It takes Chloe almost an hour and a half to reach me, twice as long as it did for me to get here. By then I've already made myself comfortable the lighthouse, which is complete with a mattress and a few blankets. It makes me kind of sad seeing these things here. It makes me think the Chloe sometimes lives here when she's sick of her family, or when she's too drunk or high to go home. I sigh and run my hand over the smooth interior wall, which is decorated with graffiti and drawings of various things. Most of them are quotes of small stick figure doodles of a certain blue haired punk.
-Ping!-
I jump when my phone buzzes, lost in my own thoughts. I grab it from the cold concrete floor and read Chloe's newest text:
[Coming up the hill now. Get the door ready]
"Hmm, 'bout time," I mutter to myself as I jump to my feet and stand by the large bulkhead door.
A minute later, I hear a knock and jump into position.
"Ready?" I call out.
"Ready!" Chloe replies, pushing the heavy door open as I pull it.
A gust of snow and wind blows in as Chloe slips inside, bringing with her a bundle of things.
"Shit, sorry it took me so long. Had to make a quick stop and pick us up some goods," she says, setting her things aside and helping me seal the door back up.
"It's getting bad out there," I say shyly, stepping back when Chloe shakes herself off, sleet and snow flying everywhere.
"Welp, the things we do for the ones we love, eh?" she replies, turning to me with a derpy smile. She looks worn and tired like she hasn't slept in a week.
Funny what stress and worry can do to Ya, huh?
I open my mouth to say something, to apologize for making her fret so badly, but before I can even get one word out, Chloe raises her hand to stop me.
"Words can wait. Hugs come first".
I smile and rush into her open arms, enjoying every second of her embrace.
"God, you have no fucking idea how good it feels to hold you again, Max," Chloe says, burying her face into my hair and inhaling and exhaling deeply.
I can't help but giggle, "I was only gone a few hours,".
She holds me tighter, "I know… but it felt like forever".
I sigh and hug her with equal force, drinking in her scent, "I'm sorry".
"No. You don't have to apologize for anything. If our roles were reversed, I'm sure I woulda done the same".
I shrug and continue to hug Chloe… just… enjoying her.
"*sigh* are you alright? You warm enough? I brought extra blankets 'n' shit in case you weren't"
I finally allow myself to relax a little and pull away from Chloe, "I'm fine now that you're here. But all I want to do now is go home and sleep,".
"Well," she begins, rubbing the back of her neck, "That might be a bit of a problem,".
I blink, "Huh? Did something happen?".
She nods tears off her beanie, "Yeah, nature happened. It's a fucking blizzard out there. I made it here just before the roads closed".
"So we're stuck here?" I ask, slightly panicked.
"At least until the storm blows over," Chloe adds coolly, clearly not keen on the idea of staying here, "But hey, we're together amirite?".
Yeah… that doesn't help the fact that we're perched on a cliff miles away from town with a weak-ass signal and half charged phones.
"Yeah… t- together," I say following Chloe as she takes off her coat and flops down on the mattress and gestures for me to do the same.
"Damn," she says, wrapping around me, "I haven't been up here in months".
"It's nice," I tell her, "it's like your own little slice heaven, a home away from hell".
Chloe snickers a little, "Heh, that's what I call 'American Rust'". I must have made a super confused face because Chloe laughs again, "The junkyard at the edge of town. That's another one of my secret layers," she explains, "Eh, I'll take you there one day,".
I smile and rest my head on her shoulder, "I'd like that".
"Hmm, I hope. It's actually really cool. Great place for taking pictures. All the rust, broken glass and busted cars… huh, it's kinda my aesthetic".
I hum dumbly and scoot even closer to her, closing my eyes for a second.
"What's up Maximus? Somethin' on your mind?".
"You," I mutter softly so that it's basically a whisper.
I don't know why but… in the moment… it just felt like the right thing to stay.
When she responds, I can practically hear the smile in Chloe's voice, "Hehe, what about me?".
"Just things," I reply, many things going through my mind at once.
"What kind of things, Maxie?".
I hide my blushing face, realizing the kind of thoughts she's implying I'm having. "Not so fast, Price," I say in a low, somewhat flirty voice, "You gotta buy me dinner first".
Chloe smiles slyly, "Well, then I guess it's a good thing I did, huh?".
I blink and pull away suddenly, "What?".
"Dude. You haven't eaten all day and you've been up here for hours. Really think I'd let my girlfriend starve?".
I can't help but giggle, "Of course not".
Chloe turns to me and winks, making me giggle again.
"So, what did you bring?".
"Chinese. Hope that's cool," Chloe says, handing me a take out box from the bundle she brought in.
"As long as I'm here with you, I wouldn't mind anything at all".
With our stomach full and take out boxes set aside, Chloe and I lay back on the worn out mattress, once more enjoying each other's presence. Chloe seems more relaxed than she did when she first arrived a few hours ago, but that's probably because she knows I'm safe now.
And me?
Reality set in a long time ago, telling me that this… this moment Chloe and I are sharing… it's nothing more than an escape. Once we leave here, both of us are going to have to face reality.
Well, at least I am.
Chloe's not the one who's getting targeted by teachers. She's not the one getting anonymous and direct threats. She's not the one who has to worry about possibly losing her scholarship.
"Max? Hey… you alright?".
I blink and shake my head to clear my thoughts, "Yeah… I- I think," I reply skeptically.
She rolls over and faces me with a saddened smile, "Your breathing got quick for a second… like when you're overthinking something".
"I- I kinda am," I admit softly.
