"Max, pick already."
Max glanced at Chloe from where she lay on the bed, eyes dark and unyielding. "Chloe, this is so stupid."
"C'mon, just pick!" Chloe grinned, an arm slung over the back of the desk chair as she watched Max grumble to herself.
"Ugh, you're ridiculous," Max complained, crossing her arms. The two girls stared each other down for a few seconds before Max groaned, breaking eye contact. "Fine, a hundred duck-sized horses."
Chloe's cheeks hurt from smiling at the odd stress Max was under. She shifted so her head was resting on the back of the chair. "Okay, Super Max, how you fighting them?"
Max snorted, somewhere between annoyed and amused. "Who said anything about fighting? I'll just stand on a chair, they probably can't jump that high."
Chloe sighed heavily, her dreams of a heroic battle shattered. Her head rolled back dramatically as she pressed her palm to her forehead. "Of course you would. You know, for a Time Warrior, you're pretty boring."
"Thank goodness for that," she responded, a wry smile on her face. "What time's David getting here tomorrow?" Max asked, watching Chloe's amused expression fade.
"He said he'd be here before dinner. Your parents invited him." Even after the Caulfields agreed that David could stay in the house, he had insisted on booking a hotel again. Chloe understood - after all, Vanessa and Ryan were still relative strangers to him. She also had the distinct feeling that he didn't want her to feel as if he was trying to smother her.
Chloe yawned, about to tell Max she was ready to turn in for the night when her phone started buzzing. She frowned as she saw the name on the screen, swiping to answer. "Sup, Vicky? Tired of making out with your girlfriend already?"
There was a lengthy groan on the other side. "Oh, can it for five minutes. Max is with you, right?"
Chloe snorted quietly at the idea of being anywhere else. "Yeah, let me get you on speaker." She pulled the phone away for a second, glancing over at Max as she sat up. "What's up?"
"You saw it, right?" There was an edge to Victoria's voice, and she sounded as if she might have been crying.
Chloe and Max locked eyes, both shrugging after a moment. Clearly, neither of them knew what Victoria was talking about. "Saw...what, exactly?"
"The trial." Chloe watched as Max's face drained of color. Chloe moved over to the bed quickly, Max's hands quickly wrapping around Chloe's arm.
Her girlfriend seemed to be at loss for words, and Chloe reached out to squeeze a knee supportively. "Oh shit, the jury finally decided?" She kept her eyes on Max, whose own anxious blue orbs were glued to the phone.
There was a long pause, as if Victoria had taken a deep breath. "Yeah. Guilty on both murder charges, and fifteen of the kidnapping ones."
She watched Max's shoulders relax, tipping over to rest her forehead on Chloe's shoulder. Chloe, on the other hand, felt agitated, even as she felt Max's relieved breath on her arm. "Only fifteen? He had fucking books of all these girls," Chloe commented, gritting her teeth.
The phone's speaker thundered as Victoria sighed. "I know. Not all of them wanted to testify, or didn't remember Jefferson. Not enough proof for each charge." There was a tired tone to Victoria's voice - she was probably just as frustrated about it as Chloe was. "The judge should be giving the sentence this week still, but-"
"He's never getting out," Max finally spoke, her voice firm. Her hands were still tight around Chloe's arm, as if she was waiting for the rug to get pulled out from under her, but she had lifted her head. "He can't do this to anyone else, ever again."
"Thank god," Victoria breathed. Chloe could imagine her rubbing her face, shoulders slumped in her own relief.
"Speaking of the good Lord, how's Kate?" Chloe asked.
There was a definite change in tone - Victoria suddenly sounded lighter, almost happy. "She's relieved. She was optimistic about the whole thing, but I think she was still worried he would, like, get away with it."
He got away with some of it. No way in hell was Chloe asking which kidnapping charges had been ignored, though. She could look it up herself later, away from sensitive eyes. "Well, it's over," Chloe responded quietly, glancing over at her silent girlfriend. "Thanks for letting us know."
"Yeah," Victoria replied, sighing again. "I'm gonna go check on her, she said she was just going to the bathroom, but I think she just needed a moment by herself. Uh, I'll talk to you later."
"Yep, see ya." The line went dead as Victoria hung up. Chloe reached over to plug her phone in on the bedside table, Max finally releasing her arm. Sitting back up, she saw the almost shell shocked expression on the brunette's face, still staring at the spot Chloe's phone had been. "Max, you in there?"
"He's really going away." It was said so quietly, Chloe almost missed it. Max finally looked up from under her overgrown bangs, a spark of relief in her eyes. The ghost of a smile was on her face, as if she wasn't sure she was allowed to be happy about the jury's decision.
Chloe reached out to brush Max's hair out of her eyes before resting her palm against Max's cheek. "Just like I told you, right?" Max nodded, reaching up and holding Chloe's hand so she couldn't pull away. They sat like that for a few minutes, just staring at each other, before Max's jaw clenched, trying to stifle a yawn. Chloe couldn't stop herself from snickering. "Okay, Super Max, time for bed."
The following afternoon, Chloe was waiting on the porch steps, her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets in a futile attempt to stay warm. She spotted David's muscle car as it turned the corner, and she stood up as it pulled into the driveway. He had been talking about trading it in after seeing just how much of a gas guzzler the car was. Not that Chloe could say much about it - her truck wasn't any better.
She could see a smile spreading across his face as he spotted her on the steps, and she felt the corners of her mouth pulling up as well. "Hey, David," she called as she approached the car, watching him climb out and close the door behind him.
"Hey yourself," he responded, his eyes sparkling. He stood awkwardly for a second before holding his arms out for a hug, which Chloe immediately returned. It still felt slightly unnatural to her, and she wanted to pull away long before he let go.
