Hey guys, welcome back. Here's the next chapter for you, so enjoy.

Chapter Twenty: Boundaries

Sunday 22nd September - Max's Room - 9:19 am

When Max woke the next day she felt… different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Something subtle, but definitely changed. She spent a good minute or so thinking it over, eventually giving up. Maybe it was because she'd had her first decent night's sleep in like forever. Shuffling out of bed so she was sitting on the edge, she stretched her arms above her head and rubbed at her eyes, yawning.

Morning. Maxine greeted, sounding oddly friendly and happy today. Almost creepily so.

You sound suspiciously cheerful. Max observed, feeling a little uneasy about that. The only time she had heard Maxine anything other than smug or hostile was when she was plotting something.

So much caution… can't I just feel happy? Her counterpart asked innocently. Sensing the trepidation, Maxine was quick to reassure her. There is nothing for you to worry about. I was just thinking about yesterday with Rachel. That's all.

Flashes from yesterday, her time with Rachel more specifically, flickered in her mind, bringing a slight blush to her cheeks. Oh… r-right…

Maxine noted the embarrassment, deciding to explore it further. Don't act all shy and reserved about it now. There's no need.

I'm just… not used to doing that kind of thing. Man, I don't even know why I agreed to it in the first place. Max admitted shyly, trying to push the images to the back of her mind to deal with later.

You regret it? Maxine needed to make sure she was totally on board here. Otherwise, it was back to square one.

Not 'regret' per say. No, not that. It's just… weird. New. She had spent so many years without kissing anyone and all of a sudden she was kissing Rachel Amber of all people. Blackwell's very own celebrity. It was… surreal.

New isn't always bad, Max. New can be exciting, fun and just the thing you need.

So I keep hearing… Max sighed deeply, wringing her hands lightly. How do I even act around Rachel now? Won't it be… awkward?

Only if you make it awkward. Just relax and be yourself. She won't bring it up. Maxine promised, knowing that Rachel would keep it quiet.

I guess… won't know until I see her, anyway. Guess I should try and catch up with Chloe when I can. That'll be a fun conversation… Shit, I'm feeling nervous already. Now that she had decided to follow through, Max could feel the nerves build up. Practice was never the same as the real deal.

Don't think about it too much. You've had plenty of practice, so if things happen, you're good. Less thinking, more doing. That was true of all the situations Max would find herself in. The more she over thought every small detail, the less progress she made.

Yeah… yeah, you're right… still making me feel like I want to throw up.

Avoid that if possible. Maxine advised.

Thanks for the obvious suggestion. The young time traveler thought sarcastically.

Before Maxine could respond to that, there was a knock at the door. Confused at who would be calling this early, Max walked over and opened the door a fraction. She was surprised to see Chloe stood there, hair disheveled from sleep. It looked as if she had only just woken up.

When she noticed the door opening, she raised her hand in greeting, smiling sleepily. "Yo, Max."

"Chloe? What are you doing here so early?" Max asked as she opened the door wider. She hadn't expected to see Chloe for a good couple of hours yet.

"Just woke up, pretty much." She motioned back towards Rachel's door with her thumb. "Rachel said there's something you wanted to talk about and practically pushed me out. Told me I couldn't come back until I'd heard you out. Didn't say what about, though."

Max shook her head, sighing at the blonde's interference. She should have expected as much. "Did she now…?"

"Can I come in?" Chloe asked hopefully, making it almost impossible to refuse.

Hesitating for just a second, Max resigned herself to her fate. "Yeah… sure."

Stepping aside, she let Chloe in, shutting the door behind her. Instinctively, Chloe made her way over to the bed, plonking herself down. "So… what's up? Rach seemed pretty excited. Got me curious."

"I bet she was. Well, um… I…" The words got caught in her throat, refusing to come out as she joined her friend. This was much harder than she had anticipated. Being put on the spot by Rachel didn't help much.

Seeing a chance to start syncing their personalities up and merge, Maxine intervened. Need a little help there, champ?

What? Max asked, confused at the vague offer.

Hear me out before you say anything, Maxine added before she launched into her main point. Give me control, temporarily. I'll deal with the smooth talking and tag you in when it comes down to the nitty gritty stuff.

Oh, like I trust you to do that. A predictable reaction. How was she supposed to trust Maxine after everything that had happened?

You're stronger than me right now. Maxine answered simply. If you have to, you can push your way in no problem.

"Max… you okay? You've been sitting there making some pretty interesting expressions." Chloe stared at her, concern lining her face at the sudden silence.

Swallowing hard, Max nodded quickly. "Y-yeah, fine. Just, uh… give me a sec."

The bluenette simply shrugged, looking a little nervous now thanks to her strange behavior.

Thinking it over very briefly, Max decided to take a chance. She had little to lose right now. Goddammit… fine, don't screw this up for me. Please. And don't make it too obvious, either.

