This takes place after the 'sacrifice Chloe' ending and the title comes from the song "The Sense of Me" by Mud Flow. Hope you enjoy!
"Attention all Blackwell students, this is Principal Wells. Due to an unfortunate fatality in the girls' bathroom, all classes have been cancelled for today."
Well, that was the last thing I'd expected to hear today. I was just putting some of my books back in my locker after science and someone's dead. Shit, I wonder who it was. I guess it can't have been a student, otherwise Principal Wells would have said, wouldn't he? Damn. Maybe Max would know?
Shoving the rest of my books into my locker, I headed outside to see where she was. No one seemed too fussed that we'd just found out someone had died in the bathroom today, and you never would have guessed it given the state of the courtyard. Everyone was in their usual spaces doing their normal shit.
After evading a blazing Vortex Club (damn, they wasted no time), I spotted Brooke closer to the girls' dorm. Maybe she'd know what'd happened.
"Hey Brooke, d-"
"Oh hey, Warren. What do you think of the new drone? It's pretty cool…"
Mildly distracted, I glanced up at her B400 EVO and I had to give it to her, it was pretty sweet. Fine motor controls and everything, way slicker than the last model. She caught me staring at it and smirked slightly.
"Do you want to give it a go or did you have something else in mind?"
"Actually, have you seen Max around?" Brooke slumped a little, all traces of the smirk gone. Shit. "Wait, do you know what's going on today?" But the damage was done.
"No, I don't. Daniel wanted help with his science later and I said I'd tutor him. But if you'll excuse me, I have a drone to fly." And with that, she turned away.
Fuck. Rubbing my hand over my face, I headed towards the girls' dorm. I knew Brooke was a little jealous of Max, but this was ridiculous. Ugh. Oh well, this was the next best bet. If she wasn't in here, I have no idea where she'd be.
Making my way down to 219, I stopped outside the door. What if she wasn't there? What if she didn't want to see me right now? Damn, I hadn't thought about this before. Shit. Leaning against the wall by the whiteboard, I pondered my next move. Should I text her and ask? No, I've never done that before and she hasn't minded, she'd just think it was weird that I did ask and get pissed at me. Maybe I should just knock? Fuck it.
Summoning the willpower, I get up and knock on her door. With no response.
"Max, you in there?"
"Leave off, dumbass. Hipster bitch clearly isn't in."
Great. Victoria. Well, I doubt she'd know Max's whereabouts, but given Max didn't open the door or respond, I guess she really wasn't in. Turning around to attempt to say something to, as Max dubbed her, Queen Bitch, I couldn't find her but found Kate instead.
"Hey Kate, what's up?"
She smiled softly at me. I haven't seen her much over the last month or so, but I'm glad to see that she's happy for now. "Hey Warren. What brings you here?"
I shrugged. "I came to see if Max was in, but I guess she's out right now."
She tilted her head to one side, looking confused. "That's weird, I swear I saw her go in there not long ago. Did you knock?"
"Well, yeah. I tried to talk through the door as well, but just got yelled at by Victoria for trying," I sighed. "I should probably head back to the boys dorms at this rate…"
"Nonsense, I'll see if she's in. I wanted to see if she wanted to have tea today. You could join us if you'd like?"
Shaking my head, I replied, "No, I couldn't. It's your time with Max and I shouldn't intrude-"
"Don't be silly, Warren! It'd be nice to have someone else to have tea with. The more the merrier, right? Let's just see if she's in her room though, shall we?" Knocking three times on the door, Kate called out, "Max? You in there?"
Much to my surprise, there was a muffled "Yeah?" from the other side of the door. Why did she hear Kate and not me? Was she ignoring me? Shit.
"I wanted to see if you wanted to have tea. Warren's here too, if that's okay. May we come in?" Faint shuffling from the other side was heard and then the door opened.
She looked… well, she looked half dead. Her face was pale as all hell, her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was red. I haven't seen her look this shit ever. Clearly Kate was thinking along the same lines.
"Max, are you okay?" She just stared blankly at us, but moved aside so that we could walk through the doorway. Sharing concerned glances, Kate and I walked in to the room, which felt heavy with an unspoken sadness that was so blatantly affecting Max. Almost as soon as we'd walked in, before Max had even closed the door, Kate went back out muttering something about prayers and tea. Feeling bad for leaving her to get everything herself, I called out, "Anything I can grab for you?"
