Of all the places to breakdown, the dairy isle of a dirty supermarket isn't my first choice. My brain seems to like the place I guess, but it's far overdue. Dammit, I've been holding it in too long, now all I am is tears and sobs. All of it is flooding in now, like some sick bastard opened the floodgates and I'm drowning. Breathe Max, just a couple of breaths'll do. Nope, not a chance. I've been staying strong for Chloe, after everything; after Rachel, the storm, and. . . and Joyce, she deserves to have a rock and not to be mine for awhile.
Two nights ago, two whole days ago, she had asked me to choose; to choose Arcadia Bay over her. . . To let her die so the others could live. . . The storm was my fault, I-I had caused it, all of it; everything that had happened was because I had kept using my powers, and kept using them, and kept fucking using them. I-I couldn't let Chloe die, not in that bathroom, not in the scrapyard, not. . . Dammit. . .
What did I do?! Joyce, Warren, everyone is dead because of me! ME! Because I couldn't. . . I just couldn't let her go. They all payed for my feelings for Chloe. God Dammit! Thinking about that moment. . .
Chloe pulled away, her lips leaving mine as the photograph arrived in my hand. Nothing else mattered to me in that moment more than Chloe, tears rolling down her face before jumping into the freedom of the wind.
"Please, Max, they deserve better than this!" Chloe yelled through the wind.
I was crying now too, warm salty tears assaulted my face. How could she ask me to do this?
"Max, don't let them die for me! Please!" Chloe was begging me to sacrifice her, to sacrifice everything we were and could be, for Arcadia Bay, for the others.
"I-I can't Chloe," I choked. "I just. . . I can't."
"You have to Max, please." She was close now, her hand was now in mine. I looked at her; hair whipping around in the wind, pink beautiful eyes. What happened next was just pure instinct, I barely even remember doing what I did, but I did.
I looked at the picture resting in my hand, a butterfly sitting on the rim of a bucket. Beautiful sapphire wings staring back at me, calling for me to return to that bathroom, to that moment; to Nathan and the gun, Chloe and the blood, and. . . Then my fingers started to release the picture.
"I'll always choose you, Chloe. Always." Before she could react the wind took the picture and it raced away. Chloe broke down and fell to her knees still clinging to my hand, her eyes watching the town and the tornado collide.
Fuck, I still remember the way she looked when the tornado reached the town, like her whole world had just imploded and it was all my fault. I'm curled up into a ball in the fucking corner crying about what I did while Chloe is still mourning her mom, and the others. We had to stop countless times for her to cry and feel everything safely. She would pull the truck over and try to fight it for a little while before she would let it out and I would hold her until she stopped.
I wouldn't have blamed her for leaving me on that hill and driving off without me, infact I thought she had. When she had walked back to the truck and left me sitting there on the ground, I thought she was going to go, I didn't try to follow her. It wasn't until I heard her yell: "Are you coming or should I go get gas and come back for your hippie ass?" that I realised she wasn't abandoning me.
I think I can get up now. . . Yep pretty sure I can breathe enough to go find Chloe now. My breathing is good old regular breathing and my eyes have stopped leaking. How long has it been. . . 15 minutes? Damn, I'm surprised nobody came and checked on the "homeless looking teen in the isolated corner of the store."
Chloe was still medicating out back, so I should get some snacks. I'll grab some YooMoo's (they used to be Chloe's favorite when we were kids), some potato chips, and some string cheese. $8.49? Ok, mister checkout man, our tansaction is hereby complete. Ok, now let's go back to the truck and wait for Chl- What the- Holy shit! What the fuck did that truck say?! PRESCOTT, oh my god there's another one. . . And another one, holy shit. . . wait, there's people getting out of that one. Hey! Hey! Oh my god, it's the trucker from the Two Whales. . . And. . . Oh my god! Oh my god. . . CHLOE! CHLOE! Jesus Christ, CHLOE! COME HERE! PLEASE!
"What the hell Max? I'm coming!" Chloe yelled from around back.
She sees me, she's limping this way, she's calling to me and Chloe and crying. . . Oh my god. . . Oh my god, I just can't believe it.
"What's going-" Chloe came around the corner.
I can see it in her eyes, she sees her. She's sees her now, she sees her mom. She sees Joyce. Oh my god. . . Joyce, god dammit Max stop crying! I don't think I've heard Chloe yell that loud before.
"Mom!"
Run, go Chloe! Go! She's running so fast to get to her mom.
"Mom! Oh my god, Mom. . . I-I thought, dammit I thought. . ." She broke down, completely this time.
Oh my god. . . Joyce is okay. . .
"Chloe! Oh, I thought. . . I'd lost you after the storm. . . I couldn't find you anywhere."
I'm just going to stay down here. . . Just going to. . . Oh dammit Joyce, I'm so glad to see you. She survived, she made it. . . I just. . .I can't believe it, Chloe is smiling again, she's smiling for the first time in two days. . . I thought that smile was gone forever. . . I thought it wasn't coming back. . .
"Hey," someone said from my right, "Mind if I join you Mega Max?"
No, no way. . . Warren! You are getting a hug right now! He's smiling that same Warren smile. Two of them! Dammit, I'm so glad to see you!
"Well, turns out I'm slightly Tornado proof, who'd have guessed. But only slightly." He pointed at a bandage wrapped around his head.
Whoa! Only a concussion, guess mother nature is going to have to try harder next time, huh? He's laughing. . . Now, he's coughing. A couple of broken ribs too.
"Oh, I'll be fine. . . I'm like made of titanium like that one superhero dude. . ."
