Thanks for the reviews Kelly & EC Brenway!
Kelly - I hope so too!
EC - Let's see if we get some good conflict of Elly not making it back to the Pack in time! A random wolf? Nicolette could return? Elly having her work cut out for her with pierce? So many things that could happen!
The Chemistry In Darkness
Chapter Forty-Seven
Saturday 14th December 2024 – The Night Before The Full Moon
"You and Nic were prepared to…throw your lives here in Erinsborough away to runaway together?" Elly repeated for clarification, desperately trying not to sound as jealous as she was.
"Yes, Nic and I spoke for hours about our plan to runaway up the coast together. I was so ready to pack what little I wanted to take with me, leave with Nic and start a brand-new life away from Pierce. I knew my brothers wouldn't understand but I'd be free of Pierce. The next day, I packed my bag, turned up at where Nic and I agreed to meet…but she never turned up," Chloe said, her tone sad at the last part.
Thank you, Nic, for not showing up and running away with my future mate cause if you'd have both have done that…I might never have found Chloe again…found my mate and my purpose on this world could've been for nothing but raising my lil girl.
"Did you want Nic to turn up so you could runaway with her? It's just…if you were prepared to leave Pierce then…why didn't you in the years since? Was it because you only wanted to leave to be with Nic?" Elly asked her questions quietly, pleading with Chloe not to say she was still clinging to being with the red head.
If Chloe still wants to be with Nic, then what does that mean for Chloe and I? Thinking about Chloe wanting to end her marriage to be with Aster and I is one thing…it's another thing entirely if there's still this woman out there that Chloe wants… Is Nic another person I'll need Chloe to get over before she'll give in to our bond as mates?
Chloe wiped a tear from her eye, "My affair with Nic and wanting to runaway with her…it wasn't about Nic specifically. She was a really good friend to me and honestly that's all she'd have ended up being even if I did runaway with her. I know she wanted more but I think she knew deep down that she wasn't the one for me."
Nic knew what I know without even knowing she knew the extent of it…Nic wasn't the one for Chloe because I am…how much longer can I keep denying myself from admitting this all to Chloe?
"So, you would've runaway with Nic then…known you'd break things off with Nic to be friends only…to get away from Pierce and his controlling ways?" Elly asked.
Chloe nodded sadly, "Nic must've known…running away with me didn't mean I was planning on spending my life with her instead…guess that's why she never turned up when I went to meet her…why I never heard from Nic again."
"Nic knew you hadn't fallen for her as much as she had fallen for you…and leaving on her own was the easiest way to not get her heart broken months down the line," Elly posed.
Chloe shrugged, "Pretty selfish of me…to use a good friend like that. As an escape from my marriage that was crumbling. Nic and I…we were good together…especially when we were alone in bed together, we were really good together…" Chloe trailed off as she blushed deeply, before clearing her throat, "But what I had with her it wasn't…everything I was looking for."
You don't have to look anymore, Chlo, I'm right here… Also, me totally ignoring the Nic and Chloe were good in bed together comment…
"I don't think it was selfish," Elly reassured the blonde, "You needed someone to help you with what you were going through and I wasn't around to be that person for you."
Chloe swallowed hard at the mere suggestion of Elly being the person she could've turned to instead of Nic, then shook her head at the thought that if Elly had been around back then Elly would have wanted to have had an affair with her, "I still feel selfish that I was never going to be invested in wanting a relationship like Nic wanted. Running away with her…would've been a mistake. I hate that I used Nic as a way out of things with Pierce. I wish she knew that…"
"Do you know where Nic took off to?" Elly asked, realizing Chloe may simply need closure from her affair with Nic if she never got it when the affair ended.
Chloe shrugged, "No idea, she didn't contact me again. Jane hung around here for a couple months after Nic took off thinking Nic would just come back when she was ready before she went after her, trying to track her down. Jane's pretty close to Paul so I'd have thought if she ever found Nic that it'd gotten back to Paul. Of course, I investigated the town Nic and I were planning on running away to but nothing came of it. I'd just like to get in contact with Nic again so I can tell her how sorry I am if she thought I was only using her and that her getting out of the affair by leaving without contacting me again was the only way to get over me."
Elly eyed the leather jacket Chloe had curled herself in, subtly sniffing it again, smelling the other woman's scent on the jacket, "If you were able to find Nic again…you'd only want to apologize to her and get closure from Nic thinking you were using her?"
Chloe nodded gently, "That's all I'd want, I'm not interested in re-starting anything with Nic."
