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There’s a gentle knock at her door, and Rachel glances up at it in surprise.
She isn’t expecting anyone, and it’s at least hours after curfew by now. Chloe wouldn’t get caught dead knocking so timidly, or knocking at all considering her habit of using the window, so that only leaves one option for the mysterious knocker.
A muffled voice cuts through the quiet, tone wavering slightly due to the undercurrent of nerves. “Rachel?”
She gets up from her desk and crosses the room to open her door to reveal a pleasant surprise standing at a similar height to her, with mousy hair, eyes the shade of the sky, a dusting of freckles across her face, and an adorably dorky fashion taste. She beams at her girlfriend. “You should’ve told me you were dropping by. Come in.”
Max wears an expression that hints at nervousness, which is nothing new, but also has a slight smile and an uncharacteristic spring in her step as she walks in. It’s unusual, but Max has always been full of surprises.
Rachel grabs her in as she goes and pulls her in for a brief kiss, it’s may have only been a few hours since they last saw each other, but Rachel uses any excuse she can to kiss Max, it’s always worth it just to see the rosy tint on her cheeks and love-struck look on her face afterwards.
“Well, I’m not just dropping by.” Max tries on a confident smile, but Rachel can still see the hints of uncertainty in her eyes. It’s a cute attempt.
“You know, you could’ve just asked me to come down to your room.” Rachel leans forward and lowers her voice to a sultry tone. “Less neighbours means we can make more noise.”
Teasing Max had practically become an art form at this point. She knew that Max could take it, and it was adorable how she still blushed and choked on her words whenever Rachel gave her a casual peck on the cheek infront of other people, or whenever any sort of physical intimacy came up. This time was no different.
“That’s, um, not what I meant.” Max went an even more luminescent shade of red than before as Rachel punctuates the remark with a suggestive wink, but keeps her composure as she speaks. “Our chariot awaits us outside, fair lady.”
Rachel laughs at the outburst of theatrics, half-expecting Max to suddenly do a formal bow. She glances at her desk, covered in notes and the two unfinished essays that she has to hand in by 10 AM tomorrow, before looking back at Max. The anxious energy radiating off Max is obvious, as is the thinly-veiled enthusiasm for whatever she has planned.
The essays will still be here by the time she gets back. Mrs. Hoida isn’t the strictest about deadlines, and Rachel isn’t about to trade away time with her girlfriend to do more AP English work all alone in her dorm. Whatever Max has planned, it’ll be worth going along with just for the sake of seeing her try to play at being the mysterious and charming one for once.
Rachel puts on her best flowery Elizabethan accent, drawing on every memory she has of having to navigate Ye Olde English back in 8th grade. “A fair lady I am indeed, but the fairest stands before me.” She holds out her hand, smirking. “I off’r thee mine own hand, so that we may elope into the night, and I may be part of the devilish schemes thou hast concoct’d.”
The anxiety about her plan buzzing in Max’s head is forgotten as the feeling of butterflies swarming around her stomach grows, and she takes the offered hand, giggling at how naturally Rachel slips into the elaborate speech. “I’m not gonna do Shakespeare stuff all night, sorry. But we do have a chariot outside, so, if you’re happy to come with me?”
Pressing a kiss to Max’s hand, Rachel gives her a brilliant smile, one that makes her a great deal more conscious of her racing heart and the rush of warm blood to her face. “Always. Lead the way, Maxie.”
As they exit the warmth of the dorms and the cool night air hits them, Rachel lets go of Max’s hand to twirl around and marvel at the clear night sky. Seeing her like this, so free-spirited and alive as she’s lit by starlight, makes Max wish she had thought to bring her camera.
Shaking herself out of her reverie, she clears her throat to get Rachel’s attention before grabbing her hand again and pressing a finger to lips. The message is obvious, but Rachel just lets out a quiet laugh at how serious Max is being about this. Blackwell’s rent-a-cops don’t have a reputation for being hard to sneak past.
Lead by her hand, Rachel is forced to keep up with Max’s stiff pace as they walk across campus in the dead of night. There’s one close call where they have to hide behind a bush just as a security guard walks past, but within a minute or two Rachel is looking at their so-called chariot. It’s a beat-up junker, a familiar one, and she is in complete disbelief at the sight of it without it’s usual driver lurking around.
“Chloe’s truck?” Rachel asks, shaking her head. “You must’ve called in some big favours for this, Max.”
Max smirks, walking past Rachel as she fishes the keys out of her pocket. “No favours, actually. Just some blackmail.”
