Thanks for your review EC Brenway! Let the dislike of pierce continue forever more! I think you might be right...or...maybe half-right...about what pierce does!
The Chemistry In Darkness
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tuesday 26th November 2024
Elly and Chloe came to the end of their daily run around the neighbourhood at the end of Chloe and Pierce's driveway, Elly paces ahead of Chloe but not as far as she easily could be, having learned to run at a slower pace than she was capable of.
As Elly turned around to smile at Chloe racing up to her, she then turned her head as she heard Bea yelling out to her from across the road, "Hey, Bea, what's up?"
Chloe caught up to Elly, seeing Bea carrying Aster across the road to meet them, "Hey, Bea. Hey, lil Aster!"
Aster giggled at Chloe as she leaned over in exhaustion whereas Elly had barely broken a sweat, "Hi, Chloe! Did you have fun on your run with Mum?"
Chloe breathed deeply, "Sure did though as per usual she kicked my ass-butt…she kicked my butt. What are you doing today, Aster?"
Elly giggled at Chloe trying to hide that she'd sworn in front of Aster.
Aster wriggled against Bea's arms as she held her to her hip, "We're going to the movies! I've never been to the cinema before! Mum's taking me to the first screening of Frozen 3! It comes out today! I've seen the previous ones like a million times but I can't wait for Mum to take me to the new one at the first screening this morning. It's so cool she got me tickets to it!"
Chloe winked over at Elly, knowing that she had arranged the tickets for the pair when Elly had spoken about Aster wanting to see the movie after their preparation for the engagement party had finished on the weekend, "Your mum's pretty cool!"
"Your mum forgot her phone at home this morning and it's been ringing off the hook several times. Aster wanted to answer it but I told her to leave it. Then Aster saw a message on your phone from a Lexa, saying she's stopping by our place today," Bea held up Elly's phone, handing it to her.
"Who's Lexa?" Chloe asked, Elly wished there was a hint of jealousy in her voice.
Elly watched as Chloe's eyes widened with curiosity over the mention of another woman, "Lexa's one of the family members Aster and I stayed with the past few years. She's like a sis—good friend to me."
"Lexa's the one in the relationship with the other woman, right?" Bea asked.
"Yes, Clarke and Lexa are a couple. Clarke is Abby and Romulus's daughter, along with Raven, then there's Lexa, that's the whole family," Elly reminded her sister.
"Auntie Lexa, Auntie Clarke and Auntie Raven are the best people ever!" Aster enthused, "You should both meet them all!"
"Uh…sure," Chloe shrugged, "I guess it just occurred to me that we've spent the last week since you got back discussing more of my last few years that…I hadn't even asked about the family you've been staying with."
"I'm sorry about that, Chlo. You're right, I haven't really spoken to you about them. I should…I will. Why don't we make a plan to catch up later this week and I can tell you all about the family Aster and I fell in with?" Elly offered.
"Okay," Chloe agreed, wondering why she was so curious to learn about the family Elly had had in her life.
"Mama, Auntie Lexa texted to say she's stopping by here today," Aster reminded her mum.
"Right," Elly replied as she flicked open her phone and scrolled through Lexa's messages, "Lexa won her cage fight last night that was out in this area and stayed at Lassiters to celebrate…oh…her and Clarke got kicked out of the hotel this morning by one of the managers as he didn't like how loud they were being…sounds about right. They want to catch up for brunch before they head back home. You wanna spend the morning with Auntie Lexa and Auntie Clarke, Aster?"
"Cage fight?" Chloe repeated then frowned, "Pierce left for work early this morning…I hope it wasn't him who kicked them out of the hotel."
That'd be such a typical Pierce thing to do…bet he only did it as its two women…when is Chloe gonna see he's not right for her?
"Lexa's a professional cage fighter, she competes every few weeks," Elly explained before looking at Aster.
Lexa would win a hell of a lot more fights if she actually used her full strength but we can't have people working out what she is.
"But Mum, we were going to the movies this morning! Frozen 3!" Aster complained.
"I'm sorry baby girl, we can get tickets to the movie for tomorrow morning. Lexa and Clarke are only stopping by this morning before going home. If I'd known they were on their way, I wouldn't have promised you I'd take you to the movie," Elly apologized.
