Chloe held the ring up, "Max, will you marry me?"
A cool breeze rolled in from the open window. Max felt it brush past her neck. She gazed at the little ring in Chloe's hand. The diamond sparkled in the dim lighting of the old lamp. Max shifted her eyes from the pretty little object to Chloe.
Moonlight poured in from the open window. Chloe's hair rustled in the breeze. Her eyes were blue, sparkling in the pale moonlight. The corner of Chloe's mouth turned upward into a confident smile.
Max covered her nose and mouth. It was subconscious, a reaction to the explosive emotions brought by the unexpected proposition. Max's words were caught in her throat. The first tears started to drip down Max's cheeks. Max's brow contorted. She still couldn't find the words. Max began nodding her head up and down.
Chloe's small smile turned large. Max's eyes were devastating. Relief, shock, joy, all of Max's emotions could be seen spilling out from her sapphire blue irises. Chloe's eyes began watering, unable to cope with the vivid image.
"Y-Yes!"
Max finally choked the word out, her hands falling from her face.
"Oh Yes Chloe, Yes." Max stammered, "Yes."
Max reached out her hands. She placed them flat on Chloe's chest, below the neck. Chloe's skin was warm beneath her palms. "Yes Chloe," Max said, "I will marry you."
Chloe could feel Max's hands shaking. She pulled Max's right hand from her chest. She brought the hand to her lips. She kissed the back of Max's hand. Chloe slipped the ring onto Max's ring finger.
Chloe rose to her feet. She pulled Max up from the windowsill. Max took a step forward and buried herself in Chloe's arms. She laid her cheek down on Chloe's shoulder.
The cool air continued to wash over them. Chloe was moving her thumb back and forth, caressing Max's elbow. Max could feel Chloe's heart beating in her chest.
They stood there for a long time. Max was afraid to speak. She wanted this moment to last forever.
After a while Max felt a shiver run down her spine. The cool night air had become too much to bear any longer. Max pulled her head off of Chloe's shoulder.
Max looked at the face of her partner. Chloe was calm; She looked content, happy. Max leaned in, silently asking for a kiss. Chloe fulfilled the request, bringing her lips down to Max's. The kiss was short, sweet, and meaningful.
Max said, "I feel like... I've been trying for two days to say how much I love you. It's hard. There's no language for the things I feel."
Chloe kissed Max on the forehead. "There's no reason to say anything," she said, "Just say: I love you."
Max smiled. "I love you," She said.
"I love you too," Chloe said.
"It's getting cold," Max said. She turned to the window, closing it. She pulled her curtains closed.
Max looked at Chloe. The blue hair girl pushed air through her nostrils. Max identified the nose yawn.
"It's late," Max said.
"Let's go to bed," Chloe said, nodding. She sat down on the edge of Max's bed. She dumped her pocket's belongings out onto the nightstand: The mostly burned joint, keys, her cellphone, a small Velcro wallet.
Max sat down next to her. They were touching at the hip.
Max held her hand up in the light of the Victorian shaded lamp. She examined the ring on her finger in detail. It was a gold band. The diamond sparkled beautifully. It was high quality but small. The undersized diamond ring: A traditional symbol for love through hardship, Max thought, It's perfect.
"Chloe are you sure you want me to have this?" Max asked, "It feels so important."
"It is important Max," Chloe said, "That's why I want you to have it. You're the only person I would trust with this. You loved my parents as much as I did. It feels right."
"I love it," Max said, "You can tell it was something William picked."
Chloe smiled. Her eyes were watering at Max's words. "Yeah," Chloe said, nodding, "It's simple. He liked things like that. I knew you would appreciate it, you two usually liked the same things."
"It might be a bit big," Max said, "My hands are freakishly small."
"Don't say that, "Chloe said, "I love your tiny hands."
Max giggled. The sentiment was pure but the premise was absurd. "You love my tiny hands?" Max asked. The words were teasing.
Chloe began chuckling, embarrassed at her own words, "Yes. I love your tiny hands Max."
Max's giggle grew to a laugh. Both girls calmed their laughter, putting on serious faces.
Chloe watched as the corner of Max's mouth began creeping upward into a smile. It was too much. Both of them erupted into laughter.
"It's not even funny," Max said, trying to suppress her laughter. Their laughter doubled.
Max pulled her arms into her shirt. Only her hands were visible from the sleeves of her t-shirt. She began wiggling her fingers, moving them towards Chloe. It was a ridiculous image.
Chloe's laughter exploded. It started to quiet as she began running out of air. Her face turned beet red. She couldn't draw air back into her lungs.
"Max stop!" Chloe cried out, "I can't..." She turned away from Max unable to look at the girl any further.
Max relented. She pushed her hands back out of her T-shirt. She continued laughing, a random snort always accompanied Max's laughter.