"No, no, I'll be fine. You help her out, I'll be fine on my own." And with that she scurried down the hall, leaving me alone with Max.
She closed the door slowly and quietly before taking a seat on the floor with her back to her bed. She hugged her knees to her chest and stared at the ground. Following her lead, I sat next to her, hoping she wouldn't mind the lack of space. I mean, she hadn't ever before, so hopefully she wouldn't now… Glancing over my shoulder at her, she looked so broken. I've never seen her like this; she looked so young, as if someone had just told her as a five year old that Santa wasn't real. I wonder what happened. Was it something to do with the death in the bathroom? If it was, it probably wasn't the best thing to ask straight up. Damn, should I just sound like a broken record and ask if she's okay? What do you even do at this point?
"Fuck… I could have saved her… what the fuck have I done…"
Refocusing on her, I tried to hear what she was mumbling. Shit. It has to have been something to do with the person who died in the bathroom. She was burying her head further into her knees, so I guess it was time for me to man up and just ask. Nudging her, I tentatively asked, "Mad Max, you okay?"
She lifted her head to look at me. Gone were the vacant bloodshot eyes from before; now her eyes were filled with tears and such an intense sadness that my chest hurt from the desperation she showed. Fuck. It physically hurt to see her like this. She'd just opened her mouth to speak when there was a quiet creak of the door.
"Sorry to burst in without knocking, but I thought it would just be best if I came in and just set up." As Max and I moved to help, Kate just gave another smile, a little more reserved this time, and said, "No, I'm fine. Just give me a minute and it'll all be ready. Max, I'll make your normal, is that okay?" Max gave a quick nod before lowering her head again. Pursing her lips slightly, Kate looked at me. "And you'll have…"
"Milk and two sugars, please." Shooting another worried look at Max, she turned around to make the three mugs of tea. Two agonizing minutes later, the tea was poured and distributed. Kate gave Max her mug and then mine, before sitting across from us with her back to the sofa. I took a sip and just about spat it back out. I'm not a tea guy, and not really a coffee guy either. Looking over at Max, she was mostly just cradling the mug, but was taking the occasional sip. After another minute or so of silence interspersed with sipping, Kate and I exchanged looks again, and she decided to break the quiet.
"Max, are you okay? You seem really out of it right now."
Max looked up from her mug and just shook her head. Nudging her again, I spoke up. "Hey, you can tell us. That's what friends are for, right?"
Kate nodded. "God doesn't judge you and neither do we."
Max stayed silent. She sighed and then looked at us. "I… I saw who got shot in the bathroom."
Well fuck, neither of us had expected that. "Damn, that's… that's awful. Who was it? If you, you know, don't mind talking about it. Sorry, that was really insensitive of me." I scratched the back of my neck. Fuck. Way to put your foot in your mouth, Warren.
She shook her head again. "No, it's fine. It was Chloe. Chloe Price."
Kate spoke up again. "Didn't she get expelled? God bless her soul…"
Max laughed briefly, more of a forceful exhale than a laugh, but continued. "Yeah, she was. We were best friends when we were kids. I haven't seen her in years. And then today… the first time in five years and, suddenly, the last time ever. It's a lot to take."
"No shit, Max. What happened?"
She looked at the floor again. "It was," she looked out the window briefly before returning to face us again. "It was Nathan. He freaked out once Chloe said he owed her money and then…" She started shuddering. "Then he shot her."
She started crying, so I slung an arm over her shoulder to bring her closer and comfort her. I had to do something, right? "I'm so sorry, Max."
She gave a watery laugh. "Me too. Some best friend I am. Didn't call her when I moved, not once in five fucking years, and now I couldn't save her when it mattered most." She caught me by surprise by turning her head into my chest, burying her head there as she continued sobbing. Shooting a desperate look at Kate, I continued attempting to console my best friend. What a shit day.
Kate stood and came over, hugging both of us. "You'll be okay, Max. You'll get through this."
Max shifted her head so that it wasn't totally smothered by my shirt. "Thanks, Kate. Nathan and Jefferson will get what they deserve." Kate jerked back, somewhat startled.
"Mr. Jefferson? What's going on, Max?"
Her eyes glazed over before she shook her head for a third time. "Never mind. You'll find out soon enough. Just forget I said anything." Kate looked concerned, but mostly satisfied. I wasn't so sure; I'd bring that up with her later. We just sat there, Max in my arms and Kate next to us, for a while, letting it all sink in.
