Max opened her eyes and found herself in the middle of the debris, the entire street upturned as the howling, piercing shriek of the wind around her deafened everything. She brought her hands up to her ears immediately and attempted to drown out the sound - the action yielding no results as it had become louder than ever.
The girl did her best to ignore it, the tone reverberating through her head as she struggled to focus on the task at hand - figuring out where the hell she was. It didn't take long as her first guess was correct - Arcadia Bay. More specifically she was standing on the main thoroughfare near the beach, the gas station just up ahead and the Two Whales looming behind her. Yet something was wrong about it all.
She watched as the entire street kept shimmering in and out of existence - at one point it had looked completely fine, there was no debris, no dead whales, no upturned cars and no bulldozed buildings. Then it kept hammering back in, each time more and more prevalent - Max saw as each building was torn apart, as each whale corpse flew across the waterfront and smashed into something - she saw the cars flip and turn, set on fire and explode. She was living through the destruction of Arcadia Bay on foot in the middle of it all.
A hand fell on her shoulder and pulled her back, the girl gasping in surprise - her mouth dropped open as her heart stopped. Kate Marsh stood in front of the brunette, her hand gripping Max's shoulder harder and harder. Yet this wasn't the Kate that Max had remembered - she was heavily bruised, cut, bleeding. Her clothes torn, her skin paler than usual.
"I'm dead because of you, Maxine."
Chloe had already ran across the room as she saw Max thrashing around and whimpering on the bed. She didn't hesitate for a moment as she jumped onto the mattress and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, pulling her up frantically and immediately beginning her morning routine with the girl - hugging, kissing, humming. She did her best to ignore the girls mumbling, the voice dying down the further it went along.
"Shh, it's alright." Chloe spoke softly and kissed Max on the temple. She saw the brunette's eyes flutter open after a moment, the tears instantly following suit.
Max wrapped her hands around the arms draped over her chest, the brunette's vice-like grip holding on for dear life. Her sobs begun shortly after, her head being quickly buried in it's usual spot on Chloe's bust. She cried and cried, her emotions once again in turmoil as memories of Arcadia were brought to bear - it had been a daily chore since the storm.
The punk kept silent throughout the entire ordeal, focusing herself on humming soft melodies into Max's ear and caressing the girl in her arms - her own thoughts drowning her in the memories of the storm, albeit to a lesser degree than the brunette had been suffering through. The sobs came frantically at first but began to start dying out after a few minutes - it had started to all become routine for the two girls now, a constant reminder of what they've lived through.
"H-Hi…" Max sniffled and meekly whispered from below the punk - she did her best not to bring up her morning episode in the conversation.
"Heyy..-" Chloe smiled and left a kiss on Max's scalp, one of her hands drifting up into the chestnut nest and stroking through it gently. "How are you?"
"B-Better." Max replied softly and kept her face nuzzled into Chloe's shirt, her hands began to slowly ease their grip on Chloe's arms.
"Do you w-want to talk about it...?" Chloe asked quietly and received a shake of the head. "Okay."
"C-Can we talk later? It's still f-fresh and-..." Max's voice trailed off as her eyes focused on nothing in particular, her thoughts taking over as once again the nightmare played out in her head. Kate's body, the bruised and battered, badly cut and ravaged body - it had sent a sickening feeling into Max's stomach as she forced her eyes shut and let out a lone sob.
"Shh. It's over." Chloe reassured her girlfriend again and squeezed her tight. The punk heard the sizzling coming from the pan in the kitchen, her gaze switching towards the stove as she noticed wispy smoke start to rise up from the pan. "S-Shit, breakfast's on fire."
"Breakfast-.. What...?" Max had only just noticed the pleasant aroma rising in the air, the hiss and crackling coming from the kitchen. She smelt bacon. Lots of bacon. Eggs too. Her mind instantly drifted off the bad thoughts and focused itself on the growling hunger rising in her stomach. "Uhm. I'm hungry."
"Just what I wanted to hear. Stay here and let me sort it out." Chloe left another kiss on Max's temple as the brunette nodded. She felt the two hands relinquish their hold around her - her eyes drifted up to the bluenette punk that stood up from the bed. She was wearing her new black boy shorts and a plain white shirt - Max bit her lip slightly as she looked over her girlfriends hips swaying as she walked over towards the kitchen.
Chloe quickly overtook the situation and brought it back to heel, her focus being particularly on the bacon as she did her best to remember how Max liked hers cooked - it had been over 6 years since they'd last had a proper sleepover and breakfast at the Price household together. Her mind went over the memories of Joyce, her mother, walking around and shouting at the two girls as they messed around during the mornings - the southern drawl sounding stern as she calmed the girls down immediately with the announcement of breakfast being ready. She was lost in her memories as her heart clasped in her chest and begun a slow beat - a stray drop of grease shot out of the pan and hit the girl on her forearm.
"Shit!" Chloe jumped back and swatted away the boiling grease on her hand in frustration.
"Hey, are you okay..?" Max called out from the bed with a groggy voice, the brunette still waking up as she ran her hands over her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm good. Stupid grease." Chloe shouted back and trailed off to herself the further she went on. She bit her lip and swore under her breath for getting lost in her memories of her presumably dead mother. A few stray tears had made their way down her cheeks as she ignored them, the punk doing her best to mask her sniffle with the sound of the sizzling pan and the food being cooked.
