"Bulletproof" by Kerli

Press Play, part 1

Max sat on the hospital room's windowsill, looking down as Chloe looked up at her from outside. Seeing Chloe flip her off, Max chuckled, but the smile on her friend's face quickly brought one to her face. Feeling the pain in her side return, Max winced and gave Chloe an apologetic look as she cracked the window open.

"Are you ever going to come back up?" Max asked, watching Chloe blow a smoke ring toward her, "C'mon, Price, don't leave me hangin'."

Chloe had been quiet regarding Max had asked her out for nearly a week now, but Max had honestly not expected an answer right away. She had hoped for one, of course, but also knew that the Chloe she was looking at right now didn't share any of the memories from the Chloe she'd come to know over the past week. No junkyard, no breaking into the gym to go swimming No kiss. At least, not with me. Sighing, Max rolled her eyes and was about to close the window when a pebble smacked the glass near where her hand was. Arching an eyebrow as she turned to look over her shoulder, Max smirked when she saw Chloe head back inside. A couple minutes later and the punk was sauntering into her room, hurrying over to Max with the cane that was leaned up next to the door.

"Goddamnit, Max, you're not a superhero!" Chloe chastised her, pointedly putting the cane in Max's hand, "Even if it's to take a fucking piss, use the damn cane. We all know you're a klutz, so having a gunshot wound makes it hella worse."

"Good afternoon to you too, asshole," Max grumbled before smiling contentedly when Chloe gently hugged her, "I missed you, too."

Aside from the visits to see how she was, Max hadn't really talked with Chloe. She'd talked at Chloe, eager for information as to what had happened while she was in "a coma". Meeting Rachel Amber in some space that's partly in my head and partly a universe unto itself. I'm a Time Lord or something close. Part of me will be immortal? What did Rachel mean? Wowser, this is some hella crazy shit. Walking over to the small coffee table that was nestled against a wall, Max sat down with Chloe taking the chair opposite her. Leftovers of their breakfast, waffles and bacon from Two Whales, along with a thermos of coffee, littered the table top. Opening the thermos, Max poured herself a cup of coffee and snagged the last sugar packet from where Chloe had stashed them.

"Thief, Caulfield!" Chloe teased in a Gollum impression, "We hates her forever… Oh, Max…"

Max sniffled at the words, despite knowing that Chloe was only teasing. Not just the idea that she had to go through all of this, reconnecting with Chloe again, but that so much that had brought them closer was gone. Max had taken a bullet for Chloe, so Chloe had been acting especially sweet to her, but they both knew a serious talk was coming fast. Sipping at her beverage, Max felt her hands shake and hissed when some of the hot beverage spilled onto her hands.

"Shit!" Chloe blurted out, reaching over to take the coffee from Max's hands, "Damn, that's gonna leave a fuckin' mark, dude. You want me to get some-"

"No. No, it's just a burn. I'll be fine," Max said, her voice distant as she looked past Chloe toward the door, "God, I'm glad I'll finally be out of here today. My parents all but pleaded for me to go back to Seattle."

"…You're not, are you?" The hesitation and barely-hidden worry was instantly picked up on by Max, her response to reach over and lay a hand on top of one of Chloe's with a gentle smile.

"No, Chloe. I'm not going anywhere, except for the fuck out of here," Max assured her before scowling at the cane, "Wish I didn't need this still, though. Wowser, another week? Yeah, that'll happen."

"Dude, I will glue that to your damn hand," Chloe said with a smug look on her face, "Besides, you're totally crashing with me tonight. You promised."

"That I did," Max said, looking at the door again, "I'm still surprised you want me to, though…"

The silence at the end of Max's statement was palpable; neither girl knew what else to say, to talk about. Max had an idea of Chloe's train of thought, but her own mind was a safe that she knew Chloe had tried and failed to pick. It's eerie sometimes, Max thought as her gaze shifted to Chloe, You look exactly like the Chloe I knew. You are the Chloe I knew, justdifferent. Never shot, never hit by a train. Never kissedby me. Max still had trouble at times wrapping her head around the differences in this timeline. If she could have brought any memory with her to share it would've been the kiss, as awkward as it was.

