Note/Warning: We're assuming interested readers have played the game or are familiar enough with it to know what to expect.
Episode 3: The Day Chloe Price Died
Once they had reached Auto Repair and parked, Rachel hurried out of the truck and ran to one of the carports. Max followed, finding Rachel standing just outside of a garage that was wide enough to fit five vehicles, two of lots empty and only one car propped up on a lift. The back of the garage was full of shelves, car parts, and tools, and the air smelled thick of oil, gasoline, and grease.
In the middle of it all, wearing nothing but a stained white undershirt and a dirty pair of jeans, Chloe hunched over the open hood of a car. She was filthy with dirt and grime. Various black smudges covered her exposed body and had ruined her shirt, and at some point, her jeans had torn.
Chloe casually leaned over the engine, slick with sweat and grease, which gave a little shine to the ouroboros tattoo on her lean and muscled arm.
As she worked on the car, not yet noticing them, it was such a strange sight to Max. She didn't recognize this calm, hardworking Chloe who had a steady job and seemed to like it. Watching Chloe now, she seemed so domesticated. It was something Max hadn't thought she would see in her best friend.
"Chloe," Rachel called out to her, sounding desperate and needy, as if this might be the last time she would ever see her girlfriend.
Chloe lifted her head, seeing Rachel approaching her at a sprint.
"Whoa!" she gasped, barely lifting her arms in time to catch her panicked girlfriend. They spun a little, carried with Rachel's momentum, and then her girlfriend's lips smothered hers in a desperate and emotional kiss.
They stood there a long time, held in each other's arms, and it wasn't long before their bodies had completely glued together, seeming like they were one. Even when they stopped kissing, they remained just as intimate.
"I missed you," Rachel whimpered, near tears as she buried her face into her girlfriend's shoulder and inhaled, which seemed to settle her a little, but didn't erase her need for Chloe.
"I missed you, too, Angel," Chloe said, cradling Rachel to her body. She stroked the back of her head reverently, soothing her girlfriend, blue eyes full of understanding and sorrow as she looked down at her girlfriend.
Max shyly meandered closer, but Chloe was the only one to notice, Rachel firmly cuddled in her arms.
"Max!" her best friend exclaimed, looking between her girlfriend and her. She almost seemed angry. "The hell happened?"
Max's heart quickened with Chloe's eyes on her like that, seeking the source of Rachel's pain, which she couldn't entirely say.
Fumbling a little, Max went with a half-truth. "She's upset about Nathan, about seeing him earlier today…"
Chloe's hard eyes rounded, and she squeezed Rachel, losing her focus from Max.
"Oh, Rach," she said, blue eyes soft when they met her girlfriend's, who looked up at her, anguished.
"Ellie," Rachel whispered pleadingly.
"Max, we need some time," Chloe said without looking at her, only having eyes for Rachel. "Do you mind waiting in the truck?" she asked, and it took Max a startled moment.
"Oh!" she said, realizing what they intended, and was surprised Chloe had asked. Her best friend still hadn't moved on Rachel, waiting on her to go. "Y-yeah," she said, shuffling her feet as she turned away from the couple. "No problem, Chloe. I'll… I'll be in the car."
Chloe reached into Rachel's back pocket and pulled out the keys, which she tossed haphazardly to Max.
"Thanks, Max. I owe ya," she said, holding Rachel's trembling body very still in her arms.
"Anytime, Chloe," Max said, turned and left them.
About an hour later, Max saw her friends approaching, and she anxiously hopped out of the truck to greet them.
"Max," Chloe said, coming towards her with Rachel at her side, smiling, "hope we didn't make you wait too long. Thanks again, dude, was really awesome of you."
"So awesome," Rachel purred, comfortably snug into Chloe's side and looking much happier now.
"Babe," Chloe laughed when Rachel's hand began to wander, "don't think Max feels like doing us another favor right now."
"Yes, she does. She's a super best friend."
Max stared at them, astonished with how normal the two were acting. After being so serious and private, they seemed happy again now, and they had become shamelessly affectionate again, slipping into it as if it were a second skin.
"Um... it's getting late, guys; we're gonna have to sneak back into the dorms like fugitives, so we should get going."
Chloe and Rachel looked at each other, and Max could easily see their scheming minds at work.
"Actually, Max…" Rachel began.
"You two should crash at my place!" Chloe finished excitedly, bouncing on her feet. "C'mon, dude, it'll be awesome! We haven't had sleepovers since we were kids, and we'll have the house to ourselves this time!"
Max blinked, watching her best friend, feeling terribly awkward to receive such a jubilant invitation after she had just had to leave them for the past hour.
"I don't know…" she said uncertainly.
"Aww, Max, please? Rachel and I didn't mean to take that long. Are you mad?" she asked, and Max shook her head, merely shocked. "Let us make it up to you!" Chloe said, in great spirits. "I'll make us all dinner!"
