Max stared numbly out the window as Arcadia Bay pulled further away from her; ahead, Portland loomed large. Menacing. Cold and inhospitable, a battlefield waiting to test her mettle, and find her wanting.
She should have been using the time to plot out how she was going to deal with the rest of the night. How to eat, where to sleep, what she'd do for money. Whatever it was, it'd no doubt involve a lot of using her powers to commit various acts of theft, breaking and entering and skipping back and forth across the timestream.
Food should be easy, just run into a store, grab something ready-made from the deli counter, make a break for it and then rewind back a few minutes to wipe out any of the camera footage. Sleeping...sleeping, let me see. Shit, I seriously don't want to take my chances out on the street, probably best to avoid the shelters. Uhhh...I could find a place where people appear to be on vacation, or maybe a cheap hotel, and break into a room. Sleep, and then rewind back to wipe out my tracks, and then jump forward in time to cancel out the life loss? Man, can I even jump that far ahead? I did an hour yesterday, and it felt kinda easy...
When it came to the basic question of survival, Max harbored no doubts that she could stay ahead, manipulate events in her favor. Play it slow and careful, build up her cash reserves with petty theft and Keno winnings. Somehow work her way across the Canadian border...and then?
What kind of life was waiting out there for her? Would it always be Max versus The World? A paranoid descent into madness, condemned to an existence of constant vigilance and looking over her shoulder, forever wondering how close Damocles was behind her? Dreading the day they would finally catch up, and what they would do if they ever dragged her back to Zion?
With every mile Chloe drove, Max felt the tight, constricting snare of an unkind future - one where she would be utterly alone - tightening around her neck. She gazed longingly at Chloe's reflection in the passenger side window, trying to burn the image into her mind, steeling herself for what was to come. Praying fervently that if and when the Government came to interrogate her friend, they'd believe her when she said she didn't know a damn thing; that they'd just leave her and her family alone.
A terrible sense of dread clawed at her stomach, as she began to consider the fallout that could hit Chloe; Max needed to protect her, needed to do something so that the oncoming storm turned away from Arcadia Bay, towards herself instead.
Tomorrow. I'll try to pull some cash out of the ATM tomorrow. Give them a good look at my face in the camera. Once they know I'm in Portland, maybe they won't see the need to spend much time bothering with Arcadia Bay, and come straight for me. By the time they converge, I'll be so out of there.
All sorts of ideas began to percolate in her brain.
Wait...what if I really push my future-jumps hard? As far as I can go, as often as I can stand. Just keep jumping and jumping. A year. Or two, or five. Long enough so that they stop looking, at least for a while, and then I...I'll...
And what sort of future was that? One filled with questions, such as why Max hadn't aged a day. One where she wouldn't have the first idea of how to find Chloe. Or worse yet, what if Chloe needed her help, and Max wasn't around to give it to her? So she was dead, or worse?
She clutched at her sternum, willing the tears in her eyes to go away.
Oh fuck! And I just forgot about poor Kate, too! Literally forgot about her until this minute. Man, I suck! I should have stopped by the hospital and visited her. If just for a few minutes. Wonder what the hell she must be thinking? Told her I was gonna be a friend, and then ran away. Wowser, how bad must that look? And then when I don't show up for school, she'll figure it was all bullshit. What if she decides to try an end it again...because of me?
Depression threatened to drag her down into its inky abyss until suddenly, Chloe spoke up.
"Hey Max." She said, a chipper lilt in her voice. "How about one last stop?
Max should have said no; she knew what was going on. Chloe only wanted to delay the inevitable, and she couldn't blame her. She felt exactly the same way.
Only about three o'clock right now. Fuck it, sure. God, I could use a break. Probably just gonna make it harder when the time comes to leave her behind, but shit. I can't deal with all the pain right now.
She glanced over at approaching fairgrounds off to the side, and smirked.
"A-A county fair, Che? Really? We haven't done that since I was eleven."
"Yeah? So? No age limit on getting our corn dogs and tilt-o-whirl on, Maxima. I...I mean..." Chloe swallowed, and gave her a brave smile. "Who knows when we'll ever get a chance to do something fun like this again?"
You mean 'if'.
Max smirked as she considered: one final romp in the innocent garden of youth. A last great hurrah before she torched her entire past and never looked back.
"Guess I am getting a little hungry. Nice weather for it, too."
"Yeah! I'm gonna totally get something that's fried, but hella shouldn't be. Like Kool Aid or a Pop Tart or something!"
Max could only shake her head and laugh, sighing delicately as the pain in her heart eased slightly.
Chloe pulled into the parking lot, paid the fee, and then drove on to find a place to stash the truck. The fair itself was surprisingly well-attended, given that it was late afternoon in the dead middle of the week; Max was grateful for that, though. If she remembered right, it was probably the first day of the Marion County Fair, and come the weekend, it would be a total madhouse.
As they hopped out of the truck, Max slipped her sweatshirt hood over her head, a pair of cheap sunglasses covering her eyes; fortunately, it was the sort of 'sullen teen' look she could pull off without attracting too much attention. Not to mention that Chloe, with her hair and tattoos would draw anyone's eyes off her, as long as they stuck close together.
Chloe paid the attendance fee at the gate, and upon stepping inside, Max asked, "So what do we do first?"
The blunette smiled wickedly, rubbed her hands together and said, "Oh shit, we should totally hit up the games! Between the gun training, and your muscles and powers, you could clean the place up, totally rule the fairway! And..."
Max was smiling just a bit more now, Chloe's enthusiasm infecting her and lifting her mood. At least until she saw her friend's plotting spontaneously die off.
"C-Chloe? Are you okay?"
"No." she answered, in a tight, soft voice. She then held up a hand and continued, "I mean, I'm fine, really." She scrubbed a nervous hand behind her neck. "But I'm...you...you're not a thing. Max. You know what I mean? You're not this killer shiny toy that grants wishes. You're a goddamn person, and I keep fucking forgetting that, even after I told myself yesterday I wasn't gonna."
