Max watched as Chloe drove off, wondering how a day that started so awesomely could tank so fast. Mostly though, Max was heartbroken, the things Chloe had said were too much to take all at once. She felt her eyes water, but didn't sob. She just stood there, in front of Blackwell Academy, and let the tears run down her cheeks in silence. Fuck, Chloe. Just...fuck, was the first thing that sprang to Max's mind. She turned around and made her way up the steps, heading toward the girls' dorm, as she had been suspended for outing Nathan Prescott's involvement with Kate Marsh at the Vortex Club party. Max pulled out her phone and shot Kate a message, "Hope u r getting the rest u need. U r loved - remember that."
One of the few plus sides to being suspended was that nobody was outside - she made her way to the totem pole and just sat, leaning against it while processing the last few days.
"Okay. I can time travel, I've saved Chloe's life twice already. Chloe...," Max stated to herself, whispering as she thought aloud, "I've taken the rap for a joint, nearly shot a drug dealer, broken into Blackwell twice, and helped with the theft of $5,000 dollars. You're on a roll, Caulfield."
Max sighed. Part of her wishes she had never come back to Arcadia Bay, and the part of her that was glad she did is in pieces, wrecked by a whirlwind with blue hair. Max still couldn't get over Chloe being back in her life, and played the days' events over in her head, from the Chloe's near-death in the bathroom to the investigation of Frank's RV.
"Shit," Max blurted out. She still had the gun, retrieved from Frank's RV. She had been hesitant about giving the gun back to Chloe; no matter how chill Chloe seemed, right now is not the time for Chloe Price to be carrying a firearm.
Max felt the gun's slight bulge in her camera bag, and was instantly thankful for the lack of metal detectors. Blackwell isn't typically a criminal den, but Max had no desire to further a trend started by Nathan Prescott. Standing up and brushing the grass of the ripped jeans that she borrowed from Chloe, Max quickly made her way to the dorm. She nearly ran from the entrance to her door, taking time only to change out of the torn flannel and dump her chlorine-scented clothes from last night. Changing into a green hoodie and plain white t-shirt, Max was about to make a run for it out the building when she heard people start to make their way through the hall. She looked at her phone - it was lunchtime.
When Max opened her door and stepped out in the hallway, she felt like an oddity. She knew some of the girls were staring at her, she could feel it, and was afraid of getting busted. She turned around to find Victoria Chase looking at her through her own room's half-closed door.
"Well, if it isn't Blackwell's own delinquent hero, Max Caulfield. Is the limelight too much for our humble school's shining star?" Victoria asked, a smirk on her face. Max started to walk off, but stopped.
"...This, this type of crap...," Max started, her voice shaky in anger and awkwardness. She wasn't used to actually being mad.
"I'm sorry, were you saying something unimportant?" Victoria continued.
"Shut the fuck up, Victoria," Max uttered. She must've said it loud because Max heard the entire hall get really quiet.
"...Excuse me...?"
"Shut. The fuck. Up. This crap, the way you treat some of us, is the same thing you did to Kate. Can you not grow up, can you not learn?" Max asked, her small hands clenching into fists. Victoria took a step further into her room, her head sticking out of the doorframe.
"That...that wasn't my..."
"You may not be the sole reasoning behind it. We all had our parts to play - we either didn't pay enough attention, or paid the wrong kind of attention. But you wouldn't let up on her, and you knew something was fishy about Kate's situation. So...just fuck off, Chase."
Max stood at the door to her room, staring down Victoria until she couldn't stand her face. She looked down the hall, and made her way toward the exit to the ground floor and outside. Dana and Juliet stopped her before she could make it. Max was still shaking. She couldn't believe what she had just said.
"Max...that was amazing," Juliet said, "You really are a hero."
"Hey, if you want to talk here's my number," Dana said, offering Max a slip of paper with a hastly drawn number. Max pocketed the number and mumbled a quick "Thanks" to Dana and Juliet before continuing down the hall and out the door. Every girl in the hall looked at Victoria, who huffed and slammed her door shut.
Max plugged her earphones in before she was even out the dormitory entrance, swiping through her music library. She broke into her small folder marked "Grrrl" and played Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl" as she made her way across the courtyard. While Max would normally look for any photographic opportunities, Max was experiencing tunnel vision. The only thing she could think of was Chloe. Yes, five years. She knew she had fucked up, done Chloe really wrong. She had apologized past the point of tears after the lighthouse, and it felt like Chloe was just hanging those five years over Max whenever she wanted something or was pissed. Maybe Chloe was rubbing off on Max, Max couldn't be sure, but she knew that her current frame of mind would fall into the "hella" category of being mad.
