"Kitty-Max be careful. You're bigger now and I don't want you to fall" Chloe sighed as she entered the kitchen herself and opened the fridge to find something to cook.
Max was kicking her feet up and down on the counter, just experimenting her new limbs and being curious with them.
"Can you eat human food?" Chloe asked and looked over towards Max, the girl looked at Chloe and tilted her head in confusion
"Mew?" She replied with and Chloe mentally slapped herself, 'she can't talk properly dumbass'
"Uh... Let's try it out..." Gulped Chloe, hopefully cooking something a human would have for Max would be eatable.
A few plates and bowls left the cuboards and were placed on the other counters that Max hadn't sat on and Chloe began making pancakes.
Max sneezed a bit as Chloe made a puff of flour go her way, "Max- You good?" Chloe giggled and saw that the girl was holding her nose in attempt to stop the noises coming out.
The girl hissed and shook her clawless hand at Chloe in a huff.
"Awe Mawy, Its alright."
Pancakes made. Nosh eaten. And Max had to be taught how to use a knife and fork but was whining the whole time, Chloe could just imagine what she was saying and laughed the whole time.
In annoyance, Max just ate whatever left on her plate with her hands and grinned in pride afterwards. Syrup was over her face and she tried licking it off with her tongue but it could'nt reach.
"I'll get you something called a 'tissue' Max"
"Tissssss...?"
"Yeh, tissue." Chloe got up and found some kitchen roll to give Max.
"Tissshhueee" Max said and smiled at her ability to say the word,
"Eh... We'll work on that"
Chloe began wiping Max's sticky face and of course the girl was annoyed at Chloe for being in her personal space and was whining in annoyance.
"Don't give me that face"
Max began giving Chloe her mopey eyes; the eyes cat-Max uses when she wants something,
"I need to clean you"
"Nooooo" Max said and tried to get up but Chloe held her by the collar, "NoOoooo" Max said once more and Chloe smirked.
"Not getting away that quickly kitty-Max"
Max rolled her eyes and hissed.
"No hissing Missy"
"Mmmisssyy?"
"I really need to teach you how to talk don't I" Chloe huffed and let go of Max.
At the corner of her eye, Max saw a bird on the windowsill which was open. A smile went across her face and she shrunk into her cat-self, she leapt towards the bird and captured it in her mouth.
"Oh shit- Max! That poor bird..."
Chloe noticed that the clothes she was wearing had been placed where she shrunk, she then learnt that whenever Max switches between forms, she shrinks, not get larger so no damaged clothes.
Smiling in happined, Max walked up to Chloe and dropped the bird onto the floor infront of her.
"Meeww" Max said and nuzzeled herself up to Chloe, hoping to get rewarded for her gift to Chloe.
The expression Chloe gave Max wasn't disgust, but wasn't happiness either. 'Maybe she doesn't understand?' cat Max thought, 'Maybe no cat me will make her understand?'
Max grew back into human form and held the bird in her bare hand, she showed Chloe it again and smiled, still hoping to get the attention she rightfully wanted.
"U-uhh... Thanks..?" Chloe replied and rubbed the back of her neck, after blinking a couple times, she realised Max was bare again and helped Max back into the clothes she was wearing. And once again, a whining girl came back.
"NooOooOO!" Max yelled as Chloe put the top on her,
"Maxyy, It's okayyy!"
"HMPH!" Max huffed and looked away from Chloe once she stopped, she looked at the gift again and back at Chloe who was watching her.
"gffft" Max tried to say,
"Huh?"
The girl held the dead bird in her hands and held it out to Chloe, "Gfffttt"
"Gift?"
"Ysss!"
"Oh- You want me to keep this?"
Max nodded and put it on Chloe's lap, Chloe tried to seem happy about this and turned on her phone to google some answers.
Turns out, cats give affection by giving their owners what they've hunted. This made Chloe smile softy, Max had always given her small trinkets of her outdoor adventures resulting in a small pile of sticks the cat found.
Recieving an animal was different though, Max was usually harmless... 'Maybe this waiss to do with Max's new humanness?' Chloe hummed,
Max begun playing with Chloe's hair again and purred softly, Chloe felt peace at this moment and didn't want it to end.
Luck had to end though as a knock on the door went and it scared Max into a hissing fit,
"Its okay Max- Stay here." Max nodded and stayed put, watching Chloe's movement sternly.
