**I currently have no plans to finish this fic**


Chloe,

I have no idea how to start this letter. I've already rewound four times to rewrite these first few sentences and I'm still not any closer to figuring out how to say this. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to write, but it's also the most important and I don't want to mess it up. But I also can't sit here staring at this page forever because my head is starting to hurt and I know you'll be home soon, so I'm just going to have to try my best.

Do you remember what we used to say when we were kids? That we would take over the world together. I still think we can, Chloe. We can still take on the world. Just not together.

It's taken me a long time to realize this and I'm sorry for that. It's not fair that we spent so much time together, that we put so much time into our relationship, only for it to have to end like this.

I thought about using my powers to go back through a picture to break up with you sooner, or maybe to never start a relationship with you in the first place but I just can't do that. I never told you about this, but I tried to do something like that once before and all it did was cause you even more suffering. I can't risk that happening again. I'm afraid of what going back in time like that will do to you, too afraid to even attempt it and reverse it later if the worst were to happen. And I'm sorry for that, so, so sorry. I'm sorry I'm not brave enough to even give you that chance. But I hope that this way, by being together for so long, you'll also have started to see why we can't be together any longer.

You're stuck, Chloe. You're stuck in the past and no matter how hard I try, I can't help you move on. I can rewind forever but I can't seem to help you move forward.

In the four years I was away at college, you never visited me once. I was always the one who had to come back to Arcadia Bay in order to see you. That confused me for a long time because of how badly you had wanted to leave Arcadia Bay before. It took me a long time to figure it out, but now I know. It's because you're scared to leave. I think you're scared that if you leave you'll forget, forget about our childhood together, forget about William, forget about Rachel. But even if we could leave Arcadia Bay together, I don't think it would help. If you left on your own or with someone else I think you would be able to move past this but if you leave with me, that's never going to happen. Having me around would ensure that you'd never forget about Arcadia Bay, yes, but it would let you do that without doing any of the work of processing and accepting everything that's happened. I'm afraid that having me around would let you trick yourself into thinking you've moved on and that's not fair to you.

I wish I could be the one to show you that you can move on without forgetting, that you can let go of the past without losing it forever. I wish I could show you, Chloe. But I can't be the one to do that. All I do is get in the way.

I know you can do this, Chloe. I know you can learn how to hold on to what you need from your past and take that into the future. You can do this, either by yourself or with whoever you need. You just can't do it with me, no matter how much I wish you could. I wish I could see the amazing person you're going to become after you make it through all this, but I know now that in order for you to have a chance at becoming that person, I can't be around to see it.

So that means I have to leave. By the time you read this, I'll have already left. Please don't try to come after me or contact me. I've asked my parents not to give you any information about where I am or how to get a hold of me, so please don't put them in an awkward position by asking about me.

And please don't think this means that our time together meant nothing to me, or that it shouldn't mean anything to you. I know it's selfish, but I'm so thankful for the time I got to spend with you, even if it was at your expense. I hope that someday you'll be able to forgive me enough to look back fondly on the happy times we had together.

I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to tell you this in person. I'm sorry the only way I can do this is through a letter. But I know that if I try to have this conversation with you it will end with me taking it all back and staying. And that can't happen. Not if you're ever going to have a chance to move on.

Good-bye, Chloe. I love you and I'm sorry.

- Max