Note/Warning: We're assuming interested readers have played the game or are familiar enough with it to know what to expect.
Prologue: Butterfly Effect
"Damn, Max, still can't believe you saved my life again! That's, what, two times now?"
"Kind of? I mean, you, um, shot yourself when I told you to shoot the bumper of the car. Sorry about that, Chloe."
"Hey, I'm not mad. You're hella awesome for rewinding and saving me a trip to the hospital. They'd definitely think I was suicidal after the last time, and I don't need to deal with that shit, too. Actually, they'd probably just think I'm stupid. Yeah, definitely stupid."
"Last time?"
"Yeah, 'bout… six months ago, I guess? Yeah, around that. Got a little carried away when I was partying with Rachel. Tried crack for the first time, didn't know what the fuck I was doing, and I OD'd. Last thing I remember was my chest hurting, my arms and legs tingling and Rachel freaking out before it all went black. Woke up, was in the hospital, and Rachel was bawling like crazy, said I my heart nearly gave out, that I was actually dead for a little while. Crazy, right? It's like the universe is gunning for me."
"Or telling you to be more careful. God, Chloe, I can't believe you almost died."
"Hah. Yeah. Stuck to weed after that. And, really? You? The girl who's seen me die twice and shoot myself like an idiot? That's hilarious! Come on, Super Max, you know you're always gonna save my ass, 'cause you hella love it. And me."
"Yeah, well, Super Max has a class to get to."
"Nerd. Don't worry, I'll get you there with time to spare. Shit, that was clever! Maybe that should be my catchphrase!"
"You're a dork."
"You love it, like you love me."
Max dropped the photo in her hand, selfishly wishing it were just as easy to discard the memory stuck in her head and the many others like it. The blue butterfly was gone now, akin to what will happen to everything she had shared with Chloe.
She hid behind the stall and waited, telling herself over and over that this was the right thing to do, that it was for the best and most of all, it was what Chloe wanted. It wasn't fair, not after what they had both been through, and it wasn't what she wanted, but Chloe had to die today.
Nathan showed up as expected, talking to himself as he had before. Max knew every word that came out of his mouth, every pause and every stutter. She had lived this moment too many times.
Then the door opened, and Chloe walked in.
"Oh. H-hey, Price. Think you can come back later? I'm… I'm supposed to meet someone here."
"What, in the girl's room? You some kind of pervert now, Prescott?"
What was going on? Max thought. Had she done something wrong?
"Shove it, Price. Wasn't my choice, okay!"
"Yeah. Yeah, I know."
Glass cracked, followed by a stall door slapping hard against the wall, and then a struggle, a whimper and a plea, but the gunshot never came. Max stood frozen behind the stall, staring at the butterfly picture at her feet, all the noise seeming so far away. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. What had changed?
Chloe and Nathan didn't argue. Nathan hadn't fired the gun. Chloe was still alive.
Chloe was still alive.
Finally, Max moved, but she didn't get far, because there was Chloe, alive and unharmed, pointing a gun at her.
"Oh, Max, it's just you," Chloe said with a laugh, like she wasn't just about to pull the trigger. "Hang on a sec, yeah?"
Not waiting for an answer, Chloe tossed up the gun in her hand, caught it by the barrel and headed to one of the stalls.
"Chloe, what's going on-" Max gasped, unable to finish her question when she saw the broken, bloodied mirror. "Oh, my God," she mumbled, whipping around to face the stall, and was met with the horrific sight of her best friend brutally pummeling Nathan Prescott with the gun. "Chloe! Chloe, stop!"
When Chloe didn't listen, Max rushed in, wrapping her arms around her best friend from behind and trying to pull her away.
"You pull this shit on me again, Prescott, I'll turn you into a fucking cripple," Chloe growled savagely, kicking him in the stomach. "I own you and your family, don't you fucking forget that."
Max dared to look at Nathan, the sight of his beaten, bloodied face making her feel ill.
"God, Chloe," she rasped, tightening her hold on her best friend. "He's really hurt, we should… we should get help."
She couldn't believe what she was saying. This was Nathan. He drugged Kate, he killed Rachel, and she had been ready to let him kill Chloe. Now, he lay on the bathroom floor, drenched in his own piss, blood and tears, begging for his life.
"Fuck that," Chloe muttered, kicking Nathan again.
"I'm s-sorry. I'm sorry!" he sobbed, shielding his face with his arms. "Won't do it again, won't do it again, I promise. Just… just give me more time, please, a few more days!"
"You got until Thursday," Chloe snapped, "or you and your family can kiss Arcadia Bay goodbye."
Feeling that Chloe was still tensed, Max gave her best friend a squeeze.
"That's enough, Chloe. Please. I don't know what's going on, but that's enough."
For a moment, it seemed to make Chloe more rigid, but eventually, she relaxed.
"Yeah. Okay. Okay, Max," she said, her voice warm and comforting. "Look, we gotta get out of here. We'll talk later, okay? Just pretend you weren't here until then."
Max took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
"Okay," she relented, letting Chloe go.
True to her word, Chloe left Nathan alone, instead walking towards one of the sinks. She emptied the gun chamber deftly, clicking the safety and keeping the bullets, and then she turned on the water to wash the blood off the grip of the gun. Max watched her best friend, unnerved by how comfortable Chloe seemed with the gun, even more when she realized it was Nathan's.
When the gun was clean, Chloe grabbed a backpack from the floor and opened it, casually tossing the weapon and bullets inside.
"Gotta change first, Max. Can't go out there with bloody clothes."
Max was barely able to look away before Chloe undressed without a care. She waited, gauging by the rustle of clothes, and when she looked back up, Chloe was in a clean tank and jacket and was tossing a second gun in her bag. A gun, Max noticed, that didn't look like any of David's.
"So, what were you doing here, anyway?" Chloe asked, as if Nathan wasn't bleeding and sobbing quietly just behind them. "Oh, you were taking a picture?" she figured out herself, because was Max was thinking of an answer, Chloe had gone to the corner she hid in and found the photo herself. "You're such a photo nerd. Here, you probably want this back."
Max gingerly took it, again staring at the blue butterfly.
"Thanks," she whispered absently.