She saw Warren out of the corner of her eye, and jumped off the main courtyard's ledge onto the sidewalk. She crouched while walking across the sidewalk, catching the eye of Justin as she approached the front steps.
"Max, lookin' pretty wicked! Avoiding Warren, huh? Where's your trouble-making self headed?" Justin asked, a grin on his face. Max returned the grin.
"I'm going to find someone to thrash with."
Justin must have caught what Max meant because his smile grew even bigger. "Rockin' Max, turning into a badass!" Justin said, waving as she made her way onto the bus. She found a seat near the front and scrunched into it, pulling her hood on so that she wasn't spotted by Warren. She felt her phone go off, and looked to see Warren blowing up her phone. She replied with a quick "Busy. Urgent business. TTYL." and shoved the phone into her back pocket.
About halfway through the bus ride, Max turned off her music and just stared out the window as Arcadia Bay seemingly flew by, the earbuds just providing a means of tuning out the world. The bus made one loop, two loops, and on the third Max found herself at the base of the hill where the lighthouse stood. She didn't know why, but felt she had to come here. Sprinting out the bus door, Max began the walk up the hill...and almost missed spotting Chloe's truck.
"Crap," Max said to herself. She didn't know what, if anything, would happen. Honestly, part of her didn't care. She loved Chloe, they were best friends, but the weight of the past few days had pushed Max past the point of tolerance. She knew she shouldn't have said some of the things she blurted out to Victoria, but they were true...and Max had some word for Chloe, too. Taking a breath, Max started walking up the lighthouse trail as the Sun started to set.
The woods alieviated some of Max's anger, the tranquility of nature always providing a shooting feeling as she enjoyed the quiet, the trees, and the small animals. She took a break, perching on a rock, when the lighthouse was in clear sight. If she did run into Chloe, Max wouldn't know what might come out of her mouth. The uncertainty frightened her; Max was somewhat calmed down, but nowhere near her usual level of chill. Max was hella pissed, and her heart was wounded. Closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths, she began to feel herself calm some more.
"...Max?"
Max's eyes popped open instantly, and she half-turned, propping herself with her arms as she looked back at Chloe Price making her way up the same path Max was on. Chloe took a half-step back, sensing something was different about the woman sitting on the tall rock in front of her.
"Y-you can't say those things to me, over and over, and not expect me to get mad," was the first thing Max said. Her voice, while trembling slightly, had something of an edge to it. Chloe felt uneasy as her friend slid down, off the rock, and stood a few paces away.
"Look, Max, I'm sorry I blew-"
"You always apologize, I always apologize. Aren't you sick of it?"
"...Max?"
"I'm sorry, Chloe. That is the last time I will apologize for the five years I didn't keep in touch. You didn't contact me, either. I get it - you're hurting, angry, and worried of being hurt more. But taking it out on me when I'm reaching for you is not cool."
Chloe was stunned. Something aside from her struck a nerve in Max, and she was on some kind of warpath. She also knew that Max was right, which made what she was being told worse.
"I...I know, Max. I fucked up, okay? With everything about Rachel and Frank, added on with David...I popped! I am sorry that you caught the hit, but..."
"But...? Choose your words carefully, Chloe Price."
Chloe froze, clamping her jaw shut. The last time Max had used Chloe's first and last name resulted in Max not speaking to her for two months when they were ten. She couldn't even remember the fight anymore, only the aftermath. Chloe remembers crying a lot over what she thought was a ruined friendship, and her heart ached at the thought of losing Max. Again.
"I just can't lose anybody else, betrayal or disappearance or whatever. I'm tired, Max. I need someone that I can really, really count on. There was Rachel, but she was the only fucktard in Arcadia Bay. Now, she's...somewhere, and you waltz back into my life. I can't...my mood is like a fucking tidal wave, Max."
Chloe leans against the rock Max was sitting on, and lets a few tears spill before wiping them off with her jacket sleeve. Max slowly walks over to Chloe, and takes one of her hands. Chloe looks down at Max, who is looking into Chloe's eyes.
"We told each other. Forever, Chloe. I meant it."
"I know. I'm just hella scared, Max. I let you in, I'm wide open and that is fucking terrifying." Chloe squeezes on Max's hand slightly, feeling a reassuring squeeze in return. She smiles slightly in relief, and hugs Max. Chloe's smile becomes easier as she feels Max tightly hold Chloe to herself.
