Who: Amberprice aka Rachel and Chloe What: Chance meeting in a train yard. When: Tonight Where: Old train yard somewhere in OC Warnings: High for references to suicide attempts, drugs/drug use, language and a little bit of an adult situation towards the end
So far, Orange County seemed to be a better place than Tillamook was. But even so, Chloe couldn’t silence her demons forever. Thoughts of suicide had come back, and every time she thought of the people who had left her, it only made the wish to kill herself that much stronger. Which may have been one of the reasons why she was walking along the train tracks with her earbuds in and blasting music in her ears. Perhaps she wouldn’t hear a train as it came and put her out of her misery.
Chloe took a drag from her cigarette, then paused, tilting her head back and blowing the smoke out of her mouth as she sighed. Really, it would be nice if a train came along right then, but there were no vibrations along the tracks that indicated one was coming.
Rachel didn’t know why she’d come to the tracks. It had just seemed like the natural thing for her to retreat to after another argument with her boyfriend. She’d only stopped long enough in a public restroom to put coverup over the new bruise on her face.
Putting that out of mind (she was getting really good at that), Rachel swung her arms, practicing her lines for Twelfth Night as she slowly walked through the trainyard. Not that anyone was supposed to be trespassing but since when had that stopped her?
Seeing a train at rest brought back uncomfortable memories (she was less good at shaking those). She wondered how Chloe was doing, then decided it was a question that didn’t need an answer. Chloe was in the past, she had her future ahead of her, and if Rachel was honest with herself, Chloe was better off without her.
She caught her reflection in some metal and frowned at it. Rachel had a dozen excuses for why she’d left Chloe and dozen more for why she should stick around Mark, and none of them were very good and all of them made her angry and upset. So she kicked the sheet metal, and then kicked it again and again until she felt better.
After taking a moment, Chloe continued along the tracks, then she spotted the trainyard ahead. That definitely intrigued her, and at least it would give something else to focus on. She had always enjoyed trespassing and going places that she wasn’t supposed to be in. One of the behaviors that had led to her being expelled from school.
Hopping over the rail of the main track she’d been following, Chloe slipped into the trainyard, glancing around to ensure there wasn’t a security guard or something on duty. Not that there typically was, but these weren’t the tracks she was used to. She bobbed her head to the music as she came around a train car that had seemed to be sitting there for ages. She looked at it, then decided it needed some improvement. Taking out her sharpie, Chloe found a space on the train and put her own graffiti tag on it.
Love is a lie.
She could’ve put something more profound, but right now she just felt like a cold, hard truth that she’d learned the hard way. It hurt way more than she’d ever admit to anyone, and doubted that her heart would ever heal. Better to leave it broken so no one could break it again, right?
Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, Chloe turned and saw someone kicking a piece of sheet metal. Her eyes went wide and her heart definitely stopped beating as she could only stare at her for several moments until she could find her words. Pulling one of her earbuds out, Chloe drew in a deep breath.
“Rachel?” She asked. Yet even as she spoke the name she was wondering if she was hallucinating. Or perhaps she’d been hit by a train and was dead and didn’t know it. Either way, she probably looked like a bleached blonde deer standing in the headlights of an oncoming semi-truck.
Kicking the metal one more time for good measure, Rachel stared at her now distorted and twisted reflection. It somehow felt appropriate. She was about to do something crazy, like scream or throw things, when she heard someone call her name.
She turned, staring at the other girl, taken by so much surprise it took her several seconds before she could react. But when she did, she let a slow smile cross her face, hiding the panic in her thoughts. "So what is it with us and trains?"
Part of Chloe wanted to scream and ask Rachel why she’d left. Part of her wanted to run over and hug her. Part of her just wanted to start crying. But Chloe quickly put up a wall around herself, refusing to give in to any of those initial reactions. She refused to cry, first of all.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s destiny.” She said with a shrug. Remembering that she had a lit cigarette between her fingers, she took a drag from it and tried to keep herself from freaking out about this.
And why had she apparently run to the same place Rachel had?
"What fates impose, that men must needs abide," Rachel said. "It boots not to resist both wind and tide."
She approached Chloe, less like one might approach a cornered dog, and more like a predator who was confident in catching its prey. "I love your hair. Blue suits you."
There was a rush inside Rachel’s head, that familiar feeling of daring and danger that she’d always felt around Chloe. It was as addicting as any drug.
