A/N: Hello everyone, I wanted to start by saying how blown away I was at the response to this story and say thank you to everyone who left a review, favorited, or followed the story. I can't express how cool it was for me to see so many people responding to the story so thanks to everyone who came to check out my little corner of life is strange fandom.
Slowly Max awoke from one of the most refreshing slumbers she'd ever experienced. Blinking open her eyes the blurry world around her gradually came into focus. The room was bright from the morning sun filtering in and a refreshing breeze blew in from the window that had been left opened last night. She began her customary morning stretch until a whimper of disapproval caught her off guard. Max instead simply smiled as she considered the utter ridiculousness of the life she was now living. In had been a week since that night at Chloe's. That crazy, wildly unexpected, and ultimately magical night. Since then Chloe had made it official they were now a couple. Looking back Chloe Max's smile grew across her entire face. The punk looked more like a puppy when she was sleeping. Her hair was sprayed messily across her head, she was lightly snoring, her arms were wound tightly across Max's midsection, and her legs were tangled in with Max's. Max tried to pull away from Chloe again only to be greeted repeatedly with the soft whimper, shaking her head Max tried to contain the laughter that was boiling up inside her. As she tried to escape with a little more force the whimper became a low growl and Chloe's eyes peaked open for the first time. Chloe tightened her grip on Max and pulled her closer, "And where exactly do you think you're going, Mad Max?"
"I have to get up, Che."
"Oh, do you now?" Chloe's classic mischievous glint appeared in her eye. "Well we'll see about that." Without warning Chloe jumped on top of Max and began tickling her sides mercilessly. The mirth Max had barley been able to conceal since see woke up burst forth.
"Ch... Chloe…" Max struggled to get any coherent words out between the bouts of laughter. "St… stop… please."
"What was that Max? You'll have to be clearer, I couldn't make that out."
Max flailed about helplessly as she laughed. After a few more seconds that seemed like hours to Max Chloe finally relented her assault. While Max attempted to get her breath back Chloe took a moment to study the girl beneath her. Her brown locks were now strew across her face from her jostling and the light pink shirt with a doe on it that she always wore to bed was rumpled and had been pulled up in the tussle revealing a slice of pale midriff. Learning down Chloe brushed some hair that had fallen across Max's face behind her ear. "You're beautiful when you laugh you, you know that hippie?"
Heat rushed across Max's face and she did all she could to avoid meeting Chloe's gaze. Max slid out from under Chloe and threw her legs over the edge of the bed ready to stand. "Uh huh, if you say so."
With a small frown Chloe reached out and put a hand on Max's shoulder, halting her retreat and sided up next to her. Carefully she gasped Max's chin and brought the girl's eyes to meet her own. "I'm serious Max, you know that don't you? You're the most beautiful person I've ever know."
The blush previously limited to her cheeks fanned out across her entire face, even flaring down her neck. A little smile began tugging at the corner of her lips at Chloe's obviously honest praise. "You sure know how to make a girl blush don't you?"
"Pssh, you know I'm hella smooth Caulfield."
Laughing Max finally was allowed to stand and she stretched her entire body head to toe. Turning back to the bed she noticed that Chloe had stretched back across her bed, with her arm cocked at the elbow holding her head up. The punk was watching Max with a cocky grin across her face. "Man, could I hella get used to watching that first thing in the morning."
Putting her hands on her hips in mock annoyance Max tried to sound exasperated. "Is the gutter all you think about Price?"
Chloe shrugged her shoulders non-committedly. "What can I say Maxi, I have a one track mind." Then in complete avoidance of that one track Chloe took her gaze off Max and instead inspected the dorm room. "You know I've been here almost every night this week and I still don't think I've seen all the random stuff you have thrown across this place." As her gaze passed over the couch across the room Chloe spied the acoustic guitar leaning against it. "Can you actually play that thing?"
After deducing what exactly 'that' was Max looked at the ground shyly, "I mean, I can play along to a few things."
Chloe perked up at the admission, "Will you play some for me?"
"Um, I suppose I could. Keep your expectations in check though."
Max gingerly picked up the instrument and sat down on the couch with it across her lap. Sliding the pick out from its resting place between the strings Max's rested her hand on the frets and hung the other arm over the body of the guitar. Feeling incredibly nervous Max glanced up at Chloe. She responded by giving a small smile and a light nod of encouragement. With a deep breath Max began plucking the strings in a light rhythm. As she played she hummed along with the melody. After a few bars her comfort with playing grew and her notes came off with more confidence and beauty.
