Chloe's POV

I knock on Max's door, scarred to see what my eyes will find on her body.
Bruises, blood or maybe I'm exaggerating and she's fine.
Knowing Nathan, Max wouldn't have gotten away without him laying his filthy hands on her. The thought alone makes me grind my teeth and bald my hands into fists.

Max opens her door and the first thing I notice are the bruises in her neck.
"He fucking strangled you!"
I exclaim, examining her wounds. She takes a step back and covers her neck.
"It's nothing really..."
"I'm going to beat his fucking ass."
Max sighs and sinks into the couch of her room.
"Chloe calm down."
"Calm down? Have you seen yourself Max? He deserves more than some bruises."
I sit on the table and take her head between my hands, to inspect the damage that asshole has done to my Max.  I tilt her head up lightly and stroke her throat gently. Max shivers and puts her hand on my thigh, a simple gesture yet I feel something I can't quite explain.
It looks like she gave him a struggle, his fingers are imprinted on her skin, in blue, black and purple, on multiple places.
"How could he do this to you."
I mumble with anger and guilt. I'm to blame for this, I should've stayed.
"Chloe please, it's not like I got mutilated. The bruises will fade."
She takes my hands in hers and gives me that heartwarming smile, and yet again, also with this small simple gesture I feel a weird shift in my body. Like my heart is skipping a beat.
I stare into her eyes, there's something hypnotic about them, I can't remember what Max asked me. I try to repeat Max's words in my head but fail to recall her question, all I can do is look at her, admire her. What is happening?
I certainly can't remember feeling this need to be closer to Max. I want to hold her and tell her that I will protect her, that I will stand by her side but not just as a friend. I... I think I want to be more than that.

We don't say a word, we just stare into each others eyes, as if there is something new to discover inside them.
I finally find my words and snap back to reality.
"I'm going to fix this."
"What did you do to piss him off so much anyways."
"I accidentally sold him a bad batch of some fancy new drug everyone is taking."
"Bad batch?"
"The drugs were shit and now he wants his money back."
"How much do you owe?"
"Two thousand dollars."
Max stays silent. Her silence makes me uncomfortable because her eyes only portray worry.
"Hey listen. Don't worry about me okay, worry about yourself."
I take another look at her bruises.
"I promise that I will get out of this shit okay but stay out of it. I don't want you to get hurt."
"No I wanna help."
Classic Max, always trying to help those in need. I could use her help but if that means Nathan will be attacking her again, I don't want it.
"You have enough on your plate. You don't need my extra pile of shit on it as well."
Max wants to argue but I quickly change the subject.
"What about one of our infamous sleepovers, I bet you could use some classic horror flicks and burned popcorn."

Max's POV

Chloe bumps my shoulder and I shake off all the other questions I still had for her.
"That sounds amazing. What about my classes tomorrow though."
Chloe rolls her eyes.
"Dude, don't even think about school.
So you miss a few classes, big whoop.
You were attacked by an unstable rich kid, I think that's reason enough to skip atleast a few classes."
She rises from the table and grabs my bag.
"You're right, besides, hanging out with you seems more interesting than algorithms anyways."
"Booyah! Emphasis on the boo. Seriously, you really shouldn't talk about math at this hour."
Chloe grabs my camera and then scans my room looking hella confused.
Damn I used Hella, her influence is already rubbing off on me. I don't mind it though, I actually feel safer when she's around. Not that I expect Chloe to take a bullet for me, she's not super woman. But she is super, atleast to me she is.
I take my bag from Chloe's hand and pack in the rest of my stuff.
"Thank God, I was starting to think you would seriously let me choose your clothes"
I ravage my closet for an outfit to wear tomorrow. I throw simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt into my bag. For a moment I inagine myself as a punk.
I don't think I would be able to pull of blue hair as good as Chloe and I would definitely not be willing to get inked right now. The clothes appeal to me though, Chloe seems to be wearing them with a lot of confidence.
"That would be interesting. Punk Max, who knows maybe it would actually suit me."
Chloe plunges onto my bed and rests her head in her arms while staring at the ceiling.
"You can't just wear the punk Max, you need to feel it. Where's your stereo, let me blast some music  while you assemble all your gear."
I point at the little stereo set, surrounded by different books.
"Let's see what we have here."
Chloe says while inspecting the buttons. She presses play and Something Good by Alt-J starts playing.
"Not bad, not bad but we can spice it up a little."
Chloe says while connecting her phone with the music boxes.
She puts on a song I haven't heard before but it sounds good and Chloe seems to feel "the punk" already.
"This song fucking rules! I feel like stage diving."
She turns up the volume and her body seems to receive a shock. Her limbs start moving to the rhythm and her worries seem to fade.
Chloe jumps on top of my bed and starts dancing. She looks so peaceful and free, as if nothing matters anymore. It's just her and the music, perfectly flowing into eachother.
This is a great shot. Now where did I put my camera.
I see the lense of my camera shinning in my bag, I already forgot that Chloe put it in there. I grab it and take a picture of Chloe in her own reckless world.
"Come on Max, shake that boney ass!"
She offers me her hand and I happily take it. She swiftly lifts me up in on top of my bed and continues to dance to the music.
I'm not much of a dancer, I should have at least 3 bottles of beer inside me before even thinking about dancing. But somehow Chloe's energy forces my body to move. I move my arms and shake from left to right. Chloe encourages me with some "whoos" and drags me into this careless state of mind. This moment right here shows me how strong the bond between me and Chloe still actually is. We both changed so much but that special connection wr had is still there and it grows stronger by the second, it still causes me to shiver. How could I almost have lost Chloe Price. I won't let this happen again, never again.

And then they head home to Chloe's bat cave to share their first kiss.
So this was basically the prequel to "Pillow Fort", the very first chapter I ever posted. It seems so long ago but it's only been 10 months. Thank you guys for stickng with me.

Hope you all enjoyed and stay tuned for more Pricefield sweetness!

I love you all
Stay Hell Dope

BluePunkRockRebel