The Twin Moons

by StevoCPP

This story follows a different Rachel Amber from another timeline that meets up with Max Caulfield who gets shoved all the way to the edge with her devastating losses after the finale of the game. With Rachel's expanded time powers and her own motives, will she be able to save Max? Contains multiple timelines and time travel powers. (Rated M with very strong theme of depression)

35. Journey Unknown

Rachel Amber
Arcadia Bay: Dark Path
September 23th, 2016 9:14 PM

A thunderous pattering of footsteps soars across the dark winding dirt path that descends from behind the drug store. It is surrounded by tall pine needle trees tinged with moonlight that punch the sky. The toneless murmurings from the witnesses and spectators slowly fade away from earshot. The air is moist, funneling itself to the scorching nose of Rachel that is clogged with a glopping mixture of dried blood and mucus from the earlier fight she had with Corbin outside the CVS store.

Her heart pushes the blood to pound against the veins in her body to energize her legs to chase after Katie who is fleeing about twenty feet ahead of her. The death of the old lady that stood up to defend her has led the angel counterpart into a frenzied sprint fueled by despondency.

'Shit, she's really upset about the death of Sadie. I guess, it is a human life that was lost. Wow… as a time traveler, I've become so desensitized to deaths that I struggle to even attach value to anything.'

Continuing in the frantic pace, Rachel stares down at her clenched fist, caressing it afar with her seething and fatigued breath. Her powers resonate deep into her veins but at the same time wanting to shutter it. 'Fuck…'

She cocks her head back forward, staring down into the darkness with the faint moonlit figure, "Wait, Katie!" The blonde time traveler barely times the two words to wedge sharply in between her heavy breaths.

"Can you..." Katie's words get caught in between her rampaging strides. "...stop chasing me?" The polite words lead to a halt, with Katie kicking up a brisk sheet of dust in the dark damp air. Her eyes glisten toward the injured girl, "You're… really hurt. You shouldn't be pushing your body like this." Her breaths are automatically expelling out at a lightning pace. "Your wrist needs to heal up along with the beating you took from… that fucker." Her voice is full of distaste upon the mention of Corbin. Her body hunches down, her hands press against her wavering knees for support. "I can't believe that fucker…" She shakes her head, peering her swollen eyes through the long dyed hair. "Go to the hospital. Those people in that pickup truck were your friends, right?"

The question strangles tightly against Rachel's throat, "Uh…" Her neck cringes, trying to seek cover with her shoulders, "I don't even know if I really have any friends anymore." Her eyebrows lower, jolting her body with a shrug, "I guess I should be used to it by now."

'With everything that has been going on, nothing about me feels real… How can I trust what other people think about me when I'm not even sure what's going on with myself?'

Katie rubs the back of her neck, still trying to catch her breaths, "Was one of them… the friend that you lost? The one you mentioned earlier back in the restroom?" She recalls the conversation she had with Rachel back inside the drugstore. She quickly squeezes her eyes close, "I'm so sorry if I sound insensitive, but I'm not in the right mental state to be dealing with this right now. Someone just died because of me."

Rachel raises a hand up, not giving any eye contact, "I can fix that."

Katie slides her boots across the dirt, carving a line in the earth. Her body gazes over at the wilderness that has been swallowed by the abyss beneath the cliff. She takes a single deep breath, trying to calm down her racing heart. "You can't bring someone back to life." Her head sinks down to her shaky fingers, "I… don't fucking know why I didn't just stop him sooner. I just froze like a fucking bitch. Then just maybe, she wouldn't be…" Her voice drowns out, shifting her body to shrink in silence.

The blonde time traveler's eyes drift to the side, feeling a sliver of fresh blood about to peek out. Instead of brushing it away, she shuts her eyes close, letting the blackness soothe her mutilated soul.

'I might as well talk to her about it. She isn't going to believe me...' She opens her eyes, looking at the silhouette of the angel, "I can change the past for you, Katie."

A breeze of wind rattles the leaves the hang above them, sprinkling scattered moonlights that dance for the earth below. Katie whips her entire body to the side. Before she shakes her head in complete denial, she mutters, "What are you talking about?"

Rachel looks at her fingers, wiggling them, "I'm a time traveler, Katie. I have the power to rewind back time..." Her shoulders shrug in nonchalant, "...and among other time powers."

The punk's eyebrows arch above her flushed eyes. "Okay... this conversation went a different route than what I was expecting." She glances around like she is looking for someone else that could validate the madness that is spilling into the air.

Rachel stuffs her twitching fingers into her pockets, stiffening her slumped body with a fake smile to play along, "I actually know who you are. And… it isn't from church."

Katie's body feels light, slowly edging a distance, "Like how…? Did you see my video? Or, did you go to Blackwell?" She lets out a snort, slowly falling down on her knees feeling irritated. "You know what? Just stop fucking with me." She pinches her migraine with both of her hands, "All of you guys."

Even with her determination to tell the truth, Rachel is starting to feel some remorse in her confession. Perhaps, she didn't have the best approach. "I'm sorry." She knows she jumped the gun by opening up too soon with this person. A part of her is simply allured by the fact she's Kate, the person that has supported her the most. "I just… don't want you to be sad. You're a good person."

A seething huff pushes through the teeth of Katie, "No, I'm not." She sits down onto the dirt, hugging her knees with her arms. "You don't know anything about me."

Rachel steadies her breath, also lying down crossed legs. A relief that both of them are lying close to each other, instead of running away from each other. "You... feel at a loss with yourself."

Katie groans, shoving her feet against the ground, "Today is shit. I know it." Her pulse is leaping with frustration, "If you're going to rub it in and judge me for-"

Rachel slams in response to help steer the conversation from derailing out of control, "I'm sorry I didn't mean it that way." A short acknowledging silence rises between them to clear the confusion. "I… just feel bad you were forced to walk this way in your life."

The punk girl takes a deep breath to expels some of her anger. "Look, I made the choices in my life. Sure, some people may have held me by the throat to make some of these choices. But it made me for who I am." The heated air from her lungs cooldown more and more as she tilts her head in the direction they ran from, reminding herself about the fight and the old lady that protected her. "Some of my choices may hurt people." Her delicate eyes scan toward Rachel, "Or, they may help people."

The blonde time traveler lowers her head, "Yeah…"

Katie nods lightly, "But I haven't been helping anyone. Someone died… trying to save me." Her eyebrows quiver saying those words as she is trying to maintain her face. "Maybe if I wasn't ali-..." Her voice fades away, with her eyes darting to the side to dodge the pressing thoughts in her head. "Rachel, I'll go with you to the hospital." The time traveler looks deeply into her eyes, being drawn to her again like in the other timeline.

The growing sounds of footsteps approaching in the distance. "Chloe, did they run this way? Shi-" The dust cloud spikes into the air in the distance. "Shit! I fell like a stupid moron."

"Careful. The leaves on the ground are slippery." Chloe's voice can be heard, but she is also out of sight. "Grab my hand. Erm Max, that's not my hand you're grabbing."

Rachel pulls her body back up from the ground, bracing the fact that the conversation is going to escalate. "We will get back to that." She turns around to look in the direction of the voices. "You might get a little confused… especially with Max who is the brunette with long hair." She clarifies immediately, "She's also a time traveler like me."

Katie looks back with her stern and puzzled eyes against the cryptic statement but choosing to remain quiet until the two figures appear around the corner, pausing in the dark but can still see the surprise in the partially obscured faces.

"Rachel? Kate?" The meek figure calls out to them.

Katie squints her eyes, still trying to identify the figures in the dark since she couldn't get a good read earlier. She propels her body up from the ground, focusing on the taller girl with a more familiar voice that is speckled with a haft of reflected moonlight, "Chloe?" She pats the specks of dirt off her jeans, "...Chloe Price? You went to Blackwell, right?"

The blonde with the long hair gives a nervous wave back, "Oh, hey Kate! Yep, I was in your summer class." She holds her tense smile, rocking her body on the balls of her feet.

Katie takes a few bold steps forward, peering closer with her eyes. Then, her pupils constrict even more in the darkness, "Oh my god… it's you…" She gives a frightened glance around before returning to Max, "Do you recognize me?"

The shy girl crosses her arms over her pink shirt. "Y...yeah…" Her reply is filled with a choking amount of hesitation that she looks around for any reassuring stares to do anything to help with her confusion. But it begins to paint over her blooming freckled face. "I… think?"

The punk girl relaxes her strong look, extending out her hand but not making any contact. "You don't remember me?" Her eyes flick to the side then back, "Are you okay? I… uh…" She withdraws back, rubbing the back of her neck and gathering a moment to fuel her lungs on what she has to say next. "I didn't mean it but when you were passed out at Nathan's party a month ago." Her shoulders curl, "I… accidentally dosed your drink in that party."

Max's nose crinkles, "You did… what?"

Katie's voice cracks, spilling in with vulnerability and regret, "I didn't mean to do it. I just…" She sighs, contemplating her actions already, "...wanted to be honest with you. But please, don't tell the police or anyone." She scans the area, making sure they are still alone. "They're going to murder me if they find out." Her head slants, reconsidering her own words then muttering them slowly. "Actually, I'm more worried that they will do something with my-." Her eyes lower, filling more with remorse in them. She cannot finish the sentence as her lips pursed in thought, observing the other girl in question.

Max takes half a step back, unable to return any sympathy back and averting her puzzled eyes toward the other time traveler. "Rachel?" She bids for someone to give an explanation.

Rachel gives a peek at Katie but doesn't wait too long before telling the story herself, "Remember in this timeline, I said Chloe found Maxine totally wasted? And, she was wandering aimlessly in Downtown after Nathan's party?"

