house, "Is Chloe here?"

"What would make you think that?" Bea asked, then stumbled, "Hey…you didn't answer my other questions…let's answer them first!"

"Aaron didn't tell me that Chloe was here but he told me without telling me that I might find my girlfriend with your sister. Where's Chloe?" Pierce asked, his tone pleasant yet stern.

"Not here obviously," Bea lied.

Pierce glanced around the room, gritting his teeth when he noticed the couch with blankets and clothes strewn across it, "Really? Because those look to be Chloe's clothes on your couch that someone has been sleeping on. My son has been sleeping on Aaron's couch for the past couple weeks and now I see Chloe's things are here on yours...where is my girlfriend, Bea?"

"Chloe just didn't feel comfortable staying at your place without you there and with Hendrix at Aaron and David's on the couch she...may have needed a place to crash," Bea lied again.

"Chloe's bedroom is at Aaron and David's, it's where she lives," Pierce deadpanned.

"I needed Chloe here. We bonded. Did she tell you about Finn kidnapping the pair of us? Brought us closer, Chloe and I...besties for life now after that so...Chloe just crashed here last night," Bea continued lying, feeling more and more uncomfortable at the thought of Pierce finding Chloe with Elly.

"Really? Just last night? Chloe was here New Years' too and that over there...all the clothes looks more than a one-night stay. Looks like Chloe's been here for some time," Pierce pointed out, "Where is my girlfriend?"

"I think Chloe took Elly and the baby out for breakfast," Bea lied further.

"So, then you won't mind if I stay here then...waiting for my girlfriend to get back?" Pierce asked politely.

Bea hesitated from answering.

Pierce clenched his jaw, "Bea I'm not leaving until I see my girlfriend so you can either ring her and ask her to come back here or I will."

Bea closed her eyes as she breathed deeply, muttering, "I'll go get her."

Pierce blinked several times and felt his heart drop as he silently watched Bea walk away from him down the hallway, knowing without being told that Chloe was in Elly's bedroom.

Several minutes earlier, Chloe and Elly were curled up in bed together with Chloe half lying on top of Elly.

"Do you know what I love?" Chloe whispered to Elly.

"Me?" Elly answered.

Chloe smiled, "Well, yes, obviously you but what I really love is this spot right here on your neck...cause when I kiss it..." Chloe proceeded to kiss the spot on Elly's neck she was talking about, "Your nose does this adorable crinkle thing like it's ticklish but you love it."

"You figured out my adorable ticklish spot on my neck far too easily, baby," Elly gushed.

"I'm just that good," Chloe grinned as she kissed Elly's neck again, "I can't wait until I'm free to explore every inch of you and learn all your spots all over your body and the effect I can have on them and you."

"You drive me crazy, Chloe Brennan, in a good way. I like it," Elly winked.

"You know what I like?" Chloe asked then proceeded to answer immediately, "That I lasted last night on the couch until 7am before I crawled into bed with you. I mean obviously we were up and down all night long with the peanut but you'd been pleading with me for hours to come to bed with you. I held out as long as I could."

"Are you forgetting our twenty-minute nap we had in my bed at 3am before you resumed couch duty?" Elly teased.

"Maybe," Chloe whispered.

"So, if I do a bit more pleading with you over the rest of the week does that mean you'll crawl into bed with me a bit earlier each night until you're finally in my arms all night long before Pierce gets back?" Elly asked.

Chloe shook her head, "Well I only crawled into your bed when I did because I had breakfast with Karl and Suze early as Karl had to go out early for work and...I dunno Suze had something on that she told me about but I was in a tired from looking after a newborn stupor. I think I did hear her say she'll be home for lunch."

"Oh, so it takes getting my Aunt and Uncle out of the house early to get you to crawl into bed with me? I better make sure Karl gets all the early shifts and...sign Suze up to some bootcamp or fitness class to get them away so I have you all to myself," Elly suggested.

Chloe began trailing kisses up and down Elly's neck, before whispering in her ear, "Can we...not get up today? Or at least for the morning 'til Suze comes back for lunch? Like Bea's heading to work soon, Karl and Suze are gone as well...house to ourselves to..."

"Have a loud obnoxious love making session?" Elly teased, "Oh wait we can't do that yet cause we're not ready and also...newborn right over there."