"It's a nice shot, dude," Chloe said, putting an arm around her and leading her out of the bathroom without so much as a glance at Nathan. "That's a hella pretty butterfly."
On the way out, they came across Principal Wells, who greeted them with a smile.
"Ah, Max, Chloe. Had a good day at school, I hope."
"Every day I'm still here is a good day to me, sir," Chloe answered for both of them, flashing him a toothy grin. "You gave my sorry ass a second chance and I got my GPA up there. Hard part's keepin' it that way."
"Well," Principal Wells chuckled, "from what I've seen, you're managing just fine, Chloe. Your amazing turnaround does Blackwell and the community proud. Your family and friends as well, of course, that's a given."
"It's why I keep on trying, sir," Chloe said, laughing with him. "Gotta show all the slackers and losers out there it's never too late to unfuck your life."
"You've definitely come a long way," Principal Wells praised despite Chloe's swearing, every single thing coming out of his mouth and every laugh and smile seeming too perfectly rehearsed. "Now, I'm sure I've kept you both long enough. You girls take care."
Max could only wave absently at Principal Wells, trying to process what had just happened.
Chloe was back in school, was an honor student even, and she was doing so well that it was giving Blackwell good publicity and Principal Wells was sucking up to her. What else had changed?
"So, you still up for the diner?" Chloe asked once they were out the doors, completely at ease with herself and the bloody clothes and two guns in her backpack.
"You want to talk there?" Max asked back, getting a laugh in response.
"No, I want to eat there. I'm starving. We can talk all you want after, all the time in the world for that."
"Oh," Max mumbled, feeling smaller than usual under Chloe's arm. "Sorry, it's kind of hard to keep my mind off it."
"Yeah," Chloe sighed, sounding contrite. "Sucks you had to see that, but I'm kinda glad you were there. Would've been a hella lot more trouble if I had to shoot the asshole. Anyway, promise I'm not hiding anything, just isn't the right time and place for it. So, what say we eat and go to your dorm after? Or my house, wherever you want."
Max turned to Chloe, realizing it was the first time she actually had a good look at her friend, and stared blankly at the brow piercing and nose stud, piercings she knew Chloe didn't, shouldn't have.
"Yeah," she blurted out, "as long as we talk."
Chloe gave her a winning smile, for a moment looking every bit like the Chloe she knew and loved.
"Awesome, let's get to my ride and bounce."
At the parking lot, they found Chloe's truck easily enough. It was surrounded by people, many of the faces familiar to Max, but there was one face that made her freeze, the girl in the center of the crowd.
Rachel Amber, breathtaking, beautiful and alive, ran into Chloe Price's arms and kissed her.
Episode 1: A World Too Perfect
It was a surreal feeling for Max, to be sitting in a truck next to two girls who were supposed to be dead.
She didn't understand. She hadn't done anything, that was the reason she had gone back, and by her inaction, she had somehow brought Rachel Amber back from the dead and Chloe Price had walked out of that bathroom unscathed.
Was this some kind of reward for making the right choice, for choosing to save the lives of many over the life of the girl she loved? Was everything she had gone through just a test? Did sacrificing Chloe mean she had forfeited her to Rachel?
"Max, you alright?" a kind voice asked, snapping Max out of her haze and back to the present moment. She looked at Rachel, who sat between her and Chloe in the middle seat of the truck. "You kind of spaced, and you've been very quiet," Rachel said, sounding concerned.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, tearing her eyes away from the pretty girl to keep from staring.
There were plenty of other things to look at, like the entirely new and polished interior of Chloe's old truck. It had been completely redone with new seats, dashboard, a whole radio set up, and tinted windows. A faint smell of vanilla lingered in the air, and a fluffy pair of blue and pink die hung from the rearview window, and on the corner of the windshield, Max saw a small dragon sticker that looked like the one on Rachel's leg, but this one wasn't fierce and angry. It cuddled with an electric blue kitty, looking like an extremely customized piece of art.
The outside of the truck had undergone a similar transformation as well: with a fresh layer of paint, a lot of body work, and new tires, Max almost hadn't recognized the truck. She would have thought it was completely new if the set up inside wasn't arranged exactly the same.
"I was just thinking…" she said lamely, unable to provide a more believable excuse, she was so overwhelmed.
"Thinking about the Everyday Heroes contest?" Rachel guessed, giving her a warm smile when Max nodded, but kept quiet.
"You have to submit one of your photos, Max," Rachel said, encouraging her. "You've got a lot of good ones, and the deadline is coming up. I'd be happy to help you look through them if you're having trouble picking one out. "
"Maybe," Max said tentatively.
Rachel shook her head.
"You're too shy, Max. You take such awesome shots, more inspired than mine. Chloe, tell her. Maybe she'll listen to you."
"I'm not falling for that one, Rachel. Picking between my girlfriend and my best friend? Hella staying out of this," Chloe said, glancing at them with a roguish grin. She winked. "But if Ms. Morrison has any taste at all, she's gonna pick you both."
Rachel grinned, pleased with her girlfriend.
"Nice save, babe."
"Rachel, gross," Chloe whined, immediately making a face. "Don't say that. You sound like Mom!"
"Aww, babe, I'll fix that," Rachel cooed, smile growing as her attention turned back to Chloe. Her hazel eyes lit up on her, and she leaned in close to Chloe to kiss up her neck slowly. "You did well," she purred and kissed her again. "This is why I don't have to win the contest. I already have my everyday hero right here."
Max blinked, extremely torn seeing it. It was the best thing in her world to see Chloe smiling like that, but she generally liked that kind of attention being directed at her.
"Babe," Chloe said with a cocky smirk as her girlfriend lathered her with attention. "Unless you wanna get us all into an accident, you'd better cut that out."
Max tensed, seeing Chloe in the wheelchair where she was crippled from the neck down.
Chloe must have noticed as Rachel pulled away, because she asked, "Hippie, you alright? I was just kidding, you know? I'm not gonna crash us."
"Sorry about that, Max," Rachel apologized, pulling away from Chloe. "Didn't mean to scare you. No more kissing and driving, I promise. Okay?"
"Yeah, it's okay. It wasn't about that," Max insisted, shaking her head. "Sorry, I just keep spacing today. Maybe you're right, Rachel. I've just gotta pick a photo and submit to the contest already."
