Perfect with You

Chapter 41 - The Magic Bullet That Killed the Sun

She was looking for an excuse. A reason to hurl her phone away and watch it break on the torrid concrete. She had made the mistake of consideration and her head was so freshly clear that she was no longer hindered and while she still felt the slithering anxiety wherever her thoughts wandered, she was free from the sting in the back of her head. A thought became a picture of the future that was no longer dimmed by a dark tint. All she had to do was hit call, warn Ethan about the future and she would be free. But what kind of freedom would she return to? All she would return to would be her prison of doubt and regret. But now here she was, in a time where she had done no wrong and Chloe didn't have the look of suppressed blame in her eyes, only her beautiful gaze, and innocent smile.
She didn't feel like she deserved it, but something told her to just forget everything, just for a day, and try to be happy for once.

The light on the phone dimmed and she took a breath before placing the phone back in her pocket and closed her eyes.

Just one day.

"I understand, but I would just go with the open collar. It's more casual" The first words she heard when she had nervously decided and stepped inside her home, was Chloe's happy-go-lucky voice, speaking to Max's father about his attire in the living room. Her heart rose a little in her chest at the sight, seeing her father for the first time in what had felt like foreve and he looked so young. It was before the time he had chosen to let his beard grow and he still had a full set of thick hair on his head and such a sleek face. Even though it hadn't been that long since she had seen her father, it still felt like an eternity. She missed the comfort he provided and it hurt that he didn't even know what her daughter was going through. She wanted to hug him so badly, but she knew it would bring her to tears and she had to keep it together. Just for a little longer.

She took another step, looking around the house and paid attention to all the decorations that would be removed and replaced in just a few years. The hallway she was standing in led directly into the living room, so while she was slowly kicking her shoes off, she looked around enthrallingly. The big black couch caught her attention, the one that she used to fall asleep in while watching old crime dramas on the big box of a television. The entire space was lit up by the glass doors that led outside to a small but colorful yard. Every detail of the room brought another memory back to her, particularly the ugly green vase sitting on one of the wooden shelves on the wall; the one she broke when she had thrown a pillow behind her back in a faulty attempt to hit her mother. It was a mixed feeling of dejection and elation seeing all these memory-filled items, but she eagerly gave all her tools to the felicity in order for it to win in the ongoing battle.

Amidst their conversation, Chloe noticed Max had entered and gave a quick smile before turning her attention back to her father. "I'm telling you, people like them love a laid-back everyday guy. No ties" She ended before turning on her feet and walked towards Max who had finally gotten rid of the sneakers on her feet.
"Ready to open your present?" She asked while tugging a little on her dark-blue shirt with big white block letters spelling "AWAKE" in the center. However, what really stood out, besides her long blonde hair and conventional clothes, was the missing tattoo on her right arm, and it was difficult to decide whether or not it made her look more untroubled or ominously mysterious.

It suddenly hit her how much of a trial it was to simply adjust, to go from all that heartache and anxiety, to this innocent time of friendship and family and it took a lot more willpower than she would have liked to avoid simply blurting out her thoughts and saying "I'm sorry that I took this away from you. I'm sorry that chilling together with no cares in the world and without all the heartbreak can't go on forever"
She managed to control herself, however, and took a breath through her nose to fake a smile that she wanted to be genuine and replied "I don't know, it looked kind of small" with a voice that she knew Chloe would regard as joking.