Summary: A couple days after the storm happened, Max and Chloe are on the road and far away from Arcadia Bay. Both hungry and tired, the duo stops at a run down diner for a meal.
Genre: Fluff-ish. Max has some guilt from the storm, but nothing in the fic gets too dark.
Warnings: There’s a lot of swearing and one casual mention of sex although there’s no actual sexual content in the fic. I would gave it a rating of pg-13 ish.
Ships: Chloe/Max
Notes: This fic was written with the headcanon that Max is autistic. It’s not a big part of the fic, but there is a part in the beginning where Max is experiencing a slight sensory overload.
The heat from the sun brushed up against Max’s skin and blared through her eyes. Max slumped down lower on the old truck seat, trying to avoid the hot sun. The rock music blasted through the old car radio seemed to get louder as Max slid down. To make matters worse, Max began to feel her stomach grumble.
She was hot, tired, hungry, and overwhelmed. Welcome to her sensory hell. Was this the universe’s way of enacting revenge for her choices? She didn’t want to believe it, but maybe it was. Perhaps the tornado’s wrath had been replaced with loud music and hellish heat, both of which were determined to destroy her. A way of saying “you fucked up big time Max” very annoyingly. It seemed to be working, giving her guilt.
The guilt began to weigh even heavier on her when she remembered the town. They had been traveling for days now. Surely they were long gone from Arcadia Bay. But despite being miles away, the destruction stuck with her. She saw a few survivors as they drove away and much like the duo, they seemingly were hellbent on getting out of Arcadia Bay. But Max also knew there were certainly many who were not lucky enough to survive the storm. And the city itself, would surely never recover. The memory would haunt her for life she thought. She began to wonder why she had made the choices she did.
And then she saw a hand turn down the radio and looked over to see her blue haired companion glance at her. Ah, this was why. The destruction was all worth it to be with her. Somehow, being near Chloe made things alright.
Chloe looked over at Max, seemingly concerned. “Are you all right Mad Max? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Max slumped back up on her seat. “Nah I’m just...overwhelmed.”
Chloe pauses for a moment to think then spoke. “Are you...having one of those uh.... sensory overload thingies?”
“Sort of.” Max admitted.
The heat was unbearable truthfully. And the sweat on her skin was starting to really bug her. But she didn’t want to burden Chloe.
“I’m fine.” Max said.
“Ok.” Chloe replied.
After a couple seconds though Chloe changed her mind. “Actually, we’re doing something about this.”
She tossed her water bottle over to Max. “Here, drink up. I put ice in it. It’ll cool you down.”
Max hesitated to grab the water. “But it’s yours”
Chloe paused. “And? We’re in this together Maxine. We take care of each other from now ok?”
Max nodded slightly and then took the bottle.
“Besides.” Chloe said in a softer tone. “I uh owe you a ton. If you hadn’t ripped that photo I’d be....well you know.”
“I don’t even want to think about that.” Max quickly replied.
“Yeah, me neither.” Chloe agreed.
Max took a sip of the water. The cooling water was the perfect remedy for her overheated skin.
Noticing some silence, Chloe intervened again. “Uh anyways, it is hellish out here. And I don’t about you but I’m starving. When I looked at the maps, I think it said there was small town with a diner an hour away. Wanna check it out?”
Max nodded immediately. “Definitely. I’m starving.”
Chloe drove towards the town, blazing through the old road.
Well the trees blurred through the windows as Chloe drove, Max yawned and slowly fell asleep as time passed.
Chloe looked over and smiled, glad to see her companion was finally taking a rest.
An hour finally passed and Max awoke to Chloe tapping her hand.
“Come on sleepyhead, wake up up!” Chloe said.
Max yawned and then slowly opened her eyes. When she looked out the window she saw they were parked near a run down diner with a sign that said “Burgertown.” The area was quiet and stood alone, nearing no other stores or restaurants. The parking was mostly empty, except for a few motorcycles parked the side.
“Do you think it’s good?” Max asked.
“I dunno, but at this point I’m ready to eat anything.” Chloe responded
The two got out of the car and walked into the diner. It was dimly lit and had tacky signs with 50′s style women drinking shakes and devouring burgers. A few motorcyclists with grey hair were drinking beer at the bar table.
A red headed waitress came over to Max and Chloe and seated them at a small booth near the window.
Max looked outside then at the table. It reminded her of when things were calmer and so different. She remembered sitting in a booth just like this at Joyce’s dinner.
