50k words already... More than I honestly expected to write. Thanks to everyone who reviewed/followed this story, always happy to see people enjoy my work! ^^

Chloe's bed was more than big enough for both of the girls, but even with such a big mattress Chloe still managed to cling onto the smaller girl. Of course Max didn't mind that at all, needing the closeness just as much as the bigger girl did. The blue haired head was nestled against the smaller girls chest, more or less lying on one of Max's arms, which was starting to go dead. But the freckled girl ignored the prickling, and just wrapped her free arm around her girlfriend and enjoyed the scent of Chloe's hair shampoo.
Thanks to feeling and hearing Chloe's breathing, Max noticed how fast the punk fell into a deep sleep. Max being in hospital has left her without much of that, so now knowing that her girlfriend was next to her, holding her, she merely needed seconds before entering the realm of dreams.

The brunette on the other hand, while feeling more than just comfortable, still couldn't manage to stop thinking. I'm a part of this family now huh... Even thought we tried to apologize, Joyce still looked somewhat hurt. Can't blame her. I really thought there for a moment that she was against us being... in a relationship. Being her girlfriend is still so weird. It shouldn't surprise me thought... it was always Che and me against the world. How could there be anyone else more perfect than her in my life? How could I not see that she's bliss for my soul before ditching her?... I probably never really noticed before coming back to Arcadia, but I bet I had a crush on her when we were still teens. That would explain all the crying I did in my room... alone.

They already talked about a lot of their problems, but the still awake girl knew that just talking wouldn't fix everything on the spot. They would need time. And a lot of cuddling.
Talking is a good first step thought. This reminded her of what Joyce said after she found them.

After a few moments the three women let go of each other, and the blue haired girl, still somewhat embarrassed about the whole situation had a somewhat shy smile on her face. That must have taken a load off her mind. The freckled girl thought, being more than just happy herself.

Chloe's deep blue eyes shifted back to her mother. This time with more determination in her voice she said, "Mom, I'm sorry if I hurt you. I just... felt betrayed, you know? I know it's childish and unfair of me, but I never wanted anyone else to be together with you than Dad." She then let out a laugh, which had no signs of amusement in it.

"Darling... just know that despite everything with David, I'm always there for you. I can't force you to tell me everything, but don't you try to lie to your own mother again. That's all I want you to do." Joyce said, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"Yea... I'll try I promise!" Her daughter said with as much reassurance as she could manage to gather. She understood what her mother was going through thanks to her own stupidity. Thinking about how she acted towards her mother reminded the punk how Max had been a few days ago. Trying to handle everything by yourself'll just bring pain towards the people who love you. Humans are like a bottle of water, they can just take that much before they explode. Although, a bottle of water wouldn't explode, it would spill over... Hm, maybe not such a good metaphor as I thought it was. Chloe shook her head. She was getting sleepy. Sleepy Chloe can't think. Needs bed. Needs freckled dork next to her. Soon.

Right at that moment Joyce said, "Now that all that family drama is out of the way, you can have her all for yourself, Max." which left a smile on the faces of both the girls. As she started moving towards the door, Joyce turned around one last time. Looking at her daughter she said in a rather serious tone, "And keep it in your pants, Honey." Without adding anything further she left the room.
And with Joyce gone, Chloe's sleepiness was strangely gone as well. Maybe it was because her face was burning up out of embarrassment?

"So she did hear your I make you wet tease." Max noted, trying to hold back a chuckle of her own.

"Oh... Fuck." immediately after saying that she realized how she gave the smaller girl a perfect opportunity for a sassy comment. She quickly added, "Don't do it Caulfield. I can't be judged for what happens when I'm in need for sleep."A few moments passed. The brunette's eyebrows quirked and she opened her impish grinning mouth, but before she could say anything the blue haired girl raised her voice yet again. "Literal sleep. I meant literal sleep! Gosh, looks like I'm not the one mom has to worry about. Just... Stop looking at me like that!"

At first it had been weird for Chloe. Max had changed so much over the time they were apart. She had become so much ... bolder. Which was like the polar opposite of how she was in the past. Not that I mind. Hell, I love the sassy Max maybe even more! And from time to time a rest of the old shy hippie can still be found in there. She was just as flustered as I was when Joyce saw us after all.

"Look? What look do you mean?"

"I'm a bad influence on you, Caulfield, I can already see it."

"And I'm a hella good one for you!" A sniggering Max added.

"That you are." The punk said while her lips quirked upwards and formed a small smile. Seeing her girlfriend smile at her, the freckled girl's face shyly turned away as a reaction. And there's the old Max I meant! Being reassured like that made the bigger girl chuckle, which left a rather confused expression on Max's face. But before she could ask why Chloe was laughing, the punk asked, "Now you start being shy? Now of all times?"

"I-I'm not shy at all! As far as I can remember you were the one who was flapping her arms around like a maniac when Joyce found us." Still speaking, the smaller girl started imitating her girlfriend and threw her arms around.

"You're going down."

"Keep it in your pants, Price!" The brunette countered with a wink and a sly grin on her face. Not wasting another moment the blue haired girl threw herself at her girlfriend, who was still sitting on the bed. And a tickle battle began.