"That's the spirit, Max," Rachel said, smiling again, and Max couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was when she did so. "You have the talent. Don't stress about it, okay?"
"Okay, you're right," Max relented with a nod and smiled back, silently cursing about how suspicious she must seem. She wished she had her rewind power to redo the conversation. She would just have to be more careful on the zoning out.
"We're here, ladies!" Chloe announced just a couple of moments later, pulling up into the parking lot of the diner. She got out first and opened the passenger side, bowing gallantly as she waited for them to get out.
Max was first, unable to help but smile at Chloe, and Rachel followed, laughing as she pulled Chloe up and kissed her.
"You can be so cheesy sometimes."
"You hella love it."
Max allowed the couple a moment, and then followed them into the diner.
The outside of the place looked just as it should, but once she stepped inside, Max noticed more changes that shouldn't have been there. The interior was noticeably nicer, showing off new tables and a bar tabletop. It was still decorated the same way with lots of fliers on the walls, the old jukebox in the far corner, and the delicious display of desserts at the end of the bar, but it seemed to have been fixed up a little, shone a little more.
Chloe went to same corner booth that they used to hang out in and let Rachel sit before making herself comfortable. Max took the seat opposite them, and Rachel immediately moved in close to Chloe.
"Now that we're not in a moving vehicle..." she murmured, stroking a hand up Chloe's cheek lovingly. She turned her girlfriend's face towards her and leaned in to capture Chloe's lips in a passionate kiss and hummed contentedly.
Chloe touched her back, wrapping her arms around Rachel's neck, and between kisses, she quipped, "I think… Max still minds."
Rachel separated only long and far enough away to say, "she doesn't," before she took Chloe's lips again, completely unashamed.
Max lowered her eyes as her cheeks flushed with heat. Something tingled in her chest, and despite herself, she glanced back up at her friends, which only made it worse.
"Chloe," Joyce scolded, playfully swatting her daughter.
Max blanched, shaking herself of the stupor. She hadn't even noticed Joyce coming to their table.
"You stop that right now, Chloe," Joyce said, admonishing, but her tone wasn't angry. "This is a clean, decent establishment."
"I tried to tell her, Mom," Chloe said as she and Rachel finally pulled away. "You know how frisky Rachel can be."
Rachel frowned and grabbed at her, making Chloe squeak. "I'll show you frisky," she muttered threateningly.
"See? See!" Chloe exclaimed, squirming away.
Joyce shook her head and sighed, but didn't look surprised or angry. "You girls, always pawing at each other when I see you these days," she said with a tsk, and then looked at Max, the only one in the booth who wasn't making a scene. "I don't know how you put up with them, Max."
"Oh," Max mumbled, and hoped her terrible blush had died down a little. It didn't feel like it. "They're fine… it's cute."
"Cute," Joyce huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "More like trouble! I'm afraid I have some bad news, though, girls," she told them, causing Chloe and Rachel to stop making a grab for each other.
"What's up, Mom?" Chloe asked, turning towards her.
"David called," Joyce said. "He's going to be by late, said something happened at the school that he had to take care of, and that he's going to be held up for the hour."
Max looked at Chloe, trying to judge her best friend's reaction, but Chloe didn't have one. There was no familiarity, no sign of guilt, remorse, satisfaction, or anything. She was a blank slate, holding that casual look of nonchalance. It was like she hadn't even been there.
"Looks like we're in for a bit of a wait," Rachel remarked, breaking the silence.
"I can still whip you up something," Joyce said to all of them. "Knowing Chloe's appetite, you're probably too hungry to wait."
"Hey," Chloe protested.
"Oh, nonsense, Joyce," Rachel said with a wave of her hand, starting to stand. "We're fine. You're the one who has been working all day. You sit down with Max; Chloe and I will take over for a bit."
"Oh, Rachel," Joyce said in an endearing voice. "That's sweet, but you don't have to-"
"Mom, sit," Chloe urged her mother, standing up in the seat and hopping out after Rachel. "The place is ours!" she cheered, excitedly ducking under the counter to check the tickets and start cooking. "Take their orders, babe!"
Joyce shook her head again, smiling as Chloe and Rachel took control of the restaurant for a little while, giving the overworked mother a break.
"God help us all," Joyce murmured to herself before turning to her. "How are you doing, Max? Are those girls exhausting you?"
"No more than usual," Max answered vaguely and looked at Rachel, who had come up to their table.
"Need a menu, Max?" Rachel asked, holding out a menu to her in offering.
Max shook her head. "Turkey sandwich," she ordered, and Rachel smiled.
"Of course, Max. I should have figured," she said, putting her paper and pad over the menu to write down their ticket for Chloe. "And for you, Joyce?"
"Surprise me with whatever Chloe wants to make," Joyce said, causing a cheer to go up from the kitchen.
"Woohoo! And one juicy chicken parmesan for Mom!" Chloe cheered from behind the bar.
Rachel left them and put the ticket up for Chloe, and Chloe, now decked out in an apron, eagerly took it and began dancing around the kitchen as she cooked. Joyce watched them for a long moment, smiling at Rachel taking another couple's order, and she especially beamed when she looked at her daughter.
"So much has changed, Max," Joyce reminisced with a glimmer of light touching her eyes. "To think, some months ago, these two were raising such hell. Look at them now," she said, lifting a finger under her eye to wipe away a glistening tear before it could fall. "It's so good to see my baby full of life and hope again."
Max swallowed nervously, wary about every word she let slip, careful not to betray her ignorance of this world. "I'm so glad things are working out for Chloe," she said, and Joyce heartily agreed.
"Me, too. It's only going to get better with you here, Max," she said, and then turned away from her daughter, laughing. "Oh, listen to me. I'm sorry, hon; I'm just so proud of the three of you. It's all a mother could hope to see. I'm glad you came back, Max."
"Me, too," Max said with a glance at the blue-haired, punk girl behind the counter. Her best friend.
Max couldn't nail it down, but something was wrong with the girl she loved and adored.
Or maybe she was just jealous.
