Winter's Warmth
"Do we have to do this?" Chloe whined. "'Cos dude, I am hella fucking tired right now." She performed a loud, fake yawn to exaggerate the effect.
Max however, was having none of it.
"It's your own fault. I told you to go to bed." She gently chastised Chloe.
"But-"
"And what did you not do?"
"Go to bed?"
"That's right. What did you do instead?"
Chloe grimaced. "I watched horror movies all night."
Max dipped her head and raised her eyebrows, peering out from under them. "So who's fault is this?"
A sigh. "Mine."
"What did we learn?"
"That Friday the 13th already had too many sequels even before the reboot? Ow!" Chloe rubbed her nose, which Max had hit with a spoon.
Max didn't need to repeat the question. She just waved the spoon threateningly.
Chloe pouted. "Alright, and you don't need to hit me. Max is always right." She unenthusiastically chorused. "Well, apart from that time you thought cornholing was what you do when you plant corn."
Max blushed. "Oh I'm sorry, I'm not a depraved sex maniac like you."
Chloe giggled, and leaned back in her chair. "Speaking of, where's Kate? I thought she'd be here by now."
She received a shrug in reply. "Great. So she's late and I'm tired." Chloe plucked at her dress shirt unhappily. "Why'd we even have to come here anyway? I don't even like fish." She gestured around them.
The couple were sat at a table in Arcadia Bay's one and only sushi restaurant. It being mid-week, the place wasn't very busy, and as such the two young women had managed to score a table in the corner, next to a quaint koi pond brimming with fish. The quiet murmur of relaxed conversation hung in the air, backed by the soft sounds of an erhu drifting from hidden speakers.
"Chloe, I've told you like a dozen times already." Max said, rather exasperatedly. "Kate invited us here for a date night."
"Woah, wait a second." Chloe said, holding up a finger in protest. "I thought we weren't doing the open dating thing?"
"We're not. It's Kate who's bringing a date with her."
Chloe felt like her jaw could have dropped so hard it would have smashed through the floor. "Get the fuck outta town!" She whispered.
Max grinned. "I know right?"
"Kate's bringing a date? Like, she's actually dating someone?"
"Looks like."
"Holy shit, this is huge. Like, nuclear detonation huge!" Chloe mimed an explosion. "She say who she's bringing?"
Max shook her head. "Nope. I guess we're gonna find out."
"You're as shocked as I am, right?"
"Definitely." Max nodded, vigorously. "When Kate told me I legit said 'fuck me sideways'. "
Chloe giggled. "Hah. What did Kate say?"
"She said, and I quote: 'Been there done that.'"
Chloe's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so proud of her." She whispered. She leaned forward in her chair, placing her elbows on the table and forming a tent with her fingers. "I take back all the complaining. Now I hella can't wait for her and this mystery date to turn up."
Fortunately for Chloe, she didn't have to wait long. After a minute or two of her staring at the entrance and shifting impatiently in her seat, the door opened, ushering in a frigid blast of January air. Kate shuffled in, shaking snow off of a knitted bobble hat. Satisfied all the snow had been removed, she scanned the restaurant, grinning broadly and waving when she saw Max and Chloe. Then, she turned, and beckoned her date to come in.
Out of the dark and whirling snow, strode Victoria Chase.
This time, it was Max's turn to drop her jaw.
Chloe was a little more vocal. "What the shit-biscuit?!" She said, loud enough for several nearby tables to hear her.
Max winced. "Chloe! Inside voice!" She whisper-shouted.
Chloe at least had the grace to look guilty. Sorry she mouthed at the offended tables.
Oblivious to Chloe's blatant restaurant etiquette faux-pas, Kate strode over to the table, followed by Victoria, who looked uncharacteristically guarded.
"Hey you two!" Kate greeted them both, followed by a warm hug and kiss on the cheek.
If Victoria was bothered by the display of physical affection, she didn't show it. Instead, she sat down, looking like she'd rather be anywhere but there.
"Hi Victoria." Max greeted her with a little wave that was only a tiny bit awkward.
"Max." Victoria said, with a slight nod of the head. She turned towards Chloe, who was almost visibly glaring. "Chloe." She intoned, her voice dropping almost an octave.
