Chloe sat on a stool at the Two Whales diner, listlessly spinning from right to left, as Max talked to Joyce behind the counter. Too much of an emotional wreck to speak without verbally exploding all over her own mother, Chloe had graciously left the task of relaying what they had discovered at her house to the pink-haired girl. Her mind wandering back and forth from David's surveillance of the house to how life had been when her dad was still alive, Chloe's face was stained from crying and her throat raw from sobbing in the cab of the truck while Max had held onto her. I want to die, an intrusive thought popped into Chloe's mind, Chloe dismissing the notion as something of an aftershock from how low her depression had taken her only moments before. Calmer now, some water and a piece of banana bread set out in front of her, she was still a ways from her usual self. God, what the fuck is usual for me at this point? Chloe thought, stopping her turning of the stool to lean against the counter. Thankful that they had arrived after the dinner rush, Chloe dreaded the notion of having to be here in her current state when the restaurant was packed.

"…and that's when we left. We were in such a rush that I don't think David had time to realize what we'd found," Chloe heard Max say, though the words sounded distant, like an echo as she was partially lost in her own thoughts, "On the way here, well, Chloe kinda broke down, Joyce. Please don't be mad."

"If I'm mad at anyone, it's David. That is my house, in my name," Chloe heard Joyce reply, again a distant echo, "God, for Chloe to find that after everythin' she's been through… I might need to call her old therapist again, possibly-"

"No disrespect, Joyce, but Chloe needs love and affection. Not medication."

"You sound as though you speak from experience, Max. Lord, I can only imagine what breaking apart from Chloe all those years ago did to you."

"It was…incredibly rough. That's why it's important that I…that we be here for her now."

Noting the silence that followed after Max finished speaking, Chloe momentarily looked up and noticed that both Max and Joyce were not behind the counter. Her confusion outweighing her current fragility, she looked over to her right and found both of them heading straight for her.

"Oh. Hey," Chloe droned, her tone flat as she was emotionally fatigued.

Feeling Max wrap her up with those small arms, Chloe sighed and partially buried her face in the crook of Max's neck as her girlfriend just held her. Sitting on the stool seemed to provide Max enough height that the positioning was not awkward at all, and Chloe was thankful that Max just there. Feeling the emotional weight of everything she had been through over the past five years in the truck had brought Chloe to the lowest point that she had felt in a long time; having Max with her time time around soothed her, provided her with a small sanctuary. Max is a safe space for me, Chloe repeatedly thought in her head like a mantra as she lifted her head up to look at Joyce. The clear look of concern and worry on her mother's face nearly brought Chloe to tears again, but the expression also made her a little bitter. What would her mom actually do about David's massive transgression? Would she let their house being under surveillance slide, even a fraction? Chloe did not know what she would do if Joyce opted to mend the situation rather than act more decisively.

"What…?" Chloe croaked, her voice raspy and tired from all the crying she had done earlier, "What are you going to do, Mom? He can't get away with this, not with this."

"I'm sure he might've had good intentions-"

"Mom. No."

"Chloe, would you let me finish?" Joyce asked, hand to her forehead as she leaned against the counter. "His intentions might've been good, but that's no excuse. He can't just do as he pleases in our home, and recording us without us knowing? That's too much. I… I think it might be best if he left for a while, thought over what he's done."

"You're kicking him out?" Max asked, releasing herself from Chloe but still standing between her and Joyce. "What if he tries to-?"

"No, Max. He's gone too far this time. I've done my best to keep the peace between him and Chloe, tried my hardest. This is just too much," Joyce said as she pulled out her cell phone and walked into the back room. Chloe looked over at Max with a relieved expression on her face.

"He'll be gone. Even if it's temporary, he'll be gone and it'll be home again," Chloe said in a whisper before slowly getting to her feet and speaking up as clearly as her roughened voice would let her, "Can we… I'm going to crash at Max's tonight, so I don't have to be around when all hell breaks loose. I mean, part of me wants to see him get knocked down a peg but I'm just too fucking tired to give a shit. Tomorrow, though, Max and I will find his cameras and get rid of them."

"It's probably for the best that you two do avoid the house tonight," Joyce said, the drawn way in which she spoke relaying how she was already fatigued over what was going to occur later in the evening, "Stick close to each other, y'hear? You've both already been through so much these past couple of days…"

"We will, Joyce. No worries," Max said, squeezing Chloe's hand before she started to lead the taller girl towards the door, "Let's get you back to my room. We can drink some sodas and watch a movie or something."

