Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The day was unusually sunny as Chloe drove her pickup along the dirt road. She wasn’t entirely sure where they were going, but Max had assured her that it was one of the best places she’d found outside Seattle for their picnic. The large wicker basket made itself known when her elbow banged against it while trying to downshift, cursing slightly over not being able to trust her truck’s shit suspension to not send the basket flying out of the flatbed.

A small laugh came from her right, and she turned to see Max Caulfield picking up the basket and placing it on her lap under her camera. Their eyes met and Max’s smile turned into a smirk.

“Easy Chloe, your poor truck’s gotten us where we need to go,” using her hand to point to a narrow walking path behind a grass parking area. “Park the truck there, it’s only a couple minutes beyond.”

Chloe brought the truck to a stop and swung open her door, grabbing the basket that Max had placed back in the middle of the seats before jumping out. She slammed the door behind her with the heel of her foot, the loud slam contrasting with Max’s gentler closing. Loosely swinging the basket, she and Max started walking on the trail.

“So you never said what you packed for our lunch, hippie. Hope it’s not all kale salads,” Chloe quipped, shaking the basket and starting a little at the lack of sound or movement from the containers she thought were inside. “What’s inside the secret box, Caulfield?”

“It’s something special; something that I really need right now,” Max said, voice dripping with suggestion.

“Oooh, what devilish things have got planned for us, Super Max?”

“You’ll see, we’re here.”

Chloe looked up and found herself in a clearing in front of a lone white oak tree, it’s branches twisted down and all facing one direction, like a bonsai that had gotten far too large for simple pots.

“Wait…” Chloe said, memories starting to scratch at her mind. “Is this-?”

“Open the box Chloe,” Max said from behind her. She reached looked down and opened the box’s lid, briefly registering the starry night sky. She pulled out a long, thick rope, and her brief initial excitement turned to confusion, as it was clearly not the type of rope used to tie up one’s lover, but rather the thick, corded kind that always gets used in the movies.

“Thanks, Chloe,” Max said, reaching into the open basket as she walked past. Chloe watched with growing dread as Max dragged the rope along the ground ever closer to the tree that Rachael had set ablaze what felt like several lifetimes ago. Something large and circular impacted her foot, and Chloe looked down to see that the far end of the rope was tied into a noose. She tried to reach down and grab it, but it jerked past her before her hand could grasp it. She tried to move forward, but fell when one of her legs refused to move, caught in the train tracks she was standing on.

‘Those tracks weren’t there! This isn’t real, it can’t be real!’ Chloe’s internal mantra did not get her foot free, or quiet the terror she felt in her heart, as she looked back up to Max, who had ignored her struggle and had somehow tied the rope to one of the branches and had moved the nearby trashcan underneath it. “Max, what the fuck are you doing?”

“What I need to Chloe,” Max said quietly, jumping up and precariously balancing herself on the trashcan before placing the noose around her neck. “This is the only way for me to be free.”

“Free? Free from what?” Chloe’s voice was reaching a pitch she didn’t know she had, as she began desperately trying to both get her foot out of the stuck boot, but having no success.

“From you,” the words felt like a shot to the gut, but Max continued. “When I left for Seattle five years ago I thought you'd be gone from my life forever; but then you drove into my life again and I had to do everything for you.”

“I didn’t ask you to-“

“I went through hell for you!” Max’s previous calm demeanor started to crack as her voice rose. “I almost killed Frank, stole money from a freakin’ handicap fund, went to the dark room twice, and destroyed an entire town for you! You’re like a weed Chloe: your roots are so deep and twisted that we have no choice but to feed you, even as it drains the life from us.”

“You don’t need to do this, Max!” Chloe felt the tears streaking down her face, somehow not obscuring the horror in front of her. “I can disappear, find some overpass to sleep under, anything, just please don’t…please don’t.”

“Death is the only way,” Max solemnly whispered. “As long as we’re both alive I’ll never be able to escape you. We all know that. It’s why William drove into that intersection knowing the semi wasn’t stopping. It’s why Rachael threw herself at Nathan and Jefferson. It’s why Joyce went out into the storm. This is our only recourse. Farewell, Chloe.”

Chloe’s screams to Max and whatever gods she could think of went unanswered as Max kicked out the trashcan from under her, a sickening crack filling her ears. She desperately tried to close her eyes or turn her head away, but couldn’t as she watched Max gently swing in the growing night breeze, her camera dangling from her outstretched hand, and flames emerge from the trashcan to engulf the tree and everything around it.

Chloe was dimly aware that her leg was now free, and she used the new freedom to bring both of them in on herself, her anguished cries melodizing with the crackle of the approaching flames. She was able to see a path of escape, but chose to curl into a tight a ball as possible and cry until she felt the flames licking at her skin.

A loud crash caused Chloe to spring up from her curled position and whip her head around. She was on bed, curled up in dark sheets. The pale blue walls were mostly covered with pictures or posters for indie bands, the two major exceptions being posters for the Seattle Thunderbirds and Vancouver Canucks that stood side by side near the door.

‘I’m in Max’s house, her bed,’ Chloe repeated to herself several times, her hands entwining in the bed sheets to feel the brush of the fabric against her fingers and remind herself it was real. The girl in question chose this time to burst through the slightly ajar bedroom door, tumbling to the ground in front of the bed but quickly hoisting herself up with the aid of the mattress.

“Chloe, what’s wrong? I’d just gone downstairs to get you some coffee and breakfast, and then we heard you yelling,” Chloe was dimly aware of two other sets of footsteps coming up the stairs, but she could only focus on Max, her beautiful blue eyes that had only a few moments ago been empty and devoid of life now overflowing with worry and love Chloe felt hands gently cup her face. Max began to rub her fingers along the tracts that the tears were falling from. “Bad dream?” The question pierced through Chloe’s idle thoughts of trying to figure out when she started crying.

“Yeah…” Chloe was able to rasp.

“Do you-?”

“No. Just…hold me for a bit, please?”

Max responded to her request by briefly kissing Chloe on the mouth, before gently pushing her down into the mattress and pressing herself into Chloe’s back, wrapping her arms around Chloe’s chest and burying her mouth at the back of Chloe’s neck. Chloe could make out Max’s parents lingering outside the doorway before she closed her eyes, and focused on nothing but the warmth radiating from Max’s body and the feeling of selfishness coiling in her gut.

The sun was just starting to set as Chloe lit up a joint in the Caulfield’s backyard. Being in a state with legal weed was pretty awesome, all things considered. She doubted she’d have been able to find a dealer who put up with her shit the way Frank had, and the dispensaries were like a candy store (feminine suppositories with THC? No more en fuego utero for her!). The person who checked her fake ID was initially skeptical, but when he brought up Arcadia Bay Chloe had shut him down so hard that he just meekly handed it back to her and let her leave with a lot of weed and a little less of the money they’d taken from Principal Well’s “Blackwell and my career are gone so I’m going to drink myself to death” fund.

Chloe had been surprised when Max’s parents had said they were fine with the weed as long as did it in the backyard, which was conveniently large enough and secluded enough from neighbors that it probably wouldn’t cause any issues. It wasn’t the only nice thing they’d done for her, as Chloe idly gazed down at the Portland Thorns tank top that Ryan had gotten her because “their logo goes really well with your awesome tattoo”, or the list of local tutors Vanessa had left on top of the pile of GED prep books Chloe had come in with a few days ago. As she took the first hit, Chloe wondered how long this generosity could possibly last.

She heard the back door opening and turned to see Max coming out with something stuffed into one of her hands. Max had actually decided to dress for the cooling outdoor temperatures, wearing sweats and what Chloe believed to be a Canucks jersey. She approached Chloe with a slow pace, as if waiting for Chloe to ask her to leave. Chloe supposed she shouldn’t be surprised: she’d been giving off “don’t fuck with me today” vibes for most of day. Max eventually came to sit down next to her, facing the sunset.

“I saw you were lighting up, so I stole some candy from the Halloween pile my parents had.”

“Stealing candy from tomorrow’s trick-or-treaters? Not sure how you’re going to live with yourself, Mad Max,” Chloe said as Max handed her part of the pile. “The Reese’s Cups too? That’s serial-killer level of evil right there.”

She heard Max give a small chuckle and quickly turned to see a small but genuine smile on her face. Chloe could count on her hands the number of times Max had really smiled since they left Arcadia Bay, each one being just as precious as the last.

“I was thinking more ‘Captain Max Caulfield, the most feared candy pirate of Puget Sound’,” she intoned with her voice lowered, holding out her arm as though brandishing a cutlass. “Arr…”

Chloe was the one to chuckle this time, turning back to her joint as she saw Max quickly turn her own head towards her. Chloe was able to hold her smile for a few more seconds, before it faded off of her face.

“Chloe…” Max said, much softer than before. Chloe could feel the brush of the rough hockey sweater fabric on her bare arm. “Are you still thinking about the nightmare you had this morning?”

Chloe took another drag of her joint. “Yeah…”

“It’s been bothering you all day. I’ve been trying to let it go, but you clearly need to talk about it.”

Chloe sighed as she looked at the ground. She really didn’t want to talk about it, but Max’s gentle tone had the tendency to make her do all sorts of mushy shit.

“My dad once told me…” Chloe began, looking up at the sky and trying to figure how to tie everything in. “He told me that fire is jealous, how it blinds people with its beauty and ends up destroying everything it touches.”

“When did he tell you this?” Max asked, after several seconds with neither of them speaking.

“It was in…in one of those dreams I’ve mentioned having,” Chloe managed to get out. Max uttered a soft ‘Oh…’ before looking down at the ground. Max had become as intimately familiar with those kinds of fucked-up lucid dreams as Chloe was over the last few weeks. More than once Chloe had had to calm her after she woke up yelling or crying, and once Max had spent nearly a minute convinced she was in the dark room (that was a fun one to try to evade her parent’s questions on). Just more cracks in Max’s psyche that Chloe was responsible for.

“Anyway…” Chloe was trying very carefully to choose her next words, and not doing a particularly good job of it. “It’s just…all the shit you had to go through to save my sorry ass again and again; was it really worth it?”

“How could it not be?” The fierceness in Max’s tone caught Chloe by surprise. She turned to see Max’s face, which could have gone in a dictionary next to the definition of ‘steel’. “I’ve never once doubted that.”

Chloe lent out a grunt of frustration. “Max, in my dream you fucking killed yourself! Everything that you’ve done or I made you do broke you!”

“You didn’t make me sacrifice the Bay, Chloe, and you’re not responsible for anything Jefferson did.”

“Bullshit. I…made you fall for me, and now every day I see you with this thousand-yard stare over everything that’s happened and I can’t live with the idea that I’ve destroyed you just like everyone else I’ve ever loved.”

Max’s hand grabbed the hand Chloe was still holding her joint with. They were both silent for what felt like a long time, before Max finally turned to her.

“May I?” her hand brushing the unlit part of Chloe’s joint. Seeing the hesitation on Chloe’s face, Max continued. “My parents are fine with it as long as it's sparing and I’m in a controlled environment. Besides, I know the strain you’ve got right now has super low THC, so you shouldn’t be worrying about me becoming some drug addict.”

Chloe gently relinquished her hold on the joint and watched Max bring it to her mouth before deeply breathing in. Max had only done this once before, the night after they’d arrived in Seattle looking like refugees and were both so messed up that they couldn’t have a normal conversation with Max’s parents. Max’s comedy of errors in trying to get high was the only source of amusement they’d had that night. Max was handling it much better this time around. Chloe wasn’t missing any weed, so she guessed Max had been watching how-to videos on YouTube or something.

“Thanks,” Max drawled out after letting the smoke settle in her lungs. “Can’t be a real Cascadian hipster unless I get some practice with weed that has a synonym for ‘artisanal’ in its name.” Her expression turned serious, as she seemed to mull over her words. “Chloe, do you think I’d be any better if I had let you die?” Chloe chose to eat one of the peanut butter cups instead of giving an answer, and Max took that as a sign to continue. “It’s true that I can never get the storm out of my mind, but do you know what really haunts me?” Chloe shook her head. “It’s so weird, because it never happened, even in an alternate timeline, but I keep thinking about going back into that photo and just sitting there while you die, and it destroys me, Chloe. Not just you dying, but the fact that you’d die having never met me again, not knowing about Rachael, thinking that everyone that you’ve ever loved had just cast you away like you were nothing and I…” Max stopped there, her voice being taken over by choked sobs.

Chloe quickly put out the neglected embers of the joint and brought Max to her, laying her head into her shoulder. Max took several minutes to calm down again before raising her head to look at Chloe.

“I’m not okay, Chloe,” she rasped out. “I can barely go an hour without thinking about what’s happened, I can barely have a text conversation with Kate or Dana or even Victoria without breaking down, and I can’t see the trail out this darkness.” Chloe took a deep breath, about to internalize it all when Max continued. “But I know that it’s there, and I know we’re going to find it, Chloe. Because we’re together, and one day we’re both going to be so strong again.”

Max took advantage of their hold on each other to pull Chloe with her to the ground. They both stared up at the stars, saying nothing, and Chloe idly wondered if they would spend the rest of their lives lost among the dead and dying lights that flickered above.

“You know…” Chloe began, trying to muster up all the positivity she could, for Max’s sake. “The Native Americans used to bend trees into crazy shapes. They called them ‘trail trees’, and they used them to mark important shit like water sources or the safe trail out of a forest,” Max’s curious expression prompted her to continue, trying hard to remember where she was going with it. “Maybe the problem is…that we can’t see the way forward right now, but if we get even just a little light, we’ll be able to see where it’s pointing us towards.”

Chloe turned her head back to Max, hoping that what she said was at least somewhat coherent. She saw Max giving her another precious smile, before her head buried itself into Chloe’s side.

Chloe didn’t really feel much better. She’d kind of been hoping that Max would use her natural superpowers to fix every thought of self-hatred and doubt in her head. But she knew Max couldn’t do that, even with powers, and certainly not when she was fighting battles of her own. She knew she wasn’t okay, but that was okay, she realized as she closed her eyes and brought Max closer to her. One day they’d be okay, with each other’s help.

Chapter Text

Max sighed as she got out of the car and began her familiar approach to The Two Whales. The weather is what you’d expect when an E6 tornado was bearing down on you: grey skies, random flurries of debris, a giant funnel of death coming towards you as it consumed everything in its path. When she had seen it in her dreams before it hit, it had filled her with dread. When it came and real life, she could do nothing but hold on to Chloe and try not to imagine the suffering she was inflicting. When it first started appearing in her dreams after they made it to Seattle, it made her panic about the storm hitting everywhere she tried to seek shelter. Now though, in these dreams that were becoming increasingly lucid, she was starting to feel only extreme fatigue punctuated by bouts of self-hatred and recrimination.

‘Chloe says she’s been having these kind of fucked-up dreams since her dad died. No wonder she self-medicates.’ Max would never let Chloe hear that though. Just a few weeks ago Chloe was delighting over being a “good bad influence” on her. Now it seemed like she was worried she was turning Max into a meth head simply with her presence. Max wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that. For now, she pushed on towards the Two Whales, ignoring the corpses and hoping the diner would force this dream into the next stage.

The bell sounded much louder and deeper than normal when Max opened the door to the diner. She looked around and took in the various skeletons sprawled across the tables. One, standing behind the counter and sporting Joyce’s hairstyle and apron, raised an arm and pointed towards the far end of the restaurant. Max slowly walked where she was directed, trying not to look at that skeleton lest she puke in the dream and real life.

“Oh great, you again.”

Max was startled out of the thoughts in her head by unwelcome visage of herself, glaring angrily at her from the same spot she occupied last time Max encountered her (herself?) in this twisted version of the Two Whales. Max slowly slid into the opposite side of the table, trying to match the glare other-her was making.

“If we’re going to do this again, I need some music,” other-Max said, rising up and approaching the jukebox. She made her selection and sat back down in her seat, her glare only intensifying as a slow musical notes started wrapping around the diner, filling Max with a dread she didn’t understand, like being crushed to death by sheet-music. She turned her attention back to other-Max, deciding to let be the one to make the first move.

“So you must be real proud of yourself,” other-Max sharply intoned. “Biggest loss of life on US soil since Katrina, but at least you got the girl. It’s quite the elaborate fantasy you’ve set up.”

So I walked into the haze…

“What the hell does that mean?”

“This whole…thing you think you have going on in Seattle. Girlfriend sharing your bed, parents practically giving you a high five for getting laid? Does any of that shit sound like anything other than some teenage fantasy?”

“You sound really fucking jealous right now,” Max shot back. “Are you a Max that chose to kill Chloe and is so fucking depressed by her choice that she’s entering the dreams of other Maxs to fuck with them?”

“Cereal? I’m the part of your brain that wants you to wake the fuck up and realize where you really are!”

…Forget the horror here…

“Oh? And just where am I, oh part of my brain that knows more than the rest of it?”

“Try the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital.”

…It’s future rust and it’s future dust…

That made Max pause. ‘Isn’t that a hospital in Portland?’ She had to admit she wasn’t really sure what the implication of that would be. Outside the storm was growing fiercer and she saw the body of Alyssa smash into the glass on the other side of the diner, before being dragged across it with that sliding on glass sound that Max is pretty sure you only really hear in cartoons. Eventually she turned back to her revolting mirror.

“Why would I be in some hospital in Portland?”

“You’re in a coma, dumbass. When you realized that it was Chloe bleeding out on the bathroom floor our mind snapped like a twig and you passed out.”

“That is so far from the truth. I can’t think of anything worse than the times I’ve seen Chloe die, but there’s no way that I could just fall into a coma unless I had some underlying condition.”

“Yeah,” other-Max sarcastically drawled, “it’s called ‘I’m So Dog-Damned Dependent on Chloe That My Brain Literally Can’t Function Without Her Syndrome’. Signs you have this syndrome include spending years writing texts and letters to Chloe that you never send because you’re a coward and a useless friend, and going along with committing major acts of terrorism out of guilt.”

…Wipe you clean with dirty hands…

“You think this is the world that I’d build? With Kate and Rachael and Jefferson?” The idea that her mind could have come up with all the awful things that had transpired chilled Max, even as she didn’t believe it.

“You’re not exactly actively creating this. Your brain is a bit fried, after all,” other-Max said with what Max interpreted as fake sympathy. “But you really need to wake up now. You’re driving your real parents into debt faster than that paralyzed Chloe you dreamed up.”

…I’m the fury in your head…

“This is bullshit!” Max yelled, danger seeping into her voice. “Everything I’ve been through has been real! It’s marked me and scarred me in ways that I’ll never be able to get rid of, no matter how long I live!”

“Wowsers, you really think that being in a hospital is less believable than ‘teenage girl gets time powers’? You gonna call up Superman and hang out? News flash, dumbass: the ability to control time isn’t real.”

“I can’t explain how any of this happened, but I know that it’s real,” Max’s voice had lost some of its edge. Fighting over this was too tiring.

“You had a chance to wake up, you know,” other-Max’s voice said quietly. All you had to do was accept that Chloe is dead and let her go back at the cliff. She even wanted you to,” other-Max’s voice now started to take on a very dangerous tone. “Now, though, we have to do things the hard way.”

…I’m the ghost in the back of your head…

The roof of the Two Whales suddenly came flying off, and the noise of the storm came pouring into the diner. Max felt herself being lifted out of her booth, only being prevented from being tossed into the maelstrom by other-Max grabbing her by the wrists.

“You can’t keep living in this stupid fantasy you’ve built,” other-Max said, her voice easily cutting through the storm. Her fingernails dug into Max’s wrists, and more blood than was medically feasible starting seeping from them. “Now it’s time to wake up!” And with that she let go, and the Two Whales became a small dot on a map as Max flew ever higher.

…And I’m…
   
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Max woke with a shuttering start, wildly trying to take in her surroundings. She found her attempts to move restricted by something covering her body. She thrashed wildly until the offending garment flew off. Liberated, she stared at the polaroids that adorned the walls of her bedroom; her bedroom in Seattle.

Her head turned quickly to stare at her bedroom door upon hearing the sound of the knob turning. Her heart simultaneously slowed down and sped up at the sight of her blue-haired girlfriend entering her room, wearing an over-sized sleep shirt and little else. Chloe turned to her and gave her a little grin.

“Morning sleepy-head. Sorry I wasn’t hear to kiss you awake, but ‘calls of nature’ and all,” Chloe said as she did some exaggerated stretching. Her grin faded as she took in the blanket strewn across the floor and what Max assumed was a wild look in her eyes. She quickly closed the distance between them and knelt in front of Max.

“Shit, Max, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Another bad dream?” Max reached out and brought Chloe to her, resting her chin on Chloe’s shoulder.

“Yeah, but it’s okay; I’m okay.” It was a lie, and Max could tell that Chloe could tell. Chloe however apparently decided not to pursue it, giving gentle sounds of encouragement as Max fingers began rubbing the back of her shoulder blade

“Okay Max, just tell me if you need anything. Your parents left for work, so how about I try and make us some breakfast?” Max made a small noise of protest that was overruled by the sudden rumbling of her stomach. “Don’t worry Maxaroni, you don’t need an excuse to feel me up,” Max scoffed as loudly as she could directly into Chloe’s ear before letting her go and watching her saunter away, her hips swaying to some unknown music in her head.

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It was obvious to Max that by the time early afternoon came Chloe’s attempts to not press her about it would soon fail. Max supposed her behavior over the morning would appear odd to anyone watching her. She was still in her sleepwear, which was uncommon but not strange, but she had spent all day rubbing her hands over virtually every surface and object in the house, and Chloe’s early looks of faux-jealousy had changed to concern. She also spent several minutes out in the backyard rubbing her bare feet against the grass. She’d taken an excessively long time smelling and tasting her breakfast. Now she was hunched over her bedroom computer, ignoring her stomach’s insistence on lunch and reading online theories about The Matrix. Her research was interrupted by the feel of arms circling around her and a chin pressed into a shoulder.

“What’ca doing, Maxipad?” Chloe popped, her voice sounding to Max like it was intentionally cheery. Max could feel Chloe’s jaw tighten as she took in the article that Max was reading and the titles of other tabs she opened. Chloe’s arms reached out to lock Max’s computer screen, before pulling back and spinning Max’s chair so that they were now face to face. Chloe had evidently taken her lead on clothing and was still in her sleepwear as well.

“So what’s with all the ‘coma dreams’ and ‘Are we living in the Matrix?’ stuff?” Chloe said, her voice stern. “This have to do with your nightmare?”

Max thought about denying it, but she was never really able to lie to Chloe. “In the dream, I ran into…me; that version of me from the nightmare. I haven’t seen her since that one. She said that seeing you get killed broke my mind and that this is all some coma dream I’m having while my real body is in a hospital.”

“Is that why you’ve been groping everything? To feel that it’s real? You know that whole train of thought is total bullshit, right?”

“How can I know that? I don’t have any way to objectively prove that this is real. And what does it say about me if this is a dream?” she continued before Chloe had the chance to cut her off. “What does it say about my mind if what it can up with was Rachael and Jefferson and the fact that I’ve now killed 946 people?” Chloe tensed up at the specific number: she’d been adamantly avoiding stories about Arcadia Bay ever since her mom was confirmed as a casualty, and both her and her parents had been trying to keep her away from it. “And worst of all, even if this is some Matrix blue pill crap, even if my real body’s wasting away while my real parents look on, I wouldn’t want to wake up.”

Chloe looked at Max for what felt like a long time before taking one of Max’s hands with both of hers. “You’re right Max, we can’t prove that this isn’t some dream, and this might even be a simulation even if it is ‘real’, but I want you to feel this,” Chloe brought Max’s hand up to her left breast, settling it just below over her heart. “If this were a dream, I’d…I’d want you to wake up, because the thought of you wasting away in any reality is way too hard for me. But…I know I’m real Max, I just do, and I’m here with you.”

Max continued to sit there, feeling Chloe’s heartbeat echoing against her palm. She looked up into Chloe’s eyes, filled with love, concern, and determination.

Something snapped.

Chloe was clearly unprepared for Max to spring from her chair and force her backwards towards their bed. She still didn’t seem to fully comprehend what was happening as she fell backwards onto it and Max climbed on top of her. Only when Max started kissing her fiercely did she begin to act, doing everything she could to match Max’s furor. Max wasn’t sure how long they made out for until she pulled away from Chloe to grab the hem of her shirt, quickly pulling it off and leaving Chloe in nothing but a pair of panties. Max returned to Chloe, giving a strong kiss before quickly moving down, only stopping briefly to play with her nipples before moving further south.

The had explored each other a few times since coming to Seattle: quiet touches born out of spontaneous needs for intimacy. They hadn’t really discussed sex beyond Chloe’s flirts and teasing, but Chloe’s tenseness indicated that she could clearly tell that Max’s intention was on a new level, and she looked up to Chloe to allow her to say her piece.

“Are…are you sure you want to do this, Max? We don’t need to rush into anything here.”

“If you want me to stop at any point, just say so, Chloe. But I really, really, want to do this for you,” Chloe stared into Max’s eyes for a few seconds, as if looking for any doubt within them, but she nodded and Max pulled Chloe’s panties off of her. She took a moment to appreciate the site of her wet sex before burying her face between Chloe’s legs.

‘This is real,’ Max thought to herself. All of her senses, the things that allowed her to experience the world around her, were being overloaded. Her tongue was exploding with thousands of flavors that all seemed to combine to make something distinctly Chloe. ‘This is reality.’ Her hands, grabbing Chloe’s rear in an attempt to control her bucking hips, felt like they were conducting lightning. ‘This is the world I’ve chosen.’ Her nose was filled with the sweetest scent that was better than any flower shop she’d ever been to. Her ears were filled with the wonderful sounds that Chloe was making: wanton moans of pleasure, telling Max how good she was, pleading with her to never stop. She opened her eyes and looked up to take in the sight of Chloe propping herself up on one arm, using the other to play with her breasts, her flushed face staring back down at Max, eyes filled with rapture.

It wasn’t much longer before Chloe came, her thighs shuddering around as she made one final invocation of Max’s name. Her head collapsed onto the pillows, and Max crawled her back up until she was lying down next to Chloe.

“Holy fuck Max, that was…hella,” she tiredly exclaimed before bringing Max in for a sweet kiss. She flashed Max a lazy grin before bringing her hands to Max’s shirt. “You should get naked, hippie. Time to return the favor before I fall asleep.”

“I’m good Chloe,” the aching in her core surprisingly light. “Can we just cuddle for a bit first?” A tiny twinge of disappointment on Chloe’s face quickly vanished into a content smile, and with a nod Max brought herself to Chloe, encouraging her with gentle pushes to turn her back so that Max could spoon her naked form. They stayed that way for a short time before Chloe spoke again, her voice quiet.

“I know you said you’re not up for your round yet, but could you still get naked? I want to feel your skin against mine.”

‘That’, Max thought as she untangled herself from Chloe and hurriedly removed all her vestments, ‘is an excellent idea.’ She quickly returned to her previous position, bringing as much of her skin into contact with Chloe as possible, evoking a contented sigh from both of them. Chloe was able to give her a mumbled ‘I love you’ before she fell asleep.

As Max began to drift off to sleep, she could feel some sort of aura surrounding the both of them. It was something she’d been feeling for a while now, but now in the afterglow of their lovemaking it felt stronger than ever. She had never been religious or even spiritual, but this feeling of two people merging into one was more intense and intricate than anything for normal five senses could experience.

‘There’s no way my dumb brain could ever fake this…’ she thought happily to herself as she let that feeling bring her into a deep sleep.  

Chapter Text

‘Studying sucks.’

That was the professional opinion of Chloe Price, as she thrust herself into the back of her chair, her current GED prep book falling onto the kitchen table of the Caulfield home. This was pretty much the first time in five years that she was making any serious attempt to study, and the temptation to toss it all in the bin and smoke something was strong. But she’d promised both Max and herself that she’d start trying to put her life back in order, and now that Max was back at school, attempting to do the same, she felt compelled to keep studying, if only to stave off the boredom of now being alone in the house on weekdays.

She also remembers a 14 year old girl with strawberry blond hair who thought that learning was one of the best things in the world. She wonders if that girl is still alive somewhere.

Chloe is saved from having to pick the book back up by the text-alert going off on her phone. It wasn’t the tone she’d set for anyone in Clan Caulfield, so she reached and picked up her phone with some curiosity.

Steph: Hey Chloe, what’s going on?

Chloe felt a small smile coming at seeing it was from Steph. After she and Rachael became close, she hadn’t really put in the work needed to really maintain the budding friendship with Steph and Mikey (‘that certainly sounds familiar’) but they had always stayed friendly, and after the two of them had gone on to Oregon State in the months before Arcadia Bay got flattened they were pretty much the only people who ever texted her. Them and Drew were the only ones whose texts were waiting on her phone once they had gotten back into range of a functioning tower (and David, but he didn’t count).

Chloe: Just smashing my head against GED test prep books.

Steph: You should try opening them and reading them instead.

Chloe: Hey, I’ve been out of the studying thing for 5 years! It’s a work in progress.

Steph: Uh huh…

Steph: I will say it’s really cool that you’re studying again Chloe. You’ve always been really intelligent, and it’s nice to hear about you rediscovering it.

Chloe didn’t respond for several minutes, both surprised and touched at the thought of someone caring.

Chloe: Yeah well, it’s the Max Effect in action. My GF’s paragon bar is maxed out for charm.

Steph: I’m really looking forward to meeting her.

Steph: Which is why I’m texting.

Steph: Drew is coming up to Seattle this weekend for the Beaver’s match against the Huskies. Mikey and I were planning to come up to.

Steph: If Max is anywhere near as nerdy as you (don’t deny it), I figured I could DM a D&D session for the four of you after the game.

Steph: You think you could host?

Chloe paused at this. The Caulfield house would certainly be a more ideal location than the motel the others would be staying in. As much as she worried what Max’s parents thought of her, she figured they wouldn’t have too much issue with Steph and the North brothers.

Chloe: I’ll have to clear it with Max and Max’s folks first. Let you know when they all get home.

Chloe could only stare at her use of the word “home” in her text while she waited for Steph’s reply.

Steph: No worries, just let me know. You two should send me your character sheets before the weekend so I have time to plan a good campaign.

Chloe: Sounds good.

Chloe: And Steph?

Chloe: Whatever campaign you’re planning, make sure it doesn’t have any town-destroying tornadoes.

Chloe: Or small-prick fucks who drug and kidnap girls.

Chloe: Or anything involving time travel, or missing friends that turn out to be dead the whole time.

Steph: Chloe

Steph: It was hard for us to hear about the Storm destroying our home, and all the fucked-up shit with Jefferson and the Prescotts that preceded it.

Steph: That you and Max lived it? I just can’t imagine.

Steph: This is going to be a fun campaign, for shits and giggles.

Steph: You’re all probably going to die horribly, but I promise to do everything I can to make this a good time.

Chloe: Sorry, didn’t mean to throw all that shit out there.

Chloe: It’s just been hard.

Steph: Don’t apologize for it.

Steph: Just give me the green light and your character sheets, and I’ll get to work making this an awesome weekend.

Smiling, and actually looking forward to something for once, Chloe put down her phone and reluctantly got back to her studying.

————————

She pops the idea to Max a few hours later, as she drives Max home from school. Her first week back seemed to be going better than Chloe feared, but every time she gets into the passenger’s seat her face holds a certain weariness that makes Chloe wish she was doing the GED with her instead of trying all this high school bullshit again.

Some of the crinkles that have recently appeared on Max’s face that make her look like she’s old disappear as she contemplates the prospect of a Dungeons and Dragons session.

“A few people at Blackwell mentioned Steph. Apparently she was one of the coolest people on campus.”

“Yep,” Chloe says, returning her eyes to the road before staring at Max’s happy face caused her to crash. “After me and Rachael, she was pretty much the cool cat of that shit hole.”

Max nodded and grinned at her, and Chloe felt like a million bucks.

———————————

Max’s parents were absolutely thrilled by the idea of a D&D session taking place at their house, even before Chloe assured them that the people being invited over were total nerds instead of unstable meth heads. Chloe felt somewhat weird with that level of trust, especially when they offered to let everyone have one beer (“and only one,” Vanessa said kindly but firmly). Whatever strange demons had possessed them to go with Chloe’s plan, she’d take it, and after texting Steph with the green light and the address, she found herself in Max’s (‘their?’) bedroom, pondering the weekend.

“We haven’t played D&D in so long Chloe, and even then it was only games with the two of us,” Max said, bouncing up and down while lying flat on the back of their bed. “I’m kind of nervous about playing a game with an actual DM, who isn’t biased towards letting the PCs live.”

“Fortunately, noob, I got this before I picked you up today,” Chloe proudly exclaimed, picking up a copy the most recent version of the D&D Player’s Handbook and waving it in front of Max. “Now come on hippie, let’s plunge into its annals and design some super awesome characters for this.”

It took them several hours of light-hearted arguments over race, classes, and alignments, and Max had at some point ended up topless, but before they retied for the evening they had emailed Steph a tiefling rogue for Chloe and a half-elf sorceress for Max.

———————————————

What little was left of the week had passed by extraordinarily quickly. Chloe wondered to herself if this was normal when you actually had something to look forward to in life for once. Regardless, Saturday morning began with the lovely vision of Max’s face, still holding residual pleasure from the things Chloe had done to her the previous night, and after they’d showered and had a balanced breakfast they were now choosing what to wear before Steph and Mikey showed up before the game. Chloe had quickly thrown on her Portland Thorns tank top and a pair of jeans, but Max was dithering.

“Seriously, hipster, what’s taking you so long?” Chloe exclaimed, resting on their bed while Max looked at various vestments in her closet.

“I just don’t really have anything that is very sportive,” Max replied as she shuffled through the various outfits she had. “I’ve got my Thunderbirds and Canucks jerseys, but that’s it.”

“I’m really starting to question your hipster cred. If what I’ve read about Seattle online is even remotely true, someone like you should have at least a few Sounders jerseys to wear.”

“I like soccer, and the Sounders,” Max said quietly. “Dad took me to a few games, but the noise and singing is a bit loud for my tastes. Besides, I like hockey better.”

“What’s with the hockey thing anyway? Don’t really remember that before you left, and I wouldn’t think Seattle would be the place to pick it up. If you’d moved to some frozen hellscape like Minnesota, maybe, but it doesn’t exactly freeze too much up here.”

“My parents tried taking me to various sporting events after we moved here, to find something I liked and have something to talk about with people at school,” Max said, biting her lip. “I’m not to sure why I picked hockey. I  enjoy the way the players sort of slide on the ice, it’s sort of artistic,” Max now had her hand below her chin, assuming a stereotypically philosophical pose as if this was the first time she’d put her interest into words. She then turned to face Chloe. “I also liked the fights. Cheering for it felt like a way to act out in a way I’ve never been able to do without your help.” She subsequently turned back to her closet. “I guess in the end it’s just fit that the sport I chose would have the local team be junior and the ‘local’ pro team be in another country.”

“So rooting for a Canadian team whose name is literally slang for ‘Canadians’ doesn’t make you a traitor or something?” Prompting Max to snort loudly.

“Vancouver’s way more local than San Jose or Colorado, and not just by distance,” Max replied. “If Seattle were to ever get an NHL team, then I’d switch, but in the meantime…” Max moved to a different part of her closet and eschewed sporting cloths altogether for a black jacket.

“Maybe if you used your time powers…you could make a fortune in the stock market and bring a team here,” Chloe said jokingly but carefully. Joking with Max about her powers (‘or former powers?’) could backfire.

Fortunately Max didn’t seem to be putting too much thought into her powers. She once again turned to Chloe. “I would name them, ’THE SEATTLE KRAKEN’!” She said, dramatically raising her arms up. “And I’d pay Liam Neeson to start every home match with ‘RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!’”.

Chloe was now laying flat out on the bed, laughing at Max’s antics. “Seriously, the Kraken?”

“Hey,” Max responded, “there could be a kraken in Puget Sound, you never know! You could have really cool jerseys with tentacles coming up the sleeves. Besides,” Max suddenly looked sheepish, “I was researching online and found this place called ‘The Kraken Lounge’ near UW, apparently it has good punk shows. Thought we might go sometime.”

That caused Chloe to spring herself up and look intently at Max. “You want to go to punk shows? Can you name a punk band?”

“Um…” Max began rubbing the back of her neck. “Do ‘The Hex Girls’ count?”

It took Chloe a few seconds to register that. “Uh, no Max, they don’t count, and even if they did, they’re a fictional band.” That caused Max to give Chloe her best pouty face, which made Chloe laugh.

“Fine, punk bands aren’t really my thing. But they’re you’re thing, and I’d love the chance to see you at an actual show instead of just blasting the stuff on our speakers.”

“That’s sweet as sugar, Max,” Chloe quipped before a frown overtook her face. “Wait a minute, are you questioning my punk credentials since you haven’t seen me thrashing at a show?”

“You questioned my hipster credentials. Besides, what are you going to do about it?”

“I’ll make you sleep on the couch.”

“That’s my bed, Chloe.”

“I think enough of my bodily fluids have seeped into the mattress that I can claim part ownership.”

“Holy shit Chloe,” Max whisper-shouted, turning bright red and away from Chloe’s amused gaze.

“Hey, don’t be getting all embarrassed on me. You’re the one that’s been causing all the spillage.” Chloe’s grin was now triumphant as Max grabbed the rest of her outfit.

————————————

Their outfit choice didn’t matter, of course. Because it was Seattle. In November.

Chloe was quickly learning that Seattle sucked in November.

So there they were, being driven to their friend’s hotel near the stadium by Max’s dad in his Mini Cooper since he insisted they couldn’t safely stuff Max, Steph, and Drew into Chloe’s pickup truck. Both of them were trying to keep their rain ponchos from staining the seats. Chloe somehow was able to dig her phone out of her jean’s pocket.

Chloe: Dude, we’re almost there. What’s the plan?

Steph: There’s a bit of time before we need to head to the stadium. We’re in Room 305. Come on up.

Chloe relayed the message to the rest of the car as they pulled in front of the hotel. With assurances from Ryan that they’d be by to pick up all of them in Vanessa’s station wagon after the game, they ran from the car to the hotel and made their way up to Steph and Mikey’s room.