Chloe took in the scene with an air of wonder, not only could her girlfriend play guitar, she was really good at it. 'She's so amazing when she stops worrying about other people and just does her own thing. I need to make her see that.' As the tune continued Chloe began to notice that intonation Max used in her humming and a thought occurred to her. "Does this song have lyrics?"
Stopping short on the guitar Max looked to Chloe with surprise. She had actually began to get lost in the music like she did when she played by herself. "Huh?"
Chloe laughed, "I asked if the song has lyrics."
"Oh, yea it does."
"Could you sing them? And before you start don't say you're not good enough to do so."
Sighing Max fiddled with the strings without actually producing any sound. "Yes, I know the lyrics. I… I guess I can sing for you, but no complaining about my inevitable lack of ability."
Chloe sighed at the self-deprecation in the words but quickly Max resumed plucking notes on the guitar where she had left off. Nervously clearing her throat as the next line of words approached she could feel the tension building within her.
We played hide and seek in waterfalls. We were younger, we were younger.
We played hide and seek in waterfalls. We were younger, we were younger.
Someday we will foresee obstacles. Through the blizzard, through the blizzard.
As the final notes of the song faded into the background Max let out a sigh of relief, believing that she had managed to avoid completely embarrassing herself. Hearing the sounds of footsteps approaching Max looked up just in time to for Chloe to reach her seated position and kneel in front of her. "That was awesome, Maxaroni. How could you not tell me you were such a sweet ass musician?"
Max rubbed the back of her neck shyly and looked away at the complement. "It's really not that special."
"Max you are incredibly special, don't ever doubt that."
Max's face flushed at the intimate appraisal. Jumping up she squeezed by Chloe and grabbed her shower supplies from her closet. "Okay, I'm going to go take a shower." She darted out the door before Chloe could protest.
After finishing her shower Max returned to her room. She paused, locked in placed as she stepped into through the threshold. Chloe was sitting in her open windowsill, one leg propped up with her back and head resting on one side. A cigarette hung loosely in her lips with a thin trail of smoke slipping out and twisting past the window and out into the morning air. She was intently studying something held in her hand which was shielded from Max's view by Chloe's popped knee. A simple smile rested on her lips and a look of intrigue resided in her eyes.
"What are you looking at?"
Chloe looked up to meet Max's questioning gaze. With a chuckle and a hint of teasing in her eyes Chloe held up a small journal. Max regarded it for a moment confused before it clicked in her head. She ran across the room to Chloe and attempted to reach across the girl for the book.
"Hey, give that to me."
Chloe laughed heartily at the smaller girls flailing action. "I'm a pirate Mad Max, stealing booty is what I do." She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively, "Being your girlfriend has to come her some benefits after all."
Sighing as a blush covered her face Max realized Chloe wasn't going to give back her journal so she settled on backing up and playfully punching the older girl in the shoulder. Muttering, "Dork" before turning to her closet to pick out some new clothes for the day.
Chloe smiled fondly as Max wandered over to her closet before shaking her head and turning away. Selfishly she would love to watch Max dress but she also knew that would make the other girl incredibly uncomfortable. She wasn't used to having a relationship like the one she shared with Max; it was so much more than anything physical. Chloe was no stranger to the more lustful side of love and while she certainly felt that for Max for perhaps the first time she felt no desire to rush to it. Max's lack of experience in the area needed no clarification and Chloe knew she wanted it to be everything the younger girl could possibly dream of when they got there. Thus she'd wait until Max felt comfortable, until she was ready.
Turning her attention back to the stolen journal she had in her hand Chloe felt a little guilty for not returning it when Max asked but the writing and doodles contained inside entranced her, and she didn't want to stop parsing through them. She tried to reason with herself that Max couldn't me that upset seeing how quickly she gave up trying to retrieving it but her guilty conscience didn't buy in. Sighing she decided she'd look at one more page then stop and give it back, let her girlfriend decide if she wanted to share the rest.