Chloe must have noticed the resemblance too based on her wistful facial expression.
Chloe began to speak quietly. “Does it...”
“Yeah.” Max replied, knowing that Chloe was thinking of the same memories.
“I uh...miss it, you know.” Chloe confessed. “When things were simpler. Just the two of us goofing off and exploring. Before the storm truly became so real.”
“I know what you mean.” Max said. “But I was stupid. I used my powers like they were just toys to play with. And because of it, I fucked up everything.”
“You didn’t though.” Chloe argued. “If it weren’t for your powers, I’d be dead.”
“I know and I’m so glad you’re here” Max continued. “But my powers also caused destruction. “
She looked down at her hands, remembering what they could do. What they still could do. “I’ve never using it again. It’s not worth changing the past for it.”
“And you’re right about that. It’s not worth focusing on the past.” Chloe said. “So Max, you need to focus on the present. Focus on us. Stop worrying about what happened. You said yourself, you’re done with your powers. So you can’t change the past. I’m here with you now in this diner. And more importantly, the two us are about to devour some amazing burgers.”
Max let out a small chuckle. Chloe was right, or at least Max hoped she was.
After the conversation ended, the waitress came by to take their orders. Both ordered burgers and just as the waitress was about to leave, Chloe stopped her.
‘Wait!” Chloe yelled.
The waitress turned her head and looked at Chloe.
“Can we get a strawberry milkshake?” Chloe asked.
“Just one? Or two?” The waitress replied.
“One.” Chloe answered. She then grinned. “But bring two straws. We’ll share it.”
The waitress wrote down the order then left.
“Strawberry milkshake?” Max said. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Chloe shook her head. “Nah, but you need some cheering up.”
Max smiled. “You’re sweet.”
Chloe laughed. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that in a long time.”
Moments later, the waitress brought the shake and the burgers to the table. Just as Chloe had requested, there were two white paper straws with bright red stripes on them in the shake.
The burgers smelled delicious but it was the milkshake that looked truly great, with it even having a cherry on the top. Max stared at it lustfully.
Chloe giggled. “You look like you want to have sex with that shake.”
“It looks so good.” Max commented.
“Well go ahead” Chloe said, taking her straw. “Let’s dig in.”
Max took her straw and drank the milkshake. It was super sweet and full of a perfect strawberry flavor.
As she drank, she looked at Chloe. She was drinking away too and as Max looked at Chloe’s blue eyes, it was only then that she realized how intimate the setting was. She realized just then that they were like two cheesy teenagers you saw in movies drinking a milkshake on a date. Despite the cheesiness though the close proximity to Chloe made Max blush.
Chloe blushed too, and then like Max seemed to realize how silly it all was. Chloe giggled through the straw. The odd sound caused by the straw made Max giggle too. Then they both stopped drinking and burst out into laughter, realizing how ridiculous they probably looked.
“I feel like I’m posing for one of the tacky signs.” Chloe said still giggling.
Chloe smiled. “You’re cute when you’re nervous. But you don’t need to be so shy.”
Chloe grabbed Max’s hand across the table and touched it. “We’re together now.”
“You’re right.” Max said. She looked at Chloe’s slight smile. She was so pretty with her messy blue hair and the glimmer in the eyes. She wanted to reach over and kiss her, but she was too shy.
But then she thought of Chloe’s word. Slowly she leaned over and Chloe got closer too. She gave Chloe a slight peck on the lips.
After the small kiss, Chloe grinned. “See? You don’t have to be so shy.”
Max revealed a small smile. She was a little happier, just now. She might not have Arcadia Bay anymore, but she had Chloe. And that was what mattered.
The note says it all so please please please!!! Let me know how I did with writing autistic characters please! Thank you so much again to those who talked to me about this by the way.
Max gets really into Hospital shows, Scrubs, House M.D., all that shit is /his/ shit. And then a new one comes on, "the good doctor", he's heard about it, it's picked up from Korea or something he thinks. He decides to watch it and he really really likes it, David likes him watching it because the main character isn't a cynical bastard and is a good role model for Max, someone just like him accomplishing something Max never thought someone like himself could. (Hello yes Max is autistic fite me)
I will not fight you because I love this headcanon. I imagine he’d be into that stuff as well. Any Max is a good Max. And I am all for Max being autistic. Because if that’s how people view him, go right ahead!
