"I swear, I didn't tell her." Chloe repeated, watching Max fearfully.
The two were sitting cross-legged on the bed, still in reach of each other but not touching. Max was rubbing her forehead, eyes clenched shut as she digested the story from the night before. Evidently, confirming Kate's dark room theories had not been a good idea. "Kate just guessed?" Max asked, voice strained.
Chloe nodded, feeling nauseous from guilt. She hadn't expected Max to react so strongly...but the more she thought about it, the more she felt as though she was in the wrong. "Max, you weren't there. It was like she had me under a microscope." Her gut still churned nervously when she thought about the almost maternal behavior that had pushed her to just admit the truth. She really wished she hadn't, now.
Max's hand was still glued to her forehead, taking metered breaths to calm herself. "So, you told her," Max said flatly, visibly swallowing.
Chloe wasn't sure whether she should nod or shake her head to respond to that question. "Babe, she already knew. Trust me."
Max was shaking her head, hands shifting to cover her face entirely. "Great. Just...great," she muttered, muffled behind her hands.
Chloe leaned forward to carefully put her hand on Max's knee, half expecting to be swatted away. It was a relief when Max only exhaled heavily in response. "I can't tell if you're mad at me or not," she said quietly.
Max groaned behind her hands."I'm a little mad," she admitted, although she rested one of her hands on top of Chloe's with another sigh, still covering her eyes with the other.
"I'm sorry," she said automatically. She flipped her hand over to slowly work her fingers between Max's, uncomfortably aware of how limp her girlfriend's hand was.
"I know." Max rubbed her forehead for a few more seconds before letting that hand fall into her lap, exposing her worn-out expression. "At least it's Kate. She's not going to tell anyone else," she muttered, looking down into her lap.
"Yeah," Chloe agreed quickly, maybe too quickly. God, fuck fuck fu-
Max had started frowning, staring down at their stacked hands. "How did she figure it out?" she asked, starting to chew on her lip.
"She said she's noticed how you react about...him," she said cryptically, but caught the little moment of panic on Max's face before she took another deep breath.
"Oh." Max was quiet for a minute before looking up at Chloe, still chewing her lip. "I'm gonna call her quick, okay? Just to...I think I should call her."
Chloe was nodding, glancing towards the bedroom door. "Sure. I'll just...go downstairs?" she suggested, not necessarily wanting to be in the room for the conversation. She already felt like she had done enough damage for the week.
"Okay." As she made to stand up, Max gripped her hand tighter, forcing her to fall back onto the bed with a little yelp. "Hey, Chloe?"
"Yeah?"
There was a little determined look in Max's eyes, along with the slightest of sparkles. "I love you," she said quietly, as if afraid Chloe might have forgotten.
Chloe leaned forward to give her a peck on the nose, and was rewarded with a little smile. "Love you too, dork." She got up again, and this time Max let her slip away. "Just holler for me when I'm allowed to come back up, 'kay?"
"Okay." Chloe didn't want to turn around and see whatever front Max was putting up come down, and quickly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. Fuck, I really shouldn't have said anything to Kate. At the time, it really didn't seem like it was going to be as big of a deal as it was turning out to be. At least when Victoria found out, I was able to punch her in the face.
Chloe wandered downstairs as promised, smirking a little at her thoughts. As she reached the bottom of the steps, she heard clattering noises from the kitchen, and she headed over to investigate. "Oh, uh, hey, Mrs. C," she said as she walked in to Vanessa tying an apron around herself.
Vanessa looked up, a little surprised smile on her face. "Hey, Chloe." She looked around for a second, as if looking for Max, before a little smirk appeared on her face. "Max kick you out of her room?" she asked, nodding towards the stairs.
Chloe shook her head. "Nah, she just wanted to call one of our friends." She stood next to Vanessa, glancing distractedly at the counter for a second without actually registering anything in her vision. "What, uh, what'cha making?"
Vanessa gave her a quizzical look as her eyes darted to the clearly labeled pasta box and container of ricotta on the counter, then back to Chloe. "Lasagna. Want to help?"
"Sure." She was already moving to the sink to wash her hands, hearing Vanessa moving to the refrigerator. "How much ricotta do you put on per noodle?"
