Max clicked the TV off and turned to Chloe, who was asleep next to her in one corner of the couch. She smiled a little as she gently brushed a few strands of blue hair from Chloe's face, admiring the girl she loved so much. Aside from her parents, Chloe's face was the earliest face Max could really remember. They'd been close since fricken' daycare, and even though Chloe had been a year ahead of her, they had still carpooled to and from school. True, they'd each had other friends in their classes, but one had always been over at the other's house in the afternoon at least a couple of times a week, right up until Max's family had moved to Seattle.
When they'd first moved, Max had, of course, been sad. She'd missed her best friend, and she'd wanted to be there for Chloe, especially since William had just died. Sure, she'd never really reached out to keep in contact through email or Facebook or anything, but she wasn't really sure why. She'd meant to. So many times, she'd opened up her email and started to write, but then closed the window. Part of it was just the overwhelming weight of everything. What do you say to your best friend when you're hundreds of miles away and her dad's just died?
As time had gone by, Max had never forgotten about Chloe, exactly, but she'd made new friends and new routines. It wasn't until they'd been reunited in October that she realized how big a hole Chloe had left in her life. It was almost like a part of her had been missing, and she'd just been going through life with only half of herself. Crazy context aside, it had felt so amazing to be hanging out with Chloe again.
Then there was the kiss. Her heart had fluttered when Chloe had "dared" Max to kiss her, and that moment had stuck in the back of her mind. When she'd come back from the other timeline, she'd wanted to kiss Chloe again, but doing that would have taken more confidence than she'd had, at least at that point.
After the hurricane, they'd just driven out of town. She'd cried a lot, and been pretty checked out for a lot of that first day. The first night, in the motel they'd stayed at, she'd just cried herself to sleep, wondering if she'd made the right choice, then glancing over to Chloe, sleeping in the other bed, and feeling certain somehow that she had. She'd been more composed the next day, and around noon the Blackwell email blast had gone out, doing a head count. Then Joyce had started texting Chloe. The rest of that afternoon they'd both been much looser, much more at ease. When they stopped at a motel for the night, well…
"Become one flesh." That was how Kate had described sex one time, when Max had agreed to go along to a Purity Club meeting. It had sounded all woojie and archaic at the time, but when Max and Chloe had made love for the first time, it certainly felt accurate. Two months later, it didn't feel any less exciting every time they went at it. Exciting in a different way, maybe, since it wasn't so new anymore, but definitely not less exciting.
"What'cha thinkin' about?" Chloe asked groggily as Max stroked her hair.
"You, mainly," Max replied, jarred out of her reminiscence. Chloe opened her eyes about halfway and glanced at Max, smiling.
"Just good things, I hope," Chloe said, lazily putting her arm around Max. Without a second thought, Max settled back down next to the taller girl, nestling in the crook of her arm.
"Yeah," she murmured, "Good things." They rested there for a few minutes, just cuddling. In time, though, Chloe stretched her arms and sat up, cracking her neck.
"God, what time is it?" she wondered aloud, picking up her phone and lighting up the screen, "Wow, a little after four! I was out for what, like an hour and a half?"
"Something like that," Max replied, "Or, about five episodes of 'House Hunters,' including the episode we, uh, paused." Chloe grinned at the mention of their shenanigans.
"Guess we should Febreze the fuck outta this room before your parents get home," Chloe remarked, sniffing, "Like, literally. It smells like sex in here." Max sighed and laughed, resting back against the couch as Chloe stood.
"Probably," Max conceded, getting to her feet, "Mom and Dad did ask us to keep it down at night, and I feel like covering our tracks in the daytime is kind of included in the broader spirit of that request."
"Exactly," Chloe agreed, "I don't wanna wear out my welcome." Max walked over to the hallway, grabbing the canister of air freshener spray from the hall closet and coming back into the den, where Chloe was carefully arranging the throw pillows.
"I want to leave the place looking nice," she explained, placing the last pillow and stepping back, "How's that look. Does it convey the message 'Your daughter definitely didn't go down on anyone on this couch'?" Max blushed a little, but laughed nonetheless.
"Something like that," Max replied, spritzing air freshener around the room, "Damn couch is a dirty liar."