Elly reached out her hand, running her fingers lightly over the edge of the bottom of the jacket, "Can you loan me this jacket? I have a friend…one of the family members, Romulus, he works for the Federal Bureau, he can track her down and help you get that closure."
Yeah, Romulus could do that…or I could just give Clarke the jacket and she'll have Nic sniffed out within a week or two…no matter where she is in the country. Seriously, that nose of hers is disgustingly good at tracking anyone.
Chloe glanced down at the jacket, "Why does Romulus need Nic's jacket to track her down?"
"Luck," Elly lied, "Having something that belongs to the person he's trying to find brings him…good luck."
Chloe eyed Elly suspiciously at the reason she'd given her but somehow knew she could trust Elly with anything so slowly removed the leather jacket from her body before handing it to Elly, "Don't lose it…okay? I know it's silly to keep something of Nic's especially if Pierce spots it in my wardrobe because he might recognize it but I just…I've always wondered if she left because she felt used by me and wanted to make sure she knew that I never saw her that way."
Elly took the leather jacket carefully, "You can trust me, Chlo. I won't lose Nic's jacket, I'll make sure my friend does everything possible to find Nic so you can have closure and move on."
"Thanks," Chloe whispered.
"Chlo, can I ask you something…?" Elly started then continued when Chloe nodded at her, "You know Pierce is controlling your life…why do you let him?"
"And why have I been claiming to you that Pierce isn't controlling and slammed the door in your face that one time over it?" Chloe added without answering.
"I…wasn't going to bring that up," Elly blushed, not wanting to have been proven right when Chloe ignored the problem.
Chloe shrugged, feeling ashamed, "Pierce…still treats me well. I had an affair on him…I feel guilty for that to this day. I shouldn't have hurt him that way…even if he doesn't know that I could've hurt him like that. Not a lot of people would want to take care of me when my illness takes hold, Pierce will. He might be controlling and sometimes he does things I don't like but he…I can't leave him."
Not the answer I was looking for… If I argue with Chloe that she's gonna have to because what she doesn't know is that we need to be together…I could push her further away if she's convinced herself she can't leave her husband…
"I know you think right now that you can't leave Pierce…but one day things might change and I'll be here for you when it does," Elly promised.
Chloe smiled shyly at Elly's words but didn't respond.
Sensing Chloe was going to shut down on her again if she continued egging on Chloe to leave her husband, Elly chewed on her lip as she stared down at the leather jacket in her hands, "My friend will need to know everything you know about Nic to track her down. What else can you tell me about her?"
Elly swallowed hard as she watched Chloe smile hearing Nic's name again and light up as she started talking about the red head once more. Elly was so focused on trying to allay her jealousy over how much Nic truly meant to Chloe that she failed to register her watch beeping at her with another reminder that the moon would be rising in the sky in less than an hour…
A little while later, Chloe was standing in the kitchen with Elly, pouring them both a glass of water, having been talking to one another for some time. Elly's jealousy over Nicolette was still present but she felt as reassured as she could be that arranging for Clarke to track Nic down wouldn't lead to Chloe wanting to reunite with Nic instead of her.
"You okay, Elly?" Chloe asked as she handed over the glass, "Do you hate me for having an affair on Pierce?"
Elly placed the glass on the counter next to her as she stood in front of Chloe, still holding the leather jacket in her other hand, along with her handbag slung over her shoulder, prepared to take the jacket with her to get some answers for Chloe, "I'm not gonna lie…you really surprised me when you told me you'd had an affair with Nic several years ago. I never saw you putting your marriage at risk over a fling that lasted several months…but I get why you did it. Pierce has never treated you right, Chlo. To answer your question, no, I don't hate you. I could never hate you, Chlo."
I love you…how much longer can I keep denying myself from saying it to you?
Chloe nodded shyly, "I've been holding all this in about Nic and what I did with her for so many years…I think even if your friend doesn't track down where she ran off to on her own…I've gotten my own form of closure by talking about it to you and getting it off my chest. Does that make sense at all?"
"Yes, it does make sense, Chlo," Elly agreed, "You needed someone who you could be completely honest with and I'm glad that happened to be me. I will never judge you or think bad of you, no matter what."
Chloe placed her own glass of water down on the counter, before leaning forwards, wrapping her arms around Elly's waist in a hug and placing her head against Elly's shoulder, "You're always here for me and you do let me be completely honest with you without any judgment. How do you do that?"
Elly held Chloe against her, surprised when the blonde pulled back to stare into her eyes, "I'm just me…and you're always honest with me…even when you need to take some time to be honest about things like Pierce controlling your life."
I wish I could be honest with you, Chlo.