—————————
Chloe wasn’t quite expecting the first thing to happen after the hotel room door opened to be two pairs of arms enveloping her in a hug. Hearing the familiar sound of Max’s camera capturing the moment, the arms drew back from Chloe and let her take in Steph and Mikey, both adorned in Beaver regalia.

“It is seriously good to see you Chloe,” Mikey said, his expression somber.

“And I know that you won’t want to focus on it, so we’ll just say that we’re so, so, sorry about your mom, and Rachael, and all the other shit that’s happened,” Steph added.

“I…um…thanks,” Chloe said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. “And you’re right, I really don’t want to focus on it. So let’s have a hella fine afternoon, yeah?”

“Sounds good,” Steph said, as she ushered them all inside the hotel room. “And you must be the Max that’s got Chloe swooning,” causing Max to blush before they reached out and shook hands.

“I haven’t played D&D in so long, I’m super excited,” Max said after greeting Mikey with a handshake. “Chloe says you’re got an evil mind as a DM.”

“Don’t get too attached to your characters,” Steph said while grinning.

“From watching her put the campaign together, I thinks it’s going to be a bit…weird,” Mikey said.

“Hush, bad enough that you’ve seen some the models I’ve made,” Steph replied, gesturing to a large box in front of one of the beds. “I got the two of you some models for your characters, hope you don’t mind that I gave your tiefling blue hair, Chloe.”

“I most definitely do not mind,” Chloe said. “Now let’s get to this football game.”

————————

Chloe didn’t care too much about the game itself. Football was a sport where 90% of the game was the players standing around between plays and the frequent stops for commercial breaks. Still, if Drew was able to do well he could get a fat NFL contract in a couple years and his family would have more money than they could shake a stick at, and Chloe was certainly willing to cheer for that.

In the end, Washington ended up running up the score because the Beavers had shit defense, but Drew still had what she was told were good stats, so that was good.

Going back to Steph and Mikey’s hotel room, they milled around shooting the shit for about 40 minutes before Drew showed up, freshly showered. He quickly hugged Chloe, giving similar condolences that Steph had given before, and greeting Max in the middle of her texting someone, presumably her parents. It wasn’t too much longer before they went outside, carrying Steph’s boxes and loading into the trunk of Vanessa’s station wagon. Soon, they were carrying them into the Caulfield residence, giving Steph her requested privacy at the dining table to set up while Max grabbed everyone the one beer they’d been allowed.

“Do your parents have any beer that isn’t pure local hipster craft?” Chloe whined as she watched Max pour all of the beers into glasses.

“Nope,” Max said, giggling. “This is all beer that you’re actually supposed to enjoy as a drink, instead of something you only drink to get drunk.”

Chloe gave a huff of annoyance as she took the proffered glass, which caused Max to giggle again. “Sorry Chlo, you’re one of us now. Have you read the names of the weed strains you’ve been buying?”

 Chloe flipped Max off, which only seemed to amuse her as she distributed the rest of the drinks, and soon all five of them were sitting at the table. Steph sat the the head, body and notes hidden behind her elaborate partition. Max and Chloe sat at on one side directly across from the North brothers. Laid out on the table before them was an elaborate model of a tavern, where all great adventures inevitably start.

“Our tale begins in a modest tavern named the The Silver Fleece in the city of Anerima,” Steph said, echoing Chloe’s thoughts. “A place with a long and storied history of disparate people meeting and having grand adventures. This night is no different, and four people are about to be drawn together by fate.”

“Hiding in a corner, trying not to be noticed, is a half-elf who goes by the name Quelenna Siannodel,” Steph said, placing the figure down while making a gesture at Max to denote to the table it was her character. “After having spent many years in the wilderness out of fear of losing control of her magic, she has now returned, hoping to fulfill her original dream of being an ambassador between peoples.”

“Also hiding in a different corner is a tiefling, cloaked in shadow but for her vibrant blue hair hanging amongst her horns,” Placing Chloe’s character in the next corner from Max. “Her on cloak does an intentionally poor job of concealing her daggers, and other patrons wearily keep their distance.”

“Sitting alone at one of the tables is a dark-skinned human dressed in monastic trappings,” Steph placed a monk figure at one of the tables while gesturing towards Mikey. “What purpose he has in this establishment of inebriation is anyone’s guess.”

“No Elamon?” Chloe said, somewhat surprised.

“He retired from adventuring life after the events that took place in the campaign we did before leaving for OSU,” Mikey replied. “Now Steph has control of him, and I’m sure she’s waiting to Obi-Wan him with my new monk.”

“You know it,” Steph grinned evilly. “Anyway, lastly on a raised platform strumming a lute we have a small gnome named Brocc ‘One-string’ Nackle. Behind him says another lute with only one string, though the lute’s body and that string looks to be made of a material of the finest quality.”

“All of your attentions are captured by the bartender nailing a notice to one of the support beams near the bar. All of you walk towards it to read that a reward is being offered to deal with some rats in the cellar. At seeing all four of you, the bartender insists that all of you must take the job, so that who gets the contract won’t turn into a fight. Opening the cellar door for you, you all descend into the dark basement below.”

“Rats, huh? What could possible go wrong in this classic beginner’s quest?” Chloe stated over-dramatically, deliberately attempting to tempt fate.

—————————

Things definitely did go wrong.

Not that Chloe expected anything else from Steph, as she furiously erased her hit point tally and groaned at the low roll for a health potion, but she’d admit she hadn’t been expecting the rats to have magic-based cybernetic augmentations. Or that they were being used as spies and tunnel diggers. Or that the tavern cellar would eventually dump them into a massive underground cavern  with giant trees where a bunch of gnomes attacked them.

And then they accidentally helped the gnomes wake a big-ass dragon that busted through the cavern roof and ended up destroying some very nice real estate in the rich part of town. Chloe didn’t plan to mention that to the locals.

They were soon directed by city guards to the nearby magical academy to explain what happened to the headmaster. Steph described grandiose marble steps as their characters were led into the headmaster’s office.

“The headmaster chair swivels around to reveal…Elamon!” Steph proclaimed, her rising dramatically above her head. “You tell him your tale, and after looking pensive for a few minutes he explains to you that the gnomes were merely one branch of a massive cult called ‘The Camabians’. They were looking to harvest the sap from the trees to make a special syrup that will awaken the Ur-Dragons, like the one in the cavern.”

“Knew those super-polite fuckers were trouble!” Chloe said. Seeing everyone raising their eyebrows at her, she quickly slipped back into Lerissa. “I mean…uh…I used to run some odd jobs for them, until I got a really bad vibe and got out.”

“Well then,” Steph said, making her voice sound masculine. “Your experience with them will be invaluable when we assault their main base tomorrow. Everyone should get some rest, I’ll teleport us there in the morning.

————————

The night was dark when Lerissa began to sneak her way out of the academy’s quarters. She made it to the main courtyard before being stopped by the sight of Quelenna, basked in moonlight.

“Going somewhere?” Quelenna inquired, though the disappointment in her tone implied she knew the answer.

“All this cult and waking dragons to destroy the world is way too much for me,” Lerissa replied. “Time for me to slink back to the shadows.”

“So where are you going to go when the world gets destroyed?” Quelenna said somewhat incredulously.

“I don’t know, but you think anyone would thank me for saving the world? I’m a tiefling thief, saving the world just means they’d give me a finer rope to hang me with.”

“I’d care,” Quelenna said with conviction, moving foward to cup Lerissa’s face in her hand.

“Do we really need this romance subplot?”

“Uh, yeah, we totally do,” Chloe said, turning to Drew. “Also, rude? Was really getting into character and shit here.”

Lerissa held the hand that was on her cheek. “Well…fine. I’ll stay, but only because you’re cute.”

Quelenna grinned at that. “You’re not so bad yourself. Now make sure we get our long rest.”

—————————

The assault on the cultist’s main base started with Elamon directly teleporting them into the main lunch room. And while Chloe was proud to honor her D&D character legacy by slamming her dagger pommel into the dick of a human, they all decided that running away was in order. They continued to stop and defend Elamon in various locations where he set magical bombs. Their health was rapidly dwindling, and Quelenna would be dead if Steph hadn’t allowed Lerissa to smash a health potion over her head and heal her. Eventually they found themselves backed into a large open-air hanger where crates upon crates of the dragon-waking syrup were stored.

“I believe I’ve played the last of my set!” Brocc yelled. “You should teleport us out of here, Elamon!”

“I can’t. All my power is currently being trained stopping the bombs from going off!”

“Well what the fuck do we do now!” Lerissa spat. “I’m not dying before I get to bang my pointy-eared friend here!” earning a smack on her shoulder from Max.

“Over there!” Marcon said, pointing to a strange vehicle. “That machine might be our only salvation!”

They all quickly piled into the strange device, and tore off into the sky.

——————————

“The crash has left you all wounded,” Steph gleefully said as she tipped over the model of a helicopter that looked like it was torn from a De Vinci sketchbook. “There appears to be a cave nearby, and all of you wearily limp in until you find a large open space where you set up camp.”

“I’m blaming you for this, Chloe.” Mikey said, his voice a slight twinge of annoyance mixed with good humor.

“Dude, it was a fucking wooden helicopter that was pedal-powered! How was I supposed to know that peddling faster than Brocc’s little gnome legs would send us spinning out like that.”

“Oh sure, blame the short guy,” Drew sarcastically intoned.

“Elamon announces that he is going to take a long rest,” Steph interrupted. “Do any of you follow his lead!” This was met with affirmatives by Drew and Mikey.

“While they go to sleep, I get Quelenna’s attention and go to where she’s sitting,” Chloe said, moving her character next to Max’s.

“You okay?” Lerissa asked gently, kneeling down to be eye-level with Quelenna.

“I think so,” Quelenna replied softly. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Least I can do right? You’re the first person in years that’s ever treated me…” Chloe unexpectedly choked up. ‘Don’t want to bring my real world shit into this…’

“I have Quelenna reach out and kiss Lerissa,” Max told Steph.

“Your kiss silences all the self-doubts that Lerissa has flowing through her mind, and it fills you both with passion and a sense of belonging,” Steph intoned, clearly picking up on the subtext. “You eventually break the kiss and stare deeply into each other’s eyes.”

“I have Lerissa say,” Chloe said, getting a huge grin on her face, “‘I meant what I said about banging you earlier.’ I then dive my head down and in between Ma-Quelenna’s legs.”

This was met with a grin by Steph, an embarrassed squeak from Max, and groans from the North brothers. “Are we really going here?” Mikey flatly inquired.

“I think I’m going to allow it,” Steph said, grinning. “Chloe, roll a D20.”

“A D20? For what?” Chloe asked curiously. “Wait…are you making me do a skill check for my eating out skills? I don’t need a cunnilingus skill check!”

“I have no working knowledge of your oral skills, Chloe,” Steph said, her flat tone not hiding her amusement.

“Back me up here, Max!” Chloe pleaded. Max turned a brighter shade of crimson and took a large swig of her beer.

“I’ll take Max’s face as evidence of your prestigious skills, but we know nothing about Lerissa’s. You might accidentally stab her with your horns. So roll a D20 unless, unless Quelenna would like to stop her?”

“It certainly wouldn’t be the first time one of Chloe’s characters has inflicted great bodily harm,” Mikey interjected with a glare at Chloe.

“It’s fine,” Max said sheepishly.

Chloe sighed and grabbed the D20 that she’d been having the most luck with. 'This is the most important roll of my life.’ She blew on the die, closed her eyes, and cast it. After it stopped rolling, she peeked out and took in the number.

20.

“Oh hell yeah!” Chloe said jumping up and cheering.

“Max, I need you to roll a D20 as a stealth check. I’m going to say you’re at disadvantage, given Chloe-I mean Lerissa’s-clear ability,” Steph said, smiling good-naturedly at Max.

Max sighed, grabbed two D20, and cast them. Her face became ashen. “Are you fuckin’ cereal?” she moaned into her hands as she brought them to her face.

Chloe looked up and saw the rolls.  1. And another 1.

Chloe’s face hurt from grinning.

“Lerissa quickly removes all garments in her way and dives into Quelenna’s sex,” Steph proclaimed, looking almost as pleased as Chloe. “Quelenna’s screams of pleasure echo throughout the cavern. The other members of the party are petrified from complete and utter mortification at the spectacle they’re being forced to witness. Soon, Quelenna shrieks in orgasm,” Steph then turned to look at Max. “Max, roll for wild magic.”

‘Whoops,’ Chloe thought as the North brothers glared at her. This could be bad, if the table she’d read was anything to go by. Max cast her percentage dice, the whole table craning up to get a good view of the outcome. The result was 66.

“In her extreme pleasure, Quelenna lets out a surge of wild magic. Her arms fling out and bolts of lightning shoot out, hitting Elamon, Brocc, and Marcon. Everyone roll 4d10 lightning damage.”

Max’s mortification was only matched by the amused grin on Chloe’s face as Steph, Mikey, and Drew all rolled damage. Needless to say, none had had time to heal or benefit from the rest yet, and the result was three dead characters.

“Quelenna and Lerissa look upon the charred remains of their companions, the smell of burnt flesh filling the cavern that they occupy. What’s your next step?”

Chloe burst out laughing. And didn’t stop laughing as she felt everyone’s gaze on her, or as she heard Max’s parents descending from upstairs to investigate the noise. Tears came to her eyes as she heard Max join her, followed by Steph, Mikey, and Drew. She heard fists pounding on the table, as Max wrapped her arms around her and a camera snapped in the distance.

————————

They played for several more hours after that. A giant eagle soon came into the cave and dropped off three resurrection potions that were quickly used on the deceased characters. Elamon immediately departed, but Brocc and Marcon stayed, and eventually they were able to destroy the evil cult and save the day.

A few hours later, everyone was milling about the kitchen after the pizza dinner, courtesy of the Caulfields. Drew and Ryan were chatting about football, Steph was having a friendly, but seemingly somewhat serious conversation with Max and Vanessa. As for Chloe, she was with Mikey, who had just promised to lend her his copies of Mass Effect 2 and 3 so that she could finally complete the trilogy.

“Hey, you there Chloe?” Mikey said, snapping her back to attention.

“Sorry, got sort of lost in my head, “ Chloe said, grinning sheepishly. “Oh, and sorry about killing Elamon.”

“He got better,” Mikey replied, smiling a little. “Now that it’s after the fact, it was really funny. And the way you and Max broke down laughing, it looked like you really needed it.”

“Yeah…” Chloe’s voice became soft and slightly melancholy. “A perfect example of…what’s the word? Catharsis, that’s it.”

“You have been studying,” Mikey grinned.

“Eat me dude. Outside of gym, I was a straight-A student before my life became a train wreck. Or semi-truck into sedan wreck, to be more accurate.”

Mikey chuckled slightly at this. It was one of the reasons Chloe liked him: his own medical problems had given him a dark sense of humor that mirrored her own. Max probably would have reacted by going all lovey, and while Chloe would never turn down snuggles from her girlfriend, it felt good to have someone who got she was attempting humor instead of lamenting.

“Well, you’re studying again, finishing off the Mass Effect trilogy, and Max said you wanted to do a Lord of the Rings Extended Edition marathon with her. Welcome back to the nerd club.”

“Fuck that, man. I’m forming my own social group. With blackjack! And hookers!” Chloe wilted slightly under Mikey’s amused skepticism. “Fine, but I’m not giving up my punk crew. I’ll thrash in every punk dive bar in Cascadia if I have to.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Mikey said as she and Chloe shared a fist bump.

———————————

It was getting very late when Vanessa drove their guests back to the hotel they were staying at. Chloe and Max followed in Chloe’s truck. Drew’s team bus was leaving super early next morning, and none of them felt like having a rushed Sunday morning.

As Drew and Mikey carried their game equipment back into the motel, Steph approached Chloe and Max, who’d parked behind Vanessa.

“It was really great to see you again Chloe, and to meet you Max,” Steph said, giving them both hugs. “I’d understand if neither of you want to cross the state line into Oregon again, but I really hope you two could come down to Corvallis in the next few months, so we can have a proper college party.”

“I think I’d be up for that,” Chloe said before turning to Max, her face questioning.

“That sounds great,” Max said, a small smile on her face. “It was awesome meeting you Steph.”

Steph gave a small grin. “Thanks. And I hope some of the stuff I told you about will prove useful.” Steph put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Both of you take care of yourselves, you hear? Keep in touch.” After getting commitments to do just that, Steph departed into the hotel.

“What she’d mean be ‘what I told you about’? Is this that serious conversation I saw her having with you and your mom?” Chloe said, turning to Max.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call it ‘serious’. She commented on the Thorns tank top my dad got you and asked about the two of us.” Max started rubbing her arm. “I think she could tell I was new to all this, especially when I blurted out that I had no idea I wasn’t straight until I met you.” Max now laughed at her own embarrassment. “Apparently she works at OSU’s Pride Center, and she helps students find LGBT-friendly places wherever they might end up. She said we should check out the Thorns big rival in the NWSL, the Seattle Reign. She also recommended Rat City Roller Derby and and Rainier Rollergirls. Then she wrote down a bunch of links for lists of clubs, venues, and other places. Kinda scary how the girl knows more about the place I spent five years than I do.”

“She knows one specific factor of Seattle better than you,” Vanessa said, approaching the two and putting a hand on each of them. “And Ryan and I couldn’t be happier to support you in finding like-minded people. With some of the pictures I’ve seen of roller derby, you’d fit right in, Chloe.”

“Hm, maybe I should become a player. Probably wouldn’t make the cut though, was never that good in gym.”

“Don’t kill your dreams before they’re born Chloe,” Vanessa said. She then kissed Max on the forehead and gave Chloe’s shoulder a squeeze. “Now unless you two have plans, I’ll see you at home.” She then got into her car and departed.

Chloe and Max looked at each other, decided they were both tired, and followed Vanessa back home.

————————

Sunday morning saw sunlight eventually trickle through the shades of their bedroom. Chloe and Max, both naked, stirred and decided to spend the time cuddling closer together. After they’d gotten back last night, Chloe had been determined to prove that she always rolled a 20 in real life when it came to her giving skills, and Max certainly wasn’t in the mood to stop her. Thankfully Max had a pillow to disguise her noises, though Chloe suspected Max’s parents had to be aware. Whether they were playing dumb or actually happy for their daughter in some weird way, Chloe was grateful for the moments like this. Having Max’s bare body pressed against hers, feeling her chest expand and contract while Chloe idly played with her nipples was a feeling somehow even more comforting than their lovemaking itself. Max turned around so that their noses almost touched.

“Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“Yesterday was a really good day,” Max’s eyes closed and the smile she already had spread across her face. “I hope we can have more days like that.”

Chloe planted a chaste and loving kiss on Max’s lips, and they both drifted off into weekend-morning slumber.
 

 

Chapter Text

‘Today,’ Chloe Price thought to herself as she sat in the backyard of the Caulfield residence, chewing a piece of nicotine gum as hard as she could, ‘has not been a good day.’

As far as Chloe was concerned, this day was still the same day as yesterday. Lack of sleep will fuck with you like that.

Yesterday had started routinely. Chloe and Max woke up, had breakfast with her parents, Max’s parents left for work, and Chloe drove Max to school, giving her as deep and public a kiss as possible before patting her rear end and ushering her into school. After getting home, she studied for a couple hours before (and she wasn’t sure why or when this started), she stripped and lounged around the house in the buff. She was sitting on the couch, continuing the play through of Fallout: New Vegas that she’d started before she jumped at her phone playing the ringtone she’d set for Vanessa. Any embarrassment at talking to her girlfriend’s mother while naked vanished as Vanessa’s panicked voice explained that she’d received a call from the school that Max had had a breakdown in class and had locked herself in a bathroom stall, and that Chloe could get to the school much faster than her or Ryan so could she please, please go help Max?

Chloe was proud that she remembered to dress herself before storming out of the house and driving towards the school in a desperation that she hadn’t felt since the Storm. Parking in front of the school and sprinting into the front door while dialing Vanessa. The combination of her angrily shouting and Vanessa’s pleas over the speakerphone quickly cowed the school resource officer to lead her to the bathroom in question. A few students milling around the bathroom were being shepherded to their next class when Chloe pushed through them and past the teacher standing outside the bathroom door, and the one standing inside before seeing the one closed stall and knocking on it.

“Max, Max, are you in there?”

“C-Chloe?” Max’s voice was so soft and broken, it made Chloe want to rip the door of its hinges. “Is anyone else there?”

Chloe quickly turned to the teacher still standing a few feet away. “Yo, fuck off,” which caused the woman in question to quickly exit. Chloe then turned back towards the stall door. “It’s just us Max, now please open the door.”

Chloe lurched forward as Max swung the stall door open, and they enveloped each other in a hug.

“I-It’s happening again, Chloe.”

“What is?” Chloe asked, trying to contain the panic in her voice.

“I-I fell asleep in art class, and I saw it. I saw t-the Storm. Coming over the Sound. Just like Arcadia Bay.”

Chloe held onto Max as tight as she could.

“A-And, I tried to rewind, when I got to the bathroom, but nothing happened. It’s gone, Chloe, I can’t do a-anything to stop it.”

Chloe had no idea what to say. She wanted to tell Max that she’d just fell asleep in class due to the fact that neither of them were sleeping well, and that the dream was just psychological shit, but she wasn’t the authority on chronomancy, or the freakish weather it caused. So she just held Max until she calmed down somewhat, led her out of the bathroom, and curtly told the woman who’d she later find out was the principal that she was taking Max home.

The drive home was silent; the time at home even more so. Max wasn’t interested in engaging, and Chloe decided to respect that. She’d certainly had her share of times when she wanted solitude. The real trouble began when her parents came home. They both wanted her to stay home the next day, and Chloe completely agreed with them. Max certainly did not, and with shouts of “I’m not getting put back on my IEP!” and other refusals to admit weakness, Max somehow had won a 1v3 argument. Dinner was quick and curt, and when Chloe and Max went to bed, it was without words and facing away from each other. Chloe stayed awake, staring at the wall; this was the first time since coming to Seattle that they’d gone to bed angry with each other. Chloe was about to turn around and shake Max awake, to tell her she loved her and that she was proud of Max for wanting to tough it out (though she really wasn’t, but Max would probably like to hear it), when Max turned around herself, and placed the gentlest touch on Chloe’s back.

“Chloe,” Max whispered, and Chloe didn’t respond, because the tone in Max’s voice told her that she thought Chloe was asleep. “I know you’re angry at me, but I promise you: Arcadia, Seattle, the whole f-fucking world, I’m not going to let anything happen to you, no matter what you feel about me.”

Max laid her head back down, and Chloe eventually heard her breathing soften to indicate she’d fallen into a fitful sleep. Chloe continued to stare at the wall, visions of ever-greater carnage overwhelming her mind until the morning light of the sun filled the room and she didn’t feel the need to pretend to be asleep anymore.

—————————

 Ryan had taken one look at Chloe’s fatigued figure during breakfast before declaring that he would take Max to school this morning; Chloe didn’t really have the energy to argue. After the two of them left, Chloe quickly retreated to the computer in their bedroom and did something she’d been stringently avoiding: looking up the latest news on Arcadia Bay. Obituaries of people she knew or knew Max knew, congressional committee hearings on how all the crazy shit that preceded the storm happened, speculation that with the harbor and mill wrecked, the Prescotts dead, and most people using FEMA resources to start over somewhere else, whether they’d even bother rebuilding the town. Further articles confirmed that neither Salem nor D.C. seemed interested in doing much aside from clearing roads and hazards.

From there, Chloe started looking up weather patterns in Seattle, the likelihood of Mt. Rainier erupting, and general population figures. ‘Arcadia Bay only had 1,600 people, the Seattle metro has more than 3 million.’ Chloe saw news stories flashing through her mind of the massive devastation another storm would cause, an unending list of casualties running over her eyes like movie credits.  Chloe violently shook her head in an attempt to make them disappear, but that only seemed to make them move faster. Men, women, children, all dead.

And all to save her.

That was, as Chloe allowed her mind to return to the present, how she found herself sitting in the secluded Caulfield backyard, shoving another piece of nicotine gum into her mouth as she felt the old one lose its kick.

“Chloe?” a feminine voice inquired. Chloe turned around and saw Vanessa standing a few feet behind her. She vaguely remembered that both her and Ryan had taken the day off to be ready to spring to action if something came up with Max. Another reason she wasn’t able to do her normal routine. The Caulfields would probably take a dim view of their daughter’s freeloading girlfriend lounging naked on their couch.

Vanessa approached Chloe and sat down next to her. “Ryan made lunch, and after you didn’t come down we saved it for you. It’s in the fridge once your gum wears off.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Caulfield,” Chloe said awkwardly. “Did Ryan say anything about Max?”

“Apparently she was pretty unresponsive the whole trip,” Vanessa said wearily. She then turned to Chloe and gave her a pleading look. “Chloe, you know what’s going on more than my husband or I do. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Chloe demurred for a few seconds before settling on a version of the truth. “She…had a dream about a storm like the one in Arcadia Bay destroying Seattle.”

That caused Vanessa to sigh and face forward again. “I suppose I’m not surprised she’d be having dreams like that,” she then turned her head up to the mercifully clear sky. “The storm, everything with that evil teacher she studied under, I just wish we’d never let her go back to Arcadia Bay.”

Chloe could hear her own breathing accelerate, and a pressure in her head causing her peripheral vision to cut as her head hung low. She felt hands roughly grab her shoulders and turned to see Vanessa staring at her with a look of wild regret.

“Chloe, that is not what I meant-”

“You should,” Chloe rasped, turning her sight back to the ground. “Without Max there, I’d be dead in a school bathroom, and so many more people would be alive and better off.”

“Don’t say things like that, Chloe, they’re not true!” a voice said to Chloe’s side said. Chloe ignored it and barreled on.

“I’m ruining your daughter with all my needy abandonment bullshit and getting her addicted to drugs and all the danger I’ve put her in and I’m going to get of your lives before I destroy anything else,” Chloe rambled before springing up. She felt something try and grab her, noises begging her to stay, but she threw them off and ran into the house.

———————————

Chloe had managed to throw maybe a third of her clothes into a suitcase before she collapsed on the bed. She really should be finishing up and leaving, but erasing every trace of yourself and driving to the bottom of Puget Sound took effort.

Chloe wasn’t even worth the effort needed to kill herself.

She thinks about David’s gun, buried somewhere in Max’s room where it couldn’t be stumbled upon, but dismissed it. Max would get stronger and better if she simply vanished, but leaving a mess in her room would be the exact opposite of what Max needed. Chloe wasn’t sure how long she spent buried in Max’s bed before she heard the bedroom door open and large steps approach the bed.

“Hey Chloe,” Ryan said, forced levity evident in his voice. “Planning a vacation?”

Chloe snorted in spite of herself, and Ryan sat down on the bed next to Chloe.
 
“I’m…I’m sorry I was such a bitch to Vanessa,” Chloe weakly said.

“You were no such thing,” Ryan said firmly, his hand coming to squeeze Chloe’s shoulder. It was firm but gentle, warm. “Tell me what’s going on, Chloe.”

Chloe spent what felt like an eternity trying to condense every awful thought running through her head into a single phrase. Eventually she told Ryan “You need to help me save your daughter from me.”

“Why would Max need protection from you of all people?” Ryan asked, confusion laced in his voice.

“Well…all the drugs and shit.”

“Chloe,” Ryan said with the slightest trace of amusement among the tone of authority, “Max having a single beer and inhaling a couple times in our backyard on Friday nights isn’t going to make her a deadbeat. Honestly, the weed seems to be helpful if anything. I should look up whether you two could get prescription marijuana.” Ryan’s voice lost its amusement, replacing it with somberness. “I know it’s a lot deeper than that, Chloe. Please, tell me what you can.”

Ryan’s hand on her shoulder continued to radiate warmth through her body. It made Chloe feel uncomfortable feeling she hadn’t felt in years. Maybe laying out as much as she could would show him the need to give her the boot.

“Did Vanessa tell you what I said, about dying in a bathroom?” Ryan made a noise of affirmation to that. “I was in a girl’s bathroom in Blackwell to blackmail Nathan Prescott after he drugged me in honor of his fucking mentor. He pulled a gun on me, and he would have shot me if Max hadn’t been hiding in the corner and hit the fire alarm. I almost ran her over in the parking lot a few minutes later. That’s our big reunion story.”

Chloe expected Ryan to say something at this point, but he remained silent, his hand starting to make rubbing motions on Chloe’s shoulder. Chloe decided to continue.

“And everything that happened to her after that, all the trouble with the Prescotts and Jeffershit, was because I kept guilting her into helping me with finding Rachael and stuff. You know all that cash you’ve seen us waving? We didn’t find it lying in the road after the storm, I stole it from Principal Well’s desk, the fucking handicap fund. Max tried to stop me, but I just guilted her over needing the money to pay off my drug dealer.”

She definitely thought that Ryan would finally condemn her at this point, but his only action was to shift his hand’s rubbing motions to her upper back. She decided to lay out the last of it.

“And during the storm, I got myself trapped through my own reckless bullshit, under some debris near a gasoline trail. There…was a building across the street that had the same gas trail towards it, and both caught fire. There were dozens of people in there, and Max knew she only had time for one. And she chose me.”

Chloe was crying now, ugly tears staining the sheets. “I wasn’t worth any of those people in that building. And now Max thinks that it’s happening again, that even more people will have to die to keep my worthless ass alive, and I can’t just let her keep doing it until she finally gets that look.”

“What look?” Ryan asks, voice carefully measured.

“The look that…that I’m not worth it. That all the shit I put people through with my bullshit just isn’t worth it. Everyone’s given me that look: the teachers, other students, Rachael probably, my step-dad, even m-my mom-”

“Chloe-” Ryan said, as though doubting the last part.

“My step-dad would hit me, sometimes,” Chloe continued, cutting off anything Ryan was planning to say. “It was rare, but it happened; and when I would come down from my room, with a black eye or whatever, mom would just give me that look and say that I needed to stop provoking him, because she needed David in her life more than she needed me.”

“Oh Chloe,” Ryan said, with an amount of affection that Chloe found strange, his hand continuing its ministrations on her back. Chloe found herself unconsciously resting her head on Ryan’s lap.

“Max has sacrificed so much for me,” Chloe choked out. “She’s going to keep trying to save me, but eventually she’ll realize what everyone else realized, that she’s wasting her time, and I can’t be there when she realizes that, and I know I’m making it all about me now, but when I see that look on her face, I don’t know what I can do expect fucking die!” Chloe was heaving ugly sobs now, no doubt ruining Ryan’s jeans.

Ryan was silent, continuing to offer comfort while Chloe’s sobs petered out. Eventually Chloe heard his voice cut through the fog in her mind.

“Max wrote letters to you,” Chloe turned her head so that her puffy eyes could look at Ryan, prompting him to continue. “She would spend hours typing out messages on her phone, or write whole pages to you. But she kept deleting the texts, and stuffed the letters into one of her drawers. They’re probably still in here somewhere,” Ryan glanced around the room before turning his attention back to Chloe. “We kept asking her why she wasn’t sending them, and she kept saying ‘Chloe deserves better’, or ‘it’s all about my own shit and would just make her feel worse.’ Eventually she just stopped trying. We talked about sending them for her, forcing the issue, but it wasn’t our place to do that.”

Chloe knows that he’s right: forcing Max to keep up a friendship across state lines would have been wrong for them as parents. She still wished they’d done it though.

“We knew that William’s death hurt her. All of us, myself, Vanessa, and even Joyce, were always a bit envious of how he could connect to the two of you. But…we underestimated just how badly that and leaving you affected her. She became…so quiet, and anxious. The school placed her in an IEP because she apparently was barely able to interact with others. The friends she did have seemed more like associates.” Ryan sighed deeply, before continuing. “Vanessa and I could have done so much better for her, and you, and I know it’s not a good excuse, but we were scared. Our jobs back in Arcadia were in danger, and I made the gamble of getting a new job and mortgage in a different state when the housing market was falling into the abyss. I didn’t feel like I had an ounce of job security, and Vanessa had to spend years freelancing before she was finally able to land a good gig, despite her qualifications.” Ryan paused and started to sweep his vision around the bedroom, Chloe continued to look up at him. “This house, it’s what we always wanted. It’s nice and big, and in a good, quiet neighborhood. But there were so many sleepless nights where we wondered if we’d fucked up, and that soon Max would have to be doing homework under a reading light in a shelter without the only person in the world who could truly be there for her.”

Ryan looked down at Chloe, his gaze intense and serious. “Chloe, the things you’ve said…I wish I knew the things to say, but I’m not a therapist. So I’ll just say this: I know my wife and I are…more reserved than your parents were, and that we weren’t able to show you the way your parents showed Max, but you were always a second daughter to us. And right now, you are loved, and you are wanted, and you always will be.”

Chloe could feel tears brimming at her eyes again as Ryan pulled her off his lap and brought her in for a hug. Feeling his embrace was strange, yet warm and familiar.

“How about you come downstairs?” Ryan asked as Chloe’s breathing and body movements became calmer. “I made sidecars for you and Vanessa before I came up here.”

“Cocktails, at this hour?” Chloe asked with a bit of amusement. She actually had no idea what time it was, but she was pretty sure there was still plenty of daylight left.

“Well, you know what they say: ‘It’s five o’clock somewhere’. And…” Ryan glanced at the clock on their night stand. “It is currently just past five in Newfoundland. So let’s celebrate with the fine people of St. John’s.”

Chloe chuckled, her voice raspy. “You and your Canadian lumberjack vibe, keep expecting you to move up to B.C. any day.” She allowed Ryan to help her stand up. “And the sidecars and other cocktails, you’re trying to make a more responsible drinker by getting hooked on the shit that’s too expensive to get blackout drunk on, aren’t you?”

“Our insidious plot exposed,” Ryan chuckled as both of them headed downstairs.

————————————

Vanessa was sitting on the living room couch, a martini glass in hand and her eyes red and puffy. She quickly put her glass down and stood up when Chloe entered the room.

“Chloe, I am so sorry,” she said, coming up to Chloe, her arms twitching like she was afraid a hug wouldn’t be wanted.

“Don’t be, I’m sorry I just…threw all my shit onto you like that. I know you never meant to imply anything. You just…want Max to stop hurting, and Occam’s Razored it.”

“Sometimes I think Max has never stopped hurting from the moment we left at your father’s reception,” Vanessa said wearily. Her expression than became very urgent and pained.

“Chloe…that morning…I first heard about the Storm when I passing through the break room at work. I immediately tried to call Max, and…nothing.” Vanessa’s hand reached out and grabbed Chloe’s. “I don’t really remember much of what happened after that, just…me laying on the floor, begging Max to answer, my co-workers trying to comfort me, my husband coming and taking me home, calling and texting Max again and again while Ryan tried to reach anyone and anything from Arcadia we had a number for.” Tears had started to fall from Vanessa’s eyes, but she wiped them with her free hand and continued. “And looking back, it was kind of stupid, since of course the Storm would have knocked out the cell towers, but the more and more we tried, and the longer it went, the more we began to feel that she was gone.”

Vanessa grabbed Chloe’s other hand, no longer caring to stem her tears. “But when we got the call from her that evening, telling us she was at a motel in Raymond, that you’d driven her out of that hell and were bringing her home, it felt like all the color had returned to the world. And then you two drove up in the truck of yours the next morning, you both looked so tired and battered, but so alive,” Vanessa threw her arms around Chloe and started blubbering directly into her ear. “And that was you, Chloe. You brought our baby back to us.”

Chloe was crying again as she returned Vanessa’s embrace. After a few minutes Vanessa pulled away.

“These past weeks since you showed up, it’s been so hard seeing you both in so much pain. But we’ve seen the way you look at each other, with such love, and the moments you’ve had, like with the friends you brought to play that game,” Vanessa gestured towards the kitchen, where a print-out of her and Max losing it with Steph, Mikey, and Drew adorned the refrigerator. “There’s been moments when there’s such a light in Max’s eyes, that we haven’t seen in years, and you’re the one that puts it there.”

Ryan appeared next to them, handing the ladies their cocktail glasses while picking up a glass of water for himself. “It’s not going to be easy, Chloe,”he said. “And I’m not going to pretend that things like the money aren’t disappointing. But I can’t begin to comprehend how desperate you must have been, and I know you have no reason to do that again.” Chloe quickly nodded in a desperate attempt to affirm that. “But we’re prepared to do whatever it takes to help both of you, for as long as we have to. Now,” he said, smiling and regarding both her and his wife, “cheers.”

Chloe clinked her glass against the other two before taking a sip of the citrusy libation. She wasn’t sure if the Caulfields would be able to hold to their promises the longer they had to deal with her, but there was such love in what they said to her. Chloe was determined that she wouldn't throw it away.

Chapter Text

Max had used every source of news she could think of: the standard local and national institutions, alternative daily and weekly columns, conspiracy sites ‘I’ve certainly given them some material to get off on,’ and had even asked fellow students if they’d seen or heard about anything unusual (her actively talking to other people apparently qualified). But for all her efforts she couldn’t find any evidence of strange weather, eclipses, mass animal die-offs, or astronomical oddities that preceded the Storm. Chloe had insisted from the start that it was just a stress dream, and as the days passed Max started to allow herself to agree.

Still, everything always came back to the Storm. It or allusions to it appeared almost every night in her dreams. Every time Kate, Dana, or Victoria texted or called her seeking some form of comfort, she could only offer platitudes that reminded her of how she treated Chloe after her dad died, while her mind was consumed with thoughts of Juliet, Trevor, Taylor, Courtney, and all the other friends and family they had before Max blew it up, damn her to Hell. Just yesterday morning she’d seen an article by a ‘Juliet Watson’ in the paper and her mind immediately went to dark places, that lingered after she looked up online that the Juliet in question was in her 40s.

So many good people had died when Max made that fateful decision. Chloe had spent a lot of the time during their week from Hell that Max was a hero, but Chloe had been the one willing to give her life to save people who’d dismissed her as a lost cause. She had done what a hero would actually do.

It was a dark thought that had started creating snares in her mind. In every story she could recall reading, heroes put their own lives on the line to protect others. When Harry Potter had the choice laid down before him, he hadn’t hesitated to sacrifice himself to save the people he loved. Max had never thought she’d ever have to actually compare her trials to a teenager who had to go to war, but with her former powers it was hard not to make a comparison. Everyday the question she’d started asking herself became more pervasive: ‘Why weren’t you prepared to sacrifice yourself to save what you loved?’

