Max slept deeply through the night, untroubled by disturbing dreams for the first time in days. But as she slowly roused from slumber, she couldn't help but feel a nagging sensation gnawing at the back of her mind; it was as if she'd forgotten something vital, and was just on the edge of remembering it...but something kept distracting her.
Something like Chloe's lovely body pressed tightly against her own, perhaps; their arms encircled each other. Max smiled blissfully as she recalled the previous day's incredible events, still riding high off the wave of euphoria spurred by her newfound love. She saw no reason not to hang on to the way it made her feel, for as long as possible.
She then worked on planting tiny, teasing little kisses over Chloe's neck and earlobe, giggling under her breath at the reaction they caused. The blunette moaned and gently swatted at her in reaction. Eventually she roused enough for the both of them to trade sleepy kisses and nuzzles; this went on for a few minutes more until the tranquil bubble of their private little world was shattered by a noise emanating from Max's lifeclock.
Chloe jerked fully awake, and looked around fearfully as a tinny funeral dirge continued to play. Max glanced down at her wrist, flush with embarrassment as she desperately tried to find a mute button on the contraption.
"Ah! Fuck! Jesus...scared me...Max? Whatzat? Alarm?" Chloe said blearily. "Howcum it no go off b'fore?"
Max blinked, "It...it never did this before, period! I mean, I don't see any reason why it couldn't play songs, it just never did in the past. Now why the hell would..."
And then she noticed the readout. Under the heading of OBJECTIVE AGE.
Oh damn...
She'd physically turned nineteen years old, just this minute.
Explaining to Chloe exactly what happened, the other girl nodded, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Really? Mmmmm neat. Happy birthday, babe!" She kissed her face all over, before belatedly pausing. "Wait. Why is it playing music like you're gonna hella die?"
Max rolled her eyes. "Because that's the kind of shit that would fit with Cammie's sense of humor. A 'gentle reminder' that I'm burning off days off my life when I use my powers." She remembered what Chloe made her promise last night, to limit their use. One year for five, when she was using her ability every day to some extent as part of the training and development, seemed like a pretty good tradeoff to her.
But I didn't have a good reason back then to prolong my life. Now? I have the best!
The two of them lounged about in their makeshift tent, soaking in each other's presence before Chloe whispered, "So what's the plan, BatMax? Today's the first day of our lives on the run."
Max blinked. She'd barely given any thought to survival plans when she figured it would only be her. Now that it was the two of them together, things changed; there were potential disadvantages that had to be taken into account, but new resources suddenly made themselves available as well.
"We...we're going back to Arcadia Bay."
Chloe made a face. "Sure that's wise, baby? Seems kinda risky."
"It is." Max agreed. "But hear me out. You're sitting on a pile of cash...thousands of dollars. By now, there's no way in hell I can get anywhere near my money. I'm sure the account is frozen solid, or if it isn't, they'll be looking to trace us through banking attempts. We'll do a lot better if we start off with more than six grand in our pockets. And we need to get you some stuff: your clothes, and laptop and shit. And..."
She bit down on her lip, as guilt crept across her face. "And I know you don't care about your step-dad, but you'd probably like a chance to say goodbye to your Mom? I mean...not tell her personally, but see her, and then slip her a letter when she's not looking? It shouldn't be too risky, really. It's barely been seventy-two hours since I 'disappeared' from New York City. As long as we're gone for Portland by the end of the day, we'll be fine. Besides, if we run into trouble, I'll just rewind back and warn you. Easy, right?"
She intentionally left out the possibility of getting Nulled by Wright, and having to somehow flee out of her range in order to rewind back.
No point in worrying Chloe about things like that...
Chloe nodded, and then said with a grin. "Yeah. Sure, that's right. Early warning system and all that shit. 'Cause yeah, it would be pretty killer to have more than just the clothes on my back if we're gonna run off together...oooh!" she giggled. "That sounds romantic. Mmmmm. Plus, we get to totally screw Frank out of his money..."
Max blanched, somehow having forgotten all about that. "You think that's safe? What happens if he decides to come after your Mom for revenge?"
