Hey sorry for the long hiatus! I'm writing the next chapter now. I had one continuity error somewhere in the first, where she said she was only back in Arcadia for a few days, I meant weeks ; n ; So yeah it's going to get more dramatic soon, a warning for NSFW in the next chapter, not sure about 18+ yet but definitely more mature themes. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter! Was kind of short but the next will be longer hopefully c:

"I don't know… I knew I liked you when we were kids but it was never.. this."
Chloe was still hiding her face beside me.

I didn't really know what to expect. I don't exactly know who Chloe is as a person after all of these years. I don't know if she even likes being in stable relationships or not? Does she like or want sex? Do we go out and do romantic thing? Relationship … A relationship with Chloe. I sat there for a while trying to conjure a sentence. My hands were gross and wet, my heart was beating out of my chest, I felt like this was something that we could work on and came to a conclusion.

"… We can try this. Us. "

I felt nervous but pleased with my decision. I've never been in a relationship with anybody, let alone one of my best friends. I feel safe with Chloe, she makes me feel warm and loved and she welcomed me back into her life after all these years of being an asshole. Excitement was the only word that came to mind. I was excited to experience something new for the first time, experiencing a relationship.
Chloe moved her hand from her face and started to sit up straight at the wheel. She couldn't look at me for more than a few seconds.

"So you want to, y'know. . Uhm." Chloe couldn't quite get her words out, I smiled and finished the sentence for her.

"… Be your girlfriend? Yes. Although please let me go at my own pace, I've never been with anybody and if I'm with you I want everything to be perfect… This is a bit rushed so… let's see where this goes together okay?"

I smirked at Chloe and she elbowed my side. She put one hand over her chest almost like a soldier.
" Princess Max, I will have you know that my skills include great cuddles and awkward moments you will get to experience first-hand."

She smiled at me and waited for a response. I laughed and bowed as well as I could in a car. I could tell Chloe was trying to keep her cool with fun jokes but I could see her eyes glowing and her hands were shaking. She's so happy.

"Thank you prince Chloe, we have approximately… Shit." My heart skipped a beat when I realized the time.

11:25

My class was starting in 5 minutes and we were up near the lighthouse, I'd have to make it all the way across town to get to my class.

Chloe jumped a bit at my sudden curse but looked at the clock. Before I even told Chloe what was going on she was in reverse, carefully speeding her way down the dirt trail and onto the main road. I held onto my seat for dear life and managed to get my seat belt on through all of the bumps.
Chloe's eyes never left the road, her focus was getting me to class on time, which I thought was really sweet… but also fucking terrifying when you're going 120mph. We slowed down near the campus, Chloe didn't want to get ticketed today anyway.

We stopped and silence loomed over us for a bit. Chloe spoke first

"Thanks for hanging out with me this morning, I'm sorry you're such a softy and couldn't stay until 2." Chloe teased me for not being a rebel like her.

"I'm sorry I had to cut it short, I'm sure I can take the bus to come over later for a late night movie? We can take the time to talk about …stuff." I looked away not really knowing what we would talk about, I just wanted to know a bit more about who the Chloe I'm hanging out with today is…

"I'll pick you up. I have to go grab weed off of Frank anyways, might sit and chat with him if he's not up to being an asshole today."

Chloe looked disgusted saying his name, although Frank and her have always had long conversations together, even if they were about how much they hated each other.
I gathered my things and was about to exit the truck when I felt a soft hand brush my left arm. I turned around to a very embarrassed Chloe. She had one tight fist covering her blush and the other holding onto me.

"Can I kiss you before you go?" Chloe tried to turn away but she wanted to look at me and get a response.

I felt heat rush to my face like earlier today and my body tensed up. I felt a weird sensation build in my stomach. I have now experienced what people call 'butterflies'. My stomach was jumping around and my anxiety went up exponentially. Embarrassed, I looked around campus to see if anybody would notice if we kissed..coast was clear.