The punk squints her muddled eyes in silence. Max's eyebrows furrow pondering deeply about the past stories Rachel has told about Maxine in this timeline.

Rachel's throat tightens as it reveals the repulsive truth, "Well, Katie was the one that… drugged you."

Max continues to stare back with blank eyes. A veil of confusion continues to shroud her senses with everything that has happened.

"Drugged her?" Chloe steps up to break the silence, "Kate… erm.. Katie?" She corrects herself hearing the nickname, "...is this… true?"

Katie nods solemnly, "Yes. Uh..." She puffs out an exasperated breath, "Rachel, could you cut out with the timelines business? Now, it isn't the time for that." She tilts her head up but staring through her bangs, "I fucking did something wrong and you're just taking this to somewhere else."

Rachel hovers her twitching eyes in the patch of darkness away from the crowd around her, "Sorry, forget I even said that." Her voice dissipates through her thick throat, enabling the silence to overtake her.

The former church girl glares at her but it slowly fades away, reducing the intensity as her expression softens up quietly.

Chloe slants her eyes, "I.. uh…" She takes back what she was going to say as it would add even more confusion than it needs to at this very moment. Her arms wrap over her large sweater, "I remembered seeing that video when I was at Portland." She loosens her grip to her own body, turning toward the punk, "I'm so sorry. I wish I got your phone number back at summer school. I found your profile and messaged you on Facebook but shortly after…" Her body sinks down a bit, "...you deactivated your account. I uh… feared for the worst."

Katie wiggles her body, "It's alright. I'm still alive." She brushes her hair, then diverting her attention to her fingernails. "Sorry, I stopped checking my inbox because it was bombed with nasty messages. So, I finally shut it down."

Chloe blinks slowly with lowered eyes, turning her full body to the shorter girl. "That's messed up. Who were the people-"

Katie interrupts her, "It's fine." She feigns a smile, closing her eyes. "What are you going to do about it, anyway?"

"I just hoping it isn't anyone I know." The blonde palms the back of her head, "I still feel bad…" Her hands speed into her pockets, "If only I made some attempt to reach out to you Kate when things got bad, then things maybe wouldn't be like…" She pulls out her hands, gesturing toward Katie, "...this."

The punk scans down her own body, then looking back up at the girl. "I know it sounds it similar. But just call me, Katie. But is there something wrong with the way I ended up?"

"N-no…" Chloe sputters with a quick reply. "N-no… Katie."

"I'm kidding." The changed girl presses her lips tightly, "Someone died because of my own damn fault." Her head dangles like a pendulum, "She's the grandmother of someone I knew. She was a good person that tried to make the best out of every situation. They were both good people."

Chloe showing with utmost empathy, "Who were they?"

Both of their voices trail off as everything starts to sound like it is submerged by the depths of the ocean in Rachel's mind. A stinging echo endlessly pierces in her mind, as her head recoils from it repeatedly.

'My body is weak. I don't even know where I belong anymore. Not even sure which timelines. I should have been dead but I cheated death. And, seeing Kate be like this… just hurts so much. Can I really accept this?'

Rachel feels a sharp tug on her left wrist, that seems to pry her back to the frigid reality.

"Don't do it!" Max exclaims gripping tightly. But her eyes subsides quickly, realizing her frantic and explosive outburst. The blonde emits a flinching reaction, her breaths becoming heavier. Max hones in on the sharp glare from the girl, with her gaze steadily falling down to realize she has gripped too tightly on the wounded wrist of Rachel. "S-Sorry…" She gently releases it, letting it fall back down.

Katie and Chloe are staring blankly as they were interrupted. The punk girl takes a step toward them, "Don't grab her there. She's hurt. We should be taking her to the hospital." She averts from blaming or scolding Max's sudden rough actions, resetting her stance.

Max stretches out the fingers in both of her hands, trembling to curb the impending temper of the other time traveler. "Rachel, we shouldn't be using our time powers like this." Her blue eyes scan across the dried blood that is riddled across her face, "Not right now, at least. Katie is right, we need to get you safe."

Katie lifts her fingers but halts in mid-air as she shakes her head in confusion. "Okay, my head is totally spinning around right now. I'm so pissed off at myself for pretty much fucking everything that has happened in my damn life. Someone just died because of me." She points at Max with her eyes remaining closed, "I just told you that I dozed your drink at the party and got you rolling and puking. And still, you're brushing it off like I only spiked it with Splenda or some shit!" Her eyes open slowly, gleaming back with the moonlight. "Now, you're spewing… weird shit like…" It gets cut out as she cannot form any more sensical words on her tongue.

Max's neck tenses up, stiffening the rest of her skeleton that is tucked in her body. "I… I'm so sorry."

Katie's eyebrows lower, "Why are you even apologizing to me? You should be smashing my face into the dirt right now."

The muscles in the freckled girl tense up, repulsing her back half a step. Her feet are tiptoed with wavering balance, "I- uh… not much of a fighter. I…" She holds up her hands, her body still rocking lightly.

A wave stuns onto the punk's face as her eyes examine more on the fragile girl. She takes a half step forward, which sends the squirming girl to fall backward onto the heels with her balance, halting the approach from Katie.

Before any words can be spewed between the two, Rachel intervenes, "You're not much of a fighter? It didn't seem that way when you grabbed that bong from underneath Chloe's bed to cave my skull with it."

The brunette turns a few shades lighter from the words, taking another few steps back, dangling again out of balance. Contemplating whether to flee or stay in the dreadful conversation.

Chloe's brows rouse with some keywords. "Underneath my bed?" Her head cranes sharply between all the girls, then sidestepping the only sane person in the group. The one that isn't a time traveler. "What did she say grabbed from underneath my bed? I missed it."

Katie, still stunned by the comment, slowly tilts her head up to the taller girl that is right up close beside her. "Rachel said uh… Maxine? Max? She grabbed a bong from under your bed to attack her with."

The blonde purses her lips, slanting her eyes upward to the trees above her. "Bong? I don't own any bongs." She brushes her chin, keeping her voice low between them. "Underneath my bed is just a box of dirty magazines that I accumulated in college… ermm…"

The punk's expression softens up for once in the entire night, even chuckling a smile through her wide eyes that are still swollen from crying.

Chloe's hand moves from her chin to be scratching the back of her head. "I guess that box would crush anyone given how much…" She cuts off again, her big blue eyes swiveling around, "I probably shouldn't tell you this."

Katie smiles again, shaking her head profusely. "It's fine. You're always so funny." Her attention switches quickly, as it dawns on her with a glimpse of the other two girls.

Max bows her head, raising both her hands up. "Rachel, I'm… so sorry about that. I…" Her head swings back and forth, still avoiding any glances. "I just got scared."

Rachel tucks her lower lip in, biting her upper teeth on it. "So, every time you get scared by something. I should expect you to stab me in the back?" She hangs her head low, pointing in the direction of the other blonde girl. "Chloe is right there. Why don't you just sink your teeth into her already?" She averts her gaze for a moment, but the short silence draws her back. "Tell me one thing though. Did you…" She shrugs her shoulder with a hitch, "Or… was Maxine with Chloe? Making out with each other?"

Max gulps, casting glances together and back with Chloe like as if they're playing hot potatoes on who will speak up and confess. But the awkward exchanges is enough for Rachel to draw a conclusion. "I knew it. I was outside in your backyard Chloe, you two seemed quite… amazing together." The tendon in her neck freezes, finding it difficult to accept the outcome.

Chloe straightens her body, taking a step away from Katie toward Rachel. "Max was right." She crosses her hands in front of her, resting it over her belly. "We… uh… Maxine and I left to go to your apartments. We wanted to see you."

Rachel rotates her body to redirect her glare, "So you can band together to rub it in?"

"No." The blonde tugs tightly on her interlocked hands. "We both wanted to apologize for everything that has happened." Her head looks at Max but wavering away as that person isn't the quite the same person. "In fact, it was Maxine's idea." She waves a finger between herself and the brunette, despite not being the same person. "I uh… also broke up with Maxine. It probably was a mistake." She closes one of her eyes, continuing to survey Rachel's reaction with the other. "I mean, it may have been a mistake doing at that moment. Because Maxine got very emotional and so did I. So…"

Rachel settles back on both of her feet, filling in the blank. "You two had sex outside my apartments?" She gazes between the two guilty girls not sensing any denial in them. Feigning a smug look to the small girl, "Max, you lost your virginity, huh?"

Max shakes her head with big eyes. "N-No-No, I totally freaked out." She combs her arms, feeling that familiar insecurity with herself. "You should know I wouldn't do that."

The blonde traveler gives a slight nod but she points out one last remaining fact to accuse the meek girl with. "I know that you loved Chloe. No matter what."

Chloe steps in the line of fire, deflecting all of it. "No, she pushed away and legit freaked out. I mean… look at her." She extends out a wave of a hand at the spaced-out shy girl.

Max looks back with long puzzled eyes, not quite sure which reaction is even proper in this situation. "Uh-..."

"Sorry, Max," Chloe mumbles then returning her attention to Rachel. "I also made it even more awkward because… shit…" She squeezes one of her eyes close, tilting her shoulder. "Max started talking to me about time travel powers? I know I'm not that good in bed, but its still not something I expect someone to talk about, no matter how moist they are. We both pulled out as fast as we can." She presses her pouty lips thin, with big eyes. Then, she turns everything above her shoulders toward the brunette again.

Max's hand has reached behind her head, combing the long hair, still flabbergasted. "I…" Her eyes blink slow toward the dark heavens above her, still trying to find that light bulb.

