Notes
This story is about the question why?
Why would Max ignore her friend for so long and how that reconciles with a Max that would do literally anything to keep Chloe safe.
Gives more background to the events is the game from the Max point of view and explores their relationship some years later.
I must advise you: English is my third language, expect some weird sentence constructions. I tried to explore Max´s motivations in full deep and make the story as interesting as I could, even if my language is not that flourished.
I hope you like it.
Any comments you want to drop would be fully appreciated.
September 2, 2013. Early in the morning
The leaves of the trees that lined the road still showed a cheerful green, in a couple of months they would evolve to a mixture of brown, red and orange, giving a more soothing vibe to the environment.
The previous week, the Caulfields decided that Ryan would be driving Max to Arcadia Bay while Vanessa stayed home. Ryan was particularly happy with that decision. So was her daughter, granted that both of them had different reasons for that.
The car trip from Seattle to Arcadia Bay took roughly 6 hours including mandatory stops to snap some pictures, most of them consisting in selfies with different backgrounds. Ryan Caulfield couldn't help but thinking what little difference could make any spot from another if the subject of the pictures was always Max. The big man wasn't that arty himself. Ryan being a big fan of Stephen King asked Max to take I5-S instead of the more scenic US 101-S that ran along the coast, the only reason being that there was a town called Castle Rock on the interstate. Max agreed and did not missed the chance to wonder where her nerdyness came from, said wonder was formulated out in loud voice and therefore earned her a double dose of the famous bad jokes of her father for a few miles.
Except for this little incident most of the route consisted of light talk between the two travelers. Father and daughter had a meaningful conversation years ago and both knew almost everything was already said between them.
Since they took the detour to the E OR-6 the conversation decayed, getting closer to Arcadia Bay made Max sink into her usual introspection. Ryan had learned to respect the ways of his daughter so he just focused on driving. By the time they arrived to Blackwell's parking lot she had been silent for over 20 minutes.
Ryan killed the engine and turned his eyes to his daughter "We are here". Max came out of her trance and delicately turned her head until she met the expectant gaze of her father "Finally".
They both knew she was not talking about the road trip.
Max busied herself unpacking while Ryan unloaded the heavy packages from the car and took them up to her room.
A blond girl with her hair tucked into a bun peered into the open door of Max's room and greeted her shyly. "hello... and welcome to Blackwell, my name is Kate. My room is almost opposite yours, it's 222. If you need anything, I can help you"
She looked up from her boxes and onto the girl, noticing the golden cross that adorned her neck "hello, I'm Max... um... sure. I just arrived, but once I'm done with the unpacking you can show me around the campus".
"I leave you to it. Come by my room when you are done, see you later" and with that she smiled and left.
Making friends in my first day, sure it feels like a new life Max thought.
A little later the floor was completely covered with half open boxes and Ryan was ready to go.
"Almost 18 Max, you are not my little girl anymore" her father said with a sad smile in his face "would you walk me to the car or that would be too embarrassing?".
"I don't care about that, I'll be glad to walk you".
Caulfield one and Caulfield three walked to the car in silence. Once there, they hugged tight.
"The beginning of new adventures for you," Ryan said, his gaze fixed on his daughter.
Max smiled at her father, "that's why I'm here, no?" she said thoughtfully.
Ryan started the car ready to face the way back.
As soon as he drove out of Blackwell's parking lot the idea that had been hanging around in his head for a long time filled his thoughts. He tried to neglect it to no avail. He drove through the streets of Arcadia Bay growing more and more uneasily. Just when he was about to leave the city he decided to pull over and take out his phone. "Max, I... I need to talk to you, I'm driving back, meet me at the parking lot in 15 minutes".
"Dad, it's something wrong?".
"I just need to tell you something, probably should have told you before, anyway, I would regret not telling you now".
Unknown date, 2.008
Vanessa woke up very tired. She had not been able to get much sleep that night and she knew what laid ahead that morning was not going to brighten her mood. Her husband was by her side, she had heard him revolve in his sleep all night and imagined he didn't get much rest either.
"You're up, Ryan?".
"Yes, barely" he replied with obvious anguish in his voice.
"We can't hold over any more, we have been delaying more than we should because of what happened to William. Right now we have no choice".
"I know. Let me do the talking, at least the first words. I've always had a little more complicity with her and this is going to be harsh".
"As a mother it kind of hurts me, but it's true.. fair enough, you'll take the lead".
Vanessa Caulfield leaned her head on her husband's shoulder and sobbed. "I hope we are doing the right thing".
Max got up a little later. Every Saturday she joined her parents for a big fat breakfast before going to spend the weekend at Chloe's house. When she came downstairs her parents were both clutching their coffee mugs in silence, a full plate of untouched pancakes laid in front of them.
"Good morning everyone," She said cheerfully, sitting down in her chair.
Ryan cleared his throat "Um... Max... we have to talk about something... there is really no easy way around it".
Max looked at her parents. Their concerned face did nothing to ease her.
"What is it?".
Vanessa took her husband's hand and gave him a look of assent trying to infuse the courage.