I got you covered. Don't worry about it. I think I can play you pretty well. Just watch. Maxine stated confidently, doing her best to ease Max's worries.

Hoping that she wouldn't end up regretting this, also realizing that she had her rewind to rely on if things really went off the rails, Max voluntarily relinquished her control. Unlike before, her presence wasn't so isolated, still involved but not dictating her speech or movements for the time being. She could still feel, hear and see things with as much clarity as before. Right on the front line. As for Maxine, it felt different too. Not completely in control like before, more like a puppet master. She could feel Max there, her presence as strong as ever, but she had taken her hands off the reins. It was a strange sensation, yet at the same time, it felt… better. More complete. Not fully, there was still a major distinction between her own and Max's energy, but they felt a bit more in sync with one another. Much better than being opposing forces struggling for dominance.

"Sorry about that. Got… lost in thought." Not a total lie.

Chloe let out a sigh of relief. "Glad to see you're back from lalaland. Was getting worried. Ready to tell me now?"

"Yeah, I am. Listen, I know things have been… crazy recently," Maxine began, picking her words carefully. One wrong word could ruin this.

"You can say that again," the blue-haired punk agreed.

Proceeding slowly, Maxine continued. "Right. Despite all the crazy shit… somehow I've managed to keep relatively sane and… you're a pretty big part of that."

"Ah, Caulfield quit getting all soppy on me." Chloe lightly shoved her shoulder.

"I mean it," she insisted, ready to address a few issues concerning Max. "I know I've been distant and single-minded, only focusing on Jefferson and the storm, but… that's not the only thing that matters to me. I want to make that clear, to both you and Rachel."

"Max… what are you…?" Chloe's question trailed off as her eyes met Maxine's, mouth closing.

"I… I want to show I'm serious and committed to this… thing we sorted out. Sure, it was a bit of a mess at first, but it is what I want. So…" realizing that she had to hesitate more to make it sound believable, Maxine did just that, "this sounded so much easier in my head… I want to… take you up on your offer. From before. I want a redo."

The statement caught Chloe off guard for just a moment, before she pulled herself and smiled. "Oh, yeah totally, sure. Now I can see why Rach was so damn excited now."

"She… kinda figured it out. Guess I was acting off or something. Couldn't really deny it when she confronted me about it. So… yeah…" Maxine would leave the choice of telling Chloe about yesterday up to Max. There was no reason to bring it up. Besides, Max would trust her more if she didn't say anything.

Get ready, Max. Switching control over in, 3… 2… 1…

True to her word, Maxine let her take over again. The switch was a little smoother than normal, the two presences shifting over in a matter of seconds. Back in control, Max looked into Chloe's eyes, noticing the hesitation but also the longing.

"I'm… uh, kind of nervous all of a sudden," Chloe admitted sheepishly.

That helped Max calm down a little, made her feel more confident. "Me too. Good nerves, though."

"Yeah… okay, here we go." Chloe leaned in part way, making sure that Max really did want this.

Thinking over everything Rachel had told her yesterday, Max crossed the rest of the way. Their lips collided gently at first, both a little nervous. With the big step out of the way, they relaxed somewhat. Soon enough, they got into a rhythm, both feeling giddy and lightheaded. Seeing an opening, Max deepened the kiss. Chloe seemed surprised by her proactiveness but didn't pull away. The kiss seemed to last forever. In reality, it may have only been a few seconds or so. Regardless, it was very different from the first time.

After some time Chloe pulled away, looking pleasantly surprised. "Damn, Max. Have you been practicing or something?"

"I… no, not really." When Chloe narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly not believing her, she sighed and came clean. "Maybe… a little."

"Lemme guess, Rachel?" When Max hung her head, Chloe placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Max, it's fine. I don't mind. In fact, if it was anyone other than Rachel I'd be kind of worried. Don't feel like you have to hide shit like that, okay? Actually, I'd prefer if I knew."

It had been stupid to try and hide it from Chloe. Max had known it from the start. "Yeah… sorry. I just… didn't want to fuck up. Didn't want you to get mad."

"Well, you certainly didn't do that," Chloe added, playfully shoving her shoulder again. "You wouldn't have anyway. And I'm not mad at you. Far from it, I'm actually kind of flattered you put so much effort in. I already had your first kiss, so no worries there."

Max allowed herself a small smile, shaking her head. "Don't sound too proud about that…"

"Can't help it. It's an achievement…" Chloe's expression turned sad then. "One I didn't think would happen for a long time. I was convinced you'd have had at least one boyfriend, or girlfriend, as I'm seeing, is a distinct possibility now, by the time I ever saw you again. If I ever did see you again. Even if, by some miracle, those two things did align, it wasn't guaranteed you'd feel the same."

"Lucky for you, I did."

