"Hella yes!"

Chloe Price slammed the open palm of her hand against the arcade game's console in triumph as she cleared the final stage of Contra, the battered machine shaking a bit to which Chloe's best friend Rachel winced and slapped Chloe upside the head as she let out an exasperated sigh.

"I told you not to do that, Chlo!" Rachel said, speaking with a tightness in her voice, "I'll have to kick you out again, ass."

"My bad," Chloe replied back, rolling her eyes when Rachel wasn't laughing only to mutter a curse when Rachel swatted her again.

"I know you roll your eyes when you apologize, Chloe, if you can even call that an apology," Rachel looked at her phone and lifted it to Chloe's eye level. "You're going to be late for work again."

Grumbling to herself, Chloe tugged on her beanie and placed a single quarter on the arcade game's marquee before turning and heading out of the small arcade. The small room housed only a dozen or so machines, the space itself tucked into an old movie theater that never played anything new. A few storefronts down was Murphy's Ink, Chloe's place of employment and the only tattoo parlor in town. Lighting up a cigarette as she headed out the door, Chloe waved back at a smirking Rachel and nearly collided with a group of students from Blackwell Academy. Fucking Goddamnit, Chloe thought to herself as the cigarette she'd just lit was knocked out of her hands. Watching it fall, Chloe remembered that it was the last one in her now-crumpled pack and watched with a little bit of awe as a small hand caught it between two fingers. Chloe saw that same hand lift up and she watched the girl to whom the hand belonged take a single puff of the cigarette before handing it back, a sheepish grin on her face.

"H-Here you go," the brunette said, smiling as Chloe snatched the cigarette back, "Geez, you don't have to be a jerk about it."

"It's the only one I have left, nerd," Chloe retorted, her lips thinned as she tapped at her feet, "I don't have time for this. Look, thanks for 'rescuing' my cigarette. Next time, just ask if you want a puff."

"Uh… Whatever, I guess," the brunette replied back, shrugging as she went inside. Chloe watched her enter and stared into the arcade with wide eyes as Rachel ran to the girl and hugged her tightly with a beaming smile on her face. Who the fuck is that girl?

The next morning, Chloe was waiting at the side door leading into the arcade when Rachel arrived to open for business. A perplexed smirk on her friend's face, Chloe snuffed the cigarette against the building's brick façade and narrowed her eyes.

"So who the hell was that, Rachel?"

"Who was who, dork?" Rachel tilted her head, her trademark smirk leveled at her visibly irritated friend.

"That hella mousey-looking kid. Y'know, the one you practically jumped onto yesterday," Chloe said, her intense look unfazed before Rachel's confusion.

"Who the… Oh, you mean Max!" Rachel cheerily replied, smiling, and Chloe groaned internally. "Yeah, she's a friend from school. I'm allowed other friends, Chloe."

"Yeah, but I've never seen you pounce on your 'other friends', Rach." Chloe's uncrossed her arms when she saw Rachel rub the nape of her neck and adjust the cuffs of her flannel shirt, "Woah. Dude, I'm not pissed or anything. I'm… I'm just curious."

"I know, Chloe," Rachel said, biting her lip and averting Chloe's eyes, "I just… Look, Max has been through a lot recently and she missed a fuck-ton of school because of it. She only got back yesterday and it was the first I'd seen her in a month."

"You jonesing for this kid?" Chloe snorted.

"Her name is Max, Chloe Price, and you would be happy to see her too if you were friends with a girl who… Ugh, you know what? Fuck this. You want to be a crabby ass today then be fucking crabby."

Chloe's mouth gaped open a bit and she reached out towards Rachel only for her friend to spin on the balls of her feet, unlock the front door, and slam it open in one fluid motion. What the fuck did I say? Chloe's brows knitted and she walked inside. She had originally intended to just hang with Rachel until her friend's shift at the arcade was done, but Chloe was now questioning that plan. Why is she so hella pissed? Is this Max some godsend or what fucking ever? As if on cue, Chloe heard the sound of a couple of girls walk into the arcade behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Kate Marsh and Victoria Chase smile at Rachel as they headed toward the Dance Dance Revolution machine in the back. Determined to get answers, Chloe walked shortly behind them.

Kate, dressed casually in jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt bearing the logo of Arcadia Bay's Meals on Wheels program, she had a pinky finger looped around Victoria's, her girlfriend decked out in designer jeans and sneakers with a sleeveless silk blouse. Chloe knew both girls from Blackwell, them being juniors last year during her senior year, and while she'd gotten along well enough with the then-shy Kate Chloe and Victoria were neither friends nor enemies; the two girls simply tolerated the other's presence. Watching Victoria and Kate as they slid off their shoes, Chloe gave Rachel a tentative half-smile and sighed when Rachel averted her gaze to ignore her. Wow. Rachel's actually ignoring me now? That's hella cold, Rach. You taking a page from the Ice Princess over here?

"Hi Chloe," Kate said as he finished untying her sneakers, slipping off the last shoe to walk over and give the azure-haired girl a hug, "I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

"Chill, as you well know," Chloe teased, smiling when Kate responded with a shy giggle, "Nah, I'm a'ight. Working at Murphy's Ink, doing online school alongside. Money's tight at home, so I'm totally playing breadwinner."

"I bet William loves that," Victoria interjected, grinning a little too smugly for Chloe's taste, "Didn't you get a scholarship or something?"

"Well," Chloe gently pushed Kate aside and looked at Victoria eye to eye, "Not all of us come from rich-as-fuck families, Princess."

"Don't call me that, street urchin," Victoria pulled her lips back against her teeth in a sneer. "I came here with Katie to have some fun, not get blindsided by your blue-haired bullshit.