Eventually they composed themselves.
"That felt good," Max said. Her stomach felt like it had been punched. She pulled the ring off of her finger and placed it on the night stand.
"I'm exhausted," Chloe said.
Max nodded in agreement. "I'll get the sheets," Max said.
Max left her room, disappearing into the hallway. She was only gone for a minute. She returned with two large handfuls of bedding. Max fitted the sheets and draped the comforter over the mattress. Chloe put the pillows back into their pillow cases.
"I'm pretty sure we're still a little high," Chloe said.
Max nodded, "Oh yeah. I can still feel it."
Chloe tossed the last pillow onto the head of the bed. Max pulled the comforter back and tucked herself beneath it. Chloe unfastened her suspender belt, pulling her pants down. She had on a pair of leopard print silk panties. She then lifted her necklace up and over her head. She placed the necklace on the nightstand with the rest of her belongings before pushing herself beneath the heavy comforter. The smell of freshly washed linens was invigorating.
Max waited for Chloe to get comfortable. Chloe turned, resting her head on her hand, facing Max.
"Tomorrow might be hard," Max said, "I'm glad tonight was easy."
"Me too," Chloe said. She laughed nervously, "I'm really glad that you said yes. I might have thrown myself out the window if you said no."
Max leaned forward and kissed Chloe on the shoulder. "Hold me," Max said. Max pulled herself to Chloe, giving her back to the larger woman.
"You know we'd sleep better slightly apart right?" Chloe asked. She kissed Max on the nape of her neck.
"I don't care," Max said.
"Good," Chloe responded, whispering, "Neither do I." Chloe slid one of her arms beneath Max, pulling the girl against herself. It took a moment but they both found comfortable positions. They were eleven years old again, under the same blanket, feeling the others heart beating. Love and nostalgia washed over them. They came to the same conclusion independently: This is how I want to sleep every night for the rest of my life.
B
B
Max woke to the buzzing of an alarm. She bolted up in bed. She started looking around the room in panic, trying to locate the source of the obnoxious sound.
Chloe was sitting in Max's office chair, at her desk. Chloe's phone was sitting on the desk. It was vibrating and buzzing loudly. Chloe swiped her finger to the right over the top of the small touch screen. The alarm ended.
"Good morning Max," Chloe said, turning her head from the desk.
Max brought her hands to her eyes, rubbing them, trying to wake herself. Max stretched both of her arms out. She let her upper torso fall back onto the bed. She yawned.
"What time is it?" Max asked.
"It's six," Chloe said. Chloe spun away from the desk. She crossed from the chair over to Max's bed.
Max smiled as Chloe bounced into the large bed. Chloe leaned over kissing Max on the lips. They both ignored their morning breath in the name of love.
"Good morning Chloe," Max said. She squeezed Chloe's upper arm, "How long have you been up?"
Chloe sat up on the edge of the bed. She put a hand out for Max to grab hold of. Max took Chloe's hand, pulling herself up to a sitting position.
"About an hour," Chloe said. Her words became excited, "Here Max, I've been working on something."
Chloe stood up from the bed. First, she clicked on Max's lamp, then she grabbed something from the desk. Chloe returned to the edge of the bed. Max pulled herself to the edge of the bed, leaning against her partner.
"Whats up?" Max asked.
"Well last night you said that Joyce's ring was a bit big," Chloe said, "We can get it re-sized if you want to, but I wanted to try something."
Chloe held up a long leather loop. It was material she had purchased at Pacific Vintage. It was a necklace. Joyce's ring was wrapped in the leather string. Running through the middle of the ring was a single bullet. Max recognized it. It was one of the bullets from Chloe's necklace. The bullet was entwined with small strips of leather, binding it to the center of the ring without touching the gold.
"It's incredible," Max said. She took it from Chloe's hand, looking at it in detail.
"You like it?" Chloe asked.
"This is so sweet Chloe," Max said, "Of course I like it."
"How long should it be?" Chloe asked, "Longer than my bullets? Shorter maybe? I could make it a choker."
Max looked at the two remaining bullets dangling around Chloe's neck.
"Shorter than yours," Max said, "I want people to see it."
Max handed Chloe the incomplete piece of jewelery.
"I have an idea," Max said, "Hold on."
Max went to her dresser. She had a small wooden jewelery box. She opened it. Inside there was an even smaller wooden box. Max grabbed the smaller box and returned to sitting next to Chloe. Max opened the box. It contained a small silver ring.
"I'd ask you to marry me," Max said, "but I already know the answer."
Max took the ring from the box and placed it in Chloe's hands. It was hefty.
"This ring was my grandfather's," Max said, "He gave it to me before he died. He told me it brought him luck his entire life. It's made of silver. My great great grandfather forged it himself over a hundred years ago."
