"What the hell was that?"
Breathing in the chill morning air, Max placed the palm of her right hand on her forehead while sliding her hand upwards, temporarily removing her bangs.
"That was a failed attempt at beating the shit out of a douche," Chloe replied, seemingly feeling content with the outcome despite her words.
The buildings around them were casting a pattern of shadows in front of them, making the temperature change quite drastically with every 8th step or so.
"No, yeah. I got that part, but you were like," Max paused for a bit, trying to get a feel of her vocal cord.
"Thanks for the food. The bacon was hella crunchy" she made gestures as she did an over-exaggerated impersonation of Chloe.
"After you got up and paid for our food," she stated to end her awe.
"Pretty badass, right?" Chloe pulled off the smirk of a warrior as she put her right hand in her front pocket.
Max shook her head while looking down on the cracks on the sidewalk they were walking on.
"I once spilled ice water down by bra, but that shit was cold dude"
Chloe let out a short chuckle as she pulled out her phone and pressed a button on the side.
"It's 10:25" she simply stated while keeping her attention on the screen.
A gap appeared in-between lines, making Max curl her fingers and shove her predictions away.
"I'm sorry I didn't do much to help" she let out, trying to keep the sobbing in her voice to a minimum, as she knew what Chloe wouldn't want her to apologize.
"You'll have more luck apologizing to a wall. I just lost my cool and you even tried to stop me, so as usual you did the right thing. It's just... the waitress kinda brought memories back of my mom" Chloe refrained from looking up from the screen on her phone. Her loose hair was hiding the giveaways she usually presented and the emotion in her voice was a clear line.
Not being able to get a feel of the atmosphere, Max decided the let the silence do the talking as she observed the surroundings of the small city of Idaho. She had only been here once before for 3 days and had yet to get a feel of the state as a whole and her friend provided very little information on the subject, usually answering with "It's fine" or "People are people" so it sounded like a standard place to be. The good with the bad sort of deal. However, the state seemed to make an effort to get a better image as a young girl appeared in front of them, standing still with her feet and nervously holding her shoulders close to her head. Chloe had nearly walked into her, but she managed to take her attention away from her phone just in time and now looked down at the girl.
"I lost my parents" she let out with a nervous voice while looking down at the ground. Her blonde hair was placed in a pony-tail down her back, that gently swayed from right to left as she began gently turning her body around.
"Oh," Max let out, quickly recalling the process of what to do with a lost child. First off, she tried to catch her attention to make her feel safe. Still looking down at the ground, she seemed uncomfortable having to ask strangers for help.
"Man, that sucks. I know that feel," Chloe let out without hesitation as she bend down in her knees, trying to get in head height with the little girl.
"How old are you?" She asked with a calm voice and with eyes that glittered with interest, instantly catching the attention of the girl.
"Four!" She answered proudly, finally looking up- revealing her light blue eyes, puffy nose, and flustered cheeks. She refrained from smiling, but it was clear to see her nervousness had been washed away in an instant by the simple question.
"Four?!" Chloe let out with a surprised voice while opening her eyes wide.
"Nah, you're at least six," she continued with a teasing voice and bright facial expressions.
"No, I am four!" The girl eventually presented a smile that went along with the giggle she let out. Max felt that it was ridiculous how much of a generic young girl she looked like, with her pink t-shirt with actual sparkling glitter on it, showing a girl with pink hair, wearing a strawberry cap in the center. Something Chloe took notice to as well.
"That's amazing," Chloe let out in a voice so genuine, that Max began doubting whether she actually was surprised.
"Do you know Strawberry Shortcake?" The blue-haired girl asked, clearly referring to the shirt the girl was wearing.
Looking at no particular interest, the young girl paused and then proceeded to shake her head, with a confident "no" almost as if she felt proud for not knowing the colorful cartoon character.
A small smile appeared across Chloe's cheeks, seemingly amused by the girl's simple answer.
"That may be for the best. A girl can only take so many berry puns" she nodded with subtle movements before scratching her neck.
"Should we look around for her parents?" Max asked, having a hard time not smiling at Chloe's approach towards the young child.
Chloe gently pulled a little on her silk jacket before getting up from her kneeling position and taking a short breath.
"Yo! Anyone know this girl?!" She shouted out in the open, trying to get the attention of the few people around them, which seemingly worked as everyone nearby turned their heads toward them and gave a curious look. Not getting an answer, Max began to feel slightly awkward with at least 6 people staring at her and Chloe. It was just about to seem like a lost cause until they heard a voice yelling back.
"Yes! That's our daughter," a man in his thirties let out, holding hands with a slightly younger woman with blonde hair down her back.