"If you really want company, Rachel can stay with you," Max suggested, not wanting to get in the way of her friends again, not if they needed more time together. "Just drop me off at the school first."
"But we want you there, Max!" Rachel said, giving her apologetic, pleading eyes. "Come on, it'll be fun!"
"I guess…" she said hesitantly, still thinking her friends might need more time alone together. "Maybe... but I don't have any clothes to change into, and I don't think we should risk sneaking in and out of the-" Max trailed off when she looked Chloe's way, seeing that her best friend had gotten on her knees and was now looking up at her with big puppy eyes. "Oh, for the love of…" she grumbled in defeat, because how someone so tall and intimidating could manage to look so small and cute was beyond her.
"That's a yes, woo!" Chloe cheered, smoothly getting up and snagging her into a hug.
"Chloe, put me down!" Max squeaked, flailing futily in her best friend's strong arms. "Ugh, you're getting grease and Rachel all over me, you dirty punk!"
"Did you want the real thing, Max?" came the unhelpful question.
"Rachel, no!" she squawked in horror when Rachel joined the hug, making her dirtier. "I hate you both so much right now."
"Don't worry, Max," Rachel assured her with a laugh. "I have clothes at Chloe's. We're the same size, you can borrow some of mine."
Max huffed, fighting to urge to smile and keep playing the grump.
"Yeah, especially after you two made me your own personal grease rag."
Eventually, after they had their fun, Chloe and Rachel released her, and the three of them made their way to the truck.
After a ride full of inappropriate stares and smirks and a knowing glance at the fuzzy dice displayed over the dashboard, Max had had her fill of Rachel's sex eyes for the day. She was both happy and tentative to pull up to the Price household, a place of comfort and safety to her.
When she saw it, she was surprised to find it a completely different color.
Max settled back in her seat, awed as they rolled up to the blue-and-white painted house. She remembered reading in her journal that David and Chloe had worked on projects together, but she hadn't expected the whole house to be painted over.
"Mmm," Rachel purred with a sensuous squeeze of Chloe's knee. "We're home," she said, sounding content.
Chloe flashed her smile and opened the door, stepping out of the truck.
"Time to eat!"
Max gave Rachel a warning look as Chloe hopped out of the truck.
"Behave yourself."
Rachel's smile promised anything but. "Come on," she said, still giggling.
They left the car and followed Chloe through the ornate, decorated door into the house, and Max's awe doubled.
Just in the doorway, she found the whole entryway and stairs had been recarpeted. It led all the way to the back living room. Max walked in, following Rachel, and was astonished as soon as she reached the kitchen.
Handcrafted cupboards lined the walls, and the countertops had been switched out for granite. The kitchen floor almost sparkled, it looked so polished, and a new, bigger kitchen table had been put into the dining area next to a rebricked fireplace.
The layout of everything had mostly stayed the same, but Max almost felt like she was in a different house, they had done so many projects. David and Chloe had really put work into this place.
"So, dinner! What do you want, babe? You know, besides me," Max heard Chloe say, and soon her best friend appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Haha! Just kidding, Max. Your choice tonight!"
"I think I should make food," Max suggested, "and that you two should shower."
"That'd make me a bad host, wouldn't it?" Chloe quipped. "But I get it, you don't want motor oil or Rachel and me on your food. Or, do you?" she asked, waggling her eyebrows.
"Chloe!" she barked.
"Just screwing with you, Max! We'll take a quick shower, and I'll cook dinner. Me, okay? This is the Price residence and the Price is always right!"
Max groaned at the pun, but Rachel laughed and kissed Chloe. Thankfully, Pompidou decided to join in on the fun and began tugging at Chloe's suspenders, eventually pulling her away.
"Shit, I don't believe this," Chloe bemoaned dramatically. "Cockblocked by my own dog!"
Tail wagging, Pompidou barked happily and let go of Chloe's suspenders.
"Alright, alright, you bastard, we're going," Chloe grumbled, and Max pat Pompidou on his head, praising him for his help. "Maximus!" Chloe said before leaving. "We will be back in a few minutes! Decide what you want to eat, and don't touch that stove! Those are your orders!"
"I can get us started, at least-" Max started to say, but Chloe interrupted.
"You have your orders, Max!"
"We won't take another hour, Max," Rachel said in a gentler tone, and when Max looked up from Pompidou, she saw sincere remorse in her eyes. "Promise. It will just be a few."
Max nodded, and her friends disappeared upstairs. She felt a little better, knowing her friends were apologetic for it, but she wasn't sure she trusted their primal instincts in the shower together.
"Do you believe them, Pompidou?" she asked, and Pompidou tilted his head at her. She scratched him behind the ears. "Me, neither. How do you deal with them?"