Chloe snorted, shaking her head. "No way. Never gonna happen. Joyce puts up with a lot of his shit at the diner...keeps him fed. Wicked Stepfather is too well armed and crazy to not bring the heat if Frank messes with either of them. So no, I mean, he'll definitely wanna kill us dead if he ever sees us in town again, but that's never gonna happen after today."
"Alright then. I guess that settles it. We make one last trip to Arcadia Bay for a supply run."
They locked eyes and smiled at each other, Chloe murmuring "Yeah." in agreement. They both took a deep breath, and then...
"But first, we seriously need a shower."
"Really? You th- Oh! Yeah. Pfew! We really do." Max replied.
The two threw their clothes on, and made a beeline for the women's bathroom building further up in the campground..
They quickly stripped and made their way towards the small shower stalls. Max gave a soft sigh, relaxing as heated jets of water washed over her. She contented herself what she assumed would be a fast scrub and go...
...but that was before she opened her eyes and started sneaking peeks at Chloe.
In the full light of the day, it was like she was seeing her for the first time. Max couldn't help but gaze at her lips, parted in a soft, toothsome smile, and the tapered grace of her nose. How Chloe's head canted back and to the side, running her fingers through her azure locks as she scrubbed her hair; not to mention the way doing so caused her bare chest to jut forward invitingly. Max's eyes intently focused on the rivulets of water as they traced their way down her moist skin, starting at her breasts, and then eventually drawing attention to the curve of her rear and thighs.
Oh….oh God! I can't believe I never noticed it before...how absolutely hot Chloe is! Hee...and now she's allllll mine.
She reaching out to grab the bar of soap at the same time Chloe did; their fingers brushed against each other, suffusing her chest with electric tingles, which then pooled into a hungry heat between her legs. Their eyes met, and in that moment, all she could think of was how much she wanted her...damn the consequences.
Max smiled wide as a naughty idea popped into her head.
She wrapped her fingers around the bar, and then leaned in, planting soft little kisses and tiny tongue tip licks against Chloe's arm, tracing the outline of her tattoo. She then moved over behind her, wrapped a single arm around her waist, and nuzzled sweetly at the back of her neck. Soon, soapy hands wrapped around the blunette's front, lazily caressing her breasts, and paying special attention to her inner thighs.
"Max!" Chloe squeaked in surprise. She laughed and turned around, blushing. "I know it's way late in the morning, but someone could still walk in on us..."
Wowser. She forgot about me rewinding time if I have to? Well...let's not remind her. That'll make it more exciting, right?
Cocking her hips in a confident demeanor, Max purrred. "Yeah? That's what makes it fun, right? A little bit of risk. Besides, this is your fault, really. I should arrest you for criminal hawtness with intent to turn-on. And poor little me, falling prey to your seductive charms..."
Chloe laughed louder, and then tried to murmur low enough to still be heard over the spraying water. "Oh my God, like, you're so not innocent now!"
"Really?" Max teased. "My first time was last night. Why, that means I'm almost a virgin, still. Especially compared to you. I mean, probably?"
With that, Chloe double checked the thin plastic curtain that separated the two of them from the rest of the bathroom. She paused for a few seconds, before suddenly grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her around. She pushed her back hard against the wall, kissing her furiously.
Max felt lightheaded, as powerful pulses of raw sexual heat thrummed up and down her body.
She found it addictively thrilling, the way she managed to inspire this sort of abandon. Eagerly returning the kiss, her tongue pushing its way insistently past Chloe's lips. Her lover's chest was still slick and soapy from her ministrations, and they soon found themselves writhing and grinding needily against each other. A finger easily slipped in between her legs, and Max found herself more than willing to return the favor. They pleasured each other greedily, the white noise of the falling water providing at least some cover for their heated moans; as much as Max wanted to throw caution to the wind, and completely abandon herself to the moment, too many years of situational awareness training had been drilled into her head; she kept half a watchful eye towards the door, content that Chloe at least was utterly enraptured.
She adored watching Chloe, the feral, passionate expressions that formed on her face, as she thrust two fingers inside her, with thumb working in wild circles against the clit. She leaned in and hissed, "You like that? You like me fucking you, Che? Right here, where anyone could walk in?" She couldn't believe the words coming from her mouth! Like the previous night, it as if she were possessed by someone completely different.
