Chloe stretched out her legs between the sheets, sunlight spilled through the thin flimsy curtains. She rubbed her face and yawned loudly. At the end of the bed, she saw Max, as she closed her journal and put it into her bag. Chloe looked at the cheap alarm clock on the bedside table; it read seven thirty-eight. Chloe remembered the kiss she shared with Max the night before. Her lips tingled. Max was fully dressed and her hair was wet.
"What's the shower like here?" Chloe started, Max turned to her and simply blinked.
'Right, Maxie no talky,' Chloe reminded herself.
"Is there hot water?" She asked, Max nodded for a yes.
"Is the water pressure decent?" Max shook her head and frowned. Chloe groaned as she pulled herself out of the bed and dragged herself to the shower. Turning on the hot tap, she began to undress herself, the water trickled out slowly. She turned on the cold slightly and waited for the temperature to adjust before stepping in.
"Max! This is hella lame!" Chloe called out from the bathroom, forgetting she probably wouldn't get a response.
'What are we going to do? Where are we going? Should we go to Max's parent's house in Seattle? Are we running away? Are we going to make out again? Fuck I hope so!' Chloe let her thoughts run rampant, but tried to keep her mind off Arcadia Bay, as she cleaned herself in the Luke-warm, shitty water pressured shower.
When Chloe had got out of the shower, blue hair dripping, wearing a towel, Max was standing in the room, holding two take-away coffee cups. She held one out towards Chloe, then sat on the bed, faced away from her, so she could get dressed.
"You are my favourite person," Chloe thanked Max, wondering where she got the coffee from, which elicited a quiet laughter-like-sigh out of her. Chloe put down the cup and quickly dressed into her clothes from the day before. Max was wearing the same thing as she did the day before, so Chloe figured she wouldn't judge her for being lazy. Chloe picked up her coffee cup, admiring the warmth against her hands and took a sip. She sat down next to Max and put her arm around her shoulder. Max looked up at Chloe and smiled, she smiled back.
'What the fuck is going on in that head of yours?' She thought to herself.
"Let's get the fuck out of here," Chloe spoke softly. The pair collected their things, returned the key and made their way to Chloe's truck. Max pulled out two cigarettes, lit them and passed one to Chloe.
"Seriously, Caulfield, you are my favourite person," Chloe said after inhaling the first breath of smoke. Max smiled as she stroked Chloe's arm and shuffled her feet up onto the seat, leant on her knees and enjoyed her own cigarette.
"So, Portland?" Chloe asked as she looked at Max, who shrugged and nodded at the same time. Chloe started up the car and drove towards Portland.
Walking down a busy main street, Chloe was looking forward to her next hit of caffeine. Max was next to her, trying to keep up, Chloe often forgot that Max had shorter legs than her, and it was a struggle for her to keep up with Chloe's walking pace. Chloe felt a sharp tug at the bottom of her shirt. She stopped abruptly, whipped herself around and looked at Max, who's head was turned to the ground.
"Max, what's wrong?" Chloe asked, noticing that Max wasn't looking at anything in particular.
"Chloe, I –" Max stammered.
'Holy shit-balls! She's fucking talking!' Chloe's heart started to race.
"Yes, Max, what is it?" Chloe spat out, trying to stay calm, but shock radiated through her tone.
"Chloe, I – I want…" She trailed off, her hand covering her mouth. Max looked up at Chloe and made eye contact with her.
"I want a fucking doughnut!" Max spat out quickly, her hand returning to cover her mouth after she spoke. Chloe blinked away the shock and began to laugh hysterically, pure bliss filled her heart as Max laughed along with her.
"Ok, Max, let's get you a fucking doughnut. I've missed your voice, Hippie," Chloe giggled as she wrapped her arms around the shorter girl and lifted her off the ground slightly. They soon found a nearby café that advertised fresh doughnuts and entered the store, holding hands.
The two girls had sat down at a small table, each with a coffee and, what could be considered as, far too many doughnuts. Chloe was speedily eating hers, taking mouthfuls of the hot dark liquid in-between bites. She glanced up at Max, who was eating her doughnut slowly, savouring each bite. Chloe swallowed down a portion of doughnut and slowed her pace.
"Not hungry Hippie?" She asked, dusting crumbs off her pants. Max shrugged. She was being quiet again. Chloe sighed and finished up her coffee. She placed her cup down on the table, with a little more force than usual, and slouched back in her seat.
"Chloe," Max started quietly. Chloe's eyes snapped open and she looked at the brunette intently.
"How do you think I'd look with a lip ring?" Max was slowly looking around the café as she took a sip of her coffee. She turned to face Chloe, waiting for a response.
'This is what you want to talk about, Caulfield? Piercings? Fuck, she'd look sexy with a lip ring…' Chloe realised she was staring at Max's face for quite some time.
"Uh…." She stammered, hoping she wasn't blushing.
"Yes, I can see it! A labret piercing on the right side of your lip," Chloe said as her finger grazed Max's lip slowly, pointing out where it would be.
