Golden light peaked threw curtains illuminating motes of dust swirling threw the air. The yellow warmth crept across the bed and soon shined across the sleeping face of the lone resident of the dorm room. After a few attempts at putting off the encroaching day Max finally opened her eyes and took in the morning. Lazily rising from her bed and immediately unleashing a bone tugging stretch, Max glanced at her phone sitting on the small table next to her bed. The small light on the top of the device was blinking in a steady rhythm indicating a message was waiting for her. After scooping it up she awakened it from sleep much like her recent self and checked her messages. Two new messages sat unread, both from Chloe. Opening the message thread with the punk rocker, she checked what was so important it had to be sent so early in the day.

Chloe: Hey mad Max, you up yet?

Then 2 minutes later.

Chloe: Seems not lazybones, guess what? I got a job! It's just doing dishes and shit down at Two Whales but cash is cash rite? Anyways, since I'm gonna be pulling in the big bucks now, I'm picking you up for dinner tonight, my treat. I'll get ya at 6!

Max smiled to herself as she sent a message back.

Max: My, my, how responsible of you. Looking forward to it. :)

Max was startled as her phone immediately vibrated with a response.

Chloe: NO EMOJI!

Max chuckled as she put her phone back down and stood up. She walked to her stereo and flipped it on. A soft acoustic track trickled out of her speakers, filling the room with the soft plucking of guitar strings. Max found herself in front of her window staring out into the morning. The sky was blue with only a small amount of clouds and the sun shone brightly in the sky. She picked a water bottle off of the windowsill and bent down to hydrate her plant Lisa. A couple days had passed since she had last done so and she looked a little parched. Turning her attention to the cage with the small bunny residing in it she picked up a carrot from a tray and offered it to the cute furball. "Don't worry little guy," she cooed, "Kate will be back real soon to take you home."

She glanced at the time, still only 8 am. "Always was an early riser." She mumbled to no one in particular. She flinched when her gaze met the pile of homework that had begun to dominate her desk. A sigh escaped her lips as she went to meet the invading force. "Guess I know what I'm doing today." She plopped into her chair and cracked the first book. "Never was great at science." She frowned at the sight of the unreadable chemical compositions taunting her from the pages and sighed.

Max groaned and dropped her pencil. Her fingers pressed into her temples as she tried to make the equations she had been mindlessly staring at make sense in her mind. She reached across her desk and flicked on the lamp so she could actually read the damn text book. Quickly she paused, her body realizing before her jumbled mind that turning on a light should mean something. It clicked a second later, what time was it? She looked to the small clock in the bottom corner of her laptop, 5:45 pm it read back at her. "Fiddlesticks!" she yelled as she jumped out of her seat. Looking down she realized that she was still in the clothes that she had woken up in. She grabbed her towel and shower supplies before sprinting down the hall to get cleaned up.

She returned to her room 10 minutes later and absentmindedly threw her pajamas into a far corner. She toweled off as quickly as she could and threw on her customary "generic" jeans as Chloe would call them. She froze as she looked into what remained in her closet. It must have been far longer than she had thought since she had last done the laundry. Only two items now remained there. A bright red lacey bra that she had gotten as a gag back in Seattle and a white cotton shirt with a far lower cut than she ever consider wearing. Her phone chose that moment to flash from its resting place on her bed, a message from Chloe proudly proclaimed on its surface.

Chloe: Yo, your resident Max-aholic has arrived. Where you at?

Max gulped as an unfamiliar gnawing grew in the pit of her stomach. She threw on the embarrassing clothes and checked herself in the mirror. A blush quickly sprung across her face as she took in her appearance. It would be nothing radical to what normal people wore, but it was quite the deviation from what Max felt comfortable in. "Well, no time to worry about it now. Nobody's ever accused Chloe of being patient before." She grabbed her phone and camera bag then headed out her door. She half jogged down the hallway to the exit of the dorm. Dana and Juliet were talking outside the former's door as Max made her way passed. When she neared Max heard the chatter between the girls fall silent. Max saw Dana's gaze pass quickly across her choice of output before a sly smirk appeared on her face, she winked as Max met her stare. A blush exploded across her face and she found herself in a sudden hurry to feel the cool air outside. The laughter of two girls could be heard in the hallway as she exited the building.