The whole evening had been a gigantic boost for Max's confidence. And now sleeping right next to Chloe gave her a feeling of being able to archive everything.
Also being accepted for what they are felt better than she expected it to be. Somewhere in her mind she already had prepared for the worst case scenario. You and me on the run. Hmm somehow that doesn't sound too bad. Probably because it includes "you and me". No one'll stand between us. Even if I've got to defeat your 7 evil ex-lovers first. Max's blue eyes wandered down to the girl in her arms. A Small mouth. Thin eyebrows. Long legs. A tattoo on her upper arm. And blue hair that is starting to fade. This is my Chloe. Max let out a faint sigh as she eyed the girl resting in her arms. Everything would be okay. It had to be. She couldn't take much more than she already had. It took her a few more minutes before she slowly followed her girlfriend into sleep.

This time Chloe was the first one to wake up. For a moment she felt disorientated before realizing that she was lying on the floor. Did Max have a nightmare again? Maybe she pushed her off? The punk could remember that she nestled against the smaller girl before falling asleep. While rubbing her only half opened eyes, she sat herself up to be able to see the freckled girl. Chloe needed to contain a chuckle after seeing that the small fragile poor Max had conquered the whole bed for herself. Lying horizontally in the big bed, her head on Chloe's side, she faintly snorted and had a peaceful expression on her face. It's good to see her being able to rest after all she went through. If anyone deserved a good nap it's her. Apropos, I still should read the rest of her journal... Well, that can wait until we had at least breaky. Hmmm, breaky... The blue haired girl felt how her mouth was watering at the mere thought of food.
I don't even need to blaze to be this hungry. Maybe Maxaroni really is a drug, after all? Chloe sat herself with her back against the bed, and pulled her stash out from under her bed, for her usual morning doze of happiness. But as she looked down at the rest of her weed, she decide, for what was maybe the first time ever, not to smoke in the morning. She just... didn't feel like doing so right now. Instead she looked out of the window and watched how the clouds moved on their own. A few birds flew by. It was odd. But in a strange way it also relaxed her. A short while later she turned around and lay her chin on the edge of the mattress. Instead of observing the clouds she now started to memorize the different freckles Max had all over her beautiful face. Like a sky full of stars. A sigh, full of yearning for the small girl, escaped Chloe's mouth.

A while later she peeked at her smartphone to see that it was already around twelve o'clock. Sleeping through half the day was something, while loving it, she needed to give up sooner or later. She had already made her mind up about her future. She would try to get into college. She needed to be someone who deserved Max. She wasn't questioning her or Max's feelings. Chloe knew very well that they loved each other. But right now she felt like, while being a super cool and hardcore punk, she was lacking of certain... prospects. No joking, if I don't get my ass up soon I'll have to live the rest of my life here with my mom, while she'll have a bright future as a celebrity-photograph. And I'll just be the girl who drags her down, without any job or education... No. That's not what I want. I want to be a pillar for her like she is for me! Yes, Arcadia college it is! The now fully awake girl grinned impishly at the thought of how she would beat the little hipster in all sciences classes. Yet the mere thought of enrolling there made her feel like throwing up already. Still, she had decided, nothing would beat Chloe Price's resolve that easily, not even... school. Yurk! But before letting out the groan that was itching to come out in her throat, she saw the small girl having an eye open, which was observing the punk.

Seeing the small girl now slowly wake up, forced Chloe's lips to quirk upwards. For a few minutes both of them didn't have any urge to move at all. The punk's head still resting on the edge of the bed, and Max still snuggled up against her blanket, they just gazed upon each other. A weak ray of sunlight beamed through the window, and traveled through the whole room before ending at the wall on the other side. There were still a few birds singing outside. Dude, this is like a moment full of magic! Everything is just so perfect and.. and golden. The punk realized.

Right then the freckled girl let out an "uhhhrrggg" as she started to stretch herself. Well... or not. Max is better than magic anyways.

"Good morning." A freckled girl with hair all over her face mumbled.

A few bowls of cornflakes later both of the girls were sitting in the kitchen. Joyce was already off to work and David had some kind of meeting with the other guardsman, so the two girls could plan the next few steps without being to careful about other people hearing them.

"Okay. What do we want to tackle first? David or Frank?"

"Hmm, to be honest I don't want my mother come to know that we're hunting an unstable multimillionaire."

"So better catch David when he's alone then? In school we probably won't have the privacy to talk under six eyes with him, so if we've got the option to talk to him here..." Max looked at the the blue haired girl with an quizzical expression.

"If I'm correct Wednesday should be perfect. He normally arrives about 2-3 hours before mom does."

"Perfect! But Wednesday is in three days... So Frank first?"

"Yea... hurray..."

"C'mom, Che... You know we've got no other chance."

"Yea, yea, I know. We gonna call him right now?"

"Right now!?" Max asked surprised.

"The faster the better, or is there a reason not to?"

"No... you're probably right, it just feels... I don't know. Rushed?"

