Who: Amberprice What: Chloe needs to know something, then shenanigans happen. When: Last week of March sometime Where: Around OC Warnings: Drug use, references to abuse, petty theft, underage drinking, and near skinny dipping in the ocean Notes: Part 1 of 2
It had been several days since Chloe had played Russian Roulette with trains and engaged in Sex Train, and she was still kind of buzzing from it. She’d seriously needed that. The trashing the junkyard, screaming and cursing out Max, then the release that sex brought. But not just sex, there’d been cuddling and honest, open talking. It had felt like ages since Chloe felt like she was wanted by anyone, and not in the sexual meaning of it.
Which was one of the reasons she needed to have a talk with Rachel and ask her something that had been on her mind. She was lying in the open doorway of the train car she and Rachel had claimed as theirs. One hand was propped under her head as she was baking, more than enjoying the joint. There may have been a bruise or two on her neck and some scratches, both from finger nails and from rubbing against the ground, visible on her bare arms. Or, well, her left arm anyways, her tattoo tended to hide things more than show them.
Chloe’s texts had been cryptic, and Rachel hadn’t been able to respond right away, but finally she was able to escape from her boyfriend’s needy clutches and make her way to the trainyard. Her car was in worse shape than Chloe’s truck, but it did what it needed to, most days. Even if the windows couldn’t roll down, the AC was busted, the radio didn’t work, one tire constantly went flat, and the rear passenger window was made of plastic.
She hated it. It ruined her image.
Once she’d parked, she walked past Chloe’s truck and snuck into the yard proper following the scent of weed. “Getting started without me?”
Chloe smiled as she heard Rachel’s voice and she turned her head to look at her. “You can join me.” She held out the joint to Rachel but didn’t make any attempt to move from being draped in the doorway of the train car.
Though if she knew how bad Rachel’s car was, she’d offer to work on it. She could probably fix the AC at the very least.
Rachel snatched the joint, taking a puff before handing it back and leaning over Chloe. Chloe had a way of making everything else in the world fade away and for the moment she had Rachel’s undivided attention. “Sorry it took me so long.”
After getting the joint back, she pulled her hand out from under her head and reached up to tuck some hair behind Rachel’s ear. “It’s alright, you’re here. That’s what matters.” Chloe was actually rather calm at the moment. Calm wasn’t always something she achieved easily.
Thinking they needed a rug, Rachel took a seat next to Chloe, pulling one leg up and wrapping her arms around it in a tight hug. She was wearing washed out, low rider jeans, and a tank top with a fire-breathing dragon on it. “I don’t need to be back for a long time, no worries. Rehearsals were good today.”
Chloe sat up and dangled her feet over the edge, letting them swing back and forth as she looked over at Rachel. “That’s good. Are you enjoying it? The school and theatre, I mean.” She took another drag from the joint. Chloe needed to look into getting a job since she was going to be sticking around a while. She still didn’t quite know what she wanted to do, but a mechanic seemed to be the easiest, and was the one that she still actually had interest in pursuing.
“Loving it,” Rachel said, grinning at Chloe and touching her shoulder with one hand. “Rehearsals can be a lot of fun, especially when they devolve into rap battles.”
“Seriously? Well, I guess Shakespeare lends himself to rap battles.” Chloe took another drag before offering the joint back to Rachel. “I’m glad that you’re loving it, though. It suits you.”
“Yeah, very dirty ones.” Rachel laughed. She took the joint and leaned against Chloe. This was good, better than her day had been after the rehearsals she’d almost been forced to miss. That crazy bitch had hurt Mark and part of Rachel had been elated and part of her had been terrified - but not of Callisto. Mostly. Rachel had a few bruises of her own under her clothing still, and ever since Chloe had come back into her life she was finding it harder and harder to play the denial game.
Rachel didn’t like being afraid.
“What have you been up to, my beautiful badass?”
“Of course,” she chuckled. Shakespeare seemed good for things getting dirty. When Rachel leaned against her, she wrapped her arm around Rachel’s shoulders. She gave her a little squeeze before rubbing her shoulder a bit.