Pompidou barked, and Max reached out to hug the dog.
"I know," she said, briefly wondering again what had happened to Frank. "You're a good boy."
Knowing this would likely take some time, she looked up and found a tennis ball near the door.
"Pompidou, want to play fetch?"
Pompidou's ears perked, clearly understanding, and then he made a mad dash for the yard.
After an eventful dinner, one Rachel and Chloe spent being a toothachingly adorable couple, Max found herself cleaning up and washing the dishes with Chloe.
"I'm going up to change the sheets!" Rachel told them, already halfway up the stairs, followed by Pompidou's excited barking. "And Max, you're bunking with us, no buts about it. And no sex, we promise!"
"Unless you asked," Chloe lewdly added, winking at her.
"Ugh," Max groaned, splashing water Chloe's way. "You're an animal."
"Duh, I'm a hella sexy beast and you know it," Chloe said smugly, bumping shoulders with her.
Max blushed, hoping her best friend would pass it off as embarrassment.
"Seriously, Chloe," she mumbled, keeping her eyes on the dishes. "I can sleep on the couch or on the floor of Joyce and David's room or something. I know you and Rachel haven't had much time together today."
"Won't be easy," Chloe admitted, nudging her again and smiling sweetly at her. "But I'm not gonna toss you out like that, Max, it wouldn't be cool, especially after what we just did. You and Rachel take my bed, and I'll sleep on the floor with Pompidou, okay? Heh. He'd probably love that. Fucker better not drool on me."
"Chloe, you don't have to do that," Max said, touched by her best friend's consideration.
Chloe shrugged, the smile still on her face.
"Too bad, I'm gonna. Unless, you know, you're up for a threesome, then I gotta kick the dog out for that."
Max stared at Chloe for the longest time, and then promptly yanked her beanie over her eyes.
"Chloe Price, you're such a pervert."
"Ack, you got soap in my eye!"
"Too bad."
Max woke up warmer than she had ever been in her life. It was the most pleasant feeling, like she was wrapped in the tightest, most fitted and cuddly blanket, and it felt amazing.
"Max, are you awake?" Chloe gently asked.
Max opened her eyes and saw hazel ones only a few inches away, and they didn't belong to Chloe. "Rachel?" Max asked, confused as she realized they were close enough that Rachel was actually hugging her.
"Hey, Max," Rachel greeted as Max identified a second pair of arms around her, this one clinging to her from behind. She realized that the warmth she felt was from both of her friends' bodies, which were closely pressed up against her from either side.
Chloe was spooning her.
Max blinked, not sure what was going on, and not altogether sure she wanted it to end.
"You okay, Max?" Chloe asked, nuzzled into her closely. Now that she was aware of it, Max felt the smooth curvature of her muscles through thin pajamas and Rachel's voluptuous body pressed to her. She realized she had never been this close and intimate to another person before.
"I'm fine," Max said, glancing back over her shoulder, but she only caught a glimpse of Chloe from under her chin. "Did I get in the middle of your cuddling?" she asked.
Rachel smiled warmly at her as she settled back in. "No, Max," she said, clearly amused with the question. "Chloe slept on the floor, remember?"
"Oh," Max said, remembering. She blinked again. "So, um…"
"You were having a nightmare," Rachel said, filling her in. "I tried to calm you down, but you started lashing out. Chloe came up and held you, and you calmed down almost instantly."
Behind her, Max felt Chloe shrug.
"We figured we'd both hold you the rest of the night. Keep you safe."
Max glanced back at her blue-haired best friend again, and instead of nonchalance, she was surprised to see such a look of loving care and compassion, it played on her heart, making her ache for the Chloe of her world
"And you stayed with me that way all night?" Max asked, truly touched by the gesture.
"No big deal," Chloe said, but her curious eyes told a different story.
"Would you like to talk about it, Max?" Rachel asked, calling back her attention.
Max turned to her and her hair flipped into her face a little. Rachel brushed the strands back gently, fingers brushing her cheek as she tucked the stragglers behind her ear. Her fingers were warm, and she let them rest there, cradling Max's cheek gently.
"I don't remember them," she said truthfully, because she didn't recall having nightmares last night.
"Good," Chloe said and squeezed her in those strong arms, making her all the more comfortable.
"Yeah…" Max said, warm even to her toes. She had always enjoyed being close to Chloe, but Rachel's growing comfort with her was actually very soothing as well. She didn't want either of them to move. "Thanks for calming me down," she mumbled, prolonging the moment.
"We're happy to help, Max," Rachel said, stroking her cheek in a very friendly and intimate fashion, comforting her.
Max smiled, relaxed and happy to have this little, cozy moment in time away from all her fears and stress.