"At this point, I just wanna crash."

"We can do that, too. Whatever you need, Chloe. I'm here for you."


Max pulled into the Blackwell parking lot just as the sun finish setting, opting to drive Chloe's truck since her companion looked to be too worn out to handle driving the vehicle herself. Placing the truck in park, Max switched off the engine and handed the keys to Chloe before climbing out of the driver's side. She was a little amused when Chloe slid along the bench seat to follow behind her, but kept the thought of how cute Chloe was being to herself. She's in pain. Deep pain. I…I don't know what to really do or say, except just be here for her. I hope that's enough, Max thought as she wrapped an arm around Chloe's waist and began to lead her across the parking lot. Making their way up the steps, Max noticed how empty the courtyard for the school building was and appreciated the stillness. It's so tranquil, so quiet. Like a still life waiting to happen. I wish I could afford the time to take a picture, but Chloe needs me right now, Max thought with a small pout before she continued their trek towards the girls' dormitory.

"Max…?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Just being here. Being back in my life. I don't know-"

"Shh. I'm here, you're here, and we're together. Don't think about otherwise, okay?"

"Okay."

Leading Chloe along, Max was a little surprised when the first person to greet them was an acquaintance of hers from science class. Walking up to the boy, Max smiled while gently tightening her hold around Chloe's waist.

"Hey, Warren. It's quiet tonight," Max said pleasantly enough, "How are you?"

"Hey, Max. Just trying to score a date for this Planet of the Apes marathon an hour's drive from here…"

"'Score a date'? That's one way to put it, I guess," Max said with a snort before she led Chloe past the boy, "Well, uh, good luck with the 'scoring', I guess."

"You wouldn't happen to-?"

"Warren, I'm literally helping my girlfriend along to my dorm room. You're kinda cute and all, but I'm taken," Max said, looking over her shoulder without actually meeting Warren's gaze. When she heard him walk off, Max rolled her eyes and continued on.

The hallway was peppered with girls talking, listening to music, and just generally making their way either to the shower room or their own dorm rooms when Max and Chloe arrived. Seeing the look of concern on Rachel's face, her own dorm the first room on the left, Max jerked her chin in the direction of her own dorm room and gave brief smiles to Dana and Kate when they saw her leading Chloe along. Thankful to an extreme degree that Victoria's door was closed and that there was no sign of the girl, Max handed Rachel the room keys and let her open the door. Crossing the threshold with Chloe in tow, Rachel behind them, Max sat Chloe on the bed before locking the door and pressing herself against it with a long sigh.

"What happened?" Rachel asked, sitting on the futon couch as she gave both Max and Chloe scrutinizing looks.

"It's… It's been just another shitty day in Arcadia Bay," Max replied.

"Wasn't all shit," Chloe said, speaking up for the first time since Two Whales.

"No, it wasn't," Max assured Chloe, sitting down next to her girlfriend and holding her hand, "I'm so sorry, Chloe. That's… What David did is incredibly fucked up."

"What. Happened?" Rachel asked, emphasizing each word.

"Dude had spy cams in our house. We were being surveilled," Chloe said, her voice regaining strength in spite of how softly she was speaking, "I think I wanna lie down, maybe take a nap or something. That alright?"

"Of course, Chloe. You just lie down and I'll fill Rachel in," Max said, kissing her girlfriend on the forehead before taking the chair from the desk and sliding it over next to where Rachel was sitting, "I-I don't even really know where to begin. I mean, well, you know what happened today so far as this morning before I left…"

"Just give it to me straight, Max," Rachel said, lowering her voice so as to not disturb Chloe, the punk already knocked out, "I haven't seen Chloe like this in over a year. What the fuck happened?"

"We found out that David had a surveillance system set up in the house. He's been spying on Joyce and Chloe without their knowing."

"Jesus fucking…! There…There weren't cameras in the bedrooms were there?"

"No, thank Dog. But Chloe was devastated. She had… She had a breakdown in the truck on the way to tell Joyce. Rachel, I-I've never seen her like that," Max said, the pain in her voice causing Rachel to reach out and affectionately place a hand on Max's knee, "Does Chloe's depression always get this bad? I mean, she was sobbing and screaming, it was so terrible. And I felt so powerless to-"

"I know how you feel, Max. Chloe… When her depression hits, she either turns into this," Rachel said, gesturing to Chloe's sleeping state, "Or she loses her shit on just about anyone and everyone. It's, like, a coin toss as to what'll go down. I think that it was you who consoled her this time probably prevented option two."

