How many of you out there know about Pentatonix? If you haven't heard of them, they are an a cappella singing group and they are AMAZEBALLS! Which is why I'm using one of their songs for a story :D I really wanted to write a post-Polarized story, so here goes everything!
...
"Max,"
The brunette girl looks up when her name is spoken, her eyes slowly trailing to the direction the voice came from. Chloe is watching her closely, her blonde eyebrows knitted together is concern and her electric blue hair sticking out from under her beanie. It clings to her forehead, still damp from the rainstorm that came with the tornado. Max's mouth is too dry, too heavy to answer verbally, so she settles for a slight eyebrow raise. Chloe reaches across and takes her hand, attempting an encouraging smile.
"It's time to go." she says softly.
Max nods once and turns back to the water, squinting against the wind that has started to pick up. The autumn chill rustles through her wet clothes and she shudders, her hand instinctively tightening around Chloe's. The sun is just beginning to rise above the horizon and it seems to Max that the light is finally chasing the clouds away. Though, it can't reach the ones that have replaced her soul.
It takes her a second to realize that Chloe has slipped from her grasp and placed her leather jacket around her shoulders. It doesn't do much to block out the lasting cold, but she appreciates the gesture anyway. Her hand feels empty without Chloe's in it and she feebly reaches for it. Chloe takes the hint and intertwines their fingers.
"Come on." she instructs gently.
Max follows her down the path silently, her eyes casted down at the dirt and gravel she's kicking up with the toe of her sneakers. Chloe doesn't let go of her hand the whole way down and she doesn't want her to. She rubs the heel of her free hand against her eye and sniffs.
Maybe this is what they mean by feeling dead inside. is the thought she can conjure up in her exhausted mind.
They reach Chloe's truck, which is parked underneath a picnic table roof, the table having been ripped away by the wind before they'd gotten there what feels like days ago. How the roof was still standing was a mystery, but at least it protected their only mode of transportation. Chloe opens the passenger side door and Max slips in without a word, her eyes still down. Chloe frowns slightly and shuts the door before going to the driver side. Once she's settled inside, she glances over at Max.
"Is there anything you want to-"
"No."
Max's croaked, dry response catches her off guard but she doesn't say anything else. She understands, after all. She doesn't plan on stopping anywhere for anything, either. She'd hate to go all zombie on Max, knowing that it's her time to be the strong one. She takes a breath and turns the key in the ignition, bringing the truck to life.
As Chloe drives away from the beach, Max allows herself to look up at the destruction outside. Demolished homes and buildings, over turned cars, broken power lines... She clenches her jaw and feels a sob gather in her chest. She keeps it in.
Not too far away, in the distance, Max can make out a family of deer amongst the wreckage, and she guesses they're in search of food. That's what she allows herself to believe, and not the latter. Max keeps herself from speaking up when they pass the Two Whales Diner, and there's an ache in her chest when she sees there's no noticeable additional damage done to it. But she doesn't want to stop and find out. She could live with the feeling of suspense for survivors than the disappointment that there are none.
They're hitting the road with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and they have an almost four hour drive to Seattle, but Max doesn't mind. Neither does Chloe. They only care about the company of the other beside them. Max turns her head to look behind the truck. Her eyes sting when she sees the lighthouse looming over the bay and she has the brief notion that it's taunting her. She looks away.
Chloe slows the truck down until it halts at the border beside the 'Welcome To Arcadia Bay' sign. Her hands loosen from the steering wheel and turns to Max. She slides her teeth against each other, thinking of what she could say. Nothing comes to mind and she instead reaches for Max, placing a hand on her shoulder. The shorter girl faces her, and she can see the strain in her teal colored eyes. She offers a smile and squeezes her shoulder. Max takes kindly to the gesture and musters a smile of her own, much to Chloe's relief.
Chloe drops both her gaze and her hand, returning her eyes to the road and her hand to the steering wheel. Her foot presses down on the gas pedal, and they're gone.
...
They reach reach Seattle in five hours, having hit a serious length of traffic. By that time, it's almost eleven a.m. As soon as they see the sign greeting them to the city, Max forces herself to speak in order to give directions to her home. It's only twenty minutes later that Chloe pulls into the driveway and shuts the truck off.
"Are they home?" she asks. "Or will they come home to a surprise visit?"
This brings a smile to Max's face. "I think Dad will be home." she says. She finds it a little easier to speak now, the long drive giving her time to relax.
