Chloe shook her leg anxiously, wishing she had a cigarette to distract herself. She'd quit cold turkey after the storm, so wrapped up in its aftermath and the effect it had had on Max that she barely noticed the nicotine withdrawals. Moments like this, when she was by herself and trapped in her own thoughts, reminded her of how much she liked smoking. Can't smoke on school grounds anyways, she reminded herself.
Just a few more minutes before the first day of school was over. Max had texted her on and off throughout the day, but Chloe thought they were generic texts, just attempts at making everything seem okay. This was the longest they had been apart since the storm, and Chloe wasn't okay with it.
She could feel people staring at her from around the parking lot - leaning against the front bumper of her truck, she was a bit of an eyesore. Between the fading green hair (she still hadn't decided what she was going to do with it) and the beat up truck, she stuck out. She definitely noticed the school's security guard watching her, and it took an effort to not habitually flip him off as he meandered the green space between the parking lot and school.
The school bell rang, and she felt herself tense up, eyes darting towards the door. Of course no students were outside yet - they were all still in their classrooms, or heading towards their lockers. It was agonizing waiting for the first sign of kids, starting with a trickle, then seemingly all at once. She sent a quick text to Max to let her know her coordinates, shaking her phone in her hand once she was done.
She continued scanning the departing students, some who stared back at her out of curiosity, but no sign of her Max. My Max? It wasn't a false statement, that was for sure. The flow of students was slowing down, but there was no freckled brunette coming her way. For a moment, she was ready to charge into the school to seek her out, but her phone buzzed before she could leave the bumper.
Max: Be right out, in principal's office
"Shit, Max, what did you do?" Chloe asked aloud, grinning to herself before remembering that Max was not a trouble maker. Her anxiety heightened - did something happen to her? Did she actually do something? Her phone buzzed before she could make any further plans to storm the school.
Max: omw :)
Chloe: no emoji nerd
Finally, finally, the unmistakable figure pushed open the front doors, walking towards her. Chloe felt her shoulders relax, but she forced herself to stay by the truck. It gave her a few more precious seconds to make sure her smile was genuine.
As Max got closer, Chloe could see her excited smile, extending up into her eyes. Chloe grinned back at her, joke at the ready. "Hi, I'm looking for a Maxine Caulfield, does she go to this -" She was interrupted by Max's lips as she threw her arms around Chloe's neck. Chloe slipped off the bumper a little, grabbing Max's hips to help stabilize herself.
Max pulled away, eyes gleaming. Her romantic confidence seemed to swing constantly - some times she would pull stunts like that, other times she seemed timid and nervous, as if afraid Chloe was going to turn her down. Chloe chalked it up to "first relationship" butterflies. Not everyone could be like her, with nerves of steel.
"Well, hello to you too," Chloe teased, elated when Max laughed at her. "Guessing you missed me."
Max buried herself into Chloe, seemingly breathing her in. "Of course I missed you," came the muffled response. "Did you get any studying done?"
"Nope, found two drug dealers though." Max jerked back, concerned. Chloe snickered. "Kidding. Yes, I studied." Her GED exam was the upcoming Saturday, and although she felt prepared, she was still a bit nervous. She didn't want to be known as that person dropped out of high school and failed a GED test
"Good." Max's head came back down against Chloe's chest, trying to pull her tighter.
"Max, you're gonna make my eyes pop out of my head." She felt Max's radiant smile before she had pulled away, reluctantly dropping her arms. "What did the principal want?"
Max grimaced. "He wanted to know how my first day went. I told him I had to catch the bus, so I couldn't stay and chat."
"But you don't take the bus." Max looked a little smug, blinking rapidly, and Chloe grinned back at her. "You lying little shit!" Max shrugged casually, opening up the passenger door and boosting herself up into it. Chloe watched her, feigning tears. "I am so proud of you."
