"Did you see that guy's face when you rolled up?" Steph chuckled, eyes focused on the road as she drove. "Looked like he was seeing a ghost or something."

Chloe was still grinning, glancing back to the junkyard for one last look at her faithful truck. The small wad of cash in her pocket was slightly comforting, but she'd miss that rust bucket. "Betcha most vehicles he sees doesn't run."

Steph snorted, her eyes darting to the rear view for a second to look as well. "Or looks like the years took a shit on it. It's seriously a death trap."

Chloe smacked her arm, earning a yelp from Steph. "Hey, that truck still runs just fine!"

Steph made a patronizing sound, but glanced over at her with a sympathetic look. "You know it's just gonna get scrapped, right?"

Chloe scowled, slumping further in the passenger seat. "Don't remind me." After fidgeting with her beanie for a minute, she turned her head to look at Steph, who was still smirking. "Thanks again, for picking me up."

The smirk softened into a smile, and she let go of the wheel with one hand to scratch the back of her neck. "No problem. Sure beats homework, anyway."

"Definitely." They sat in a relaxed silence for a second before Chloe started grinning to herself, mind spinning. "So, about your class-"

"Nope," Steph cut her off, pointedly looking both ways before turning on to the main road. "I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Oh, c'mon Steph, give me some more details about Paaaaige." She enjoyed watching Steph's face turning gradually deeper shades of red.

Steph's glaring eyes kept darting over to her as often as she could while keeping the car in their lane. "You are an asshole, you know that?" she remarked, frustration seeping into her voice.

"Max only reminds me three times a week," Chloe responded, shrugging off the attempted insult. "So c'mon, spill."

Steph mouthed wordlessly, raising a hand off the wheel in a helpless gesture. "What do you want me to say? I have a class with this chick, and literally all we talk about is homework, and whether or not the teacher is boning one of his students?"

Chloe's eyebrows arched, slightly intrigued by the change of subject. "Well, is he?"

Steph harrumphed, shaking her head slightly. "That's not important. Paige and I are just...acquaintances." Her cheeks were still noticeably pink, although the rest of her face had reverted back to its natural shade.

"Mhm." Chloe fiddled with her phone for a minute, absentmindedly unlocking it and then immediately locking it again. "So when are you going to ask her out?"

Steph came to a harder stop at a set of red lights than was necessary, causing Chloe's seatbelt to lock as she jolted forward. "Oh my god, Chloe, can't you just drop it?" Steph exclaimed, keeping her eyes on the intersection.

Chloe shrugged, trying to hide her smirk. She was completely unsuccessful, not that Steph was able to see it with the blinders she had up. "You know me better than that."

Steph turned to stare at her for a second before sighing in defeat, eyes closing for a moment. "Yeah, I do," she said quietly, pinching her nose. She impatiently waited for the lights to turn green again, her thumb tapping against the steering wheel. "So should I just go in all bold, or-"

"Dude, I have no idea," Chloe responded, snickering internally at what she considered to be a success. "I just sort of...fell in to all my relationships."

"Pssh. Wish I could be so lucky," Steph commented, turning onto the Caulfields' street. Chloe was still watching her, wondering what else she could tease her about when the brunette's eyebrows knitted together. "Who's car is that?"

Chloe turned to look, immediately recognizing the car with a jolt. She had totally forgotten they were getting together today - she could only hope that Max had already let the occupants into the house as Steph pulled into the driveway. "Uh-"

Steph put the car in park before recognizing Victoria, who had just gotten out of the car. "Oh shit," she muttered, a slight look of disbelief on her face. No matter how often Chloe had tried to convince her that she hung out with Victoria, the two still had not met face to face. Regardless of what Chloe had said in the past about getting together, she had been purposefully keeping them apart.

"Here we go," Chloe muttered to herself, getting out of the car quickly. Steph's door surprisingly opened as well as the car shut off.