Comfortable with her friends, Max lowered her eyes to rest, but when she did, she found Rachel's breasts between them.
Her mind went back to the shower from yesterday, and suddenly so very prominently, Max realized she could feel the studs in Rachel's nipples, that they were pressed to her own chest, and that this is what Chloe must have felt every time they had sex.
Max lifted her head quickly, trying not to be conspicuous about the direction her eyes had relaxed in, but when she did, she saw Rachel smile at her with that all-knowing look.
Blood rushed to her face.
"Oh, Max," Rachel said with a little laugh. "We've got to find you a girlfriend, sweetie," she said, leaning in to kiss Max squarely on the forehead, which didn't help.
Rachel began pulling away from her, and Max almost grabbed her, trying to stop her from leaving their comfortable bubble.
"I'm going to make some breakfast," Rachel said, smiling beautifully as she leaned over Max and gave her girlfriend a quick peck on the lips, providing Max with a view of her swollen breasts as she passed.
Max closed her eyes, plagued with the vision of them from yesterday's shower.
Rachel giggled and pulled away off the bed. "You help this bag of hormones settle down, babe. Maybe throw her in a cold shower."
At this point, she would welcome that.
"I wasn't looking!" Max blurted as Rachel left them, still giggling.
"Were you checking out my girlfriend? In my bed?" Chloe asked, squeezing her around the middle again, but this time, she rolled onto her back, effectively pinning Max's arms at her sides. "You think you're hardcore, Mad Max?"
"Chloe, I wasn't-!" Max squeaked, kicking and wriggling to free herself, but Chloe was too strong. "It was an accident!"
"To the plank with you, lech!" Chloe said in a pirate's voice.
"Chloe!" Max yelped again as Chloe rolled with her. They made a full turn and reached the edge of the bed where Chloe held her over the ledge.
"Any last words, wretch?" she demanded in that pirate voice.
"Chloe, I will kill you if you push me off this bed," Max threatened, squirming as she tried to keep her balance.
"To the seas with ye!" Chloe said and pushed her, making Max fall forward for a full fraction of a second before she caught her and reeled her back in.
"Got ya," Chloe said, sounding smug.
"You jerk!" Max said, turning around to swat her. "I could've fallen!"
"Hey, hey!" Chloe said, catching her arms and bracing her. She gave her puppy eyes. "C'mon, Max, you know I wouldn't do that," she said, smiling hopefully, but when Max glared at her, indignant, Chloe's face turned honest and genuine. "I would never let you get hurt, Max."
Max's anger faded, and as she looked into those warm blue eyes, everything else seemed to fade with it. The fresh coat of paint leaked from the walls, exposing Chloe's posters and vandalism, and the air filled with a faint hint of smoke. Dirty clothes and magazines littered the floor, and a great, American flag cut off the incoming light from the window, dimming the whole room.
And Chloe. Chloe's face was a warm blanket of comfort; gone was the eyebrow piercing, the nose and tongue stud, her second tattoo sleeve; Chloe lay before her, bare of all her accessories, and she was beautiful.
"I know you wouldn't, Chloe," Max said, all traces of humor gone. "You're always there for me."
Chloe looked down, breaking eye contact with her, and Max felt a severe loss. Her chest actually throbbed.
"Chloe," Max said, trying to call her best friend back to her. "Are you alright?"
"That's a broad question, Max," Chloe said, and her room started to fade back to the plain, neat one she had as the distance starting to grow between them. "What do ya mean?"
All Max wanted to do was hug her. She wanted to reveal everything.
But Max couldn't do that. She couldn't bring herself to be that selfish, so she brought up the only thing she could that she felt was bothering both of them, something that she still didn't have answers to, which Chloe had consciously hidden.
"I mean about Nathan," she said. "Yesterday in the classroom? You seemed really pissed. I thought you were going to beat him up in front of everyone."
An invisible film came over Chloe's whole face, changing it, and suddenly, Max was looking at Chloe with all her piercings.
She scoffed, almost sneering. "He deserves it. Fucker scared Rachel! You saw how upset she was," she growled, furious. "That prick was lucky he wasn't alone."
Chloe breathed in deeply, seeming to notice Max again, and she shook her head. The mean look lost its edge, but the room and Chloe remained the same.
"But yeah, I'm okay, Max," she said, regaining herself with incredible, almost militaristic restraint. "Don't worry about it, alright?"
Her arms came around Max again to hug her, but it didn't feel as warm as the last one. Chloe released her after just a few seconds.
"I'm gonna check on Rachel," she said, and Max let her go, wondering how often that frightening rage showed itself.
"Order up!"
Max looked up from her journal as two plates were set in front of her. The waitress, Debbie, smiled at her and Max smiled back. Putting her journal back in her bag, she thanked the cheerful woman and left a tip.
