Standing awake with a cigarette in her hand, Chloe nursed a cup of coffee in the other - her eyes distant, directed in the general direction of her backyard. Beside her on the drawer cabinet lay her P226, fully loaded and ready to be pulled up at a moment's notice. Taking a sip, she pulled the curtain back a bit to check for anything, letting it go briefly afterwards and turning around.

Approaching the couch, she smiled as she sat on the edge and put her coffee down on the table - her hand drifting up to weave through Max's chestnut hair, nails scraping her scalp softly. Again she allowed her gaze to rest on the window to the backyard, absently looking forward as she thought over the last few days and yesterdays accident in particular.

After a few more minutes of silence filled with Max's light snoring, her breath hitched and resumed momentarily - her hands stretching out above her.

"Hey," Chloe said and leaned over her with a smile, allowing her hand to intertwine fingers with one of Max's. "Sleep good?"

She nodded and smiled back, squeezing her hand. "It was okay. Did uh… anything happen?"

"No," the biker replied and shook her head. "Everything's been quiet."

"Did you sleep at all?" Max asked as she looked at Chloe's face, noticing the forming bags beneath her eyes.

"No," she repeated and smiled. "I've been running on coffee since you fell asleep."

"Chloe," she tugged her hand, "You have to sleep. Come on."

Chloe shook her head and kept her smile. "It's fine babe-"

Max shook her head. "Get over here," she said and lifted up the blanket, gesturing her to lie down.

With a sigh, she nodded and quickly stubbed her cigarette out in the ashtray - almost immediately lying down on the couch and facing Max with a smile. "Hey," she slurred, the fatigue finally coming to her as she settled herself comfortably underneath the blanket.

Pressing her lips against her forehead, Max giggled. "Shh, go to sleep."

Chloe nodded and closed her eyes, burrowing her head below Max's whilst she in turn wrapped her hands around her waist. Letting slip one more sigh, the punk fell asleep minutes later with her mouth slightly agape.

Listening quietly, Max kept her eyes open and focused on nothing - allowing her thoughts to drift off and think over everything. Occasionally she smiled and left a trail of soft kisses of Chloe's forehead, giving her a squeeze whenever her breath hitched in her sleep, running her fingers through her blue hair whilst the punk slept. She was still living off the high she'd received after Chloe had confessed everything, including proposing to her, and whilst it was now dissipating she was still extremely happy. Perhaps finally they'd actually be able to get our Arcadia once and for all.

Minutes passed whilst Max was drifting through her mind the entire time, eventually breaking out of her daze when she heard a knock on their front door, followed by the doorbell.

With care, she slipped out from her place and over Chloe, ensuring to not wake up the dead-asleep biker that was now cuddling the pillow where Max was only seconds before. She giggled and walked out of the living room, down the hallway and to the front door.

Opening it wide, she smiled when she saw Miley standing with hands on her hips - looking slightly concerned. "Hey Miles."

"Max? W'sup. Uh… is Chloe up?" Miley looked at the broken kitchen window a few feet away. "She called like two hours ago and said something happened. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," Max said. "Uhm, do you want to come in? Chloe is asleep right now she… she stayed up the entire night looking over the house."

"Oh, right." Miley nodded and took a step forward as Max moved aside. "It's actually kinda good because I… I wanted to talk to you about stuff."

Max nodded and closed the door, gesturing the raven-haired biker down the hall. "We can talk in the backyard I guess."

"Cool." Miley strolled down the hall and entered the living room, smirking when she saw Chloe fast asleep on the couch. "She stayed up the whole night, huh?"

"Mhm," the brunette hummed as she followed her to the sliding glass doors.

Stepping out into the fresh air, both Miley and Max continued towards a small bench and table combo in one corner of the small yard - the setup being located underneath a grand oak tree that cast an equally big shadow in the morning sun.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Max asked once she sat down opposite Miley.

She shrugged. "Just wanted to see how you're holding up after everything. I know that Chloe has alot on her plate right now, but what about you?"

"I'm fine," she replied with a smile.

"You sure? This has got to be a mountain to absorb sister, don't be hesitant to tell me." Miley reached over and squeezed her hand, smiling back.

