"Another beautiful day in Arcadia Bay" Chloe murmured mockingly to herself as she glanced to the sky. Granted, being in any other town would make this a beautiful day. The sun had broken through the clouds and the sweet smell of rain lingered in the air. 'Petrichor', Chloe thought to herself with a smile, 'Dad always knew the coolest shit.' She took a deep breath and grabbed her pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket. As she pulled out her lighter and a cigarette she looked around at her surroundings. The junkyard had always felt like home to her ever since she found it, at least more than her actual house did. With the cigarette between her lips, she brought the lighter to the tip and inhaled deep and slow, making the release the same. 'Release' was the word of the hour. Sitting there on the same old boat where she and Rachel had spent so many nights releasing their pent up anger towards the world. Releasing the abandonment they both felt towards everyone besides each other. A small smile formed on Chloe's face thinking back on the moments shared at this spot between her and her angel. Of course, there were hard times as well. But truthfully it would be best not to dwell on them now. Or ever.
A small pressure on Chloe's shoulder made her look up. "Rach? How the hell did you get up here?" Chloe asked, eyes just a bit wider than previously.
"I have my ways, Price" Rachel replied with a smirk and an accompanying wink.
Chloe sighed, taking one last shallow drag from her cigarette before flicking it away to lay to rest with the garbage that surrounded them. "Well," Chloe started, "what's up?"
Rachel looked away, taking a seat beside Chloe and letting her feet dangle off of the bow of the boat. Rachel sighed before looking back to Chloe, eyes squinting. Chloe knew all to well of the look Rachel was giving her. While mostly the look was good, happening right before Rachel went off on a rant about her feelings for Chloe, this time Chloe didn't feel as if that were the case. Her stomach sank and she looked into Rachel's eyes where she could practically see a storm brewing.
"Why did you replace me, Chloe?"
Chloe could swear she felt her heart stop for a moment, "W..whaddya mean Rach?"
"Max." Rachel said, not dropping her glare. "You replaced me with Max." The steely look in her eyes matched the venom coming from her words.
Chloe broke her stare and looked out over the junkyard, "I didn't replace you Rach. You weren't coming back. Max has been my friend for years, you know that. Hell, you know how bad I wanted her to come back, no matter how mad I was at her for leaving." She risked a glance back at Rachel.
In the split second between looking at her and blinking something wasn't right. Rachel was..distorted in some way? Chloe couldn't put her finger on it, but something was off.
Rachel looked towards the sky, her face relaxing a bit. Chloe took the moment to look Rachel over. The girl in front of her had been her entire life for who even knows how long. Rachel was her saving grace, her friend, her lover, her everything.
Chloe took a breath in, "Rachel.." She released the breath "I could never replace you. We have..memories, moments, that are special to me. Shit, you know I'm not good at this stuff, okay? Just believe me when I say no one ever could, or will replace you." Chloe pressed two fingers to each temple and dropped her head. She calmed herself, focusing on her breathing. She hated making herself seem vulnerable.
Chloe let a small smile take over when she felt the small pressure of Rachel's hand resting on her back. Chloe took a deep breath and released it before looking up at Rachel again.
This time, between the glance and the blink something was definitely wrong. Chloe recoiled a little from the sight before her. Half of Rachel's face was sunken in, her eye cold and glazed over. Her mouth stuck in a twisted, demented smile. Chloe stood quickly, shaking her head to rid the image in front of her. Rachel reached up and grabbed Chloe's wrist but Chloe tried and failed to jerk out of Rachel's grasp. Her hand was cold and it filled Chloe's stomach with dread.
"Where are you going?" Rachel asked, a tinge of malice in her voice and eyebrows furrowed.
"I just, I need to get some air Rach okay? Then we can talk more" Chloe said. She tried to remain calm but the rush of her words betrayed her. Rachel's grip on her wrist tightened slightly, making Chloe flinch.