"Say that five times faced," Chloe said as she jutted her chin. Dare you to take a swing, you preppy bitch. One hit and I'll fucking knock you out.

"Chloe!" Kate raised her voice, both Victoria and Chloe looking back in mild surprise as Kate bowed her head and fidgeted with her hands, "Can you two please just be nice? I-I just want some time with my girlfriend, Chloe. Please?"

"…Yeah, sure," Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose and headed over to the Contra machine.

Reaching up to the game's marquee, Chloe felt for the quarter she'd left behind and her eyes widened when all she felt was the flimsy plastic of the sign. Looking up to where her hand was, Chloe's eyes narrowed at the bare marquee her hand had been pawing at and she looked over to Rachel. Her friend preoccupied with checking out a skee-ball machine that had recently been repaired, Chloe looked back at the game and slipped in a quarter that she'd found under her mattress earlier that morning. Hands seeming to move on their own, Chloe played for an hour or so before letting her character die. Sometimes this shit just gets a little old. Having just beaten the game yesterday, Chloe was fickle about playing all the way through again and the quarter was just for mindless fun. Watching the screen flash "Game Over", Chloe saw the high scores pop up and the smug look on her face turned into a wide-eyed stare when she saw her "CHE" replaced with "MAX" in both first and second place.

"What the absolute fuck!?" Chloe shouted, staring even when the high scores disappeared and were replaced with the Contra logo. "Rachel, what the fuck?"

Piquing the curiosity of the other three girls occupying the small arcade, Chloe didn't pay any attention to Rachel, Kate, and Victoria as they came up behind her to stare at the screen.

"What's wrong, Chloe?" Rachel asked, leaning in over Chloe's shoulder as Chloe simply raised a shaking hand to point at the screen. "What, the game ask you if you'd like to play 'Global Thermonuclear War'?"

"M-M-," Chloe stuttered, watching as the high score list came back up, eyes narrowing into slits when "MAX" appeared again in first and second place, "CHE" in third through fifth. "T-That brat… That fucking brat…"

"Hey!" Victoria barked, Chloe wheeling around to the surprising view of all three girls glaring at her, "Max is a sweetie, Chloe. You don't know a goddamn thing, punk trash!"

Glaring back at Victoria, Chloe skipped over Rachel's apathetic look and balked a little when she saw the look of pain on Kate's face. Biting her lip, realizing she'd just pissed off her best friend and at least two others she was on some kind of speaking terms with, Chloe slumped her shoulders and looked away. Contra is my game. Mine. Dad and I used to play here all the fucking time when I was a kid. Didn't Rachel tell her? This is such bullshit! Looking back up, Chloe watched as Rachel headed up front to the counter with Victoria and Kate trailing behind, shoes dangling from their hands.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Chloe blurted out, avoiding eye contact, "It's just… Rachel, that's Contra. It's the game, the same fucking machine, that Dad and I played when I was a little shit. I-I get defensive around that stuff, y'know? He's so busy with work that I've hardly see him lately-"

Chloe froze in mid-sentence as she caught Victoria's body stiffen when someone else came into the arcade. Sporting a grey hoodie, jean shorts, Harley Quinn thigh-high socks, and a plain red snapback hat, the girl Chloe knew only as "Max" walked in. Pale-faced, with bags under her eyes, "Max" wiped at the shaded glasses on her face and gulped when she saw the four girls staring at her. Chloe watched Max look up at her through her glasses as she tucked a strand of pink hair behind an ear and felt a fluttering sensation in her stomach. She's hella cute. Shit.

"What?" Max asked, holding onto a dangling arm with her other hand as she bit at her lip, "What'd I do?"

Max scanned the front of the store, searching the other girls' faces for a response or some sign of what had caused the arcade to feel so deathly still. Um, did I step in something? Max thought, looking over her shoulder as she lifted up one foot after the other to check the soles of her sneakers. No, no dog poop or cat poop. Not even old gum. Backing away to the front door, Max hastily looked down to the floor.

"You… You beat my game," an unfamiliar voice stated, the tone apprehensive, and Max looked up to see the blue-haired girl from before watching her. Your game? Uh, which game is yours? "Contra, I mean. You beat Contra."

"And?" Max asked, her voice a little weak as Victoria walked over to her and gave her a hug, followed shortly thereafter by Kate joining in, "Whoa, uh, good morning to you two as well. Rachel, what is all this?"

"This is my friend, Chloe," Rachel motioned at the blue-haired girl with a hand as though she were on display before glaring at her again, "She's an asshole."

"Hey!" Chloe took a half-step back.

The tension in the room began to dissipate when all four girls looked over to see Max giggling as she looked at Rachel, the girl behind the counter responding with a smile and dry chuckle of her own while Victoria and Kate exchanged smiles. Chloe, Max noticed, jammed her hands in her pockets and took another half-step away. This is the infamous Chloe Price, huh? Walking around the counter, Max got within inches of Rachel's face and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend on the lips to the sound of Chloe gasping.

"That's why you were hella pissed yesterday? You're dating this pipsqueak?" Max heard Chloe ask, looking over at Chloe with a sideways glance. Pipsqueak? What the hell?

"Chloe, if you're gonna be a bitch about this then just leave," Rachel said, looking over at Max apologetically before looking back at Chloe, "I… I wanted us three to hang out. I was hoping you two would get along."

"I'm not gonna if she's going to be calling me names all the damn time," Max said with a frown directed at Chloe. "Rach told me you were really nice… well, she said you could be nice…"

"Dude, I don't have to put up with being ganged up on," Chloe said with a flushed face. "I'm actually off today, Rachel. I wanted to hang, but obviously I'm not welcome so-"

"You're not if you are being like this, Chlo," Rachel said, lip sticking out. The fuck I just walk into, Max thought as she glanced from Rachel to Chloe and back again, I just wanted to play some games and hang out with my girlfriend, I swear to Dog.