As Max spoke the punk noticed in what kind of state the freckled girl was right now. Every time I involve myself with Frank, Chloe gets in danger... C-calm down damn it. We'll just talk on the phone. There's no way he can try to stab us... Then an image of him being seriously injured in Two Whales popped into Max's head. He still didn't deserve to be injured like that... just because... I wasn't able to save him the first time... Sweat started forming on her forehead. Her face grew pale. She was chewing her underlip, and also her hands were shaking.

Chloe didn't wait a moment to grab Max's hands and intertwined her fingers with her own. Looking at the tangle of fingers the blue haired girl quietly whispered, "I'm here."

Those words brought the small girl back into the present. Staring at the brunettes blue eyes, Chloe started to worry about the smaller girl. She does this ever so often... "Getting lost in decisions of the past and the consequences of the future. You tend to forget that the most crucial part is the present, Max Caulfield. But well... Unlike you, I was always the impulsive one, wasn't I? Not caring about what kind of consequences my actions cause..."

"We're both messed up aren't we?" Max mumbled with a voice which nearly broke the punk's heart.

"Maybe..." She wasn't really able to beat around the bush. Yes, both of them had their problems, but didn't her girlfriend miss something vital here? "Maybe we do have our... issues, but you know what's even more important?"

"Hmhm.." A denying tone came out of the smaller girl's mouth.

"We've got us! I got you to point a finger at the possible effects my actions may cause, and you got me to pull you back into the present. We're like a gayer version of Yin and Yang."

A moment of silence. Then a smile crawled onto the freckled face. She took Chloe's hand and snuggled it against her cheek. Now with a firmer voice she answered, "You know, you really had a chance there. The mood was just right for a perfec romantic speech... The last part kinda destroyed that."

"I'm not supposed to be the mushy one in this relationship. Chloe Price means hardcore body plus nerves of steel!"

"Uh-huh. Sure. And Chloe...

"Yes?"

"...Thank you." Max gave her girlfriend a quick kiss on one of her cheeks.

"It's always a pleasure to be of assistance, m'lady." The blue haired girl said as she bowed down.

A giggle escaped Max's lips as shook her head. "Dork."

"We'll wait with Frank. It's fine, we got more than enough time... Even without your powers. And just remember, he won't be able to touch us through the phone. He ain't Freddy Krueger just yet."

"Ahh yes, I can still remember the first time we watched nightmare on Elm street."

"You mean forced to watch? Yes, much fun."

"I know, right? Nightmare on Elms street is hilarious!"

"Psycho."

"Tzzhh, philistine!"

"Wait! I do like art..."

"You do? Sorry but I can't imagine you being in the Louvre, enjoying the Mona Lisa."

"Okay, maybe I don't like boring paintings from some old dudes. But I enjoy cool drawings. Like my tat for example." Chloe said as she pulled her sleeve up, as if the freckled girl had never seen the tattoo.

"Hmpf, I've to admit, it's an amazing tattoo you have. By the way, who was the one who came up with the sketch?" The brunette asked as her fingers went over the tattoo.

"You're trying to offend me?"

"No way, you did that by yourself?"

"Well thanks..." The punk tried to look offended, but she couldn't help but be happy about the fact that there was something her girlfriend didn't knew about her. Something other-Chloe didn't tell her...

"I-I just mean, it's good. Like really good!"

"I know." The blue haired girl said with a smug smile on her face, and couldn't blame Max for playfully punching her on the shoulder.

"One day I'll make you a hella amazing tattoo as well."

"Uhm... I'm still not sure about that, Che."

"Thought so. But I hope you didn't forgot the promise you made with me, to color your hair."

Of course she remembered her promise. The punk would make sure of that. "Maybe just some strands?"

"Red."

"Red?"

"Dude, if you would have red hair, it would create such an awesome contrast to mine! Just imagine, mine and your hair intertwined. That would look so fucking cool!" Chloe was hyped. The at-least-for-now-brunette knew, there was no option to withdraw from this. "You sure red is the right color, thought? Wouldn't it look... kinda stupid?"

"Ha, getting cold feet now? Scarefield."

"How did we even end up talking about my hair color? Didn't we want to call Frank?"

"Now? You sure?" Chloe's blue eyes were changed from a playful look into one full of worry for Max.

The question created a short pause, but then the small girl said, "Yes. The faster this is over the faster we can have the luxury of talking about how I'll dye my hair."

"Okay. Good." Without further ado the punk took out her phone, and let it call Frank's number. Chloe lay it between her and the smaller girl so that both girls could hear the conversation through the loudspeaker.

Nothing... until the voicemail started playing. Both girls visibly relaxed after Chloe canceled the call. "He's not answering the phone. That's strange."

"You know what that means, Che..." The brunette said with a nearly not audible voice. "We'll need to find him. Meet him in person."

"You really don't want that, do you? I know that it might be hella insensitive to ask this, but what happened last time you met him?"

The freckled girl needed to swallow before she could answer. "He... was at the beach in his trailer, and as we both approached him to get some information. Things... escalated."

"Don't tell me the bastard hurt y-"

"You shot him, Chloe!"

"Oh."

That's it for now ^^

Hope you're all still enjoying this story :3