They haven’t even left Blackwell, yet Rachel is in awe. Max being so spontaneous and bold is alien, and this night is already shaping up to be unforgettable because of that. Hearing Max mention blackmailing Chloe so casually is definitely awakening some things in her.
Sliding across the driver’s seat to get into the truck, Rachel is followed closely by Max, who shuts the door behind her. She leans across and presses a kiss to Max’s cheek, smoothing a hand against her thigh and letting it rest there.
Max twists the key and starts the truck, blushing furiously but keeping a face of concentration on as she pulls out of the parking lot. Rachel resists her urge to let her hand travel a bit further up, or to rest a head on Max’s shoulder, because she’s fairly sure her girlfriend would spontaneously combust at that point.
Rachel switches the radio on, and they’re assailed by the sound of Chloe’s usual punk music turned up to a deafening volume. She laughs as she turns the volume down. “I think that was Chloe’s way of getting revenge.”
Max worries her lip between her teeth as she drives, but spares a glance in Rachel’s direction. “Yeah, I don’t think she appreciated me reminding her about how my mom still had a picture of her projectile vomiting on me when were in second grade.”
The cab is filled with the sound of laughter as Rachel utterly loses it at the mental image and Max joins her. “Please, please, please tell me the story behind that. I need to hear this!” Rachel says, suppressing her giggling long enough to speak.
Hearing how hard Rachel is laughing fills Max with unbridled joy, but it’s not enough to ease the anxiety she’s experiencing while driving at the moment. She tries to focus on telling the story instead of worrying about how she hasn’t even passed her driving test yet.
“So, it was Halloween. We got back from trick-or-treating, and Chloe ate all the candy she got as quick as she could.” Max bit her tongue as she fought off another fit of giggles at the memory of Chloe, in a hot dog costume, wolfing down chocolate bar after chocolate bar.
Rachel smirked as she let out a dry chuckle. “Yeah, that sounds like Chloe alright. She’s still got that sweet tooth. I don’t know how she can even taste the pancakes at the Two Whales under all the syrup.”
Max grinned and continued, “My mom wanted to get a picture of the two of us in our costumes—Chloe was Hawt Dog Man and I was Mrs. Mustard, before you ask—so we were posing for a photo right after Chloe ate everything in her bucket. Then, right as Mom took the photo…”
“Oh, poor Chloe!” Rachel poked Max’s shoulder. “You are getting your mom to send you that picture, right? I need to see this for myself.”
The smile on Max’s face grew, and she nodded while still focusing on the road. “Definitely. I’m not letting her forget about how she ruined my costume.”
Growling vocals and pounding drums fill the cab as they drop into a comfortable silence, Rachel idly drumming her fingers against her thigh to the beat and Max white-knuckling the steering wheel, occasionally looking at the rear view mirror.
About two songs in, the road is still quiet and Rachel’s getting restless. She decides to amuse herself a bit by testing Max’s composure.
“So, what’s the plan then, Maxie? Steamy make-out session by a 24 hour diner?” Rachel dropped her voice to a husky tone as she leaned in close. “Motel sex?”
Max’s eyes widened as she blushed, and she glanced at Rachel, about to reply. Any words she could muster up in response died on her tongue as her right hand slipped off the wheel and she had to scramble to get both hands back on it, swearing loudly. The truck swerved briefly before righting itself. “Can we talk in a minute?” Max asked, voice strained.
Rachel nodded, taking notice of Max’s knitted brow and clenched jaw. Gears whirred in her tired mind as she remembered Max hadn’t even got her driver’s license yet. Cutting the conversation short was a small price to pay for avoiding a car accident, but she was more than a little disappointed that she couldn’t keep the teasing up.
A few minutes passed as Max kept driving, sparing nervous glances in Rachel’s direction and gnawing on her lip all the while. Rachel’s faced betrayed no emotion, but inside alarm bells were ringing at how anxious Max seemed, and she was more than a little worried that they’d end up plowing straight into a tree. The only thing visible was the road ahead lit by the glare of the headlights and shadowed scenery around them, made visible by the stars shining in the night sky.
The surrounding scenery shrouded under darkness became familiar, and Rachel realised where they were headed. She shot Max a confused look, and Max’s look of concentration seemed to become a slight smile.
Max turned right and the husk of a wrecked car became visible in the gloom, shards of glass from the broken windshield twinkling like diamonds. She drove through the junkyard and stopped the truck on a small hill, nestling it between two piles of junk with a conveniently sized space between them.