Chloe held the cool object up. It had some type of foreign language engraved on it. The letters were written in flowery cursive. Is ait an mac an saol.
Max noticed Chloe's gaze being drawn to the words.
"It's Gaelic," Max said, "It translates to life is strange. My grandfather told me it was metaphor in the native tongue, a play on words. It really means The world is strange, but it is also a friend."
"Put it on your necklace, to replace the bullet. It's a good omen," Max said, "An ancient Irish proverb; Forged by a pure blooded Irishman. It was given to me with love by a dying man. I'm giving it to you now with true love in my heart. If anything can change your fate, it's this."
Chloe squeezed the ring tight in her hand. She opened her hand, staring at the shining polished ring resting in her open palm. A tear ran down Chloe's cheek.
"I feel like I'm holding something sacred," Chloe said, "I'm never taking it off. I'll wear this every day for the rest of my life. We both know I could use the luck." Chloe put her arm around Max's shoulders. She leaned over and kissed the girl on the forehead.
"We both need the luck," Max said, "I'm glad you like it." She had a quiet smile on her face.
"I love it Max," Chloe said.
"On your necklace," Max said. She reached over looking at the two bullets hanging around Chloe's neck, "Put the ring in between them. Tie the bullets on either side of the ring. That way, it will look like the ring is deflecting them."
"I like you in the mornings," Chloe said, "You get really deep." Chloe stood and walked back to the desk she sat down and began working on the two necklaces.
"It's starting to get nauseating," Max said. She laid back into her bed. She spun herself into her comforter. She looked like a spring roll.
"What?" Chloe asked. She continued to work on the meaningful jewelry.
"Just how fucking in love we are," Max said, "I feel like I'm carsick when I think about it for too long."
"Enjoy it while it lasts," Chloe said, "I am." Chloe let out a small laugh, "Eventually we'll be threatening to divorce each other over the last slice of pizza."
"You would actually take the last slice of pizza?" Max asked, feigning disgust, "Sounds like irreconcilable differences to me."
"Yeah fucking right dude," Chloe said, "You took the last piece every time when we were kids. You always thought you were being so ninja about it too. You would say some shit like, 'Hey Chloe there are only bread sticks left, do you want some?' You weren't fooling anybody. I could literally hear you chewing the pizza from the living room Max."
Max laughed. She was guilty of everything Chloe was accusing her of.
"So you know that I'm a slice stealer and proposed anyway?" Max asked, "Your grounds for divorce have been denied by the state of Oregon. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200."
"We can't even get married in Oregon," Chloe said, a sudden sadness coming to her, "I just realized."
"That would be pretty sad," Max said, "Except that we're in Washington right now."
"We can get married here?" Chloe asked. She spun in the chair, excited by Max's words.
Max hopped out of bed; She was still rolled up into her comforter. She hopped forward and kissed Chloe on the forehead, "We can go get married this afternoon if you really wanted to."
Chloe shot up and wrapped her arms around Max. Max's arms were still rolled up in her comforter. She took the hug, letting Chloe pick her up into the air for a moment before returning her to her feet. Max shook the comforter off of her.
"I'm glad we're not going to get oppressed," Chloe said.
Max sat down on the bed. She was having an epiphany. Gay rights, She thought, Those are my rights now. They probably always were.
"They're done." Chloe said. She turned, holding up two equally beautiful necklaces. She handed Max the wedding necklace. Max slipped it over her neck. She stood up and walked to her door. There was a large mirror hanging on her closed door. Max tucked the necklace into her shirt. She pulled the blue, pizza shirt up and off of her body, she wanted to see the necklace against her skin. The ring was sitting right in the center of her clavicle.
"Damn that looks good," Chloe said. She was standing behind Max.
Chloe flipped the zombie shirt off. She slipped her necklace on over her head. The large tungsten ring had two bullets tied to either side. The leather spiraled around the ring multiple times like a vine. It sat closer to the middle of Chloe's chest.
"Wait here." Max said. She went to her messenger bag sitting on her dresser. She grabbed her camera and returned to the mirror.
"This is it," Max said, "If anything goes wrong I am going to rewind back to this point. We'll tell ourselves to run. We'll warn everyone we can. Then we will get in your truck and go. Deal?"
Chloe nodded once, "Deal."
Max put her right arm behind Chloe's back. Chloe's left arm came up and around Max's shoulder. They stood tall with straight posture, letting the necklaces rest on their skin. Max held the camera down by her hip with her left hand. She aimed at the mirror and snapped the photo.
B
B
"We look damn good in this photo," Chloe said. She was the holding the photo Max had taken only moments ago.
"Here," Max said. She was requesting the photo from her partner. Chloe handed it over. Max went to her dresser. She pulled a small pencil case out from her messenger bag. She dumped the contents out onto the top of her dresser. It contained mostly pens, pencils, a few errant markers.
