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Max wakes up to someone knocking on her door.
"Mmf," she says.
"Max," Rachel calls, quieter than Max would have expected from the way she's pounding on the door. "Max, come on."
Max rolls out of bed, finally, shivering. God, she wishes the dorms were a bit warmer. "Coming."
Her eyes are only half-open when she finally opens the door, but she's not even a little surprised when Rachel pulls her in, warm and smelling faintly of lavender. "Max! I missed you."
"I was gone for like two weeks," Max says, face warm.
"A whole month, actually," Rachel says. "It was tragic. I was forced to hang out with my p--with James and Rose."
"Isn't Chloe still in town?" Max says, finally pulling back.
"Yeah, but she was busy with Kate," Rachel says, face pulling into something annoyed before it calms. "Which is good! I'm glad they're happy. It's just boring, you know. To not have a ton of people to bother."
"You have me now!" Max says.
Rachel smiles. "Yeah. I do. Anyway, did you hear about Juliet--"
They spend the whole day together, and Max wakes up with a start in the middle of the night with Rachel on top of her. It's--nice. Rachel's warm, so much warmer than the chilly dorm, and Max finds herself disinclined to move.
She shifts, and Rachel looks up at her. Her sleepy face is so cute, Max forgets to say anything.
"Sorry," Rachel mumbles. "I can head back to my room."
"Nah," Max says, heart beating harder in her chest, feeling the muscles of her face pull into a smile involuntarily. "I wouldn't kick you out."
"Mmkay," Rachel says, already putting her head back down. "G'night."
"Good night," Max says, heart feeling so full it might burst.
That's the first time Rachel spends the night. Not--like that, just in general. It's certainly not the last. There's a horror movie night where Rachel says she's not scared, Max, she just wants to cuddle, that's all, and then there's the night where they both study for so long that Max literally falls asleep against her desk and wakes up in her bed, Rachel heading out, and Max grabbing her wrist to keep her there without thinking about it. Rachel smiles at her again, and comes easily.
It's once a week, and then once every couple days, and then Max starts texting Rachel when she's out to let her know where in the hallway she's hidden the key this time for when she comes home. The first time she sends that text--For when you get home!--she freezes, because--I mean, they both live in the dorms, that's all she meant, and it's nice, isn't it, to have someone to cuddle with since the dorms are so cold?
So even though she was in bed, in her T-shirt and shorts, and ready to pass the hell out, she gets up and starts pacing around her room.
There's Rachel's textbooks on the desk next to Max's from when they were studying, and Rachel's admittedly-nicer laptop set up for watching movies on the coffee table, and the things on the bed moved around so there's room for Rachel even if they end up half-on top of each other most nights.
But that's--normal girlfriend stuff, right? Not the bed thing, maybe, but--
So she keeps looking. Rachel's hidden her weed in the back of one of the dresser drawers, but she'd asked Max, not quite making eye contact when she asked, and Max can't (or doesn't want to) say no when Rachel genuinely gets shy about asking. None of her clothes in the dresser, though...
Rachel hasn't moved in, then. That's that.
Max lets out a little sigh that she's not sure if it comes from relief or disappointment. Now she kind of wants to brush her teeth again, having worried at her bottom lip during her semi-frantic exploration of her room, so she heads to the closet.
Rachel's shirts are hung up in there, less than Max's but still.
Max should feel anxious, but something in her chest calms. So that's that, then!
She grabs her toothbrush and heads out, bumping into Rachel on the way.
"Hey," Rachel says with a smile.
"Hey," Max says, leaning in and kissing her.
"What was that for?" Rachel asks. "Not complaining! Just curious."
"Just--I care about you a lot," Max says. She's not ready for I love you or anything, just--she does!
"You too," Rachel says. "Also, you taste like mint, why are you brushing your teeth again?"
"Just gonna," Max says, not feeling like explaining the whole oh-wait-did-my-girlfriend-move-in-crisis she's been having.
"Alright," Rachel says. "If I'm passed out when you get back, don't judge, I danced all night."
"I won't," Max says, and doesn't stop smiling until she climbs into bed herself.