Maxwell
Maxwellpausedhisfingers as he tucked the pocket square Chloe had made for him into the pocket of his jacket. As he did so, he thought about how disastrously his attempt to give her something had gone down.
It wasn’t like Maxwell had meant to upset her by giving Chloe the dress. Of course not. And although she clearly didn’t believe it, he thought the dress she had made herself was lovely. Everything she made was amazing; she had a rare talent. He had simply wanted to give her something to recognise her achievement that he knew she’d never buy for herself.
“But that was a bad move,” he muttered, fluffing out the pocket square. The last thing he wanted was to argue with Chloe; he had meant it when he said he treasured the time he got to spend with her. He knew how precious it was. Would it be a week, a month, a year before she decided that this simply wasn’t working for her? That she needed to move on with her life. Her very human life.
Best to put it out of his mind for this evening, anyway. He was meeting Chloe at Thelema for Tilly’s birthday party, and he wanted to have a good time. Besides, it would be gauche to have an argument at Tilly’s party after everything she had done for them. Tilly deserved a good night after keeping his face free of poisonous spines.
When Maxwell arrived at Thelema and spotted Chloe in the crowd, deep in conversation with Jesse, he did forget about the dress debacle. He even forgot to worry about their future – or lack thereof. Because it was such an exquisite pleasure just to look at Chloe, animated and laughing. She really was something else.
“Hi,” Maxwell said, pushing through the crowd to join them. “You look absolutely lovely.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, inhaling the sweet smell of her hair. “And Jesse. Good to see you!”
“Hello, Maxwell,” Jesse said, and Maxwell winced internally at his cool tone. Jesse sure wasn’t a fan of his.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Chloe said, slipping her hand into his, warm and soft. He liked the way it felt.
“Of course,” Maxwell said. “Couldn’t miss Tilly’s birthday, not after everything she’s done for us.”
“Why don’t you have a drink?” Chloe asked. “You should have a drink; it’s a party, after all!”
“I wanted to come and say hello first!” Maxwell protested. “Trust me, I’m keen for a drink. I am in no way opposed to having a drink.”
Chloe laughed; her breath warm on his neck. “Let’s go to the bar then. Tilly wants us to have a good time, so we should do just that.”
And it was a good time. Maxwell met more of Crowley Lake’s paranormal community than he would have thought existed. Tilly – and Chloe, too, it seemed – knew everyone in town.
And there were drinks. A lot of drinks. Tilly must have put at least half of what Maxwell had paid her behind the bar and kept insisting the whole group take shots. Maxwell could hardly say no, after what she had done for him. Chloe seemed to be of the same mind, and it wasn’t long before she was leaning on him, her eyes unfocused and her hair more than a little tousled. Not that Maxwell minded. It was kind of adorable.
“We should get you some water,” Maxwell said, trying to find one of the bartenders in their braces and white shirts.
“I don’t need water,” Chloe waved a hand and took another sip of her sparkling wine. “Where’s Tilly? I need to tell her how grateful I am. You know, for the curse.”
And that actually sounded like a good idea. “Yeah,” Maxwell agreed. “We should. Tilly!” He waved across the room, where the witch herself was chatting to a group of people Maxwell could tell were wolf shifters. Each of them was clutching a bottle with the same label: White Wolf Cider.
Tilly saw him and beamed, weaving her way through the crowd. “Hi guys!” she said brightly. “Thanks for coming.”
“Tilly!” Chloe lunged to hug the witch. “Thank you!”
“For what?” Tilly said, laughing.
“For breaking the curse,” Chloe told her as though that were obvious. “That was very nice of you.”
“It’s just my job,” Tilly shrugged. “Breaking curses is my jam.”
“But we’re grateful,” Maxwell added, taking Chloe’s hand in his. “Because you were very nice about it.”
Tilly laughed. “I see the rumours are true, then?” she nudged Chloe. “I totally saw this coming, you two being a thing. I knew it!”
Chloe giggled. “Because he’s so handsome?”
Maxwell pretended to blush, wrapping an arm around her. He didn’t mind drunk Chloe, especially when he was probably drunk Maxwell right now. It was nice after the tension of the last few days. Relaxing. Alcohol was great.
“I thought you two had serious chemistry,” Tilly grinned. “I guess now that the curse is broken, you can have fun and move on with your lives.”
“Exactly!” Chloe said, her eyes wide. “I’m just so glad I can forget all that paranormal crap, you know? Move on with my life, get back to normal.” Her face fell. “Sorry, I know paranormal is your normal. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know what you mean,” Tilly said, shaking her head. “Don’t worry. I gotta go. I need to convince the bartender that it’s time to clear off the chairs and get a dance floor going.”
“Yes!” Chloe was enthusiastic in her agreement. “I want to see this guy get down and dirty.”
Tilly laughed, making her way over to the bar. Chloe sighed contentedly and rested her head against Maxwell’s chest. He patted her hair absentmindedly, but inside, he was thinking about what she had said.
Forget all that paranormal crap. Get back to normal.Chloe’s normal life certainly didn’t include him. And he knew that she hadn’t meant it like that, but her words stung nonetheless. As much as she liked him – and he felt a rush of warmth whenever he remembered that she did – he wasn’t a part of a life she could consider normal. He couldn’t be a part of the life she wanted. Not for long, anyway.
He had told himself it didn’t matter that he and Chloe couldn’t have a future. But Maxwell was starting to realise that it bothered him, knowing this had an end date. Knowing that the woman in his arms, the woman who felt like she belonged there, would be gone all too soon was starting to hurt.