Before either Kate or Max could say anything, Chloe narrowed her eyes and made a show of cracking her knuckles. "Tell me why I shouldn't tell you to go suck thirty-seven dicks. In a row."
"Chloe!" Max admonished her. "Play nice."
"No, it's OK." Victoria said, stopping everyone in their tracks. "I probably deserve it, considering what I said last time we met." She met Chloe's eyes. "Chloe, I want to apologise. I acted like a total bitch, and said some horrible things to you. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I want you to know I am sorry. I was going through some major self-esteem shit at the time, and I was taking it out on other people. That was totally not cool of me."
When Victoria finished speaking, a moment of tense silence gripped the table, as Max and Kate waited with bated breath to see how Chloe would respond.
"Well, fuck." Chloe said, the corner of her mouth curling up into something like a smile. "I'd be a real bitch to shit on a heartfelt confession like that. I think I like this new, humble Victoria." She extended a hand, which Victoria hesitantly shook. "We're good." She said.
Max's shoulders shook with silent laughter, and Kate let out an audible sigh of relief.
"Thank God for that." She said. "I don't know what I would have done if you and Max hadn't been OK with, well, this." She cupped Victoria's jaw and kissed her cheek. "And you did great, Sweet-Vee. I'm proud of you."
The moment was interrupted by a high pitched keening from Max. Three pairs of eyes turned to her; Kate's in confusion, Victoria in something approaching disgust, and Chloe with wry amusement.
"Max, did you just, urgh, squee?" Victoria said, evidently beyond disgusted at herself for having to use the word.
"Sorry, I just love that you have pet names already. It's totes adorable." Max said, without a hint of shame.
"If you breathe a word of this to anyone-" Victoria growled.
"You'll do unspeakable things to us, yeah we get the drill." Max interrupted. "Relax, Vee. No one's out to get you."
Victoria pouted, but it was only for show.
"Speaking of doing unspeakable things." Chloe interjected. "I think I speak for both me and Max when I ask: how the flippety-shit did this happen? Like, you two. As a couple."
Kate looked at Victoria. "You wanna tell them, or do I?" She asked.
"You tell them. You're the better storyteller." Victoria said while studying her nails.
Kate turned to Max and Chloe. "Well..." She began.
Several months earlier...
Kate sits at her desk, bent low over the surface. Her hand delicately applies pencil stroke after pencil stroke onto the pristine white paper. She's working on more illustrations for the children's book she wants to write, and she's feeling particularly proud of the current batch. Now, if she could only get the story to work...
A knock on her door distracts her, almost causing her hand to slip. Now that would not have been good.
"It's open!" She calls. "I'm just working on some stuff." She explains, expecting to turn around and see Max stood in the doorway. Only, when she does spin her chair round, she has to physically restrain herself from jumping in shock when she sees Victoria there instead.
Victoria? Coming and calling on her specifically? What the heck is going on? Kate thinks to herself.
"H-hi Victoria." She finds herself saying. "If you're looking for Juliet I think she's-"
"Can we talk?" Victoria interrupts.
Now Kate is really confused.
"I, uh, I guess." She says. "What about?"
Victoria shakes her head. "Not here. Somewhere private. Follow me."
Stumped for words, Kate does exactly that. She follows Victoria all the way out to the parking lot, where she has to shield her eyes from the setting sun reflecting fiercely off multiple car windows.
"Get in." Victoria jerks her head towards an expensive-looking sedan."Please." She adds when she sees Kate looking like a bunny caught in headlights.
Kate does so, and before long Victoria is driving her along sunset-hued roads. Her mind is racing with so many thoughts that she doesn't even notice when they arrive at the beach. Victoria shuts off the engine and gets out, motioning for Kate to follow her. She does, and Victoria leads her on a languid walk along the shore. After a couple of minutes, she speaks.
"You probably don't think I'm a good person." She says, looking at the sandy ground. "And you'd be right. I'm not." She kicks a pebble. "But I want to be." She looks Kate dead in the eye. "Last year, I was a total cunt to you. You almost killed yourself because of what me and … him... did to you." She takes a deep breath. "Kate. I'm... I'm sorry. I know that probably won't mean much, but I've never been more serious. I'm sorry, what we did to you was awful... and I'd be lying if I said it doesn't eat me alive at night sometimes."