Rachel tucks the back of her hand over her lips, right under the dried blood that streaks out of her nose. Her body jolts in a single stutter from her laugh, then she calmly puts back down her hand.

Chloe turns back, "The point is… We drove as fast as we can to you with a dumb look on my face. That's the truth."

The blonde time traveler diverts away, bobbing down. "I…" A gleaming speck of fresh blood hangs on the edge of the nose, reflecting the moonlight.

This catches the attention of the dull brunette. "We have to take you to the hospital."

The punk girl who has been silent from the interactions with the other girls. "I… don't know what the hell you guys are talking about, but let's take her to the hospital." She waves a gesture, pointing back toward the direction of the drugstore.

The heat swells up through the pale sweaty skin out of Rachel's stiff neck. Beads of sweat rolls down almost feels like the last remaining drops of blood in her dwindling body has poured out. Her own deep breath echoes resonating in her eardrums with her conflicted thoughts.

'I know this isn't the same timeline… And, I know it's not Kate but… at the same time, it is her. I just feel so awful that someone that has such a great of a heart like Kate to become and suffer like this…'

Her eyebrows scrunch together and her voice barely making out of her lungs, "I… don't want her to feel alone and lost." Her fatigued voice squeaks out her tight throat. "It's… Kate."

Katie hones in, lowering her eyes, muttering quietly, "What?"

Max gleams to the time traveler, "Rachel…"

The blonde's voice remains frayed, "I want to… help her."

Katie scoffs, muttering quickly, "I told you… I don't know what you were talking about. But whatever it is, don't worry about me…" She turns her entire body around, suddenly showing some curiosity on this friendliness given by this person, "All I did was bandage your arm. But, I led that fucker right to you."

Rachel remains quiet, gazing deeply into the punk. Her bruised is still littered with a mixture of blood that glimmered in the light or darkened by the shadows. All the girls shoot a few nervous glances at each other in the silence.

Max eyes Rachel up and down, "How are you going to help her? Your body is weak right now." She steps closer, narrowing the focus between the two time travelers.

Rachel peers blankly into the encroaching darkness of the scene. Her battered soul has ventured through many different types of hell associated with many different timelines. One conflict after another. She digs her nails into her fleshy palm, not a single care if it mutilates her body even more. "...Shut up."

The strong word sends a rattle into the shy girl's spine. She maintains a sharp front, questioning her, "You're going to rewind back to when exactly? So, that lady won't be killed?" Her blue eyes dart toward the angel's punkish counterpart then back, "You already took down Corbin. You're going to undo that so he could come after you later?"

Rachel presses her lips tightly, "I… can kick that guy's ass. Over and over…"

"No, you can't." Max steps in close, reaching for the weakened body to remind itself of its current state. "Rachel, look at me. You can't be doing this."

The badly injured girl shakes her body, reverberating a soft drift to her head, "I don't know. I'm just thinking about it."

A spike of heat immolates into the small girl's face. Feeling her options are being limited again, especially in this foreign timeline, "Rachel, you shouldn't even be thinking about it. We don't know what happens if you use your powers." This power has always been a mixture of a saving grace and curse. But more and more it begins to quickly lean toward the latter. "What if something happens to my timeline? Kate is also there, too."

Rachel slumps her body, her long bangs shroud her bloodied face. Again, that hopeless feeling stirs within her. She remains quiet but letting in the words from the other time traveler to seep into her spinning mind.

Max continues, "Something bad could happen to that world. What if time gets reset or out of sync? What if…" A shard of frost prods repeatedly against her backbone, "...What if my parents die again in that car crash?"

Those words sap out the life in the scene like a vacuum. Chloe hones quietly onto the overwhelmed girl. Katie also looks on with great confusion but remaining quiet between the tense talk between the two girls.

Rachel blinks slowly, rousing her stiff body. "In your timeline, you at least have your parents. My parents…" A sail of sweat sweeps across the dried blood that is laced on her forehead, "My mother is going to die from cancer."

"I…" Katie sharply interrupts herself, widening her glowing eyes to Rachel's words. "Really?" She quickly lowers her posture, keeping her mouth sealed as it is void of any words to share.

"Tell me something, Max…" The blonde squeezes her eyes closed but still directing her attention back to the other time traveler. "Why did you save William?"

Chloe stiffens her spine, feeling the butterflies whirling around inside her stomach. She turns toward Max who is feeling the exact same way she is feeling.

"I…" Slowly, Max gathers more and more courage to draw those painful memories and thoughts that she has tried to bury away even though it was only a few days ago. "I loved William like if he was my own family. I saw how much Chloe's dad meant to her. When he died, it really messed her up." She tugs along the cuff of her shirt to let the cool evening air to soothe her burning skin. "But I fucked up. It changed everything and put Chloe in a wheelchair for a one way trip to her death." She spits out the last words fast like it was a confession.

Katie jerks her head, eyeing Chloe to scan up and down to verify that she is physically healthy. "They're… talking about a different Chloe, right?" She scoffs with a nervous laughter. "Of course, they are. What am I thinking…?"

The tall blonde hooks her own leg over the other, leaning her body side to side, "No, it's uh… sorta? I guess it is another... Chloe." She squeezes her own chin, collecting it into her palm. "Sorta…" She mumbles the last word, as she is barely familiar with the multiple time travel talks.

Katie slants her eyes, "What do you mean, sorta?"

The geeky girl reflects quietly with a nervous smile, that shows more of her confusion than any devious intentions. She jabs in the air with her finger toward the two time travelers, letting them continue their conversation.

Rachel continues her talk with Max, "It's just… you decided to make a big change to hopefully make your best friend's life better." I had to change it back."

Rachel shakes her head promptly, "No, you didn't. You never changed it back." She wets her upper lip, tasting a bit of her own blood, "All you did was leave that timeline behind. So, your own counterpart will deal with everything that got left behind."

The brunette's brows snap together, "Uh…" A word spits out as the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, "Is that how it works?"

Rachel brushes the blood from her nose, "Did you think your powers are simply a push of a button to erase an entire world when you're simply not happy with it?" She sighs loudly, "There is a Max out there that is now forced to live with the decision of ending Chloe's life with a morphine overdose."

Max swallows to open up the passage in her neck, "I… You said you saw that timeline, right? Like as a… ghost?" Her own body shrinks at the word.

Rachel gazes deeply at her, "Yes."

The brunette quickly retorts her words, "I mean… as an ethereal being." She corrects herself, even if it is late.

Rachel rolls her eyes, averting her gaze. She crosses her arms tightly, taking a step into the darkened forest that is surrounded with tall dark trees. A shard of wind whisks passed her ears, tingling her senses.

'I'm still here… I'm still here…' The fatigued eyes of Rachel sails around her surrounding, flipping back and forth between certainty and doubts about her own existence in this timeline. 'But I am a ghost. Just wandering across these timelines. I… don't have a home.'

Max, who has been patiently observing the other time traveler. breaks into her thought, "What were you planning to do?" She clarifies herself, "What were you thinking of doing?"

Rachel stretches her heel on the half-buried trunk of the tree in front of her, "Maybe I could… go back and…" Her voice weakens along with her own pride, "...help." Her voice is arid and her vague response is waiting to be batted down.

Max replies hastily like she already knew what Rachel was going to say, "And, don't you think you're also making another timeline with your powers?"

The blonde looks heavenward, toward the sky that is mostly shrouded by the leaves that dance above them. "Maybe my powers are… different."

Max walks casually toward Rachel but diverting off slightly to stand in front of another tree. She idly digs her nails into the skin of the tree, making a weak attempt to peel off the bark. "It could be. I do think your powers have been a bit different than mines. It hasn't created any tornadoes, yet." She looks down, seeing the black crumbs of the tree stuffed into her painted nails. "But maybe some fates cannot ever be changed like the death of that old lady."

Rachel presses the palm of her hand on the tree in front of her, resting against it, "Maybe Katie is always meant to go this route. Maybe my parents are both meant to be dead." Her stare sails downward to the unforgiving earth, "If I was to try and change any of that, then I would be dead in the Dark Room." She chuckles through her nose, tucking her hands into her pockets, "Or, maybe something new will always get us, huh? At least get one of us… if not all..."

The timid time traveler lowers her head, pressing her cheekbone into the blade of her shoulder, "I know I fucked up by accepting Chloe's request to give her that overdose in that timeline. I just wasn't thinking straight but how could I in that predicament?" She waddles her way closer toward Rachel, meeting with her eyes, "Maybe I'm just saying this now because I can… But if I could do it again, I would have rejected Chloe's request to end her life. And, spend the rest of her final moments with her." Max laughs through her thick throat, "Or, maybe hold onto that sliver of hope that Chloe could somehow recover again. Who cares if her medical bills are crazy."

Her voice begins to crack, filling in with sorrow that coats with her voice, "I'll give up photography and Blackwell to work every day just to help out paying for her bills." In the darkness, her body seems to be pale. Just an absence of hope that consumes the inside of her, even hiding in the body of Maxine.

"Max…" Rachel softens her tone, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I…" The troubled girl puffs out a laughter. "I'm just speaking out loud if I was to ever get dragged back into that timeline or able to make that decision again. My heart wants to help people. But then again, my helping always have ended up hurting others." She hangs her head down in defeat. "Maybe over time, it will be easier to convince myself to let fate decide its course rather than trying to keep changing the past with powers then realizing I fucked something else up."

The blonde nods softly, "Maybe the me in your timeline has reached that point. Just wanted to try and live her life as a normal human being and try to ignore all the regrets she has." Her eyes drift up to the sky, peeking at the magnificent abyss above through the whispering leaves of the towering trees. "Maybe… I should as well."