Max nodded and looked around briefly, eventually sighing. "I guess it is. I… I never knew she hid so much from me. When she showed up in Seattle, every part of me wanted to tell her to leave but… I couldn't bring myself to do it. Then once I saw how conflicted she was, how sad and broken she looked in my room minutes later… I just remember that I loved her and I couldn't be mad, even if she did hurt me. It sounds stupid, doesn't it?"

Miley shook her head. "Not at all Max - I understand. So she told you everything?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "including all the stuff with alcohol, drugs, the… violence and whatever else. It was… heavy."

"Are you happy now?" Miley held up her ring-bearing hand with a smirk.

Giggling, she nodded again and looked over the simple golden band. "Yeah."

"Good," Miley dropped their hands back down, "So what was the whole thing that uh… Chloe wanted to talk about? What happened?"

Max shrugged and rubbed her face with her hand. "We were sleeping in bed when somebody threw a brick through our kitchen window."

"Jesus."

"Yeah. It was kinda scary, not going to lie. It uh… had a message attached to it, telling Chloe and me to watch our backs; a threat." Max sighed and dropped her gaze to the grained wood of the table. "It felt surreal, I never expected something like that to ever happen you know?"

"Did she have any idea who it was?" Miley asked.

"Not that she knew of. At least she didn't tell me-"

"Max," she grabbed her hand and squeezed it again, "if Chloe knew anything, she'd tell you. She did promise to tell you the truth from now on, right?"

"Yeah-"

"Then Chloe doesn't know who it is." Miley smiled as she let go of her hand again. "Trust me, she wouldn't make the same mistake of keeping things from you if you asked."

"Okay." Max bobbed her head and looked up at the sky briefly. "I'm still kinda scared, Miles. With all this FBI stuff after you all and whatever else that other thing is… I'm scared."

"I know. Keep strong, okay? Shit does look real bad right now, I admit that, but there's still two options left - Rachel's mystery plan and your fake documents. If things go bad, I'll tell Chloe to take the two of you over the border, leave us behind."

Max nodded quietly.

"You just have to control her a bit if that happens. She'll try hard to try and convince you to go back to help us somehow but don't listen to her." Miley took out a cigarette quickly lit it up, taking a drag and blowing some smoke to the side. "Chloe is stubborn and I'm not so sure she's actually over the club at all. I… I said some things that fucked her up and I'm sorry but also not sorry for it - she needed a wake up call from everything she'd been doing over the years with Rachel."

"What… what did she do?" Max asked.

"Ugh," she huffed out some smoke after taking a drag, "She wanted to do something real bad to get information from somebody. Wanted to make Hannah and Julie to do it. I stopped it before she got out of control - we started shouting and one thing led to another."

"Okay." Max looked around and sighed as she began to draw shapes on the table absentmindedly. "She's been different since she came back."

"How so?" Miley quirked an eyebrow, taking a drag of her cigarette in the process.

"She's acting like her old self. Before Lonnie and Sasha passed, that is." Max smiled. "Just… super romantic, happy, sappy and all that stuff. She sang - hah - she sang to me some cheesy Chicago song whilst we were riding around Washington and just looking at sights."

Miley laughed and dropped her chin into her hand, looking at Max.

"I think she's actually letting the club go," the brunette admitted with a sigh.

"Is that bad?" Miley raised an eyebrow again as she looked over Max's face.

"No, no… it's just that… is it the right thing, Miles? I know she's spent a decade with the Valkyries and she's poured so much of herself into running the club… is it right to tell her to quit? I feel guilty here." Max dropped her head again. "I don't want her to let go of something she loves for me, even if I do want her to at the same time. I… I'm conflicted here Miles, I dunno what to do."

"Max, hey," Miley smiled as she took her hand. "Chloe loves you, not the club. Sure she's spent a long time running things, sure she's left marks in the club history, sure she's friends with all of us. But she loves you, not nobody or nothing else."

Max sighed again and gave Miley a brief nod.

"Chloe has to let the club go for her sake, not just yours. At first I'm pretty sure she used it as a crutch to get over her father, but now… it's something else and none of us like it. Tell her to drop us, for you and for herself. Do that for me?" Miley smiled and stubbed her cigarette out.

"Okay," she replied and smiled, "I'll do it."

