title: self-recovery

summary: Fed up with Chloe's destructive behavior, Joyce signs her up for weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Christine Keller — a psychologist who actively helps people by getting to the root of the problem. Chloe starts opening up every week, revealing her deepest insecurities, fears, issues, and weekly drama. (chloecentric — amberprice)

notes: Welcome to my first LiS fanfic! (ok, to be honest, this is my first because I've been working on this as a NaNoWriMo entry and yes I did write something else but I wrote this story and wrote a chasefield twoshot in between so yes it is the first). When I watched several LPs of LiS and LiSBtS, I fell in love with the lore, the characters, and Arcadia Bay in general. But most of all, I fell for Chloe Price. Plus, that scene where Chloe and Rachel have a "therapy session" inside the car inspired me. thus, this fic was born.

Enough dawdling. I hope y'all enjoy. It's gonna be a helluva doozy. (also I stayed away from cringeworthy words like amazeballs and wowsers...i'm sorry but my black ass wasn't wid it. I kept hella tho.)


The last thing Chloe Price expected in her young life was to get expelled from Blackwell—no, Blackhell Academy but when she was called in for an 'important' meeting with Rachel, her mom, and Rachel's parents, she knew playing hooky the previous day and causing a wild forest fire would have its consequences. Anyways, Chloe was on probation due to her delinquent behavior.

She had just cleaned out her locker and is already a few feet away from her mom and David when she notices that they've been having a deep conversation. Whatever the fuck it is, Chloe knows she's in deep shit with her mother, and knowing Douche David he would have a lot to say on the matter. However, the last thing Chloe would ever do is listen to David and his shitty 'advice' no matter what her mother says.

"Well, it's about time!" Chloe instantly rolls her eyes the minute she hears his voice.

"Don't even start with me, David. I'm not in the mood."

"I've had enough of your attitude," David argues at her, with a sharp glare. "You just got kicked out of school and you're acting like you don't even care!"

"Because I don't! What makes you think I care that I got kicked out some artsy-fartsy school that I never even liked, at the prime end of the year?" Chloe argues back. It's only May, the beginning of May, and the end of the semester was only weeks away for Chloe to enjoy the last few weeks of Blackhell before she makes a plan to run away - far away - from Arcadia Bay with Rachel.

"Only losers get kicked out of school!"

"Oh, so now I'm a loser? I don't think some jobless dickhead should even be talking about being a loser—"

"Enough!" Joyce has reached her breaking point with the both of them. "That's enough, Chloe." She should've saw this coming, to be honest, but she honestly thought somewhere, along the way, Chloe would eventually warm up to David. But she never did, and most of it is because of her father dying and her best friend Max moving away around the same time. David had suggested it earlier, but now Joyce sees it as the only solution to get her old daughter back. "Getting expelled from school, sneaking out doing god knows what...what happened to my daughter?"

Chloe laughs bitterly. "Your daughter left once you decided to date this sorry excuse of a man."

"Well, this sorry excuse of a man is moving in with us, and starting next week, you're gonna see a therapist."

"What?" Chloe's day just keeps getting worse and worse. She initially thought getting expelled was bad but hearing that this douchebag is moving in? And that she has to go to some shrink that won't even help her? "Neither of those are happening."

"That's too bad because if you're gonna live under my roof, those are the rules," Joyce replies.

Chloe clenches her fists, hoping that something, anything would happen to avoid that piece of shit to move in with her and her mother, but it seems like the universe has other plans. No. She will not go down without a fight. "I'm not going. And he is definitely not moving in with us."

"Yes he is, and you will go, or you will no longer have a home."

Chloe screams, and slams her fists on the hood of the car. "Why are you letting this asshole make the decisions for you?"

"Chloe! We made the decision together, for your benefit," David reasons.

Chloe sneers at David, not believing that for a second. She was fine before he showed up. "My benefit? My benefit is when you didn't exist to ruin my fucking life!" Chloe turns around and walks away. She faintly hears her mother yelling after her, but then she hears David telling her to let her go. Good, she says to herself.


