Prologue: Quantum Mechanics states that there are an infinite number of worlds. This is boring, and you have likely heard it before. Something more interesting that you might have not heard is that on one of those worlds, Max Caulfield never met Chloe Price before leaving Arcadia Bay. Let me tell you the story of what happened when she came back.
Chapter 9: Moonlight
Friday, September 20th, 2013 (8:30 PM)
I closed my eyes, listening to the music Chloe had put on as she drove. It was energizing, and not at all what I expected her to listen to. Heck, I was fairly sure I had heard this song on a pop radio station a few days ago. It was, from what I could tell, a song about a boy and girl who fell in love at a party. The boy saw a future with the girl, and he loved her. She loved him too, but she didn't want to admit it, so she just danced with him.
I mused on this for a few minutes more until we pulled up in front of a slightly run down looking restaurant. Then again, this was Arcadia Bay. It was an achievement in and of itself when a building did not look run down. It was dark, and I couldn't quite make out what was written on the sign. I squinted some more and tried to read it, to no avail.
"Could I help you out milady?" I blinked and realized the door on my side of the car had been opened by Chloe. She was standing there, slightly bowed, holding it open for me. I took her proffered hand and stepped out, smiling.
"The lady thanks you." I said, making a slight curtsey. She laughed, and led me arm in arm into the restaurant.
As I walked in, the first thing that struck about the place was it's quiet. It was set up like your average American restaurant, tables, a bar, some TVs. All the TVs were on silent though, and it was kinda quiet for a Friday night.
We were met up front by a sort of mousy looking girl with dark black hair, wearing a plain black t-shirt, jeans, and a small apron. She looked at us expectantly. I froze up, uncertain.
"Table for two, under the name Price." Chloe spoke coolly, and I realized that she had just been asking us for that. I relaxed.
"One moment please." The mousy girl walked away, entering a door that presumably led to the kitchen, and about fifteen seconds later, Dana walked up.
Wait what. What was Dana doing here? She greeted us, wearing her usual large-as-life smile.
"Hey guys! I heard you had a reservation?" Chloe nodded, and she led us to another part of the restaurant, chittering as we went.
She had just finished talking about some dance coming up when we reached a small room with a closed door. She stopped talking and composed herself.
"Sorry guys, the boss says I need to be more professional." I blinked at that.
"Dana, don't apologize. You're one of the best people I know. I'd never want you to not be you." That brought a smile to Dana's face, and she hugged me.
"Thanks Max! You're a great friend!" She pulled away, and I saw that Chloe was smiling at me a bit as well.
Dana opened the door of the room and spoke, but I didn't hear her. The room was lit only by candles and by a few small lanterns hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of the room was a table, with a fancy tablecloth and a candelabra.
Chloe led me by my hand to the table, shocked as I was, sitting me down. Dana gave us our menus, and then said something else I didn't quite catch. Then Chloe poked me.
"What? Sorry, I was a bit zoned out." Chloe smiled, and spoke.
"She asked what you wanted to drink, Maxaronie." I smiled, and thought for a little bit.
"I'll have a chocolate milk please." Chloe snickered and I smacked her arm. "Hey! I'm a grown woman and if I feel like having chocolate milk, I'll have chocolate milk!"
Chloe snickered some more before turning to me, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Alright, I'll keep in mind that you're a "grown woman," tonight." I blushed, and Chloe quieted down, reaching over to brush my cheek with her hand. "You're adorable, you know that?"
I heard Dana make an "aw" sound and then walk away, having taken our order. That reminded me that technically, we were here to have dinner. I looked at the dinner, furrowing my brow. It was Italian cuisine, although I wasn't sure how good it was. You could get good Italian good anywhere, but only a few places made it like they actually did in Italy.
"So what're you going to have, Max?" I heard Chloe ask, and I rolled the question over, thinking.
"You know what, after you saying Maxaronie earlier, I feel like pasta. I think I'll just get some pasta alfredo." Chloe nodded, responding in kind with her own order.
"I, personally, am going to be having the best Italian food, pizza." I rolled my eyes. Of course.
"What kind?" I was a little curious. Then again, I tended to be a little curious about everything.
"Pizza Diavola." I frowned, running that through my head. Seeing my confusion, Chloe answered the unspoken question.
"Hot peppers and Salami. It literally means "The Devil's Pizza" in Italian." She grinned, and I knew that she found that more than a little cool.
"Sounds tasty. I might snag a slice if I have room."
"There's always room for pizza." Chloe said, nodding sagely. I burst out laughing, and Chloe grinned, breaking her "wise elder" impersonation.
Dana came by and collected our orders. Soon enough, we were dining in style, me on pasta, Chloe on pizza. The food was really good, authentic, and the atmosphere in the room really added to it. I did end up snagging one of Chloe's slices, though it was a bit too spicy for me. Luckily, chocolate milk cuts through spice just fine.
Finally, the time came for the bill. Dana came and put it down. I reached for it, but Chloe had longer arms, and snatched it up first.
"Don't worry dude, I got this." She pulled out some money from a clutch purse I hadn't previously noticed, and handed it over to Dana. I felt a little bit put-out. That was a lot of money…
"Are you sure you're okay with that?" I questioned, and Chloe reached across the table to grab my hand.
"Really, it's okay. Rachel scored me a sweet gig a this tattoo parlor a month ago. I'm practically swimming in cash." She smiled, and that made me feel a bit better. Rachel Amber really was the lynchpin to everything in this town, even my Chloe.
Wait, my Chloe? Before I had much longer to ponder the implications of that, Chloe grabbed me by the wrist and led me back to the car.
The drive back to Blackwell was uneventful, and mostly consisted of me humming along to the soft music Chloe had put on. When we finally go there, I stepped out, and saw that Chloe had gotten out too. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she shrugged.
"I'll walk you back to your dorm, dude. It's only polite." I obliged her, and we walked back to my room, holding hands the whole way.
We finally reached my dorm, at which point Chloe let go of my hand and rubbed her head awkwardly.
"Well I guess this is your stop." I opened the door, and Chloe looked inside, before slipping through the doorway.
"Dude I've never seen your room before. These decorations are hella cool!" I nodded, walking in myself.
I looked at Chloe, painted by the soft, almost blue glow of the moonlight through my window.
"Chloe, will you stay with me?"
She looked at me, raising an eyebrow, and I blushed, realizing the implications.
"No, not like that. Just lie next to me, and keep me warm. Stay with me." I repeated, feeling both emboldened and anxious from the butterflies pattering around my stomach.
Chloe looked at me for a heartbeat, before pulling me into a deep kiss. When we finally, after what felt both like an eternity and entirely too short a length of time, pulled apart, she whispered to me.
"Always."
We curled up next to each other on my bed in our underwear, pulling the covers up over us. And as I fell asleep to the steady pattern of Chloe's breathing, I decided I loved her, and I was never going to let her go.
AN: And done. I find it doesn't take that long to write these, it's just about finding the time to sit down and well, put pen to paper. (Or fingers to keyboard, in my case.) So here was the date, with all it's fluffy Pricefield goodness! Keep on reading and reviewing!
Uploaded Wednesday, April 13th, 2016
