Chapter: Thirty Six: Respect

…

'I know Rachel and Chloe from school; we all go to Blackwell together.' was not the confession Max Caulfield had expected to hear Victoria make.

While the confession was only one sentence, it seemed that it was all Victoria was capable of stating. Not that an elaboration was really necessary. Max quickly drew the conclusion that for weeks now, even after introducing her childhood friendship with Chloe, and youth spent in Blackwell Victoria had not only omitted the truth, but held up the façade even after Max admitted some of her greatest regrets to her, and Victoria knowingly pretended to completely ignorant of the second party in her regrets.

She wasn't entirely certain why she was surprised. She was not blind to the reaction of Chloe looking like someone had kicked her in the chest, or Rachel manoeuvring herself in place to intercede Chloe, and the fact that Chloe had screamed 'Cunt' out loud for all of the neighbourhood to hear, but to hear Victoria confirm her deceptions was still just as - if not more - painful.

So she quietly stood there, staring at the back Victoria's head. She was sitting on the front steps, her legs curled up just as it had been for Rachel as she waited for Max. She was unable to look at Max, like she was ashamed to look at her. Like her lie had finally caught up to her and she had nothing left to say until Max could pass her judgement. It explained why Victoria had called her 'Max' instead of 'Maxine', which Max had come to treasure so very much.

As upset as she might have been about this, about Victoria keeping something as important as knowing her best friend from her, how exactly could she be mad or upset? Today was the day she reunited with Chloe Price was now forced to confront a friend who she had hurt, and been irreparably altered over the course of their four years of absence from each other's lives. Like Victoria, she too had harmed someone, so for her to be pissed or betrayed… it all felt so hypocritical.

Still, while she was willing to let go with the anger she felt, she still felt entitled to understand Victoria's reasoning. She knew from the start that Victoria was all about image. She did not like to be presented in a bad light. If Chloe was a part of her school life, then that would close the gap between the public school life and the private life which Victoria was sharing with her.

With a lurch pain inside her caused from both the deception and the sight of usually confident bordering on arrogant Victoria Chase so despondent from her guilt, Max stepped closer to Victoria and took a seat next to her. Victoria smelled of her perfume and a thick cigarette smoke. It was intoxicating, and if not for what they were dealing with, Max would happily drown herself in it.

With the object of her guilt and shame next to her, Victoria stiffened up and sat straight. She looked like she wanted to look at the girl next to her; she steadfastly locked her eyes out ahead of her.

"Why didn't you think I was worthy of the truth, Victoria?" Max asked her, keeping her voice flat she folded her fingers together in her lap. She had so much to ask, but honestly between her reunion and this, she was too drained to get too deep and searching. Today Victoria and Max were fuck ups. She had no business to get outraged.

Next to her, Victoria sighed, still she was staring straight ahead.

"…Because for the longest time, Rachel, Chloe and I have been awful to each other. Or rather, Rachel and I fought, and Chloe and I fought… it was all separate, like fighting on two separate fronts sort of thing," Victoria spoke deliberately slowly so that Max didn't get lost. "I was in a rivalry with Rachel – Little miss perfect, the mysterious girl who just knew how to twist the hearts of others with words - and Chloe… who was nothing but an annoyance. She was poor girl I looked down on. I figured Chloe was a gross fucking punk who thought she was unique and rebellious hard core and one of a kind, and she fucking isn't. All she actually is, is just another glorified hipster with a lower cleanliness standard and a bitchier confrontational attitude… she lacks your cuteness excuse…"

Max felt her stomach lurk as she felt inexplicably upset at Victoria's nasty description of her old friend. As angry as it made her feel, she had to remind herself Victoria was not talking about who she was currently, but instead who she was before they met; these were events which occurred years ago when perhaps Victoria was a totally different person.

"It got…" Victoria trailed off and closed her eyes to exhale. "It got really bad when Rachel and Price became friends, and their friendship blurred the lines between friends and… something else…"

Something else... Victoria had meant that it was when Chloe and Rachel started to become Chloe and Rachel.

"Something like us?" she confirmed, looking at Victoria straight on as she waited for an answer.

Victoria opened her eyes and at long last, she turned her head towards Max. She slowly nodded.