"How long will she be like this?"

"However long it takes. Tomorrow, though, she'll probably be more like her usual self. She tends to bounce back pretty fast, and it sounds like she's got the ammunition to be pissed off," Rachel said, folding her arms across her chest, "You want me to take off? I can leave you two alone if you want."

"I think that might be best. She's tired and I need to decompress, plus I need to find out if I've got all the homework covered for this week. Chloe and I are still suspended, remember?" Max said, her voice relaying the fatigue she definitely was experiencing.

"Yeah. Well, lemme know if you two need anything. I mean anything, okay?" Rachel said before getting up. When Max followed suit, Rachel hugged the pink-haired girl before unlocking the door and heading back out into the hallway. Max thought she heard some gossipy whispering, but ignored the hushed tones as she quietly closed the door and locked it. Sitting back down in the desk chair, Max leaned against the back rest and sighed.

"Sorry for being so much work," Chloe said in a mewling voice, causing Max to turn around in her seat and gaze at her miserable girlfriend, "I'm kind of a wreck, huh?"

"We both are, to be honest," Max said with a rueful smile as she got up and walked over to the bed. Climbing into it so that she was facing Chloe, Max bumped her nose against her girlfriend's and smiled, "I love you anyway."

"W-What did you say?" Chloe asked, her eyes wide with a sudden gleam in them. Max smiled and kissed her chapped lips softly before speaking again. She knew what she had said, and she had meant every word.

"I love you, Chloe Price."

"Max… I love you, too," Chloe said, smiling as she leaned her forehead against Max's. With night falling and the room becoming increasingly dark, Max sat up quickly to switch on the paper lanterns before lying back down to rejoin her girlfriend, "This is… I mean… Holy fuck."

"Yeah, it's hella sweet," Max said, brushing a strand of blue hair behind Chloe's ear, "Now all you need to do is say 'Wowser' and the day'll be complete."

"'Wowser'," Chloe said, doing her best Max impression. Playfully hitting Chloe in the arm, Max chuckled before sliding a little closer. When their faces were only a few inches away, Max smiled lovingly at Chloe and Chloe matched the smile with one of her own, "…Can we just sleep? Just like this. I mean, we can wear sleep clothes if you-"

"Kick off your boots, I'll take off my shoes, and we'll be all good," Max said, leaning the short distance between them to kiss her love.


Chloe woke up the next morning and shrugged off Max's arm, the extremity stretched out so that Max actually had her arm across the other girl's face. Sitting up to stretch a little, forgetting how cramped a twin bed could be with two girls occupying it, Chloe looked down at her girlfriend and smiled warmly. She felt better today; not great, of course, after everything had happened Chloe still felt a little miserable. Definitely better, at least. An improvement. Hearing "I love you" certainly helped. Max loved her, had admitted those three words into Chloe's heart with all the strength she could muster. The phrase had hit the mark, as Chloe put a hand to her chest to feel her own heartbeat. She normally came out of her depressive funks either withdrawn and moody or pissed off; today, she felt contemplative and somewhat rested. Carefully climbing out of the bed so as to not wake up Max, Chloe slipped on her boots before tip-toeing over to Max and kissing the girl on her forehead.

"I'll be back in a bit, so don't go gettin' any ideas about taking off on me," Chloe whispered into Max's ear, grinning when Max stirred for a moment, nodded, and fell back asleep.

Max's keys in her hand, the door locked behind her so as to prevent any bitches like Victoria from doing only God knew what to Max while she slept, Chloe walked down the hall to Rachel's room and knocked on her door. Hearing someone stir from within the room, Chloe lightly knocked again out of impatience and smiled her crooked smile when Rachel opened the door. Bleary-eyed, her long blonde hair a mess, Rachel looked at Chloe with mild irritation before she caught the grin on her friend's face. Eyes widening, Rachel opened the door to invite Chloe in and quickly shut it so they could have immediate privacy.

"You're looking better than last night. Something good happen, I take it?" Rachel asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she dropped onto her bed, sitting cross-legged.

"Dude, Max told me that she loves me!" Chloe exclaimed, keeping her voice low so as to keep the knowledge between the two of them. "She loves me!"