Max blinked, caught off guard by her friend's sudden introspection. She walked along for a good half minute in silence, at first unsure of what to say. She wanted her response to be measured and heartfelt, but right before she had a chance to open her mouth to reply, Chloe quickly reached up, yanked off her beanie and began twisting it up between her hands.
"I mean, this shit is killing you, right? A little bit, every time you do it?" A pained and haunted look grew on her face as she asked the question.
Max could only nod, glancing down instinctively at where the lifeclock would be on her wrist, currently obscured as it was by the sweatshirt sleeve. She thought about protesting, saying that maybe almost a year's worth of time for the past five was worth the cost, but Chloe continued on, her voice increasing in confidence as she spoke.
"So promise me, from this minute, you'll only use it when you need to, to survive. Please? Don't go wasting your life on me. Don't be feeling like you gotta impress me with tricks. We should be done with tricks." Chloe reached out, took her hand and squeezed it. "This is all for you now, Max. Whatever you want to do." She coughed lightly, blushed, and muttered, "I mean, you're gonna have enough shit to deal with out there, after today. Don't go burning off days of your life for a fucking county fair. Let this place be like...the most normal thing in the world for you. That make any sense at all?"
Max's heart fluttered, a giddy, nervous energy burst through her veins. Chloe's hand felt so good in her own right now, so right. She didn't want to let it go at that moment, but knew she had to, or else she'd burst out into tears. Instead, she squeezed back, let it drop...and then impulsively threw her arms around Chloe, hugging her tight.
"Thank you." she hissed, keeping her eyes tightly shut as she fought back the tears.
"W-what for? Jesus, you mean for treating you like a person?"
"Yeah. That. Exactly that!" Max paused, becoming uncomfortably aware of how her chest felt, pressed against Chloe's. Unable to help but focus on the way their breasts brushed up together in the embrace.
Oh my God...did...did hugging always involve boob-touching? When did this start happening?!
She pulled back quickly, a ferocious blush coloring her cheeks. She couldn't help but feel the magnetic pull between them now, a physical thing. As if that kiss, as brief and seemingly meaningless to Chloe as it had been, awoke something ferocious inside her. She needed to keep some distance between them now, even though it was the last thing she actually wanted.
"Five years, Che. Five years, of being a specimen, or a victim, or a threat. Five years of being...anything and everything, except myself." Her lower lip trembled, and she swallowed hard. Reached up and wiped away a few tears. "And you're the first person to tell me to be me. Like, if I lost my powers all of the sudden, you'd be the only person in the world who wouldn't care...because you'd still be my friend."
Chloe blushed furiously, jamming her beanie back onto her head, "Fuck Max, of course I would. I mean, sorry, I know I've been a manipulative bitch for a lot of the past few days...only excuse I can think of is that I got so used to being beat down and being angry at the world, I glommed onto both my best friend and her super sized power, thinking like...I could try and get some payback. I was angry about you, and for you, and about myself and...gah! Power corrupts, I guess. But it doesn't matter; without your power, you'd still be you, Max. The same, awesome, sweet, wonderful...fuck." She smirked, sadly. "Actually, it would be a lot easier if you couldn't mess with time at all anymore, huh? Then you wouldn't have to run."
Max sighed heavily, deflating just a bit from her initial buzz. "Yeah. Yeah that's true. But I don't think I can just make it go away, and..." She glanced over at the distant fairway. Took a deep, cleansing breath, and then gripped Chloe by the shoulder. "You know what? One last time, let's you and me go fuck with the world a little, huh? Let's go and make some people happy."
It started with the shooting gallery. It took Max a couple of rounds to get a feel for the pellet gun, how it pulled, what its strengths and weaknesses were. In short order, she was shooting out the middle of target after target, to the increasing dismay and incredulity of the barker manning the booth. Chloe cheered and hooted, as her arms grew burdened with the small but growing army of stuffed toys.
"Jesus christ!" the barker vented near the end of the session. "You in the army or something, kid?"
Max smirked, but before she could answer, Chloe called out, "Yeah! Junior ROTC. Watch out, she's gonna be a Marine!"
They two of them ran off, spoils in arms, laughing and whooping it up all the while. Feeling the need to change it up, Max stalked over towards the ball toss, with an exaggerated, confident sway in her hips. Her eyes gazed over the prizes, beckoning to her from up on the back shelf.
"So, little lady." The carnie on duty drawled, favoring her with an oily smile, as if he'd just spotted an easy mark. "See anything you like?"
Max crossed her arms briefly, then pointed out towards the one thing she suddenly had her heart set on. "You know, you could save us both a lot of time and embarrassment if you gave me that Hawt Dog Man electric scooter. Right this second."
He laughed; it was a facade of genteel kindness overlaid against weary derisiveness. "Well, I can't just give anything away, girl. Gotta pay to play, same as everyone else."
Max smiled viciously now. "Just for that...hey! Chloe. You see anything else up there you like?"
"Ya'll mean other than that there shiny-ass scooter, Boss?" Chloe answered in a mock-Southern accent. "Yeah, how about the hella huge Princess Sparklefists plushy."
Max paid her three bucks for the balls, turned to the man and said, "Just remember, I gave you fair warning."
For the next forty-five minutes, Max and Chloe were the Stuffed Toy Avengers of the fair. Every father who failed to fulfil their child's heart's desire was saved by The Woman In Black and her mysterious, blue-haired sidekick. Each and every game fell prey to Mad Maxima, the Girl with the Golden Arm. A hundred hugs were received, a thousand thank you's on top of that. One particularly adorable little girl named Ellie was profuse in her thanks, to the point of tears.
"Man, she is the cutest!" Chloe enthused afterwards. "I love how she said. 'Hewwa awesome!'."
