Hey guys, here's another chapter for you. Enjoy.
Chapter Three: Dyeing
After lunch, Max and Chloe had moved into the lounge and taken up refuge on the couch. The bluenette was laying down with her head in her girlfriend's lap. Taking full advantage of the relaxed situation, Max idly ran her fingers through the punk's hair, gently massaging her scalp. It was moments like this that the two women appreciated more than anything. Just spending time together and forgetting their responsibilities for a while. Time seemed to pass them by so quickly and it was all too easy to get caught up in it. Every now and then, they needed a breather.
"You've been putting it off for way too long, you know," Max suddenly announced with no context as she let the strands of hair fall from her fingers.
Understandably, the abrupt statement confused Chloe. "You have to be a bit more specific than that."
"Re-dying your hair. What else?" Max took a stray strand of faded blue hair between her fingers to demonstrate her point, the strawberry blonde roots very visible now.
Chloe looked up at her and smiled. "You don't even want to know the huge list of shit I've been putting off."
"Good point. It's probably as long as mine." Neither of them was very good at organizing themselves. Procrastination was a dance they both knew well. Too well some might say.
"To be fair, I've been waiting on Rachel," Chloe clarified. It had been a valid enough excuse to put it off before now. "You know how reliable she can be."
"I can do it if you want," Max offered before really considering the implications of her suggestion. She'd never dyed anyone's hair before. Surely, it couldn't be that difficult… she hoped.
A thoughtful expression crossed Chloe's features as she considered this option. In a decisive movement, she nodded. "I don't see why not. What's the worst that could happen?"
"You end up looking like a smurf?" Max proposed half-jokingly. It wasn't beyond the realms of possibility.
The thought seemed to amuse Chloe greatly. "If I didn't have to live with it, that's something I'd want to see. Seriously, you'll do just fine."
"Oh, because that doesn't add more pressure…" Max muttered under her breath, slightly regretting ever bringing it up.
Eager to reassure her, Chloe slowly sat up and put a comforting arm around Max, gently kissing her forehead. "You'll manage it. You are Max Caulfield after all."
Even if that was just said to make her feel better, it did help.
Next Day
Now that Chloe had restocked her shelves with hair dye, it was time to get to work. They cleared out space in the lounge and pulled up a chair, covering the floor with an old towel so as not to get hair dye everywhere. After changing into some old clothes and draping a towel over Chloe's shoulders, Max put on the supplied gloves and got to work. Carefully, she separated hair at regular intervals to expose roots before applying the dye. A distinctive, strong smell filled the air as she diligently tended to her task. Once the roots had been covered, she applied the rest of the dye to the lengths, making sure to massage it in as best she could to avoid blotchy patches. There was nothing much left of the dye now and Chloe's hair was fully saturated. They had some time to wait before she could rinse the foamy substance out.
After wiping away any excess dye and removing the gloves, Max pulled up another chair and sat opposite her best friend, getting a good look at her. She found herself smiling involuntarily as Chloe stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes like the dork she truly was. They were close enough for Max to reach out and take her hand, giving it a light squeeze. Sometimes, they didn't need words. When the time came, Chloe wandered off to the bathroom and took a shower to rinse out the remaining hair dye. Max waited around for her to be finished, feeling nervous all of a sudden. She almost jumped when her girlfriend re-entered the room, a towel wrapped around her head for added suspense.
"I bet your dyeing to see the result, right?" Chloe grinned, proud of her admittedly bad pun.
"Hey, no fair. Making terrible puns is my job," Max whined playfully, waiting anxiously to be put out of her misery.
"Should've been quicker off the mark." Figuring that she had kept the suspense long enough, Chloe removed the towel and began examining her hair in a nearby mirror. As she did, Max felt her heart rate quicken. Hopefully, she hadn't messed up. From where she was, it looked okay. A few seconds later, Chloe took a step back from the mirror and offered up a grin. "I'd call your first time an overwhelming success."
"Good." A sigh of relief escaped Max's lips, a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding in.
"I told you it'd be fine," just then Chloe seemed to have a lightbulb moment, her eyes sparking with an unknown idea. "Hey, I just had a great idea."
The assurance that this would be a 'good' idea didn't convince Max. "Here we go…"
Chloe narrowed her eyes at the mildly accusatory tone. "What's with that reaction?"
"You know exactly what's up with it. Your ideas usually cause trouble and/or are dangerous." Years of experience had taught her that much. In response to the lack of trust, Chloe used her secret weapon for convincing, the infamous Price puppy dog eyes. Realizing that it was pointless and basically impossible to deny with her, Max sighed and reluctantly agreed to listen. "Fine, I guess hearing you out can't hurt."
A small, victorious grin tugged at the bluenette's lips as she proposed her idea. "How about we dye your hair?"
"Me? Dye my hair?" Max asked, equal parts curious and skeptical.
"Yeah, you haven't changed your style up like ever. You'd totally rock red. I can't do all the changing."
Chloe did have a point and she would probably keep bringing it up until Max agreed with it. Both out of curiosity and for the sake of appeasement, Max decided to humor her. "You know what? Okay."
This reply seemed to really shock Chloe. She was stunned momentarily, clearly having been expecting an outright refusal. "Really?"
"Sure, I can always change it later if I don't like it." This was more of a reassurance for Max herself than anything else.
"You will trust me. I happen to have such a hair dye with me." She grinned as she located the said hair dye.
Max shook her head at the predictable behavior. "So presumptuous…"
"Hey, you agreed. I was just preparing for the eventuality." Before Max could change her mind, they got to work. She could feel Chloe's fingers running through her hair as the dye was applied. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Soon enough, the process was over and it was time to see the result. "So, what do you think?"
"It's… different." Max got a good look at herself in the mirror, running her fingers through her now red hair. She'd need a couple of days to decide for definite, but she didn't hate it or anything. That was more than she'd been expecting.
"It looks fucking hot, you mean," Chloe corrected gleefully. "Now we just need to get you a couple of tats, some piercings… we'll make a thrasher out of you yet."
"Sorry to disappoint, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. I can change my hair color back easy enough if I don't like it. Tattoos on the other hand…" Even the thought of getting a tattoo right now was too much. It must hurt a lot and needles kind of freaked Max out.
Chloe shrugged, backing off for now. "Progress is progress. Let's take a picture to commemorate the day Max Caulfield dared to make a change."
"You suck, but I'm always up for a picture." Max nudged her shoulder to highlight her mock annoyance.
"I know your weakness well." Chloe grinned as they positioned themselves in front of Max's camera, the very same one that had been used by William all those years ago. They took a variety of different photos. Some of them pulling funny faces, smiling, cheek kissing and some more serious ones.
As Chloe flicked through the photos, her smile widened. "We definitely got a hella good haul."
"Agreed." Max found herself smiling involuntarily to mirror her girlfriend. Normally, she wouldn't have gone through with something like this. Change scared her, made her anxious. Some changes, as she had found out, weren't always a bad thing. Chloe had proven that much.
So, one more chapter out there. Hopefully, the next chapter will be coming out fairly soon. I'll do my best. On a different yet slightly related note, I need to get my hair dyed again fairly soon. Those roots are starting to show… Have a great day and see you next time, where Rachel might be making her first appearance.