Howdy there! It's been so long. School is insane, and I began working on the show I'm in with my theater class in January so my time has been cut short. Not to mention I have serious homework and I'm just dealing with life in general. Anyway, enough complaining. You didn't come back for that. You came for the chapter!
Enjoy the miraculous return!
Also, big thanks to my friend from AO3, Moonmist_Fire (who also assisted me in writing The Price) , for helping me!
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~I don't wanna be anywhere else
than anywhere else but here... (x2)~
Bzzt! Bzzt!
"Aahh!"
Max jerked awake at her desk, her heart pounding rapidly in her ears. It took a second for her eyes to focus, the bleariness giving way to the sight of her laptop, desk, and wall. Holy shit. she thought. She put a hand to her chest and took a deep breath. Looking back down at her desk, her phone vibrated again and she caught sight of it lighting up with Chloe's face glowing on the screen. Raising an eyebrow and ignoring the uproar of butterflies and excitement in her stomach, she leaned forward and unlocked her phone.
Chloe: Meet me in front of campus
Max felt the butterflies increase. Chloe was ready for her. She picked her head up and looked out the window, seeing that night had fallen in the time she'd been asleep. She wondered why it had taken her so long to message her, and why she still wanted to meet so late. She was also worried about her curfew. What if someone caught her on her way to meet Chloe?
It's okay, I'll make it. So I better get moving.
She stands up from her desk, stretching out her tired limbs and yawning. She grabbed her phone and her keys, sending a quick 'okay' to Chloe, and picking up her messenger bag. Checking to make sure she had everything, Max left her room and shut the door quietly. She was enveloped in darkness. With a sigh she pulled out her phone.
Okay, this is scary dark. Let there be-
The flashlight on her phone clicked on, chasing away the shadows of the hall and putting Max's anxious heart at ease. Near the end of the hall she could see that Dana's door was open and light was casting out. Max bit her lip. Maybe if she was quiet enough, she would make it by without drawing attention to herself. She took a breath and moved as quickly but silently as possible. On her left, she could see a light emanating from the shower room implying that someone else was awake. Max's heart sped up and she kept moving. She stopped at the edge of Dana's room and leaned over to look in. Dana had her back to her door and a laptop settled in front of her.
She's distracted. Good.
Max tiptoed by her door and moved a little faster toward the front. She slipped out effortlessly, the door falling shut behind her. She waited another second before continuing on to the door leading outside. She opened it a crack and the chill of the Autumn air swirled in, ruffling her clothes and causing goosebumps to rise on her skin beneath them. She set her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. She stepped outside and released a breath she didn't know she was holding. The silence of the outside was only broken by the quiet songs of crickets and the soft chattering of squirrels.
So Chloe is waiting for me in front of the main hall. she reminded herself.
She looked around to make sure she was the only one in the general vicinity. The last thing she needed was someone to catch her out here after hours and report her to Principal Wells. Especially Victoria. Max shuddered at the thought as she descended the stairs. Hugging herself tightly from the cold, she started making her way to the front of campus, passing the bronze statue and fountain. Its shadow loomed up ahead, slightly ominous as it reared up in front of her when she neared it, and she shuddered a little - not entirely from the cold. She lengthened her stride and shuffled past it, moving to the front to find Chloe. Her head swiveled back and forth and her ears strained to pick up the slightest noise, ready to dash off into the greenery at any moment.
Chloe, having circled the statue just out of Max's sight with a mischievous grin on her face, tiptoed up behind her and poised her hands to strike. "Booyah!" she called, jumping forwards and landing on Max's shoulders. She bounced over to the side laughing and gave Max a stupid grin when she stopped moving. "Get it? BOO-yah? Like I'm a scary punk ghost?"
Max shivered a little, mostly from Chloe's sudden touch rather than the shock. She turned to her, ignoring the shivers and the subtle heat on her shoulders left by Chloe's hands, and gave her a mockingly chastising look. "More like a scary punk asshole." She scoffed with a roll of her eyes but her tone is light and joking. "Anyway, you'd better have a good excuse for waking me up? I was sleeping ever so peacefully on top of all my textbooks.