Turning to the next page Chloe was in instant astonishment. The two page spread before her was not what she was expecting to see. Up to this point the journal had simply contained summaries of days in Max's life accompanied with small doodles representing events or ideas that had crossed Max's path. This however was a full two page drawing, less of a sketch as is was far more detailed than the others. It was a drawn representation of the photo she had encouragement Max to take of her dancing on her bed the first day they had come back into contact with each other. The level of intricacy contained within was astonishing; every little detail of her room was represented. All the posters on her walls and knickknacks scattered across horizontal surfaces were there. As she continued to examine all the nooks and crannies she couldn't help but have the feeling that something was off about it. Everything seemed to be in the right place but the overall look seemed incorrect. Finally it struck her, the part that seemed was wrong was her. The incarnation that Max had created simply looked objectively better than she actually did, her hair flowed with a grace it never actually did, her features were better defined, her clothes hung on her body with more beauty, and her expression was more joyous than she ever was. The conflict between the accuracy of the rest of the depiction in the drawing with the obvious improvements made to the representation of herself puzzled her. The evidence of Max's drawing talent was considerable and she literally had photographic documentation to base this drawing off of. Confused, she let out a frustrated sigh in exasperation.
"What's wrong?"
Chloe jerked up surprised, Max had finished dressing and was standing before her clad in her typical jeans, twee graphic shirt, and grey hoodie with a look of questioning on her face.
Chloe held up the journal with the page open, "Why did you draw me like this?"
Frowning Max held out her hand for the journal which Chloe acquiesced too. Max studied the picture for a moment before she looked up, confusing still across her features. "What do you mean?"
Chloe rolled her eyes before standing from her perch on the window. Leaning over Max's shoulder Chloe picked out the various elements of the depiction that had confused her. "These are all wrong, I don't look like that."
Max's eyes flicked from the page in her hands to the girl standing beside her, her frown didn't budge nor did the confusion depart from her eyes. Finally giving up Max met Chloe's gaze and shrugged, "I don't know what you mean Chloe, what is what you look like." Then as she closed the journal and tucked it into her camera bag she added softly, "At least to me you do."
The weight of that sentence struck Chloe like a blow to the heart. 'That was what she looked like to Max?' She glanced towards her girlfriend who was fiddling with the strap of her camera bag. Reaching down Chloe laid her hand softly on Max's cheek who jerked her head up in response. Leaning down Chloe placed a quick kiss on Max's soft lips. "Thank you," she whispered.
Max stumbled back, face aglow. "Just telling the truth." She cleared her throat in an attempt to compose herself. "Well then Ms. I live in my girlfriend's dorm room some of us have actual homework to get to."
Chloe scoffed at that, "As if, I just read your journal remember. I know all you have is that quick photography assignment and I'd like to watch my uber-talented girlfriend do her thing. Besides, you know you love having me around."
Max smiled in response, when Chloe was right Chloe was right. "Alright, I suppose you could come while I take pictures." Adding sarcastic emphasis on suppose. She shifted her weight back and forth trying to build up the courage to try something. With a final breath and an internal note of encouragement Max quickly jumped up onto her toes, placed her hands on Chloe's shoulders and kissed the girl with intensity she didn't know she had in her. Leaning towards Chloe's ear she whispered, "I do love having you here, Che." She then spun on her heel and promptly departed the room.
Chloe was locked in place for a moment before she regained the ability to control her limbs and speech. "Hey, get back here hippie." She charged after her laughing girlfriend, nearly tackling her she caught up halfway down the hallway. Coming up with a payback plan on the fly Chloe put one arm around Max's shoulders and hooked the other behind the girl's knees and hoisted her up bridal style.
Max began playfully shoving at Chloe's shoulder, "Chloe Elizabeth Price put me down this instant."
Chloe paused in the middle on the hallway, head cocked as if deep in thought before finally shaking her head teasingly, "Nah, I don't think so."
"Ugh, fine. Just don't make a scene please."
"What? Me? Make a scene? Never." Then with a cocky smirk Chloe forcefully kicked the exit door open causing it to slam against its hinges at full speed. A couple of students who had congregated on the steps outside spin around at the booming sound. "Out of the way people, Chloe Price and girlfriend Max Caulfield coming through."
Max buried her face in Chloe's chest, completely and totally embarrassed. "Seriously!?" Max whined through Chloe's shirt.
Chloe laughed brightly, "Sorry babe, but I can't let anybody get the wrong idea about you."
Curiously Max peeked up at Chloe, "What is that supposed to mean?"
Chloe's self-confident smirk grew across her face again and she leaned down to whisper to Max. "Gotta let everybody know that you're mine."
Max blushed crimson at that comment and burrowed herself further into Chloe hoping nobody she actually knew saw the scene Chloe was causing, though she knew such a prospect was highly unlikely. Said girl's trademark scent of smoke and cologne relaxed her given their close proximity. It made the rest of the world seem so far away and so unimportant. When they finally reached the beat up truck in the parking lot Chloe managed to shift Max in her arms enough to pop open the passenger side door and let her cargo slide in.