“Sometimes fate can go fuck itself for all I care.” Chloe honestly didn’t care much about anything these days. Rachel was one of the few things she still cared about. Hell, she still loved her, and her heart ached as she looked at her.
As Rachel approached her like a predator, Chloe held firm to that wall and stood tall. “Yeah, well, I needed a change.” Too bad changing one’s hair color was easier than getting over a lost love.
Oh, Rachel liked tall girls. For the first time in months she felt more like herself, though she was still trying to figure out who she was supposed to be.
She was close enough now, that she could reach up and play with the blue streak. So she did. “She’s a bitch.”
A little shiver ran through her as Rachel played with the blue streak in her hair. God, she really just wanted to kiss Rachel like there was no tomorrow, but she was intensely afraid of being pushed away. After all, Rachel had left without a word, so she felt she should tread carefully.
“You can say that again.” It was mostly meant in general, but Chloe seriously wondered why Rachel had left, just to turn up here again and was seemingly acting like nothing had happened at all.
Or had Rachel meant someone other than fate being a bitch? If she meant Chloe, well, Chloe would definitely agree with that, she was a bitch. A very selfish bitch more often than not.
She could apologize. Or say something about leaving, and why she’d left. Instead, Rachel moved her hand from Chloe’s hair to her cheek and caressed it with her thumb. “What made you finally leave?”
Rachel’s touch to her cheek felt like fire coursing through her skin. God, she’d missed her so much. She was starting to forget that she was supposed to be angry at her for leaving. At least until that question. “Everyone else left, so why not me? I got nothing left to lose.” Except for her life, but right now? She could turn up dead tomorrow and not give a damn about it.
Even with her defensive wall up, there was probably a sliver of a look in her eyes that was all too familiar to Rachel. It was that hollow look that Chloe had gotten at times, especially when she’d been standing on the tracks waiting for a train to come and end her life. But Rachel had come in like a guardian angel, her angel and talked her off of the tracks.
Is that why Chloe had come here? To find another way to die? Anger surged inside Rachel and her bedroom eyes took on a decidedly fiery glint. “Than maybe this is Fate’s way of telling you something. Telling us something. And don’t think it’s ‘you can never escape Oregon.’”
Well, Chloe could respond to the fire. Because she refused to breakdown right now despite the fact she wanted to. “Obviously it’s not that since I’m not in fucking Oregon anymore. And why do you even care? You’re the one who left without a word!”
"I told you." Rachel's hand trailed down to Chloe's jaw, caressing it. Then she ran her thumb along Chloe's lower lip. "I wanted to get the fuck out of Oregon. So Mark got me out of there. There wasn't time, Chloe. We had to leave. There wasn't time."
“There wasn’t time to tell me, yet all my calls and texts went unanswered? You could’ve at least picked up the fucking phone and told me. Or taken me with you. Or told me you didn’t want me anymore or something other than radio silence.” Because the radio silence really hurt.
And god if Rachel kept touching her like that…
The lie came easily, and was still a half-truth, “I lost my phone. Got a new number when we got me a new one.”
Leaning on her toes, Rachel moved her face close to Chloe’s, her fingers still on her jaw and lips. “I’m sorry. Is there anything I could do to make it up to you?”
Chloe’s heart started beating faster as Rachel leaned closer to her. God she was gorgeous, and her heart hurt a lot right now. “You could’ve tried calling me on your new phone, you know.” Unless Rachel hadn’t actually known her number by heart. Which kind of hurt if that was the case because Chloe had definitely memorized Rachel’s.
“I...uh...I mean...you want to make it up to me?” Chloe reached out and set her hands on Rachel’s hips.
Rachel’s eyes dropped to Chloe’s lips, then back up to her eyes. Chloe had always been beautiful to her, like some goddess of destruction. Even now, she was drawn to her, and couldn’t remember why on earth she’d left without saying good bye. “Of course I do, Chloe. I fucked up. I fucked up bad.”
“It really hurt, you know. I loved you and then you were just gone like what we had didn’t even matter.” The words were out of her mouth before she really knew what she was saying. “I still love you.” Because no matter how angry and hurt she’d been, she couldn’t just stop loving Rachel. Or anyone, for that matter.
Hell, she still loved Max, too.
“How can you say that?” Rachel askes, eyes flashing with anger and brimming with emotion. “What we had mattered! I can’t… explain what happened. All I have are excuses and most of those are kind of shitty. I missed you so much.”
