Chloe glanced through her money envelope. There'd been like five thousand dollars in it when she stole it from Wells's office, and even after the chunk she'd spent on their way up to Seattle, there was still a lot left. Of course, the reason she'd lifted the cash in the first place was to pay Frank off, but, well, Frank was probably dead…

Her first instinct was to go out and spend it all. Fix up her truck, buy a heap of weed, maybe a new computer. Crap, she should have left some with Mom to help cover repairs. Of course, that would probably lead to an awkward conversation about where the money had come from. She'd figure out a way to get some of the money into Mom's hands, she decided.

In the meantime, she wanted to get Max something for Christmas. Well, and Ryan and Vanessa, too, she guessed. She had the money, and it seemed polite. But mainly she wanted to get Max something nice. But what, though? Camera crap? Chloe wasn't really sure what sort of stuff Max needed, let alone what was good or not. Maybe a giftcard or something? That felt pretty impersonal.

A part of her wanted to get Max something sexy, like lingerie of a vibrator or something. But Chloe couldn't exactly leave any of those things under the tree for Max to open up on Christmas morning in front of her parents. And maybe her relatives? Chloe was unclear on what exactly the Caulfields were gonna do for Christmas, so it was possible there were going to be aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents loitering around the house all day. Or maybe even for a couple of days. Not like Chloe wasn't a guest there herself, but she was living there sorta long term.

So that still left her at a loss for what to buy Max for Christmas. Something quirky and unique. That's the sort of thing Max would like. Hell, that was the sort of person Max was. Chloe guessed she could probably find something good in that neat neighborhood Max had shown her around that one time a few weeks before. Well, and maybe a flannel. Max had looked really cute in that flannel she'd borrowed, and Chloe wanted to see more of that.

"Hey, Max?" she called, getting up from the couch and stepping into the hallway, "Do you wanna go out for a bit?"

"Sure," Max replied, her words a little muffled from the granola bar she was snacking on as she left the kitchen, "Any place in particular? Or do you just need to stretch your legs?"

"That hipster-y part of town," Chloe explained, "I wanna do some browsing, and maybe buy some stuff."

"Sounds good," Max said, finishing her snack, "I'll go get my bag, and we can head out." Chloe followed the brunette up the stairs, stepping into their room- er, Max's room- to drop off her money envelope. She always tried to be discrete, but maybe Max saw. If she did, she didn't mention it. Max must have known she was spending the Wells money, on some level. But whatever, she didn't make a thing out of it.

The trip into town was uneventful, and they found a parking spot without too much hassle. From there, they started to walk around the neighborhood, hand in hand and stopping here and there to look in shop windows. Everywhere they stopped, Chloe watched Max carefully, scanning for any indication of what she might like. In one store there were some feather earrings, like the one Rachel had liked, but Max walked past them without a second look, and Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. That would have been a bit more than she was willing to handle just yet.

Another store they looked through had some vintage band t-shirts, and Max did stop to look through those. None of them really lit her face up, though, so Chloe figured that maybe those would just be a backup plan. As they walked around the boutique, Chloe saw a little display of skull-themed jewelry, and she allowed herself a few moments to hop over and take a look.

There were rings, earrings, bracelets, and necklaces on display, all featuring bones or skulls in some king of way. At first glance, Chloe figured that she wasn't going to find much for Max over there, but then she saw it: A necklace with a little skull and crossbones, the skull sporting an eyepatch and red bandana. It was a little cartoon-y looking, and seemed almost friendly. As soon as she saw it, Chloe thought back to all the times she and Max had played "pirates" together, and she immediately knew what Max was getting for Christmas.

Glancing over her shoulder to check what Max was doing, Chloe snatched the necklace from the rack and strode over to the checkout counter. The guy at the register, luckily, was quick, and she'd paid for the necklace and stowed it in her pocket before Max finished browsing through novelty shirts. Trying to seem as casual as possible, Chloe caught up with the brunette and put her arms around her waist.

"Seeing anything cool?" Chloe asked, resting her chin on the shorter girl's shoulder. Max felt small and cozy in her arms, radiating warmth into Chloe's chest as she nestled in close.

"I mean, everything in here's pretty neat," Max replied, "Those band shirts were cool. These 'joke' shirts are kinda hit and miss, though. Like, this one is funny," she pointed to a red t-shirt with caricatures of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, and Mao Zedong drinking and dancing, with faux-Cyrillic letters reading "Communist Party," "But some of those other ones just say stuff like 'kiss my ass' and stuff." They kept looking through the store for another few minutes, but Chloe was content with her purchase, and didn't much mind when they left and went back to walking around the area. Eventually, they started back towards the truck.

"Any place else you want to go while we're out?" Max asked. Chloe thought for a moment.

"Is there, like, a Target or anything around?" She suggested, "There's some stuff your kitchen's missing, and I figure some new cooking stuff can be what I get Ryan and Vanessa." Max smiled at her as they got into the pickup truck.

"Yeah, not too far from here," the brunette replied, "But I don't think you have to get Mom and Dad presents." Chloe shrugged.

"It feels like the right thing to do," she insisted, starting the engine and pulling out of the parking space, "They're letting me stay here, and they're just being real nice about pretending not to know we're banging all the time, so I figure I should get 'em something nice, you know?" Blushing a little and giggling, Max nodded.

"That does make sense," Max conceded, "I mean, it's definitely not a bad idea. It'll definitely win you some brownie points."

"Well, that's a plus," Chloe noted, "Glad I thought to actually do Christmas shopping."

"You know, you don't have to get anything for me, either, Chloe," Max told her, voice gentle. Chloe smirked over at her.

"Oh, please," she scoffed, "I wanna get you nice things, and I figure Christmas is as good a time as any to start." Max reached out and lightly rubbed Chloe's arm.

"You're so sweet," the brunette murmured, smiling softly, "But the best thing, the gift I treasure most, is just the time that we have together." Chloe hastily wiped her eyes as they stopped at a red light.

"Just as well," Chloe replied, still a little teary, "I don't think I come with a gift receipt."

"No problem," Max said, "I wouldn't trade you for the world."

A/N: Glad to be back! I'm finished with my semester (5700 words on the 1745 Jacobite Rising and 5900 words on "The Song of Roland" have proved quite the diversion), and will now hopefully be updating more regularly again!