Chloe put a hand to her chest, feigning hurt at the insult. "Max, I am wounded. I would at least think you'd go for 'scary punk girlfriend.'" She dropped her hand and laughed, walking back up to Max and wrapping her arm around her waist. "Surely you didn't forget about my promise to to take you out tonight, right? Or were you dreaming so deeply about me that it slipped your mind?" She waggled her eyebrows and smirked.
A striking crimson seared through Max's cheeks. She mumbled something that sounded like 'You wish!' under her breath, but she still settled comfortably into Chloe's side. She leaned her head against her as if it was the most natural thing in the whole world. And it is; it seemed very well like it.
Chloe laughed and hugged her tighter. "So, Maxipad, do you want to know what I have planned?" She leaned back to look at Max. "And I swear on my life it isn't a strip club. We'll save that for a trip to Portland."
Max's blush deepened and she tried to ignore it. She waveringly met Chloe's gaze with a shy smile. "Just tell me. What's your secret?"
Chloe took an arm from around Max and reached into her back pocket. "Drum roll, please." She pulled out a set of keys, jingling them with a very triumphant grin. "I present to you the keys to Blackwell. Thank you, step prick."
Max laughed softly, but a little anxiety lurks beneath the sound. "You are such a boss, Chloe." She looked at her seriously, though. "I don't want you to get in anymore trouble, though…"
"Oh, please. I won't and you won't. Now," Chloe gave her an impish look. "How about a little splish splash in the Blackwell pool, huh?"
Max's eyes widen. "The pool? Isn't that…" Thoughts whirled through Max's mind, some bubbly with the excitement of danger, other admittedly presumptuous. And though she wanted to, badly, in fact, it was impossible to ignore the tugging nervousness at the notion being caught by David - the head security, and Chloe's stepdad! - at such a late hour, when she wasn't even supposed to be outside the dorms. Let alone in the pool. "Swimming? You want to take that risk now?"
"Hella yes! It's been a cray day. We deserve a little mindless fun." Chloe jingled the keys again. "So… splish splash?"
Max hesitated for a moment before shaking her head a little, laughing again. How did she do that? Change her mind so quickly? "You're right. We hella deserve it. Splish splash!" She grinned broadly, took Chloe's hand and leaned against her shoulder again, already starting them off in the direction of the pool.
"Did you just say hella?" Chloe grinned smugly, allowing Max to lead her along for a bit before stepping in front of her. "I think I'm becoming a bad influence on you." She kept walking towards the pool building, letting go of Max's hand in order to unlock the door and open it. It creaked a bit and the now excited, childish grin plastered on Chloe's face widened. She took Max's hand against and led her to the locker rooms.
When they stepped inside, Max looked around. She hadn't been in there often, just once or twice, and it gave off a whole other atmosphere of mystery when she looked at it at night. With the only light coming off the vending machines and not much else. "We're in the Otters' lair!"
"Big fucking deal! I want that heated water! "Chloe walked to the center of the room and turned to face Max. "Stupid question, but… Boys or girls?" She smiled teasingly and gestured to the opposing locker rooms.
"Girls, of course!" Max answered immediately, but suddenly realized something. Was there a double meaning to that… or am I just overthinking things? She shook her head a little to clear her thoughts. Whatever. She knows I love her.
"Girls, o la la." Chloe winked at her knowingly and turned toward the girl's locker room with a small swagger in her hips. "Let me see if the pool's heated." She disappeared behind the locker room door.
Max didn't dawdle in the locker room, instead heading straight out through the other side to see Chloe sitting at the pool's edge - and, barely noticeable in the gentle glow cast by the light of her phone, a small picnic spread off to one side. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight, coming over to kneel down a little next to Chloe. "I didn't know you were such a romantic, Che." She teased gently, gesturing to the humble spread.
Chloe gave her a sideways grin and swirled the water around, pulling her hand out and shaking the water off. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Caulfield." She looked at her now with a wide, excited grin. "Turn the lights on, I wanna see the sharks!"