Chloe moaned at the thought, persisting with the kisses to Elly's neck, "You better promise me a loud obnoxious love making session as soon as you're...we're ready...and we have someone to mind the peanut...oh wow I just realized we're literally going to have to spell it out for someone that we need them to look after Elliot so we can go have sex when the time comes."

"I think I can promise you multiple sessions. I guess we are going to have to spell it out to someone, aren't we?" Elly giggled at the thought, "The joys of...parenthood."

Elly paused, wondering if Chloe would freak out at the insinuation of them being parents together but Chloe continued nibbling on Elly's skin, shifting to her jawline.

Chloe flicked her tongue against Elly's jawline, "Back to what I was saying...can we just stay in your bed all morning and do lots of this...in between the whole parenthood to the peanut thing?"

"I'm powerless to stop you," Elly told the blonde, giddy at the thought Chloe was comfortable with the parenting insinuation, "I don't think there's anything that can stop you doing lots of this, this morning."

Chloe and Elly groaned as they heard a knock on Elly's bedroom door.

"You were saying?" Chloe mumbled.

"Go away, Bea, we're busy," Elly told her sister in as quiet a voice as possible not to wake Elliot.

Bea ignored Elly and opened the door, blinking when she immediately saw the two women curled up in the middle of the bed with Chloe half lying on her sister and nibbling kisses along Elly's neck.

Before Bea could open her mouth, Chloe mumbled, "We're not cheating or kissing each other's' lips...just doing lots and lots of this."

"Chloe, have you got a moment?" Bea asked subtly, hoping Elly wouldn't follow Chloe out to the living room where Pierce was for him to see them together.

"Chloe's kinda busy working on tickling my spot," Elly revealed.

Bea frowned her eyebrows trying to ignore figuring out what Elly meant, "Chloe, I really need to speak to you...out here."

"Busy," Chloe mumbled between kisses.

Bea sighed before deciding she needed to be direct before Pierce followed her to Elly's bedroom and found the pair in bed together, "Chloe...you need to get off my sister as your boyfriend is here to see you."

Chloe and Elly immediately flicked their heads to Bea, both saying, "What?"

"Pierce is in the living room and if you don't get off my sister and attacking her neck with your lips you're about to have an even more uncomfortable conversation then the one you're about to have because he's going to follow me in here to find you two in bed together," Bea told Chloe firmly.

Chloe immediately rolled off of Elly, glancing at the brunette apologetically, only to see the same look reflected back from Elly, "What is Pierce doing here? He wasn't meant to be home until Sunday. How did he know I was here?"

"All I know is that without telling him...Pierce got the hint from Aaron that you were with Elly so naturally he came to Elly's place looking for you. He's spotted all your stuff on the couch. I tried to explain it away that you and I bonded after the kidnapping and I needed you here last night but that didn't take and he's refusing to leave until he speaks to you...so sorry to throw you in the deep end...but you need to go have that break up conversation with Pierce right now," Bea informed Chloe.

Chloe ran her hand through her hair, "Right...I will. Wait...I should get changed first. I'm wearing Elly's dressing gown again."

"Pierce isn't going to notice that," Elly insisted, "And all your clothes are on the couch with your things. If you want to borrow something to change into..."

Chloe sighed, "No, it's fine. What I'm wearing to break up with Pierce really doesn't matter, I'm just delaying the inevitable...wish me luck."

"You don't need luck, baby, you just need to remember I love you," Elly whispered as she slowly got out of bed.

"Right, I do need that. I love you too," Chloe whispered back before leaving the bedroom.

"You think she'll be okay?" Bea asked Elly.

Elly shrugged, "I hope so...let's find out."

"Elly!" Bea admonished her sister as the brunette tip toed past her and stood out in the hallway out of sight from the living room.

Bea followed Elly, standing behind her, whispering, "Are you seriously going to stand here and listen to Chloe breaking up with Pierce?"

Elly nodded, whispering, "Yes! Chloe might need me to intervene if Pierce doesn't think I love Chloe."

Bea rolled her eyes at her sister.

Chloe dragged her feet walking down the hallway to the living room but knew she had to face Pierce eventually.

Upon stepping foot in the Kennedy's living room, Chloe's eyes widened as she stared at Pierce, "What are you doing?"

Pierce took a deep breath, "Chloe Brennan-"

I'm here to break up with Pierce...is he insane to do...this now?