“Oh, trying to figure out getting a job. Trashed a junkyard. Playing Russian Roulette with trains. Meeting someone else who also plays Russian Roulette with trains, apparently.” Chloe didn’t say she’d had sex with that person, but there were some markers of it. The faint bruises on her neck, healing scratches on her arms. Her back had more, but her tank top was covering those up. Also her legs and ass had scratches, but those were also covered up by clothing.
Also trashing a junkyard was markedly something Chloe only did when she was really angry.
All of that took a couple of puffs for Rachel to mull over, and when she did, her shoulders tensed. She knew that meant that Chloe had been angry, and she'd been depressed. And Rachel hated it when Chloe was depressed (the anger didn't bother her, that she understood better.)
She turned her head, meaning to kiss Chloe's neck. It was then she saw the bruising, and then the scratches, and she frowned. The jealousy was evident in her voice, "Having fun without me?"
The depression was rather a constant of late. Ever since Rachel had left Tillamook, to be perfectly honest. Though Chloe wouldn’t say that the Russian Roulette with trains had come from depression, but more from a need to feel something other than the numbness inside.
Though when she heard the question and the clear jealousy in her voice, Chloe gave her a pointed look. “Says the one with a boyfriend.” Chloe knew where her place was. She wasn’t Rachel’s girlfriend anymore. She was the ex-girlfriend, the one left behind, the one who didn’t have much of a will to live.
Rachel only tensed further, grinding her teeth and tightening her jaw. “We’re practically over.” Which wasn’t the same as actually being over, but he had most of her money, her things and her shelter. Even worse, he had access to her blog and website. If she lost that, she’d lose her tuition money.
She couldn’t even say if she still loved him.
Feeling Rachel tense further, Chloe pulled her arm away. “Practically over isn’t the same as being over.” Which was one of the issues, really. Chloe sighed and looked down at the ground. She wasn’t good at this. Hell, she probably wasn’t good at relationships either. After all, Rachel had left her, hadn’t she?
Chloe was a disaster that darkened people’s lives. Rachel deserved better than her. Max deserved better than her. Hell, Ilia deserved better than her.
Rachel pulled her other leg up and hugged both of them. She rested her chin on her arms, feeling vulnerable and not knowing exactly why. Something had been different since Chloe had come back, had been different since Callisto, and since she’d talked to others on the valarnet. Something had been different since she started to dream. Her head spun. “It’s not simple. Chloe, it’s… really not simple.”
Chloe wondered if it would’ve been easier had she just stayed in Tillamook. Of course if she had, chances are she’d be dead by now. She looked over at Rachel. “How isn’t it simple?” Hadn’t it been simple enough for Rachel to leave her for some guy?
She shrugged her shoulder and closed in on herself. “I need to change all my passwords first. Get the key to the safe so I can get the title to my car. Pack my things. Find a place to stay. Get new webcams for my night work since they’re all his. Computer is his too. Phone is on his plan.”
All without him noticing. “It’ll take time, that’s all.”
Rachel looked at Chloe with a neutral expression on her face, but something like that old fire burned in her eyes. Almost like an SOS. “You’re the one I feel alive around.”
“You can use my computer, you know.” Chloe offered. It may have been a little older, but it still worked just fine. Maybe Chloe would upgrade one day when she had the money to do so. “I’ll help you, just let me know what I can do.” She saw that look in Rachel’s eyes, and she reached out and set her hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “You aren’t alone, okay? I’m here.”
“Isn’t it usually my job to comfort you?” Rachel asked. Usually she was able to flash a smile at Chloe, give her the right look with her eyes and it would all be okay. But right now she couldn’t even look at her. “I don’t need to be comforted, anyway. I just need … to figure everything out.”
But she didn’t pull away, and kind of leaned into Chloe’s hand. Mark had told her to stay away from Chloe again, and while there were a lot of things Mark made Rachel do, that was one of the things she could never stop herself from doing. It had taken moving a thousand miles to pull it off the last time.
“I don’t need comfort right now.” Chloe wasn’t fine, she was still fucked up. But right now? She didn’t need comfort. And she just wanted to help Rachel. Even if she was still bitter about Rachel having left, it didn’t completely take away the fact she was still in love with her.
“Well, if you want help with figuring things out, all you need to do is ask.” She squeezed Rachel’s shoulder. Chloe was a little at a loss for what to do other than that at the moment.
