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“Are you sure you’d rather sleep in here…?” Kate asks, standing nearby while Chloe finishes tucking the sheet she’d been loaned under the cushions of the couch that would serve as her bed for the night. Turning to take the fluffy green pillows Kate had been waiting to offer, Chloe winks and gives her a reassuring smile.
“Naw, the couch suits me fine Cup-Kate, it’s more comfortable than a lot of places I’ve slept in. Besides, after hauling this thicc bit-- err, lady up three flights of stairs, I figure she owes me that much at least.”
Two dirty-blonde eyebrows rise in an amused fashion. “Chloe, I’m not a sheltered teen anymore. You can say ‘bitch’ in my presence.”
They both chuckle over that, Chloe just enjoying being able to laugh and reminisce with someone from the “good” old days of Arcadia Bay again. It had been several years since Chloe had put her hometown in her rearview mirror at last, but it was hard not to feel nostalgic about the bright spots from back then, her friendship with Kate definitely counted among them. Especially when lately, aside from a few run-ins with Victoria Chase here and there, her opportunities to hang out with the folks she knew from that time had been few and far between.
That’s why when she got a message from Kate Marsh of all people, saying that she was going to be moving there for a new job and was wondering if Chloe knew of any reliable but inexpensive movers she could hire to get some furniture into her new apartment, she jumped at the chance to volunteer. Of course, she’d bitten off more than she could chew, and what would have been a three hour job with actual professionals turned into an eight hour ordeal culminating in with the two girls (who didn’t even weigh 250 pounds between them) struggling to get the heaviest couch ever created by man up to Kate’s tiny 3rd-floor studio. But they got it done in the end, and Chloe got to spend the day catching up with an old friend, so in her book that made it all worth it.
Groaning as she settles in, Chloe adds “Anyway... I really do appreciate the offer but I’m not going to kick you out of your own bed on the first night in your new apartment.”
Kate stares at her for a long moment, her eyes mysterious and her mouth moving silently like wants to say something to that. Seemingly thinking the better of it after a while, she instead heaves an exhausted sigh and slumps down onto the far end of the freshly-made up couch, closing her eyes and knuckling at the small of her back. “Thank you so much for all your help today,” she says wearily. “I couldn’t have done it with you.”
“I mean, you totally could have, and had a lot easier time of it too if you’d paid a couple guys,” Chloe says with a self-deprecating grin. Stretching until she gets a satisfying pop out of her own aching back, she tries not to notice the way the hem of the oversized T-shirt Kate’s wearing (some anime-looking bullshit featuring an anthropomorphic wolf and rabbit in Japanese high-school uniforms that Victoria would probably cream herself over if she were here) rides up to reveal even more of her silky white thighs as she shifts her legs.
“Well, you saved me a lot of money at least…” Kate’s heart-shaped mouth quirks up into that oh-so nostalgic sweet smile of hers, one that almost seems to take on a bit of a sly edge to it. “And the company is much better, of course.”
Chloe somehow manages to bite back all of the corny one-liners or offers to help Kate “massage out that back pain” that spring to mind in response to that, even if the way the girl’s hair cascading down around her shoulders or the way her smiling hazel eyes gleam in the moonlight makes Chloe’s mouth grow dry. She’s here to do a favor for a friend, she reminds herself, not to pick up some chick at a bar for another in her long string of one-night stands. Instead, she says “Can’t argue with the last part, but get back with me when you get your first chiropractor bill in a few months.”
Kate laughs again, and it’s loud and melodic and music to Chloe’s ears. A long, silent moment follows that joyful noise, and something about the way Kate is smiling at her, her eyes slowly roving to take in Chloe’s shorts and ratty t-shirt and tattoos and her hair, grown out longer over the years and mostly faded back to blonde with some touches of green at the tips, makes Chloe feel the need to clear her throat nervously and rush to fill the quiet between them with words.
“I appreciate you letting me crash though, dude. As wiped as I am I definitely wasn’t looking forward to driving an hour across town.”