As Chloe briefly looked at the couple, she was quick to turn her attention back at the young girl.
"Are these your parents?" she asked while giving a slight nod towards the couple who were taking quick steps towards them.
For some reason, the little girl placed the side of her index finger into her mouth, before looking back. "Yes!" She let out excitedly, before running towards the approaching couple. Her shirt bounced up slightly every time she took a quick, tiny step. She didn't have to run far however, as they met halfway, only a few feet ahead on the sidewalk of Chloe and Max.
"Where'd you run off to Cecilie?" The woman asked, looking relieved while placing the palm of her hand on her child's right cheek. The girls answer was too muffled to hear it, but there was hardly any time to wonder as the couple walked closer towards the two girls with their child safely following them.
"Thank you," the man smiled whole-heartedly, looking at Max and Chloe. The brown, wide jacket he was wearing, only being kept on with the help of his broad shoulders had a long, narrow tear down the left sleeve. His hair was short but messy and had a bright brown color that soaked up the sunlight like the hood of a car.
"She just suddenly bolted. Luckily she was only gone for a few seconds, but I'm glad you found her" he continued to show his appreciation. It was clear to see the correlation to the girl, as their nose had the same effect of puffiness and the bright smile looked very similar as well.
"It was her that found us," Max added while looking down at the girl who were holding both her hands around her mother's left arm.
"A smart move," Chloe said almost to herself as she suddenly looked rather distracted while talking to the father.
"Well, we were actually just heading home, but thank you," the mother spoke out, clearly wanting to show her appreciation as well. Surprisingly enough, the woman was wearing a low-cut dress, with a black pattern going in circles all around. Her legs must have been somewhat cold whenever a breeze passed by, but she was wise enough to at least covers her shoulder and arms with an open sweat-shirt, that she clearly meant to go along.
"No problem" Max showed the most genuine smile she was able to pull off while Chloe gave a short nod before the couple turned around and began walking in the opposite direction with the young girl happily skipping along.
Both the girls stood still for a couple of moments, not knowing what to say to each other to comment on the happening. However, Max had painted a big grin on her face while Chloe silently shook her head, reading her friends thoughts clearly.
"No," was the word Chloe used in an attempt to ward off the oncoming statement she knew was about to be brought up.
Max fully ignored the clear signal as she curled her toes and opened her mouth, keeping the happy face.
"That was so cute, Chloe!" She let out while grabbing her friends arm out of sheer enthusiasm.
Chloe voiced her displeasure with a deep sigh before slowly lifting up her shoulder, sliding Max's grip around her arm downwards, as she continued to bend her arm, eventually and effectively leading Max's hand into the soft grasp of her friends palm. Without a word, Chloe placed her fingers in the space between Max's fingers and bend them, letting their fingers intertwine.
Max's smile remained even though she was unprepared for these actions, but she remained silent and squeezed Chloe's hand gently as they both took a step forward.
"I hate that word" The blue-haired girl let out.
The remainder of the walk was quiet, with Chloe who had been playfully tapping her index finger onto the back of Max's hand. The sun had unnoticeably risen slowly, increasing the temperature and making the shadows retreat. As Max looked to her left in the direction of a repeating street-light, she comprehended the observation that Chloe had been holding her hand for the past 10 minutes, providing a clear sense of comfort, but also a sense of nervousity. It was the classic feeling of having butterflies in one's stomach when she really thought about it. The reason they were holding hands was not to keep each other balanced or to drag the other unwilling person somewhere as usual, but it was simply because they wanted to. Her mind was occupied with the sensation that had been filling in her stomach, finally being in a situation that couldn't be interpreted as just good friends. That, of course, led to a couple of people looking at them oddly when they walked past, but the care was lost to the happy girl. She never wanted to stop and she never wanted to let go.
However, as they finally reached the area in which her home was placed, Chloe gave a slight squeeze with her hand and let it slip out of Max's grip.
"Sorry, I ruined our... breakfast thing," she let out with a voice signaling that she had wanted to apologize for a while.
The disappointment of their departing hands was quickly replaced with a feeling of delight as it was finally her turn to turn down an apology, saying that she had no reason to apologize. However, Max took peculiar notice to the words Chloe used to describe their trip to the diner.
"Breakfast thing?" Max placed her hand behind her right thigh, wiping it a little on her pants out of Chloe's vision, as her palm had become somewhat sweaty.
"Bet that's not the first thing you wanted to call it," she continued, mimicking expressions of all the times she had teased Chloe. A crooked smile, a raised eyebrow and one upright shoulder.
