December 2013 - Grand Canyon Arizona

Max Caulfield POV

"Hey selfie whore! You nearly finished over there or should we form a queue behind you!" Victoria smirked at me behind her designer sunglasses.

"I'm nearly done, I just wanted to get a decent shot of the sunset before we have to go. There's no need to be a bitch Vic"

She strutted past me swaying her hips with more emphasis than necessary to give her even more of a regal posture. Truth be told, Victoria hadn't been too much of a bitch to me since October. I was scared to say that we could even be considered distant friends in some circles. I think the whole Kate attempting suicide thing kind of made Victoria slightly more human than she was before. She no longer seemed like a vicious Ice Queen like she usually did but instead just acted like one from time to time. I guess it's hard to kick the habit of being rude to everyone all the time. Even Kate had taken a shine to her recently. They had been hanging out a lot in their free time and we had even had a few movie nights with the whole group in which Vic had been more than accommodating, suspiciously and invited everyone round to her room as of course she has the biggest TV. Much to Chloe's disgust that is, she still can't seem to put their differences aside for more than half an hour at the most. But she wouldn't be my Chloe if she didn't get a little hot headed now and then I guess.

Anyway, after 16 hours on a bus over two days we were finally here, at the great Grand Canyon. Thank dog we had a scheduled stop last night at a cheap motel, I don't think any of us could have managed to take any worth while photos after all the traveling. Of course I bunked with Kate, I didn't really feel comfortable with anyone else. Honestly I hadn't even spent much time with anyone other than Chloe recently, so I kind of felt like I had distanced myself from Kate. I was determined to use this trip to make up for my lack of friendship over the past month. I just can't help it. Being with Chloe, I loose track of time. Even the days that we do nothing and simply sit in her house and let the day pass by. I can't seem to spend more than 12 hours away from my beautiful punk girlfriend. Wowsers, I'm still getting used to calling her that.

Last week when I told Chloe about this trip I was so selfishly excited to finally get a chance to get seriously back into my photography, I didn't think about how she would react. Well to be honest I thought it would have been worse. I expected her to freak out and start shouting about me abandoning her again along with all the usual arguments we have had before. But it never came. We were sitting in my dorm room after I had told her and she just went very quiet and looked down at her feet. When she eventually looked up at me with glassy puppy dog eyes, tears on the brink of spilling free, I kind of wished she had shouted and over reacted instead.

She asked did I have to go and I tried to reassure her that it was only for 4 days and I would be back by the weekend to spend every second with her.

She still looked depressed though and the look of abandonment on her face was breaking my heart, so I crouched down to her level, putting my hands either side of her face and pulling my lips to hers. At first her lips were unmoving against mine, so I applied a slight but more pressure and slid my right hand through her hair pulling her more into me. After a few moments she started kissing me back with a hunger I didn't know she possessed. She grabbed me roughly by the hips and pulled me onto her lap. Her lips left mine and found their way to my cheek and then my neck. I pushed my body against hers, oh god it felt so good. I could feel my heart rate increase as she dragged her teeth across my pulse point.

I was starting to get nervous. This is the furthest Chloe and I had ever gone. She had been more than patient with me over the past few weeks, saying we didn't have to rush into anything since we had all the time in the world. I knew she had done sexual things before with other people and was much more experienced than me. Although, she never tried to pressure me, which made me want her even more.

But then she unexpectedly hooked her arms under my legs and threw me onto the bed. This was definitely unexpected, but not unwelcome. Chloe just smirked at me from under blue bangs. Dog she looked so pretty, I wished I had my camera handy at this moment because the way she looked at me, I never wanted to forget that face. I tried to burn it into my memory forever. I felt the heat rise to my face as I blushed at the sudden lack of contact. I wasn't sure what to do with myself when she wasn't close to me. Chloe, as if reading my mind, closed the gap between us as she started kissing me again, although much slower this time. One of her hands cradling my face and the other one caressing down my sides. Not to sure of what to do I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, pulling her close. Chloe ran her tongue over my lower lip, as if asking a silent question. I answered by parting my lips and letting her slide her tongue in. It felt so soft against mine. The sensations overwhelmed me at first, but then I began to crave more. I could feel the tension rolling through Chloe's body. She rocked her hips into mine and I let out an involuntary moan. This came as a shock to her as much as it did to me. I could feel the smirk on her lips as she continued to drag her lips across my collar bone and started heading downwards. Damn it felt so good, I didn't care where this was going but I didn't want it to stop.