Max shook her head. With Chloe so outwardly happy, it was hard to admit her hurt feelings over Rachel, but that definitely wasn't the only reason she was finding something wrong here. Chloe was off, and she wouldn't know what it was until they talked about it later.
Max watched the couple comfortably work the diner, looking like they had done so a dozen times before. Rachel had their food over to them within ten minutes, and behind the counter, Chloe was rocking out to a beat emitted from from a sole earphone dangling from her ear.
They worked well together, fluid and perfect, exchanging quips, looks, and even lingering brushes here and there that had Joyce shaking her head.
Max ate dinner with Joyce and responded accordingly, but her attention never wavered from the pair.
At one point in their service, Rachel looked over at Joyce and nodded to the back door. Joyce nodded back with a smile, and Rachel disappeared out the back door with a plate of food in her hand.
Max remembered the homeless woman she had stumbled upon in her own universe, the one that had said Joyce often fed her, and she realized that was what Rachel had to be doing just then.
"Don't tell me you're not hungry, Max," Joyce said to her, and Max finally turned away from her friends to the mostly-untouched plate of food in front of her.
"Oh, I am," Max murmured, politely returning her attention back to Chloe's mother. "I was just thinking about the Everyday Heroes contest," she lied, falling back on that fib.
"Oh, your contest," Joyce said, sounding very familiar with it. "Has Rachel finally convinced you to join?"
"Yeah, just gotta pick my photo out now," Max said as the jukebox quieted, glancing at Chloe one last time before taking a bite.
"How is it?" Joyce asked expectantly.
"It's good, really good," she answered truthfully, making the proud mother smile, "tastes just like how you make it, Joyce."
"Alright, Mom, alright," Chloe said, reluctantly sacrificing her apron to her mother in the booth with Max. "The house is starting to turn on us, anyway. Trucker Dick McFucker's in the building."
"Oh, Chloe," Joyce said, glancing up at the bar to the drab-faced truck driver who always picked a fight with them.
Max recognized him as the same one who had insulted Joyce in her own universe.
"You want me to beat him up, Mom?" Chloe asked with a casual grin, and Max was reminded of the bathroom again, seeing Chloe beat Nathan with the butt of his own gun.
It made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
"Fuckin' lesbians," the trucker grumbled from his seat, casting Chloe and Rachel a glare, having overheard them. "Joyce, you running this rathole or what?"
Chloe flipped him off, which he sneered at.
"Babe," Rachel said and tugged at her sleeve.
Chloe turned around in her seat to face her girlfriend, who wrapped an arm around the back of her neck and leaned in, kissing her.
"Fucking lesbian punk," the trucker grumbled, which Chloe happily ignored as Rachel bodily took her.
Joyce smiled, not saying anything, and didn't break up the couple as she stood from the booth.
"Well, I'm sorry we all couldn't eat together, Max," Joyce said to her. "Thank you for sharing dinner with me. We'll have dinner at the house, all of us, sometime soon, okay? And girls," she said, finally addressing the other two, who had recently become stuck together again. "Thanks for helping out in the diner again."
Chloe ran a hand through Rachel's hair and pulled away from her anxious girlfriend to say, "no problem, Mom! Let us know if you need something else."
"I need something else," Rachel said, dreamy eyes locked on Chloe.
Chloe grinned broadly. "You miss me today, babe?"
"I always miss you when you're not with me," Rachel said, sounding genuine, but not gushy. Every word she said came out smooth, even though she had clearly missed Chloe more than a little bit.
"Maybe I should take you home, Angel," Chloe said. "We can have dinner and a sleepover."
"That sounds so domestic," Rachel said, hazel eyes adoring the girl in front of her. "And divine."
"Divine, huh?" Chloe said with a winning smirk. "If you like that, maybe we should just get married and-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence, cut off as Rachel moved in for another kiss.
Standing on her tippy toes, she wrapped her arms around Chloe's neck and pulled her tall girlfriend down to her.
Sitting in the booth next to them, Max looked away again, temperature spiking as Rachel purred in Chloe's arms. The noises they were making were embarrassing enough, let alone how very public they were being.
Max thought back to her own kisses with Chloe. She had only had two, and one had been a goodbye kiss. She wished she had savored them more, maybe lingered a little longer the way Rachel and Chloe were. They sounded so taken with each other, like Rachel would follow her to the end of the world.
Would Rachel have given up Chloe?
Max closed her eyes, not wanting to see the perfect, beautiful couple anymore. For as happy as she was that Rachel was alive and with Chloe, she regretted her choice.
Footsteps approached their area, but Max didn't think much about it until a booming voice rang out.
"Get your hands off her, soldier!"
Max opened her eyes, looking up in just enough time to see Rachel and Chloe separate at David's demand.
Chloe smiled at the man she had hated in Max's world. "Sir!" she said and saluted, grinning broadly like a total dork.
"That's right, keep your hands to yourself, Chloe," David said, and then Joyce came over.
"David," she greeted, holding a coffee pot in one hand as she leaned over and gave her husband a quick kiss. "It's good to see you. Why don't you sit down and eat with the girls? They haven't had anything yet. I'll be by to take your orders in a moment."
"Don't work too hard, Joyce," David said, watching her walk a little bit away before he turned back to his stepdaughter, who hadn't dropped her salute yet.
"Permission to speak freely, sir!" Chloe requested, making David scrutinize her suspiciously.
"Gonna regret this, but what is it, Chloe?"
"I'm just thinking you're kind of full of shit, sir!" Chloe said in a straight, no nonsense voice. "How come you get to mack on your woman and I can't!"
"Get in that booth and sit down, Chloe," David growled, swatting at her, and Chloe laughed as she finally dropped the stance and hopped into the booth, followed by her giggling girlfriend.
As weird as she found this drastic change of attitude, even Max was smiling.
"Sorry I'm late, girls," David said, and Max scooted over in the booth so that he could sit next to her at their table. He plopped down into the cushioned seat with a sigh. "Had a situation at school that I had to take care of on the way out."
"What happened?" Rachel asked, moving in close to Chloe in the booth so that they were cuddling.
"Someone laid into Nathan Prescott," David said seriously, and Max immediately looked at Chloe to judge her reaction. "Not like the kid isn't an asshole who doesn't deserve a good whipping, but he's pretty beat up. Might have been a few people, by the looks of it, and they were using something. Fists won't do the kind of damage I saw on that boy."
