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When Max arrives at the entrance to Chloe’s room, she doesn’t bother knocking on her door before before opening it. She walks over to Chloe’s bed and sprawls atop it with a long, quiet sigh. Chloe’s eyes are closed from where she lays on the other side of the bed, but she blinks them open when she notices Max’s presence next to her.“Hey, Super Max.”“Hey, Chloe. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Max hopes her voice doesn’t sound like she’s in too much pain—her head is killing her right now.“Don’t worry about it—I wasn’t really asleep, anyway. What’s up?” Chloe asks, before her eyes drift shut again.“Well, not much, besides the fact that this day has felt like literal years.” Max groans as her head falls against Chloe’s wall with a dull thud. “Do you mind if I hang here for a bit?”Chloe just hums in both acknowledgement and sympathy, her eyes still closed. After a beat of silence, she opens them to look over at Max. She frowns a bit at the tired expression on her face.“Some music might help you out.” Max sits up straighter before Chloe says, “Let me do it. Just relax.”Chloe sits up and walks over to her hi-fi, stepping over some piles of dirty clothes and old magazines. With a turn of the dial and a quiet click, a soft guitar melody begins to flood through the room.“This okay?” Chloe asks, looking back at Max.“It’s perfect. Just my style,” Max says with a small smile, despite the way her head is pounding—she really shouldn’t have done so much time manipulation earlier.“So, tell me,” Chloe begins as she makes her way back to her bed, flopping onto it and plucking up a half-smoked joint, waving it in the air with a flourish. “What happened today?”Max groans again and squeezes her eyes shut. “What didn’t happen today? Principal Wells is totally up my ass. I had to rewind five times just to get away from his constant questioning. Nathan is… well, Nathan. Jefferson’s class is kicking my butt, and don’t even get me started on Bio. It doesn’t matter if Warren is my lab partner—no matter how many times I rewind I just can’t do anything right.” She takes a breath before continuing. “I thought I was in Victoria’s good graces, but I’ve fucked all of that up, too. Kate is still in recovery, and I haven’t been able to see her once, even though I’ve promised her that I’d visit multiple times by now.” Max presses the heels of her palms against her eyes. “I’m exhausted, Chloe.”“Hey,” Chloe starts, and Max opens her eyes to look at her.Chloe’s gaze is soft with worry. A wrinkle knits itself between her brows, and despite the weed she’s been smoking, her eyes are bright as she looks at Max’s face. Max tries to ignore the way her heart pounds a bit faster at Chloe’s expression. She thinks, perhaps a bit selfishly, that it’s reserved just for her.Chloe sits up to loop an arm around Max’s shoulders, and Max leans into her touch, her heart beating in an unsteady tempo.“Why don’t you just chill here with me tonight?” Chloe murmurs against Max’s hair. “And I’ll go grab you some Advil for your head.”“Okay. But don’t go yet. Wanna stay right here.” Max feels Chloe smile a bit against her at her words.“Fine with me.” Chloe says, placing her chin atop the crown of Max’s head. They sit there in comfortable silence as birds chirp from outside of Chloe’s open window. Another song begins playing from the hi-fi—one that they listened to all the time as kids. Max closes her eyes, soaking in the feelings of nostalgia, until a sharp jolt of pain against her forehead causes her to let out a quiet groan.She feels Chloe’s hold on her loosen. When Max opens her eyes, she’s pulling on her boots. She stands up straight and points a finger at Max.“Stay right there and get comfy—doctor’s orders. And don’t start blazing up in here without me, ya hippie. Be back in a sec.” Max rolls her eyes, but looks at Chloe gratefully as she slips out the door.With Chloe no longer by her side, Max sinks fully against the bed. She stares at photos pasted to the walls of the room: alternative bands and women on magazine covers and punkish photos all look back at her. Max then shifts her gaze to Chloe’s drawings across her walls: some are crude, sketched in sharp lines; others are beautifully and artistically detailed.For a painful second, Max wishes that she never left Arcadia Bay. She wishes, even more, that she never left Chloe.Luckily, Chloe appears in the doorway before Max can get too mopey. She walks over to Max, one hand outstretched with a few Advil tablets, a small glass of water in her other hand.“My savior,” Max says with a smile, sitting up straighter. She takes the tablets from Chloe and pops them in her mouth, then begins to gulp down large sips of water.“Someone’s thirsty, huh?” The way Chloe says it, in that low voice of hers, almost makes Max choke as she takes a final sip.“You could say that,” Max says, her voice quiet. Chloe just raises an eyebrow, lips forming into a sharp-edged smile, before settling down next to her.“Well, that should make you feel better in no time.”“Thanks, Chloe.”Chloe nods before grabbing her lighter and a joint, sparking up. Her lighter is worn, likely from years of use. Max watches the way the small flame dances; the way it shines light across Chloe’s sharp jawline and nose, highlighting all the angles of her face.Another song plays, and birds continue to chirp outside. Max’s head is already starting to feel better, but her heart is beginning to cause her some serious issues now. If Max moved her leg just an inch to the left, both her and Chloe's knees would be touching.
