Once again thank you for all the favorites/follows/reviews!
To the guest(s) with the lists of thoughts-
Samuel is probably readying the squirrels for world domination.
I imagine for years, there's many of his pictures around that show off the look but weren't under the influence.
There's enough clues in the game that hint that Jefferson was relatively new to Arcadia Bay.
Neither Principal Wells nor Nathan were evil people. Nathan suffered from mental illness and emotional abuse from his father. Principal Wells however covered up Nathan's problems and it'd be irresponsible for the school board to not look into it.
HouseOfSeekers/lestibur/guest - All will eventually be revealed in regards to CC (even to me).
Miss-Statement - Don't normally use tumblr, very lazy about it tbh, but it seemed the easiest way to try and link the pictures I had in my mind for chapter 12.
Heads up-as good as I've been about posting a chapter a day, I'm preparing a fairly large cliffhanger for chapter 15 (which should appear late Friday night or late Saturday night). It'll probably be a few days before chapter 16 comes after that.
Max knew it seemed odd to ask Victoria to take her to the lighthouse before the funeral, but she needed to go. Pretty much everybody seemed to be in as good of a place as they could be considering the situation. Kate hadn't jumped, became friends with Victoria, managed to attend another Vortex Club party and not have an incident this time, and even got asked out by a guy. Victoria went from mean girl of Blackwell to quickly becoming one of Max's best friends, something she never expected ever in any timeline. Max, Kate and Victoria all camped out together in Victoria's room after the Vortex party, the latter two determined to not leave Max alone yet.
She walked the path to the top of the hill where the lighthouse stood wearing a black dress—it seemed appropriate for the day. Around her neck was Chloe's bullet necklace that she had taken from the dark room in the other timeline, though it was hidden underneath the dress. For the world to see Max wore a gold necklace with a doe for the centerpiece. She reached the top of the hill and went to the bench where only four, or was it nine days ago she sat with Chloe telling her everything that was going on.
She stood in front of the bench and looked out at the Pacific Ocean as the golden hour approached. She watched the reflection of the sun on the water and the birds flying in the sky. She looked over toward Arcadia Bay and just saw the town. No beached whales, no giant tornado trying to rip the town apart, just peace.
"I'll miss you Chloe," Max said quietly to herself as she just looked out. She took a seat on the bench for a few moments to just take the scene in. As she was about to get up she heard a rustling and wondered if it might be the doe she had seen during the now aborted week, but it was something much more real to her—Victoria.
"I can go back to the car if you need me to Max," Victoria said quietly. Like Max she was ready for the funeral, though not quite in black as much as Max was.
"No, you can stay," Max responded.
Victoria approached Max slowly, tentatively—as much as the friendship had blossomed over this week and they seemed inseparable, Victoria imagined this would be a rough day and didn't want to push things too much.
"This is where you saw the storm, isn't it?"
Max nodded to the question, "Yeah, a lot of things happened here that week."
Victoria looked down as she reached Max and sat beside her on the bench.
"And where you said goodbye."
Another nod from Max, who instead of talking just took a deep breath.
"Max, can I ask you a much more personal question? Telling me no is an acceptable answer."
The corner of Max's mouth curved upward like a smile for a moment before she shook her head, "I don't mind if you ask a question Victoria, right now you probably know more about me than anyone else alive, or at least my recent situation."
"Did… did you love her?"
Max was surprised by the question but did her best to not let that surprise show. "She was my best friend Victoria, of course I loved her." Max tried answering this in the most nonchalant way possible.
Victoria shook her head. "You know that's not what I asked Max. Were, were you in love with her?"
The brunette took a deep breath and started to stumble over her answer. "Victoria, I, uh, well…" she paused for a moment and looked down to the ground and sighed. "Yes."
Victoria nodded at that and quietly said, "I thought as much. I truly am sorry that for whatever reason the universe had to be cruel to you." She stood up, probably more unsure of herself than she had ever been at any point in her life. "I'll let you be and wait for you at the car. Take as much time as you need."
When Victoria started to walk off Max didn't do anything to stop the taller blonde. Before she went down the hill Victoria took one last look at Max and frowned.
Max once again stood up and looked out onto the ocean.
"You know Chloe, it's odd how different a week can be from just one little thing, like you not being here. I'm forever glad I got to spend that week with you. Life is hella crazy."
Max afforded herself a second of laughter before she turned to see Victoria's hair disappearing from view down the path.
"Hey Victoria, wait up," Max called as she started down the path herself.
Another short one after a long chapter. Coming soon: Chapter 14: On a Jet Plane and Chapter 15: San Francisco Nightmare