Watching Chloe storm out of the arcade, hearing the girl shout from outside, Max looked over at Rachel and saw the stressed look on her girlfriend's face. Cupping Rachel's cheek with one of her hands, Max nuzzled against her girlfriend's face before giving her a small kiss. If I had known that I'd cause this much drama just by coming here, I would have totally called you first to see if it was okay, Rach.

"I'm s-sorry," Max leaned her head down onto Rachel's shoulder, "I didn't mean to cause any trouble, I swear."

"No," Victoria said, cutting Rachel off as she shot Max a look that made both Rachel and Max flinch, "You two didn't do anything. That… What the fuck is her problem, Rachel? Why does Chloe have to be an ass so damn much? She wasn't always like this. We all used to be friends!"

"Aww, Tori…," Kate reached out and took Victoria's hand in her own as she pouted at her crestfallen girlfriend, "Tori…"

"I… Her home life hasn't been the best these past few years," Rachel said, reaching under the counter to pull out four sodas from a mini-fridge. "Her dad and mom work a lot, Blackwell Academy isn't cheap, and they're trying to earn enough to go back to Paris again while getting much-needed work done on the house. When Chloe turned down her scholarship to help out, well, it kinda kinked up all three Prices' plans."

Max listened to all of what Rachel had just said with rapt attention, sniffling at her nose and checking it intermittently between Rachel's lengthy explanation and sips of icy Pepsi. If her home life isn't all that great then why doesn't she go on ahead to college? Why stay in Arcadia Bay, of all places? Max had only been in the small town since June, her parents moving them from Seattle to the small port town so that her mom could take care of Max's grandmother. Her dad worked mostly through teleconference, a profiler for the FBI, and with Vanessa Caulfield alternating between her mother's declining health and her own new job at Arcadia Bay General, the only thing going for Max was what came out of her new school. Shy at first, afraid of not making any friends, Max had caught the eye of Rachel Amber and the two had started out as friends before finding themselves in each other's arms one night at a bonfire on the beach. And then I was in the friggin' hospital. Yay.

"Max, your nose," Max heard Kate said and Max mumbled under her breath as she swiped a finger underneath it to come away with a little blood on her fingertip.

"Shit," Max's voice was strained as she hurriedly pulled a handkerchief out of her back pocket and brought it to her face to stifle the flow of blood. I just got out of the hospital, too. Fucking anemia, fucking migraines.

Max remembered the strained look of worry on her mother's face when she'd been diagnosed with chronic aplastic anemia. Pale skin, headaches, dizziness, and frequent nosebleeds were her character traits at this point; Max hated the pitying looks she'd been the recipient of in Seattle. Blackwell Academy was a lifesaver, the students mostly very friendly and outgoing when she'd come back every day or two to hand in assignments. Victoria, Kate, and Rachel had become close to her and Max relished the bonds she'd made with them. Sleepovers with movies, video games, and discussions of art and photography had left Max feeling like she had found something that had been missing in her old hometown.

"Maxie, do you need to sit down?" Rachel asked, reaching behind Max to pull out a collapsible stool. Nodding a little weakly, her head raised to help stop the nosebleed, Max let Rachel guide her onto the seat and smiled at her girlfriend.

"You're so mushy," Max teased, her cheeks a little rosy from embarassment, as she slowly lowered her head down. Tossing the bloodied handkerchief away into a trash can under the counter, Max covered her face with her hands. "S-Sorry about the bloody murder. H-How do you guys put up with my bullshit?"

When she heard the others laughing in reply, Max sighed and brought her hands away from her face. Watching Kate and Victoria walk to the Dance Dance Revolution machine in socked feet, Max leaned onto the counter and brought the cold soda can to her forehead. Please don't get a headache, please don't get a headache. Feeling soft lips on the nape of her neck, Max smiled to herself and lifted her head up from its resting place in her folded arms to see Rachel watching her attentively.

"I'll be alright, Rachel. Really."

"Max, you worry the shit out of me sometimes. When… When you collapsed the first week of class, I fucking bawled like a baby. I was hella terrified," Rachel pouted as she took of Max's hat and ran her fingers through pink hair, "When the hell did you do this, dork? Why didn't you ask me to help? I totally would have."

"I-I wanted to surprise you," Max said, fidgeting in her seat a little from the scrutinizing look of her girlfriend, "Look, I wanted to try something new and thought 'why not my hair?' If I don't like it, it'll fade in a couple weeks so there's no worries."

"Do you like it?" Rachel asked, curling some of Max's dyed hair around an index finger.

"I kinda do, yeah," Max replied with a blush. "I'm going to go over and join Kate and Tori, okay? Come back and play with us?"

"In a bit. Gotta square the register away, get the popcorn and all this bullshit going," Rachel said, leaning in to give Max a long, open-mouthed kiss. Max moaned a little when she felt Rachel's pierced tongue slid against hers. Cheater, Max thought, You do this because you know if I get a kiss like this I'll stay up here. You… Y-You are not the boss of me, Rachel Dawn Amber…

After watching Kate and Victoria play nearly half the songs on the DDR machine, having left a pouting Rachel to fend for herself at the front counter, Max walked over to the Contra machine and laid out some quarters on the marquee. Slipping in the one she still held onto, Max started a new game and the rest of the world faded away. Her girlfriend, friends, games, and photography not only consumed Max's world but did so with her full blessing. Both parents seemed to never get a day off, Ryan Caulfield's office all but locked up while Vanessa Caulfield spent her time off-work taking care of Max's grandmother, Max only went home to eat and sleep. Not even then, sometimes, Max thought with a smirk as she remembered Rachel visiting her one night. Her parents not knowing she and Rachel were dating at the time, Max had told Ryan and Vanessa that she wanted Rachel to sleep over. Despite feeling sickly from the anemia, Max had given herself to Rachel that night. Letting her girlfriend take the reins, Max had spent hours with a pillow pressed to her face to muffle the screams and moans.

