Chapter 4 - Road Trip

Chloe rolled her truck down toward the beach front parking lot. It was quiet at this time of the year normally. Too cold for the tourists and the locals weren't all that bothered since the view was commonplace for them. The only frequent visitor was Frank who was the reason she was there today as she and Rachel were picking up supplies for the road trip they were finally taking.

"You coming?" Rachel called out as she exited the truck, the last few times she'd been the one to pick up the supplies by herself.

"I'm just gonna have a smoke," the punk replied as she fished out her cigarettes, snarkily adding, "Maybe if you bat your eyelashes at him you could get him to give us a discount?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, although Chloe and Frank weren't enemies there was a certain tension between them as a result of them both having had feelings for Rachel in the past. So, most of the time Chloe left it to Rachel to handle him otherwise it might end up in a shouting match and threats of bodily harm, although neither had the inclination to actually go through with them.

Approaching the dingy looking RV, Rachel could see Frank's usually lawn chair and table set up but no sign of him around the area. The light that could be seen from the small section of uncovered window near the door suggested he was inside instead.

Knocking on the door triggered a sudden flurry of noise from within. Loud excited barking and scratching was heard first, followed by a gruff voice swearing at Pompidou to knock it off. Once the barks quietened down the door was flung open and out bolted Pompidou right into Rachel as he begged for a belly rub and attention.

"God damnit," Frank grumbled as he joined the pair outside, "Mangy mut…"

"Animals always seem to love me" Rachel explained as to why this mean attack dog was rolling around like a puppy for her. "Especially this adorable boy," she continued to affectionately pet the dog who was looking at her like she'd hung the stars in the sky.

"Yeah, yeah," Frank dismissed, "Take it you're here for business though, right?"

Rachel felt a twinge of guilt, as much as she liked Frank, she hadn't really been able to return his feelings. He wasn't truly a bad guy in the same sense as the likes of his suppliers, and he did seem to have a soft spot for certain people, but she'd never felt truly able to drop her façade around him, not like with Chloe.

Recognising the unsaid thoughts, Frank sighed and looked around spotting the much larger punk ambling toward them having finished her smoke by now.

"Jesus, I warned you this stuff was potent," He cough laughed when he noticed just how much bigger Chloe had gotten. "Looks like you've been enjoying this stuff way too much, Price."

"Maybe you should have paid attention to that warning yourself," Rachel pointed out that he was sporting his own fairly large beer gut these days, she felt a little annoyed on Chloe's behalf, as much as she teased it wasn't something she wanted others doing, "Been dipping into your own supply recently?"

Chloe always ready to fire back in an argument "Yeah dude, have you looked in a mirror? Maybe lay off the fried breakfasts for a while. I can get my Mom to make you a salad at the diner next time you stop by."

Frank frowned, he had better things to do than argue with this pair today, but Chloe's comments always had a way of getting under his skin for some reason.

"Me? Look at yourself!" He started, voice raising as his frustration came through "How the hell is that shirt not ripped at the seams already? I mean what the fuck have you been doing? Hitting every drive through in the county?"

It was true, her vest top was so tight around her middle so much the pattern was stretched, and she looked fit to burst if she wasn't careful, especially since it was fresh from the laundry that morning and other shirts had already suffered a similar fate in recent weeks.

Chloe opened her mouth to continue the back and forth, but a hand on her arm stopped her in her tracks.

"Ok, let's just calm things down," Rachel tried to settle them both, they had plans and she wasn't interested in another screaming match when she wanted to get on with their day. "Frank, we will be more careful, I appreciate your warning, but can we just drop this for today?"

It was Franks turn to roll his eyes, "Why do I bother selling to you pair still. I should just tell you both to fuck off and save myself the headache…"

Returning to his RV, he took a few moments to rummage around and bag up the order and weigh it before re-joining the pair and handing it over in exchange for the rolled-up notes. "Next time you get smart with me, no deal, got that?"

Rachel just smiled sweetly before turning around and flouncing off calling over her shoulder, "Now, where's the fun in that?"

It was only an hour later when they rolled into Blackwell, having taken the opportunity to enjoy a smoke before arriving. They stopped outside the main entrance with Rock music blasting out the open windows loud enough to disrupt the conversation that Principal Wells and Chloe's stepfather, David Madsen, had been having. The pair turned to look at the cause of the disturbance despite knowing who the most likely cause of the sudden cacophony was.

"Chloe, knock it off!" she could only just hear David shouting over to her to which she responded with an extended middle finger much to the annoyance of the two men glaring at her. It didn't help their moods much when Max came running past them, only just avoiding bumping into them as she did, and clambered into the cab before they sped off burning some rubber as they went.

Turning the music down a little since it had served its purpose, Chloe was in an excitable mood after that little display and couldn't help but grin widely as she and Rachel recanted their mornings escapades to Max who had been in class instead of skipping like Rachel had.

