"Yeah, Ethan's kind of my little buddy," Courtney said, kneeling in front of Max as she pinned the girl's hair into a bun centered on the top of her head. "He's going to be so excited that we were able to get him his game for Christmas."
"How old is he?" Max asked, lifting a small cluster of hair strands out of her face so Courtney could grab them. "I didn't even know you had a brother."
"He's twelve," she responded. Her smile dipped into a bit somberness. "You know, that age before most realize what the world's really like. Wish I could keep him in a bubble." She backed off a bit to analyze Max. "The bangs, right?"
"Yeah, please," she said, more thinking about Courtney's previous statement. "Being a kid was kind of surreal, huh?"
"That's one word for it, definitely," Courtney said as she draped the towel over Max's shoulders. "Childlike wonder is the most precious resource." She swung her legs to the side and stood up from the floor, retrieving the small bottle Max had brought with her.
Never stopped to wonder if she thought about stuff like this...
"Cute color," Courtney said with a smile, waving the bottle around. "Like a little pixie girl." She plopped back down in front of Max and tilted her head in thought. "Thanks for coming to me. I'm glad we're cool, you know?"
"Yeah, me too," Max chuckled. She watched as the girl pulled on the latex gloves, her thoughts briefly drifting to the Dark Room when she heard the second one snap against her wrist. The train of thought fizzled out, instead blooming into more 'neutral' topics. "I bet you would have made the Vortex Club party really awesome, though." Courtney stopped and stared at her, presumably trying to follow the leap in thought process.
"Yeah, I had it in the bag, honestly," she finally said with a small snicker. "But it's cool, there will be better parties in the future. Ones with you and Chloe and Kate at them. Being in the Vortex Club was 'cool' and all, but...like what's the fucking point, really?" She picked up a small brush and ran her gloved finger along the bristles. "The further away I get from it, the happier I am it's gone."
All because of one little change.
"Blame that on my girlfriend, I guess," Max laughed. "One bullet and everything changes." Courtney fiddled with a shallow bowl, her head going left and right as she thought it over.
"Yeah, I guess that's true, actually." She dabbed the brush in the color and held it up. "You ready?" Max took a deep breath and nodded. "I still can't..." She began stroking the brush through the brunette's hair, "I just can't believe Nathan fucking shot her. Like, I can't believe it because it's so easy to believe, if that makes sense? How blind were we?"
"I don't think anyone should have to expect something like that," Max responded, her eyes pointing upward as she tried to see what Courtney was doing. "Is it okay so far?"
Dear god, please don't let me regret this.
"I just started," she laughed. She shifted herself into a more comfortable position. "Anyway, I guess you're right. It's just...ugh, it blows. Poor Kate... The way we all treated her. How could we have known that?" She narrowed her eyes. "I need to chill before I mess up those beautiful locks."
"Kate's doing so well now, though," Max said. "And a lot of that has to do with you, Victoria and Taylor becoming her friends. I know you don't feel like it's an acceptable balance, but you just...can't really balance stuff like that." She scrunched her nose at the smell wafting around her head. "I'm gonna get high from these fumes."
"Ha! Man, I wish," Courtney snirked. "You're right though, as always. Anyone ever told you you're 'wise beyond your years?' Sounds like Max Caulfield to me."
"It's been mentioned," she replied, reaching beside her for a drink, careful not to move her head too much. "Whether it's good or bad remains to be seen."
"That's fair," the girl said back, continuing her work. She chuckled. "Sorry for such weird talk. I started rereading your book so the whole 'innocent kid' thing has been on my mind a lot. Especially when I think of my brother. I don't think my parents have explained any of the crazy shit that happened here to him and I don't really think I want them to." She took an exaggerated sniff. "Maybe this is making us a little high."
"My book?" Max asked as she laughed.
"Yeah, Catcher in the Rye, you know. Isn't Holden like your grandfather?" She winked as she said it.
"Heh, I don't think so. I didn't inherit his 'goddamn gray hair' anyway." Max popped her lips. "I don't think I'd want them to tell him either, honestly. Let him...let him just not know about that stuff for a little while."