Max bows her head, trying to get into the view of the other distant time traveler. "I think even she had different powers than you…" Her eyes peek at the other two girls who have been gazing at them with silent shock then returning back to Rachel. "But yeah, she wanted to start and feel like a normal human being."

Rachel mutters quietly, "Did that ever happen, though?"

"I-I… don't know. Maybe it is impossible to do so." The brunette shrugs her shoulders, "Look, I'm not trying to scare you. Just think about this…" She takes a step back, waving her hand toward the punk girl, "As fucked up as it may seem, don't you want to know a bit more about Katie? What she has been through but more importantly, what she will become in the future from today?" She tilts the extended hand toward the taller girl, "And Chloe… isn't her life as equally important as any Chloe? Isn't everyone's life and their journeys are as important as ours?"

Her own proud and bold words subconsciously stun her own body, letting herself think about what she just said. As she has always too worried about picking the best route for her own life but in reality have been disregarding everyone around her.

Even though her own thoughts are creating more and more doubts about herself, she also feels the urgency to articulate to the other time traveler, "And, what's going on between you and me? This… Rachel… and… this Max…" She waves the index finger between them, "Sure, I'm a newbie to this timeline and starting to get a hang of things. I know we both went through a shitty and rough time together but it shaped us the way we are, right? Isn't this important?" Max exhales deeply after her speech, feeling a bit empowered but at the same time, still at a loss with everything else in this world. Or, in all the worlds.

Rachel lowers her head, returning back to the dark earth. 'She is right… I should take my time to deal with everything here, first.' She nods, somehow finding it difficult to look at the other time traveler when in agreement. "Yeah, it is important. It's just…" She shrugs her head, "...sometimes, it is hard to know what is real anymore."

Max nods her head, "Yeah, I totally agree. Also, who knows? We could have made an infinite amount of timelines with our own counterparts that are forced to deal with the mistakes we have made. Or hell, we could be living in a never-ending loop together." Her voice spikes, "Maybe both of our timelines are a result of some other consequences that was made in another timeline. It's…" She halts as her hand rushes to cover her lips. She peeks cautiously at her hand to find a small splatter of blood on her skin.

Horror pours into the hollow soul that resides deep within Rachel, "Max…" It piles on quickly, filling into every crevice in her organs. "Are you…"

Max covers her nose again, mumbling through her hand with a reassuring voice to defuse the situation, "I'm fine."

Rachel calls to her again, "Max…" The strength in her legs falters, sending her down to her knees. Her body feels a jet of arctic blast within her. She can't hear anything else but Max's voice.

"Rachel…" Max gets down onto her knees as well, wrapping her arms tightly around the other time traveler's body. "You have been through so much."

Even with her best friend right beside her, terror continues to invite itself into her body. Her hazel eyes flicker a passing flame distorting the reality with the crimson stained corpse of Max, lying on the floor. With the patterns of Mickey Mouse drenched in her own blood on her pajamas. The sight of the brunette time traveler's suicide in her real timeline. The original timeline.

"Max-" Her voice whispers trying to break the drowning surface but quickly cut cleanly as her breaths freeze in the winter eclipse of the vision. Her lungs pin deep into her chest, desperately clawing out of her throat for relief.

"Rachel…" Max calls out to her, seemingly drawing life for Rachel to breathe into. It is almost like time has finally moved again with the kindling comfort from the other time traveler.

"Max…" Rachel looks up realizing her hallucination has faded away, reeling in the dark surroundings of the wilderness again. Something so dark and bleak can suddenly feel so lively in comparison to what she just saw. "Max…" She repeats with a comforting sigh, reaching to squeeze tightly. "Please, don't leave me." What seems like an eternal journey that she braved through alone, she grasps on whatever she can.

"I won't." Resting on the nook of Rachel's neck and unable to see her expression, Max brushes her face against hers. "I'll be here. I promise."

Rachel's eyes rotate in her sockets, seemingly dragging any streaks of faint light into a vortex of color that shrouds her vision. Uncertain if it is from the blood loss or her eyes are seeing remnants of distorted threads across the timelines. "I… don't even know who I am, anymore." She weakly mutters to herself, draping more of her weight against the small girl.

"Rachel…" Katie somehow musters a comforting voice despite being the most confused spectator. Her gentle nature is shown as she lowers herself to crowd closer.

"We will..." Max whispers softly into her ear. "...find out together, okay?" Slowly, she rises back on her feet and instilling some strength into the blonde to stand as well. She continues to embrace her, making sure the weak girl is stable. "So, let's get you to the hospital."

This draws a nod from both Katie and Chloe as it is something that they finally understand as being the quiet audience to the two time travelers' conversation.

Rachel cranes her head to peer at the other girls. These are the same girls that were by her side in the other timeline. Maybe… just maybe with some effort, she can hold onto them for support. With weak and numb effort, Rachel nods and lowers her head back into Max's shoulder.

Maxine Caulfield
Arcadia Bay: Hospital - Room 306
September 23th, 2016 11:48 PM

The hospital room is painted with a dried lifeless pastel-white basking under the sulky fluorescent lights. The white curtains partially stained from unknown duration since it was last properly cleaned, reveals a rather grandeur view of the night landscape of Arcadia Bay illuminated with a blue tint of moonlight.

Rachel is sleeping peacefully on the bed with the monitor that pulses at a steady speed to her heartbeat. With everything that has happened, the blonde time traveler is addressing her injuries and getting some much-needed rest.

In the corner of the room, Max and Chloe are sitting in the worn down chairs that are generous in quantity, lining around the edge of the room. The two girls are cuddled close together, viewing the taller girl's large smartphone.

On the phone screen is a video presentation of Chloe's school project in college, demonstrating the video game that she developed with her classmates.

Chloe in the video looks practically identical to the way she looks now, sticking with casual ripped jeans with a buttoned shirt to look slightly more formal for the presentation. She is pointing up at something that is probably a large projector screen that is off-camera with a microphone that is wired on her just like CEOs or presenters at large trade shows.

Her voice is crisp through the phone speaker, "So, I drew the shortest straw and was entrusted with the role to program and design the UI for our game. You can tell art isn't my strongest suit, ha-ha-ha…" Scattered coughings echo from the somewhat spaced out audience. "So, uh-h… when you go capture the flag, it will update and notify the score on the screen. The red team is about to score, so it should happen right about…" Her voice cuts off with the sapphire eyes sparkling bright enough even on the phone screen.

She swerves her entire body to embrace the blunt reality of the large screen that is presenting her work. She scratches her chin then returning back to the camera with a cheery smile. "Ho-ho-ho… looks like our game just crashed. I guess we won't be seeing the scoreboard updating today, will we? So uh…" She casts a forced cough to provide a break in the awkwardness. "Well, that just about does it… that was our 'Capture the Flag' mode. Our game is called 'Island Mayhem'. You can download our game on the class website. Well, you probably actually want to wait until we fix this bug before downloading it."

Chloe pauses the video, giving a recap, "So, that was when our game crashed on the big screen in front of everyone in the theatre. There were students, teachers and even game developers from Washington like ArenaNet that flew in to witness this epic failure! I don't think I'll be going on the Guild Wars 2 team anytime soon." She chuckles heartily, "One of the group members decided to do some last minute bug fix before the presentation and of course it broke our 'Capture the Flag' mode." She swings a soft punch in the air, then clenching into a fist to go with her pouty lips. "It wasn't my fault!"

Max shakes her head profusely, still unable to believe such a grand school project completed by her best friend. "Still, that is so fucking insane that you made a video game as a group class project."

Chloe closes her eyes, stiffening her chest up to relish in the moment of pride, "Yeah, it was pretty rad. Probably, my favorite class ever. I really learned a lot from it. We all got A's in the class, despite our project crashing and burning in a large hell hole."

The enthusiasm in her education triggers the small girl to take a short moment to admire her best friend in this era. 'So, this is Chloe if she continued through college with William alive and didn't get into that car accident that fatally crippled her...' Her blue eyes slip down to her own lap. 'Also, if she was never best friend with me. Do I hold her back from her full potential? Is it because every bad shit out there goes after her and I'm unable to do anything to help her?'

Her nails trace cleanly in the groove of the swirling patterns on the denim material of her jeans. 'Even though I question myself if I'm deserving to be Chloe's best friend, I cannot fathom the thought of never ever meeting her as we were growing up. With everything we have been through like our pirate adventures together around the town. And, for all of that to never actually happen in this timeline is rather terrifying as hell.' She blinks rapidly, rewetting her eyes from the arid room. 'Despite that, we barely met each other and already lovers in this timeline…' She looks through between the strands of her long wavy hair at Rachel's sleeping body. '...At least, Chloe and I used to be lovers before Chloe broke up with Maxine hoping she would go back to Rachel.'

Max's blue eyes drop back to herself, again having a brief existential crisis. 'Chloe and I had sex…' She clears her throat to correct herself, even if it is her own silent thoughts. '...Maxine and Chloe had sex as I jumped over to this timeline. I wonder if I actually interrupted something. Would things be different if I arrived much later? I'd imagine Chloe still have some major feelings for Maxine and likewise the other way…'

A twinge wrinkles its way up and along her backbone. Again and again, everything seems to go at a spiraling pace that she could never have enough time to seep into her own thoughts amidst the chaotic surroundings.

'I feel like I put on a new face at every passing moment. Pretending to be someone that I'm not. Pretending to know something that I don't.'

She wishes just for a moment she can be that super shy photographer student that is an outcast at school being bullied by the Vortex Club members like Victoria and Courtney. As odd as it sounds, something like that feels more at home rather than this rollercoaster she is riding that doesn't seem to ever stop.

