Max anxiously fiddled with her camera and stared around her at the junkyard. She couldn't really put together what had brought her here. Obviously all the pieces were right there. Chloe wanted her best friend and her girlfriend to be better friends. But somehow Max had assumed that she would get drawn into working on a play or something. Not coming out here to take pictures of the pretty blonde. Perhaps if Chloe had realized that Max had some complicated feelings in this situation, she might not have come up with the idea.
"So uh... What's the deal here exactly?" she called over to the shack where Rachel was getting changed.
After a bit of rustling, the other girl finally responded. "I had a really tough time coming up with a decent present for Chloe's last birthday. But now that I know an ace photographer, I had this brilliant idea, and then made her think this was her idea. She knows I'm modeling for you. But she has no clue about my secret brilliance!" She gave a mock maniacal laugh and strutted out looking absolutely gorgeous – jacket, pompadour, bracelets, cutoffs, torn stockings. It was one hell of a style, and for a moment she was speechless. "The first time we actually met, at this sick Firewalk concert, I was totally decked out. She uh... she didn't look half bad herself, obviously."
Max finally found her voice and laughed awkwardly. "Anything like now?"
At that, Rachel chuckled and shook her head. "Nah. See I was just an actress wearing a costume, ya know? But Chloe was like... a fledgeling punk, only just starting to find herself. Hair wasn't even dyed yet. Her hoodie had some cool studs on it and she had some bracelets and shit. But you could see what she was going for. Honestly, it felt way more legit punk than my attempts. But... apparently she loved it, so I figured I could get some prints for her next birthday."
It was strange to imagine the mid-point between the girl that Max had grown up with and the person she was now. Something like an Animorphs book played out in her mind as one shifted into the other. "Hmm, well, American Rust certainly feels like the right place to get some grunge in the background. I think we should start over there with what's left of that car?"
Rachel just shrugged casually and started strolling over toward it. "Hey, you're the artist, I'm just the pretty face. What we shoot is up to you."
Oof, blush city. It took a lot of willpower to have someone like her essentially say 'do with me what you will'. No. Bad Max. Terrible Max. This is a taken woman. Taken by another woman whom you also want to do things with. Jesus, you're in deep, girl. "Uhh, alright then, I guess ummm... Well, why don't you lay down on the hood of it, with your head kinda resting against the windshield. And then... Oh! Kinda point toward the sky like your finger is a gun, ya know? With the other one bracing it and everything?"
She knew full well her directions weren't super great. And yet Rachel followed them perfectly and then improved on them. She laid out along the hood of the car, one knee slightly cocked. She aimed her 'gun' directly at the clouds, closing one eye for effect. "See ya, space cowboy..."
Max would have melted right then and there if she could. Luckily, she did finally have the presence of mind to actually use the fucking camera in her hands and get some snapshots. Naturally they came out perfect, and if she were pressed, she would say it was definitely 90% because Rachel was so damn perfect herself.
This process continued for a while. Max would suggest somewhere for Rachel to pose, and then she would somehow do it even better, and then the pictures would come out amazingly. Before long, she had a million pictures to sort through, and she had no clue where to even begin picking them out.
She had been hoping that spending a normal day with Rachel would make her seem less intimidating or less attractive. Arguably, it was the exact opposite now. Max just liked her all the more.
Rachel paced her room anxiously, nervously toying with a loose thread on her shirt. Chloe was stretched out on her bed watching anxiously. "So... you said there was something you wanted to talk about?"
She kept right on pacing, hoping that somehow if she put in enough footsteps, the answer to everything might just suddenly crop up. But obviously that wasn't really happening. Instead, she had to just... find the words. "So okay. So... So you had a good idea, getting me and Max to hang out. She's cool, and she really does know what she's doing with a camera. But um... I think I also... understand now? Like really understand."
She knew that wasn't super helpful, and the look on Chloe's face only drove that home. "You understand... what?"
"I get... I get why you... would be so into her..." She finally managed to find her breath, grateful to just have the words out there in the open. Even if it made Chloe hate her. "She's cute and bashful, but when she's in her element she is pretty amazing." Rachel tugged a little more at the stray thread.
She waited patiently for the hammer to drop, but instead, Chloe actually began to chuckle softly. "Yeah, that's her alright. Adorable and badass, but too humble to own up to it. Can't necessarily say I saw this coming, but I'm also not, y'know, exactly shocked. Figured if anything, it would take longer."
Rachel whirled around, expecting to see that shit-eating grin on her face whenever she got really proud of her silly jokes. But she was dead serious at the moment. "You're kidding..."
"Nah. Or I guess it was like uh... like wishful thinking? Pft, like maybe if you started to feel the same way, then maybe I wouldn't be so guilty."
She felt her own lips curl into a smile as well. After some thought, she padded her way over to the bed and stretched out next to Chloe, wrapping her arms around her. "Well then, lucky for you. Looks like you're off the hook."
"I thought I was already off the hook," she fired back. "Or were you just lying before?"
"I'm... just giving you a hard time because I'm feeling self-conscious and weird. Thought you would know me well enough by now to catch on to that." Rachel giggled and kissed her firmly on the lips. "I think the real question is... what do we do now?"
Chloe looked a bit bashful again, looking up and past Rachel's shoulder. "Well, as long as I'm being painfully honest, I had some thoughts about that." She swallowed, finally looking back into her eyes. "I mean, if you're interested."
