"Come here, Che. Sit down. Tell me what's going through your head? I...I really need to know. Please?"
That was a complicated question for Chloe to answer.
For instance, the primal lizard part of her brain was hard at work getting the rest of her to accept the action plan it just submitted:
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:
1. Agree to everything Max says or wants.
2. No really, just fucking do it already!
3. Proceed to lay her down on bed.
4. Remove clothing, preferably ripping off with teeth.
5. HOT. MONKEY. SEX!
6. Repeat step five as needed/able.
Remember: proper hydration is essential!
Never before had her heart and her brain been at such loggerheads.
Of course she wanted to be with Max! Of course Chloe would love nothing more than to live happily ever after with her. Oh God, she could just break down in tears from the weight of her need!
But of course, four years ago, Chloe's natural preference was to not have time wiped out so that she would be shot to death in a bathroom by Nathan Prescott, either. To die, ignorant of Max's love, that Rachel would be avenged, or the knowledge that in this life, that there was something miraculous out there. Beyond the clinical explanations of science or easy assumptions of magic. Something larger than any one person. But she was ready to lay down her life, if it meant averting the storm and saving the town.
Point being, there were things more important to consider than the desires of one singular, solitary Chloe Price.
She took a deep, quavery breath, and glanced over to Max with sad eyes, buffered by a soft smile.
"In my heart, nothing's changed. I still want you. Hell, seeing the way you've grown, transformed. Become..." she laughed, shaking her head. "That brilliant butterfly you were always meant to be. It makes the ache for you so much stronger."
Chloe watched as Max gave a pained smile of her own before the other girl reaching up to cup her cheek; another few seconds, and she was stroking her face and hair. Chloe wanted to do nothing more in that moment then lay back and revel in the sensation. A years-old hunger, etched deeply in her body and soul, was forcefully stirred awake. She leaned in to the caress.
Max whispered, "Getting mixed messages here, Che."
Chloe groaned low in her throat. "I know. I know! I'm...sorry. Hell, I'm getting mixed messages from myself!" She huffed out before continuing, "Alright. I'll just - just say it: I'm scared, Max. So damn terrified. For you. I remember everything you went through, what being here after the storm did to you. I know it was rough, I know it was sudden and..."
Max swallowed, leaning in closer before interrupting, "...Chloe...just want to say, first off, how sorry I am for walking out on you the way I did. I still needed to get out of Arcadia Bay, and I still...oh God, I see how much I was right in asking you to stay here. How badly this town really needs you. But...I...I don't know." She laugh-sobbed. "I could have handled it better. Bad enough I fell back into old habits after the first year, falling out of touch. And I let you do the same. I know I should have talked to you that night, not just at you, before I suddenly picked up and left..."
Chloe shook her head vehemently. "You were dying, Max! Literally, in so many ways! You came back for me, after those first couple of weeks after the storm, for my sake. When honestly, you shoulda run away. Never given coming back a second though."
"How...how the hell could I?! I didn't come back for Arcadia Bay. I came back for you. I knew this town was just...you know...part of the package." Max replied, sniffling softly.
Giving a light but rueful frown, Chloe nodding, "I guess we are. Guess that's true. And I'm fine with that. If God came down and told me my mission was to do right by this town for the rest of my life, I'd accept that. Gladly. But that doesn't mean you should be weighed down by my obligation. Or more..." Her voice lowered, almost to a breathy whisper, "...you feeling like you're obligated to come back and be with me..."
"What...the hell are you talking about?!" Max asked, hurt and disbelieving.
Chloe winced. "I spent all those years watching you from afar. I wasn't there personally for a lot of your struggles, not after we started drifting apart. But I could just imagine what you were doing. The ways you were recovering, making yourself better. The..." She gave a quiet laugh, "...the ass you were kicking. I watched you as much as I could online, Max. I saw enough to know. You didn't just figure out how to live again when you hit San Francisco...you thrived! Motherfucking blew up! And then when Art Institute started showing you off, and screaming "Hey world! Look at this woman. Look at her first show! We don't need to tell you to remember her name because soon, you won't forget it now!"