Chloe shot up as someone pounded on the door.

"Caulfield, it's barely even 5pm for fuck sake! Can't you keep it in your pants! Some of us are trying to study in peace!"

I sat up in the bed as Chloe got off me. I was still flushed and a little bit embarrassed at not only getting so worked up but because no doubt if the rest of the dorm didn't know what was going on, they sure as hell did now after Victoria's outburst. Chloe and I looked at one another and burst out laughing. The tension immediately faded and I wasn't so embarrassed anymore. Chloe had that effect on me. With one word or a touch of her hand she could make me feel like everything was alright. All that action had seemed to cheer her up somewhat and she no longer looked upset that I was going away for a few days. So mission accomplished I thought. I may not have wanted to stop so soon and I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual but Chloe didn't complain.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Ms Grant who was shooing all of us back to the assembly point so we could regroup and wait for the bus. Ms Grant had agreed to chaperone our photography class on this trip since we still lacked a permanent teacher. She didn't seem to mind because it was really like a free trip to her as it didn't really involve much teaching at the minute. Pretty much the only involvement she had with our class was taking us here and letting us work away taking photographs and letting our artistic expression flourish.

"Hey Max, what had you all in a daze back there?" Kate asked.

"Oh nothing, just remembering something. Nothing important. Did you get any good shots? We aren't spending as much time here as I thought we would."

"Yeah I got some, but I'm sure not as good as yours. You're a real artist Max."

"Thanks, but I'm not that good, just ask Victoria, I'm sure she'll tell you just how good I'm not."

"Don't be like that Max, everyone has their special fields of expertise. I think yours is finding the beauty in everything. Don't worry about Vic, she's just stressed out because she hasn't heard anything from Courtney or the rest of her posse in like 24 hours"

"That's strange, I thought they were joined at the social media hip or something. It's not like them to avoid her."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I haven't heard anything from Warren since we left Blackwell, that seems weird for him, usually he checks in with you or me at least once a day with some nerdy news that I don't understand."

"I haven't heard from Chloe either but I just thought she was trying to not do the whole clingy girlfriend thing."

This gave me something to think about. The lack of communication from Chloe was strange but to not hear from Warren as well was definitely weird as he always made an excuse to text either myself or Kate on a regular basis.

As we all shuffled back onto the coach Ms grant was standing at the front checking a list to make sure everyone was present and accounted for. I noticed her hand seemed to shake somewhat as she was ticking names off a list in front of her. After seeming satisfied that everyone was on the coach, she instructed us to remain in our seats and she would be back momentarily.

This was getting weirder and weirder. Ms Grant was usually very calm and level headed, it took quite a bit to shake her up like that. I told Kate I had to use the bathroom and I left the bus in search of Ms Grant. I found her just outside the visitors centre, a little ways from the bus. She seemed to be trying to make a phone call but didn't seem to be having much luck with signal.

"Dammit, why won't you answer? Stupid phone. Oh Max, you startled me there, why aren't you on the coach, we will be heading back soon."

"Sorry Ms Grant, but is there something wrong? You seem upset?"

"I don't want to worry anyone Max, but can I ask have you heard anything from Arcadia Bay since we left?"

"No I haven't. I mean I expected to hear from Chloe but nothing yet. Why? What's going on?"

This seemed to confirm something for Ms Grant as her face fell into a worried expression.

"Max, I don't know what to do. I was meant to contact principal Wells when we arrived this morning. I couldn't get through and I thought nothing of it, but I've over heard some of the students talking and nobody can seem to get in contact with anyone from Blackwell."

As she finished saying this, one of the other tourists ran past us and headed to the visitors centre shouting, "It's all over the news, holy shit you have to see this!"

Ms Grant and I didn't hesitate to think for a second. We rushed behind the man and saw quite a few people crowded round the TV about reception that was playing the news. It was Portland. There was a lot of shaky video footage and pictures that I couldn't decipher but the message along the bottom of the screen was clear.

"EPIDEMIC BREAKOUT IN OREGON 56 CASULTIES AND UNCONFIRMED INJURED"

Oh shit.