God! I've got years of pent up lust to work through. Poor Chloe. Or lucky her!
Her words only inflamed her girlfriend to further heights. Chloe gave a loud moan, before clamping her lips and teeth down hard on her neck. Max saw stars, the sensation of pain and pleasure mingling together so deliciously. She felt herself being claimed and desperately wanted more.
"Sc...scratch me, Che. Hard!" Max shivered in delight as blue fingernails crept slowly over her shoulder, drawing out the tension, until they suddenly raked hard over her back. The intensity of feeling it produced was absolutely amazing.
Things grew muddled as the both of them became completely lost in their frenetic mutual fingering. Max glanced up, opening one eye, and smirked as she took note of how much slower the rest of the world appeared to be moving around them; she could easily track each and every individual droplet of water leaving the showerhead and splashing against the tile, as if a minute from their perspective were passing in mere seconds in the outside world. She would have thought to stop whatever was going on, were it not for the fact that Chloe seemed completely unaffected; instead, Max focused on enjoying whatever the hell was happened, especially if it let them get in a 'quickie', while simultaneously giving the word a new literal meaning.
Neither of them lasted long, and as Max felt the surging plateau of her release approaching, Chloe's eyes flew open. She snarled against her ear, "Look at me. Look at me!" She did as instructed, the domineering tone of the command sending her over the edge. As her eyes locked onto Chloe's, Max found herself drowning in them, two perfect orbs of blue, white and black. She understood why Chloe wanted this, demanded it; the intense intimacy was incredible. All consuming. That smoldering look of abandon in her lover's eyes, the same look she could feel reflected on her own face, as the two of them gave in at once to the rush that was drowning them.
The proper flow of time finally reasserted itself; they barely had more than a minute to bask in the shared glow of their post-cotial bliss when the hot water ran out. The two of them shrieked in shock, washing up quickly before they ran out together, laughing. They shared one last kiss before getting dressed, striking camp, and driving away, back to Arcadia Bay, amazed that they managed to get away with it.
"Chloe, what the hell is going on with your phone?" Max asked, unable to ignore the fifteen seconds worth of dings , beeps and indicator tones that started playing the moment they came back into cell phone range.
"Wow. Dunno. I mean, I'm a pretty popular playah 'round town, but this seems like a lot, even for me. Uh...should probably check it out. Oh hey, I know, you wanna check it for me?"
"Oooooh. We're taking our relationship to the next level, huh?" Max teased. She grabbed the phone, shooting the other girl a dreamy smile, before turning to the device in her hands. "Uh...I need your lock code, babe. I don't exactly feel like hacking your phone."
"Sure thang. It's oh-nine, two-one."
Max felt a tender squeeze constricting her heart. "Awwww! O-M-G. Your phone unlock is my birthday? For cereal?"
Chloe just gave a knowing smile. "You were always on my mind, Maxima."
Max flushed with effuse joy, before pausing. "Wait a second. It was always that, right? It's not like you changed it last night, in anticipation of a moment like this or anything?"
"What!?" Chloe exclaimed. "Now why would you say that, Ms. Paranoid Superspy? I'd never do something that sneaky. Certainly not between three and three-oh-five in the morning, when someone was drooling adorably on my shoulder."
Shaking with laughter, she leaned in against Chloe's side, "You are so weird."
"Yeah, but you love my weirdness, babydoll."
'Yeah-ha. I do. I really do." With that, Max focused on combing through the new text messages, grooving on the absolute trust her girlfriend was demonstrating at the moment. Most of them were personal messages from Justin, her skater-boi bro-friend, but there were a few Facebook notices from the local in-town and Blackwell-based community groups.
Wow. Given how much you hate Arcadia Bay, you sure have your finger on its pulse...
As Max skimmed over the links and headlines scrolling by, her jaw dropped.
"H-holy shit!" she gasped.
"What? What?! Don't keep me in suspense!" Chloe demanded, trying her best to keep her eyes ahead on the road.