She reluctantly pulled herself away from Max's gentle caress, wrapping her arms around herself as if freezing. "Th-that's when I knew the nightmare was over for you. You'd finally beaten back the demons. And that was when I knew I didn't want you coming back here again...didn't want the ghosts of the old town to get a second chance to destroy your brilliance. Kill your beauty inside."
Tears fell freely, her voice thick with emotion. "You're my gift to the world, Max." Chloe looked up at her, black kohl streaming down her cheeks. "Just like I wanted you to be that gift, the night of the storm. Back when I was ready to give you...give it all up. J-j-just...like I'm ready to do now." She shook with constrained sobs, bowing her head down low.
Max wrapped her arms around her tight, nuzzling at the back of her neck. In a far away voice, Chloe could hear herself beg, "Just...just please go. Get away. Cant stand the thought of this town getting a second crack at you. I love you too much to risk that!"
Taking a deep breath, and squeezing her close, Max replied, "Chloe. Oh God, Che. I-I think in some ways, I've finally gotten over that night, but you haven't. You just were better at walking it off. Better at hiding the wounds. You're so close to making peace, but still...you've got your own scars, ones that still need to heal."
Max stroked her sides tenderly, "But baby? You're just too damn good at playing the martyr now; you don't know how to stop. Even if I walk out that door right now...like I ever could?!" she hissed in disbelief. "There'd still be that hurt inside you. That broken part that didn't want to die, no matter what you might say or think. That scared, guilty piece that still wants to save everyone that you were forced to watch die. I know, because I was there with you. I mean...we both suffered the same trauma, we just processed it differently."
Chloe listened numbly, as Max kissed her neck and ears, before continuing. "I watched you too, you know? I've seen what you've done for this town. And you know, we're taught to believe that everyone is special, but guess what? It's a lie. Anyone can be special, but not everyone ever will be. You rose to the challenge, you kicked asses when almost everyone else was too scared, petty or selfish to bother. I mean, fuck! You practically held this town together with your bare hands! You were the pebble in the lake making waves no one else would. At first, I though you were MY gift to Arcadia Bay." Chloe's face was tilted up, as Max forced her to meet her gaze. "But...but I realized in the end that it was just a loan! Just fucking sharing!"
Max leaned in, kissing her, hard and fast, then growled, "I watched you turn this place into something amazing. Something people haven't seen in a long damn time: a symbol of hope. Something that says: the future is going to be okay. That we don't have to look towards tomorrow with fear, or dread or disgust. And...and I always imagined that everything you did, every house you built, every law you passed, was a tribute to me."
Max hugged her with desperate possessiveness, as she continued, "But all the hours I spent in talk therapy, and going through weekly EMDR sessions, and meditating, all the long nights I spent studying, all the days I devoted to torturing myself to obtain the perfect shots for my first public show? Ever fear holding me back that I confronted, every voice in my head that said 'don't' or 'can't' that I smothered into silence? Yeah, I did it for me, because holy shit I needed to find myself! But more than that, it was my tribute to you! I wanted to make myself worthy of you, of your achievement and creation and...and ability...and..."
Now Max was in tears, trembling, rising up from the bed, her hands animated with emotion, as she scolded, pleaded, demanded, "You always called me your angel! If that's true Chloe, then don't turn me away now! Because you...you're my Heaven! And I'm sorry that it took me this long to get back to you, baby. But-but that was always the plan. I was always gonna fight, every day, to get back."
Chloe could barely see through tears and makeup. She was close to breaking now, so carefully balanced upon the razor thin precipice. She was losing her heart completely, and damn well knew it. It was all over but the...well no, there was already crying. It was all over then, except actually speaking the words.
Still, her deep seated doubt make one last desperate plea; it would not simply retire into eternal oblivion.
"You'll always have my heart, Max." she cried almost inaudibly. "J-just...don't want it to be an anchor around your neck."