"Exactly." Courtney stopped working and smiled. "We're totally having barber talk right now."
"Yeah, except I actually like talking to you," Max laughed. "The woman I went to in Seattle used to just talk about the latest celebrity gossip all the time! Courtney, you won't even believe how much I didn't care."
"Aw, shit," the girl said as she began with the brush again. "Now I have to figure out what to talk about next." She 'hmm'd. "That's good to know, though. Hair stylist seems like a pretty likely outcome for me, so I'll remember not to talk to the cute, hipster people about the juicy celeb news." She swished the brush down into the bowl. "What, you guys like talking about Pitchfork and organic coffee, right?"
Aww, she's got jokes!
"We like to talk about a lot of stuff but you've probably never heard of any of it," Max shot back.
"Touche."
"So how long is this stuff going to last anyway?" The decreasingly brunette girl asked.
"Depends how much you wash it." Courtney sucked some air through her teeth. "You could just rat nest it and try to keep it as long as possible." She closed one eye as her tongue drooped between her lips in an act of concentration. "It kind of looks like you got into a fight with a cotton candy monster."
"Wow, that doesn't inspire a lot of faith!" Max replied nervously. "Are you telling me it looks bad?"
"Oh my god, chill, it looks cute. Well, it will look cute." She shook her head. "Inspire faith, pfft. I can't believe you doubt me. You should take a page from Kate's book."
"I'm pretty sure it's a sin to rip a page out of that particular book," Max quipped back.
"Sin, right..." Courtney's voice lingered on that. She stopped working on Max's hair and sat so they were at eye level. "This is going to sound crazy, but have you noticed anything about the way Vic treats Kate?" Max's eyes shot wide.
Uh. UH. Barrel roll!
"Okay, now I know these fumes are getting us high," Max said with a forced but convincing laugh.
"Okay guys," Max said with a raised voice as she leaned against the door. "I'm going to open this thing and laser focus on your reaction."
Please be anything other than horrified.
"I have no idea what we're talking about," Warren responded. She could hear a small rattle of metal. "But I think Kate's rabbit wants me to give her house back." Kate began to mumble something about Alice's virtue of patience as Max yanked the door open, her teeth clamped down tightly on her bottom lip. Warren's jaw slacked open. "Ohhhhh my g-"
"Pink!" Kate shrieked, hopping toward Max with an absurdly large smile. "It's pink!" She bounced up and down, jostling the poor bunny in her arms. "It looks amazing!"
"It's pink," Max confirmed, carefully pinching the top of her bangs where they color tapered off into her natural brown. She looked at Warren, who still seemed too stunned to say anything. "Dude, give me something here," she pleaded.
Holy shit his eyes give me nothing.
"Oh! Oh," he sputtered, briefly shaking his head. "No, Max, it looks great! Just caught me totally off guard. Wasn't expecting it."
"I was," Kate replied in a singsong tone, her eyes shut as she grinned. "Courtney told me she was helping you out! It looks so great!" She enthusiastically held Alice out close to Max's face. "Look at your Aunt Max!" The rabbit's nose twitched in response.
"Okay, so I don't look like I bobbed for apples in a vat of paint?" Max asked, moving to the side so Warren could bring Alice's cage through. He snorted, spinning toward her.
"I'd be more concerned with why you were diving open-mouthed into paint," he said. She only glared in return. "Sorry, no, it looks awesome. Where do you want the cage?" She pointed at the floor where it had resided in the previous timeline.
There you go, Lisa. You have a new buddy for a little while.
"So, does Chloe know yet?" Kate asked, trotting over to the cage and letting Alice slip inside. She turned back to the girl with excited eyes.
"Not yet, no," she said. "She'll be here soon though, so you guys can see whether or not it was total fail as a Christmas present."
"Christmas present?" Warren asked, flopping onto the sofa. "Man, you did get creative."
"It's crafty!" Kate added, clapping her hands together. "Oh, I'm sure she'll adore it." Max looked the two of them up and down and smirked.