Rachel knew what she wanted. She wanted Chloe, she wanted the old times, she wanted their adventures and their mistakes and them. She missed them. Mark wouldn’t approve, but she didn’t care. Rachel hadn’t been Rachel in so long that … that… “You make me feel like me again and it’s only been 5 minutes.”
“What else was I supposed to think when you just disappeared and left me behind without any word?” Emotion finally won out and her blue eyes filled with it all. The hurt, the love, the need, all of it was there. Chloe’s hands shifted from Rachel’s hips and circled around her waist, pulling her closer.
“I’ve missed you more than I can ever say.” But it was written in her expression, her body language. They still had a lot to talk about, but right now, all that Chloe cared about was that Rachel was back in her arms. And if this was just a dream, at least it was a good one for once.
Whether Chloe knew it or not, she was so fucking hot, and she knew exactly how to dig her way into Rachel’s heart and libido. She asked again, “What can I do to make it up for you?”
Chloe gazed into Rachel’s eyes. As much as she’d balked at destiny earlier, it seriously seemed like it had other plans in bringing them both together again. “Kiss me.” She’d believed the kiss before, and she was still head over heels for this girl. She wanted to believe it again. She wanted to have hope again. And Rachel gave her both.
Sliding her hand behind Chloe’s neck as she fought of a few tears, Rachel pulled Chloe down and kissed her. She could feel the kiss down to her toes, that same electric fire from the first time they’d kissed, and every other time after. Had she really gotten bored of this? Or had it been something else? Some kind of… fear.
Whatever it was, Rachel couldn’t place it and it didn’t matter. This mattered, right here.
She returned the kiss wholeheartedly. Now, Jaina was a good kisser, but this was the spark of life she’d been missing. God she loved this woman, and she felt like she was coming back to life. It was magical and emotional. Chloe put all of her emotions into the kiss, her arms tightening around Rachel a bit. She wasn’t being possessive, she was simply needing the close proximity to her.
Time and the rest of the world fell away, and all she cared about in that moment was Rachel.
The fingers of Rachel’s left hand tangled into Chloe’s hair. Her own kiss was desperate, but in a different way. Desperate for a piece of herself that had been missing. Desperate for that fire and unpredictability that was quintessentially Chloe.
She felt that desperation in the kiss and slid a hand up Rachel’s back, keeping the other arm around her waist and keeping her close. Chloe deepened the kiss, wanting to lose herself in the rush that was Rachel. She wanted to give her everything she could. She gave her fire and emotion, kissing her as though there was no tomorrow.
There might not be a tomorrow. Rachel was flighty on a good day, flipping off destiny and fate to forge her own path. The kiss deepened, and Rachel pushed Chloe against the train. When she finally came up for air, her lips were flushed and the good kind of bruised. But her coverup was a little smudged as she looked up at Chloe with an intense gaze. “How’s that?”
Being pushed against the train was a definite turn on, though really Rachel had turned her on well before that. She was breathless once the kiss was broken. And Chloe felt like if Rachel pulled away completely at that moment, that she’d end up on the ground because her knees were jello.
“Fucking amazing,” she replied, her lips equally flushed and the good kind of bruised. God Chloe had missed the feel of Rachel’s lips against hers. Though after a few moments, she noticed the smudged cover up on Rachel’s cheek. She lifted a hand to her cheek, gently brushing her thumb over the smudged area. “You’re wearing cover up?”
“Stage accident,” Rachel answered, though she might have hesitated for a fraction of a second and it didn’t come out quite as smoothly as she’d normally have liked. “We’ve been practicing Twelfth Night. Things got a little rowdy.”
She brushed the back of her knuckles across Chloe’s face. “I like your eyeliner. It’s wicked.”
Chloe didn’t quite believe that, but she wouldn’t push. She didn’t want to push Rachel away so soon after finding her again. “I learned from the best,” she responded with a smile, brushing her fingers through Rachel’s hair. And she meant Rachel because Chloe had once been hopeless when it came to make-up, but Rachel had shown her a few things. Including covering up bruises.
Taking Chloe’s free hand, she threaded their fingers together and squeezed lightly. “I am the best.”
Seized by a sudden need for adventure, Rachel looked around. “We should find a place. I’m sure there’s a shack somewhere around here. We could fix it up. Like old times.”
“Yes, you definitely are,” she responded with a smile. She squeezed Rachel’s hand back. At the potential for an adventure, Chloe perked up a bit. “I think we should definitely do that. A little place of our own. I even have my pen for graffiti purposes.”