"You're not gonna believe this...but..but Nathan Prescott and...oh Jesus! Mark Jefferson!? I can't believe it! I can't fucking believe it, this can't be real. There's no way! And...and uh-oh...you're gonna wanna stop.
"What?! Arrrrg! Shit...woman, you are as infuriating as you are sexy. I'm pulling over..." Chloe nearly skidded to a halt, barely checking herself to park the truck on the side of the road. Max swiftly shoved the phone into her hands, so she could read for herself.
Chloe frowned; her expression turned incredulous over the span of thirty seconds.
"H-holy...I can't. I hella can't believe it! Nathan and Jefferson were doing this shit? Kidnapping, and rape? Murder?!...oh my g-...oh fuck! Oh fucking...I knew it! I knew he was into some hella deep shit, but I didn't ever think! Oh!" Chloe leaned back, running a hand through her hair, shaking her head. "No. No...it's obvious now. I mean...he dosed me and...and he…" she swallowed hard, not wanting to continue; she bowed her head and pounded hard against the steering wheel, before looking back up and saying,. "But he killed Stella, for real! We already figured out that much!"
"Wow. I feel so...so dirty now!" Max winced, scrubbing at her arms. "I totally loved that asshole's work. Jefferson, I mean. Just the other night, I was mooning over how much I was dying, not able to take his class at Blackwell. And now I find out he's some sort of sicko psychopath? Did you read the part where they were taking girls to some old fallout bunker the Prescotts owned?! Tying them up and taking pictures, the really twisted bondage stuff..."
"I know right? I know! Shit...why...why now?" Chloe asked.
Max snagged the phone back and continued reading on her own. "Says that...at least Nathan said that he couldn't take the guilt anymore. He didn't mean to kill Stella, he fucked up the dose. Ugh, what a moron. Jeez. How hard is it to figure out the how much Ketamine...?" She paused, realizing that most normal teenagers weren't trained in how to calculate the appropriate doses for the top five leading tranquilizing agents. That, and how callow her words sounded, given someone died...
Max rubbed the back of her neck. "At least he confessed to drugging Kate, too. I mean...maybe Stella dying was the start, put him under all the pressure, and the shit with Kate just broke him. But...but it's really weird though, that Nathan said he was going to turn himself in, and Jefferson just went along with it…uh…huh. Just...seems totally weird."
Something sounded off about the story. But she couldn't put her finger on what or why.
"Dunno, babydoll. I don't want to suggest anything nice about Pres-shit, but we saw the picture he made after killing Stella." Chloe said. "Clearly, it fucked him up, broke him inside. Explains why he was such a fucking timebomb on Monday, too. Guilt is a hell of a motivator." Suddenly switching gears, she shook her head in disgust, stabbing a finger at her phone screen. "Oh look. Now everyone in the world is acting like Kate's best friend, like she's the most popular girl in school. All 'We love you Katie!' and 'We always knew you were innocent!'. Jesus fuck, what a bunch of hypocrites."
Max brightened up. "Still, good for Kate! She totally deserves to be cleared. I hope she rubs it in everyone's faces, but...something tells me she's too kind and decent to do anything but forgive everyone." Max pursed her lips together and quickly twitched them back and forth.
"I know that face." Chloe said. "You're still hung up on something."
"I am! I...well." Max blushed, sheepishly. "This is gonna sound crazy, but I just have the weirdest feeling like we should've solved this, somehow. We were close. I mean, we knew Nathan was sick in the head, we figured he was involved in the whole thing with Kate and the video, right? I can't believe it all just...solved itself."
Chloe tilted her head, "Uhhh...cutie? We're a few hours away from living on the run forever. There was no way we were somehow going to magically wrap it all up before week's end, or something cheesy like that." Regardless, Max continued to grumble until Chloe leaned in and kissed her cheek.
"We're awesome, but the world totally doesn't revolve around us. Life solved its own shit without our help. Moral arc of the universe bending towards justice, and all that shit. What's so weird about that? Disappointing, yeah, but think how exhausting it would be if we were somehow the two most important people in the whole town."