Max sorted out her bedhead quietly and brushed her fringe out her eyes, focusing them on the punk at work in the kitchen. She lifted the velvet covers off herself and stood up, stretching quietly and feeling the relief as some of her joints cracked with a satisfying pop. There was a nippy draft of air that blew towards the girl as she shook, her only clothes currently consisting of her own shorts and her bra. She reached over towards the pile of clothes on the floor and took her new dark-blue flannel, lazily putting it on and doing up a few buttons to stop most of the cold air hitting her bare body. Slowly she ran her hand through her hair again and began to walk over to the kitchen, her footsteps quietly tapping at the wooden floor as she approached.
"What are you making…?" Max slipped into the kitchen and stood beside her taller girlfriend, the bluenette shooting her a glance and a smile as she gestured to the bacon and eggs on two separate pans. "Ooooo -.."
"Your favourite?" Chloe raised her eyebrow and hoped for the best. She let out a quiet sigh of relief as Max nodded her head. "Uhm..- crispy bacon?"
"Yep." Max wrapped her petite hands around her girlfriend and snuggled into her back, peering at the pans over the side as she took another whiff of the delicious aroma. "Dog. You've remembered everything."
"I aim to please." Chloe snickered and gave herself a mental thumbs up for her success. She stirred and cut through the eggs for one last time and took them off the stove, quickly shovelling them into two equal sized portions on the two plates already set out nearby. She felt the brunette constantly holding onto her as she moved, refusing to let go - she didn't mind it at all, even if it did make making breakfast a tad harder.
"Am I being clingy…?" Max noticed Chloe's distracted expression and the slight struggle she walked around with as Max kept her hands around her. The punk immediately shot her gaze at the girl and shook her head with a smile.
'No, you're being you - keep at it doofus." Chloe slightly wiggled her hip as Max held on, both of them giggling at each other. Chloe proceeded to take out the strips of bacon out of the pan and laid them out on either plate, once again going into great care to sort out the portions for them both. Max watched quietly and smiled to herself as she saw Chloe had snagged not one but - two - extra strips of bacon.
"You're cheating." Max spoke and reached out her hand, grabbing one strip for Chloe's plate and instantly biting into it. "Punishment."
"Hey!" Chloe called out and swatted Max's hand, the brunette growling slightly as she was disturbed during her bacon eating. "Don't you growl at me Caulfield."
"... or what?" Max's curiosity was piqued - her eyebrow raised a bit as she bit into the bacon again and finished it off. Chloe grinned and turned around in the brunette's arms, her own snaked their way down to her hips and gripped on. She began to walk and shove the brunette backwards, Max had quickly found herself up against the kitchen island behind her - the punk continuing to push into her until it almost became uncomfortable. Chloe bent forward over the girl and rested her face inches away, baring her teeth and nipping at Max's nose.
"You don't want to make me growl at you." Chloe saw how flustered the brunette suddenly looked - she was all bark and no bite despite her boost in confidence over the past week - still very much the same hipster girl that came back to Arcadia after 5 years. Max kept her gaze on Chloe the entire time and felt her cheeks burning hot as she shrunk back into her usual, quirky, introverted persona. "Now you go sit down on the bed and stay there until I bring you breakfast."
"O-Okay." Max managed to stammer out and felt as Chloe relieved the pressure she had put on her body, her hands dropping from her hips as she waited for Max to head back to the bed. The brunette spent no time in doing as she was told - her flannel sleeves running over her cheeks as she tried to hide her blush from nobody once again.
It took a minute or two but Chloe finally took the two plates and begun to carry them over to the bed - the brunette sitting cross-legged in the middle and staring at the punk as she approached. Chloe gave her a quick wink and shuffled across the bed on her knees, sitting down in front of Max and giving her a plate of eggs and bacon. She giggled as she could almost see the hipster girl drooling at how good everything looked - Chloe had definitely inherited Joyce's cooking aptitude. Max shovelled a few buttery eggs in her mouth and took a bite of the bacon, chewing on it quietly and looking up after a moment - Chloe was looking at her the entire time, a bit hesitant as she waited for Max's judgement.
"Delish." Max spoke and saw the punk's face instantly turn into a smile.
"Good." Chloe kept the smile on her face and begun digging into her own plate.
The two girls ate their breakfast quietly as neither of them had anything to discuss right now - Max didn't want to talk about her nightmare yet and Chloe didn't want to push the girl into something she didn't want. The clatter of cutlery against plates were the only sounds that broke the otherwise blissful silence - occasionally a bird chattering outside or a buck call in the far distance joined in with the breakfast sounds. Max played around with some of her eggs and brought it up to her mouth lazily, holding the fork there as she allowed the buttery goodness to almost melt in her mouth - only then did she realise that Chloe was once again watching her.
"W-What..?" Max pulled the fork out of her mouth and asked, her gaze lingering over the punk's azure blue orbs.
"You're real cute when you're eating." Chloe pointed out and scrunched up her nose. The brunette quickly caught on and felt the smirk develop on her face.
"You've turned into a big softie." Max pointed her fork at Chloe and watched her girlfriends expression instantly change into a scowl. "It's soooo true, don't even deny it."
"I-..." Chloe had wanted to shoot back a witty response, a one liner or something to defend her street cred - she gave up when she realised it was actually true. "Uhm. Maybe. It's you, y'know?"
"Chlo-.. don't feel the need to change because of me." Max spoke and lowered her fork. The punk shook her head and smiled, her hand taking her own fork and shovelling a few eggs into her mouth.
