A/N: To be honest, I've been feeling kind of down lately. Like, sad? I don't know, I just wanted to say that so I could finally get it out of my system. Anyway.

TheFuture: So..I wanted to review your story but my english is not the best. I will try my best anyways. I said it before but I love your story and this is not the first that I read. Yours is by far the best of all of them. I fuckn love it how you did your own thing and didnt stick to the games storyline. Its like i read a book right now. And the characters match the originals so well. Your writing skill is fuckn on point. Of all the characters from lis i loved chloe the most and you just make me love her more. All of them are becoming real persons in my head. The feelings and actions are comprehensible. Pleas never stop. Before the Storm will break my heart and this fanfiction is the only thing that could fix me. Can you pleas make a game out of this? Sorry if this is a long one. I thought you would like some motivation...keep goin!
- Your English is fine! Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad I was able to stick to who these characters are and that I helped you love Chloe more. I wish I could make a game, even work on the game, but oh well. Thank you.
TheFuture: I love your story! Can't wait for the next chapter:))
- Thank you again!
Memes: none of these girls said no homo that's gay as hell
- Everything is gay, so why should they say that?
Dark Ace Demon: I have a question, do you have the entire story planned out or are you just going chapter to chapter? I was also wondering if we will be seeing Joyce or David. Excellence chapter.
- The entire story is pre-planned! Every chapter I put a little summary of an important thing that happens in the chapter. Everything else is done off the top of my head. And yes, both Joyce and David will appear!
Animelover5956: This chapter summoned my inner and outer gay at the same time. I gotta give you props for that.
- Wow, I'm honored, I don't know how I even did that.

I woke up the next morning to Chloe sneezing and wrapped in about three blankets, clearly shivering. She reminded me a lot of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with her nose being so red. I thought she felt better yesterday when I got home, but maybe overnight it only got worse. At least she wasn't sweating anymore.

"Are you sure you want to come along?" I asked. "We could reschedule."

She shook her head, "My mom didn't raise no bitch."

I nodded, chuckling mutely, "I can tell."

There was a vibration in my pocket from my phone, letting me know I got a text message. When I took it out, there were two messages from Kate. Now that it reminded me, she hasn't text me during at midnight since we left Long Beach.

Can't wait for this afternoon!

I can't guarantee fun, so bring your homework if we run out of things to do.

I smiled. Oh Kate, so studious. As much as I would hate for a repeat of our first hangout at Starbucks and doing homework all day, her small apartment didn't look like there were a lot of fun to be made. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she paid attention to Chloe more; something about Kate felt motherly.

I replied, Me too! Aww okay.

I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge for a drink or leftover food, but to my not-surprise, there wasn't much inside. Or, not things that I wanted to eat. So I used my elite-chef skills and cooking more ramen for me and Chloe. I should have chose culinary as my major instead! The kitchen would catch on fire about ten times and then they'll kick me out. But, I could dream.

"I already told Rachel about being at Kate's place, but she has a hella busy schedule today and the whole weekend." Chloe stated. "So, she won't be calling any time soon."

"Her drama went by really fast. I wish that meant she would be coming back home."

"This isn't her home, Max."

"I know." I loudly sighed. "She lives on the road and in the air. Even she doesn't know where she lives."

"Can't wait to fucking move out of this apartment. I just want to be with her already and..."

I was waiting patiently for her to finish.

"I'm being hella gay again, aren't I?"

"Since when are you not?" I chuckled and went back to cooking. I had no idea why she stopped. It was nice to see Chloe talking about Rachel fully sober and in a happier way. I mean, yeah she was sick, but she was better. She was having a hard time not doing any drugs or drinking alcohol anymore, but I could tell she was trying her best.

"Did you take your medicine, Chlo-pen for business?"

I heard her sigh. "Not anymore. Let me die."

I walked out of the kitchen again and gasped at her response. "I thought you said you had a will to live?!"

"That fucking disgrace you call a nickname took years off my life."

I scoffed, slapping my hand over my chest. I couldn't respond to that; It made me want to die too.

I had no choice but to go back to cooking and feed her, even though I wanted to not do that as a small punishment. We ate and went through a couple episodes of NCIS, only because it was the only thing on. We continued to watch TV, making jokes about how nearly every character were dickheads to each other and cringing at dead bodies and how they died, until it hit noon. We had to get ready and pack enough for about three days.

Chloe was almost snail pace, but I stayed patient and sat on the couch with another backpack I had. There was still time, so I decided to call Dana and hope she'll answer in the middle of work.

"Hello?" It sounded pretty quiet on her side.