“It’s totally fine, especially after everything you’ve done for me!” Kate’s eyes taking on a faux-suspicious squint, she nervously chews at her maddeningly luscious lower lip before she adds “... as long as I don’t have to worry about a jealous girlfriend coming after me for keeping you or anything?”
Chloe nearly chokes on her own spit, the struggle not to take Kate’s surely innocent comment the wrong way becoming all too real. Kate wasn’t the type to just blatantly hit on an old acquaintance on their first day back together, after all, especially not one as sweaty and musky as Chloe has got to be. Chloe feels like she does an admirable job of playing it off when she quips “Pfft, nope. I’m all about that perpetual bachelor life these days.”
“Oh! That’s umm… that’s good? Then?” Kate stammers, before looking away with a noticeable cringe. Her cheeks suddenly seem to take on a brighter shade of pink than what could be explained by her post-shower flush.
God damnit you fucking creeper, Chloe chides herself, not sure what might have made Kate uncomfortable all of a sudden but certain that it was her fault somehow. Maybe turn your horny-brain off for a goddamn minute and let her know she doesn’t have to barricade her bedroom door tonight???
Before she can think of what to say, however, Kate speaks again, her gaze firmly fixed to the floor a few feet away.
“I’m… really sorry I didn’t reach out before. Especially after everything with Max…”
Shit. The time and distance between Chloe and her break-up with Max Caulfield, her best friend growing up and the girl she thought was meant to be the love of her life, doesn’t stop hearing her name feel like a punch to the gut. Nor does it stop the deluge of memories from flooding her mind like a salt-water tidal wave. They’d had a lot of good times together in the first few years of their relationship, years that made Chloe feel like she was on top of the world… but like every other good thing in Chloe’s life, it didn’t last. As is often the case with young love, the formerly inseparable partners in crime had eventually started to grow apart, to become different people who seemed to want different things out of life.
Well… Max became a different person at least. Chloe didn’t feel like she changed much at all in that time, which definitely contributed to her feeling more and more out of place as Max delved deeper and deeper into the world of an up and coming photography star with all the fame and black tie gallery parties and agents and hangers-on that accompanied it. The long silences and quiet resentments and petty arguments that arose from that growing tension eventually culminating in that last big fight, the one in which Chloe said some things she probably didn’t mean and Max said some things that she probably meant too much, that put the capstone on the relationship’s slow and agonizing end.
It probably doesn’t help that seeing Kate like this was dredging up some of the old feelings from back in the Blackwell days, the flashes of jealousy she’d get whenever Kate would touch Max’s knee when she laughed at one of her jokes or the way she’d hug her hello and goodbye. Jealousy that had no real basis in anything, save for the certainty of how much of a better match Kate would have been if Max didn’t have a 5’9’’ inch anchor around her fucking neck. Smart, kind, artistic, driven, and cute as a button? Shit, what was there to not like?
Plus, it was clear that there was always something unspoken hanging between them. Which made sense given how Max was there for Kate to help her through her depression in senior year. Chloe wouldn’t have been at all surprised if they hadn’t hooked up five minutes after Max cut her ass loose, not that that was a subject she was about to touch with a ten foot pole.
“Naw dude, it’s fine. You and Max were tight back in the day, I know you didn’t want to pick sides or anything.” And if you did it sure as hell wouldn’t have been mine.
“That’s true, but… you and I were friends too, Chloe. And I did worry about you and pray that you were doing okay. I should have just picked up the phone and let words accomplish what prayers couldn’t, but...” Kate trails off, a year-long story of the hecticness of life and the awkwardness that grows the longer you wait to take that first step filling the pregnant silence that follows.
AKA the story of my fucking life.
Kate doesn’t need to hear that, however. Nor does she need to hear about the dark place Chloe went to after being abandoned for the third time in her life, first by her father’s untimely death, then by Rachel, and finally by Max. The drinking, the drugs, the fucking around with anyone who would give her the time of day… she got into some real “hot girl summer” shit for sure, anything to fill the void. But Kate did nothing to deserve having all that baggage dropped on her.