"I'm not changing, it's more like…- I'm only soft around you, Max. It's…- weird. I knew there was this whole side of me that I d-didn't know-..." Chloe chewed her eggs quietly and rested her head on her curled fist. Her memories travelled back to the slightly happier days of her teenage life - her and Rachel hanging out in American Rust. "You're one of the only two people who brought it out in me."
"O-Oh…- Rachel…?" Max asked inquisitively and received a nod in return. She felt the jealousy rise up slowly but she almost immediately crushed it down, suppressing the emotion - she had nothing to be jealous of. Max was here, Rachel wasn't - that was the grim reality of it. She quietly took the last few of her eggs from her plate and chewed silently, her eyes resting on the space between her and Chloe.
"Hey." Chloe called up quietly and placed her free hand on Max's knee as she gave it a squeeze. Max looked up slowly and met the smiling bluenette with her own, albeit faint, smile. "I hope me going soft isn't going to change us…?"
"What? No!" Max quickly replied and placed her own hand on Chloe's. "I like soft Chloe. She's mushy and nice, comfortable to snuggle and-..."
"Okay, enough of that." Chloe quickly moved in to defend her punk persona. Max curled her hand up into a fist and hit Chloe's knee. "Ow!"
"Asshole." Max chided in and narrowed her eyes on Chloe. The punk crossed her arms and stared back, her own menacing look present in her eye. "You're not fooling anyone with that look, girlfriend."
"Who said I was fooling anyone…?" Chloe spoke seductively and began her slow crawl forward, avoiding the plates between her and Max - all four of her limbs working as she approached the brunette. Max dropped her fork and began to crawl back playfully, her giggles setting in as she knew exactly what Chloe was planning to do. "Get back here, Caulfield - I'm not done with you."
"Chloeee-.. EEEEEK!" Max squirmed as she felt the punk grab onto her legs and pull her back - her hands frantically tried to grip the velvet covers in a futile attempt to help herself as the fabric kept slipping out of her grip. The brunette's legs worked to the best of their ability as she began to crawl away once again, only to once again be pulled back in. "Pleaseeeeee…"
"Please what…?" Chloe moved her hands quickly and gripped Max's wrists instead, pinning them up above her head as she moved in to straddle the brunette. Her head rested a few inches from Max's as she watched her girlfriend carefully, waiting for her to respond. "Maxieeeee…-"
"No, No, NO! AWH!" Max began to write around as she felt Chloe's hands shoot down from her wrists, her fingers starting to work their ways into her sides as the sensations began to overflow her body. "CHLO! CHLOEEEE! STOPPP!"
"I can't hear you Caulfield!" Chloe giggled herself as she continued her tickle attack, her body pinning down the brunette as the punk was still straddling her - it had made the whole thing far easier than usual as Max had no way of escaping. The hipster giggled furiously as she tried to catch a breath, her chest hitching between the giggling fits as she kept trying to swat away Chloe's hands.
"CHLOE, STOP! I CAN'T B-BREATHEEE!"
"LALALALA!"
"CHLOEEE!"
"LALALALA!"
"C-CAN'T BREATHE!"
Chloe watched her girlfriend as she began to actually struggle for breath now, her body attempting to hyperventilate to catch up with the oxygen deprivation. The punk relented her attack and moved her herself closer into the girl, resting right above her as she observed her beginning to breathe in slow, deep breaths - both of their eyes locked in a gaze. Chloe placed her forehead against Max's as she continued to breathe in and out, one of the punks hands moving up from the brunette's side and sliding all the way up to her cheek - resting there softly as she bit her lip.
"C-Chloe, you have to stop going so ha-... STOP!" Max's hand instantly shot down and grabbed Chloe's, the bluenette attempting to go for a surprise tickle with her other hand - Max had managed to catch the movement out of the peripheral of her eye just in time. She burst out laughing and felt the brunette let her grip go, the hand free once again. "Not funny, Chloe."
"Mm." Chloe kept watching Max, the two girls beginning to get lost in their gaze as they forgot about everything around them - it was just them in the world right now. Chloe did her best to satiate her desires for now - the rising lust almost unbearable as she had wanted to go down on the brunette right then and there. Instead, she settled on a kiss - her head moved forward quickly as she forced her tongue through Max's lips, the brunette not offering resistance as she invited the guest in.
The morning had passed quite quickly before they were finished.
"How the hell did you get beer?" Max spoke as she peered into the bags, her eyebrows furrowing as she was slightly confused - Chloe wasn't 21 so she couldn't legally purchase alcohol, yet somehow she managed to acquire a six-pack from the 24/7 store in the town.
"Max, it's the 21st century girl! Fake ID's are a must." Chloe flashed the small piece of card as she sat down in the truck, the door getting slammed shut after her. Max quickly snatched the ID from Chloe and scanned it over carefully, noticing that the punks birth date had indeed been altered so that she'd be 22.
"Fake ID…- that's so you." Max confessed quietly and looked up at her girlfriend. Chloe was looking at her slightly awestruck, obviously surprised with Max's words towards her. Her face quickly turned into a wide grin and she looked back out the windshield.
"It's awesome, I bought ciggies and beer - hella party tonight." Chloe turned the key in the ignition and heard the old V8 roar to life after a few seconds, it's iconic sputtering soon following up with the cloud of smoke behind the rust bucket. Max shook her head and put the plastic card back in Chloe's jacket pocket - her hands adjusting her own beanie afterwards, her chestnut hair sticking close to her face due to the hat.
"No, you are not having a 'hella party tonight'." Max pointed her finger at Chloe as the truck began to drive down the road. The punk instantly shot her glance at Max, her gaze asking for an explanation as she began to pout. "Chloe! You have to drive the damn truck tomorrow!"