Max took a few steps back, suddenly smirking like a huntress about to spring the snare. "Funny you should say it like that, Che." She shrugged off her jacket, letting it land behind her with a soft thump. Carefully reached down, gripping the loose top and slowly removed it, with an almost decadent sway of her hips as she revealed herself, bare-chested. She was small enough in the bust that she could easily get away with not wearing a bra all the time.
It wasn't just the sight of Max half-naked that caught Chloe's eye; there may not have been much in the way of sex between them before Max left, but they'd shower together, or sleep together naked sometimes. No, it was the tattoo, still bright and fresh, that demanded her attention. On the underside of her left breast: a red heart surrounded by chains of orange flame. In black, the word "Chloe" was written in filagree script.
Max said, "Ever heard of Terence Trent D'Arby? Little before our time but...heard this one song of his at a wine bar a month ago, and I realized what I had to do next. Before I came to see you, show you how seriously I still am, about us."
As she rose and drifted towards Max, Chloe vaguely realized she'd not intend to; she felt as if she lost conscious control of her body, and was now following an ancient, irresistible compulsion, like being drawn in by the tide, pulling her down until she was standing before the other woman. Who took her hand, placing it over the tattooed breast.
Looking up, with a gaze as hard as steel, as soft as velvet, Max asked, "Chloe? Do I have to say the words? Do I have to tell you where I need you to be? Do I have to make you come back to me, the same way I made you stay here?"
Chloe was defeated. Deliciously, deliriously done for. She could literally hear it in her brain, the snap of the last chain of her self-doubt and sense of unworthiness. She glanced down, brushing a gentle thumb over the hardened nipple, smiling almost stupidly to herself as she watched her - yeah, definitely her girlfriend squirm in response.
"No," Chloe breathed out. She swallowed hard, half-lidded her eyes, and breathed in Max's scent again. "But it'd be hella sexy if you did anyway."
Max arched up against her fingers, wrapping arms around her neck. Rested a forehead to her own, and spoke in a voice hard with conviction, making her claim. "You are mine, Chloe Price. I saved you...and saved you again. And again and again and again. Time itself tried to take you away from me, day after day for a whole week. I wrestled Reality to the ground until it finally cried uncle, all to have you for my own. And then...then...I put you here when I had to..."
At this, Max's voice started to crack, the fire in her eyes wavering ever so slightly. "...when there was a - price - to pay." She blushed at her pun, intentional or otherwise. " When fate said 'She's needed in this place now.'. I left you here, so I could go and wrestle my own demons. I fought so hard for this moment. Where I make you mine."
Chloe swooned, Max's breath so hot on her neck now, as she continued, "Four years, Che. Almost four damn years now, since that storm. Since I realized I was falling in love with my best friend. And I was so overjoyed when you felt the same way. So...so you don't get to tell me to leave! You're not allowed to say you can't be with me, that you're not worthy. You don't declare what I can and can't handle." She thumped her chest once. "I do!"
Max reached up, grabbing handfuls of Chloe's blouse, and whispered, her tone shifting from dramatic to playful, trying to keep from giggling. "Can I rip this? I really wanna rip this."
Chloe could barely nod her assent.
Buttons popped off, flying away towards the darkened corners of the bedroom, as Max forced open her top with a flourish, and "Oh! I like the matching black lace underwear. Better than the old whatever-the-hell-was-clean-that-day approach..."
Licking her dry lips, Chloe rasped, "S-see. I've grown as a person..."
A pause hung heavy between them, freezing the moment in time. Their mouths so slowly, magnetically drawn together...
And then they were locked in a frenetic, ferocious kiss, Max tangling both hands in her hair. Chloe leaned the redhead back in a slight dip, one arm wrapped tight about her waist, the other snaking down to cup across her thigh, and over her rear. It wasn't merely a physical need alone; together as one they crossed an emotional breakthrough, demolishing the wall that had kept them apart for too many years. Max quickly pushed her tongue out, tracing lavishly against Chloe's lips, prompting her to part them, gratefully, greedily sucking it in. Together they were coming back from near death, reveling, feasting. Neither entirely certainly where to start on the other.