"Max, the economy at Arcadia Bay is getting worse day by day, your mother has been unemployed for some time and my job it's not that good. We have been financially surviving for a while and that is not the kind of life we want for the three of us. A few weeks ago your mother applied for a job in Seattle and they hired her, the salary is high enough to support us three and I can easily find a job in a bigger city...listen, I know it's hard and you don't want to go, but we have to think about the future of the whole family. Staying in Arcadia Bay is not a suitable situation for us right now... Max, your mother and I, we know the timing is really bad, but we have no choice".
She took a moment to process her father's words "Dad, Mom, please don't".
Vanessa decided that Ryan had already been burdened enough. "Honey, we're very sorry. Your father and I had given it a lot of thought, we have no other choice".
Max got up and hugged her mother gesturing for her father to join before she began to cry disconsolately in her parents arms. "No please, I don't want you to go, Seattle is so far away. I love you very much and I'm going to miss you both".
Both parents broke away from Max and looked at each other, their eyes open in pure astonishment. Ryan could not help but curse in a very low voice "what the fuuuuck?" That would be the only time in his whole life that he would said such a word in front of her daughter. And if only one token could attest to the paramount difficulty of the moment, so it be that after such transgression Vanessa didn't even care to admonish her husband.
The great man Ryan Caulfield stuttered as he addressed his thirteen-year-old daughter.
"Mmmmax, you have not understood us, the whole family is moving to Seattle, you come with us".
Max stared at her father as if he were a complete stranger. "Dad, I can't go, Chloe needs me. I don't want you to go but I'm staying with her".
Vanessa interjected "No, we're all moving, you come with us. You can see Chloe on school breaks, you can come here or we can arrange for her to come to Seattle".
"NO!, I just can't leave her, not now" Max looked at her mother finding nothing but sorrow in her eyes. She turn to her father searching for a way out "no, please Dad, no no, no, no, I am not leaving Chloe".
"We are moving next week, we can't delay it anymore. You have a few more days to be with Chloe and say your goodbyes... we are very sorry about it".
Max turned from her parents. The idea of breaking away from Chloe was beginning to take hold of her, tears started falling down her eyes, nobody to see them.
Science says that every brain works differently.
The brain of a certain Maxine Caulfield, born September 21, 1995 in Arcadia Bay OR, had an habit of translating thoughts into images, hence her natural inclination towards photography. At that precise moment, a random Saturday morning of a random month, of the absolutely not random year of 2.008, her brain was projecting images of herself choking. Max let the images project to the rhythm that her own brain marked, becoming fully aware of what they meant.
That took just a brief lapse of time but seemed years to both Ryan and Vanessa Caulfield.
When she turned again to meet her parents gaze, she no longer cried. There was no grief, no despair, just emptiness.
Just like that.
Numb.
Unknown date, 2.008
"Wait for me in the car please. I won't take long".
"This is seriously wrong, you can't do this, not this way." Ryan's voice was filled with concern.
Max got out of the car without paying attention to her father words. She went up the steps that led to the garden and paused for a moment to regard the house that meant so much to her. Not really just a house, it was Chloe's house, another home for her. The half-finished painting, interrupted by the death of William Price as a metaphor for her own life. That was an image that her brain stored in the deepest files probably to be projected in an infinite loop sometime soon.
She rang the bell hoping nobody would answer, but that was a vain hope. Chloe Elizabeth Price had stubbornly refused to leave the house for a week, waiting for her best friend to come and say good bye.
A trembling hand opened the door. That hand belonged to a 14-year-old girl whose look could be described as it follows: Unkempt hair, red teary eyes surrounded by dark circles, she wore pajamas that clearly needed a wash. The pure image of despair.
"I thought you were not even going to stop by before leaving".
"I don't have much time Chloe. I have to finish packing things..you..you'll be good, ok?".
Chloe stared at her friend. "I can't believe it, that's it? Is this all I'm gonna get from you?". Despite everything she felt, mostly pain and anger, Chloe couldn't resist and hugged her friend desperately pressing as tightly as she could. "Don't go please, don't leave me. I forgive you for not calling me, for ignoring me all week but please don't leave me alone...not now...not ever".
Max remained still not returning Chloe's embrace, her arms hanging loose at her sides. She pulled away from Max and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her pajamas. She couldn't help but notice how worn out her friend's sleeve already was.
Chloe begged "Please answer me, even if it's the last thing you do for me... what am I for you?".
Max's brain, which had lately become a different functional unit from Max herself, registered the question and immediately provided the only answer it could honestly offer.
You are everything to me.
Infinite alternate universes were born and ceased to exist during the short time that passed as the question waited for its answer. This limited fanfic is not the place to analyze the many different paths our story would have undergo if Max had been honest with herself at that precise time and place.
All the love and hate and every other feeling in between that could have been. was forever lost because our Max Caulfield, fond of photography, deeply in love with her best friend and heartbroken beyond words, could only manage to look at the floor and stammer "I have to go now... you take care of yourself please".
Max's tricky brain for once played in her favor by not registering Chloe's last words to her, those words full of pain being "I hate you Max Caulfield" and "I don't want to see you ever again".
Or maybe it did.