Victoria nervous eyes flickered between the two beanie-clad girls as Chloe closed her door, starting to walk around the front of the car. "Hey Chloe, uh, Steph."

"Sup," Chloe responded, casting a concerned glance at Steph, who continued to stare at Victoria, somewhat hostile.

Steph's voice was far from pleasant as she continued to stare down Victoria. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Chloe cleared her throat nervously, seeing Steph take a small step forward. "Steph, she's welcome here, okay?" She looked at Victoria, who was staring pointedly at the ground. It was very unlike Victoria to not snap back - she was obviously trying to be on her best behavior. "Vic, is Kate inside already?"

Victoria nodded, eyes still fixed to the ground. "Max said you'd be back any second, I just figured I'd..." She trailed off, eyes now fixed on Chloe's boots. Fuck, she probably needed to talk about something. That idea was out the window now.

Chloe looked up at Steph, who was analyzing Victoria's posture with a confused expression. Surely she was attempting to put this Victoria next to the nightmare version she once knew from Blackwell. "Steph, you coming in? I'm sure Max would love to see you." It was far from a lie, although Chloe was quietly hoping that Steph would decline She wasn't sure what would happen if she kept these two together for much longer.

Steph shook her head as if coming out of a daze, turning her head to look at Chloe. "Uh, sure." It wasn't particularly confident, but she was standing up straighter, as if she wanted to be taller than Victoria. "I can stop in for a b-"

"I was a bitch to you," Victoria said suddenly, fixing her green eyes on Steph. Steph seemed absolutely flustered by this turn of events, her mouth opening for a second, but unable to speak. "I acted like a total fucking diva all of those shows, and I gave you so much shit for every little thing."

Steph was frowning, watching Victoria cautiously, as if she was about to start spewing venom. "Yeah, you were a bitch," she agreed, looking unsettled.

Victoria glanced over at Chloe for just a second as she took a breath. "I'm trying to say, I'm sorry. I-I don't expect you to just forget about it, or anything, but I just needed to say that."

Steph nodded slowly, eyes still wide. "O-okay."

Chloe sighed quietly, slightly relieved. "Can we go inside so I can passionately make out with my girlfriend?"

Victoria coughed once, trying to regain some sort of normalcy in her behavior. "You're disgusting."

"You probably did the same thing before Kate went inside," Chloe commented as she headed towards the front door, hearing footsteps behind her, as well as flustered words as Victoria struggled to speak.

"I-what-you-we"

Chloe laughed to herself as she reached the door. "Mhm, exactly what I thought."

Chloe was groaning, distressed by what she was hearing. "You two are just so fucking perfect for each other. Stupid leaf water."

Victoria was rolling her eyes, but Kate giggled at Chloe's rant. "You know, you probably just haven't had the right tea," Kate responded, smiling from her spot on the sofa next to Victoria. "I bet we could find the right one for you, one of these days."

"Nope, I'm good with coffee." Chloe turned her head slightly so she could see Steph, sitting in the occasional chair with her legs and arms crossed. "What about you, Gingrich? Drink of choice?"

"I'm more of an energy drink person," she commented, her tone still slightly stiff. Chloe sighed internally - overall, things were going better than she had expected. Most of the time, Steph stared off into outer space, as if trying to ignore the company she was with. Chloe kept casting apologetic glances towards Victoria, who didn't seem to mind the treatment she was receiving. Knowing Victoria, she probably thought she deserved it. Kate, on the other hand, seemed a little upset.

Max was shuddering a little at Steph's drink choice, shaking the loveseat ever so slightly. "Yuck. The last time I had an energy drink, I couldn't sleep right for a week."

The corners of Steph's mouth twitched into a smile, still not quite reaching her eyes. "Maybe you just haven't had the right drink." She suddenly frowned, reaching into her pocket to grab her phone. "Shit, I gotta run. Another vehicle-less person to drive." As she spoke, there was the slightest bit of pink forming on her cheeks.