Chloe broke the kiss, but only long enough to lower her head to Max's chest, languidly tracing the tip of her tongue wetly over the cursive script of her name across the tattoo, before taking a nipple between lips, then teeth. For so many nights, she'd dreamt of something like this; the reality far more heady and intoxicating than she ever imagined. Her lover arched back, letting a hot, liquid moan escape from her throat in grateful joy.
Vaguely, in the back of her mind, the notion briefly occurred to Chloe that maybe they were getting sort of loud, and...and weren't her parents waiting for them, and...?
But then Max was pushing her back, roughly, towards the bed, chasing away all thoughts that weren't immediately focused on the passionate play at hand; things other than 'Too many damn clothes in the way!' or 'God, you smell incredible!' or 'I am so fucking happy this is a front clasping bra!' failed to make the mental cut.
As Chloe landed hard on her bed, Max domineeringly crawled on top, pinning her back. The bra was quickly worked off, and the two of them clung hard to each other, relishing the feel of bare skin on skin. More desperate kisses passed between them, first soft, then hard, then playfully gentle, then savagely devouring.
Chloe was drowning, utterly drowning in sensation, in love, in the moment. It threatened to suffocate her completely; she couldn't be happier.
She whimpered. "...sorry! I'm so sorry!" she cried, leaning up to nestle her face between Max's breasts. Covering her chest in bites, she murmured again. "So...sorry!"
Cradling her head, Max shhhed her softly, lips close close to her ear. "Forgive you...just...don't pull that shit again, Che." With a giggle, she pushed her back from her chest, then rose up from the bed.
Chloe propped herself up on her elbows, smiling drunkenly as she watched Max slip out of the skirt and shimmy off her panties, leaving her clad only in the boots and stay up stockings. Crawling back onto the bed, she gave a knowing smile. "Hope you don't mind me keeping them on; not about to try and unlace these huge things right now."
Chloe laughed breathily, "I-I-I like the look. S'hot! Hardcore!"
Wow, she uh...she shaved! Umm..well...duh? I guess she knew how things were gonna go. Never had a doubt.
"Glad you think so." Max said. "'Cause I just thought of the best way you can apologize." With a feline wiggle in her hips she crawled up Chloe's body, planting tiny little kisses anywhere she could reach. In short order, she spread her legs, planting a thigh next to each side of her head. Leaning over just a bit, Max whispered out heatedly, though she blushed as she spoke, "Figured uh - like - you had a little more experience than me? As in any because - um..because of the time you and Rachel...?"
Chloe tilted her head, and bit down, not hard, but most definitely firm against the flesh of Max's inner thigh, eliciting a gasp of surprise, before replying, "Been a while. Not like we did it all that often but...mmm...we'll figure it out together, yeah?" Lifting her head up, Chloe starting to place exploratory kisses against the soft petals presented before her. Slipped her tongue out, tip parting the labial folds, before instantly seeking out the stiff bud of the clit.
Max reached down, shuddering and hissing in approval, as she lowered her body down further, while grabbing at Chloe's raven hair. Chloe in turn took her time, exploring unhurriedly, relishing the new experience for both of them. It was only a scant few minutes before she began to lap against her in earnest, in happy, heartfelt worship of her angel, her Goddess.
Christ...what a fucking fool I was! What a mistake I almost made!
A few minutes earlier...
Joyce smirked as she watched her husband tap his fingers impatiently against the table.
"Okay," he started. "I think we should probably just assume that..."
The a soft moan suddenly reverberated from the second floor. Muffled as it was, its meaning was still unmistakably clear.
"...and now I'm getting really goddamn uncomfortable!" David said with a grimace. "Can we leave now?"
Laughing and leaning in to kiss his cheek, Joyce pushed herself back out from the dining room table where the two of them were waiting. Allowed David to rise up, grip the handles of her wheelchair, push her down the entranceway, and out the door. She'd become rather proud in her refusal over the years to let anyone but him do so. Otherwise, she was insistent on wheeling herself around, and had the arm muscles to prove it.
But this? It was like taking his arm, and walking side by side with him, as they used to do in years past.