Turning to Rachel, she wore a proud smile and started to ramble. “I’ve been planning this for a while. I had to check how clear the weather was tonight, ask Warren so many questions about astronomy, get a bunch of snacks, get Chloe to help me clear out this spot for us…”
Rachel laughed as she interrupted Max. “Okay, but what is this? Are we just going to sit in the truck?”
Max shook her head and opened the door, sliding out of her seat without a word. Rachel followed suit, standing to the side as Max hoisted herself up onto the bed of the truck and began rifling through a duffel bag.
From the bag, she pulled out a thick blanket and spread it across the bed of the truck before flopping onto it. She gave Rachel a knowing smile as she pointed up at the sky. Glancing up to see what Max was pointing at and being met with a cloudless night sky covered in pinpricks of starlight, she lets out a delighted gasp.
“Max, you didn’t!” Rachel jumped up onto the bed of the truck, gripping Max’s shoulders and giving her a quick shake. “Stargazing?!”
Max simply looked up at her with that same knowing smile, blushing furiously. Rachel straddled her and leaned in for a kiss, cupping Max’s chin and pressing her lips against Max’s with fervour. For a second Max’s world seems to vanish, replaced with the hazy scent of faded jasmine perfume, soft lips against hers, and the weight of Rachel bearing down on her.
She’s pushed down until she’s lying flat and can feel her lungs burning for air, Rachel drawing out that first kiss for as long as possible as their bodies press against each other. Fingers run through her hair and a nimble tongue explores her mouth. She feels light-headed, blissful, and the passage of time feels like a suggestion.
Eventually, Rachel surfaces for air and looks down at her with lidded eyes, pinning Max down underneath her. They’re both panting. Max eagerly sucks in lungfuls of cool night air but it’s doing nothing to dispel the warmth in her core, especially with the almost predatory way Rachel is looking at her.
“This isn’t, um, by a 24 hour diner.” Max lets out an exhale, smiling as she stares up at Rachel. “So maybe we can save the steamy make-out for after we do some stargazing?”
The list of things Rachel wants to do is short, and most items on it involve focusing more on her girlfriend than the sky. Who needs to stare at long dead stars when she’s got her own galaxy of constellations mapped on the freckled skin below her?
Rachel leans in and whispers in Max’s ear, the feel of hot breath ghosting across it sending shivers down her spine. “I mean, we can always multi-task, if you want.”
As she pulls back, she’s satisfied to see the look of temptation in Max’s eyes and the way she briefly bites her lip as she gazes at Rachel. It’s Max’s choice, but all she knows is that the stars will still be there by the time they’re finished.
Max gives her a half-smile. “We could, and I want to, but… I did actually have to plan this for a while.”
“You’re right.” Rachel sighs and rolls off Max and onto her back, and the blanket makes a soft whump as she lands heavily on it. “It’d be unfair of me to ruin your plan, but you’re making up for this later in my dorm.”
Max lets loose a soft giggle. “How is that meant to be a threat?” she asks, voice low.
“Hey!” She rolls over and looks Max in the eye, a serious look on her face. “Get your mind out of the gutter. You’re helping me with my AP English homework.”
“You realise I barely know how to do regular English homework, right?”
She nods. “You’ll be helping me by sitting around and offering moral support.”
Max raises an eyebrow. “What’s moral support code for?”
Rachel smirks. “A beautiful girl telling me to keep up the good work.”
The flattered giggle that Max gives her in response makes her feel a pang of joy, and Rachel nuzzles into her side. “So, ready for a refresher on astronomy?”
“Wait, you don’t need to.” Max creases her eyebrows. “I’m a Virgo, you’re a Leo?”
She lets loose an annoyed groan that mixes with her laugh. “Astronomy, not astrology! There’s a difference, and I think you know that.”
“But they’re both about the stars.”
“Composition and negative space are both about the space in a photograph—“
She feels a smack on her arm. Max’s poorly concealed smile and laughter mars her attempt to look angry. “Okay, you know that’s the one hill I’ll die on. You’re taking this too far, Rachel!”
“Oh, Max, I tried to take it so much further earlier, but you stopped me—“
Max shuts her up by kissing her, and Rachel gladly lets her words die on her lips. The kiss takes her breath away, but fills her with such warmth that the chill of the night air becomes a distant memory.
They pull away from the kiss, breathless, and Rachel takes in Max’s blushing face and confident smile. “Now can we please look at the stars? I really wanted this to be a stargazing date, you’re always talking about how you want to do one.”
Laying there with Max at her side and gazing at her with such unguarded devotion, she feels content. Whole.
She laughs, the sound full of unfiltered joy and love. “It would be my pleasure, my love.”