"Yeah, tomorrow! Not today - the booze won't have an effect by tomorrow Max." Chloe tried to plead her case, her hand constantly tapping on the clutch as she made a few gestures during her speech. Max shook her head again and crossed her arms, focusing her own gaze on the road ahead. "Maaaaaaaaaaax, don't be like this."
"Chloe -..." Max began and shifted her eyes back at the punk - her cute puppy eyes were in full effect already. The brunettes instantly felt the look tugging at her heartstrings, the gaze pleading so hard for Max to allow this to happen. She sighed and held up her hands in defeat. "Fine-..."
"Yaaaaaaaaas!" Chloe pumped her fist into the air in victory. Max coughed loudly and got her attention back - the brunette had crossed her arms again.
"Two beers at most." Max held up her hand towards Chloe as the punk was about to complain. "Chloe, I have to regulate you - I don't know how you are around alcohol, okay? I hadn't seen you drink properly."
"I'm not a lightweight!" Chloe moved in to defend herself again but quickly shrunk underneath Max's judging gaze. "Fineeeee. Two beers."
"Good. I'm sorry but I have to get used to you around alcohol, okay? Until then-... you know." Max looked back out the windshield and saw the town slowly fading through around them, the variety of buildings in different colours contrasting the backdrop of the town - the large mountain ranges on the horizon and the forests surrounding it all.
"Can I get a kiss as compensation at least…?" Chloe puckered her lips a bit and looked at Max. The brunette rolled her eyes and looked back at the road.
"You're pushing your luck, Price." Max watched as groups of people walked around the relatively quiet streets of Telma. Chloe scoffed and gripped the steering wheel tighter, annoyed at the restrictions being placed on her by her girlfriend.
"Hmph." Chloe looked out her side window and saw Lake Wenatchee glistening in the distance. She tugged the steering wheel and turned the truck into a road leading towards it. Chloe extended her hand from the clutch and fiddled around with the dials, turning it to the first station on the frequency - the quiet music playing out in the cabin.
** ...Here she comes like a brand new day
Belly dancing across the room
In the moonlight I watch her sway
To her rhythm I'll go as groom with grace tonight... **
The Ford rolled through the relatively quiet streets of the town, a few looks and glances being shot towards the rusty truck. It was completely covered in mud as it had to trek through half a forest to get to the cabin, yet that wasn't the main attraction point - it looked barely road legal in the first place and the residents were slightly concerned about the sighting of this unknown phantom in their tight-knit community.
Max kept her gaze out the windshield as she noticed the approaching body of water. The sun had just come up to a relatively comfortable height so that it had begun to shine rays of lights through the tree-topped horizon - the reflection glistening serenely as the entire lake was calm. The brunette saw a few boats further out, one of them even carrying a sail, as she figured that the lake must probably be a popular fishing spot. She heard the clutch whine quietly next to her as Chloe began to slow the truck down, parking it up in a quiet spot nearby the beach as there was no official parking anywhere - the radio was the only noticeable disturbance in the relative peace that had befallen upon them.
** ...She's bringing me in
Checking me out
Making me Glorious... **
"C'mon, let's go." Chloe's hand floated over the radio and turned it off, jumping out the truck and slamming the door behind her. The sound echoed out all around them, the sudden shock sending a few birds flying out of nearby tries. Max closed her door far more carefully, not wanting to disturb anything anymore - her punk girlfriend was a disturbance enough to humans and animals alike. Max quickly made her way around the nose of the Ford and wrapped her arm under Chloe's, her body leaning into her side as it pleaded for a bit of contact with the girl.
The two girls began their quiet walk alongside the beach of the lake - there was no proper sand anywhere in sight, it was mostly rocks and stones with very few smooth edges as it created the overall opinion of being a very uninviting spot at first. Yet there was the ambient sound of the water hitting the rocks calmly, the shouts in the distance from fishermen, birds chattering and tweeting - their song joined in by an occasional buck call. All of it had cast an extremely soothing atmosphere, the tranquil presence hung heavy in the air around the entire lake as it more than made up for the lack of a proper beach. Max kept silent as her eyes were closed, her head nuzzled into Chloe's shoulder as her breathing had reached an extremely slow, calming state.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Max spoke up after a few minutes, finally opening her eyes and looking up at the punk. Chloe had focused herself on the view of the lake, the far shore holding scenic rock outcroppings and patches of forest dotted around. She looked back down at her girlfriend and smiled.
"Yeah." Chloe resumed watching over the view, ignoring the quiet fumbling beside her as she figured that Max was retrieving her camera. She looked back after a moment and lo-and-behold, Max was holding her polaroid camera and looking over it carefully. Her eyes drifted up to Chloe as she smiled.
"Picture?"
"Hella yes."
They quickly assumed their positions near the lake, Chloe slipped her arm around Max and pulled her in close - their heads butting softly as they both stared up at the camera. Max fumbled around a bit and adjusted a few things, scrunching up her nose as she got busy trying find the right angle for them both. In short time Max had finally found the angle she was happy with and smiled wide, her finger pressing down the button.
*snap*
*whirrr*
The silvery polaroid snaked its way out of the camera, the brunette's hands shooting forward to grab it before it fell. She pulled it out slowly and gave it a shake, her eyes focusing on the developing area of jet black - her expression began to change from a frown to a wide, beaming smile. Chloe butted her head in again and saw the picture, her own smile forming on her face - she quickly turned her head and gave Max a smooch on the cheek in appreciation.
