Max opened her eyes to find the deep blue sky above her. The same sky she would adore for it's bright shining sun and it's cotton ball shaped clouds that blocked out the light on some occasions.
If she had her camera, she would take a nice photo of it. Actually, she would be in awe at the background in front of her. But instead, all she felt was confusion. Not to mention, she could feel something covering her body. What was the object that was doing so? A black jacket. One that can easily be mistaken for her best friend's. Or. Maybe it was her's.
But that would be impossible, the brunette thought. It shouldn't be here. And if she thought deeper into the subject, she wasn't supposed to feel anything period. If she remembered, she was in front of a deadly storm. She had saved hundreds and the cost was her life. She was supposed to be dead. Who knows, maybe she was. This was probably heaven, right? It had to be.
Max lifted herself up slowly to see a more extraordinary view. Where she was at was a forest right next to a huge river that ran all the way across from her left and right. The trees were so alive, the body of water seemed to be crystal clear and the birds chirping around her made things more breath taking. The teen really wished she had had her camera now, but she didn't throw a fit about it. She just took all of it in by using her international camera. Her brain. That was until she heard the sound of splashes erupting from the water in a rhythm, throwing her back into reality. The sound came yet again from the right of the brunette, far away at the end of a not so long dock. Who was it?
A stranger. One wearing a dark blue beanie, a white t-shirt with the straps of a black bra being revealed to the whole world and jeans with what looked like two black strips held by both ends of the person's jeans. Not to mention, the person seemed to be a girl figure with. Bracelets and a detailed tattoo on her arm and. Blue hair... By then, Max could definitely tell who this 'stranger' was.
Chloe Price.
What was she doing at the minute? Causing the sound of splashing water by skipping small rocks across the river between her and the other half of the forest. She was also whispering to herself about keeping calm a couple of times. But other then that, she seemed like her typical self. And her friend was really happy about that.
But what she wasn't happy about was the fact that she was here. That she was still alive. That Chloe. Must have saved her... That made the teen kind of pissed off. She wanted to accept death. To let everyone live in peace without her. Not to stay alive and continue what might be a chain reaction of death wherever she goes. But as much as she was upset about what was going on, she couldn't help but go talk to the blue haired friend of hers. To see what was really going on. To get some details on the others. To see if she was okay.
So Max quietly walked over to Chloe so she wouldn't hear and in a instant, hugged her from behind, whispering, "Hey." She couldn't see the other girl's face, but she could tell she was smiling in joy right now. Or was she? What felt like a nice moment for them to have a casual talk soon turned into a passionate hug when the punk style girl turned around and held her best friend tightly. All the brunette could hear now was the water near her move smoothly through the rocks below them and small sniffles from her bff. She almost asked how the girl was until Chloe blurted out,
"Don't ever do that again..."
Max wanted to say she wouldn't do so, but her mind went wondering. She wanted to know what happened so badly. How she got here? Why she had on her friend's jacket? Why was she still alive? The teen then replied to the blue haired, "Chloe. What happened?"
"I saved you, stupid," She continued while breaking the hug to see the other's face which was filled with confusion. "I just saw you still in the town and I came to your rescue, my damsel in distress." She tried to joke around with the matter, but it didn't seem to work since Max lightly pushed the girl away and shook her head in disbelief.
"No. You weren't supposed to do that."
"Why? You would rather want me to watch my best friend die from a storm of emotions or whatever?"
"Well, you could've turned away and drove right out of Arcadia Bay. Then you wouldn't have to witness my tragic death."
"What do you mean, Caulfield," Chloe questioned with crossed arms and a face that was filled with happiness replaced with one filled of irritation.
"I mean you could've just left me. Not do something dangerous as try to save me."
"Max, you know I couldn't just let you die."
"No, Chloe," She yelled at her with sudden anger in her voice. "I was supposed to be sucked up into that storm. Die in the worst possible way so you wouldn't see my face again."
"What the hell is your problem? I saved your ass. If anything, you should be thanking me for being your hard headed friend!"
"Fine. Thank you, Chloe. Thank you for ruining my plans!"
"You are so welcome."
"You just don't get it, do you!? I was supposed to be killed. Be in the afterlife right now while you and everyone dance in joy at the fact that you're all still alive! But instead, I'm still here! I tried to change destiny by trading my soul for yours! I'm supposed to be dead instead of you! So I can stop these deaths I always cause! These painful tears that always run down my face. I was supposed to stop the sick jinx that's running through my blood! But no! Apparently, I'm still alive! I'm still here! And so long as I'm here, death will keep on following me! You want that, Chloe?! You want a life filled with nothing but pain? Well here you go! A life with nothing but suffering due to yours truly! I hope your happy!"
After that certain outburst, all Chloe could do was look at her best friend with her eyes filled with fear. She never knew Max felt like that this whole time. She always thought she was doing the right thing by saving her best friend from sudden death. But turns out, she was only screwing up what she had planned out. It was another one of her screw ups and she wasn't proud of it. She wanted to let her anger out on something. Anything. But instead. She just watched as the brunette in front of her cried softly to herself. As she let her tears flow from the corners of her eyes all the way down to the wooden ground, causing them to fall into the river and merge with it delicately.