Chloe opened the door to see that David was there, "Chloe..? Nevermind. Is Joyce still here?"
"Whatsit to ya?"
"I don't have time for this Chloe, where is your mother."
"You were engaged to her for 5 months dude, you should know." Chloe folded her arms and rolled her eyes in annoyance,
"I need to get something."
"You can wait then, outside." She began closing the door but David forced himself past Chloe and into the house,
He stopped suddenly and saw human Max staring at him with a harsh stare, "Who's this? Another one of your fucked up friends?"
Max snarled and got up, "She sounds messed up, probably in need of a mental physiatry", Chloe got more pissed at the man and her fists were getting ready to be used.
"Don't talk about her like that, you don't even know her!" Chloe roared in anger, "Just wait for Joyce if you need something this bad."
"I need it now." David went past Max who was making hissing sounds at him and he seemed amused, "Pathetic.." he muttered.
The man entered his old 'office' and Max was about to pounce on him from behind, her claws were out and her sharpened teeth were visible,
"Max- C'mere, we don't want David to see you like that" Chloe whispered as she held Max's arms together in hope for the girl not to attack the man who just insulted her to her own face.
"B-Baaadd" Max said and Chloe nodded,
"I know Maxy, I know. Once he's gone-"
"Once he's gone what?" David came out holding a small duffle bag, "You'll give that girl her meds?"
"Thats fucking it man!" Chloe yelled and attempted to punch David but was pulled back by Max.
"Stupid women." David muttered and left the house without locking the door of course, he had no key.
"Noooo... baaaddd..." Max said as she held Chloe's hand with her now normal lengthed nails ,
After sighing shortly, Chloe smiled softly at Max, "Thank you Max- If I punched him I'm usre I would've made him more pissed or some shit... All this drama is hella annoying"
Chloe rubbed her nose slightly and left Max's hold on her hand to lock the door, Max followed- well tried too- and fell onto the floor.
"Max!" Chloe shouted and went over to Max to help her up, "Are you okay?!"
"Mmmhhppp" Max hushed and rubbed her forehead
"I think it's time for walking lessons AND talking lessons..."
Max tilted her head and clearly didn't understand what Chloe was going to attempt to do.
---------------------
Three days had past since David returned to pick up his 'mysterious' bag and Chloe told Joyce about it, she didn't seem impressed.
"How the hell did you stop the urge to punch 'im?"
"Max was there, she held my hand I guess" Chloe smiled softly as the large cat was purring into Chloe's touch of strokes against her belly.
"That's sweet of you Max" Joyce said and stroked the cat's ear lightly
Chloe's lessons with 'human Max' hadn't been going as well as she wanted too but she knew that learning a new language was hard enough for herself and practically impossible for an animal to learn. But Max wasn't an animal, well not fully.
She had spent hours of late night research onto finding out about mythical 'were-creatures' but none actually explained on how to raise one normally. They always talked about their 'powers' and stuff but it never explained Max's situation.
While thinking on the subject, Chloe wanted to ask Max what made her turn into a human in the first place. The cat-girl version of her wasn't generally seen ever since she learnt how to turn into a full human. Whatever triggered this must've been important and related to when David chucked her outside.
Joyce and Chloe were chit-chatting and after some time, Joyce had to leave for a late night shift at Two Whales.
"Take care you two!"
"We will! Seya soon!"
The door was closed and Max yawned loudly, she stretched and turned into human form.
"Seriously dude. As soon as she leaves you just wanna laze about while you're human?" Chloe raised an eyebrow,
"Mhm" Max replied and kept her eyes closed,
"Get up sleepy kitty, get changed"
"NoOooo" Max said and hissed at Chloe begining to dress her once more,
"I donttt w-wann" Max's speech somewhat improved, she was copying words she heard Chloe say from times before and learning on how to use them properly herself.
It did take time for Max to learn how to say them properly though, Chloe was patient with her so it helped the girl gain confidence in speaking to her.
"Its pronouned 'I don't wanna" Chloe giggled and Max tried stretching her leg out to kick Chloe in the face but failed,
"Bad kitty, no hitting your best friend okay?"
Max was dressed and she got onto Chloe's lap to fiddle with the punk's hair again, their usual routine now,
"Bbbessst... fweeend?" Max asked and tilted her head
"Yeah! People who will be together forever"
"for... ever?"
