"Okay, okay. Slow down." Warren tried to calm Nathan down. "What happened?"
"I... I don't know, I..." Nathan said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I went to get your adaptor, and Max wasn't anywhere around the building, and neither was Chloe's car."
A sharp jolt of fear ran through Chloe's gut. Max took off with the car? She was really upset, Chloe knew that, but to just run off like that? Part of Chloe wasn't as worried, if it were her, she would probably want some distance from the whole commotion, too. But Max was never like that, Max never took off without a word.
"Listen, listen. I'm sure it's fine." Warren said, his tone even. "She probably just needs some time to think about everything. This has been harder on her more than anyone else here. We should be giving her the space to process this."
He was right. Of course, all they needed to do was give Max some time alone, and she would be back. Then Chloe could lay her down in bed, maybe get some hot chocolate, and do everything in her power to try and calm Max down.
"Chloe?" Warren turned to her, noting how quiet she had been during the whole conversation.
"Um, right. That's the best choice here." She confirmed, nodding her head sharply. With reluctance, Nathan nodded too. Why did he care so much, anyway? Chloe didn't see him and Max bro-ing it up recently.
But the plan was set it stone. Chloe was going to wait at the apartment for Max to return. No calling, or texting. Just giving Max the space she deserved. Warren and Nathan decided to stay with Chloe, to give her company until Max came back.
But she never did.
Chloe spent hours waiting, grabbing some booze and cards to entertain her guests. The three of them had few drinks over games of Bridge, Crib, and even some Black Jack. After hours passed, and the sun began it's decent into the night; there was still no word from Max.
Checking her phone again, Chloe sighed. "Nothing." Had Max's phone died? Or maybe the car ran out of gas and she had to walk home. Either way, Chloe was beginning to get restless from the lack of contact, and she wasn't the only one. Warren's knee bounced under the table, Nathan had his arms crossed over his chest.
"We really should contact her, or look for her, or something." Chloe said, looing out the window at the descending sun that was washing the sky beautiful shades of orange and pink.
"Chloe's right, Warren." Nathan piped in, "what if Max got hurt out there? We need to make sure she's okay."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Warren replied, scratching his chin. "We don't know where she is around here. It won't be easy to find her."
"We can text her." Chloe offered, holding up her phone.
"If she hasn't tried to reach out to us, there's a chance she doesn't want us to contact her." Or a chance we can't contact her. The words lingered in the stale air. Unspoken, but everyone knew they existed.
"So then what can we do?" Chloe asked, impatient. The sun had already fallen, the idea that Max was truly in danger was starting to sink in.
"Uh..." Warren hummed, "brainstorm where she might have gone? It's too late to be aimlessly wandering the streets trying to find her."
Chloe agreed to that, no matter how reluctant she was about it. Max wouldn't be easy to spot in this darkness, and they didn't have the luxury of wasting time by trying. Now was Chloe's time to use her knowledge about Max to the fullest. Where in the city would Max go if she were upset?
The first idea that came to mind was Warren's apartment. She always sought him out when things between her and Chloe were rough. But that was obviously out of the picture at that point, because Warren was there with them, and Max didn't have her own key to his place.
YOU ARE READING
Hellions of Arcadia
Fanfiction"If you died, would anyone care? Would they really care? Maybe, they'd cry for a day. But let's be honest, no one would give a shit, they wouldn't. That's who you are. That's what you are. You're nothing to no one." A continuation of the Sacrifice A...