The two girls were standing arm in arm, their faces holding expressions of pure momentary joy - neither of them had the storm nor Arcadia on their mind in the picture. Their backdrop consisted of the sunlit lake, the horizon holding the contrasting colours of the pine woods and hints of rising mountains barely visible above it all. The picture was taken at a perfect angle to capture a god ray shining in between both the girls, lighting up both their faces slightly to finish off the entire scene.
"Max, I'll never know how you're so hella good at this." Chloe spoke against Max's cheek and gave her another kiss, following it up with another one, and another one. Max giggled and turned her head into Chloe's, meeting her lips with her own as she gave them a long smooch in return.
"Must be the company I keep." Max giggled and looked back over to the picture. She ran her thumb over it and felt happy emotions pooling at her heart, her memories of this mornings nightmare and all associated feelings being washed away. She opened up her camera bag and placed the polaroid camera inside, the actual polaroid being placed in a separate compartment with the rest of their road trip photo's.
Max and Chloe resumed their walk along the quiet edge of the lake, their path uninterrupted as they had managed to arrive in Telma out of the tourist season - not that they cared what season it was anyway. They were together and that was all that mattered to them.
"How'd you feel about heading to Idaho after this?" Chloe broke the placid silence after a couple of minutes. They had both managed to walk far enough that the truck was now almost out of sight, yet they both had managed to keep next to the water edge so they could find their way back in case. Max pulled up her head from Chloe's shoulder and looked at her.
"Uhm. I don't know..? I've never been there." Max spoke and heard Chloe laugh, the arm around her squeezing tight.
"Yeah, I've never been there either - we're both on a road trip ya doofus." Chloe teased Max a bit and gave her a kiss on the forehead - the brunette kicking herself mentally for sounding stupid. "We could slip down south, through Utah or Wyoming and then head into Colorado…"
"Dog, you're really hell bent on getting to Colorado, ain't you?" Max rolled her eyes and burrowed her face back into the punk's shoulder. "Pothead."
"Correction - your pothead."
"My pothead."
Chloe giggled and led the two of them down the path that had begun to crop up, neither girl really caring where it was destined. They had once again fallen into silence as neither wanted to break up the ambient noise that had begun all around them - there was a mix of just about everything right now. The lake, distant shouts, buck calling, birds tweeting and chattering, the wind whooshing between the pines, the very creaking of each individual tree around them - it all felt overwhelming yet so peaceful.
"I'm excited." Max blurted out randomly a few minutes down the path. They were walking in a forested part of the path right now, the tree's shielding them on either side as vestiges of the lake shone through the gaps on their left - a few rock outcrops covering parts of it completely.
"What are ya excited about…?" Chloe asked with a quizzical expression on her face. Max scrunched up her face and looked up from the punk's shoulder.
"Everything. I-... Chloe..-" Max had wanted to ask a question yet felt a bit awkward about its nature - they hadn't yet finished their road trip yet the brunette was already wondering over things in the far, far future. "Uhm."
"Go on, shoot."
"Where…- Where do you see us going?" Max looked up and met Chloe's gaze. There it was again - the mischievous glint in her azure blue eyes as her wit went to work yet again.
"On a road trip - Max, you got short term memor-.." Chloe began but felt the fist pound against her chest a little bit harder than she'd have liked. "Ow!"
"Ass. Hole." Max snarled quietly and looked away, her eyesight looking down at the path in front of them. "You know what I meant."
"Y-Yeah, I did." Chloe let out a quiet sigh and ran her hand over her forehead, brushing away loose strands of electric blue. "I-.. Damn. That's a heavy question, Max."
"I k-know. Uhm. Actually, you know what? Don't answer." Max nuzzled her face into Chloe's shoulder and kept quiet. The punk chuckled and looked down at her beanie-wearing hipster - her heart rising high in her chest as she went over the question in her head. It had gone to extreme lengths to reassure her that Max was planning to stay this time.
"I don't know Max. I just want you to stick around with me until the end of time. Partners in crime and in time, right?" Chloe felt the brunette against her shoulder nodding softly.
"Partners in crime and in time." Max repeated, her voice muffled against the leather jacket the punk was wearing. The hipster brought up her free hand and held out her pinky, waiting for Chloe. The punk giggled at the gesture and brought up her own free hand, their pinkies hooking together as they made the unspoken vow.
"You've no idea how happy just this little stuff makes me." Chloe confessed quietly and dropped her hand from the pinky swear. Max looked up and raised her eyebrow. "It's been so long since I've experienced some of this shit, y'know? The last 5 years were a living nightmare for me."
"It's not going to last forever." Max admitted, the slight guilt rising in her chest as she felt like she was ruining the moment by speaking the truth. Chloe nodded and dropped her head on Max's own, her face prodding itself into the warm fabric of the simple beanie.
"I know. Let's make it last as long as possible, okay?" Chloe's muffled voice rang out above the brunette - the hot breath of the punk easily seeping through the beanie and onto Max's head. She nodded quietly and kept her eyes ahead on the dirt path.
"Lets."
Silence had once again befallen the couple as they continued their slow walk down the path to anywhere. Their minds found themselves occupied on the words they've exchanged, the questions they've asked. Whereas Max had focused herself on the questions of the future, on sorting a life with Chloe and unravelling the mystery of their destiny - Chloe herself had fallen back on a few recent memories. More specifically - Ryan and Vanessa Caulfield.