And while it all might have been a fleeting thing, a small bit of material happiness, the experience was worth the memory alone. For a single shining minute, there was magic in the air, the notion that something supernatural was taking place. An hoard of small acts of random kindness became butterfly wings flapping, rustling up a mighty wind of change. Grand or small, for better or worse, Max could feel that what she and Chloe did this day would ripple along for years.
But all good things must come to an end; so it was that a short, squat man, with a pinched face like a rat came angrily waddling down, waving his arms at Max and Chloe. His face was flushed, as if the mixture of anger and physical exertion threatened to burst through every capillary in his face.
"Hey. Hey! What the hell do you girls think you're playing at?" he snarled, having brought them over to a corner off to the side.
"I think we're playing your games, man." Chloe said. "And hella winning, to boot." she added, with a shit-eating grin.
He ignored Chloe, eyes boring straight through Max. "I don't know what your fucking scam is, but stop it! Get the hell out of here, before I call security down and have you thrown out of the fair!"
Max crossed her arms, glaring down hard at the man through her aviator sunglasses. "Really? For what? Winning? How you gonna explain that? We're too good at your games? You wanna take back the prizes we gave away to all those kids? I'd like to see you sell that line to the parents."
Max and the manager stared down at each other, a silent battle of pure will taking place on an unspoken battlefield. As before with Frank, Max quietly waited to see who would crack first, sure as hell that it wasn't going to be her.
On the other hand, I've already made enough of a scene. Stupid, Max. Trying to keep a low profile, and here I am, drawing attention...
"You know what? We were just about to go anyhow." Max muttered, willing to end the dispute.
"But only if you're willing to sweeten the deal!" Chloe suddenly added.
Ah God. Che!
The small man snorted, chomping down hard against the cigar clenched between his teeth. "Hah! Fuck, I knew you were playing a con. Fine, what it gonna take to get you two the hell away from my part of the midway? Not that I'm saying I'm willing to pay you a damn thing..."
Before Max could answer, reassuring the man that they'd already had their fun, Chloe jumped in. "How about a couple of all-day passes for the rides...maybe a few bucks for some chow?"
He stared up disbelievingly at Chloe. "That's all? Just some wristbands and a couple food vouchers? Seriously?"
"You caught us on a good day. We're hella easy." Chloe smirked.
"Yeah, bet you two punks are..." he retorted. "Fine! Shit. Take them!" He thrust a hand into the small supply apron belted around his hips, extracting a pair of day-glo pink bands, along with a couple of ten dollar employee meal vouchers. "But if I catch you two hanging around the prize booths again for the rest of the fair, I will make you so very fucking sorry!"
Quickly swiping the offered bribe in one easy gesture, Chloe tossed off a mocking salute, "Pleasure doin' bid'ness witcha." With that, she turned on one heel, snagged an arm around Max's and quickly lead her away.
Max stumbled at first, as she was dragged off. She leaned in, and whispered, "Che! What the hell was that about?! We should have just left."
Keeping her gaze steadily ahead, her friend whispered back, "Maybe. But you know what? Now, if the Feds ever comes through and ask Mini-Me over there any questions, he's not gonna remember you. He's only gonna wanna talk about the blue haired and tattooed punk-ass bitch who conned him out of some cheap-ass goodies."
Max nearly tripped over her feet. "Holy shit! That...that was actually...pretty damn clever."
Chloe preened, "Hey, believe it or not, I may not have your mojo, but I still can hold my own sometimes. When the moment is right."
Max laughed in delight. She leaned in to hug Chloe again, keeping it briefer than she wanted. "Don't sell yourself short. You're amazing, Chloe. You always have been." She then blushed, as they glanced over at each other, both of them coming to a halt in the middle of the fairway, the combined sounds of monster trucks, screaming rollercoaster riders and music blaring over the PA washing over them.
Chloe blinked a few times, and after a couple false starts, said, "You can roll it all back, you know. Probably should. I mean, we really turned some heads and shit, back there. I won't blame you if you gotta play it safe."
Max clenched a fist instinctively, bit at her bottom lip. One more moment of joy and happiness, of freedom, tainted because of the constant threat of capture. The pragmatic part of her was already calculating how far back to go, what to tell Chloe. To grab the passes and bring them back as proof. But in her heart, she glanced over her shoulder, and spied a few of the kids, still clutching tight to their cheap, Chinese made toys as if they were the stuff of dreams
It only took a second for her to make up her mind.
She couldn't take that away from them, even if they wouldn't know any better.
Wouldn't.
She turned back and shook her head. "Gonna make a stand, Che. I mean shit, I'll be long gone from here in a few hours. And...and think of it this way, Nathan got his ass handed to him by me, and I drew a gun on the guy, so he'll totally give me up if and when Damocles blows through town. And then they'll put two and two together on the thing with Kate, yesterday. Plus Frank, so..." She shook her head. "It's too late. Thank you for trying to jump in front of a bullet for me, or something, back there."
"Ha ha, yeah, well..." Chloe said, fidgeting a bit. "What good is a sidekick if they can't save the boss now and then."
"Thanks, Blue Canary." Max giggled.
They stood together for a few seconds, unsure of what to say next, when Chloe finally broke the tension, and stated, "Hey, I'm gonna take this awesome scooter and whoever the fuck this weird purple and white character with the gem over her boobs is supposed to be, and bring them back to my truck. Let's hit up the rides in a few minutes."
Max busied herself for a short while, taking in all of the various agricultural wonders that Marion County had on proud display in one of the promotional barns before Chloe made her return.
"Okay, so how about the Mind Scrambler first, and then the Zipper, and that thing that, holy fuck, looks like it just drops you down hard! Ha ha, yeah! Then food. Because it would be really hella embarrassing if you yaked up a bunch of nachos all over me." Chloe said excitedly, gently punching her shoulder at the last bit.
Max punched back. "Ha! Fuck you, bitch. They once had NASA put me in one of those high-G centrifugal force simulators. I'll get on those rides, and just..." At this, she made an exaggerated show of yawning.
"Jesus, really? What the hell for? I mean, why did they do that to you?"