The more time Max spent analyzing the fateful choice she’d made at the lighthouse, the more disgusted she became with herself. The whole time she was there, she had only had two awful choices: destroy a town filled with innocent people, or kill the most important person in the world? Why hadn’t she gone through the photo and then try to confront Nathan, take the bullet destined for Chloe? It was really the only option. Great power comes with great responsibility, and how had she demonstrated responsibility in her former ability to control time? She’d ended up hurting everyone: Chloe, Chloe’s parents, Victoria, and others. Everyone had paid a price for her powers except for her.

Max could tell her parents and Chloe were getting more worried for her. Her parents had been needling her and Chloe about talking to someone, as though a therapist wouldn’t just have her drugged and committed as soon as Max started talking. Chloe was trying to help, stepping up physical affection whenever she sensed Max was down, but she had her own fresh trauma that Max had given her to deal with, on top of the five years of trauma she already carried which, as Max took pains to remind herself, she was partially responsible for as well. She tried to do what she could, but lately it left her feeling guiltier than before.

Rachel probably would have handled it better.

Today, thankfully a weekend, had started with Max elbowing her mother aside as she rushed back into the bathroom she’d just vacated to grab her journal. She’d taken to bringing it in with her and re-reading her take on all the decisions she’d made while she did her business. She knew it would get her in trouble at some point, but she kept doing it. Her parents both had commitments, so she and Chloe had the house to themselves for a while. Normally Chloe would take advantage of this by having them make love somewhere that was decidedly not their bed, but she had disappeared upstairs to their bedroom at some point, and Max had no idea what she was up to. She herself had mostly spent the morning staring at the wall in the living room, allowing the dark tentacles in her mind to dangle her over the void until another call of nature caused her to head upstairs.

After answering it, she was about to head back downstairs when she heard crying coming from the third floor/livable attic where their bedroom and second bathroom was. It wasn’t the first time that this had happened. Usually Max would take the stairs two at a time to get there as quickly as possible, but now she was more cautious, worried that her own guilt trips would just make Chloe’s worse. Nevertheless, Max would never stand idly by while Chloe was in any sort of pain, so she ascended and entered through the open bedroom door.

Chloe was resting on her knees on their shared bed, looking down at old papers that were scattered across the queen-sized mattress. She looked up as Max closed the bedroom door behind her and approached the bed.

“Max,” she said, throat dry and eyes red, “why didn’t you send any of these?”

Max looked down at the papers and paled. They were old, crumpled, and many had fresh tear stains next to old blotches where Max had left her own tears in what felt like a different age. They were all the letters that Max had written Chloe during her first time in Seattle, that she hadn’t had the courage to send but also couldn’t destroy.

“Well…” Max said, because an actual answer was elusive. “They obviously weren’t good enough; you’re crying.”

“Of course I’m crying, Max!” Chloe said, picking up one of the letters. “There’s just so much…you put your heart into these Max, so much pain. Why didn’t you send them?”

“You didn’t need to hear about how I was hurting Chloe. Every time I tried to write something to help you it just ended up being about me.”

“Max…” Chloe said, getting off the bed and bringing her in for a hug. “These would have helped so much. I guess…I kinda get why you couldn’t send them, but you need to know your heart’s always been in the right place.”

“I’m sorry Chloe,” Max said, tears forming in her eyes as she buried her face in Chloe’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t send them, I’m sorry that you have to be stuck with me.”

Chloe stiffened and pulled away as Max internally cursed herself. She had definitely not meant to say the last part out loud.

“What?” Chloe said sharply, looking at Max. “What the fuck does that mean, Max?”

Max sputtered, with no idea how to react. She could probably pull this back and play it off as something with mild success, but then she felt the tentacles in her mind loosening their grip and letting her drop into the abyss.

“I never deserved to be your friend Chloe, even when we were young. The whole time we were friends I was just…weighing you down like an anchor, forcing you to drag me along and keeping you from making friends who could have been there when you needed them most.”

“What? That’s just such…” Chloe said, letting go of Max and waving her arms around in some strange gesture. “That’s bullshit, Max. You can’t seriously believe that.”

“I abandoned you Chloe!” Max said, her own voice starting to rise. “I left you behind when you needed me most, when someone like Rachel would have been there for you.”

“Rachel left me for a drug dealer and a psychotic art teacher, I don’t think she’s the best example,” Chloe said flatly. “Seriously Max, cut this shit out.”

“How can I? Everyday I see you in pain, blaming yourself for all the people that died, and I’m so shit at being a good friend I can’t make you see that I’m the one that killed those people, that I’m the one who should have paid the price!”

“Are you…are you saying what I fucking think you’re saying?” Chloe’s eyes lighting up in fury. “You think it would have been better if you’s sacrificed yourself?”

“You thought sacrificing yourself would make thing better! But they were my powers, my responsibility. I’m the one who should have taken that bullet, not you and not the town.”

’That’s the nice thing about self-sacrifice,’ Max thought as she watched anger and despair mixing on Chloe’s face, ‘you don’t have to live with the consequences.’

Chloe had fully let go of Max, and looked like she was about to explode. “Is that what you really want Max? You want to die?”

Max didn’t respond, because she didn’t really want to die. Deserve would be a better word. Regardless of what was going through her mind, Chloe seemed to interpret her silence as agreement, and she stormed past Max towards the door and swung it open. Max turned away as she heard the door slam shut, the reverberations shaking her soul.

‘I’ve finally done it, I’ve finally broken her with my bullshit,’ Max thought as she felt tears falling from her eyes. She heard tears coming from behind her and turned to see that Chloe had not actually left the room, but had apparently slammed the door shut again, and was now resting her forehead against it. Max could see the anger leaving Chloe’s body as her shoulders slumped.

“How do you think that would have gone Max? If you’d somehow taken the bullet for me. How do think I’d react to have you come back into my life after five years just to die like everyone else in my life? Do you think I’d have even bothered trying to live with that? Do you think I’d try to live with it if something happened to you now?”

“Chloe…” Max whispered, not knowing what to say. She watched as Chloe slid down the door until she turned around and slumped against the door, drawing her legs up towards her face. Chloe was looking at her now, appearing broken.

“Max…” Chloe said, seeming to weigh her her words very carefully. “We need to get help.”

“Help? Like therapy? Chloe, I don’t think-”

“We have to Max!” Chloe said, jumping up and walking back towards Max. “We’ve been trying to help each other other since we got here, and even if we’re saying the right things, we aren’t getting better.” Chloe had once again grabbed Max’s shoulders, a look of desperation in her eyes. “If we keep doing this, we’re just going to…fucking destroy ourselves and each other, and I will do anything, anything, to stop myself from hurting you.”

“Chloe…” Max said, bringing her hands up to cup Chloe’s face. “I never want to hurt you. If…you’re willing to do this for me, then I’ll do this for you. I just…I don’t think I can really get better if I don’t tell the truth. You said-”

“I don’t care what I said about keeping quiet,” Chloe said with an edge of determination in her voice. “I just…I just want to wake up together in the morning and not feel like we’re not being called by the void.” Max attempted to made a response, but Chloe cut her off by bringing her in for a clumsy, desperate kiss, which Max was all too happy to return. Eventually Chloe broke it, only to get Max to raise her arms to pull her shirt up, before having her lips trail down Max’s torso.

"When ou-my parents get home, I’ll tell them we’ll see someone. I know they’ve been researching people in the area that we could go to.” Max got out, before Chloe’s hands started working to get her out of her shorts. She decided to put off any further discussion of therapy so that she could return Chloe’s affections.

Later, after they’d gotten dressed again, they loaded up Skyrim on the Xbox they had in their room, enjoying the simple relaxation provided by randomly walking around the environment. When the Caulfields came home and Max told them that they’d like to see therapists, the look of barely masked joy in their eyes made Max feel warm inside. She still had a lot of doubts in her head about it, most of all if she even deserved to get better, but maybe, just maybe, things could turn out alright in the end, with Chloe and her family at her side.

Chapter Text

Chloe breathed in deeply through her nose, taking in all the aromas permeating through the Caulfield kitchen: the strong scent of soy sauce from the kung pao that was being prepared for dinner tonight, the cranberry sauce, and of course, the turkey that Vanessa had brought out of the fridge to add some preliminary seasoning to. Thanksgiving was only a few days away, and Max’s parents seemed to want to make it special. Chloe found it odd, facing the prospect of celebrating a holiday. Sure, she’d spent Halloween here in Seattle, but then she and Max had been too fucked in the head to really think about it. Now, with over a month and a few therapy sessions her head felt a little more clear to contemplate it. She hoped that the Caulfields hadn’t become the type who actually made you give thanks during the dinner, because Chloe felt like alternating between being thankful for having this new chance at life to raging at the price paid to obtain it, and she wasn’t sure which would come out if asked.

Max was upstairs, finishing homework in a place where the smells couldn’t distract her. Chloe was helping around the kitchen: helping the Caulfield’s with various chores actually made her feel somewhat useful. Doing the dishes had become a chore she shared with Max on most days, and just last week Ryan had given her a credit card linked to their family account with a request that something she could do was run errands from time to time while everyone else was at work or school. It gave Chloe the chance to explore new parts of Seattle on her own, so she wasn’t complaining.

“You doing okay there, Chloe?” Ryan asked, snapping her out of her reverie. He was standing over the wok, having just placed it on the stove for later. Chloe looked down and remembered that she had just finished cutting up the ginger, and that Ryan was probably expecting she actually do something with it.

“Yeah, sorry, Mr. C, just thinking about…things,” Chloe said, shrugging her shoulders and bringing the cut ginger over to the large bowl next to the stove where the other ingredients were. “Life, holidays, Max, the usual suspects.”

“You think about Max quite a bit,” Ryan said, smirking with a small amount of pride.

“Well, hard not to, her being so amazing and all,” Chloe replied softly. “Every time I think of her I’m reminded…how lucky I am, to have her in my life.”

“And we’re reminded how lucky she is to have you: you always are able to bring out the best in her,” Vanessa said, over by the turkey. “Could you bring me the turkey baster, Chloe?”

“Sure thing, Mrs. C,” Chloe said, grabbing said instrument and walking over to her. “Better make sure it gets cleaned properly if you want grandkids someday.”

Chloe immediately froze. She could see Vanessa’s eyes widen and hear Ryan stop what he was doing behind her.

’Fuck, bad Chloe, bad Chloe, where is filter!?’ Chloe began to reel on her feet, preparing to run out of the house and never show her face again. Fortunately, Vanessa started to smirk, and she could hear suppressed guffawing coming from Ryan’s direction.

“If you and Max were to have kids someday, I would hope you’d use slightly more hygienic means then my mother’s decades-old baster,” Vanessa said, grabbing it from Chloe’s distracted hands and filling it with whatever liquid she was preparing.

“R-Right, as you say, Mrs. C,” Chloe said, grinning in embarrassment. She turned to Ryan and noticed he had taken a serious expression. Upon noticing her attention, she began.

“Since this…topic has been brought up, I think now’s a good a time as any to discuss something Vanessa and I have been meaning to talk to you about.” Vanessa stopped what she was doing and turned to face Chloe as well. Chloe had the distinct feeling that she was actively shrinking to a size that would make Tyrion Lannister seem tall.

“Chloe…” Ryan began, seeming slightly uncomfortable. “Obviously we know that you and Max are together, and while I would always hesitate to use the term for people as young as you, I’m willing to say that you’re both legitimately in love.” Chloe nodded her head, affirming what she considered a basic truth, along with others like ‘Hydrogen has 1 proton’. “Since you both came back, you’ve been sharing a bed, and while there’s a floor and some space between our bedrooms, it’s obvious what’s going on in there.”

Chloe gulped, unsure where they planned to take this, but knowing in her head that it would not be good.

“We have two questions. One: have you both ensured that you’re safe?”

“Y-Yeah; we both got tested a few weeks ago: we’re clean.” While this was true, Chloe didn’t feel like mentioning that this was only after they’d started having sex. At first they assumed it wasn’t necessary since Max had literally no sexual experience beforehand and Chloe had gotten tested with Rachel, until one day Chloe had been waiting in front of the school to pick Max up when she realized she had no idea what the timeline was between the…physical side of her and Rachel’s relationship ending and her taking up with Frank and Jeffershit. While she would never believe in her darkest moments that Rachel would intentionally expose her to anything, she had been suddenly consumed by doubt, which caused her to, once Max had entered her truck, to speed to the nearest Planned Parenthood clinic, which she shooed Max into. Thankfully they both turned up negative; she had no idea what she’d have done if she’d given Max a disease.

“Good,” Ryan said, nodding his head. “And two: is everything that goes on have everyone’s willfully given consent?”

“Of course,” Chloe said, with a touch of fierceness. “I know I tend to pull Max out of her comfort zone, but I’d never-”

“We know, Chloe,” Vanessa said, approaching Chloe and putting a hand on her shoulder. “We just needed to hear you say it. And it’s a good thing that you pull her out of her comfort zone; in general at least, no comment on, well…” Vanessa shrugged her shoulders, her point made.

“Indeed,” Ryan added, drawing Chloe’s attention back to him. “That’s all we wanted to know, Chloe.”

“Seriously?” Chloe said, somewhat unbelieving. “No parental style threats or anything?”

“I could if you really want me to,” Ryan quipped, before his expression turned somber. “Sometimes I’d like to able to treat your relationship as a normal one and make you sleep in the guest bedroom, but it’s obvious separating you and our daughter is the worst thing to do.”

“Last Saturday night was certainly proof of that,” Vanessa said, her expression equally somber.

‘Oh right, Saturday night,’ Chloe thought. What had been a relatively good day had ended very not good in the slightest when Max had had a nightmare that could easily be ranked as one of her worst. Normally Chloe would get woken to Max’s nightmares by heavy whimpering that didn’t reach downstairs, but that night Max had been full on screaming, loud enough that apparently the next-door neighbors came over and asked about it the next day. Chloe had been desperately trying to wake Max while hearing the thundering of her parents coming up when Max awoke and promptly threw up all over Chloe. Ryan and Vanessa had busted through the bedroom door to see Chloe, chest and stomach covered in vomit, cradling Max’s head in the crook of her shoulder, whispering sweet nothings while keeping Max from pressing into her and getting it over herself. What followed was mostly a blur as Vanessa ushered them both into their bathroom and helped clean them with grim determination while Ryan changed their sheets.

“Yeah, well…” Chloe said, bringing herself back to the present. “I…” she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“We’re all family Chloe, we love and look out for each other,” Ryan said, returning to preparing dinner. “Speaking of family, something else we’d been meaning to ask you, are there any family members you might want to invite for Thanksgiving? It’d be short notice at this point, but we could try to arrange travel for them? If memory serves, Joyce didn’t have any living relatives of note, but William’s parents and brother are still around, yes?”

“Yeah, but…” Chloe said, thinking hard. “I don’t even know what state my uncle lives in, let alone how to contact him. I know my grandparents are somewhere in Idaho, but I don’t know how to contact any of them. I got the impression that none of them liked mom much, haven’t seen or heard from them since the funeral. Besides, my grandparents wouldn’t want to see me: they wouldn’t approve of some of the ‘choices’ I’ve made with my life,” Chloe said while air-quoting as hard as possible. It took a few seconds, but realization dawned on both Ryan and Vanessa’s faces.

“That’s…disappointing to hear,” Vanessa said quietly. “But I’d hope that, after everything that’s happened, they’d want to see their granddaughter.”

“Don’t bet on it,” Chloe snorted, jumping up and resting her butt on the counter. “When I was young and we went over to their place, we’d be watching the news and they’d make these really snide comments about ‘fags’. And when I talked to dad about my feelings for Max he said they were old and foolish and that I shouldn’t care about their disapproval.”

“Your feelings for Max?” Vanessa inquired, eyebrow raised.

“Oh, uh, shit, well…” Chloe stammered, trying to think of a better statement. “About…two months before he died I talked to my dad because I was…confused about my feelings towards Max. After all the things I’d heard my grandparents and a lot of the locals say about ‘queers’ I was pretty scared. Dad was awesome though: actually said that anyone who had a problem with who I loved could go fuck themselves.”

Ryan and Vanessa both smirked at that. “So our daughter was your first crush?” Vanessa asked.

“In hindsight…probably? At the time I was still sorting out my feeling when I learned that you were all moving, then dad died and Max left and everything got sort of…buried.”

“We’re sorry, Chloe,” Vanessa said somberly.

“No, it’s fine,” Chloe said. “Things in the Bay were bad and you had to make a move. I’m still angry sometimes, but…I’m trying not to be.”

“Which we certainly appreciate, Chloe,” Ryan said, coming over to stand in front of her. “Also speaking of family…are you sure you want to do this? With David, I mean?”

‘Oh right, David,” Chloe remembered. Truthfully, she’d been trying to forget all day that he was scheduled to come over to the Caulfield house in…half an hour, if the clock Chloe was looking at was accurate.

“We can still make him meet at a public place with more witnesses, or have him go through a lawyer,” Ryan continued.

“No, that’s…not necessary. I don’t want to make this any more complicated or expensive.”

“You said this man hit you, Chloe, multiple times,” Vanessa said with an edge to her voice. “You don’t worry about any of that, we’ll do whatever we need to to help.”

“No, look,” Chloe, said, stepping back so they were both in her line of vision. “You have no idea how much it means to me that you’re willing to back me up in this, but it shouldn’t be needed. David only hit me when our fights got really heated, and that’s not going to happen here. I’m not making excuses for him,” Chloe interjected as she saw Vanessa about to speak. “But from our conversations on the phone, we just need to sit down and settle stuff like the land where our house used to be. Normal, boring as fuck adult stuff. I just want to get all this settled with as little fuss as necessary. Besides, I’ve got Max and you two to support, so I’m really hopeful this goes smoothly.”
“Alright Chloe, as you said, we all have your back,” Ryan said, grabbing the kung pao ingredients and placing them in the fridge.

———————————————

Chloe ended up trying to start a fight with David before he’d even arrived. With a few minutes to spare she’d gone up to her bedroom and grabbed most of her GED prep books, placing them on the dining table where their conversation would take place. She was willing to bet that David would assume they were Max’s and it would give her an opening to hit him with. Or it would if Max’s hand on her thigh wasn’t reminding her to keep this cordial. She’d still get some satisfaction with his reaction though.
The doorbell rang and Ryan went to get it. The hand on Chloe’s thigh tightened and Chloe braced herself.

She didn’t really know what she was expecting when she saw David enter the dining room with a large briefcase in hand, but wasn’t expecting to see thick bags under his eyes and a aura of weariness coming off him. He looked…tired. It was a look Chloe imagined she’d sported many times before. Seeing the open chair across from Max and Chloe, he sat down, placing his briefcase on the table while Ryan joined Vanessa in standing against the counter behind the women.

“Chloe, Max, it’s good to see you’re both well,” he said, glancing at books on the dining table. “Yours?” he asked, gaze directed at Max.

“Chloe’s, actually,” Max said firmly, squeezing Chloe’s thigh to ensure she kept civil. “I’m back at my old high school.”

“Oh, that’s…good, that’s really good,” David said, slightly taken aback. He then turned his gaze directly to Chloe. “Chloe-”

“No,” Chloe said firmly. “We’re not doing some sort of mushy reconciliation or shit like that. We have business that needs to be dealt with, so let’s get to it.”

“Right,” David replied, looking somewhat deflated as he opened the briefcase, “not really sure what order to do this in, but…I got Joyce buried next to your father, and was able to get her a small headstone, not what she deserved, but there weren’t many resources on hand for things like that. It…only says ‘Price’, no Madsen or anything on it.”

“That’s…good,” Chloe whispered, looking down at Max’s hand, which had started rubbing circles on her thigh. “I’m…glad she’s at peace.”

“Yeah…” David trailed off, his eyes taking a far-off look. “Anyway,” he said, pulling himself back and getting a focused look, “first thing I’ll say is that the ABPD closed its investigation into the Blackwell break-in. You’re no longer wanted for any questioning.”

“That’s good,” Chloe said sardonically. “I have no fucking intention of ever setting a foot back in Arcadia Bay, for anything.”

David sighed. “Can’t say I blame you. As long as we’re on the topic of the police, the FBI and other groups that got involved in investigating the Jefferson and Prescott crap are going to be closing it in the next week or so. The report’s going to be made public then, and you and Max are in it.”

“What?” Ryan said, drawing everyone’s attention. “Why are their names in it?”

“Max and Chloe contacted me the night before the storm and told me about Jefferson and the dark room. Apparently they’d been doing their own investigation, looking for Rachel. I don’t know how they did it and I don’t really want to at this point, but their efforts broke the case open, hard to say what would have happened if they hadn’t and the storm hadn’t wiped it all out anyway. The report states as such.”

“Is there anyway we can get our names redacted? Is the FBI going to want to question us?” Max said, looking rather nervous. Chloe placed on of her own hands on Max’s thigh and squeezed.

“No on both. I asked some people about that, and they said that while a judge would be sympathetic to you wanting to keep your names out of it, it’s not enough of a compelling legal reason to withhold the information from the public. You can try, of course, but I don’t think it’d work. And I think the FBI and the Tillamook County sheriff want this over with. Jefferson and all the Prescotts are dead, save Kristine, so once we’d established the timeline of events they weren’t expecting to really learn anything new beyond where Nathan’s body might be, which we didn’t.”

“Well, I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what happens to us once our names are out in public like that. I’m sure there won’t be any negative repercussions,” Chloe said, voice oozing with sarcasm.

“I’m sorry, but nothing really to do about it,” David responded, pulling out a folder from his briefcase. “Now, the safe that had our important documents couldn’t be found, but thankfully the county’s been putting a priority on helping us restore what we need, so I’ve got copies of your birth certificate and social security card here.”

“Thanks,” Chloe said, taking the offered folder and putting it down in front of her. “Always good to have an extra.”

“We helped Chloe get most of her documentation back,” Ryan said at David’s confused look. “We also helped her get a new driver’s license, so now she’s registered as living at our house.”

“Yep,” Chloe said, patting the jeans pocket which contained her wallet and her new Washington state driver’s license. “It’ll make it easier to take the GED here and other shit.”

“Well, as you said, good to have an extra copy,” David muttered, seeming somewhat disarmed. “With that done, we need to figure out what to do with the old house, or more accurately the land it used to be on.”

“Is there really anything left even worth squabbling about?” Chloe asked.

David pulled out a photograph from his briefcase and showed it to Chloe. She guessed that it had been their house, because only one corner of it was still standing. There also wasn’t a lot in the way of debris, and Chloe had to assume that much of the house got carried off somewhere else.

“Joyce…passed without any sort of will, and some of the lawyers I spoke to who showed up to help said that without one we’d have to resolve between us, since we both have a claim.”

“You can fucking have it,” Chloe said, turning her gaze away from the photo and leaning back in her chair. “Bulldoze it, build a big vault, I don’t care. Like I said, I never plan to go back to Arcadia Bay. Don’t want anything more tying me there then there already is.”

“Is the house paid off?” Vanessa asked. “Any outstanding debts either of you would need to worry about?”

“No debts,” David replied, “Joyce used the money she got from William’s death to pay off the mortgage, so the bank has no claim. We still had outstanding bills, but I got those all paid off. Anyone contacts you about outstanding debts, it’s a scam.”

“How’d you pay off the bills?” Chloe inquired. “The FEMA checks can’t be that much.”

“Some money from Blackwell and Kristine Prescott. I was planning to detail that after we talked about the house.”

“Okay, but what are we even supposed to do with it? If you wanna rebuild on it, I’m happy to wash my hands of the place.”

“I’m not staying in Arcadia Bay. In a couple days I’m flying down to Texas. Got a job offer from Texas A&M to be on their security team. Guy I talked to said I had a good chance of getting up the ladder pretty quick based on my work on the Jefferson investigation. They’ve got a lot of VA resources there to. Hopefully it’ll help me be better at it then Blackwell.”

“That great David,” Max said. “I’m sure Joyce would be glad that you’re able to move forward with your life.”

“Thank you, Max. Wouldn’t go as far to say that I’ve moved…well anyway,” he turned back to Chloe, clearly not wanting to talk about that anymore. Chloe felt Max squeeze her thigh in apology, which she returned to acknowledge it.

“So if neither of us have any use for the land, do we sell it?” Chloe asked, trying to think of anyone who’d want it. “Is there anyone that’d even want it?”

“Not that I can think of,” David said, brushing his pornstache. “Pan Estates is dead, and most people are doing what you and I are doing and getting the hell out. I heard talk that NOAA is interested in buying a bunch of land and building a permanent research station to see if anything could be learned about all the weird crap that happened, but the places I heard mentioned were close to the coast as opposed to anywhere near our land. I think are only real option is to accept a buyout from FEMA or whatever agency handles that. I got an offer from them for $35,000, no where near what the house was worth, but if neither of what anything to do with it, I propose taking it and splitting it 50-50.”

“Yeah, that works,” Chloe said, mind reeling at the thought of having $17,500 in her name. “That seems…fair.”

“It’s not as much as you think Chloe,” David said, his voice taking on that lecturing tone that she really hated. “You’ll learn that once you actually have adult expenses.”

“Yeah, fine, what else do we still have to deal with,” Chloe bit out. Max’s hand squeezed her thigh again and she took a few deep breaths to calm down.

“I’ve got a few FEMA checks with your name on them. Should add up to a grand or two. They know to forward future ones to this address,” David said while tossing a few envelopes Chloe’s way. “Now, as I said earlier, I was able to get money from both Blackwell and Prescott. Sean Prescott’s will held a large bequeath to Blackwell’s endowment, and Kristine promised not to contest it. I think Wells had some crazy plan to actually try to rebuild Blackwell, but then that letter and the subsequent investigation scuttled those plans.”

“What letter?” Max asked, her tone betraying her curiosity.

“It wasn’t you? I guess I assumed…” David trailed off. “About a week or two after the storm, an anonymous letter got received by the Oregon Department of Education. It went into detail about your allegation about Nathan Prescott having a gun at school, and that Principal Wells deliberately attempted to intimidate and discredit you despite knowing that it was credible. It went on: stuff about how ‘Wells, with forethought, put his student’s lives in danger for the sake of Blackwell’s and his personal financial well-being’, ‘took bribes to expunge records of said students who were putting those lives at risk’, etc.” David stopped for a second looking around at the others in the room. “It was pretty damning, and while his office and computer got destroyed in the storm, the FBI found the backups he kept in the basement during the investigation into Jefferson. There was a lot of bad shit on there, and since it involved Nathan and had stuff about Rachel, Wells quickly became a subject. When they questioned him about the contents of the letter Wells sort of…cracked and said it was all true.”

“Wait,” a voice laced with fury said from behind them. Chloe and Max both turned to see Vanessa with her fists clenched and shaking and eyes nothing short of murderous. “You’re saying that Principal Wells told me that Max was making things up about other students when he knew full well that it had merit to it? That mother-fucking son of a bitch!”

“We will definitely be making some phone calls tomorrow,” Ryan said, his arms around Vanessa and looking absolutely furious himself.

Chloe turned back to David, giving Max a firm pinch in her thigh to re-orient her, as she still looked completely stunned by her mother’s word choice.

“Probably drunk when he did it to. I do remember including his habit to start drinking as soon as the day started."

“Wait, you wrote that letter?” David asked, looking stunned. Chloe could feel the six collective Caulfield eyes on her as well.

“Surprised, aren’t you? No one would suspect me. Didn’t have a single swear word in it. After everything he did to Max, I wasn’t letting the fucker do it again with new students, or run off with his money to some Caribbean island.”

“Well you certainly accomplished that, and I’m going to pretend I don’t know where it came from.” David got out, clearly still processing. “Anyway, after that happened Wells stepped aside and Ms. Prescott took over the whole thing. With her father’s bequeath Blackwell has an endowment in the millions, and she’s preparing to divvy it out to the surviving Blackwell students, faculty, and staff to help them move forward, as compensation for next of kin. I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about paying for college, Max.”

“What about Chloe?” Max asked immediately. “She was a student there, she deserves it as well.”

“Yeah, because community college is really expensive,” Chloe sarcastically interjected.

“You shouldn’t dismiss the idea of a four-year university, Chloe, you’re good enough.”

“Right, sure, don’t want to talk about it right now,” Chloe said, moving her hand off Max’s thigh and trying to ignore the hurt look on her face.

“Well Chloe wasn’t on her list, but you got a chance to convince her to put her on it,” David said, thankfully drawing everyone’s attention back to the main matter. “I had a few conversations with Ms. Prescott, and she’s very insistent on talking to you in person, Max. I think she has questions about Nathan.”

“What for? What kind of questions?” Chloe asked, suddenly feeling the need to defend Max. A Prescott within gun range could only be bad news.

“I don’t think she wants to kill me, Chloe,” Max said, turning towards her. “She was in the Peace Corps in Brazil just to get away from her father. I don’t think she’s like them.”

“That’s the impression I’ve gotten,” David added. “I think she just wants answers. I feel bad for the kid. Gets word in Brazil that her brother’s been murdered by one of his teachers and isn’t even on the plane before learning a storm wiped out her home town and killed the rest of her family. I don’t envy her. Anyway, she told me that she’d be coming up to Seattle in the next couple months and wanted to talk with both Max and Miss Chase about the scholarships and some ‘art grants’ or something, didn’t really understand it. She gave me her card to give to you, Max.” David offered a plain white business card to Max, who took it with nervous hands.

Chloe could see Max’s still wide from ‘art grants’, and decided to push forward. “Right, that’s great. Anything else?”

“Just a couple things. I’ve got a few things for you…not sure you’ll want all of them, but…” David pulled a few things out of his briefcase. “First thing you should know is that Rachel’s parents came to Arcadia Bay to claim their daughter’s body. I spoke to them, and I was able to convince them to let me have this:” he handed a clear plastic bag to Chloe, and Chloe nearly had a heart attack when she saw the single blue feather earring contained within, she quickly snatched it from David’s grasp.

“I…figured you wouldn’t have anything left of Rachel’s. So I got them to give me this for you. I think Mr. Amber still had some friends in the Bay, because they already knew from the report that you found the body, even though that wasn’t public yet. Mrs. Amber gave me this letter to give to you, I don’t know what she wrote in it.” Chloe took the proffered envelope, idly noting the return address was somewhere from Minnesota.

“They moved to…Minneapolis?”

“Mrs. Amber said that was their current address,” David replied.

“They moved halfway across the country while their daughter was still missing?” Ryan inquired, looking dubious at the thought of it.

“They moved about…three months after Rachel, well, disappeared,” Chloe responded. “Their family had been broken for years, thanks to me, and-”

“Rachel’s dad broke his family with his secrets and lies, not you, Chloe,” Max interjected fiercely.

“Right, well, regardless of who’s to blame, the case had gone cold, and her parents figured that with how broken their family was, Rachel had finally made good on her word and moved away to LA or somewhere without any intention of staying in touch.” Chloe suddenly became somber and pensive, “I don’t know if they actually believed that or just needed to believe that.” Chloe turned her attention back to David. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” David nodded. One more thing I was able to recover that I thought you’d want. No idea how it survived, but…” David’s extended his hand to Chloe, in it was a small black box. Chloe cautiously took it from him and opened it, nearly dropping it when she realized what it was.

“Mom’s engagement ring, from dad…” Chloe said, unable to believe it. Max placed a hand on her shoulder and Chloe smiled softly, eyes watering. “I…can’t believe it.”

“Well, that’s pretty much everything I have,” David said, closing his briefcase. “Now I figured this would take longer than it actually did, so the taxi I ordered won’t be around for another hour or so,” his attention turned to Max’s parents. “Is it okay if I wait here for it?”

“Of course,” Vanessa said politely. “If Chloe has no objection.”

“It’s fine,” Chloe responded.

David nodded, before getting up and asking for directions to the bathroom. Max got up and walked into the backyard, while her parents went into the kitchen.

————————————

Chloe had spent some time in her and Max’s bedroom, after squirreling away the things David had given her, using some of the breathing exercises her shrink had given her. She made her way back downstairs, feeling as calm as she could expect to. Until she looked out the backyard window and saw David and Max in conversation, David’s face concerned and Max’s-‘that fucker is making her cry and I’m going to fucking kill him.’

She slammed the door to the backyard open and marched towards the two of them, David actually taking a step back upon seeing her face, his eyes widening.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing!” Chloe demanded, putting herself in-between the two of them. She’d expected her voice to be loud enough that people in Everett would hear her, but instead it came out as a whisper, which was somehow more terrifying. “You think you can just come into this house and harass my girlfriend with your fucking bullshit-”

“Chloe!” Max shouted, wrapping her arms around Chloe’s waist. “It’s not like that! Just please, breathe.”

Chloe, who at this point would always take Max’s lead, took deep breaths, and felt the red retreat from the edges of her vision. She regarded David, who actually looked shaken by her visage.

“I was using the bathroom, and there was an open book lying there. I grabbed it, and it had a picture of Max…in what was clearly Jefferson’s dark room,” David got out. “She looked bruised and beaten, and I just wanted to know what happened.”

‘Shit,’ Chloe thought, Max’s bad habit of both keeping really distressing photos and leaving her journal in the bathroom had finally caught up to them. Before she could muster any response, Max moved in front of Chloe.

“Jefferson drugged and kidnapped me, right before we contacted you. He took me to the dark room and…used me like he used Kate, and Rachel, and all the others.”

David looked sickened. Chloe was sure her face had a similar look. She always felt like throwing up when she thought of Max in that little piece of Hell on Earth. “But…how?” David asked, “How’d he get you, how’d you escape?”

“I…” Max faltered, before seeming to find her courage. “I don’t remember much, just…a prick in my neck late afternoon at my dorm, while I was preparing for the party, and then I was lying on the ground in the dark room, him taking pictures of me, then…I was bound to a chair, and enough of whatever he used had worn off that he was able to gloat to me about everything he’d done, how he’d killed Nathan, and how I…wasn’t leaving the dark room. Sometimes I’m not sure I even have.”

“Max…” Chloe said weakly, tears in her eyes as she hugged Max. The idea that all this was a fantasy of Max’s while she was really still imprisoned in that awful place was a fear Max had mentioned before, but it still hurt just as much.

“I…He then drugged me again,” Max continued. “Not enough to kill me, obviously. I think he wanted to have another session before…but I blacked out again, and next thing I remember Chloe was there, untying me.”

Chloe was glad her face was mostly obscured by rubbing it against Max’s head, otherwise David would have certainly seen the surprise on it.

“Yeah,” Chloe stammered, thinking fast. “When I couldn’t reach Max. I got super worried and thought Nathan might have taken her, so I went back there and found her. And I freed her and got so angry and destroyed or deleted everything I could find with his work on Max. Max then told me Jefferson was behind everything, and that’s when we ran and called you.”

“Holy shit,” David said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I can’t even imagine…the report’s supposed to be issued soon, but this needs to be in…no,” David’s face took a firm form. “I promise I’ll keep this to myself, Ms. Caulfield.”

“No,” Max said firmly, “I want you to include it. I’ve been trying to pretend it never happened, but it’s not working, and people need to know that Jefferson was the real monster.”

Chloe wanted to tell Max no, but she seemed far too determined to be stopped. She turned her head and noticed Vanessa was standing in the doorway, looking suspicious. Max noticed to, and turned towards her.

“I need to talk to my parents,” she said before walking towards the house, leaving her alone with David.

David sighed deeply, before sitting down on the edge of the wooden patio they were standing on. Chloe joined him.

“Before I forget,” Chloe started, “I got this for you.” She pulled a clear plastic bag out of her pants, containing the gun and bullets she’d stolen from David.

“My gun, you did steal it!” David said, anger creeping into his voice. “Why’d-”

“Because Jefferson’s sith apprentice decided to practice on me. Drugged me and took me to his dorm room where he took the same kind of photos that his master took. And based on the look on his face when I came to, he was planning to have a little fun with me as well. Wasn’t expecting me to kick him in the balls and get out. When I tried to confront him about it later, he pulled his fucking gun on me. I’d be dead if Max hadn’t been there and pulled the fire alarm. That’s how she knew Nathan had a gun. So I took the gun, or is the ‘right to bear arms’ one of those ‘white men only’ amendments?”

“Shit,” David exclaimed, anger leaving his voice as he grabbed the bag. “I’m sorry Chloe.”

“Yeah, well, it’s all over now. Anyway, since Max and I decided to be so truthful, I want the truth on something as well.” At David’s quizzical look she continued. “Jefferson, what really happened?”

“What do you mean, what happened?” David asked, sounding incredibly evasive to Chloe’s ears.

“I mean, the explanation that he managed to overpower an officer before getting shot is bullshit. I know how fucking paranoid you are: you’d have never let him be in a position where he could do that. I want the fucking truth.”

David stared at the ground for a while before turning back to Chloe. “You listen very carefully, Chloe: what I’m about to tell you you repeat to no one, not even Max, got it?” Chloe nodded in affirmation, and David continued. “One of the officers tried to get him to the jail at first, but the storm had gotten so bad he had to turn back. All of us had to hunker down in the dark room, and the worse it got, the more we kept wondering: ‘what if it kills us and Jefferson somehow survives?’ We were surrounded by his work, and the thought that some messed up miracle meant he’d be able to walk out a free man while we’re all dead…”

“So you executed him.”

“One of the officers, yeah. I’m not saying who! You can’t tell anyone about this Chloe. It would undermine all the evidence against Jefferson.”

Chloe was silent for several minutes, before uttering “Good.”

“Good? What’s good?”

“That you killed him. That monster…violated Max.” Chloe could feel her whole body shaking, red seeping into her vision. “I wish he’d been there when I entered that bunker. I could’ve…could’ve covered every square millimeter of my body with his blood and it wouldn’t be close to being enough-”

“Chloe!” David said, putting a hand on her shoulder. For maybe the first time, his touch didn’t feel like slime on her skin. “You’ve never listened to me, not ever, but I’m begging you, just this once, take my advice. Jefferson deserved whatever punishment your mind has concocted, but if you’d actually done it…you can believe that since he was such a monster you could do anything to him and not be changed by it, but it’s not true. You’d treat Max, her parents, everything differently, and not in a good way.” David’s voice was starting to become thick. “It’d scar you, you’d end up like…like me.”

