Some backstory for this one-shot, not related to my current main LiS story "This Life We Lead". After moving to Seattle, Max stayed in touch with her best friend, Chloe. Their friendship never goes through the 5 year silence seen in the game. After a few years in Seattle, max realizes she is in love with Chloe, and 5 years after moving to Seattle, she decides to move back to Arcadia Bay in the hopes of confessing her love to her best friend. Chloe introduces her to Rachel Amber, a friend she made two years prior. When they meet, Max is unintentionally led to believe that Chloe and Rachel love each other when she witnesses the way they act towards one another. She immediately regrets coming back to Arcadia Bay, thinking her reason for coming is gone. Chloe notices Max's crushed expression and goes after her, well aware that if she doesn't she'll lose the one person she cares about more than anything forever. Also, Chloe has her blue hair, but not the tattoo, and she doesn't have the whole punk-rock attitude/mood swings. Also, Max is not the shy and reserved girl in this story that she is in the game.
Max had moved back home to Arcadia Bay just last week. It had been 5 years since she had seen Chloe. Well, that wasn't technically true, they skyped all the time and did video chat all the time, so she did see her, but she hadn't actually seen her in person in 5 years after being forced to move to Seattle with her parents. Max came back for one reason, Chloe Price. The girl who, while she was away, she had fallen madly in love with. She'd never had the courage to tell her. It had started as a crush when she was 13, and she had thought it might go away with time. Except it hadn't. It had become something more, and she had spent the last 5 years trying to keep it a secret from her best friend, fearing her feelings would never be returned. Then about 2 years ago, Chloe had confessed to her that she was gay. She'd already told her mother and step-father, and they were both accepting of the fact. She'd wanted to tell her then, but as before, couldn't summon the courage to do so. That was all in the past now, or so she had thought. She had moved back to Arcadia Bay with the plan of finally confessing her true feelings to her best friend. In fact, she'd even gone as far as to get her a skull and bones pirate necklace. She'd brought it with her today and had intended to give it to her at dinner tonight as she confessed her feelings. That had all changed very rapidly that afternoon though. Chloe had brought her over to her friend Rachel Amber's house so she could finally meet Max. Rachel had heard many stories about Max from Chloe, and Max had heard some about Rachel as well. It had started off fine, of course. But then a few hours later Rachel had started to act much more affectionate towards Chloe, giving her quick hugs and a chaste kiss here and there. Max did her best to ignore it, not realizing that what Rachel was doing was making Chloe just as uncomfortable, if not more, than she was. Rachel either didn't notice or didn't care. Then it had happened. Rachel eventually kissed Chloe passionately on the lips. Before Chloe could even react to push Rachel off of her and tell her off, Max had already become too upset and had gone outside, trying desperately to hide the tears falling from her eyes. Back inside, Chloe had violently pushed Rachel off of her, and told her to leave her alone. She then told Rachel she was leaving and to never talk to her again. She'd seen the expression on Max's face as she left, saw the tears she had tried to hide, and was beginning to realize just how bad of an idea it was to bring Max to meet Rachel. She also had the growing suspicion that Max had feelings for her. Why else would she have run out like that? She just didn't know for sure, and she needed to know now more than ever. All she knew was that she loved Max with all her heart, wanted to spend the rest of her life with her, and couldn't stand to see her hurt. It made her wish she had told Max about her feelings years ago when she'd told her she was gay. Instead, she'd done the same thing she was hoping Max had been doing. Trying to work up the courage to tell her. As she walked out of Rachel's house, she spotted Max sitting against her truck. She didn't need to ask to know that she was still crying, and that broke her heart. It absolutely killed her inside to see the woman she loved in pain. She walked over to her and slid down on the ground next to her.
"I...I'm sorry Che. I had to get out, I couldn't stand it anymore. All the things that I was watching her do...I just couldn't." Max said, having realized Chloe had followed her outside and was now sitting next to her.
"No, it's my fault. It was my idea to come here today. I didn't know she was going to act like that. I mean she's been acting weird towards me the last couple of months. I knew she had a crush on me. She's been hugging me and giving me chaste kisses the last few weeks. I didn't think anything of it, I thought she was only being weird. I wish I'd known how upset you were getting, I would have bailed on her and gotten you out of there. I'm sorry you had to see all of that. I wish you didn't have to see any of it, Max." Chloe told her honestly.
"No it's OK. I just...I need time to adjust that's all. I mean I know you're gay, and you probably like her and all that. I...well I...I kind of had other plans but I won't stand in your or Rachel's way if that's what you both want." Max said in a broken voice. Chloe frowned almost dejectedly. She wanted to know what Max thought of her, if she had any of the feelings for her that Chloe had for Max. And now she had her answer without Max even saying it, and it broke her heart all over again.
"Max it's...it isn't like that. It's not at all like that. She's the one who's in love with me, that much became pretty obvious to me tonight." Chloe said and put an arm around Max's shoulders, hoping she would take the hint as she helped her to her feet. She wanted to hear her say it. She wanted Max to tell her how she felt, even though she was almost certain of her feelings now. Max looked up at her, surprised.
"Wait, so you're not...? But I thought..." Max said, clearly confused, yet strangely hopeful.
"I was in love with Rachel? Hella no! You should have seen what I did to her after she kissed me. I almost punched her. I am in love with someone though, and I wish I'd had the courage to tell her when I confessed my sexuality. I didn't then, but I do now. There's room for only one person in my heart, Max, and it's not Rachel. It is someone you know very well though. It's you, Max. It's always been you. Never anyone else. I love you, Max. More than anyone or anything, I love you. And I always will." Chloe said, finally laying her feeling bare. The look of pure joy and happiness on Max's face told her everything she needed to know before Max flung her arms around her and cried.
"I love you too, Chloe. I really do. You have no idea. I spent the last two years trying to find a way to tell you. I didn't know how until I moved back to Arcadia Bay. I was going to tell you at dinner tonight. Had it all planned out, I was going to make it this ridiculously special occasion. But now I don't have to. Still, I got something for you last week. I wanted to show you how much everything we've done together means to me, and when I saw this I just knew it was perfect." Max said, and produced a small box from one of the pockets of her hoodie, giving it to Chloe, who opened it and gasped. There, in the box, was the pirate skull necklace Max and bought. Still holding the box in her hand, she flung her arms around Max and kissed her.
"Max I...this is...it...it's beautiful! You don't know how much this means to me. Oh I love you. I love you so much it hurts." Chloe said, and this time she was the one crying. After a few moments, she took the necklace and put it around her neck, swearing to never take it off. A few moments later, and they had gotten into Chloe's truck and driven to Max's apartment. As soon as they entered, Max closed and locked the door.
"I'm really glad we're together now. You really have no idea how long I've dreaded coming out to you. I had nightmares about it, Che. Except now I know you love me as much as I love you. But I still need...no not just need, I want to show you how much I love you." Max said, moving towards Chloe with a seductive expression. She then embraced the woman she loved, with her hands sliding under Chloe's shirt and trailing up and down her back. After a few moments, both had made their way to the bedroom, and then the bed, leaving a trail of clothes along the way as they slowly and passionately began exploring each others bodies. Needless to say, niether of them would be getting any sleep tonight.
So, that's it for this story. I got the idea for this story when ready a story called "About Time". I wanted to explore the reaction I think both girls would have had to a situation like this. Let me know what you all think. I thought about writing a sex scene, but I can't write sex scenes to save my life so...yeah, lol.