“Ever my rebel.” Rachel started to drag Chloe through the trainyard. She was looking for something just right, something perfect, something that encapsulated both starting over and their shared creativity.
And she found it, on a dead end track near the eastern fence, out of sight of the road, the main tracks or the guardhouse; an old caboose attached to an old box car. Both were red, the paint faded and tagged by many people before, though most of that was faded as well. Letting out a delighted cry, Rachel ran up to it, all without letting go of Chloe’s hand. “This is perfect!”
She pointed at the caboose, “Like our old clubhouse. And we can use the boxcar for … something.” Turning towards Chloe, she grinned. “We’ll figure that out.”
“Always your rebel.” Chloe responded, then followed after Rachel. There was definitely a lot of potential around the train yard. It was different than the junkyard back in Oregon, but no less fun to be in. Then when Rachel pointed out the caboose, Chloe mirrored her grin.
“Oh man, it’s fucking perfect.” She walked up to it, eyeing it for a moment before she looked over at Rachel. “Come on, let’s see the inside.” Finding the door, Chloe started to pull it open, though the thing was rusted and it wasn’t budging. “Fuck. I think it needs some WD-40.”
“I don’t need a tetanus shot,” Rachel joked. She looked around spotting a long metal bar, which she picked up and brought over to the door. Giving Chloe an excited grin, she asked, “Together?”
Chloe grinned as she brushed her hands off. “Together.” She grabbed part of the metal bar, slipping the end into the door. “On three. One, two, three!” She then heaved with all of her strength. Which...she could’ve had more if she didn’t smoke, but combined with Rachel’s strength, hopefully it was enough to open the door.
The door rumbled, resisting at first, but like all things with Rachel, resistance was futile. The door slid open with a loud scraping sound. “I’ll pick up some WD40.”
Rachel tossed the bar aside and hopped in, then turned around to hold her hand out to Chloe.
Resistance was definitely futile. Not that Chloe had ever really resisted Rachel. She’d been a goner from the moment they’d first met. And Chloe was still definitely a goner for Rachel, as she’d stated earlier.
Taking Rachel’s hand, she climbed up into the car, looking around. “This is hella cool. We can do anything with this space.” And it would be theirs. Suddenly Chloe was definitely going to stick around in Orange County. After all, she’d found Rachel, and she didn’t want to be without her again if she could help it.
“We’ll go curtain shopping.” Rachel spun around in place until she got dizzy, then fell against Chloe laughing. Suddenly, the world had opened up again for her. Why had she left, why had she left?
“Hell yes.” Chloe smiled, watching Rachel as she spun around. Chloe caught her when she fell against her. “I got ya,” she said in that low and sexy tone she got sometimes. But there were definitely butterflies in her stomach right then. She really didn’t want to let go of Rachel.
Rachel laughed, the smile easy on her lips. She had an intense way of looking at the world, and at Chloe in particular. Lifting her hand to Chloe’s face, she replied. “You’ll always catch me when I fall.”
“Yes, I will.” She smiled, leaning into Rachel’s touch. “I’ve missed you so much.” She kept one arm around Rachel and slid her other hand up to brush her fingers through that soft, luxurious blonde hair.
She stole a kiss, comfortable in Chloe’s arms. Chloe had always made the best pillow or bed, or foot rest. “Orange County doesn’t know what it’s in for, Chloe Price.”
Straightening and pulling away, Rachel too another glance around their caboose. “We should make a list of what we’ll need. I can steal some supplies from school and the production.”
Likewise, Rachel made a good blanket. She missed staring up at the stars, real or fake depending on if they were inside or outside, with Rachel. “Fuck no, it doesn’t.”
She also glanced around, then she started walking around, gauging the space. “I can find some furniture. Or at least a couple chairs to start with.” Chloe was really good at turning junk into chic. She pulled out her sharpie, smirking a bit and twirling it between the fingers of her left hand. “But we can start personalizing this now. What do you say?”
“And me without my fingerpaints.” Rachel sashayed around the Caboose. It wasn’t too bad inside. Some crates, the frame for a bed, there was even a booth with a table that wasn’t in that bad a condition. “Where do you want to start?”
Chloe went over to the booth and tested out the table as she leaned on it. It seemed sturdy enough, at any rate. She saw the bed frame and tilted her head. Starting there seemed too obvious. The table was also obvious. Chloe looked up at the ceiling. “How about up there? Seems to be a blank slate to work with.”