'Smile, Max… You can handle this…'

Slowly, she turns her face back to the blonde girl. And immediately, a smile twists into the shy girl's face from the empowering blissful presence of this Chloe. She returns her attention back to the video, "I wanna see the rest of it!" Without waiting for any response, the nosy girl reaches over tapping her index finger on the touch screen but it doesn't register. Before she could try again, the tall girl swats the invading hand away.

"No-no-no, easy there tiger." Chloe pulls away from the entire phone back from the curious girl, "I don't trust you and your swiping. You might accidentally scroll to my… super secret videos."

Max blinks rapidly, slowly snapping back to the humor of this very person, "What? What type of other super secret videos are you keeping on your phone?"

Chloe taps a few buttons on the phone before turning off the screen for safety and more importantly, privacy. "I dunno! That's why it is a secret! And, reserved for Chloe's eyes only."

'She is still the same dork, no matter what timeline we are in…'

"Chloe, huh?" The freckled girl's tips her nose up, her throat feels warmed up and energized. Even with her shy personality, she seems to open up and adapt very easily with Chloe, no matter which timeline she is in. "Maybe one day, I can use my powers to bring the Chloe I know into this timeline. Then, that means she could share your secret with me, right?"

The blonde girl tightens her body around her spine, taken a bit back by such imposing suggestion, "So, she would take over my body?"

Max nods, retaining the smirk on her face, "Yep, she would basically keep her own memories but be transplanting into your body."

Chloe's pupils constrict at the threat, "Oh no-no-no. We can't allow that. If you ever do that, you better give me a heads up." Her eyebrows arch, "I need to burn my reading materials from underneath my bed." Her blue eyes shift back and forth, "And delete a shitload of things on my computer. Like my photo albums, videos, and bookmarks…"

An ignition rises up to the surface of Max's face, exploding a churning that fizzles deep into her stomach, bellowing out a laughter. "Stop it, Chloe! You're such a doofus!"

Chloe snorts, bowing and shaking her head, "No one should ever look at my personal stuff… even the me from other timelines. The other Chloes would probably contact the Inter-Dimensional Police to have me locked up for the filth that I have!"

The unbelievable amount of silliness weighs down Max's shoulders, "You're so stupid, but I love it!" She wipes across her face with the back of her hand, "You saw how awkward I was back in the car… I bet, Maxine would call the same Inter-Dimensional Police for how miserable of a fuck I was."

The blonde rolls her eyes, blowing raspberries through her pressed lips, "Pfft… dude, I was molesting myself in front of you. It doesn't get any more awkward than that!" Her face swells up to a heated red but defusing a portion of it out of her stiff shoulders and then poking both index fingers right at each other. "I bet I ruined the image you had of your best friend, huh?"

Max lifts one of her hand up, deflecting such concerns, "No, uh… not at all." She squints her eyes as the topic becomes increasingly uncomfortable to talk about, but she wants to continue to comb this energy that is finally brewing between them.

But of course Chloe relentlessly continues it for them both, "Did you already see me fap in your timeline?"

"Sh-" Max shushes the volume of Chloe who has no shame in her question. The embarrassed girl looks around repeatedly worried that somehow people or even Rachel could overhear this conversation. "No, I did not."

Chloe continues her assault with her wide sneering eyes, "Did I catch you fapping?"

The word she uses sends a shudder into Max's spine. "No! You did not."

The blonde puts her elbow on the headrest of the chair, propping and resting her head on it. "Do you wish for me to catch-"

"Chloe!" Max stands up from her chair, raising a single index finger up that doesn't cover the reddened face that is about to burst into laughter. "The way you keep framing it by using I and me…" She doesn't quite finish her point.

The teasing girl is still leaning on her hand, "It is just easier for me to say." She pushes herself back up, sitting back properly on the chair. "So, it's better if I say the Chloe in your timeline?"

"Shh!" The brunette races in to squeeze the distance between them. There is a hiccup in what she wants to do physically. She curbs this so-called tension by slapping her arms around Chloe's body for a half-hearted hug.

The blonde's brows raise, looking at the pitiful attempt of friendly contact around her body, "Well who is more awkward, huh? Erm, it is still me." The dork pours more fuel into the growing flames. "Or, were you trying to grab my boobs but missed?"

The brunette peels away sharply like ripping a bandage off, "You're such a jerk! Ugh, I'm such a doofus that I'm not even aware of the stupid things I'm doing."

Chloe raises her eyes, her lips part slowly with her tongue licking the corner of it, "Did you enjoy…" Her eyelashes bat a few times, widening along with her smirk, "...watching me?"

A funnel of exasperated air shoots out of her mouth. "No!" Her stomach muscles contract instantly after that instinct. 'No! That is… so rude and mean. I didn't mean it!'

The blonde dips her head below her shoulders, but maintaining contact with her puppy eyes and pouty lips, "I'm so sorry, Miss Max."

The freckled girl sways her head left and right rapidly, "N-N-no-no-no, Chloe! That came out wrong." Her extends out her hands, slowly making her way toward the other girl.

Chloe shoots her body up, stiffening her spine. She presses her flat hand against her temple, posing for a salute and staring straight ahead across the room, "Yessir! I will never do such vile act ever in my life, sir! At Six-Hundred-Hours, I will remove all pornographic and depiction of scandalous-clad women with giant chesticles from my possession."

Max extends her body, getting close to Chloe's height and dipping her freckled face that there's only a few inches away, "If you dare to even delete any of those materials, I'm going to slap you silly!"

The firm stance extinguishes from Chloe's face, feigning an incredulous face, "Which part of my body were you going to slap me?" She snakes her entire upper body, accentuating her curves in a single smooth motion.

Max's eyes instantly lock onto Chloe's chest. 'Don't give in, Max! You can win.' Her jaws are jutted with clenched teeth, "Your boobs!"

"Ooooh!" Chloe's blue eyes spark up, her body wiggles in her seat. Her two hands, begin making a gesture like she is buttoning up her shirt then rubbing her hands together quickly in an ignition of excitement. "Yes, I'm gonna get groped by a cute dorky girl!" Her hips sway in her chair before arching her back to protrude her chest forward.

'Okay, I lose.'

Max's eyes widen with the close up view of the clothed chest of Chloe reaching out toward her. The sight of it drains much of the control in her body, letting her jaws hang low enough for a single trail of saliva to hover at the corner of her lips on the verge of dripping out. 'Fuck me…' A faint muscle twitches along her arm, raising up her hand in a cupping grip. But with that hand, she palms right into her face, "Damn it…" She mutters in a low defeated voice. "I… fucking… suck."

The blonde shields the bottom half of her flushed face, hiding her smile but it is still evident in the rest of the glowing energy that has dawned on her face. "It is just part of my humor. I like to put some lightness in everything but I don't want to disrespect you." She reveals her lips which are pursed, feigning with forced concerns.

Max still feels mildly disappointed in herself. Not the fact that she couldn't grope her best friend exactly, but more how a mental barrier just stunts her entirely. "How do you do that?" She clarifies herself, "Like, not get embarrassed by anything? Sorry, if this sounds weird."

Chloe shrugs her shoulders, "No, there's no need to feel ashamed with anything. But I totally get you." She gives a peck with the brush of her hand, "A simple but overlooked concept about communicating with someone you don't know is discovery. And with discovery, you will always run a risk of offending someone by your inquiries." She brushes her hairs, launching them up a couple of inches. "Or, in less boring terms, just fuck around and see how far you can go."

The time traveler smiles, grinning through her teeth. "No, I totally get that. I guess I'm just shy at expressing… uhhh…" Her nose tips up toward the ceiling, "...well pretty much everything." Her head tucks back down, "There are moments where I can feel like a badass but I end up crawling back under my rock. My favorite rock that I always hide in."

Chloe grins and she gives a single tap on the girl's nose, "Hey hey… that rock is awesome to have!" Her comforting presence quickly clears the flustered girl, dragging her closer to embrace and comfort her. She tilts her head to get a nice angle to look at her, "I think you're doing perfectly fine given the circumstances." She looks all around the room, "Shit, I don't think anyone else in the entire world could deal with things you have been going through."

The reminder about the shit Max has been through halts the heat in the air. She looks down at her own body, her eyes trace along her arms, gazing emptily into them. This body isn't hers. In this moment of calm, nothing feels normal anymore. Perhaps, this is the way it is going to be for the rest of her life. It is the only way it has been. And, she must accept it. "Just somehow, all of this got placed on me. Why's that? I wonder if some other Max got this powers like…" Her thumb points at herself, "...Maxine. How would it all be different?" A fluttering sails up, shuddering into her ribcages, "Would it be the start of a new set of thread of timelines that are completely branched away from mines?"

Chloe pulls away from her hug, whistling into the air. "Now, that's a major mindfuck." Her face retreats toward the blinding ceiling lights. The piercing intensity streams into her pupils somehow seems soothing from the heaving amount of information. Her brows rise, "Well, Maxine probably would use it to win the lottery. Use the money to get a boob job and freckles removal surgery, which I wouldn't be the biggest fan about. She always wanted to be rich and famous like the Prescotts." Her head drapes back down to make contact with the counterpart, "Jokes aside, I actually don't know what Maxine would do with those powers."

Max rocks her head back and forth, examining deeply on the optimistic girl's story about Maxine and trying to decipher into her own internal conclusion.

'I hear some bad things about Maxine but from what I see, she seems so bold and not too worried about what the world thinks of her. Which is something I wish I could do better. I wonder what Chloe thinks of me compared to Maxine? She must… think I'm just 'cute'. Which is just a nice way to say I'm a child, right?'