"Thank you, darlin'. Now, you be sure to bring those plates back, alright?"
"I promise, Debbie," she assured the woman, taking both plates and exiting the diner.
Once outside, she paused for a moment, feeling strangely incomplete being alone. She had decided to eat at Two Whales to give Chloe and Rachel time alone, which she felt the couple sorely needed after she had imposed upon them last night. Still, she yearned to be close to Chloe, just to be sure she was alive.
Reminding herself that Chloe had texted her just minutes ago, Max went to the back of the diner, where the homeless woman squatted. The woman saw her coming and gave a friendly wave.
"'Morning, Max!"
"G'morning, Alma," Max greeted back, having finally learned the woman's name from one of her earlier journal entries. "I hope bacon and eggs for breakfast is okay."
Alma chuckled, gratefully taking the plate and the bottled water she offered.
"My dear, any food is more than okay for the likes of me. Now, come on, eat with me."
Max nodded, pulling up a nearby stool and sitting.
"Not with Chloe and Rachel today?" Alma asked after taking a few bites. "Usually, you three are like peas in a pod."
"Just me this morning," Max said, following the woman's lead and starting with her own plate. "I thought I could give them a little privacy."
"Ah, kids," Alma chuckled. "I've seen how those two are, like rabbits, I tell you." They shared a laugh, and then the woman said, "Oh, but it's nice to see Rachel so happy. That girl was so troubled, the kind of trouble someone that young had no business having. I fear what may have happened to her if she kept on that path."
"I'm glad she's okay, too," Max agreed, trying not to think of the grave she and her Chloe had found in the junkyard.
Alma's smile faltered then, and she sighed.
"Now, if only Joyce's girl could find the same peace."
"What do you mean?" Max blurted out, surprised by what Alma had said.
Alma frowned.
"Even you don't know, Max? I suppose if her own family, if even that girl of hers seems clueless about it, then chances are you're missing it, too. Now, I know you've only been back in town for a month, and that girl has enough misery in her life already, so I'm not sure I should be saying any more."
"Please," Max pleaded, hoping Alma would trust her as she had in her own timeline. "I love Chloe; I care about her so much. The last thing that I would want is to hurt her. I just… if there's anything you know, anything at all that can help me help her… please."
Alma looked at her, her expression softening when their eyes met.
"I've been keeping my mouth shut around Joyce because I feared I'd do more ill than good for Chloe," the woman started, smiling sadly. "But something, this feeling, it's telling me to trust you, Max, and I hope it's right."
Both their meals forgotten, Alma began to talk.
"I'm sure you know that six months ago, Chloe was a very different girl, lost, angry, and determined to follow Rachel to the darkest corners of hell itself if she had to. Then all of a sudden, she turns it around, just like that. She turned into the perfect student, the perfect daughter, the perfect girlfriend. Perfect like her girlfriend, and what did perfection do to Rachel Amber?"
Max bowed her head, having just found out herself what exactly it had done to Rachel.
"Joyce calls it a miracle," Alma went on, sighing again. "Me? I'm too old to believe in that, too old to think all those demons went away just like that. They're still there, you know, she just keeps 'em away from you all. But sometimes… well, they come out, 'cause you just can't keep beating them back forever, not alone."
"Have you…" Max said, looking back up, "have you seen her? When she's like that?"
"I have," Alma affirmed calmly, "and something tells me you have, too. I won't pry, but about what I saw… just yesterday, this man, who was it… ah, that trucker who likes to give Joyce lip. Yes, him. Well, seems he's already missing her, 'cause he couldn't wait to harp on Chloe when she stopped by that afternoon to give me a meal. She tried to walk away from him, made it all the way to the parking lot until she couldn't take it anymore."
"And...?" Max asked anxiously, dreading the answer.
Alma looked at her knowingly.
"The man is twice her size, Max, and she leveled him like he was nothing. Seems she learned a lot from her stepfather, probably more than he thinks. No one saw, of course, because she always seems to know what goes on around her, doesn't she? Sure, I saw it, but she doesn't mind me much. And the trucker, well... he's not about to tell anyone a teenage girl just gave him the beating of his life."
"Oh, God, Chloe," Max murmured, burying her face in her hands.
"She's a good kid, Max," came Alma's hopeful voice, "she just needs someone to remind her, to make her see."
The door to Rachel's room opened, and Max looked up to see her friend with a bag of takeout food from the diner that she had picked up for them.
"Food's finally here," she said, closing the door behind her as she brought the sandwiches over to Max on the bed. "Sorry for the hold up."
"That's okay," Max forgave easily, taking her sandwich and putting the laptop aside on the desk. "Thanks for getting us dinner," she said, unwrapping it eagerly, hungry.
"It's the least I could do," Rachel said as she took a giant bite.
A bit confused by the answer, Max glanced up at her as she sat and settled in on the bed beside her.
