Coming Home

Bonding

Chloe reached into her stash in her desk and promptly sat on said desk. She took her lighter and her blunt out of her pocket. With a cheesy grin, she lit up. Warren watched semi-curiously as Chloe took her hit. He was left with the unfortunate position of not knowing what to do. Not knowing where to put his hands or where to stand. Could he sit? He didn't know.

"Dude", Chloe said after blowing her smoke, "you can sit down."

Warren sheepishly sat on the edge of her bed. He suddenly had an itch on the nape of his neck. He scratched absentmindedly as he watched Max sleep. She quietly breathed a small sigh.

"Not to bring you down, Graham, but it's a little creepy watching you watch her sleep."

Warren blanched and turned his head hard and away from his sleeping girlfriend. He felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Chloe chuckled and held out the blunt to Warren. Warren looked up and barely hesitated before shaking his head no. If he ever chose to smoke (and he probably won't), he didn't think now would be the appropriate time.

He wondered for a second if he should continue Max's story through time. It seemed logical, but it seemed unfair to her. Max had survived through two months of mourning and loneliness to reunite with her friend for all of 5 minutes. Chloe, for her part, had now not even seen hide nor hair of her friend for years. They deserved some time for themselves, and he knew Chloe deserved to hear the story from Max. He knew she trusted Max, probably more than anyone alive today.

Chloe probably didn't trust him, let alone like him. She was most likely just dealing with him until Max got up. He supposed the two of them weren't going to be close, but he was going to try to be friends with her.

He thought about just returning to his dorm room altogether. He thought about just leaving Max to Chloe so they could have a proper reunion. He didn't want to leave Max though. He didn't want to leave her again.

Chloe's voice surprised him. "Well, Graham, I'm out. We can't just sit here and watch Sherlock here sleep. We got hella adventures to go on."

Hella? Is this where Max got that little gem from?Warren smiled a little as Chloe walked to her door.

"Well?" she said, "Are you coming?"

Before Warren could process this, his unlikely companion gave him a cheeky grin and strode out of the room and down the stairs. Warren shook his head and disbelief and decided to follow the girl. Warm sunlight beamed down on his face as he walked out of the front door. Surprisingly Chloe had already climbed her way into her truck and started the car.

"When do you think Mr. Madsen or your mom will be back, Chloe?" he couldn't help but ask the blue-haired girl.

Chloe returned his question with a shit-eating grin and shrugged. "Mom works late tonight. Who knows when Sgt. Shithead will come back." She shrugs. "I doubt he'll check my room if he comes back, unless he has fucking cameras everywhere."

Warren shrugged. He knew Mr. Madsen had a reputation of being "over-protective", so to speak, but he doubted the man would go so far as to put cameras in his own home. That was just perverted.

"And by the way, Graham, don't call that piece of shit Mr. Madsen," she said in a crude imitation of Warren's voice, "that fucker doesn't deserve an ounce of respect."