“David…”

“All I really wanted was to be a father to you. I learned pretty quickly that that would never happen, but I would have been satisfied if I’d been someone you could have come to, trusted, but all my…pain and crap from Afghanistan and Iraq made me be neither.” Chloe had awkwardly put her own hand on David’s shoulder, not really knowing why she did it. “I was almost exactly like you at your age, raising hell and not caring, then 9/11 happened and everything changed. I thought that the military could fix me, but I ended up getting discharged because I was too much of a loner. I thought Joyce and having a family could fix me, but I failed there to.”

“Yeah, well…” Chloe said, making the stupid impulsive decision to offer comfort. “I hear Texan women are really into the ‘Support Our Troops’ crap, so maybe third times the charm?”

“It can’t be like that,” David rebutted firmly. “I’ve had…so much time to think while staring at Joyce’s headstone, and I’ve realized how…unfair it was for me to push my need to fix myself on you two. Even if you’d both had no trauma related to your father’s death, it wasn’t either of your responsibilities to fix me, it was mine.” He put his hand on Chloe’s shoulder again, “If there’s one more thing I want you to listen to me about, it’s don’t do what I did and try to ‘man’ your way through everything that’s happened. I’m using every VA resource I can once I’m in College Station, and you should use whatever you can to."

“Max’s parents hooked us up with a couple shrinks,” Chloe replied. “Only a couple exploratory sessions so far, but…we’re working on it.”

“Good, your mother often told me she wished she could have afforded a therapist for you. Blackwell was lacking in that department.”

“No fucking kidding,” Chloe said. They both sat there, silent, for several minutes. “David?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m…glad you’re not dead. But no offense, I’d still swap you for mom in a heartbeat."

“Yeah…” David said, looking up at the darkening sky, “I’d swap with her in a heartbeat to.”

David’s phone chose that moment to go off. He pulled it from his pocket and then put it back. Looks like my taxi will be hear in a couple minutes. I left my briefcase on their porch.” He turned around and looked back at the house. “Max hasn’t come back yet. Maybe I should take the side gate there.”

“I’ll see you out,” Chloe responded, rising to her feet. David followed her and they both made their way to the front sidewalk. Soon, a taxi pulled up. David grabbed his briefcase and walked towards it, before turning back and facing Chloe.

“I’ll contact you regarding the land sale, and anything else you I think you might need to know. Otherwise…I guess this is goodbye.”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Chloe got out, not quite believing it. She hadn’t found a way to thank him for saving Max, or loving her mother when she needed someone that wasn’t Chloe, but it seemed like the opportunity had passed. She stuck out her hand, rigidly. “Take care of yourself, David.”

He grabbed Chloe’s hand and shook it. “Take care of yourself, Chloe.” He then turned around and walked towards the taxi, loading his briefcase in the trunk before getting in the back seat. Chloe turned back and walked into the house through the front door.

Neither looked back.

Back inside her new home, Chloe could hear noises coming from the kitchen. She quickly went in to investigate. She didn’t have the time to form a question before she felt Vanessa’s arms crush her in a hug while tears started drenching her shirt.

“You saved her,” Vanessa managed to choke out out. “You saved her, you saved her, you saved her…” it continued on, and Ryan, tears streaming down his own face began squeezing her as well, so hard that she was sure she’d heard some pops.

“Max…what the-”

“I told them what happened, what I told David,” Max replied, her own eyes red and puffy, coming over and somehow getting her parents to ease up a bit on Chloe. Chloe decided to hug back, and they all stayed like that for what felt like forever.

——————————

Dinner, once they had actually gotten around to finishing making it, was spectacular. After that, the whole family watched an episode of Miss Fisher that they streamed from Acorn TV. Soon, both her and Max found themselves in their bedroom, having been shooed away from the dishes. Chloe was at the window, holding a fake cigarette that she’d bought when the two of them went to the Archie McPhee store, Chloe thinking having something cigarette shaped to hold would help curb cravings. She was being vindicated right now, as she really craved a smoke, and just puffing on the bubble-gum wrapped in the cylinder brought some relief.

“Max?” Chloe said, her voice tentative as she looked over to said women at the computer desk.

“Yeah, Chloe?”

“Do you think, and I’m not trying to be super depressing and shit, but do you think mom would have approved of the choice you made?”

“Oh Chloe,” Max responded, her tone clearly heart-broken that Chloe had to ask. “Joyce-”

“It’s just…” Chloe cut in. “I remember during the whole meeting Rachel scenario when Joyce thought I’d actually run away, I snuck in to our house and I could hear them…they seemed so happy. Just…having me out of the picture let her…live life again and-”

“Chloe,” Max interjected, coming over to her and putting her hands on her shoulders. “I know you said that she’d look the other way when David would hit you, and I believe you, but please don’t doubt that she did love you. I know that…even no matter how much I hate myself for all the death I caused, if Joyce had been able to…astral project herself to the lighthouse, she’d have taken the photo and ripped it into a million pieces, and told us not to worry about her, and live. I really believe that Chloe. Even when I’m overwhelmed by guilt, feeling like I murdered your mother, I still know in my heart she’d want to be next to William instead of you.”

“Fuck Maximus, thats…” Chloe didn’t know what to say to that. She certainly wanted to believe it, and decided that she would, at least for now. “Why’d you tell everyone I rescued you from the dark room? I was taking a fucking dirt nap on top of Rachel.”

“Because it feels like you did,” Max replied. “Every second I was in their, all I could think of was doing whatever I could to save you, and that gave me strength I never would have had otherwise. It feels like the truth, so that’s what I’m going with for our upcoming joint session."

‘Right,’ Chloe thought, ‘our joint session.’ It was Max’s idea to have a joint session with both their therapists and lay out as much of the truth they felt safe disclosing. A bit too much for Chloe. “Are you still sure about that Max?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ve built enough of a narrative that I think it makes sense. Stuff like you paralyzed and the other time stuff are stress dreams and stuff. Not sure what they’ll think of me passing out from nightmares that had the storm before it actually happened, but that’s a risk I feel I need to take.”

“Right…well if they call some secret government agency on us, I’ve got the bug-out bag, and we’re only a few hours from the border.”

“It won’t come to that, Chloe.” Max paused for several seconds before looking guilty. “Chloe, everything that got said today, about Joyce-”

“Max, I’ve never held you responsible for her death. I just…” Chloe stopped, choked up as tears started to fall. “I loved her so much, Max, and our last days together were just us fighting and all our other bullshit. I just want…I just wish I could make peace with her, the way I managed to with David right now.”

“You will, Chloe.”

“But how, Max? You know I haven’t really believed in God or the afterlife since I was, like, ten. I was so scared everyone would hate me for it,but you and dad were so supportive, but how do I make peace with the dead if I feel like that?”

“I don’t know what happens after we die, Chloe. Maybe it’s Heaven and Hell like the Bible says, maybe it’s white shores and a far green country with a swift sunrise like in Tolkien, but I know that everything you’re doing right now, Joyce would be so proud of you, just like me, and my parents, and even David, I could tell, are proud of you. If we…keep remembering that in our hearts…then I hope we both will be able to find peace.”

Chloe didn’t have any verbal response to that. She just kissed Max on the lips, with as much force as she could muster. Max returned it with an equal fierceness, pulling Chloe towards their bed. Their make-out session eventually died down before it could get too physical, both too exhausted and worn down from the day's trials. Chloe let the shorter woman be the big spoon, and they both drifted off into sleep.

Chapter Text

Max sighed deeply as she parked her father’s Mini Cooper in the parking lot outside the building that housed both her and Chloe’s therapists. She would have preferred to have spent the whole of Chloe’s session waiting for her dutifully in the waiting room, but she’d been asked to get some groceries while they were out and Max didn’t feel it a good use of time to have sit on her butt for 90 minutes and then inconvenience Chloe by dragging her along on errands when she usually wanted to get home as quickly as possible; which was why Max was using dad’s Mini instead of Chloe’s truck: Chloe got anxious both pre and post-session, necessitating that Max drive, and she felt far more comfortable driving the Mini; Chloe’s truck felt like an aircraft carrier in comparison.

She eventually made her way to the waiting room, idly kicking her feet together as she sat in one of the chairs. She was almost thankful when her phone’s text tone went off.

Victoria: We’re still meeting tomorrow, right?

Max: As far as I know we’re still on. This before or after your secret meeting with Chloe?

Victoria: Bitch was supposed to keep that secret.

Max: As the GF, I am the only one who gets to call her stuff like that, if I wanted to, which I don’t.

Victoria: Sorry, it’s just hard not to, coming away from every interaction with her.

Max: I’m a bit surprised you’d talk to her in the first place, what’s it about?

Victoria: *Sigh*…last time we all met she mentioned she designed that sleeve tattoo on her arm. I asked if she could design some things for the logo on my business cards.

Victoria: And since I have no problem with throwing her under the bus, we were going to talk about pressuring you into starting a proper online profile for your portfolio.

Max: Isn’t that counter-productive for your own art career?

Victoria: You’re the one taking the gap year so you can hang out with your drop-out GF. We’re not directly competing for class spots anymore.

Max: We can stop this if you keep insulting Chloe.

Victoria: Sry Max.

Victoria: Can we talk about this in person tomorrow?

Victoria: I just…

Victoria: Dana and Kate are in Portland, you and Chloe are literally all I have after everything.

Victoria: I know I’m a bitch, especially to people I should be nice to…

Max: Vic, I know how hard this is, how much we’re all hurting.

Max: We can definitely talk about this tomorrow.

Victoria: Thanks Max, but seriously, give in to Chloe’s demands, because I want to limit how much we actually have to cooperate.

Max laughed at that, and looked up from her phone to see a drained-looking Chloe and the attractive blond woman that was Chloe’s therapist emerging from the doorway.

“Hey Chloe, how’s it-”

“Really gotta piss, Max, gimme a sec,” Chloe said, before moving past Max and towards the marked bathrooms. Max didn’t take offense: Chloe needed the few minutes to herself. She turned towards the therapist, watching Chloe go with a slightly concerned look.

“Hello, Dr. Lance, tough session?” Max asked.

“Hello to you to, Max, and please, just Dinah,” the woman responded. “As for the session, I of course have to cite doctor-patient confidentially, though I know that Chloe will tell you in due course.”

“Of course, it’s just…the sessions with Dr. Bertinelli and the couple with both of you made me realize how unprepared I would have been to help her through five years of trauma that I’m partly responsible for.”

Dinah sighed deeply at her comment. “We all want to help the people we care about, even those of us with the credentials usually end up failing when we lose the lens of objectivity. And it’s not like you didn’t have your own trauma, Max.”

“I suppose being so socially anxious without your friend you had to be placed in an IEP doesn’t muster as normal,” Max said, sheepishly looking down.

Dinah put both her hands on Max’s shoulders, offering her a small smile. “Helena will give me hell if she finds out I was doing her job, but I’ll say don’t worry about what’s normal, unless it’s regarding societal opinions regarding murder.”

“Yeah, well, no plans to become a serial killer in the near future,” Max said nervously. She wouldn’t consider herself a serial killer, though “genocidal” could fit on her dark days, and was probably worse than a serial killer anyhow.

Dinah smiled sadly, seemingly picking up that what she’d said had upset Max somehow. “I know you take a lot of blame on yourself Max. I wish Dr. Bertinelli and I could help you both faster.”

“The fact that you’re helping us at all is…well, more than we hoped for,” Max admitted quietly, turning her head to see Chloe returning to them. “Ready to go, Chlo?”

“Damn right, have fun talking about me?”

“I was just comparing you to my husband,” Dinah said, her tone making it obvious she was joking. “Both of you combining puns and dumb jokes? Truly something that we all need to avoid.”

“Yeah, well, I’m destructive enough on my own,” Chloe said with a small amount of bite. Based on past experience, Max knew Chloe would apologize for that later. Despite what she might say, she actually liked Dr. Lance.

Max gave a quick apologetic wave to Dr. Lance (which she seemed to interpret correctly) before she and Chloe left the building and headed towards the parking lot. Chloe quickly got into the passenger seat while Max climbed into the driver’s side, pulling out and pointing them in the direction of home.

It was silent for several minutes as Max focused on driving. Eventually, she heard Chloe’s voice come from her right, far too timid for Max’s liking.

“…Max?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you…” Chloe trailed off, and Max glanced over to see her looking down at her hands, resting in her lap. “Do you feel obligated to me?”

Max turned back to the road while considering what Chloe meant. Deciding to go with a surface-level answer, she responded “Well…you are my girlfriend, and best friend to boot. Obviously I have an obligation.”

“No, I mean…are you in a relationship with me…friends with me because you feel obligated to me?”

Max looked over at Chloe, who was now looking directly at her. She looked vulnerable.

“Hold that thought Chloe,” Max said, returning her eyes to road. At the next intersection she took a right where they normally would’ve gone left. Chloe raised an eyebrow, but made no comment, choosing to settle back into her seat and stare out the window.

After a while of winding through the city streets, Max eventually pulled over and parked the car. To their right was a small park: it wasn’t anywhere near the size of Discovery Park, but still encompassed a several blocks and had several thickets of trees. Max made a beeline for one of them, Chloe following her dutifully.

Max spent a few minutes inspecting the various trees, Chloe standing aside with an inquisitive expression on her face. Eventually Max found a tall and dense evergreen that suited her purpose. Getting on her hands and knees, she began making her way under the thick tangle of branches.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the view Maxalicious, but what exactly are you doing?” Chloe’s asked, voice coming from directly behind Max.

“Just follow-Ow!-me, dummy,” Max replied. She figured Chloe was following her lead by crawling, based on the angle that the light slap to her rear came from, causing Max to smirk. The myriad ways that Chloe touched or slapped her butt were a complex language of various wants, needs, and casual lewdness, and she wasn’t going to pretend that she wasn’t enjoying her increasing fluency.

They got through the low-hanging branches into the empty space underneath the branches. Max sat down and rested her back against the trunk, shifting until she found a position that was somewhat comfortable. She gestured to Chloe and patted her lap.

“Really, here?” Chloe said playfully, reaching towards the button on Max’s jeans. “If you insist-”

Max swatted Chloe’s hand away. “No; lap is pillow, rest head.”

“I would practice making out on my pillow when I was younger,” Chloe quipped, wriggling her eyebrows before acquiescing and resting her head on Max’s lap, glancing around their surroundings before looking up at Max. “This…is actually kinda nice.”

“Hella nice,” Max responded. “We’ve got space to move around and all the surrounding branches means pretty much no one can see us.” Max’s expression turned somber. “Now, about what you said earlier…”

“Can we just forget about that Max?” Chloe asked, expression slightly frustrated.

“No, we can’t. I’ll say up front that I’m not with you because I feel like I have to be, but obviously me just saying that isn’t enough, so I need you to tell me what’s going on.”

Chloe locked Max into a staring contest, clearly hoping that Max would let it go, but Max’s determined stare eventually caused Chloe to sigh deeply.

“Today…the shrink and I mostly talked about my relationship with Rachel, and you.” Max sucked in a deep breath, but made no comment, instead choosing to start playing with Chloe’s hair, prompting Chloe to continue. “Those first few days we were back together I kept throwing Rachel in your face to make you feel guilty about abandoning me, and I guess I just got it into my head that maybe all this…” Chloe stretched out her arms, as if encompassing everything that had happened to them the past couple months, “…is just because you feel like you owe me.”

Max was silent for several moments, contemplating her response while staring into Chloe’s vulnerable eyes.

“Chloe…you’re my best friend, and I abandoned you when you needed me most. I can’t pretend that I don’t have a lot to make up for. But…” Max interjected when she saw Chloe’s eyes start to fill with hurt, “…just because I have a debt doesn’t mean that I don’t want to pay it off with interest. Especially when payment involves orgasms,” she added with a grin.

Chloe’s eyes briefly widened at Max’s statement before a small grin formed on her face. “Look at you, being so lewd.” Her expression turned somber again before she rotated so the side of her head was now resting on Max’s lap. “I really wish I didn’t doubt what you’re saying, Max.”

Max suppressed the flash of hurt that ran through her as quickly as possible. “I hurt you Chloe, you have the right to doubt me. What I have to do is make sure I’m there every morning you wake up, and nothing makes me happier than doing that.”

“Don’t wet the bed waiting for me to wake up or anything,” Chloe quipped, her voice not really in it. Tears started to form in her eyes.

“Chlo?”

“I’m just so fucking tired, Max. I’m tired of doubting that you really love me despite how you prove it every damn second. I’m tired of thinking your parents hate me despite how much they’ve bent over backwards trying to help me. I’m tired of believing my mom would have preferred you to choose sacrificing me, that I got Rachel killed, that I’m going to bomb the GED and ruin whatever future we plans we have, that I’ll turn you into a burnout like me, that…” Chloe trailed off, burying her face into Max’s thigh and soaking her jeans with hot tears. Max restrained her own sobs with Herculean effort and squeezed Chloe as hard as she could. After what felt like an eternity, Chloe continued. “Sometimes it feels like this therapy crap is helping, but usually it just feels like…like I buried all my bullshit and it became a toxic waste dump, and now we’re digging it all up. And we’re supposed to do that, right? Take all the toxic crap and properly recycle it so we can move on stronger and shit; but there’s just so much of it, and carrying it all makes me so tired and it feels like the only way I can get some real rest is to just end it.”

Max bit her tongue to avoid interjecting. One of the things Dr. Bertinelli had suggested is that she let Chloe work through these things and only intervene if necessary. It wasn’t something she’d been too successful at, but she managed it this time.

“I’m not…I’m not going to kill myself. I swear I’m not planning to, but sometimes it’s just hard to believe that it won’t just all fall apart on me again, and I can’t survive it happening again.”

Max barely knew what to say, but she’d be damned if she didn’t try.

“Chloe, I know how you feel, I really do. Carrying all the self-hatred over my choices makes me feel like Sisyphus, pushing that boulder, and if getting better means I’m not punishing myself for what I did, then I don’t deserve to get better…but, Dr. Lance pretty much screamed it into our ears that we need to feel like we’re worth it.”

“Yeah, that’s what she was on about today,” Chloe said, irritation clouding her voice. “You actually deserve good things, blah blah blah, why you gotta take her side?”

“Side? Chloe, our therapists are on our side. So are my parents, Steph, the Norths, Dana, Kate, Victoria, and anyone else we can think of. Our only enemies are all the demons we have infesting our heads.”

“Yeah…I guess you’re right,” Chloe conceded. “I think I need time, and a few joints to think on all the shit we just said. Can we talk about something else now? I don’t really feel like moving yet.” She burrowed her face into Max’s lap to prove her point.

Max non-verbally agreed to Chloe’s request by gently rubbing her hair. “Okay…Christmas is in a couple weeks, and you still haven’t given me any indication about what you want.”

“Well,” Chloe said, finally looking back up to Max, “would your parents mind if you waiting for me under the Christmas tree in nothing but some sexy lingerie?”

“Yes, Chloe, they certainly would mind,” Max retorted. “Besides, do they even make lingerie for my body type?”

“Uh, hell yes they do,” Chloe responded indignantly. “Seriously Maximus, one day I’ll make you feel as sexy as I see you. Not fucking right…” she continued, seemingly more to herself, “you got the adorable face, all the freckles, those awesome little tits and ass, and you have the balls to think you’re not gorgeous.”

Max flushed, trying to process Chloe’s comments and distantly wondering if Victoria could help with certain fashion items. “Well I’ll…you’ll need something else.”

“I don’t really know, Max, only real things I want that I don’t have our things I can never have,” Max guessed from the somber tone that Chloe was thinking about Joyce. Whether or not she was correct, it passed when she saw Chloe giving her a dirty grin, “I’ll settle for being able to use some of those awesome new toys we got yesterday.”

Max felt herself blushing again as she remembered. Chloe had picked her up from school with a shit-eating grin on her face. Instead of going home, Chloe showed a big wad of cash from their stash, then drove them to Wild at Heart, shoving Max inside. They’d left an hour later with bags filled with various assorted items. The bags had been completely unmarked, so she didn’t think her parents had a reason to be suspicious, but the boxes now hidden under their bed felt to Max like they were giving off a giant beacon to them.

“Don’t remind me,” she choked out. “What are we even supposed to do with anal beads?”

“I believe we stick them in our butts,” Chloe replied, her grin only growing as Max shot her her best withering ‘well duh’ look. “Seriously though, I thought you might be interesting in trying, given how much you toss my salad.”

Max felt her entire body going red. “I don’t do it intentionally, you just keep…bucking your hips, and I’m still not really good at keeping up…”

“Hey now, don’t go criticizing yourself, our lovemaking gets six out of five stars, easy. But we can always throw more stars on it. Besides, we don’t have to necessarily use everything we got, I mean…” Chloe lifted her head out of Max’s lap and took one of her hands in hers. “The bondage rope we got, I would never tie you up like that, not after…”

“I appreciate that Chloe, and…I don’t want to shut the door on anything, but I definitely don’t think I could handle that, not for a while at least.”

“You can tie me up though! I mean, I don’t really like to bottom, but I’m happy to let you dress up in a leather corset and get your dom on.”

“Chloe, we’ve been intimate for more than a month now. I’m observant enough to tell you like to bottom.”

Chloe sighed deeply. “Another hit against my punk credentials.” They spent a few moments in silence before Chloe looked back up at Max, looking nervous. “Since I brought it up like an idiot, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Has anyone been bothering you at school? Since the report came out?”

Max sighed, gently pushing Chloe’s head back into her lap. “No. I think the teachers and staff found out first. Not sure how exactly the student body learned about it, but I imagine it spread like wildfire once once of them found out. The teachers and staff had already been fairly accommodating in transitioning back, now they bend over backwards trying to help me.”

“Yeah, bet none of them want ‘accidentally triggered student’ on their performance evaluation,” Chloe quipped. “And the other students aren’t giving you shit?”

“They wouldn’t dare, not with you around. You shouted down or cussed out the resource officer, my art teacher, and the principal when you came to get me after my breakdown. You’ve got serious cred there. Besides, the few people who tried to bully me when I first came back gave up pretty quickly.”

“Wait, what?” Chloe asked. Max supposed she shouldn’t be surprised, she hadn’t told anyone about any of it.

“Some of the old bullies came back, tried shit. Back then, I thought I was following the advice they give about ignoring them, but I was just being meek and giving in. Now though? After everything I’ve suffered and all the people that died? I don’t have time for their bullshit anymore. They realized quick that I was a much harder target.”

“That’s good, I guess. I’ll still happily beat the shit out of them for you though.” Max giggled in response to this, continuing to run her hand through Chloe’s hair. Chloe’s face turned pensive, and Max patiently waited for her to ask whatever question was forming in her mind.

“Why’d you tell David what you did? I know you told him you felt that it would give you…catharsis or whatever, but there’s more to it, isn’t there?”

Max stared out the smallest crack in the branches that showed the outside world as she thought of her response. “I’ve been talking with Dr. Bertinelli about it; I’ve been looking up what the art community has been saying about Jefferson. Most have been doing the right thing: taking down his work, rescinding awards, but there’s some groups-”

“Seriously!? There are fuckers out there who are defending him?”

“There’s some small pockets of fringe groups that think he had the right to treat women like that, can’t do anything about those assholes,” Max huffed. “But there’s a bigger group, who took the fact that Nathan killed Rachel and use it to say that Jefferson was in over his head trying to stop Nathan and the Arcadia Bay police are bunch of hick cops who are pinning all of Nathan’s crimes on Jefferson in hopes that Kristine Prescott will reward them financially for keeping the family name as untarnished as possible.”

Chloe balled her fists, rage evident in her face. “That’s so fucking frustrating. Because it’s all bullshit, but I had a lot of interactions with the Bay’s ‘finest’ and if I didn’t have firsthand knowledge I could totally believe that.”

“Exactly,” Max said somberly. “And all the other women they violated either died in The Storm or they can’t remember anything, like Kate. I’m the only one who has any memories of what happened, and you’re the only one still alive who could contradict it, so I figured I had to do something.” Max looked back down at Chloe, holding her gaze. “It’s not enough that he’s dead. The man cared about his ‘art’ above everything. I have to destroy his legacy, however I can.”

“Fuck yeah, Maxi. Anything I can do to help, let me know.”

“Aye aye Captain,” Max replied quietly. “Now, can I get a change of subject? Don’t want to waste anymore brain cells thinking about that man.”

“You still meeting up with Vicky tomorrow?” Chloe asked.

“Yep, and she’s going to be doing her half of your guys’ plan to get my to show off my work.”

Max smirked slightly as Chloe’s eyes went wide. “Bitch told you, didn’t she?”

“Do you both have to keep calling each other bitches? How does it help anyone?” Max sighed in frustration.

“Sorry Maxipad, but you know it’s true. I get you whole ‘she’s a good person at heart and everyone else she knew is dead’ thing, but she sure as shit ain’t showing a good side to me.”

“Then I guess I should be honored that the two of you are still willing to team up for my benefit,” Max conceded. “I also suspect neither of you are really trying to put your best foot forward.”

Chloe opened her mouth as if to retort but closed it again, probably because Max doubted her assessment could be disputed. Instead she responded “Vicky’s using every advantage she has to get into one of the big art schools next fall. If she wants to share her parent’s resources to help you, I’ll certainly do my part.”

“I know, I just…I haven’t taken many photos since we got here, and when I think about submitting of them for the Chase Space or wherever, I feel like any success will be people going ‘look at that poor girl from that town that got destroyed, this will be great PR for us!’ I’d just feel fake.”

“Fuck that Max, if people want to hand you stuff, you should just take it! No reason you should be a starving artist because you’re worried about why. By the time they stop caring, you’ll already be so far in that there’s no way they can kick you at the door.” Chloe turned her head on her side, nestling into Max’s lap. “You deserve the world, Max,” she said quietly, “Vicky’s obsessed with getting into CalArts, and you’re better.”

“CalArts would be nice,” Max said. “Still would prefer a four-year uni though.”

“This again Max?” Chloe said frustrated. “All this stuff about both of us going to the same college? Community college is probably my peak, and I don’t want you taking a lesser option for my sake.”

“I’m not trying to shame community college, Chloe, but I know the only reason you’re dismissing the idea of going to a four-year is because you don’t think you could make it. And that’s not true: you’re good enough for anywhere. Besides,” Max added, “I don’t need to go to a private academy dedicated to the arts to get a great education. Washington’s photography program is decent. UCLA’s is one of the best in the country, better than a lot of those art academy places.”

Chloe sighed deeply before looking back up at Max. “If you say so. I’m just saying that if you’re dreaming about us both attending commencement together, especially at a place as good as UCLA, you’re going to end up disappointed.”

“Maybe,” Max replied, “but promise me that you’ll at least think about trying, you're taking the GED in March, you'll have plenty of time after that to work on it.”

“Fine, not sure what I’d do for letters of recommendation or extra-circulars or anything, but I guess I’ll look into what I can do.”

“Just play up your story in the essay section, if I’m supposed to take advantage of our sob story, you should to.”

Chloe didn’t respond, but the look in her eyes make Max think she had taken it under advisement. “Can’t believe I’m going to let Vicky sit in my truck.”

“Come on, subjecting the rich girl to hours on I-5 sitting in a junker? You’re going to make her miserable, and you’ll love it.”

“Hmm…maybe so,” Chloe said. Her eyes started lighting up and her hips starting bouncing up and down. “I’m really fucking excited about this Portland trip over break. Three of us going down, Steph and the Norths coming up, and Kate and Dana waiting for us.”

“I am to,” Max responded happily. “Portland’s going to have a lot of great photo opportunities, hopefully I can get out of my head there and find them.”

“Damn right. Seattle’s great and all, but I feel like I’m just stewing here with all the demons, some travel will be great.” Chloe’s face turned pensive as she extended her hands out, “Rachel once told me that the corners of the world are our mere prologue. I feel like…that’s what we need. There’s so much out there, and Seattle has a lot more of it than Arcadia Bay ever did, but I still feel like a road trip beyond those corners would be fucking perfect. When is my damn passport going to show up?” she added as an aside.

“The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, Chlo,” Max replied, giggling at her frustration. “Maybe Portland can be the start of it.” Max began playing with Chloe’s roots again as she continued, “you know Steph going to try to get you to sing some of those you’ve written during you sessions at a bar’s open mic or something.”

“I really wish I hadn’t shared those with her. Granted, some of the music she had herself and her friends put to it is really good, but still…”

“They’re really beautiful Chloe; sad, but beautiful, and you’ve got a singing voice to match.”

“Quit it you,” Chloe said, blushing slightly and swatting Max’s thigh.

Max couldn’t tell how long they spent after that in comfortable silence, eyes closed and relaxing in each other’s presence. Eventually Max’s back started getting stiff, and she jostled Chloe re-adjusting herself. Chloe slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Max, blue locking onto blue. “Time to go home?” Chloe asked softly

“Yeah,” Max replied.

“Can I eat you out first?”

Max scoffed in embarrassment and surprise at the out-of-the-blue request. Despite the solitude, they were still in a public park. Still, looking down at Chloe’s eyes, filled with a quiet, contented love mixed with lust, Max felt her resolve falter.

“Fine,” she replied, unbuttoning her jeans. Chloe grinned, getting up and backing up as Max slid down the tree until her head rested on the ground. “But we need to make this quick and simple,” Max stipulated, before preemptively covering her mouth with her hands as Chloe’s hands began pulling down her pants and underwear.

Several minutes later, they both emerged from underneath the tree, satiated in the own ways. They walked over to the car, enjoying the soft breeze that signaled rain was approaching before getting in and buckling up. They shared a soft smile and Chloe quickly squeezed the hand Max had on the gear shift before Max started the car and drove them home.

Chapter Text

Before they knew it, December passed into January. Despite Chloe’s wishes, Christmas gift-giving had passed without any incidents in front of her parents, though after dark Chloe had made Max intimately familiar with many of the toys they’d bought a few weeks ago. New Years passed strangely, with the two of them holding champagne flutes at the house of one of Max’s parents co-workers while they watched the Times Square event live. They’d driven themselves home shortly after, spending the west coast new year drunkenly making out while whispering felicitations and promises to each other. What Max could clearly remember from those whispers was that despite all the effort Chloe had put in to get better, she still felt like she didn’t deserve to see the advent of 2014. She wondered if Chloe had picked up a similar feeling of self-loathing coming from her, and figured they both must have, for they each held on to each other even tighter as their musings grew more heated.

They’d certainly taken advantage of Max’s winter break, Chloe taking a break from her own studying to utilize the house they mostly had to themselves, from more innocent activities such as a Lord of the Rings extended edition marathon to ones that made Max blush just thinking about them. The gathering in Portland had given all of them plenty of stories Max was sure would be brought up for a while in future gatherings. She’d certainly gotten a good haul of photographs: of herself, Chloe, friends, the city, and combinations of all of them. And now those photos were in a small briefcase that Chloe described as ‘a pure extension of hipsterness’, resting on her lap as Chloe drove them to the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

“You really think you’re going to need those?” Chloe asked, not taking her eyes of the road.

“I don’t know,” Max replied, “but it’s best to have some of my work to show, let her know I’m a professional.”

“Still think there’s some sort of catch to all this. She’s just going to give you a grant to make art? I know they say she’s the ‘Good Prescott’ and all, but I don’t trust anything a Prescott offers.”

“Which is why we both agreed it’d be best if I handled this alone,” Max reminded her.

“Well I won’t be too far if you need me to come kick her ass,” Chloe said pleasantly, pulling over in front of the coffee shop where Max had agreed to meet Kristine. “Text me when you’re ready for a pickup, I’ll be checking out some clothing stores: should be interesting places in the gayest part of the city,” she added with a grin as Max stepped out of the truck. As she watched Chloe drive off, Max wondered if any of the clothing would be leather.

She took a deep breath and entered the coffee shop, noting it was only half-full on a dreary winter day. From a secluded corner she saw a smartly-dressed woman that Max recognized as Kristine Prescott emerge and approach her, making Max feel self-conscious in her normal attire underneath her jacket.

“It’s good to meet you, Miss Caulfield,” Kristine said, proffering her hand for Max to shake. Max awkwardly returned it, noting how weary Kristine’s eyes looked.

“Just ‘Max’ is fine,” she replied awkwardly. She noticed some relief enter Kristine’s face and her body adopted a less formal stance.

“I have a table in that corner, should we order our drinks?” Max nodded in response and a few minutes later they both returned to the table Kristine had claimed with coffees in hand. Max placed her briefcase on the ground, nervously fidgeting.

Kristine looked at Max for a few seconds before speaking, her tone even and deliberate. “I notice Chloe decided not to join us.”

“Yeah, we both thought it was best if she wasn’t here. She’s got…a lot of hate towards your family.”

“Her and everyone else in Arcadia Bay,” Kristine wearily acknowledged. “I’ve been meeting with survivors and a lot have been turning down my offers to provide assistance flat. A lot have told me they think my family getting wiped out is the silver lining to the storm. A couple have even offered me financial help to get my tubes tied.”

“Okay, that is messed,” Max responded, wishing she was more shocked. “Chloe would never go that far.”

“I’ve got thick armor, but I appreciate not having to have it hacked at again,” Kristine said with relief in her voice. “Though it might be worth putting up with to get Chloe’s autograph, her getting her 15 minutes of fame.”

Max grimaced as her mind was drawn back to to the video she assumed Kristine was referencing. During the Portland trip Steph had convinced a somewhat high Chloe to sing one of the songs she’d written during therapy sessions at the open mic of the bar they were at, with Max roped to the guitar and Steph using an electronic keyboard of some sort for additional sounds. One song had ended up becoming four in front of an enraptured audience and someone put it on YouTube shortly thereafter, getting picked up by many regional news channels after someone had been able to identify them. It had brought attention that Chloe was absolutely not happy about, and Max wasn’t to thrilled herself.

“Not a subject you want to talk about?” Kristine asked apologetically.

“Sorry…It’s just neither of us really appreciate the attention, we feel a lot of it’s for the wrong reasons.”

“I understand,” Kristine said, her tone sympathetic. Max watched her face become more nervous as she prepared to broach the next topic. “Now, before we talk business, I was hoping you could answer some questions I have. About Nathan.”

“Are you sure?” Max asked, who had anticipated this would come up. “I didn’t know him very well, and what I did know isn’t exactly positive.”

“I’m sure,” Kristine replied, her voice hesitant before taking a determined edge. “When I met with Victoria a few days ago she told me a lot of good things about my brother, but she wasn’t able to really tell how he…ended up where he was,” Kristine sighed deeply, taking a sip of coffee and staring out the far window for several seconds before returning her attention to Max. “I know from the police reports that you were getting threatened for reporting him having a gun, and that the investigation you and Chloe did exposed what he and Jefferson were up to. I guess I just…” Kristine paused again and looked down on her hands, looking more vulnerable than Max would have thought possible from the woman who was clearly practiced at projecting confidence. “I want the full picture, no matter how much it hurts.”

Max took a deep breath, hoping she wouldn’t jeopardize anything buy honoring her request. “The reason that Chloe thought it best she wasn’t here is because your brother killed the woman she loved.” Kristine looked taken aback by Max’s bluntness as she forged on. “Chloe has so few good memories of Arcadia Bay, a lot of them were the ones she and Rachel made in the junkyard. And when Nathan killed Rachel and he and Jefferson buried her body in the junkyard? It tainted one of the few places in the Bay she felt happy.”

Kristine looked downcast, but Max continued, her momentum building. “And that’s not all he did to her. Right before everything fell apart he drugged her at a party and took her to his room, took photos of her while she was unconscious. Chloe’s pretty certain that he was going to rape her when she came to.”

“My brother would have never-” Kristine responded angrily, before Max interrupted her.

“How can any of us know that? None of us really know just how far Nathan had gone. And you cannot blame Chloe for re-gaining consciousness from drugs she didn’t voluntarily take, in the bedroom of a man leering over her, and concluding he was planning something sexual.” Max responded with more force than she thought she could muster. She saw the anger leave Kristine’s eyes, her shoulders slump slightly in defeat, and she felt emboldened to continue. “And even if he wasn’t planning to rape her, that were just like Jefferson’s? He still violated her, just like how he helped violate Kate, Rachel, and all the other women who were in that dark room.”

“When Chloe tried to confront him about it, he pulled a gun on her. I was there, that was what I reported him for.” Max went on, “he shoved it in her stomach and told her no one would miss her, and if I hadn’t pulled the fire alarm, she’d be dead.” Max shuddered, her mind going back to a place she found even more terrifying than the dark room. “When I reported him, he threatened me in person and sent me death threats, he used his father and Principal Wells to pressure me, and then he pulled a gun on Chloe and me again…”

Max trailed off as she left her own mind and saw Kristine’s face. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she covered her mouth, looking despondently down at the table.

‘You were planning to make an actual point, Max, and get carried away and hurt her like that,’ Max chastised herself. She reached out and grabbed one of Kristine’s hands and squeezed, causing her to look up at Max.

“Despite all that…all the pain and trouble he caused me, Chloe, and others. I don’t think he was a bad person at heart,” Max started quietly. “It would be so easy to just…condemn him as evil. Heck, I had a strategy going into this to keep all that simple and to the point, and the second I start think of it, I start yelling at you. But…” Max trailed off, gathering her thoughts before pressing on. “He wasn’t evil. I never got to see it myself, but I saw evidence that there was a boy who could be kind and sensitive to other people. I know Victoria saw a lot more of that side, and even Chloe will admit she observed it a few times. He just…I’m not going to try and diagnose him, but it was obvious he had some serious mental health issues. If he’d been able to get the help he needed, he could have been someone who did real good in the world. Instead everyone ignored or downplayed it, and the only one who did take interest, someone Nathan should have been able to trust, used and twisted him for his own fucked up ends.”

The tears had stopped falling from Kristine’s eyes and Max gently removed her hand, allowing Kristine to grab a napkin and wipe her eyes clean.

“Nathan always had an interest in…macabre things. As a kid, he’d be fascinated by dead incests and birds, but he would have never hurt one himself.” Kristine said, voice growing nostalgic. “But as he got older, he started getting worse. I know doctors kept begging father to get him proper help, but apparently such things are ‘unmanly’, like that’s the worst thing in the world,” Kristine said sardonically. “Therapy wouldn’t have exactly made him neatly fit into society the way father wanted him to, but it sure would have helped him.”