The junkyard is the one place Chloe feels safe, and away from the drama that is her life. She doesn't want that douchebag to live in her house, and she definitely didn't want to go to some shrink. She wants to get the hell out of Arcadia Bay and start a new life somewhere else, preferably with her new crush Rachel. She still can't believe that she admitted that to Rachel and she...took it surprisingly well. Most girls wouldn't have reacted the way Rachel Amber reacted whenever some girl outta nowhere admitted they had more-than-friendship feelings for their friend. They would be disgusted. Chloe would know - Rachel Amber is surely not her first girl crush, and she is very sure Rachel won't be the last.

And it proved something - Rachel is not like most girls.

However, it does show that Chloe may have a chance. It wasn't long ago where Chloe admitted to herself that she exclusively liked girls, but she could never admit that to anyone, not even if her father was alive and looking right in front of her, mostly because he would figure it out if that dream yesterday is any indication. She doesn't have that much friends either - Max won't respond to any of her letters or texts, Eliot has the hugest crush on her and Chloe knows admitting she's a lesbian would crush him, and anyone else she really talks to (like Frank or Skip) may not understand. She's mad at her mother, so that's out of the question, and she would never tell David anything, no matter what circumstance. It's probably for the best, since it's not much of anyone's business anyway.

She spies a truck that is similar to her former classmate Nathan's, and gets a wild idea. Why won't she fix it? Her dad taught her everything she needs to know. Chloe once suspected that her dad wanted a boy, especially with all of the lifehacks he taught her (like how to replace a car battery for instance) but it's probably for the best that she's just a car loving lesbian. Chloe searches around the junkyard and finds a recently impounded car, removing its fresh car battery, and heads back to the truck. She inspects the interior and picks up a couple other things - a beach towel to cover the seat, an old Two Whales Diner plaque to cover the hole on the passenger's side of the floor, and a green Christmas light for a light inside the car. It ain't much, and she probably has to illegally hotwire it and also fix it herself since it's uninsured, but it will surely take her from point A to point B, like moving far away from Arcadia Bay with Rachel.

However, as Chloe tries to start the car...nothing. She checks around to see what the issue is, and realizes It still needs more love than a car battery. "Great," she mutters.

She checks her phone and ignores her mother's texts to see if anyone else tried to call or message her. Nothing. She did not want to go home, not when Sergeant Dickface is there trying to move in the Price household. The last thing she wants is to be there right now. She has way too much time to kill before Rachel's performance tonight, and now that she doesn't have school anymore—

"Chloe," she turns around to see Rachel standing right in front of her. Chloe doesn't say anything. She pats the seat next to her and opens the door on the other side. Rachel gets the hint and goes over there to sit next to Chloe. "You got some wheels."

"All I need is gas...and probably some tools to fix it up some more," Chloe shrugs.

"I can help with the gas but the tools...you're on your own."

Chloe chuckles. "Don't worry, I got some tools I can use."

They sit in silence for a couple minutes, until Rachel realizes she cannot stand the silence for long and starts talking again. "That meeting this morning...I wasn't expecting you to do that."

"I know how much you love acting, and to be honest, Principal Wells has been stalling the inevitable for quite a while," Chloe admits. "I'm not exactly this...stellar student my mom likes to talk about. Not since...my dad. But it's not like my mom has made good decisions. She decided that her ugly ass boyfriend moving in would be good since I'm now a screw-up. I'm really sure they'll eventually get married or whatever. My mom's still young, she can still give birth to a child she'll finally be proud of."

"Your mom loves you," Rachel says. She really believed Joyce loved her daughter, to the point where she showed up to the meeting and defended Chloe. No parent should ever dislike their child. "From my perspective, she tries, and she fights for you, even when you're in the wrong...I think you should give her some credit. Plus, how long has it been since her husband died?"

Chloe scoffs. Figures Rachel wouldn't take her side. "What are you saying?"

"I don't know who her boyfriend is, and I know you'll never like him or think of him as this replacement for your actual dad, but...I don't think you should make any rash decisions to move away."

"She thought it was a good idea to send me to some shrink!" Chloe exclaims.

"Chloe, she has a point." Chloe laughs bitterly, and shakes her head. "I've been thinking, and as much as I want my dad to pay for cheating on my mom, I think there's more to it, so I can't exactly leave yet. And...Chloe...there's got to be a time when you gotta let go of your dad…"

"No," Chloe growls. "You don't get to dictate when I get over my dad or not!"