Max shrugged. "Can't remember. Uh. Something something...comprehensive assessment...full extent of...I don't know. I'm just going to say some asshole over at the S.O.A.P. really likes tormenting Specials and leave it at that."
"You know what, Maxima?" Chloe said.
"What?"
"You're so full of shit. I am the Zipper queen! Prepare to eat all my awesome!"
By the time the two of them got their fill of being whipped around, dropped, lifted and shook, even Max was looking green around the gills, and ready to stop for a while. "How...about the Ferris wheel?" Chloe offered. "You know, get a nice view of the countryside up there. Catch your breath. That kind of thing."
Max glanced over towards it, and then nodded. "Yeah. Seems good. Although you sound like you're suspiciously overselling the experience." she teased.
The other girl blushes furiously, and shook her head, "Just...I thought it would be something nice for you, one last great view of the country, before you had to..you know, take off. Look, I'll even get your camera. Gotta have some awesome shots waiting for you, up there.
Max mused, tapping her lips in consideration.
Pretty great suggestion, really.
The sun was setting, promising to coat the land in liquid golden fire. God only knew when she was going to get another chance like this, an opportunity to just be Max Caulfield, aspiring photographer.
"Sure!"
Five minutes later, they boarded the ferris wheel, finding they had the entire ride to themselves. Max slumped back into the old style gondola, which forced the pair of them to sit side by side and face towards the same direction. She let out a soft breath, and watched the world go by, in slow rising and falling sweeps. The sun sank down, ever lower against the horizon, a golden orb of hope and promise...
Only to be forever swallowed up by the night...wowser. That's fucking grim.
And yet, it felt like the life that awaited her. Despite the strange interaction in the morning that prompted Max's sudden epiphany, she was honestly grateful for all the delays and excuses that Chloe found over the course of the day to keep them together.
Like she's fighting for me. Fighting for us. Against the odds. She knows how hopeless it is, but she still doesn't care. Damnit, Chloe! Why couldn't...
And for a moment, she considered pushing herself, finding a way to freeze this moment in time, for the both of them. To live in it, for as long as they dare. Together and free. Certainly, that was no more a foolish and impossible thought than believing that somehow, they could have a normal life together. Assuming she wasn't reading too much into things, and if Chloe even liked her...that way.
As they reached the apex of the fifth revolution, the wheel came to a halt, sudden enough to cause their gondola to briefly swing back and forth.
"The hell?" Max asked, jolted out of her revere.
Chloe peered down at the ground. "Weird. Can't see them letting anyone else on. W-T-F?" After another half minute, the attendant called up to them.
"Hey! You two okay? Sorry, something got jammed in the controls. Don't worry though, okay? We're getting a mechanic over. Shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes. You understand? Fifteen minutes, I promise."
Chloe groaned. "Oh great. I was wondering how long it'd be before bad luck caught up to us."
Max grinned over to her. "No sweat, Che-burger. If the wheel breaks off and we go rolling down the fairgrounds, I'll just rewind us back. We're perfectly safe, one way or the other."
Chloe laughed at this. "Fuck, if we start doing something as cool as that, let me remember it!" She then turned to face the setting sun, leaning closer to get a better view over the safety bar. Shaking her head in appreciation, she said, "This is seriously the best view of the sunset, right up here." She turned back to her and asked, "Photographers have a term for that or something, forget what it is."
"The golden hour" Max sighed. Without a second thought, she held the camera up, carefully framing the majestic sweep of the landscape; the trees beginning to show their colors, the harvested fields. The distant skyscrapers of Portland, barely peaking over the horizon. Max felt like an eagle soaring on the wind, appraising her domain. Mighty and unchallenged. She snapped the picture and smiled like a kid on Christmas, waiting eagerly for the photo to reveal itself.
"Wooooow." Chloe said. "That. Is. Hella-mazing." She tilted her head and gave an impish shrug of a shoulder. "See. Toldja this would be the best place to go."
Max laughed brightly. "You're right, Chloe! Ummm." She bowed her head, glancing down nervously at the camera, her hands fidgeting. "Thank you. For everything today. Thanks for not just taking me straight to Portland and being done with it, you know? I'm sure that might've been easier; certainly part of me wanted to do that instead. Make a quick, clean break. But I see now I would've hated and always regretted it. I still fucking despise the fact that after tonight, we might...might not see each other again. At least, not for a long time. But you made today the last best day of my current life...the one in between, from the time you found me in your truck, until I walk out into the city, later tonight."
She was halfway to leaning in, with the purely instinctive impulse of planting a kiss on Chloe's cheek, when she stopped herself short. Cleared her throat, and tried to find a clever way to distract from the potentially embarrassing moment she nearly fell into, when Chloe threw an arm around her, pressing her tight against her side, and said, "Um...think you can get one last selfie of us? Think how awesome it'll be, way up here in the clouds?"
"Hah. Yeah. This is pretty much awesome, right up here.." With that Max leaned in close, holding out the camera ever-so-carefully, thumb over the button. "So. Cheese-fries!"
"Cheese-fries!" Chloe called out, as their vision temporary whited out, despite the flash being barely visible against the stark, vibrant fury of the approaching sunset.
Max tried her best to ignore the fact that Chloe still had an arm wrapped around her. The way her fingers slowly rubbed and drummed against her ribs. Gently stroking her shirt and...and...damnit!
What happened next was her heart making a successful diversion away from her brain, driven by frustration and exasperation. Such close contact with Chloe was now maddening. Max felt fragile, raw and vulnerable. Barely a handful of hours ago, she'd not only come to the conclusion that she was quite possibly gay, or at least seriously crushed out on Chloe, but also struggled to do her best not to follow her impulses, which were screaming to make a move. All for the sake of keeping Chloe - not to mention Max's heart, if she misread everything - safe. But the past couple hours were too much for her to deal with. She had to know, once and for all, what was going on, even if it made their eventual parting awkward.