Rather than say anything, Rachel turned her head, moving her hand over Chloe’s cheek and pulling her in for a kiss. Just because she’d left, just because she’d fallen in love (or thought she had) with Mark, she still had feelings for Chloe.
The kiss wasn’t completely expected, but definitely not unwelcome. She kissed Rachel back. God, she’d missed her. She hadn’t expected to find her again. After all, the world was a big place. Chloe had only intended to pass through, but then she’d found Rachel again. She didn’t know what the future would hold, but for the moment, Rachel was here with her.
This, this was easier, this was right, and Rachel needed to remind herself what this felt like. For all her flirting and fooling around, she’d never gotten as deep as she had with Chloe. Mark had been close, but Mark had managed to dig his fingers into her in ways she hadn’t been prepared for.
“Shit, Chloe, I don’t know what’s wrong with me right now.” Rachel lifted her head, rubbing her hand over her eyes and face. Ever since that crazy bitch Rachel had felt paranoid.
Chloe frowned a little, concern on her face. “Talk to me. What are you feeling?” She lightly rubbed her upper back soothingly. She didn’t know what was wrong, she just knew something was wrong. And Chloe wanted to help make it better if she could.
“I met this hot bitch at a bar while waiting for Mark to get back,” Rachel said, trying to maintain a neutral expression. “But she was also crazy. Really crazy. Mark was being his usual self, you know. He can get possessive, and he got angry because I wasn’t ready to leave yet.”
Rachel dropped her hand to Chloe’s knee. “So he grabbed me, and then she broke his arm.”
Alright, that was concerning. Both Mark’s behavior and the crazy woman. Chloe, however, was a little inwardly pleased that the crazy woman broke Mark’s arm. She probably would’ve done the same if she’d been there. “Shit, that’s crazy. Are you alright? I mean, Mark acting like that plus that crazy woman breaking his arm must’ve been a lot to handle at once.”
She knew that Mark didn't really trust her. Rachel could be a little possessive too, but she wasn't going to break whoever that girl was's face. She and Chloe weren't actually together, and from a certain point of view she hadn't actually cheated on Chloe with Mark.
"He never used to be that bad. I think he's just stressed."
Chloe slid her arm back around Rachel’s shoulders and held her close again. “I’m sorry. Stressed or not, he shouldn’t grab you like that. No one should ever grab anyone like that under any circumstances.” Chloe had very strong feelings on that.
“I’m sorry. I’m ruining your day.” Rachel took a breath and lifted her head, before moving into Chloe’s lap and straddling her, “And you’ve been having a harder week than me. Let’s do something fun and dangerous.”
She wanted to run away again. With Chloe. Like it should have been all along, but anxiety gripped her stomach at the thought. Rachel was good at hiding that, and ignoring what it might mean.
Besides she kept hoping she’d dream of dragons and fire.
“You’re definitely not ruining my day.” When Rachel straddled her lap, Chloe gazed up at her, slipping her arms around Rachel’s waist. “I’m always up for fun and dangerous.” Considering her history of Russian Roulette with trains and sneaking into places she shouldn’t be in, she was always up for these sorts of things.
Chloe was trying to push thoughts of Max out of her head. She just wanted to focus on Rachel right now. And, well, she had something she needed to ask her, but maybe later.
Rachel poked Chloe in the nose, wriggling in her lap and very, very happy to distract them both from other things. “Got any ideas?”
She moved her fingers down Chloe’s cheek and chin, her expression momentarily vulnerable before a mask settled into place.
Chloe noticed that mask come into place, but she decided not to push it. She leaned into Rachel’s touch, tightening her arms around her. “Maybe we could steal alcohol from someone? Or get someone to buy some for us?” Chloe wasn’t quite wanting to play Russian Roulette with trains right now.
“Or we could take my truck for a joy ride on winding roads?” Chloe could be a reckless driver when she wanted to be.
Rachel ticked some of those off on her fingers. “Lets steal, that sounds fun. Then we’ll do the joyride and find a place to get completely wasted.”
Maybe if she got drunk enough she could decide to not go home.
Chloe smirked. “Then let’s go find us a target.” Parks seemed to be a good place to go to find people with alcohol. Unless they wanted to go more dangerous and actually go into a liquor store. There were possibilities, though they’d have to make sure cameras didn’t catch them if they went to a liquor store.