"Speaking of Christmas presents... Kate, could you sit next to Warren?" She pointed at the empty spot next to him. The blonde nodded and took a seat next to him. Max quickly grabbed her camera from her desk and held it up. "It'd be silly of me to not get a photo of her favorite bunny and delinquent son, right?"
"I don't think I'm a delinquent," Warren quietly argued back with a puffed out bottom lip as Kate scooted closer to him.
"Don't talk back," Max coolly reprimanded as she aimed the camera. Kate tilted her head to the right slightly as she bared her teeth in a beautiful smile. Warren held up a peace sign, his own smile showing that trademark 'smiling for a camera is so weird and hard' expression Max had seen so much throughout her life as a photographer. "Uno, dos..." The flash filled the room. She looked at the photo in her hand and grinned. "Guys, I think I might actually not suck at Christmas."
"Plus video games!" Warren cheered back, pointing at her. "I can't wait to troll her Animal Crossing village. You can like, um, run everywhere and it kills all the grass." He wiggled his eyebrows at Max.
"That sounds very rude," Kate protested. "Can you plant more?"
"I'm not sure," he replied. "My town kind of looks post-apocalyptic now. I think you might be-" He was cut off by an enthusiastic knock at the door.
"Ho, ho, ho," Chloe boomed. A barely audible snicker could be heard followed by an equally quiet "oh wait, Victoria's not here."
Oh god, this was a bad idea I regret everything.
"Uhhhh," Max stammered in a shout, her eyes wide as she looked at Kate and Warren, "come on in!" She turned away from the door and dazedly wandered to her desk, setting the camera down and hiding the new photo. The punk came through the door, smiling wickedly.
"What up!?" She greeted, shaking her head left and right so the white ball at the end of her Santa hat jerked through the air. "Like my hat? I stole it off a weird, little mannequin thing at the Two Whales!"
"I should have worn mine," Kate said in a disappointed tone. "Mine has little holly leaves around the white trim, it's very cute."
"Yeah, well, I didn't have a lot to choose from," Chloe chuckled, slinging a bag from off her shoulder onto Max's bed. She looked at the brunette, who still had her back turned as she leaned over the desk, and cocked an eyebrow in suspicion. She turned her attention to Warren and nodded. "Hey, dude." He waved back then smiled, burying his face in his hands to hide the expression. Seeing this, Chloe took in a deep breath and stepped toward Max. "Uh, hey, everything okay, Maximus?"
"Okay, wait," Max squeaked, bringing Chloe to a halt. "I have an early present for you."
"Really!? That's hella exciting. I hope it's a cheeseburger because I'm stupid hung..." Her voice caught in her throat as Max turned around, clutching at her elbow in nervousness. The punk's eyes quickly scanned over the dark pink threaded through the girl's bangs. A clicking groan escaped Chloe's throat as they tried to form words. "Holy fuck..." She finally said in an almost whisper.
"Um," Max winced, "is that good or is-"
"Holy FUCK!" Chloe screamed, dashing toward Max and colliding into her so she was pinned against her desk. "Oh my god, holy shit, this is amazing!" She took a few strands between her fingers and analyzed them with a surprised smile.
"I think she likes it," Warren whispered to Kate who only nodded in response.
"It's...not permanent," Max grunted with a small laugh. "Chlo, you're crushing me a little."
"Sorry!" Chloe took a few steps back and let her head hang to the side as she gazed at Max. "You are the coolest ever, holy shit. You look so hardcore!" She turned back to the two on the couch and pointed at her girlfriend. "Did you guys see this!?"
Well, I guess mission accomplished.
"See what?" Kate asked, then giggled. "I think it looks great." Chloe grabbed Max by the hand and led her to the bed where they sat next to each other. She kept the girl's hand in her lap and kicked her legs joyously.
"Well, I'm all fucked for the day," she laughed, turning to look at Max once again. She narrowed her eyes and grinned, shaking her head in disbelief. "Anyway, what's going on with you guys?"
"My parents are picking me up soon so I brought Alice over!" Kate said, reaching over Warren to point at the cage.
"Oooh!" Chloe jumped up from the bed and dashed toward the rabbit, but refusal to let go of Max's hand kept her from going too far. "Is that my niece? I get to spoil her?"