"Just a layer on the one side," she responded, voice slightly muffled as she dug through the fridge. "However much you want. You're the chef now."
"Got'cha." Chloe started working quietly, laying the noodles out on the cutting board as she went.
The two worked in silence for a few minutes, Vanessa getting a pan heated up on the stove top for the meat sauce, and Chloe trying to guesstimate how many noodles they normally used, before Vanessa cleared her throat. "Can I ask you something?"
Chloe shifted uncomfortably, afraid of what question was about to be directed her way. "Uh, sure."
"Do you know an Aaron Price?" she asked as she rested a hand on the counter, turned towards Chloe.
Chloe released the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "Y-yeah, that's my uncle," she responded, relieved that this was the question. After her relief, she started frowning, confused. "Why?"
Vanessa was nodding, throwing the meat into the pan with a little flourish. "That's what I thought. He messaged me on Facebook, trying to get ahold of you."
It took Chloe a second to figure out why Aaron would be messaging Vanessa of all people. "Must have thought you were Max's mom," Chloe commented, putting another noodle down.
"Probably." She looked back up at Chloe tapping a spatula against the pan. "Do you want me to give him your number, or..."
"Oh, yeah, that's fine." Chloe exhaled another breath, shaking her head as she thought about her uncle. "I haven't talked to him in a long time."
Vanessa hummed, glancing back up at her for a moment. "Oh, yeah? How long ago was that?" Vanessa asked, flipping the block of meat over to start cooking the other side.
Chloe shrugged, setting the butter knife down as she stretched. "Since Dad died. Last time I saw him was at the funeral."
It was as if a bubble had popped, and Vanessa no longer knew what to say. She poked at the meat with the spatula for a moment before trying to speak. "That's, yeah, it's been a while." There was another few moments of silence before she cleared her throat again, nodding in Chloe's direction. "I think I got it from here."
Chloe glanced at the microwave's clock, feeling like not nearly enough time had passed yet. Max was probably still on the phone with Kate, and this was not a conversation she wanted to eavesdrop on. "You sure?"
Vanessa chuckled quietly. "Unless you can magically make Italian sausage cook faster, not much more you can do."
Chloe's eyes darted to the stairs, really not wanting to head back up without an all clear. "How 'bout setting the table?" she offered.
Vanessa's eyebrow raised, fixing Chloe with an intrigued gaze. "What are you up to?" she asked suspiciously.
Chloe shrugged. She didn't particularly want to explain how she accidentally ratted one of her girlfriend's big secrets to one of their friends. And, particularly, secret I may or may not have already lied to you about. "Huh? Nope, no prerogative. Just helping while Max chats."
Vanessa surveyed her for a moment more before shaking her head. "You better not be trying to get my blessings, or something."
For a second, Chloe couldn't remember how to speak. "What?" she finally got out, staring at her girlfriend's mother in frozen bewilderment.
Vanessa started snickering at her expression, turning back to the stove. "Relax, I'm just messing with you. You're too young for that, anyways."
"Oh. Okay. I'm, uh, gonna get plates."
It wasn't that she hadn't thought about a future with Max, but it felt weird to think of them like that. To think about getting...having a forever. I can't even think the fucking word, she thought to herself as she put dishes down on the table. There was something scary to it.
"You okay over there?" Vanessa called, still watching her with an amused smile. Chloe started nodding in response, before Vanessa started giggling. "You grabbed bowls, sweetie."
Chloe looked down, and yes, she had put bowls down for their lasagna. "Uh, yeah, just...just testing you."
Vanessa was still giggling to herself, obviously entertained by Chloe's flushing face as she scooped the bowls back up. "Mhm. What are you thinking about so hard over there?"
"Nothing," she said quickly as she put the bowls away, making sure she grabbed plates from the cupboard this time.
Vanessa gave another disagreeing hum, but let Chloe go back to setting the table in quiet distress. She had to correct herself again and put spoons back in the drawer, and had thankfully just finished putting the pot holders on the table when her phone buzzed.