Rachel beamed, her smile effulgent as she walked over and hugged Chloe tightly. Chloe had been waiting years for Max's return, and on one of the more shitty days in her life the best news ever – in Chloe's opinion – had been dropped on her by the most tender lips she had ever kissed. Hugging Rachel back, her joy at the fact of Max's declaration overriding the majority of yesterday's troubles, Chloe flopped down onto the bean bag chair after they let go of each other.

"So, does this mean that you're all better after yesterday? Max gave me an abbreviated version of what happened. Chloe, you kinda scared her with your…episode," Rachel said, her lips thinned as she looked at Chloe with concern, "That girl and you… You've both been through some shit as of late."

"Yeah, I know," Chloe said, tugging down at her beanie, "But she said she loved me, Rachel. She. Loves. Me. I mean, do you get how hella incredible this is?"

"I totes get it, and I'm happy for you, but I think you need to process all of yesterday and not just the parts you liked. Remember – I've been around for when your depression hit you hard several fucking times. Are you okay?"

Chloe sighed and leaned back in the chair. Staring up at the ceiling to watch Rachel's dreamcatchers slowly spin from the desk fan the other girl had going on top of her bookshelf, Chloe just observed their spinning for a time before looking back down at Rachel. She wanted to be okay, needed to be okay after what Max had told her. The truth, however, was separate from her desired reality.

"I'm…here, I guess. I'm not gonna go isolate myself or anything like that. I'm…I'm still fucked up. What David, that fucking asshole, did really got to me and it has me still thinking about what life would've been like if my dad hadn't died. Sometimes the thought of Dad still being around is in the back of my mind, gnawing at me. But I'm not going to crash today. I'm going to strategize."

"Strategize what, exactly?"

"I want to do something hella cool for Max after we go back to my place to grab some things. Something that will make her day. I just dunno what."

"I hate to be that bitch in this scenario, but don't you two have to keep up with the school assignments?"

"Man, Rach, we can totally hustle through those when our powers combine!" Chloe retorted, rolling her eyes, "Gee, way to be a fucking downer."

"Hey, asshole, I'm just looking out for you two," Rachel said, getting up to stab a finger into Chloe's shoulder, "Someone needs to. You see anyone volunteering to be your third wheel?"

"You're totally not-"

"I get it, y'know. You probably felt the same way when I would hang with both you and Frank. Granted, you didn't mind the free weed…," Rachel said, standing up straight now as she hovered over Chloe, "Just don't forget that you have friends, too, and not just Max."

"…And now I kinda feel like shit. Fuck me, we really haven't hung out that much as of late, huh?" Chloe asked, a little embarrassed, "My bad. It's just, well, it's Max. Girl's got my heart on a leash, dude. Can't be helped, and I'm not entirely sure I want to try and stop it."

A knock at the door brought their conversation to a grinding halt as Rachel walked over and cracked it open just a bit; seeing Max peer through the thin opening brought no small measure of relief to Chloe's heart as she leapt up from the bean bag chair while Rachel swung open the door all the way to allow Max inside. Still wearing clothes from yesterday, same as Chloe, Max walked inside and yawned a little before nestling herself against Chloe's chest.

"You left."

"I told you I'd be right back, hippie," Chloe teased before looking at Rachel apologetically. Seeing Rachel shrug before she jerked a thumb toward the door with a smirk, Chloe nodded and pulled Max back, "How's about we hit the showers and then you and I can plan a day together?"

"Chloe, shouldn't we do homework sometime?"

"…The fuck is with you people and goddamn homework?" Chloe groaned before pulling Max to the door as she opened it; closing the door behind her, Chloe linked elbows with Max and smiled a Cheshire grin, "We can do homework after we come up with something amazeballs for the day, m'kay? First, though, we need to shower – we kinda reek of weed a lil bit."


After hitting the showers, Max politely opting to shower by herself as opposed to them sharing a stall, Chloe kind of laughed at herself a little bit in Max's room when the realization hit her that she did not actually have any other clothes to put on but the previous day's arrangement. Knowing that she would look ridiculous in anything Max owned due to their distinct height differences, Chloe sighed and pulled on her tank-top and jeans as Max selected a pair of jean shorts and a hooded red t-shirt with a deer skull on the front in black outline. Approving of Max's wardrobe selection with a thumbs up, Chloe reclined on the futon while Max dumped the contents of her bag out onto the bed and neatly put away her school materials before she gathered a couple cartridges of film and her Polaroid camera. When Max paused while holding the camera, Chloe sat up in confusion only to frown when her pouty girlfriend turned to reveal that the device was broken.

