I close the large oak door behind us and set my bags aside.
"Welp, welcome to my humble abode," I whisper, kicking off my snow-covered boots and gesturing for Chloe to do the same.
She nods compliantly.
"Mom, Dad? I'm home!" I call out, allowing Chloe to take back her jacket.
"We're in the living room, Maxine. Come introduce us to your friend!" Mom calls from the next room.
I swallow hard and lead Chloe closer to the source of my mother's voice. She hesitates, holding me back to, "Dude… she sounds pissed. Are you sure about this?".
I nod and give her hand a gentle squeeze, " I've never been more sure of anything more in my life,".
We both walk out into the room with fake smiles plastered on our faces, "Hey, Mom, Dad," I wave at my parents, feeling them eyeing me disappointingly.
No... not me.
They're staring at Chloe. I cough a bit and clear my throat, trying to get their attention back on me, "So, uh. This is Chloe. She's going to be staying with us over break,".
"Is she now, did you even bother asking us first?" Dad says sternly.
I can feel Chloe's body tense up from where she stands beside me.
Stick up for yourself! Her eyes seem to be telling me.
"D- do I have to ask your permission for everything? This is my house too ya know," I reply with some sass that puts a smile on Chloe's face.
"But it's not your home anymore. We've gone over this multiple times. You live at Blackwell now, Maxine".
It's Max, I correct in my head.
"Then why am I even here?!".
"Please. It's late... let's talk about this in the morning," Mom says, pressing her hands against her temples.
"Mom, why am I here?" I ask again, watching as my parents get up and prepare to leave the room,
"In the morning, Maxine," Dad says, shaking his head slightly, "In the morning,".
And with that, they're gone… without even saying 'Welcome Home'.
"*Ahem* Nice to meet you too," Chloe says with half-assed sarcasm, "Are you okay?".
I feel her hand rest on my shoulder and pull away.
"Why did I even bother coming back… things aren't going to change," I mutter bitterly to myself.
"Uh…if I'm not welcome I'll go find a motel to stay at,".
"No… no… please don't go. It's cold and late and the nearest motel is almost 10 miles away… and," I let my voice trail off.
"And what?".
I sigh and blush, "And I don't want to be alone,".
Wow, was that mushy or what?
"Well, no need to be worried about that, Maxie. I'll always be with you," Chloe says, hugging me from behind.
"Are you sure 'this' is okay?" I want to ask, "I'm not just a rebound, am I? You didn't just kiss me back because you didn't want to feel alone too, did you?".
I shake my head and pull away, "We can't do this here," I say, gesturing to the entirety of my h-... my parents home, "My parents will kill me,".
"We've already established that, Kid. I'm not going to out you if that's what you're afraid of,".
"You can't out me if I'm not even sure what I am…" I say letting my voice trail off again.
"Do you want me to help you find out?".
I blink, "Huh?".
"Come on, we'll talk in your room," Chloe says, pointing up the stairs.
"My room? Oh… right," I say, blushing a bit more.
"Do you have a computer?".
I nod, "Y- you're not going to look up porn are you?".
"Pfft, no… eh, maybe. I don't know. I gotta find out what you're comfortable with first… everybody's different," Chloe says, ushering me up the stairs.
I shrug, not really sure on anything anymore.
My room is dark and cold, filled with stale, musty air. It's as If no one's stepped inside since I left.
Did my parents even notice I was gone?
Probably not… *sigh*. "You okay? You seem quite… like, too quiet," Chloe tells me as she walks around my room ahead of me. I sigh audibly and shake the fuzz out of my head.
"Yeah… it's been a long… interesting day,".
"You can say that again," Chloe says, watching as I fumble for the light switch. I hum absently and flick on the light, closing the door behind me and leaning up against it. Nothing really worthwhile happened today,
Except for that kiss.
I can still taste her breath in the back of my throat… if that makes any sense. In terms of girls, she's definitely my first kiss…
and maybe the last and only girl I kiss.
"Hello, Max. Ground Control to Major Tom,". Chloe starts snapping her fingers in front of my face and I snap back into reality.
I blink, realizing that I zoned out again, "Shit… sorry, Chloe. I'm clearly not myself today,".
She comes up to me and rests the back of her hand on my forehead.
"What are you…" I begin.
She cuts me off with a simple shush, "Dude, you seriously might be sick, looks like you're 'bout to pass out,".
"I might," I admit, feeling a bit unsteady on my feet. Everything just happened so fast. I kissed a girl, and she kissed me. We made out like… three times and now we have to pretend like none of that happened?
Well, you don't have to pretend, you can always just say "Fuck it," and be honest about your relationship with Chloe. No Filter, right?
Ugh, I don't know and I'm too tired to think about anything right now.
I feel Chloe's grip tighten around me suddenly, "I've got you, okay. Seriously though, don't do any of that passing out shit… scares the fuck outta me,".
I worm my arms around her and let her warmth embrace me, "I won't,".
"Promise?".
I nod and press my face into her shirt, "Promise,".
She pulls away, taking the warmth with her.
"Okay, now… how's the sleeping situation gonna work?" Chloe asks, leading me to my bed, which we both flop down on.