As she climbed into her truck, Chloe made eye contact with the security guard, who gave her a friendly wave. Heh, fucker was watching me. Some things never changed.
"I really forgot how much I hated homework," Max complained as she banged her head against her desk. Chloe was sitting with her legs crisscrossed on the bed, using half of the comforter as a desk of her own to sort out her study guides. Dinner had been rather uneventful - Max didn't have much to say about her first day back at school - and they had both begrudgingly retired to Max's room to try to get some work done. "I hate math. Math is stupid."
Chloe laughed. Unlike Max, she was a fan of all of the STEM courses. "Math is awesome, don't be so mean to it just because you don't get it."
"If you love it so much, come over here and do it," she mumbled angrily.
I'd do something in this room, but it's not the math. She kept that particular thought to herself. "Nope, no way. You need to learn it, Max. Besides, if I show you the shortcut for derivatives, your math teacher will hate me."
Max threw her head back, groaning. "Aw, come on, there's a shortcut to this shit?"
"Careful with the language there, Mad Max. Man, I am a good bad influence." She chuckled at herself a little.
"It's not like I need to know derivatives to do photography," Max commented, looking over at her camera. Her hand was halfway to it when she suddenly stopped, shaking her head and going back to her homework.
One day, Max. Chloe had been anxiously awaiting the return of Max's photography obsession, but so far no luck. The pack of Polaroids she got from her parents at Christmas still sat wrapped in one of her desk drawers. "Did you end up looking over those college pamphlets your mom got?"
Max groaned again, rolling her head and looking towards Chloe. "Kind of? College is stupid. School is stupid. I don't want to do it anymore." Her hands flailed upwards for a moment before falling limply at her sides.
Chloe snickered at how dramatic she was being. "Well, maybe when you're done with your derivative date, we can go over them together." Max made an noncommittal noise before leaning back over her homework, leaving Chloe to her own thoughts.
The idea of Max going off to some prestigious photography school made sense, and Chloe was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she could live out her dreams. After David had suggested it, she had been looking into auto mechanic schools near the colleges in the pamphlet stack Vanessa had given Max. It seemed like it could work.
She felt a little smile form on her face as she fantasized a future life - coming home, all sweaty and covered in grease, to Max every day sounded like a dream come true. Although, she'd almost rather be a tattoo artist, but that didn't seem particularly secure. She needed to make the bacon. But who knows, maybe she could get in with a shop to do designs to curb that itch...
"Chloe!" Max was waving a hand in front of her face. "Are you listening to me?"
Chloe shook her head, waking herself from her daydream. "I am now. What did I miss?"
Max threw herself into the bed, having to sit real close to Chloe due to all the papers still scattered across the comforter. She had a fistful of college pamphlets that she fanned in Chloe's direction before wrapping her arms around Chloe's waist. "I was saying how most of these colleges are, like, far away. Chicago, New York, Rhode Island..."
Chloe frowned. "I don't see what the problem is here."
Max spoke quietly, as if scared. "I'm just...if I go that far away, I'll never see you."
Chloe kicked a stack of papers off the bed unceremoniously so she could lay down. Max came down with her, an arm now trapped underneath Chloe's back. "Max, if you think for a second I'm not going with you, you're wrong."
There was a moment of silence. "I thought you'd say that, I just wanted to hear it from you," she admitted, the sound of a smile in her voice.
"You're crazy. Whatever random ass school you end up going to, I'll be there. Max and Chloe," she added, planting a kiss on the top of her head.
Max buried her face into Chloe's neck, sighing happily. "Thank you."
Chloe wrapped her arms around Max, pulling her closer. Thank you indeed. There was nothing better than moments like this, she was certain of it. Just the two of them. Her fingers roamed a little, tracing patterns on Max's upper arm. Max wiggled a little - she wasn't particularly ticklish, so Chloe marked it down as general happiness. Max sighed again, this time more heavily.
"What are you thinking about over there?" Chloe asked, ceasing her pattern tracing.
