Wow, you enjoyed the first chapter enough to come back for a second? Awesomesauce!
Also, I'm pushing the tornado back by a week. I wanted to keep the same canon story while adding in my own stuff, so that'll be that. Cool? Cool. Right now I'd say this is just after the junkyard scene in Out of Time.
...
*Five years ago...*
"Chloe?"
"Yeah, Max?"
"What do you think about the future?"
Chloe turned her head to the side to look at her best friend, and Max did the same. Blades of grass tickled the side of her face and blocked some of her view, but it doesn't matter. She chuckled softly.
"How far into the future?" she asked. "Gotta be more specific, Maxie."
She saw the visible flinch in Max's shoulders, knowing that the girl thought she was going to say her full name. Chloe smirked. She loved teasing the younger girl.
"Um... how about five years?" Max said after a minute. "We'll both be adults then, right?"
"Technically speaking." Chloe replied. She turned back to the sky and pretended she couldn't feel Max's gaze burning holes through her. "Five years, huh? Let's see..."
Max took the chance to start. She knew Chloe would need a minute or so. "I'd like to think that I've successfully submitted a few photos into galleries around the country, getting at least one or two accepted into the floor."
Chloe laughed. "You're selling yourself short, dude."
"Not really. I mean, I'm pretty amateur." Max said softly. She tugged up a few blades of grass out of the ground.
"Okay, even if that were true, you'll get better." Chloe attempted reassurance. "I think your pictures are amazing."
"You're my best friend, Chloe. Of course you do."
Chloe's eyebrows furrowed a bit and she pushed herself up on her elbows, turning over on to her side to look at Max. The slightly darker blue doe eyes of her best friend blinked up at her and she swallowed subtly.
"I'm not just saying that because I'm your best friend, Max." she said. "I'm being super honest right now."
This made Max's cheeks flush in embarrassment and flattery. She looks away from Chloe and down at her hands. "Have you figured out yours yet?"
"Well, the obvious thing is that I'll be by your side." Chloe said. "Together we'll be taking on the world by storm and showing it who's boss."
"Is that so?" Max grinned.
"Hell yeah!" Chloe said. "You'll be SuperMax and I'll be your faithful companion and sidekick! Or I could be the captain and you'll be my first mate. Like always."
Max's hand had sought out Chloe's and she intertwined their fingers. "As long as we're together, I don't care what we are."
Chloe's heart fluttered and she smiled at Max. "Well duh. I'll always be with you."
"You promise?"
Chloe drew an 'x' over her heart.
"Forever."
*Present...*
"Yo, Chloe! You ready yet?!"
Chloe stamps out her blunt in the ash tray just as she hears Max calling for her. She winces slightly and huffs through her nose.
"Yeah, one second!" she calls back.
"Well hurry up, the movie starts soon!"
Chloe goes over to her closet and slides the door open. She doesn't bother looking at the clothes that Rachel left behind. She goes straight for her leather jacket and takes it off the hanger, closing the door and putting the jacket on. She casts a glance over her shoulder to the bed. Her stomach tingles with awakening butterflies.
Forget it, Price. It was only a dream.
She throws open her bedroom door and turns the corner to the stairs. She sees Max leaning against the wall at the bottom, her attention to her phone until she hears Chloe's footsteps. She looks up and smiles a bit, the kind that says she's happy to see her and it makes Chloe's stomach twist, and tucks her phone into her bag. "Took you long enough."
"Hey, one does not simply look this hot without trying." Chloe says as she descends the staircase.
"Right, because you have to try." Max rolls her eyes.
She's only joking.
"Don't be jealous." the punk retorts with a teasing smirk as she walks by Max.
"Whoever said I was?" Max says.
Chloe scoffs and opens the front door, gesturing for Max to go out first. "Just get to the truck, hippie."
"Yes, Captain Chloe." Max says and walks out the front door to Chloe's truck.
Chloe follows her out and gets in the driver seat. She puts the key in the ignition and Max scoots forward to fumble with the radio. Chloe is officially on the road when Max settles on a station playing some song about never growing up. Max sits back in the seat and looks out the window.
The silence isn't anywhere near awkward, but Chloe's fingers tap anxiously on the steering wheel. She wants to say something.
"Which movie are we seeing again?"
Real fucking smooth.
"That vampire horror movie. Let Me In, I think." Max said.
"A vampire movie? You disappoint me, Max." Chloe groans.
"What, it's a good movie. It came out in, like, 2010." Max said.
"2010? Since when did the drive-in start showing recent movies?" Chloe glanced over at Max.
The brunette shrugged. "Since they realized their younger audiences don't always like movies about giant gorillas from the sixties."
"Fair point." Chloe said.
"But I think you'll like it." Max looked to Chloe. "There's blood and kids getting their asses kicked." She smiled.
"Right up my alley." Chloe laughed.
...
Chloe pulls into a space and turns the truck off. Max checks her phone. "Five minutes to spare. Snacks?"
"You know it. Who goes to a movie and doesn't get snacks?" Chloe says as she opens her door. "That's high treason to the movie theater ritual!"
Max giggles. The sound rang against Chloe's eardrums. Chloe goes ahead and gets out, Max following suit. The brunette circles the car and meets Chloe on the other side. The two of them head towards the snack bar, Chloe tucking her hands into her pockets.
Over the sounds of their sneakers scuffing against the pavement, Chloe hears Max huff a sigh. She looks at her, eyebrow raised. "Something up?" she says.
"Hm? Just thinking." Max shrugs.
"Care to enlighten me?" Chloe asks.
"It's, uh, nothing that you should be worried about." Max gives her a sideways glance.
"Max, you are being so fucking strange." Chloe cuts her foot in front of Max's path, bringing her to a stop. "You know you can tell me anything."
