Thanks for your reviews Kelly & EC Brenway - great to have your thoughts!

Kelly - Glad you want to know what took Chloe so long at the hairdressers - will I keep you waiting? You betcha!

EC - Oooh could another Chelly affair happen? Wouldn't you like to know! Elly "freeing" Chloe from her pierce chains - I think we can all get onboard! Wild/happy Chloe with her partner in crime helping her achieve it - I'd like to see that!

The Chemistry In Darkness

Chapter Twenty-Two

Friday 22nd November 2024

Elly nodded up at Mark after he'd told her that Pierce had been controlling Chloe's life and her siblings were over trying to help Chloe see it, "Maybe it'll take an outsider like me who hasn't been here to see what her relationship with Pierce is like to get her to see the way he treats her is controlling. I won't be able to say that to her straight away because I really haven't spent much time with them together but from what I have seen already...you're right, I see it already. I can keep an eye on her for you and if I see Pierce do or say the wrong thing or I see that controlling nature then I'll call it out to Chloe. Trust me, I'm not the least bit scared of Pierce."

"Thanks," Mark half-smiled at his ex, "It hasn't been easy for us to see Chloe's life just disappear into Pierce's and have her ignore our concerns. I get it that you can't just come out and say what Aaron and I have been saying for the past year or so and need to give it some time to see it for yourself. I just hope she listens to you as she needs to listen to someone as Aaron and I aren't being over dramatic about how lost Chloe has become in her marriage."

"I'll look out for her," Elly promised.

"Who are you looking out for?" came Chloe's voice behind the pair, surprising them.

"Aster," Elly immediately threw out, "Just making sure I keep an eye on her to make sure she's settling back in here okay and that this news about Shaun nor my decision to not overwhelm her by rushing to get in contact with him will affect her."

"Yes..." Mark agreed slowly trying to convince his sister that's what they were talking about, "What's best for Aster is that Elly..."

"Settles her here with my family rather than rush off overseas or have another person she doesn't know rushing here to get to know her...even though he is her Dad. I also don't want to risk contacting Shaun without having some idea what his life is like now, I don't want to risk Shaun rejecting Aster if he already has a whole other family in his life. Anything could have happened in his life in the last four years," Elly finished.

"Precisely," Mark agreed, more confidently this time, "And if Elly wants help to work out what Shaun's life has become before reaching out to him, then I will be happy to help."

"Thanks, Mark," Elly replied.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Chloe decided, before changing the subject, "I saw Aster get dragged away by Rose before, the kids all seem to be getting along well as I can hear them giggling from one of the bedrooms."

"Aster's a good kid, she hasn't had much chance to mix with kids her age her entire life which has been my fault so I'm glad to hear she's mixing with them well," Elly smiled.

"How come Aster hasn't mixed with other kids her age?" Mark asked.

Because I'm a werewolf and lived for four years with a pack of werewolves in the middle of nowhere so no one would find us, they didn't have any kids amongst them and the supernatural friends that we do have with kids don't often stick around for long enough for Aster to develop friendships or...

"Y'know, why don't I explain a little bit about where I've been the past few years to all of you at once so I don't need to tell you all several times over. You and Paige can tell me and Aster all about your reunion and how that happened. Sound good?" Elly offered.

Mark smiled at his ex-wife, surprised by how easy it seemed to be in Elly's presence and that telling her about how he fell in love with his current wife all over again wasn't as awkward as he first thought, "That sounds like the catch up this evening was designed for. Aaron's gonna start cooking dinner on the barbie soon, why don't we all go outside and sit out there to have our drinks and wait for him to cook up our feast?"

"I can only stay for a drink before I have to go home to have dinner with Pierce," Chloe reminded them, her voice meek.

"No problems," Mark replied, trying to hide his pain that Chloe felt she had to go home for her meal then spend the evening with them.

I'll keep an eye on my mate, Mark, don't worry, I'll see to Chloe understanding she deserves more than a controlling man...did I just call Chloe my mate? Have I accepted that she is?

Several moments later, everyone was sitting outside with a drink in their hand or on the table in front of them, except for Aaron who was standing at the barbie cooking their dinner after David had covered the table in bowls of salads for them to serve when the rest of their meals were ready.

Elly had been silently elated when Chloe had chosen to sit next to her at the table, with Mark on Chloe's other side. On Elly's other side was a free chair for Aster, who was still playing with the other kids until dinner was ready.