"M-Max?" Chloe spoke up, a bit apprehensive about how to approach this subject. She wasn't sure if it was smart bringing up Max's parents right now, whether or not the brunette would even want to speak about it at all. Max nodded quietly and squeezed Chloe to show that she was listening. "This might seem a bit heavy right now, but…- What about Ryan a-and Vanessa?"
"What?" Max shot out almost instantly, her parents names triggering an almost defensive response in her. Chloe looked down as her eyes widened, unsure how to read the brunette right now. "W-What do you mean?"
"I-In the parking lot, all those days ago - remember? Y-You said you didn't want to talk with them right now." Chloe spoke and saw the brunette nodding, her gaze constantly resting on the punk. "Uhm. After this road trip - whenever it ends - … what do you want to d-do?"
"O-Oh." Max lowered her gaze as she was unsure how to respond. Chloe looked away and focused herself on the small snaps of the lake peering in between the trees to their left. "I-.. I don't know."
"Well - d-do you think you'll want to return or…?" Chloe kept her eyes on the lake. She heard the crinkle of her leather jacket next to her, the grip around her waist tightening itself - Max had nuzzled herself back into Chloe as she thought over what she just said.
"Chlo-... Have y-you ever thought about s-starting over?" Max spoke quietly and heard the punk nod after a moment of silence.
"All the time."
"H-How about we do just that?" Max continued and kept her tight grip on Chloe, fearing a wrong word or move could break the girl. "Let's just start over - t-together."
"Together?" Chloe replied and began to slow down the two girls at the end of the path - they had begun to approach the lake now, the water only a few dozen metres away. Max nodded and moved her head out of the punk's shoulder, her eyes resting on the end of the path. The bluenette shifted her gaze down to her girlfriend, a faint smile resting on both their faces. She moved in slowly and left a kiss on Max's temple, her lips lingering there as she closed her eyes - her thoughts gathering up as she was wondering over the idea.
"S-So…?" Max closed her own eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh air, her girlfriend's lips against her skin soothing her ever further ahead of their decision.
"Let's do it."
Max kept silent and turned towards Chloe, her arms completely wrapping themselves around the girl as she gave her a hug. The punk quickly reciprocated with her own, holding her hipster girl close as neither wanted to speak another word.
The warm glow of the fire had engulfed the surrounding area with its embers, the stray things occasionally rising up out of the burning log pit - stones placed in a rough circle around it to prevent the fire from escaping. The crackle of sticks burning, leaves slowly turning to ash with a quiet hiss that was indistinguishable from the rest of the ambient sounds around the rough fire-pit - crickets chirping, the sway of the tree trunks, the occasional hoot of an owl in the far distance. The day had reached its halcyon time - the world floating between dusk and dawn as the darkness had completely swept up all around everything but the fire.
Chloe sat quietly on the log a few feet away from the fire, her eyes focusing on the dancing flame amongst the stones - her hand holding a beer bottle by its neck, periodically being brought up to her mouth as she took a swig of the bitter drink. It had left a terrible aftertaste in her mouth, the cheap brand probably not helping her case, yet she didn't care - it had been far too long since she drank something relatively comparable to alcohol. Her thoughts hovered across her mind as she was lost in the conversation from just a few hours ago, the life-changing decision she had made so easily with her girlfriend. She was parted from her mind when she heard the door close quietly nearby.
Max walked out of the cabin with a blanket in her hand, carefully navigating her war over towards the make-do fire pit without making a sound - she had wanted to keep quiet, to keep the atmosphere in its current balance - not wanting to disturb nature in its flow. The brunette unfurled the blanket and quickly wrapped it around her punk girlfriend, her knees bending slightly as she sat herself down on her lap and curled up against the bluenette. Chloe put down her beer bottle and wrapped her hands around the girl, holding onto the blanket for both of them - they were completely covered by the fabric as the extra warmth it provided gave them comfort in the cold October night.
They both sat quietly in their blanketed embrace, their eyes resting on the flames of the fire just ahead, the rhythmic twirling and whirling of the flames causing both of them to simply focus and learn the dance of the beast. A gust of wind had blown through the area as the flames suddenly tried to sputter out of the pit, the rough stones on the edge stopping the fire from spreading out of its containment. Max let out a quiet sigh and burrowed into her girlfriend's chest, the punk leaving a kiss on her chestnut hair - the beanie-less hipster smiling against her punk at the gesture.
"I'm excited for it all." Max quietly spoke as she finally broken the nearly hour long silence the two girls had been sat in - they didn't need words to convey what they were feeling during that entire period. Chloe nodded and watched flames once again try to escape their prison, the rocks immediately stopping the embers short of the forest floor.
"Me too, Max. Me too." Chloe brought up one hand near the edge of the blanket and began to play around absentmindedly with Max's hair, her fingers curling the strands around and scratching at her skin periodically.
"Chloe…?"
"Yeah?" Chloe looked down at her girlfriend, the brunette moving her own head out of it's nest - their eyes meeting halfway.
"Are…- are we going to get m-married...?" Max mumbled awkwardly, unsure if the question was even appropriate for the moment. Chloe chuckled and moved in for a kiss, lingering her lips on Max's for a few seconds as they formed a smile.
"We're hella gonna get married." Chloe replied and moved her hand down from Max's hair, snaking its way around to the 'V' of her slightly unbuttoned flannel - her blue-nailed fingers began to scratch and run over the skin as they drew random patterns. Max smiled wide and felt her heart skip a beat at the confirmation of her question - her head dropping onto the punk's shoulder to allow the taller girl to continue her artsy spirit on her skin. Max heard the quiet sniffle just above, her gaze quickly travelling towards the source - the punk quietly shedding tears as she smiled, her own eyes resting on the flames again.