Max leaned in close and narrowed her eyes. With a thin smile planted on her lips, she asked, "Y-you staking a claim here - uh - Che?" Her false bravado immediately cracked as she continued, swallowing hard, her heart hammering almost painfully in her chest now. "'Cause...it kinda feels that way. Like you're staking a...a claim."
She tried not to laugh at the absolutely precious reaction this elicited from her friend. The scarlet hue suffusing her cheeks, the wide-eyed look of terror and...maybe elation? Chloe stammered at first, trying to play it cool.
"What? N-no. I'm...that...you look cold. It's breezy up here, and I'm just trying to keep you warm and..." Chloe stopped and closed her eyes, her voice going soft and low as she continued. "Fuck. Oh God, I am. I think I am Max. I'm sorry. This is like the last thing you need from me, though. The last thing, just as you're about to go on the run from The Man." She swallowed, almost painfully, and looked away as she gave a nervous laugh. "Jesus, look at me. Trembling. I thought I had this all planned out for the last hour, what I was gonna say, and now I can't remember a damn thing. So I'll try to say what's on my mind right this second."
Max watched, entranced as Chloe brought her hand up, fingertips just barely touching her cheek. "I've got...feelings for you." She then snorted, and rolled her eyes. "Fuck! That sounds hella lame when I say it, right? But it's more than just platonic, more than just best-friends. Shit that's been in there a long time. I can see that now, but only after yesterday. The Other Chloe, the one in the wheelchair, helped me start to realize it. Stuff that was dormant, things I gave up on, when I gave up on ever seeing you again. When my life turned to such shit, and stayed that way, after they took you away from me. But then..."
Teardrops quietly rolled down her face as she continued, "All of the sudden, you came back. And look at you. Confident, and skilled. A badass out of some action movie, and hella gorgeous to boot. An angel landed in my truck, Max, right when I needed her. The most special woman in the entire world." She started to pull back, "But what am I? No one. I'm nobody important. Only this punk bitch who never got over her father's death, who blamed everyone and everything else but herself for what happened in her life after that. Spent the past few years quietly dying. Fuck, sounds like I would be dead for real, five times over this week if you hadn't come back."
Chloe reached up, wiping the tears away. Max could barely believe what she was hearing, transfixed as Chloe finished up. "You saved me, Max. You saved me. I'm gonna get out of this hellhole, and I'm making something of my life. Could never have done it without you. Because that's the most amazing thing about you; even after the shit you told me about, all the ways you got fucked over and tortured, the way they tried to break you...they never did. You're still optimistic, and inspirational, and thinking about everyone else before yourself. Still the same girl I fell...fell for."
She bowed her head, and lamented. "I just wish I was special that way. Wish I could be special for you. To you." She fell quiet for a few seconds, and then began to mumble. "Sorry...'bout this morning. Probably screwed things way up. I just...had to see...but it was dumb." She swallowed and gave a clipped laugh, painfully smiling through her own humiliation. "Dumb and stupid, because you're going away. Have to. Probably for the best, but I...couldn't hold it in anymore. I wanted a moment where...like...like I could see if you...because the way I felt. I'm sorry...I'm so selfish."
Max's heart was breaking and soaring simultaneously, as Chloe removed her steely mask of bitter, cynical detachment. Revealing herself, naked and vulnerable. Offering up her heart, yet so afraid of having it rejected. In that moment, there were a million things she wanted to tell her. Scream, shout. She would have traded all of her powers for just a moment's telepathy, so that she could pour into Chloe's brain everything she was feeling. Everything she wanted. Give her perfect understanding of the war that was waging inside her.
The war she couldn't keep fighting.
Not anymore.
Well fuck. Fuck it all. You only live once, right?
There were a million things she wanted to say, but only one blazed to the forefront, falling off her tongue, as she cupped Chloe's wet cheeks in her hands and pulled her to her gaze.
"Chloe? You listen to me: if I am any of those things you think I am...some sort of hero, someone important, or special or inspiring? Everything I am is because of you. Because once upon a time, this golden haired goddess named Chloe Price saved the day for a shy, mousy little girl named Maxine. You gave me my nickname...did you know that? And more importantly, you gave me...you."
She let her head lean in, until their foreheads were touching. Both of them looked down, their faces framed by dying rays of sunlight. Max licked her lips, and whispered. "Hey." Then flicked her eyes upwards. "Dare you to kiss me."
Chloe choked back on a single laugh, glancing back up, obviously in happy shock.
"Go on." Max whispered. "Double dare you. Kiss me n-"
Their lips met again, for the first time. And it was good.
Great.
Glorious.
The morning's flirtation was but a candle next to the conflagration their soft, pure kiss produced. The air around her thrummed with vitality. What started off as a chaste touching of lips quickly deepened into something far more soulful and needy. Max, bereft of experience as she was, gladly allowed Chloe to take the lead. Teach her, show her. Lips parted, eagerly welcoming the other girl's tongue. Greeting it with her own. Max felt a melding between them both, and in that moment intuitively understood, at long last, exactly what Chloe meant to her. What they meant to each other.
Chloe was her reflection; her other self. The two of them together were one entity made whole. At last.
Their arms encircled each other, Chloe's fingers tangling possessively through her hair. Max felt overwhelmed, deliciously so, in the best way possible. Her senses intensified beyond belief, as her mind devoured every detail of this precious moment, committing it to memory. The gentle breeze caressing the both of them. The smell of fried food wafting up from the midway, mingling with the scent of weed and whatever deodorant Chloe was wearing.
And then at last, the kiss broke, but only long enough for Chloe to move in and start nibbling up and down along her neckline. Max tilted her head back in gleeful surrender. Gone were her fears and her cares. Every voice that might have cautioned her against such reckless, heedless behavior in this moment were crushed under the feathery yet overwhelming weight of her delirium. There was no Damocles, or time travel powers. No Nathan or Frank, or Rachel. No ever-present sword of disaster hanging just millimeters above her head.