"No, I wanta see the movie at the first session it releases! I don't wanna wait til tomorrow! Please, Mama, it's Frozen 3! It's my favourite! We can see Auntie Lexa and Auntie Clarke another time," Aster begged.
Bea smiled down at Aster, "It'll be the same movie tomorrow. We'll keep off social media for the rest of the day so we don't hear about any spoilers."
"No, I wanta see Frozen 3 like we planned," Aster sulked.
"I know, Aster, and I'm really sorry but I kinda want to catch up with Lexa and Clarke. I know it's only been like a week since we got home here but I have so much I want to talk to them about," Elly said reasonably.
I need to talk to them about Chloe being my mate…and what the hell I'm meant to do about that…not exactly a conversation I should have with Aster present though…
"I'd love to be able to take the day off work to take you, Aster, but we've got a lot of cars booked in today," Bea sighed, feeling bad for not being able to help her sister out.
Chloe stepped forwards, "Well, why don't I take Aster to the movies?"
Elly couldn't help but smile at the idea of Chloe wanting to spend time with her daughter, "You'd like to go to the movies with Aster for me?"
"I mean, if that's okay and not overstepping," Chloe blinked nervously.
"No, of course not. I'd love you to take Aster to the movies for me if you'd be up for it and have the time this morning," Elly enthused.
Chloe shrugged, "Once I get Mark and Aaron's kids off to school, all I was going to do was working on my paintings 'til I have to pick them up this arvo. What time is the movie…? Uh…I mean if Aster wants me to go with her…"
Aster clapped her hands together then leaned out her arms to Chloe, Chloe nodding at Bea, before Bea leant over and handed Aster to Chloe, whom immediately wrapped her arms around Chloe's shoulders, "Yes, that would be amazing, Chloe! Can Chloe take me, Mum!? Please!"
"Of course, that'd be great," Elly agreed, happy for Chloe to spend time with Aster and for the pair to develop the kind of bond she wanted her partner to have with her daughter, "I can text you the tickets. Do you want me to stay with Aster til you need to leave for the movie? I can call Lexa and tell her to give us another hour or two."
Chloe grinned down at the young girl in her arms, feeling so comfortable spending time with her, "Nah, I bet Aster would love to see the kids again and help me walk them all to school and daycare, wouldn't you, Aster?"
"Yes, Chloe!" Aster giggled.
Chloe glanced over at Elly, "Is it okay if I get an Uber to take us to the cinemas?"
Elly nodded then paused, "If Lexa's on her way and picking me up, why don't you take my car? My car keys are on my bedside table. Bea can grab them for you."
"Great!" Chloe enthused, "Why don't I get this little munchkin inside and ready for the movie? Bea can drop off the car keys. We'll get everyone off to school then we'll come back here to drive to the movies. Am I allowed to buy Aster a box of popcorn to enjoy at the movies?"
"Yes, of course, just the one box and make it a small one, got it, Aster, I don't want you hopped up on bad food," Elly agreed.
Before Aster could complain at her mum's decision, all four turned their heads to the sound of a truck entering the street. The pick-up truck came to a quicker stop then it expected right in front of them. Elly waved to the couple sitting in the front seat.
"Auntie Lexa, Auntie Clarke!" Aster called out excitedly.
"Lil Aster! How are you? We miss you!" Clarke called back out to her.
"So good, Mum's being really good here too! I can't come with you today. Chloe's taking me to the movies!" Aster giggled.
"Sounds like fun," Lexa smiled, "So, this is Chloe…? You ready to go, Fresh Meat?"
Chloe and Bea both paused at the nick name Lexa had called Elly.
"Uh, hi," Chloe greeted.
"Yes, this is Chloe. And my sister, Bea. Chloe, Bea, this is Clarke and Lexa," Elly introduced them quickly, then looked down at her running outfit, "Sure, it's just brunch. Who needs to get dressed up?"
"You look fine, Elly," Clarke insisted, "C'mon, you want to come with us for brunch or do you want us to pick you up later?"
Elly reached out and stroked her hand through Aster's ponytail, "You okay to spend the morning with Chloe? I'll be back to pick you up as soon as the movie ends. Chloe can text me when she knows what time the movie should wrap up."