Chloe nods and the two get out of the car, heading up to the front door. Max pulls out her keys from her bag, thankful that her parents always insisted she keep them on hand "just in case". Well, just in case ended up happening sooner than she expected.
She unlocks the door and opens it, Chloe following her inside. She looks around a bit. "Dad?"
She's hears noise coming from the floor above and a door opens. Max looks up in time to see her father come around the corner to the stairs. The panic on his face melts to instant relief when he sees Max and he descends the steps, going right up to her and pulling her into his arms.
"Oh, Max," he says quietly. "I'm so glad your safe. I just heard about the tornado on the TV, I called your mother to go find you when we couldn't reach you."
"Dad, calm down." Max says, her voice just as choked up with emotion. "I'm fine, thanks to-"
"Chloe," her father says when he sets his eyes on the bluenette. He smiles.
"Hey, Ryan," Chloe, almost surprised that he recognizes her.
"I should've known you'd be looking after Max during her return home." Ryan says.
"Of course." Chloe says, and the look Max gives her is more than amused when they know the true story.
Ryan smiles and he reaches to Chloe, bringing her to join in on the hug. Chloe doesn't argue, she just places her arms around her best friend and her father. After a couple seconds, they part and Ryan points behind him with his thumb.
"I'd better go call your mother and tell her the mission is off." he says.
"Yeah, wouldn't want her making a four hour drive for nothing." Max jokes.
Her father gives a chuckle and turns to head upstairs.
Chloe is almost thankful that he doesn't ask about her mother.
...
Max doesn't want to talk about it, and she appreciates that her parents and Chloe don't pressure her to. Her mother says that she can take as much time as she needs before she enrolls in the local high school. Max thinks that's just what she needs. She doubts she can handle stepping into another classroom any time soon. She tries to be thankful that she and Chloe are still alive, that they're safe and together. She tells herself this everyday. It helps a bit.
The nights don't come easy to her, and the sun setting stirs up anguish each night. The night, she believes, is where her nightmares wait for her. Faces appear in the shadows. Kate, Victoria, Nathan, Joyce, David, Warren... All of her friends come to haunt her when its dark. Faces of everyone that she left behind.
She tries to pretend that Jefferson isn't among them.
She no longer sleeps with her door closed, and the hallway light stays on to give her what little comfort it can. Her camera remains untouched on her dresser.
Max wills herself to not let her memories rattle her in everyday life. When she sees black tape, she shudders and looks away. When she hears the click or sees the flash of a camera, she swallows thickly and continues on. She can't stand holding a flashlight anymore.
Chloe sleeps across the hall from her in the guest room. Max knows that it's her way of giving her as much space as possible, and she wishes she could speak against it. She hates being and sleeping alone but she's afraid of hurting Chloe in her sleep. Not one night has gone by the entire week that she doesn't wake up in the late hours of the night thrashing and crying silently.
Max is aware of the worried glances her best friend gives her throughout the days, her eyes searching for a solution twenty four/seven. When all hopes come up null her hand always works its way into Max's, followed by a reassuring squeeze that says "It's okay." She waits patiently for the time when she can finally talk about everything.
...
It's Sunday evening when Chloe finally gets a call on her thought-to-be permanently silent cell phone. It's her mother. Chloe does all but cry, telling her mother that she's glad she's alive and that she's safe in Seattle with Max.
"I figured that's where y'all headed." Joyce says, and there's a smile in her voice. "When David searched the town and couldn't find either of you or your truck, we had a feeling you were together and alive. Believe me, we would've called sooner but it took longer than it should've to fix the cell towers and we weren't allowed to drive out of town."
When Joyce mentions David, Chloe bites her lip. "Is he okay?" she finds herself asking.
"You know David. He's been helping with recovering civilians and clearing the streets." Joyce tells her.
"Anyone we know?" Chloe asks, and she looks up the stairs in time to see Max exiting her room.
"Warren, Kate and Frank are doing just fine." Joyce says. "A few other students from Blackwell, too. You can pass that news on to Max."
"I will." Chloe says. Her throat is dry and she swallows. "I love you, mom."
"I love you, too, sweetheart." Joyce says.
...
Chloe is fast asleep when she hears the screaming. Her eyes snap open almost immediately and her heart kicks into acceleration. Her first instinct is to check on Max. She practically throws the covers to the floor as she bolts from the bed and runs across the hall.
Her breath catches in her throat when she sees that Max is tossing and turning in her bed, strangled cries coming from her. She hurriedly crosses the room and kneels on the bed, trying to catch Max by her wrists.