"Ah, course we can. Just had to make sure it was gonna take, darlin'."
He shook his head incredulously, snorting. He smiled though, even as pushed the wheelchair over-fast, closing and locking the door behind him.
"Really? Like there was any doubt. I think we both knew that brilliant, idiot daughter of ours didn't stand a chance. All that mopey talk about 'letting my angel fly free' was doomed the moment Max showed up at our door.." he said.
Shifting herself out from the chair into the passenger side car seat, Joyce softly replied. "Well, the two of us still have a reservation at Exarch. And, mind where you put my wheelchair, dear? I packed an overnight bag in the trunk, and booked us a room at a hotel. Just in case. I thought they might like a night alone, and I had the same idea for us."
A minute later, David slid into the driver's seat, leaning over to kiss her, warm and sweet, with a promise of more to come later on.
Later, much later, Chloe and Max lay on their backs, sheets tangled across them, both their bodies glistening with exertion. Reaching out with a shaky hand to grab the backup personal vape in her bedside table drawer, she inhaled, blowing out thick clouds of mist before lazily handing it over to Max.
"Th-that...was...hella awesome!" she declared, chest heaving, laughing as she spoke the final word. She reached up, touched her cheeks, and laughed again. "Oh God! My face must be such a fucking mess right now."
Max lifted up one of the sheets for a moment, glancing down her body. "Yup. And you should see the black lip prints all over me." she said, before taking a draw on the vaporizer, before blowing out softly over Chloe's face.
She reached up, wrapping one arm around Max's waist, threading fingers in one of her hands, and stealing yet another of a thousand kisses they'd shared this night. Met her eyes and whispered. "So...when do we go back to San Francisco? I'm already composing my resignation letter: Dear Arcadia Bay: Fuck you, fuck this job, quitting to go fuck my girlfriend. Love and kisses, ex-Alderman Price."
Max curled up close to her, caressing her leg with a foot - having finally managed to remove the boots - and kissing the tip of her nose before answering, "Awesome as that epic rage-quit - or is it love-quit? - would be, it's silly. I mean, yeah, hell yeah, I want you to come and visit San Francisco with me. One last time." She pulled back a bit, taking one more inhalation, letting the vapor bleed out from her mouth as she spoke, "Before I move back here."
Chloe just gave her 'A Look' and said, "Oh...God. Why?! I mean, I love this town...love-ish. Okay, I've put together a pretty nice place now, shit knows she was a real fixer upper, but baby, San Francisco! Why would you trade down like that?"
Reaching out to pet Chloe's face tenderly, fingertips tracing over her lips, Max murmured, "Really? Seems more like an upgrade to me. And besides, I can easily hop a flight and in a couple hours I'm back, when I really want-slash-need to visit. I'm in the process of picking up a few freelance gigs, and I can just travel as needed to take care of those. So why not make Arcadia Bay home?" Continuing to play with Chloe's earlobe, skitter fingertips down her neck, she added, "Of course, if you wanted to build me an airport, Alderman, that'd be a big help. For cereal."
Chloe shivered, squirming yet again at the physical contact. She paused to gather the other woman close in her arms, replying, "Yes, Mistress. Immediately, Mistress. I'm sure if we promised to call it the Sean Prescott Is Awesome, Also Cool, And You Should Love Him International Field, Exeter would jump on board with me at the next meeting.
The two of them shared more kisses, unable to get enough of each other. Finally coming up for air, Chloe asked, "So. You're really thinking of moving back, huh?"
Max nodded, "Mmm-hmmm".
"Cool. Well, if you don't mind being cramped for a while, there's no way my folks would say no to you moving in. We'll figure out a plan, and then find an apartment..."
Max interrupted her, "I...kinda had something different in mind, Che. I actually have some money now. Inheritance. My grandma passed away a couple months ago. The one on my Dad's side."