Max sit in her seat missing the warmth and comforting feel of Chloe. She watched the older girl stride confidently in front of the truck over the driver's side door. She slid into the truck and revved up the engine. Throwing the truck into reverse she pulled a quick and probably dangerous three point turn before flying down the road away from Blackwell. As they motored down the ribbon of asphalt Max looked over at Chloe, she was stretched out nonchalantly, her left hand resting on the wheel with her index and middle finger tapping out some indescript rhythm. Her right arm was laid over the backrest of the bench seat of the truck, her hand almost reaching Max. In a rare moment of throwing caution to the wind, Max scooted across the seat until she was leaning against Chloe. She felt Chloe tense behind her which caused her to instantly begin regretting her decision. In a moment longer however Chloe relaxed and brought her arm down around Max pulling her tight against her. Soon after Max felt a quick kiss press against her temple.
With the sun high in the blue sky Max and Chloe arrived at the lighthouse overlooking Arcadia Bay. After disentangling themselves in the truck the girls exited the vehicle and began the trek from the parking lot to the lighthouse overlook.
"So, what exactly is the goal of this little assignment of yours?"
"I'm supposed to take pictures of something that inspires me, a muse so to speak."
"And the lighthouse inspires you?"
Max shrugged in response, "Somewhat, I thought between that, the ocean, and the town I could find some images that would fit the bill."
After arriving at the clearing around the lighthouse Chloe turned to Max and swung her arms around the scene in front of them, "Okay, photo-Max, show me what you got."
Shaking her head in exasperation Max pulled out her trusty retro camera and began moving around the clearing. Chloe did her best puppy impression and following behind her step by step. The third time Chloe asked her when she was going to start taking actual pictures she whirled around on the annoyance, "These things takes time alright, I don't just come out here take a couple random pictures and call it good. I have to get a feel for things, and your pestering is not helping."
For a quiet moment the world seemed to slow to a crawl and Chloe expression slowly morphed from curiosity to pissed off. "Fine then, I'm going to go have a smoke. Let me know when you're done." The girl then harshly stomped off and threw herself onto the bench looking out over the bay.
Max immediately felt bad about her outburst; the annoyance in her words had even surprised her. Neither of them had yelled at each other since their relationship had become more intimate and to be entirely honest Max had never suspected that she would be the first one to do so. She glanced remorsefully at her incensed girlfriend; she had no idea what to say to her to fix this. Chloe wasn't exactly world renown for her ability to forgive and forget. Sighing Max decided that might just be the best the get the pictures she needed and get out of her. Hopefully then they could just put the whole incident behind them.
Returning her inquisitive eye to her surroundings again Max frowned as the same familiar of emptiness returned to her. Truthfully she had no idea what she was going to do for this assignment before this morning, suggesting here had come on a whim when Chloe had decided she was tagging along. Bring her camera to her eye Max hoped that seeing some images on Polaroid might trip something in her and provide some encouragement. Taking successive shots of the lighthouse, bay, and town Max glowered at the results. She felt nothing looking at them, no flash of emotion or spark of significance. They were just images with no weight. Irritated by her stunning lack of artistic ability Max balled the junk photos into a ball and kicked them as far as she could. Arcing in a shockingly effective matter given her total athletic ineptitude the ball sailed past the seated Chloe and rolled over the edge of the cliff. Turning around confused Chloe looked at Max with an inquisitive eyebrow. Seeing the obvious annoyance on the photographers countenance Chloe rose up and moved towards her.
"What was that all about?"
"Nothing works," Max growled arms waving in front of her. "None of this is what I need."
"Come on Mad Max, being pissed off is really your thing, that's hella my job in this relationship." Chloe wore a smirk as she plucked the camera out of Max's hand. "Besides aren't you known as like, the queen of selfies or something? Maybe you should use one of those." Miming Max's typical selfie pose Chloe snapped a quick one of herself.
"Really Chloe, a photo of myself as my inspiration? I thought I was the hipster one around here."
Chloe shrugged non-committingly before handing back the camera with photo still in the eject area untouched. "You never know what might help, Maxaroni." She scoffed as she headed back to the bench and took a puff of her cigarette, "Then again who the hell am I to give art advice?"