Max stuck the tip of her tongue out as she concentrated on the Contra machine, the movement of her hands becoming instinct and blinked when the screen suddenly went dark. Eyes darting around the screen, expecting its sudden lifelessness to be a trick of her eyesight, Max didn't realize something was up until she heard Rachel shouting from the front. Looking over her shoulder, Max saw Chloe standing not even a foot behind her. What'd I do to piss you off so much? Do you always hate people you've never met, Chloe?

"Okay," Max said, her voice shaky as she shoved her hands into her hoodie's pockets, "W-What the hell did I do to make you hate me so much?"

"What…?" Chloe replied with a stutter, "Um, you think I hate you?"

"Why else would someone b-be so m-mean?" Max asked, frowning. "You don't even know me and you treat me like shit. What is your malfunction?"

"I… I-"

"Chloe, why did you even come back here if all you're going to do is start shit up again?" Rachel asked, grabbing Chloe by the shoulder to spin her around and jab a finger into the blue-haired girl's chest. "I know you're not the best at being sociable but holy motherfucking shit. Get…the fuck…out."

"…How long am I banned this time?" Max heard Chloe ask Rachel and tilted her head as Rachel looked at her before staring at Chloe.

"Max gets to decide."

Why me? was what Max nearly blurted out. She didn't want any part of whatever bullshit was going on. Max had just come to play games and chill with Rachel; Victoria and Kate being there as well had only made Max feel even better. While Chloe had dampened Max's earlier cheerfulness she didn't think ill of the tall punk. She… She looks lonely.

"I-I don't want to ban her. Rachel, just… Leave Chloe be," Max had trouble maintaining eye contact as all eyes in the arcade were on her again, "I… I think I'm going to go home. I-I'll see you later, Rach. Come by after work, yeah?"

Max watched Rachel nod mutely, a frown on her face as she swatted Chloe upside the head. Walking over to the Dance Dance Revolution machine Kate and Victoria were at, both girls frowning as they hugged their friend tightly, Max glanced at Chloe with a look that seemed to be indecipherable to the blue-haired punk and left, hearing Rachel hiss "You fucking ass, Chloe" as she headed out the open doorway and outside.

Chloe felt like shit as she watched the little pink-haired girl head out the doorway, the smack upside her head from Rachel not having any real effect because the pain was already there. I suck so fucking much. I… Max thinks I hate her. I don't hate her. How could I? I don't even…

I never even tried to get to know her.

Fuck. I am an asshole.

"Where the hell you going now?" Rachel asked, grabbing onto Chloe's leather jacket as Chloe made for the door. "No way. You are not going to hound Max further. Chloe, if you make my girlfriend cry I will fucking end you."

"I'm going to go apologize. Like, a real apology," Chloe replied, yanking her arm free from Rachel's grip before shooting her friend a glare and heading out the door, "Let me fucking make this up to you. To you and Max."

Chloe ran out the door, not giving anyone in the arcade any more chances to stop her. Where the hell did the little nerd go? Chloe squinted in the bright sunlight and spotted Rachel's girlfriend hopping onto a Vespa, pink hair under a retro-looking leather and metal helmet. Running as fast as her smoker's lungs would let her, Chloe made it just as Max started her scooter up.

"Wait!" Chloe shouted, still a few feet away. Chloe frowned when she saw how Max's body tensed at the sound of her voice. Damn, I fucked up hella bad. "Max! Max, just hold up, okay?"

"Why?" Max spat back and Chloe flinched at the pain and venom in the other girl's voice, Max looking over her shoulder with watery eyes, "You just want to fuck with me some more? Make me feel like shit for existing? Fuck you, Chloe. You never even gave me a goddamn chance."

"Dude, I was an asshole and I'm sorry!" Chloe shouted, arms rigid and outstretched along her sides. Max switched off the Vespa's engine and Chloe watched her turn in her seat a little so they were looking at each other face to face. "Max, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for overreacting, and I'm sorry for treating you like shit. I don't… I don't even know you and I was being utter shit."

"Yeah, you were." The coldness in Max's voice took Chloe by surprise, again, and she steeled herself against the pink-haired girl's gaze. She has every right to be this way, Chloe. Do not get fucking defensive because she's pissed. Do not get defensive. "Chloe, Rachel invited me down here because I wanted to meet you."

"…Really?" Chloe asked, eyes widening a bit.

"W-Well, yeah. She told me a little about you and I thought that we could be friends. I mean, Rachel is my girlfriend and you sounded pretty cool by the way she described you."

Chloe watched Max look at her intensely, attention entirely dialed in on Chloe. Chloe shifted her gaze to just over Max's shoulder, the steel blue eyes felt to her like they were boring into Chloe's mind. Chloe heard Max sigh and looked back to see Rachel's girlfriend pinch her nose before sliding one leg over so that she was standing next to the Vespa. Opening a compartment under the seat, Max grabbed a bubblegum pink helmet and tossed it at Chloe. Barely catching the headgear from the surprise of it being thrown at her, Chloe looked at Max in confusion before looking down at the helmet she was now carrying.

"Uh, what is this-?" Chloe started to ask before Max cut her off.

"Wowsers, you don't know what a helmet is?" Max asked, smiling as Chloe pressed her lips together tightly and mouthed Fuck you, Max while she put the helmet on. "Well, at least you got that part right."