"I think it'd suit you! Finally thinking about changing up your style, Maxie?" Chloe tried her best to sound as casual as possible, and flashed Max a little smirk at the end of her sentence. Max stared at Chloe and gently bit her bottom lip.
'Fuck, don't do that. Max, don't fucking do that. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.' Chloe's mind panicked again. She wanted to grab Max by the collar, then and there, pull her over the table towards her and kiss her like she'd never been kissed before. Suddenly, Chloe felt warmth on her hand. It was a welcome feeling, considering the warmth she was feeling in other places. Max fiddled with Chloe's hand until their fingers had intertwined.
"Maybe, I'll get a piercing one day. I'll think about it. I just don't wanna do anything if you're not gonna like it, Chloe," Max smiled warmly, her soft voice filled Chloe's heart with joy.
"Right now, this is what I want," Max continued and lifted their hands slightly, drawing attention to them. Chloe felt her head spin a little.
"Max, I – " Chloe stammered.
"Max, I need you to be a little bit more clear. What do you want from me?" Chloe started, still focused on their intertwined fingers.
"I don't need any cryptic shit," Chloe almost whispered, hoping it wasn't going to come across as an offensive comment. Max laughed quietly, then she sighed.
"Chloe, not a day went by after I left you that you weren't on my mind. I was always thinking about you. I missed you like crazy. Then last week, everything was good. Well, not really, everything was totally fucked up. But we were together, and that was just," Max trailed off, seemingly to look for the right words.
"Wowzer, this is hard," she giggled softly and brushed her hand against her cheek, Chloe stared at her expectantly.
"I've finally realised something. I mean, I have a theory. Fuck. Chloe, I have feelings for you. I like you. I think about kissing you, a lot. I want to be with you. Is that non-cryptic enough for you?" Max blushed as she rushed through the words that Chloe had been desperately hoping to hear. Chloe squeezed Max's hand and flashed a face-splitting grin.
"Max, I like you too, with the feelings and shit," Butterflies tore through Chloe's insides like a wildfire.
"And I am a big fan of kissing you," Max bit her lip at Chloe's last enthusiastic comment.
"Don't fucking do that unless you want me to pounce you, it's hot, Caulfield," Chloe stated in a dead serious tone.
"Sorry," Max whispered as she covered her mouth with her free hand.
"I mean, you said you haven't done any of this dating, or whatever, shit before, right?" Chloe paused as Max nodded for a yes.
"I just don't want to rush you with anything, I want you to be comfortable, I want you to feel safe around me, with me," Chloe rubbed Max's shoulder, worried she'd upset her.
"Are we a thing now?" Chloe smirked, trying to lighten the mood. Max shook her head. Chloe's jaw dropped, the brunette's response stung a little.
"No, I want you to say it, Chloe Price," Max smirked in return. Chloe sighed and tilted her head down briefly before staring into the brunette's eyes.
"Max Caulfield," Chloe started softly,
"Will you be my bitch?" Max slapped her across the arm as Chloe giggled.
"Ok, ok, sorry, couldn't help myself," she tried to stop herself from laughing.
"Girlfriend. Will you be my girlfriend? Like, date me exclusively?" Chloe could feel her face burning.
"Yes, exclusively yours," Max stated and stroked the blue haired punk's arm where she'd previously hit her.
"Better not make a habit of hitting me, Super-Max, I'll tell your mother," Chloe instantly regretted her words as Max's smile dissipated.
"Fuck, maybe it's time we turned our phones back on. I need to face the damage I've caused," Max almost whimpered.
"Max, don't go blaming yourself. It was a storm. It came, did its thing. But, I guess we should check our phones. You should call your parents, tell them you're alright," Chloe tried her best to reassure Max as they stood from the table and left the café.
"Mom, mom, slow down, I'm fine, we're fine – we we're at the lighthouse at the time – no, we'll come see you – yes, we'll head over your way immediately – it's good to hear your voice too – I love you, mom," The conversation was brief, tears rolled down the girl's face as she hung up the phone and placed it into her pocket.
"That seemed like an intense phone call," Max had been staring at Chloe the whole time she was on the phone to Joyce.
"She had to use a payphone. She said there's a lot of people injured. Don't know how many didn't make it," Chloe trailed off quietly.
"Chloe, I'm so glad Joyce is alright!" Max beamed, Chloe smiled back at her, gripping her hand tightly.
"Max, we have to go back, I need to see her," Chloe pleaded.
"Yea, ok. Let's go then," Max spoke nervously as she pulled out her phone.
"I'll just text my mom, tell her what's up. She wanted us to go there, but we can do that another time," She continued as she started typing on her phone. Chloe pulled Max into a warm hug as soon as the message had sent through.
"Thank you, Max," She whispered into her ear, her lips brushed against it. Max pulled Chloe in closer and kissed her neck.
"Max, don't distract me," Chloe smirked and felt Max's breath against her neck as she chuckled. The two girls got into the car and nervously started their way back towards Arcadia Bay.