"How was the drive?" Chloe asked as he pulled away, head nodding towards the car.
He chuckled nervously. "Oh, you know, longer than I'd like." She realized he was holding a thin envelope, running it between his fingers. "Hey, uh, like we talked about," he said awkwardly, holding the envelope out to her. Chloe took it, knowing all too well what was inside. "Figured that would set you up for a bit, for college, a new car, or...or something."
"Thanks, David." Chloe carefully tucked the check away in her jacket pocket. She didn't want to look at it now, didn't want him to think the only reason she was putting up with him was for how many zeroes were on that check. "And, hey, no dissing my truck."
"I would never." His mustache twitched as he crossed his arms, looking at the hunk of metal with slight disbelief. She couldn't blame him - it was a constant surprise that the truck still ran as good as it did. "You did a good job on it, that's for sure," he commented.
"Thanks." She kicked at the ground for a moment, still feeling a little uncomfortable in his presence. Silence hung awkwardly between them, and she happily avoided eye contact. "Where you going next?" she asked, desperate for any sound.
He shrugged, clearing his throat noisily. "Figured I'd check out Arizona. Never been a big fan of deserts, but..." He trailed off, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his neck. "Joyce was...we had been talking about going to see the Grand Canyon. Thought I...I might as well."
Chloe nodded, looking down at her feet as a lump formed in her throat. "I, uh, we almost went, once." And then the world turned upside down.
She could feel David's gaze on her, but she didn't have it in her to look up and meet his eye. "I know." They sat in silence for a few minutes before he cleared his throat again, clearly just as uncomfortable as she was. "I, ah...heard Jefferson was found guilty."
"Thank fucking god for that," Chloe muttered, crossing her arms bitterly. "Son of a bitch deserves whatever's waiting for him." In lieu of being able to murder him herself, she had been morbidly fantasizing what horrors might be awaiting Jefferson once he passed the prison's threshold. She wouldn't dare say any of them out loud, though - at least, not when Max was in the vicinity.
There was a sort of grim smile on David's face as he crossed his own arms, mirroring Chloe. "If I were to guess, it won't be a pleasant prison stay," he said, the slightest smug tone in his voice. Chloe nodded in approval, exhaling heavily.
Finally, the front door swung open, both of them turning to see Max illuminated in the doorway. "Dinner's ready," she called, her face obscured in shadow.
Chloe waved at David to lead the way, following closely behind. He gave Max a quick hug as he reached the top of the stairs before entering the open door into the house. Chloe was able to slip in quietly behind Max, the two slipped to the table ahead of Ryan and Vanessa greeting David in the foyer.
The first half of the meal was mostly the parents talking - Chloe was mildly surprised to find out that the Caulfields and David communicated regularly over texts and emails. It was a relief to know that there was someone else David was talking to besides Chloe.
David turned to Max in between bites, a friendly smile on his face. "So, Max, how's the college search going?"
Max shrugged, picking at what was on her plate. "I've applied at a couple of places, just have to wait and see," she responded, shrugging again.
"She applied to this one in Rhode Island - very hard to get into, according to some of her friends," Vanessa added, looking extremely proud. Max grumbled in embarrassment, but Chloe could only grin.
David had stopped chewing, eyes darting between Max and Chloe. "Rhode Island, huh?" The corners of his mouth were twitching, as if he was trying to hold back a smile. "That's a pretty far ways to go off for college, Max."
"Not like she's going alone," Chloe muttered, yelping slightly louder when Max smacked her shoulder. "What? Just saying what everyone else is thinking."
"And I'm sure you've already applied to places near the colleges Max picked, eh?" David joked, chuckling to himself. Chloe couldn't help but roll her eyes in response.
"I think Chloe put in more applications than Max did," Ryan teased from across the table. It was Max's turn to snicker at her girlfriend's grumbling. "Seemed like for every letter Max sent, Chloe sent two."
"Har har, yes, let's all pick on Chloe," she responded, not enjoying the attacks. "And also, applications are all done online now. You don't know how many I did."
David looked over at Max, an eyebrow raised and smirk barely concealed. "Well, did she do more than you?"
"Max, you're not required to answer that."
After a few more hours of conversation, David tiredly excused himself to head to the hotel. Chloe got up from the table to walk him out, closing the door behind her as they exited the house.
"We still on for breakfast in the morning?" David asked from the steps, and although his tone was nonchalant, Chloe could see how tense his body was, as he thought she would say no.
"Yeah, sure," she responded, sticking her hands into her jacket pockets as they reached the car.
He pulled his car door open, but stood next to it, his right arm resting on the top of the car. There was an uncertainty etched into his face, and he cleared his throat loudly. "I just wanted to say, I-"
"David, you're not about to get sappy on me, are you?" Chloe asked quickly, glad to see the corners of his eyes crinkle as a little smile spread across his face.
"I'm just...I'm proud of you. And if your parents could see how much you've grown the last-"
"I get it, David, I do." She felt her face growing hot, and reflexively put a hand over her face to shield herself from his gaze. He had tried so hard for so long to be a parental figure, much to her chagrin when she was younger, but she felt like he might have finally figured it out. "I, uh, thanks."
David grunted in affirmation, shifting his weight around. They stood awkwardly for a few moments before he cleared his throat again, glancing back up at the house. No doubt Max was just on the other side of the front door, waiting for Chloe's return. "I'll see you girls in the morning then," he said quietly, finally slipping into his car.
"Yeah, see ya," Chloe called after him, waving him off as he pulled out of the driveway. Not for the first time, she was disappointed to see him go.