Chapter 21
Family reunion
Max launched herself off her bed, across the room, out the door, and down the stairs skipping the last few as she threw herself at the bluenette catching her completely off guard, "oof, speak of the devil, Ya finally awake then hippie," Chloe scoffed as she turned around to face the brunette hugging her, Max buried her face into the punks top and inhaled deeply, Vanilla body wash and faint cigarette smoke filled her nostrils as she gave a satisfied sigh, "So glad it's FINALLY Saturday and all that's over," she said cheerily. Chloe let out a small chuckle, "Err Max, First it's not Saturday, It's Sunday, you slept nearly forty hours," Max just shrugged, "Don't care, It's a new week," she replied still cheery. "Fair enough," The punk replied letting out a chuckle, "As for it being over, you are aware that our mom's are currently frozen right, Come to think of it I didn't even hear you come down the stairs," "huh," Max mumbled as she turned her head to see her mom and Joyce frozen in mid conversation with Vanessa reaching for the phone, "oop's," Max muttered not realizing she had done it, as she let time resume.
Vanessa and Joyce jumped in surprise to see Max appear right in front of them, It took Joyce a few seconds to realize what had happened and she just shook her head chuckling as she turned and walked to down the hall the living room, Venessa, on the other hand, kept looking up the stairs and back to Max trying to figure out what just happened. Max just grinned as she let go of Chloe and went and hugged her mom, "Morning mom, sorry to worry you," she said glancing back at Chloe who was looking at her with a surprised look mouthing a "What are you doing" at her. Max just shook her head still grinning, "It's ok Chlo, I was going to tell them anyway if I kept it," she gave a little shrug, "Consider it ground work," She finished squeezing her mom again tightly. Vanessa shook off her stunned expression and looked at Max, "What..tell me...Keep what," she asked confused. Max gave a small laugh "I'll tell you everything mom, But first I need food and coffee, I'm hella hungry," she said giving her mom a smile. "Told you so," Chloe chuckled.
Vanessa and David watched in surprise as Max devoured her third plate of pancakes and fourth coffee while Ryan, Joyce, and Chloe just sat grinning as they watching the young brunette make up for missing a days worth of meals. Max leaned back in her chair covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she let out a burp, "excuse me," Max muttered blushing slightly. "So, you're making up for lost sleep and lost meals," Ryan chuckled from his seat, "She's more than earned it," Joyce said smiling at Max, Vanessa shot Joyce a quizzical look and then looked at Max who gave her eyes a half roll sighing. "Ok then, I guess I have a little explaining to do, But first I need you guys not to freak out at what you're about to see, Oh and Chlo and Joyce already know," she said grinning at Chloe who just rolled her eyes smiling back. Vanessa shot Joyce an accusing look, Joyce held up her hands shaking her head, "Not my place to say Venessa, This one's too big for general banter," Venessa said defensively. Max stood up placing her hands on the table looking towards her parents and David, "Look I'm going to be straight with you, What I'm about to tell you is LITERALLY life changing for me, And everyone I know, Yeah it has its perks, The only reason I am telling you this though is to avoid confusion if I suddenly say something weird or you find me passed out or something, And with that Max disappeared, reappearing standing behind them.
The color in Vanessa's face drain, Ryan dropped his cup on the table in shock and David just sat there rigid, Chloe put her head in her chest letting out a small giggle as Max let out a small fake cough from behind them, Making them all turn around and jump slightly as they saw her standing there with a grin on her face.
After several hours of in-depth explanation, Many tears from Vanessa as Joyce comforted her, As well as several tears from Max herself while Chloe offered her her own comfort, All the while David and Ryan listened intently while taking the whole time to drink a single beer each, Max had gone over her three week adventure within a week not skipping on any of the details say for the conversations between Max and Chloe two days prior. While Joyce and Chloe consoled and assured Venessa that the side effect's while worrying wasn't to be concerned with as they only really occurred when Max pushed herself, David and Ryan were busy discussing the how while Max answered various questions about the more confusing photo jumps.
Over a simple meat pie dinner conversation flitted between everyday stuff, The latest new's from Arcadia Bay which to Max's surprise hadn't been as bad as she thought it would have been, Much of the coastline including the fishing ports, harbour area and downtown had been leveled, Blackwell itself had survived with minor damage and the surrounding estate's for the most part only suffered light damage, The death toll was at present confirmed at fifteen with more than three hundred injured and a dozen or more in critical condition, Going over the deceased Max didn't recognize any of the names and most appeared to be those that were at the old retirement home, According to Kate, via text messages Warren had suffered a few cracked ribs after helping Victoria out of a bind who suffered a broken arm as a reward for trying to photograph the disaster as it occurred.
The dinner conversation ended with everyone agreeing that not only were the two girls responsible for saving so many. But also that Max's ability should never be discussed directly and only in person After David pointed out that there would be those that would try to find a way to abuse it. Max was in the kitchen with Joyce and Venessa helping with the dishes occasionally passing a glance over at Chloe who was in the dining room talking with Ryan and David about her truck and what was wrong with it as well as it's new rather impressive battle scars. She had also noticed that her mom and Joyce were constantly passing glances at each other. As Max reached for the next plate to dry she felt her mom's hand on one shoulder as Joyce placed a hand on her other while her mom whispered in her ear, "Darling would you mind," she nodded in the direction of Chloe, Ryan, and David, "Freezing them for a minute" Venessa finished her request sounding unsure while both mothers gently squeezed Max's shoulder.