"I never did!" Rachel argues back. "You see, this is why your mom decided that therapy might be good for you. You have so much emotional distress, Chloe, and most mothers wouldn't even give a shit...they'll think that it will pass as time goes, but it doesn't. It stays with you, because it's traumatic. It messes you up. Just give it a chance, Price. It might actually help you. And when you decide to take responsibility for your actions, you know where to find me." Rachel grabs her duffel bag and leaves the junkyard, leaving Chloe to herself.

"Once again, fuck you Rachel Amber," she says to herself. She pulls out a lighter and a cigarette, hoping a smoke break would clear her mind.

It doesn't. She momentarily closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, she's sitting next to her dad, with his car burning and the rest of the forest burning from Rachel's accident the previous day, and he's roasting some marshmallows on a stick. Chloe decides to follow suit, getting as close to the fire as she possibly can without burning herself or the stick.

There's silence for a little while.

"Amazing, isn't it? I can't look away," her father speaks up.

Chloe sighs. "Sure."

"What's on your mind, Chloe? Oh no, don't tell me. You're mad at everyone."

"You guessed it," Chloe snorts. She removes the stick from the fire, remembers randomly that she hates marshmallows from a mouth burning accident years ago, and throws the stick aside, with the slightly roasted marshmallow intact. "Mom wants me to go to therapy and my friend wants me to forget about you."

"You can't forget about me, but she does make a point. Sometimes, in life, we have to make choices, and they have consequences whether good or bad. We can either accept those choices or we can keep dwelling on them, forever." there's another silence. "Your mom wants the best for you and your friend seems to care a lot about you."

Chloe rolls her eyes. "If they'd care, they'd leave me alone."

"You know that isn't true. You have to learn how to grow up someday, because life is unforgiving, and one day…" he turns around, revealing a huge burn on the left side of his face and a crow pecking at his skin. "You might not be able to wake up from a nightmare."


The next minute Chloe wakes up, the cigarette is almost done and the sky is an hour away from setting. "Shit," Chloe whispers, puts out her cigarette, and steps out of the old car. She checks her phone for any missed calls, but only finds the unopened message from her mother earlier. With a heavy sigh, she opens and reads it.

Mom: I'm sorry Chloe. I shouldn't have put you in that situation. I'm still mad about you getting expelled from school and your attitude with David was getting on my last nerve. But, I love you and I want you to be the best person you can be so that's why we arranged for you to go see someone. Both of us want the best for you, Chloe. That's all we want. Please meet us halfway and let's be a happy family.

Chloe sighs and wipes a tear from her cheek. She hated making her mom beg for anything, and she hated making her mom sad. She knew her mom, Rachel, and her dream dad was right. Something had to be done about her attitude. David is another obstacle she doesn't see herself competing in, though.

She makes a hasty run for it, towards her house. It's far but she doesn't care. What she needed to do was to apologize to her mom. She'll deal with Rachel later, maybe after her performance tonight...if her mom would let her go. David can still go fuck himself.

Chloe reaches her house when the sun is almost setting. She pulls out her set of keys and opens the door. "Chloe?" she hears her mom shout from the dining room.

"Yeah mom, it's me. I got your message." She shuts the front door and makes her way to the dining room. "I think you're right. I need to...work on myself for a little while, and I'm willing to see this doc…"

Her mother smiles. "What brought this on?"

"Call me crazy, but i had a daydream about dad. He told me I had to grow up someday...and Rachel sided with you so I guess those were my signs."

"Chloe…" It doesn't surprise Joyce that her daughter still dreamed of her dad...sometimes she dreams about her husband too. "You know I love you."

"And I love you too," Chloe replies.

"I am proud of you though for making a small breakthrough. Still mad, but I'm proud."

Chloe nods. "I know."

"And as part of your week long punishment, you have to help David with moving in."

Chloe frowns at the mention of David. When will her mother know of the horrors of what this military brat has done to her before? "Come on, mom. Can I just buss tables at the diner for the rest of the week?" She groans.

"I would, but you're still a minor. Get your working papers and maybe I'd reconsider," Joyce replies. The look on her face says that she contemplated it for a little while. "Be lucky it isn't two weeks."

"So I can't go to Rachel's performance?"

Joyce laughs. "Which part of punishment don't you understand, Chloe Price?"

"Fine. But if she's mad at me for missing her performance i'm putting the blame on you." After saying goodnight to her mom, she goes upstairs and watches the sunset, since there's nothing else to do anymore.