Max rolled her eyes but got up to her feet again, however keeping her place next to Chloe to give her a knowing look. "Otter don't like sharks, they bite."
"So do I." Chloe said with a very overly flirty wink. "Now hit that light!"
Max turned before Chloe could notice her blush, moving toward the control room where she found the control panel and flipped the switch. She smiled as somewhere off to her left the lights start to life.
Chloe grinned when the pool lights started to come on one by one, the lights illuminating the space. She got up and turned around to call to Max, "Do you want to swim or eat first?"
Max stepped onto the pool deck, the grin never leaving her. "I don't think you're supposed to eat before swimming, Chloe." She laughed.
"I don't think so, either. Good thing I didn't bring any perishables." Chloe nodded her head at the water. "Guess we're getting in with the sharks, then." Her hands went for her shirt and she started to lift it when when she paused and grinned. The grin was clearly joking. "Skinny dip?"
Max blushed brightly, the color now clearly visible in the bright blue glow of the water. She smiled a little nervously back at Chloe, relief flooding into her when she saw the joking sparkle in her eyes. Chloe's grin widened as she rid herself of the shirt and tossed it aside. She did the same thing with her jeans and stood at the edge of the pool. She counted to three in her head and dived in, letting the warmth of the water envelope her. When she came back up she shook her head a bit, sending water droplets spraying from her hair.
"Oh, yeah, baby, feels like a hot tub!" she declared.
Max barely heard the words Chloe was saying. Her gaze was trained entirely on her, and she was utterly stupefied as to how the glittering water accentuated the staggering beauty of just Chloe in general, feeling the butterflies stirring in her stomach. She gulped inconspicuously as her heartbeat quickened.
Chloe caught her looking and smirked, making her way closer to the edge. "Don't tell me you're gonna stand there watching me like a zombie." And with a small laugh, she sent a rush of water towards Max.
Max jerked out of her moonstruck haze when a few shimmery droplets strike her arm. Stepping back a little from the pool's edge, she laughed. "Don't you dare!"
"Come stop me, hippie!" Chloe challenged. She could almost swear the stupid grin slapped across her face would split in half if it grew any bigger. She sent another, much smaller, splash of water at Max.
"Okay, you asked for it!" Max chuckled. She pulled her shirt over her head and rid herself of her jeans, still blushing as little - wondering if Chloe was watching her. And if she would want her to watch her? Her cheeks burned brighter, and she shoved down her qualms, stepping back a little to be able to perform a running jump.
Chloe laughed upon watching Max start to undress and looked away for a moment, wondering if she should really be watching. I mean, she is my girlfriend now… Would it be wrong to..? She shook her head to clear the confusing thoughts and looked back to see if Max was done. She tried not to trail her gaze up her body as she smiled and called, "I'm waiting!"
Laughing, Max ran to the edge of the pool and with a "Cowabunga!" she cannonballed directly next to Chloe with a great splash. It sent sparkling droplets of water everywhere, disturbing the initially calm surface of the pool and making Chloe raise her arms to shield herself from the blow. She pushed herself back and still ended up being splashed. Max surfaced, taking a deep breath, and grinned at her.
Chloe lowered her arms and looked back at Max with the same grin. She waggled her eyebrows. "Why, look, and otter in my water." She swam toward her jokingly menacingly, humming the Jaws theme.
"You're so obvious." Max laughed. "And I get freaked out by that movie, so stop." Lifting her hand a little, she sent a surge of water at Chloe. "I can't even watch any of those shark shows."
Chloe just barely dodged the water with a laugh but continues her advance, returning the attack with one hand. Just as she got within reach she dived under water and grabbed Max by her ankle, pulling her down with her. Max squeaked in surprise when Chloe's hand clamped around her ankle and just barely closed her eyes in time just as her head goes underwater. Chloe held her under for a few seconds before pulling her back up and laughing, her eyes closed from the water running down.
When she finally surfaced after what seemed like years, Max sputtered but laughed as well. "Chloe!" She chided jokingly.