"Mmn," Kate took on an expression of warning, "you can spoil her with cuddles but not food. She is on a rigorous bunny diet."
"Does she eat carrots?" Chloe asked, getting to her tip toes to get a better view of the rabbit. "Does she like to be held?"
"Babe, you can let go," Max interjected with a snicker. The punk turned to her and shook her head with a scowl.
"She eats timothy mostly," Kate said, laughing when Chloe turned to her with a look of horror. "It's hay, Chloe. But her favorite treat is strawberries. You can give her some..." She held up an index finger. "Every so often."
"I'll keep her in line," Max said, then gave a light tug to Chloe's hand. "I mean Chloe, by the way." The blue haired girl sat back down next to Max with a dramatic huff.
"Wanna spoil," she groaned, throwing her head back. "Fine, only five strawberries per hour. I can handle that." She held a hand up in defense when Kate gasped in horror. "I'm kidding, Kate." She lifted a leg and pointed her foot at Warren. "Sup man, where's girl Warren?"
"That makes it sound weird," he complained, scrunching his nose. "And she already left. This place is becoming a ghost town. I got run over by a tumbleweed earlier!"
"Not for long since I'm basically moving in," Chloe snirked, furiously tearing at her boots to get them off. "Did you and Brooke already exchange gifts!?" Once she had successfully removed them, she fell backward so the wall propped her up.
"Not yet," he said. "We're going to hook up Christmas Eve and do it, I think? I keep feeling like I need to get her more stuff... It's hard."
I know those feels, Warren.
"You guys are so cute," Kate giggled, nudging Warren with her elbow. "I hope some day I can stress out about getting presents for the person I love." Max actually felt a slight breeze with how quickly Chloe sat up. She turned to her, ready to disassemble any inappropriate sentence that might come out of her mouth. Instead, she saw the girl's eyes working manically over Kate until they went wide for a split second.
"Is that a new necklace?" Chloe asked her, shuffling her butt closer to the edge of the bed. The blonde looked down and smiled as a rosiness bloomed in her cheeks. Max squinted and could see a beautiful silver cross hanging from a chain around her neck.
No way! Chlo, you're like a hawk.
"Yes," Kate said quietly, slipping her hand beneath it and lifting it up for everyone to see better. "Victoria gave it to me, actually. She said it was her grandmother's but because she's not particularly religious, I should have it. Isn't that sweet?" Max started to respond but had to choke down a burst of laughter when she saw Warren's face as he connected all the dots. He mouthed 'oh my god' to her. She sneakily nodded in confirmation.
Yeah, welcome to this weird and bizarre adventure, dude.
"That is sweet," Chloe replied with a shockingly sincere tone. "She must really like you." She ignored the glare from Max.
"Yeah, I'm really happy we're..." Kate's face registered a quick flare of confusion, then disappointment before falling neutral once more. "Friends."
What was that? She looked so...oh, Kate.
"I'm happy we're all friends now!" Kate added, shifting into a more uplifting tone. "I love you guys!"
"Alright," Warren finally said, patting his knees after an hour or so of the four of them hanging out. "I told my mom I'd be home relatively early, so I should probably head out." Chloe's spine straightened as she screeched.
"Wait, stay the fuck there!" She reached behind her and pulled the overnight bag into her lap. "I totally forgot what with the rocker chick hair and bunny, but there is a reason I'm wearing this hat." She unzipped the bag and removed three giftwrapped objects. "Dude, catch," she said as she Frisbee'd a rectangle at the boy.
Was wondering if you were ever going to give them out.
"Wait, what?" He asked, holding it up. "What is this?"
"It's a fucking washing machine," she shot back dryly. "It's a present, you doofus! Here, Kate, I got these for you." She slid off the bed and handed the other two presents to the blonde.
"I didn't get you anything!" Warren shouted in a panic. "Why didn't you tell me!?" The punk turned toward him and put her hands on her hips.
"Relax, dude. It's just a small thank you. You know, for like..." Her hands slipped from her hips and dug into her pockets. "Being my friend and stuff. I don't know. Just take it. They're kind of dumb, anyway."