"Oh? Is it any person in particular? Chloe asked, eye brows waggling suggestively. Steph responded with a sneer, flipping her off.

"Oh yeah, congrats on selling the piece of shit you called a truck," Victoria chimed in, smirking at Chloe.

Chloe glanced around the room, slightly upset when everyone laughed. "Hey, screw you, Vicky! It was running just fine!"

"I think 'running' is an overstatement," Steph teased, a more natural grin spreading across her face as she got to her feet. "I'll see myself out."

"Give Paige a kiss for me!" Chloe called from her spot on the loveseat, watching Steph head down the hall.

"Fuck you too, Chloe!" Steph called back, almost speed walking to the front door in an attempt to escape.

"That's what you have Paige for!" The door slammed halfway through the sentence, but she was pretty sure Steph got the gist of it. Chloe looked back down at a frowning Max, watching her disapprovingly. "Oh, c'mon, she's asking for it."

Kate was biting her lip, looking uncertain. "I realize I haven't met Steph before, but is she usually so...stiff?"

"It's because of me," Victoria sighed, suddenly looking tired. She had been putting on a good show since the confrontation in the driveway, and only now did she truly seem miserable. "She stage-managed a bunch of the Blackwell shows, and I was, well...me." She shrugged, gesturing towards the door. "I apologized to her before we came inside, but, yeah." Her shoulders slumped as she sighed again.

Kate glanced towards Chloe, as if looking for confirmation. Chloe nodded, and Kate's mouth tightened for a second. "I'm sure she just...needs some time," she said slowly, fixing her gaze back on Victoria. "She'll see you've changed."

"I hope so," Victoria responded before shaking her head, trying to pep up. "So Price, you guys going car shopping tomorrow?"

Chloe groaned, swinging her legs up so they were resting in Max's lap. She hadn't been looking forward to selling her faithful truck, and shopping for its replacement felt bittersweet. "Yeah, Mr. C is coming with us," she commented, ignoring Max's complaints as she was attacked. "I don't know a lot about cars from this century, so he's gonna be my wingman."

Max groaned quietly, resting her hands on Chloe's shins in defeat after unsuccessfully trying to push them off of her. "He knows as much about cars as I do. You know that, right?"

Chloe shrugged, smiling widely at Max. "Between the two of you, I might make a decent pick." Max shook her head, a smile slowly forming on her face despite her best attempts to look disgruntled.

Victoria snorted from the sofa. "Better not come back here with a Prius."

"Hey, Prii are decent cars. The EPA loves them," Chloe countered. She really didn't want a Prius, but whatever was on the used lot was on the table. The check from David wasn't as big as she had been secretly hoping, and she needed the money if she and Max were to go somewhere out-of-state for college. Apartments were far from cheap in college cities.

Chloe shook her head, trying to snap out of her thoughts - she didn't like thinking about spending money, particularly on practical things. "So Kate, how's the Chase Mansion?" she asked, ignoring Victoria's eye roll. "You've been there over a week, and you haven't come to crash here yet, so must not be all bad."

Kate's eyes lit up at the thought, a smile quickly spreading across her face. "It's been great! Cam and Liz are so nice."

Chloe couldn't help but grin, eyes darting between Kate and Victoria as the latter started groaning on instinct. "First name basis with the parents already. Nice. I'm not even there yet."

Kate laughed, patting Victoria's knee as she grumbled. "They've been so welcoming, and really supportive. They're totally fine with Alice being there, too."

Chloe sighed, thinking fondly of the drive up from Arcadia Bay. "She is ridiculously soft. Never was a small animal fan, but I can see the appeal." She slowly turned her head to Max, who was already shaking her head. "Max, pwetty pwease?"

"No, we're not getting a pet," she responded, fighting against the corners of her mouth that wanted to pull up into a smile. "I'm serious, Chloe."

"Damn it."