"I...I guess you're right." Max reluctantly agreed. "Anyhow, it looks like you've got a voicemail here. You should probably be the one to listen to it, whatever it is." She handed the phone back.
Chloe snorted. "Probably the Step-dick. Oh...no. Not his numb...oh shit! I know these digits. Fucking police. Let's see what they wanna jump up my ass about now." She paused, listening for a minute to the message.
Giving another disgusted snort, Chloe said, "Yeah, it's the po-po. Nathan also confessed about what he did….uh...about when he drugged me and..." She took a deep, angry breath and continued, "Anyhow, they want me to come in and make a statement." She shook her head, and deleted the voice-mail. "We sure as shit won't be paying them a visit. Just...funny, not sure why they didn't say anything about it in the paper."
Max blinked. A cold, burning shiver ran down her throat, and into her sternum. If Nathan told the cops about her, about saving Chloe. About telling him she was a federal agent...
"Ummm - uhh. It's 'cause the law gives you protection. They can't name you without your consent, I think. As for going to talk to them: n-normally, I'd say you should. But you're probably right. Just...sad. He really needs to be brought to justice, and every person's testimony against him helps."
"Babe, he confessed. They don't need jack, they're just trying to find a way to help him and his family weasel out of it, by making any witnesses look bad. Fuck that noise. They can talk to Kate, and she'll be someone they can't slime. Me...you know me. And the cops, and how they hate me. I'll just weaken the case. They'll talk about how I did shit to deserve it. It's why I never went to them in the first place, I knew it was gonna be useless. They can go to hell and fuck themselves sideways! Besides, we don't need to put you at risk. We're gone tonight, and that's that." She stared out hard through the windshield and muttered. "All that shit with him? In the fucking past now."
Max didn't like it on principle, but principle made it more likely she'd get nailed by the Feds.
"Alright then."
Chloe's somber expression lightened. "Alright then." She repeated, before blinking at a new message that suddenly popped up. "Huh. There's the Step-shit now...asking me where I am. Wow, asshole usually just waits until I get home and chews me out for not checking in, like I'm not a legal adult or something." She quickly pecked out a response. "Nun yo bidness! Back home later today, I guess."
"He...he's probably just concerned, you know, since you didn't come home last night?"
Chloe shrugged, and blew a stream of air upwards, ruffling her bangs. "Fuck that shit, he never cared before. The day David Madsen gives an honest damn about me is the day hell freezes over. Probably just...looking for an excuse to grind my gears. Like maybe one of the cops he pathetically hangs around with like a puppy let it slip...y'know, the shit about me and Nathan? So he'll rub it in my face, like it's because I did something wrong."
They drove on ahead, while Max continued to read out more details about last night's sudden turn of events. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't fully shake the feeling that she missed out on something that she was otherwise somehow destined for.
It was mid-afternoon by the time they pulled up into the driveway. Max started to move to open the passenger door when she stopped, looked over her shoulder, and gave Chloe a knowing look.
"Uhhh...Che?"
"Yeah, babe?" Chloe said, a shit eating grin smugly perched on her lips, as if knowing exactly what the question was.
Max glanced over, and took note of Joyce's car in the driveway. "What do we tell your Mom? Like, anything? Do we play it cool and platonic in front of her, or...?"
She didn't get any further before Chloe leaned in, quickly pinned her back against the seat, and kissed her, briefly but with a passionate ferocity. One kiss turned into several smaller ones, until they were both giddy and giggling.
"Mmmmm...okay, just so we're clear, we're not gonna go and make out right in front of Joyce, are we?" Max asked with a little slur in her voice.
"Ha ha! That would be kinda awesome but...no. I mean, we don't have to flaunt it, but we're not gonna hide it, either. I am hella happy...more than I've been in years. Maybe ever. I'm not gonna hide my love for you, Max. Not ever. We're gonna walk in that door, and we can hold hands, and be, you know...ourselves. Just who we are, right now."
"Sounds good." Max breathed softly in agreement, before hopping out of the truck. The two of them walked towards the front door, hand in hand.
Well. This is it. Last time I'll ever see this place again. Except...except I said that so many times to myself in the past, and look what happened. I got away! I got to see Chloe again and...and I got her! I got Chloe! So...