Max took a moment to register what her mom had said, It felt odd to have a request to freeze Chloe of all people, Guessing it was something her mom didn't want her to hear she looked at her mom smiling as she placed a hand on each of her mother's arms, did it feel odd referring to Joyce as a mom to her, a little maybe, but Joyce treated her like a daughter anyway, And with that thought she brought everything to a halt. It was odd seeing Chloe frozen mid-sentence, To Max it felt, wrong. Her thought train was broken when Venessa let out a little chuckle, "I don't think I'll ever be able to get used to seeing this," she said looking over at her husband, David and Chloe looking like statues. "Quietest they've been all evening," Joyce added playfully, Max couldn't help joining in the laugh, Venessa cleared her throat and looked at Max, "Look I know this tax's you a bit so I'll make this quick," Max bobbed her head from side to side quickly trying to gauge her tolerance, "I'm good for now," she replied with a smile, "Ok what's this about I wonder," she thought to herself. "look, Max, it's obvious how far you're willing to go to protect my daughter," Joyce said softly, Venessa smiled at Max, "And it's clear that she will do whatever it takes to make sure you're safe," she let out a chuckle, "She hasn't left your side since you got here," Max felt her cheeks heat up, "Are they really going there," she thought to herself, "We,...didn't even finish our talk," Max managed to stutter getting the words out blushing slightly more. "oh," Joyce asked curiously. Max looked down at her feet feeling herself go even more chagrin, "I err,.Kinda passed out half way through, Only woke up today," Both women laughed at this, "It's ok darling, I'm sure you two will finish that chat at some point," Vanessa chuckled as she spoke, "But that wasn't what we wanted to talk to you about, though," Joyce added returning her voice to a caring tone.
Max was looking at Joyce feeling a little confused, But Joyce just smiled, "I,...We want you to promise us something, Max, " she said in her soft voice, Max suddenly had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, "Max," Vanessa's voice came over with an equally soft voice, "Promise us, Whatever happens, you put you and Chloe first you hear," Max turned to look at her mom, uncertainty coursing through her as she tried to process what they were asking, of course, she wouldn't let anything happen to Chloe, And to ensure that, herself as well, "Do you understand what we are telling you, Max," It was Joyce this time that spoke, "If it ever comes down to a choice between us and you two, You pick you two, no question," Joyce finished firmly but with a clear undertone of care. Max just stood there in shock as she processed the request, shaking her head slowly, "You can't expect me to," she started but Venessa cut in, "We mean if you have no other choice, Max, No parent should ever bury their child," she smiled and enveloped her in a hug and chuckled, "We always hoped for great things for you, And together you two I'm sure are destined for a very interesting life, Whatever happens, we're proud of the pair of you," with that Vanessa kissed Max on her forehead. Max understood where they were coming from but was reluctant, "You know I won't give in, though," she mumbled feeling a little emotional at the thought of making that kind of choice. Joyce gave an amused humph, "We know, But now you know how we feel, let's hope it never comes to that ok," "We just don't want you to feel like you have to make another choice like before, That's all," Venessa added calmly.
The two older women stood there hugging Max for a moment reassuring her, Max could feel a familiar pressure building in the back of her skull causing her to stumble a little, She couldn't remember the last time she held a freeze with someone let alone two people for so long, "er,.Sorry to cut this short," Max mumbled regrettably, Joyce let out a chuckle, "It's ok darling, We said what we wanted to," giving Max a nod to let her know it was ok to let go. Bracing herself Max let time resume placing her hands on the draining board to steady herself as a dull thud hit the back of her head sending the room spinning a little, Venessa was already offering her a tissue to clean up the inevitable nose bleed, Max let pass a feeble grin, taking the tissue and cleaning up the small trickle as she glanced over at Chloe to notice she was looking at her accusingly, "oh boy," she thought rolling her eyes and turning away.
Later that evening, The parents were in the living room watching a film on the TV, Max wasn't paying much attention, Instead, thinking of her and Chloe's conversation that they never finished, she remembered Chloe getting angry about offering to wipe the conversation out, But after that everything was a muddy blur. Max watched as Chloe left the room and headed upstairs, Glancing over at her mom who simply smiled and nodded for her to go after her, Max got up said goodnight to everyone and headed out.
At the bottom of the stairs she remembered the surprise she had for Chloe tucked under the passenger seat of her truck and went to retrieve it, Thankful that Chloe never locked the passenger side, she retrieved the baggie full of Chloe's 'medication' and went back inside up to her room. Entering her room with only a bedside lamp illuminating her surroundings, She noticed that apart from the laundry basket having a few clothes in, not much else had changed since she was last here months ago, A quick look revealed Chloe was nowhere to be seen, but the open window and a faint smell of cigarette smoke made her location obvious, They used to sit out there as kids, On the flat roof outside her window and just watch the stars at night when they were supposed to be sleeping, She chuckled to herself recalling the time her dad had caught the two girls asleep on the roof in the early hours after watching the night sky as she walked over to the window poking her head around the corner to see Chloe, Leaning back puffing a cigarette looking up at the sky lost in thought, Max grinned to herself, "Well here goes I guess," she thought holding up the baggie giving it a shake, "I come bearing gifts," she said cheerily.
Merry Christmas to all my readers, Hope you're having a good one, Me I'm full on turkey and puddings.
Well here is number 21, It's a little short but what I consider a filler, Also it's Christmas. Next episode these two will FINALLY be on the same page, So expect awkward moments, red cheeks and Pricefield :D
As always comments and critique welcome.
Happy Holidays