"Oh man, are you cereal?" Max said in a huff before she flopped down onto the bed. "How the fuck am I supposed to take any pictures with a broken camera. There's no way I can fix this thing…"

"Well, normally I'd offer to assist but I think I can do you one better when we get to my place," Chloe said with a wink that aroused a suspicious look on Max's face, "What? I can totally hook you up. Trust me, babe."

"Of course I trust you, Chloe," Max said as she motioned with her cupped hands to the broken camera within their contents, "I… It's just that I got this right after we left for Seattle. My parents… Well, they felt bad from me crying so much on the way there that they got the camera for me."

"So you were upset about leaving?"

"Of course I was, dork! You and I didn't part on the best of terms back then, but I didn't want to leave you."

Chloe paused for a bit after Max's last statement. She had rarely considered any other side of their separation but her own, even with Max back in Arcadia Bay and their being together. Feeling a little at ease over the fact that Max had taken their being torn apart hard like she had, Chloe got up and sat next to Max on the bed. Gently collecting the broken camera from Max's hands, Chloe slid the parts into the other girl's camera bag as neatly as she could before kissing her girlfriend on the cheek. If we can't fix it at my place, my surprise is sure to at least help Max feel better, Chloe thought as she hoisted Max up to her feet and handed the pink-haired hipster her bag.

"We'll head on over to my place, reconnoiter a bit to see if there's some tools available to help fix your camera, and if not then my surprise is sure to cheer you up. Deal?"

"Deal," Max said, nodding in spite of the disappointed expression on her face.

Heading out the door, most of the girls on the floor busy with their own daily routines, Chloe breathed a faint sigh of relief at the lack of Victoria's presence out in the hallway. While she would not necessarily mind going a few rounds with the pixie-haired girl after all she had done to Max recently and over the course of the school term thus far, Chloe just wanted to escape with her partner-in-crime without having more drama stacked upon them. Giving Rachel a quick wave as she and Max passed the other girl by in the hallway, Chloe pushed the door with enough force that it banged against the wall as they headed out of Max's floor and the girls' dormitory entirely.

"My place first, right? Don't really feel like hitting up Two Whales for breakfast in stinky gear. Not that anyone would notice – half the peeps who go there tend to reek of one thing or another," Chloe commented as she and Max walked hand in hand through the school's main courtyard.

"That's totally fine. Besides, aren't you supposed to eventually start working there?" Max shot back, an amused look on her face as Chloe smacked her forehead."

"Fuck, I'll probably have to work this afternoon! Can we-?"

"We can easily squeeze in at least one location after breakfast before you have to head to the diner for a shift. No worries."


"Lemme get showered and changed first, and then we'll deal with the 'surprise' I have in store for you," Max heard Chloe say as the blue-haired girl ran roughshod through her own room for a quick change of clothes while Max just sat at the desk only halfway paying her girlfriend any attention. Her broken camera now sitting on the desk as she faced away from it, Max was still feeling a little melancholic about it possibly being beyond repair, "Max? Yo, Max, you there?"

"Oh! Um, sorry. Yeah – shower and a change of clothes. Got it. Do you have any kind of tools, maybe, for fixing my camera?" Max asked, a little started as she snapped back to reality.

"Uh, step-prick might have some in his workspace. Y'know, if he didn't pack up all his shit when he took off last night," Chloe replied as she headed for the door with a bundle of wadded-up clothes tucked under her arm, "Gimme, say, ten minutes?"

"Sure. I'll go snooping while you do your thing."

"Love ya, babe. Be done hella quick."

Max watched Chloe head through the small hallway and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her, before she got up herself to head downstairs to look for the tools to potentially fix her broken Polaroid camera. Heading down the stairs, Max was about to turn the corner when the sounds of someone in the house caused her to freeze. Peering over the railing, halfway down the stairs, Max caught sight of David heading towards the front door and gulped. Taking her time down the remainder of the staircase, Max's anxiety escalated as David caught sight of her; his eyes seeming to inspect her as he gave Max the once-over, the hipster felt incredibly awkward as they both reached the front door at the same time.

"Max."

"David."

"I… I care about Joyce, about Chloe. I wouldn't have done what I did if I hadn't," David said, his voice conveying his regret. Max, however, did not know if it was regret over his actions or his being ejected from the house.

"I can sorta get that," Max said, shuffling a little in place as she latched onto her arm and looked down at her feet for a little bit before looking up at David, "Maybe surveilling your family without their consent was not the best approach, though? Even doing something like that for good reasons is ultimately still an invasion of privacy."