"Mhm, forever. A really long time"
"Max... and C...Cllloo ee... forrrreva"
Chloe's heart melted at Max's words, even if the girl didn't completely understand what they meant, Chloe knew that she did in fact mean it.
Blue eyes stared back into Chloe's own and Max began licking Chloe's cheek.
"Awh Max, you're so cute..." Chloe muttered and smiled, she began petting the brown hair ontop of the girls head and purrs came out of her throat.
Sitting in awe of her best friend, Chloe felt at ease and decided to turn the television on.
"I know that theres a few kids shows still on, we'll watch them and you can maybe learn?"
Switching on the television, Chloe scrolled through the channels and found a popular kids show named 'Bluey' and put it on.
The blue dogs made Max hiss in annoyance, "Soopid dog." Max growled,
Chloe laughed rather loudly and corrected her, "Stupid dog."
"STUPID DOG!" Max yelled and this made Chloe laugh even more, the girl was learning how to disrespect her natural enemy in english and this made Chloe just imagine how she'd attack dogs now. Too much power.
The show went on for a few minutes and Max got invested in the show, the episode ended but another one started right after and the girl became fixated on it. The colours fascinated her, the voices were in a completely new accent that she hadn't heard and she was somewhat learning new words.
Chloe began falling asleep while stroking the brown hair in her palms and the calm noises of Max's soft purring helped her fall into slumber,
"C...Chloe..." Max whispered, "up up"
Chloe didn't respond in words but in small breaths, "Chloe, up up!" Max said louder,
"sh... Max... sleep now..."
"hmpphhh" Max rubbed herself on Chloe
"huh... Max?" Chloe began waking up and rubbed her eyes, "You really need constant attention don't you"
"Max no like..."
"What don't you like Maxy?"
"You not speak"
"When I don't speak? Huh?"
"Chloe. No talk when Max speak." Max was trying to figure out the words but didn't have many in her word bank and tried to use as many as she could think of that would make sense,
"Do you not like it when I don't talk back?"
"That" Max replied and seemed happy, Chloe understood her.
"I'm tired though Max, I needa sleep..."
"Max no lone..." Max muttered and moved herself off of Chloe, a large amount of heat left Chloe's space and she wanted it back,
"What do you mean by that?"
"no chloe a..alone?" Max tilted her head and began fidgeting, she wanted to say something but obviously didn't know how to say it and it was annoying her.
"Do you not want me to be alone?"
"That.. and.. Max no aloan"
"You don't wanna be alone?" Max nodded in response and looked sad,
"Oh Max.. I'm still here. I'm not gonna leave you, sleeping is what happens when you're tired silly"
Max looked at Chloe and sulked, she curled herself into a ball on the other side of the sofa and sniffed,
"Woah kitty, are you crying?"
"Alone bad" Max responded with and looked up at Chloe once more with tears rolling down her freckled face.
A lump formed in the punk's throat, she'd never seen Max cry. She felt guilty for this and imediately went into the smaller girls personal space to hug her.
"Shh... I promise, I won't leave you alone. Ever."
"I... I no leave Chloe too" Max said and rested her head into Chloe's chest.
Chloe learnt something that night. Max hated being alone. And so did Chloe.
---------------------
"Chloeeee I'm wake!" Max yelled as Chloe opened her eyes too see an elasticated girl bouncing on her bed,
"Morning to you too Max..." Chloe sighed out and stretched.
Since Max's first time crying infront of her, Chloe decided that she'd always take Max with her no matter where she went and today was going to be Max's first time meeting Kate as a human.
Max had been excited for this ever since Chloe suggested it and she begged Chloe to help her know more words. Her vocabulary had improved but not as much as she thought, she kind of knew how to sentence structure but it sounded much like a person who's deffinetly not from around here.
Despite her american-sounding accent, it seemed obvious that Max's first language was definitely not English. Chloe came up with a 100% fool proof plan, if someone where to ask Max where she was from, Max would say that she's from Spain.
It would work, only if the person who asked didn't know spanish.
"Alice will shock" Max said as she began playing with her own hair,
"Don't ya mean, 'Alice will be shocked?'"
"Ohh.. Yeah! That!"