"Am I… very different from Maxine?" The raspy voice courses out of her throat.

Chloe nods sharply with her wide azure eyes, "You are a bit different from Maxine." The tall girl leans back to break their contact, hobbling back into her chair, "I only known her for about a month. But yeah, quite a bit different." Her cheery eyes scan up and down at the slumped posture of Max, "Maxine… is very talkative and outgoing. I can't say I know too much about you but you seem like the total opposite." Her voice trails off as she ponders what other appropriate yet tactful words to describe the nervous girl.

The brunette doesn't hesitate to nod her head in agreement. She fills in the obvious blank herself, "Definitely. I'm a total shy loner." She glows with a smile, grinning through her humiliation.

Chloe presses her lips tightly with her eyes gleaming toward the other girl, "It's all good. Nothing to be ashamed about." She rolls her eyes, scooting herself more upright, "I bet I'm pretty different too, huh?" She shrugs her shoulder to point Max with it, "I mean in your timeline. Not the one where I'm doomed to die in a wheelchair."

Max grasps and intertwines her fingers together. She flexes her joints together, thinking about the past adventures. How she sat down at that damp restroom floor, with Nathan's threats and Chloe's final words to be followed by that thunderous gunshot that repeatedly shreds into her heart. She can almost feel the bullet that Chloe took, wringing into her stomach to squeeze through every fiber of muscles in her body. "You were also doomed in my timeline." Her breaths swell with smelting heat, "You were shot and killed."

The taller girl purses her lips, "So, I'm… dead right now in your timeline?" Her voice is calm but still puzzled.

'Now'... I don't even know what that word means anymore.

The brunette shakes her head, "No." She faintly tilts her body toward the sleeping soul. "Rachel went over to my timeline to reset everything for me. I…" She looks down at her weak hand, as her fingers curl in a wavering pattern. "I'm a bit too scared to use my powers after everything that has happened."

The blonde's eyes follow the motion of the fingers, "Rachel ran over to your timeline?"

Max nods solemnly, "She wanted to get away from here." She glances over to the savior, "I think because she sees me as a different version of Maxine. A… naive version of Maxine." She holds out her arms, examining herself, "Rachel sees a different version of her best friend that she hasn't messed up with, yet."

Chloe blinks rapidly, looking at the tormented unconscious being. "That's… really depressing." She presses her lips, slanting her eyes down. For the first time, the gleaming energy has dissipated from her. "She must be so lonely because of everything that has happened to her." Her blue eyes hone onto the fresh and tight bandage that wraps the self-inflicted wound on her wrist, then settling on the bruises and dried cuts that are laced across her face. "So, she ran into a new world to get away from here." Her voice trails to utter out with the rest of the air in her lungs. "I can't even imagine what it is like to be in her shoes." Her cheeks puff out, pressing hard along with her lips.

The brunette nods, reaching out to weave her fingers with the distraught girl triggering an eye contact from Chloe following with a silent nod. Max gently squeezes their connection together, "For now, we have to play it by ear. And, give her all the support she needs." She turns over to the sleeping girl, her lips quivering with the vignette flashing over her mind in recalling the tense fight that she had with her.

With her free hand, she waves to caress the back of her neck, somehow she feels the phantom singe of the paralyzation radiating close to her touch. It hums louder and louder until her body shudders, jerking away from her contact with Chloe. Before the blonde could possibly be offended by the action, Max clears her throat, "Sorry, I... " She grunts through her parched mouth, "...We just have to stick together. Everyone."

Chloe wets her lips, looking at their disconnected touch but returning with an affirming nod. "You don't have to say anymore." She can sense the distress that is brewing inside the poor girl. "You got it, Max." She feigns a smile, jutting her fingers for a thumb up. "We are… best friends, right?" Her body cringes slightly but her addicting smile outshines it.

However, the glow doesn't settle evenly onto the freckled girl. Max squirms at the mention of the word 'friend'. A word that seemingly gets twisted to varying meanings across time. "Yeah, I-I-I uh…" She stammers her words, "I-I kind of… neglected Chloe in my world. I kind of drifted apart from her when she needed me the most when your father... died." Her shoulders sail down in parallel with her mood, "Sometimes, I wonder to myself if I'm even worthy to be best friend with you."

Her own concerns silence the room, letting the shy girl continue to gather her thoughts. She lines up her arms on the armrests of the chair, "Sorry, I tend to do a bit of self-brooding. I overthink things often. Sometimes, it isn't justified. And sometimes, it is."

Chloe crosses her arms, letting the long sleeves of her sweater shields herself. "It doesn't matter if it justified or not, you just simply feel the way you do. We all do a bit of self-brooding." She prods a single finger in the air by her temple, "How do you even define reality with our crazy minds? Our own imaginations will always distort the fact somehow." Using that same finger, she twirls it in a circular motion, weaving through her long lush hair. "Reality gets painted and tainted by our own experiences. Sometimes, it can be scarier than it really is."

Her head hones toward the other girl, examining her more. She continues, "Sure, I only knew you for a little bit but you seem like a person that truly wants to improve yourself and your relationship with your friends." She does a quick glance to also include Rachel in the reference. "It is a very honest and noble thing to do so don't take that lightly at all. These ill thoughts will only hold you back from your own goals." She wets her lips, "Do you understand?"

Max's eyes drift quietly to the side, staring emptily into the window behind Chloe before returning back. Somehow, a comforting smile just slips through her tense face. She is in front of her best friend. It may not be the exact same one that she grew up with. But it is her. Just went a different route in life and completely free of negativity toward the world compared to the punk she is more acquainted with. Max is more than happy to take whatever she can get in this moment. "Yes, I do. Thank you, Chloe." She puffs out through her nostrils with her grin wavering away, "The Chloe I know… well, she's no longer filled with hope like you are."

The observant blonde nods solemnly, not showing any surprise on her expression, "That's because my… uh… dad died, right?"

Max responds with a nod as well, drooping her shoulders like she is mourning.

Chloe presses her lips thin, showing some dreary empathy toward her own counterpart to deal and suffer in her life without William. "I know you tried. You mentioned that. But would you give it another shot to… save him?" A jolt of electricity wedges up her spine, "Wait, shit…" She forms a temporary 'T-shaped' with both of her hands, "Timeout! Uh… I mean don't use your time powers." She commands but uncertainty still holds her tongue, "Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to put any more burden already on your shoulders."

The sore subject blanches the taste in Max's throat, but the animated sympathy instills some of it back, "It's okay… I won't do anything." Her neck drapes forward in defeat, "I… don't know if I want to do too much with my powers. It's crazy and unpredictable." She glances down at her hands, blinking slowly about her own existence. "Somehow, I used my powers to get into this body. I still… can't believe it."

Chloe holds her stare at the unsettled girl, then slowly scanning up and down the length of her body. "Maybe you're tougher than you think?" Her tone is lightly colored, approaching that question with caution.

Max shrugs her shoulders, "The first four days when I discovered my powers, I felt…" Her body retreats back into her chair, "...invincible and unstoppable." She waves a finger between them, "Never once in my life I've ever felt like this. Both you and I were like an inseparable duo. With my powers…" Her blue eyes scan at her clenched hand, "I could use my time powers to help others and also…" Her head tucks away, "...myself." She gazes across the dry room, letting her pupils focus on the static-washed wall.

"I mean…" The blonde wrinkles her lips, her shoulders twitch for a slight shrug. "I think anyone would be curious if they somehow obtained truly out of ordinary abilities and have zero ideas about it." Chloe settles her face back to staring aimlessly across the room like she is pondering about something. With her dull eyes, she blinks her eyes rapidly until she breaks the short silence, "One second, my eyes are getting very dry. Let me take out my contacts." She leans over to the side of her chair, reaching for her backpack to unzip its outer pouch. "Good thing my mom bought some huge ass contact solution from Costco for me." She pulls out an unopened case and a eyeglasses case. She kicks herself up from her chair, heading toward the attached restroom, "I'll be right back."

"Sure." Max's soft word reaches shortly before the door shuts behind by Chloe, flooding an uneasy blanket back into the air. This sting leads the brunette to scramble her body toward the edge of her chair, looking patiently at Rachel from across the room.

'Finally, Rachel can get some actual sleep. Hell, I wish I could also get some sleep like her.'

A crack of moonlight from the window catches at the very edge of Max's eyes, drawing her toward it. Through the curtains swaying back and forth, revealing a quick glimpse of the glowing light that hangs up on the sky. Curious, the photographer rises up to her shoes, squeaking against the tiles of the hospital floor.

There are two moons that hang in the night sky. One of them partially translucent, glinting with a bluish hue to stand out from the real one.

The door opens behind her but it doesn't take Max away from the magnificent sighting. She has seen this several times already but still absolutely drawn in awe by it as if it is her very first time.

Footsteps cautiously patter toward the brunette from behind as Chloe wonders what she is fixated at, "Hey, what are you looking at?"

Max hunches forward, leaning closer toward the window, "I… I see two moons."

Chloe huddles close in right behind the girl, her legs bend to lower herself to match height. "Two moons? I'm sure the me in your timeline has comparable bust size as me."

"Wasn't talking about that…" Max's gleaming teeth can't ever be fully covered by her lips when Chloe throws her hearty comments. She turns around to instantly lock onto the curves that are pressed through the oversized sweater. Getting more comfortable and understanding of Chloe's humor, Max continues, "Yours does look a little bigger." Her blue eyes sail a little higher, "Woah." The word pours out of her mouth in a single rapid pace.