Max watched, but Chloe didn't even blink.
Rachel, on the other hand, looked a little pale. "Is he going to be alright or…?"
"Should be," David said, not sounding very worried about it. "He was already back to kicking and whining by the time we pulled him outta there. Didn't tell us who it was, which makes me figure it's probably a drug deal gone south. I'll tell ya, it takes balls to go after a Prescott. 'specially one of their boys. Didn't think any of the local dealers had it in 'em."
Max gave up and returned her attention to David.
"You girls didn't notice anything suspicious on your way out of school today, did ya? Anyone suspicious loitering around?"
"I didn't," Rachel said with a shake of her head. "I went straight to the truck to wait for Chloe and Max, and no one peeled out of the parking lot or anything."
"Neither did we," Chloe said casually, drawing Max to look at her out of the corner of her eye. They might have been talking about baking bread, she sounded so at ease about it. "Principal Wells chatted us up a bit before we left the school, but we didn't notice anything weird on the way out."
"You notice anything, Max?" David asked, making her nervous as she remembered how David had grilled her before.
She shook her head. "Not a thing," she mumbled, and David sighed.
"Dammit! I wish those other idiots wouldn't mess with the security tapes when they don't know what they're doing. Figures, they'd mess up the footage on something important," he said, shaking his head, and then looked between them all very seriously. "I'll tell you girls, Rachel, Chloe: I'm glad you're off that shit, back on the straight and narrow again," he said.
Chloe snickered, grinning broadly. "I don't think I've ever been there, David."
David looked at her and sighed, exasperated. "You know what I mean, Chloe," he said.
"We do, David," Rachel gently interjected, giving her snickering girlfriend a squeeze around the side. She looked at Chloe meaningfully, powerful emotion coming back to her eyes. "It was the best decision I've ever made," she said, and the air between became electric as Rachel gazed at her girlfriend again. "I have something better in my life now."
Chloe stopped snickering, but the grin remained firmly in place, and as Rachel said it, a bit of a light touched her eyes, illuminating them in a mesmerizing manner.
"Girls," David said, sensing the same strong tension between them. "There's a time and a place," he said, and then when that didn't snap them out of it, added. "Don't make me switch seats with you, soldier."
Chloe chuckled again, giving her stepfather a passing smirk as her eyes quickly returned back to her girlfriend.
David seemed to give up, then, prepared for the inevitable, and turned his attention to Max, the only one who could focus outside of their enthralling desire.
"Max, I know these two are a bit much sometimes, but you won't find any better company in Blackwell. Steer clear of that Vortex Club and Nathan Prescott. That kid's into all kinds of shit and he's getting away with it because of his family. That kind of life, he's going to drag people down to hell with him someday. Rachel and Chloe got out in time, and you, Max, you're better off not risking it."
Max nodded, not even minding how much that sounded like an order. "I'm not going to get caught up with Nathan Prescott in any way," she said, knowing better. "I promise, David."
"Good," he said with an approving nod. "Keep it that way, kid. Anyway," he said, turning back to the table at large. "Sorry to bring my work to dinner, not that you two seem to mind…" he trailed off and Max peeped at her friends again.
She blushed.
"Chloe, we're about to eat. Get your tongue out of Rachel's throat and join us," David reprimanded.
It took them a long, lingering moment, but they finally pulled away from each other, Rachel with a satisfied look in her eyes, but wanton, and Chloe, wearing a shit-eating grin.
"You need to relax, David," she said. "Nathan's not gonna be your problem in a few days when you're sailing off to the Caribbean islands with Mom. Just think about that, alright?"
Rachel still seemed stuck in a happy haze, but she had rejoined them enough to process and say, "I still can't believe you guys won that vacation. An all-expense paid cruise, and fourteen days on the islands? That's amazing."
"Yeah, well, it's about time something good happened to this family," Chloe said, and from the table behind them, where Joyce was coming from, her mother said.
"You're awfully eager to get us out of the house, aren't you, Chloe?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her daughter. "You best behave while we're gone, sweetie. No sleepovers."
Chloe gave her mother a look, and Joyce paused, coming to a standstill. She laughed, suddenly, breaking out into a joyous and happy-sounding fit of giggles. "Oh, excuse me," she said, laughter subsiding, but the smile did not. "I just imagined I'd been talking to my little girl again."
Joyce put a hand on Chloe's shoulder and rubbed it. "Of course, you're going to have sleepovers, but really, try to keep on your best behavior, Chloe. I don't want to come home and find a mess."
"Hey, that toppled bookshelf was not my doing," Chloe said, defending herself. "I'm not the book nerd, she is!"
"Exactly what I mean when I say behave, Chloe," Joyce said.
"It's okay," David said, sounding unconcerned. "Max is here now. She can watch them."
A small twinkle returned to Chloe's eye and she grinned. "Oh, yeah," she said, laying it on thick. "Max watches us all the time. She's really good at that."
Max felt her cheeks start to warm, and Chloe's grin turned into a smirk.
"Perv," she said.
"Oh, my God," Max said, burying her red face into her arms. "Shut up, Chloe."
"Hah, I knew it!" Chloe joyously said, sounding as if she had won a prize.
"I do not watch!" Max said, lifting her head from her folded arms. "You two are insane with the PDA! I see it like everybody does!"
"Not like everybody," Chloe said, grinning as she shook her head. "You like it."
"Chloe, I hate you," Max said, hiding her face again, very aware of Joyce and David right next to her in the room.
"You love me," Chloe corrected, and Max could see that smirk even while she was hiding her face. "Or at least, you love my body."
"PS: I own that body, Max," Rachel teasingly said, joining in on the fun.
Max cheeks burned.
"Well, there you go!" Chloe said. "I was going to invite you over for another threesome, but sounds like Rachel wants me all to herself tonight. Maybe next time, Max."
If she could still rewind, she would have, and would have thought of something clever and less incriminating to say, but tragically, the world had chosen to take its revenge on her now, and all Max could think to say was, "you guys suck."