"I will," Chloe promised, eyeing the two girls in the truck as Clarke had her arm wrapped around Lexa's shoulders, then to the brunette, "Don't I know you from somewhere?"
"Nah," Lexa shook her head, "I just got one of those faces."
"Right," Chloe whispered, feeling like she'd been lied to, "Go hang out with your friends for the morning, Elly. Aster and I will be fine."
"Thanks, Chlo," Elly smiled at the blonde, before heading over to the truck, seeing Clarke shuffle over in the front seat to give her room to fit in beside her, "We'll only be a couple hours. I'll see you two soon. Thanks for looking after Aster so I could go on my run, Bea."
Chloe, Bea and Aster stood on the footpath, waving at Elly as she got in the truck and Lexa soon roared the vehicle out of the street.
"So, that was a couple members of the family Elly stayed with…huh," Bea commented.
"Yeah, I don't really know what to make of them either," Chloe admitted, "I'll ask Elly some more about them later. Let's get Aster inside."
"Okay, I'll go grab you Elly's car keys for you. You okay to put Aster in the car seat?" Bea wondered.
"Not a problem," Chloe decided as she started walking up her driveway.
What was it about those two girls that weirdly felt like Elly and I…?
An hour later, Chloe had placed Aster into the car seat, ready to go to the cinema with Elly's daughter after dropping her niece and nephews off at daycare and school for the day.
"Is that tight enough?" Chloe asked Aster about the straps of the car seat.
"Yes, Chloe, let's go to the movies! I've never been before, is it scary?" Aster clapped her hands.
Chloe closed the cars' back door then moved to sit in the drivers' seat before looking at the youngster in the review mirror, "Not at all. It's Frozen 3 so they'll be lots of parents with their kids. It's a little scary when they switch the lights off but you can sit on my lap or hold my hand if you want."
"Like you're my parent?" Aster lit up at the idea.
Chloe couldn't help but smile at the idea then shook her head for thinking that when she was married to Pierce and what would that mean for her marriage if she contemplated wanting to be a parent to her ex-girlfriend's daughter, "Uh…not quite. I can be Auntie Chloe, my lil Asteroid."
"Okay," Aster replied reluctantly, but giggled at being called Asteroid, "No one's ever called me that. Only you should call me that."
"It'll be our lil thing then," Chloe agreed, as she reversed the car out of the driveway, "Let's go see the movie. Maybe we can talk your Mum into taking you to see the movie again later this week."
"Ooh, can you come with us?" Aster enthused.
"I could do that," Chloe agreed.
Aster kicked her feet up in excitement at Chloe spending more time with Elly, keen for Chloe to fall back in love with her Mum.
Several moments later, as they approached a red light up ahead, Chloe immediately frowned in concern when she placed her foot on the brake pedal but nothing happened and Elly's car continued at the same speed, "Uh something's wrong with the car. Hold on to your car seat straps."
Chloe wanted to close her eyes as the car ran through the red light, a car coming from the opposite direction, slamming it's breaks and honking its horn at her in anger, presuming she'd run the red light on purpose.
Chloe continued slamming her foot on the brake pedal to no avail as the car didn't slow down and she was coming up to another set of lights that had just turned red too, "Don't panic, Aster, I'll get us out of this."
"Okay," Aster swallowed hard yet trusted Chloe.
Chloe pulled the break handle yet the car still refused to slow down, then her eyes widened as she looked to the side and saw a truck coming through the next set of lights that was still on green from its side, knowing she was on a colliding path with it in the next fifteen to twenty seconds, "Son of a bitch, stop the car!"
"Chloe, what's wrong with the car?" Aster hollered.
"It's not stopping and I don't know what to do," Chloe admitted, not wanting to point out the truck approaching the intersection, then breathing deeply, "Just hold on!"
Desperate to avoid the oncoming truck up ahead, Chloe deliberately drove the car off the road, where it skidded violently before slamming into the side of a light pole, coming to a stop.
As other people from the intersection realized another car had run off the road, getting out of their own cars to help, Aster sat in the back seat of the car, screaming out at Chloe, "Chloe! Wake up! Chloe!"
Chloe lay in the front seat of the car, unconscious, blood dripping from a wound on her head.
Next time - Oblivious to what's gone wrong during Chloe's time with Aster, Elly is busy spending time with her friends and discussing Chloe being her mate