There was only Chloe.
Her Chloe.
The two of them. Together. Forever or for a minute. Max didn't care.
She laughed, scrubbing her fingertips over Chloe's back and shoulders, prompting a curious, but blissful expression from Chloe as she pulled away. Just enough to ask. "What's so funny, babe?"
"Just...there's no fucking way I'm rewinding this. I can never take it better pray they get us down, or that the wheel doesn't break and kill us, because otherwise we're screwed."
Chloe giggled, covering her face in kisses. "Oooh! Then I guess I'mma die happy." Then it was Max's turn, to nibble at her earlobes, nuzzle at her neck, and cuddle close. So warm, so happy. Just savoring the moment.
"Wait. Wait, so I have to ask, Max. I mean: Really?! Me?"
Max laughed loudly. "Yes, dumb-ass! You. Really."
"How long?"
"I don't know. Always, I guess? The kiss this morning, just made a lot of things click into place for me. But right now, right here? It feels like it was always going to be this way. You and me. Maxaroni and Che. Right from the start. I just didn't know it, until now."
Chloe blinked, a dreamy, far-away gaze in her eyes. "Wo-ow."
With a clunk and a lurch, the Ferris wheel started back up. Max stole one last sweet kiss and quickly laced her fingers through Chloe's. Happy to let her help her out of the gondola. Ecstatic to feel her arm wrapping across her shoulders, leaning in and wrapping an arm of her own around Chloe's waist in return.
"Heyyyy, alright! Good work." a voice called out. The attendant's. Max glanced from the corner of her eyes to watch Chloe giving an extremely embarassed wave in return, before turning back, trying to swiftly move the two of them away.
"Ch-loooo-eeee?" Max said. "You wanna explain what that was all about?"
"Uhhh..heh. I might have, sort've, accidentally-on-purpose bribed the Ferris wheel guy to stop the wheel and give us some time at the top? I told myself it was only so I could give you a good view for pictures, but...well. I guess part of me hoped something sort of like this would happen. Or at least, I'd get a chance to apologize for what happened this morning. Why I tried to get you to kiss me..."
Max leaned in close, her face barely an inch away, as she breathed out. "Chloe Elizabeth Price..."
"Yes'm?"
"That? Is fucking awesome. Absolutely. The best." She gripped her face, kissing her soundly.
"Hee." Chloe giggled. "Yeah?"
"Totes. For cereal. You are amazing. I never would have thought of that, and I've been trained by some of the smartest people in the world to think outside the box."
"Well, see, the thing is -" Chloe explained. "I've got this spectacular girlfriend. Hella class, all the way. So I gotta give her my best, because she is the best."
Max was insufferable for the rest of the night; she knew it, but didn't care one goddamn bit.
In the last few hours the fair ran after sunset, Max only had eyes for Chloe, reveling in their new relationship dynamic. Soft coos of "Hey girlfriend." or "Hi sexy." escaped her lips as they nibbled on the same corndog together, or sipped from the extra large milkshake cup they were sharing with two straws. Chloe, for her part, was more than happy to respond, less with words, more with physical affection: hands clasped tightly together, or yet another stolen kiss They walked up and down the midway, hand in hand, not saying much; they didn't need to. In every hour after that fateful Ferris wheel ride, they lived only for each other, in the present moment alone. There were no regrets of time lost in the past, nor worries of what the future held. They terrorized the bumper cars, monopolized the bungee trampolines and escaped into dark, unknown corners of the fun house, all the better for making out without being disturbed.
The Marion County Fair became their own personal heaven, or near enough to it. An eden, where they could be wild, young and free. No one needed to understand them, because they understood each other perfectly. No one would give them any grief, tell them that they had a duty, or an obligation, or were too dangerous, or unruly.
When the time came for the fair to close, Max and Chloe meandered back to the truck and looked at each other. Clearly neither was certain where they were going to go from here, but in her heart of hearts, Max knew that Portland wasn't in their future. At least not tonight. She had no idea where she wanted to go, content to leave the decision up to Chloe.
They drove on, but only a few miles ahead, pulling off at a nearby RV park and campground. With the addition of their fair ticket stubs, they got a significant discount on a site; Chloe took great pains to ask for one that was quiet and isolated, near the back. Once they pulled up to their tiny lot, with only a firepit and a table for amenities, Max turned to her girlfriend, smiled, and said, "So. Camping huh? Don't think we're well prepared for that."
"I got a pad and a sleeping bag behind the seats, and a heavy tarp. Some ropes, too, so we just make a tent-garage thing in the branches of that tree over there, to cover up the truck bed."
Max laughed, "Done this before, huh?"
"Yeah." Chloe nodded. "Usually by the beach though, or in the woods near the lighthouse. But this is pretty much the same thing.
It didn't take them long to get things set up; most of that time was spent gathering branches and leaves, enough to start a cheery fire that gave them light and heat. The tailgate came down, turning into a usable enough bench to sit down on. They stared at the dancing flames, arms wrapped around each other as they cuddled.
"So what do we do now?" Max whispered against Chloe's ear.
"What don't we do? The world is ours, babe. At least for tonight."
With that, another pre-rolled joint was produced and lit. Max watched as Chloe inhaled a great, massive lungful, and then moved swiftly, gripping her face, and kissing her deep, breathing the smoke straight into her lungs. Max sucked it in greedily, felt herself melt, a roaring fire lit in her belly and pelvis from the intense intimacy of the moment. She gratefully allowed Chloe to shotgun a few more puffs into her, until there was nothing but a heady, blissful buzz.
Eventually, she found herself slowly dancing in Chloe's arms, to music playing softly from the truck's radio. She nestled in, perfectly content. When something new started to play, it wasn't a song she recognized, isolated as she'd been from much of pop culture over the past half decade, but she could feel the blunette light up in recognition.
"Hey...Maxima?" Chloe said, with a bit of a slur in her voice. "Watch this."
