Chapter 4 Welcome to Seattle

6 hours later...

"Max, wake up," said Chloe shaking Max's shoulder.

Max instantly opened her eyes from passing out. "Wha? Did I sleep again? What is it?"

"Look! We're here!"

Max's eyes were wide open staring at what she was seeing with amazement. Like she staring at the Emerald City. There it was. Seattle. "Wowsers."

Within ten miles from the city, the two of them could see the Space Needle with skyscrapers surrounding it. Max's home away from home was an incredible sight. It had only been a month since Max moved back to Arcadia Bay and how she's back to her land of photography.

"Hell fucking amazing, isn't it," exclaimed Chloe. "Never been to such big wonder of the world like this before."

"Chloe, welcome to my photography wonderland."

Max looked at her phone and it read 5:29 PM. She had been out for quite some time. They kept driving onto the freeway until they found the nearest exit into the city. Max gave Chloe directions to her house in the neighborhood her parents lived in. Chloe had to drive across downtown through traffic, streetlights, and electronic build-board ads. Driving across downtown was like being in Max and Chloe's favorite classic si-fi movie from the eighties made by Ridley Scott starring Harrison Ford, 'Blade Runner'.

It was going on 6 pm and eventually the two them made it to the residential area. After hours of driving, they reached their destination. Chloe parked her truck on the driveway coming to a complete stop.

"Well, end of the line, Maxi-Pad," said Chloe." Come on. Let's go see your parents." Max and Chloe got out of the truck and up to the front door. Max rang the doorbell. The door opened with Ryan seeing the two of them at the doorstep.

"Hey, hey, Max!"

"Dad!" Max gave her Father a big hug.

"Good to see you again." Ryan then turned to Chloe seeing how much she'd changed over the past five years. "Chloe, is that you?"

"Yo," said Chloe giving Ryan the piece sign.

"Wow, so much can occur in five years," Ryan admitted giving Chloe a hug. "It's good to see you too, Chloe."

"Great seeing you again, as well, Ryan."

"Come inside. Your Mother's waiting for the both of you, Max."

Ryan let the both of them in. Max could hear her Mother's voice across the hallway.

"Is that our little girl I hear, Ryan," Vanessa called from down the hall.

"The one and only, Vanessa," replied Ryan. "And she brought an old friend along the way."

Vanessa gasped at her daughter seeing Max and Chloe both on sight. "Max, sweetheart!"

"Mom!" Max gave her Mother a hug as tight as she hugged her Father. Vanessa turned to Chloe. Seeing how much she'd changed, as well.

"Well, look at you, Chloe," said Vanessa. "How lovely to see you here."

"Right back at ya, Vaness," Chloe said to Vanessa giving her a hug.

"You sure have changed a lot since we left Arcadia." Vanessa remembered she was preparing supper for all of them. "Dinner's almost ready. I'll be sure to make the two of you a plate."

It was 6:15 PM. Vanessa had made Meatloaf and Sweet-Potatoes. Max, her parents, and Chloe all sat down at the Dinner table in the Dining Room enjoying the supper Vanessa had made.

"Mm, I thought my Mom was the best cook," said Chloe chewing her food. "My mother should get a taste of this."

"Oh, Chloe," Vanessa chuckled. "Your mother always thought as you did. I appreciate the compliment."

"So, Max," Ryan began. "How's school?"

"It's alright, I guess," Max replied. "My current GPA is at a 2.8. Doing my best to get it up to a 3.0. Got one A, three Bs, and two Cs. I'm liking all my classes except for Math. I really enjoyed Photography until we all discovered the teacher in that class was a cereal killer. As you may have heard."

"Yeah," said Vanessa. "We heard about that. Sounds awful. That man of all people. A cereal killer."

"I know. I did have a few issues in that class however. Every time I thought I knew the answer to a question the teacher would ask me, I really didn't. There's also this popular girl at school named Victoria who's on a high honor roll and always knew the answer to every question in that class. She's just as devoted into photography as I am."