Miley stood up and dusted herself off, momentarily looking around before settling her gaze on Max again. "Uh, do you and Chloe have anything planned for today?"

"No?"

"Right… uh, if you want I'm hosting this small club get together for everyone, like old times. Something to clear our heads whilst this whole shitstorm is brewing over us - just a casual thing." Miley smiled and gestured towards the house. "You and Chloe can come over and hang out if you want, we'll have food and just some general banter."

"Sounds good," Max replied and stood up herself. "I'll tell Chloe when she's awake, we'll make sure to come by."

"Cool, cool," Miley reached over and pulled Max into a hug, patting her back. "Keep safe, I'll see you later today - m'kay?"

"Sure."

With a series of knocks on the door, Chloe slipped her arm around Max again and placed a kiss on her head as she pulled her close.

"Love you," she whispered and smiled.

Max nodded. "Love you too dork."

Moments later the door opened and revealed Miley in some casual clothes, a simple tee and jeans - her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Immediately she smiled and held her hands out. "Girls! Come in, the rest of us are in the backyard if you wanna go through - doors in the living room."

Chloe fistbumped Miley and gently pushed Max in front of her. "Head up, I'll be right over."

"Okay," she replied and walked past Miley and down the hallway, disappearing seconds later.

Miley looked at Chloe and raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"Look… I never got to properly say sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it, your words just cut deep and I went loose." Chloe stared down at the floor briefly before looking back up. "So… I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's fine." Miley smiled and pulled Chloe into a hug, shutting the door with her foot. "I understand."

"Thanks, Miles. I… I really think this small get together thing is going to help me and Max, so thanks for this too," she said as she moved back out of the embrace.

"Don't mention it sister," Miley replied and draped her arm across Chloe's shoulder, slowly leading them down the hallway. "I wanted to ask you something personally and I want you to be truthful with me."

"Shoot."

"Are you getting over the club?" Miley asked and looked at her whilst they walked. "Like… are you prioritising Max over us?"

"Yeah," Chloe nodded as she spoke. "She's my number one priority right now."

"Good, I want you to keep it that way." Miley led them into the living room. "You've done a lifetime's worth of work for the club, but it's time for you to move on like you said yourself a week ago."

"I know."

"Also this whole FBI thing… Rachel and Frank are over, they want to tell us something later relating to it. Is that fine with you?" Miley looked at Chloe with a raised eyebrow.

"S'fine."

"Okay. For now I want you to relax like old times, just hang out and have a good time - forget everything, okay?" Miley giggled as she pushed the younger woman through the sliding doors and out into the backyard. "Frank's on the BBQ, just head over and make out with Max or something."

"Like I need you to tell me to do that," Chloe joked and laughed with Miley.

Max was smiling whilst she sat between Daisy and Ellen, chuckling at a joke they'd had said between them. Looking up she spotted Chloe approaching with a grin, making her way around the table and standing behind her - hands pushing the bikers on either side away.

Sitting down and pulling the brunette onto her lap, Chloe kept a consistent grin and stole a quick kiss from her. "You good?"

"Yeah," she replied and looked at Daisy who was holding an enormous smirk at the two girls.

"So what's on the menu today?" Chloe asked as she looked over at the BBQ up against the house, spotting Frank flipping an assortment of meats and sausages.

"Burgers and the like, usual stuff," Rachel said as she appeared from behind the couple with a set beers - setting a bottle out in front of everyone but Chloe and Max. "You uh… want one?"

"No." Chloe shook her head firmly.

Max smiled and shook her head alongside her. "I'm fine."

Rachel smiled and sat down opposite beside Hannah, Julie and Brooklyn - all three of them engaged in their own quiet conversation. "So how've you guys been? All good?"

"Oh yeah," Chloe bobbed her head with a cocky grin, her hand grasping onto Max's as she gently placed it on the table to display the ring. "Peachy."

A few heads turned as they spotted the golden band, faces holding surprised expressions as they switched gazes between the ring and the couple.

"Well, shit." Rachel took a sip of her beer and laughed. "You finally got the balls to do it, huh?"

Chloe laughed along and knocked her head against Max's. "I got a bit of a push from people, but I did it."

Julie reached over and took both their hands into her own, giving them a squeeze. "Congrats girls, looks like we'll be getting a wedding afterall, huh?"