“A lot of the most famous works in photography are pretty dark. Human conflict, environmental degradation…Nathan had a really good eye for those things. He could have brought attention to something that really needed a light shone on it,” Max said. “It’s not right that he got manipulated onto a darker path.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Kristine agreed, taking a long sip of her coffee before slumping back in her chair. “Thank you, Max, for being honest. I think all you’ve told me will help…in the long run.”

Max chose not to say anything, feeling too awkward. She took a long sip of coffee instead.

“Before we move on, I just have one more question. Would have any clue where my brother’s body is?” Kristine asked, desperation barely detectable on her tone.

Max had put more thought into this than she’d have liked, because she’d expected the question and did want to help. “I’m sorry, but when Jefferson kidnapped me he only bragged about how no one would find him. I know he would have only had a few hours to lure Nathan away and bury him, but knowing him he’d probably been planning to get rid of Nathan as soon as Rachel died, probably even sooner. He could have had somewhere ready months in advance.”

Kristine sighed deeply. “I know, divers have been combing the bay since the storm, and while they found plenty of bodies, Nathan’s wasn’t among them. I just…he has to be somewhere.” Kristine chuckled darkly and swirled her coffee mug as she continued. “A few people seem to think the ABPD is doing everything they can to pin my brother’s deeds on Jefferson to curry favor with me, but if they really wanted to do that they could find him for me so I could give him a proper burial, instead of being useless shits.”

“I’m sorry,” Max said. At least Chloe and the families of her late friends at Blackwell had all gotten the comfort of their loved one getting a proper burial. “I really wish I had something, anything…”

“It’s okay Max, I’ll just keep looking,” Kristine said. “Or more accurately I’ll pay people: the true Prescott way,” she added with a note of self-flagellation.

Kristine took a more formal posture, and Max straightened up herself. “Now,” Kristine said, tone more even, “as I’m sure you’ve heard I’ve been doing what I can to provide assistance to people affected by the storm. One of the ways is by setting up scholarships for surviving students looking to continue their education. In our phone calls you expressed interest for both yourself and Miss Price, is that still true?”

“Yes,” Max said. “My last semester of high school starts next week, so I’ll be graduating on time. Chloe’s set to take her GED in March. I’m taking a gap year to try and rebuild my portfolio, but we both have dreams to attend some sort of college.”

“Do you mind if I ask what kind of college? I’m already going to set it up for both of you, I’m just curious. I know Miss Chase is set on CalArts.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure yet. I could go to one of those art schools and Chloe to a nearby college, or we could both go to a four-year uni. A lot would depend on where we’d both get accepted to.

“Your top priority is her then?” Max nodded strongly in response. “Can’t say I blame you. I hope it works out for both of you.” Kristine adjusted her seating before continuing. “In addition to scholarships, I’m also helping set up…let’s call them ‘art grants’, to help with various things. Both Victoria and your friend Kate mentioned they’d use them to replace lost equipment, as well as some travel to get get more shots. Do you have some of your work in that briefcase?” Kristine gestured to the briefcase on the ground that Max had completely forgotten about.

“Um, yeah,” Max affirmed, hastily setting the case on the table and opening it. “I didn’t know if you’d need to see any…”

“I’m just curious Max,” she said, her tone reassuring. She began looking through the various polaroids, carefully inspecting them.

“Almost all of them are from the trip to Portland I took with my friends a couple weeks ago,” Max said, self-consciously scratching the back of her neck. “Most of my other work got destroyed in the storm. If I get the grant I should probably get some sort of imaging system.”

“Probably wise,” Kristine responded distantly, staring at the photos. Max lifted herself slightly higher to see which ones she was looking at: One of Dana and Mikey smiling at each other at Multnomah Falls, and of Chloe hanging upside down by her knees from a tree in the Japanese Garden (she’d made quadruple-sure she hadn’t included the one she’d accidentally taken right after when Chloe had flashed the camera and everyone else in the group). Kristine moved on to other photos and Max sat back down, feeling self-conscious about peeping at her own photos, for some reason.

“These are…really incredible, Max,” Kristine said softly, before placing the photos back in the case and returning her attention to the woman in question. “The way you capture space and light…and most photographers these days just post-edit, capturing it with a polaroid…Victoria was right about how skilled you are.”

“Victoria said that?” Max asked, blushing deeply.

“Yep, she was tipsy by that point, we talked at her parent’s house and she swiped a wine bottle, but I think it still stands. So you say most of your work got destroyed and you’re using your gap year to rebuild it. How do you plan to do it?”

“Umm…” Max intoned, “I don’t really know. Chloe and I have had some small discussions about traveling once we finish, but for the moment we’ve been too focused on our own mental health to think too specifically of long-term plans.”

“It’s good to hear you’re getting help,” Kristine said, sounding pleased. “I’ve been encouraging everyone I’ve talked to to seek help, I don’t want anyone going through what my brother did.”

“Yeah, we’re both up to twice weekly sessions with our shrinks. It can be brutal, but I think we’re both in a better place than we were two months ago…maybe.”

Kristine nodded. “That’s good. Now let me ask you something: if I were to give you $1 million to rebuild your portfolio, what would you do with it?”

“A million!?” Max practically shrieked, “There’s no way-”

“I wouldn’t actually give you anywhere near that much,” Kristine said, raising her hands in the air. “Let me re-phrase: say money wasn’t an issue, what would you do?”

“Well…” Max hesitated, still calming her heart. “I know there’s some places both Chloe and I really want to go to. Paris or LA, for example. There’s lots of opportunities for shots there. And I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights and capture them, I’d need a proper modern camera like Victoria’s been bugging me to get, but…” she hesitated again. “That all personal stuff, not really ‘work’ related.”

“Can’t capturing a personal journey be ‘work’ for an artist?” Kristine replied. “After everything you went through exposing Jefferson and living through the storm, I think it’s a story worth telling. And I have some basic knowledge of Chloe’s history and reputation from the time before I left Arcadia Bay, I’m sure that’s a story worth telling as well.”

“I guess…there’s a lot of places we’ve both mentioned wanting to travel to, but that would require a lot of money…”

“Consider it yours then,” Kristine said, her tone making Max feel like there was no room for objection.

“But…why?”

“Because you’re a brilliant photographer Max, who deserves the chance. And also because…well, I’ll hope you’ll let me explain fully before you jump to a conclusion, but I’m hoping to use you and your art as an instrument.”

“Instrument? Instrument of what?”

“Vengeance,” Kristine replied darkly. “I’m loath to bring Jefferson back into the conversation, but everything he did, to my brother, all those women…I’m not content with him being dead. I need to take his legacy and destroy it. I want the only place you’d ever be able to find his work for sale is gathering dust in some thrift shop off a rural section of I-5. I want to piss on his grave metaphorically as well as literally. I’ve got a dark pit of hatred and I want to try and find the bottom of it.” Max’s eyes widened and Kristine took a deep breath before continuing, more calmly, “I’m told you were his favorite student. I’m sure that makes you feel disgusting now, but it also proves again that you have talent. If I was being poetic and over-dramatic, I’d say I want you be my enrinye: you were responsible for exposing him, now I’m hoping you’ll surpass Jefferson in every way possible and help me reduce his legacy to ashes.”

“On that I am more than willing to help you,” Max said, her voice filled with hatred. “I kept quiet about him abducting me at first, but I came forward to do the same thing you just described. I just…” Max’s voice grew softer as she continued, “I don’t want hatred for him defining my work. I want my love for Chloe, and my parents and friends to define it.”

Kristine eyes took on a much gentler look as she took Max’s hand. “You’re right, that’s how we beat him. I’m sorry, I just…what I said right now, sometimes I worry it’s a slippery slope and I’ll end up like my father when I talk like that.”

“I don’t think that’ll happen,” Max said emphatically. “As long as we just…live for the people we love.”

“Guess I’ll need some new people then,” Kristine said sadly, before raising her arms to cut off Max. “Don’t apologize, you’re hit the nail on the head. I just hope once I’ve closed this chapter of my life I can start a new one fresh. Well,” she said, looking at a clock on the wall of the shop, “I think that’s pretty much everything. I’ll be in touch about the scholarship and grant.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s next for you?” Max asked nervously.

“I’m in talks with NOAA about buying some of the land that’s part of my father’s estate. After all the strange events that took place they want a third PMEL office to see if they can learn anything.”

“Would a government research office be enough to save the town?” Max asked, trying not to let her guilt show.

“Not really, it wouldn’t staff a lot of people after experiments were set up, most of the people would go back to Newport or Seattle. There would be some permanents, and there would need to be some infrastructure to support them, but not enough to support families. With that and the few people determined to stay Arcadia Bay being older it will officially become a ghost town once the experiments are done and the locals die off. As for me,” Kristine continued, “I’m settling things with the few investors of Pan Estates that my father wasn’t able to completely screw over with contract details. Most of the others are in the same vein as my father was, so I’m not too sympathetic towards their losses. Aside from that, some of the women who were in Jefferson’s collection have filed legal action against the Prescott estate over my father’s financing of the dark room and Nathan’s involvement. I’m working to settle those.”

“That seems like it’ll cost a lot of money,” Max said. “On top of all the assistance and scholarships…”

“I’m not paupering myself, Max. My father had enough money that he could have been a big player anywhere in the country. But if there was one thing he loved more than money, it was power. He chose to be king of the stables instead of just having a room in the castle. That meant a lot of money he couldn’t really use.”

“So what will you do, when all that’s sorted? Go back to the Peace Corps?”

“No,” Kristine replied sadly, “my service was almost over when this happened. I’ve got some work lined up in London for myself when this is all taken care of.”

“London? That’s really far away to start over.”

“I went to Brazil to escape my father when he was alive, I imagine London won’t be far enough to escape his ghost.” Kristine said wearily, standing up. Max did the same.

“It was really good to meet you, Max, I’ll be in touch. Take care of yourself.”

“You to, Kristine.”

Max watched Kristine throw on a jacket and leave the shop with a final nod. She got out her phone and texted Chloe, sipping what was left of her now cold beverage while she waited. A few minutes later she heard the distinctive sound of Chloe’s truck coming down the street, prompting her to leave the shop and meet her at the curb.

“You took awhile,” Chloe commented as Max climbed into the truck. “Actually spent time at another cafe after I browsed the stores.”

“Have something super-hipstery?”

“As if,” Chloe replied dismissively. “Just a black coffee, and…” her voice became much more hesitant, “I finished the letter I’ll send to Rachel’s step-mom.”

“That’s great, Chloe,” Max said with a hint of pride.

“Yeah, there wasn’t a lot of love lost between her parents and I after I aired their dirty laundry, but her letter seemed…like she was trying to close wounds. Like I wrote in my stupid song, I’m kind of tired of being haunted by all the ones I have.”

“Pretty sure that’s not quite how the lyric went,” Max ribbed playfully.

“Hey, my song, I can change it whenever I want.” Chloe’s face became pensive as she pulled out of the curb and started driving. “Speaking of open wounds, you two talk about Nathan a lot?”

“He was pretty prominent.”

“It’s just,” Chloe sighed in frustration. “I can never forgive him for what he did, but I want to stop hating him, for my sake if nothing else. Is there a way to stop hating someone without forgiving them?”

“If you find an answer, let me know, got a few cases like that myself,” Max replied gloomily.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Chloe turned her attention back to Max. “So did our new sugar-mama provide?”

“Don’t phrase it like that Chloe,” Max groaned. “But yeah, we pretty much got full rides for college and a shitload of money for whatever my art project is.”

“Sweet,” Chloe replied. “Enough to close off the Champs-Elysées for nude shots?”

“Chloe!”

“What? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ve got no problem with my cunt being on display to the world if it helps your art career, I’m sure you’d find a way to compensate me,” Chloe said, wriggling her eyebrows.

“Call me a jealous and possessive girlfriend, but I think I’d mind if the whole world got to see you like that. I like having a ‘private collection’, so to speak. Still…” she said, inadvertently interrupting Chloe’s response. “There’s a lot of ways to use nudity without showing the explicit parts.”

“That’s the spirit Max! Letting me bare myself for the world without exposing America’s youth to the dangers of my nipples,” Chloe said jokingly. She then cursed under her breath as they missed a light that they knew would take awhile, causing Chloe to put the truck in neutral and take her foot off the clutch.

“So what are you going to do with the grant money then? Aside from getting you some sweet gear?”

“I don’t quite know,” Max replied solemnly. “Travel seems like the obvious choice, but…” she trailed off, uncertain, mind wandering.

‘Corners of the Earth…’

‘Mere Prologue…’

‘Nude shots…’

‘Personal journey…’

“Chloe!” Max shouted, startling her blue-haired girlfriend. “Do you know that big map store in Pike Place Market?”

“Um…I know the market, I could get us there,” Chloe replied, apparently unsure of what Max had in mind. “What do we need maps for?”

“Just get us there, I’ve got a brilliant idea.”

Chloe shrugged her shoulders and maneuvered into the right-turn lane, turning just before their light turned green. Max tried to keep her mind settled as she thought of everything she’d need.

——————————————

Chloe sat idly on the living room couch of the Caulfield+1 home, absentmindedly twirling a soda she’d poured for herself. Two floors above she could hear Max banging around (and in a way too literal for Chloe’s taste). After they’d parked outside the map store in question, Max had told Chloe to wait in the truck and had come out about 15 minutes later with a store employee carrying two giant cardboard tubes, along with a few smaller ones that they had to awkwardly shove through the tuck’s rear window to prevent them from flying out as they drove home. Once Chloe had helped Max get the tubes into their bedroom Max had shooed her out, wanting whatever she was planning to be a surprise.

“Do you know what she’s up to?” a voice asks, cutting through Chloe’s thoughts. She looked up to see Vanessa with a curious expression on her face. “She been up there just over an hour at this point.”

“Honestly no idea Mrs. C, just that the tubes are from some big map store we stopped at.”

“Well I’ll admit Ryan and I are curious. She kicked him out to after he brought up the ladder for her, and it sounded like she was moving the bed at one point.”

Chloe’s response was curtailed by the banging taking a distinctly ‘coming down stairs’ acoustic. Max appeared in the living room, looking as excited as Chloe had ever seen her.

“Chloe, I’ve got it all set up, come and see!” she exclaimed. Chloe quickly followed, her own excitement rising at whatever had gotten her girlfriend so worked up. They ascended and Max stopped outside their bedroom door, waving Chloe inside in the manner of some fancy hotel butler.

Chloe was not prepared for what she saw. Vanessa’s suspicion about the bed proved correct, as it had been turned so that the foot was facing one of the longer walls. On that wall which had previously held various photos and posters two giant maps stood side by side instead, extending from floor to ceiling and taking up the entire wall. On the left was a map of the United States and Canada, and next to it one of the world. Reaching the wall’s edge, Chloe saw that the corner featured two more normal sized maps: one of the Moon and one of the Milky Way. Turning her attention back to the freakishly large maps she took ing the post-it notes and pins adorning them, which Max had presumably placed with the help of the ladder that now rested in the far corner.

Chloe slowly approached the wall, getting close enough to read Max’s hand writing. There was one pointing to Vancouver that said ‘Our first trip abroad!’, one down in LA that was blank. One over in Northeastern Minnesota that said ‘Fall colors!’, and one over on Cape Cod that said ‘Atlantic sunrises! (LGBT haven?)’. The world map was more sparsely populated, with only two notes: one over Iceland that mentioned northern lights, and another pointed at Paris that said ‘Swear Jar!’. Chloe felt herself tearing up at that one and tried her best to hide it.

“Max…” Chloe said, slowly. “What the hell is all this?”

“We’ve been talking about using the upcoming year to travel, well…I thought this would be the best way to plan it.” Max said, looking unsure of herself now. “I’ve only put a few up from what little research I’ve done, but I got a lot of sticky notes,” she pointed towards one of their computer desks, which had a large pile of new sticky notes, pins, and markers haphazardly placed on them. “I’m hoping that…as we get closer, we’ll put more and more on the board and figure out how to order them. We can take your truck for anywhere on the NA map, except maybe Alaska or Nunavut, and use the grant money to get planes to everywhere else.”

Chloe didn’t respond, continuing to stare at the maps. She slowly went over to the pile of sticky notes grabbing one and writing on it. She moved to the world map and slapped it next to New Zealand. She took a few steps back, taking in the note that just read ‘MOUNT DOOOM!!!’

“You…you like it?” Max said timidly, still apparently doubting this was the best fucking thing ever.

Chloe again didn’t respond verbally, instead going over to Max and pulling her in for a deep kiss, which Max eagerly returned. She pulled back before she got carried away, because the door was still open and Max’s parents would no doubt be investigating what Max had been up-to themselves shortly.

“What’s with the one of the Moon and Milky Way?” Chloe asked.

“Oh, well, the thing you said Rachel told you, about the corner of the Earth being mere prologue, I figured since there’ll probably be tourism to the Moon at some point in our lives, we could put some notes there. As for the galaxy, well…I know we both love Mass Effect, maybe we could just place some notes and have some dreams, right?”

Chloe calculated that Max was closest to the door. “Max, close the door.”

“Chloe?”

“The door, Max,” Chloe repeated, lust overtaking her voice. Max clearly got the message, and hurried to close the door before returning. Chloe let out an animalistic snarl before throwing Max towards their realigned bed. Chloe figured Max’s parents were experienced enough now to know to wait. Even if they weren’t, nothing would stop Chloe from properly showing how much she loved the girl that she now had pinned underneath her.

Later, both of them were still lying down in their bed, idle and content. Chloe eventually looked away from Max, gazing at the maps that were now there.

“That’s why you moved the bed, isn’t it? So that we could look at the maps.”

“Yeah…” Max said tiredly. “Every morning we can wake up and look on our future. Chloe,” she said, her tone growing much more serious. “I’m so glad that I get to share all this with you.”

“Max…” Chloe trailed off, her voice thick with emotion. “Gods, I’m so…” she trailed off again.

“Gods?” Max asked, giggling slightly as she nestled further into Chloe.

“Hey, you say ‘Dog’ instead of ‘God’, don’t tell me that isn’t a deliberate attempt to get around basic terms you learned growing up to not invoke a god you don’t really believe in.”

Max gave a non-committal shrug in response. “I guess. I wouldn’t say I’m an atheist like you Chloe; agnostic sure, but…I’m just curious why the plural.”

“Well, it’s hard not to invoke God since it’s what everyone around you inevitably does,” Chloe replied. “I’ve decided that my strategy is since I inadvertently invoke them anyway, I might as well invoke all the gods: Zeus, Odin, Ganesha, Igaluk, all of them, every pantheon. Who knows? Maybe one will answer.”

“Probably not,” Max said, giggling.

“True, but you sidetracked me. I just wanted to say how much I fucking love you, Maxine Caulfield. All this,” Chloe said, gesturing towards the maps. “That you want to share it all with me? I just…” Chloe tried to wipe at the tears forming in her eyes, only to have Max do it for you. “I love you,” she finished, unable to find the words to properly elaborate.

“These last few months have been so fucking hard, Chloe, and the next few months will be hard to,” Max said, propping herself up. “But I know the future is going to be so beautiful, Chloe,” she continued, gesturing at the maps. “There’s no way it can’t be with you in it.”

Chloe choked on her response. All she could do was draw Max in for a kiss and put as much love into it as possible. She gazed once more at the map as Max rested her head in the crook of Chloe’s shoulder, noting the unacceptable number of empty spaces and where they could be filled.

Chapter Text

Chloe Price wasn’t anxious.

She definitely wasn’t anxious. That’s why she was in the passenger’s seat of Ryan’s Mini as Max drove, instead of driving herself with the truck.

‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ Chloe said to herself, while fidgeting. Max pulled into a parking space, outside the generic suburban office building.

“You’re going to do great Chlo, “ Max said, turning to look at her as she killed the engine.

“Bah, like there’s any chance of that.”

“Chloe, I know you tried to hide them, but I saw your pre-tests, you fucking aced them, just like you’ll ace the actual test.”

“That’s only because the companies who make them make it easy, so you feel like you were right to buy their products,” Chloe replied.

“Chloe,” Max said, her tone deathly serious as she grabbed Chloe’s hands in her own. “You’ve got this. I believe in you, 1,000%. Can you believe in yourself, even if it’s just for a few hours?”

Chloe stumbled over her response, eventually settling for “Yeah, Maximus, anything for you.”

They both got out of the car and went into the building. A few elevators and some hallways later they found themselves in a room that led to a lot of computers.

“You’re going to do great Chloe,” Max said emphatically, drawing Chloe in for a kiss. Chloe reluctantly nodded her head in response before going over to the crabby-looking lady sitting at the desk and showing her her ID.

15 grueling hours later Chloe emerged from the test room. She knew it had been 15 hours, despite Max’s attempts to cite evidence like ‘the clock’, or ‘the Sun is still up’.

Shouldn’t ex-time lords know that clocks are bullshit, anyway?

They eventually found themselves back in their bedroom, Chloe laying on the bed idly staring at the map-wall while Max sat at the computer desk, texting on her phone while a dreaded web page sat on the laptop screen.

“Who you texting?” Chloe asked, more to keep herself distracted than anything.

“Dana,” Max replied. “It looks like I’ll be the last one to have my graduation ceremony, so it looks like everyone will come up for mine and we’ll have the graduation party here.”

“Your parents okay hosting a troop of traumatized teenagers?”

“They’ve been living with two of them 24/7 for the past five months, so I think they’d be able to handle a day or two of people with much less baggage than us.”

“Hey, don’t sell yo-our friends short, Max. There’s a lot of trauma and survivor’s guilt to go around.”

“True, but none of them live with actually causing the storm, and letting it take its course when they could’ve stopped it. Or feeling like the they’re not worth half of any of the people who died.”

“True,” Chloe echoed back. “Is it a good thing we’re able to say shit like this and not want to throw ourselves out our third-floor window?” she asked, staring at one their two windows, open to let in the March breeze.

“I suppose…” Max responded before sighing deeply. “Now matter how recovered we feel, our humor’s going to be pretty dark for the rest of our lives, isn’t it? All the texts I’ve had with the few survivors I know…even Kate has a bit of a dark streak now.”

“As someone who got a five-year head start on all ya’ll, I can say with authority that, yes, it colors you forever. You gotta learn humor to deal with it, otherwise you end up pushing your step-dad’s gun into your mouth and trying not to knock out your teeth with the shaking.”

“Chloe…”

“You gotta let me say these things Max, because they’re never going to not be true,” Chloe said, slightly choking on her words. “And don’t you dare blame yourself for them, I’m…not quite as fucked up now, okay?”

“Okay,” Max responded sadly, her face then took on a determined gaze. “You’re so much stronger Chloe, I mean…look at this. We’re waiting for your GED scores; it’s such a huge step.”

“I miss the old days, when you had to wait 4-6 weeks for these kind of things, instead of knowing in a few hours.”

“You’re not old enough to remember those times, Chloe.”

“Shut up, whippersnapper,” Chloe retorted, giving Max the finger. Max smirked in response before returning her attention to the computer. For her part Chloe focused more on the maps Max had set up. Several more post-its had been added in the weeks since they’d been put up, and a small stack of papers had formed on a special shelf Ryan had brought them where they had motel listings, paper maps where they planned routes, and other numerous details subject to change that they didn’t want to draw on their big maps yet.

“Chloe,” Max said, returning her attention to the girl in question. She watched Max hit the ‘refresh’ button on the web browser. “Chloe, they’re here.”

Chloe felt herself hyperventilating as she rolled over and buried her face in one of their pillows. ‘Gods-fucking damnit I’ve fucked it up. All our plans, our future and I fucked it up-‘

“CHLLOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Max screamed, loud enough to burst Chloe’s eardrums. She barely had time to raise herself up before she felt a small feminine object collide with her. She somehow found her footing on the floor while Max wrapped herself tightly around her. In the distance she could hear thumping, likely Max’s parents coming to investigate the outburst. Sure enough they walked through the open door, looking quizzically at the two of them.

“M-Max? What’s going on?”

“Look, Chloe, look!”

Chloe stared over Max’s head and shoulder towards the laptop screen. She was close enough to make out numbers, and the the categories they were listed under…

Those were some really fucking high scores.

Chloe saw an overall score among the other numbers. Enough to pass…and with honors, under the new system they’d just rolled out.

Holy fuck, she’d earned her GED.

“Need some help there, sport?” Ryan asked Max. Chloe brought her dazed attention to Max, and realized that Max was pushing up underneath Chloe’s armpits, as if trying to lift her up. Max disentangled herself her Chloe in response.

“Yes, please,” Max said sheepishly. Chloe still wasn’t able to react as Ryan took Max’s place in front of her and used his huge lumberjack arms to lift Chloe up and toss her over his shoulder. Chloe felt Max gently hold her face as they stared at each other.

“Max…I-I passed?”

“By a million miles Chloe! You did it!” Max replied, tears forming in her eyes as she rolled on the balls of her feet.

“I did it…” Chloe said, unsure of herself. “I…I fucking did it!” she shouted, suddenly feeling a wave of ecstasy wash over her. “I did it! I fucking did it! All you fuckers you thought I was some worthless bitch-ass punk; suck on it motherfuckers!” Chloe shouted at the top of her lungs, as Max clapped her hands excitedly on Chloe’s face and she felt Ryan jostling her over his shoulder and saw Vanessa clap in the background.

That evening, as they all drank celebratory Fitzgeralds that Ryan made and Chloe’s phone blew up with congratulations from everyone she knew, Vanessa lightly admonished Chloe for the language she’d used. Chloe actually felt slightly sheepish in her apology, but a clink of glasses and the warm smile on Vanessa’s face told her it would be alright.

 ———————————

‘It’s funny,’ Chloe thought bitterly to herself, ‘how quickly things can change.’

Chloe tries her best to ignore the grease and minor cuts that go up her arms as she dives back in again, like a horny lifeguard desperate to save a hot girl from drowning. Her hands move from one part of the engine to another, repeating the same motions over and over again until she finds the one specific problem that will fix everything.

“Chloe.”

Chloe ignores the voice in her head as she continues to poke and prod at the wiring, the transmission…whatever she can find under the bonnet.

“Chloe!”

Chloe looks up, barely avoiding banging her head to see Max’s worried expression boring into her. She has a glass of water in one hand that she gives to Chloe after using her free hand to pull Chloe away from her truck.

“Dad’s called a mechanic. He’s apparently one of the most experienced in the city, has 4.9 stars on Google with over 100 reviews,” Max said, keeping a tight hold on Chloe free arm as the bluenette downs the glass.

“I don’t need a fucking mechanic Max, it just needs some wires resoldered, or the battery replaced, or a new flux capacitor-”

“Chloe!” Max shouted again, grabbing Chloe’s arms without any apparent concern for the grease. “Please, just take a break until he arrives, you’ve been at it for hours.”

Chloe felt a cutting retort die on her tounge as she took in Max’s expression, desperate, pleading, and at the point of tears herself. Instead she sighed and nodded letting Max lead her to a bench inside the garage that they both sat on.

At some indeterminate amount of time later, Chloe saw a man drive up in a truck and pull into the foot of the Caulfield driveway. Max’s parents had joined them at this point and all four of them stood solemnly as Chloe dramatically recounted its condition when she found it all those years ago and what she’d already tried for it’s current crisis.

The mechanic spent about half an hour poking the engine before walking towards them. “I have to say I’m super impressed with everything you did for this truck, Miss Price. If I had an opening I’d offer you a job. But,” he sighed as he looked back towards the truck, “when you found it in that junkyard you just need to replace the battery and some other basic work; I’m afraid it’s much worse this time. Pretty much all the wiring…well, at this point we’d have to take out the engine and replace it with a new one.”

“How much would that cost?” Ryan cautiously asked before Chloe could.

“A lot. With all the parts and labor…10, maybe 15 grand.”

“$15,000! Even if it was working, the truck couldn’t be worth-” Vanessa said before cutting herself off, looking painfully at Chloe, who had discovered a newfound fascination with the pattern of the driveway.

“We could afford it,” Max said tentatively, and Chloe glanced briefly to see Max biting her lip. “With the money that came in from your old house, and we could say it’s a needed expense for the grant-”

“No,” Chloe found herself saying. She brought her head back up to see four sets of eyes all paying sole attention to her.

“Your mom’s right Max, even with a good engine we’d be lucky to get $500 for it. We could get a dozen used cars in good shape for what it’d cost to fix the truck. We can’t…we can’t…” Chloe couldn’t continue as she felt a wail of anguish escape her throat as her legs gave out. She was sure she’d have fallen completely on the ground if not for Vanessa catching her, with Max and Ryan right behind. “S-Sorry,” she croaked, seeing the slightly shocked expression on the mechanic’s face. “We-I won’t be fixing it, there’s just some really symbolic shit around this.”

“I understand,” the mechanic said. “I can offer towing…well, that can be discussed another day.”

“Honey, could you talk to the mechanic about our options? Chloe, you should wash up, you’ve got oil all over you.” Vanessa said, placing a hand on Chloe’s head.

“And now it’s all over you, sorry, Mrs. C,” Chloe said ruefully. “Max,” she intoned, causing the girl in question to focus her undivided attention on her. “I trust you Max, whatever they talk about, make sure that…that…”

“I hear you Chloe,” Max replied. “I’ll make sure to represent you to the fullest extent of law.”

Chloe chuckled, trying to ensure some small amount of humor was evident. “Thanks Max, I need to get away from this.” With that Vanessa led her back into the house, and Chloe could only spare one quick glance back before burying her head in Vanessa’s shoulder.

——————————

After Vanessa had escorted Chloe up to their 3rd floor bathroom, Chloe had showered until she felt the grease and blood wash out of her skin and hair. Not satisfied, she flipped the switch to put the water back through the bathtub faucet and turned it up to scorching hot. After the tub had filled she sat herself down and endured the heat searing her flesh until the the water cooled down. She couldn’t say how long had passed before she heard a quiet knock on the door before Max entered, wearing a bathrobe. Chloe fought off the initial instinct to cover herself and regarded Max with tired eyes.

“How’d it go, MaxGuyver?” she asked without real enthusiasm.

“We’ve arranged to have the truck towed away in a couple days, to a junkyard to the east. Subject to cancelation, of course.”

“Okay,” Chloe responded softly, turning her gaze down towards her body sprawled out in the tub.

“Do you mind if I join you?” she heard Max ask timidly. Chloe said nothing, instead raising her head back up to lock eyes with Max, giving her a pleading look. Max nodded before slipping out of her robe and hanging it on the hook by the door. Chloe smiled as she watched, it was always amusing to watch Max’s quirks like hanging her robe, and Max’s naked body always raised the spirits.

“Just a sec…” Max said, walking over to a cabinet and rooting through it. Opening some package that was obscured from Chloe’s vision, Max turned and lobbed something straight at Chloe. “Bath bomb!”

Chloe scrambled up the tub as the item in question landed near her feet. The water started turning dark, almost black, as Max climbed in the tub, unable to contain her discomfort as she adjusted to the still warm water. “No wonder you’re all red, Chloe, how hot was this water?”

“Like the pits of Tartarus,” Chloe quipped, trying not the enjoy the feel of the bath bomb on her skin. “You’re coating me in hipster shit. Aren’t these things literally made from poop they had hipsters donate?”

“Don’t be gross, Chloe,” Max admonished, using her torso to nudge Chloe to the side. After a minute or so they settled in, with Chloe resting her head in the crook of Max’s neck. They were silent for a long time, until Max spoke up.

“How you doing, Chlo?” she asked as she started playing with Chloe’s hair.

Chloe sighed before trying to translate for feelings into words. “Honestly? I feel like I’ve added another name to the list of people who have died and/or abandoned me.” She placed a soft kiss onto Max’s neck to reassure her before continuing, “And I know it doesn’t compare to my folks or Rachel, and that truck was a piece of shit that was going to die sooner or later, I just…” Chloe couldn’t find it in herself to continue, choosing instead to bury her face deeper in Max’s neck and stain her skin with her tears.

“I’m…probably going to make things worse, but maybe…maybe it was time,” Max said, slowly and unsurely. “When you found that truck you were at your lowest, and it helped you, Rachel, me…but now I…I hope that you’re in a better place than you were then, and maybe it knew it was time to move on. Maybe some other teenager in need of help will find it in its new home and it will work for them.”

“That’s a lot of ‘maybes’ Maximus, but…I think that makes me feel better about it? Like I’ve leveled up too much for it and now it seeks a new adventurer at the beginning of their quest.”

“Well I’m glad I didn’t screw it up then,” Max quipped, kissing the top of Chloe’s head.

“You couldn’t screw it up Max, it’s just…what are we going to do? We have all these plans on the maps that involve driving, like the Vancouver trip during spring break, and now…I can’t accept that it could be over.”

“It’s not,” Max said with determination. “You said it yourself, we have the budget for something that can get the job done. After everything we’ve been through, this won’t stop us.”

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes, Max idly playing with Chloe’s hair before she decided to comment. “Your roots are really starting to show. Your hair’s longer to.”

“Haven’t really been keeping it up. Have I? Maybe I’ll add a bit more violet and go for a tri-color.”

“I like that idea, it’d be like a gay bomb pop,” Max said, giggling.

“Bi bomb pop technically, or pan, or…I don’t know, guess I’m Maxsexual now.”

Max giggled further at that, before changing topics. “Your birthday’s on Wednesday, I was thinking…maybe you could dye my hair?”

Right, her birthday, the big 2-0. Chloe didn’t like to think about it, so she focused on Max’s offer. “You mean, all your hair?”

“Just a streak,” Max quickly clarified. “Don’t think I’d look good with the whole thing changed, but…” Max lapsed into silence, seemingly unsure.

“Hella fucking yes we can do that,” Chloe said, eyes lighting up for the first time in hours. “Got a color preference? I was thinking pink, or maybe deep purple? Red?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Max said reassuringly. They said nothing more after that, silently caressing each other’s bodies until the water became cool and they got out, drying themselves before resuming their cuddling on their bed.

A few days later, a large truck came and loaded up Chloe’s truck onto its bed. Chloe was able to not cry until it disappeared from view, and the following hours were mostly a blur to her, other than burying her face in whatever crooks of Max’s body she could find.

—————————

Chloe certainly hadn’t been looking forward to her birthday. For one thing, it was on a Wednesday, the worst day to have any sort of pseudo-holiday. Max still had school, and Max’s parent’s still had work, so Chloe had to settle for a kiss goodbye at the bus-stop and a lingering shame that she wasn’t pulling her weight anymore. Second, reaching an arbitrary milestone like 20 brought up painful introspections about what she’d done with herself over the previous 20 and what it’d cost for her to reach it. She’d been almost glad to have a therapy session scheduled that day, because even with the inconvenience of Seattle’s public transit system it was good to vent to someone she knew could take it and make something of it.

Still, by the time she got home Max was there with a tube of deep purple dye and Chloe eagerly set to the task of giving Max the streak she’d requested. After that Max got a text from Ryan saying they had some sort of surprise and to keep busy in their room, which they did by what Chloe thought was the excellent idea of interpreting Ryan’s request more literally than he’d have probably approved of.

Later, they got dressed after receiving a text to meet them in the driveway. When they got out there, Chloe noticed immediately that there was a new car in the driveway, another Mini Cooper, though a deep blue instead of the racing green of the older one.

“Max, your hair!” Vanessa exclaimed, before Chloe could say anything.

“Yeah, well…” Max trailed off, running her fingers through the purple streak.

“What’s with the new wheels, Mr. C?” Chloe asked for both of them.

“Well Chloe, my wife and I have been planning this for a couple months now. Vanessa’s still satisfied with the station wagon,” Chloe’s gaze quickly darted over to the same station wagon that they had left in after William’s funeral, before darting away as quickly as possible, “and the old Mini was what I bought once we finally felt like we wouldn’t lose the house, but aside from the sunroof I chose the bare minimums when I got it. I’ve been saving up for a while and I got a bigger year-end bonus then I expected, so I thought it was time to get a new one.”

“But what about the old one, dad?” Max asked, her tone overflowing with curiosity.

“Your mother and I love the maps you’ve put in your bedroom, Maxine. It’s…inspiring in a way to be honest.” Ryan responded, shrugging. “However, we were kind of…dubious about you doing all that driving in Chloe’s old truck. This isn’t how we wanted it to happen…but you need a car, and there’s one right here for both of you.”

Chloe saw Max’s eyes grow wide as she approached what was now apparently their car. She chose to turn her attention back to Max’s parents, who both looked slightly nervous.

“This is…hella awesome Mr. C, I just…well…”

“Storage shouldn’t be an issue for your trip. It looks small, but you can pack a lot in there, especially since I don’t think you’ll be using the back seats much,” Ryan replied. “I got it looked over a few days ago and everything’s good, and you’ve proven a competent enough mechanic that I’m sure you can take great care of it.”

“Of course,” Chloe said, walking over to Max, who had started running her hand over one of the doors. She put a hand on Max’s shoulder, bringing her back to the conversation.

“Dad, mom, I…thank you,” Max said, choking slightly as Chloe brought her in for a hug.

“You’re welcome,” Ryan said. “Now about the birthday of our young Miss Price here, at first we thought about taking you all to a fancy restaurant to celebrate…”

“Or,” Vanessa said, as Chloe was able to successfully suppress a retching sound “Ryan and I could go on the trip down the coast to California to test out the new car. We’re leaving Thursday and’ll be back next Wednesday. We told the school we’d be taking Max with us for Friday, so she has a three-day weekend. There’s some six-packs in the trunk that we won’t be keeping too close an eye on, and you can use the credit car for pizza or something. So as long as you both are safe and Max gets to school next week, you’re free to well…do whatever.” Vanessa shrugged her shoulders, which Chloe interpreted as her indirect permission for both of them to get high over the weekend.

“Don’t worry, Mrs, C,” Chloe assured, “we’ll make sure everything in the house looks and smells the same. And obviously no mixing anything with our new wheels.”

“Thank you, Chloe,” Vanessa said, looking relieved.

“All this?” Max asked, her tone unsure. “I just…”

“We trust you, both of you,” Ryan replied, walking over and putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “Now, there’s also a cake in the trunk of my new car, so how about you help us carry it all in?”