And Chloe definitely doesn’t bring up how all the drinking and partying and fucking around led to her hooking up with Victoria fucking Chase after they ran into each other by chance one night. Or how it kind of became a thing whenever Vic happened to be in town to do gallery stuff. Not that either of them considered it to be anything more than a casual, friends-with-benefits type situation… in fact, she was pretty sure that Vic had a booty call on speed-dial for every city she traveled to. But while Chloe may have the tact of a sledgehammer, even she knows that leading with “Hey, remember that girl who bullied you back in high school? I’ve been fucking her brains out every few weeks to pass the time. So anyway how’ve you been?” probably isn’t the best way to keep the mostly chill vibe going this evening.
Or how after one of their hook-ups Chloe opened her big fat mouth and vomited all her angst and doubt and self-loathing all over their post-coital bliss by asking “why does everyone leave me?” And how after no small amount of badgering to just give it to her straight, Vic finally caved and told her that as she saw it: Chloe had a tendency to latch onto someone and make them her whole world… and that while that can be flattering and validating at first, it can also be overwhelming. And when you’re dealing with a bad bitch like Rachel Amber (who ditched Chloe for L.A. to kick start her modeling career), or an even badder bitch like Maxine Caulfield (who was busy making moves and taking the art world by storm), they might eventually want a partner who can stand on her own two feet and make things happen, not just sit around all day waiting for “her person” to come back home like a lovesick puppy dog.
Chloe couldn’t lie, that hurt like a motherfucker. But at least someone was fucking real with her for once in her goddamn life (“you’re my only priority, you’re ALL that matters to me!” my fucking ass, Max). And as much as it stung, Chloe couldn’t find the fault in her logic. It’s not like she didn’t sit around the junkyard for two straight years while Rachel was doing everything she could to try to get them to L.A. before finally giving up on her. Nor did she do fuck-all with her G.E.D after finally getting it a year late, save for odd jobs here and there that she’d drop the second they interfered with her Mad Max time.
Chloe had let untreated depression and anxiety and PTSD convince her that it was okay to not be the Captain of her own ship, that a subordinate role suited her just fine. But it took Vic’s brutal honesty to make Chloe realize she didn’t even achieve first mate status. She was a deck-hand at best… hell, maybe even a fucking barnacle. But hey, on the plus side, Vic had been kind enough to break the cardinal “no emotional attachments” rule of their little FWB arrangement afterwards, spooning Chloe and cooing comforting words in her ear while she cried out years of pain and frustration. She even stayed the whole night for a change, which Chloe had to admit was a solid fucking friendly “benefit” even if it was only meant to be a one time thing.
“Chloe…?” Kate’s voice draws Chloe’s attention back to the real world, making her realize she’d been lost in thought. Running a hand through her still slightly sweat-damp hair, Chloe tries to ignore the way Kate’s eyes, big and warm and full of kindness and sympathy and something else she can’t quite place, make it hard to concentrate on coming up with something to say that isn’t a total fucking downer.
“... it’s all good Bun-bun.” Chloe says at last, a little surprised at how easily the pet name rolls off her tongue, even after all these years. “It was rough for a minute, but I got some good advice and took some time to figure out who I wanted to be outside of who I was with. Eventually I got back on my feet, got a sweet job at a tattoo parlor. Hell, did I tell you I’m going back to school in the fall? Probably night classes but still.”
Kate’s eyes light up, a relieved smile taking shape at the news. “Oh Chloe, that’s wonderful! What are you going to major in?”
“Hell if I know. Graphic design, chemical engineering… fuck it, I’ve got nothing but time, I might just go for all the majors!”
Kate pauses to give her an impressed nod, before kindly offering “well, I don’t think I’ll be much help with the science stuff, but if you ever need a study partner for your design courses let me know!”
“Hell yeah!” she exclaims, giving Kate an appreciative thumbs up. “I’ll take you up on that, I could for sure use a hella good study buddy!”
Kate giggles at that, a delightful sound that makes Chloe’s chest grow tighter. That sound reminds her that it wasn’t only jealousy and guarded suspicion that she’d felt towards the girl in that last year that the three of them were together. It reminds her of the affectionate little touches of her own that she’d been given, of how nice Kate always smelled when she’d hugged her. Of how every now and then they’d share an unacknowledged, questioning glance, one that would bring to mind all manner of hesitant “what if”s before being swiftly brushed aside, certain that it had to be all in her head.