Max opened up her eyes, watching curiously. Chloe pulled back and took both of her hands, squeezing tight. With a deep breath, she fixed a soft, intent gaze on her, parted her lips and started to sing.
"She says I smell like safety and home
I named both of her eyes 'Forever' and 'Please Don't Go'
I could be a morning sunrise all the time, all the time yeah.
This could be good, this could be good."
Unexpectedly, Chloe pulled her back together, dipped her low, and then spun her back around. Max laughed wildly, and continued to watch Chloe sing along, completely entranced.
"And I can't change, even if I tried. Even if I wanted to.
And I can't change, even if I tried. Even if I wanted to.
My Love, my love, my love, my love.
She keeps me warm. She keeps me warm."
"Oh my God, Che, I forgot you can actually kinda sing!" Max exclaimed, breaking away in excitement practically bouncing around the campground. She thought there was no way she could fall any harder for her best friend. And Chloe, her amazing Chloe, was proving her wrong.
Emboldened and encouraged, Chloe reached out, tracing her fingertips enticingly over Max's shoulders and cheeks as she walked slowly in a circle around her, as she continued singing along with the radio.
"What's your middle name?
Do you hate your job?
Do you fall in love too easily?
What's your favorite word?
You like kissing girls?
Call I call you baby?"
Unable to stand it any longer, Max grabbed Chloe by the front of her shirt and pulled her close, frantically planting another kiss on her mouth, hoping that she was at least getting better for all the practice she'd had over the past couple of hours. She pushed her over towards the makeshift tent of the back of Chloe's truck, smiled against her lips, and then breathed out, "I hope this answered your questions. Also? You are such a weirdo."
"Yeah, but I'm your weirdo."
Max flushed heatedly at that. "Yeah." she whispered in agreement. Then their eyes met, and Max forgot whatever else she was about to say. Between her newfound love for her best friend, the desperate urge to live for the night, and her brain swimming with THC, she'd never felt more high, or alive. Her hands moved, steadily but simultaneously with nervous trepidation as she unzipped her sweatshirt and shrugged it off. She immediately proceeded to pull her t-shirt up over her head, adding it to the pile. She blinked, and gave a wanton little smile to herself as she saw the effect it was having on Chloe. She pushed gently past her, into the padded truck bed, where she inelegantly removed her boots, and then peeled out of the leather pants, until she was left in her white cotton bra and panties.
Swallowing hard against the dryness in her mouth and throat, Max combed her fingers nervously through her hair, and said, "Chloe? Uhh. I...I don't know what's gonna happen, after tonight. Don't want to think about it, honestly. So, like." She blushed furiously, and tried to find her voice anew. "I'm yours, tonight. Anything. Anything you want. Because I don't know what to ask for, and you're the experienced one, so..." She laid back a bit, trying to somehow look more enticing, but feeling foolish for the effort. All the same, her heart was pounding with mad desire. Fear, anticipation, lust; all of these and more raged in her heart and mind and especially her body.
Chloe kicked off her own boots, and crawled towards her, a dumbstruck expression on her face, like she'd just won the lottery, or her father suddenly came back to her, in a way where nobody dies, and nothing wrong will ever happen again, guaranteed. Max could see her visibly tremble, even as Chloe reached one hand around, sinking fingers through her short cut hair, stroking her face with the other.
"Max..." she said, exalting the name on her tongue and lips. She tilted her head, kissing her hungrily, passion and tenderness balancing precariously on the edge of a knife. Clearly she was torn between a desperate hunger demanding to be sated and a worshipful need to make their first time together special, beyond any shadow of a doubt.
Max wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, suckling playfully on the tongue in her mouth, moaning low in the back of her throat as she felt Chloe's fingertips delicately trace the curve of one small breast. Max was equally split between twin poles: the desire to be completely, utterly ravaged and the want for this moment to be as slow as could be; almost serene. When Chloe lifted up the bra cup, and held the entirety of her right breast in palm, Max moved to lay her own hand over the blunette's.
Their eyes met. Max drowned, lost beyond hope in Chloe's perfect gaze, as her nipple was casually stroked by experienced fingers. She fell fully backwards onto the truck bed, silently pleading for Chloe to take her. She trilled in delight, as Chloe graciously complied, fumbling at first with the hooks in her bra, and then leaning in to suckle on the exposed flesh. Her body arched up of its own accord, hands twisting chaotically through waves of blue and violet hair.
Every time she thought it wouldn't get better, Chloe showed her how wrong she was. Every moment Max was certain she'd reached a peak, she was thrilled to discover so much more awaited her.
One sure hand slithered down her front, pausing to trace the outline and definition of her abdominals. Max adored the effect they had on Chloe, soaking in her adulation. Fingers paused, resting just above her cleft, and she wanted to scream with frustration.
"Max..." Chloe whispered against her ear. "If I do anything that hurts, doesn't feel right, you just stop me, okay? Anything that isn't amazballs, and you tell me to go slow, or quit or...uh..."
"Chloe Price, you could never...never hurt me." Max declared, leaning up just enough to plant kisses across her cheeks and brow. "So...so you get down there, and you get to work now, damnit. Gimme yer best, whatever you wanna do.." She felt incredible. And incredibly strung out. Like someone else was in the driver's seat now, taking over. Possessing her. A sexier Max. A hornier Max.
Her eyes rolled up, almost painfully, into her head as Chloe began to strum between her legs. She bit down hard as a thumb and forefinger traced deliciously random patterns against her clitirois. Nothing she'd ever done to herself in the past, in those rare, late night moments of self-discovery, could hold a candle to the almost-addictive spike of intense pleasure that threatened to sweep across her. Her thighs ground together, hips bucking up of their own accord.
One finger slipped inside, and she immediately burst into tears. She shook her head in response to the look of fright that crossed Chloe's face. "No! Good! Good, sososososogooood! Don't you dare sssssstooop!" The finger began to thrust in and out of her, in tandem with the thumb against her clit, and the two of them settled into a frenetic, ancient rhythm.