Be still, beating heart!
Max gazes at Chloe unashamedly as she takes a long drag from her joint. Chloe, noticing Max’s stare, holds it out to her.“Want some?”Max hopes Chloe doesn’t notice the way a faint heat has blossomed across her cheeks as she smiles, a little bit hesitant. Chloe begins waving the joint around Max’s face as if she were about to cast a spell with it.What a dork, Max thinks. Her heart does a little flip-flop in her chest.“Sure.”A wicked grin slowly makes its way across Chloe’s face.“You’re about to become a true hippie now, Max.” Chloe leans closer into Max’s space. “Is this your first time?”Pfthtthpfht, Max thinks as she stares into Chloe’s low lidded eyes. Her heart has gone from a singular flip-flop to full on summersaults. Luckily, a semi-coherent “yeah,” falls from her lips. Chloe smirks a little bit at that, and from that look alone, Max is completely at her mercy.Max’s fingers brush against Chloe’s as she takes the joint from her fingers. Chloe pushes herself up fully on her elbows to watch as Max places the joint millimeters from her lips. She stares down at it.“It won’t bite you, Max.”Max shoots Chloe a glare before placing the joint fully between her lips. She looks back at her for a second before inhaling, and now its Chloe’s turn to gaze at her unashamedly—and, Max realizes, perhaps a bit hungrily. The heavy weight of her stare makes even more blood rush to Max’s face.Who’s the dork now, Max thinks, as she inhales. And inhales some more. The cherry burns, and burns, and doesn’t really stop.“Whoa, easy there, tiger,” Chloe plucks the joint away just as Max begins coughing her lungs up, smoke flying everywhere. Chloe sits up fully and begins rubbing Max’s back in slow, calm strokes. Her fingers brush up towards the back of her neck and softly curl through the ends of her hair, but Max doesn’t really notice because, well. Her lungs are on fire, or something.“Oh—shit—” Max gets out between gasps of air and a few weak giggles. “I didn’t know—”Chloe’s thumb rubs soothingly against the knobs of Max’s spine, up and down. Up and down. Max tries to focus all of her attention on that motion.“Sorry. I should’ve told you to only inhale for a few seconds. That’s on me—I, uh, wasn’t thinking straight.” Chloe's words aren’t totally lost on Max. She would say something in response, but she’s too busy fighting for to get air in her lungs, and fighting for her life in the process.Once Max’s coughing fit dies down, Chloe relights the joint, inhales a bit, and then says, “Trust me, my first experience went a lot like yours just did.” She smiles slightly at the memory but doesn’t add anything else before taking another drag.Max lays down fully beside Chloe, watching her blow out smoke. It spirals into the air between them. “Well, I’m glad you could be with me for mine. Wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else but you.”“Such a sweet talker you are.” The tone of Chloe’s voice makes warm heat flood down across Max's neck now. Get a grip! She stares down at the bed for a few seconds; mouth going dry, face too-warm. She looks up when she senses Chloe’s eyes on her.“You want another hit?” Chloe asks. There’s a spark in her eyes that Max doesn’t want to see gone.“Yeah.” She takes the joint from her fingers, inhaling much quicklier than last time, and letting it out slowly, just like she's watched Chloe do countless times. Chloe scoots closer to her, one eyebrow raised, when Max repeats the motion.