The drive back to Chloe's place was filled with laughs and exchanged snarky comments. Before we knew it, we were pulling into the driveway. Neither of us realized until now, but Chloe instinctively had her arm sprawled over the seat above my shoulders, kind of like a protective thing, practically the whole way home. Chloe retracted her arm while taking the keys out of the ignition, giving me an apologetic look. I smiled holding in a small laugh. Even Chloe had some protective cute sides to her I'll have the pleasure of getting used to. It was strange pulling up to the Price family home twice in one day, plus our 'late night' movie night wasn't very late as of now. It was close to 2 and David would be home soon, which means I either introduce myself, or pretend I don't exist. Shaking my anxiety out of my brain, I got out and closed the car door.

I followed Chloe out of the car and towards the house like a duckling. She fiddled with the keys a bit, and opened the door to nothing but silence.

"Yes, Joyce won't be home for a while to bug me about cleaning or any of that crap, and step-douche won't be coming home for like 40 minutes. He's usually late." Chloe broke the silence with her not-so-quiet inside voice. She shoved her car keys in her pocket and took my hand to lead me upstairs.

"Should I tell David I'm here when he gets home? I don't want him to come home to a stranger with his daughter." I bit my lip at the though and looked up at Chloe for advice. She held my hand a bit tighter.

"You could try being nice to him, but he's still going to be mean to you. He doesn't believe I have any friends."

My stomach dropped and I experienced a bout of sadness. I know Chloe has friends, she's a lovable person, and she cares so much. I can't believe her own step-father would be putting her down like that. Thinking of what to say, I admired Chloe's back while she dragged me up the stairs to her room. Her hair wasn't brushed, and one of her bra straps was twisted.

I heard the click of her bedroom door, and felt the warmth surrounding my hand fade as Chloe made her way to her bed. She bent over slightly to take something out from underneath it. I waited until Chloe stood up straight and hugged her from behind, wrapping my arms around her middle. I squeezed a bit and inhaled… Chloe always smelt so nice naturally.

…

"Maxipad?"

I burst out laughing, trying to hold my grasp around Chloe's waist, her laugh soon accompanied mine.

"Way to ruin the mood." I let my grip loosen around Chloe, and she turned around to face me. She threaded her fingers through my hair gently and pulled me into a hug.

"It's what I do best. And don't let what Step-Führer says about me, get to you. I could tell it made you pissed. I know I have some good friends… and some bad ones too.."

Chloe pulled away from the hug just enough to leave a small gap between us. I leaned into Chloe, hoping for some sort of affection, but she just ruffled my hair again and continued.

"But I also have a girlfriend that I have a lifetime of nicknames for."

Chloe sat down on the bed looking up at me, putting the object she took out from under the bed on the floor. I blew my hair out of my face and fixed it up, a blush formed on my cheeks that felt permanent at this point.

"I guess you're right. I just worry about you, y'know, all the mushy shit about you being important to me and stuff."

I fiddled with my fingers and looked down at my hands. Chloe reached for them and pulled me towards her. I was standing between her legs, looking down at her, embarrassed.

"I know."

Chloe sighed and took both of my hands, kissing the top of them gently. Her soft lips sent a shock of electricity down my body. I felt the hairs on my arms and neck stand up, and my legs started to feel like Jello. Chloe really knew how to make a girl swoon. She looked back up at me and smiled.

"You going to work on your essay now, hippie?"

I snapped back into reality, Chloe let go of my hands. I stepped backwards, hanging my bag around the corner of the chair.

"Y-yeah I probably should." Hating myself for stuttering, I grabbed Chloe's laptop off the floor and placed it on the desk. I kept Chloe in my peripheral vision, letting the heat on my cheeks slowly cool down. I realized what she had put down beside her was her bong, which was typical. I sat down and opened the laptop while Chloe 'packed a bowl' as she would say.

Chloe continued doing her thing while I typed. I heard the spark of a lighter, bubbling water, and then the smell of Marijuana hit me like a train. I never knew how anybody could get used to it. It wasn't bad, just strong. I coughed a little in my seat and I saw Chloe rush to open the window.

"Sorry should've opened it sooner."

Chloe's arm brushed slightly against mine and it made my body heat up again. It was stupid how much of an effect she had on me, I have no idea how I'm supposed to keep this up when everything she does drives my body into complete 'holy shit, turned on' mode.

"It's okay, maybe I'll get high too. This paper would turn out 100 times more interesting that's for sure."

I heard Chloe laugh behind me as she flopped down onto her bed.

"Who knows? Maybe your writing just sucks naturally and you need a boost for your creativity."

Chloe braced herself for an object being thrown at her. I found a stray pillow near my feet and threw it at her. She knew me too well.

"You're so rude, my writing is fine." I hid a smile and she smiled back, taking the pillow I launched and putting it under her head for comfort.

"I haven't read your writing, I guess I wouldn't know, but I don't doubt you. Seeing you high would just be hella funny."

I went back to writing, trying to multitask. "Maybe one day.. But for the sake of this essay, I don't think today would be great."

I looked at Chloe expecting a response but all I got was a nod. She was zoning out and way too high to have a proper conversation at this point, so I let her be. My writing dragged on for a while, but before we knew it, we heard a click at the door downstairs. Heavy footsteps accompanied the mix of sounds. Her stepfather was home. I made a split second decision to introduce myself instead of hide, hoping for a chance of some sort of compassion. Chloe sat up and looked at me, awaiting a response.

"I think I'll go say hi? It seems like the natural thing to do.. I don't want to be on his bad side."

Chloe nodded and laid back down on the bed, shooing me towards the door. I nervously got up off my chair and made my way down the stairs. I was met with a tall man taking off a security hat and placing it on the dinner table.

"H-hello."

David turned around quickly and let out a small sigh of relief when he saw me. He also looked a bit angry, but when does he not?

"I know you. I see you around Blackwell, you one of Chloe's 'friends'?"

I nodded slowly In response. "Yeah.. I just wanted to let you know you had a guest in your home, I thought it would be rude for you to be surprised that someone was with your daughter and-"

I jumped at suddenly being interrupted by a loud masculine voice.

"That's enough. You don't have to explain yourself. I appreciate the gesture, I just hope you're not one of those drug dealing kids Chloe is always talking to. You better not disappoint me. What was your name again?"

My anxiety was starting to make my heart pound. I gulped and continued. Not only was I an intruder, but I had just made out with his daughter earlier today which is probably not on his good side. Be on his good side, Max, for the love of God.

"Max Caulfield, uh, Maxine Caulfield sir."

David looked as though he was jotting down my name on his 'List Of Students to Kill'.. Which probably didn't exist, but it damn well felt like it.

"Maxine Caulfield. You'd best believe I'll remember that. Now go on back to Chloe, I knew she wouldn't come tell me someone was over. She never does."

I nodded and quickly made my way up the stairs and back to Chloe's room. I slammed my back against her poster-filled door with a thud. Chloe got startled and sat up.

"How'd it go? Did he rip you a new asshole?" Chloe mustered a small smile.

I sighed in relief and made my way back to the chair.

"No, he 'appreciated' me telling him but he's so intimidating. How do you deal with someone like that every day?" I started to anxiously play with my fingers again.

Chloe looked down for a moment and sounded somber but serious.

"You don't wanna know, Caulfield, you really don't."

I assumed Chloe was talking about the drugs or the bad people she hangs out with, which seemed like an appropriate coping method for the situation she was in. Chloe flopped back down onto her bed and continued looking up at the ceiling while I continued writing, hoping I was going to finish soon. We were both looking forward to our movie 'night'.

Or whatever it'll end up being, anyways.