Max: Safe to come aboard, Cap'n
Thank fucking god. She didn't know what would have come next, had she needed to kill more time. Probably an uncomfortable conversation about our sex life. She shuddered slightly at the thought of having that conversation with Vanessa. "Table's set, gotta go, bye," she blurted out unceremoniously, making a beeline for the stairs.
"Dinner will be ready in an hour!" Vanessa called, laughing as she watched Chloe darted away.
Chloe took the stairs two at a time, but forced herself to walk at a more normal pace as she approached Max's room, knocking on the door cautiously. "Hello? I'm looking for a First Mate, have you seen her?" she called quietly, waiting to hear any noise from the other side of the door.
"You're a dork," came the humored response, and Chloe took that as permission to enter.
Max looked more tired than she had when Chloe had ducked out of the room, still sitting cross-legged on the bed. She gave Chloe a smile as she entered the room and closed the door, though, patting the bed next to her in way of greeting.
"How'd it go?" Chloe asked nervously, sitting down next to her. Their knees knocked into each other slightly as Chloe crossed her own legs.
Max took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. She seemed to be trying to keep her face blank, and it put knots in Chloe's stomach. "It's Kate. It...she was Kate."
"I shouldn't have said anything to her," Chloe said for the umpteenth time, the guilty feeling starting again in her stomach. "It wasn't my place, I-"
"Didn't really matter. She already knew," Max cut her off, sighing before tipping backwards, sprawling across the bed. She laid there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling, before her eyes drifted back to Chloe. "At least I don't have to hide it from her anymore."
"Did she say how she figured it all out?" Chloe asked, picking at a loose thread in her sock. "I don't think either of us has said anything to, you know, tip her off."
Max gave a little shrug, eyelids sliding shut while she talked. "She said she suspected it for a while, especially when I wanted to go down to Portland for the trial."
Chloe leaned backwards as well, causing Max to giggle as her weight caused the mattress to shake. "Oh."
"And apparently Victoria always danced around it as well," Max continued, turning her head to look at Chloe.
"That bitch," she responded, a smirk playing with the corners of her mouth.
"Be nice," Max scolded, although she was smiling that little smile again. "What did you do downstairs?"
"Helped your mom with dinner. Got about an hour, by the way," she added, shifting one of her hands so she could poke Max in the stomach.
Max swatted at her hand, giggling quietly. "I'm sure she appreciated it," Max commented, facing upwards again. Her eyes were moving, as if tracing patterns in the stipple brush texture of the ceiling.
Chloe looked up at the ceiling as well as her mind wandered back to the conversations with Vanessa, and the resulting thoughts. She was glad the room wasn't lit very well, otherwise Max might have seen her starting to turn red. "My uncle's apparently wanting to get in touch," she mentioned, trying to keep her mind off of the table setting fiasco.
She saw Max's mouth open and close once, stuck in a buffer. "Who, Aaron?"
"Do I have another uncle that I don't know about?" she replied sarcastically. Max snorted slightly in response. "Yeah, I never logged into my Facebook, so, you know, sometimes gotta message random people."
If Max had been stuck in a buffer before, she was almost frozen now. "Wait, he messaged my mom?" she asked.
"Yup. She's gonna give him my number."
Max shifted so she was laying on her side, although Chloe kept her eyes up on the ceiling. Might as well be clouds, because I swear that blob is a dragon. "That might be nice, to chat with him again," Max commented, head still turned to look at Chloe. "I know I didn't get to see him much, but he was always pretty cool."
"Like my dad," Chloe added, glancing back at Max, who nodded. Chloe sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as she wondered what awkward conversation would come from talking to her uncle again.
"Hey, no falling asleep," Max teased, reaching a hand out to poke at her nose. "You always get grumpy after a nap."
"I'm not falling asleep." But now that she thought about it, it sounded like a good idea. Blindly, she rolled over onto her side while reaching an arm out to wrap around Max, pulling her a little closer. "I'm just being cuddly."
"Which is going to end up with you falling asleep," Max commented, but after a moment she, too, shifted to get more comfortable. "You're a bad influence," she muttered, even as she rested her own arm over Chloe's waist.
"I'm good with that if it means more snuggles," Chloe responded, already starting to drift off.