I could tell Chloe was feeling the same thing by her cheeks, the way she was breathing, her dilated eyes. The way she looked at me…
I scooted closer to her, dropped my gear in the small space between us, and cupped her face. I let the tips of my fingers tangle in her hair while my palms drew her face closer to me. We hesitated for a moment, eyes locked and breath hitched… then we kissed. I felt her warm lips press against mine so softly, so delicately. It was different from the kiss we had today.. it felt welcoming. It felt like home. I heard Chloe scoot closer to me. She grabbed my gear mid kiss and handed it to me.
She stopped kissing me and pushed me towards the truck door while I was mid pucker.
Chloe laughed. I pouted.

"You'll be late hippie." Chloe gave me a smirk and winked at me as I left her car.

"That wasn't fair, you owe me more seconds of that kiss later." I tried not to say it too loud since I was already out of the car and walking on campus ground.

"There's plenty more where that came from, supermax." Chloe said as loud as she could out her window.

Chloe had nothing to lose or be embarrassed about publicly, she was always getting into things.
Her response made me cringe at how loud and obvious that could've been if someone had seen. I shook it off and made my way to the class I wasn't late to at first, but got distracted kissing my new girlfriend that now I am marked down as late. So much for speeding.

The lunch bell rang loud enough to startle me from my absentmindedness in class. I watched all the people in my class grab their things and leave, so I started to do the same. I grabbed my new camera and my backpack, before I felt a presence linger out of my line of sight. It was Kate. Me and Kate have always been friends, but were so busy that we never see each other, except for science class and photography with Mr. Jefferson. I grabbed my things quickly and locked eyes with Kate, her innocent smile greeting me.

"Hey Kate, did you need something? You stayed around to wait for me so I assumed you needed notes or something." I smiled at her politely.

"No nothing like that, I just wanted to talk to you for a bit, we haven't had the opportunity to for a while." Kate played with a strand of hair near her cheeks while she talked. I smiled and opened the door for her

"Sounds like a plan, do you want to get lunch together?" We both left the room and entered the hallway.

"That would be great, thanks for being so kind." Kate looked down in embarrassment, I took a moment to admire her soft features, she is a really pretty person inside and out, it's so heartbreaking to know she's struggling with depression and anxiety. She told me about her mental illnesses a few months back when she was struggling to 'find God'. Me not being a religious person, I really had no idea how to help, but I slept over at her dorm to make her feel better, and made sure she was okay. I fear for her life sometimes, but I try my best to take time out of my day to text her and keep her company.

Lost in thought and conversation, I realized we had already gotten to the cafeteria. We both got our food and headed to the isolated area outside behind the dorm. It was such a peaceful day, we probably had the same idea to eat outside on the bench. We sat down and started to nosh on the mediocre cafeteria food.

Kate put her food down momentarily and sat in silence.

"Max, I saw you sin today." Kate told me sternly and coldly out of the blue.

I practically spat my food out and choked a bit, trying to regain my composure. 'God dammit Chloe.'

"Oh my god I-." I coughed before I could finish. Kate laughed and patted me on the back, helping me catch my breath.

"I'm just joking, I kind of knew you and Chloe were really close, it doesn't bother me at all. I'm actually glad Chloe had the guts to tell you, she's pretty reserved." Kate smiled at me, I let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Jesus Kate, don't scare me like that… I thought you would be against it with you being religious and stuff, sorry if it seemed like I didn't want to tell you, I just didn't know if you'd be comfortable. Plus I only found out a few hours ago so were both practically on the same boat." I wiped sweat forming on my forehead from the burst of anxiety I had just experienced.

"That's understandable, but a real Christian doesn't judge those for their happiness. I really couldn't care less about what you do in your private life, I just thought I'd let you know to be a bit more careful if you don't want Victoria or anybody else in the vortex to find out."

Kate laughed a bit and I felt like I could be a bit closer to her now that she didn't care about sexuality. I honestly don't even know my own sexuality either so having someone not question me about a label is really relaxing. I took one of Kate's hands and held it for a moment.