"I got… fuck... I think I got jealous, and I got… scared…" Victoria pressed on as she averted her eyes from Max's. "I started using their relationship as ammunition to hurt them, and I said awful things because it was easier to insult others then to confront what was going on with me. Eventually something happened, and I decided I was going to deescalate, and Rachel agreed and things have been frosty ever since…"

Again Max nodded. Every instinct had told her to press her luck and ask just what it was that motivated a ceasefire between Rachel and her, but the way it was said… it felt extremely personal to at least one of the parties involved. Until she made her peace with Victoria, was better acquainted with Rachel and on better terms with Chloe she would not push too far into their personal lives.

"I haven't seen her in a long time, but Chloe doesn't just let things go… does she?" Max ventured a guess, basing it on their childhood rather than anything recent.

Judging from Victoria emitting a short sarcastic laugh, Max was not far from the truth.

"She hasn't," Victoria confirmed with a sigh as she rubbed her face. "As much as I think she's awful, she… really loves Rachel. She loves her enough to – for the most part – keep her anger and mistrust of me to a minimum. Make Rachel's life a little easier… God knows she needs it."

The line between sincerity and sarcasm in Victoria's voice had blurred and left Max not sure if she was being sardonic or sincere. Whatever that was going on, she knew for sure that Victoria was not friends with the two girls. The only link to them she seemed to want to have been through Max.

"I have no excuses for not telling you, Max," Victoria spoke again, her sincerity returning to her voice as she finally found it in herself to look Max in the eye. "I… wanted to tell you. I truly did. I was too much of a coward, so I figured I could… I-I tried to push them… to come to Seattle. I didn't know they had a plan see you, I just knew they were travelling this summer so…"

"So Rachel was the voice on the phone that morning," Max finished for Victoria so she didn't fall into a raving mode.

Victoria clamped her mouth shut and instead simply nodded; confirming why it was Rachel's seductive voice had been so familiar. It was now no wonder why Victoria was so terse that morning. Between the guilt she felt and Rachel's ability to lull someone into letting their guard down. She was starting to understand just how tightly Victoria was wound up in her separation of two lives.

"I'm still really mad at you right now…" Max informed Victoria. If there was one thing which Victoria was to take away from this, it was this feeling of mistrust Victoria had held with her dealings with Max. Her failure to treat Max as an equal, as someone she could respect enough with the truth.

Victoria nodded firmly; her mouth pursed together as she looked like was waiting on the judgment to be handed down on her. Max held her eyes on Victoria's. She reached out and dropped her hand over hers. The move was enough to bring Victoria out of her self-flagellations and turn her attention to her fully.

"I'm going to forgive this… lapse of judgement," Max spoke again, a small smile returning to her face as she watched Victoria's eyes widened," "I fucked up with Chloe so much worse than what you have done. So for me to sit here today of all days and get mad at you… it would just be shitty and hypocritical-"

Victoria's arms flew out and pulled Max into a tight, nearly strangulating hug. Victoria emitted a happy sounding sob as though a lot of her tension had been relived. The weeks of lies she had held onto were now no longer necessary. It was just as the old cliché went: it must have felt like a weight lifted off her.

"I swear I'll make up it up to you, Max!" Victoria promised as she pulled back, her hands cupping each side of Max's face and for the first time since they arrived home, she was smiling. "Whatever you want - anything at all - you get it!"

Max's smile faltered. She shook her head. This wasn't what she wanted at all.

"I don't want you to buy me, Victoria…" she said quietly as she pulled back Victoria's hands and rested them in her lap instead. "I just… I want you to respect me. I don't want you to think you have to lie to me, even if you think you're protecting me. I want you to be comfortable with telling the truth, even if the truth may hurt me; and I'll be honest back. Lies just… fuck everything up."

Victoria's frightened smile both softened and widened. She nodded and pressed her lips against the top of Max's hand, her lips seemed almost to tremble against the flesh.

"Yes, you're right," Victoria agreed immediately as she pulled her mouth back and looked Max confidently in the eyes once again. "I'll be so honest you'll wish I lied every so often …So… just… can be friends again?"

Max could not help herself; she stared pointedly at Victoria for making such a melodramatic plea.

"Oh my God, we never stopped being friends, drama queen," she sighed, shaking her head. "…and stop calling me Max, Victoria. You know what I prefer you to use…"

Max wasn't being nice or permissive by allowing her formal name's usage to slide for Victoria. She just still genuinely taken aback by the reverence Victoria placed in her full name. Having her revert back to Max because she was scared of her or something was oft-putting in a terrible way. Like Victoria had just stopped caring for her. This was especially jarring when she did it in front of Rachel. It was as though she was even ashamed and was trying to hide her affections.