Chloe waited until the water lightened up to open her eyes. She couldn't explain the fluttering sensation rising in her chest when she saw Max before her, grinning and soaked with pool water. Her eyes followed a the single drops that trail across her freckles down to her chin and releasing back into the water. She looked back up at her eyes again with a more than happy smile.
"What was that for?" Max asked with another chuckle. She caught how Chloe was looking at her, smiling softly. She moved a bit closer to her against her will, as if her body was saying 'this is destiny' but her mind was screaming 'this is wrong'. But she forced that part of her into silence, instead moving closer into Chloe until before she knew it she was nestled up in her arms.
"For fun." Chloe wrapped her arm around Max and rested her cheek against her head despite the water. She chuckled and added, "Or maybe I just thought you weren't wet enough." Her heart was starting to pound in her chest as Max's warmth seeped into her and chased away the cold from the half of her out of the water.
Astoundingly, Max felt Chloe's heartbeat pressing against her - and one might even say hers started to sync with it. A glistening cloak of silence started to settled upon them, leaving the only sounds the rustling of the water and their breaths and heartbeats. She rested her head against Chloe and sighed softly. No doubt, the butterflies were exploding in her chest and stomach at the close proximity, but she did her best to ignore them and close her eyes in order to use all her other senses to memorize Chloe.
Chloe swallowed thickly. Her hand rose to Max's cheeks and lifted her head just a bit so she could look at her again. She took in the most defining features of her face, her other hand coming up so she could brush both her thumbs over her cheeks. After another moment, she decided that those were her favorite things about her. They added to her charm. She followed their spattering patterns down her neck and shoulders, only to find herself wishing that she could see if they went down her back. She bit her lip and looked back at Max. "I love your freckles, Max…" She admitted quietly. The words slipped before she could catch them and she blushed a little.
At those words, Max's head reeled and butterflies seemed to erupt from every single drop of blood she has in her. She forced herself to stay still and smiled shakily back at her, blushing even brighter than before. "Y-you do?" She'd be lying if she said she hadn't hated her freckles ever since the first time she looked in a mirror. But knowing Chloe loved them made her heart throb painfully, eager to find out how to love them too just for her.
Chloe gave the same smile back, followed by an awkward laugh. She let a finger trace the freckles from the bridge of her nose across her cheeks, down the vein of her neck, and across her shoulder until she lost sight of them thanks to the water. "I wish I could kiss every single one of them…" She didn't realize they had been drifting to the wall of the pool until they came to a sudden halt. She stared down at Max with slightly parted lips and eyes that searched hers.
Each syllable slipping through Chloe's mouth sent Max's heart racing faster and faster until it seemed she was about to burst. Chloe's finger left her shivering inconspicuously, and when they finally hit the wall she gasped quietly as the sudden impact jolted her from Chloe's clear, oceanic eyes. She quickly looked up at her again, biting her lip tenderly when the image that met her sent such a powerful surge of awe that she thought she just might faint.
How did someone get that beautiful? That perfect, this other-worldly person who was too beautiful even be called human? Her shining cerulean eyes somehow turned bluer by the water not too far below, her perfectly curved cheekbones and jawline and nose seeming to have been carved by a century-old carpenter who knew exactly what he was doing when he created that ethereal indescribable beauty, her face being dashed across by the plays of light dancing gaily across her perfect cheeks and face. Max's breath was completely blown from her. And without knowing it, her body leaned closer to Chloe's, and their faces were so close together that it's just a sheet of almost nonexistent air that separated them.
Chloe registered their distance and immediately closed it, capturing Max's lips in a heated kiss. She dismissed the fact that her lips tasted a bit like chlorine and pressed her into the wall, her hands placed on either side of her just above her shoulders now, but one drops to wrap around her. After a minute she rested her forehead against hers short of breath and a small smile on her face.