That brought a wide smile to her lips. "I'm listening..."
Chloe could feel her nerves creeping. This had seemed like a beautiful, romantic idea when it was just her and Rachel admitting strange feelings to one another. But the time had come and now it seemed like an insane proposition. What if they were both wrong about Max? What if the girl completely freaked out, ran away, and pushed them both out of their lives?
But Rachel looked ready to go and there was basically no backing out now. Max had come over to Chloe's place under the false assumption that her girlfriend had never seen Blade Runner before and this was a slight against humanity. Which was ridiculous because obviously Rachel had seen it, because it's fucking Blade Runner and come on. The girl was perfect.
The first stage was to convince her friend to sit between them instead of off to one side. Granted, Chloe had counted on Max putting up more of a fuss about this, and forgot that the girl wasn't always the most argumentative. So, at least that step was completed relatively easily. Even if she didn't question it much, you could see that she was looking a little bit confused and maybe even uncomfortable.
For a while, things stayed in that strange but rather pleasant atmosphere. At some point, Rachel gave her the sign with a serious, conspiratorial nod. Well, here goes nothing. Fingers crossed and all that. "Max, is everything cool?"
"Huh? Wh- Yeah. I love this movie, you know that." God, she had absolutely no fucking poker face. If Chloe was uncertain before, she was getting over that now.
It was tough to press a button with much drama, but Chloe gave it her all. She reached out and grabbed the remote, pausing the movie. Then, she casually slipped an arm around her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I'm not asking about the movie, ya dork. You've been acting kinda weird for a while now. I just wanna make sure you're doing okay."
She cleared her throat anxiously, glancing toward the frozen screen. "Yeah, I'm doing fine. Classes are awesome and I get to hang out with you guys all the time and... it's awesome."
Rachel offered a pretty, sympathetic pout as she turned her attention on Max as well. "Sweetie, you gotta try a little harder if you're gonna hide something from me. Ask Chloe. I can read a person like a book."
"Hah, she's not kidding. Rachel can be scary good." This was, admittedly, kind of fun. If they were on the wrong mark, it might have felt cruel. But her confidence was building. She started to gently rub Max's shoulder, smiling warmly at her. "Besides, we're best buds, and you gotta know you can always tell me anything!"
Max stared off into space, silent and anxious. Finally she swallowed and glanced back and forth between them. "I don't want you guys to think I'm a weirdo. Or, like, hate me. And you'll definitely see me differently if I say this."
Oof, okay, playtime was over. Max sounded like she was legitimately having some trouble here. And at the end of the day, she was still Chloe's best friend. She meant what she said, and no matter what Max told her, she would keep right on being her best friend. Rubbing her shoulder, she gave her best winning smile. "Try us."
For a moment, it looked like maybe she really would go running for the door. But finally she exhaled and seemed to find her words. "You guys have been so great about not making me feel like a third wheel. But um... sometimes I almost kind of wish I could be... more than that?" As Max continued, Chloe caught Rachel's eye, unable to help the smirk that came to her lips. Holy shit, this was actually happening. "And I know that's completely nutso, and all it would do is complicate things. I swear, I would never, ever want to come between the two of you like that! But it was driving me crazy not saying anything..."
"Aw Max..." She could see Rachel's brow furrow, as if she was reading her mind in that moment, begging her to choose her words carefully. Chloe did not. If anything, she did the opposite, setting her free hand lightly on Max's knee and massaging with her thumb. "Did you ever consider that maybe we wanted you to... come between us?"
Her girlfriend quickly lashed out and slapped her on the arm, then just as swiftly turned back to her sweet side, lightly touching Max's cheek with her palm. It was a much more powerful turn-on than she was expecting. "I'm so sorry for her, but I suppose you're used to it by now."
"I couldn't help myself!"
"You could have," she fired back with a roll of her eyes. Her attention went back to Max, her thumb brushing over her cheek. "Anyway, it's less crazy than you might think. I've been doing some Googling after a kinda weird conversation with my mom. And there are relationships that include more than two people. It's not super common, but it happens. And lucky for you... you're pretty damn cute."
Chloe could see her going in for a kiss, and possessively whirled Max around, capturing her lips and kissing her fiercely. "My best friend, I get to kiss her first."
She was dazed, and didn't get a lot of time to recover before Rachel captured her in another kiss. When it was over, she giggled and lightly grazed her cheek again. "You see? Easy peazy. If you're open to the idea, then so are we. And we've already begun." Goddamn, she could seduce anyone, couldn't she?
Surprisingly, Max started to get a little misty-eyed and rubbed at her face with her palms. "Oh my god, you guuuyyyssss..."
Both of them went in for a tight hug, cooing in tandem. Rachel glanced over at her with a broad smile. "How in the world did you not fall in love with this ball of preciousness right away?"
"I did! And if someone had done a better job of keeping in touch with me, this whole process would have been a lot easier..." she muttered softly.
That seemed to snap Max out of whatever state she was in, her head whipping to the side, looking at her in disbelief. "You what? All this time?"
Sighing, Chloe got up from the couch, taking each girl by the hand and tugging them toward the stairs. "Come on, let's go snuggle in my bed, and I can regale you with the story of the little dirt-eating dummy who fell in love with the girl with the Hello Kitty polaroid."