"I don't want to fight with you, Max. Hell, I don't want to fight with anyone anymore. Just… Take good care of Chloe, y'hear? Don't you two go wandering off into the dark…," David said, picking up his suitcase as he headed out the front door, quietly shutting it behind himself.

Visibly deflated a little from how sorrowful David had sounded, Max frowned as she turned the corner and headed down the hall towards the living room area. Seeing that the door to David's workspace area had been left open, Max paused and took a seat on the couch first rather than go heading straight in to snoop around for tools. She had not meant to help cause such a divide in Joyce's family life; she knew what David had done was wrong, incredibly wrong, but the sincerity in his voice produced mixed feelings. Looking down at the floor, Max narrowed her eyes at a familiar stain that was partially covered by an area rug. I remember that stain! Chloe and I swiped a bottle of Joyce's wine and it got everywhere! We got into so much trouble for that! Wowser…

Getting up from the couch, Max went around the furniture and headed into the space that had been David's work area. Taking a look at the gun cabinet first, more out of curiosity than anything else, Max noticed that two of the sidearms were missing. Now David's out there and he's packing? This is just getting more and more messed up! Max thought before wondering for a moment why David would need two guns and not just one. Staring off into space as she usually did when lost in thought, Max hardly noticed how barren the room seemed with most signs of David's presence gone. There was no laptop, all the books that had been piled or stacked neatly throughout the area were boxed up, and the cabinet where the surveillance display had been installed was stripped bare. Looking up for no actual reason, Max's eyes regained their focus when she noticed a small toolkit sitting atop a box on the washer-dryer combo machine.

"I can't reach that," Max said, chuckling a little as she thought of Chloe making a smartass remark for stating the obvious, "Maybe if I turn the machine on…"

Turning on the washer yielded the opposite effect, much to Max's chagrin. Instead of dropping the toolkit down to her, the vibration dropped the precision tools down behind one of the workbenches. Still out of reach, Max was kneeling on the ground to try and just get her fingertips on the case when a smack to her ass left the girl shrieking and smacking her head against the workbench's shelves.

"You ass!" Max snapped, rubbing at her forehead where the impact had occurred. "That fucking hurt, Chloe!"

"Sorry, but I couldn't resist. C'mon, I mean, it's like your booty was just there begging to be smacked. If anything, I obliged it and did my civic duty," Chloe quipped, a crooked grin on her face as she presently held her hands behind her back.

"There's a set of what I hope are precision tools under this bench, but I can't reach them."

"Dude, you want me to snag them for you?"

"Would you, please?" Max asked, now sitting on the floor. Her turn to flash a crooked grin, Chloe quirked an eyebrow at the change in Max's demeanor. "I'd be ever so grateful…"

"Ooh-la-la, Caulfield. I'll take you up on that some time. First, though…," Chloe said, revealing the contents of what was in her hands with a flourish: an older model Polaroid camera, "I know you're birthday is coming hella soon, so here, I want you to have this. It…It was my dad's camera."

Max scrambled to her feet, in awe of the gesture. Cradling the gifted camera in her hands like the device was a precious treasure, Max tried to return the camera to Chloe's hands but was deftly refused as the punk backed up a couple steps.

"Chloe, this is so sweet, but I can't take this."

"Bullshit. I'm not using it, and I know my dad would hella appreciate the use you'll put it through. So, cool?"

"Yes, of course it's cool!" Max said as she lifted the camera up to peek through its viewfinder before setting it on the workbench. "What about my other camera, though?"

"I'll snag the tools, we'll see if we can fix your other one, and go from there later. For now, though, it is time to feast! To Two Whales!" Chloe cried out, fist raised in the air as though she were celebrating a momentous occasion.


Two Whales had the regulars still in the diner by the time Max and Chloe arrived on the scene, lingerers from the breakfast rush who were nursing their coffee or just chatting amongst themselves. Fist-bumping Justin as she spotting him and Trevor in the booth right next to the door, Chloe watched Max wave at them in greeting and chuckled at how awkward her girlfriend could come off as sometimes. She knew better, though; Under all that lingering shyness and humility is the heart of a badass, Chloe thought with a small grin as she and Max headed to their usual booth. Instead of taking the opposing benches this time, however, Chloe's eyes widened ever so slightly when Max opted to sit next to her instead. Nodding in approval as she snaked an arm around the hipster's shoulders, Chloe pulled Max in close for a peck on the cheek before Joyce came over with coffees.