Once outside the ominous grey sky quickly drew Max's attention, the sun and blue sky from the morning had seemingly passed and rain looked to be in Arcadia Bay's future. Shaking her head in annoyance Max continued on to find Chloe. She found her outside the front of the school, beat-up truck parked in a clear no parking zone with said teenager casually leaned against it one foot up on the bumper staring up into the sky. She was dressed in her typical style though with a few tweaks, the beanie that typically adorned the top of her head was missing and her hair look a little more styled than normal. Underneath her typical black leather jacket she wore a black dress shirt with the top few buttons undone. On her legs she had jeans but they seemed the have a few less tears than normal and her black military style boots appeared to be a little cleaner than Max remembered. As she approached Chloe must have heard the sounds of her footsteps as she brought her attention back from the sky to meet Max's gaze with her own icy blue orbs. Max's breath hitched slightly in her lungs as she did so, she stutter stepped slightly and a grin quickly spread across Chloe's face at her gaffe. The unfamiliar feeling that had confused Max before made its presence known again, as the feeling of butterflies blossomed in her chest. As she neared Chloe popped open the passenger door for her and let out a low whistle as her eyes drank in Max's appearance. "Looking good, Mighty Max. Didn't realize you had anything in that hipster closet outside of hoodies."

Max slid into her seat of the truck too embarrassed to form any sort of understandable sentence. She heard Chloe chuckle lightly at the bright red plastered across her face as her door closed behind her. She watched Chloe stride passed the front of her truck, her fingertips gliding across the hood. Chloe hopped into the driver's seat and with a flick of her wrist the engine rumbled to life. Chloe gunned the truck forward and soon they were speeding back into town. Chloe smirked as she looked back over at her partner in crime, "So, you planning to actually talk tonight or am I gonna have to one woman show this gig?"

Letting out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, Max smiled and looked back at Chloe. "So moneybags Price, where exactly are when headed on this prestigious event? I trust given your recent windfall it'll be only the best."

"Damn right, only the best for my dear Maxine."

"Really Chloe?" Max upturned an eyebrow at the girl. "Hella uncool." Chloe scoffed as she pulled into the parking lot of their destination. Max glanced out the window and let out a resigned huff. "Are we really at Two Whales right now?" She glanced at Chloe with a disbelieving exasperation.

"What? They are the best, it's not like we have a lot of options here." Chloe shrugged off the comment. "Plus we can eat free now."

"I thought we were doing this because of all the cash your rolling in now?"

A daring smile and a gleam of something Max didn't immediately recognize grew in Chloe's eye and the bluenette's gaze broke from her's and leisurely strolled down her body before returning to her gaze. "That might not have been the only reason."

The heat returned in a furious wave across Max's face as she couldn't escape from Chloe's stare. The flush finally seemed to trigger a return to Max's senses and she fumbled to open her door and jumped out the vehicle. "W… well we should get in there then, I'm starving." She laughed nervously trying to hide her embarrassment.

Chloe followed Max out of the truck. "Alright, hippie. Let's go."

Dinner went pretty smoothly for the two girls. After recovering from her initial embarrassment Max felt herself fall into a comfortable rhythm of conversational back and forth with her best friend. She was just finishing the chocolate malt that she had convinced Chloe to get for her as the pitter-patter of rain on the window pane drew her attention. She stared at the picturesque view outside as a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She had always loved the look of rain falling in the nighttime glow of city lights. She pulled out her camera from its ever present bag and snapped a quick picture. As the Polaroid sprung forth from the camera she quickly took hold of it and shook it out.

"Lemme' see." Chloe held out her hand from across the table, Max handed her the photo as the bluenette set money down on the table as a tip for their meal. "Pretty." Chloe mused over the photo before handing it back to its originator. Max spared one last glance before tucking it into her journal and returning everything to her bag. Chloe stood from the table and waited for Max to do the same. As she spared one thought about the photo a sudden realization struck Max, it was raining outside. And it her infinite wisdom Max was wearing a thin white shirt with a very risqué undergarment beneath it. She sucked it a breath with a dread creeping through her bones. This was not going to end well.

She tucked her chin into her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around her midsection as they made their way towards the door. "Ready to make a run for it?"

"Y-ya, I guess." Her halfheartedly mumbled response causes Chloe to raise an eyebrow.