As they turned off the hillside road to the school, the loudest rumble could be heard. Turns out smoking a massive joint before lunch and then having to hold off on eating to pick up Max was the most egregious thing Chloe's stomach could think off, as it demanded to be filled. Rachel's joined in with its own grumble too since she hadn't eaten anything yet either.

With their stomachs doing the thinking, they headed toward the Two Whales for lunch. While they ate Rachel was lost in her thoughts as to just how she could test her theories this weekend about Max and how she felt about Chloe's expanding form. Plus, if she could work that out maybe she could even help Chloe along in that department since the punk obviously didn't seem to care that her gut was on display for all to see as she chowed down on her massive meal.

Once they had collected their road trip essentials from Chloe's and loaded up the truck they headed out onto the road in the early afternoon. Since it was still January the air was chilled but calm at least as they drove the many miles out of town toward the highway. They were all giddy as they chatted about what to do during their trip. Max about all the photographs she wants to take, Rachel planning some nights out, and Chloe just happy to be away from Arcadia Bay for a time and the chance for some decent night life.

But soon enough, despite the large lunch, Chloe especially, began to feel the need for road trip food as a few places to stop made themselves known. Pulling off the main highway and into the vast service stop alongside where they had their choice of fast-food places to choose from, the considered their options. After a brief debate, burgers won out as the food of choice and they joined the line for the drive through.

Chloe placed the order over the loudspeaker system while Max and Rachel continued their conversation about possible photography locations, but before long Max was handed one of the bags of food and Rachel a tray of drinks while Chloe parked the truck up at the edge of the lot.

Dividing up the drinks was simple, all three had ordered Cola this time, but the food was split between the bags, Chloe delved into hers first and handed out the fries and sauces as had been requested finding her double cheeseburger at the bottom.

"Here, Chicken Mayo's yours" Max mumbled unpacking the bag in her lap and handing the item to Rachel before delving into the bag once more to extract another item, "another two double- cheeseburgers?"

"Those are mine," Chloe called out from around a mouthful of fries reaching out for it, responding to Rachel's incredulous look, "What?"

"Nothing, Price, just eat your food." Rachel shook her head and tucked into her own food. Keenly watching as Max kept sneaking glances over at Chloe whenever the punk would absentmindedly rub her swollen gut.

After barely any time at all the three of them finished off the last of the sides and their drinks. Rachel volunteered to take the rubbish away so she could get some fresh air and stretch her legs and Max wanted to have a little wander about to take photos.

On her wander to the bins Rachel spotted the service station store nearby and made her way inside. Although her appetite was pretty well satiated after that additional lunch stop, she knew Chloe could probably be pretty easily cajoled into having a few more snacks while on the road. Plus, they needed snacks for the hotel room rather than rely on room service since her budget wouldn't last long with those prices, it only made sense to stock up on all this stuff while they could.

Grabbing share bags and multi packs of crisps and sweets Rachel quickly filled her arms with more than enough to keep them going for a while. They could always top up once in Portland if they managed to get through it all.

Returning to the parking lot she saw Chloe and Max cuddling and being all cutesy like new couples were, she felt a slight twinge in her heart remembering when she and Chloe had been together, but she was happy that Chloe finally had someone like Max who was able to be that calm reassuring presence and not fuel for the fire like she had been.

Giving them some time before making her presence known Rachel took a moment to ground herself. Sometimes this disconnected feeling snuck up on her, but she knew that she just needed to let it pass and throw herself into the road trip head on rather than let it wash over her completely.

"Yo, lovebirds, look what I got," Rachel called out when she finally decided to approach, holding out the bags of snacks like trophies.

With a flushed faced Max turned to see what the commotion was as Chloe just smirked cockily, not caring about any attention that may have been drawn by Rachel's shouting or the two of them half making out in the corner of the lot.

Not quite feeling up to getting back on the road just yet they secured the snacks in the foot well of the cab and Chloe made quick work of rolling another joint. Max not being one for smoking instead spent that time taking photographs of the two, trying to frame them in a way where the smoke added to the atmosphere of the image. She only took a couple of actual shots on her polaroid before swapping to her digital camera though as she didn't want to run out of film before they even got to Portland.

Eventually though, they finally got back out onto the road, hoping to make good time despite the extended stop, although traffic was a little busier than on the way into the services. It didn't take long either for Chloe to be tempted into indulging further as the munchies hit her again, asking Max to grab her a chocolate bar and open it for her, so she didn't have to take her focus off the road.

This solidified Rachel's theory further as she watched the interaction, the small, but satisfied smile on Max's face as Chloe eagerly devoured the treat and her instant offering of another when the first was done, of which Chloe happily accepted. If anything, it seemed Max was happy to encourage Chloe's appetite and didn't even blink at seeing her still hungry after all they'd eaten today so far. The next few days were going to be fun, but she was a little worried for her own waistline suffering further collateral damage.