All the girl could do was sit down and cry. Cry as hard as she could. That was until the blue haired sat right next to her and held her in a warm embrace. The only thing heard around the two was the soft whimpers of Max that felt like carried on and on to Chloe. But the whimpers soon died out thanks to the touch of the punk friend's hand on the other's back and the soft shushing she delivered. Not long after that, the older teen blurted out to the younger one,
"I'm sorry... I-I'm sorry I ruined everything. To be honest, you should've just let me die instead. Don't forget, no one would've missed me. Only my mom, step dad and you. But other then that. No one else... But you? Max. If you was to die in that storm, everyone would've missed you. And I mean everyone. All of Arcadia Bay. The students, the workers. Warren, Kate, Victoria. I can't believe I'm saying this, but even Mr. Jefferson would've missed you as well. And don't forget. I would cry all day and night if you was gone..."
The brunette lifted up her head to have her eyes connect with Chloe's blue ones. This time it wasn't filled with fear. It was filled with passion but at the same time a little bit of guilt. In a way, Max knew she couldn't let her friend down at the minute. She couldn't make her feel like she was ignored. So she signaled the girl to go on and get to the point in a polite manner.
"What I'm trying to come at is that the world wouldn't be right without you, Max. I wouldn't know what to do with myself without you. Through these past days, I've been trying to see the best of you. And that's what I got. And like you said, it wasn't because of your powers. It was because you was caring and heart warming and determined about everything you did. Where will anyone find another person like you if you was gone? No one would, Max. No one... To tell you the truth. When you left me by the lighthouse, I really wanted to do what you said and get the hell to safety. But I couldn't. My heart was telling me to go and find you. I was this close to leaving, Max. But I came back. I went through what felt like hell and back for you. I just found you passed out on the floor and went for the opening. You wanna know why?"
The teen thought for a minute until she nodded, earning the most heart warming answer she would ever get from Chloe.
"It's because... Because I care about you, Max. You are everything to me. You are my day and night. You are the star in the sky that sparkles brighter then any other one. You are my lucky charm. You are the apple in my eye. My one and only... Max... I... I love you. I will never stop trying to do the impossible just for you. When I do is that day that I should be in a grave and not you. I'll never leave you alone. Sorry, but I love you too much to lose you... I will never. Ever. Stop loving you..."
Max stared at the girl for what felt like hours until her eyes started to water yet again. This time, it wasn't filled with tears of sadness. It was tears of joy. Tears that she couldn't help but just be released. So she let them flow slowly to Chloe's surprise, making her think she had done something wrong. Until the brunette smiled at her warmly and responded,
"I love you too, Chloe..."
With that, the blue haired knew exactly what to do. She touched her friend's face gently, pulled her close and kissed her ever so gently. Max soon kissed back after a while and made the kiss more romantic by running her hands into Chloe's blue hair underneath her beanie and pressing her lips onto hers harder. The older teen soon did the same thing for a while until the moment ended due to the brunette pulling away for air.
"... I'll never leave you, Chloe," Max whispered to her, causing the girl to smile then kiss her forehead and replied, "Me neither..."
The two of them sat there at the dock and looked out into the river peacefully. As they did, they talked about how everyone survived the storm and only a few got injured. Chloe also told her friend that the young teen's parents would have no problem with the two going to Seattle to settle down for a while until things get better. But the brunette just told her friend it would be better if they just went wherever the road took them. And that's exactly what they were going to do.
So the teens walked through the forest back to the blue haired's beat up truck to drive around. As the older teen started the engine, a scene caught Max;s attention before they left.
A deer stared at her blankly for a second. But it seemed to be staring into her soul in a way. And unlike the other times when things occur, she wasn't freaked out about it. She just let it go. And as she did, a blue butterfly, similar to the one she took a pick of what felt like a long time ago, landed on the deer's back peacefully. Suddenly, in a way, it made the brunette smile. It made her feel. Hopeful. Like this was a symbol. A symbol of life.
Finally, Chloe drove the pickup truck down the road as Max still looked at the animals. They followed them down the road side by side until the deer and butterfly jumped in harmony back into the forest. With that, she laid back in her seat and let her friend drive her vehicle wherever she wished to. She knew that this week was a total mess and that there will be other obstacles in the future. But just like that butterfly and deer. Just like that pair, she knew she could get past all the rough times that dared to try to stop her and Chloe. Because they both know in a way, that nothing and no one will never separate them ever again. As long as they are together.
It's true. Life is strange. But it can be the best thing that would ever happen to you. As long as you always remember.
You are never alone...
And so that was my ending of "Life is Strange". Truth be told, I really love the game, I just hated the endings I had to pick is all. Anyway, this was my first story, so I hope you guys like it. Btw, this won't be my last one if you guys are thinking that. I have some ideas for some LIS fanfics and maybe for others, but I'll just try to focus on LIS for now. Until then, I hoped you enjoyed "Max: The Everyday Hero".