Normally Kate would object to the use of obscene language, but she's utterly floored by what she's hearing. She becomes aware that someone is speaking. She's surprised to find that it's herself.
"Victoria, it's OK." She's saying. "Well, no, it's not OK. What you took part in led me to the worst day of my life. But I can see you're trying to change, and sometimes the first part of that is recognising that you did wrong, and trying to make amends. I wouldn't have agreed to come with you here if I didn't think you could do that."
Victoria is deathly still while she's listening.
"I don't think I can forgive you." Kate continues. "Not just yet. But maybe, in time, specifically time spent around each other, I'll be able to."
Victoria looks at her. "You … want to spend time with me? Why?"
Kate smiles. "Because everyone deserves a second chance."
"Wowser." Max breathed. "That's... I don't have the words."
A sniff came from her left. She turned her head, and saw Chloe wiping her sleeve across her eyes, trying and failing to appear inconspicuous. "Wait, Chloe are you crying?" She said, hardly believing her own eyes.
"N-no." Chloe lied. "'M not crying, you're crying, shut up."
"I love you too." Max teased her. She leaned over and kissed Chloe on a tear-stained cheek.
She turned back to Kate and Victoria, who were now holding hands. "We both think that was hella mature of both of you. It couldn't have been easy to have a conversation like that."
"It wasn't." Victoria confirmed. "I felt like my heart was gonna explode the entire time. I was terrified Kate was going to reject me, and I had no idea why I was so scared. It seems obvious now, but at the time, it was totally fucking confusing."
"I think it's sweet you were scared." Kate said. She gave Victoria's hand a loving squeeze. "I've said it before, but you have such a loving heart under all that bluster."
"Bluster? I don't have any bluster! Why would you-" Victoria stopped mid-sentence after a pointed look from Kate. "Ah. Point taken." She said, somewhat sheepishly.
The other three women shared a laugh.
"So." Chloe said, having returned to her normal, blasé self. "What happened after that? 'Cos it's a big jump from 'maybe friends someday' to 'hella smooches'."
Kate shrugged. "Well, like any other couple, really. We got to know each other, and both of us found things we liked about the other."
"Yeah." Victoria agreed. "We started going for coffee dates. Well, I had coffee. Kate had tea. And I guess neither of us figured they were actually dates. They just felt natural."
"That's sweet." Max smiled at them.
"Sweet, but I still wanna know how makeouts happened." Chloe teased. "C'mon, spill the deets!"
Kate looked at Victoria. They both smiled.
"So..."
The moon is almost at its zenith, seemingly impossibly white against the night sky. Two young women walk across the deserted Blackwell campus, their pace leisurely, content to take their time crossing the grounds.
"I enjoyed myself tonight." Kate is saying. She laughs. "Enjoying time with Victoria Chase. There's something I never thought I'd say."
"Oh hush." Victoria says. "I'm not that bad."
They smile at each other, with eye contact lingering on past where it normally would have ended.
"I enjoyed myself as well." Victoria says. "I liked the illustrations you showed me. Though did you have to make me into a grumpy tiger?"
Kate laughs. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."
Victoria laughs with her. "I don't mind. At least you made me into one of the cooler animals."
"Yeah, even though you're a big dork inside." Kate can't help but tease her a little.
Victoria makes a show of pouting. It's rather adorable, Kate thinks.
"Says the girl who wants to draw for children's books." Victoria shoots back, then smiles. "Though I do think it's very sweet, what you want to do."
"Thanks, Victoria."
Victoria slips her hand into Kate's. Neither of them mind. To them, it feels like the most natural thing in the world.
They walk on in silence. It's not an awkward or uncomfortable one, no. Instead it's the silence of two people who have grown used to one another. A companionable silence that need not be interrupted by something as unnecessary and cheap as small talk.
Eventually, they enter the girls' dormitory. Kate's room is closest, so they stop outside the door, both women loathe to let the evening end.
"Well, this is me." Kate says.
"Yeah, it is you." Victoria repeats.
They're still holding hands. Neither of them wants to let go.