"Don't worry nerd. A little rain never anyone. Well, besides that dumb witch but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you don't have an army of flying monkey's at your disposal." She shrugged as if actually considering the possibility of such a situation. "Ah, well. Let's go." She opened the door and began jogging towards the truck, key already in her hands. Max chased after her, body hunched forward hoping to divert as much of the water as possible from her chest. "Fucking hell." A curse sounded from Chloe as she promptly droped her key after reaching the driver side door. While she fumbled with the keys Max cursed the gods for their obvious bias against life ever going smoothly for her.

Finally Chloe got the cab unlocked and the two girls rushed out of the rain. Max was soaked by the time she finally got inside and closed the door. Laughing Chloe playfully punched Max's shoulder, the impact causing Max's body to tilt towards the older girl. The words that had been forming on Chloe's lips seemed to die in her throat as her gaze is attracted to the bright pop of red showing through Max's shirt. "Whoa Max, didn't know you were such a fan of lace." Pink dusted Chloe's cheeks.

Quickly Max spun away from Chloe to face the window. "It was the only thing in my closet alright."

"Where did you even get that?"

Max rolled her eyes expressively, "It was a dumb gift from some of my friends back in Seattle. They thought I needed to, try a little harder." She accompanied the last part with mocking air quotes. "I've never actually worn it before." Max wound her arms tighter around herself as a small shudder ran across her body. The rain had penetrated to her bones and it chilled more than she anticipated.

Chloe finally snapped her attention away from the image of Max in that bra now burned into her memory when she saw the shiver. Smiling to herself she shrugged her shoulders out of her jacket. "Lean forward."

"Huh?" Instinctively Max followed the command as she looked back inquisitively. Chloe leaned over a wrapped her jacket around the photographer. The jacket was still warm from body heat and Max wormed her way deeper into its confines. The obvious difference in size between the girls worked to her advantage as she could be totally enveloped in the garment.

"Thanks."

"Anytime nerd." Chloe finally shifted the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot heading towards the Price household.

They rode along in a comfortable silence; the soft notes of the rain of the car mixed with the radio turned low creating a soothing backdrop. Attempting to be discrete Max nuzzled deeper into the jacket and inhaled. It smelled of smoke, weed, and body spray which fused into something uniquely Chloe. It intoxicated Max, completely over powering her other sense. She closed her eyes. "If only I could stay like this forever" she thought. Surrounded by Chloe's warmth and scent, she couldn't imagine anything more comfortable.

Unbeknownst to Max, Chloe was watching the apprehensive girl out of the corner of her eye. At first she thought Max so obviously sniffing her jacket was a little strange but the more she did it and the more she seemed to enjoy it a feeling of protectiveness bloomed within her. The knowledge that Max was so comforted by something of hers empowered Chloe, she decided then are there that she would do anything to make sure Max always felt like that around her.

All the lights in the Price household were off by the time the girls made it back from Two Whales. Chloe coasted her truck down the street before stopping in front of her house. With a mischievous glint in her eye Chloe pointed at the latticework leading up to her bedroom window. "We'll go up that," she whispered. "Quieter."

They got out of the car and softly closed the doors behind them. Chloe took the lead and scrambled up to the roof. Max followed behind at a much more conservative pace. Chloe popped the window opened and began sliding into the room. As Max took the last step off the lattice and over the lip of the roof she felt her foot begin to slip on the wet shingles. She lost her balance and she could feel the pull of gravity bringing her towards the ground. Just as the panic threatened to overtake her senses a vice latched onto her forearm and her fall halted. Looking up at a smug smile attempting to veil intense concern; Chloe in one smooth motion lifted Max into her lap and scooted with her into the punk's lair. "You know you weight about as much as like, a bag of feathers or something right."

"Sssh, Chloe. Aren't we supposed to be being quiet?" Max whispered in response.

"Nah, Joyce and step-douche are gone for the night. Just us here."

Max was rendered speechless, "But then why did we have to go through the window?"

The smug grin returned in full force across Chloe's features. "We didn't, but it was hella fun wasn't it?"