"Eat me, nerd," Chloe replied, narrowing her eyes before quickly looking away when Max replied with a wink. Amazeballs. She's, like, totally fucking cute. God, why am I being such a dick to this girl? She… Ugh, this is all hella crazy! "Um, maybe this isn't such a-"

Chloe shrieked in surprise as Max started the Vespa back up and took off, both of them speeding down the street toward wherever Chloe figured Rachel's girlfriend was taking her.

Max sped through the business district of Arcadia Bay, zipping through side streets and alleyways to the sound of Chloe gasping and hollering in delight as Max weaved around the town. Her Vespa was gunmetal grey with dark blue racing stripes, the engine from a model newer than the retro-looking frame. Slowing down as they came into a suburban area, Max noticed Chloe glance over at a two-story blue house but didn't say anything as they passed it. Maybe it's her house. Max took a left at the next intersection and rolled into a prefab complex with the sign "Sherwood Village" set in brick at the entryway. Chloe snorted, Max picking up a little disgust in the huff that followed from her passenger, and rolled her eyes as she sped down the single road. At the second-to-last house on the right hand side, Max pulled into the garage. Dropping the scooter's kickstand down with her foot, Max revved the engine up a couple more times to enjoy the sound of her scooter and shut it off.

"Casa de Max?" Chloe asked her, Max pulling off her own helmet to run a gloved hand through her messy pink hair. Max didn't notice the blushing face of her guest as she walked over and pressed the button that lowered the garage door down, "Never figured you for a Sherwood girl."

"A house is a house," Max said with a shrug, taking Chloe's helmet from her. Storing the pink helmet away, Max put the black helmet on the seat and unzipped her hoodie, "There a problem with where I live, too?"

"No! Um, I mean there isn't," Chloe raised her hands and shook her head, "I… Fuck, my dad's construction outfit was contracted to do this but the Prescotts somehow managed to win the bid with a higher offer. Some under-the-table bullshit or whatever."

"I'm sorry," Max said, looking over at Chloe with a grimace on her face. Touching Chloe's arm, leather glove on leather jacket, Max looked up and saw Chloe's blushing face and started to blush herself. She's so fucking cute! Wowsers, Max. Chill. You have a girlfriend!

But there's always room for one more…, Max bit her lip as the unbidden thought came to mind. Max barely understood polyamory herself, never mind that she was polyamorous. It felt weird to her, liking more than one person and wanting to follow through. Rachel had understood, even joked about a three-way, but that wasn't the point to Max. It was about more than physical attraction; Max wanted to fall in love. Rachel was nice, and they had fun, but she could also be flaky at times. Leading Chloe absentmindedly into her house, Max thought of all the times Rachel had messaged her or called her to say she was coming over only to never show up. It drove Max insane. I really do like Rachel, but it's like if I'm not there to get her attention I only have a 50/50 chance of actually seeing her. I come to her, but she only comes to me a fraction of the time.

"Dude, this place is pretty nice," Max heard Chloe say, snapping out of her thoughts to see her guest admiring the living room with its leather couch and loveseat, "Man, these chairs look hella comfy. And that TV. Max, that is a sick entertainment system."

"Well, my mom is a physician and dad is a psychologist who works for the government," Max said in a bored droll. She didn't want to talk about her parents; Max had brought Chloe to her house to get to know the azure-haired girl. "It'd be as cool as you make it sound if they were here long enough for us to be an actual family. Come on. The basement is my room."

Max headed down the stairs, missing the look of concern on her guest's face as Chloe tilted her head and frowned at the mention of how dismal Max's family life was. Fishing out a set of keys, Max slid one into a wooden door at the end of the stairway and unlocked the entrance to her room. Turning on a wall lamp, Max spun on one heel and motioned for Chloe to enter.

"Come on down, Chloe Price," Max said with a smirk, the smirk getting a little bigger when Chloe snorted before giving Max her own Cheshire grin. Such cute. Very hella. So blue. Wow.

The room was illuminated by the wall lamp Max had turned on, the laptop screen showing a wallpaper of photography collages, and a flat-panel TV mounted to the wall. A game on pause, Max walked over to the small entertainment shelf nailed to the wall just under the TV and switched the gaming console off before turning on another light. A floor lamp brightening up the majority of the room, Max heard Chloe take in a breath through gritted teeth and saw her guest's evident curiosity. The few windows that would have normally leaked sunlight into Max's room were covered up with blackout curtains, the cinderblock walls adorned with posters from various movies and bands until you got to the full-size bed. Nestled in one corner of the room, the wall space above Max's bed was filled with Polaroid photos from various places and times. Max watched Chloe reach a hand out to the photos as she got onto the bed with one knee. Seeing the hand hesitate, Max noticed the azure nail polish on Chloe's hand and felt a sensation in her stomach as the other girl looked at her with a faint smile.

"Yes, you can touch," Max said in a mockingly chiding tone, wagging a finger. "Touch, not yank off and never put back. I get that enough with Rachel and Victoria. At least Kate respects my rules."

"Oh? Does the 'Max-Cave of Solitude' have a rulebook for new guests?" Chloe asked, pulling her hand back and taking a seat on Max's bed. "Do tell, O Keeper of Rules."

"Too much time," Max said, pulling off her gloves and sneakers, "We'll have to go straight to initiation."

"Oh?"

"Mm-hmm. Ritual sacrifice, blood-letting. It's a thing."

"Well," Chloe said, running her fingers along Max's bedspread, "How about a reprieve for me?"

"After being such an ass?" Max snorted, laughing when Chloe flipped her off, "You sure do know how to ask for favors, Chloe."