Max breaks the embrace and looks around, the anger seemingly vanished. She should still be mad, but she felt like Chloe, the Chloe who just bared her soul, was a part of the Chloe she knew five years ago. This woman, blue hair and all, was really Chloe.
"Alright, Che. Keep calm and carry on," Max said, lightly elbowing Chloe. Max watched Chloe visibly relax, and pull a joint from a pocket in the liner of her jacket.
"Ugh, after all this I could really use some alternative alleviation," Chloe said as she placed the joint in her mouth and lit it. Before she could take a puff, she saw Max looking at her pensively. "Max, what is it?"
"Could I, maybe, try a puff?" Max asked, and Chloe noticed she was still tense.
"Damn, Mad Max. Who else suffered your wrath? Is there a trail of bodies going back to Black-Hell?" Chloe asked, handing the doobie to Max. She watched in amusement as Max took a puff, longer than she probably should have, and kept it in longer than Chloe believed she would've. Didn't stop Max from coughing while exhaling.
"Wowsers. And you do this often? Damn," Max said, waving the lingering pot smoke away from her face. It was bad enough she had clothes that smelled like pool; she didn't need another set of clothes smelling like reefer.
Max and Chloe made their way down the hill, their reasons behind the climb vanishing as they enjoyed being with each other. Chloe would give Max sidelong glances when Max wasn't paying attention, impressed with her best friend. Damn, Caulfield, you grew up nicely. Photog, and you're finding your spine? Hella cute.
The night sky was clear as Chloe and Max sat on the old boat in the junkyard. Using the plank that still crossed over from the small hill, Chloe and Max were sitting on two ratty chairs while spacing out together. The quiet and the dim illumination from Chloe's hideout was soothing to Chloe's medicated state of mind and Max's nerves. Max re-positioned herself in her chair, accidentally breaking the silence as the seat scrapped slightly against the boat's hull. Chloe opened her eyes hazily, snapping out of whatever she was thinking.
"Max?" Chloe asked, her voice sounding like she was half-asleep.
"I'm here. My butt was falling asleep. I disagreed," Max said with a slight grin.
"I still can't believe Little Miss Bad-Max tore Victoria Chase a new hole. Don't get me wrong - she had it coming like crazy. Hella crazy. I just...she must've shit her pants to get what was coming from the 'shy, cliche geek'."
"She visibly shrank into her room some. I feel kinda bad, using the situation with Kate, but Kate was definitely victimized by Victoria. I can't believe I said it, either."
Max's phone vibrated. She looked hesitantly at Chloe, who just smirked and took a swig from her beer.
"I'm going to try and not be so jealous. Answer your phone, Maximus. I won't bite."
Max grinned and looked at the screen. Warren was asking if she was okay...then asking if he should come over, and wanting to see her. She texted that she wasn't at Blackwell, and that she was with somebody, to which Warren asked if she wanted to meet up. Max sighed a little, perhaps to loudly, because Chloe swiped Max's phone and looked at the ever-increasing Warrent texts.
"Dude, your hella persistent. I'll give you that," Chloe said as she scrolled through the list of messages. "This boy is crushing hard, Max."
"I've tried to re-iterate that we are just friends, Chloe. I shoot down his attempts at dates."
"Shoot down, or make awkward declines?"
"Uhh...," Max began to play with some of her hair. Chloe laughed so hard, so suddenly, she nearly fell off the boat.
"Here, hold your phone out for a picture. Take a pic on the count of three. One...two...three!"
On three, Chloe kissed Max on the cheek, leaving her mouth open just enough that Max felt the tip of Chloe's tongue touch her. She felt her finger press on the capture button, her face burning, as Chloe took the phone with a mischievous look on her face. She played with the phone for a moment, then tossed it back to Max. Max looked at her friend, then the phone. She touched her face, and saw Chloe trying not to laugh. Max looked at the phone again, and turned it on.
Chloe had sent the picture to Warren as a message. The small text underneath the image said "Message seen at 7:35pm".
"You brat!" Max said, play-hitting Chloe. She felt Chloe shaking, a giggle breaking the silence. Max looked down at her phone and saw no further messages pop up. Wow, Warren has been silenced, Max thought.
"He's got to be getting on your nerves by now, c'mon! I did you a favor, a favor!" Chloe said, raising her hands to block Max's half-hearted strikes. The two stood up and began to swat at each other, only to stop suddenly as the boat lurched slightly under them.