She still felt like shit. As if she were taking something valuable and precious away from the woman who'd been like a second mother to her. As much as she wanted to brush her concerns and guilt aside, remind herself that Chloe was a grown woman now, it did little to ameliorate the growing conflict in her heart.
"Hey, we're back." Chloe announced with little fanfare. Joyce poked her head out from the kitchen, looking vaguely relieved.
"There you are, and what's...oh! Max? Sweetie, why are you still here? Oh, that came out wrong, I mean, I'm glad you're still with us, but I thought you had a train to catch.
Oh. Oh fuck, I totes forgot that whole line. Wait, okay, I got this, I'll just tell her...
"You know Amtrak." Chloe quickly cut in. "Train crap, and it would have totally screwed up her connections. And she didn't feel like taking the bus, so we kind of hung out in Portland. I wanted to head back here to change my clothes and pick up a few things, because we're going back out soon. Max'll try her luck again with the train and um...actually? I've been doing a lot of thinking - uh - that is...I think it's about time I look into getting out of the house. 'Cause...I have a tiny bit of money saved up, and I know a couple of people in Portland with a couch I can crash on. Got to thinking about find a job and actually fucking getting on with my life. Pretty sure you and Step-di...ah...David...don't need me hanging around anymore. So I'm just gonna pack up a few things, spend a couple of days in the city, see if I can't get established."
Wow. I hope you didn't just oversell it there, Che!
Joyce narrowed her eyes. "Really. Just like that? All of the sudden?"
Chloe bit down on her bottom lip, reaching up to pull off her beanie, and glanced down. "Yeah. I know, right? Sounds crazy, sounds sudden, but I can see now...I'm not doing myself any favors sticking around. I mean..." she laughed lightly. "We know what happened to Rachel. Mystery solved. Chloe was a fucking idiot."
Joyce softened a touch, leaned in and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "You are not an idiot, Chloe. You're...you're a passionate woman, who put her faith in the wrong person, for the right reasons."
Giving a tiny smile despite herself, Chloe shuffled back. "Yeah. Well...gonna run up and pack a little." She then favored Max with a glowing, radiant smile. "Back soon!"
Max thought to follow her girlfriend up the stairs, even turned to do so, but stopped suddenly.
Chloe doesn't need me to be her puppy dog. And...and we're gonna be together practically every minute once we're on the run. She deserves a few minutes to herself. I mean, this is kind of a big fucking deal. Grabbing what she can, before we take off. And leave her mom..
She glanced at the older woman, a stab of guilt puncturing her heart anew.
Joyce crossed her arms, the side of her mouth pulling up. "Don't think I don't know what's going on, Max Caulfield."
Flushing furiously, the heat rising up to her cheeks despite herself, she stammered. "I - ah - I don't know what you're talking about, Joyce."
Oh my fucking God, what happened to all those years of training, Max? Shit...I always did suck at lying in front of Chloe's mom.
The older woman chuckled deep in the back of her throat. "I may not have seen much of my daughter over the past week, but I know a honest change when I see it. Not once since she turned eighteen have I been able to get that girl to consider moving out on her own, start a life for herself. And then here you are, back after five years, and Chloe suddenly sees the light and talks about getting her damn shit together..." She shook her head. "Clearly you've made a impression on her." She quirked up a brow. "A major impression."
"G-great. Glad to hear it. I mean, I don't really know what I did..." Max mumbled
Joyce smirked. "Aw honey...let me be blunt: I happened to peek out a window right before I came into the kitchen, and saw the two of you in her truck..."
Max was never more embarrassed in her life; her cheeks felt like they were burning hot enough to look beet red. She wasn't sure what to say; not that she felt ashamed of her relationship with Chloe...
But getting caught making out with her daughter like that...yikes!
Max covered up her face with her palm, and gave a nervous laugh. "Uh. Oh...God. Um...hah. Heh. S-sorry Joyce. I guess we got a little caught up in the moment, and..."