To be fair to Victoria, however, it seemed as though Rachel Amber was always paying attention to the details. It honestly kind of scared her. Just a bit though.

"Well… would you like to go out sometime, Maxine?" Victoria asked her, special emphasis placed on Max's name. "Not just a photo session… like a… you know. Something more… fuck."

Max widened her eyes. Victoria may not have meant that in a literal sense, but the thought crossed into Max's mind nonetheless. It was possibly the first time she had giving a serious thought about just the extent of where the road they were travelling would lead them to. Holding hands, kissing, dating, going steady…

And then that…

"Do you mean a date?" Max finished for her, hoping to God that it was what Victoria was broadly hinting at...

Victoria's cheeks tinged as she bit her lip and nodded. Max smiled ad leaned in, swiftly pressing her lips against Victoria's hot cheek. A date would sounded infinitely more doable than… well… doing each other.

"Just us though," Victoria swiftly amended on the spot. "If I have to drag Rachel and Price….Chloe around as chaperones, it's going to go all sideways and shit will be said and you'll get mad and I don't think we want that…"

Max nodded, that was a pretty reasonable request to make. Judging from the history between Chloe, Rachel and Victoria going on a double date was out of the picture for the time being.

"Okay," Max agreed. "But we are spending time with them, and you're going to be nice to Chloe, right?"

Victoria groaned and snorted like the idea was a terrible one. Perhaps it was to her, but it was something Max needed right now. Thankfully, however, Victoria's resistance faded swiftly and she nodded, accepting that Max needed this sort of peace in the near future. Besides, there would be plenty of time when they all returned to Blackwell… leaving Max behind in Seattle.

Damn… Everything was going to suck when September arrived…

"And there might be times where Chloe and/or Rachel will drag me off on my own," Max amended as well, watching as Victoria got even more annoyed at the prospect, even as she added. "…and you're not going to have a problem with it, right?"

Victoria was spared her response (which inevitably was going to be a yes if she knew what was good for her). Instead Victoria and Max returned back to silence as they watched Dad's truck pull into the driveway.

Immediately both of the girls untangled themselves and clambered up to their feet. They straightened out their clothing and their attitude with one another. While they might have felt their parents would be cool with everything, they just weren't at a place to just be open yet. Yet apparently Victoria was open enough to kiss her right in front of Rachel, who was a virtual stranger to Max at the time.

Holy shit… did Victoria mark Max as her territory in front of Rachel or something?

Wowser, Victoria was fucking weird…

"Hello Dad!" Max greeted, stepping towards her Dad as he pulled out his work bad and closed the door behind him.

Victoria was three steps behind and gave Dad a small friendly wave, only to get pulled as well into the vortex of a Ryan Caulfield double hug. Victoria looked a little frustrated by it, but Max could see the smile which she could barely conceal. She lived for affection more than she would ever care to admit to.

"Hey Sweetheart, hello Victoria," he greeted with a grin. "I heard from a little birdie that a visitor is here."

Max blinked as she forgot that Mom wasn't home and the two of them were tech savvy. Of course Mom would have alerted Dad to Chloe and Rachel's arrival. He did not wait for an answer from his daughter either. He dropped his bad and cupped his hands over his mouth to create an improvised Megaphone.

"OHHHHH Doughy Chloe!" he roared out at the house."Doughy Chloe where are yoooou!"

Unable to comprehend just what it was her Dad was doing, Max blinked and turned back to Victoria. Victoria was no more in the know then Max was. She curled her lip and sort of shrugged as she too was confused by his actions. Max hoped he wasn't having, like, a stroke or something.

It took about half a minute between the time Dad dropped his hands back to his side as a shit eating grin crossed his face and the front door blew wide open and standing in the door way was an absolutely livid looking Chloe Price. She stormed out, her outrage radiating from off of her.

Behind Chloe was Rachel Amber. She was grinning like a shark. She might have been just as confused as Victoria and Max was by the nickname Dad had apparently bestowed on her, but she was well aware that anything that it had worked Chloe up into such a wild frenzy like this, it must have been good.