Chloe and Max went out to the mall a few days prior and Max got some clothes for herself. Chloe was deffinetly unimpressed with what the girl chose but couldn't judge. She wanted to make her best friend happy and have her own clothes over repeatedly using Rachel's old clothes and a handful of clothes that were loose on her from Chloe's wardrobe.
Today, she was wearing a pink top with a 'JANE DOE' picture on, a grew hoodie, blue jeans and some off-brand converse shoes. Chloe smiled in awe as she saw Max twirl in her clothes and smile at Chloe as she was showing Chloe what she was wearing.
"Where we see Kate?" Max asked as Chloe was getting her keys to her truck,
"At her dorm. You know where it is"
"Oh kayy... Can Kate know?"
"About you? Uh... Maybe not yet. Let's just introduce you to each other properly and see how it goes. Alright Max?"
"mhm!"
The two headed off into Chloe's truck, Max was taught on how to put on a seatbelt and put it on herself.
A smile went across Chloe's face, only a few weeks had past since Max was revealed to be a were-cat and she was getting comfortable being human with her, it was amazing.
10 minutes later, they arrived at Blackwell and Chloe helped Max out of the truck, sure Max knew how to put ON the seatbely, putting it off was another level of complexity completely.
"People..." Max muttered as she heard people moving past the truck and others talking in the distance, she still had her cat-like senses and still hated loud noises.
"It's okay Max, I'll hold your hand"
They held hands as they walked through towards the girls dorms.
Technically people who werent students were not allowed here but Chloe always loved a challenge in authority, she never got caught when she was headed to Kate's and today was no different.
After knocking three times, Kate opened her door with a bright smile. The girl was expecting Chloe and this new friend of hers today and welcomed them in.
"This is Max, Max, Kate, Kate, Max" Chloe went on,
"Oh? Chloe's cat is called Max as well, isn't that sweet"
"Yes.." Max replied,
"How did you two meet?" Kate asked as she was making tea for them all,
"Long story..." Max said and Chloe smiled,
"It is, but long story short, Max needed someone and along came me"
"That's sweet, I'm glad you have each other" Kate said as she handed the two girls their tea, it was an 'english breakfast' brew which was always a favorite and Kate didn't know what Max would've prefered.
"Thank you Kate" Max smiled and Kate smiled back,
A few moments later, a white cat came in and interfered with the trio. Alice smelt Max and brushed herself over her.
"Awe... Alice likes you"
"Alice... nice" Max muttered and stroked the cat behind the ears, exactly the way Chloe does to her when she's in cat form.
This made Max want strokes of her own but fought the urge to turn into a cat down as Chloe told her not to do so infront of Kate just yet.
It made Max slightly uncomfortable as she suddenly felt the urge to be a cat at this moment in time, She desperately needed to chew something to stop her from changing, Chloe noticed this and held her hand tightly.
Kate disapeared shortly once the girls had finished their teas and Chloe stroked Max's head softly, Max began purring and Alice jumped into Max's lap.
"You're an attention whore aren't you"
"Attention... hore?"
"Crap- Don't say that"
"Why? You said it?"
"Not around Kate alright?"
"Okay... Meanie"
"Good kitty"
"I am good cat"
"That you are Max"
Max smiled as Kate came in and saw the two girls closer then how she left them.
"Are you two a thing?" Kate asked as she settled down into her desk chair once more,
"A thing?" Max tilted her head and looked at Chloe to ask for the meaning of the words.
"Haha- naw, Max is my best friend. Not my girlfriend"
"Girl... friend?" Max muttered in slight confusion, she didn't know what these words meant and Chloe wasn't going to help her right now. She made mental note of the words to ask her later.
"You two just seem so close, and you'd make a cute couple" Kate smirked and watched Chloe blush,
"Uh- UH- Stop it with this, ain't you a christian?"
"I am, but I'm more of a modern one instead of a full on Catholic like my parents, I support people loving whoever they want. God let us have life, as long as we follow his rules, we shold be able to live in peace and end in harmony"
"You're such a poet sometimes Katie, you should be a speaker person one day"
"I'd rather keep drawing" Kate confessed and sighed,
"Whatever you do, I'll support you"
"Thank you Chloe"
More time went by and the three decided it was time to leave, Max was leading Chloe back to the truck and once they arrived, they were stopped by a familiar blonde.