"I think we need to make landfall," Max said, looking at the plank. Max glanced at Chloe, who nodded agreement, and the two of them made their way across the plank. They walked down the hill to the small shack that Chloe had decorated, the one Max had explored on their previous trip to the dump. Chloe looked over at the "Max was here" written under her and Rachel's writings and grinned.
"Just had to write on my wall, huh?" Chloe asks, turning to smile at Max and take a seat across from her. Max nods satisfactorily and folds her arms.
"I was, am, here. Only fair."
"Touche, Claufield." Chloe passes her half-empty bottle to Max, who takes a small swallow followed by a face of revulsion.
"Ugh, Chloe, it's warm," Max says as she sticks her tongue out, "So gross."
"Hey, don't know it...woah, this is pretty gross. It was fine, well, whenever I drank it last."
Chloe tosses the beer out of one of the glass-less windows, reclining onto one of the two occupied benches. Max remains upright, but props her feet on the edge of the makeshift table with the makeup and magazines. The two share a contented smile, and Max blushes some as she thinks of the kiss Chloe had given her. Why am I blushing?, Max thought but the softness of the Chloe's lips, the slight tongue slip, wouldn't leave her train of thought. Max was about to speak up when she heard a noise coming from the road leading up to the junkyard. Chloe shot up, and peered out of the doorway, then looked at Max with a frantic expression.
"It's Frank! We have to go!" Chloe said as she grabbed Max's hand and ran outside toward the shed opposite the train tracks.
"Chloe! Get your punk-wannabe ass out here! I know you and your creepy little shit went into my RV! You left my dog out, you think I wouldn't fucking notice?!" Frank shouted as he closed and locked his RV shut. He eyeballed Chloe's truck and peered inside, looking for anything suspicious. Frank didn't trust the Price brat, and he sure didn't trust the girl she was running with - the shit had tried to shoot him, after all. Frank grinned in relief when he thought of the gun tucked away in his RV, and began to search the junkyard.
Across the train tracks, Chloe and Max crouched while looking through the windows of the small utility shed. Chloe looked at the broken door and became anxious. There wasn't much of anywhere else to go; Frank had parked his RV next to her truck and there wasn't anybody else for miles.
"I hella wish you hadn't broken the lock for the door to this place," Chloe whispered as she looked at Max.
"Well, if you would like me to I could always not save your life anymore. The lock died in the line of duty," Max whispered back sarcastically.
"So, what's the plan, Maximilian? We need to get back to my truck, time meow."
Max heard her, but was looking at the boat they had been sitting on earlier. It was tall enough to obscure Frank's vision, and it split the junkyard into two different pathways. Frank's flashlight signaled where he was, but he hadn't gotten to the boat yet.
"If we try for the boat, we can slip by him as he walks on the other side..."
"That's your plan? Sneak and pray for a miracle?" Chloe rolled her eyes and looked at Max again. Max shrugged and gestured to the area the truck was parked at.
"We have no choice, Chlo. We need to get to your ride, and the only way I see is the bonkers way."
"...Fuck, alright," Chloe said, riling herself up, "Let's do this."
Slowly, Chloe and Max made their way out the shed and down the hill to the train tracks, hugging the hill and crouched low to avoid the beam of Frank's flashlight. Making it to the switch box, Chloe and Max scanned the area in front of them hurriedly. Frank was nowhere to be seen. The two crossed the tracks and started to sneak toward the boat when a light shone directly on them.
"Did you really think you were being stealthy?" Frank asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Hard to hide blue hair under moonlight, kids."
"Fuck off, Frank. Let us go," Chloe said, her voice sterner than she actually felt. Chloe remembered the knife from yesterday, inches from her face. She had been in fights before, but not one so imbalanced. Chloe heard the swish of Frank's switchblade click into place, saw the glint of light on the sliver of sharpened metal.
"Too late for that, girl. You broke into my home, you fucked with my property, and you messed with my dog! If I didn't know you I might just warn you, but I do know you and you'll never stop. You need more than a warning - you need a reminder.
Click.
Frank froze, and Chloe turned her head to look behind her out of the corner of her eye. In Max's raised hands was the gun she'd taken from David's case, and it was pointed right at Frank.
"I-it's loaded this time. No fu-funny business, asshole," Max said, her arms shaking slightly. Frank raised his hands slowly, but his facial expression only grew darker. Chloe stepped backwards to stand behind Max, half-crouched as though Max were a shield to hide behind.