Good news is I'm still going to Blackwell Academy! I'm glad my parents are still letting me go, what with that whole thing with Mark Jefferson. God, I still can't believe that he's a fucking psycho. It makes me sick to think of how much I worshipped his work! I mean, he's the reason I wanted to go to Blackwell Academy in the first place! Ugh, makes me feel gross now. I got rid of all the shit of his I had and I still feel a little gross. To think, I could have been in his class if they didn't catch him, I could have been one of those girls! I can't imagine how horrible that must have been for them. It's selfish to say, but I feel so lucky I didn't meet that psycho at all. Oh, those poor girls. I hope that asshole rots in prison for the rest of his life.
.
So it looks like the new photography teacher is going to be Jaclynn Morrison. I don't know how Blackwell snagged a world famous fashion photographer, but all the bad press they were getting because of… of him, ugh, I feel gross just thinking about his name, it was really scaring people off, so I can see why they went after someone like her. And, I guess, if I were a photographer... a famous one, anyway, I'd kind of want to prove that not all of us are psychos.
.
Wowser, I had the craziest first day. I actually ran into my BFF Chloe Price! Okay, that's not exactly how it happened. Her girlfriend, Rachel Amber, who, by the way, is friggin' gorgeous, like, wow, she's so beautiful it's mesmerizing, and I would jump at the chance to have her pose for me if she'd give me the time of day and- okay, okay, I'm rambling. Anyway, Rachel is in my photography class and she recognized me by name! She said Chloe talks about me a lot and misses me.
To be honest, I thought Rachel was shitting me, she's too nice for her own good. I've been such a bad friend to Chloe. I didn't contact her once since I moved away, and it was just after William passed. Man, some best friend I am, bailing on her when her dad died. I remember when I got that acceptance letter from Blackwell, the first thing I thought was, yes, I'm in! And then, shit, what do I say to Chloe when I see her again? So, I cheated. I hid behind her girlfriend when we saw each other again, so she couldn't be as mad as wanted to be. I know, I know, that was low, but Rachel was offering protection! How could I refuse?
.
So, my evil plan worked and Chloe and I are okay now! Well, we're still a little awkward, but we're working on it, and Rachel has been awesome, and now, we're a trio. Today, I got to see Joyce again and eat her delicious food. God, I missed Joyce's cooking so much. I wonder if I can have dinner at the Price house every night. I don't think they'd mind, I mean, Rachel's there all the time! Then again, I'm not Chloe's girlfriend, but come on, best friend has to have perks! Well, okay, I'm still trying to get back to best friend status, so I'll complain when I get there.
The Price household has two new members. David Madsen, Joyce's new husband, is actually the head of security at Blackwell. He's a bit intense, but he's a cool guy, and it's great to see that he and Chloe get along. They're both gearheads, pretty sure they worked together on that muscle car I saw in the garage, and they like fixing stuff around the house. It shows, too, the place looks great, and it has that nice, homey touch. Guess Chloe took after William's handiness.
The second new Price is a dog named Pompidou. Chloe said he used to belong to a friend who had to move away and couldn't afford to take him along. She also said Pompidou used to be a fighting dog and his previous owner saved him. Hard to believe he was a fighting dog, he's the sweetest thing ever! I wish Bongo got to meet him. I'm glad Chloe has a pet again, I know she's always wanted a dog. Maybe she'll get another cat so Pompidou can have a friend.
.
Rachel Amber. If there was one word to sum her up, it'd be wowser. That girl is perfect and I am not even kidding. She aces all her classes, she's friggin' talented, she's the one who designed that cool ouroboros sleeve tat Chloe has on her left arm, and she's good in sports. It's like she'll be good at anything she tries! On top of all that, she's so pretty. So pretty. She's gorgeous. Did I mention she's stunningly, unbelievably gorgeous? And if that's not enough, she's also the nicest girl I've ever met. The other day, Victoria Chase was picking on poor Kate Marsh for her abstinence club and Rachel stepped in there like a boss and had Victoria scurrying away like a rat. It was so awesome to see. I'm glad Rachel isn't like Victoria and those elitist assholes from the Vortex Club. Actually, Rachel and Chloe are too cool for the Vortex Club. That probably drives Victoria crazy.
Speaking of Vortex Club and crazy, there's Nathan Prescott, the apex asshole of Blackwell. He's like Victoria's evil-er twin brother! Apparently, his family practically owns the school and just about the whole town, too! So, of course he acts like he really does own the place and gets away with stupid shit like selling drugs to other students and picking fights left and right. I bet his record is spotless even with all the crap he pulls. What bullshit. Oh, and he totally wants Rachel. He isn't even bothering to hide it, and it's so creepy. It really freaks Rachel out, too, she's always extra clingy to Chloe whenever he's nearby. He gets so pissed when he sees them together. As if he even has a chance with her.
.
I don't know how long Chloe and Rachel have been together, but I've known them for a month and they're still in that honeymoon phase where they can't keep their hands off each other. And they don't even care if I'm there! The crazy thing is, I'm starting to get used to it. Does that make me a perv or the most amazing best friend ever? I'm not sure.
They are super cute, though. They even have nicknames for each other. Chloe calls Rachel Angel every now and then, and I've heard Rachel call Chloe Ellie a couple of times. Guess she got Ellie from Elizabeth. I like it, it even rhymes with Chloe! And it suits her better than Liz or Beth or something.
Anyway, it's so obvious they're in love, and I guess any couple who's been through as much as they have would be like that. I don't know all the details, but seems like, until a couple of months ago, Chloe and Rachel were pretty crazy, like Vortex Club get high and party crazy, and it just kept getting worse. So, they both decided to get clean and Rachel said it was one of the hardest things she had to do in her life and she couldn't have done it without Chloe. What they went through sounds like the kind of thing that makes two people inseparable. I'm happy for them both, it's so nice to see Chloe smile and laugh like when we were kids.
.
Chloe. My best friend. I'm pretty sure I've earned the right to call her that again. She gave me William's camera for my birthday! If that doesn't mean best friend then I don't know what does. I mean, I didn't even want to accept a gift like that, because that's, like, such a big piece of William she's giving to me, but she insisted, and when she said it'd be better used awesomely than not at all, well, how could I say no?