Kate turns to face Victoria, and looks up at her.
"Victoria?"
They lock eyes.
"Kate?"
Their hearts are both suddenly pounding, though neither is aware of the other.
"I..." Kate begins to say.
Then, it's as if someone flips a switch inside her. She stands on her tip-toes, wraps her arms around Victoria's neck, and kisses her.
When Victoria kisses back, she almost explodes with glee.
"That. Is. So. Cute!" Max enthused. "What were you both thinking when it happened?"
"I can't really remember." Kate confessed. "Mostly that it just felt right, you know?"
"All I can remember is thinking "Wow, Kate is a really good kisser"." Victoria said, with an uncharacteristically dopey grin, causing Kate to blush and look down, undoubtedly thinking that she had in fact kissed everyone at the table.
"Yeah, that's pretty fucking adorable." Chloe said.
Victoria looked at her.
"What?" Chloe said, shovelling sushi into her mouth. "I'm a sucker for romance, OK?"
Victoria smirked. "I wouldn't peg you for the type, but you're dating this bundle of nerd right here, so what do I know?" She said, jerking her head in Max's direction.
"I'd say I'm offended, but that's pretty much me in a box." Max shrugged. "Plus who said romance was a bad thing?" She smiled, and gave Chloe a smooch on the cheek.
"I'll raise a glass to that!" Victoria grinned.
"Are you sure you two can't stay longer?" Kate said, voice muffled by her scarf.
The four of them were walking towards the car park. The snow had died down, but the air was still bitterly cold.
"No." Max shook her head. "Chloe has work in the morning, and with weather this cold, she's useless at getting up unless I'm there to push her out of bed. That's not an exaggeration either."
"Hey, I'm not that bad." Chloe protested.
"You really are, Chlo. How long did it take you to get up yesterday?"
Choe crossed her arms and looked away. "I plead the Fifth."
"Exactly."
The foursome came to a halt outside Chloe's truck.
"Alright, this is us." Max said. "Thanks for what turned out to be a really fun evening."
"Yeah." Chloe agreed. "We should do this again sometime."
"That would be nice." Kate nodded. "Victoria?"
Victoria considered the suggestion for a second. "Sure."
"Then it's a date!" Max said. She hugged Kate. "Drive safe, you two."
"Same to you". Victoria said. "I, uh, I don't really do hugs. No offense."
"None taken." Max gave her a friendly pat on the arm instead.
Chloe simply waved.
A minute later, Kate and Victoria watched the two pull away. Kate turned to her girlfriend.
"You did good tonight." She said.
"Yeah? I was "hella nervous" as Chloe would say." Victoria confessed.
Kate looped her arm around Victoria's, and rested her head on her shoulder. "Don't worry, you were fine."
"Good to know."
The couple began to walk towards Victoria's car, which, thankfully, had heated seats. When they were safely ensconced within the warmth of the car, Victoria let out a grateful sigh. "So, what now? We've got the rest of the evening ahead of us."
Kate grinned. "Well, I did have a thought."
Victoria raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"Mm. I was thinking about how warm my dorm room is." She said, not without a certain amount of flirtation.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah." Kate nodded. "And how warm my bed is, too."
"Oh. Oh."
Kate laughed. "Chloe was right."
"About what?" Victoria was, for a moment, puzzled.
"You are adorable."
Author's Note: Yup, we officially have ChaseMarsh now. So that's a thing. It's also a good way, I think, to conclude their character arcs for this story. You'll see why in a paragraph or so.
Another thing: on Feb 19th, this series officially turned 1 year old! I did want to have this chapter out by then, but I've been pretty busy over the last few weeks (sorry!). But yeah, the word count on this thing also means I've written a full paperback novel of fluffy bullshit. Whaaaaaat.
But I do have some Serious Stuff to talk about, that being: all good things must come to an end. I've been writing What If's for well over a year now, and I think it's almost time to draw the curtain. Chapter 30 will be the final chapter, and the end of the story. I may come back and do the occasional separate oneshot, but the main story will officially be over. Though I still have 4 chapters left to write, so I'll do my best to make sure they're worth reading. And as far as the ending goes, I think I have a good one. Peace out.