"Oh nooooo! Not Nana Caulfield! Damnit, she was so cool, 'cause she'd give us those chocolates with the booze in them and tell dirty jokes." Chloe mourned, giving Max another hard, loving hug
"Ha ha. Drove my Mom crazy. It's okay, she went in her sleep. Very peaceful, just the way I'd want to go. But yeah, the money isn't enough to ever retire on, but I could either put a sizable down payment on a tiny condo in San Fran, ooooorrrrr, I could probably buy a new house outright, here in town. So you tell me what you would do?"
"I know I'm suppose to say 'the house', but obviously I'd run off to Vegas and blow through it in a weekend, getting treated like royalty.' Chloe said with an impish smirk.
Max gave her a tiny kick. "Oh God, Che, please! I know you want to pretend you're still the same aimless, doesn't give a shit about the world at all punk rock girl from 2013, but...you know that's not you. Not really. Not anymore. " She rested her head on Chloe's shoulder and whispered. "So...so come live with me. And be my love..."
"...and we will all the pleasures prove." Chloe answered, finishing the rest of the Marlow reference. "Wow. Home ownership, huh?"
"Mmm-hmmm. Both of us. Both our names on the deed."
Blinking, and clearly caught off guard, Chloe said, "Uhhh...seriously? Wow, uh, hah. I know enough contract law to know that sort of thing is harder to get out of than marriage these days."
Max pushed her over onto her back, quickly clambering on top and pinning her down against the bed. "And yooooour point?"
With a giggle, she replied. "That it's cool, and awesome, and sweet, and amazing...and so are you."
"Good save. And why wouldn't I share a house with you, in every possible way? I love you, Chloe. I absolutely, whole-heartedly, hopelessly love you."
Chloe was quiet, looking up at Max for a good few seconds. She'd said the words before, and heard them repeated. But it felt different this time; as if it were the first. And it might as well have been, given the new level their relationship achieved tonight..
"That's not fair." she whispered quietly.
Max was clearly taken aback, "Um...not the response I was expecting, Chloe."
Holding up her hands for a moment, she quickly explained, "No, no, I mean...I wanted to be the one, to say it first. I don't know, I just always thought it seemed a little, God, what's the word I want to use? Lame? You say I love you, I say 'I love you, too.' That doesn't sound like I mean it, it sounds like I'm saying it out of expectation. And that's not fair."
She leaned up further, trailing kisses over Max's neck, as she spoke, "What's a phrase that I can respond with, that sums it all up, the way I feel? I mean, how much I adore you. Am in awe of you. Am utterly and hopelessly devoted to you. The way that I know in my heart that each and every day in my life is going to be better than the next, now that you're back in it. The stupid, stupid, stupid way I almost threw it all away earlier tonight, and how grateful I am that you saved me...saved me in..." her throat grew tight. "You've always been my savior, Max. How the hell does a simple 'I love you, too' convey all that?"
Max was smiling, no...she was positively glowing at that. Leaned in to hoarsely whisper, "God. I am so wet for you right now!"
Chloe leaned back, and pointed a finger, "Damnit. See! That's what I should have gone with! Whoa...what are you...?"
Max swiftly dove downward, attacking Chloe with kisses, licks and bites, as she made her way to between her legs. Paused, long enough to look up and say, "I think it's time to find out what kind of teacher you've been." Then reached up, grabbing Chloe's hand tightly in her own.
Laying back the rest of the way, Chloe, breathed out, blushing, "Oh! Uh...hah...well um...something something oral exam, then?"
It was a good minute before Max could stop laughing.
Three months later, Max and Chloe moved in together, into one of the nicer middle class houses still left for sale on Cherrywood Lane. Done in a modern style, a mix of natural dark woods and neutral grey metal siding, which Max vowed to repaint immediately. A two car garage, raised deck in the rear with a lovely view of the bordering forest, and of course, sloped roofs replete with solar panels. It was nicer, and more expensive than they'd initially planned to buy, but the inheritance was enough of a down payment so as to keep their combined mortgage and property tax payments roughly at or below the rent of many of the newer apartments springing up in downtown. And of course, the folks at the local community bank were practically falling over themselves to give a homeowners loan to Chloe.
It's good to be the People's Punk Princess!