After a while, Kate started to move around, collecting the mugs and the other tea-related objects. As she opened the door to leave, she said, "I hope you feel better soon, Max. I'll be back later, but I just-"
Max raised her head and smiled for the first time today. "I know, Kate. Don't worry. Thank you, for everything."
Returning the smile, Kate replied, "No worries, Max. Happy to help." With that, she turned and let the door shut behind her.
Max buried herself back into my chest, so I rested my head on hers. I'd wanted to spend time with her today, but damn it, not like this. I hated breaking her peace, but I had to ask. "What was with the comment about Jefferson earlier? Last I heard you were praising his name, calling him the greatest photographer of our time."
She stiffened in my arms a little, before eventually extracting herself from my arms. "He… never mind. Tell you tomorrow?"
I was going to push it, cause damn it I wanted to know now, but she clearly wasn't ready. "Yeah, sure, tomorrow. But I'm holding you to that." I winked at her to try and lighten the mood, and it worked. Thank god. She chuckled a little.
"Sure, you dork. I'll tell you tomorrow, promise." She rested her head on my shoulder, and once again, I lent mine on hers.
Well, it's 'tomorrow'. Hopefully Max is still okay to talk about what happened… I guess I'll find out soon.
[Max]: Carpark in 5, right?
Chuckling, I send a quick reply. I guess she is happy to talk about what happened.
[Warren]: Yeah, see you there :)
[Max]: Hurry up, science guy, I got places to be
I ran down to the carpark from my dorm, stopping before I got too close. Couldn't let her think I was too desperate, could I? She was leaning on the hood of my new car. Going in for a hug, she happily reciprocated. She squeezed me and I squeezed her back, too delirious from the contact to notice anything else. It ended all too quickly for me, but she pulled away and started eyeing up the car.
"What do you have in mind, Mad Max?"
She swiped the keys out of my hand, ignoring my protests, simply saying, "Get in the damn car, Warren. Do you want to find out or not?"
Continuing to grumble my protests, I opened up the front passenger door and slid in whilst she took the wheel. Once she'd got out of Blackwell, I'd had enough of the silence. "Max, where are you taking my baby?"
She snorted. "Your baby? Relax, Warren, your 'baby' will be fine. I just… need to get out of Blackwell for a bit. I'll tell you when we get there."
A good fifteen minutes of boredom later, she shook me a little.
"Dude, come on, out of the car. We're here."
I got out of the car, and looked around to find out that we were at the… lighthouse?
"Why the hell are we at the lighthouse?"
She just glared at me. "I'll explain in a minute. Shut up for a minute."
Rolling my eyes, I followed her up the hill and sat next to her on the bench. It was pretty cool actually; it was a nice shot of Arcadia Bay, way nicer than being stuck in Blackwell.
So Max was right again. What else was new?
Just before I could ask her what she had to tell me, she bet me to the punch.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone about anything I tell you now." I stared at her bewildered. I mean, what the fuck are you meant to expect after that?
"Warren? Earth to Warren?"
I slapped away the hand she was waving in front of my face. "Yeah, yeah, I promise. The doctor has sworn his confidentiality. Now what was it about Jefferson?"
She sighed again, but this time it showed a little bit of relief. "All right. Out with it, I guess. I… time travel. I've lived through this week before, but I stopped Nathan by setting off the fire alarm. Long story short, Jefferson is the reason that Rachel is dead and I could either sacrifice Chloe or the whole of Arcadia Bay… and I chose Chloe." She started tearing up again, so I nudged her with my shoulder, which got me a half smile in return. "Am I a terrible person? I killed her, let her die, knowing she'd be killed… but I couldn't keep her through a storm that could have killed us anyway…" She buried her head in her hands, bracing herself against her knees.
Rubbing her back, I sighed. "Both were shit choices. Save your best friend who could die at any moment, or save your hometown but lose your best friend in the process. You're not a terrible person. But I… you can time travel? How? Why? Can you show me?"
She tilted her head to face me and smiled ruefully. "Chloe asked me the same thing. You have your car keys, an old wad of peppermint gum; gross, by the way, your wallet with a dollar twenty three in coins and twelve bucks in cash and a photo of you, me and Brooke from the first day of class. Check your pockets." Emptying them out, she was right on the money. "Damn, Super Max, you really can. You're a human TARDIS!"