Rachel took the opportunity to kiss Chloe again, then got off of her and held out her hand. “Why did I ever leave you, Price?”
Chloe returned the kiss, then felt like she was promptly stabbed in the heart with Rachel’s question. She knew it hadn’t been intended that way, that clearly Rachel was questioning why she’d left without her. But it was a question that made Chloe both angry and sad. Why did everyone keep leaving her?
“I wish I knew,” she responded, even knowing it was a rhetorical question. Maybe she wasn’t good enough. Maybe Rachel had gotten tired of dealing with her crap. Or maybe Tillamook just sucked so bad and Rachel got out of there without a second thought to Chloe.
Still, she dropped to the ground and took Rachel’s hand.
“It was a shitty thing, I know.” Rachel knew she could be a really shitty friend. She thought about it sometimes. Usually really late at night when Mark was asleep. Like maybe she deserved everything that had happened to her. Her hand tightened in Chloe’s, “You don’t have to forgive me.”
Usually, she’d bat her eyes at Chloe, give her the look, get her eating out of her hands, but she felt raw, and tired.
“Yeah, it was.” Chloe looked at Rachel, having expected her to bat her eyes and give her the look. “I just...need to know. Did you sleep with Mark before you left me?” She didn’t exactly want to know, but she needed to know the answer, and to see if Rachel was being honest about whatever the answer was. That would go a long way to determining whether she’d forgive her or not.
“I didn’t fuck him while I was with you,” Rachel replied, the words falling off of her tongue with no hesitation. Of course, that depended on what the definition of is is, and what one considered sex. And whether it counted when pressure was involved or not.
Chloe looked at Rachel, studying her face. No hesitation was a good thing. She nodded a bit. “Alright.” She was relieved by that. So maybe it wasn’t something she’d done that drove Rachel away.
“I’m an asshole. I’m not that kind of asshole.” Not to Chloe. Rachel’s motivations might sometimes be suspect, to the point that she didn’t always know them herself. “You don’t hate me? After everything?”
Not waiting for an answer, Rachel started to lead Chloe towards Chloe’s truck. As far as junkers went hers was a much better ride. Plus, it had a bed. Technically. At least something flat they could lay on while drinking and looking at the stars. Rachel couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something that romantic.
Oh wait, it had been with Chloe, back in Oregon.
“I’m hurt and angry about it, but I don’t hate you.” Hell, she didn’t even hate Max, and that had been years of radio silence. Though that didn’t mean she wouldn’t scream and yell at Max, because she most certainly would. Just like she’d scream and yell at Rachel when the pain and anger over her having left were tapped into.
She headed with Rachel to her truck, which really needed some new parts in the engine, if not just an entirely new engine, but she’d get around to that eventually. For now, she hopped in the driver’s side and looked at Rachel.
“Park or liquor store?” She asked.
“Park,” Rachel decided. She didn’t even need to be prompted, it just sort of felt right. Like there was something about it. Like they were supposed to go to places like that.
She didn’t respond about the hurt. What was there to say? Instead she took Chloe’s hand in the car. In a way she felt trapped. Trapped between Mark and Chloe, trapped outside the life she wanted in a life that hadn’t turned out at all the way she’d hoped.
Rachel shouldn’t have listened to Mark. But he’d been so convincing…
Chloe nodded, started the truck and headed off. She glanced at Rachel, giving her hand a little squeeze before she threaded their fingers together. Chloe was starting to feel conflicted in many ways. First, there was the fact she was in love with Rachel, and desperately wanted her back. Second, there was Ilia and her undeniable attraction towards her. Thirdly, there was Max’s presence.
The third one made her angry, more angry than she really wanted to be right now, so she pushed all those thoughts from her mind and instead drove around until she found a park that actually had several people in it.
“Ah, I think we have a promising place here.” Chloe pulled into a parking spot and scanned the people. She spotted some people around some picnic tables and it looked like they had alcohol to go abegging. Almost like there was a party. “There, by the picnic tables. Looks like they’re getting ready for a party or something.”
“So, do we sneak in and make off with a bottle of Patrón, or do we pretend like we’re part of the party and then make off with a bottle of Patrón?” Rachel seemed to be perking up, her old self coming back like it hadn’t been gone at all. She turned in the seat and leaned over, surprising Chloe with a kiss. “Which sounds more fun?”