With Nathan arrested for shooting her, Max found out that his family had made a deal in exchange for providing evidence toward something even more heinous: Mark Jefferson's dirty secret, his dark room. Chloe had told her this part, how arresting him and discovering his "secret photo-torture dungeon" had led to the remains of Rachel Amber. Chloe held her arm the way Max does when she talked about them finding Rachel near the same place they'd hung out. Knowing she meant "American Rust", Max had wanted to ask about it but had to hold back; in this timeline, her permanent timeline, she had never been there and Chloe had sounded adamant in never returning there. Despite being made to fetch empty beer bottles for Chloe, Max had enjoyed their time there and how they'd talked. Now, Max had no map or chance to go back and say whatever got her the best response. Now, all I can be is myself. Thing is, I don't entirely know who that is anymore. I've I've seen a lot, had a lot happen

"Chloe, can we talk?" Max asked, breaking the silence as Chloe blinked her eyes a few times before looking over at her, "I mean, really talk. I know you've got things on your mind."

"That obvious, huh?" Chloe asked, a nervous smirk on her face when Max nodded, "…Dude… Max, why didn't you ever call or write? I mean, there's Facebook and email for shit like moving to another state, man. I… I needed you. My dad had just died."

"I know, Chloe. I know," Max said. In her original timeline, Max had let Chloe basically pound her into the ground with this, metaphorically speaking. Max had a question or two of her own, the assertiveness and confidence she'd gained during the week she had lived not going anywhere, "aI could ask the same of you, though."

"…I know, and that's what makes it even fucking worse," Chloe tugged her beanie down to try and hide her face only to gasp when Max snatched it off her head entirely and pull it onto her own head, "…Looks good on you. Keep it."

"Chloe, I wanted to write you… With William's death I was broken, and then to up and move before the funeral? I was a wreck for so long that by the time I started to come out of it I was unsure if you'd even want to talk to me," Max said, absently playing with the beanie, "I mean, I figured you hated me."

"I… I never hated you, Max. Pissed at you? Fuck yea, I was," Chloe said, wincing when she saw the crestfallen look on Max's face, "Not hate, Max. I can be mad and not hate someone. I was hurting, y'know? My dad dies and you bail… well, it felt like bailing. I knew it really wasn't like that, even then, but I can't be helped for how I feel. Felt. I wanted to write you hella bad, but everything came out so angry and hurtful that I wanted to wait and calm down. I never did entirely chill, however, and eventually it became fuking easier to not consider getting back in touch with you than trying."

"Chloe…," Max leaned across the table as far as her injury would allow and kissed Chloe on the cheek, the punk's face reddening. Got to remember that we never kissed. God, Chloe's got to be so confused. I'm just as confused, I guess, but she's too fucking cute to ignore sometimes, "…So we both fucked up. Congratulations! We're dumbasses together! Doesn't mean that it's the end of everything. You're here, and so am I."

"I'm still trippin' on you taking a bullet for me, Max," Chloe leaned back into her chair, sitting in it sideways so her head rested against the wall, "You saved me. The first time I see you in five years and you risk your life for me. Pretty hardcore, Maxaroni."

"We've established that you owe me a life debt, yes," Max nodded sagely, Chloe tilting her head with a scowl on her face, "Life debt, Chlobacca."

"I am totally Han Solo," Chloe leaned an elbow on the table, poking at Max's cheek, "You're a fucking Jawa, tiny and noisy."

"Screw that. I'm a Jedi. Use the Schwartz."

Both girls laughed at the Spaceballs reference, Max cringing a little at the pain in her side making itself known. Gingerly getting to her feet, Max walked over to the wheelchair and eased herself into it with Chloe instinctively moving to keep it steady. Spinning around in lazy circles, Max let out an audible sigh. Let me out! Max cried out in her head with an audible growl of frustration, There's a whole world out there I want to know! Wowser, when will it be time? As if on cue, Max's physician walked in with a clipboard of discharge paperwork and Chloe plopped down in her seat as Max signed and initialed every spot required. Rolling her eyes at having to be pushed out of the hospital in the wheelchair, Max had quickly broken into a fit of laughter when Chloe grabbed the handles before a nurse was able to and ran down the hall while pushing Max. Looking over her shoulder, seeing the huge smile on Chloe's face, Max couldn't help but smile back. There's something there, there is. I I just have to be more confident, more assertive. I love you, Chloe, but you can't run me down like before when we first got back in action. You might not remember it, but I do.