"Thank you. I appreciate your support. You know Chloe though, always trying to get me or herself into trouble. I'll definitely be more vigilant, I'd hate if anybody in the Vortex found out. I'd have to move again."

I was half serious in my statement. If anybody in the vortex found out I had kissed Chloe, or was going out with a girl, I'd have 'lesbo' and 'fag' pasted and printed on every one of my belongings. Blackwell was a college, filled with people of all sexualities, ethnicities, races.… but bullying was always top priority for the vortex club, no matter who it was.

"No problem, I hope you and Chloe get along well from now on. I'm kind of surprised though, you've only just started seeing her a few weeks ago right? It might be best to take it slow, I mean if you're already going out, that's kind of on a whim don't you think? She might not be the same person you remember, Max."

Kate finished her food off and got more comfortable on the bench beside me.

"Yeah, she was really pissed I didn't text her or call her for the whole time I was back in Arcadia. I'm not really sure, she's still witty and a smartass. She still likes to get into trouble too, but I feel like there's more to her now… Not sure if it's the good kind or the bad kind of 'more'."

I scratched my head trying to think of something more to say, but Kate got up, patted herself down, and put her hand out to help me off the bench.

"I'm sure there's a lot you don't know about her, but I'm sure it'll be a nice experience to add things to your old friendship."

Kate smiled at me, waiting for me to grab her hand. I thought about what she said and smiled, anticipating all the new things I'll be learning about Chloe from now on. Although we were close, we were never this close. She's my best friend, but now she's my girlfriend, total uncharted territory. I smiled and took her hand. I walked Kate back to her dorm, we chatted on the way about her life and when we should watch a movie together again.

We reached her room and said our goodbyes, I promised to text her later. I checked my clock

1:20 pm.

Chloe was coming to pick me up soon, I had a spare for my last period so It was about time for me head out anyways. As if on cue, I got a text from a familiar face.

Text From: Chloe:)

I'm on my way to pick you up, try not to die from anticipation of my amazing kisses

Last seen at – 1:21 PM

I smiled. She's was always such a dork. That's one of the things I always liked about her, even though she was so scared today, not knowing whether her feelings would get reciprocated, she's always trying her best to make me happy.

Sent: Max

Don't text and drive, loser. Plus, I'm not going to die… I have other priorities than just kisses, like school and essays. Maybe I won't have enough time for a girlfriend? :0

Sent at: 1:22 PM

I sent the text and made my way down the hall, to the entrance of the school. I sat at the fountain, observing Brooke, talking to Warren about her drone, or sciencey things. I felt my phone vibrate, another text from Chloe.

Text From: Chloe:)

I'm at a red light I promise. Hahaha, very funny. You're so busy hauled up in your dorm watching movies and texting me until 2am, no time for a girlfriend at all. I hope you're near the entrance hall, I'm a few minutes away, No emoji!

Last seen at – 1:33 PM

I laughed, I didn't want to tease her but it just happened out of my habit to be snarky. I hadn't noticed I had my screen on, re-reading Chloe's messages for 10 minutes. I was startled for the second or third time today, by a very abrupt honk.

I looked up and was greeted by the smile of a beautiful blueberry. Chloe had opened the door for me and waved at me to come towards her truck. I held my bag close to me and jogged up to her car, sliding myself onto her worn leather seats. I closed the door and got comfy.

"Ready to have an awesome movie night? You can use my laptop to work on your essay, we can chill later on when you're done."

Chloe smiled at me again and ruffled my hair. I blushed a bit at the sudden contact and fixed my hair.

"Thanks, I'll take that offer up. Won't take me long I promise, then we can have all the gorey, horror goodness your heart desires." I nudged Chloe's side with my elbow.

"Of course, if we watch anything else I'll get bored… But we can watch one movie of your choosing, princess max." Chloe did the same salute from earlier, putting her fist in front of her puffed out chest.

"So honorable. Let's get this princess to her castle then." I gave Chloe and smirk and we both laughed. She revved the engine and took the truck out of park.