Sidling up behind Chloe, Rachel wrapped her arms around her, kissing the back of her left shoulder. “I can lift you up. Sit on my shoulders. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve sat on my face.”
She couldn’t help the smile as Rachel slid her arms around her. Chloe leaned back into her, setting her hands over Rachel’s arms. “Mm I have very fond memories of sitting on your face.” She grinned a bit. And damn did she have some awesome memories of that.
Pulling aside Chloe’s hair, Rachel kissed the back of her neck. She let her lips linger a moment, then pulled her head back and stepped away. She linked her fingers together to make a lift for Chloe. “Ready?”
She closed her eyes, shivering a little at feeling Rachel’s lips on the back of her neck. If she could stay right here with Rachel forever, that’d be the best thing she could ever ask for. Turning around, she smirked a bit. “I was born ready.” Chloe placed her foot in Rachel’s hands and placed her own hands on Rachel’s shoulders for balance as she was lifted up.
Rachel lifted her up, guiding her knees onto her shoulders and taking advantage of the position to grope Chloe’s butt. But she otherwise stood very still so that Chloe could tag the ceiling. She wondered what she’d put there.
Once on Rachel’s shoulders, Chloe was also still, not wanting to put herself off-balance. Though her butt getting groped almost made her squirm. She gazed at the ceiling for some moments, trying to think of an appropriate tag. She wasn’t exactly a poet. Her strengths had been science and math. However, an idea came to her. Uncapping the sharpie, she leaned up, shifting slightly on Rachel’s shoulders and undoubtedly giving her quite a faceful as she tagged the ceiling.
AmberPrice shall fly beyond this isle. So hath the fates imposed.
“Okay, got it.” She said, then looked down at Rachel. “Shall I get down or are you enjoying yourself?”
“If you’re like this much longer I will be.” Rachel pulled Chloe’s pelvis closer, teasingly, before she started to fake-wobble. There wasn’t exactly a safe place for them to fall over on, so it was a dangerous game she played as she started to pretend like she was losing her balance.
When Rachel pulled her pelvis closer, it was like an instant turn-on. She did groan a bit, looking down at Rachel as she fake-wobbled. “Be careful down there, we don’t have a mattress to fall onto yet. Though chances are that I’d land on you, which would be an awesome landing for me.”
“I’m gonna lose it!” Rachel wobbled once more, then swung Chloe out and spun them around like a helicopter. It was dangerous, but did that stop her? Not even a little.
Chloe couldn’t help but to laugh. It was a joyous laugh, the kind one would expect from someone having fun as she was being spun around. God, when was the last time she’d laughed like this? Sometime before Rachel had left anyway.
“Don’t drop me!” She called out in between laughs.
“Do you trust me?” Rachel called out, letting Chloe’s legs slip in her grasp just enough to be startling. She was beginning to get dizzy but she didn’t want to stop yet. Not when she was getting Chloe to laugh like that.
Chloe yelped slightly when her legs slipped, but it was a rush of adrenaline. “Yes, I trust you!” Sure, that might not make complete sense given the whole having been left behind without a word thing, but Chloe was more than willing to forgive.
Much more of this and they’d both go falling onto something that might hurt them. Rachel fell back against the wall, letting Chloe dangle and hang towards the ground. Laughing, she gasped, “You’re fucking fat!”
Again, Chloe laughed as she just dangled upside down like that. “Is that your way of saying I should lay off the bacon? Because that’s never going to happen.” Man, she felt more alive right now than she had in six months. Course, her adrenaline was pumping at the moment, and she was on a natural high just being around Rachel again. “Maybe you just need to get bigger muscles like Thor or Hulk.”
“Maybe lay off the pork chops.” Rachel looked down at her, and deciding it was safe enough, let Chloe slide down to the ground. She didn’t even drop her on her head, which was certainly a victory.
Her phone buzzed, and she let go of Chloe’s legs to look at it.
Chloe was definitely grateful for not being dropped on her head. She heard the phone buzz, and once Rachel let go of her legs, she shifted and sat up, then she got to her feet, brushing off her pants. She looked at Rachel, and was still a bit awe-struck at having run into her again. It felt good to feel free again. Her depression had gotten bad again, but seeing Rachel had helped lift her spirits.