Anyway, Chloe. Can you say punk? What a change. 5'9, blue hair, tattoos and piercings, which includes a tongue piercing, by the way. Rachel told me that. And then she winked at me. I think all the blood went to my face when she did that.
I mean, it's bad enough to be consciously aware of how hot my best friend is, it's another to have her also hot girlfriend telling me these things and putting these images in my head! Rachel's just showing off now. Not everyone can have a girlfriend who's enough of a bad girl to fulfill all those crazy teenage girl fantasies but is actually this responsible, caring sweetheart who does well at school, has a job and helps around the house. And she builds cars. And she's hot, hella hot. And she's ripped because, damn, she's an exercise freak now like her veteran stepdad and my Lord, it shows, and not in that overly muscular way, she's ripped in that sleek, slender, feminine way that is just so- so...
Fuck, I'm ogling my best friend, my best friend! Who has a girlfriend, whom she loves so much they're probably going to get married out of high school, and here I am swooning and… and being jealous.
I'm happy for them. They're my best friends, both of them, and I hope they'll be as in love years from now as they are now, but sometimes I just… I just wonder, you know? I wonder what it'd be like if I hadn't moved to Seattle. Would Chloe have met Rachel? Would Chloe and I have… would we be...
I don't know. I'll never know.
Max looked up from the journal page and closed her eyes, the latest entry she read making her feel winded. The others were fine, like reading about the experiences of an entirely different person, but as she read every adoring, heartbreaking thing written about Chloe, all she could seem to see was Chloe, standing in the rain with her, scared but ready to die, looking at her with nothing but love.
She had decided to let Chloe die, and didn't have the sense to tell her she loved her, to actually say the words and not just with a kiss.
Was this her karma? To live in a world where Chloe was happy without her?
She thought of Rachel running to Chloe and kissing her, of Chloe, David and Joyce being a family, how perfect her life seemed to be. Then she thought of what happened that morning in the bathroom, of the girl who had beaten up and threatened to cripple Nathan Prescott, of the girl who handled a gun like she knew exactly what she was doing, of the girl, her best friend, who looked ready to gun her down.
Max hugged herself, shuddering as she remembered the way Chloe looked at her before recognizing her.
Would Chloe have pulled the trigger if it had been anyone but her or Rachel? It seemed like it would have been so easy, so effortless, like how she laughed and joked in the bathroom while Nathan bled on the floor. It was a far cry from the girl with the half-baked idea to extort Nathan Prescott and ended up getting shot.
What else had Chloe had done and no one had seen? What else was she capable of?
Max rolled on her back and stared at the ceiling. She and Chloe didn't get the chance to talk after dinner because Rachel had other plans, joking that best friend time was over and girlfriend time was now. Max hadn't seen or heard from either of them since, and she doubted she would now that it was 2 AM.
She skimmed her journal one last time, running a few questions in her head. Was Nathan not involved with Jefferson this time? Was that why Rachel was safe? Did she and Frank ever get together? What had happened to Frank? It was hard to believe he would leave Pompidou behind for anything.
It was going to be a lot harder to figure this all out by herself, especially since she didn't have her powers anymore. She hadn't realized how much she relied on her rewind before, how it was so easy to be brave and bold because she could erase the mistakes and the consequences.
This time, she had no redos, no takebacks, and no Chloe.
Max rolled back on her stomach, ending up face to face with a journal page of Chloe doodles. It wasn't quite her Chloe, the pages decorated with wrenches, gears, and skateboards instead of cigarettes, beer bottles and weed. Her gaze then drifted to the bedside table, where William's instant camera sat, and she smiled fondly. It wasn't quite her Chloe, she thought, but not all of her had changed.
"Max? You still awake?"
Max nearly shot out of her bed, startled by the knocking and whispering from the other side of the door.
"Max?"
Recognizing the voice, Max quickly hid her journal and opened the door.
"Chloe? What are you-" she stopped in the middle of her question, noticing that her best friend was wearing nothing but a tank and a pair of boxers. "Did you… did you sneak in the dorm like that?"
Chloe gave her a look, appearing to wonder if she was serious.
"I came from Rachel's room, duh? Now are you gonna lemme in or not? I really don't feel like giving the rest of your dorm a show."
"Oh. Oh, yeah," Max mumbled, mentally cursing at herself for forgetting something she had just read about earlier. "Sorry, I was kind of trying to sleep," she lied, stepping aside to let Chloe in and closing the door. "What's with the sans clothes look, anyway?"
"No way to get my pants without waking Rachel up," Chloe said, taking a seat on her bed and looking very much at home.
Max studied her best friend, unable to stop herself from comparing. Chloe's shoulders were broader than she remembered, her arms more toned and defined. The ouroboros tattoo on her left arm looked alarmingly similar to the shirt her Chloe had been wearing the last time she saw her, except more colorful. Lastly, the necklace she was wearing was Rachel's dragon necklace, not the bullet necklace Max herself had worn in the wake of her Chloe's last death, because that was with Rachel.
"Dude, you're spacing again," Chloe grumbled, snapping her out of it.
"Sorry," she mumbled, hoping her lie still held. "So, um, what are you doing here?"
"I told you we'd talk," Chloe said like it wasn't 2 AM and she hadn't snuck out from her girlfriend. "So, let's talk. I'm gonna start it off with the cliche you really don't wanna get involved bullshit. Seriously, you don't wanna get involved."
Max sighed, not surprised by the statement, and plopped down next to Chloe.
"Come on, Chloe. Talk to me. Like, actually talk to me. You promised."
It was Chloe's turn to sigh.
"Nosey as ever."
"And your best friend," Max was happy to point out, and then paused, wondering out loud, "wait, does Rachel know?"
Chloe looked at her like she had just told a bad joke.
"Max, I just had to fuck my girlfriend until she passed out so I could sneak into your room at 2 in the freakin' AM, what'd ya think?"
"Alright, I get it. God, spare me the details," Max groaned, needing to use little imagination given what she had already seen today. "And quit trying to change the subject."
"Look, she doesn't need to know, okay?" Chloe said, shrugging. "Neither do you, like I've been saying, 'cause this whole thing's gonna be over soon, so you really should just get it out of your head."
