Beat this fucking aneurysm|Walk again

13:55, Friday 18th, October 2013 - Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital:

Once more, the two girls found themselves at the hospital. This place held immeasurable significance for them - from the initial days after Arcadia General realized they were vastly ill-equipped to deal with Chloe's case, to the first few painfully disastrous physical therapy sessions. That wasn't even to mention Rachel's recent stay… or discovering that Max was in fact dead.

For all the awful moments they had shared here, some good ones seeped through the shit. One being Chloe's first steps, awe inspiring.

The second… that was happening right now as they spoke.

"Just... be careful, Chlo..." the blonde cautioned, watching on tenterhooks as Chloe moved her legs back and forth trying to remember what it felt like to swing them.

"I know. I knooooooow," the bluenette replied, annoyed but understanding.

If she tried to put weight on her feet, she'd crumple again. Nobody needed to remind her. Still, she couldn't let that stop her. All she could do right now was keep trying until her damn legs stopped mirroring her own rebellious behavior.

There were no illusions of her situation; her legs would never work the same way again. The nerves were disconnected from her brain, making muscle actuation impossible. Not that the odds fazed her much. She would find a way around it.

Nothing could beat Chloe Price. Nothing.

She would have to start small, crutches more specifically. That way, she could regain more autonomy in her movement. Having to rely on other people… on Rachel… she couldn't do it anymore. The wheelchair helped, but damn it was inconvenient sometimes. Bulky and restrictive. While it had served her well these past few months, she was sooo done with it.

Tired yet hopeful hazel eyes watched gloved hands slid along the support frame's steel pipe. A leg shifted forward shakily, barefoot resting flat on the floor. A smile tugged at Rachel's lips as she watched the entire body of the woman she loved slowly inch forward.

A single tear ran down her cheek. Not of pain or sorrow but joy. The indescribable surge of elation at witnessing her whole world walk again, even if it was just the motions.

Blue eyes transitioned from triumphant to confused as they fell on a familiar face. As her foot touched the floor, the once stoic attempt at professionalism faltered, giving way to a soft smile. The first in… a long time. It would take a long time for the blue-haired pun to forget what he did but… she also understood his reasons. That was enough to at least be civil with him.

"Hey, Ryan!" she called out, lifting her hand to wave without even thinking.

Suddenly, she felt a soft one clasp her arm protectively stopping her from face planting. A little disoriented, she glanced over to see a glint of playful mischief in captivating hazel eyes.

"Next time, I let you fall," the blonde joked, sticking out her tongue.

She would never let Chloe Price fall… not intentionally. They both knew that. Still, it couldn't hurt to keep the blue-haired punk on her toes.

"Uh-huh, sure you will," Chloe responded, rolling her eyes as she carefully shuffled into her chair. Settling herself, she wheeled over to the doctor, her blonde companion in tow as usual.

"Chloe, Rachel." He nodded to both of them, meeting their gaze. "How have things been going here today?" The question, he hoped, would have a good answer.

Both girls passed a knowing glance, a faint grin on their lips. Despite being repeatedly trodden into the dirt by the universe, things were starting to seem… hopeful.

"Surprisingly good, actually. Making more progress with this whole walking thing… ish," the bluenette replied, a little hesitant. She didn't want to tempt fate… again.

Since she had read Max's letter on Monday, finally said her goodbyes after all these years… everything felt lighter. As though the world might give her a break. She'd noticed a similar shift in Rachel - more smiles and light-hearted behavior.

Inspired by the raise in morale, the punk had started regaining her - sometimes morbid - sense of humor. "Not sure I'll be running any marathons, well… ever… but walking to the bathroom would be nice."

Her mind momentarily wandered to simpler times. When she took standing up for granted, was too fucking lazy to walk to the store like ten minutes away. If… no when she could walk again, she would never complain. At least, about that.

"Well..." Ryan hesitated, running a hand through his beard before continuing. "I have... news..." He let out something akin to an exasperated sigh. "Look, I don't want to get your hopes up for nothing but… there might be something we can try."