The kiss was unexpected, but she rather liked it. She liked seeing the old Rachel coming back. “Well, pretending to be part of the party would be more fun, but we both know I’m kind of terrible at acting. Unless you wanted to distract them and I’ll steal two bottles of Patrón.” Upping the ante, really. But it was also a little bit of one of those weeks where she needed to be good and solidly drunk for a while.
“Perfect. I’ll distract then and you get the bottles. Once I’ve extricate myself from the party, we can meet on the beach?” They were near the ocean. They could find a way.
Rachel couldn’t help but add, “Just try not to get jealous. You’re the only one I want to get naked tonight.”
“Got it. I’ll make for the beach after I’ve secured the bottles.” Chloe said with a nod. And then with the comment she felt a little bit of a gay panic start to build up in her. “Well, I’ll do my best to not get jealous.”
Though Chloe also wasn’t entirely certain if things would even go that far tonight. After all, Rachel was dating someone else. It was probably for the best that she didn’t take the comment seriously so she didn’t get her hopes up only to have them crushed.
As long as Rachel's clothing stayed on, everything would be fine. It was different from on camera or in skype. Too close, too personal, and that would cross the line for Rachel where actual factual cheating was concerned.
But she'd sure as fuck thought about it, and stared at Chloe a moment too long before she got out of the truck. Putting on her best party face, she took off towards the party and danced her way in.
Chloe watched Rachel head off towards the party. She waited until Rachel had inserted herself into the party before she got out of the truck. She glanced around, noting that no one else was close to the party to alert anyone to her taking a couple bottles. Chloe meandered towards the party, keeping an eye on Rachel and those around her.
Seeing that pretty much everyone’s attention was on Rachel, or at least directed away from the alcohol, Chloe moved closer. She spotted the two bottles she was going to take and crept closer, managing to grab a couple bottles of Patrón before backing off and pretending she didn’t just steal the bottles.
She started to head towards the beach, though not before staring at Rachel a bit, then showing her she’d gotten the bottles. Maybe they should go clubbing or something at some point. Probably not today given the alcohol, but in the near future.
Rachel played the party like she belonged there, flirting with an older guy and then turning her attention to his cute daughter, but never giving anyone too much attention. She wanted them to be dazzled, but not enough to remember her. Most of them were pretty plastered already, so she didn’t think that was an issue. And then, like a ghost, she was gone as mysteriously as she’d arrived, making her way to the beach and feeling jubilant.
Chloe got to the beach and looked around for a good spot for them to sit and enjoy their spoils. She watched some waves as they rolled in, then her gaze went out to the horizon. It would just be amazing to follow that horizon, to sail off like a pirate and never come back. Maybe for once, she could be the one doing the leaving instead of being the one who was left.
But who was she kidding? It wasn’t like she had a ship. And she needed money if she was going to drive off somewhere and not come back.
“So what’s my favorite pirate captain thinking?” Rachel asked, sidling up behind Chloe and running her hands sensually up her back and over her shoulders. She did like the idea of being the Captain’sand first mate’s woman.
Chloe shivered a little as she felt Rachel’s hands move over her back and shoulders. “Just contemplating the horizon. Thinking what it would be like to just chase it. You know, if I had money and shit.”
“Could always join me on camera,” Rachel joked, though the moment she said it she realized it might be a way to get around her ‘don’t fuck around on others’ rule that she bent pretty heavily as it was.
She kissed the back of Chloe’s neck, then reached around her to grab for one of the bottles, before sitting down. A breeze from the water made her hair wave behind her. “Where would you go?”
“I’d probably break the camera,” Chloe joked in return. She knew it could be hot, but she wasn’t exactly into the whole strangers seeing her naked thing. Recording for personal use? She could go for that.
After Rachel sat down, she kind of gazed at her, watching her hair blow in the wind for some moments before she sat down beside her. “I don’t know. Paris, probably.” She said with a shrug. Seemed as good of a place as any.
“You’d be really hot. Sure I couldn’t convince you, just for me?” She batted her eyelashes at Chloe, but decided if Mark found out… “Paris sounds nice. Closest I’ve ever been was Las Vegas, but that’s not exactly the real Eiffel Tower.”
She opened the bottle and took a swig, and promptly cough. “Holy shit that’s strong!”