"How 'bout you, Chloe," Ryan asked. "What's your story?"

"I'm not gonna lie to you," Chloe sighed. "My life has been train-wreck since my Dad passed away. Not to long after you moved away, my Mom married my Step-Dad, David and boy did we make better rivals than family since then. He's nothing like my real Dad. We never spoke much, we got into fights, and he'd always try and make soldiers out of us since he's a veteran. He'd always try and talk to me in Military fashion and say things like 'Do this or drop down and give me fifty' or 'That's an order soldier'. He's the head of security at Blackwell, by the way."

Chloe took a deep breath. "I'd like to keep the rest of it personal. I'm sure my Mom and Step-Dad can do all the talking when they get here."

"Sorry I asked, Chloe," Ryan apologized. "We know it couldn't have been easy for you losing your Father that way."

"Sometimes I don't even know who's to blame for all that," said Chloe.

"Chloe, sweaty," Vanessa began. "You know your father never tried to leave you forever on purpose no matter who's to blame. But you had five years to move on with your life without him."

"I really don't want to talk about it," replied Chloe. "Like I said, personal."

"What about school," asked Ryan.

"I got expelled from Blackwell a year ago."

"Really? For what?"

"Vandalism. Bad behavior. I was like everyone's problem at school. I had a very low GPA. I was disruptive in all my classes. Got sent to the office as well as getting detention for a numerous amount of times. Believe me, I was one of the worst students at Blackwell."

Max's parents had come to know more of Chloe's struggles since leaving Arcading Bay. They almost felt sorry for her.

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell us," asked Ryan. "Something not personal?"

"Well," Chloe started. "Over the years while you were away, there was this very special girl I hooked up with named Rachel."

"Rachel Amber," asked Vanessa. "Wasn't that the young lady that went missing in Arcadia months ago?"

"Yeah, she was. Then again, like to keep it personal," Chloe stated trying not to think about her burial at the junkyard. "She was my angel. I treated her the way I treated Max and boy was she a freakin' celebrity at Blackwell. She was an honor student like Victoria. Everyone was obsessed about her. Every student thought she'd be the next class president of Blackwell. At one time, me and her both thought we could just run away together and start a new life in Los Angeles. If we did, I wouldn't have been able to see Max again."

"What about you, Max," asked Ryan turning to his daughter. "What have you and Chloe been up to back in Arcadia?"

"Well," Max began turning to Chloe eating her meal than turning back briefly. "Where do I begin." Max thought for a second trying to start from the beginning. "I first met Chloe again back at Blackwell driving out of the parking lot. She gave me a ride back to her house and made some time there. The next day, Chloe showed me her little hideout her and Rachel made at the junkyard and took a walk on the railroad. We swam together. Took selfies together. Chloe even dared me to kiss her."

"Max," Chloe chuckled.

"Really," Ryan frowned. "You? Kiss her?"

"Yeah," Max replied with a smirk. "She dared me to do it. In her own room. And I did."

"Oh, Max, you didn't have to tell them that," said Chloe grinning.

"I just want you to know everyone, me and Chloe are a thing now. It shouldn't be kept a secret."

"Is it true," Vanessa asked Chloe. "Are you and Max really a thing?"

"Yes, it's true," Chloe admitted. "You can tell that to my Mom and David. But, I believe they already know."

"What makes you think they don't?"

"Well, I trust my Mother knows, but I don't think David does. Seeing how my Mom knows Max better than my Step-Father does."

"Sounds like the two of you made quite the reunion back home," said Ryan. "Anyway, Max, your Mother and I thought about sleeping arrangements while you were on the road and Chloe can sleep your room if you'd like."

"Sure," replied Max. "I was also thinking we can watch a movie on Netflix together in my room, too. Before we hit the hay."

"You can do what you want to, Max," Vanessa stated. "You deserve some time together with Chloe."

After Max, Chloe, and the Caulfield couple finished dinner, Max took Chloe to her room upstairs. Chloe was impressed.

"And here we are," Max expressed. "Welcome to Max's place."