Two sets of eyes met his, almost dumbfounded. While hesitant, he seemed mildly optimistic for a change. Rachel remained hopeful; the field of medicine had progressed leaps and bounds in the past decade. Chloe, on the other hand, was immediately skeptical. With everything she had suffered, all the empty promises and lies, she couldn't let herself get too blinded by possibilities that may blow up in her face.

Taking the sets of gazes in stride, the bearded man continued, "The medicine Rachel is on to reverse the artery cell wall damage… it was engineered as a direct response to… another drug's detrimental side effects."

He chose his words carefully, dancing around the topic for fear of exhuming the pain. The 'Dark Room' incident had been an instant hit with the papers, transcending beyond Arcadia and even Oregon. The thought of it was… horrifying. To think, the blonde girl full of carefree mischief - one he considered a second daughter - had been subjected to such barbaric torture…

It made his skin crawl.

"We… Dr. Carter and myself... think that it is possible for that medicine to act similarly on your nerves." He left that morsel hanging, waiting on their reactions.

The blonde dug into the information instantly, recognizing the implied potential. If the medicine did what they hoped it would... "Chlo... You... you could really walk ag..!"

Instantly she was cut off by the extremely suspicious and cautious bluenette. "Ryan... be completely honest with me... What are the chances that this works? And... if it doesn't work... what's your backup plan, since you're telling me I might walk one day?"

These reactions were about what he had expected. He'd figured the blonde would be ecstatic, hopeful. And he'd known for a fact that Chloe wouldn't take his statement at face value.

For that reason, he'd brought a backup option for her.

Accepting the paper, Chloe looked down and a mischievous grin crossed her face.

"Your backup plan is to turn me into a fucking terminator... I think I can live with that, if the whole actually walking thing doesn't work out," she chuckled, handing the sketch to the blonde beside her. "Does it come in shiny chrome?"

Curious, Rachel examined the drawing then rolled her eye with an intentionally exaggerated sigh. Looking back up at Ryan, she jokingly scolded him. "You know, you might as well skip the drugs... She'd prefer this any day..."

The sketch depicted a humanoid figure. A framework surrounded the waist continuing down the legs attaching to the knees and feet. It would fit over clothing, locking her legs into a straight position while allowing her feet to swing. There was an adjustable lock, meaning she could sit. The document was heavily annotated with elaborate details of the mechanisms, functions and limitations of the contraption.

It presented them with a feasible option… and maybe that was just what they needed right now.

21:12, Friday 18th, October 2013 - The Apartment:

"Magnify!" demanded the captain of the intrepid vessel.

"There are unusually high levels of Omicron particles within this nebula, Captain," came the monotonous reply from her Vulcan science officer.

"Are you thinking we could collect these Omicron Particles, to..."

Now back from their surprisingly exciting trip to the hospital, Chloe and Rachel were cuddled up on the couch. The lights were dimmed, TV playing a nineties sci-fi show. Chloe picked it, deciding to enlighten the blonde on one of her guilty pleasures. A grin crossed her face, knowing the next line off by heart.

As the captain walked back to her chair, excitement notable in her voice, she began to give orders. "Commander. Set a new course..." She sat down, a confident grin on her lips.

"There's coffee in that nebula!"

Hearing the punk in her lap quote the line with insane accuracy set the blonde into a fit of giggles. Enough to warrant setting her beer on the coffee table so as not to spill it.

"Oh my god… Chlo…" she gasped for air between giggles, a magical sound. "You… you are such a nerd!"

The laughter kept coming. Frankly, Chloe didn't want to cut it short, enduring the ribbing way longer than she would've months ago.

"Oh, and you aren't totally engrossed in all this?" the bluenette eventually countered, motioning to the screen.

Rachel had been transfixed by the tiny flying ship, cheering for the crew and their antics.

"Yeah, well... You started it..." The blonde, deciding to be playful, stuck her tongue out at the girl in her lap, earning a fit of laughter. "But seriously, this is actually a pretty cool show..."

Hearing that her - What were they? Friends? Lovers? - was enjoying herself made the bluenette smile. Realizing that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel had altered their perspective. They could look beyond day to day life, consider their future.

As she opened her mouth to speak, she found a finger pressed to her lips. A set of hazel orbs stared her down, filled with something… she'd seen before but very very different.