Yeah, uhuh, you're definitely made of steel. . . Warren?
"Yeah?"
. . . Who else got out?
"Um, not many, Max. . . Um. . ."
What about Frank and Pompidou?
"Pompidou died in the diner. . . And uh, Frank got hit by a car trying to get out of the Tornado's way."
Oh. . . Poor Frank. . . Ok, what about Principal Wells?
"He, uh, didn't make it either. I think he was in the school when it collapsed."
O-Ok. . . Uh, Justin and the skaters? Kate? Alyssa? The other girls?
"Max, not all of them made it. . . I mean, I saw Justin and maybe one other dude, and Kate rode with me in my truck but as far as everybody else. . . I don't know, Max."
Dammit. . . Fuck! Even when it starts to look like things get fixed. . . What. . . What about Da-David, Joyce. . . Oh no, Joyce, is he. . .
"He, came to the diner when everything started. . . He. . . He apologized for everything and then. . . Then the roof started to cave in and he pushed me out of the way. . . Oh Max. . ."
Fuck. . .
A Few Hours Later. . .
Well, from this motel railing I can see a 7/11 and a tent city for the Arcadia Bay refugees. . . So I can buy a YooMoo and remind myself that I am a monster at the same time, great. Warren's asleep right now or I would see if he wanted to get some food and/or watch a low budget sci-fi flick, but looks like I'm on my own. Not that I don't deserve it, I do, I really do. I caused so much pain to save myself from it that if hell exists, my seat is reserved in the VIP section.
Warren and Joyce don't know it's my fault, and if they did. . . Well, I'm sure they wouldn't want me around if they knew. Maybe I should tell them. Oh yeah, that would go great: "Hey everyone, I have time powers and I could have used them to save the town and your loved ones, but I didn't." Oh yeah, I'm sure that would go over very well.
I haven't taken any pictures since the storm, not a single one. I guess because my mind has mostly been on Chloe and. . . and my guilt. . . But maybe I'll take this one, never a bad time to start up again, right? Ok, where is it. . . Nope, that's my phone, that's my journal, that would be my emergency pack of gum. . . There you are, come on out Mr. Snap Snap, we're going to take some snapshots. Ok, first the tents. . . There we go, put that in my bag. . . Now, the Prescott trucks. . . Another decent one, put that one in the bag too. . .
"Really? I can't take you anywhere without risk of a selfie, can I?"
Oh, hey. . . It's kind of my thing y'know. . .
"Kind of? Hella understatement Max." Chloe said, she came up next to me and leaned against the railing.
Yeah, it probably is. . . Chloe. . . About your mom. . .
"I know right? When I heard you yelling I thought it was cause I had locked the keys in the truck again or something."
Yeah. . . Chloe, is Joyce's leg going to be ok?
"Uh, yeah. I mean I'm sure it hurts alot, but I'm also sure it'll heal up. I'm just gald we have her back."
Good, I'm. . . I'm so happy you got your Mom back Chloe.
"Yeah. . . Max are you Ok?" She put her hand on my shoulder.
Oh, no. . . I set off her Chloe-senses. Crap. . .
"Max, what's going on? You might as well tell me cause I won't leave you alone til' you spill."
Chloe. . . Dammit, not now, don't start crying now, Max. . . Chloe. . . I-I killed, all of those people. . .
"Max. . ."
Chloe, I killed David! I killed Frank! I-I killed them all! It's my fault. . . And I almost killed Joyce and almost killed Warren. . . I. . .
"Max, stop beating yourself up, this wasn't. . ."
Yes it was, Chloe! Yes it was! I couldn't let you go, I couldn't do it! And they payed for it! Them and all the people they cared about! And Wells. . . And David. . . And poor Frank. . .
"Listen, Ma-"
No! You should have left me at the Lighthouse, Chloe! You should hate me! You. . . Should have yelled and screamed and hit me! Why?! Why don't you hate me?!
"Max. . ." She looked into my eyes. "I could never hate you. Even during those five years, when I thought I hated you, I didn't. All I felt was hurt, not hate."
But-
"Max. . . Yeah, people died! Yeah, I wanted you to choose them over me! Yeah, I was hurting! I thought my Mom and everyone I knew had died. . . And y'know who I hated for it? It wasn't you, Max. . ."
Chloe. . .
"You want to know why I didn't leave you there? Why I didn't abandon you? It's for the same reason you chose me over them! Because I couldn't let you go. . . While this whole time you've been wondering if I hated you, I've been blaming ME Max! Not you!"
Oh Chloe. . .
"And y'know what? I couldn't have sacrificed you for them either! I could have never done that, Max!"
Chloe, I-I. . .
"You saved me, Max. You chose me, Max. Even if I never got to see my Mom again, even if Warren wasn't sleeping in our motel room right now, I still couldn't hate you."
Okay. . . I just, I just. . . I want everything to be okay again, Chloe.
"It will be. Everything will be okay again, because we're together, Max. Nothing will break us apart. Nothing."
Okay. . .
"And stop the "I killed a whole town" bullshit. There's no need to brag." She gave me a classic Chloe grin and I almost punched her.
Too soon, jerk.
"Well, I hope it's not too soon for one of these cause I've been needing one. . ." She grabbed and pulled me in, our lips meeting.
Y'know you could have just asked, I would have been kissing you this whole time if I had known you've been going through withdrawals.
"You know me Super Max, I don't ask for things." She grinned.
Dork.
"Whatev', you know I'm hella awesome. Hey you wanna go get some YooMoo's?"