Having explained her situation of why she disappeared for four years, once more lying to the people around her, answering their questions and glad that the Detective in Mark didn't ask her too many questions, as the last thing Elly wanted was to have to further her lies on the spot, Elly was enjoying spending time with her friends.

The conversation naturally turned to the others with Mark and Paige telling Elly about their journey back to one another. Mark had been brought back to Erinsborough for a case that had involved 3D printer guns been smuggled through a fight club Ned, both Bea and Yashvi's ex, was part of. Finn's disappearance as the first case had wrapped up had kept Mark in town for a handful of weeks.

Elly tried not to look guilty when her friends had brought up Finn's 'disappearance,' yet felt somewhat surprised that her horrible mistake of killing her psychopathic ex had one small good thing that had come out of it. With Paige splitting from Jack, she returned to Erinsborough for a visit to Terese and Paul, the same time Mark was attempting to discover what had become of Finn. They had found themselves rushing down the aisle at a wedding expo Lassiters had held, then realized they wanted to get married legally before they were soon having their own child together.

Though Mark had been disappointed to leave Erinsborough without solving the case involving Finn, to Elly's relief, he moved back to Adelaide with his new wife, Paige, her son, Gabe, and the baby they were expecting. Gabe's father, Jack, followed them too, getting a job at a church not far from them so he could still be a huge part in Gabe's life. Jack also joined the family in their move to Melbourne, his ability to shift to another church as their priest this time kept him at a suburb half an hour drive away from Erinsborough but close enough to have Gabe as often as he could without being the third wheel to the married couple.

Aaron and David had recounted their fostering journey to Elly that they had endured the past few years, from the children that had lived with them for a matter of days to months to the two sibling boys whom had been with them for over a year now. Elly had asked them if they were considering adopting the children, to which David and Aaron shyly admitted they were thinking about it as they had formed a bond with the pair and they had no other family in their lives.

During their conversations, Chloe had remained quiet throughout. Elly wondered if it was simply because Chloe had already heard her story and had being in her brothers' lives so there was nothing she didn't already know. As Aaron looked set to take the food off the barbie and place it on a platter so everyone could pick and choose what they wanted, Elly nudged Chloe.

"You okay?" Elly asked.

Chloe took a sip of her drink, before leaning over to Elly, "Yeah, just thinking about how much all of you have been through the past few years. I've just been here with Pierce, not working, dealing with Pierce and Hendrix's issues with one another but that's it."

"Doesn't mean you haven't been through a lot, Chlo," Elly whispered.

With Paige leaving the table for a moment to round up the kids, Elly smiled as Aster soon came running over to her, enthusiastically telling her about the other kids even though the other kids appeared with her too.

After Elly was introduced to them all, Aster ignored the free seat next to Elly, instead crawling up to sit on her mum's lap, before smiling up at Chloe. Elly smiled as Chloe and Aster started talking about her excitement at meeting Chloe's niece and nephews. Unable to resist, Elly found herself reaching out her arm and leaning it on the back of Chloe's chair to which the blonde didn't react to.

Chloe's so beautiful and the way she's chatting away to Aster…I want this, just the three of us, no one else…I want to be able to wrap my arm around her shoulders and have her sink into the embrace rather than get as close to doing that as possible by leaning my arm on her chair. How long am I going to need to wait until Chloe sees I'm her mate and even though she won't understand the bond between us, she'll still feel it and she'll know the three of us are meant to be together?

"Chloe?!" came Pierce's voice from the side of the Brenaka's backyard as he stormed over to the group, "What's going on?"

Elly struggled not to roll her eyes at the businessman, but remained confident enough to leave her arm along Chloe's chair behind her.

What's Pierce gonna do to me…? Besides end any chance of me being with my mate if Chloe learns what I am especially if it's because I lose my temper and hurt her husband…keep calm.

The smile on Chloe's face fell at the sound of Pierce's voice, feeling embarrassed that everyone's eyes were on her and her husband, who didn't look like he was in a good mood, "I left you a note on the kitchen table. I came over to have a drink with everyone. I was just about to go back home to have dinner with you."

Pierce eyed Aaron and David who were shifting around the table laying all the food out for their guests, "Yeah, I saw the note, Chloe. I thought we were having dinner together on our own tonight."

"We are, I just thought it would be nice to have a drink with my family before they had their dinner and I went back home to spend the evening with you," Chloe reiterated.