Max reached into her bag and found another photo. It was the photo max had taken the day before, Sunday, the day of the bus accident. She flipped it over. She wrote the time and date on it. Max looked at the photo of herself and Chloe. This one is special, She thought. She flipped it over and wrote the time and date on the back. She placed both photos into the pink case. She zipped it close. That's watertight...I hope, Max thought, It probably isn't ocean proof. Kristen's words were floating through her head. The ocean is coming.
Chloe was watching Max's actions with interest.
Max turned to look at Chloe. "I can send myself into the past," Max said, "Any photo of myself. I can send my. . . I dunno, consciousness, back to that moment in time."
Chloe sat down on the waist high dresser, "Weird. Elaborate."
"You were angry on Wednesday," Max said, "We had just found out about Frank and Rachel."'
"I remember," Chloe said. She looked towards the ground. The subject would be painful for a long time to come.
"I told you, that I tried to change the past," Max said, "That I tried to save William."
Chloe looked increasingly upset. She nodded her head.
"This is how I did it," Max said, "By jumping through photos."
"I sent myself back to a photo of us when we were 13." Max said, "I was my 18 year old self in my 13 year old body. It was so surreal."
"Wait," Chloe said, "If you can travel back in time like that. . . doesn't that mean you're immortal? Can't you travel back to that photo again and again and live a completely different life each time? You would become like an omniscient god."
"Whoah," Max said, "Slow down amigo. There are boundaries when I go back. It's like... I can only influence things that I can remember about that particular photograph. There are other limitations. It's not as useful as it sounds. I can't just groundhog day the entire planet."
Chloe looked disappointed. "What other limitations?" She asked.
"After I leave the past," Max said, "It seems like I take all of my memories and experiences with me."
"So you can't just send yourself into the past and expect the past you to know everything the present you knows?" Chloe asked, "Did I say that right? Wait..." Fuck this is confusing, She thought, I can't believe max figured this out on her own.
"No," Max said, "That's right. You said that right."
"Well then you can just write a note or whatever right?" Chloe said.
Max answered,"Yeah. It's scary. I don't have control over past 'me' after I leave the past. I came back in time to warn you about Jefferson at the junkyard. When I came back to the present everything was changed. I had to rely on the past version of myself to get things right. It felt like a leap of faith every time I did it."
Chloe put her hand out. Max moved closer, putting her hands into Chloe's. Chloe began massaging Max's forearms with her thumbs.
"I haven't even told you the scariest part," Max said, "So, I used this power to escape The Dark Room. It was complicated. I had to relive Jefferson's torture by jumping into one of the photos he took of me."
"Max that's awful,"Chloe said. Her concern was palpable.
"Wait, Chloe," Max said, "It was after that. I jumped deeper into the past, before Nathan shot you in the bathroom. From that point I jumped even further back into the past with a second photo."
"You used a photo to travel to the past," Chloe said. She was speaking slow, making sure she could comprehend what she was being told, "While you were in the past you used another photo,like, from the past, to travel even farther back in time? That is some inception shit Max."
"It sounds dangerous," Chloe said, "It's like the thing that you aren't supposed to do in a science fiction movie, like, crossing the streams or something."
"I didn't have any other options," Max said, "I was trying to save myself so that I could save you. It felt like I was going insane trying to get back to you," Max continued, "You are right though. It was different, the past within the past. It didn't feel right. It was like the world was groaning around me, getting ready to tear at the seams. I felt like I was coming up against some cosmic limit on what I could do. I knew I was experiencing something that I shouldn't have.. It was terrifying. I only stayed for a moment to tear up an old photograph."
"And you think that is what caused the storm?" Chloe asked, "The Vortex?"
"I do Chloe." Max said, "I feel like... I can never be sure though. It's too dangerous to ever try it again."
"I'm glad you told me all of this," Chloe said.
"I am too," Max said, "I didn't plan on it. It just kind of, spilled out of me. We needed to be on the same page."
"You told me you stopped time, when you saved Kate," Chloe said, "Did you ever do that again, like, in the dark room or in the past? Can you still do it?"
When did I tell Chloe that? Max thought. She let the idea go, choosing to answer the question.
"I never stopped time again," Max said, "It was a fluke. I'm not even sure how I did it the first time."
Both girls were quiet for a moment. They both were caught in thought.
Chloe hopped off the dresser and went to her phone at the desk. The time showed 6:52 a.m.
"Max it's almost seven" Chloe said, "Speaking of time."
"We're running late," Max said, "We've got to shower, dress, and pack in half an hour. Kristen will be pissed if we aren't ready."
"Now that sounds scary," Chloe joked.
"Oh," Max said, "It is."