"For yesterday," Rachel specified, nodding at her. "When we asked you to wait for us? It was very rude of us; I'm sorry we were so inconsiderate, Max. Chloe only did that because I was so desperate for her, and she's too good to me, but I've been meaning to say it. I'm sorry, Max."
Max shook her head, swallowing down her food, and when her throat was clear, said, "You don't need to apologize for that, Rachel. I know our talk took a lot out of you. You missed her; it's okay."
"You're very sweet for being so understanding, Max," Rachel said, hazel eyes soft and grateful. "We left you for a long time. It wasn't right."
"It makes you feel better to be with Chloe," Max pointed out. "I get that, Rachel. I just wish you wouldn't feel so terrible without her. You're a beautiful and smart girl," she said, the compliments slipping out easier without the usual embarrassment, "and you don't deserve what happened to you, Rachel. Sure, you've made mistakes, and you've hurt people, but it sounds to me like you've paid your dues, and I don't mean because of what you went through with Frank and Nathan. You deserve to be happy all the time, not just around Chloe."
Rachel unexpectedly leaned over and hugged her. "Thank you, Max," she said in a trembling voice, and Max maneuvered with her food as best as she could to hug her back.
"It's all true," she insisted.
Rachel didn't counter or agree with it, but she said, "You're an incredible friend, and I'm lucky to have you."
She held her for a moment before pulling away, hazel eyes glossy with emotion.
"I'm here anytime you need to talk, Rachel," Max assured her and sat back against the wall. "Where is Chloe, anyway?"
"She's dropping off something at the shop, and then we'll probably meet up at her house after my interview. You're welcome to join us, Max."
"Thanks. I might," Max said, having no other plans for the night. It was just a matter if she would leave Chloe to Rachel again or not.
They finished their food in each other's company, and when Max next looked at the clock, she realized just how much time had passed with her friend.
"Juliet's going to be here in a few minutes," Rachel finally said, throwing out her trash. "She's going to ask you for commentary if you stick around."
"I should probably go," Max joked, standing, and Rachel smiled, amused.
"Thanks for sitting with me, Max. For understanding, being here for me... everything."
"I'm happy if it's helping, Rachel," Max said, giving her friend an earnest smile. "Try to feel better," she said, and Rachel stood to hug her one last time.
"I'll see you later, okay?"
"Okay, Rachel. See you."
Max left just as Juliet appeared to be coming her way. She smiled and acknowledged her as she passed, making her way to her room. Just as she reached it, her cell phone vibrated with a text from Chloe. She opened it and read it over, going cold at the sight of the words there.
Max felt dizzy and closed her eyes. The next time she opened them, she saw the dark room and its cameras, and she was back in the chair again. She couldn't move and Jefferson was there, looming over her. She panicked, trying to claw away the duct tape from her arms before she realized that it was hurting, because she was actually able to.
Max looked down at her arms, and the visage of the dark room and all its horrors faded away like it had never been there. She was on the floor just outside her dorm room, and her right arm had scratches where she had clawed herself.
Her phone was on the ground, and she scrambled to pick it up and read the message again, making sure she hadn't imagined it.
She hadn't.
Chloe wanted to meet her at the Prescott barn.
It took her around an hour to get there, having had to walk the last stretch after the bus had dropped her off, but Max finally arrived at the Prescott barn. She shuddered and shook her head, shaking off the memories before they could overwhelm her again.
When she arrived, she found Chloe waiting outside to greet her.
"Maximus!" Chloe welcomed her with a smile and open arms, meeting her in the middle of the dirt road that led to the barn.
Chloe hugged her, and Max folded up into her arms.
"Did you get my texts?" Chloe asked, "You didn't respond after the first. Sorry you had to take the bus all the way out here; I didn't have my truck to pick you up."
Had Chloe taken the bus out here first?
"It's okay. The bus was fine," Max lied, tucking her head into her friend's neck, inhaling her scent for comfort.
Chloe still smelled like Rachel, but Max was starting to get used to that. Even the hugs were starting to feel better to her: they weren't the drapey hugs that she adored from Chloe, but Max felt safe, wrapped in her buff arms.
It ended all too soon.
"Still, sorry, Max! I only called you out here because it's important," Chloe said, pulling back from her. She frowned when she glanced her over. "You alright, Max? You're as pale as I am."
"Just a little cold," Max lied again.
"Oh, well, take my jacket," Chloe offered, immediately slipping free from it, leaving her in her usual, thin tank top.
"Won't you be cold-"
Chloe waved her off.
"Nah, Max, come on. I got my beanie, see?" she said, indicating it as she draped the jacket over Max's shoulders.
Despite herself, Max smiled a little. She put her arms through the sleeves of the jacket and cuddled into the warm garment, feeling a little better with Chloe's scent so close.