She just hoped that Rachel wouldn’t leave her behind without a word this time. Before they parted ways tonight, she was going to ask for her number. Hopefully Rachel would give it to her.
Rachel tapped away at her phone, her happy expression replaced with one much more neutral. Some of the coverup had smudged, revealing the bruise on her cheek and from this ankle, with the light in the window behind her it gave her an otherworldly quality, like some fae creature or harbinger of death.
It was easy to see the change in expression on Rachel’s face. One had to be blind to not see it. And then she saw the bruise in the different light. She wondered what really made the bruise there. And if someone had given Rachel the bruise, Chloe wanted to punch them out, at the very least.
“Hey, you okay?” She asked, looking at Rachel and wanting to bring that smile back to her face.
She waggled the phone and slipped it back into her pocket. "Boyfriend checking up on me. Fuck him. You're a lot more fun than he is right now."
Rachel knelt, then crawled on top of Chloe. She'd almost forgotten Mark existed, and was happy to keep doing that for now.
It kind of hurt to hear Rachel say ‘boyfriend.’ So she’d been dumped for a fucking guy. Well, that was a great boost to her ego, really.
“Sounds like a douche. But I try to be fun. I wouldn’t be me if I was some boring ass wallflower.” She gazed at Rachel when she crawled on top of her, and reached up to brush some hair from her face.
“I think you’re my muse, Chloe. My salvation. My friendship that caught fire.”
“You are my angel. You make me feel whole, and not like I’m just some broken freak. You saved my life, and I’m grateful to that.” Chloe wrapped her free arm around Rachel’s back, and gently caressed her cheek with her other hand. “I guess the fates ordained that we’d meet again.”
“And I am fortune’s fool.” Rachel leaned her head down, her lips brushing Chloe’s. “Is this our mere prologue?”
Chloe’s choice of graffitti matched Rachel’s mood. At times she was prone to fits of poetry, and this was one of them.
She brushed her lips back against Rachel’s. She loved it when Rachel got poetic. “A prologue to a wildfire. Our wildfire.” She meant it metaphorically and as far as desire was concerned, not literally. Though she wasn’t against setting fires.
“I do like fire.” Rachel sat up, wrapping her knees around either side of Chloe’s hips and trailing her fingers down her stomach. “The fire of the soul, the fire of the heart, the fire that burns between us.”
Boyfriend? What boyfriend?
She shivered again, gazing up at Rachel. She felt the fire stirring within her. She slid her hands along Rachel’s thighs. “Fire is what gives life, and I want nothing more than to burn with you again.” And there was a fire in her eyes, the fire of desire, the way she’d always looked at Rachel before.
Everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. The wind outside the Caboose’s doors, blowing through old trains and grass that had grown up between abandoned tracks. Chloe was beneath her, supporting her and propping her up. “Fire also burns everything clean.”
It almost felt like no time had passed since they’d last been together. But time didn’t matter now. Chloe was only aware of Rachel, and only vaguely aware of the wind. She slid her hands up to Rachel’s hips and she sat up, gazing into her eyes. “Sometimes things need a clean start.”
Could they have a clean start?
Was a clean start even possible? Rachel loved Mark, at least he was pretty clear that she did. But she loved Chloe to.
"Like this caboose?"
“Yes, like this caboose. I want my heart-shaped wreckage to be put back together and brought to life again by you. I love you, Rachel Amber.” There was a little voice somewhere in the back of her head telling her to be cautious. Rachel had left once already, what would stop her from leaving again?
She slid her hands around to Rachel’s butt, giving it a bit of a grope. “Do you think we deserve another chance?”
“You’d take me back, just like that?”
“Yes. I’m still upset and hurt over you leaving, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to give you a chance. Just seeing you here tonight makes me want to work through it. My heart wouldn’t want it any other way.” Chloe took a breath, and licked her lips. “I just...I need you.”
"I like that." Rachel liked hearing that she was needed. Her life was filled with people wearing masks. She wore masks herself. But Chloe... her sweet punk girl could never hide from her.
"I can't leave him. Not yet. Soon though, I promise."
Chloe hated masks and pretending to be something she wasn’t. Even if she tried to hide her emotions or how she felt, Rachel always seemed to be able to tell. Though Chloe also wasn’t the best at actually giving voice to what she felt. She sometimes stumbled over her words, or she got angry instead because she couldn’t find the way to say it.
