The Only

Revelations

"You realize we never got Mexican food, Maxi. Guess I'll juuuuust have to cook dinner for you instead." Chloe wiggled free from her wife's arms, making special care not to pull the blanket off this time. She adjusted her boxers and t-shirt, took a couple of steps away from the living room, then turned back towards the loveseat. "Grilled chicken and veggies sound good, love? On the stove?"

"I wouldn't change a single thing about you, Chlo. But..." Max paused, raising her eyebrows with a freckled smirk, "it would've been nice if you inherited your mom's cooking skills. Just saying." Her smile turned into a feigned grimace, tensing for a potential retaliative comment or action.

"Hardy har har." Chloe rolled her eyes. "There was prolly a version of me somewhere that was a famous chef. Unlucky for your ass, I don't remember anything like that." Chloe slowly shook her head with pursed lips. "Anyway, just for that, I'm gonna burn your food and make you eat it." She stuck her tongue out from behind her teeth and twisted her body around, disappearing to the other side of the partition and into the kitchen.

The younger of the two giggled and repositioned herself under the covers.

"Never piss off the chef BEFORE you get your food, Meanie Max. You never know what they might do to it." Her voice was partially muffled, but it was clear enough to be understood from where Max sat.

The fridge was opened then shut several times. Sounds of silverware clanging, drawers rolling out then back in, and cabinet doors being opened and closed came from where Chloe was preparing dinner. Max picked up her phone to see if Kate had replied to her text about Des going to campus. A small bunny emoji with two thumbs up was the only response she received from her friend. She suddenly felt guilty she hadn't made plans with Kate and Victoria in almost a year.

"Babe," Max called out, slightly raising her voice so her wife could hear her over the sounds of a heating skillet and vegetables being chopped. "Now that we have a couple weeks away from gallery appearances and shoots, let's make time to hang out with Kate and Vic; it's been a long time since we've seen them. Charlie's team can handle everything for a bit."

"FUUUUUCK!" Chloe bellowed from the kitchen, starling Max with a jump. "Goddammit! This is bad, Max!"

Rushing up from her resting position, Max nearly fell to the ground trying to untangle her legs from the blanket's restraint. As she hurriedly rounded the corner, she noticed Chloe with a once white, now pink, dish towel wrapped around her hand, gripping the top area with her other hand. She was doubled over in pain, grunting and trying to catch her breath.

"Chloe! What's happe..." Before Max could finish her question, her eyes scanned downward to the kitchen island. An object she'd never seen in that form before rested calmly in a small pool of scarlet liquid. She recognized blue fingernail polish adorning the end of a dismembered piece of finger and her mouth gaped open in shock. Noticing a slight twitch of the partial digit, Max pushed away the shock and began to focus.

"FUCK! MAX!" The taller of the two urgently pleaded through barred teeth. "Unless you wanna take a trip to the emergency room and have me missing the tip of my fucking finger for the rest of our lives, you'll rewind!"

A tiny voice in the back of Max's head whispered, "Don't use your power." But Max shook it away, knowing she would do anything for Chloe regardless of the cost. She immediately stretched out her arm and reversed time. It was easy to find the sweet spot in her mind among the endless fields of grey, despite having not rewound in years. She pressed down and a pulse radiated outward. She stopped the backwards rush and plugged the pulse as Chloe was opening the drawer and grabbing for the knife.

As time returned to its normal forward flow, Max placed one hand on the silverware drawer and the other on her wife's wrist. "No, babe. Let me help you."