"Hella fun?" Max glared at Chloe. She shifted in the taller girl's grasp so she could face her directly. "Hella fun? I almost fell, for absolutely no reason! I mean you could have at least told me I didn't need to be so damn quiet." As she paused to take a breath the closeness between her and Chloe clicked in her head. They were on top of the desk that was situated right on the inside of the window. In the process of meeting Chloe face to face to yell at her Max had ended up straddling her lap. Now their faces were mere inches apart and Max's hands were balled into fists lying on top of Chloe's shoulders. Max's stare into Chloe's eyes softened from annoyance to wonder at how the icy blue depths could be so beautiful. Chloe's lips begin to move and Max felt her gaze shift towards them. She questioned how such a hard girl could have such soft lips. It wasn't until a finger poked her in the forehead that reality returned to Max's attention.

"Huh?" Confusion filled her voice.

Chloe laughed in her ridiculously beautiful way, "I said, see anything you like princess?"

A blush flushed across Max's face and her eyes darted away from Chloe. Her mind desperately fumbled for something not completely awkward to say. Her thought process was cut short when she felt fingers brush across her cheek. Turning back to Chloe she found tenderness in her eyes that Max did not expect, her thoughts were rendered blank at the scene. Max felt paralyzed as Chloe leaned towards her. The contact of lips startled Max, she couldn't believe that Chloe as actually doing this. Sure, they had shared the kiss on a dare after breaking into Blackwell but this felt… different.

Chloe's mouth met hers, while she could feel the passion from the bluenette within the kiss in response Max simply froze up. She couldn't even close her eyes. Chloe recognized her hesitation quickly and pulled away regret pronounced on her face. "I… I'm sorry, I thought you… never mind. It won't happen again." Chloe slid Max off her lap, stood, and strode a few paces across the room arms crossed around herself looking for relief in distance.

Realization at what she had just done stung Max, she slid off the desk. "Chloe, I'm sorry, I just… didn't know what to do. You surprised me."

"Nah, its okay Max. I shouldn't have done that. I should have known you weren't… into that."

"That not it Chloe." She took a step closer and reached out in the punk's direction uncertainly. "I was just… nervous."

Chloe cocked an eyebrow back at her. "Nervous?"

Max began fidgeting with her hands. "Ya, I mean… I don't exactly have a lot of experience with this." Hope filtered back into Chloe's eyes. "Not to mention you're kinda…" Max failed looking for the proper descriptor.

"Damn sexy?" A smirk returned to Chloe's face.

"Something like that." Max replied face hot from the reveal, face turning to avoid Chloe's smirk.

Closing the distance between them Chloe lightly cupped Max's chin and brought her level her gaze up to meet hers. "Perhaps you just need a good teacher."

"Perhaps…" Max bit her lower lip in thought.

Chloe attention bounced between the eyes she loved to get lost in and soft lips she so badly wanted to capture. After a moment however the skittishness bought on by the situation written loudly across Max's countenance sunk in. She knew Max wanted this, but she could also see the nerves. The tension burdening her entire body language. A hunch formed in her mind, Max had just said she didn't have very much experience in this area, if Chloe had to take a guess she wagered that really meant no experience.

She brushed her thumb across Max's lips, a smug satisfaction growing in her chest when Max's breath hitched and her face grew redder in response. "May I?" She questioned softly. Max swallowed noticeably, then after just a moment's hesitation she nodded her head. Chloe leaned down slowly, hoping to keep Max at ease as she reintroduced herself to the magic of those soft smooth lips. She kept the contact light, chaste almost, letting Max get accustomed to the feeling. She felt Max's arms moments ago at her sides reach skyward and wrap around her neck a slight pressure accompanied them as the smaller girl pulled herself higher towards her. Chloe followed suit, placing her hands on Max's waist and pulling her up.

The kiss lasted for a few more precious seconds until Chloe finally pulled away. Max's beautiful eyes opened happiness shining through, "Wowsers."

Chloe chuckled in response, "Figures that'd be your lame response, hippie."

"Shut up, dork!" Max playfully swatted Chloe's shoulder.

Chloe smiled down at the photographer. She hadn't felt this giddy in a long time. Every time she looked at Max something new stuck out to her, a freckle she'd paid no attention to or the way the corner of her lip twitched as something amused her. The more she paid attention the more she fell for the girl, she wondered if Max felt anything similar. The sound of a phone buzzing broke the silence. Both girls glanced at the desk where Max's phone sat, displaying notifying that a new message from Warren had been received.

The mischievousness returned to Chloe's eyes. Trapping Max against her side Chloe held her at arm's length while picking up Max's phone. "Hmm, what could your boy-toy want?"