With shaky fists, Max pounded, nails scratched, teeth bit and throat mewled. It wasn't more than a few minutes before she finally came, the upper half of her vision briefly flooding with sparkles, popping in and out of sight, not entirely unlike the time she was subjected to high-G stress. She thrashed about, gagging herself against Chloe's shoulder, distantly grateful that Chloe endured her attacks without complaint.
She could feel something inside her brain snap, like a cracked dam surrendering to the inevitable. She could have sworn that her perceptions grew exponentially. For one tiny moment in the universe, Max could see everything. Every possibility, every potential outcome. The quantum streams and temporal estuaries of time. She let it rush up, and wash over her. So overwhelmed was she by the phenomena, that it didn't even occur to her to pay attention to what was going on, and by the time she started to float back down to earth, she couldn't remember any of what she saw.
She glowed with a palpable sense of joyous relief, cracking open one eye to gaze upward at Chloe, who appeared absolutely flabbergast.
"M-Max. Uh. Was...that you?"
"Mmmmmmmmmmmaybe? Dunno. What did you...what happened?"
Chloe shook her head, eyes flaring wide. She smiled with confusion. "I'm not sure how to describe it. But it was like time crawled to a stop for a few seconds, and then started back up again. Except I could see it as it was happening." She leaned in and whispered. "Huh. Well, always figured sex with a superhero adds a few weird twists..."
"Sex with a superhero? You make it sound like a topic you've thought a lot about!" Max teased.
Chloe shrugged once. "Hey,I liked I said, I write sometimes. It's all part of a healthy imagination."
"Well..." Max purred. "Maybe you could show me more of this 'healthy imagination, huh?"
The passage of time ultimately found the two of them naked, glistening, cuddling together underneath an old military issue sleeping bag. Max nuzzled affectionately against Chloe's bare chest, kissing at the underside of her breasts, while Chloe sprawled out fully on her back.
"Your great strength has brought peace to my restless body." Max murmured low, in a dramatic voice, grinning mischievously up at her girlfriend as she tossed off a quote from the movie they watched last night.
Chloe began to laugh hysterically, calming herself down enough to quickly respond, "I knew I was good. But I didn't know I was that good." She shook her head, grinning like a fiend. "I can't believe you remember anything from last night. God, we were hella baked."
"We got pretty baked tonight too, though not nearly as bad."
They lay together quietly, Max wishing they could get an unobstructed view of the stars. She began to drowse, nearly falling into sleep when Chloe whispered softly, "Max?"
"Yeah, sweetie?"
Swallowing audibly, then taking a deep breath, Chloe clenched her jaw and said, "Tomorrow. When we wake up, and you head off? I'm coming with you. I won't let you just go and walk out of my life. Not after today. I...I can't..."
Max opened her eyes, sliding herself over onto her side, arm propping up her head. She gazed intently at her closest childhood friend. Her soulmate. And now lover. A thousand stillborn attempts to gather her thoughts, to create a stern, convincing argument, rose up, then died off in her mind. Rationally, what Chloe proposed was ridiculous. Max would have trouble enough keeping herself safe. Having to keep an eye on Chloe as well?
Clearly, the other girl saw it in her eyes. She frowned and shook her head. "I won't be a burden, Max. Because...because you need me. You need someone to keep you grounded, someone to help you out. I mean, look at the both of us, Whenever we were kids, we always came up with better ideas together than on our own. That never changed."
In the end, Max knew it was futile. She wasn't strong enough to simply walk off into the sunset on her own. Especially now...
...or maybe it was more the dawning realization that she was stronger, far stronger, with Chloe by her side than without. They completed each other. Five years kept apart, and they fell immediately back into a mutual orbit, closer than she could have possibly imagined. To abandon Chloe now was to lay aside her greatest asset: A reason to live. A reason to fight.
She played with a few errant strands of Chloe's hair and then leaned in to kiss her sweetly.
"Alright then. You and me, Che. Just like old times. The way it was always meant to be."
Chloe blinked. "Well that was hella easy. Way more than I thought it was gonna be."
"Yeah well. I'm pretty easy." Max said, tapping Chloe on the nose. "But only for you."
They crawled under the sleeping back together, tangled up in each other's arms, exchanging soft, sleepy little kisses until both of them fell into a deep slumber.
A/N: Whew.
Whew! Just...you get the point.
So hey, it's Black Swan Friday. And now, NuQueerWarhead is in the editor's chair, cracking the whip and making the words dance their best!
I can't believe we're here, at this point. This was one of the scenes I had in my head from almost the beginning, and after almost eight and a half months, we are finally at the point where we earn the "eventual lemonyuri" part of the story description and "M" rating. :-D There's always a special feeling when a scene that has just haunted you and demanded to be done for months is finally written, and polished and prepared and sees the light of day at long last. I swear I'm actually kind of exhausted. The writing pace has been really demanding lately, and NQW has be an absolutely awesome-sauceom sister of mine in doing all the edits and giving advice on my ideas for the eventual ending. Part of me wants to take one last hiatus after chapter 35 (which as of this note, I am almost 2/3rds done writing the first draft of), but at the same time, it's looking like the series might be over and done by chatper 39 or 40, so another part of me is tempted to just suffer and push ahead.
I hope this was worth the wait, guys. Obviously, the next couple of chapters get back to advancing the plot and showing folks what's been going on behind the scenes while Max and Chloe were eating corn dogs and um...heh heh. ;-)
Ellie is a nod to rowanred81, because they are both hewwa adorable.
There actually IS a real life Marion County Fair in Oregon, but it usually happens in July. Obviously, I played around with the timing for my own needs. Also: I will admit I am a sucker for county fairs, having grown up around some major events in my area. Especially the Eastern States Exposition.
Damn, I feel like I should write more, but eh. I believe this is now officially the longest chapter in the series, not to mention the first to crack the 10K mark. And next week, I think we finally cross 200,000 words!
Enjoy!