Back downstairs...
Vanessa was helping Joyce with the food doing some small talk until...
"So what happened to Max?" Joyce randomly asks.
Vanessa drops a spoon on accident and it spooks Joyce.
"Sorry Joyce its just a hard subject to talk about. But wh-"
Vanessa gets cut off as they both turnaround to hear the sound of the front door opening. Chloe and Rachel come in and walk over to greet them.
"Hey mom." Chloe says as she hugs her. "Hey Step-Douche." She tells him as she sees him on the couch and he just grunts for a response. She then looks towards Vanessa and goes up to hug her too. "Hey Mrs.Caulfield, been awhile hasnt it?" She says.
"My god Chloe you've grown so tall." Vanessa says sounding amazed and sees Rachel off to the side.
"Chloe whos this?" Vanessa asks while pointing to her. Rachel then walks up making her presence known and introduces herself.
"Im Rachel Amber, Chloes girlfriend. Nice to meet you." Rachel states as they shake hands.
"Nice to meet you too Rachel." She says to her and looks back at Chloe. "I didn't expect you to take a liking toward girls Chloe. Especially with one so well mannered and beautiful." Vanessa says as Rachel blushes.
"Yea I know right? A lot has changed in 5 years. Chloe says smugly. "Speaking of which wheres Max?" Chloe asks as she leans over the counter.
Meanwhile back upstairs...
"Dad I dont want to go down there." Max tells him sounding nervous and anxious.
"Max honey just calm down and relax. Chloe isnt going to do anything drastic."
"I know but im still scared she's just gonna freak out on me." Max tells him
"Max pl-" Ryan gets cutoff as Max starts to talk.
"Can you please just tell them that im sleeping and that you can get me when dinner is ready." Max pleads with him.
Ryan just nods his head as he knows Max wont change her mind no matter how long they argue. "Alright Max." He simply tells her as they hug. When they separate, they look at the stairs and hear voices getting closer to them.
"Chloe remember dont go all out on her ok? Give her a chance to explain herself." Rachel tells Chloe.
"Yea I know Rach." Chloe tells her as she takes a deep breath as they walk up. Chloe and Rachel make it to the top of the stairs and see Ryan closing the door to Chloes room. "Oh hey Chloe." Ryan says to her as he goes in for a hug. "Hey Mr.C." Chloe tells him as they hug. "So how've you been?" She asks him.
"I've been feeling a little peachy nowadays." He tells her. He then asks "Now, how have you been young lady?"
"Ehh i've been fine. Things could be better but all in all just fine." She tells him.
"Thats good to hear and god look how tall you've grown." Ryan tells her in amazement.
"Its kind of funny because Vanessa told me the same thing." Chloe says as she chuckles.
"Really? Thats nice then." Ryan says. He then remembers a question he had earlier about Joyce.
"Oh uh hey Chloe, I gotta question."
"Shoot." Chloe tells him.
"When did Joyce remarry?" Ryan asks curiously.
"Im suprised she hadn't told you guys about it." Chloe tells him sounding kind of suprised herself.
"Yea, well you know communication has never been a strong suit for us throughout the five years apart and I meant to ask her about it earlier." Ryan tells her sounding shameful while rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well it was not too long after my real dad died that my mom met David at her diner. Long story short they talked for awhile until eventually they got married...right before my 16th birthday." Chloe explains sounding kind of angry.
"Oh my...wow." Is all Ryan can respond with sounding shocked. He coughs a little bit and tries to change the subject. He looks at Rachel and asks "And who might you be?"
In which Rachel responds with "My names Rachel. Im Chloes girlfriend." Rachel tells him as they shake hands.
"Nice to meet you Rachel. The names Ryan." He tells her as they let go. He then looks over at Chloe and tells her.
"I didnt know you liked girls Chloe." Ryan says to her jokingly.
"Yea I didn't know either until I met her. Now wheres Max?" Chloe says sounding impatient as she remembers her current objective.