"Hey, just calling for Chloe because she's still sick."

"Oh, okay, good to know that she'll be resting for now." She sounded happier after that. "I'm on a lunch break, so you called at a good time!"

"That's good!" I tried to match her enthusiasm, but it didn't quite get there. "We're actually heading out to a friend's house right now. Sleepover and whatnot."

"How fun! She's going with you?"

"Yeah, I need to keep an eye on her and, as she said, her mom didn't raise a bitch."

She laughed, "Yup, that's Chloe, alright. Well, just let me know when she'll come back, alright?"

"Got it. Enjoy your break and your work shift."

"Thank you! Bye."

After Chloe wore a hoodie, ripped up jeans, and was practically dragging her backpack behind her, we left to Kate's apartment. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be; I was actually pretty excited to go! But, I really hope she won't start with doing homework. Even Chloe would disagree with doing that first. Maybe I could ask her more about that short film, or if she started seeking help for her depression, or ask her if she could design my tattoo. That was still on my mind and since I haven't stopped thinking about it, I might as well get it.

As always, I bought another box of cake pops for Kate and drinks for all three of us: an iced coffee, an iced green tea lemonade, and a hot chocolate. I thought about getting the hot chocolate, but Chloe said, and I quote, "I'm hella cold, just get fucking anything hot."

"I'm never going into the ocean at night ever again..." She gritted her teeth.

"At least you had a great time, right?" I sipped through my straw.

She sighed and chuckled, "Yeah I did."

We parked right in front of Kate's place and knocked on her door, holding our backpacks and drinks in our hands. I forgot to text Kate before parking and even leaving, but I doubt she was expecting anyone else. When the door opened, Kate was still nicely dressed from going to class, braid and in a nice yellow dress, and smiling wide to see us. My jaw almost fell to the floor to see such a natural beauty right in front of me.

"Hey Max, Chloe," she greeted. "Come in."

Chloe went in first and took over the couch, jumping in and dropping her backpack onto the ground. Surprisingly, her drink was just fine.

"Is Victoria here?" I asked, looking around cautiously as I walked in. It looked exactly the same as when I was last there.

"She just left actually." Kate replied and shut the door. "She's setting up for a party, so I have the place to myself again."

"Now you have us." I handed the box of cake pops to her. "Planned anything?"

"Not today. Well, not outside plans. I bought some medicine for Chloe beforehand, so if you need that. It's grape flavor."

"Thanks, but—" Chloe sat up on the couch and didn't finish her thought. She was instantly distracted from whatever was on the coffee table, staring wide eyed at it.

As I put my backpack and drink down, I asked, "Are you okay?"

No response.

I approached her, ready to say "cat got your tongue?", but then I saw the magazine on the table. On the very top of the stack, the picture I took of her and Rachel for Vanity Fair was right in front of her face. We didn't get a chance to look at it closer or get our own copy, so her lack of words were understandable.

She grabbed it, clearly hesitant and shaky, and blinking at it, as if she was trying to make it disappear. I heard Kate approach, just as worried as I was. After a whole minute passed, Chloe started to smile and giggle to herself. It was kind of cute and contagious, Kate and I couldn't help but laugh with her.

"Um, I'm just gonna read this. I won't steal it... probably." Chloe looked up at Kate with the most innocent look I've ever seen on her.

"If you want to keep it, you can. Victoria bought two of them."

I found that hella weird. Why did Victoria purchase one just one but two magazines? I thought she hated Chloe too, so it would have made sense if she decided not to get it at all. But, Victoria did give off a lot of mixed signals, so I decided to forget about it before my head exploded.

"You guys don't have to stay here. I'm just gonna read." Chloe lied down on her back and flipped the magazine open, hiding her face behind the issue.

Kate grabbed my hand and guided me to her room. "Did you have anything in mind, Max?"

"Not really. Except let's not start with homework, please?" I pouted.

She chuckled as she sat down on her bed, "That I already knew."

Knowing Chloe was outside, Kate had the door kept open. I sat across from her, grabbing her pillow and hugging it.

"Well... I've been meaning to ask you this," I started, "Did you look into therapy or anything when we got back?"

"Yeah, I saw my therapist before class today. It's an every Friday kind of thing. I'm sorry for not texting you. I've been sleeping better."

"It's fine. That's great! But, just know, I'm always awake at that time, so don't be afraid."

She giggled, "I know, I know. What about you? Have you looked at all?"

"I haven't looked into it. Honestly, I forgot..." I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed.