The evening ended being up being about as much fun as Chloe could expect for a school night. The real reward came when Max’s parents retired for the evening and Max revealed her own present for Chloe: the revealing of a set of purple lingerie that closely matched the new streak in her hair. Chloe made sure to unwrap and play with her present with the care ‘it’ deserved.

They lay there, cuddling as close to each other as possible, when Max asked, “What do you want to do for the weekend, Chlo?”

“I was thinking, you know how the fences and trees and angles make our backyard completely secluded from the neighbors?”

“Yeah, that was a big selling point for my parents, the Caulfields like their privacy,” Max responded. “Why do you ask?”

Chloe only grinned in response, pressing her mouth to Max’s collar bone to ensure she felt it. She felt Max shudder in response, but neither of them said anything.

—————————

Chloe sighed happily after taking another hit her joint, adjusting herself and laying down in one of the long lawn chairs that they had set up. About ten feet away Max was going through the food and drinks they’d set up, her cheeks red as she kept glancing around nervously. Chloe figured she was worried about them getting caught with marijuana.

Or the fact that they were both butt naked in the backyard, one of the two.

Chloe considered that it might have been too much to have them leave all their clothes in the house, leaving them unable to practically cover themselves in the event they were spotted, but she dismissed the idea. This was just too enjoyable.

The weekend risked being a rainout, but the Friday the elder Caulfields had gotten Max out of school for was mercifully clear, so here they were on the first day of their three-day weekend, whose activities Max had taken surprisingly little convincing to partake in.

“You need to chill, Maxiclean, as you’ve all said, no one has line of sight on us here,” Chloe said reassuringly.

Max turned her attention to her and Chloe couldn’t help but smile at Max’s face, clearly trying to hide how high she was. She wasn’t as bad as she was back in autumn, but Max was still the lightweight among their small group of friends, ’expect for the poor virgin Kate’, Chloe mused, ‘maybe someday.’

“I know the neighbors can’t see us, I just…”

“You worried about your parents showing up out of the blue? Seriously Maxipad, by now they’re in…where did they say they were going? Crescent City or Eureka or something? Fuck, I can’t remember. Point is, nothing bad is going to happen. I’d never do this if I thought anything bad would happen to you.”

Max smiled in response before returning her gaze to the pizzas and other snacks they’d laid out. Chloe felt a sudden compulsion to push Max.

“Besides, do you think they are thinking about us right now? Chances are, they’re on their hotel balcony overlooking the Pacific, and your dad’s bending your mom over-”

Chloe’s spiel was interrupted when something thrown at high velocity hit her in the face. She looked down at the offending package to realize it was a partially opened bag of Doritos.

“No!,” Max yelled. “I don’t care how high we are, you are not talking about my parent’s sex lives!”

“Fine, fine, excuse me for being happy for them,” Chloe said, raising her arms defensively. Max turned away in a huff before grabbing a pizza slice and quickly eating it.

“Oh Maxi…” Chloe said trying to get her attention. When she did Max was treated to the sight of Chloe’s legs raised in the air right before she spread them as wide as possible, shaking her hips enticingly. “Why don’t you come here?”

Chloe watched with amusement as Max quickly wiped her hands on a napkin before coming over to her. Once she was close enough, Chloe wrapped her legs around Max’s torso, causing her to stumble and fall on top of her.

“Why hello there,” Chloe grinned, taking in Max’s red eyes and dazed look, stealing a kiss before Max could say anything.

“Hello to you to,” Max replied softly after Chloe had pulled back. “I think-Eeep!” she squealed as Chloe used one of her hands to insert two fingers inside her. The other wrapped around Max’s back, pinning them together.

“What, you want me to stop?” Chloe asked, with enough seriousness in her tone to convey she absolutely would. Max shook her head after a few seconds and they both settled in.

“Do you think my parents stopped in Arcadia Bay?” Max asked sadly.

Well that certainly brought down the mood.

“Sorry,” Max said. “I…if they took the coastal roads they’d have passed through…”

“Maybe,” Chloe said, not really wanting to think on it too much. “They did grow up there after all.”

Max was silent for several seconds, seemingly pondering what Chloe said. “I don’t really think about it a lot,” she said at last. “I mean, I think about those who died and survived all the time, but never really people like my parents who were from there and whose only real loss was memories.”

“The memories are still there Max, knocking down some buildings doesn’t destroy them. Shit, the only thing I have left of either of my folks is their engagement ring, doesn’t stop me from remembering the good times.”

“I…you’re right,” Max said. “It’s just…easier to think I destroyed everything, as weird as that sounds.”

“I get it,” Chloe said. They lapsed into silence for several minutes before Max whined.

“Chole…”

“What is it, Maxsexual?” Chloe teased.

“Are you going to…do anything with your fingers?”

‘Oh right,’ Chloe mused, ‘the fingers I have jammed in her pussy.’

“I don’t know, you wanna come for the birthday girl?”

“Yes,” Max said, her hips grinding against Chloe’s fingers, her tone catching Chloe momentarily off-guard. “I want to come for you, then I want to make you come until you black out, then I’ll grab the handcuffs from our bedroom and lock you to the lawn chair.”

“Fuck, Max, you better keep that promise,” Chloe said, finally moving her fingers.

“I know you have a kink for this outdoor stuff, Chlo,” Max said, lust starting to cloud her voice. “I want to do this for you, please…”

Chloe had no response to that, other than drawing Max in for a deep kiss while letting her fingers get to work.

—————

It was several hours later as Chloe idly gazed at the handcuff that bound one of her hands to the lawn chair. Max had been as true to her vow as she could of been, though Chloe had regained consciousness with Max sheepishly admitting she could only find one of the cuffs, with the scene being further ruined by the discovery that the lawn chair was no where near sturdy enough to stop Chloe’s hands from moving, the simplest tug pulling the chair with her. They’d adjusted their strategy, however, and the afternoon had passed quite pleasurably.

Max proffered the open bag of Doritos to Chloe, which she used her free hand to reach into, grabbing a handful and shoving them into her mouth.

“Hey Max?” Chloe asked, voice unsure.

“Yeah, Chloe?”

“This has been good,” Chloe stated simply. “We’re going to have more days like this, right?”

“Of course we will, Chloe, so many more.”

Chloe felt a dopey smile grow on her face, bringing Max in for a kiss. No matter what else would happen, she knew Max was telling the truth.

Chapter Text

Chloe dutifully typed away at the computer in her and Max’s bedroom. As easy as it would be to rest on her laurels, Max continued to believe that she could get into a proper university. As skeptical as she was, Max’s belief in her could sometimes be infectious, and while she was naturally skeptical of of positive thought, she wanted to prove Max right.

“That’s a good attitude, Chloe.”

Chloe turned her head back towards her bed, where Rachel sat at the foot, smiling gently and wearing nothing but a pair of panties. Chloe tried to ignore the bite marks that were clearly visible on Rachel’s neck and breasts, that she knew she’d made despite having no memory of it, and turned back to the blank screen on her computer.

“Chloe…”

“Save it, Rachel, you’re not real. I found your decaying corpse, remember?” Chloe said bitterly.

“By that logic, it would be physically impossible for me to remember,” Rachel replied, smiling.

“Whatever, I just want this fucking dream to end, I’d managed to go weeks without having one of these fucked up lucid ones, without any serious substance use,” Chloe said.

“You really think this is a dream, Chloe?”

“Of course it is!” Chloe exclaimed. “Look out the window! That’s not the Caulfield’s lower-upper class neighborhood in Seattle out there. Looks more like one of those Spaceman Spiff landscapes.”

Rachel laughed at that. “I miss Calvin & Hobbes. Strange thing to choose among all the others, but…” Rachel trailed off, choosing to shrug her shoulders instead.

Chloe huffed in response. She heard Rachel stand up behind her and approach the chair she sat in. She jumped slightly at the tactile feeling of a hand brushing her shoulder and turned to stare up at Rachel.

“Your earring’s missing,” she stated simply.

Rachel threw back her head and let out a hearty laugh. “I’m standing in your girlfriend’s bedroom with my tits out and you focus on my missing earring?”

Chloe only shrugged her shoulders in response.

“If it’s anywhere, I imagine it’s where you left it in the dresser over there,” Rachel continued, pointing to the piece of furniture in question.

“Well take it and go then,” Chloe said, turning back to the computer. “I don’t want dream-Max suddenly barging in and seeing this, don’t need the guilt in the real world.”

She could feel Rachel’s frown burrowing into the back of her head, and eventually feeling both of Rachel’s hands on her shoulders.

“I’m not here to be a home wrecker Chloe,” Rachel said firmly. “In dreamland or real land.”

Chloe turned back to Rachel, deciding to simply stare at her and let Rachel dictate wherever this dream was supposed to go.

“You’re mad at me,” Rachel said sadly.

“Of course I am, tomorrow will be a year since you…”

“Since I died.”

“Yeah…” Chloe mumbled, unsure of how to proceed.

“Would saying ‘I’m sorry’ mean anything?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe retorted, crossing her arms. “Are you?”

“I didn’t treat you fairly, Chloe; I shut you out. Maybe if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have ended up where I am. And that wasn’t meant to hurt you,” she quickly added before collapsing on the bed and sighing. “Maybe my father was right to be worried about me being too much like my mother.”

Chloe got up and cautiously approached Rachel, trying to keep her eyes on Rachel’s face. “Rachel-”

“It’s true though, isn’t it?” Rachel asked sadly. “I was just…so desperate to escape that I stopped caring about who I hurt. I threw away the best thing I had going for me.”

Chloe sat down on the edge of the bed, staring down at the floor. “Well I wouldn’t go that far-”

“I will, Chloe,” Rachel said, springing up and shuffling until she was sitting next to Chloe. “I wish I’d gotten a second chance, like Max did. And like I said, not here to home wreck, just…it’s good that she’s seized her second chance.”

“Max is…” Chloe said, unsure of what exactly to say. “She means everything, you know?”

Rachel smiled warmly, before getting a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “I know, I was there last night, when she was propped up on the headboard while you went down on her? I tried to help, play with her nipples a bit,” she said with amusement, tweaking her own for emphasis before letting her arms rest and letting out a large sigh, “but alas, my hands aren’t as corporeal as they used to be.”

“Wait, what? Aren’t you in my head?”

“Giving you a straight answer wouldn’t be very in-character for me, would it?” Rachel said, grinning, putting a hand on Chloe’s shoulder and gently squeezing. “Now come on, I want to show you something!”

Chloe offered no resistance as Rachel grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom door. Going through it, Chloe did not find herself in the short hallway of the Caulfield house, but directly back in her old bedroom, seemingly pristine. Rachel approached the bed while Chloe was drawn to the window; outside looked anything but pristine, with nothing but wrecked homes and abandoned streets where her neighborhood used to be. She heard the bedroom door slam shut behind her, she went back to it but found it locked.

“Chloe.”

Chloe turned to look at her bed and felt her blood freeze. Rachel was still dressed only in her panties, laying on her back and propping herself up on her elbows. Her face was grinning, but unlike the warm and playful looks she had given earlier this one was cruel and as sharp as a dagger. At the foot of her bed stood Frank Bowers and Mark Jefferson, both shirtless. They were both gazing smugly at Chloe, but otherwise looked like statues, unmoving and unblinking.

“Rach? What the fuck is this?” Chloe said, fear entering her voice.

“Just having a little fun with a couple ‘friends’ of mine,” Rachel purred, sliding off the bed and resting on her knees between the two men. She raised her hips up and spread her legs out, and Chloe could clearly see a wet spot in Rachel’s panties. She forced her gaze back to Rachel’s face, which held a perverse and malicious look as she raised her hands and rested them on the men’s prominent bulges.

“You fucking serious!? All that shit you just said-”

“I’m an actress, Chloe, it’s the greatest joy I get from life, manipulating people like you,” she responded haughtily as her hands began to massage the packages they were holding. “Making people love me, and having them feeling like it’s there fault when I get bored of them, it’s truly the greatest sport.”

“Yeah, well, joke’s on you, bitch. That dude you’re jacking off fucking killed you!” Chloe screamed, tears forming at her eyes.

“Mmm…worth it,” Rachel purred. “Just getting away from you was worth it, even not factoring in the…benefits of a man like Jefferson.”

Chloe felt sick, wanting nothing more than to spill her guts out. Instead, she found herself unable to move.

“Now if you’ll excuse me Chloe,” Rachel said, removing her hand from Jefferson to begin undoing Frank’s jeans. “It’s been great chatting, but I have better things to be doing with my mouth.”

Chloe felt herself flying backwards, painfully smashing through the door and colliding like a comet into her new bed. The last thing she saw was the look of depraved satisfaction in Rachel’s eyes as she took Frank into her mouth.

———————

Chloe sprung up, drawing a deep gasp of air as she took in her surroundings. She was definitely in her bedroom in Seattle, she concluded, as she took in seemingly normal surroundings.

“Hmm…Che?”

Chloe felt arms constrict around her torso and looked down to see Max blearily looking up at her. “Wha…you k?”

“Yeah, Maxiclean,” Chloe said, gently brushing Max’s hair. “Go back to sleep.”

Max tiredly nodded before falling back to sleep, nestling closer to Chloe. Chloe tiredly eyed the clock on the nightstand which read 2:something in what she could only assume was morning.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Chloe said, falling back onto the pillow. It took an uncertain amount of breathing exercises, but that combined with her focus on Max wrapped around her allowed her to eventually fall back asleep.

—————

The day had been passing like some sort of strange dream. Max’s parents had been giving her space, having been briefed on today’s significance by Max. The fact that Max was at school didn’t do anything to help matter

Chloe found herself in their bedroom idly playing video games. On the bed Rachel’s feather earring rested on top of the plastic bag that it had been stored in, having been taken out for Chloe to idly play with. She had eventually abandoned that activity in fear of dredging up her recent dream, and now sat trying to focus on the game playing on the screen. She only let out a small huff of acknowledgement as she heard the door open and Max gingerly stepped inside.

“Hey, Che,” Max said quietly. “What’ca playing?”

“Metro: Last Light,” Chloe grunted. “I just watched Anna sexing me up outta nowhere.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to complain about being ‘sexed up’,” Max said, making finger quotes for effect.

“Oh I’m not,” Chloe responded. “I will never complain about getting my virtual dick wet.”

Max snorted in response before heading over to their bed. Chloe could see her pause as she regarded the feather laid out gently on the bed, before walking over to it and carefully picking it up herself. She didn’t say anything, and Chloe tried to return her attention to the game. She could feel Max’s eyes on her, and eventually she turned off the console in annoyance.

“What?” Chloe asked, with more bite than she’d intended.

Max continued to say nothing for several seconds, and Chloe noticed her do her tell of grabbing one of her arms.

“I was wondering if you wanted to talk,” Max said, her tone betraying her nervousness.

“I think you’re the one who wants to talk more than I do,” Chloe retorted, before taking a deep breath at Max’s wince. “Shit, I’m sorry Max.”

“Me staring at you for several minutes probably didn’t help,” Max conceded, putting the feather back down. “But, yeah, I guess I do want to talk.”

Chloe stood up from the chair she’d been standing in and took the few short steps to the bed. She carefully picked up the bag the feather was balanced on and placed it on the nightstand, before taking a seat next to Max.

“Obviously, we’re all aware what today marks,” Chloe said, just to be absolutely sure they were on the same page.

“It’s been a year since Rachel died,” Max affirmed sadly. “Or at least disappeared.”

“Yeah…it’s been on my mind a lot,” Chloe said, drawing her legs up to her chest and hugging them. “I just…I don’t know what to think.”

“Knowing you, that means you’ve got about a million thoughts that you want to suppress with weed,” Max said wrying putting a hand on one of Chloe’s knees. “Please talk to me.”

Chloe sighed, focusing on the feel on Max’s hand. “Last night…I had a dream where I was talking to Rachel, where she knew she was dead. At first she was all happy for me and how I’m actually doing shit with my life, but then she turned into a ’Haha, you stupid slut, you think I ever cared?’ version.” Chloe said with frustration. “I just wish…could the real Rachel Amber please step forward?”

Neither said anything for several minutes, before Max piqued up, “Can I admit something? You probably won’t like it,”

“Of course, Maximus Prime.”

“I’ve, this whole time, I’ve been jealous of Rachel. I know how fucked up it is, claiming that about someone who’s dead. But the way you talked about her…”

“I was using her to make you feel like shit for abandoning me, Max. That’s pretty obvious.” Chloe replied. “I’ve talked about it a lot with the shrink, but…I don’t know…”

“I know that, Chlo, and I know I’m not the best person to advise you on Rachel, since I never knew her. But you said she saved you, right? In more ways than one.”

“Yeah…” Chloe breathed, thinking both in general and of a few very specific incidents.

“Well, maybe she was a complete bitch who always planned to abandon you, or maybe she was just using Frank and Jefferson and always planned to come back to you. Or maybe she was a teenager like us and extremely confused, I don’t know,” Max said. “But I know that, not knowing her, I refuse to believe the worst of her, and the fact that she was there for you when I wasn’t…I owe her everything.”

“Max-”

“No, Chloe, I don’t care to imagine the world without you in it,” Max said firmly. “Rachel helped get you here. Whatever her real motivations were, I always will try to believe the best of her.”

“Shit, Max,” Chloe said. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You feel you’re better off for having known her, right?”

Chloe stayed silent for several seconds. “Yeah…I am.”

“Then I think that’s what you should focus on. I know how special she was to you; that’s why I’m jealous. I know it’s selfish and wrong of me…but I wish I could have had those moments with you.”

“Me to, all three of us together? We’d have been unstoppable, from the junkyard to the bedroom.”

“Bedroom?” Max squeaked.

“Well yeah, if she was alive we’d totally be poly. No need for any love triangle bullshit.”

“Three people sounds like a lot of work,” Max replied.

“You’d be worth it,” Chloe responded firmly, before lowering her legs. “I hope you don’t take what I just said as…” she trailed off.

“That you’d rather have her than me? No, I don’t think that,” Max replied assuringly. “I wish I could’ve saved her,” she added sadly.

“Yeah, even when I think the worst of her, she didn’t deserve what happened to her,” Chloe said sadly. “I just wish…I can talk to you and the shrink, but it’d be nice to talk to someone who really knew her. Dana and Vicky didn’t really know her that well.”

“What about Rachel’s parents?” Max queried. “I know you’ve been sending a couple letters to her mom…step-mom I mean. We’re planning to go through the Twin Cities on our trip anyway.”

Chloe looked over to the giant maps adorning the wall. More sticky notes and tabs lined them, along with some polaroids hanging over British Columbia from the spring break trip they’d taken to Vancouver and Victoria. She slowly walked over to the wall, grabbed a pen, went to the sticky note covering the cities in question, and wrote ‘Rachel’s parents?’ on it. She went back to the bed, picking up the feather before sitting down.

“I’ll put it on there, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea. They blamed me for wrecking their family, and…well, Rose’s letters have been conciliatory, but meeting in person…”

“We’re not committing to it, Chlo,” Max assured, “but it’s something to think about. What about her birth mother?”

“Sera? No fucking clue where she is. I hope she’s okay though,” Chloe answered. She returned her attention to the feather, turning it over again and again. She could feel Max’s worried gaze on her, but refused to look up.

“Is…there something else, Chlo?” Max asked.

“Yeah, it’s…this feather earring. It’s pretty much been sitting in the drawer collecting dust, hasn’t it?

“Pretty much,” Max affirmed sadly.

“I’d wear it, but…that would feel right. And I can’t just keep it in a drawer, she deserves better.” Chloe paused for several seconds, thinking hard. “Rose said they cremated her, I don’t know…you know the movies where there’s an angry ghost that can never rest until all it’s parts are returned to it?”

“You…want to give the earring back?”

“I…no, I’ve got a…quarter of an idea in my head. You know that episode of Poirot we watched where Hastings had the big-ass toy sailboat?

“Yeah…?”

“That’s…about as far as I’ve got, but maybe…” Chloe raised her head back to the maps, looking for inspiration. “Maybe it’s a third of an idea now. I’ll have to think about it later.” Chloe picked up the bag and placed the earring in it, before walking over to the wall and grabbed a tack, pinning the bag to the US map off the coast of California. “I’ll just put that there, if it’s okay.”

“Of course.” Max said. Chloe went back to the bed and flopped down on her stomach before turning to the side. Max quickly laid back to join her.

“Is there anything you want to do for the rest of the day?”

“Well, today’s also Earth Day,” Chloe said after several moments.

“Hmm…guess it is,” Max hummed in response. “Do you have something in mind?”

“Well, yesterday I downloaded pretty much all the episodes of Captain Planet, so I suggest we play them on our TV while getting blazed.” Chloe wryly suggested.

“It’s a school night, Che,” Max groaned in response.

“You’re telling me you don’t have any senioritis with barely more than a month left?”

“I do,” Max groaned, but I don’t want to use it on Captain Planet.”

“How dare you, Maxine,” Chloe said, trying to sound stern. “I’ll have you know that Linka was my gay awakening.”

“No she wasn’t.”

“Caught me, but still, that accent…”

“Uh huh.”

“Whatever,” Chloe huffed good-naturedly, “Need I remind you you also owe me for 4/20 on Monday. Besides, Rachel would be honored by us honoring her so.”

“Fine, how about Saturday morning we have a 4-20/Earth Day Rachel’s wake where we smoke weed and binge Captain Planet? Though that would make the anti-drug episodes awkward.” Max said.

“What, like the bliss? Those were hard drugs, not our dank weed. Besides, Ted Turner and Barbara Pyle were smoking something when he came up with it.”

“Maybe,” Max conceded. “I guess we’re set then.”

Chloe gave Max a big kiss on the lips, and settled in, staring at the wall where she pinned Rachel’s earring. She had the feeling that Rachel would continue to haunt her for a long time yet to come. But again, the same could be said for her parents, and Chloe certainly had plenty of unpleasant memories with Joyce. She nestled closer to Max, filling her head with whatever good memories she could think of.

Chapter Text

Max nervously adjusted her cap as she waited for her name to be called. She could tell that the people seated around her were just as nervous as her, but that didn’t make her feel any better.

‘I want this to be fucking over with,’

“Marcus Bowman.”

Max turned to a few seats down from her to see the boy in question stand up and approach the stage, shaking the principal’s hand before going into the back area. She could hear the applause from somewhere behind her, presumably his family. ‘I hope Chloe doesn’t do something that draws everyone’s attention.’

“Meredith Buxton.”

‘Actually, why do I care? I’m graduating, I’ll never see these people again.’

“Isabelle Caldwell.”

‘Chloe can do whatever she wants, all this pageantry is for the audience’s benefit anyway, not ours.’

“Maxine Caulfield.”

A loud whistle rang through the venue and made Max jump. Realizing that the name that had just been called, she hurriedly stood up and approached the stage. She absently shook the principal’s hand, paying more attention to the audience, where she could see Chloe in the distance, next to her parents, aunt, and grandmother, her face forming what she assumed was a grin. She gave a smile in return, even though she doubted they could see it. She then quickly got off the stage and into the back area before she could disrupt the flow of the line.

——————

Max found herself playing with her robes as she and the other students first in the alphabetical order waited for the procession to be over. If she could have her way she and her folks would have already left. But this ceremony was more about family members celebrating their children than the actual children.

Speaking of which, Max could hear a large wall of noise coming towards them. Soon enough parents and other family members started filling into the large congregation area. She quickly spotted Chloe leading her family members towards her. Chloe indeed had a grin on her face as she hurried over to Max and brought her in for a kiss, which Max returned with enthusiasm. Chloe pulled back and Max could see the pride and joy on her parent’s face, and the barely contained disapproval on her grandmother’s face, probably held in by her aunt’s hand on her shoulder. Chloe stepped aside and Vanessa quickly wrapped Max up in a hug.

“Oh Maxine, we’re so proud of you,” she said, sounding teary.

“Indeed we are kiddo,” Ryan agreed, getting his own arms around an open space.

“Thanks mom, dad,” Max replied, struggling to breathe slightly from being squeezed.

“I’m happy for you Maxine,” her grandmother replied, awkwardly but genuinely.

“Thanks Grandma,” she responded, keeping her voice light. Her grandmother pulled away quickly and back to the attention of her daughter.

“Right, well…” Max’s aunt said. “Vanessa?” she implored, looking to her sister.

“Right,” Vanessa said matter of factly, ushering her relatives off. Ryan moved to follow them, but then turned back.

“We’re going to take your grandmother home, Maxine, we should be gone for a couple hours, can you two have dinner set to be cooked by the time we get back?”

“Of course,” Max said.

“Max, I’m really sorry-”

“It’s not your fault, dad. Grandma didn’t give any indication beforehand she’d act like this,” Max replied forcefully.

Ryan nodded his head awkwardly before hurrying after his wife. Max stood there for a few minutes, before walking out into the June evening. She could feel Chloe sticking to her like her shadow.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself, Che,” Max said, sensing her girlfriend was about to speak.

“I can still be sorry, though,” Chloe said. “I didn’t want this for you.”

“Oh? You certainly played it up once you realized,” Max responded, turning towards Chloe and smiling. “Don’t take that as a complaint, part of me certainly enjoyed her expression.”

Chloe sighed deeply, bringing Max in for a hug. “Yep, that’s me. Can’t fucking control myself when I sense someone’s challenging me. Especially when it’s about-”

“I know Chloe, don’t apologize,” Max said. “If she can’t accept it, well…sucks to be her. I just hope she’ll come around eventually.”

Chloe chuckled at that, and they both turned their attention to the Sound, close enough to take up the background yet slightly to far away to feel as though they were on it. “You wanna take a walk, or…?”

“Actually…” Max said, her voice husky. “Remember that request you made of me? Well, I have to say I fulfilled it.”

“You mean…” Chloe said, her voice dropping an octave in response to Max’s, her hands running down Max’s side.

“That I have absolutely nothing on underneath these stupid robes? Yes.” Max replied, quickly biting Chloe’s neck.

“Fuck, Maxi…you know what I’ll do to you,” Chloe breathed, grabbing Max’s ass. “I’ll fucking destroy this thing,” she gave Max’s rear a firm slap for effect.

“Use lube,” Max replied breathlessly.

“Oh, you’ll be plenty lubed,” Chloe grinned in response, jutting her leg out between Max’s thighs, causing her to gasp. “Yep, you already are,” she said triumphantly.

“It’s all I could think about during those fucking stupid speeches,” Max said, grinding her hips against Chloe’s leg for the brief moment they were connected. “So when you say that…you mean you were only talking metaphorically about my ass?”

“Well…yeah, I was thinking of the pussy…you want me to be more literal?” Chloe asked, her own voice becoming breathless.

“You said we had a few hours, you can’t do both?” Max responded. She saw Chloe grin at that, and though her heart soared at it, she could help but slightly lament at the fact that she couldn’t catch Chloe off-guard with those kinds of statements anymore.

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy you trying to explain your limp to Kate tomorrow,” Chloe replied saucily.

“She’s abstinent, Chloe, not stupid,” Max responded, feeling the need to defend her friend.

“I wouldn’t put those two in totally different columns,” Chloe said spryly.

“Just get me to our bed, woman,” Max responded with faux-frustration.

“Aye aye, First Mate Long Max Silver,” Chloe replied, mockingly saluting before grabbing Max and dragging her to where their Mini was parked.

————————

The day had been hectic for Max: a well-deserved sleep-in after a night that was long and tiring in both good and bad ways. She didn’t really feel like she had passed a major milestone in the life of an American girl, and wether it was because it simply needed to sink in or the events that had transpired eight months ago was not something she wanted to think about. So instead she threw herself into setting everything up for the party, with the help of Chloe and her parents. Tables and chairs laid with food and drinks of various alcohol levels were strewn across the backyard, and Chloe had brought out her entire remaining stash of weed after grumpily agreeing to Vanessa’s request that she wouldn’t bring any with her on their trip. Max cooing about how ‘responsible’ Chloe was becoming earned her a finger in response.

Eventually she found herself pacing in the front hall, Chloe casually leaning against one of the walls. She was trying her best to ignore the pit in her stomach: caused by both the anxiety of hosting a party for pretty much the first time in her life, and also since she was holding off lunch until the guests came.

“You need to relax, Chillmax,” Chloe said, seemingly unconcerned.

“I just don’t want to fuck this up, Chlo, what the hell do I know about hosting parties?”

“That’s why I’m here,” Chloe replied confidently. “Trust me, with all the food and weed, everyone’s going to have a great time. And you made sure to get stuff for Kate to.”

“Right, it’s just…aren’t I supposed to do something as the host?”

“Just look after everyone, you’ll be fine.”

“Am I walking funny?”

“Only a bit,” Chloe said smugly. “Seriously, do you need an orgasm to calm you down?”

“The last thing I need is to be even more sore-” Max’s retort was cut short by the sound of the doorbell ringing, prompting her to sigh. “Right, let’s do this.”

Max walked over and opened the door to see the faces of Dana and Kate. Max quickly found herself embraced by Dana.

“It’s so good to see you again Max,” she gushed, pulling back and offering Max a smile, which she was happy to return.

“Back atcha, Dana,” Max said, before turning and embracing Kate. While her face held a smile, she also looked very tired. “I’m so glad you’re here Kate, you alright?”

“I’m fine Max,” she reassured. “I just…had a fight with my mom right before we left Portland. I’d rather not talk about it right now, if that’s okay.”

“Of course, we’ve got plenty of food and drinks, non-alcoholic to,” Max said.

“I could go for a beer, honestly, though if you see me with a second knock it out of my hands, okay?”

“Can do,” Max replied before hearing the doorbell ring again. Kate, who was closest to the door, opened it to Victoria’s surprised face.

“Oh, hey Kate,” she said nervously.

“Hey, Victoria,” Kate said.

“Good to have you here, Victoria,” Max said, jumping between the two just in case. “Now we’re just waiting for Steph and the Norths.”

“I think I saw them a couple blocks ago at an intersection,” Victoria said, before turning her head back to the street outside. Max looked herself and saw a familiar car pulling up. “Yep, that’s them.”

Steph, Mikey, and Drew quickly joined them in the front hall, all giving Max a quick hug. Max could hear the chatter behind her die down as Chloe, Kate, and Dana all looked at Max.

“Right, thank you all for coming,” Max said, trying not to sound nervous. “Those of us who weren’t lucky enough to have finished high school before now now have our degrees.” At this Steph, Mikey, and Drew all teasingly clapped at the other five, to which Chloe mockingly bowed in response. “We’ve got food and drink out back, and my parents have left for a while, so…don’t smash to burn anything?”

“Except the weed of course, fire sale: everything must go! Can’t bring it with us on the trip.” Chloe exclaimed in a salesmen pitched voice.

“Speaking of that, think we could see those maps you’re always going on about?” Victoria asked.

“Yeah, it sounds awesome, this trip you’re doing,” Dana agreed.

“Sure thing, right upstairs.”

——————

“Holy shit Max, this is awesome!” Mikey exclaimed taking in the maps on their bedroom wall.

Everyone else made similar statements as they took in different parts. Victoria, Dana, and Steph were all looking at notes over the world map, all with joints that Chloe had given them before going upstairs. Max wasn’t too pleased with having her bedroom smell of weed, but she was prepared to tolerate it. The others were looking at the North America map, with Kate tracing lines along interstates from one sticky note to another. Max and Chloe sat back on their bed

“Yeah, it’s been…a lot of work, building it put. Figuring out an efficient way to hit all of …” Max trailed off, embarrassed.

“I showed everyone I know in Portland the pictures you two took in BC, you’ve got a lot of people interested in seeing what you do next,” Dana said proudly.

“Same for Corvallis,” Drew said.

“And Seattle,” Victoria finished. “I see you actually have a proper camera now.”

“The polaroid is still going to be the main one,” Max said, elbowing Chloe before she could rise to defend her fathers camera’s honor. “But yeah, the new one will be useful for dark stuff, or if I need a long exposure time.”

“You’ll need that if you want to catch the lights in winter,” Kate said. “You know when you’ll be going to some of these places?”

“Most of the US and Canada stuff will be over the summer, head over to Europe in the fall, and then…well, after that we’ve got a general idea, but we’re not sure if we’re timing everything correct,” Chloe responded. “We’ve got time…and money, thanks to Prescott.”

“At least none of us will be starving artists,” Victoria said. “I’ve got a nice apartment lined up in Santa Clarita when I start at CalArts in the fall.”

“I’ll confess to having a similar thing for Corvallis,” Dana said.

“And Eugene,” Kate added, somewhat embarrassed.

“Hmph, you guys are going to be hosting the parties,” Steph said good-naturedly. “Speaking of which, how about we see some of that food you mentioned? I’m starved.”

Max felt her own stomach growl in response. “In the backyard, let’s head there.”

——————

Max found herself by herself in the backyard, nursing the last of her first beer. Victoria had just peeled off and was now engaging Kate in a seemingly earnest conversation. Dana and Mikey were dancing next to the stereo playing music as quietly as Max thought she could get away with. Max could tell even from her distance how carefree Dana seemed as Mikey wrapped his arms around her waist. The remaining were having a loud and boisterous discussion, which ended when Chloe noticed that Max was alone.

“Hey there, wallflower.”

“You just caught me in a lull, is all,”

“Right…” Chloe said as Max saw Dana approach them.

“Hey, how’s it going you two?”

“Forget about us, how ‘bout you and Mikey? You’re getting that nerd D! Hah, get it Max? Nerd D?”

“We got it Chloe,” Max said, patting Chloe on the head. “How about you get the two of us new drinks as a way to apologize for that awful pun.”

Chloe smirked and kissed Max on the cheek before heading off. Dana sat down on one of the chairs near Max and sighed.

“Sorry about her, she’s high. And drunk.” Max said.

“No need for apologies.” Dana replied, though she sounded nervous.

“Is something wrong?”

“I…maybe you’d have insight Max,” Dana hesitantly stated. “When you’re with Chloe, do you ever feel like…she’ll crumble to dust in your hands?”

Max shuddered, mind filled with all the times Chloe died or almost died. Her reaction must have been noticeable, because Dana now had a look of concern on her face. “Max?”

“You have no idea, Dana, no idea.” Max said. “I’ve had like, a jillion therapy sessions, but I don’t think stuff like that’s ever going to go away.”

Dana sighed, relieved. “Glad it’s not just me then. After Logan and Trevor…it’s easy to feel like everything can get ripped from you.”

Max took deep breaths, remembering what the therapist said to do when she had a guilt attack. ’Empathize and sympathize.’

“I know exactly what you mean Dana. Everyone that’s been lost…Chloe, you, Kate, and Victoria are the only ones I know who survived. And Vic was in San Francisco, and Kate’s family had picked her up and left hours before. You’re the only one I know who actually survived. I know others from Blackwell made it, I see them on the Facebook groups, but Claire, Benjamin, Matt? I don’t even recognize their faces.”

“Wow, Max, I didn’t realize…I mean, I knew you hadn’t been very social, but I figured you might know survivors from when you grew up there.”

Max shook her head. “No, just Chloe and her mom.”

“What about me?” Chloe asked, returning with three cans in hand, sticking them out so Dana and Max could each grab one.

“Nothing, Che.”

“If you say so. Now, what were we talking about?”

“My sex life, I believe,” Dana said, apparently willing to bring it back up for the subject change.

“Yeah, you and Mikey,” Chloe said. “He’s a great guy. But his medical conditions makes him a bit fragile, so be careful when you ride him, lest you crush his pelvis.”

Dana laughed at that. “We’ve discussed what we need to discuss about things like that, but I’m sure he’ll appreciate your concern for his pelvis.”

“Oh I’m not worried about him, it’s you,” Chloe said, grinning. “You hurt him, and Steph will do to you what she did to your D&D character during that session we played in Portland.”

Dana paled slightly at that and took a chug of her beer. Max laughed and asked Dana what she wanted to major in. Dana smiled, grateful for the new topic.

————————

The conversations they had lasted much longer than Max would have anticipated. Thank dog that Chloe had seen fit to haul out the fire pit that her parents had, because the amount of sunlight has now negligible. They were all sitting in chairs around it now, Max flanked by Chloe on one side and Kate on the other. A few of them were holding marshmallows over the fire on long sticks, others smoking the last of Chloe’s weed or the last of the beers. Max wished she could break away and take a picture, but she felt compelled to stay here, part of the group instead of an observer.

“Did you hear that ‘ol Principal Wells is going to prison?” Drew asked out of the blue.

Kate snorted at that. “So everything about him intentionally endangering our lives for the sake of Blackwell’s finances actually stuck?”

“It’s only for thirty days, apparently, but the bigger thing is that he’ll pretty much never work in the sector again,” Steph said.

“I wonder what he’ll do now?” Mikey asked, voice indicating he had no legitimate idea.

“Probably die from alcohol poisoning under a bridge,” Chloe said dismissively.

“I remember when we first got the news about the storm,” Victoria added. “Standing around in that gallery, the fact that a freak storm had just wiped out an entire town not to far away slowly spreading among crowd. Both of us were calling pretty much anyone we could think of. When Wells realized just how bad it was…well, ‘broken’ doesn’t seem adequate.”

“I saw things in Wells that make me think he’s a good person at heart,” Max said. “Even after he threatened and disparaged me for reporting Nathan when he damn well knew he was capable…”

“Yeah, seriously Max, I don’t think he deserves your sympathy,” Chloe said, and looking around told Max that she was expressing a majority opinion.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he’ll never be in charge of kids again; I’m just saying…he put his soul into Blackwell, and I remember seeing how doing things like that were destroying him on the inside. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself the past few months, it’s that I’m selfish. I’ve got you, Chloe, and everyone else here, my folks…and I honestly don’t know just how much I care about the wider world, even though I know I should.”

“Being a hero is overrated,” Victoria said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from anime, it’s that they don’t get happy endings.”

Everyone lapsed into silence for a few moments after that. Max watched Kate bring her marshmallow in and blow on it before taking a bite.

“Regardless, I wish Juliet was here. She’d have gone crazy for the chance to write an article about what Wells did,” Dana said sadly.

“I wish Alyssa and Stella were here,” Kate said glumly. “They were good friends.”

“Taylor and Courtney,” Victoria added. “When things were really serious like Taylor’s mom I was a good friend, but otherwise…wish I could apologize.”