“I’ll be here.” They needed to talk about this Mark, but not right now. Right now, Chloe just wanted to bask in this, in them. “Kind of really fucking glad I left and found my way here to meet you again.”
Rachel’s lips spread into a sly smile, and she traced Chloe’s cheek before lifting her gaze to the bed in the back. “Gotta get our hands on a mattress. A table cloth. I’ve got posters we can hang up, old concerts and movies.”
She sat back again, practically decorating the Caboose with her mind. “We can raid a junkyard, or the dumpsters behind electronics stores. Bet you we can get a dvd player and TV set up in here. Or a stereo system. Carve out a place to hide our pot.”
Music was important. Maybe more than anything else, music was important.
Chloe propped herself up on her hands once Rachel sat back. “Stereo system is a must. I say go for that first.” Music was a necessity for them both, so the stereo just made sense. “Then we can aim for the DVD player and TV. Maybe we can also find a projector thing that projects the night sky onto the ceiling. Or a lava lamp or something like that.”
And a stash for their pot would be great. And Chloe wondered about leaving the drugs she’d gotten from Katou there as well. Which she wasn’t high on them now, but they definitely worked like a charm the way she’d needed them to. And not wanting Jaina to find them, she currently had them in her pocket, something she’d forgotten about since first spotting Rachel.
Rachel thought a video projector might be fun. They could set it up to point at the boxcar that was attached to the Caboose. She still had some ideas for that place. It could be a theater, or a party bus, or any number of things. When she was with Chloe, anything was possible. “Of course you’d go for a lava lamp.”
There were so many possibilities, really. Chloe didn’t always have an idea of what a space could be, other than tagging the crap out of blank surfaces, but she knew the essentials that she wanted, at least. “What can I say, they are a bit enthralling. Though no where near as enthralling as you.” She said, gazing at Rachel.
“Smooth, Chloe.” Rachel liked the way Chloe’s name felt in her mouth. She always had. Maybe it was helped by the expression on her face whenever she said Chloe’s name.
“I have my moments,” she responded with a suave grin as she looked at Rachel. God, she loved this woman. Chloe could stay like this all night. Well, she might prefer them both being naked as well, but that was just a detail. She lifted a hand and gently trailed a finger along Rachel’s jawline.
“One or two.” Rachel’s phone buzzed again, and she reached for it, then changed her mind. She ran her hands up Chloe’s chest, then along her throat. She thought she could probably choke Chloe and Chloe would let her. She squeezed lightly. “Do you have anywhere to be?”
Currently, Chloe would let Rachel do anything to her. Feeling the squeeze around her throat was a little hot and her hands slid around to the small of Rachel’s back. “Nowhere but here with you.” She was as free as a bird.
Chloe’s reaction was obvious and Rachel couldn’t help it. She leaned down, kissing her and squeezing her hands again. Excitement and danger were all the things she loved about- and her phone buzzed again, somehow seeming more insistent. Rachel froze when the ringer went off next. She pulled her phone out, sitting up and staring at it.
She returned the kiss, liking when Rachel squeezed her throat again. Though when her phone started going off again, she was about to make a smart ass comment until she saw how Rachel froze. She bit her lower lip a bit as she looked at her. “Do you need to answer it?” Sure she may want to tell whoever it was on the other end to fuck off, but she didn’t like the way Rachel froze. That combined with the bruise made her wonder about Mark treated her.
And she suddenly kind of wanted to punch Mark.
The call went to voicemail, and then Rachel held the power button until she could get the option to turn her phone off. Then she tossed it onto the table. Calmly, and with a taunting smile, she replied, “So where were we?”
This action will have consequences.
Chloe smirked. “You are so badass,” she responded. “But I believe our lips were getting reacquainted.” She reached up and pulled Rachel back down, kissing her again. This had not been where she’d thought she’d end up that night, but she definitely knew it was far better than anywhere else she’d have ended up.
Making out on the dirty floor of an old Caboose had never been on Rachel’s list of things to do, but now it was and she couldn’t think of anything else she wanted to do right now. That niggling voice at the back of her head kept giving her warning signs, but she opted to ignore it.
This wasn’t Chloe’s first choice either, but right now it didn’t matter. All that mattered was Rachel. She slid a hand up and tangled it into Rachel’s hair. Her other hand slid along her back. She loved the feel of her on top of her, and she flicked her tongue against Rachel’s lips.
“I’m starting to think Fate isn’t actually a bitch,” Rachel whispered, her thumb on Chloe’s throat and her other hand tangled in her hair.