The older woman reached out, patting her shoulder reassuringly. "Max, Max...oh my gosh, just look at you. I'm not upset, not really. I mean, yes, I'm...I'm a bit surprised. I mean, near the end, I started to suspect Chloe had feelings for Rachel that were more than just platonic. But it's not like I knew if it was anything more than a phase. Well, I suppose now that it isn't." She smirked softly.
"But honest, whatever is going on between the both of you? Granted, if it were anyone else, I'd probably just roll my eyes and say to myself 'Good lord, that daughter of mine is going to get her heart broken. Again.' But the two of you always had a special bond, and I'd be lying if I said there weren't times when she was involved with Rachel where I thought..."
Joyce suddenly paused for a moment, blinked, and then narrowed her eyes. It was enough to prompt a curious prod from Max.
"Where - uh - where you thought...?"
"What? Oh. Sorry, dear. I just...where I thought that it was a damn shame that you weren't still in her life. It always struck me that Rachel was just a poor substitute, filling the gap caused by your absence. It's...it's better this way. The two of you together, and her out of Chloe's life, hopefully forever." She paused again, and then gave an empathic nod. "Yes. If she never sees that damn serpent passing herself off for a human being again, I'll be the happiest mother in Arcadia Bay." Joyce then smiled. "And she looks so much happier with you, that's for sure."
Max swallowed down the hard lump forming in her throat, blinking away the stinging sensation in her eyes. "Th-thanks." she said, her voice breaking softly. "But...but you hardly even know me now. Five years...'s a long time."
After giving her a hug, Joyce continued, "You're not wrong. But I can see you're still the same decent girl at heart. The same kind soul who always managed to bring out the best in my daughter." She took a deep breath in through her nose, her expression taking on a much more vulnerable aspect. "Just...answer a question for me? Is this for real? Her wanting to go off to Portland, and try and make a new start for herself? Or is she just sort of...chasing after you on the rebound?" She grimaced, clearly not liking how that came out. "Sorry, that must sound terrible. I don't mean to imply you're leading her on, but I just have this terrible notion that Chloe's got it in her head to follow after you, wherever you're headed off to from here. Half-cocked and not thinking of the consequences."
A spiderweb of cracks started to skitter through Max's heart, and it was only through sheer force of will that she held it together, doing her best to keep from showing her true reactions to Joyce's words.
Sh-shit! She was always so amazing at figuring things out! I mean...I mean I'm pretty sure she hasn't figured everything out, but...!
"Like I said, if it were anyone else, three days in and suddenly swept up in a relationship with her, I wouldn't believe it. But I can see how it might work, between the two of you. Like a puzzle finally getting the last piece fitted. Anyhow, you're going off to college soon, and I just...don't want Chloe running off, without a real plan in her head, is all. For her own sake. Do you get what I'm saying, Max?"
It was as if two teams of horses were hitched up to Max's heart, and trying to pull in opposite directions. On one hand, she knew, deep down to the core of her being, that she couldn't run off without Chloe at her side. The two of them were meant to be, and even if Max could somehow leave her behind...not only would it break her heart, but Chloe would chase after her, for real. Or worse yet, it would push Chloe, already in a vulnerable state, off the edge; she might just hate the world forever.
But how the hell was she supposed to lie to Joyce? Tell her that everything was just fine? That no, she wasn't planning on effectively eloping with her daughter, and the two of them would be on the run from the federal government, possibly for the rest of their lives?
Under normal circumstances, and for regular people, it would have been an impossible task. The first time Max tried, she could see it in Joyce's eyes; she'd failed immediately.
But she could try again.
And again.
And again. Navigating through the rocky shoals of human interaction. Reading Joyce's body language, keying in to her expectations, and getting increasing control of her own bodily cues. Combined with all of her professional training, and her time manipulation power, she had as many chances to get this right as she needed, like one of those ridiculous quick-reaction minigames.
Still, it took her eight tries, before she felt she managed to fabricate an explanation that would fool even Joyce. For Max to numb her mind, and still her heart. Build a convincing facade, to the point where she herself almost believed it.