"W-What's up…?" Max asked and watched Chloe look down, her smile still present as the tears glistened in the ember glow.
"M-Max…- You've no idea just how happy I am right now." Chloe confessed and let out a quiet sob, quickly running her hand under her nose as she tried to not look sappy.
"I'm happy too." Max reassured her girlfriend and saw her smile grow a bit wider.
"I k-know. It's just that for the first time in my life, the first time, I feel like I have purpose. Like I have a place somewhere, y'know?" Chloe continued quietly and looked away. Max slipped her own hand through the blanket and brought it up, grabbing Chloe's as she gave it a squeeze.
"Hey. You're always going to have a place, okay?" Max moved the hand down to her own chest, placing it right above her heart in the cheesiest move under the sun. Well, the moon. "Right here."
"Oh stop - you're going to make me completely bawl." Chloe quickly hitched her breath as she let out a half-sob and half-laugh, her smile growing to it's widest proportions yet as her heart soared out of her chest. "You're like the cheesiest, sappiest, most cliched and cutest, dorky hipster geek anyone could ever ask for."
"Are there many people that ask for those…?" Max teased a bit and got Chloe to let out another half-chuckle and half-sob.
"Just me." Chloe admitted and closed her eyes, taking in deep breaths as she tried to calm herself - she was hurting her punk street cred by turning soft, yet a big part of her didn't care at all.
The two girls giggled amongst themselves, their sounds not carrying far beyond the fire-pit as they did their best not to disturb the world in its slumber. Chloe was completely over the moon, far beyond the stars, travelling through the galaxies and right out of the damn universe - she had everything she could ever ask for and more. The feeling in her stomach, her chest, her head - it was all comparable to the joyous, carefree feeling of a marijuana high. That was artificial though, done in controlled amounts with the use of recreational drugs - what Chloe was feeling was different, it was real. It sure as hell beat any high that the punk had ever experienced.
Chloe reached underneath her legs after a few minutes and grasped onto the glass bottle resting in between, bringing it up through the blanket quietly and placing it against her lip - the bitter drink making its way down her throat as she tipped the bottle. Max watched her girlfriend and scrunched up her face in disgust.
"Yuck." Max simply spoke and looked away. Chloe lowered the bottle and giggled, her eyes drifting between the hipster and the beer.
"Heeeeyyyy…-" Chloe teased a bit and began to move the bottle towards Max's mouth. The brunette immediately moved her head away, shaking it slightly.
"No, it's disgusting." Max spoke and kept her head away as the bottle advanced. Chloe kept a grin on her face as she saw the brunette had ran out of space to move, her head staying still whilst the bottle kept moving forward to her lips.
"C'mon Max… just a taste?" Chloe pouted a bit as she tried to coerce her girlfriend into taking a sip of the alcohol. "It's not that bad…-"
"Y-Yes it is!" Max shot back quietly, squirming a bit as the bottle was only a few inches away from her lips now. "Chloeee."
"Just give it a try…? Pleaseee…" Chloe once again threw up her puppy eyes, batting her eyelashes innocently at her girlfriend. Max switched her gaze between the bottle and the punk, one part of her wanting to indulge the punk and live a little - the other screaming at her to stop, her social anxiety kicking in. She gave into the winning side and nodded quietly after a moment. "Yayy!"
"J-Just…- Just a taste, okay?" Max spoke softly and received a quick nod from her girlfriend. Her own hand drifted up to the bottle as her fingers lingered over Chloe's, ensuring that she'd have some sort of control over the amount of beer she'd have to drink to get a taster. She gave the punk a weak smile and allowed the bottle to touch her lips, the entire thing slowly tipping into her mouth.
The hipster almost gagged and spluttered out the bitter drink once it began to come down her throat, residue amounts of it being spat out to the side afterwards. Her hands instantly lowered the bottle back down as Chloe laughed, her head shaking side to side as she ran her tongue over and over in her mouth, the aftertaste being almost unbearable for the inexperienced drinker.
"Blegh - that's bad." Max spoke after a moment, her comment eliciting a loud chuckle from her girlfriend. "Ewww, the aftertaste is horrible."
"Hey, I got something for that…-" Chloe spoke quietly and put down her beer bottle again. Her hand drifted up to Max's cheek and cupped it, slowly pulling her into a kiss without hesitation. Their eyes closed as their tongues darted forward and began their dance, the sour and bitter taste mixing in their mouths as they ignored it. Max ran her own two hands from underneath the blanket and placed them behind Chloe's neck, wanting to taste more of the punk as she lightly pulled her further into the kiss - the bluenette smiling at her eagerness.
"Mm - I could drink a bit more if that is the reward I get…-" Max spoke after a few moments as they broke their kiss, their forehead staying together as they gazed into each other's eyes. Chloe let out a smirk and moved in for a chaste peck on Max's lips, her two hands snaking their way underneath the brunette's arms and wrapping back around on her shoulders.
"Perhaps you should drink more. Who knows what you might be capable of under influence…?" Chloe teased a bit and tugged at Max's lip with her teeth, pulling them away a bit as the brunette softly moaned and smiled.