"Max, everything is going to be fine," she says, already knowing the cause of my worry, "David's gonna check the security cameras to see if we can catch the perp. My guess is that it was the Fuckboy War-dick. Kid's definitely got it out for us, eh?".
I go dead silent at the mention of Warren's name (or at least a variation of it).
Chloe sits up a bit, seeing my reaction, "Max?".
I swallow my fear and clear my throat, "It wasn't him, Chloe".
"What?! Seriously, Max. He's got every reason to be fucking pissed at us. He's suspect numero uno,".
"It wasn't him, Chloe," I say again, only this time more firmly. This makes Chloe blush, making her regret doubting me.
"Well… okay then. How do you know it wasn't him?".
"Because…".
Chloe groans at the lack of elaboration in my reply, "You've gotta give me more than that, Max. Why don't you think Warren did it?".
I look at her and sigh, letting out a very weak and shaky breath, "Because… I- I was with him".
Chloe bolts upright and gasps, "What?!".
I shrink back a little, "I- I ran into him after class. I- I ignored him just like Wells said… b- but…".
"But what, Max!" Chloe urges, taking hold of my hands and pulling me upward to face her.
"H- he k- kept pushing me around and m- m- making f- fun of me a- and…".
I whine a little, genuinely reluctant to tell Chloe anything more about me and Warren's interaction.
"What did he do, Max?! I fucking swear to god if that bastard did anything to hurt you, I'm gonna-".
Chloe stops talking and realizes that her yelling isn't going to get me to talk… or that it's helping the situation. She takes a deep breath to relax herself before continuing, "Max… I need to you to tell me if he did anything to you.I promise I won't do anything… I'll let David take care of it,".
I sniffle and shake my head, trying to squirm out of her grasp,"...I- I can't…".
"Max," Chloe says again, this time in a soft, slow, soothing voice, "Please".
I start breaking down in silent tears, Warren's words ringing in my head:
"Consider this a...polite warning, Max, and if you tell anyone about what just happened here? Huh, you won't like what I have in store".
I cringe involuntarily and I fall into Chloe's arms, tear starting to overflow from my eyes.
"Shit. Hey, hey… I got you," Chloe coos, startled by my sudden collapse.I grip on tightly onto her body and sob… hard. I struggle to get the words out but… they eventually leave my lips.
"H- he.. Th- thr… threatened me".
"Oh God," she says wrapping her arms around my shaking body, "Oh, Max".
I let her hold me and basically cradle me in her arms as I cry helplessly. I hold her even tighter, "Wh… why is this h- h- happening to me. W- what d- did I do to *sniff* deserve all this? W- what did I do w- wrong?".
"Shh, nothing, nothing… you did absolutely nothing wrong, Max. It's just life… shit happens".
I shake my head, burying my face deeper into Chloe's chest.
"Did…" Chloe begins hesitantly, "Did anything else happen after that?".
I nod and sniffle, "I- I w- when to my l- locker and f- found a picture of m- me and my *sniff* p- parents".
I can hear Chloe's heartbeat pick up at the mention of my parents and she holds me a little tighter. I hesitate to continue, but force the words out of my mouth, "It hurt. It hurt so fucking much, Chloe. I wanted. I wanted to… to… d- die".
Suddenly, Chloe pulls me away from her and holds me out in front of her and gives me a rough jostle, "Don't EVER say shit like that, EVER! Understand?! I fucking swear to god I will NEVER forgive you if you hurt yourself!".
I blink, cessing crying almost immediately, half startled by Chloe's intensity and the emotion behind it.
"I've tried, Max. I've tried to hurt myself. Tried to take myself out of existence, out of this universe, out of this… life. Wonder why I'm 19 and still in high school? Well, that's because I was in the hospital and on suicide watch for almost a year after I tried to give myself an overdose,".
I can almost feel my heart shattering into billions of tiny pieces, "C- Chloe…".
"I was seventeen, Max. Seven- fucking- teen. I'd given up… I'd given up on the possibility of there being anything left for me in this life. I'd given up on ever finding true happiness again. I should honestly be dead right now, but for some fucking reason, I survived. The world wasn't ready to let Chloe Price go… I still had things to do in this life, things to see, people to meet, places to go. I still had to meet you, Max. I think… no… I know you're the reason I was put here… you're the reason I survived".
My heart can't take it and I start sobbing again… and so does Chloe.
"I've never told anyone this, Max. Not a soul. I'm not proud of what I did.. Or… what I tried to do, but I'm not ashamed either. That whole experience taught me to appreciate life. Because life is fucking precious, Max. You only get one shot at it. And yeah, it could suck at times but you've literally, literally got your whole life ahead of you. Years and years of good, positive memories to outweigh the bad. So just… hold on. I promise you things will get better".
I throw myself into Chloe's arms as a response, feeling her embrace my back, her body shaking as well.
"I'm sorry… I'm so so sorry," I mumble pitifully.
"Shh, Shh, It's okay. I'm right here… I've got you. I've got you," she coos, rocking me slowly in her arms, "There's nothing I want more right now than for you to be happy and feel safe. I'd do anything to give you that, Max… anything".
I just continue to cry, gripping the back of Chloe shirt in an attempt to get myself even closer to her form, "I'm sorry". "It's okay… let it all out. Just promise we won't keep things like this from each other. No secrets… no lies".
I nod and sniffle, letting out another sad sob, "Oh, Chloe. *sniff* I Love You".
"I Love You more, Max. To the moon and back and till the end of time. I will always love you".
"F- forever?" I eek out.
"Forever".