Putting on her pretty smile, a thing made of deception, she gave a gentle shake of her head, and said, "I know it looks crazy, sounds crazy. I can hardly believe it myself. I didn't come back to visit Chloe, intending to...to fall for her but." Her voice lowered a touch. "But I think, in the back of my mind, maybe part of me was hoping for something. Like, I always suspected that if we could just see each other again, five years would be nothing, and we'd just click. And Oh God, I'm so happy we did. But...ah..."
She reached out, gently gripping Joyce's upper arm. "You have every right to be concerned, you know? If things are somehow going too fast, or if Chloe is acting on impulse. Because I talked to her about it myself, late yesterday, when she told first told me her plan. I made it clear to her that while I want us to be together, I had to focus on college too, you know? I wasn't about to totally change my life for her. I could easily make it a long distance thing, starting out, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering looking at some schools in the Northwest now, to make it easier. But yeah, I told her that if she was going to change her life, she needed do it for herself first, and me second."
Don't vomit, don't cry, don't freak. No matter how badly you want to do all three at once, right this second.
Encouraged by the smile slowly blooming over Joyce's lips, Max continued, "I really think she means it, Joyce. She and I? We've had some really amazing talks. About what she's been through, and the shit with Rachel, and how hard it's been since William...since he died. There's been this block holding her back, you know? Like a wall that had to be climbed, but only she could do it. And - uh - you know..." She bowed her head for a moment, and then glanced up, trying to cultivate as much determination in her eyes and face as possible. "I think she's ready. I think she's ready to meet the challenge. Climb up and move ahead. And I promise you, Joyce. I'm gonna be doing everything I can to support her." She smiled, wiping tears from her eyes; at least she could tell herself the last part was the God's honest truth.
Hell, there was a ring of truth to all of it; that was the most insidious part.
When Joyce reached out to hug her tightly, Max could feel the bile rising up in her throat from her betrayal.
And when she finds out that her daughter is gone, and I took her away...she will never forgive me. Never!
"Thank you, Max. Oh, Lord...thank you.
Please...please don't thank me.
She hugged back, and then gently disengaged herself. "Sorry Joyce...I know we're having a moment here, but...uh." She forced an embarrassed smile and stage-whispered, "I gotta pee!"
Joyce laughed merrily, nodding as she wiped away tears of her own. Max strode quickly into the bathroom, closed the door and locked it behind her.
She collapsed onto the floor, and curled up into a fetal ball.
For the first three minutes, she was convinced she was going to vomit. She buried her face against the crook of her arm, nearly suffocating herself as she desperately worked to suppress her sobs, shaking from the effort. But when it occurred to her that she technically had all the time in the world, she let her tears flow. She screamed and she howled, and broke things. She gave herself the luxury of letting everything out, judiciously rewinding back through time whenever she attracted too much attention. And when she was finally spent, she did her best to clean her face up and get ready to walk out the door. To put the mask back on and pretend that all was well.
Except she suddenly realized that after an objective hour of freaking out, she really did have to pee.
It felt good to laugh after all of that, even if it was only at herself.
And at the insanity of life in general.
A/N: Hey Swanketteers, it's Black Swan Friday! Lyta says "I made good words!" and NQW says "Here's how you make them better!"
So we're back to the Chloe and Max show...a couple chapters of...well I wouldn't call it fluff, but like the title suggests, tying up loose ends as they get ready to hit the road. Of course, things never go the way we intend them. Speaking of which, it's hard to believe but I am close to writing the last chapter of the entire series. Just...weird to think that the end is in sight. I mean, I suppose things could change during the editing process, and I decide to pad out a little bit, but right now, it looks like we are going to end with an even 40 chapters, and a bit more than 250,000 words. I think that's probably a good target.
I did have fun writing this one, even though it was a bear to revise and polish - extra thanks to NQW for that! But I grooved on the notion that The Golden Couple were not the ones to bring Jefferson down, but Max, ever sensitive to fate and multiple timelines as she seems to have become, keeps insisting that it should have been her and Chloe, somehow...
Oh! I almost forgot! Tumblr fan rainchitect brought an awesome short video to my attention. Look up Glow Production and their video The Last Tree. The female lead so looks like what I imagine Black Swan Max would be like.
Anyhow, I hope everyone has a great weekend...if you're in the US, then I guess have a good Memorial Day as well!