Max's POV
I pressed my back up against the door and slid down it, ending up in a sitting position on the freezing, linoleum floor. I listened closely to Chloe's footsteps as she descended back down the stairs. Once I couldn't hear them anymore, only then did I stand up and continue drying myself off in a rather flustered manner. I walked over to the mirror above the sink and wiped off the steam, revealing my red, freckled face. I found it to be ugly, and unfortunately it reminded me of a drowned rat one might see floating belly-up in the sewers. If someone were to actually feel the need to go down there, that is. Chloe had felt the need to come into the bathroom though, for whatever reason. She must not have known that I was in here...
I towel dried my hair and pulled on the spare clothes that Chloe had gone back to get me from my dorm at Blackwell last night. She insisted that I stay in her room since she didn't want David knowing that I was there. I couldn't possibly imagine the fit he would've had if he had accidentally spotted me in the house last night or the two other previous ones. He despised my guts, I could feel it in the very depths of my soul. After adjusting my simple plain white t-shirt, I applied deodorant and just a tiny bit of perfume, which I never actually wore. Until today, that is.
For Chloe?
She wouldn't care. Hell, she wouldn't even notice...but then again, she did notice something else about me moments earlier. My breasts. I shook my head in attempt to knock the thought of Chloe being a peeping Tom out of my head. She was many things, many things indeed, but she wasn't a pervert. Something felt odd though...her staring hadn't violated me. If anything, the memory of her eyes fixed on my naked body excited and flustered me all at once. She had not only seen me, she had admired me.
I walked out of the bathroom with my messenger bag slung over one shoulder and headed downstairs to meet Chloe. She sat sprawled on the old sofa watching a new episode of Steven Universe, the only good show on Cartoon Network anymore. I set my bag down on the kitchen table and walked over to one of the armchairs near my heart's desire and sat down in it. "For the record," she began, making me jump slightly since her voice was the music that filled the otherwise quiet air, "I'm hella sorry..."
I looked over at her, tugging at the sleeves of my hoodie (a nervous habit), and didn't say anything for a moment. The scene replayed itself over and over in my mind a thousand times it seemed before I could say anything. "A-are you okay?" I asked, stupidly. Chloe laughed and scratched the back of her head with the same amount of nervousness that I myself seemed to possess. "Yeah, Max. It's aaaalll good." Her cheeks filled themselves with the same rosy color I swore I saw on her face while we were still in the bedroom. My own face took on a warm sensation as well. "Do I sense sarcasm?" I asked with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, a smile tugging at her perfect pale lips. "Not this time, kid."
I giggled. It was a foreign sound coming from me. I couldn't recall the first time anyone had ever made me giggle like a giddy little school girl like that, except for now. Chloe switched off the TV and stood up, holding a hand out to me as an offer to assist me in standing up just as she had done. I took her hand in mine, feeling the soft skin of her palm as she pulled me upwards. I stumbled and just about fell, but Chloe ended up catching me in her arms. "Whoa there, Max. Can't have you dying on me like that." My heart was beating a trillion times a millisecond, it felt. The blue-haired angel stood me up, making sure that I was steady this time and stared at me for a moment before averting her eyes. "We should go. The junkyard ain't gonna wreck itself, y'know." she said. It was blatantly clear that she was pretending that the intimately emotional moment between us hadn't happened at all, even if it did last only a few seconds. I scooped up my messenger bag from where it lied on the table and slung it over my right shoulder. Chloe pulled on her black blazer and grabbed the keys to her rusted out pickup and exited it the house. I followed behind and closed the front door behind me.
Once in the car, she started the ignition and we buckled up. She let out a very Chloe-like sigh and turned on the radio, blasting the rock station as if music would cease to exist the very next day. She pulled out of the driveway and before either of us knew it, we were on the road.
Chloe's POV
I glanced over at Max for a brief second. She was staring out the window and tapping her fingers to the beat of the song that was playing on the radio. I smiled to myself and looked back at the road, continuing to take us towards our destination. Even though most of my attention was on the road as it unfolded before my eyes, my thoughts were of the beautiful freckled girl sitting next to me, jamming out ever so slightly. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel to the music just like Max was tapping hers on her knees. Max was going to remain in my life. I wasn't going anywhere and neither was she, and if she decided to just walk out on me someday like everyone else, I wouldn't fucking let her. After all, we were partners in time.
Maybe I'll marry her someday...