The blonde looks down at her own chest. Her hands push them together, molding the two curves. "Well, I'm glad you're been looking. I am also older than your timeline, right?" She cocks her head back up, "I have years of college diet that consists of cookies n' creme ice cream and McDonald's Chicken Nuggets Tuesdays to fatten myself up." She pokes her index finger at the curve repeatedly, recoiling back slightly, "That and a nice expensive push-up bra." Chloe peels her eyes off from her own chest to lock onto Max who has a stunned expression. "What? Do you enjoy watching me pushing my boobs in like this?" Her brows arch briskly, trying to stir more uncomfortable but playful emotions into the poor girl.

But that isn't what is on Max's mind. Not exactly. Chloe has on black rimmed glasses that mirrors the typical secretary look. She looks even geekier with the glasses amplifying her wide ocean eyes. Max is taken back from this fresh new look from Chloe being absolutely mesmerized by it. Her pulse quickens through her stiff body.

'Holy hell.'

Her delayed words drift across her mind. Reacting far behind and sluggish compared to the explosive heat that coats her skin.

Chloe tips her face with her usual mischievous smile forming on her face, "Hey, uh… my eyes are up here. Erm…" She scratches her nose, wincing in slight disappointment, "Actually, you are looking at my eyes." The blue gemstones on her face glimmer with growing intensity.

Max's eyes widen rapidly and then shrink just as quick, "You look great with glasses. I never saw you with glasses."

"Oh…" Chloe's eyes cross together, focusing on the frame that wraps over them. "Uh… thanks." She slides her index finger up, brushing against the bridge of it, "I'm also not really used to seeing myself in them. But wearing contacts for too long does burn my eyeballs."

Max's shoulders settle down, allowing a single chuckle through her chest. "I bet."

'Damn, she is... gorgeous. Stop-.'

"Your face is glowing." Chloe retorts with a rather lovely tone to stun Max's fantasizing thoughts. "Just from a simple piece of accessory, huh?" She rubs the frame of her glasses with confidence.

"What? I'm totally not." Max blurbs that out as an early makeshift defense, "Erm…" Her head cranes across the room, hoping to divert some of the fervor from drawing toward her. "...someone must have turned on the heater." She flails her hand, fanning the growing embers underneath her cheeks.

Chloe lengthens her body, tall like a hawk about to swoop in on her prey. "Your mind is totally in the gutter." She eases up her face, "Then again, I live and a permanent resident of the gutter."

The brunette smiles, squirming her heated body, "Those glasses are… pretty sweet looking." She pushes out that compliment uneasily.

The blonde girl stretches her back, "I… uh.. got inspired by this erm… working professional." Her tone alters sharply, presenting the urge for her words to be pried further.

Of course, Max inquires further, "What kind of working professional?"

Chloe continues, raising and lowering her brows, "I can show you a picture… Or a video." Her shoulders shrug with her eyes rolling, "Or an entire cloud folder I have for her. But I won't!" She slants her eyes to cast a scolding look, "You are a minor! You may have an adult body but your mind is full of innocence and shall never be tainted by the deep depths of Chloe Price's Gutter Stash."

"I am eighteen!" Max rebukes, letting a pause of an abnormal chord to strike squarely into her heart. 'Wow..' Her own eyes sparkle being dazzled by this girl. 'I'm… falling in love with her.' A slight sense of disagreement pierces her spine but she keeps her dull face up. 'I… shouldn't be feeling comfortable in this timeline but this very person in front of me… She's Chloe.'

Chloe eyes her carefully but lowering her voice barely above a whisper, "Do you have a… crush on me? In your timeline?"

Max finally snaps out of it slightly, keeping her stiff face but dodging her eyes to the side, "Uh…"

Chloe continues with her soft voice, "Do you have a crush on me… in this timeline?"

"Uh…" Max utters out the exact same noise.

The blonde smiles, "You have a cute mousey look when you're looking at me." She surveys up and down, "Like an innocent and curious look. That you truly and genuinely want to be around my craziness." She squeezes one of her eyes close, eyeing the shy girl, "Then again, could be a combination of being in Maxine's body. That girl's hormones and horny thoughts are almost in competition with mines." She prods a single index finger up in the air, "You, however, are a sweet and pure angel that is forced to be in such a vile vessel. You would never have such an ill thought, right?"

With wide eyes, Max nods with sarcasm, not even trying to hide it, "Yes, that's exactly it."

Chloe bows her head, getting down on the floor on one knee to gently grab Max's hand to offer a gentle peck on it. Her eyes hone back onto her, "I'll be polite to you, milady." She gives a nice squeeze with the hand, "I'll listen to you. I know I seem like a dork that seems incapable of comprehending anything serious. But I can actually have a brain and listen, too." She stands back up, holding Max to her side to face out the window.

It is a small moment of silence to allow Max to recollect her thoughts from earlier. Instead, she is panting softly in the still air of the room, as her heart seems to run out of space in her chest, thumping tightly in the skin. 'Breathe Max…' She closes her eyes to try to pull herself together mentally in what seems to feel like a pit of sweltering heat. "S-s…" She clears her clogged throat, hoping to get some space and time. "S-sorry, I forgot what I was saying before." Her aching lungs demand for more oxygen.

Chloe subsides back to a normal face, raising two fingers, "You looked spooked by something. Two moons, you said?" She extends toward the window. She shifts her body closer to Max to try and see what she is talking about, "I don't see it, though." She purses her lips, "Is it some optical illusion that I don't know about?" She squints her eyes into the dark sky to see if she could get any other results.

Max shakes her head, "No, it's my powers. Or rather, part of time powers. Only me and Rachel can see it."

The confused blonde inquires, "Do you know what it means?"

The brunette girl smiles for a short moment, feeling a familiar sense of growing support from Chloe to discover and solve the unknowns, just like how it was last week, "I think something about both mines and Rachel's timelines…" Max tilts her head toward the Rachel, "Maybe because our worlds are close enough together since we can hop over to each other's."

"Both you and Rachel, huh?" Chloe's nose wrinkles, with her interest piqued at the outlandish things spewing from the other girl's mouth. "There are way more than just… two timelines, right?"

Max lowers her eyes, briefly remembering back all the memories that she has been through. "Yeah, maybe there are more other timelines that we could hop into."

Chloe tucks her hands into the pockets of her jeans, "Amidst of the chaos of all the universes, somehow two of them converged close together so they can be influenced by one and another. Well, at least two." She becomes startled and surprised by her own words, that Max turns around to eye the nerd. The tall girl shrugs, "Sorry, I was kinda geeking out a bit."

The brunette rotates the rest of her body, "Not at all. Please do. I'm curious what you think. So, you believe all of this?"

"Heh…" Chloe snorts that sounds almost like a squeak. "To be honest, I don't quite believe it."

Max's soul stands up but her feet still remain rooted to the floor, "So…" Her veins constrict, forcing her blood to pump with more and more force. "You were just pretending this whole time?"

Chloe's eyebrows arch, "No, I wasn't pretending. Sorry, I worded that very poorly." Her head drapes down slightly, "I do actually want to believe. I know shit is crazy right now and I know you're not bullshitting me. But I still can't completely wrap my head around the idea of this multiverse time travel business yet. Like… what really happens to our world when you use your time powers? Does it spawn a new copy or it actually reverse the original? Questions like that are going rampant through my head."

"I see. I wish I could answer that." The freckled girl settles back down slowly, "Yeah, I still have trouble myself. Sometimes, I do struggle with believing with any of it." A nervous laughter spills out of her, "I wonder if it is time powers or my mental condition has degraded to a point where I'm imagining things."

The blonde locks her blue eyes, "Well, I did see some weird memories that I know didn't happen. On the night that I saw you or erm… I guess Maxine drugged. It was like some 'Minority Report'-level of weird shit. Like a glimpse of some weird sci-fi parallel universe."

Max's eyebrows crease, her hand flowing up to squeeze her own chin, "You mean 'Minority Report' but in reverse?" She halts her next words, taking a sharp glance at the sleeping girl and then back, "Did Rachel bring you back in this timeline?"

Chloe stares blankly, raising a right hand in the air, "Uh… what does that even mean?"

"Ah, doh. Of course, you wouldn't know," Max lowers her head, "Rachel has the ability to bring people back in time." She taps on the temple of her skull, "Preserving their memories even if they're non-time travelers."

The blonde's blank face escalates, "Woah… Uh…" She presses both her hands at her rib cages, "I… do remember seeing Rachel getting stabbed around here. By…" She expels out a sigh, as her eyes dig deep into the plain floor of the hospital tiles for answers, "It is very fuzzy and I don't quite remember. But she was in a lot of pain."

Max bobs her head down, wetting her lips, "Corbin." She also recalls and tries to piece all of it together. "Rachel used her powers to save your father from getting shot by Corbin. But changing that accidentally led Corbin to attack Rachel." Her head swirls in place, again being reminded how intense and confusing time powers can be.

"Holy shit…" Chloe mutters, covering her mouth with her hand. "That's why Rachel threatened to take my father away." Her voice muffles through her hand but it is still clear enough, "Rachel passed out and my father insisted on… uh… Maxine to contact her parents to come to the hospital." She removes her hand just to puffs out a sigh of disbelief, "They were furious, which ultimately broke Maxine and Rachel apart."

The smaller girl reaches out boldly to wrap her arms around Chloe, "Don't worry, that is going to change. And, your father will be fine. I promise." She casts a reassuring nod.

Chloe leans back her body, giving a nice full gaze at this girl. She holds back what she wants to say, instead of putting on a cheeky face, "It is like 'The Minority Report, huh?"

Max chuckles, letting the tension die down a little bit, "Welcome to the world of fucked up time travel powers. At least Tom Cruise was good in that movie."