“Only for you and with no audience.” At least as far as strangers on the internet went. “You’ve been a lot closer than I have. My parents and I had wanted to travel to Paris someday. But that went out the window when my dad died.” It had longed seemed to be just another of Chloe’s dreams that had died and been buried along with her dad.
“That just means it’s the good shit,” Chloe said as she opened her bottle and took a drink, also coughing a bit. It burned, but it burned so good.
Maybe Rachel could figure out a way to get Chloe to Paris. She didn’t make any promises out loud, even she had a line when it came to manipulation and for some reason that felt like a promise she’d actually want to keep. It surely had nothing to do with the fact she was in love with Chloe and had never actually fallen out of love with her.
That thought made her take another, longer swig, hoping the pain would burn it away. “I think I’m starting to feel better.”
Paris was something that Chloe had long accepted would never happen. Money had been tight after her dad had died, so she’d long since stopped having high aspirations for anything that required money. She certainly didn’t expect anyone to make Paris happen for her.
Sometimes, Chloe wondered if her dad would be disappointed in how she’d turned out the same way her mom was. He probably would be. She sighed inaudibly and took another drink, glancing over at Rachel, a little smile on her lips.
“I’m glad to hear that. One of these days we should find a concert to crash. Or go clubbing.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for some concerts.” Rachel knew a few good clubs too, but she looked Chloe up and down. “You even got a good clubbing outfit? You should see my favorite dress.”
Though she tended to go more punk for the concerts.
Taking another sip, Rachel stared out at the water, then pulled her shoes and socks off and got to her feet. She tugged her shirt up over her head, forgetting that there were bruises on her back. Her bra joined her shirt in the sand.
Then she tugged her jeans down, and was standing there in just a pair of black panties. She turned to Chloe, hands on her hips. “What are you waiting for, the ocean is waiting!”
“What’s wrong with going punk for clubbing?” Chloe protested. She wasn’t exactly one to dress up, or even to wear dresses. She was a punk. Sometimes she wondered if she shouldn’t get a new skateboard and try that again.
Looking up as Rachel got up, Chloe kind of stared as she pulled her shirt and bra off. At first it was out of the whole being attracted to Rachel and not having seen her without clothes on in several months. But then she was staring because she noticed the bruises.
“Rachel, what happened to your back?” She asked.
“You can go punk, I’m going short skirt,” Rachel replied. Damn, the bruises were… going to need an excuse, but Rachel was a quick thinker, twisting around and trying to get a look at her back, “I don’t know. Is it bad? Maybe I bumped into someone while I was being distracting.”
Rachel hadn’t been counting on Chloe not being distracted by her tits.
Chloe stood up and moved to get a closer look. “Those don’t look like you just bumped into someone.” That was definitely not an excuse Chloe was going to swallow. Rachel would need to do better to convince her.
"It's just a guess." Rachel turned before Chloe could think to touch her. She didn't need that kind of shiver right now. "I really don't remember. If not that party, then rehearsal? Or maybe I did something when I was raging earlier."
She ran her hands across Chloe's cheeks. "Why are you still dressed, the water is waiting." And probably really cold.
Chloe was about to touch Rachel before she turned. She looked at her, not completely believing that explanation either, especially as it seemed that Rachel was so intent on changing the subject. So, instead of pressing the subject and potentially ruining things like she always inevitably did, Chloe decided to just let Rachel change the subject.
“You do realize the water’s probably really fucking cold, right? Though I do have a blanket in the truck.” Which was there thanks to that encounter with Ilia where a blanket really would’ve come in handy.
"Freezing," Rachel agreed, before she hooked her fingers into Chloe's waistband and then seductively slid them around to the front to unbutton them. There might have been a moment where she hesitated before doing that, as if she'd expected Chloe to press. But Chloe hadn't, and Rachel was grateful.
She didn't think she could have kept lying, and spilling that truth was something she wasn't ready for for herself, let alone Chloe.
Rachel didn't want Chloe thinking less of her. Thinking she was a victim. Being considered a victim was pretty high up on Rachel's nightmare list.
Chloe shivered and a jolt of being turned on ran through her as Rachel’s fingers hooked into her waistband and slid around to the front. God, she wanted to just grab Rachel and lose herself in her, but she kept herself in check.