"Shithead punk, if you think that I can be intimidated by the likes of you..." Frank started but froze when the gun went off and the ground a few feet in front of him erupted in a small explosion from the gunfire. He looked at the direction of the two girls, his mouth open slightly like he was going to protest, but didn't move.
"Chloe," Max said with false bravado, "Go to your truck, and get his money. Only his money. Understand?"
"Yeah...I got it," Chloe said as she sprinted past Frank toward the entrance to the junkyard. Frank watched as she passed where he was standing, then looked to the pint-sized girl leveling the gun at him.
"Kid, look, I wasn't really-"
"You're going to take your money, and you're going to go. Leave us alone, from here on out. You see us, you leave us be and you get your money Chloe loaned from you. Deal?"
"Yeah, it's...it's a deal. When the hell did you get a spine, girl?"
"It's been a really shitty couple of days," Max finishes as Chloe comes back from the truck, an envelope with Frank's money thrust into his free hand.
Frank carefully, slowly, closes the switchblade and backs away while keeping the light on Chloe and Max. Chloe just stares at Max as Max keeps the gun level at Frank until he enters his RV and leaves. As soon as Frank's RV is out of sight, Max falls to her knees in tears, cradling the gun in her hands. Chloe kneels down next to her and holds Max as she continues crying.
"Shh, Max. Shh. You were scary amazing. You saved us, saved me again," Chloe says into Max's ear softly, gently rocking her friend as the sobs continue.
"I-I-I didn't want to do that, Chloe. I just...I just wanted him to go, to leave us alone. I'm so scared, Che. Who the fuck am I right now? Only a few days, a few days..." Max says as she begins to pass out. The last thing Max hears feels is Chloe catching her before she hit the ground. Then darkness.
Max wakes up, and sees her photo wall next to her. She's back in her room, but can't remember how she got there. She squints her eyes and begins to sit up.
"Hey, you're awake," she hears Chloe say gently.
Max looks up and sees Chloe moving from the couch to sit next to Max on the bed, with Juliet on the couch and Dana at Max's desk. All three girls stare at Max for a moment before Juliet and Dana get up to leave.
"Dana? Juliet...? Wha-"
"Rest, Max. Chloe told us that you had a really trying day, and after everything that has happened you need some quality sleep," Dana said, putting her hand on Max's shoulder.
"The Blackwell Ninja needs to lay off the ninja for tonight, Max," Juliet says, smiling. "You seem to be in good hands. Good night."
The door closes and Max looks at Chloe, who is just grinning at her best friend.
"Didn't think you were the type to befriend Vortex Club attendees, Max."
"They're really nice, and nothing like Victoria and her brood."
"Oh, yeah - Victoria's slate reads "No Caulfields Allowed". Good job, tiger mama," Chloe says, playfully punching Max on the shoulder.
Max smiles faintly, and places a hand on Chloe's cheek. Chloe covers the hand with one of her own and closes her eyes.
"Helluva day, huh? Sleepover, adventure, fights, adventure, fights," Max says in exhaustion as she looks into the eyes of her friend, a shade of blue Max feels she wants to lose yourself in.
"Hella crazy, Max, but that seems to be the norm for us lately. Hey, listen. I just want to say-"
Chloe is silenced by Max placing a finger on Chloe's lips. Chloe closes her eyes and feels her eyes begin to moisten, tears cascading down her cheeks. Then, something soft and wet. Max is kissing my tears away, Chloe thinks as she shakes from the sudden relief from all of the day's tension. This beautiful, geeky, stronger-than-I-thought girl is making me better when she's had it worse today. I don't deserve this, I don't. But I want it, so bad.
Chloe opens her eyes and finds Max sitting upright, their faces only a few inches apart. Max is smiling, her cheeks wet from her own fresh tears. She looks into Chloe, through Chloe, and takes her friend's hands.
"Forever, Che."
"Forever, Max."
Chloe and Max lean in at the same time, lips meeting halfway tenderly. The soft kiss is long, and if followed by several others, albeit stronger and shorter. Their arms wrap them together, hands intertwining in each other's hair and down the other person's back. Chloe opens her eyes during the embrace and sees Max looking at her during a kiss, a shine to her face. Chloe breaks the kiss off, and just leans her forehead into Max's, breathing audibly with a smile of ecstasy on her face.
"I love you, Maxine Caulfield. Don't ever leave me," Chloe says, taking Max's hands in hers. Max kisses her softly on the cheek.
"I love you, Chloe Price, and if I leave it is only with you beside me."