"Would you like to look right now?" She pointed her hand to her backpack on the ground, which I guess her laptop was in there.

I groaned, slouching, "Not right now... I've been feeling pretty good."

She nodded, "That's good."

We sat quietly. We could hear Chloe turning the magazine pages, Kate swayed her crossed feet from side to side, and I hugged my pillow closer to my chest. The same nervousness was overwhelming me, down to not making any eye contact with her.

"Um, another weird question," I cleared my throat. "Would you mind designing something for me?"

"Sure!" She grinned and got up to get her sketchbook from her bag. "What for? If I may ask."

"That whole tattoo thing is still underway and I still need a design. I don't know if that would be weird."

"Oh, not at all!" Kate sat down on her bed again, flipping her book open to a blank page. "I'm honored that you want my art on you forever."

I chuckled, "You mean the best artist ever."

She giggled and drew out a perfect box on her page, "So, tell me what you have in mind."

"I spoke to Chloe and we just want to put a deer and a camera together. And like I think about flowers a lot to match with her."

Kate nodded, letting me know she was listening.

"Are you drawing it already?" I didn't look or try to lean over to see. I was sure she wanted it to be a surprise.

"I have an idea. I know you love to sleep, so that's helping with the design." She smiled.

"Are you sure you never thought about getting a tattoo? Never ever?"

"If I recall, there's a verse in the Bible that says it's sinful. Leviticus 19:28, I think."

"You care about sin?"

She looked up and smirked at me, "What do you think?"

I didn't respond. Well, more like I couldn't. She went back to drawing, making me sit silently as I listened to her pencil move and scratch around. It was obvious she didn't care much about sinning, not anymore, and I had no idea why it was making me so... I don't know what the word was.

"I'll consider getting a temporary one, though. Who knows, maybe I'll like it." She shrugged her shoulders. "Do you want color?"

I hummed, "Sure. And that would be hella cool! You could scare Victoria again."

She giggled as she went into her dresser to get a container of colored pencils, "I think I scared her enough. I'm pretty sure that ruined my chances of ever seeing her room."

"Is her door locked?"

"Every time she leaves the place and she closes it whenever she leaves her room. But, I respect her privacy... I just wish she was quieter."

I nearly choked on my own spit. What was that suppose to mean? What was she insinuating with that? I hope she meant music or watching shows or movies. I couldn't get the question out of my mouth.

"Chloe dabbled in picking locks," I mentioned. "Maybe she could get you in there."

"I couldn't possibly do that." She shook her head. "But, thanks for the suggestion. Okay, I think I'm done."

She handed her book to me, "So, this is what I thought of."

I had to take it in for a minute. A doe, curled up and with its eyes closed, sleeping in a bed of flowers, and in the middle, it cuddled with a big old-school Polaroid camera. The colors were amazing and it looked so real, yet dream-like. "Perfect" doesn't describe this enough. There wasn't a single word out there that could describe this correctly.

"Wowser... Kate, this is beautiful. This is it, I'm putting this on my body." I couldn't stop looking at it.

"There's nothing you want to change?"

"Nope! I'll put your signature too!" I stabbed my finger down next to her cursive signature in the corner of the picture.

She chuckled and waved her hand, "You don't need to do that. I'm already happy from having my art on someone."

We then heard Chloe speaking. She was hissing profanities in the living room, as if she was frustrated. I looked at Kate and she looked back at me, wide eyed and curious as to what she was doing. We got up from the bed, putting the book and pencils down, and tiptoed our way to the door. We poked our heads out and saw Chloe sitting up, her back to us, and holding her phone to her ear.

"Uh... Hey, Rachel... Shit, I never leave fucking voicemail, I'm hella bad at this." She chuckled to herself. "I just wanted to let you know that I love you... and that I'll never let you go. You're a pain in the ass sometimes, but I'm hella worse, right? Um, that's it. Uh, bye."

She let out a loud and annoyed groan, "Shit! What the hell! What am I thinking? Chloe Price, you're twenty-one, why—why—why?!"

She then lied down on the couch again, on her side and released one more loud sigh.

I should go out there. That magazine must have triggered something in her.

Despite that, it was a sweet voicemail. I was sure that Rachel would keep it forever and maybe even listen to it whenever she couldn't speak to Chloe. Kate and I went back to bed, simultaneously sitting down and sighing, taking in what we just heard. Chloe wasn't mad at her for leaving, not at all, but it felt like she was mad at herself because she had to stay behind. That was probably easier to cope with, in her head, but did anything really work?

"She really misses her, huh?" Kate asked.

"More than that."

A/N: Review and shit!