Chapter 4
Chapter 4
After having showered and gotten a change of clothes Chloe and Max had went into their rooms to rest a bit. But for Chloe sleep hadn't come, instead she had spend all the time twisting and turning. With a groan she sat up in bed and looked around the room.
It looked nice. Not exactly what she would call hot shit, but it would do. And she was with Max, that was the important thing.
Max. It was still hard to believe that they were back together again, even after this weird as fuck week. Chloe didn't know how to feel about it. So much had happened, Max's power, the town being destroyed because Max had kept saving her again and again. She was grateful and seeing as the universe hadn't tried to kill her again so far she presumed that they were in the clear now.
Yet a lot of people died because of one girl that should have died in a fucking school crapper. She wasn't sure if she would ever get over that. The best she could do was move forward, carry that burden, maybe try to live in all those people's stead or something like that. It would at least make the guilt more bearable she figured.
And then there was all that weird shit with Nathan and that fucker Jefferson.
Fuck, Rachel, Chloe thought and buried her face in her hands. She had loved her. More than she probably should have since Rachel clearly hadn't felt the same way about her. And now she was dead, because of them. She wasn't sad that Nathan was dead and she was glad that Jefferson got what he deserved too. Not only for Rachel, but also for what he had done to Max.
And she was back to thinking of Max. Again. She had been doing that constantly these past few days. How could she not? Max had basically thrown everything away just for her. When they were on the cliff Chloe had refused to look away and held Max close to her, being her anchor in her own time of need.
Chloe sighed. She couldn't deny it any longer that she might be in love with Max. Might even have felt that way for a long time and all this flirting that she had done were just her past feelings resurfacing again. And like some little girl with her first crush she didn't know what the hell she was doing!
“Holy fuck! Chloe, get it together.” she told herself and grabbed the pack of smokes that she put on the night table. She put one between her lips and grabbed her lighter, but thought better of it to light it in here and got up from the bed, left the room and entered the bathroom. Might as well take a piss while I'm at it.
Chloe opened the window and lighted her cigarette, taking a long drag of it. Damn I could use a doobie, she thought, but another part of her told her that now might be a good idea to call it quits on the drugs. With all the dying she seemed to have done and the death she had witnessed it seemed wrong to waste her life on that stuff.
Hell, she might even quit smoking down the road. Well, one vice at a time that is.
She took her sweet time, doing her business all the while, then tossed the smoke into the bowl before flushing. As she walked back to her room she spotted light coming from underneath Max's door. The raunchier part of her brain immediately assumed that Max must be taking care of some...personal matters, but she dismissed that thought. Besides, who had the lights on for that unless they're using a magazine?
Her curiosity getting the better of her she walked up to the door and placed her ear against it. What she heard sounded like...typing?
Chloe stepped back and knocked on the door. “Max?” she called as quietly as possible.
“Yeah?” came the muffled response. Chloe opened the door and stuck her head inside the room. Max was sitting at her computer, dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts, and was looking at her from over her shoulder.
“Can't sleep either?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah. You can come in if you want,” Max said and turned back to her computer to continue typing. Chloe stepped inside, closing the door behind her, and had to smile as she took in the room. The room simply said 'Max Caulfield'.
“Hey Max, Whatcha typin'?” Chloe asked as she plopped down on Max's bed.
“Just catching up on some stuff I missed during the week and, uh, well posting on 4chan,” she said the last part a bit embarrassed.
“Maxine Caulfield, a shitposter on 4chan?” Chloe gasped in mock shock. “Quick someone call the cops!”
Max chuckled. “I'm not shitposting, you know?”
They grew silent and only the sound of Max's typing could be heard. Chloe's eyes fell on the TV. Not bad.
She laid down on the bed and stared at the TV for a while. “So, since we both can't sleep, how about we catch a movie?”
Max turned towards her and smiled. “Sure. Anything you wanna watch?”
“Your house, your movies. So you decide.”
Max looked at her for a few seconds, her face turning into that cute little frown that she always put on when deep in thought. “How about...Blade Runner?”
“Shit, been a long time since I saw that one. Sure, I'm down.” Chloe grinned in excitement.
“Just let me finish up here,” Max said and typed in the last few words before clicking on the post button. “And done.”
Chloe watched her get out of her chair and look through her movie collection, her gaze slowly wandering down Max's body to stop and that cute little butt. She lifted her gaze as soon as Max turned around, giving her a lopsided grin and started to get comfortable on one of the pillows as Max put the movie in.
“This is gonna be awesome,” Chloe said as Max joined her. The movie had always been one of her favorites, so watching it with Max again was really special. As the movie went Max leaned her head against her shoulder and, with a small smile, Chloe put right her arm around Max's shoulder to pull her closer.
After the movie came to a close Chloe asked “So, you think Deckard's a Replicant?”
For a second she could have sworn to see a look of pain cross Max's face, but it was gone so fast that she might have just imagined that.
“From what I remember Scott intended for him to be one, yeah.”
“Heh, I knew it.” Chloe grinned and found herself stifling a yawn. “And I'm sure as fuck that I'll be able to sleep now.”
She got up from the bed and was about to take her leave when Max grabbed her gently around the right wrist.
“Stay with me?” Max asked her. “I...I don't want to sleep all alone tonight.”
Chloe wondered if Max was afraid of having another nightmare. She could hardly blame her with everything that happened. She smiled and laid back down on top of the bed. “You sure your parents won't mind?”
Max smiled gratefully “We've slept together in the same bed for how many years? This is hardly different.”
Oh, but it was. Back then things were simpler, just two childhood BFFs sharing a bed during one of their many sleepovers. But five years had passed and now she looked at Max and saw someone she wanted in different ways now. She looked at Max's face, focusing on her freckles and Chloe found herself wondering where else she might have them. Part of her wanted to find out right now.
She managed to push the thought aside for now.
“Just don't try to hog the covers for yourself,” Chloe said as they made themselves comfortable.
“I'll make no such promises,” Max said and turned the lights off.