Her smile faltered at the nickname. "Yeah, well, my superpower saved and then killed Chloe, as well as creating a storm that wiped out the whole town and threatened to flatten way more. I'm not a super hero. I can't even save my best friend." Her voice broke as she started to cry. Bringing her in for a side hug, I let out a small chuckle. "Damn, Max, two days in a row? Better not be the start of a pattern..." I got a poke in the ribs for that one, always a good sign from her. "But seriously, what was that about Jefferson? Rachel's dead?"
"Yeah, she's dead. Jefferson recruited Nathan for his money and to get him to drug girls at Vortex Club parties to be his subjects." She shuddered. "Nathan accidentally gave her an overdose, so she's buried in the junkyard. But Jefferson… he got me." I stiffened. He hurt my Max? Shit, hold on. She's not your Max, Graham. Let it go. "He drugged me first, shot Chloe in the face and then took photos of me, bound in tape and passed out. Said he liked the innocence and vulnerability of a subject unable to defend herself. Nathan's dad funded his dark room, but Nathan wanted out, so Jefferson killed him too. After… after Chloe died this time, Nathan got taken into an investigation with police where he told them about the dark room. David-"
"Madsen? The crazy security guy?"
"Yeah, him. He's Chloe's stepdad. He should be leading a raid today on the dark room, so hopefully Jefferson will be convicted sometime this week. Justice for his stepdaughter and all that. I know this is a lot, and I have all the time I like to think about it. How're you doing coping with it all?"
Well. "That's some crazy shit, Max. I trust that you're telling the truth, especially after that mean pocket thing earlier. But I didn't go through all of this. Are you coping with it? Is there anything I can do to help?"
She sat up fully and faced me. One minute we were just staring and suddenly she's grabbed my face and pulled me in, putting her lips on mine. I couldn't think about anything aside from that fact that I was kissing Max just like I'd thought about and damn, it was better than I'd hoped it would be. To prevent myself looking like a complete idiot, I put my hands on her too, but she'd pulled away before anything else happened. She had another half smile on her face, but she seemed infinitely happier than she'd been since before yesterday.
"Tomorrow at five, by your car again, we're going ape."
Her voice snapped me out of my trance. This time it was my turn to glare at her. "You rewound and knew I was going to ask you didn't you?"
She smiled, a whole one this time. "Nah, you did the same thing the other week. Besides, if I didn't want to do this, you wouldn't remember a thing. But I do, so tomorrow is a night of normality between us damned dirty humans and on Friday… could you come with me to Chloe's funeral? Weird thing to ask, I know, but-"
"I get it, Max. Don't worry about it. I'll go with you to both. You don't need to go through it alone. Not again."
Friday came, which was a sad day for all involved. You know, as to be expected with funerals.
Max had been helping Joyce and David all week, helping them going through Chloe's things and mourning with them, as her final thing to help Chloe after all they went through. We'd had a great time at the Planet of the Apes marathon as a break from all of the sadness, and she was now officially my girlfriend.
But today was about Chloe and remembering who she was to Max and to her family. We stood at her grave whilst the priest gave his final prayers before she was lowered into the ground. Poor Joyce cried into David, and I couldn't help but feel for her, after Max had told me that she'd lost her husband William and now Chloe. Kate, Victoria and a few others were scattered around as well, but Max was standing right next to me as we watched her best friend have her final farewell. At some point during the prayers, Max moved closer to me and laced her fingers through mine. We stayed like that until people started dispersing and heading back to their lives, leaving just us, Joyce and David. We said our farewells and condolences to them again before we, like everyone else, left.
As we headed to the car, I had to ask. "What's got you all happy all of a sudden? Mad Max, smiling at her best friend's funeral? Does your time travel take away your sympathy?"
Shoving into me, she laughed. "You idiot, I'm not happy she's dead. But a butterfly landed on her casket partway through. The same one that was in the bathroom before all of this happened, even before I got my powers. I'd been talking to Samuel about all these animals that appeared last week, and maybe that's her spirit animal – that blue butterfly. I just… it gives me hope. Maybe she is still here, watching over us. I hope she's happy, wherever she is. Maybe even with Rachel and her dad again."
I squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry you had to lose her. She'll always be a part of you, and even though no one else knows about what you went through, you'll always have those memories to hold onto." Kissing her forehead, I asked, "You keen for a little TV marathon when we get back?"
"Of course, you dork. Just lead the way."
As much as her last week had sucked, I couldn't help but hope that this moment would last forever.
Constructive criticism is always much appreciated :)