"I thought you'd be happy to see me. Why are you trying to leave me? Chloe, we're supposed to be together. Stay here with me." Rachel said in a demanding tone.
As terrified as Chloe was by this point, she couldn't look away. At one time the sight of Rachel filled Chloe with such hope, joy and love. But this..deformed Rachel in front of her just made her stomach turn.
"Rach, I have to go." Chloe said, once again trying to remove Rachel's hand from her wrist. She reached down to grab the hand that was still tightening it's grasp on her, but Rachel reached out and grabbed Chloe's other wrist and pulled her back down. Chloe landed hard on her knees beside Rachel. She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. 'It's okay, Chloe calm down' she thought to herself, 'it's Rachel, she's just being overly protective again, it's okay, it's okay'
Chloe opened her eyes and took a sharp breath in, Rachel's face just inches away from her own. Try as she may, Chloe couldn't stop herself from examining the half of Rachel's face that was so different than the beauty she had once known. The sunken cheek, the dry cracked lips, the absurdly dark circle underneath her eye that Chloe knew couldn't see anything. The hint of blue from Rachel's earring caught Chloe's eye and she forced herself to focus on that.
"Rachel, look-" Chloe started.
"No Chloe, you listen to me. It's me and you, right? We were supposed to be together, no matter what. You promised yourself to me, and now what? You're just going to forget about me?" Rachel tugged slightly on Chloe's wrists bringing her even closer. "Of course you are, you'll forget about me and go start a new life with Max. Chloe..you belong with me"
Chloe tore her gaze away from the earring to look at Rachel.
"You belong with me." Rachel whispered looking into Chloe's eyes.
Rachel stood, pulling Chloe along with her. "Just look at all of the good we can do together, Chloe" Rachel whispered again, releasing one of Chloe's wrists to gesture in front of her. Chloe reluctantly turned her gaze from Rachel to look in front of them where the landscape had changed. A destroyed town looked back at the wreckage wasn't immediately recognizable Chloe knew exactly what town it was. The same town she and Max ruled when they were younger, the same town that had abandoned her when after her dad died. The same town that had brought her and Rachel together.
"Rachel.. This isn't right" Chloe said, pain in her voice as she looked back to Rachel.
Rachel's eyebrows rose, and then furrowed. "This isn't what you want? But I did this for you, Chloe. For us!" Rachel's voice rose as the anger set into her face. Chloe tried to take a step back, but Rachel kept her grip. "Fine." Rachel said as an amber tint started to light up around the, both. "Fine Chloe. Have it your way." A confused look formed on Chloe's face as she looked away from Rachel and back to the dystopia landscape, now with fire coming from underneath the rubble.
Rachel took a step forward, bringing Chloe with her. "Rach what..what are we doing?" Chloe asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer. Rachel turned to look at her, her free hand reaching up to cup Chloe's cheek, "We are supposed to be together, Chloe. I'm going to make sure that happens." Rachel said gazing into Chloe's eyes before she drug Chloe off of the boat with her and into the fiery destruction below.
Chloe woke with tears slowly rolling down her face and landing in her hair that was laid out on the pillow beneath her. 'It was a dream,' she thought to herself, reaching up to wipe the tears away, 'just a fucked up dream'. Movement beside her caught her attention and she turned her head to see Max readjusting herself. The blinking lights from outside their hotel made the moment have a thick layer of ambiance. A small murmur escaped Max's mouth as she rolled from her back to her side, facing Chloe.
Chloe took a moment to look over Max's sleeping face. The scrunch of her nose, and the slight frown clued Chloe in that Max's sleep was anything but peaceful. Chloe turned on her side to face Max, mentally counting the freckles that littered the bridge and cheeks of the smaller girls face. She reached out to grab the sleeping girls hand, earning herself a small satisfied noise from Max. Chloe allowed herself a small sad smile.
She didn't know what would happen from here. But as long as Max was with her, she knew it would be okay.