"Chloe, this is serious," Max argued, grabbing Chloe's face to make their eyes meet. "You're messing with the Prescotts!" she whispered fiercely, mindful to keep her voice down, but wanting to yell at her best friend in some capacity. "You know what kind of shit they can pull and get away with, are you really going to risk your neck like that?"
"Fuck his family, I own them," Chloe growled lowly, showing a flash of the side she had shown in the bathroom. "Prescott knows not to run to his fucking dad for this. Even if he does, the dirt I have is going to ruin his family."
"What do you have? What do you know?" Max pressed, and when Chloe tried to look away, she held firmer, keeping their eyes locked. "Chloe, what is it? Did… did Nathan do something to you?" she asked, her voice breaking as she remembered the pictures of her best friend in Nathan's room. "You know you can tell me anything, don't you?"
There was a long pause before Chloe spoke.
"Fuck, you're stubborn."
Max nodded, giving in to the temptation of threading her fingers through Chloe's hair.
"You know it."
Chloe looked at her, and for a moment she felt like they were caught in the storm again.
"Promise me not tell anyone? Not even Rachel. Especially not Rachel. Promise me, Max."
"I swear," Max was quick to say, barely stopping herself from leaning in and kissing Chloe.
"Okay," Chloe breathed, gently pulling away from her, seeming to need space. "You know that shit with Mark Jefferson, right? I mean, that sick fuck could have been your teacher if they hadn't caught him."
"I am so glad Rachel is okay," Max said without thinking, one of the things she was most thankful for in this life.
"Yeah," Chloe agreed, her voice shaking. "Makes me sick to think Rachel had been in the same room as the piece of shit. I'm glad you didn't meet him at all, Max. But, yeah," she muttered, running a hand through her hair. "Jefferson… he wasn't working alone. Prescott was helping him, and I have proof. Files, pictures, fucking phone calls on record, you name it, I have it. Even got the address of a bunker that fucker used to do his sick shit and it's under the Prescott name. I go to the cops, that family's done."
"What- I don't..." Max trailed off, out of breath all of a sudden, just the mention of Jefferson's bunker sending an overwhelming deluge of memories she struggled to fight off. "How do you have all that?" she managed to ask, seeing Jefferson's sickening face whenever she blinked, and then she gasped, fearing the worst. "Chloe-"
"Max," Chloe cut her off, an edge in her voice, "I don't want to talk about it. Okay? I don't. I won't. So, don't bother, alright? Just know that I have shit on the Prescotts, and I'm getting something out of it."
Was this the reason Rachel was alive? Had Chloe been taken in her place?
Max desperately wished she had her powers back.
"You could go straight to the police, Chloe," she said, her hands finding Chloe's and grasping tight. "Why go through all this? What do you want from the Prescotts?"
Chloe scoffed, like she should have already known.
"Hella cash, duh, Max. What else would anyone want from a rich ass douchebag and his douchebag family?"
"But why?" Max asked, determined to know, rewind power or not. "What do you need all that money for? Are you in trouble, Chloe? Do you have like a... like a debt or something? Because whatever it is, you almost shot me for it!" she hurriedly added, covering the slip up. "You brought a gun, Chloe, you were expecting shit to go that bad? And you looked like you knew exactly what you were doing, and you were… you were beating the shit out of him like it was nothing."
"Hey, hey," Chloe hushed her, pulling her in a hug. "Chill, okay? I'm sorry. Shit, I'm so sorry, Max. Here I am all worried about myself and I didn't even think how much I was freaking you out. I was just acting tough, you know? The gun, the safety was on, I've picked up a few things from David, and I had my own gun because I had a feeling Prescott was going to pull some stupid crap. He didn't know he was meeting me, so I got the jump on him. Good thing, too, because the fucker was probably planning to kill me."
Max only nodded and buried her face in the crook of Chloe's neck, which smelled like Rachel's vanilla and rose scented perfume instead of cigarette smoke. She didn't trust herself to speak. Chloe had no idea how right she was about Nathan.
"And the beating?" Chloe went on, "That was to make sure he wouldn't try it again. Backing up the tough talk, you know?"
Max had seen Chloe, her Chloe, act tough, and it was all teenage bravado and boneheaded, charming recklessness, nothing like the confident, frighteningly calm and methodical girl she had seen in the bathroom.
"I'll get rid of the guns, no one will find them, and I'm gonna burn the bloody clothes and the bag, leave no trace," Chloe said, sounding like she was reading from a grocery list. "I got this, I told you. And everything else, I'm gonna have to ask you to trust me, Max."
Did Chloe have a debt, just with another dealer? Was she ashamed to say because she was supposed to be clean now?
"I trust you, Chloe," she whispered against her best friend's neck, and again she felt so small with those strong arms wrapped around her. "Just please be careful, and… if you need any help, or if you want to talk, remember I'm always here for you," she said, bringing her arms around Chloe to hug her back, and though it wasn't that big of a difference from her Chloe, the broader, more muscular body felt a little too much to hold.
"You're hella super, Max," Chloe murmured, and Max could tell she was smiling. "Okay, I gotta get going before Rachel wakes up, and you should get some sleep."
"Yeah, I should," Max agreed, reluctantly pulling away so they could both stand, and walked Chloe to the door.
"Oh, did you hear about the weird shit that happened today?" Chloe asked, stopping by her doorway.
"You're gonna have to elaborate on that," Max teased, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Hah. Funny," Chloe responded in approval, giving her a smirk. "Anyway, smartass, don't know how we missed it, but apparently, it fucking snowed today. 90 degrees and it snowed! Crazy shit, right?"
Max braced herself against the door, feeling like she had been punched in the gut.
She must have said something in response, because Chloe hugged her again, and she welcomed the distraction. It was nothing like the hugs she had grown so familiar with and so fond of. She was used to Chloe throwing herself in a hug like she threw caution to the wind, trusting she could hold her, but with this hug, she was pulled in and held. This Chloe was aware, of her weight, of her strength, of herself.
But like her Chloe, she was gone too soon, letting her go and returning to Rachel.
Snow, Max was left thinking. It snowed today. The storm, it was still coming.
Note: A big thank you to PriestessAmy for letting us use a title similar to her Rachel is Here fic, and also for making us fall in love with Amberprice, which she writes with more finesse than we could ever hope to have.