A second, final chance.


"Wowser."

The room was an echo of a world she'd only known for a week. God, everything is so exact, Max thought as she slowly made her way into Chloe's room, the room's principal occupant closing the door behind them before tossing Max's duffel bag in a chair near the door. A knowing smirk on her face, Max got a confused look from Chloe as she walked over and plucked out a CD from the metal lockbox under Chloe's mattress.

"Hey, give that…! Oh, you were after the CD," Chloe said awkwardly, looking at Max with a perplexed look, "…How'd you know that was there?"
"You're not exactly the best at hiding things, Chloe," Max said, motioning to the joint sitting idly in an ashtray on Chloe's desk, "Plus, well, a hunch."

Going through the tracks one at a time, Max instead pulled out her phone and selected "Something Good" by alt-J. Nodding her head against the drum rhythm, Max hobbled over with her cane to the desk chair and took a seat as Chloe plugged Max's phone into the speaker system. Sitting alongside Max on the desk, Max caught Chloe watching her and smirked, poking her friend's leg with her cane in a teasing manner.

"You're no ninja, that's for sure," Max said with a snort, Chloe snickering as she ran a hand through Max's chestnut hair. The beanie back on her own head, Chloe took it off and tossed it onto the bed before running her fingers through her own hair, "I like what you've done with the place. Very… Very Chloe Price…"

"What a load of shit," Chloe said with a snort of her own, more derisive than Max's and made to hop off the desk only to have Max's cane block her way, "Uh, what?"
"Don't do that," Max said, a resolve in her voice that matched the strength Chloe had noticed in her eyes on occasion over the past week of recuperation and physical therapy, "Don't fucking mock me, Chloe. Things might be awkward between us, and I don't mind if you tease, but don't fucking play me. I won't put up with it anymore."

"Okay, Max. Damn, when'd you get so badass?" Chloe grumbled, frowning until Max slid a hand into hers.

"I… I've just been through a lot. For you. I think I'm due a lack of bullshit, that's all," Max said, though her thoughts continued with a laundry list of events only she would ever know about. Max had promised herself that she'd not ever mention what she'd been through in the other realities. Her powers gone, Max was left with odd dreams, bad nightmares, and anxiety troublesome enough that it required medicinal marijuana. A small vial and a pen-sized electronic hookah had been given to her by a pharmacist with strict guidelines on how much daily she could intake and how to operate and clean the device. Hella strict. It's like they're afraid I'll get high. Did you not see the Chloe Price standing next to me? Did you not pick up on her stoner vibe?

"If you want me to not bullshit you, Max, then don't guilt trip me," Chloe retorted, Max taken aback, "…I know that's not how you meant it to come off, and I am hella grateful you took a bullet for me. Understatement of the century, really, but you can't bring it up whenever shit's not going your way."

I'm doing to her what she did to me in the other timeline, guilt-tripping her. I I didn't mean to Max thought as she let go of Chloe's hand and slumped her shoulders.

"…Didn't mean to," Max said sulkily, "Chloe, I don't want this to be so damn awkward."

"What the fuck were you expecting? You come out of nowhere after five years and save my life, but there's still five years. We're cool, but there's damage along the way and I'm hella tired and way too sober to talk about this right now," Chloe said with a sigh, walking over to the bed only to fall back into it, "…Dude, I'm sorry. I'm just…"

"Processing?"

"Yeah," Chloe replied, Max seeing her friend's eyes light up with mischief, "Hey, you wanna bake?"

"What I want is to get to know my best friend again, but sure. I'll bake," Max said, something else she had to adjust to. Pulling out her little e-hookah, Max pressed the button and waited until she heard a crackling noise before taking in a few small puffs as Chloe lit up a joint.

Never beer, though. Yuck.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note -

Not much to say this time around. Busy moving into new apartment. Bedroom's all but set up - have blue LED lights to string up and tack into place

Thought I'd give a follow-up to "End - Hospital" a shot, approach the game's world from where I left off with the ending story. Who knows what's around the corner - I'm in uncharted waters!

Read, Review, and I'll see you all later!

Stay Hella, Cinnamon Rolls ! :)