Author's Note; Sorry for being absent for a really long time, but I'm back now. Let me know how you feel about this chapter in the comments.
"Chloe! I'm so glad you're alright! It's so good to have you home, honey," Joyce cried as Chloe tried to wriggle her way out of her mother's embrace. Her wrist was still strapped up but she'd been able to take the sling off.
"Yea, I'm fine, mom. Thanks," Chloe said after finally breaking free. The power had finally come back on in Arcadia Bay. David was leaning against the kitchen counter, watching the news with a cold beer in his hand, helping Joyce, who was halfway through making dinner when Chloe and Max finally arrived back at the house.
"Max, honey, thank you so much for looking out for her. You stay here as long as you like, dear," Joyce smiled and gripped Max's hand before getting back to her meal preparation. Chloe glanced at Max, and pointed her finger in an upward motion, Max nodded. The two girls made their way up the stairs together.
"No funny business, you two!" David called out to the girls.
'What the fuck does that mean?' Chloe thought to herself.
"I promise we'll behave," Max called back to David.
"Max, what the fuck?" Chloe fished for an explanation.
"Oh, well, they know about us," Max spat quickly and ran up the stairs into Chloe's room as quick as she could.
"You keep that door open, Chloe Price!" Joyce added to the conversation.
"What? How? You little brat, get back here!" Chloe yelled as she chased after the shorter girl. She couldn't see Max when she entered the room, her eyes darted around quickly.
"Max, I know all your hiding spots around here. Don't you fucking dare rewind either, that's totally cheating!" Chloe grinned as she stalked towards the closet, sliding the door open, but no Max.
'The window is still closed, she wouldn't have gone outside,' she thought to herself, trying to figure out where else Max could hide. When they were kids, it was a lot easier to hide, because they were smaller.
'Ok, Max is still pretty short, but the last five years should've ruled out a few hiding spots for her,' Chloe thought as she slowly made her way over to her desk. She heard a light giggling sound and smirked.
"Found you!" she yelled as she ripped the chair back, startling Max to the point of her letting out a little yelp.
"Ok, you hide now, Chloe!" Max cried excitedly, flashing a smile that Chloe had only seen a few times, Max's smile of pure happiness. Chloe basked in their childish fun momentarily, but then remembered that Max had outed them to Joyce and David.
"Woah, slow down, Max," Chloe stopped Max from covering her eyes and counting, waiting for Chloe to hide.
"Come. Sit. Explain." Chloe stated as she pointed to the bed. Max hung her head and frowned as she dragged her feet over to the bed. Chloe spun her around and pushed her shoulders down, forcing Max to sit.
"Did you tell Joyce that we're, like, a thing?" Chloe asked, as she tried, but failed to meet Max's eyes as she was staring into her own lap. Max nodded softly.
"Max, why? How are we supposed to make out and shit if we can't even close the door?" Chloe whined. Max looked up at her and scowled.
"Joyce said she figured it out anyway!" She pouted, as she tried to clear her name. Chloe glared at her with her arms crossed.
"And since when do you listen to authority type figures?" Max continued. Chloe glanced off for a moment.
"Huh, you're right!" Chloe said as she bounded over towards the door, slammed it closed and skipped back towards Max, taking her previous position of standing in front of her. Max gently grabbed the waistline of Chloe's pants and began sliding her hands along it. Chloe stroked Max's hair behind her ear. Max looked up at Chloe, biting her lip. Chloe felt herself start to heat up as Max gently lifted Chloe's shirt slightly and started planting small kisses along her hip bones.
"Fuck, Max, what are you doing?" Chloe whispered, as she tried to ignore her heart pounding in her chest. Max stopped and looked up at her. Chloe sat down next to her, keeping eye contact with the shorter girl.
"Chloe, I missed you. I just want to be close to you. I just want…" Max trailed off as she started nibbling at Chloe's neck. Max's hand brushed through Chloe's hair.
"Holy shit," Chloe sighed out. She tilted her neck, giving Max more room to kiss her. She couldn't tell if she was inhaling or exhaling. Everything around them went completely quiet. Chloe felt Max's hand slowly trail up the inside of her thigh.
"I want you," Max whispered into Chloe's ear in between nibbles. Chloe moved Max's lips to her own and started kissing her.
"Chloe, what did I tell you about this door?" Joyce called from the other side of the room. Chloe and Max pulled away from each other at the disturbance.
"Mom! I'm nineteen years old! I'm an adult! Max is an adult! What's the deal?" Chloe shouted from the bed. Joyce pushed the door open slightly.
"Are you decent?" She asked softly.
"Never, but you've known that for a long time," Chloe joked, although she was still frustrated. Max had covered her face with her hands as Joyce walked through.
"Chloe, I just want to have this conversation with you. I already talked to Max about it at the hospital," Joyce said as she stepped inside the room and stood in the doorway.
"I don't have a choice, do I?" Chloe responded sarcastically. Joyce shook her head.
"I'm fine with this, you two being together. You know I love Max, and I love her being around here; it's nice to see you happy again, and nothing brings it out in you like Max does," Joyce started.
'I'm waiting for the but….' Chloe thought as she rolled her eyes.
"Are you hungry?" Joyce asked.
"What? That's the big talk? That's it?" Chloe was surprised.