Max felt a pinching sensation behind her left eye and grunted from the pain. Putting a hand to her head, Max winced and felt two hands guide her to the bed. Chloe. Chloe's helping me to the bed. Who else could it be? Lying down, Max felt herself get nudged toward the wall and a dip in the mattress signaling that someone was joining her. Looking over with half-lidded eyes, one hand on her forehead, Max saw Chloe watching her attentively.

"Sorry," Max said, cracking a strained grin. "Get a cute girl in my bed and of course I get a headache."

"So I'm cute, huh?" Chloe said, her eyes lit up with mischief. Max averted her eyes. "As much of an asshole as I was, you think I'm cute?"

"I'm allowed to find anybody cute, jerk," Max replied, before closing her eyes. "C-Can you pass me the water bottle on the bedside table? Also, there's a blue pillbox in the table drawer. It has my medication."

Max rested her eyes and leaned back into the pillow her head was under, the throbbing in her head in tandem with her heartbeat. It was always like this when the headaches started, and Max knew by heart that the nosebleeds almost always preceded them. She wanted to cry, wanted to scream about how it was unfair and that she was only 18 and had spent the first month of her senior year in and out of the hospital, her home, and school. Groaning as she turned to face the wall, Max grabbed the stuffed teddy bear she called "The Captain" and pressed it to her chest as she tried to will the pain away.

"Max?" Max faintly heard Chloe call her name. Is she speaking so quietly, or is the throbbing that bad? Moving sluggishly, Max turned to see concern etched on Chloe's face as she held a half-empty bottle of water and a small checkered box. "This it?"

"Y-Yeah," Max said, looking away to avoid blushing from the expression on Chloe's face. Every time she bites her lip I want to grab her by the collar and ask her to stop being so goddamn pretty, Max thought before taking a deep breath. Letting the exhale out slowly, Max looked up at her with a weary smile and took the offered water and medication. "You can look around if you want. Ask Rachel, Kate, or Tori and they'll tell you I'm a total snoop. Only fair if someone explores my sanctum sanctorum, finds out all my secrets. The pill will take a bit to kick in and I'm pretty much bedridden."

Max watched Chloe look at her before shifting her gaze to the pillbox Max was now holding. Looking back up, Max simply watched as Chloe laid back down in the bed alongside her and reached out to touch her arm. You couldn't have been like this earlier, you dork? Max thought as she swallowed the pill down with a mouthful of water.
"What's the story?" Chloe asked, her words hesitant, "I mean, Rachel and the other girls were hella defensive about you, Max, like you're some fragile little flower-"

"Pfft, okay…"

"-and I'm just curious. How about instead of me peeking around your house you tell me why those three nearly bit my damn head off and we reintroduce ourselves?"

"L-Look at you," Max smiled at her guest, Chloe responding with a smirk of her own, "All nice and polite. Where was this earlier, Chloe?"

"…Sorry about before. I get worked up over shit that, well, it's kinda personal. You go, and I'll go. How's that sound?"

"Alright, I guess," Max shrugged and laid down on her back. Looking up at the ceiling, Max felt Chloe inch closer as the mattress dipped again, "I… I have this epically bad type of anemia. It's Aplastic, I think? Anyway, it is chronic and I get really sick when I'm getting my butt kicked by it. Nosebleeds, migraines, dizziness. It's why I'm so damn pale. The girls were like that because I told Rachel when we got together and she told them because we were all becoming friends. It intensified when I collapsed in photography class."

"Shit, Max," Chloe replied, but Max didn't look over. She couldn't take anymore pitying looks, having seen enough of them over the course of the illness.

"Victoria's mom is the class's teacher, the previous guy getting fired when security caught him photographing girls on campus in a creeper way. Anyway, Mrs. Chase, Tori, Kate, and Rachel made a point of bringing my homework from school to me whether I was at the hospital or here at home. They were the only people aside from my parents to ever see how bad the anemia can get."

"H-How bad does it-?"

"Bad. Crime scene bad."

"…Oh."

"That's why they get so defensive, so sometimes overly protective," Max chuckled a bit and turned to lay on her side, looking over to see Chloe watching her with a blank look on her face. The azure-haired girl's eyes seemed to shine in the dim light and Max got the impression that those eyes hadn't left her once since she'd started talking. There you go again with the mushy cuteness, Chloe. "Anyway, when I got released from my latest visit to the hospital the night before last I messaged Rachel and said I would be stopping by the arcade the next day and she suggested that you and I get acquainted."

"'Acquainted'?"

"I'm paraphrasing, asshole," Max snickered, pushing Chloe's shoulder, "So, I came as you left and here we are a day later and your crap attitude seeming to be behind us."

"What makes you think it is gone, dude? When Rachel says that I'm an asshole she's-"

"Your eyes haven't left me the entire time you've been in my room, Chloe. You think I didn't notice, b-but I did."

Both girls became silent, the only sound being the faint hum of Max's laptop on the desk next to her bed and a tower fan blowing cool air towards them. Max watched Chloe duck her head down and she could no longer clearly make out her guest's face. Reaching up, Max switched on the dim lamp that had been nailed into the headboard and saw Chloe's pensive face. Shuffling over so that she was a little closer to the blue-haired girl, Max's hand wavered a bit before coming to rest on Chloe's shoulder.

"Chloe..?" Max asked, leaning in a bit, "Um, you okay?"

"I think that maybe it wasn't the best idea for me to come here, Max," Chloe said, backing away so that she was lying on the bed's edge opposite Max, "You're… You're not what I expected, and that's hella my fault. I fucked up. The reason I freaked about the Contra machine is that m-my dad and I used to play that same machine when I was a kid. He's hella busy now, him and mom both, and it's some weird attempt at me comforting myself."

