As Chloe and Max drove away from the destruction of the town they had grown up in, no words were said. After a hour’s drive, they managed to find a cheap motel that didn’t look like cockroaches were the main tenants.
They brought in what little they had taken with them. Changes of clothes. The very few photos that had survived the near obliteration of the Price home.
“Gonna take a shower, Max.” Chloe said, kind of listlessly. She stepped into the bathroom, and said shower started a few minutes later.
As Max was making sure that all that they had wanted was there, not that it really mattered, they were never going back, a jewel case fell out. Labelled MAX MUSIC, in Chloe’s distinct block lettering.
“she.. she made a mix CD about me?”, Max whispered
One of the other things that had miraculously survived the storm, was a small boombox they had found in the wreckage of a house, a few blocks away from the Price home.
As she plugged the boombox into a outlet, the shower stopped running.
Max inserted the disc, and hit play. A digital 01 in red appeared on the display, and a quiet guitar began
This is my dream
It’s not what it was before
All these feelings I’ve shared
And these are my dreams
That I’ve never lived before
Max gasped, tears beginning to form.
She remembered the last time she had heard that song.
It was two weeks before she had left Arcadia Bay.
They had been coloring in Chloe’s room. Chloe had initially said coloring was for kids, but, that was just to keep up her tough girl image. She soon backed down in the force of Max’s puppy eyes.
The radio was softly playing, and Max could suddenly hear it, crystal clear
These are my words
that I’ve never said before
I think I’m doing okay
and this is the smile
that I’ve never shown before
Immediately, her mind conjured up a image from earlier in that day.
They had been playing around as pirates, as they had done so many times before.
Chloe was going in, to point her wooden sword at Max’s chest, winning the duel.
Suddenly, Max feinted, spinning around Chloe.
Twisting her around, she tapped he sword on Chloe’s chest.
“Do ye yield, Captain Bluebeard?”, she smirked.
“Aye, that I do, First Mate.”
“Max, that was great! You moved like a ninja! So proud of you!”
Her smile outshone the sun that dappled the trees around them
Somebody shake me cause I
must be sleeping
As she came back to the room, she glanced over at her Captain, coloring a shark blue. The breath fled her lungs.
She was in love with Chloe Elizabeth Price.
I’m so afraid of waking
please don’t shake me
afraid of waking
please don’t shake me
Max swallowed against a lump in her throat.
There was no way, no possible way Chloe felt that way about her.
She was her First Mate, nothing more.
As she took a deep breath to calm herself, she resolved that Chloe could never know.
These weird feelings were stupid. They'd would ruin what they had.
As she took one more glance at the love she could never have, she softly whispered “never”
As older Max came back to the motel room, a door opened.
I’m so afraid of waking
please don’t don’t shake me
afraid of waking
please don’t shake me
A pair of strong, yet slender arms slid around her body.
“I remember the time I heard this song, coloring with you. I couldn’t bear to look at you, because I remembered that fight, earlier that day. You looked so happy that you had defeated me. No way I could stay mad at you. I realized I was in love with you, that day.”
Max took in a deep breath. Did.. did she mean?
“The next day, I talked to Dad. I told him how I felt about you, that there was no way you could feel the same way. I told him that I was a freak, a weirdo for those feelings. He said something I’ve never forgotten. ‘Honey, you are not a freak for those feelings. Love is a wonderful, beautiful gift. I can almost guarantee you that Max feels the same’”
She turned Max around, a sad smile on her face.
“I shook my head, told him there was no way. He said ‘Even if she doesn’t feel the same way, that will never tear you apart. You will always be Max and Chloe, Captain and First Mate, no matter what’”
Max could barely see it through her own tears, but Chloe’s face was wet, as well.
“I love you, Maxine Caulfield. Loved you since before I even knew I did”
Max whispered, “Me, too. I thought that my feelings were weird and wrong, so I stuffed them down inside. I thought you’d never feel the same. And, then….”, she choked
shh, Max Power, all that’s in the past”, Chloe said with the same smile she remembered from that day, so long ago.
Max chuckled wetly at the nick name.
I can feel that face the day, and I can forgive
And I’m not ashamed
To be the person that I am today
It was something out of a cheesy romance novel, but, they said “I love you with all that I am” in unison, before their lips met.
They had been waiting so long, and it was totally perfect