"How are you two doin' today?" Joyce asked, her own face a mask of smiles that did not seem to reach her eyes.

"I saw David at the house, briefly," Max said, Chloe's eyes narrowing at the mention of her stepfather.

"He didn't give you any shit, did he? I swear-" Chloe started to say before getting cut off by Max.

"No, he was… He was sad. Like, really sad."

"No more than he deserves," Joyce said, the smiling mask slipping as her emotional fatigue showed appeared for a single glimpse, "He's agreed to marriage counseling, which is good, but I told him it'd be best if he found a place of his own for a little bit."

"…So you're still going to forgive him, huh?" Chloe asked in flat tone, though the look of ire on her face expressed her disdain very clearly.

"Chloe, relationships – especially marriage – require work and sometimes there are struggles. You're young, so all you know right now is the happiness you have with Max. Y'all mean to tell me you two haven't gotten into it?" Joyce countered, hand on her hip while she looked at the both of them.

"We've…hit a few roadblocks here and there, but we're good right now," Max offered.

"We're good. Like she said," Chloe intoned, holding Max a little tighter.

"Well, I hope that streak of goodness you two have keeps on runnin'," Joyce said as she scribbled orders onto her notepad, "I'll be back with your orders in a jiffy."

"But we haven't-"

"A Belgian waffle for you, Max, and a bacon omelette for Chloe. You two haven't changed your orders here since you first started comin'. Hard to see things changin' any time soon," Joyce said with a wry grin before taking off to refill other people's coffees.

A little pissed off over the whole David situation finding a way to spill over into her and Max's day together, Chloe sulked a bit as she looked out the window while Max tried to decipher the nerd graffiti carved onto the tabletop. The past two days had been so intense, there was so little Chloe felt like she could do to try and make up for. I can't erase what happened, with Max or myself, but I can at least try to make things better for her today, Chloe thought as she looked from the window to her girlfriend, admiring the sight of Max attempting to figure out the formula Chloe herself had etched onto the vinyl laminate.

"Yeah, I think that problem is a little above your pay grade," Chloe chimed in, a smile stretching across her face as Max pouted in defeat, "That's some college-level wizardry there, Max."

"I can see that," Max mumbled before leaning back against the booth's seat, "Makes me think of all the homework that we should be doing. Not that I actually want to do it, y'know?"

"Yeah, well, who actually wants to do fucking homework? Not even legit nerds, that I know of. Like yourself, nerd."

When Max did not respond, Chloe nudged her and got a mildly startled look out of the girl before Max quickly smiled. Puzzled, Chloe leaned in close and stared at her girlfriend eye-to-eye.

"The hell is in that brain of yours, Caulfield? You're up to somethin'," Chloe said, more a statement of fact than an inquiry.

"I'm just trying to figure where to do our photoshoot. Some place quiet, but familiar to us that kinda brings our long friendship-"

"Relationship."

"…Relationship to the forefront. The lighthouse, maybe?" Max asked, Chloe sensing that the other girl was looking for Chloe's seal of approval before cementing any plans.

"That's doable. Not like anyone else really goes up there at this time of day," Chloe noted before Joyce returned with their food, "Thanks, Mom. I'm assuming this is going to taken out of my check…?"

"It's my treat this time, after what you two sleuths discovered David was up to. Not a reward, mind you, so much as an apology," Joyce said, taking a moment to sit down across from Max and Chloe, "I still can't believe it, David putting cameras in the house. What was he thinking?"

"Uh, dude's hella paranoid," Chloe mentioned before taking a stab at some of her bacon omelette, "If he hadn't pulled it when he did, he hella would've put cameras in eventually."

"I…I think his intentions were to keep you all safe, but good intentions does not outweigh the massive invasion of privacy," Max said, avoiding the brief glare from Chloe by cutting into her Belgian waffle, "I'm not defending him, okay? I'm just saying that everyone has a reason for the things they do. David's… Well, he still messed up."

"Yes, he did," Joyce said, her sorrowful tone getting an eyeroll from Chloe that the older Price family member did not notice, "Well, on to other things. What do you two have planned for the rest of the day? I mean, until Chloe comes in for her shift."

"Mom..."

"Chloe, it's three hours. You'll live."

"We're going to do a photoshoot at the lighthouse," Max cheerily piped in, her Belgian waffle already halfway gone. Chloe forgot how fast an eater Max was, though not as fast as her when you took into account that her omelette was nearly gone altogether, "Chloe has agreed to be my muse."

