Welcome back, guys. So, this one'll be a little more angsty than the last. There will be some fluffier stuff throughout to get a balance and it'll end on a nice note, though. We don't know exactly when Chloe had the injury in the alt-timeline canonically, as far as I can tell (somewhere between 2010 when she got the car and 2013 when the game takes place). So yeah, gonna just add something.

Chapter Two: A Not So Happy Accident

Late 2010 (Chloe: Aged 16) – Days After the Car Accident – Hospital, Afternoon

It had been several days since the accident, only some of which Chloe had been fully awake for. She knew what had happened to her; she'd been rammed off the road by some drunk asshole, who of course got away with nothing more than a broken arm and collar bone. Chloe, however, had not been so lucky. For the foreseeable future, she might never walk again – paralyzed from the waist down.

Understandably, it had been a total shock for her waking up and not being able to move her legs. She'd panicked naturally, especially since she couldn't remember what had happened. Her parents had cried so hard when she woke up, tears of relief and sadness. Things had been dicey for a while, vitals unstable. She could have just as easily died as survived; a fifty-fifty chance. Now, she would have to get used to her new disability.

In all honesty, she just wanted to go home and forget. Unfortunately, her now useless legs would serve as a constant reminder of the accident. Either way, she wanted to return to her 'normal' life… or what was left of it. When she thought about the time she'd cruised into a disabled parking space because she was too lazy to walk, the irony hit her like a gut punch; ominous foreshadowing. That's what it would be if her life were a movie or a game. Cruel poetic justice, giving her a reason to actually use them now… not that she'd probably be doing much driving.

Her parents weren't the only ones who had come and visited her. Rachel Amber had dropped by once or twice to try and cheer her up – something that worked while she was there. The blonde didn't treat her any different, already planning all the trouble they would be getting up to when Chloe got out. She even managed to crack a few terrible jokes and get her laughing. Nothing was sacred with Rachel around… part of her appeal.

One other person had been to see her as much as possible: her childhood friend, Max Caulfield. The second she heard, she had come over straight away, ditching class without hesitation. Chloe had vague memories from the first couple days or so, when she had been dipping in and out of consciousness – unable to communicate. Almost every time she came to, Max had been there either asleep in a chair, holding her hand or pacing. The brunette had talked to her, even if Chloe hadn't heard or understood at the time.

When she did finally wake up, she didn't feel like talking much at first. She was drugged up and processing everything. In time, she had become a little more talkative, not much. Right now, she felt depressed, unsure how her life would go from here on out. Hopefully, the feeling would pass or lessen eventually but until then she was stuck with it. The crash had really shaken her, knocked her confidence down.

The doctors had suggested setting up some kind of therapy sessions to deal with the mental and emotional aftermath when she was ready. Honestly, the only person she might even consider talking about how she felt now was Max. She didn't want her parents worrying or jumping to conclusions, her mother in particular. Chloe knew she meant well but… right now she didn't want to hassle. And she didn't want some stranger poking around in her business for their pay check. Speaking of Max, she was supposed to be coming after class, as she had done every day since the accident, and any other time she could spare. Of course, Chloe was grateful for the time she dedicated to come and see her; it meant a hell of a lot. She didn't like being left with her own thoughts for too long.

Within the hour Max arrived; it looked like she had come straight from school. She drew one of the chairs up to the bed, flopping down with a sigh.

"Rough day?" Chloe asked, using her arms to help herself sit up with some difficulty. Her legs seriously felt like dead weights.

Max noticed her attempt, taking her bag off her shoulder so she was free to help Chloe get comfortable - she didn't want to see her friend struggle unnecessarily – before returning to her seat. "You could say that."

"Well, I'm sure it was more eventful than my day," Chloe replied. "Spent most of it wondering whether that stain over there was coffee or blood or something else. Oh, yeah, and staring out of the window. The ceiling sometimes, too."

"I'm gonna go with coffee," Max answered hopefully, looking at the stain in question. "William might've been to blame for that. He was drinking a lot."