"Oh, Chloe!" Kate chirped, holding the now unwrapped sketchbook in her hands. "I needed a new one! Thank you so much!" Max watched on as the blonde held it up triumphantly, the resulting expression of fulfillment on Chloe's face filling her heart with warmth.
So cute. Keep acting like you still don't know how to be nice.
"No problem, Pumpkin. Spoilers – the other one is a box of colored pencils. Top shelf stuff from the craft store, though. None of that RoseArt shit." She chuckled and looked over her shoulder at Max. "Remember when your dad bought us those once and we threatened to riot?"
"We made him use them for like an hour until he apologized," Max nodded with a smile. "We were ruthless little bitches."
"Woah! I love this movie!" Warren exclaimed. "The Gods Must Be Crazy is a classic! So funny. How did you know I liked it?"
"Oh come on," Chloe teased. "Like Mr. Film Connoisseur isn't going to have a hard on for a cult comedy. Not a hard guess. But hey, congrats, man! You legally own a movie!" She squawked in laughter.
"This is so sweet," Kate said, bounding from the couch to wrap Chloe in a hug. "I'll think of you anytime I draw in it!"
"Yeah, thanks, Chloe," Warren added as he hugged the both of them.
Hey wait, I want hugs!
"Let me in there too!" Max yelped, hurrying to be a part of it. After staying like that for a moment, Chloe laughed.
"Okay, you guys need to chill before I get all emotional and shit." She sighed happily. "Merry Christmas, guys."
Soon after, Warren left. Kate went over the rules for taking care of Alice one last time then made a point to mention the girls meeting her family over the holiday before also taking her leave. Once they were both gone, Chloe sprawled out on the couch. Max crawled on top of her and rested her chin on the girl's chest.
"So am I Mrs. Claus, then?" She asked, batting her lashes.
"Yeah right, says the one who actually dropped a nuke of a gift," she laughed, running her fingers through Max's hair. "So sexy, damn. When did you do this?"
"This morning," Max replied, snaking one arm beneath the punk. "So your fingers are probably all pink." She giggled at Chloe's indifferent shrug. "You like it, though?"
"Uh, I hella love it, Max! Huge surprise. You look like you're ready to kick some teeth out at a show."
Can I be the girl at the show that helps people find their teeth?
"That's not really what I was going for, but I'll take it," she chuckled, turning her head to the side and snuggling her girlfriend. "Courtney said it should last for a little while, so you get plenty of time with 'cool Max.'"
"You're always 'cool Max,'" Chloe said, rolling her eyes. "You didn't just do this because you thought it'd make me like you more, did you?" Max could see a bit of the excitement drain out of the punk's eyes.
"No! No way, man. I'm hardcore!" Max assured with laughter. "I just know you thought it'd be cute and I was curious too." She propped herself up on her hands. "Why? Do you like me more?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Max, I like..." She snorted in annoyance, flipping the tips of her fingers against the girl's nose. "I love you more every second, regardless of anything else." She puckered her lips in thought. "Although..."
"What?" Max asked cynically.
"I mean, maybe 'cool Max' has some crazy, new tricks up her sleeves. Who knows, right?" She stuck her tongue out.
Sigh... The puppeteer pulls my strings.
"Guess we should find out," Max cooed, lowering herself into sweet kiss. Chloe's arms wrapped around her and pulled their bodies together tightly. Max's hand trailed down the punk's stomach until it found the button to her pants. The kissing continued, growing harder and rougher as she managed the button undone with just one hand, something she was embarrassingly proud of. A small rustling noise yanked them both out of the moment.
"The fuck was that?" Chloe asked, a bit breathless. Whether she was consciously aware of it, her hips were slowly bucking upward, as if searching for Max's touch to return. Ignoring it for the moment, Max pulled herself higher and peered over the arm of the sofa. With a dissatisfied grunt, Chloe shifted herself until she was also able to see over it. There in her cage, Alice stared at them, her nose twitching feverishly. Silence fell over the room as the girls stared back, daring not to blink.
"This is awkward," Max finally whispered, looking at Chloe with a small hint of blush.