The sadness shifted to something much happier as she took hold of Max's hand, squeezing it lightly. "Yeah, lucky me. Anyway, now that I have well and truly gotten all that mushy shit out of my system, I'd better go report back to Rachel. Otherwise, she'll explode. Also, I… need to have a chat with her about something. See you around, yeah?"

"You bet."

With that, Chloe gave her a quick hug and left her alone with her thoughts… and Maxine. See, flawless plan.

As much as she hated to admit it, Maxine had kept her word. Whether this amicability would continue… that had yet to be seen. Okay, okay, I'll admit, that went better than I thought it would.

Now, it was time to bridge the gap. The more connected she could get to Max, the better. We don't have to be at each other's throats all the time, Max. Sure, we've both done some shit to hurt one another, bad blood and all that, but that doesn't mean we can't move forward. We can be a team if we try. It'll be easier crushing our enemies and get shit done if we tag team it.

For now, I'll give you a second chance. We'll see if that's the right thing to do. Taking a deep breath, Max got settled back down on the bed. Now I need to have a lie down. Kinda feeling a bit light-headed.

Is all that excitement too much for you? Maxine asked, a hint of playful teasing in her tone.

Shut up… Max shot back weakly, smiling to herself. Maybe things were starting to go her way for a change.

Chloe's POV - Outside Rachel's Room

Still fired up from my 'chat' with Max, I stepped out into the hallway. I pinched my arm, testing to see if this was all a dream. Coming back clear, I smiled. That smile faded ever so slightly when I thought about the conversation I needed to have with Rachel. Steeling my resolve, I entered her room.

She was laying on the bed, reading one of her magazines When she heard the door open, she looked up and grinned knowingly. "So, how'd it go?"

"My chat with Max went fine, thanks," I replied as I took a seat beside her, waiting to see how she would react to such a vague answer.

Taking the bait, she pressed for more details. "Just a chat?"

Tired of beating around the bush, I give her a mildly accusatory look. "No, but I guess you knew that already."

"Guess I've been rumbled…" Rachel mentioned guiltily.

"Yeah, just a bit. Max told me about your little 'practice session'." It was strange calling it that. While I did tell Max I wasn't angry, I did feel a bit jealous thinking about it.

"I thought she might," Rachel admitted, tucking her hair behind her ear to reveal the blue feather earring she always wore. "She just can't keep a secret from you. It's kind of cute."

"Unlike you, it seems." Despite my best efforts, that sentence came out a little more resentful than I had wanted.

Rachel seemed to notice but didn't take offense. "I was trying to help her. She seemed really nervous."

"I'm not angry, Rach. Just…" I paused for a moment, trying to figure out what I wanted to achieve exactly, "wanted to talk it over with you. If this is going to work, we need to communicate."

"Fair enough. I'm listening."

"I don't mind you and Max doing… whatever, that was part of the deal, but, and this is a big but, don't take advantage of her." I found myself frowning, the idea making me feel annoyed. I should trust Rachel and yet, here I was doubting her. Max was just too important to me to take chances.

"How do you mean?" Rachel asked, her hazel eyes zeroing in on mine.

"I think you know exactly what I mean," I snapped back more aggressively than I'd planned, getting more and more frustrated by the possibility. "No offense, but you're pretty good at manipulating people to do what you want."

She winced at the accusation. "Ouch, straight to the point."

"I don't…" Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I continued. "I want Max to feel comfortable around us. Do what she wants to do. Not pressured."

"I want that too."

Ignoring her, I pressed forward wanting to make myself absolutely clear where the boundaries ended. "There is a fine line between giving someone a friendly nudge and exploiting them. I want you to toe that line very carefully. Got it?"

After sizing me up for a few seconds, she nodded, not taking her eyes off mine. "Crystal."

I let out a sigh of relief, happier knowing that she understood. "Good, because if I hear any different…"

"You know, I like seeing this over-protective side of you. Almost as much as when you're flustered," Rachel mentioned with a suggestive grin, changing the subject.

This was exactly what I was afraid of. I needed her to focus. The truth was, I was probably more invested in Max than Rachel. Not that she didn't care, but she didn't know her as well as I did and definitely hadn't been harboring feelings for her over the past five years or so… like I had.

"Don't try to distract me, Rach. This is serious."

Rachel did seem a bit offended by that but brushed it aside soon enough. "And what I'm saying isn't? Look, I won't push Max into doing something she doesn't want to do. You have my word. Scout's honor and all that."

Sighing deeply, I looked down at my hands. "I just really want this to work, Rach."

Gently, she tilted my head upwards with her hands, forcing me to look at her. "I know. I do too. We'll manage, so don't stress too hard. Enjoy it." She leaned in closer, placing a tender kiss to my lips, voice low as she pulled back. "Otherwise, there's no point."

As usual, she was right. Easier said than done, though.

Have a great day and see you next time.