What are you still hiding from me, Elly? I know there's more to the last few years than you've been telling me…
Chloe pursed her lips, "Will you be honest with me, Elly?"
"About what?" Elly paused.
"What you're hiding from me," Chloe answered ambiguously.
Without thinking about all the things that she was hiding from the blonde, Elly saw her chance to be honest with Chloe, the only way she knew how to.
Elly leant forwards, capturing Chloe's lips with her own, kissing her gently before deepening the kiss when Chloe didn't pull away. Elly's mind was racing at the feeling of finally having her mate in her arms, where she belonged but she feared Chloe would soon push her away because it wasn't right for the blonde to be kissing another person whilst married. Despite having admitted to previously having an affair, Elly knew Chloe wouldn't go there again.
Or would she because she's my mate and an affair with me wouldn't be about a reason to get out of her controlling marriage…? It'd be because we were made for one another.
When Chloe moaned into the kiss, Elly relaxed gently that Chloe wanted to keep kissing her, softly clutching at Chloe's hair, trailing her fingers through it, as she continued kissing Chloe deeply.
A moment later, Elly quickly realized Chloe needed to break the kiss for oxygen to breathe, leaving her lips lingering near Chloe's, staring into Chloe's eyes, "I love you."
Chloe blinked several times, the power of Elly's kiss followed by her words, utterly bewildering her, "You…what?"
"I love you," Elly repeated, "That's what I've been hiding."
Among other things…
Chloe opened her mouth to reply but didn't have a clue what she could possibly say to Elly, terrified of thinking she was dreaming.
Before either could say another word, Chloe and Elly broke their eye contact when Elly's watch began beeping loudly and incessantly without stopping. Elly stared at the device, her eyes widening as she read the time.
"Is that another reminder you need to leave?" Chloe whispered, unsure if she should beg Elly to stay so they could talk about their kiss and Elly's love confession.
Leave? Left! I should've left more than an hour ago! I forgot! I got so caught up in talking to Chloe and then with the kiss and I just told her I love her and…I don't have time; I've got a minute before I turn into a werewolf! I need to go! Now! Chloe can't learn the truth about me!
"I gotta go," Elly blurted out, dropping her hand from Chloe's face, the leather jacket still in her other hand, and without another second she rushed to the front door, streaming out of the house as fast as she possibly could.
Chloe didn't hesitate as she rushed out after Elly, "Elly, come back, we gotta talk about this, you can't just walk out on me after what just happened between us."
Elly was practically flying down the stairs to the driveway when she glanced back up at Chloe, "We'll talk later."
Thinking Elly would be taking off for three days and stopping them from talking about their kiss anytime soon, Chloe persisted after Elly down the stairs, shocked by how quick Elly was running away from her, "Elly, we need to talk about this now."
Elly didn't look back at Chloe this time as she raced down the driveway, desperate to outrun Chloe and get away from her before she turned into a werewolf in less than a minute.
"Elly, wait up!" Chloe pleaded as Elly was already turning up the street away from Ramsay Street when Chloe had made it to the end of her driveway.
Realizing she still had her own handbag and Nicolette's leather jacket in her hand, knowing she had promised to help track the woman down for Chloe, Elly didn't want to damage the jacket or leave it or her handbag in the middle of the street when she shifted, so she threw both items behind a hedge of a neighbours house, before Chloe turned into the street. Hoping no one else would find them and that she'd remember to collect them.
As Chloe turned onto the street out of Ramsay Street, she was stunned to see Elly was already a hundred meters in front of her and completely out of her ability to chase her down. Chloe came to a stop, holding her hands to her hips in exhaustion, as she worried why Elly had run away from her.
Was the kiss that bad? Did Elly freak out at thinking we'd end up having an affair like I did with Nic and that it wouldn't mean anything serious to me? How the hell does she run that fast?
Feeling reassured that Chloe had given up chasing her, Elly relaxed her composure as she continued running away from Chloe in case she started running after her again, refusing to let Chloe see her as a werewolf.
As she turned into another street, grateful for no humans to be around outside, Elly glanced up to the sky, seeing the near full moon begin to rise. Within seconds, Elly felt the transformation happen, continuing to run down the street, until she leapt forward, her clothes tearing from her body.
WolfElly landed on the path, her four legs gently coming to a halt from her run.
Sniffing the air, WolfElly howled at the night sky before she shot off back in the direction that she had come from in.
A moment later, WolfElly sat on her hind legs on the corner of Ramsay Street, watching Chloe reluctantly walk back up the stairs to her home.
Next time - Chloe and Elly both reflect on their kiss. Who finds Elly in a slightly compromising position?