So I haven't written and finished a story in almost a year, and I haven't written a kissing scene in even longer. This was something that came to me after I finished Episode 3 awhile back, but I never had the balls to actually write it out and publish. I apologize in advance for any OOCness, as the proper character studies I do before writing haven't been done yet. I will definitely do so in the future when writing these stories.
This was originally posted over on my tumblr account, but I thought why not upload it over here, too?
I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to critique my work and offer up suggestions. Although I've written stories before, I have a mountain of room to improve.
Thanks in advance for reading ^^ I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Life is Strange is owned by DontNod Entertainment.
She didn't think Max would do it. She didn't think her time-traveling best friend and ex-first mate would actually agree to it. It honestly caught the punk off guard.
"I said I would kiss you." Max said plainly. She looked everywhere she could, avoiding the gaze of her best friend. It took a few seconds, but Max finally looked up at Chloe.
It was only then did Chloe become super aware of how close they were. It was no different from any other time when they would stand close together- hell they were just sleeping in the same bed not even 10 minutes ago- but she realized just then that she could see her own reflection looking back at her from Max's blue eyes. The bluenette hoped that Max didn't see the shade of pink that she could feel creep up on her.
"When?" Chloe blurted without warning. It was true that her mouth lacked a filter 99.9% of the time- and she accepted that- but this was one of the few times where she mentally kicked herself. 'At least try to act like you're not a groupie…'
Max gulped, "R-right now" She declared, sounding like she was trying to amp herself up. Max had always saw herself as the introvert, preferring the company of familiar faces and being content with peace and hum drum- It was her best friend that was the hell raiser. And it wasn't often that she got the opportunity to prove that she could be just as hardcore as the captain of the S.S. Price. It just took her a little longer to gather the courage to do so.
If she was experiencing anything that Chloe did right before the double dare, her heart would be pounding against her rib cage, she would be wiping the sweat that was building on her palms onto her shirt in the least conspicuous ways possible, and she would be worrying if her face seemed as red as it felt. Spoilers: it hella did. At least she didn't have to worry about the voice in the back of her head trying to psyche her out.
'She's not gonna do it…'
'She's probably hella into that Warren guy…'
'If she does kiss me, it's only because I forced her with the dare…'
'She's not into girls. She's going to think I'm weird…'
'She's going to leave me again, but this time she won't come back…'
But Max had agreed to the dare. She said she would kiss her. She single-handedly shushed her thoughts and forced them to the far corners of her mind.
Chloe was entrapped in her own painful thoughts, and was only pulled out when she felt a light touch to her cheek and shoulder. She instinctively flinched away from the unexpected contact, almost as if Max was made of fire and had burnt her. The punk saw Max hesitate after her attempt to hold Chloe was met with a momentary rejection, but before Max could withdraw her hand, Chloe leaned back into the touch, allowing tiny fingers to brush a strand of blue hair behind her ear, before falling back to it's spot on her cheek. They had cupped each other's cheeks plenty of times while growing up and playing, but her skin felt so much different now- Was her hand always so small? Was her touch always this warm and electrifying?
She saw the doubt in Max's eyes, before the brunette steeled her resolve and her uncertain expression shape into a determined- yet kind- mien. Their eyes were locked together in the moment, nothing else capable of coming between them. The slow, chill, indie music that they were just chillaxing to a few moments ago might as well be on mute- because all Chloe could hear was her own heartbeat and slight breaths.
Chloe lowered her eyes and puckered her lips forward faintly; maybe Max was waiting to see if she was going to go through with it. Chloe had psyched herself up just to get this opportunity, so obviously she wasn't going to back down after coming so far.
It was sudden and- she would never admit- desperate of her to spring the dare on her, but after hearing about her "going ape" with Warren at the drive-in later this week, something in her had to know. Know what, exactly? Fuck all if she knew. She just knew she didn't want to regret not doing this while she still had the chance.
Max took a small step forward, sealing the space between them, and leaned up to her childhood friend, her hand on Chloe's shoulder helping to elevate the photographer to her best friend's height. As Max neared, Chloe could feel her breath brush against her own lips, sending a shiver running up and down her spine. Chloe kept still as Max tilted her head slightly to the left and slowly, methodically arrest Chloe's lips with her own.
Although she imagined Max as the type to give gentle, shy, kisses that would probably feel almost ghost like, she was taken off guard by the force that her shorter friend used to claim her. Max was soft- well, most lips were soft by nature, but Chloe could hardly tell they were there- and chapped due to the lack of hydration after last night's B&E (although technically they had keys, so…). She also didn't expect her to be so… warm. It wasn't the warmth that you would associate with anything fire or heat related, but more along the lines of passion, loving, caring. Things that Chloe herself had been deprived of for a long time now.
The very slight scent of chlorine from the previous night's shenanigans in the school pool was noticeable on her Blackwell Ninja. But it was probably present on her as well, so she couldn't complain. It wasn't like the scent ruined the kiss. She could tell that Max was inexperienced in this area from the lack of any kind of movement. She could feel from her hands on her shoulder and cheek that she was stiff. Was she nervous? Scared? It wasn't like this was bad. They had completely skipped the awkward bumping of the noses that happened way too often. On the contrary, nothing could ruin the moment.
Except for Max breaking the kiss.
They both lingered for a whole second; Chloe wondered if it would be inappropriate and pushy if she initiated another kiss. She immediately missed the fleeting taste of cinnamon that found its way onto her lips, the closeness that she felt from the kiss, and the joy that had built itself up within the punk long before the kiss had started. This was a high that she saw herself immediately becoming addicted to if she wasn't careful.
Which she never was.
Max finally removed her hands from the cheek and shoulder of her tree of a friend. With the contact lasting too briefly, Chloe instantly missed the warmth. The young Price woman's eyes fluttered open to see a flushed Max Caulfield with a goofy, toothy, grin. Chloe wanted to call her a dork, but the words were caught in her throat.
"Speechless?" Max asked playfully crossing her arms, not even bothering to try to hide the shit-eating grin on her face while taking a step back. She took in the full view of her best friend in her black shirt and underwear, standing deathly still in time from what she hoped was a positive thing, "Not bad for my first kiss, huh?"
Chloe, once her senses registered, rolled her eyes and exhaled a long breath. It felt as if she had held onto that breath hella longer time than that kiss took.
"It'll do." Her tone was that of someone who was unimpressed, despite all signs pointing to the contrary. Chloe turned on her heel to make her way back to her bed. "You did…okay. You can use some work, though." Chloe plopped down on the bed and landed on her stomach, reaching towards her night stand for an unlit joint. She needed something to help her nerves settle. Once the wrapped herb was in her grasp, she turned back to her friend and sat cross legged on her bed.
"We'll work on your technique later." She winked at the time traveler. Her confidence was back to its 'fuck you- I'm awesome' levels, "If you play your cards right, maybe I'll even show some of my secret moves." She purred in the best seductress voice she could muster.
"Oh, shut up!" The brunette rolled her eyes and turned to the closet to get dressed.
Part of me thinks uploading this is a mistake, but if I didn't I would just end up deleting the whole thing and keeping it to myself. So I need to know: Good? Bad? Areas to improve? What did I do well and where did I fail?
I want to give you guys high quality work, but I can't do it on my own. So please, help me improve so I can provide better content :)