“I think you’re already becoming somewhat of a natural at this, Max.”Max angles her head towards the ceiling, exhaling a small puff of smoke. “Hah. Now who’s the sweet talker?”“Oh, please.” Chloe’s rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. “You’re much sweeter than I’ll ever be,” she murmurs. Her fingers reach up to lightly trace across Max’s eyebrow.Max gulps audibly. Her mouth is becoming as dry as the Sahara Desert at this point. She’s not sure if it’s from the weed, or from Chloe. Probably both. Their faces are mere inches apart now, and Chloe’s eyes are so, so bright. There’s a fire burning within them. Max tentatively places a warm palm against Chloe’s knee.Max isn’t sure who kisses who first, but when their lips meet, heat blossoms inside of her chest. Her fingers tingle from where they move up to cradle Chloe’s face.ChloeChloeChloe, Max’s brain chants, short-circuiting. Everything is so, so warm. Chloe's hands are roving across her sides; her lips hot on her neck. Max can’t get enough of what she's feeling--there's a deep well of emotion inside of her that bursts against her very bones. When Chloe laughs against her collarbone, Max feels her whole body start to tingle.“Max, open your mouth a bit.” Max complies as Chloe sparks up once more and takes a quick drag, before her lips are millimeters away from Max’s own. The blue-haired woman blows the smoke into Max’s mouth. Max breathes it in as Chloe's lips meet hers, and she thinks her entire body is on fire now. Heat is everywhere, from her rosy face to the tingling tips of her toes. She reaches for Chloe, desperate, tangling her arms around her. Chloe follows suit.Max feels like she’s melting into the bed, and into Chloe.“Hmm.” Chloe’s voice rumbles low against her, fingers brushing against the back of her neck. “I think that you, Mad Max, are high.”Max tries to shake her head, but it feels like a bowling ball. So, she settles for verbal confirmation instead. “I don’t think so.” Okay. Well. Her mouth really feels like it’s stuffed with a billion wads of cotton. Chloe just shakes her head at Max and smiles.“Whatever you say, Maxine.”Max sticks her tongue out at Chloe before shoving her face deeper into the pillow. She’s so warm—especially with Chloe so close. The music from the hi-fi washes over them as they lay there, tangled up together.Chloe unravels one arm from around Max’s body—much to her disappointment—to take a final drag of the joint before stubbing it out. Chloe raises her head to face the ceiling and lets all the smoke out in one long exhale. Max watches, transfixed.“You’re like a dragon.”Chloe just stares at Max before bursting out laughing.“Yup,” Chloe says, popping the p. “You’re definitely high.”Max gives Chloe a sheepish smile. “Hmm… I think I am.” She smushes the side of her too-warm cheek further into Chloe’s pillow. “I definitely am. This is kind of awesome.”“Hell yeah it is.” Chloe turning returns her arm to its rightful place, curled lovingly against Max’s back. Max scooches impossibly closer to her and reaches up to thread her fingers through Chloe’s hair. It’s a bit matted, probably from wearing her beanie so often, but Max couldn’t care less. Chloe smiles at her softly.“Hi,” Max whispers.“Hey, tiger.” Chloe’s thumb brushes against the apple of Max’s cheek. Her thumb is warm. Max places her hand atop Chloe’s before she can move it away.“Stay.”“Okay,” Chloe murmurs, pressing her hand more firmly against Max’s cheek before leaning up to kiss her forehead. “You know I’ll always stay for you.”