"Oh? I hope it's nothin' too, well, revealing…" Joyce said, her wording so precise that Max picked up on the phrasing immediately and shook her head, "Good. I know that you two are together, and I respect that. I just don't want you doing anything extreme."

"Mom, have you seen Max? Aside from her fading pink hair and the occasional good fashion sense, she's still the hella lovable nerd we knew years ago. I think we'll be fine," Chloe said with a scoff before wincing when Max jabbed her in the ribs with an elbow, "We still need to do something about that hair of yours, by the way. Also – Ow."


"Photograph me like one of your French girls, Maxaroni," Chloe said, laughing when Max groaned in response as they reached the hill's clearing, the lighthouse looming over them.

"You're high," Max teased back, making a point of eyeballing the joint in Chloe's hand, "And no, after yesterday, I do not wish to partake."

"Dude, you were so ridiculous yesterday that it makes me wish I had a video camera to record it. Seriously, that was epically funny. Next time we manage to get you buzzed, we'll have to do something truly feat-worthy to top it!" Chloe proclaimed as she reclined on the bench, "So, Max. You're the shot-caller here – tell me what to do! I am your subject, your muse, after all."

Max had Chloe recline on the bench first, her entire body on the seat. Directing Chloe to relax first, noting how still her girlfriend's movements were, Max walked over to the punk and flared open the leather jacket a bit, exposing the "Misfit Skull" tank-top. Unable to decide as to whether she wanted the beanie on or off Chloe's head, Max settled for it loosely there but with a little more of the blue hair sticking out than usual. Chloe's eyes peeking out from behind strands of the azure waves, Max had Chloe prop herself up with one arm on the armrest and the other outstretched along the back rest of the bench. Telling Chloe to look off towards the horizon, Max backed away and used the camera given to her to line up the shot; standing at a slight distance in front of Chloe and to the other girl's left, Max took the shot and then took another with Chloe looking at her the second time around.

"What's next?" Chloe asked, sitting up without asking Max was done or not with the specific pose.

"Um, how about you lose the jacket, and kinda let your tank-top's straps fall to your arms? Keep the tank-top on, of course, but let it be a little looser," Max instructed, all business as she finally had a chance to do more than take selfies of herself and Chloe, "Sit forward, leaning out a bit. Put your hands on the bench that's between your legs and lose the joint. Give me a…mysterious look, like you're pondering something intense."

"Uh, sure," Chloe said, Max taking note of the mild bewilderment in Chloe's voice."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just never seen you all bidness when it came to your photography before."

"You played assistant to me when I was shooting Rachel in that barn a couple weeks ago."

"Well, yeah. I've just never been the one you're taking pics of. It's…It's different."

"Different in a bad way?" Max asked, looking up from the viewfinder, "I-I don't want you to be uncomfortable…"

"Relax, babe. I feel fine. I am totally under your spell, y'know."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Max peered back into the viewfinder and took the shot when she saw Chloe's facial expression change to one of mystery. Her eyes a little glazed over, Chloe looked directly into the camera but her expression seemed far away, distant. For a second, Max thought about asking what Chloe was thinking about; figuring the girl would shoot back a smartass reply, Max opted to not inquire and instead took a few pictures. As some clouds began to blot out the sunlight, Max watched their shadows play over Chloe's face and she finished off the cartridge of film with a couple final shots. Ejecting the spent cartridge and stowing it into her camera bag, Max put in a fresh pack of film before taking Chloe's picture in that pose from multiple angles and distances: close-up, a profile shot, and a shot from a lower angle.

"You good?" Chloe finally asked as Max dumped the second empty cartridge into her camera bag, "That's a lot of pics."

"Yeah, and instant film isn't cheap, either," Max nodded, stowing her camera in the bag, "That's enough for today, anyway. With only one location nailed down, and us on a schedule because of your work at the diner, I don't want to press for time. Besides, we'll need to look at all of these once they're fully developed and see about picking the best overall."

"Dude, are you second-guessing yourself again? You've got to cut that shit out. You are a photographer, Max. Someday, they'll be in a museum. Just you wait and see," Chloe said, getting up from the bench with her jacket in one hand as she brought her other arm around Max's shoulders to kiss the photographer on the lips hard, "Believe in yourself."

For the first time in a while, Max actually did. Smiling after the kiss, Max gave her girlfriend a soft kiss on the cheek in return.

I love you, Chloe.