"Chloe... I... I'm probably gonna screw this up, because I don't know how to say it, and I'm really nervous about actually bringing this up... but..." the blonde took a long, deep breath, attempting to steady herself "I... I look at you, and... I can't imagine being anywhere else... I can't imagine living my life with anyone else..."

The sudden seriousness worried Chloe. "Shit, Rach. I sure hope not. I'm a little stuck without you."

"Damn it, Chloe. I…" she stopped herself, increasingly uncertain of what she'd wanted to say. Under different circumstances, this would have been so much easier to say.

Noticing the hesitation, the punk shifted herself to face the aspiring model she had grown close to over the last several years. Her face still bore marks from that fucking awful night, a constant reminder. Steadying herself with a hand on the back of the couch, the other finding its way to the back of Rachel's neck, she pulled her in.

Their lips met in a tender but deep kiss, one that felt like it lasted minutes. The blonde's hands cupped her punk's cheeks as they continued, tears of happiness streaming down her face. She couldn't express just how ecstatic and terrified she was now. When they finally broke for air, now confident hazel eyes met awaiting blue ones.

Unable to hold it back anymore, Rachel poured out her heart and soul. "Chloe, I love you. And I am in love with you. You are my best friend, the only person I want to call close to me, and the only one who I could truly trust my life to. I... I want you to know that I love you as so much more than my best friend. You're the person I want to... to grow old with." Would they even get that chance? Honestly, she didn't care right now. "You're the person I want to see the world with. You're the person I want to live my life with. You're the one I want to experience everything with..."

Her eyes searched Chloe's, desperate to uncover her thoughts. All she could do was pray she hadn't just thrown away years of friendship.

"Rachel… Rach… Have you been fucking blind the last four years?!" That wasn't how she wanted it to come out, but she wasn't done yet. "I've been in love with you since we first took that train to a park, the first day I met you. The real you. I've been falling in love with you over and over ever since. I've been waiting for years for the moment you felt it too..."

Snapshots of their time together raced through her head. The whirlwind adventure. Promises to run away together. Years of shared memories, both painful and happy. And then… Her words were shaky, knowing what had to be said next was difficult.

"I... I knew you felt it... That... that night... In... that place..." The punk's eyes watered, only to have her tears instantly wiped away by her angel. "When... when you begged... when you... When you begged to take my place... That's when I knew... You know what my first thought was?" She let out a choked laugh.

Rachel's heart melted, tears threatening to fall down her own face. Those too were wiped away, by the bluenette this time. They stayed like that for a moment, no words exchanged.

"My first thought was 'Damn it you have shit timing!'. Then I realized what you were doing and I tried, through the little bit of strength I had left, not to let you do it. I sure as shit didn't expect the respon-"

She never finished the sentence, soft lips crashing once more into hers. Warm hands cupped wet cheeks and gloved hands gripped clothing, pulling the two girls closer as their lips refused to part from the other's.

Finally, they broke apart, breathing heavily. Blue and hazel eyes locked onto each other adoringly.

"I love you, Chloe Price," the blonde spoke up first, raw emotion in her wavering voice.

Almost instantly, the wheelchair-bound punk responded in kind - heartfelt, sincere and equally breathy. "And I love you, Rachel Amber."

00:02, Saturday 19th, October 2013 - The Apartment:

The bluenette glanced over at her girlfriend - that was going to take some getting used to saying - wrapped in her arms with pure adoration. The blonde's eyes were fixed on the screen, entranced by the sci-fi spectacle. Looking at the clock, her eyes widened as she realized they'd moved into very early morning.

Shit. It's been a while since we've done this... Feels kinda nice... She took another swig of the beer in her hand. Definitely tastes better than that first drink... Eugh...

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the crumpled notebook page stuck to the fridge. Perhaps the most important piece of paper that had ever existed to these two girls.

Their bucket list.

"Rach, I…" she started, catching the blonde's attention.

The shorter girl paused the show, turning to meet her gaze. "What's up? Everything okay?"

That flash of concern was all Chloe needed to strengthen her resolve. They had lived in fear too long. "Can you grab that lost off the fridge? And your laptop?"