"Oh," Max said, sitting up. Bringing her knees up to her chest, Max watched as Chloe seemed to be second-guessing either what she'd just said or was about to say. Max couldn't figure the girl lying in bed with her out. "Chloe, if you really feel uncomfortable you don't have to-"

"What games do you got?" Chloe asked, jerking her head back toward the game console mounted under the small TV. Way to break the ice, Chloe, Max thought with some disappointment as she gave Chloe a smirk. Rachel thought you and I might hit it off. Maybe we will.

"Nothing recent," Max said as she gestured for Chloe to get up so she could do the same. Swinging her legs off the bed, Max slowly got to her feet and walked over to where she stored the controllers. "A friend of mine back in Seattle helped me mod it so that I can play emulated games from older consoles. I have a bunch on here. What're you in the mood for?"

"…Anything co-op?" Chloe asked, smiling as she caught the wireless controller Max tossed her.

Chloe was worried it might be getting too late for Max, her new friend seeming to get increasingly tired as they played game after game. Battletoads, Golden Axe, Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat; Chloe recognized both skill and taste when she saw it. Max, you're hardcore, Chloe thought with a small grin while Max was oblivious as they played another game. The doorbell ringing nearly had Chloe jump out of her beanbag chair and she laughed a bit when Max leapt out of hers and ran to the stairway door before looking back at her with an embarrassed grin.

"Sorry. Probably looked like a complete dork, right?" Max smiled, ducking her head down in embarrassment. Chloe felt her chest tighten at the way Max's smile and the twinkling of her eyes were highlighted by unruly pink hair. "I'll be right back. I asked Rachel that if she came over to bring food. I'm totally starving right now. I hope you don't mind Thai food."

"Dude, I'll eat anything that simply has 'food' as a description," Chloe said before smirking, "Well, I'll eat somethings that aren't food, as well."

Chloe laughed when Max blushed and listened as Max walked up the stairs with the sound of muttered curses trailing behind her. Her laugh subsiding to a wry snicker, Chloe pulled out her phone and began to text.

Chloe: Rachel, that u?

Rachel: Chloe?

Rachel: U here Max's? Wow, that's a fucking swerve

Chloe: Nice to hear from you too, asswipe.

Chloe: Max is hella cool. She gave me a lift on her Vespa and we've been chillin and playin video games.

Rachel: XD

Chloe: NO EMOJI

Chloe: …wat is so damn funny?

Rachel: You are such a dork

Chloe: ?

Rachel: Chlo, Max just opened the door and she looks so fucking flustered. I think she likes you. Meaning l-i-k-e.

Chloe: Uhhh, that's fucking weird coming from her girlfriend…

Rachel: A girl knows when to keep her secrets.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Chloe put her phone away and felt her stomach rumble at the smell of spicy Thai food. With Max carrying some plates and chopsticks, Rachel followed behind with a paper bag that Chloe's eyes locked onto. That smells amazeballs, Chloe thought as she got to her feet. The basement was nearly the size of the living room and dining area of her house, but there was a sliding door that separated the space. Watching Max slide the wooden door back, Chloe had initially thought it was a closet until Max and Rachel both disappeared into it and a light came on that exposed the entire other room. Curiosity and a need to eat drove Chloe to follow and she found the girls sitting on the carpeted floor preparing everything like it was a picnic. Max looked up at her and grinned as Rachel began to portion out all the food into three heaping platefuls.

"Hey, you want to open up one of those windows a crack?" Max asked as she fished out a pack of cigarettes and lighter from her hoodie's pockets, "I like to smoke after I eat, if that's okay."

"Uh, it's fine," Chloe looked at Max with an incredulous smile, "It is your house, Maxaroni."

"'Maxaroni'?" Max asked, tilting her head to one side as Rachel giggled. "Am I missing something?"

"She likes to give everyone nicknames, babe," Rachel said, leaning in to give a surprised Max a kiss, "She's a dork like that, but it's her way of being sweet."

"Hey, you know what's sweet?" Chloe asked as she turned around and smacked her butt in the girl's direction, "My booty, my sweet booty."

"I'll take your word for that," Rachel said, Chloe knowing that her best friend was likely stifling back a laugh.

"I'm game," Max said, the teasing way she said it making Chloe cough a bit as she hurriedly walked over to the small window and opened it a crack. "What, Rachel? I mean, have you seen Chloe strut around? Wowsers."

"U-Uh, am I missing something here?" Chloe asked as she slowly sat down cross-legged before a plate of food, the other girls already snapping their chopsticks apart to dig in, "Um, hello? Don't feel like being the butt of anyone's fucking joke. Oh, fucking quit laughing, Max!"

Chloe watched Max give Rachel a knowing look and saw her best friend roll her eyes a bit before nodding in answer to some silent question both girls seemed to know. Chloe frowned and knit her eyebrows together in frustration. Max was an enigma to her; Chloe had seen Max act shy, confident, wounded, and now she was being coy. The coyness was driving her insane and it was taking all of Chloe's strength to ignore the fact that she was blushing.

"I will tell you after lunch. How's that?" Max asked with a tight-lipped smile.

"…Whatever," Chloe mumbled and began to eat.

Satisfied, Chloe patted her stomach in appreciation for the meal and laid back on the carpeted floor of what Max called her "chill zone". Her parents not entire sure what to do with the space, considering the only way in was through Max's room, it had been left empty since the Caulfields had moved in. Rachel and Max had taken advantage of that and brought in candles and incense to mask the cigarette smoke and occasional joint. With Max lying her head on Rachel's abdomen as all three girls smoked away on their cigarettes, Chloe watched the two girls and felt a pang of loneliness creep up. I want that, Chloe thought to herself as she would cast quick glances over to Max. I want her lying on my stomach and chilling with me like that. I want Max's smiling face leaning into mine with a kiss. I hella want that. Bad epic want. Fucking want it.

