Chloe took her keys out of the ignition.

"So. Why're we here?"

"It's still a surprise Chlo. Not telling." Max opened the passenger door, noting the extra muscle it took. She'd been meaning to get Chloe something to fix it, or pay to have it fixed. She wasn't good with cars, just cameras; and as far as she knew, Chloe didn't have the gift of understanding cars either.

"You could at tell me where we are." Chloe's tone would sound rude, or annoyed to a stranger, but Max knew she was just anxious.

"Heck, I don't even know. I just found this place on Google and figured you'd never stayed for long in any of the other small towns around here. So it's a new spot, just ours. That sound cool?"

"Hey, as long as I can 'me' it up a little, I'm good man." Chloe. A few years ago she wouldn't dream of spray painting anything. The most she might've done would be to tape a boy band poster on something. Maybe. Now, she had to make everything "hardcore punk" to feel comfortable. Max thought it was pretty cute.

"Psh. Chlo. I'm sure we can find something."

They walked into the dense woods. Tall, green pine trees surrounded them, green brush swallowed their feet whole. Max had made sure it was out of the way, so nobody would bother them. It was surprisingly quiet of cars, maybe there weren't many, or maybe the sounds of the forrest drowned them out. Max heard Chloe breathe deeply behind her; it wasn't a well kept secret that Chloe hated the salty smell of the bay, and longed for the smell of the forrest. The quiet splish and trickle of a stream could be heard ahead. Perfect. Max headed straight for it.

"Maaaaaax!" Chloe groaned "Where are we goiiiiiing?"

"Chloooooeeeee!" Max mocked "Its a seeeecreeeeeet."

"You're rude."

"Says the girl who's degraded actually dying into being rude."

Max followed the stream for a while, until a cliff, curved up at a right angle and standing fourty feet above them came into view. The stone was cold and gray, covered with damp moss and thin vines. An opening big enough to fit through marked the middle, with the stream trickling into it. Max turned on her phones light and looked in, an incline ran down the tunnel. It wasn't too steep, but it was wet.

"Looks like there's a tunnel Chlo. It goes down maybe.. I dunno, like fifty feet? Wanna go down?"

"Uh. If that's a cave, I'm hella not into it. We just watched a movie about demony shit being underground. So."

"I can see light, it totally opens up. Besides, if you're scared I'll hold your hand." Max gave Chloe a wink and moved out of the way. Bowing halfway and pointing her arms sideways, presenting the opening in the cliff to her friend. Or. More than friend. They still weren't clear on that. With a red face, Chloe marched toward the tunnel and looked in, she could see the little bit of light, but nothing else. She carefully moved in and therefore, down. She knew it would be wet, so she felt for footing before each step. Max was right behind her with the light.

"I don't even know why we're here in the first place Caulfield. It's fucking weird exploring with you again."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. I'm glad I found a new place for us."

"We'll see Max." With that Chloe stepped out, shielding her eyes a bit from the sun. The first thing she noticed was the sound of roaring water.

XXXXX

Her eyes adjusted to see that they'd entered a closed off clearing. Hundred foot high cliffs surrounded the round clearing. It must have been half the size of a football field! Dark green moss covered the cliffs, as well as dead pine needles and thin, creeping vines. The center piece of the area was a huge waterfall. The water glistened in the sun, and created a fine mist at the bottom. It created a string of color in the light, like a torn piece of rainbow. It fell into a little lake. The roaring of the waterfall was soothing, and must was hitting her even from back here.

"Wait till you see this." Max took Chloes hand and pulled her, in a jog, across the clearing, towards the waterfall.

"Strip." Max said excitedly. Chloe barely registered, she was still in awe.

"Caulfield I had no idea you felt that way!"

"Shut it Chlo, we're getting in the water." Max set down her camera bag and took off her jacket, setting them by a small boulder. Chloe followed suit, and put her clothes on top of the stone. It felt nice to have the spray hit her skin in the summer sun. Chloe blushed when she saw Max in her underwear. She was glad max hadn't meant strip strip. They jumped in the small lake, surprisingly deep enough to dive in, and surfaced.

"Come on, by the waterfall!" Max swam towards the falling torrent of water, and went behind it. Chloe followed, and saw an indent in the rock. It was pretty much a cave, but just behind a fucking waterfall!

"Holy shit.." Chloe breathed out in amazement. "This is for us?"

"Not.. really. It's more for you."

"For me? Why the hell did you bring me here max?" Max couldn't tell what she was thinking. She hoped it was something good.

She walked up to Chloe and took her hand. It was warm, odd, considering that they'd just been in the water.

"It's my apology, Chloe. I'm sorry for being gone. I'm sorry for leaving. I'm sorry I didn't call. I'm sorry I left after your dad died. I'm sorry I left you alone Chloe. I'm sorry. I've never been more sorry about anything. I'm not sorry because I feel bad. That's not what sorry is. This is me trying to do the impossible and make up for. This is me promising that I won't leave you again." She couldn't even look at Chloe. Her cheeks were stained with tears. And more than anything she wanted Chloe to hug her.

"You could have given me a fucking sharpie and I would forgive you. Max. God dammit." Chloe was a mess too. She wiped her eyes clear of tears.

"I'm sorry Chloe!"

"I forgave you the minute I fucking saw you again!"

"I'm sorry Chloe.. for everything."

"Max. Shut. Up." Chloe leaned down and pressed her lips to Max's. She didn't care if this worked or not, though it did. She didn't care if Chloe was only doing this to shut her up. So she kissed back. They stood there for a few moments, well past the time they'd run out of breath. They slowly pulled away, eyes still closed.

"Max?"

"Hmm?"

"Been meaning to tell you, I'm hella gay for you."

"I love you too Chloe."