Rachel shuffled off the couch, taking a moment to stretch - almost cat-like. Then, she turned towards the kitchen and headed to the fridge only to realize there were two lists: bucket and grocery.

"Uh, Chloe… dumb question." A soft giggle left the aspiring model's lips as she stepped aside to give her girlfriend a clear view. "Which list do you mean?"

The question confused her. "What do you mean whi-" Then, she noticed the second list detailing items like milk, cereal, eggs and bacon. "Oh… ha, I kinda forgot that one was there. I meant the bucket list," she finished sheepishly, running fingers through blue hair as her cheeks turned pink.

Chuckling, Rachel took the right list off the door and grabbed her backpack off the table. Before she headed back to the living room, she retrieved another set of beers. The extra bottles earned a grin and raised eyebrow from her blue-haired punk. Setting her loot down, she leaned in to give the other girl a soft peck before sitting and getting her laptop booted up.

"What were you thinking?" she asked, genuinely intrigued.

Taking a swig to finish her current bottle and grabbing a slice of pizza, she sat beside her girlfriend leaning into her shoulder. "So, remember how we said we'd rewrite this thing? May as well type it up and print off. Easier to keep track of. Plus…" She picked up the original piece of paper, holding it gingerly. "I think this one's probably on its way to becoming dust."

The blonde chuckled at the description, "Do... do we include the things that've already been done?" she asked, her words sounding a bit more serious.

After a moment of consideration, the bluenette nodded. "Yeah. Even if we just cross them out once it's printed, they still mean a lot." Looking at the original list, her eyes fell to the first item. "Case in point, we're not in shithole Arcadia Bay anymore."

Opening up the word processor on her laptop, she began typing. Just as before, she split the page into two columns, each headed with their names. Hers took the left, with Chloe's sitting in pride of place on the right. Then, she began with their first goal.

Escape Arcadia Bay|Escape Arcadia Bay

She followed it up with another item, and another and another. All in quick succession.

Actually start a bucket list|What she said

Get answers|Get the facts

Meet the elusive Max Caulfield|See Max again

Beat this fucking aneurysm|Walk again

Fall in love|Fall in love

She paused, meeting the eyes of the girl she loved, knowing they'd have one more thing to cross off.

Together, they spent what felt like hours typing away, coming up with more and more items to fill their renewed bucket list with. Life... life was too short to sit around and mope all day. Life needed excitement, mystery... But most of all, life needed to be lived.

Once again, they left a specific item at the end of the list.

One day, I'm going to climb Everest|One day, I'm going to climb Everest

Looking at each other, pure love in their gazes, they met for a quick kiss. It felt like they had years of these to make up for.

Noting the time on the screen, Rachel gasped. She hadn't realized how late it was. "Shit, Chloe… it's three in the morning." That made her laugh; she had almost forgotten this feeling, wanting to stay up and just… talk about nothing and everything. "We need sleep and…" she faltered, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks. "I, uh… would you… come sleep in my bed tonight? I'd like to actually hold my… girlfriend." The word felt so foreign but so welcome on her tongue.

"Shit, Rach, I thought you'd never ask," the bluenette responded with suggestive playfulness. Faltering, her expression shifted to serious and then sheepish. "But really, yes I'd love to. And… maybe nothing funny tonight."

"Oh, shame," the blonde teased lightly with a wink before helping her lover into the wheelchair.

She hoped one day, it wouldn't be necessary. Getting to bed tonight was a very different performance from the usual nightly routine of separation. When they were ready, dressed down to tees and shorts they climbed into bed, each independently.

They met in the middle, lips grazing for a kiss before the bluenette turned completely to face the smaller blonde. The punk's arms wrapped around her girlfriend tightly as she pressed a series of kisses into the golden tresses.

"Goodnight, Rachel. I love you."

"I love you too, Chloe," the shorter girl muttered, sleepy and content.

That night ended up being one of the most peaceful they'd ever experienced.

Author's Notes:
*I shit you not, there was a disclaimer at the bottom of this chapter the entire time I wrote it, telling me not to hurt them. Liv will gladly vouch!*

-TjwCroft

*He shits you not :p*

- NYCP