"What the fuck, Ryan!" she bitterly complained, her face flushed from being Dad induced embarrassed in front of her girlfriend, best friend and enemy all at the same time.

Dad was still grinning, but he glanced past Chloe to take in the sight of Rachel, luridly standing there, her thumbs hooked in her short shorts. It seemed as though she was currently fixated on Victoria and Max. Max did not know what was going on behind those hazel eyes, but she could venture a guess that she had some sort of a vested interest in making sure Victoria and Max were on friendly terms still.

"Rachel Amber this is my Dad, Ryan," Max introduced the two of them before adding. "Dad, what are you going on about?"

Chloe slammed her hand against her face and shook her head as Dad's smile only widened at the question. Honestly, this was the first time she had ever heard her Dad use a nickname for Chloe.

"Huh, I guess you didn't know…" Ryan said thoughtfully to Max, and by extension Rachel and Victoria. "Well, back when Chloe was… what were you…nine… ten? Anyways Chloe decided she was hungry and that the rainbow Play-Doh would be a suitable snack; so when I was distracted she scarfed it down. Now I didn't see it, but a couple hours later she came out of the bathroom crying and bawling her little eyes out. 'Ryan come and see!" so I go and check it out… sure enough, there I am, staring at rainbow colored poop and she was convinced she was going to die. Weirdest babysitting job I ever had, so thanks for that one."

Max stared from her Dad to Chloe, who had covered her face with bother her hand. She looked ready to fucking murder Dad. Max wasn't entirely sure if she could be blamed her.

Victoria – of course - looked absolutely disgusted by the story. Yet there was sort of a smirk behind her mask of disgust. The only reason she wasn't laughing was due to the fact that she was now on her best behaviour from now on.

Rachel, on the other hand, exploded into wild, uncontrolled laughter. She doubled over, nearly shrieking at the brand new embarrassing tale she could lord over her girlfriend.

"O-oh my God… today might be the best fucking day of my life… Doughy Chloe, holy shit… literally…" Rachel stuttered out next to Victoria, looking like she was about to just have a fit right on the spot. She redoubled her laughter, an arm wrapping around Victoria's next as she struggled to breathe.

Chloe exhaled sharply and dropped her hand off her face. She was purple. Max could not help but feel a little bad for her. Her past being dredged up like this. Still… like Victoria, she too was on her best behaviour. If she was being honest, she too would be laughing…

Maybe one day, but not today.

"I'm going to kill you slowly one of these days, Lying Ryan…" Chloe announced to everyone as she glared at the father standing in front of her.

"Lying Ryan?" Dad repeated incredulously, as he grinned like he had done something particularly clever.

Chloe gravely nodded, her eyes flickered to Victoria as though she was daring Victoria to say something, anything about this. Victoria, on the other hand, was not about to take the bait.

"Yeah, because I distinctly remember you swearing you wouldn't fucking tell anyone this!" Chloe growled right back at him as she turned back to Dad.

Max watched as her Dad's grin faded and turned into a thoughtful expression as he seemed to rack his brain to see if he had indeed made such a promise to her all those years ago. After a moment, he sighed and shrugged.

"Oh… well, perhaps I did," Dad said, sounding foolish as her stared at the outraged punk girl standing there in front of him. "Well, when you get as old as I am you might forget some of the promises you make... but, oh God, kiddo... I've missed you so much."

Dad outstretched his arms towards Chloe as a peace offering. The three girls watched as Chloe stood there for a moment, seemingly contemplating whether or not he earned it. Wearily, Chloe took several baby steps forward. She looked like she wanted to smile, but her pride told her otherwise.

Yet still in spite of her own embarrassment, Chloe leaned inwards and wrapped her arms around Dad, who tightened his own grip around her. Max dared not say anything, but she swore she heard Chloe sob into Dad. Dad was yet another person, whom she lost, and now had back in her life. As Dad quietly rubbed Chloe's back, it seemed to Max as though Chloe and Max were not the only ones who had to make up for lost time.

Max smiled as she watched the two of them together. It seemed like almost all was right in the world now.

…

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Shorter Chapter mostly because this Chapter got really long really fast. Next chapter will end this arc and we'll carry on from there.

Thank you for reading and your active participation. It's always touching to see a continued interest.

Next Chapter: Rachel and Max getting to know each other and Victoria vs. Chloe Round One.