Max hurried between the kitchen and dining room, setting the table while making the final preparations on dinner. It wasn't like she'd cooked up some kind of gourmet feast, or anything. Just some rosemary chicken breasts, twice baked potatoes, and a simple salad. Despite her bragging the day before, she had needed to consult the internet once or twice, and nothing she'd cooked had even really been that complex. But she still wanted everything to be perfect.

Setting the two plates across from each other at the table, she carefully arranged the silverware and napkins. The fork went on the left side, right? Crap, what about the napkin? If she got it wrong, would Chloe care? Would she even notice? It didn't seem like something that would particularly bother her, but Max was still anxious. At length, the table was set, the lights were dimmed, and the candles were lit. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the foyer and stood at the foot of the stairs.

"Okay, dinner's ready!" Max called up, "You can come down, now!" After a moment, Chloe appeared at the top of the stairs, and started to descend. She had dressed up in the same outfit she'd worn on their first night in Seattle, the dark blue shirt and jeans with the black tie. She probably hadn't packed any other nice clothes, Max figured. Considering how gorgeous Chloe looked in that outfit, though, Max hardly thought she needed to have packed anything else.

For her part, Max had worn a white blouse and burgundy knee-length skirt. They weren't going out for a night at the opera or something, but Max hoped she looked pretty. Especially when compared to how much Chloe made her want to melt, she started to feel a little underdressed. The taller girl didn't say anything about it though, and Max led her into the dining room.

"This looks really good, Max," Chloe remarked as the two of them sat down, "Like, really. And you put out a nice tablecloth and everything. You really went all out!" Max blushed a little. She was glad Chloe was impressed with her effort. It remained to be seen whether the meal would be anywhere near as impressive, but the night was off to a good start.

"Thanks," Max replied, unfolding her napkin and settling into her seat, "I mean, I'm not any kind of great chef or anything. But I hope you'll like it…" Chloe smiled at her, and cut a bite of chicken off, bringing it up to her mouth. The blue haired girl's face brightened as she chewed, and she smiled and nodded at Max as she swallowed. Taking a bite herself, Max was relieved to find that the chicken was, indeed, pretty good. Not anything special, but good for something home-cooked by a teenager.

Their conversation flowed nicely as the two ate. Chloe's table manners weren't great, Max noticed, but she did seem to be making an effort. It wasn't like Max cared too much anyway, though. So long as Chloe was happy, she wasn't going to get too picky.

But to see Chloe happy! Her sweetheart had been improving steadily over the last several weeks. When Max and Chloe had first reunited that day in the parking lot, Chloe had seemed so hard, so rough, and, most of all, so bitter. The rest of that week had been a rollercoaster, with Chloe bouncing from giddy to catatonic, apathetically resigned to loud and angry. Since they'd left Arcadia Bay, Chloe had been settling down, and Max was glad.

She was still plenty punk, of course. Chloe was Max's dear friend in any reality, but the raw Chloe, full of attitude and defiance, was the Chloe Max had fallen in love with, and she had no desire to see that Chloe fade into "normal." But there was attitude, and there was genuine emotional anguish, and the latter seemed to have been evaporating every day. More and more, the smirk she'd come to love was seen alongside the smile she remembered from childhood. Of course she knew Chloe wasn't going to recover from five years of loss, isolation, and abandonment in a month, but her emotional state was less turbulent, at least.

"Max, that was fricken' amazing!" Chloe remarked as she finished her last bite of dinner, leaning back in her chair and patting her belly for effect. Max smiled, glad Chloe had enjoyed everything. After all the crazy stuff they'd been through together, it felt a little silly to want to impress Chloe with her cooking, like she was trying to snag a husband in the 1950s or something. But she couldn't help it.

"I'm glad you liked it," Max replied, grinning, "But this is pretty much the height of my culinary skill. I mean, I'll learn to cook more stuff when I'm out of the house for good, but this is as good as it's getting for a while." Chloe just smiled at her.

"I can live with that," she said quietly, her gaze meeting Max's eyes. They sat there in silence for a moment, just looking at one another over the candles.

"I'm going to clean up the dishes," Max announced after a little while, breaking the spell, "It shouldn't take long." She stood, picking up her plate and walking around to Chloe's side to take hers as well.

"Max, I can do that," Chloe replied, standing herself and taking the plates out of Max's hands, "You cooked, least I can do is clean up." Max tried to object, but Chloe cut her off, turning and walking the plates to the kitchen without another word. Shrugging, Max blew out the candles and followed.

When she joined Chloe in the kitchen, the blue haired girl had already rinsed off the plates and silverware and set them in the dishwasher. As she started to wash one of the pans, Max walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around the taller girl's waist, pressing herself close. Chloe continued washing in silence, but hummed as she did, and Max could feel it vibrating through her. Could every night go like this? As she considered a future with Chloe, it actually seemed possible. Would it always be this blissful? Or would they eventually start taking each other for granted. She didn't want to think about that. Instead, she focused on the warmth radiating out of Chloe, and the steady beat of her heart.

"Okay, all done!" Chloe announced after a few more minutes of cleaning. Max released her, and she turned around, leaning back against the counter, "So, I'll admit it: Romantic dinner date night was a success." Max felt her cheeks glow with a blush, and she smiled up at her Chloe.

"Was?" Max repeated, her smile taking on a sly look, "The night's not over yet, Chloe."

"I was hoping you'd say something like that," Chloe replied, grinning, "While you were picking out stuff at the grocery store, I, uh, bought a couple things, too." She glanced away sheepishly for a moment, before turning back to Max. "So, do you, um, want to take a bubble bath?"