"Chloe put that down. He's not my boy-toy, he's just a friend."

Chloe laughed while reading the message. "Oh, so he wants you to go with him to the drive-in huh?"

"Yes, now give me the phone back."

"Don't get your so riled up, pipsqueak. I'll give it back, just as soon as I send a quick note. After all you are taken now, might as well let him know he's barking up the wrong tree. Unless you want me to see if he's down to watch us go at it."

"What!? Chloe Elizabeth Price don't you dare."

"Hmm, are you trying to give your captain an order first mate Max?"

Max gulped before straightening up to her full stature, "Yes. Yes I am."

Chloe dropped Max's phone before looking down at the girl, a predatory gleam in her eye. She moved towards Max who took steps back in proportion to hers, all of sudden much more worried about their situation. The stare down continued until Max bumped back into the wall of Chloe's room. Chloe came closer and closer until she was only inches away from her cornered friend. Gently Chloe took Max's hands in hers, softly brushing her thump over the backs of Max's petite hands. Feeling the tension ease out of her best friend, Chloe smirked before suddenly raising Max's hands high above her head and trapping them against the wall. Using her height advantage Chloe held Max high enough up that she was forced to balance on the tips of her toes and was completely at Chloe's mercy.

"And what exactly gave up the idea that that was acceptable?"

Max gulped nervously, mouth suddenly dry and mind blank of retorts. Giver her position Max was forced to crane her neck upwards to meet Chloe's gaze.

"Hmm, no answer huh? The pale white of Max's neck caught Chloe's attention and she let out a low chuckle. She laid a gentle kiss of Max's collarbone, then trailed kisses to and up her neck across her jaw. A quick check to see Max's eyes closed, breath coming in a gaited rhythm, and head turned to allow her greater access confirmed Chloe's suspicions. She leaned to Max's ear and in a breathless whisper, "Are you enjoying this little Maxi?"

It took a moment for Max's uneven response to form of her lips, "Y… yes, very much so."

Chloe smirked once again, "Good girl." Then as suddenly as she had started she released her captive and swiftly distanced herself. She stretched her arms above her head in a mockery of tiredness and loosed a fake yawn. "Well, bout time to hit the hay, huh Maximillion?"

Max stumped for a moment, in took a second to adjust to being on her own feet again and an even longer second her mind to adjust to Chloe not throwing it into madness. "Wait… what happened?"

"What? Did you think I put out on a first date? What kind of girl do you take me for Max?"

Max finally caught on to the playful tone in Chloe's voice. "Funny, I don't recall being asked out on a date."

"Really? Well you must have simply forgotten, as it was obviously implied."

A few minutes later both girls were underneath the covers of Chloe's bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow exhaustion hit Max like a freight train. She struggled to keep her eyes open as she felt Chloe's arm wrap around her waist and pull her back into the older girl's chest. A feeling of total serenity washed over her, she knew nothing could ever hope to match the comfort she felt in Chloe's firm embrace. With consciousness rapidly departing her, she struggled to get to speak once more. "Chloe?"

She heard a hum of approval and felt accompanying vibration cascading out of her protector which she took as a sign to continue. "Tonight was good; I'd like to do it again."

Chloe chuckled in her ear, a soft whisper followed. "We will Max, we will."

As she felt the relaxation and heard the slow of breathing that indicated Max had fallen asleep Chloe couldn't help but smile one last time. For the first time in years she felt truly and totally content. Her best friend was back and things were going better than she could have ever hoped for. Closing her eyes she thought back to the look of wonder in Max's eyes before Chloe had kissed her the first time. Chloe had always known that she loved Max, though it was only now dawning on her just how much. Thinking about her brought a wave of emotions through Chloe love, happiness, protectiveness, not to mention lust. She promised herself then and there that she would do whatever it took to bring her happiness. After all, Max was now her number one priority.


A/N - This my first attempt doing something for Life is Strange. I absolutely loved the game and especially Max and Chloe, their relationship was done so well I knew I had to write something about. Please let me know if you have any comments on my writing or the story in general, I'm just getting into this whole creative writing thing and I love to see reviews. If people are interested I have a second chapter I'm toying around with writing out, If you'd like to see that please let me know. In any case thanks for reading!

- ForecastingFiction