"Oh… my… dog." Max muttered as she pulled the selfie that Chloe had quickly snapped out of her camera and felt the image shift her entire mindset. Max always thought Chloe was attractive but the image she was looking at now was effortlessly beautiful. Looking at the picture sent a whole spectrum of emotions and thoughts through Max, from her awe and wonder of Chloe's beauty to the underlying anger and rebellion exemplified in Chloe's style. There were so many facets that she wanted to explore, to understand. 'How could I be so blind?' Max pondered. Silently she brought her camera to her eye once again and snapped a shot of Chloe on her bench. Pulling out the poloroide for examination Max was this time struck by the framing of Chloe against the sky. The bright cheery blue of the afternoon contrasted against the darker tones of Chloe's attire so elegantly. A wistful puff of smoke rose from Chloe's vice and danced against the sunlight. Feeling the familiar excitement of a good photo shoot growing within her, Max softly padded a dozen feet or so to her right. This time she lined up a shot Chloe with the backdrop of Arcadia Bay.
Half a dozen photos later Max had come to the conclusion that she was going to need at least one close up shot. Creeping forward Max moved to lean down onto one knee to get a better angle. As was her typical fortune the precise spot she chose for her knee contained a twig just waiting to be snapped. Reacting immediately Max's eyes found the now broken twig and a cringe quickly flooded her features. Looking back towards at Chloe resulted in their gaze meeting and an awkward moment of silence to reign over them.
"So, wanna clue me in on what exactly you're doing there?"
Embarrassment quickly halted any response Max might have had for the question. How was she going to explain this feeling to Chloe? Obviously they were dating now so the girl knew of Max's admiration of her to at least some extent, but to her call the punk her inspiration or her muse seemed like a jump to far.
"Uhh… nothing?"
Chloe smirked before vaulting over the bench and casually walking over to Max. "Huh, is that so?" After reaching Max, Chloe began circling the girl with a calculated air and hand of her chin in thought. "Because you seem a bit… suspicious."
Standing Max felt incredibly self-conscious, "Nope, nothing to be suspicious about here." She tried to laugh though in came out more like far more uncomfortable sounding than she had hoped.
Like a cat Chloe suddenly pounced on Max, using her body weight to hold her down while taking the opportunity to grab the pictures stored in the girls bag. Quickly while Max struggled to find her words to explain the situation Chloe flipped through the photos. After running through them once Chloe's eyes flickered to Max before returning to the images for a second pass, as if trying to find understand a problem she already had the answer to. Finally, satisfied that she'd gotten whatever she was going to get out of staring at the documents in her hands her gaze filtered back to Max. "Why are these all of me?"
Feeling the butterflies she knew this explanation was going to bring on exploded in her gut Max's vision darted around looking for any place to rest that wasn't Chloe. After a few long moments passed, and Max came to terms both with the situation she had now arrived in and the inevitability of this declaration as she met Chloe's gaze.
"Because… because you inspire me…" She all but whispered.
Chloe blinked obviously not fully expecting or accepting those words. "Why?"
The slice of momentary self-doubt in Chloe features at her admission gave sudden boldness to Max. This girl was her everything now and damn it all if she wasn't going to make that clear. "You've been through so much and went through so much of it alone. You faced pain, anger, sadness, and finally I hope some catharsis. When I look at you now I see this strong and impassioned person that simply leaves me in awe. When I'm with you I feel invincible, like I could do anything. Chloe I love you and am inspired by you. I want to be there for you and be better with you. You're my number one priority now."
As Max finished she could see a swirl of emotions warring in Chloe's eyes. Honestly, Max wasn't entirely sure she knew what emotions she was feeling either. That speech was far more than she had intended to say, but neither was any of it false. The courage that had sprung up in her and pushed that statement out hadn't fled her, and while she realized the implications of her admission could play out poorly she didn't regret making it. She did love Chloe, and she wanted her to know it.
Finally the emotions in Chloe's eyes settled and her customary cocky grin returned abet with a notable dusting of pink across her cheeks. "I love you too, hippie."
Leaning down Chloe captured Max's lips with her own. The butterflies that been fluttering within Max ceased their call to nervousness and were replaced with one for passion. As the kiss continued the afternoon sun because evening sun which became plain ole' evening and as the day departed and the stars became the glow illuminating the lighthouse the girls felt a joy and peace lost to them since their days as pirates scrounging through Arcadia Bay looking for adventure and finding each other.
A/N: Thanks again to everyone for checking out my story. Please drop me a review if you can, I'd love to hear what everyone's thoughts are on the plot or characterization or just my writing style. Have a great new year and happy reading!