Max was silent for a moment. "I have a...kind of random question."
Chloe pressed her cheek into the top of Max's head. "I may have a kind of random answer."
There was a brief pause as Max shifted her shoulders a little. "Were you and Rachel...dating, before she went missing? You...you never really said."
Chloe closed her eyes, swallowing hard. Rachel's absence didn't hurt as much as it once did, but the wound still stung. "It was a lot more complicated than that, but yeah, guess we were."
She could feel Max mouth something into her neck. "Were you guys...active?"
Chloe felt a smirk on her face, and she laughed quietly into the top of Max's head. "Yes, Rachel liked running and I did weight lifting." Max made a frustrated sound. "Yeah, we were," she admitted quietly, not entirely sure what was going through Max's head. She could almost feel the various levels of discomfort coming off of her in waves, though.
"Was she your...ah," Max's voice almost muted itself, and Chloe could only imagine how red her face was right now.
"First?" Chloe finished the sentence for her. Max's head jerked in a nodding fashion. "Nah. Well, kinda. First girl and all, but no, not first time."
"Then who was -" Max shook her head, cutting herself off. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that. I know I'm being nosy."
"No, it's...it's fine." Chloe screwed her eyes up, trying to block those particular memories. "Oh jeez, this is...yep I'm embarrassed." She felt her face going red, and was glad Max was still cuddled up against her so she couldn't see it.
"Well, you have to tell me now," Max said eagerly.
Chloe sighed heavily, resting a hand on Max's forearm. "D'you remember...Eliot Hampden?"
There was a beat, and then Max burst into laughter, pulling away to look up at her with a gleam in her eye. "Eliot Hampden, peed his pants on the playground in third grade, Eliot Hampden?"
"Yeppers, that's the one. I told you it was embarrassing." She smiled sheepishly, glad that Max at least found it funny. She was still laughing heavily enough that Chloe was shaking.
"When did that happen?"
Chloe felt her face fall. "About a year after my dad died." And you left. She didn't say that part, though, and she avoided making eye contact with Max. "I was...pretty fucking reckless. I was in a shitty place, and I just wanted to feel...something. It didn't mean anything, though. Not to me." She knew she had just used Eliot as a warm body, and she still hated herself for it.
Max's arm lifted up, her hand coming to rest on Chloe's cheek. "I'm sorry, Chloe." She felt a prickle of guilt run down her spine - none of this was Max's fault. Chloe's questionable decisions from years ago were of her own making.
"It's not your fault, Max," she said out loud, wanting to make sure she understood. Max looked at her for a few more moments before pulling her face closer, giving her a gentle kiss. She buried her face back into Chloe's neck. "Where did all of this come from?" Chloe asked, feeling a little confuddled.
"I just feel like...sometimes, you wished we were doing...more." She could feel a little shudder from Max, and she felt a laugh in her throat. Chloe swallowed hard to avoid embarrassing her. Not the time.
"Max, I'm fine. Really. We do this at your speed, okay?" Chloe chuckled a little, unable to fully contain herself. "Hell, I'll follow you across the country, and I haven't even gotten in your pants yet, that has to count for something!" She yelped as Max's fingers tickled her sides, an instantaneous reckoning before relaxing again.
Her chin was resting on the top of Max's head, watching Max's body shift with each breath. "We're going to fall asleep if we don't get up," Max said quietly.
Chloe smiled, content. "Eh, fuck it. I'm down for some zzz's." She kissed the top of Max's head again, before a devious thought came to mind. "Oh, and Max?"
She lifted her head up. "Yeah?"
Chloe grinned at her, watching her usual look of adoration turn into one of mild fear. "If I have any wet dreams tonight, it is totally your fault."
Max swatted at her, trying to retract her arms. "Eww, Chloe, gross!"
Chloe only pulled her tighter until Max eventually stopped fighting and just snuggled in closer.