"Did you want a longer talk?" Joyce replied. Chloe shook her head rapidly, maybe too rapidly, her head wound started to throb.
"Take some painkillers and come have something to eat," Joyce said as she turned and left the room. Max jumped up and grabbed the small bottle from the desk and handed two pills to Chloe.
"Was your talk that short?" Chloe asked Max after she swallowed the medication.
"No way. You got it easy. But I can handle awkward conversations a lot better than you can," Max giggled.
'Safe sex. You can't be together. You can sleep somewhere else. You both have to leave. You're not good enough for Chloe. Chloe's not good enough for you.' Chloe ran possible awkward conversations through her head.
"Oh my god, what did she say to you?" Chloe panicked. Max giggled and shook her head.
"Maybe I'll tell you later," Max stated simply with a wink as she stood up and held her hand out to Chloe. Chloe grabbed Max's hand and followed her out of the room and down the stairs.
"Max, I need to shower," Chloe stated as the two of them walked up the stairs after their filling meal.
"Are you asking for help, or are you just telling me? I think I need to shower too, I haven't since before we were in the hospital," Max responded as they both got into Chloe's room.
"I think it would be a bad idea for us to shower together, Max," Chloe spoke with a serious tone.
"Well, it's not like we haven't showered together before," Max joked as she dug through her bag, looking for her toiletries.
"Yeah, but, Max, that was like before puberty hit. It was an innocent thing. It's different now," Chloe spoke softly, trying not to offend her girlfriend.
"Chloe, relax, you'll get your privacy," Max interrupted. Chloe sighed as Max handed her a towel.
"It's cool, you go first, I'll just wait here," Max smiled as Chloe walked off to the bathroom.
Chloe ran the water to adjust the temperature as she stripped out of her clothes. She stepped into the warms shower water and let it fall all over her body.
'Max is my soul mate. I think I can believe that. She never answered my question about how long she's been in love with me,' Chloe let Max take over her thoughts as she lathered shampoo into her hair. As she scrubbed into her scalp, she felt a sharp pressure.
'Shit, stitches!' Her mind screamed. She quickly tried to rinse the shampoo off her head.
"Max!" She called out, panic resonating through her voice, hoping she'd hear her.
The door soon creaked open slightly.
"Chloe, are you ok?" Max's face peered through, she had covered her eyes with her hand.
"Max, I think I pulled one of my stitches. Can you please check for me?" Chloe spoke softly as she crouched down behind the bath wall in an attempt to somewhat hide her body. Max pulled her hand away and walked over to her. She moved Chloe's wet, blue hair gently and inspected the area.
"Chloe, you're fine. Everything is still where it's supposed to be," Max knelt down to reassure Chloe.
"Maybe you should stay here, just in case I get too rough on my hair with the conditioner," Chloe sighed.
"Ok, if you say so," Max giggled and stepped back. Chloe slid the distorted glass door closed and stood to resume showering. She peered out through the glass and noticed that Max was still looking at her.
"Shit, Caulfield, take a photo, it'll last longer!" Chloe called out, immediately regretting it as she saw Max pull the old instant camera from her bag.
"Fuck, Max, I was joking," Chloe whined as she slid the door open slightly to look at her. Max was facing the mirror with the camera. Chloe poked her head and a hand out of the opening, sticking out her tongue and flipping Max the bird. Max laughed as she took the photo and put it in her bag along with her camera.
"I think that's the first time I've seen you use that since… shit, when was the last time you took a photo?" Chloe asked as she closed the door again and began to condition her hair. Max sighed. Chloe finished cleaning herself and turned off the water. She grabbed her towel from the top of the shower and opened the door. She watched the steam flow through the bathroom as she wrapped it around her body.
"Dude, you gotta talk to me. If you're upset or whatever, like, talk to me," Chloe spoke as she stepped out of the shower, watching Max scribble little nothings on the fogged mirror.
"Max, I'm here for you. You know I'm no good with the mushy stuff, but I want to be that supportive girlfriend for you," Chloe fidgeted with the hem on her towel as she continued to watch Max scribbling on the mirror with her finger. Max cleared it all and looked Chloe in the eye through the mirror reflection.
"Ok, Chloe, I'm feeling a bit better. I'm still upset about what happened – upset is the wrong word – I'm still fucked up about what happened last week. But now that you're ok, and we are ok, I'm feeling a little better," Max never broke eye contact with Chloe.
"Maybe we could find someone professional for you to talk to, like, I've heard that helps sometimes," Chloe suggested awkwardly.
"Do you think there's a psychiatrist that specializes in kids with PTSD and super powers?" Max smirked, joking uncomfortably. Chloe shook her head.
"Max, there was a lot of normal, fucked up events last week that had nothing to do with time travel. You were kidnapped and tortured, we found Rachel's body and you stopped Kate Marsh from killing herself," Chloe stopped abruptly as Max locked eyes with her.
"What?" Max spat out harshly and grabbed Chloe's arms. Chloe glanced around quickly, unsure what she'd said wrong.
"Are you telling me that Kate is alive?" Max whispered.
"Yes, Max, she was in her dorm when I was looking for you before I found you in the dark room," Chloe explained the last time she briefly saw Kate Marsh while Max's grip tightened on her arms.
"Chloe, I need to see her," Max spoke seriously, Chloe nodded.