As soon as their lips made contact, the butterflies within Max seemed to all collect together and float away all at once, leaving time standing at a complete stop for a few moments. Her heart was no longer beating. She was no longer breathing. Those she tried to return the kiss, her lips moved clumsily in her state of mental standstill, and she was left breathless when Chloe finally moved away from her. Looking at her through lazy-lidded eyes, she exhaled softly. "Che…"
Chloe's breathing patterns were also unkempt, and her grin only widened when Max said her nickname softly. She kissed her again with much more power behind it. Her arm tightened around her. She bit at her lower lip, exhaling softly with a gentle tug eager to move the kiss along. She lazily dragged her tongue over the bite afterwards to ease any pain that came with it. Max gasped again at the bite, even moaning gently when Chloe's tongue moved along the length of her lip to soothe it. But she understood the gentle nudges that those actions were giving. She leaned further into her, moving her arms around Chloe's neck as she exhaled a little through her nose.
Chloe shivered at Max's quiet moan despite the heat she was surrounded with. She tried to catch her footing and reached down to hook her hands under Max's knees. She wrapped her legs around her and move her into the wall same as before. The force of the roll of her hips was stunted as bit by the density of the water and she tried not to let her frustration show. She ducked her head to start kissing down Max's neck and to her shoulder, leaving another bite.
Though the intensity of Chloe's hips was slightly muffled, the ministration still manages to evoke another moan from Max. "Chloe, what're you -" Her words were cut off by a gasp when Chloe's teeth met her skin. She pressed tighter into her, her breaths already becoming labored.
Chloe winced with the realization of what she was doing. Max's moan ripped through her and it took a lot not to bite her again as she picked her head up to meet her gaze. She could piece together the rest of what Max was going to ask, and looked a bit ashamed and flustered. "Fuck, sorry, Max. I was getting ahead of myself there…" She gave her an apologetic smile and loosened her grip. "I'll, um, let you go if you want."
"N-No, don't…" Max found herself burning bright red, unable to tell Chloe that she liked it. Too shy or too scared? Maybe both. Those feelings were new to her, and it was hard for her to describe how she felt. So she tightened her grip on Chloe again, leaning in to whisper in her ear nervously, "Can...can you do it again?"
Chloe looked at her from the corner of her eye with an intrigued expression. She answered Max's request by returning to her forceful, protective grip and rolled her hips again harder. She let out a moan of her own then when something hot and knotted struck her in her gut. She left various kisses across her neck and shoulders, happening to come across one of Max's erogenous zones in the process. Tiny moans were escaping Max through the small administrations, but when her mouth came to the sensitive spot right where her neck ended and her shoulder began, she cried out as soft as she could. Her hands tense around her and she reached up to push her head harder into that space, panting.
Chloe pulled away at a millimeter's distance, her eyes slightly wide in surprise. Shit, did I just find one of her sensitive zone things? She barely got the chance to answer her own question when Max forced her back to it. Chloe kissed the area again and decided to get experimental with a soft bite and a tender lap of her tongue. She moved her hips again and she could hear Max's back thud quietly when it made contact with the wall again.
With Chloe's teeth and tongue once again teasing the spot, Max tilted her head back until it hit the wall and moaned loudly, not caring about the fact that it echoed through the whole pool area. "Chloee…"
Fuck, the way she moans… Chloe thought. Her heart skipped relentlessly in her chest and she tried her hardest not to melt. She took note of that special area, but not before she again bit and lapped her tongue at it. Her hand skimmed her waist and moved up to her chest, where it glided over the material of Max's bra and gave her a tender squeeze.
Through the pounding of her heart, the rushing of her blood, and the sounds of Max's moans bouncing off the walls in her ears, Chloe couldn't hear the telltale signs of shoes clicking against the linoleum floor of the pool room. It wasn't until she was bathed in a bright light that she looked up to squint against it. When she saw who was behind it, her expression fell. "Oh, fuck."
"Busted." David said.
...
Jeez, will Max and Chloe ever get a break?! Who knows! I so hope you all enjoyed the much awaited chapter of This Side of Paradise. And I can't apologize enough for how long it took to come out. Forgive! And do come back for chapter 11!
CaptainVampireQueen awaaay!