"You're trying to get me drunk - seducing me again…?" Max saw right through Chloe. The punk instantly stopped her teasing and stared gobsmacked at her girlfriend - like a deer in the headlights. Max let out a giggle and used the hands still around her neck to pull the punk into another kiss, this time her one tongue initiating the clash. Chloe kissed back with ferocity as she felt her heart pounding away, her abdomen alighting on fire as her body became hotter - perhaps due to the fire, the blanket or the contact with the brunette. Perhaps all of it combined.
"I don't need to seduce you, I already have you wrapped around my finger…" Chloe moved away from the kiss and brought her index finger near their faces, swirling it around slowly as she gestured. Max grinned and saw her chance.
"Oh? I'd like see just how that might look..-" Max moved in next to Chloe's ear and purred out the words. Immediately the punk felt the explosion of lust, passion and love in her chest as she heard the brunette - her body seared with warmth as she was caught wordless, her vocabulary erased from her head as she couldn't speak back. She decided to respond in the best way she could - her head shot forward and she heard her teeth clatter with Max's as they frantically began to kiss again, both of them feeling the pooling embers in their abdomen as hands began to glide around their bodies.
The crackle and hiss of the fire was broken up by soft moans, huffs and puffs and the quiet creaking of the log as it moved around uncomfortably in its place. The two girls were locked in their passionate kiss as they kept going, ignoring the unbearable scalding heat between the two of them - their blanket quickly slipping off as the cold, fall air hit them. Goosebumps made their way up their arms and shivers were sent across their spines but they ignored it - their lips constantly moved in rhythm as they couldn't keep their hands off each other.
"F-Fuck Max, you've no idea..-" Chloe spoke between their kisses, her hands now gripping onto Max's hips as the brunette straddled her. Max loomed over the girl slightly with her now present height advantage and smirked - their foreheads in contact as they felt the thin layer of sweat sticking them together. One of the punks hands drifted slowly down from the brunette's hip and onto her thigh, sensually beginning to caress the inner part as the brunette felt the tug in her abdomen - she bit her lip and moved even closer to her girlfriend, her body lusting for more contact with the hand.
"O-Ooh..-" Max bit her lip harder and moaned quietly when she felt the hand begin its slow crawl further in, resting inches away from the warmth flowing around below her waistband. Chloe grinned at her teasing and moved her head down, resting it underneath the girl's neck and starting her soft bites - Max occasionally letting out a quiet moan in response to the sensation of the hand and the bites combined. "Mm..-"
"M-Max...?" Chloe spoke up and moved away from below her head, her eyes resting on Max's as they looked at each other and shared their feelings through the gaze - lust, passion, love and longing for what was about to come. "Are y-you sure you want this?"
"I-... I'm a little bit s-scared - but y-yeah. I want this." Max quietly spoke and flashed a weak smile - she was appreciative of the fact that Chloe had asked her beforehand, the punk scared of doing something wrong or moving things too fast. Her girlfriend smiled wide and pecked Max's lips.
"I'm having you tonight, Caulfield." Chloe moved back below Max's head and resumed her bites, her soft kisses. Her muffled voice came up from underneath the brunette, the sultry tone breaking Max's daze as her own heart pounded away at her chest. "All of you."
"P-Please d-..ooh-..." Max felt her sentence interrupted by another moan as Chloe gripped her thigh harder. The brunette began to slowly grind forwards as she internally screamed for even more contact with Chloe's hand, wanting the punk to advance the moment so much more. The older girl giggled quietly as she felt the grinding come in, her mind understanding her girlfriend's wishes - yet she continued her teasing and punished the girl by moving her hand away with each grind. "Chloeeee…"
The hipster girl moaned out again as the hand found it's way back into position after a moment, this time resting inches away from Max's fully clothed sex - the heat emanating even through the thick fabric of the denim jeans. Her grinding slowed down as she wanted to ride out the feeling rather than get greedy, yet her body kept screaming for more - the lust that had enveloped her mind repressed everything else. She opened her eyes and kept them half-lidded, her orbs travelling at the electric blue nest just below as she felt the bites, kisses and soft sucking - the punk was marking her once again. She felt the hot sensation whirring around in her lower abdomen, her skin crawling with goosebumps at the same time from the cold wind blowing over the two.
"W-We should head inside…-" Chloe spoke up and kept at her routine, her eyes closed as she herself was enjoying the moment.
"M-Mhm.." Max hummed out quietly and continued her grind. She stopped after a few seconds as she felt the hands move away from her inner thigh and hip - snaking down below her and gripping on tight. Max quickly understood the movement and wrapped her own two arms around Chloe's neck, her hands holding onto the shirt, her legs carefully wrapping themselves around the punk's waist. Her stomach nearly flipped when she felt herself getting heaved up after a few seconds, the punk rising up with a quiet grunt and swaying side to side a bit.
"You're h-heavier than you look." Chloe spoke and giggled as she tried to turn the two of them towards the cabin. There was no doubt - she was straining her muscles to carry the girl, yet her body allowed itself to be exerted to great lengths just so she could do this. Max quickly burrowed her head in the crook of Chloe's neck, starting her own conquest of the territory with bites and kisses.
The two of them struggled towards the cabin door, the punk slamming her back against it and hoping that it wouldn't give way - they were once again locked in a kiss before even reaching the wooden barrier. Chloe lowered one hand from below Max and tapped around behind her frantically, trying to find the doorknob, the cold metal - the saviour of the situation. Her hands quickly gripped onto the steel knob and turned it, opening the door quickly as the punk's body weight did the rest - the two girls nearly falling inside the cabin.
The door slammed shut after a quiet moment.
A/N -
Oh boy, strap yourselves in for the next chapter.
- :) WinTTY