"Max!" she calls urgently. "Max, wake up!" She wishes that Ryan and Vanessa were home.
She tries not to yelp in pain when Max's hand catches her face, and she takes the opportunity to grab her wrist. She dodges Max's other hand and grasps it firmly, pinning them over Max's head. She knows that this isn't the best thing to do to someone with PTSD, but at the moment she's low on options.
"Max, please..." she whispers, and holds both of Max's wrists in one hand so she able to lightly touch her face. "Wake up, it's just a nightmare..."
It takes time for Max to calm down, but she keeps squirming uncomfortably. To her, Chloe's hand is black tape and her voice is Jefferson's all over again. She sobs, mumbling under her breath to be released. Chloe's heart clenches in her chest but she slowly moves away. She strokes Max's cheek with a tentative thumb.
"Max, can you hear me?" she asks. "Max?"
Somehow, reality breaks through and Max opens her eyes a bit, fearful of what she'll see. Her eyes focus and they find Chloe's panicked expression in the dark.
"Chloe..." she rasps, her throat scratchy from screaming.
"I'm here, Max. You're okay." Chloe says.
Max's eyes flit side to side before she wraps her arms around Chloe's neck and pulls her down, crying into her shoulder. Chloe hesitates, taken by surprise, before holding Max close to her. She shushes her softly, lightly stroking her hair.
It's a while before Max runs out of tears to cry, so she quiets down to heavy sniffling and shaky breathing. She keeps her face hidden in the crook of Max's neck. Chloe has since laid down beside her, Max curling up against her side. Chloe doesn't mind that her T-shirt is wet, it doesn't bother her one bit. She just wants Max to stop crying.
The younger teen says her name quietly and Chloe hums her interest.
"Do... do you still think about it?" Max asks.
"About what?" Chloe says.
"About what happened?"
Chloe sets her jaw as a reflex to whatever snarky comment is about to come out. She says, "All the time."
Max tilts her head upward to look at Chloe, who looks back at her. "Do you still miss her?"
"Sometimes." Chloe answers.
Max looks down. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I'm sorry I couldn't save her."
Chloe scoffs in spite of herself. "Come on, Maxipad," she says with a roll of her eyes. "There's nothing you could've done. She... She was dead before you even got back."
"Still. I know how much she meant to you." Max's voice is small when she says this, and the underlying meaning doesn't go unnoticed by Chloe.
"You're what matters to me, now." she says. "Yeah, Rachel's gone but you're here. You're back. That's all I asked for."
Max seems content with this and she snuggles closer to Chloe. They lay in silence for a while, not saying anything but not falling asleep. Max can hear Chloe's heart beating and it soothes her troubled thoughts, lulling her into a sense of safety and security. She takes a breath.
"Chloe?"
"Yeah?"
"I... think I'm ready to talk about it."
Chloe smiles. "Just start from the beginning."
...
A month has gone by when Max decides to return to school. Chloe, on the other hand, has nabbed a part time job as a tattoo artist. Joyce is proud and it isn't really what David wanted to hear, but he supports her nonetheless. Max has been making calls to her friends, including Victoria every now and then.
Max's camera has experienced one film change since the tornado in Arcadia Bay, the most recent pictures filling up a scrapbook her father bought for her. Most of them consist of outside scenery, and the others of her and Chloe, apart or together. Her favorite one so far is a picture of Chloe standing in the middle of a park, staring up at the Space Needle and shielding her eyes from the remaining sunlight. The smile on the bluenette's face is contagious whenever Max looks at it.
She hasn't messed with time since leaving Arcadia Bay and she doesn't mention to Chloe that the one time she did, it was to go back in time to when she took the picture of her in the park. It's the first moment that everything seems to be on the right track to being okay. They never think for a moment that it'll be the same, but they can feel the horrors of the past that once nipped at their heels begin to fade.
A few weeks later, Chloe is talking about them getting their own place. Max laughs but she thinks it's a nice idea. The idea of living with Chloe in their own home is a fond one and it raises hope in her heart. Until then, they sleep together in Max's room with the hallway light turned off and the bedroom door cracked.
There are nights when Max wants to sleep alone and Chloe understands. And on those nights, she leaves the hallway light on to let Max know that, if she needs her, she'll come to her in a heartbeat.
...
And that's that. I hope you enjoyed, I tried to capture the idea of Max's PTSD the best way I could and that it didn't suck xD.
Thanks for reading!