Maybe that’s why, when the still giggling Kate reaches out to touch her knee, Chloe feels that gentle brush of fingers on her skin jolt through her like she’d been shocked with a cattle prod.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Kate says, giving her knee a light squeeze before finally letting go. “Really glad…”
Chloe tries her best not to read anything into the almost expectant look Kate gives her. Or the way Kate hesitantly bites her lower lip before finally rising to her feet, Chloe feigning a stretch and an exaggerated yawn so as not to give her unruly mouth any chance to betray her.
Kate smiles again, one that for all it’s warmth would almost look resigned… if Chloe didn’t know any better. “Good night, Chloe… and thanks again for coming today, you really didn’t have to.”
“I mean I haven’t gotten there yet,” Chloe hears herself saying, the words coming out easily, automatically, bypassing the feeble filters she’d tried hard to keep up and running all evening. “But if you’re offering…”
F U C K. Kate’s surprised gasp and the shocked widening of her hazel eyes are all Chloe needs to know that she fucked up. She had been good, so good at sparing Kate from all the innuendos and cheesy pick-up lines and flirtatious “jokes'' that bounced around inside her skull all damn night just desperate to be set loose... only to throw it all away at the last possible moment before she was finally home-free.
Her own blue eyes going wide enough to match Kate’s, Chloe waves her hands in as placating a fashion as she can muster. “Oh shit, sorry Kate. I didn’t mean to offend you or anything, you know how I just blurt--”
Chloe is unable to finish her apology, however, when she suddenly finds her lips otherwise occupied by Kate’s, the girl placing her hands on Chloe’s shoulders as she leans in to silence her with a kiss. It’s urgent and quick, over almost as soon as it begins. But even still, it leaves Chloe’s lips tingling, her heart pounding, her every neuron blazing with confusion and extremely pleasant surprise. And when Kate moves back in for a second kiss, this one slower, more deliberate, giving Chloe the time to truly appreciate the soft contours of Kate’s lips, she feels her own hands rising up to meet Kate’s hips as though looking for something, anything to hang onto while she melts away.
She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t imagined what kissing Kate Marsh would be like many times over the years, especially during their time together in Arcadia Bay. And as she opens herself up to Kate’s probing tongue and moans in response to her nipping teeth, her pants would absolutely be on fire (much like other parts of her body were, ummmm, quickly becoming) if she said it wasn’t far and away better than she’d ever dreamed it could be.
Finally pulling away just enough so that her face is hovering a few inches from Chloe’s, Kate’s voice takes on a low husk when she murmurs “It’s, umm… not not an offer…” Then, standing up straight, Kate holds out her hands invitingly, the smoky and half-lidded look in her eye the type meant to leave little room for doubt as to what she’s implying.
“Wait… seriously?!” Chloe asks dumbly, unconsciously taking Kate’s hands while her brain scrambling to catch up. Getting an unexpected but entirely welcome kiss from the diminutive girl was one thing, but that? “You, uh… want me, to…?”
“Chloe Elizabeth Price,” Kate laughs again, giving the taller girl a firm tug to pull her up to her feet. Raising a disbelieving eyebrow, she asks “Perhaps you haven’t noticed the hints I’ve been dropping all evening?”
Chloe can feel her face burning hotter by the moment, but that doesn’t stop her from returning Kate’s saucy little grin with one of her own. “To be fair, I have been told I can be hella dense.”
Kate shakes her head as she turns to lead Chloe to her brand new bedroom, letting the amused smirk and the twinkle of her eyes as she glances back over her shoulder do the talking for her. Chloe isn’t quite sure what this means for her life, or her friendship with Kate, or her “perpetual bachelorhood”. Or, for that matter, anything at all beyond this very moment. But for now? She’s more than happy to just go along for the ride.
As it turns out, that would be far from the last time she’d be thanked for coming tonight.