Max laughed and buried her face in the side of Chloe's. "That's still being planned, we don't even know when."

"Private?" Hannah butted in with a giggle.

"Jeez, let us plan things first!" Chloe exclaimed through laughter. "You'll all be getting invited, I wouldn't worry."

"I'm the best man, that's already decided." Miley chuckled as she sat down beside Ellen with a beer.

"Bitch," Rachel began as she pulled her head back in offence, "I will fight you for that title."

"Bring it," Miley joked and pointed her beer at the blonde biker. "Your ass is going down."

"Woah, woah, woah - calm it girls," Frank spoke as he approached with a plate filled with food. "How about some chow to get yourselves in order, huh?"

"Sweet!" Daisy exclaimed as she immediately forked over a steak onto her own plate.

With laughter and quiet conversation, the group ate their food whilst all of them were sat at the table. Occasionally somebody brought up a topic that had the entire posse adrift in questions, answers and chuckles all around. From time to time a Valkyrie would mention and tease Max and Chloe on their recent engagement, immediately pulling the entire gang into more laughter and questions that revolved around the couple.

In good time, things had calmed down as music was played loudly in the backyard - mostly trashy punk and grunge that prompted a few of the Valkyries to get up and dance wildly to the amusement of everyone else.

"How're you doing baby?" Chloe asked quietly whilst they sat alone watching most of their group dancing.

"Good," Max replied and kissed her cheek. "I'm enjoying this, how about you?"

"Hella enjoying it." Chloe smirked and kissed her way down the side of her neck in turn.

"Woah! I've got a guest bedroom if you want to get freaky." Miley laughed as she approached with a beer in hand, throwing herself down beside the couple. "It's yours for the night-"

"Oh, shut up." Chloe groaned and rolled her eyes. "All I did was kiss my fiance, if we wanted to fuck-"

"Chloe!"

"Sorry," the punk dropped her head and apologized in an instant, prompting both Max and Miley to burst out in laughter.

"It's okay baby," Max whispered and quickly kissed her temple whilst she looked at Miley. "Just contain yourself around others."

"Eugh, you two make me sick." Miley chuckled and jabbed her finger into her mouth playfully. "Go be happy somewhere else."

"Yeah, no happiness allowed here - not anymore!" Rachel exclaimed as she approached with Frank, sitting both of them down on the other side of Chloe and Max. "This is the end of the world party, ain't that right? Be depressed and that shit."

Chloe raised her hand up and flipped the bird to Rachel, prompting all of them to howl out in more laughter and giggles.

"Hey, I don't want to ruin the good mood or anything but… we should probably talk now," Rachel said and looked at Chloe. "We uh… we can't ignore this stuff for much longer, as much as we'd like to make it seem like nothing's happening."

Miley looked at Rachel and then Chloe, the two bikers sharing a quick gaze before nodding their heads. "Okay," they replied in unison and chuckled.

"I'll be back in a few minutes babe," Chloe whispered and kissed Max on the forehead, gently letting her slide onto the seat from her lap. "Go dance and shit, I'm sure Ellen and Daisy are willing."

"Oh dog," Max rubbed her eyes, chuckling..

Chloe giggled and kissed her again. "Be back soon."

Max nodded and watched as her, Miley, Rachel and Frank all grouped up and proceeded to walk towards the house - disappearing inside after a few moments. She frowned to herself and sighed, looking back at the make-do dance floor and spotting all the Valkyries laughing and shuffling to the music amongst themselves.

Daisy immediately spotted the now lone Max, jogging her way towards her with a smile and hand held out. "Come on Maximus, let's get crazy girl!"

Allowing Daisy to sweep her away, Max laughed and joined in on the harmless fun.

Sitting themselves around the kitchen table, the group all faced one another with their hands on the wooden surface. Miley shot a wary glance at Chloe, the punk returning the gaze immediately with her own concerned expression.

"So," Rachel began with a smile and a tap of her hands on the table. "We've got good news. Me and Frank uh… got word that our plan will work."

Chloe kept silent and looked between the two. "Okay, cool, but we still don't know what you plan is."

"I know, I know." Rachel held up her hands. "All will be revealed very soon, I'm serious."

Miley sighed and dropped her head. "Rachel, can you just drop this secret act? Just tell us."