Still, Max decided it might be best if she got some steadier work to supplement her budding freelance career.
"Blackwell! Fucking Christ, sweetie? Are you for real?" Chloe incredulously exclaimed.
As she fiddled with one of her cameras, taking pictures of various angles of their new home, Max replied. "For cereal. They've never managed to find a permanent replacement after all these years. I mean, I'm no...I don't...have the portfolio and cachet that..."
Chloe pulled her girlfriend tight against her, brushing her hair and kissing her repeatedly as she saw the other woman start to freeze up a bit. Asking in whispered tones, "Are you going to be alright with this? That's...that's a hell of a demon to take head on."
Max shook her head defiantly, but clung all the same. "I know. Believe me, I so know. But a lot of the traumatic charge is gone. Pretty sure I could never go back into that fucking bunker, but I'm ready to step into the old classroom. Think there's actually kind of a weird symmetry to it, you know? I help defeat Mark Jefferson, end his career, bring him to justice. And to cap it all off, I replace that asshole as a teacher."
"Like a fucking Highlander." Chloe breathed out.
Max laughed, squeezing back again. "Ye-hah, I guess so. God, you should hear Ray Wells, he's so damn eager for this. I mean, I just graduated, but I guess I'm a lot more professionally trained and acclaimed then the last few folks they've had."
"The position is cursed!" Chloe stage-whispered. "It's like Defense Against The Dark Arts!"
"Ha Ha! Chloe...stop...I'm trying to get this shot lined up right!"
A short while later, Chloe looked down at her motorbike, parked as it was in the garage next to Max's Mini Cooper.
"Well Jez, probably time to set you free, find you another home."
"Why's that?" Max asked, walking in to join her, clearly having overheard.
"Oh...well...you know. It's a one rider sportsbike. Was great when I was a broody bachelorette but I don't ride alone anymore." Chloe turned and gave Max a soft peck on the cheek.
"Mmmmm...why don't you hang on to Jezebel for a while. We've got my car still, and...and besides I'd like the opportunity to drive her, now and then."
Laughing brightly, Chloe said, "Babe, you sure? This is a Suzuki Hayabusa. A legend. There's a lot of fucking epic power under the hood. Hard to tame."
Wrapping possessive arms around her, Max replied, "Same could be said for you. And I can ride you just fine, Che."
Chloe blushed deeply, and silently nodded.
"Which reminds me," Max mused. "We have one or two rooms left in the house that we haven't had sex in. Feel like crossing those off the list with me today?"
"Yes, Ma'am! Just...uh..just as long as the garage isn't one?"
Max tilted her head. "What? In front of the kids?" she asked, pointing at the motorcycle and the car. "That'd be a little too weird, even for me."
The walk in bedroom closet, however, was perfectly acceptable.
A/N: Awwww yeah! It's Double-Shot Saturday! An epic blast of awesome, featuring both the return of Black Swan and the latest chapter of Grande Dame, dropping on you at the same time! Never had a chance to do something like this before, probably never will again, so of course I had to!
A few odds and ends and bits of trivia:
As overwrought as this chapter may seem in a few parts, it was far worse in the first draft. Really had to go over this one a few times to try and wrangle it appropriately. Also, I am a shy, giddy thing when it comes to writing lemonyuri. Hope you all enjoyed it.
Second, as someone who has dealt with her own PTSD and depression issues, I cannot recommend EMDR therapy enough. It seems...so hokey and nonsensical on the surface, but it is one of the most instantly, almost spiritual things I've ever seen come out of a technological solution.
Third, the song Max mentioned, "Sign Your Name", is awesome, and should be included in any Pricefield mixlist. Of course, I am older than most of my readers, so of course I have fond memories of songs from 1989...
As much as this may seem like a climax to the series - ha ha ha, pun intended - there is still plenty of story left. I figure it may come off as a long victory lap, but damnit, these two deserve as much. It's been a hell of a ride, over these five episodes of the canon game.
Anyhow, have an awesome Halloween, or All Saints Day, or Dias De La Muertas, or whatever you celebrate around this time of year!