“Fuck it, you only live once, right?” Chloe responded and promptly pulled off her shirt, which was quickly followed by her bra and boots. Her back was probably some weird mini-maze of healing scratches from both fingernails and sticks and whatever else had been on the ground that she and Ilia had made good use of.
“Yes, exactly,” Rachel started to say, her eyes roaming up Chloe’s chest before Chloe turned around and she got a view of the scratches. Rachel’s lips thinned out and she felt something akin to possessive jealousy. Which wasn’t fair, and she could acknowledge it, but it was still there. Chloe had been with someone who wasn’t Rachel and who wasn’t someone who was Rachel-approved.
She slapped Chloe on the butt, “Someone got busy.”
Chloe yelped a little when Rachel slapped her, and she glanced back at her, then glanced down at her back, or what little of it she could see. “Yeah, I did.” She wasn’t ashamed of it either. Though, to be honest, Chloe had slept with two people since arriving here in Orange County. Jaina just hadn’t left marks the way Ilia had. But the night with Ilia had been raw and intense and Chloe would be lying if she said she didn’t think about that relatively often.
Getting rid of her socks, she then pushed her pants off, leaving her as clothed as Rachel was.
One of Rachel’s hands briefly balled into a fist, before she turned from Chloe and ran for the water. A cold shock might actually do her some good right now, before she did or said something she’d regret.
Besides, she’d rather be reliving the glory days and making new glory days, and thinking about someone else’s claws in Chloe (or the source of her own bruises) was counter-productive to that.
Chloe was actually a bit surprised that Rachel didn’t make a scene in regards to her having slept with someone else. But she was also a little relieved because Rachel was the one who had left. Chloe wasn’t even certain that Rachel still loved her. Might’ve been wishful thinking on her part that Rachel would still have feelings for her. But clearly her boyfriend had won her heart.
Shaking her head slightly, Chloe took a long swig of alcohol before she made a break for the water and leapt into it. And it was positively freezing. “Jesus christ it’s fucking cold!” She exclaimed.
Rachel shrieked as she hit the cold water, laughed, and then shrieked again. She grabbed for Chloe and tried to push her deeper, only to miss and disappear under a wave. She popped up, flipping her hair out of her face. “Fuck! Jesus fuck that’s cold!”
That was not one of her better ideas, though seeing Chloe all shiney was pretty nice. Rachel waded towards her to wrap her arms around her.
This was definitely not one of Rachel’s better ideas, but Chloe at least had a blanket in her truck. They could probably better use a towel to dry off, but a blanket would at least help them warm up. She sputtered a bit as a wave knocked her off-balance and she briefly disappeared under the water before she stood back up and shivered.
“Fuck, holy fuck fuck,” she cursed as she brushed her hair out of her eyes. But she had to say, seeing Rachel mostly naked and wet was definitely a bonus. “I’m rather certain I’m still alive now.” Chloe commented, feeling very much alive and in the moment on top of being cold. As Rachel waded towards her and wrapped her arms around her, she slid her own arms around Rachel. “Ah, some warmth!” She joked.
And she tried not to think of Rachel’s wet skin against hers, but she also couldn’t help it.
No matter what, this night would be theirs. Rachel clung to that, before she ran her hand down to Chloe’s butt and gave it a squeeze. But her teeth were chattering and she said, “Okay I’m fucking cold lets get out of the water!”
For good measure, she flipped off the Pacific Ocean. “There are probably sharks in the water!”
“Probably a good idea,” Chloe agreed as her teeth were also chattering. She gave the double birds to the ocean before she turned and waded out of the water. “There’s always sharks in the water.” She’d definitely not want to tempt fate where sharks were concerned.
She ran back to where their clothing was and started pulling it back on. “Okay, I have a blanket in the truck, so we can make a break for it to get warm again.” And then find somewhere a little remote to park and drink while getting warm.
“Sharks are fucking awesome,” Rachel said, running after Chloe. She skipped her bra and just pulled her shirt and jeans on, then shook her hair out. “How the fuck is it colder than in the water?”
Chloe skipped her bra as well. “Fuck if I know,” she said through chattering teeth as she pulled her pants and shirt on, then her socks and boots. She grabbed her bottle of alcohol, then waited for Rachel before running back to the truck.