"No can do." Rachel shook her head. "I'm sorry but the time isn't right."

"What the fuck does that even mean, Rach?" Chloe blew up unexpectedly, slamming her hand down onto the table. "Seriously, why the fuck are you so hard on keeping this away from us?"

"For your own safety," the blonde admitted and sighed. "Listen, I know it's fucking shady, okay? But trust me on this - this one last time. Please?"

Chloe shook her head. "Rachel you're pulling your damn luck here. We either know what you're planning, or we don't."

"I'm sorry but I can't goddamn say it!" Rachel stood up and placed her hands down, looking over at the slightly stunned punk biker. "I promise you won't have to wait too long-"

"Rachel," Frank finally spoke and grasped her forearm. "I'm with Chloe on this, I'm sorry - you have to tell them both the truth, you've been running away from this for far too long."

Rachel looked at Frank with a scowl, feeling betrayed at the sudden change of stance from him. "Are you serious?"

"Rachel." Frank kept his composure as he looked at her. "Tell them."

"No." Rachel pulled her arm away from his grip. "No, now is not the time."

Chloe shot up from her seat, slamming her fist down on the table. "Rachel, tell us what the fuck you're hiding!"

"NO!"

Seething in anger, Chloe let out an audible, laboured breath through her nose as she stared daggers at the blonde. "Rachel, do you know what happened to me and Max in the night?"

Rachel went silent as her face suddenly dropped into one of concern. "No..."

"Somebody decided to throw a brick through our kitchen window with a lovely message, do you know what it said? Watch your back - it talked about both me andMax." Chloe kept her gaze burning into Rachel, no longer willing to play around her games. "I don't want Max to ever be involved with club shit, but this is going too far. I need to know your plan and whatever else you're hiding right now - I need to know, do you hear me?"

She nodded quietly.

"Now I know you think your plan will work," she gestured around the table, "but none of us do. Maybe Frank, I don't know. We need to know it immediately."

"I c-can't-"

"RACHEL!" Chloe shouted over her and slammed her fist down again. "I'm not fucking about right now. Threatening me is fine, but threatening my damn wife? That is off the fucking books, you hear me? You say your plan will get both the FBI and whoever else off our ass, right?"

Rachel nodded.

"Then I want to know it to ensure that Max will be safe." Chloe stared at her with an intense look for a few more seconds, eventually breaking contact as she sighed. "Please. Just… tell us. I'm at my fuckign wits end here worrying about this shit day-to-day, if your plan will fix things - I want to know how and what it even is. I want to know what you're hiding before it crashes and burns on us - Rachel, please, please tell us."

Looking at the punk, Rachel gave up and nodded. "Okay," she whispered and sat back down. "Not today though - tomorrow. I'll call you and Miley to meet me somewhere, it'll be important. Is that fine with you?"

"Rachel-"

"No, let her," Frank spoke up over Chloe as he looked at her. "She has to do it to prepare shit to show you. Let her do this Chloe, tomorrow will have to do."

Chloe looked at Frank with a brief scowl, eventually letting slip a sigh as she dropped back down into her seat. "Tomorrow," she repeated under her breath. "Tomorrow is your deadline Rachel. I want to know everything."

Again she nodded. "I'll tell you everything."

"Good." Chloe reclined back in her chair and tapped her fingers on the table quietly.

As an uncomfortable silence filled the room, the punk found herself in thought - eyes gazing up at the clock on the wall displaying a late hour. She caught Rachel, Frank and Miley all shooting looks at each other in her peripheral, sometimes catching them mouthing things in utter silence to one another - gesturing to her a few times.

Miley coughed and looked at Chloe. "I hosted this party because of what Rachel told me, just to be transparent. She said that the FBI and other shit will blow over soon, so I wanted to do something to let people chill out a bit y'know? God knows we needed it right now, it's taking a toll on all of us."

Chloe bobbed her head. "Thanks," she said in appreciation of being honest.

"Chloe, what I'm going to tell you… uh… can you promise not to blow up when you hear it?" Rachel asked quietly.

"I'll try, but no promises."

"It's heavy." Rachel sighed and covered her face with her hands. "I… I should be going to prepare things," she continued and stood up, waiting for Frank to do the same.