“I definitely would like to apologize to my mum,” Chloe said. “The last few Mother’s Days were bad, but this one just sucked.”

“The old ones were bad?” Kate asked. “I mean…I guess I’m assuming, but after your father’s death-”

“You’d think Joyce and I would have grown closer? I wish, but it drove us apart,” Chloe said, taking a deep swig of beer. “She had so much of her own grief that she didn’t know what to do with me, especially since I blamed her for wanting that ride. And then she married David, and took his side when his idea of getting me on the straight and narrow was to knock me around a bit.”

Max saw everyone wince at that, but they all held their tongue, because it looked like Chloe had more to say.

“It’s funny, but I feel like I’ve learned more about her after she’s dead than when I was with her, how much pain she was in,” Chloe said. Max put a worried hand on her shoulder, squeezing tightly while Chloe continued. “I don’t know…just wish I could tell her this stuff now.”

“Kate and I went to Arcadia Bay last week,” Dana said carefully. “To…say goodbye, get closure.”

Chloe snorted. “Yeah, I’ll be glad never to set foot back there. Guess I just don’t like ghosts.”

The silence following that seemed to drag on for an eternity, everyone minding their own small task. The sun had pretty much disappeared at this point, with the fire now the only source of light Max had to see everyone’s faces.

”Still…” Steph started, sounding uncharacteristically unsure of herself. “All of you got through it; you’re here now. You’re all going to college in the fall,” she said, waving her arm to indicate Dana, Kate, and Victoria. “And our hosts are, in just a weeks time, going to embark on an odyssey that makes Odysseus look look like a chump in comparison.”

Chloe and Victoria laughed, and the rest of them soon followed. Max could feel everyone’s mood was lifted, and while most of them returned their attention to the fire, she turned her gaze up to what stars were visible in the urban sky. Chloe had mentioned competing hypothesis: that they were brilliant points of light, or just dead husks whose funerals were just reaching Earth. She’d also read that the Southern Hemisphere had different stars than what she’d seen when her parents had driven her outside of Arcadia Bay to stargaze. She briefly glanced at Chloe, her gaze locked on her marshmallow to ensure perfect timing, and decided that whatever the truth, she couldn’t wait to experience it with her.

Chapter Text

“Max, this is the third time you’ve checked to see if all your camera equipment is there.”

Max sheepishly looked up from the luggage she’d been inspecting. “Sorry, Chloe, just…nervous.”

Chloe walked over and squatted in front of the bags. “Let’s see, trusty ‘ol Polaroid plus film, fancy new camera with necessary doodads, portable scanner and wireless hotspot to get those sweet pics on your site, pretty much all you need, right?”

“Yeah,” Max breathed quietly. “What about-”

“Everything else? I’ve got our clothes, coins for laundromats, various medicines, toothpaste, tampons, a few of our favorite toys, emergency rations, camping and winter gear, car repair stuff, other crap…we’re pretty much good to go Batmax.”

Max felt herself blush slightly at the mention of the toys Chloe had insisted on bringing. “I can’t believe we were actually able to fit it all in a Mini Cooper, without blocking the rear window to boot.”

“I will take to my grave the number of tries it took to figure out how to pack all this shit in, good thing your dad’s a wizard with this stuff. Shame we can’t really recline the seats with it all, we’ll have to make love on top of the hood.”

“You are such an exhibitionist, “ Max smirked, standing up from the bag, satisfied for the next five minutes that they did indeed have everything. Sooner than Max would have liked, the car was loaded up, just a pressing of the ignition away from undertaking their odyssey. She could feel a sudden gnawing at her gut, doubt worming her way through her system.

“You okay, Max?” Chloe asked, suddenly appearing next to Max with worry evident in her face.

“Yeah, just, can’t believe we’re going to be starting this in a few minutes.”

Chloe brought Max in for a kiss. “It’s going to be great Maximus, and you know it.”

Max nodded her head, burying her face in Chloe’s shoulder, pulling away when she heard throat-clearing behind her. She turned to see her parents standing behind them.

“You weren’t planning to leave without saying goodbye, were you?” Ryan asked, teasing evident in his tone.

“Dog, of course not,” Max said, walking up to the two of them. Vanessa quickly drew her in, and Max Max could feel wetness starting to stain her shoulder.

“Promise me you’ll be safe, both of you,” Vanessa got out. “The last time you left like this…”

Max squeezed her mother harder. “I know, we’ll look out for ourselves, I promise.”

“And make sure you don’t forget to get those college applications out for next year,” Vanessa said, pulling away.

“We won’t,” Max assured, as she saw Ryan approaching after giving Chloe a hug. Vanessa took the cue and went over to Chloe.

“Hey sport,” Ryan said softly. “Nervous?”

“Yeah.”

Ryan chuckled. “Well, the two of you have been excited for months, and if your BC pics are any indication, some great things are going to get captured. I just hope we can get first bid on the originals you took of the Victoria Butterfly Garden.”

Max nodded, her mind taking her back. It had certainly been beautiful, but Max couldn’t pretend she didn’t view butterflies differently, especially any blue ones. She was brought back when she felt her dad put one of his hands on her shoulder and gently shake.

“You don’t need to bid. Anything you want’s yours. You’ve done so much for me…and Chloe.”

“I suppose a few originals would be good recompense for pretending we couldn’t hear you two upstairs,” Ryan said, chuckling at the deep flush that adorned Max’s face. He then suddenly brought her in for a deep hug.

“These past few months,” Ryan began, and Max could hear the emotion in his voice. “I can’t even imagine how hard it’s been for the two of you. But I’ll tell you the same thing I told Chloe: I hope you can see as much as we have how much stronger you seem, even if you still have moments that bring you down.”

“I…” Max started, feeling like she’d choke as she returned her father’s hug. “I feel like I’m in a better place now. And if you two hadn’t helped us get help…I don’t want to think about it.”

“Hopefully it can eventually be considered forgiveness for not doing enough the first time,” Ryan said remorsefully, squeezing Max to cut off her reply. “We’re so looking forward to seeing what you do. And like your mother said, be safe.”

“We will,” Max said, pulling away. Ryan backed up, composing himself and wiping his eyes. Chloe walked over and placed a hand on Max’s shoulder, offering her a smile, which Max returned.

“Well, guess this is it for now,” Chloe said, turning to Max’s parents. “Thank you, for everything.”

Max’s parents nodded, and Chloe moved to the driver’s side of the car, opening the door and getting in. Max went to the passenger’s side, and opened the door, giving one last smile and wave to her parents in the driveway, which they returned. She got into her seat, put on her seatbelt, and turned to Chloe.

“Ready, First Mate?”

“Aye aye, Captain,” Max said. Chloe smiled, leaning in to meet halfway for a kiss, which Max was happy to help with. After they pulled away, Chloe put the fob into the ignition, started the car, and started to pull out of the driveway. Max turned to get one last look at her parents until the car turned a corner and she lost sight of them. She turned towards to Chloe and smiled, which Chloe returned while keeping her eyes on the road that was leading towards their adventure.

——————

Some of the places they stop, like one of their first in Portland, were less business and more personal.

Max sighed as she entered the church, mostly plain wooden walls and plain windows, except for the one stained glass piece behind where she assumed the minister preached.

‘Is this really my first time inside a church?’ Max wondered to herself. ‘Probably best I don’t judge the local neighborhood one, can’t all be Notre Dame.’

At first Max thought that the church was deserted, but eventually she spotted the bun of Kate’s hair poking out from one of the pews. She quickly hustled over to her and sat down.

“Hey, Max,” Kate said, sounding as though she’d been crying recently. Max bobbed her head down to confirm this, seeing the red in Kate’s eyes.

“Hey Kate, what’s wrong?” Max asked, unable to prevent the worry from seeping into her tone.

“Remember when I told you about how I was fighting with my mom?” Max didn’t say anything, but put a hand on Kate’s shoulder and squeezed slightly. “Well, let’s just say I’m not welcome at home anymore.”

“What!? What the hel…heck happened?” Max exclaimed.

Kate smirked slightly, seemingly amused by Max’s attempt at self-censorship. “We were all at Church…and…well, I doubt it would surprise you that we go to a pretty strong evangelical church.” At Max’s nod she continued. “You probably also wouldn’t be too surprised that a lot of the community isn’t happy about gay marriage becoming legal here last month.” Max nodded again, starting to sense where this was going. “The sermon just kept going on and on and on about how we were all being dragged into sin, and how disgusting homosexuality is, and well…I couldn’t take it anymore. I walked out in front of everybody.”

‘Wow, go Kate,’ Max thought as she gave Kate’s shoulder a squeeze.

“My mom chased me down and we had a huge fight in the courtyard. Everyone could hear us. Long story short, I said she was full of hate and couldn’t stand being related to her. I also think I dragged you into it, over how she could despise someone who saved me. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, Kate,” Max assured.

“I just…ever since the storm hit, I’ve been going to school in Portland, and spending a lot of time with Dana, and talking to you and Chloe…before I talked to you two, I didn’t support gay marriage, I bought into what the preachers would always say. I hope you can forgive me for that.”

“Of course.”

“Really?” Kate asked skeptically. “You don’t think I’m an awful person?”

“You’re a good person, Kate,” Max said with conviction. “I’ve never doubted that. We all grow up with prejudices. But when you were presented with people who defied what you thought of them, you changed: that’s what good people do.”

Kate laughed quietly, without humor. “Dana said something similar, once. That was another big thing that led up to this. My sisters overheard her telling me about her abortion, and my mom overheard them talking about it. She wanted me to cut ties. And…I think abortion is wrong, but that doesn’t make Dana evil, or that she shouldn’t have been able to get one.” Kate sighed, straightening her back and looking at Max. “I don’t know, just guess there’s been a lot of change lately, and my mom doesn’t want to admit it.”

“What about your father? Your sisters? How are they taking this?” Max asked.

“Not as bad as my mother. I talk to them over the phone. Hopefully we’ll keep talking when I go down to Eugene.”

“Is there anything you need from us?” Max asked, though she was unsure what she could really offer aside comfort.

“No, I’m staying with Dana for a few weeks and took an early move-in option for UO, and my sisters brought me most of my things. I’m just glad you’re here. I think I’m going to need friends more than ever.”

“A lot of places we’re going have lousy reception, but never hesitate to call me, okay? You’re not alone: you’ve got me, Dana, Chloe, and…” Max trailed off.

“You were gong to say ‘Victoria’, weren’t you?” Kate asked, smiling slightly at Max’s nod. “We’ve talked some more since your party, I think…I think we’re approaching something like friendship.”

“That’s good.” Max said quietly. They lapsed into silence for several minutes, Kate drying her eyes while Max took in the walls.

“Where are you and Chloe going next?” Kate asked, breaking the silence.

“South, to San Francisco and LA. Then…well…kind of north and east until we hit the other coast.”

“It’s really amazing, what you’re doing,” Kate said, admiration evident in her tone. “I keep checking my inbox to see if you’ve put up any more updates.”

“I’ll try not to disappoint my biggest fan.” Max said. “And next time I’m in Portland or Eugene or wherever you are, you’re going to have to take me to the best tea shop in town.”

Kate smiled warmly at that and stood up, prompting Max to follow her lead. They left the church to the sight of Chloe and Dana chatting on the curb.

“Hey you two, everything good?” Chloe asked, turning her attention to the pair descending down the steps.

“I think it will be,” Kate said. “It was really great to see you both, but I imagine the road calls.”

“That it does,” Max said, giving Kate a hug. “We’ll keep in touch, I promise.”

———————

Max sighed softly as she contemplated the pieces at the Zeitgeist Gallery. It was proving next to impossible to suppress the memories of a future that didn’t exist anymore: one in which everything had been solved, until it hadn’t. The Everyday Heroes gallery had closed months ago, but Max was able to find the smaller version of the blown-up photo Victoria had submitted, for now a seemingly fixed part of the gallery. Proof that being the survivor of a tragedy could have its benefits.

‘Like an all-expenses paid trip around the world,’ Max snorted. ‘Pretty ironic that I’m the one that seems to have benefited the most.’

“Heya,” a voice said behind her, causing Max to turn and take in Chloe’s image, hair trimmed before the trip but still longer than it had been in October, and with the blond grown out enough to give her that tricolor that Max had teased her about months ago.

“Hello…a, ground control to Major Max?” Chloe’s voice once again cut through her thoughts. Max shook her head to refocus on Chloe’s slightly concerned face.

“Sorry, Che, just…thinking about the last time I was here.”

“You mean during…you know,” Chloe said, quickly darting her eyes around to seemingly check for eavesdroppers.

“Yeah, everything was so perfect: Jefferson and Nathan were in jail, Rachel was found without us risking our lives, we’d reconnected with a lot less drama, you were applying for community college, and I was actually playing at being a successful artist,” Max sighed, walking towards a nearby bench and sitting down. Chloe followed slowly, choosing to stand in front of Max.

“I remember you saying that when you…overwrote that one, you ended back…’there’,” Max wasn’t looking at Chloe’s face while she talked, but could see her fists clench and hear the rage in her voice. “It’s kind of amazing that you gave up that future for, well…” Max quickly rose her head at Chloe’s much more somber tone, catching the shoulder shrug just in time.

“That wasn’t a future,” Max said with resolve. “It didn’t have you in it.”

Max was pretty sure she could get a some good teasing out of telling Chloe she should die her hair to match the red her cheeks had right now, especially since she was able to quickly get the snap of Chloe’s briefly unguarded face.

—————————

Chloe whistled to herself as she left the store, holding the giant wooden model sailboat. She walked over to Max, who had left walked out a couple minutes beforehand to make room in the car. Chloe was glad that they’d been able to dump a lot of their stuff in their motel room, because there was no way it would have fit otherwise.

“For the record,” Max began as she opened the back, “I think this idea of yours is a bit weird. Cool, but weird.”

“Kind of what I’m aiming for,” Chloe responded. “I know she’d love it.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Max said. “You sure you’re okay with me taking pictures?”

Chloe didn’t respond verbally, instead putting one of her arms out to the side to give Max a thumbs up while the other hand delicately maneuvered the boat into the back of the car. It was just short enough that Chloe was afforded the satisfaction of slamming the back down with a nice thud.

The City of Angels was turning out to be pretty much as Chloe had imagined it. They’d been there a couple days, doing varied touristy things. Last night Chloe had gotten Max to go to a club where she got her to dance like she never had before (at least in public), but now came what they really came here for.

“We still got a few hours before the tide starts going out, you want to get something to eat?”

“Fuck yeah, I’m starving. And I’m sure you’ll want even more ‘golden hour’ pics, think you’ll ever get too many of those?”

“Not if you’re in them,” Max responded smoothly. Chloe walked over and gave Max a quick peck on the cheek, before hip-checking away from the driver side door, smirking at Max’s indignant ‘Hey!’ before getting into the driver’s seat.

An indulgent dinner and several snaps off the Santa Monica Pier, night had fallen and the beach was a lot more deserted than Chloe would have imagined it. The fact that it was far cooler than normal for LA in the summer might have had something to do with it, though honestly Chloe was just glad there weren’t many people. In fact, by the time she found a good spot, along the beach with the pier off to the south and the clock reading midnight, there were only a couple bonfires, and as she brought the boat down to the beach, she could only see the distant shadows of non-Max people, which she found fitting.

“You sure you want to do this?” Max asked nervously, trailing a few steps behind Chloe, carrying a small bottle of some liquid that Chloe had purchased because of its ‘FLAMMABLE’ warning.

Chloe sighed, placing the boat at the edge of the tide and digging it deep enough into the sand so it wouldn’t get carried out.

“Yeah, I’m sure Max,” Chloe said, taking the bottle from Max’s proffered hand and carefully pouring it over the boat. She backed up a few feet, handing the bottle back to Max and kicking off her sandals. She reached down her shirt and pulled out the plastic bag that contained the familiar blue feather earring. She reverently pulled it out of the bag, barely noticing Max rushing over to pick up the dropped bag. She turned the earring over and over in her hands, fingertips gently brushing the barbs gently. She only looked up when she saw Max run in front of her and grab the loosened boat before it could get carried out to sea.

“Sorry,” Chloe said, walking over to the boat while Max took a couple steps back. She gently placed the feather onto the deck, nodding at Max’s whispered ‘be careful’, and pulled the lighter from the back pocket of her shorts. Three clicks later, the lighter’s flame stood tall, and Chloe placed the flame at the front of the boat, tossed the lighter back, and ran into the sea, pushing the boat with her. She got up to her thighs before she felt the flames starting to lick her hands, and she gave one last heave, pushing the boat as far out as possible before dunking herself completely into the ocean, just in case. A few seconds later she emerged and saw the boat drifting further out to sea. Chloe slowly walked backwards, keeping her eyes on the boat as the sails became engulfed in the flames. At some point she found herself standing next to Max on drier ground, and decided to collapse onto her butt with a small thud. She said nothing as she saw from the corner of eye Max sitting down next to her. Both of them continued to watch as the burning boat got pushed back to shore by a wave, only to be drawn out further and further each time by the lowering tide. Eventually the fire died, and Chloe tried to keep her gaze on the ever-shrinking husk as it disappeared into the black of night. Once she could no longer find it, she fell onto her back with a sigh, looking at the few stars that were visible in the urban sky. She felt Max follow suit, nestling her head into her shoulder as they both stared up.

“You didn’t take any pictures,” Chloe commented, drawing her arms around Max.

“Not everything needs to be shared,” Max said. “Nor does it need a photograph to remember.”

Chloe nodded and hoisted herself up, trying to find the boat again. Scanning the horizon proved fruitless, and she let out an annoyed huff. “The wreck’s probably going to wash up a few miles down shore in the morning. Kinda ruins the symbolism.”

She felt Max’s head, now pressed against her torso, shake. “I don’t think so, Chloe. It was beautiful, that’s what matters.”

Chloe didn’t say anything for a while, simply staring out to sea until her soaked clothes became to irritating to ignore. “I’m wet,” she groaned in annoyance, “and not in a good way.”

“There’s a towel and some fresh clothes in the car,” Max replied. “I thought you might need them.”

“My vag is eternally grateful,” Chloe said, getting up. “Though maybe I shouldn’t bother, since I kind of want to strip and fuck me once we get back to the motel.”

Max smirked as Chloe helped her stand up. “Someday you’ll have to admit out loud that you actually like to sub.”

“Can’t admit it if I’m gagged,” Chloe retorted as she spun Max towards the car and gave her a smack on the ass. “Now go get the car started, I’ll be right there.”

Max walked off and Chloe turned to take one last look at the receding Pacific.

‘Goodbye, Rachel,’ Chloe thought. ‘I’ll always love you. And sorry for the sex talk, though I kind of doubt you mind.’ With that, Chloe turned around and walked away.

——————————

Not everyday ended as a good day.

The two of them are in Phoenix, staying a night before they head into the desert. They’re chatting amicably as they leave a restaurant, bellies full and content. In her periphery, Chloe saw something flying towards them; without thinking, she grabbed Max and pulled them both down. Chloe looked up in time to see a bottle fly over where Max’s face had been a second before, before hearing it shatter behind them, surprised screams and shouts coming from passerby.

“FUCKIN' DYKES!” a drunken male voice yells, and Chloe looked up to see a man duck his head back into the passenger side of a pickup truck as it speeds away.

Chloe couldn’t really recall the details of everything that followed. A bystander helped them up and Chloe was able to assess that their worst injuries were minor scrapes on their hands from hitting the deck. A police car arrived a couple minutes later, and after another witness was able to give the truck’s license plate number, let them go after a few questions. Chloe wasn’t really paying attention to that though, just on Max and the look of shell-shock on her face. She quickly shepherded Max into the car and got them back into their motel room. Max said nothing as they showered and went to bed. For several minutes Chloe said nothing, simply pressing their naked bodies as close together as she could, hand idly rubbing Max’s abdomen. Eventually she heard a sniffle, and felt Max turn around until they were face to face.

“Why, Chloe?” Max asked, voice breaking as Chloe brought her hands up to hold Max’s face. “Just…why?”

“Because some people are fucking assholes, Max,” Chloe replied. It wasn’t an answer she was satisfied with, but there wasn’t really a better one.

“I mean…we weren’t even holding hands. What even made him think-”

“He wasn’t thinking Max,” Chloe interrupted. “He’s just some limp-dick asshole who saw two chicks that weren’t fawning over his cock and he can’t fucking accept it.”

“I know that even in Seattle, we’d get looks from time to time,” Max continued. “And my grandmother couldn’t hide her dislike of it, but she was able to stay civil.”

“Well, some of the places we’re going don’t have a big progressive movement to get people to accept us. I know it sucks Max, but there’s places where we’ll have to be careful. Hey,” she said, throwing her arms around Max and pulling her in closer, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Ever.”

Max smiled and brought her own arm up, brushing over Chloes’ left breast before pressing over her heart. “My Chloe…” she whispered, closing her eyes and seemingly focused on nothing else but her girlfriend’s heartbeat.

“Yep, your Chloe. Now I’m going to pull you up fully up against me and see if we can fuse on a molecular level while we sleep, K?” Max giggled at that and soon Chloe had maneuvered them so that every possible square centimeter of skin was touching. Max fell asleep far quicker than Chloe would have thought, and she pulled her face back far enough to take her visage in.

‘Someone tried to smash a bottle on her face, her beautiful face,’ Chloe thought as red seeped into her vision. She could feel herself shaking as images of what could have happened flashed before her eyes. ‘Next person who so much as looks at her funny I’m going to fucking dismember them and string them up by the entrails and-‘

A soft whine of discomfort broke Chloe out of her thoughts. After reorienting herself, she realized she’d been starting to squeeze Max harder than she had been. She loosened her grip and took deep breaths to calm herself down, feeling disgusted with herself.

‘Note to self: call the shrink in the morning,’ she thought, wishing she had a sharpie to write it on her hand. She settled for trying to count Max’s freckles until sleep claimed her as well.

———————

They’re camped somewhere in Banff, Chloe can’t remember the specific campsite, looking up at the stars. The Northern Lights are dancing just above the horizon, and it looks even cooler on Max’s fancy new camera. At some point they both retreated to their tent and their sole sleeping bag, hiding from the mosquitos. Camping was a pretty new experience for both of them, and with Yellowstone and now Banff under their belts, Chloe was glad she’d followed Max’s insistence that they reserve the sites with the closest amenities.

“Hey Max?” Chloe asked, voice more tentative than she’d like.

“Yeah?” she replied, kissing Chloe’s neck gently.

“You really think I can do this whole college thing, four years, Bachelor’s degree?”

“Of course I do, and you know it to.”

“I was thinking…maybe I could do astronomy. Stars are, well, they’re pretty special. I mean,” she continued after seeing Max raise her eyebrow, “I remember some of my dreams where my late dad was talking to me about stars, around the time I met Rachel, about their true nature. And I love the science shit, taken a few online classes since I got my GED and didn’t do too bad, and I think it pays pretty well…”

“Chloe,” Max said, placing a gentle hand on Chloe’s lips. “You don’t need to justify it. I think it’s a great idea. Maybe I can get a big telescope and take photos of the stars and planets for you.”

“That’d be pretty sweet, even on its own,” Chloe said. “Guess I should look into which schools offer programs. Oh, and Max?” she said, causing Max to refocus her lidded eyes. “Next time you want to stop me rambling, putting your hand on my other set of lips works just as well.”

“The smell of sex attracts bears, remember?” Max asked, amused.

“Damnit, Stephen Colbert was right.”

“Night, Chlo,” Max said, closing her eyes for several seconds before opening them in surprise, “Chloe!”

“…Yes?”

“You just farted in the sleeping bag!”

“What was I supposed to do, pull myself out of the bag and stick my ass out the flap for any passing bears to swipe at?”

Max sighed in both frustration and resignation. “I should have listened to you about trying to get an RV.”

“Too late now. All our adoring followers love the Mini, and maybe we can get them to sponsor the trip. Besides,” Chloe smirked, wrapping her legs around Max, “I like being cocooned with you like this, farts and all.”

Max sighed again, though she gave Chloe a small smile. Eventually they drifted off to sleep.

———————

The two of them held their arms out, holding each other by the hand as they walked on either side of the river path. Winnipeg hadn’t really been on their map (‘and,’ Chloe thought, snorting to herself, ‘the fact that we came here from Alberta via Denver proves it,’ but a professional photographer Max had talked shop with at a First Nations museum in Vancouver had said he could get them into the new Human Rights Museum a couple months before the official opening, so here they were. They were on the side of the river where the street signs were in French and the path along the river has less trash, and gives Max the ability to take pictures of the of the building in question without being too close.

“What’d you think of the museum Chloe?” Max asked suddenly.

“Dunno,” Chloe said, which was honest, as she was still processing it. “Besides, I’m the pleb here, I think your opinion is far more interesting, given all the photographs they used.”

“Honestly? It makes me glad I don’t have the same burden a lot of those photographers do. I know it’s selfish, especially after everything I’ve done, but a lot of those people exhibited? They’re trying to stop genocides, both literal and cultural. I don’t have to fight for anyone but us, and I think I’ve shown my shoulders aren’t broad enough for much more.”

Chloe sighed, not wanting to get into the more deeper side of Max’s statement until later. “A lot of the people starting to follow our adventures seem to think you are. ‘The Girls from Arcadia Bay’ and all that shit.”

“Arcadia Bay wasn’t a people or culture though. Sure, it had people, and some sort of culture, but it was still just a small town on the coast of Oregon, and you’ve attested that there’s still plenty of those left, all exactly the same.”

“And its true,” Chloe agreed, her argument only half-formed, but she decided to continue it anyway. “But…look Max, we’re both small-town girls, no matter how much we both hate it. Arcadia Bay was a few decades from dying anyway, and we’ve passed through-or by-a lot of small towns that ain’t doing so hot as well. A lot of them feel like victims of cultural genocide themselves, the cities sucking up all their kids and tax dollars and stuff.”

“It’s not the same though,” Max said fiercely. “Having your kids move away as adults for work isn’t the same as having them taken from you when they’re five and abused until they die of TB from the water-logged dorm rooms!”

“Of course it fucking isn’t,” Chloe said, holding firm on Max’s arm to stop her movement forward. “But how do they know that? You could have told me about the things the museum showed on my way over and I’d probably forget about it in a week. Actually seeing the shit, and hearing stories…that matters. And how are people from a small town in Oregon supposed to know about a random museum in a random city in a random part of a random country? We’re only hear because we got a big-ass grant, and no one’s bringing the museum to them.”

Max sighed, grabbing Chloe’s other arm and bringing her arms up. “You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s just…I’ve seen the comments to, some people labeling me as a voice for a dead town, and…I don’t want to be one. I don’t deserve to be one.”

“Maxine Caulfield,” Chloe said firmly, catching Max’s gaze with her own fierce one. “We’ve talked about this at therapy, haven’t we? Life is a strange motherfucker. Somehow we’ve ended up together in freakin' Manitoba on someone else’s dime even though we have no damn right to be. If people start viewing your work as symbolic of something greater, shouldn’t you embrace that?”

“We might be better representatives of Arcadia Bay if we both didn’t duck it every time someone brings it up. And yes, it is an ‘us’, Chloe,” Max said, seemingly anticipating an objection. “You’re far more symbolic of Arcadia Bay than I am.”

“You think so?” Chloe asked, curious.

“You know why you’re the subject in so many of photos? Aside from you being beautiful and the love of my life, of course,” Max said, cutting Chloe’s deflecting answer off. “You’re the one on the hero’s journey, not me. I was reading some Joseph Campbell before we left, you should look at some of the charts of it. I’ll bring them up back at the hotel.”

They kept walking after that. Later at the hotel, Chloe looked up some of the what Max had been talking about. She hoped Max wouldn’t follow through on the later offer she made to annotate it with her story, because while she loved it when Max gave her affirmation, this probably cut a little too close.

———————

“Chloe.”

“It’s okay, Max, I’ve got you.”

“Chloe.”

“Don’t worry Max.”

“Chloe!”

“Yes?” Chloe asked, pulling back and giving Max a shit-eating grin.

“I know this place is called the ‘Windy City’, and I know I’m a bit on the small side, but I’m not about to get blown away like ‘Wizard of Oz’!”

“Spoilsport,” Chloe said, loosening her grip but not letting go.

———————————

Max idly hummed to herself as she sat in the sand, patiently waiting for the sun to rise. Beside her, Chloe had fallen over and gone back to sleep, snoring gently. Max smiled as she played with some of Chloe’s locks. She checked her watch, and realizing she had little time left, set up her expensive camera and then positioned herself with her trusted polaroid. Eventually the sun cracked the horizon, and her job began.

It was probably a good hour later before Max was finally satisfied. Chloe had woken up at some point but had chosen to silently watch Max work. As Max packed everything up, Chloe decided to speak “So why’d you choose here?”

“Well,” Max began, finishing and bringing her attention to Chloe. “Provincetown has a history of being a haven for LGBT people, so I thought it’d be interesting for both of us.”

“Won’t deny the place is pretty cool, though if we’re settling down somewhere with a gay vibe, I’d prefer we go back to Greenwich Village. Or any of the gay areas in a city.”

“Your preference for urban areas has been noted,” Max said with amusement, picking up her bags and heading towards their car. “Also, you remember those sunset photos I took all those months ago back in Oregon?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, some web searching showed some of those places are on the same latitude as here. I thought it’d be cool to pair up sunsets on the west coast with sunsets on the same line on the east coast.”

“It is really fucking cool Max,” Chloe said, slapping Max on the back and causing her to stumble slightly. “See, this is why you’re such a great artist.”

Max blushed but said nothing.

——————————

They’re in Montréal when Max’s birthday happens. Max had honestly forgotten about it until the texts from her parents woke her up at a time when she should have already been up for a while. Chloe snoozed for a couple more seconds, before waking up and giving Max a goofy grin.

“Hey there, birthday girl,” she said sleepily.

“Yep, that’s me,” Max said awkwardly. “What’s the plan for today?”

“Oh, I’ve got plans,” Chloe purred, making Max feel intimidated in spite of herself. “Pull your bottoms down, because I’m going to give you your birthday spankings.”

“I’m already naked, Chloe,” Max pointed out.

Chloe made a small noise of disapproval. “The one time I wanted you to have some clothing on…well, we’ll just have to settle for giving you birthday orgasms instead.”

Max paled at the thought. “That’s…19 in one day?”

“Sounds about right,” Chloe said, brushing her arm over Max’s clenched thighs. “C’mon now, I did insist on this adult’s only hotel.”

“Fine,” Max sighed, opening her legs to Chloe’s hand. “I am so getting you back for this in March.”

———————

They’re somewhere in northern Ontario when October 11 rolls in. Both of them manage to go most of the day without mentioning it, but it’s obvious to both of them that the lid won’t hold what’s boiling underneath.

They’d gotten back to the hotel after dinner when Chloe finally can’t take it anymore. “Max,” she says with determination.

“Yeah, Chloe?” she asks, clearly knowing what the topic is.

“We need to talk, it’s been a year since, since…”

“You stopped smoking?” Max said, with forced humor.

Chloe chuckled in spite of herself. “You know what I mean Max,” she said, tone regaining its seriousness.

Max sighed and flopped down onto the bed, face-first. Chloe wasn’t too far behind, bringing Max in for a hug.

“It’s really hard to believe it’s been a whole year since…well, that whole week. Everything changed, everything.”

“Not all for the worse, I’m here after all,” Chloe said, trying to sound glib, but not really convincing herself. “But yeah…hard to believe it all.”

“Do you…ever think about going back to Arcadia Bay?” Max asked tentatively.

Chloe sighed and began rubbing Max’s back. “I try not to, but…sometimes I wonder if I need to, ya know?”

“I do,” Max affirmed. “Not in the immediate future though.”

“Definitely not,” Chloe agreed. They lapsed into silence after that.

—————————

Chloe stirred her rum cocktail carefully as she regarded the woman across the table. Crisp Autumn air blew across the patio they were sitting. Max was undoubtedly in the adjacent park, taking pictures that contrasted the green space with the the dirty industrial squalor on prominent display right across the river.

Chloe could hardly believe that the summer had already passed them by. After some fantastic photos in Cape Breton, Max had altered their road trip to go through Canada’s big three eastern cities, and then go around Lake Superior to follow the fall colors south from western Ontario through Minnesota. It had certainly been a symphony of colors that Chloe was glad to have seen, though posing naked for Max had proved a mistake given the number of ticks Max had removed from her afterwords. Now they were in the Twin Cities, which Chloe considered a true beacon of civilization after their recent journeys.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Chloe,” Rose Amber said, taking a swig from her own drink while staring across the river.

“Uh, yeah, glad I could come,” Chloe said, still unsure after all her prep of what exactly to say.

“How’s…your road trip going? What’s the next step?” Rose asked, apparently unwilling to broach the subject they were here for.

“It’s going great. And since we’re a straight shot back to Seattle now, we’re staying here for a bit before we head back to her parent’s house. After that we’re spending a few weeks there to rest and crank out the college applications before we fly to Europe.”

“That’s great. It’s pretty…cool what you’re doing. Rachel would have liked it.”

With the elephant on the patio mentioned, both of them lapsed into silence for a bit, before Rose plucked up her courage.

“Chloe, I wanted to apologize to you, in person, for how we treated you. You didn’t do anything wrong by telling Rachel the truth, and I know you already know that, but-”

“You need to say it yourself to make yourself feel better?” Chloe asked with more bite than she intended. Rose recoiled slightly but didn’t contradict her. “Sorry,” Chloe said, “but it’s kind of the truth, isn’t it?”

Rose sighed. “I can’t dispute it. I was just hoping you wouldn’t be too angry with us.”

“Honestly, Mrs. Amber? I never had a problem with you, and I thought it was a bit unfair of Rachel to shut you out to. The real problem’s your husband, who I notice isn’t here.”

“He had work,” Rose said sadly. “Ever since we learned of Rachel’s death, he’s…buried himself in it, among other things.”

“No offense, but is there a reason you’re still married to the guy?” Chloe asked. “He’s a bit of dick.”

Rose snorted, eyes filling with hollow amusement. “I won’t pretend it’s been smooth. We were pretty much set to get a divorce until a few months ago.”

“What changed?” Chloe asked, curiosity piqued.

“Sera came through town and tracked us down. We spoke to her in a park not far from here,” Rose said, seemingly pained. “It was clear she’d been using again.”

“Shit,” Chloe muttered to herself.

“Yeah, based on what we were able to…piece together from what she said, she’d managed to avoid relapse after the…incident four years ago back in the Bay. But once she heard about Rachel’s death…I don’t know, I guess she fell apart. Can’t say I blame her.”

“And that saved your marriage?” Chloe asked incredulously.

“Not at first, actually led to our biggest fight right after,” Rose snorted. “I was convinced that a clean Sera would have been able to help Rachel with her wanderlust, help her avoid the decisions that doomed both of them. James thought it wouldn’t have mattered.” Rose took a deep drink and put the tiki-themed glass back down on the table. “But after that, I think it made us realize how weak and fragile we were. How’d we could easily end up like Sera without each other’s support.” Rose shifted her gaze to the river for several seconds before looking back to Chloe. “My husband did terrible things,” she stated sadly. “He let fear override his love. Tell me Chloe, do you know what it’s like, to love someone, need someone, even when they’ve done something that can be considered unforgivable?”

Chloe was about to caustically reject such an idea, but she felt herself pause. ‘Max destroyed an entire town for me,’ she thought glumly. I’ve never blamed her, but from an outside perspective, she clearly made a choice.’

“Yeah, I think I might know, actually.”

“I’m sorry, but then you understand. It’s not healthy, but James and I probably can’t stand on our own right now.”

“Have you…talked to someone?” Chloe broached. “Max and I were…pretty fucked up after everything that happened. I don’t want to think where we’d be if we hadn’t started talking to shrinks.

“We just started, actually. I’m hoping it helps,” Rose replied. Silence followed for several minutes as both focused on their drinks.

“Do you know where Sera is now?” Chloe asked suddenly. She felt a need to talk to her.

Rose shook her head sadly. “She disappeared after our confrontation. We wanted to get her into treatment, but neither of us had any legal right to make her. James has put out the word to various people around the country, but I fear I won’t hear from her again, unless it’s a morgue report.”

“You don’t have any way to contact her?”

Rose shook her head again. “If I knew, I’d give it to you. You could probably reach her in a way we couldn’t.” Rose stared down at her drink, looking morose. “After everything that’s happened: Rachel, Jefferson, the storm…I just want people I know to stop suffering. I spent most of my time raising Rachel worried and jealous of Sera,” she huffed in self-rebuke, “but now…”

“I get it, believe me,” Chloe said, bringing her mug up and examining it. “Must say, was kind of surprised that you wanted to meet in a Tiki-themed bar,” she said, changing the subject. “Doesn’t seem to fit either of you.”

Rose emitted a slight giggle of amusement. “One of my new girlfriends here introduced me. The drinks and food are good, and there’s always space free on the patio. I’ll not that I’m pretty sure you’re not 21 yet.”

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, guess Minnesota waiters aren’t really used to Oregon fakes.” She finished off her drink, wiping her mouth and standing up.

“I guess this is it, thank you for coming, Chloe,” Rose said, also standing up.

“Of course, and you take care of yourself, both of you,” she replied. “And let me know if you hear anything about Sera, okay?”

“Will do,” Rose said, sitting back down at the table and picking a menu up, apparently intent on eating a full meal here. Chloe left the patio and the restaurant, intent on finding Max.

—————————

Chloe sighed in contentment as she deeply inhaled from the bowl that she and Max were sharing in her parent’s back yard. As fun as traveling with Max was, she’d admit that she was looking forward to a couple weeks without driving, and to be able to smoke weed again.

“Fuck yeah,” Chloe said, feeling her eyes water. “It’s been so fucking long, feel like I’m popping my cherry again.”

“Gross, Chlo,” Max said, taking the bowl herself. “You know while we’re here we got to get those applications out.”

“Right, where are we applying again?”

“For ones that are just art schools, I got CalArts and the Art Institute of Chicago. For the big ones, I’ve got UCLA, UW, USC, UO, and…um…some others. I’d probably remember if I wasn’t high.”

“This’ll be fun,” Chloe snorted derisively.

“Not really meant to be, could thing Prescott’s grant covers the application fees.”

“Gotta to keep the unwashed masses out somehow, Legate Maximus.”

