Chapter Text
It had always been easy to be with Chloe. You didn't have to try so hard around her. You didn't have to put in so much effort to be well liked. The way Chloe looked at you, as if you were the world. The way she held your hand and squeezed it every now and then to keep you in the moment. It was easy for you to lose focus, and Chloe knew that. You could just be real with each other. Genuine. It had always brought you a sense of security and peace.
Even now, as you drive away from the wreckage of Arcadia Bay, not knowing where you stand with Chloe. You had almost kissed her then. You didn't think the timing was right, since your hometown was literally being destroyed in front of you. Your mind is completely wrapped up in thoughts of destruction, freak weather, and kissing your best friend when Chloe lightly squeezes your hand, reminding you that reality is waiting for you.
You take a deep breath and blink into the sunlight, focusing your eyes. "What time-" You stop, hearing how hoarse you sound. You clear your throat to try again. "What time is it?"
"No idea. My phone's fucked." Chloe says, just a little too loud, looking at you instead of the road. You cringe a little at that, and Chloe's expression changes. "Sorry, that was a bit loud. I didn't expect that." She looks ahead again, squeezing the steering wheel with the hand that isn't tangled with yours.
"It's okay. I'm just tired I guess", you almost whisper.
"I think I know what you mean.", Chloe says more quietly, trying to laugh a little, but it doesn't sound genuine.
"Are we anywhere yet?", you inquire, looking out the window for any sign of where you are.
"I don't know. I've never gone this far outside Arcadia. I would always just turn back around once I realized I had nowhere to go.", Chloe reveals unexpectedly. You feel much worse than you did a second ago and decide to stop asking questions. It doesn't appear that Chloe is prepared to stop talking though, since she speaks up again.
"Do you happen to have any ideas?", she questions vaguely. "We don't have much gas left." You don't know what she means.
"Ideas for what?", you say with a groan.
"You know, like where to hang up our coats. Where can we stay, besides a motel? We're still going to have to stay in one, but I'm thinking more long term." Chloe elaborates. You think for a few too many uncomfortable seconds before you reply.
"I guess we could stay with my parents, but to be honest, I really don't want to.", you answer, surprised at your own honesty. Chloe doesn't say anything for a second.
"We don't have to go there if you don't want to, Max.", Chloe looks concerned, and for a second, you wonder if she knows exactly why you don't want to see your parents. You don't want to face them and tell them that you survived, because you would never be able to tell them everything you really went through. The honesty you shared with your parents would be gone.
"But I think you should at least let them know that you're okay and that you're alive. They're probably worried sick about you.", Chloe finishes. When did Chloe become so selfless and forward-thinking? It feels like she's matured five years in twelve hours.
You struggle to remove your phone from your soggy pants pocket. Wet skinny jeans are exceedingly hard to work with. When you finally have it in hand, you aren't surprised that the phone is pretty wet as well. You try the power button and thankfully, it turns on without a problem. You would dry it off on your clothes, but it would probably be just as wet as before. You don't have a signal, but you keep staring anyway. Your phone tells you it's currently around ten o'clock in the morning, and you unlock it for no particular reason. "No calls or texts on my phone", you say, breaking the silence. "but it's not like I have service anyway."
Chloe grunts an acknowledgement and you snooze your phone. A comfortable silence falls, and you let your head press against the window, watching the grass on the side of the road fly past for what feels like forever. The silence is broken again after an unknown but large quantity of time when Chloe pipes up again.
"Hey, I think I see a gas station ahead. We should stop there and get some food and gas.", Chloe states.
"Do we even have any money?", you inquire skeptically. "I don't have any at all."
Chloe hums a little before she speaks. "Umm...I may have not paid Frank quite as much as I was supposed to. And by 'quite as much', I mean, I took about a thousand off the top. I only gave him two grand. I was praying he wouldn't notice, and I guess it paid off.", She admits. You groan, but are ultimately grateful. You try not to think about whether Frank is alive or dead, but you do anyway, and your heart sinks to your stomach.
Chloe pulls up to the pump and gets out to fill up the tank. You don't appreciate the silence after you hear Chloe's door slam shut and the clunk of the pump being hooked up to the truck. You unlock your phone again to observe the charge percentage. Sixty-three percent battery. You decide to tinker with the phone settings until you're satisfied that it'll hold charge long enough to buy another charger somewhere. You hear a knock on the window and you jump at the sudden break in silence. When you look, Chloe is gazing at you from outside the truck with a soft smile. Your heart races a little bit at how much you love it. She motions for you to exit the truck so you can find some food in the convenience store. You do just that.