"Chloe," Max said, sitting up and shooting Rachel a look. Rachel kissed Max on the cheek and whispered something in the pink-haired girl's ear before heading out the door. Watching Rachel close the sliding door, Chloe heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs and turned to see that Max had moved over to sit alongside her. "Y-You… Did Rachel ever tell you anything about me?"

"Dude, no offense, but I didn't even know you existed until yesterday," Chloe said, taking a puff from her cigarette before blowing a couple of smoke rings, "Why? Max, what's with the secretive shit? I mean, I know we just got to know each other and all but fucking whispering and giving each other looks right in front of me is some uncool shit, dude."

"Would you… Fuck," Max said, shaking her head before putting a palm to her forehead. Oh shit, is she getting ill again? Chloe thought as she snuffed out her cigarette on the plate she'd been using. When Chloe got to her feet, however, she found a small hand clutching onto the fabric of her tank-top, "No! I mean, just give me a second. Let me explain."

"Okay…"

"Do you know… Swear to Dog, I did not think it would be this fucking hard," Max said, Chloe getting the impression that her new friend was trying to muster up courage for whatever she was about to say, "Chloe, I like you."

"You're pretty chill yourself, Maxaroni. Um, Rachel-"

"I like you."

"R-Rachel said something along those lines, Max," Chloe said, biting her lip. "Dude, I'd prefer to not be the girl my best friend gets cheated on with."

"…Do you know what polyamory means? Like, if a person is polyamorous?" Max asked, taking in a deep breath when Chloe numbly shook her head, "Basically, I am non-exclusive when it comes to relationships. I can see more than one person as a partner. I, um, I tell everyone involved so as to detract from someone I'm seeing getting the impression I am cheating on them."

"I like you, Chloe, and I'd like to start seeing you if you like. A real date, the works," Max said, reaching her hand out to take one of Chloe's. Chloe looked down at the hand and up at Max. Hardcore is an understatement. Note to self – beware all girls who act shy from now on, Chloe. Well, maybe not all shy girls. This… This is so fucked up, but I want this girl so hella bad. Is… Is it wrong that part of me doesn't give a single fuck? "Chloe?"

"Mmm? Oh, uh, this is just a lot to process," Chloe slid her hand out from under Max's and got to her feet. Pulling a joint out of her back pocket, Chloe fished around and retrieved another. Lighting both with a disposable lighter she'd acquired at Murphy's Ink, Chloe handed the second blunt to Max, "Dude, I could so go for a beer right now…"

"Yuck," Max stuck her tongue out as she gagged at the mention of Chloe's preferred beverage.

"Adorable," Chloe said, waiting for Max's response. When Max flashed her a nose-scrunching smile, Chloe felt her chest tighten again and she sat next to Max. Her pink-haired friend sitting up across from her, Chloe leaned her forehead against Max's and took in Max's scent. Chloe noticed that the shampoo Max used left her hair smelling like mint. "Max, Rachel is my best friend and-"

"She's cool with it," Max's voice was soft as she looked at Chloe through her eyelashes. Fuck me, this girl's got mad powers, "I-I told you, Chloe. I tell the people I see that I'm non-exclusive. I tell them the whole deal. Truth is, I kinda crushed on you the second I laid eyes on you yesterday. I… I'd really like it if you gave me a shot."

"…I thought you were hella cute, too," Chloe admitted, letting the statement out in a forced exhale. "Wait. You don't do three-"

"Not everything about my dating life ends in a three-way, Jeebus," Max rolled her eyes and snickered at the curious look on Chloe's face. "I haven't known Rachel long enough to even contemplate something like that, and I just started getting to know you today. Slow your roll, Price."

"…Okay. I mean, if you're up for dealing with my bullshit," Chloe said, the words carefully chosen as she felt like they were coming out so slowly. "I… I dare you to kiss me."

"W-What?" Max asked, pulling back with a surprised look on her face.

"You pick now to by shy, Caulfield? Weak sauce. I double-dare you. Kiss me now."

Max kissed her, Chloe feeling the taste of Thai food, soda, and weed mingling with her own flavor as Max's tongue raked her lips until they parted. Feeling Max's tongue massage her own as she reached over and grabbed a handful of pink hair, Chloe felt the hum of a stifled moan from Max and smiled. This is so fucking cool.

"You two are fucking dorks," Chloe and Max pulled apart in surprise to find Rachel had snuck up on them. Sitting only a couple feet away, Rachel moved in and kissed Max before turning to kiss a wide-eyed Chloe. "This okay, Chlo? I mean, are you okay with us?"

"Hella." Chloe leaned in and kissed Rachel only to feel Max's lips on her cheek. "Livin' the dream, huh?"

"Oh my Dog," Max pulled back, playfully shoving Chloe onto the floor as all three girls began to laugh, Rachel moving to lay her head on Max's stomach as Max laid hers on Chloe's. "You really okay with this, Chloe? If you're just being brave, you-"

"I'm okay with it, Max. I like you, and Rachel's my best friend. Guess we'll see where all this takes us, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Author's Note –

That's right. Amberpricefield.

It happened. I did it. This is a thing.

Thanks to my friend summerfelldraws on Tumblr for the idea. She's done so much wonderful art and has been so kind. I wanted to return the artwork she's done for me and is planning to do with this lovely story. Like all my other pieces, this went longer than I expected. I hope you all liked it, as it is a pleasant break from where I usually take these stories of mine.

Read, review, and I'll see you all next time!

Stay Hella, Sinnamon Rolls! ;)