"C'mon, I have something awesome to show you," Chloe said with a wave of her arm.
Max swallowed, bracing herself as they approached.
"How did you find this place, Chloe?" she asked, feeling sickly as she beat back the memories.
"You know, driving around," Chloe said casually. "It's as old as this damn town, but it's got a lotta space and no one goes here. Check it out!"
Chloe went straight to the padlock and inserted a key to unlock it, then opened the tall barn door and pushed it back slowly.
Max peered through the crack and caught a glimmer of something white before the door fully opened, revealing an enormous three-story RV that almost took up all the space in the barn. Her eyes widened.
The RV was huge and in immaculate shape, pearly white without any scratches, looking brand new off the lot. The front of it had a huge, circular window above above the base of the car, looking more like the window for a submarine than for a RV, and Max thought she saw a gazebo on top. It looked so sleek and flashy, she didn't even want to think about what fortune went into this.
"Nice, huh, Max?" she asked, turning to Max with a proud grin. "It's called the Element. Fits up to eight people comfortably. I wanted lots of room. It's about time Rachel got the comfort she's used to at home."
"Chloe…" Max said, almost speechless.
"You wanna see the inside?" Chloe asked excitedly, not sharing her shock or horror. "There's a bed in there, Max! A queen-size bed!"
"Chloe, how?" she managed to ask, completely confounded.
"From Prescott, duh," Chloe said as if that should have been obvious. "Prick came through a day early."
"This must've cost a fortune," Max mumbled, not having thought Chloe had been looking to extort so much. She didn't feel bad for him; Nathan had the cash to spare, and even if he hadn't, she still wouldn't have felt terrible, but this kind of purchase was tremendous.
"It's the very least he owes us," Chloe said, eyes flashing dark for just a moment before she returned to her happy self again. "Now come on, Max!" she said, taking her hand and rushing into the barn. "I wanna show you! It's killer!"
Max shuddered at the expression, knowing a couple of killers who resided in this place before. She was tugged along, only able to take those final steps into the barn because of it.
She followed Chloe into the RV, which welcomed them by automatically extending a small set of steps at the click of a button. They entered, and Max was immediately awed.
An expansive carpeted hallway greeted her, and it led back into a comfortable-looking living room. Plush red leather couches sat against the back wall facing a 54 inch flat screen television that had been set into the wall. The room had a small table at the long end of the couch, and sleek cupboards had been built into the space above the sofa.
At full height, it held both of them standing without the need for Chloe to duck her head.
"Perfect for chilling, right?" Chloe asked and glanced back at her, seemingly happy with the look on Max's face. "Just wait, Max. You haven't seen nothin' yet. C'mon!" she encouraged, leading Max back behind living room and past a fully decked out kitchen, which she didn't even bother to comment on.
"This spot," Chloe said, moving right past it. She pulled up short in a corner near a staircase.
Max stared at the stairs, gawking, but Chloe turned her around.
"Not that, Max! This!" she said, showing Max a quiet corner that had a desk and computer screen set into the wall. "I was thinking about this space for you. You could work on your photo stuff here. It's got great lighting, and I could build you something to use for storage. What do you think?" she asked, giving her that hopeful look.
Max gawked, overwhelmed.
"You want to give me a space in your RV?" she asked, touched by the gesture, but so extremely confused and worried.
"Hell, yeah!" Chloe said like it should have been obvious. "We always used to talk about traveling the world, right? Is that… is it something you still wanna do, Max?" she asked shyly, for once seeming unsure as she regarded Max. "See, I'm working my way to look the part and play your bodyguard," she said with a crooked smile.
It was so tempting to get lost in Chloe's words and take them for what they were, to run away with her and Rachel and travel the world, but there were too many ghosts and too many questions, and Max never could leave well enough alone.
"Chloe, what's going on with you?"
Chloe's smile faltered, and it nearly broke her heart.
"What do you mean?" she asked, and the genuine confusion nearly gave Max pause.
"You know what I mean, Chloe!" Max blurted, frustrated, hoping and praying for some answers. "You beat up a guy who nearly kidnapped your girlfriend, and you waited six months to what? Buy an insanely expensive RV with his money? What's going on, Chloe? And Nathan, you know he's going to get back at you for this."
Chloe stared at her for a long, long moment, as if waiting for Max to withdraw her questions and objections, but when she didn't, Chloe shrugged, seeming to drop all pretenses with the simple gesture.
"I know," came the calm response.
"So, where is he?" Max asked, wondering if Nathan was somewhere out there, beaten within an inch of his life.
Again, Chloe shrugged.
"Dead and buried."