"I can't call it date Max. Not just because the word is dumb, but because it's literally only 10:40 in the morning" Chloe ended up looking around, establishing that it was indeed morning.
"What does that matter?" Max asked, feeling predictions of several outcomes ahead of time, having a hard time to collect herself.
"A date always happens in the evening," the blue-haired girl stated another fictional fact that was probably based off movies and expectations.
"And the two people on the date don't live the same place. One follows the other home, they kiss and then go on their merry way to tell all their friends about how they got mad laid"
Max watched Chloe tilting her head slightly to her right with her stupid, contagious smile. The sunlight shined down on her, lighting up the lines in her face, perfectly crooked and perfectly familiar. Even the slightly red bruise on her cheek failed to make Chloe's face seem less beautiful. It was one of those moments that knew what it wanted.
"Oh man, I should totally kiss you and just be like 'that's all I can offer for now' and it'd be romantic as all hell" Max squinted her eyes with a puff of air escaping her nose, hiding from the fact that was exactly what she wanted to have the courage to do.
In response, Chloe tilted her head lightly and shrugged with a goofy smile.
"So why don't you?" Although, her smile was only there to cover for her beating heart.
"You'd wish" Max went into her practiced stance with a hip to the side, both aware of the layer of jokiness that became increasingly thinner. A layer that was only there to hide how they both were too nervous to make a move.
"Maybe I would" And Chloe's words caused a chuckle from Max that lasted all but two seconds before she had to look down, seeing her fingers shaking.
Every breath was another moment to stall and it was now obvious how she tried to calm herself.
"You wouldn't mind?" She eventually forced herself to let out, only enhancing the wild ride her heart had gotten into.
Chloe was better at hiding her nervousness as she kept looking at Max, but still uncertain of what to say. "I… I guess you could find out" Her voice was low as she scratched her neck despite there being no itch.
Max was now looking up as well, a bubble having been created around them, warm enough to make it difficult to take a single breath. She took a step forward, making Chloe's arms fall down her side to prepare herself.
Max slid her right foot closer across the pavement and laid her left hand on the side of Chloe's stomach, closed her eyes and quietly lifted her head up and moved closer. Her mind was too slow to react as she could feel the heat rising in her body for a single second before her lips were brushing up against Chloe's, making her heart skip a beat as she took a heavy breath through her nose, lifting up her chest as she felt the light pressure surrounding her lips. For a moment, she could see both of them from an outside perspective, standing close to each other, having their lips connected with their eyes closed, shutting out every irrelevant thought. Embracing the warmth spreading out through her body, only paying attention to how Chloe's lips had a strawberry taste. Her mind eventually recovered as she pulled her head a little back, giving her less than a second to open her eyes and analyze the pair of lips in front of her, breathing out air slowly before she felt Chloe's arms around her body, gently pulling her in for a lasting hug. Placing her head on her friend's shoulder and embracing the hug in a similar matter.
"…That's all I can offer for now" Max muffled out with a shaky breath, welcoming the scent of the girl in her arms.
"It's more than enough" She heard Chloe respond with a whisper as she began making circles with her thumb on Max's back.
The bliss of silence the moment provided left Max with an inadequate feeling, wanting the kiss to have last longer and be more passionate. Even Chloe's heart pounding towards her chest revealed that she felt the same, but it was something worth waiting for. Something for another time.
"Wanna go inside?" Max let out with rusty voice, knowing they were standing out in the open, only a few steps from the doorstep leading to Chloe's home.
"Not really," she responded, lifting her head up and giving the last squeeze with her arms before she let go and took a step back.
"But might as well"
Max grabbed the opportunity to look at the girl before her, paying attention to her pink lips, but got a hold of herself and took a step forward. Her shoe tapped onto the pavement leading towards the single step in front of the entrance.
"Did you order something?" Max was quick to ask as soon as she saw the small box, standing to the side of the white door. It looked like a makeshift package with the use of an old box, sealed closed with duct tape and a short note attached to the side.
Chloe placed her right hand onto the back of her head, looking like she was about to yawn.
"Must be for gramps. Don't know what it could be though, it's too big for just a letter or some crap"
Bending slightly down and turning her head to the side, Max looked closer at the note attached to the side of the worn-out box to see if they had written the receiver somewhere. Her eyes moved slowly as she read the black words on the white paper.
To: Max Caulfield and Chloe Price
From: Ethan
Welcome home
She stood still, reading the names once more before she stretched her legs and looked back at her friend with a worried look trapped in the center of her pupils.
"It's from Ethan. The man I tried telling you about," her breath was short and the words passed through Chloe's ears with a sinking feeling.
"The one with time-travel powers"