"Wow, Max," said Chloe embracing the sight of Max's bedroom. "You might make me hella jealous! My room is a wreck compared to yours."

Max's room had a small flat-screen Smart-TV with a collection of photos she had taken during her years in Seattle displayed the way her photos were displayed in her dorm back at Blackwell, but bigger. It also had a computer and desktop with a small leather couch and a round bed set for two. The collection of photos was displayed above the couch and there was also a display of lights hung above Max's bed like the one's in her dorm.

Max took her gray hood-e off leaving her pink Jane-Doe shirt on and Chloe took her jacket and beanie off leaving her tank-top and bullet necklace on. They both sat on Max's bed ready to watch something.

"So, what are we gonna watch tonight," asked Chloe.

Max turned on the television with the remote and selected Netflix. Then, scrolled down the selection of movies.

"It's up to you, Chloe," Max suggested. "We can watch from comedy, action, drama, horror, you name it."

Chloe spotted a weird looking movie on the comedy section that pictured a twister with a bunch of shark heads on it.

"Hey, what about that one," Chloe pointed out. "Sharknado."

"Sharknado, Chloe," Max asked turning to her girlfriend frowning. "Do you know what kind of people watch those movies?"

"The kind of people who want to spend two hours of their lives watching something made so atrociously bad on purpose."

Max kept scrolling down.

"Ooh, what about that one," Chloe pointed. "Tremors. The one with Kevin Bacon from Footloose."

"You always loved that movie better than Footloose and we've seen it as many times as Blade Runner."

"What's that one," Chloe asked pointing to another movie in the science fiction section.

"This one? Prometheus?"

"Yeah."

"It's just a prequel to the Alien franchise. The movie's fine. But I've only seen it once and it's no where near as good as Alien nor Aliens."

"Why don't we watch a superhero movie."

"Like what?"

"Like 'The Avengers'. For my Super-Max."

Max remembered what Chloe had said about her being Super-Max back at the motel in Portland. She scrolled up back to the top of the selection to find 'The Avengers' on the popular section and decided to put it on.

"Okay, Avengers it is, then."

"Avengers assemble."

Max and Chloe spent the rest of the night in the bedroom watching 'The Avengers'. They laughed at a few parts such as the part where the Hulk smashes Loki around a bunch of times and enjoyed rest of the action-packed superhero movie for two hours straight. When the movie was ending, the two love birds looked at each other in the eye and kissed.

"You know something, Chloe. No matter what I've done this week, no matter what shit-show we've been through, this is how we should be rewarded. Without my power, our new relationship would've never seen the light of day. You know I'd rather see you by my side than as a martyr for saving a small town from a big storm."

"I know, Max. You've said it before. You don't even have to say it twice."

The two of them smiled and got ready for bed. Max knew she wouldn't had forgiven herself for derailing every last moment they spent together during the week that made Chloe happy again by letter her die that first day. She knew that if she had made the choice Chloe had offered before the aftermath of the storm, she wouldn't been able to see her again for the rest of her life. Max wondered, since Rachel was just as close to Chloe as Max is now and if Rachel had Max's power, would she had made the same choice or would she had done otherwise? Regardless, after a long drive to Seattle and a good evening at Max's house, the brunette and the bluenette tucked themselves under the blankets and fell fast asleep.

Note: Whoever is reading this story, I hope your enjoying it. I just want to thank AjaxKnight and AlphaOfAlphas for my inspiration for writing my own story. I've had so many ideas on what Life is Strange Season 2 should be, it would be an honor to show the people at Dontnod what I'm made of. The first episode is almost wrapped up and I've had so many ideas of how the rest of the season should play out. With that said, I'll be writing that last few chapters of this episode as I speak.

Also, I was thinking of a song that should be played for the part where Max and Chloe have arrived at Seattle just for a new soundtrack for a new season. I was thinking of either 'Mountain at My Gates' by Foals, 'Space Oddity' by Lady Heroine, or 'To the Top' by Twin Shadow. Until then, stay tuned!