Max bites her lip and slowly looks up at Chloe through her hair. The look is innocent, shy and nervous. Chloe finds that when she looks into the blue eyes of the photographer, she feels lighter. Her stomach tightens, her brain starts to go fuzzy, and the world revolving around Max starts to disappear.
Don't do this to me.
"I'm just... How are we going to see a movie when there's a tornado on the way?" Max says softly.
"That's it? That's what you're worried about?" Chloe smiles gently at the photographer. "Max, we have another week before that tornado. We can afford to let go here and there."
"Still, I feel like we should be using our time more wisely." Max shuffles her feet. "No matter how much or little we have..."
"Max." Chloe says and, to her, her voice sounds too low. Regardless, Max raises her head to properly look at Chloe.
Chloe knew she was taller than Max. Always had been. The difference in height always felt like an advantage to her when it came to certain things. Right now it was a disadvantage. Towering over Max in this proximity made her think of all the cliché movie scenes where the main characters are in the exact same position and end up kissing, followed by confessing their love for each other.
I could never be so lucky.
"Don't beat yourself up over this whole saving the world thing, alright?" Chloe finally says. She hopes the sentence doesn't sound as strained as it feels. "We're gonna do this, and we're gonna do it together." She smiles. "Even superheroes need some downtime."
"I can't help it. I-" Max cuts herself off and drops her gaze. Chloe frowns.
Could I...
No, bad idea Price. This isn't a video game. Kiss her, and you fuck up everything you've worked so hard to get in the past couple days.
But I want to so bad.
Chloe settles for taking Max's hand (She's shaking. Baby steps,) and locks their fingers together. "I'm right here, okay? I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be with you."
"You promise?" The whisper is so soft, Chloe almost isn't sure if she heard it.
It takes her back to that day five years ago when they were splayed out in the grass of Chloe's backyard. She felt fourteen again. Before her father died, before Max had left, before she met Rachel... Before everything that could possibly go wrong did.
Chloe moves her hand, Max's hand still in hers, and draws an 'x' over her heart.
"Forever."
...
'Just so you know, I can't be your friend.'
'Why not?'
'That's just the way it is.'
Chloe holds in a groan of boredom as she reclines against the back of her truck. Max had the bright idea to turn the truck around and open the flat bed, taking a blanket from the front seat and laying it out for them to sit on as they watched the movie. Two cups of soda, a large popcorn, and a few bags of various candy sit between Chloe's right leg and Max's left.
"So, wait." Chloe whispers. Max, who is all into the movie, tilts her head towards Chloe to let her know she's listening. "That chick is the vampire?"
"Mhmm." Max hums.
"What is she, like, twelve?"
"Are you gonna ask questions or are you going to watch the movie?" Max jokes.
Chloe readies herself to give a smart ass reply when she notices that Max has her arms wrapped around herself and has huddles inward. Chloe snaps the remark back and instead says, "You cold?"
"J-just a little." Max stutters through her teeth.
Chloe sits up and pulls her 'Bring Me The Horizon' hoodie over her head, leaving herself in a black and gray tank for a top. She nudges Max with her foot and, when she looks back, holds the article of clothing out to her.
"Oh, n-no, it's-" she begins. Chloe's chuckle interrupts her.
"Just take it." she says.
Max blinks and smiles thankfully, taking the hoodie from Chloe's hands. Their fingers brush against each other and she tenses briefly, unsure if Max noticed. Max tugs the hoodie over her head and puts her arms through the sleeves. Her fingers barely show, giving away that it's too big for her. She doesn't seem to mind, though, as she burrows herself in Chloe's clothes and sighs contentedly. The hoodie smells like her, a mix of weed and Axe Excite which was Chloe's favorite body wash.
Chloe folds her arms behind her head and leans back again.
...
When the credits start to role, Chloe stretches and cracks her neck. "You know, that movie wasn't half bad, Ma- Max?"
Chloe realizes that Max is asleep when she looks over at her. She's curled up against the back, her arm covering the lower half of her face. Chloe's stomach twisted.
Goddamn it.
Chloe gets on her knees and carefully hooks her arms under Max's knees and shoulders, inching her way to the edge of the flatbed and somehow maneuvering herself so that she was in a sitting position. She slides off onto her feet and walks around to the passenger side of the car. She opens the door (after a bit of struggle) and places Max inside.
She proceeds to clean up the truck and takes out her phone to check the time. It's 11:54.
And she has the audacity to get on me about falling asleep on her while watching a movie.
She folds up the blanket and puts it in the space between her and Max as she gets in. She starts up the truck and drives off in the direction of Blackwell Academy.
By the time she gets there it's well after midnight and waaaaay after Max's curfew. Chloe is sure that she can get Max to her dorm, and lucky for her it's not David's night to patrol. Chloe reaches over to Max and feels around her pockets for her keys. She takes them out when she finds them, twirling them on her finger as she goes around to pick Max up in her arms.
Max isn't very heavy so Chloe doesn't have much trouble carrying her across campus to the girl's dorms. She fumbles with the front knob before getting it open and uses her foot to close it behind her.
What room was it again? 219?
Chloe heads down the hallway until she comes across Max's room and puts the key in the lock. She gets the door open and shuffles inside. She lays Max down on her bed and places her keys on the nightstand next to her bed. She stands there for a minute, awkwardly, and starts to leave. She pauses at the doorway and looks over her shoulder.
Fuck it.
She closes the door with her inside and goes to Max's couch, cleaning it off. She kicks her sneakers off and lays down on the couch. It's not very comfortable, but she'll manage. She forces a smile in Max's direction.
Goodnight, SuperMax.
...
Soooo, what do you think so far? I'm trying to get better, honest! Next chapter will start with Max.
CaptainVampireQueen awaaaay!