Max reeled, at first hearing the words in Jefferson's voice. She grasped the strap of her bag, needing to know she could move her hands, and looked at her feet, to see for herself that she wasn't bound. She shook her head, willing the phantom of Jefferson away, but when she stared at Chloe, she almost wished Jefferson had been there instead, because at least then she knew she was looking at a monster.
If Chloe was affected by her fright, she didn't show it.
"Bet you're wishing you weren't such a snoop, huh?" Chloe remarked humorlessly, her posture so relaxed, so at ease, that Max could almost see her Chloe.
"No," she whispered, reaching out for that fading trace of her Chloe, her hand instead finding purchase on an arm with muscles toned and skin painted with a colorful ouroboros.
"Sorry," Chloe said, and it was hard to tell if she really meant it, only that she sounded tired. "Should've just lied."
"No," Max repeated, louder, with conviction, and squeezed Chloe's arm. "Talk to me. Tell me everything. No lying."
Chloe reacted, not with anger or bitterness like she would have expected, but with a sigh.
"What's it to you, Max?" she asked, her voice hollow.
"What kind of question is that?" Max snapped, making Chloe look at her. "What's it to me? What it is to me is that I'm your best friend. I'm your best friend, Chloe, and I care about you. No shit, I care about you. I care about you so much more than you can even imagine."
Chloe simply continued to look at her, not taking the bait to argue or guilt trip her. Max let her hand fall away from Chloe's arm, feeling like she had lost her best friend long before that.
"So, what now?" Chloe asked, sitting down. "Gonna tell Rachel? Call the cops?"
Max shook her head.
"Chloe," she said, looking into those steely blue eyes. "I'm going to tell you something, something fucking crazy. I know what this place is. I know this barn belongs to the Prescotts, and I know there's a bunker underground and it's where Mark Jefferson took those girls, where he very nearly had Rachel if you hadn't scared Nathan off."
Chloe had no verbal response, but her eyes narrowed, suspiciously, almost dangerously.
"I know because I have- I had these powers, and I don't know how I ended up here, but where I came from, the world I knew, everything was different. Jefferson was still on the loose. Shit, he was my teacher, and I fucking worshipped him because I was a dumbass. You were still a Blackwell dropout, you and David didn't get along, and you were still drinking and smoking weed."
"And Rachel?" Chloe asked, again the only thing to get a reaction from her.
"Rachel," Max murmured, wondering where to even start. "She'd been missing for six months when we met again. We were looking for her, and we found out that Nathan had something to do with her disappearance. Then we found this barn and Jefferson's binders, and then Rachel, she-"
"She was dead, wasn't she?"
Max nodded, but Chloe showed no shock or grief, only curiosity.
"You couldn't save her with your powers?"
There was no accusation in the question, but Max still took a step back like she had been slapped.
"No. They didn't work that way. I don't know how or why I got my powers, just when. It was Monday, in the bathroom. You were trying to get money from Nathan to pay off Frank, but Nathan, he pulled a gun on you and fired, and then it happened, I got my powers. I went back in time and stopped Nathan from hurting you, Chloe, and ever since, I have done everything I could to keep you safe, from Nathan, from Jefferson, from this fucking fucked up world. I just didn't want anyone or anything to hurt you anymore."
Max turned away, feeling she no longer had the right to look at those pretty blue eyes.
"But I just kept fucking it up," she went on, hands now clenched and trembling. "Every Goddamn force in this fucking universe was hellbent on taking you away from me, and when I thought I brought you back for good, it was still fucked up. There was a storm, and it was going to wipe out Arcadia Bay. I thought I caused it, that I screwed up time and space and fate and destiny so much that I created the storm. And the only way to fix it was for me to go back, and..."
"And let me die," Chloe said when she couldn't. "That why you were in the bathroom, Max? You were waiting for me to die?"
"I didn't want to," Max rasped out. "Chloe, I didn't want to make that choice. You deserved better than to die in a dirty high school bathroom, alone, afraid and angry, thinking everyone in your life just let you down or abandoned you, thinking no one would miss you because it was the last thing you were told. You deserved better than that, Chloe."
Chloe looked at her, and just shrugged yet again.
"I get it, Max. Needs of the many, right?"
Max sat down, feeling her knees start to give.
"Not that it matters," she muttered, shaking her head. "I still fucked everything up somehow. My powers are gone, but the storm is still coming. Shit. Shit, listen to me. How can you believe any of this, Chloe? I sound ridiculous."
Chloe leaned back against her seat, quietly watching her for a moment.
"You got your powers the first time I died, right?"
"Yeah," Max answered without looking up, brows furrowing at the strange question.
"What the hell, let's do it."
"What are you-" Max started to ask, and instantly lost her voice when she heard the sound of a gun being cocked.
Chloe sat there, holding a gun to her own head.
"No!" Max cried out, reaching out for Chloe, but like before, she was too late.
The shot went off, and then time stopped.