"Blackwell…" I breathed. "I never thought I could come back here." I walked up the steps. A boy came up to me. "Hey! I'm Warren." I smiled. "I'm Max." He looked me up and down and took a step back. "Shit… Max, you're pretty." I averted my gaze, ever the shy one. "Am- am I?" He nodded. "Um… I need to go to my dorm," I said. He nodded again. "Uh, ok. See you around."

"Yeah." As I walked toward the dorm, I thought of something. I wonder if Chloe still lives here… I smiled. I used to have feelings for Chloe, but after five years of not seeing someone, feelings tend to fizzle out. But I hadn't had anybody since I was thirteen… I hoped Chloe would be my best friend, just like she used to be.

"Warren!" I screamed. Nathan jumped on him and punched him in the face over and over. I wanted to scream but I couldn't. Too late, I noticed the pickup barreling towards me. It stopped, inches from my face, and I moved out of the way. I saw the girl's face through the windshield - the same girl Nathan had tried to shoot in the bathroom. And, even worse, more puzzle pieces clicked together in my mind - "Chloe?" I asked. "Max?" said the familiar voice, confirming my suspicions. Seeing her face again, hearing her voice, It all came rushing back to me. I realized I was in love with her. Those feelings hadn't gone away, just piled up until I couldn't distinguish them. I just lumped all the pain I felt being away from her in with my guilt for not texting her, calling her, mailing her, or visiting her. She could have been paralyzed in a wheelchair and I wouldn't know. "Get in!" she shouted. I opened the door and jumped into the car and she drove off the campus.

"I dare you to kiss me. Right now." My heart sped up. Oh, my God. What if she realized it wasn't just for a dare? God, these past hours with her have been like a dream, and I didn't ever want to wake up. I loved her so much… Oh my god. I didn't think any more than that. I just put my hand on her face and I kissed her. It was soft and passionate. It was everything I wanted from Chloe. And, all too soon, it ended. "Damn, Max, you're hardcore." I smiled slightly. God, that felt good.

"Max, you saved me again! Now we're totally bonded for life."

"Chloe, my powers might not last."

"But we will. Forever." My heart jumped. More and more, she had been showing signs of possibly returning my feelings. Oh, how I needed her to love me like I loved her. If I could only let her know…

"All you have to do is… crank the IV up to eleven."

"Chloe..."

"I'll just drift asleep… dreaming of the two of us here… forever." I nodded. I stood, and turned up her IV.

"Max, I'm so proud of you for following your dreams. Don't forget about me."

"Never."

"I love you, Max. See you around."

"Sooner than you think." A small smile found its way onto her face, and all her muscles relaxed. I wanted to collapse into a fit of sobbing. I killed Chloe. But the photo was there… I could go back. I would have to go back and let William die. As much as it hurt Chloe, I would have to let him die. I turned to the photo album and focused on the picture, and before I knew it, I was back in that moment for the second time that day, and the third time ever.

"Who cares if she doesn't kiss me?" I cringed. I was locked in a bunker, taped to a chair, and being forced to watch my (totally gay) crush make out with a guy who has a crush on me… I couldn't look away as Chloe kissed Warren. Oh, Chloe. You have no idea what I've been through just to have you back… and you're doing this to me? Then Warren was gone, and Chloe had moved. Now she sat on the couch with Victoria Chase. "You're a real woman, Victoria. Not a little girl like Max Caulfield."

"I love your tats, Chloe. You're so hot. I can't believe it took us so long to hook up." They kissed, and I wanted to cry. I saw her with so many people. I began to wonder if I was going to see her with Jefferson, and then it all disappeared.

I saw moment after moment, as if we were captured in time, and I realized just how much I loved her, how much I wanted her. Every scene made me cry harder, until I was sprinting for the end. Chloe… Chloe, you promised, you promised you'd never leave me…

"Whatever you choose, I know you'll make the right decision." I stood there, paralyzed. Chloe, standing in front of me, asking me to let her die. I couldn't let her die… but I couldn't let all the people in Arcadia Bay die either. I supposed… a city full of lives was more important than one life… right? But then, it wouldn't just be Chloe's life that was affected… it would be me, and Joyce and David and Warren and a million other people that knew her and loved her. But all of Arcadia Bay would die if I didn't sacrifice Chloe… and I knew what my choice was.

"Max… it's time." It was a blur - all I remembered was kissing her. The kiss was different from the last one - it was hurried and uncertain, like a last goodbye. "I'll always love you," were the last words I heard from her. And then she was gone, and I had to watch her die in that bathroom like she should have done four days previous. And I was at a loss. I could have saved her. Why didn't I save her? Because I wanted a kiss? What kind of reason is that? But I couldn't rewind - there were no pictures that existed from that day, because that day never happened, because Chloe was dead. And she died not knowing anything that had happened between us, not knowing I had come back for her. She died feeling abandoned and left behind. She died a hero. She died, and the world ended, and I lost my only compass, my gravitational pull. My love. And I vowed never to give up something so precious ever again.

A/N I actually did this, I let Chloe die and the ending was terrible, so I went back to that last chapter of the save and I stopped her from dying. I sacrificed her mother and Warren and David and Victoria (actually, never mind, she was already dead) and Kate (whom I succeeded in dissuading from suicide), just because I couldn't bear the thought of tearing Pricefield apart again. I only did the first one because I knew they would kiss. Then when it sucked, I went back and changed it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little oneshot.

I love you all!
Allie