"You'll sleep next to me, of course," I almost say, but my parents are already suspicious of Chloe and god forbid they walk in her and find my cuddled up against my 'friend'.
"I… I think I've got a sleeping bag somewhere in my closet. Find it and you can sleep next to my bed," I mutter, absently kicking off my shoes.
"Huh, reminds me of having sleepovers as a kid," Chloe says as she heads to the closet, "You ever have sleepovers, Max?".
I shake my head slightly and sit up, debating on whether or not I should get dressed for bed. "Rarely. My parents are…*yawn* like… super picky about my friends,".
Which is probably why I have none.
"Pfft, I could tell. And I thought my parents were strict," She says, huffing a silent "score" when she finds the bag, "I wouldn't worry 'bout it, Kid. Things are rough all over for the both of us, eh?".
I nod and giggle at the reference, "Stay Gold, Ponyboy… Stay Gold,".
Chloe smacks her chest in mock pain, "Dude, that movie fucked me up so bad,".
I nod in agreement and help her unroll and set up the sleeping bag with a few extra pillows.
"The book was even sadder,".
Chloe shrugs and flops down on her makeshift bed, posing almost…. Seductively?
I shake my head and turn away, "I'ma go get dressed in the bathroom 'kay?".
"Okay, Max," Chloe says, watching me closely.
I blush, suddenly feeling very self-conscious and flustered.
I have to get used to her genuinely flirting with me, and saying genuinely loving things.
Not that I don't think what she's said to me before all this wasn't genuine. I never thought what was going to happen after we… well, got together. This is all so new to me and everything is so odd and intriguing that I'm anxious to find out where any of this leads. I leave the room after taking a stack of clothes from my luggage and sigh deeply and almost wistfully.
This is like… actually happening, I think. I- I'm in love and… and… and I don't know what to do about it.
I don't even know if this is love… I don't know what love even is supposed to feel like. But whatever I'm feeling… I don't want it to stop.
After I dress and wait outside my room for Chloe to finish changing, I lay back on my bed while she sits at my desk and pours over my computer. She keeps her voice low and the topics subtle. "So.. uh, like… what do you find attractive in a person… in any person?" Chloe asks, reading off of some online forum.
"Blond hair, blue eyes, strong, built, muscular," I say without a second thought, "Hot as fuck,".
She snickers at that.
"Did you intentionally list off my physical characteristics?".
I blink and sit up a bit, "You're blond?".
Chloe nods and lifts the hair at the back of her head to reveal her natural strawberry blond hair, "Damn, Max. You must have been holding yourself back. 'Hot as Fuck?' Huh, I didn't know I had that effect on people,".
"Warren did," I say, rolling over to see her reaction.
"What?".
"In the diner that day, Warren was convinced that you turned Nathan to the…" I smirk a bit and use air quotes for effect, "To the 'Gay Side'".
Chloe buries her face in her arms to smother her laughter, "'The Gay Side'? Are you cereal? Ha, fucking prick. Of course, I didn't make Nathan gay. He came out to me before I came out to him!".
I giggle, amused that she used some of my lingoes, "So… like, what's your orientation? Sorry, I've never asked,".
"I um… I don't really associate with anything. If someone likes me… well, that's good enough for me," Chloe says, rubbing the back of her neck, "But uh… my mom wasn't too thrilled when I told her about my crushes on girls but David kinda knew that I wasn't exactly straight, so he was cool with it as long as I was happy with my choice of a partner,".
I sigh, not remembering my parents ever saying anything about my choice in partners. That can either be a good thing…. considering that they might not care who I love, or… they don't want me getting any ideas.
I'll go with the latter.
*sigh* shit.
"So uh… back to the task at hand," Chloe says, clearing her throat, "I um, I meant what are like, personality traits you look for, like… um… for you… I like how when someone pisses you off, you don't let them give you any shit,".
I blush a bit.
I do that?
"I um… I like kind hearted people, people who aren't afraid to… to… I don't know, be their true selves? I- I don't know. Same as you, if someone cares about me deep enough, that's good enough for me… right?".
Chloe shrugs, "That's only something you can answer, Max. Not me,".
I nod and avert my eyes from her steady blue gaze.
"How about this," she says, seeing I'm becoming a bit flustered, "What drew you to me? What about me made you want to be more than friends?".
My face must have gone red because she snickers again, "What made your 'gaydar' go off, Max?".
"You're pretty," is my first reply which makes me blush even more, "You're strong and free-willed, not afraid to do what you want to do. But you're also kind and compassionate, you care about how people react to your decisions,".
I look up again and see Chloe's moved a bit closer, rolling my desk chair ever so closer to me.
"What else?".
"You treat others so well even though they treat you like shit and it's so hard to watch," I say, my voice wavering slightly, "Y-you deserve so much, Chloe and I want… I hope I'm the one that can give you that. Whatever it is. We just met, we're still getting to know each other b- but… I… I think this is fate. Out of every person I've ever met, you're the one that makes me feel alive… makes me feel... Real,".
"Real," Chloe repeats, coming up and pressing her forehead against mine with only the chair separating up.
I stay still, still not sure how this whole relationship thing works.
"W- what drew you to me?" I ask softly.
Chloe smiles and plants a kiss on my lips, "Everything,".