Gazing up at the duo, Chloe nodded again. "Keep safe you two, until tomorrow."

"Y-yeah," Rachel smiled as she spoke. "Until tomorrow."

Watching as the two of them left, Miley quickly looked back at Chloe and waited until she heard the front door shut. "What do you think?"

"She's being honest." Chloe said and nodded. "I think I got through to her."

Miley nodded herself. "Whatever she wants to tell us is going to be bad I feel."

"I know." Chloe smiled and stood up. "We should probably get back to the party - let's go."

Opening the door to their house, Chloe stood aside and let Max pass with a grin - stealing a quick kiss from her before slamming the door shut behind them. Throwing up her old jacket onto the coat hanger, the biker wasted no time in wrapping her hands around Max and picking her up.

"Come with me," she whispered whilst Max giggled and squirmed.

"Chloe, let me down!" Max demanded through her laughter.

"Nu-uh, you're with me." Chloe tightened her grip around Max as she walked the two of them into their living room and around the couch. "Sit," she said as she let the brunette down.

Max rolled her eyes and sat down, immediately cuddling up to Chloe the moment she herself dropped onto the couch. Grabbing her hand, she intertwined their fingers and held it up, giving Chloe's knuckles a series of kisses. "Today was fun."

"Yeah, Miley did a good job in bringing back the old days like that." Chloe smiled and placed her head against Max's.

"I wish we could do it again sometime," Max said with a sigh. "We won't be able too anytime soon though, will we?"

"Actually…" Chloe smirked and planted a quick kiss on her temple. "Rachel said her plan will work, supposedly she was given a 'go ahead' or whatever the fuck. So… maybe we might not be in such a bad place."

"Are you serious?" Max asked in slight disbelief, her voice hopeful. "Oh my dog."

"Yeah," she continued and smiled. "She wants to tell me and Miley something real important tomorrow, seemed a bit uh… shaken and pissed off about it, but I forced it out of her."

Max looked at Chloe briefly. "What do you think it is?"

"Fuck knows," she said and shrugged. "Rach was absolutely adamant about not telling us until 'the time was right' or whatever the fuck that means."

"Hopefully it's nothing bad," Max whispered and closed her eyes, nuzzling her face into Chloe's shoulder.

"Tired?" Chloe giggled as she looked over Max.

"A bit," she admitted and felt as an arm draped over her shoulder, pulling her down onto her lap instead.

"C'mon, lay down."

Max smiled and allowed her head to rest on Chloe's lap, keeping her eyes closed as she went and got herself comfortable in the position. "Are you going to sleep?"

"Nope," Chloe said and chuckled. "I'll keep watch-"

"Chloeee," Max pouted and opened her eyes, turning to the side to look at the biker. "Go to sleep, you need it too."

"I'll keep watch, I have to." Chloe shook her head and began to thread her fingers through the chestnut hair, nails scraping the scalp tenderly. "Just go to sleep, I'll be fine."

Max narrowed her eyes briefly before shaking her head herself. "Fine. I want you to stay here at least, okay?"

"Of course."

"I want a goodnight kiss," Max pointed a finger to her lips with a smile, "right here."

Chloe laughed and with some effort managed to lean over the brunette, pressing her lips against hers and giving her a kiss. "There."

"Another one please."

Rolling her eyes, Chloe propped Max's head up slightly and pulled into a much longer, much more passionate kiss - grazing her teeth on her bottom lip and allowing her tongue to snake its way inside, clashing with Max's. Seconds later once they broke apart, she smirked. "How's that, huh?"

"Mmm," she brought up a finger to her chin in thought, "Acceptable."

"Good. Now go to sleep you big dork." Chloe giggled and reclined back against the couch, looking down as Max turned to her side and closed her eyes again. "Sweet dreams."

"Mhm," she hummed in reply.

Waiting for few minutes, Chloe watched as her fiance fell asleep slowly - the silence eventually being broken by her soft snoring. Reaching over towards the blanket on the side, she rolled out the fabric and placed it over the brunette comfortably - returning her hand to her hair as she absently stroked it.

Looking up, she used her free hand to take out her loaded P226 - placing it gently on the side as she kept one hand over the handle at all times.

Chloe let out a sigh and lost herself in her thoughts.