Chloe nodded slowly, a flicker of sadness in her tone. "He already has a coffee addiction. Don't think this helped."

"And as far as boredom is concerned… I got you covered." Max took her bag, pulling out a comic book. It was a series both she and Chloe were reading, taking it in turns to buy the next comic in the series as it came out to conserve pocket money. "I haven't even read it yet so, no spoilers please."

"We could read it together now," Chloe suggested eagerly. She and Max liked to read it aloud with funny voices totally not fitting the character or situation, having a good giggle in the process. Sometimes they added extra lines in, often crude ones from the older girl.

"Then what are you gonna do later?" Max asked, putting the comic book on the bedside table.

She shrugged. "Hmm… well, now the mystery of the coffee stain has practically been solved by Detective Caulfield… more window watching, I guess."

"I wish I could stay over, like a sleepover," Max replied wistfully. She felt bad whenever she left her friend on her own, knowing how bored she would be. Maybe she could hide under the bed or something to evade the night watch...

"When I get out of this prison, you can. Should be out soon once things have been put in place." A genuine mischievous smirk tugged at her lips. "Gonna get myself a fancy wheelchair and everything. That'll need a serious 'pimp my ride' job. I'm talking racing stripes, rocket booster, a mini-gun…"

The younger girl chuckled at her eagerness. "Alright, Inspector Gadget, slow down there. Should I be writing this down?"

"That's what sidekicks are for, right?" Chloe stated with a smug grin, knowing it would wind her up.

"You suck! I'm so not a sidekick," Max protested, pouting playfully.

"Are too," she countered. "The hero always gets the super cool gadgets and shit." Her smile faded, giving way to gradual realization. "Having said that, heroes are rarely paralyzed from the waist down so…"

There were a couple Max could remember off the top of her head. "There's 'Professor X' and 'Oracle'. See, you can be 'Chloracle' or 'Orachloe'…" she paused, frowning, "okay, admittedly not my best nickname puns. Gimme some time to perfect that. Besides, you're my hero, Chloe." She smiled goofily, placing a comforting hand over her friend's.

That made Chloe chuckle and roll her eyes playfully. "Wow, so much cheese. Guess that makes you Bat-Max then by default."

"You know it," Max replied with a grin, gently running the back of her palm with her thumb. She hated seeing Chloe so disheartened. "We definitely need to draw that."

"Just try and stop me, hippie." The amusement lasted for a few moments, soon giving way to that depressed expression once more. "Look, I know you're trying to make me feel better about this – and it's kinda working just a little – but Max, look at me…"

"I am looking at you," Max stressed, meet her eyes. "All I can see is my best friend. Nothing less. I know you, how stubborn you are, so…"

"Dude, if you say 'I'll be back on my feet in no time' I will so hit you," Chloe muttered, trying to sound as light-hearted as possible.

"I wasn't but I might now," Max replied, also trying to inject some humor into her tone. "This will take some… getting used to. It's going to be tough for you. One thing you can count on: I will be there for you."

Chloe sighed, closing her eyes. "Shit… now I just wanna cry."

"Do it, I won't tell anyone and damage your street cred," Max promised, reaching out to push her friend's fringe aside.

"You'd probably blackmail me with it. I would." Exhaling deeply, Chloe turned to her looking hopeful. "You know, a hug would be nice now… just saying."

"One hug coming up." Max complied with the request, giving her a tight hug. She felt Chloe's arms wrap around her just as tightly. When they broke apart, Max gave her a smile, one Chloe returned. "Now, shall we see about that comic book?"

"Hella yes!" Chloe exclaimed gleefully, grabbing the comic book from the side.

They eagerly began reading, getting back into the swing of their usual reading sessions. Chloe hadn't laughed so much since the accident, the sound music to Max's ears. This might not last, but for now Chloe was having a blast and that was all that mattered.

"I shall never let your plan come to fruition, villain," Max stated in a high-pitched nerdy voice, making the pair chuckle.