——————————

“I’m freezing my ass off here, Maxcicle.”

“It is not that cold, Chloe.”

They’re on the first stop of their European expedition, having driven a rental along Iceland’s ring road to Akureyri. It was the dead of night and they’d driven to the other side of fjord, away from the light pollution.

“I don’t get why we need to be out here, we saw the northern lights plenty of times in Canada,” Chloe said, somewhat tired and annoyed. The night was supposed to be cloudy anyway, so not much chance of actually seeing it.

“It’s starting, look!” Max said, grabbing her fancy camera and taking shots.

They spent a good hour out there, and while Chloe could see grey ribbons moving behind the clouds, she never saw the colors she had come to see earlier. Eventually Max started packing up and brought the camera over to Chloe.

“Look at this,” she said, holding the camera up. Chloe took it and saw all the colors she had been expecting.

“You put the exposure on long enough, and you see what’s hiding behind.”

Chloe looked back up at the grey ribbons behind the clouds. “Honestly, kind of prefer what I’m seeing right now. Like they’re freaky ghost lights or something. Makes you think.”

“About what?”

“What do you think Iceland will call themselves once all the ice is gone?”

“I don’t want to ever find out the answer to that.”

———————

Max nervously adjusted her dress before picking her cocktail up from the table. Formal things like this would probably always be uncomfortable for her, but it’s what needed doing.

She’d gotten the notification months ago about the Tate Modern wanting to feature some of her photos in a photography exhibit. It was certainly a surprise, but Max wasn’t stupid: this was PR opportunity on their part, and, as Max noticed Kristine Prescott heading her way, was probably a result of having rich connections.

“Hello Max,” Kristine said, taking a sip of her own cocktail before continuing. “Hope it’s not too overwhelming.”

“Nope, I’d say I’m perfectly whelmed,” Max replied, seeing Chloe talking to her parents in the distance.

“My dad courted Jefferson because he wanted connections in the art world. Turns out you can get them by not being a total asshole as well,” Kristine said, gesturing as if she were surprised by the truth of the statement. “I also really liked the interview you did with them.”

That interview had been the hardest part of this for Max, especially since they asked a lot of questions about Jefferson. But by the end of it Max had felt fairly confident that she’d put the final nail in his coffin. And then set it on fire.

“I actually think it went well, and thank you, for…everything. This has done so much for us.”

“For the both of you to, I can see. I’ve seen how many online followers you’ve gained since you started this. And I’ve been spending the word as I can.”

“You’re a pretty badass patron,” Max said, causing Kristine to laugh. “Seriously, anyone ever asks me, I’m saying just how key networking is. Though I hope those people won’t have our circumstances.”

“Let’s hope not,” Kristine agreed. “Where to next?”

“Paris, a lot of great photo opportunities, and well, Chloe’s family always planned to go there, and they probably would have been able to if her dad hadn’t been killed,” Max stated sadly. “It’s pretty personal as well.”

“I bet,” Kristine said, glancing to her side and seeing Chloe approach them both. “Looks like she wants to talk to you, hope to see you later Max.”

Max nodded as Chloe, dressed in a fine suit, brought Max in for a hug, careful not to make Max spill her drink. “Come sit with me?” she asked.

Max said nothing, but both of them moved to grab spare seats on the table lining the wall. They both stared out at St. Peter’s Cathedral, dominating the landscape on the other side of the Thames.

“This is hella cool Max,” Chloe said, eyes dancing with excitement. “Cocktails on the top floor of some crazy art museum, and you’re exhibited! You know every place you applied for will have to accept you now.

Max had been given enough warning to put this on the applications, though she wondered if some might just throw the application out for ‘tall tales’. “Well, if they want me, they better take you as well. If they do any research, they’ll know that.”

Chloe positively beamed as a waiter brought her another drink. They clinked glasses and stared out the windows, entwining their spare hands.

———————————

Chloe tried to keep her breathing even as she and Max walked through Le Champ de Mars. She was pretty sure she wasn’t succeeding, as evidenced by Max putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay, Chloe?” she asked, gently and full of love.

“Yeah um…can we sit down?” she asked, gesturing towards a nearby park bench.

They sat silently for several minutes, Chloe alternating between staring down at her feet and up at the Eiffel Tower nearby. “I wish they were here Max.”

“I know, Chloe, I know.” Max said as Chloe felt tears starting to form. She soon felt her face get buried in Max’s shoulder as she let go.

—————————

“How the fuck did you afford this Chloe?”

They’d been in Paris a week, and Max had been surprised when Chloe starting packing and told her they were going to a new hotel for the last couple of nights. ‘Five-star’ felt like an understatement as she explored their new room.

“I talked to Kristine about an exception to the ‘modest accommodations’ part of the grant, and she agreed,” Chloe said. “I felt like we should do something special.” She grabbed a bottle of champagne that had been sitting in an ice tub to demonstrate. “Grab a couple glasses?”

Max did so as she watched Chloe head out to the balcony. Outside, the Parisian landscape stretched as far as they could see, shining brightly against the night sky.

‘This will make for some amazing shots,’ Max thought as Chloe popped the cork with relish and poured their glasses. ’Tomorrow.’

“I can see your eyes taking pictures,” Chloe said, grinning as she held out Max’s flute. “Chose this place for that very reason.”

“You’re so amazing, Chloe,” she said, admiration lacing every syllable.

“You to, Max. I just wanted this as a way to say…thank you, for letting me back into your life. And for staying with me through everything. I’m so looking forward to spending my life with you.”

“Wow, Chloe…” Max said choking up and putting her flute down.

“That kinda sounded like a proposal, didn’t it?” Chloe asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Kind of.”

“I mean, I wasn’t planning on it…my folk’s ring is back in Seattle, and they’d rise from their graves to haunt me if I didn’t use it.”

“I’m in no rush,” Max said gently, taking Chloe’s hand. We can do it whenever we like, unless maybe there’s a pressing legal reason.”

“Ever the pragmatist,” Chloe said laughing, gesturing for Max to grab her champagne flute as they both sat down on the chairs and stared off into the night.

——————

They’re in Freiburg when Chloe checks her email and sees something from Rose Amber. Her eyes filled with tears as she read the article about how a Sera Gearhardt was found dead from an apparent overdose in Pennsylvania. Max holds her as she cried.

—————————

They’re spending a few days going up and down Finland when they start getting notifications about their college applications.

As Chloe expected, Max pretty much got accepted everywhere. Turns out getting featured in one of London’s premier modern art museums could have a positive impact. Chloe herself was not turning out quite as lucky, as she deleted the notification of rejection email from USC.

“We both got accepted to Washington, Chloe. So we have a way forward.”

“Yeah, but there’s better places for you to learn. I don’t want you to handicap yourself just for-” a loud ping interrupted her thoughts as she looked down to see a new email. Max, who had been staring out the the evening skyline of Helsinki, turned to look at her.

“Another one?”

“Well, these west coast places are like, ten hours behind us right now. Guess they’re getting them out in the morning,” she replied as she opened the email. A few seconds pause and “Holy shit Max.”

“What?” she asked, coming over.

“I…got accepted to UCLA. Fucking UCLA!” she yelled. Max let out an uncharacteristic squeal of delight as they met for a hug.

“I can’t believe it,” Chloe said, her voice sounding hoarse despite only shouting once. “How’d I get accepted to UCLA of all places when I got rejected by USC and other places that aren’t as good?”

“Who gives a shit, Che? This is amazing.”

“So, you already got accepted there…is this what we want to do?”

“If you’re worried it’s fake, I’ll shoot my parents a text to keep an eye out for the thick packet at their door. Thankfully we can accept electronically.”

“Okay, let’s wait a little bit, but…four years in the City of Angels?” Chloe asked, still not fully accepting that this was real.

“Sounds perfect,” Max said, bringing Chloe in for a kiss.

————————

“Max, wake up.”

“No, no, please don’t.”

“Max!”

“Please don’t”

“MAX!”

“Chloe? Whats…”

“Max, you’re in a hotel room in Seoul, South Korea. You’re with me! Max!”

“Chloe, he was…he shot-”

“Max, he’s dead, the fucking darkroom got blown to kingdom come by Kristine! Please, look at me.”

“You were dead.”

“Max, look at me, please.”

“Please don’t leave me again, Chloe.”

“Never.”

----------------------

‘Kyoto really is a beautiful city,’ Chloe thought to herself. It was a slightly strange thought, as they weren’t actually in Kyoto at the moment, but in Nara, as she watched Max buy wafers from a nearby street vendor. Her thoughts were interrupted by the licking of her hand. She let out an indignant yelp.

“She’s getting you your damn wafers,” she said to the deer, smaller than her and white dots covering it’s reddish coat. “You know, back home we shoot deer.”

“Bad Chloe, no physiologically harming the deer,” Max said coming over with several wafer stacks and the polaroid camera strung by a leather strap over her neck. She handed a wafer to Chloe, who gave it to the licker, who muched happily before walking off.

“They’re fucking spoiled,” Chloe said, though with amusement in her voice. Max had pretty much been geeking out since they took the train down here from Kyoto, and she honestly couldn’t blame her.

“There’s-oh look!” Max exclaimed, pointing to a deer. Chloe turned and watched as said deer hobbled towards them. Chloe’s guess would be that it had been hit by a car, as one of it’s legs was clearly broken. The fact that it seemed to be healing straight indicated that some authority had set it properly, but for now it was clearly at a disadvantage. Both of them went up to the deer and offered wafers. The deer took Maxs first, then Chloe’s, and then hobbled off towards a small group of deer that seemed to be waiting for it.

“I hope it’ll be okay,” Max said, voice filled with concern.

“I’m sure it will be,” Chloe responded. “A human clearly set the leg, and as long as it doesn’t go wandering into the road again…”

Max nodded as they continued through the park, handing out wafers to the occasional deer that approached them. Without speaking, they both sat down on a park bench.

“Hey Max?”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been thinking…I know I said a while ago I wanted to do astronomy. But…reading what happened to Sera, and the articles I’ve read about all the gay teens forced onto the street by hateful parents…I feel like I should do something about it.”

“What do you mean?” Max asked setting her wafer stacks down and turning fully towards Chloe.

“Look, if you had chosen to go through that butterfly photo, and let Nathan kill me…some people would have turned up at my funeral. You, my mom, David, maybe a couple others, but pretty much everyone else…they’d feel bad for a bit, but then they’d have commented that they weren’t surprised I ended up like that.”

“Chloe-”

“It’s true Max, don’t fucking deny it. People like me? ‘Lost souls’, as Principal Wells said once. I know I didn’t make it easy for anyone, but pretty much everyone had given up on me. But you coming back just proved that all I needed was…I don’t know, someone willing to put up with my shit, even for just a little bit.”

Max said nothing, but laced her hands with Chloe’s.

“There’s a lot of Chloes out there who don’t have a Max to be a savior, no easy fix,” Chloe said, choking a little. “Maybe when we go to UCLA, I should do something to help them.”

“You mean like social work?” Max asked?

“Yeah, get my MSW, or whatever it’s called,” Chloe said, pulling away slightly from Max, just to get a little needed space. “That deer we just fed, it’s being helped because there are people who were willing to help it, and a lot of people back home need that to. But, I don’t know…I still really want to do science shit. And that would certainly pay more than social work.”

“You know what I think Chloe?” Max asked, and Chloe shook her head. “I think either astronomy or social work would be amazing, and UCLA had good programs for both, and I know both buildings for the classes are near the photography building. I say, when we do orientation, you see if you can take pre-reqs for both, and see which fits you better.”

“That…makes sense, actually.”

“We’re young, Chloe. Nothing’s set in stone for us yet.”

“True that,” Chloe said, looking off to the distance. “Hey Max?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad there’s one aspect of my life that’s set in stone,” she said, grasping her hand. Max gave an adorable smile in response, and Chloe couldn’t help but give her a peck on the cheek.

“Hard to believe we’re approaching the end of our odyssey,” Chloe said. “Odysseus really had nothing on us.”

“That’s why we visited Ithaca, to rub it into his face,” Max said with amusement, before sighing and offering a wafer to an approaching deer. “You’re right though, how many places do we have left?”

“Let’s see, a few more day back in Kyoto, down to both Melbourne and Sydney, several ‘Lord of the Rings’ locations in New Zealand, Vanuatu, Fiji, Hawaii, and then we’re back on the west coast, best coast.” Chloe said, counting off the places on her hands. “We’re going to be back at your folk’s place by June for summer vacation.”

“There’s still so many places we have gone though,” Max said sadly. “Africa, the Middle East, most of Asia…”

“Hey, we did visit Rabat and Casablanca,” Chloe said. “Look, there’s so many places in the world I want to visit to. I was really looking forward to going to Moscow before I learned of their ‘gay propaganda’ law. The truth is, we’re not safe in a lot of places in the world, and I know we risked it in Morocco, but they’re pretty liberal compared to other places. Maybe when we’re older those places will be safe, but for now? Their fucking loss they don’t get Max and Chloe in their full glory.”

Max chuckled at that, and gave Chloe a chaste kiss on the lips.

——————————

“Looks like you’re finally back, at least until you go off for college,” Ryan said, bringing Max in for a hug. To her right, Max could see her mom giving a similar one to Chloe.

“Yeah, and we’ve had the adventure of a lifetime,” Max said. “Now I want to see which photos I took that you pinned to the wall in our bedroom.”

Chapter Text

Max stood on the edge of the cliff, Arcadia Bay’s lighthouse standing strong and proud behind her. She clutched at her graduation cap, her robe having been dispensed of long ago. Somewhere at the bottom of the path her parents were undoubtedly waiting for their trip back to Seattle, but she didn’t particularly feel like indulging them. Out to the Bay, the sun was starting to touch the sea like a kiss gently laid out on the water.

“Makes you wish you had your camera, doesn’t it?”

Max turned to look at Chloe’s face, smiling softly at her. It never truly distracted from the large patch of blood staining her shirt, still fresh after all these months. She wished Chloe would do something about that, it was painful enough just to see her and be reminded of everything. She eventually offered Chloe a sad smile in return. “Guess I’m off to start my next big adventure.”

“You sure are,” Chloe responded, grinning, before her frown formed on her face, turning her gaze back towards the ocean. “Just wish I could see it.”

“What are you talking about? You’re right here,” Max said fervently, hoping to convince herself.

Chloe snorted. “Cut the shit Max, you know I’m not real. Not a spooky ghost either, your powers were time-travel, not raising the dead.”

Max gripped her graduation cap tighter, feeling her hand shake slightly. “You’re real to me Chloe.”

“Max, this isn’t what I meant when I told you not to forget me,” she said, walking closer to her. Max’s eyes quickly darted down and noted that Chloe’s feet made no imprint on the ground as she walked. Chloe reached out, her hand hovering over Max’s breast before it went through her skin. Max couldn’t help but gasp, even though she couldn’t feel the hand now inside her chest.

“This place, right here?” Chloe said, the tendons in her wrist flexing and making Max assume she was moving her fingers were her heart literally was. “This is the only place I need to be, not as some messed up part of your head. Oh, and of course you can keep doing the WoW character you styled after me, though seriously, you know I’d be Horde.”

Max felt herself giggle softly. “Night elves have the blue hair. Besides, Alliance for life.”

“You damn real living people and your corporeal hands,” Chloe said in mock anger before lapsing into a solemn silence. “Hey Max?”

“…Yeah?”

“You’re leaving this shithole town for summer vacation and college, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you: your photos, friends, all that shit. You have to leave me here.”

“Chloe…”

“I’m not Chloe, not really,” Chloe stated sadly. “You know I’m in your head. I only use the first person because you more or less make me. You know this ain’t healthy.”

“I know,” Max said sadly, staring down at her feet.

“Hey,” Chloe said, and Max saw Chloe’s hand flash through her eyes. She looked up to see Chloe standing right in front of her. “You’re going to be okay, okay? And as long as you don’t forget me, I’ll always be with you,” she finished as she leaned in for a kiss.

Max tried to wrap her arms around Chloe, only to find she had vanished. She sank to her knees and saw through tear-filled eyes her cap flying out into the sea, before the ground gave way beneath her and she fell.

——————

Max sprang upright, a small gasp escaping her lips. Quickly feeling her surroundings confirmed that she was where she always was when waking from her nightmares: in bed and safe, at least physically. Also noting the bed was bereft of other people, she turned and breathed a small sigh of relief when she saw Chloe sitting at their desk, typing away. She wasted no time jumping from the bed and embracing her from behind.

“Hey Max, love your morning gropes,” Chloe said, and Max could detect a certain forced cheer coming from her. Spinning the chair Chloe sat in and taking in her face, it was clear her dreams had been no kinder to her.

“Bad dream?” Max asked tentatively.

“Yeah.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Chloe said, shrugging. “You clearly had a bad dream yourself, do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Max echoed. “But I know I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“Do what?” Chloe asked before realization dawned on her face. “Max, we promised each other we would.”

“I know, I know, I just…I just can’t Chloe,” she said, feeling tears forming in her eyes.

Chloe wrapped Max into a tight hug. “I get it, believe me, but Max…I need to do this, I need to say goodbye to them. Without you there…I…I need you there Max.”

Max felt herself inhaling sharply, over and over until she finally calmed down. “Okay…okay, we’ll do it. How do you want to get there?”

“I was planning on swinging over on 30 to Astoria, then 101 until…” Chloe trailed off, looking decidedly uncomfortable with the prospect.

“Yeah, that works, when do we want to leave?”

Chloe sighed, and Max looked at the computer screen to see she had been using Google Maps. “We should leave soon. It’s not even 7 yet, and with this diversion we probably won’t make Sacramento before sunset.”

“Okay, let me get dressed and stuff, then we can eat something.”

An hour later the two of them were dressed, fed, and ready to hit the road. Max nervously stood in front of their car’s trunk, running her hands over their suitcases to assure herself that they had everything. She turned upon hearing footsteps approach her and found herself wrapped up in a tight hug.

“We’re going to miss you so much, baby,” her mother said, tears streaming from her. “I know your dad and I are flying down in a few days once you’re settled, but-”

“I know mom,” Max said, returning the hug. “I promise we’ll study hard.”

Vanessa snorted, “I’ll settle for the two of you not getting wasted every weekend. But do have fun.”

“With Chloe I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Max smiled as the girl in question and her father walked over. Ryan swooped in and gave both Max and Vanessa a fierce hug.

“We’ll be seeing you soon, pumpkin,” Ryan said. “Hopefully your apartment will have places to sit by the time we get down.”

“We’ll try Dad,” Max assured as both her parents pulled away. She made her way to the passenger’s seat, observing Chloe nervously play with the stick. Max buckled her seatbelt and squeezed Chloe’s hand, giving her a reassuring smile that Chloe returned. Chloe started the car and they were off.

—————————

Chloe felt her stomach twist into ever more intricate knots as they went down 101, approaching the confrontation that she dreaded. She couldn’t tell if time was moving faster or slower as the coast passed by them. Chloe glanced right and saw Max staring out at the forest that had temporarily blocked the view of the ocean.

“Hey Max, check out the sign,” Chloe said, gesturing towards the object in question. “‘Welcome to Tillamook County: Land of Cheese, Trees, and Ocean Breeze’. They might want to put an asterisk on the ‘ocean breeze’ part.” Max gave a dark chuckle and Chloe grinned, turning her attention back to the road.

“How far out are we?” Max asked quietly, and Chloe guessed she wanted she wanted an answer along the lines of ‘100 hours’.

“About 20 minutes for the lighthouse,” Chloe said. “Did you want to wait?”

“No,” Max said. “I don’t want to have to double back. Let’s get it down.”

“10-4. Want me to turn on the radio or something?”

“No thanks,” Max said, and both of them lapsed into silence. Before they knew it, Chloe saw the small parking lot for the lighthouse and turned off, bringing her car to a stop. She silently stared at Max for minutes before the hipster sighed, undid her seatbelt, and got out of the car.

—————————

Max made her way up the path to the lighthouse, Chloe following a few steps behind. Max couldn’t help but remember all the times she’d taken this path before, both in real life and in her dreams/visions. She’d left her camera in the car, so she felt no reason to stop and look at the birds that were merrily singing and flitting between trees. Soon she found herself at the summit, and found herself staring up at the ruins of the lighthouse, which just this morning had stood so proudly in her dream. She sighed and turned her attention to the new addition in the center of the area, what Kristine Prescott had described to her as her last contribution before wiping her hands of the place: a monument dedicated to those lost that fateful day almost two years ago. It was marble, or at least looked like marble, and was shaped to look like the lighthouse that used to stand there, nowhere near the size of the ruined base, but still impressively tall. Max approached it just as Chloe walked away from it towards the bench. All along the tower names were carved: those who had lost their lives to the disaster.

Max stared at the names as she reached out a hand and touched the monument. She began to circle it, tracing her hand over the names. She stopped a few times when she saw familiar names: ‘Joyce Price,’ ‘Warren Graham,’ ‘Juliet Watson’, and eventually she came to a stop, bowing her head and keeping her hand over the names.

‘When I got my powers,’ Max thought to both herself and them, ‘I thought I was going to be a superhero. Save my friends, save the town, save Rachel, everything. But it didn’t work like that. I had to make a choice, and awful choice, and it’s one I’d make again.’ Max heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Chloe, looking concerned but giving her space. Max turned back to the lighthouse and raised her head, staring at it with determination. ‘All of you needed a hero, and I ended up being only human.’ She sighed and turned her her head to Chloe. ‘Chloe was the hero, she was prepared to give everything to save you, but it wasn’t her choice, it was mine. I don’t really believe in an God, or an afterlife, but I hope that…if we ever meet again…I’d never dare to ask for forgiveness, but I hope maybe…understanding for what I did.’

Max let her hand drop from the lighthouse before turning back and walking towards Chloe. Chloe made a gesture behind her with her head and Max followed her to the edge of the cliff.

“Remember when we were out here back in the day and you told me about your powers?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah,” Max replied, not really feeling like talking as she stared across the bay to the remnants of Arcadia Bay below. She eventually turned when she saw Chloe sizing up the ground they were standing on. “What are you doing?”

“I think where we’re standing? Pretty much exact same spots where we stood during the storm, except we’re in each other’s spots,” Chloe said. Max said nothing but took Chloe’s hand in her own, and they both went back to staring out at a part of their legacy.

————————

Chloe strummed her fingers along the dashboard as Max drove through the shell of their former home town. The roads had been cleared, along with power lines and other debris, but the remaining husks of the buildings that hadn’t been completely destroyed still stood. Chloe sucked in a breath when they passed the Two Whales: the whale still stood, but someone had knocked down the remaining letters that had spelled ‘DIE’. She saw maybe two dozen people as they passed through, most of them obviously tourists stopping along their coastal road trips to gawk at the destruction, but Chloe saw maybe two or three faces she recognized: older people, too stubborn to admit defeat even after everything. As she saw someone she thought might have been a fisherman, she wondered if the catch was any better now that there were barely any people.

“Where’s the NOAA station that they built?” Chloe asked.

“Closer to Blackwell’s ruins, we won’t see it,” Max replied.

“I know some of the stragglers thought the office might save the town,” Chloe said, sounding sadder than she thought she would.

“It’s mostly just collecting data that’ll be sent to office workers in Portland and Seattle,” Max replied glumly. “I’d hoped…but I don’t think this town we be brought back until there’s some fundamental shift in our economy.”

“Well when the robots take the jobs and drones can deliver groceries hundreds of miles in hours, maybe people will actually want to live here again,” Chloe said. “You have any desire to stop at Blackwell?” Chloe asked, changing tracks.

Max shook her head. “There’s nothing there. Did you want to stop at the junkyard?”

Chloe shook her head, mimicking Max. “I made my peace with Rachel, nothing else there. Besides, where do you think they dumped all the debris?”

Max hummed in response as she brought the car to a stop. Chloe looked out and realized they were at the cemetery.

“Ready?” Max asked gently.

“Nope, but I’m doing it,” Chloe replied as she opened the door and got out. “Could you grab the-”

“Here,” Max said, handing Chloe the items in question as she locked the car. Chloe smiled appreciatively as they made their way through the headstones. Chloe tried to keep her head still and not look around at all of them, a task made easier by Max’s hand lightly rubbing her back. Soon they found themselves at their destination: two headstones, William Price and Joyce Price.

“Could you give me a few minutes?” Chloe asked Max nervously. “Please?”

Max smiled somberly and nodded as she walked off and began looking at the other graves. Chloe got closer to the graves and sat down, placing what she was carrying to the side as she crossed her legs.

“Hey Dad, hey Mom. It’s been…a while,” Chloe said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. “I hope you’re both…uh…glad to see me.” Chloe sighed deeply. “Last night, I had this really fucked up dream. I was in the Blackwell bathroom with Nathan Prescott, but this time, instead of the fire alarm…he pulled the trigger.” Chloe gulped audibly before continuing. “I sorta…saw my body from above, all the blood pooling…and then some flashes and I was watching my own funeral. It was a beautiful day, way better than what actually happened. You were there mom, with David, and Max with some of her friends, Frank was hiding in the background…And I just knew that the body in the coffin you were all surrounding was mine. And it felt, I don’t know, real?” Chloe said, feeling herself tripping over her words even though they came out clearly. “Like, this was what was supposed to have happened.”

Chloe was silent for a while, distracting herself with a blade of grass. “Max says she experienced alternate timelines back when she had her powers, and I wonder if I somehow caught a glimpse of what would have happened if Max had gone through the photograph.”

“Max says she sure that you would have torn up the photo, even knowing what’d happen to you,” Chloe said, addressing her mother’s grave. “I hope she’s right, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling that it should have been me in the ground here, not you.”

“I’m sorry Mom,” Chloe said, her eyes starting to water. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a better daughter. I’ve come to realize since leaving just how much pain you were in, how much you needed me when I pushed you away and blamed you. And I’m sorry Dad, for all the good shit I had going in my life that I threw away after you died.”

“But,” Chloe continued, taking a deep breath. “I’m in a better place now than I’ve ever been since you died, Dad. After getting to Seattle thinking that would make me want to kill myself. Now…I accept it, and I don’t let my grief and anger control my life anymore. It’s opened up a lot of doors for me, like this,” Chloe said as reached for the items she’d brought: two bouquets of flowers with fabric petals and wooden stems. Each one was a mix of light blue and bright yellow, and they both had pins reading UCLA attached, in the distinctive stylized cursive the university loved to use.

Chloe carefully placed them to rest against each of her parent’s headstones. “So yeah, your daughter’s an incoming freshman at UCLA; still not really sure how that happened. Not sure what I’m going to do yet. Thought about astronomy or something STEMy at first, but then I got it into my head to do the Public Affairs major so I can continue to the MSW, help kids like me out…shit, I don’t know,” Chloe said as she fell back and felt her head hit the grass. “I don’t know which I want to do, but I’m registered for some 100 level stuff for both, so hopefully I can make up my mind soon and not have to spend six years getting my Bachelors. Max says she doesn’t care how long it takes though, oh that’s right!” Chloe exclaimed as she sprung back up to her feet. She quickly looked around and saw Max wandering far enough way for privacy but still fairly close. She looked up at Chloe and she gestured for Max to come over. Max fast-walked over and Chloe wrapped an arm around Max’s shoulders, smirking as Max gave a bashful wave to the headstones.

“You saw Max more recently, Mom, but it’s been a while for you Dad. Max saved me, so many times and in so many ways I’m not going to bother to count them all.” Chloe felt the tears finally start to fall from her eyes as she continued. “I love her so, so much, and somehow the ring you gave Mom survived the storm and at some point I’m going to put it on her finger and marry the fuck out of her, and maybe we’ll adopt or pop out a kid, or maybe we’ll be blissfully childless, who knows? But we’ll be happy.” She heard Max give an embarrassed squeak as she squeezed her harder.

“I want to tell you all this now because…I don’t think I’m going to come back. Ever,” Chloe said. “Maybe when I’m in my thirties I’ll feel different, but for now…my life isn’t here anymore. And I don’t believe in afterlife stuff anyway, but even if that changes, I shouldn’t have to come all the way here to connect with you guys. However it actually works, I just want you know that I love you both so much, and I wish you could be here. But you can’t, so I’m going to live my life, and get some sort of happily ever after from all this, and hopefully I’ll make you proud. Goodbye Dad, Mom.”

Chloe turned and walked away; Max lingered for a few seconds before catching up to Chloe and moving in lockstep.

“They’d be proud of you Chloe, don’t doubt that,” Max said.

“I know, it’s just…when I think about how I keep flip-flopping about my major, it kinda feels like I haven’t made any progress after all the time and effort I’ve put in.”

“I think ‘do I want to be an astronomer or social worker’ is a bit of an improvement,” Max said, grabbing Chloe’s hand and smiling.

“Hella better than ‘do I start with beer or skip straight to the hard stuff’,” Chloe agreed as they reached the car. “You got a vector for us to get to our big future?”

“Google Maps said go south then swing east to Salem to get back on 5,” Max said.

“Right,” Chloe said as she got in the car and started the engine. “Fasten your seatbelt, Air Max, I’m getting as far as I physically can, probably past Sacramento.”

“Okay, Chloe, just let me know where you’re thinking so I can look ahead for motels,” Max said. “And if I need to tap in for driving.”

“Don’t worry Max. Nothing’s stopping us,” Chloe grinned as she pulled out.

————————

It was late, very late, when the two of them finally collapsed in a motel bed in Santa Cruz. Chloe had insisted on pushing well past what they’d planned, but Max hadn’t been as worried and she’d thought she’d be. Somehow she sensed Chloe was more interested in getting closer to their destination instead of putting distance from where they’d been.

“Fuck I’m tired,” Chloe said as she drank another glass of water Max had shoved in her face. “Not sure I can even bang you, unless you want to ride my face.”

“I’m dead Chloe,” Max whined, cuddling to Chloe once she’d put the glass down. “Let’s just sleep.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Chloe agreed. “Should’ve gone here for college instead of UCLA. They’ve got a fucking banana slug as their mascot.”

“Tomorrow morning you’ll be eager to get to LA,” Max got out, as she struggled to stay awake.

“Yeah, from here we can take 1 down the coast all the way to Santa Monica and still have plenty of time to do stuff. Apartment said they received the Casper mattress we ordered, so we can go get a bed frame at least.”

“Hope it’s sturdy,” Max said before letting sleep claim her. She could sense Chloe wouldn’t be far behind.

————————————

Chloe couldn’t help but grin as they drove down the California coast. After they’d woken up, showered, and found a place for a quick breakfast and coffee, they’d set out, and were making great time. To her right Max was staring with wonder at the ocean, probably taking pictures with her mind.

Chloe couldn’t believe that they were only about three hours from their new home and new life. It made her nervous, but a much better nervous than what she’d experienced before they reached Arcadia Bay yesterday. She couldn’t help but feel somewhat lighter after finding some sort of closure with her parents. She could tell Max felt similarly.

“So Max Cole, wanted to run a couple things by you before we reached LA,” Chloe said, bringing the girl’s attention to her. At Max’s questioning look she continued. “On a more serious note, I was thinking of getting a new tattoo, something to honor my parents, wanted to probe you for ideas. I want it to be symbolic, no fucking way I’m getting one of those ‘Mom’ heart tats, and I think I have an idea for Dad, but not sure about Mom.”

“What’s your idea for William?” Max asked.

“I was thinking a raven. Some of the dreams and shit that happened around when I met Rachel? Drew a strong connection between them and Dad in my head. Besides, First Nations say ravens are tricksters, and that was certainly my Dad. Whatever I make Mom I want it to be one image not sure what though.”

“A stack of Belgian waffles,” Max said before gasping and looking at Chloe like she fucked up. “Your mom was so much more-”

Chloe laughed, waving her right hand to cut off Max. “A raven on top of a Belgian waffle, pecking at it, oh Dad would split his sides at that. Mom would love it to, though she’d grumble about being represented as food.”

“She was a good cook,” Max said quietly.

“She was,” Chloe agreed. “The other thing was now that we’re moving to LA, and they have two sports teams for pretty much everything, we should figure out which ones to root for.”

Max snorted but grinned, and the next part of the trip was filled with much banter.

————————

Chloe happily munched on her taco as she dangled her feet over the edge of the pier. It was more crowded than she’d like, but she guessed it was something she’d just have to get used to now that the City of Angels was their home. Next to her Max munched on her own dinner, having elected to stay standing. Chloe suspected it was for the temporary height advantage, and she was happy to give her lover that for a few minutes.

“We didn’t really spend a lot of time standing up here on the pier proper, did we?” Max stated between bites. During our big trip we went aways off to avoid getting cited for setting the boat on fire, and we were too busy to make our way here during orientation.”

Chloe hummed in affirmation. “I think you’re right,” she said as she fully turned her attention to the sunset before them, somehow more beautiful than any she’d seen before. “The Santa Monica dream, right here, waiting to be taken.” They continued to watch the sun sink below the horizon, dinner finished.

“We’ve got a big day tomorrow,” Max said suddenly. “We got the bed and toiletries set up, but we still need to unpack our computers and TV, and go buy a couch, dinnerware-”

“And we’ll get it done Max, don’t you worry,” Chloe interrupted. “I know you want to host your folks for dinner when they fly down next week, I saw a really good Ethiopian recipe that I thought would be good.”

“You’re going to cook Ethiopian, really?” Max asked, looking at Chloe curiously.

“Why not?” Chloe retorted, lifting herself up to stand. “Those restaurants we went to in NYC and the Twin Cities? Fucking great. My mom was a great cook, and the things I would throw together back in Seattle weren’t too bad.”

“They weren’t, I guess I’m just surprised you’d want to cook.”

“Why the fuck not? I’m hella better than you at it, and we can’t eat takeout seven days a week,” Chloe said, smirking down at Max. “Mom was a great cook, but she had nothing to work with, in a small town where everyone was white. Here in LA? There’s grocery stores with food from everywhere, we could probably find meat from Antartica if we looked hard enough.” Chloe turned to Max. “So yeah, Ethiopian. I’ve also got some Italian and Greek stuff in mind, Chinese, British-”

“British? Really?”

“Fuck no, just seeing if you were paying attention,” Chloe grinned, turning to Max and finding herself staring. Physically Max hadn’t changed that much since she’d almost run her over in Blackwell’s parking lot: her hair was a bit longer, enough to pull at least, and she’d gotten her purple streak redone before they came down, but otherwise she was still the same short, skinny hipster. She definitely acted different though. Chloe remembered describing her as ‘less chickenshit’ a lifetime ago in Blackwell’s pool, and the girl before her certainly carried herself with more confidence and swagger than before. ‘And she now gave as good as got when it came to dirty talk’, Chloe thought to herself, grinning.

“Something up, Che?” Max asked turning towards her.

“Nothing,” Chloe shrugged as she turned back to the little sliver of the Sun that was left. “Do you feel like we’re closing a book, that contains everything we’ve done up to this point?”

“Something ends,” Max said, as they looked westward until no light shone over the ocean.

——————————

Max stirred as she felt blissful sleep leave her. Every fiber in her body ached in the most pleasant way possible. After they’d gotten back to their apartment they’d partaken in what Max was sure were the longest and most intense sessions of lovemaking in their relationship. She felt rested, but she wouldn’t be surprised if she’d only been asleep for an hour.

’Speaking of which,’ Max thought as she took in the lack of Chloe in their bed. Looking across the strewn clothes she noticed that her shirt was missing. Grinning and grabbing Chloe’s shirt, she threw it on and walked out of the bedroom into the main room. She saw Chloe standing out on their balcony, staring into the distance. Max smiled as she took in the sight. They were both slim, so her shirt fit Chloe just fine, but their height difference meant that Chloe wasn’t even close to being ‘covered’. Max thought about grabbing her camera, but decided against it. ’Tomorrow we can do a proper photo session, without the shirt.’

Max walked out to the balcony and raised her hand to brush over Chloe’s bare bottom. Chloe turned to grin at her as Max took her place at her side.

“Hey there little hipster, was just about to come wake you. Sun’s going to start coming up in a few minutes.”

“Uh-uh. Tell me, what happened to that ‘no clothes in the apartment’ policy you were insisting on enforcing before we came down here?”

“Oh, we’re not fully settled yet, still got a lot of shit to buy and set up. Besides, wanted you to get the sight of me in your shirt.”

“Oh I enjoy it,” Max confirmed. “Probably doesn’t work as well the other way,” she said, gesturing to the fact that Chloe’s shirt went several inches beyond her hips.

“Trust me, seeing you in my shirt is hella sexy, and the fact that it barely covers your pussy isn’t going to stop me.”

Max snorted but chose not to comment. They watched from their east-facing balcony as the sun slowly started to peak between the gaps in the buildings.

“You know,” Chloe began, her somber tone causing Max to turn her way. “Despite how far we’ve come, there’s going to be days I wake up and feel that the world would be a better place if I’d died in that bathroom, storm or no storm.”

“And there’s going to days when I wake up and feel like I need to hurt myself to make up for what I’ve done,” Max replied. “But we’ve got each other to help, and if that’s not enough…we’ve got the numbers for our shrinks back in Seattle, and I bookmarked the pages for the resources for the CAPS program, and I’m going to print it out and stick it on our cork board once we’ve acquired a printer and a cork board.”

“Always thinking ahead, aren’t you Maxannibal?” Chloe asked, smiling.

“Maxannibal? Is that like Hannibal?” Max asked, slightly confused.

“Yep, the Carthaginian, not the cannibal,” Chloe confirmed, before turning her gaze back to east. Max continued to keep her gaze on Chloe: her hair had changed color and length during the time they've been together, but now now it was back to more or less what it'd been when Chloe had almost run her over. Maybe a little more violet, but she was still the blue-haired punk. Despite the similarities on the surface, Max could see just how different Chloe was now with her smile: early on her smiles had tended to be mischievous, and Max had learned quickly that they indicated attempts to distract both of them from things Chloe was too scared to touch on. Now though, her smiles were calmer, happier, and her eyes would shine and dance in a way they hadn't before.

“Hey Chloe?” Max asked, bringing the girl’s attention back to her. “You ever feel like we’re beginning a new book, that has a lot of pages containing everything we’re going to do?”

“Something begins,” Chloe said, bringing Max in for a deep kiss. Eventually they separated, and turned to silently watch the sunrise.