~Max~

A voice in my head is telling me to wake up, so I obey it and open my eyes.

It's bright inside the room, a warm beam of sunlight leaks in from one of the windows. It's weird waking up in a bed that isn't my own, but, no complaints here. It just feels good to actually sleep for once.

I yawn a little and sigh, peering over at the chair Chloe's sleeping on.

It's empty.

My heart jumps in my chest for a moment but then settles when I realize her jacket is gone too, so I figure she must be outside smoking. I take a deep breath and close my eyes again, snuggling up even further under the covers. God, it's so nice and warm here, *sigh* I could stay like this forever. I hug my pillow and smile to myself.

Something shifts behind me and suddenly I'm aware of an arm wrapped around my waist.

For a second it feels nice... until it clicks.

There is an arm around my waist, and Chloe is nowhere to be seen.

I swallow audibly and turn my head. Sure enough, when I look behind me, all I see is butterfly blue hair.

And for some dumb reason, I panic.

"Shit!" I say, basically pushing Chloe off the bed.

She immediately wakes up when she hits the ground, jumping up and karate chopping the air around her, "What, What is it? Are we being robbed?!".

"No!" I reply quickly, pulling the sheets up to my chin even though I'm fully clothed.

It's my beet red face that I'm trying to hide.

She relaxes and looks at me curiously, "Then what's wrong?".

"You were in the bed with me," I reply.

"Ok... and?".

"What do you mean and? What were you doing here?". I raise my voice a little, uncertainty and panic fills my every word, "I don't really remember what happened last night, aside from falling asleep".

"Oh… really? Well uh... You… uh, you were having a nightmare so I woke you up. We talked for a few hours and before you fell asleep again you uh, asked me to stay with you, and I did... all night,".

I blush even more, "You… you did?".

She nods with a slightly weary expression, "Yeah, I did. So… uh, I um... I'm sorry if I scared you".

Chloe looks down at the floor for a moment, seeming anxious in the awkward energy I created. She stands up abruptly and walks to the door, trying to hide her flush face, "I'll um… I'll see you outside".

And with that, the door clicks closed and I'm left alone with my thoughts.

Nightmares? Did I have another nightmare? I think to myself as I roll out of bed and slip my shoes on.

I don't remember having one and I certainly don't remember asking Chloe to sleep with me, but I know she wouldn't lie to me.

I get my bag and step outside, seeing that she's waiting for me on the small balcony, cigarette in hand. She has her elbows propped up against the railing, her old leather jacket hanging loosely over her shoulders. Her trademark hair sticks out of her old ratty beanie which she scratches at. I sigh inwardly, still sorta awestruck at how beautiful she is. Chloe hasn't realized my presence yet, so I watch as she closes her eyes and tilts her head up, letting out a plume of smoke.

God, she's so fucking cool… heh, I'm kinda jealous of her confidence.

Anyways, I close the door quietly behind me and walk up beside her, "Hey,".

She jumps, dropping her cigarette and it falls down the parking lot below. We both watch in silence as it goes down.

"Ah, welp… there goes my last cig," she grumbles with a sigh, looking over at me with slight annoyance.

My face goes red again and I swallow audibly, "S- sorry".

Chloe shrugs, "No biggie, I'll just… buy a new pack. Now come on, you up for coffee? I need coffee".

I nod and smile softly, "Sure,".

"Come on then, there's a little shop down the road".

I follow Chloe as she leads me through the streets of Old Town Portland, dodging people as they walk past, a few of them bumping into me. "Sorry, sorry," I mutter helplessly.

Chloe notices me falling slightly behind and reaches back and grabs my hand. I half expect her to just tug me along, but, to my actual surprise, she slows her pace until hers meets mine and continues to hold my hand. She intertwines our fingers and shoots me a quick reassuring smile.

I can feel heat rising off of my cheeks.

I- I never took Chloe for the kind of person to do cutesy shit like this, but the idiotic grin she's trying to hide tells me she's loving it.

Anyways, once we get to the coffee shop, Chloe releases my hand and gets in line while I shyly wait beside her.

"I don't get why you freaked out," she says suddenly, "I mean, we used to share a bed when we were kids… like, all the time. I don't see what the big deal is,".

I blush deeply and look up at her, "Huh?".

"You really freaked me out, okay I didn't know what else to do. You were starting to have another nightmare so I kinda just… laid next to you and put my arm around you and… it felt too good to let go...".

I tug on her jacket and spin her around to look at me, "Wait, so… I didn't ask you to stay with me? You… you lied?".

Chloe's face almost goes white, "I… y- you did ask me to stay with you, Max… at least… until you fell asleep. P- please… don't hate me,". Chloe looks down at me, actual terror hidden in her eyes… and I laugh. She blinks, on the verge of tears, "Wha… why the fuck are you laughing?! It's not funny… I… *gulp* I lied to you".

I shrug, "So?".

Chloe looks even more confused now, "I'm so fucking lost right now. So… you're not pissed at me?".

I shake my head, "No… why would I be? I just got startled Chloe, that's all,".

"But why? We've slept next to each other with no problem for like… fucking years,".

I sigh and look down at the ground, "I know, Chloe. But things are different now,".

"You mean because we're in love?".

"Shhh... you know what people around here think about that," I say in a hushed voice, looking around the semi-busy coffee shop.

She snickers a bit, seeming completely over what just happened moments ago, "Aww, you embarrassed about being gay. Huh, that's adorable" Chloe teases moving forward in the surprisingly slow line.

"No, you're the one who's gay, I'm Bi,".

Yeah... she doesn't buy that for a second.

"Is that so? Well then, have you ever kissed a boy?".

"No" I reply.

"Ever had a crush on a boy?".

"No".

"Ever been remotely interested in having any kind of relationship with a boy?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh… no?".

"... Ever want to do it with a boy?".

I playfully punch Chloe in the arm, shocked that she would even ask such a thing in a public setting.

But then again, this is Chloe Price and absolutely no shits a given.

"Well, have you?" she continues.

I take a second before replying, "No,".

"There, I rest my case," Chloe says with a pridefully smug look on her face.

I stick my tongue out at her. "You suck. I mean... I've never even known a guy long enough to even think about that".

"What about that Waldo guy, you two seemed pretty tight, he seemed head over heels in love with you, too".

And how about a warm welcome for 'Jealous Chloe'!'

I look away at the mention of his name (or at least a variation of it).

"Warren".

I take a deep breath and sigh, "Warren was nice and all but I was never into him... or any of the boys from Blackwell. Or… any boys in general,".

Chloe snicker when my words trail off and my eyes grow wide at the realization that yeah… I might be gay.

I let this sink in for a while as we order our coffee, wait for it, then start heading back to the hotel.

Chloe looks over at me while she sips on her latte, "You alright there, champ?".

I nod slowly, "Yeah… it's just... a lot to take in, I guess,".

"Well, at least now I know why you chose the 'Girls' locker room when we broke into the pool," she says with a suggestive smile.

I look over at her and blush, "Yeah… about that. I uh... I actually chose the 'boys' locker room, 'cause why pass up the opportunity... but you seemed a bit disappointed so I rewound and chose 'Girls' because I wanted to see your reaction. It was... excited, I guess? So I stuck with that 'cause I liked to see you happy" I admit, quickly taking a sip of my coffee.

Suddenly, Chloe stops walking and looks at me with bewilderment. "Holy shit! Is that why you were staring at me like that?!".

My whole face goes red as I nod slowly, "Yeah, I had felt... something... then and I wasn't sure what it was. Now, I think I know".

"Well, what was it?" She asks.

"Love".