Chapter 2

The time capsule was spread out all over the kitchen table. As worried as Max was about Chloe's parents getting cross over the mess, she had to say she'd enjoyed it. Playing the answerphone message and getting Chloe to open up had also been a good idea. Now that it was off her chest, she seemed a lot more relaxed as she kicked back on the couch doing scratch art for the first time in years. Curiously, she sauntered over. As badly as she wanted to see what Chloe was doing, she decided that this would be a good time to enjoy the moment.

"You're such a space-hog!" she laughed as Chloe stretched out further. In response, Max shoved her feet off the couch as she sat herself down. "Move over!" In response, Chloe swung her feet back up and draped her legs over Max's.

"Nope." The cheeky grin on her face spoke volumes as she shuffled closer so that her butt was pressed against Max's left leg and her legs were draped across her lap. Max responded by resting her arms on Chloe's legs as she continued drawing, her feet seeming to tap out an invisible rhythm to a song that Max might have heard but couldn't place. The two of them sat there, basking in the light of the late morning sun. There was no birdsong. There was no disturbance from Chloe's parents, on account of them both being out. There wasn't even the ticking of a clock to take them from the moment. There was just the two of them. It was a moment Max could cheerfully have stayed in forever. She made sure to remember every minute detail, from the specks of dust in the sunlight that shone through the window, the feel of Chloe's denim jeans, the heat of her legs through the fabric or the scratching of her pen as she did the scratch art. She leaned back, tempted to let herself drift off to sleep. It was an urge she resisted, though. If this was to be one of her last days with Chloe, she wanted to spend every second of it she could lucid and alert, memorising every flawless detail of Chloe's face.

'Whoa!' Max caught herself as the thought briefly crossed her mind. 'Where did that come from?' She didn't know the answer to that. All she knew was it couldn't happen again. She was moving away in three days! The last thing she needed was a thought like that now! 'It's okay.' She kept her thoughts calm, being careful not to let the newfound inner turmoil show on her face. 'It's just because you don't want to leave her. That's it.' But despite her firm and rational self-reasoning, she knew she'd always been a terrible liar. Even to herself.

Eventually, she decided that it was time to get up. Chloe noticed the signs and moved her legs easily enough as Max got to her feet before turning back to her best friend. Once again, she was blown away by how beautiful Chloe looked when she was relaxed. Her blonde hair was at just the right length that it framed her head like the light of a halo. She shook it off and stepped closer, hoping Chloe would say something before Max had to try and initiate a conversation herself. If she had to get the first word in, she was in serious danger of saying something she'd desperately regret.

"Hey, hippie." It was as if Chloe had read her thoughts. That one innocent statement was somehow enough for her to get her mind in order.

"How's the masterpiece?" she asked.

"Working on the last bit." Chloe shrugged casually. "How about you? Done with the time capsule?" Max gave it one last look over on the table. She'd been over everything with a fine-toothed comb memorising every detail so clearly it would have given William's old beat-up of an instant camera a run for its money. As much as she could bask in the memories it contained forever, there was nothing new- or technically old- that she hadn't seen.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Well, perfect, because now I'm finished. Check it out!" Chloe beamed up at Max as she swung the pad around for her to see. Max felt her breath catch in her throat. It was her cuddling a drastically oversized Bongo with some love hearts pouring from the pair of them. The obvious title 'Max and Bongo' sat above it.

'Oh, gosh. I really miss Bongo.' Max thought as her hand found its way to her chest, an agonising bloom of emotion burning beneath her ribs.

"I saw you giving him a flower." Chloe explained. "It was so sweet."

"Oh, Chloe..." Max was unable to keep the emotion out of her voice as she felt her eyes burn with the threat of tears. "You were really drawing me that whole time?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa- mushiness alert!" Chloe got up and made her way over to Max, gripping her by the shoulders as she let out a short, slightly nervous-sounding laugh. "Keep it together, Max." But Max wasn't listening. She'd stopped hearing anything else. Her heart was going faster than it ever had before. The nerves in her shoulders where Chloe's hands were burned in the best way possible. Before she even knew what she was doing, her hands had found their way up to tangle in her hair. The next thing she felt was the softness and warmth of Chloe's lips on her own as they pressed together.

'Max, no!' a part of her mind screamed at her full-force as Chloe's body went into a brief state of paralysis before the taller girl's instincts seemed to take over from reason and she returned the kiss almost desperately.

'Max, yes!' the rest of her mind screamed, drowning out the first voice. In that instant, all rational thought and reason was forgotten as Chloe grabbed Max roughly and basically threw her on the sofa, setting the scratch art pad down on the drinks table before lying down with her, the pair of them fusing at the lips again. They were like that for a good few minutes before they broke away, gasping for breath. Max's mind frantically tried to process how this could possibly be so liberating and feel so much better than it ever did in her dreams while also managing to be the single biggest calamity of her life. Fortunately, Chloe never gave her the chance.

"Shall we take this upstairs?" she asked in a whispered voice that made Max's heart miss so many beats she was on the cusp of begging Chloe to call an ambulance. She didn't trust herself to speak. She could only nod. Chloe got off her and she was temporarily blinded as the sunlight hit her directly in the eye. It was gone in a second as Chloe moved in front to block out the glare, holding out her hand. Max accepted it and was pulled to her feet as Chloe went to lead her upstairs. At that moment, the front door opened. It took Max a second to process what she was seeing as Joyce walked in, tears streaming down her face as a police officer behind her made a call into his radio. Max couldn't hear what. The last thing she heard was Chloe beside her sounding more timid than she'd ever heard her. "Mom?" She ran over as Joyce took her by the shoulders. Max could only watch as Joyce explained everything and Chloe broke down into a sobbing mess on the floor as she clung to Joyce for dear life. Before she knew what had happened, she collapsed to her knees heavily, tears streaming down her face. She'd thought she knew true heartbreak when she faced the prospect of moving away from Chloe. As she watched the girl she was finally ready to admit she loved sob on the floor, she realised she'd never truly had any idea.

Author's Note: This is always a possibility I've wanted to explore. There were so many moments from the Farewell episode where everyone was just screaming "Kiss her you fool!" at the screen and it got me wondering: what would happen differently if that actually happened? Anyway, this chapter was a bit shorter than normal but no worries. The rest are much closer to my average length. For anyone who might also be wondering, this story is five chapters and the epilogue and the next update will be sometime in the middle of next week. Maybe on the Wednesday. In the meantime, please feel free to let me know what you think and I'll see you all there.