"Au contraire, it has already begun..." Chloe let out an evil laugh after her usual deep villain voice, with a heavy – aka bad and overexaggerated – French accent. Cue more giggling. She turned the page, noticing they had come to the end of the story for this edition. "'To Be Continued'… are they serious? Oh, man, so cruel."

"They do love a cliffhanger…" Max added, equally as frustrated.

She took a moment to glance at her friend, watching her close the comic book with a sigh. For all their joking, it really had been a close call with the accident. It could have been so much worse, not that it wasn't bad enough already…

"You okay, Super Max?" Chloe asked, concerned at her friend's sudden shift in behavior.

Sighing, Max committed to what she had been considering telling Chloe since the accident, and even before then. "Listen, Chloe, I… there's something I have to tell you. This could be either the best or worst time, I'm not sure which yet. It might be… really selfish of me to even bring it up now but… you need to know. Now more than ever."

Sensing the shift in intensity and seriousness, Chloe nodded for her to continue. "Max, I'm listening."

"When I heard you…" Max began, hesitating to change her wording, "about the accident, I felt… dead inside, like someone had torn my heart out of my chest and ripped it to pieces in front of my eyes, burned the remains and stopped on the embers."

"Wow, that's so emo," Chloe replied softly.

"You're telling me." Max stopped to gather her thoughts. "I was so scared when William told me, and it put a lot of things in perspective. I nearly lost you… I don't think I could ever recover from that, Chloe. Mostly because… I would regret not doing or saying everything I was supposed to."

Chloe's brow furrowed, confused. "Max… what are you saying?"

"I'm saying…" the younger girl steadied her nerves, too late to go back now, "that I really like you, Chloe Price, so much that it kinda hurts sometimes."

"You… do?"

"Yes, I do," Max confirmed, biting her lip as she tried to figure out what her friend was thinking. "I have done for a while now but I didn't really understand or I was too chicken or… I don't know, some other excuse. There was always an excuse on hand. Just thinking about how close it came to me not being able to tell you that…" She swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice steady. "I can't."

"Well, you sure know how to pick your times…" Chloe muttered to herself, not sure how to reply. "Max, I… are you sure you want to be telling me this now? I mean, I'm not… I can't walk, and I might never be able to. Who knows what other problems there could be later down the line."

That might be enough to put some people off… not Max. "Doesn't change a thing," she reassured, putting every single inch of emotion she could into those few words.

Considering her options for some time, Chloe finally answered. "I… well, in that case, I really like you too, Max. The accident seemed to happen in slow motion and… pretty much the first thing that came to mind was you, that I might not see you ever again…"

"You're here now, with me," Max reminded softly.

Chloe smiled, bittersweet, as she tucked a strand of Max's hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I am. And I wouldn't change that for the world."

Before either of them could speak, they heard someone come into the room – William. "Ah, thought I'd find both of you here."

Shrugging, Chloe laid back on the bed like nothing had happened. "Not like I'm going anywhere."

"That's where you're wrong. You're coming home." He turned back and brought a wheelchair into the room with him. "My lady, your carriage awaits." He bowed, earning a chuckle from both girls. Both him and Max helped her into it, getting her comfortable. "Onto yonder castle, your Majesty. A banquet awaits."

"You know, I could get used to this," Chloe mentioned with a smirk, getting turned around to leave. "You coming, Max?"

"Joyce is making her salmon surprise." He smacked his lips in anticipation, adding as a coaxing afterthought, "And chocolate cake for desert."

"I'm sold."

On the way out, William gave Max a knowing smile and a wink, one Chloe didn't see. The younger girl felt herself blush, wondering just how much of their conversation William had caught. Judging by that smile and wink, at least some… if not all…

So, like I said a little bittersweet in places but enough fluffy stuff to break it up. Don't want it being too depressing (LIS did that enough without my input). Always need more happy(ish) alt-Chloe stuff – there is a decided lack, when I last checked anyways. Have a great day and see you around.