"Right, well I'm home from work now, so why don't we get you home?" Pierce offered, flashing a smile.

Chloe ignored the glares her brothers were giving her at Pierce's insistence, "Why don't you head home and get a start on dinner?" then holding up her glass to show there was only a handful of sips worth of her drink left to be consumed, "I'll be home in a few moments to help you finish cooking our meals, I'd like to finish my drink first."

Elly shook her head as she wondered how Chloe didn't see the way Pierce treated her, "I'll walk Chloe home in a moment to thank her for joining us."

Pierce wanted to seethe at the way Elly was leaning her arm around Chloe's chair without Chloe seeming to care and Elly's daughter was staring up at his wife like she was entranced by her but he already knew Mark and Aaron had their issues with the way Chloe didn't spend much time with them and didn't want to make more of a scene then he was already making, "I'll see you at home in a few moments, Chloe."

Elly heard Chloe sigh in relief, realizing it was so silent, nobody else would've heard it.

Is Chloe relieved Pierce didn't make a scene or that she has a few moments before she has to go back to him?

Elly watched as Chloe took another sip of her drink, more than she'd been sipping on the drink previously, before the blonde shrugged at everyone else sitting at the table, "Sorry, I can't stay for dinner with you all. Maybe next time we could plan an evening like this for Pierce and I to join you…we'd probably need to bring our own food…Pierce is rather fussy over us not wasting the food that's prepared for us by our chef."

"Maybe next Friday?" Mark asked politely, even though he hated that he couldn't seem to get more time with his sister without her husband around.

"I'll check with Pierce," Chloe decided, taking the final sip of her drink, "I should get home."

"I'll walk you," Elly offered, "Can you guys mind Aster for 2 minutes?"

As their friends agreed, Chloe hesitated for a moment at the idea of spending more time with Elly alone, her feelings about the brunette conflicting everything she thought she knew, before nodding.

A few moments later, the pair had walked across the street in silence. As they reached the driveway, Chloe finally spoke up, "Thanks for letting me tag along for a bit. I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer."

"Pierce really couldn't be without you for a few extra hours?" Elly asked.

"Pierce just likes things a certain way and planned out. If I tell him at dinner about Mark wanting us to come over for a meal next week, Pierce will be fine with it. He'll get our chef to cater the entire meal, make sure there's enough of his wine delivered to the boys' house. He just…likes to have things planned," Chloe explained away.

As they reached the stairs leading up to the house, Elly was surprised when Chloe stepped up on the first step then turned around to stare down at her, rather than allow Elly to walk her up the stairs to the front door.

"Thanks for walking me home," Chloe whispered.

Elly stared up at Chloe, trying not to be distracted as she could overhear Pierce in the kitchen struggling with whatever it was that he was cooking and loudly cursing when he dropped a utensil, but Elly couldn't let on that she could hear him from where she was standing.

Pierce really is useless.

"Anytime," Elly promised back, "I'll see you in the morning for our run?"

Chloe nodded, "Of course. Do you want to do the engagement planning after our run? Take a break to clean up with a shower then you get Aster ready and come over to mine?"

A shower…damnit, Chloe, if you only knew my mind is gonna be swirling of images of you showering for the rest of the night.

"Sounds perfect," Elly agreed, then without thinking about it she leaned up and wrapped her arms around Chloe in a hug.

Chloe leant into the hug, her own arms wrapping around Elly's waist.

I could pull out of this hug, look up at Chloe and those beautiful blue eyes of hers, lean forward and kiss her, grab hold of her waist and hoist her onto my hips, before lying her down on these stairs, kissing every inch of her body…if Chloe wasn't married and my daughter wasn't expecting me back in a moment…

Having Elly back in my arms…what is this feeling that is enveloping me as I hold her? She's been back less than a week and I feel like my entire world is spinning. I got over Elly years ago…didn't I?

Elly reluctantly let go of the blonde, refusing to give into her desires to kiss Chloe, knowing it wasn't her time to make a move on Chloe whilst she was married, "See you tomorrow, Chlo."

Chloe stood silently on the steps as she watched Elly turn away from her and head back to her brothers' house.

Whatever I'm feeling…it doesn't matter…my world might be spinning with Elly back in my life but Elly's life isn't doing the same thing.

Next time - Engagement party planning with Chelly & Aster - will Pierce find a way to ruin it?