When you get out of the cab you just stand there, stretching for a minute. When you're standing up straight again you take a long deep breath. Your lungs fill up with the crisp morning air, and it's clear you're taking your time and enjoying not being stuffed up in Chloe's truck any longer. Chloe is patient and waits for you without any complaint. When you're finally satisfied, Chloe takes your hand again and you both walk into the convenience store.
Your mind is racing a bit when you enter. You're not sure why Chloe is holding your hand still. It's not like you don't love it, but the cashier might get the wrong idea or something. Or maybe the right one? You're incredibly confused and you try to dispel any further thoughts about this to focus on finding something to eat.
You feel bleary more than anything as you walk through the store. Chloe gently pulls you along and points to things that you might be interested in having to sate your aching stomach. You feel like you just woke up or something, and you keep shaking your head at everything Chloe points to. You can tell she's getting frustrated, but she's trying not to show it. She doesn't want to overreact about something so stupid. She's exhausted most of her patience by the time you walk through the whole store and she turns to you and drops your hand. You ache a little when she lets go.
"Why don't you find something yourself? I'm sure there's something here you can make yourself eat. You can't just go without like this.", Chloe says softly so that no one else can hear. You really don't want to eat, even though your stomach hurts, but you nod without saying anything and wander off anyway. Even if it's just to satisfy Chloe, you'll find something and get it over with. A few aisles over you see a small bag of Fritos and grab it absentmindedly. You hope she's okay with what you picked. It's not exactly nutritious or filling, but it's going to have to do. You don't think that anything of substance will stay down.
When you join her again at the front counter, she's got an armful of everything. You're a little impressed with how quickly she did that. Maybe she took note of where everything she wanted was when she escorted you through the store.
"Shit. Max, can you go grab me a couple bottles of Coke and a couple of whatever you want to drink?", Chloe requests. "I'm going to start paying for all this." You silently nod again, handing her your bag of Fritos. That makes her smile a bit. She's happy that you found something, even if she had already pointed to the same bag earlier. She has a sneaky suspicion that you only grabbed it to make her happy, and she would be right, but she's pleased nonetheless.
You grab two Cokes from the fridge at the back, as well as two NesTeas. You think you might be addicted to it, because that's all you drink anymore. When you return to the register, the cashier has rung up 12 out of 15 items, and you make it 19. You can hear the poor guy sigh when you set them down. Chloe has gone a bit overboard on the food. You guess she's hungry.
Chloe grabs your hand again, tangling her fingers with yours and squeezing a little. She looks you in the eyes for awhile, and usually eye contact makes you uncomfortable, but right now it's nice. You don't want to look away because you notice how blue her eyes are and you make a point to study every little bit of them. When it gets to be too much, you look away again. You're about to mentally scorn yourself for being so stupid like that, but the cashier announces the total for the gas, drinks, and food, distracting both of you. It's about $130 and you look at Chloe like she's crazy. She looks back at you and shrugs.
"What can I say? I'm fuckin' hungry." You both laugh a little and you bump your shoulder against hers, realizing now how close you were to her a second ago. You don't remember moving towards her, but you probably did it unconsciously. You have a bit of a problem with giving people their personal space, but Chloe doesn't seem to mind. She squeezes your hand again.
When the cashier is finally finished bagging up all of the food and drinks, you walk out of the convenience store together and she's holding every bag in her right hand. How ridiculous, you think. She won't even ask you to carry any. Talk about stubborn.
She lets go of your hand for a minute to open the truck door and stuffs all of the bags into the cab. Of course, they all fall off the seat and down to the bottom. "Whatever.", Chloe says, rolling her eyes dramatically, clearly trying to cheer you up. You give her a little smile before you get into the truck with her. When she starts the truck, you realize how loud the engine actually is after so much silence and get a bit startled. Chloe notices this and holds your hand again, giving a little squeeze.
"Let's keep going. We should find a motel and get some sleep.", Chloe suggests. Sleep sounds nice, except that it's eleven o'clock in the morning, according to your soggy phone. At the same time, you haven't slept in more than 30 hours, so who cares, really? You give Chloe a nod, and she gently steps on the gas, pulling onto the freeway again. Your eyes feel heavy, but you decide to stay awake because it's not like Chloe's gotten a chance to sleep either.
You look at Chloe focused on the road, and she darts her eyes to the side at you. "What is it, Maximus?", Chloe asks gently.
"Nothing. I'm just tired, that's all.", you reply. It might be awhile until you find a motel on this stretch of road. You smile sleepily at Chloe and she side eyes you again, a gleaming smile on her beautiful face. You can't help but think about kissing her again. You're so fucked, Max Caulfield.