"She's sleeping right now but when dinner is ready, she'll be down there with us." Ryan tells her.
Chloe gets frustrated by the news but doesn't show it. "Yea...alright then." Chloe says to him. Ryan smiles and nods as he walks down the stairs. Chloe on the other hand is just standing there pissed off. "You ok Chloe?" Rachel asks sounding worried.
"Yea im fan-fucking-tastic." Chloe tells her angrily as she walks down the stairs also. Rachel just shakes her head and sighs as she walks down the stairs with her. They head over to the garage where David and Ryan are and just chill there for the time being.
Meanwhile Joyce and Vanessa were in the kitchen still getting everything ready as they were talking about Chloe until Joyce remembered their conversation about Max.
"Wait Vanessa. Do you mind explaining what happened to Max again?" Joyce says to her.
Vanessa sighs before telling her what happened. "A few years back while we were in Seattle, Max got invited to a party." Vanessa takes a deep breath before talking again.
"It was actually her first party too. She was so excited when she got invited because she never was really a social butterfly like Chloe. So it was a really big deal to her. She thought that she'd be able to finally make some close friends there and be happy."
Vanessa then takes a shaky breath trying to hold in some tears. "That sadly wasnt the case when she actually attended the party." Vanessa says as she takes another pause. Joyce then put her hand on Vanessas shoulder and urges her to keep talking.
Vanessa sniffles and keeps going "About an hour or two after we dropped her off, we saw some police cars outside our house." She stops again before speaking.
"Me and Ryan were confused as to what happened outside until one of the officers knocked on our door. We opened it and he informed us that Max was taken to the hospital with a fatal gunshot wound." Vanessa stops as she almost chokes on her words but decides to keep telling the story.
"When we arrived at the hospital, we were escorted to the emergency room she was at and..." Vanessa stops for a split second before she continues talking.
"And we saw her body on the bed hooked up to so many machines. The doctor saw us and told us that they were doing everything possible to keep her alive. They told us to wait in the waiting room since they were getting ready to perform surgery on her." Vanessa takes a shaky breath before she continues.
"After what seemed like years, a doctor finally came and informed us that the surgery was done and that we can finally see her. But before we walked in,a doctor stopped and informed us that Max...That Max was paralyzed from the waist down." Vanessa says as she starts sobbing.
"I think...I think you can stop now Vanessa." Joyce tells her trying not to cry either. Vanessa just nods and continues helping with the food. They settle down after a little bit and end up talking about things again until Joyce asks
"Why didn't you tell me this over the phone before Max came?" Joyce asks sounding concerned.
"Because Max didn't want you guys to know." Vanessa replies.
"How come?" Joyce asks
"Because she thought you guys wouldn't want to deal with her since she's...you know." Vanessa explains.
"Well Vanessa just know that I would never do that to Max even after what happened 5 years ago." Joyce tells her.
"Im greatful for that Joyce but im even more greatful for the fact that you're letting Max stay with you guys especially after me and Ryan left so abruptly." Vanessa says
"William would've wanted me to say yes." Joyce tells her.
Vanessa just looks at her and smiles as they continue working on the food. After a few more minutes they get it done. Just before Joyce was about to call everyone to eat Vanessa interups her. "When did you remarry?" Vanessa asks sounding curious.
Joyce then just looks at her and Vanessa tells her "I apologize for asking that out of the blue but I never got the chance to ask beforehand."
"Oh no it's alright Vanessa, you just caught me off guard thats all." Joyce tells her. Theres a moment of silence between them before Joyce begins to speak again. "Well it was a few years after Williams passing that I met David at my diner. We talked for awhile until we eventually tied the knot and he moved in." Joyce explains.
"Well thats nice but how did Chloe take the news?
"Not too good thats all I have to say about it." Joyce says as she remembers what Chloe did to David on her 16th birthday. She snaps out it and tells Vanessa "Alright lets get everybody here to eat."