“I can agree with that,” she whispered back. Leaving Tillamook had been a really good idea after all given it had ultimately put her on the path to finding Rachel again. “It feels hella awesome to be back in your arms.”
Rachel’s hand slid back down Chloe’s body in fits and starts, rubbing as she did so, almost claimingly. Her fingers slid into Chloe’s waistband as she kissed her hard enough to bruise.
She groaned into the kiss, her body responding to Rachel’s touch. Her own hands slid along Rachel’s body, rubbing and caressing and she slipped her fingers under her shirt, caressing the skin beneath.
It said a lot that Rachel was doing this, her hand edging further and further into her pants. When they’d first gotten physical all those years ago, she hadn’t touched Chloe below the waist for several month, even as she’d constantly made Chloe touch her. It had been selfish, mostly, as well as a huge part of her issues with commitment.
But right now, she wanted to own Chloe, so she held her shoulder down with her free hand and shoved her other hand between her legs.
The meaning of the fact that Rachel’s hand was in her pants wasn’t lost on Chloe. It only made her burn that much more, and was another thing that proved to her that Rachel actually did want to make up for having left. She let out a moan as she felt Rachel’s hand between her legs. She spread her legs, giving her a bit more room to work with.
She grazed her nails along Rachel’s back and pulled her closer against her. God she needed her, and she needed this.
“Let me do this,” Rachel whispered, breath hot in her ear. For reasons not even fully known to herself she didn't’ want Chloe touching her below the waist right now. She wanted to be in charge, and she wanted something that was hers and hers alone.
She hadn’t forgotten any of Chloe’s buttons, though she teased her mercilessly for nearly a minute before she started to press them.
“Oh fuck,” she groaned and closed her eyes. Chloe obeyed, letting Rachel continue on, even though the teasing was driving her crazy. Or, well, crazier at any rate. Her hips rolled against Rachel’s hand, and she started moaning when those buttons started getting pushed.
“You filthy fucking slut.” Rachel purred the words like they were compliments, wasting no more time in moving her thumb across Chloe’s clit and sinking two fingers inside of her.
Chloe moaned louder as Rachel’s fingers slid into her. She arched up against Rachel, tightening her hold of her. With the way Rachel was pushing her buttons, it wouldn’t be long before she orgasmed.
Pushing Chloe harder and faster to the edge, Rachel broke the kiss, staring down at her with an intense, fiery gaze, drinking in the look on Chloe’s face and the way her body tensed and shuddered beneath her. “Tell me you’re mine.”
Her head was already spinning and she loved it. It was a rush that she’d seriously missed the past six months. She gazed up at Rachel, moaning. “I’m yours. All yours.” And that pretty much did her in. Tilting her head back she moaned out Rachel’s name as she orgasmed.
Oh. Oh, Rachel almost said something she didn’t think she should say just then, because Chloe was so beautiful in this moment. She was sure if Chloe’s hand had been between her legs she would have made that mistake. But Rachel didn’t want to lead her on, not entirely, even if she had always loved her.
She pulled her hand free and locked eyes with Chloe as she licked her fingers clean. “And now this place really is ours, Chloe.”
Right now Rachel could do whatever she wanted and she’d be okay with it. That would change as time went on and she wasn’t basking in the afterglow of an orgasm. She took a couple breaths, looking up at Rachel with a sly smile. “Fuck yes it is.”
Slipping off of Chloe and onto her side, Rachel rested her head on her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her waist. For the first time in a very long time she felt safe, and content.
When Rachel snuggled up, Chloe slipped and arm around around her and held her close. She could stay like this forever and die happy. She rested her cheek against Rachel’s head. “This is perfect.”
Rather than risk spoiling the mood, Rachel turned her head and kissed Chloe’s shoulder. “Wake me up when we can see the stars.”
“I can do that.” Chloe smiles and rubbed Rachel’s shoulder. This felt like a dream, but Chloe’s dreams were rarely good ones like this. She tended to dream of her dad more often than not.
Rachel smiled to herself, “You are constant as the northern star, of whose true-fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament.”
“If I’m a guiding force like the northern star, that’ll be a plus. Right now I’m happy with just being constant.” And being a comfort. Chloe wasn’t thinking of the future ramifications of the things they needed to work through or what they’d even be. All she knew was that being with Rachel right now, being in her arms was the salve that she’d needed for her broken heart. It was better than any drugs.