Chloe scoffs, "Okay…" Her eyes roll toward the smaller girl, "It was a decent performance at best. I should know since we watched it the other night. Erm, I mean with the other Maxine."

"You did?" Her wide mousey blue eyes stare back.

The blonde nods, "Yeah, it kind of reminded me about that freakish mind stuff. I got distracted pretty fast though and couldn't see much of the movie."

The meek girl blinks rapidly, "How did you know about his performance, then? What a liar!" She continues fluttering her eyelashes with an inquisitive look, "What were you distracted with?"

Chloe's eyes sail up to the ceiling, pressing her lips together for an impish grin.

Max's pupils dilate, her dry lips smack together repeatedly a few times. "I… I…" She sputters, "D-Don't say it." Her face sails to a crimson glow.

The blonde tilts her head to show off the rest of her radiant smile, "It was your 21st birthday. Well, the day after it." Her eyes shrink but it glows even more bright, "I have to give something. I didn't want to be empty-handed." She wiggles her fingers above her own crotch area.

'O...M...G'

Max squirms down, pressing her legs tightly to each other so there isn't a single inch between them. A part of her wants to find the darkest corner to hide from the rest of the world.

Chloe stops the twiddling of her fingers, but maintaining her devilish grin, "Well, you have time powers. Just rewind back to yesterday to find out what we were doing."

"No!" The freckled girl stiffens her body, both her head and hands wave laterally.

Chloe contains her gleaming smile, rushing in to hug the girl, "I went overboard with my teasing. I'm so sorry."

The shy girl relishes in the moment of this big hug from her best friend. "Do you… tease me because I'm shy?" She rubs her hands that is already locked tight around Chloe's body. "Do you take advantage of that?"

"Hmm…" Chloe lifts her face but keeping her chin still pressed against the smaller girl. "I may take like one or two percent advantage of your shyness." She dips her head, prodding Max's shoulder with her nose, snorting through it, "Hmm… okay, I take about one hundred percent advantage." She wraps her arms tightly, "You're just so adorable that I love to squeeze out a reaction from you."

Max smiles despite being almost suffocated by the bigger girl, "Thanks." She mumbles through Chloe's sweater, "Thank you for being here with me. I need it so much." She slowly pushes herself back, steadily gaining some distance. "You can… tease or joke with me all you want."

Chloe holds her gaze, licking her lips, "I'll keep that in mind." She puffs out a soft laughter to herself, her eyes circling away then right back. "Well, you can make fun of me. I was… touching myself. By the way, 'Welcome to this timeline. Your best friend is touching herself in front of you.'" Her head swivels upward to treat toward the ceiling, "Gosh, I'm a bit embarrassed by it."

Max pats on the ashamed girl's pat, "Don't be…" The two girls are still just inches away from each other, she's holding her distant stare that still seems very close. "Well, I-I'm no sweet talker or good with words. But I want to say this… So…"

Before the shy girl can continue with her list of disclaimers, Chloe interrupts, "It's okay, Max. Say it however it is comfortable for you. I'll totally understand."

Just like that, she already sympathizing the struggles with the timid girl. 'Wow… Chloe.' Max nods silently, wetting her lips ready to speak her words. Still a bit concerned how it will come out despite Chloe's gentle encouragement, "To answer your question from earlier, I'm not in a relationship with her but I am in love with Chloe in my timeline."

The blonde girl nods with a smile, "I know." She giggles softly but keeping her replies to be concise.

Max holds her stare a little bit longer, sensing how absolutely understanding the girl is and that she shouldn't let her guard up so much. "And, well… even though I've only known you for a little bit. I-I uh…" Her spine shudders, holding her tongue for a moment.

Chloe interlocks her fingers with Max's, silently imbuing more encouragement to the shy girl that is slowly becoming stronger.

The brunette looks down at their bond, further gathering her willpower then looking back into the blue eyes of this beautiful girl. 'Just do it, Max.' She scoffs at her own internal thoughts, gradually forming a smile. "I… I'm starting to like you a lot, Chloe."

The blonde laughs but in more of a relief, squeezing her hands tightly. "I… like you a lot as well, Max." She takes a deep breath, "Thanks for telling me that. I know it took a lot of courage."

The glow still resonates in Max's face on how she was able to accomplish that. To articulate her feelings like this and not have an essay long of self-brooding thoughts to go along with it. "Thanks. One step at a time with my own personal growth." She takes a step back away, looking at her own right hand, "And hopefully one step toward 'fixing all of this shit' in both timelines."

Chloe stares at the time traveler's extended hand, together with her warm expression evaporating away, "Do you ever wonder if this is all one big loop?"

The content expression dries up from Max's face, "What do you mean?"

The blonde rocks her head back, "Well, maybe I've been watching sci-fi animes and stupid weird shit too much. I'm no time travel master but I'm just wondering if all of this..." She twirls her index finger in a spiral pattern, "Like maybe some of this has already happened before..."

The freckled girl blinks slowly, her brows shrugging down. "I don't think so." Her blue eyes scan across the room of this foreign timeline. She looks at this broken Rachel who has been tormented. Max's choice to jump over to this timeline must surely have changed the outcome of the grand scheme of things. "I think we're changing things and it is going to be for the better." Her eye muscles strain under pressure and the tone of her voice becomes slightly more frantic with her explanation, "And, when we use our powers we still preserve our memories from past timelines."

Chloe jerks her head back, "I guess that makes sense that you're still aware of your powers. Just as long you don't get yourself ki-…" Her voice cuts off, zipping her lips. She averts her eyes but then returning back, "Geez, your head must be ready to explode."

Max nods slightly, as some of the memories are not pleasant to have. In fact, even those few good moments all meant nothing when Max had to choose to wipe it all away to let Chloe get shot by Nathan. "Yeah…"

The tall girl's chest caves in, "You uhh… have… undo people's deaths..."

The words shove Max to look back at the window. Allowing her to space out on something closer than the two moons in the dark sky. Her reflection is faint, barely seeing her own shadowed top half of her body. "You were my best friend. I loved you. And I, uh…" Her eyes look away from the faded figure in front of her, "...used my powers to save you. Or, at least I tried."

Chloe's fingers claw the insides of her pockets, "I died. But you said you tried to save me?"

The time traveler's face is numb. She has told the story many times before and it hurts her just as much as the first time. "When I used my powers to save you… it created a tornado that would destroy this town." Max scans all the corners of the room, feeling the walls are growing slightly. The mention of the storm seems to send a thunderous rumble through her mind. "So, the only way to undo the storm is to…" Her throat tightens. "...not use my powers and to let you die."

Chloe slants her eyes, taking a step back, "To leave it to fate, huh? So, some crazy storm was caused by the time powers?" She hisses through between her closed teeth, "Could it happen here?"

A streak of heat slashes the desensitized skin of the freckled girl, "Gosh, I hope not." She shakes her head, "I hope no storm or anything will happen in either timeline."

"Hmm…" Chloe brushes her chin like she is combing an invisible beard, "So some kind of temporal anomalies could happen from these powers? Did the storm appear right away?"

The brunette holds up her hand, with all her fingers stretched as far as they can, "About five days or so. Signs of crazy shit like birds flocking around in circles aimlessly and beached whales all around Arcadia Bay." Her entire body shudders to the thumbing of her dull heart, thinking of all the catastrophic signs that ultimately led to the tornado itself.

The nerdy girl fixes her glasses, "Nature must get disoriented with the powers, huh?"

"Y-yeah," Max lets out an exasperated sigh, "So many things I couldn't predict."

Chloe lifts her phone, staring at its blank screen for a moment, "Maybe I can help you out. Scrounge the interweb for inspiration. Or…" She slips the phone back into her pocket, "Maybe I can just give you a hug." The friendly girl wraps her arm around Max's body, squeezing her close.

Max rests her head on Chloe's chest, closing her eyes. Even for a short moment, she welcomes the comforting touch. "I wish I could relax." She wraps her arms tightly around the tall girl. "I'm losing track of time. About two days ago, I got a phone call from the sheriff that my parents are dead from a car accident." She lets out another long exhale for her next words, "Then a little before that, I had to cower in the corner, completely helpless to let you get murdered in the restroom to undo the trouble my powers caused." She digs her head deeper, "And, just yesterday… all of their deaths are undoed by time powers from that Rachel. So, everything is still fresh in my mind and it still hurts a lot. Maybe even feels a bit off."

Chloe tucks her head, giving a peck on the top of Max's head, "I'm so sorry to hear that, Max." She leans her cheek to rest on top of the smaller girl's head. "I can imagine it is fucking crazy to be able to see all these different scenarios with your powers."

The brunette opens her eyes, still in a slanted position, "Y-yeah. I just need some time to rest. Also, to think about my family and friends." She blinks slowly, "Especially Chloe... I neglected our friendship and haven't seen her in five years. Then, the first time I meet her is her body falling down to the ground with a bullet lodged in her stomach." Her eyebrows furrow, "I was just too shy and scared. I really cared about her but I didn't know what to say." She shutters her eyes close, "Shit, I still don't know what to say." A chuckle escapes her throat, "Sorry, I hate to whine about it. I just feel alone with all of this. And, there's nothing anyone else can do to help it."

The blonde girl gives a single nod. "I think in your case, it is fine to let people know how you feel sometimes." Her head tilts down to look at the long flowing brown wavy hair, "You're very close to me in your timeline." She shrugs her shoulders, "I know you don't really know me but you can tell me anything. I mean it…"

Max slowly lifts her head up but remaining close with Chloe, "I… I know…" She hesitates for a moment then she continues, "Well… like I said before, I do love you. But…" She crinkles her face, "I'm a total shy geek that don't know how to express anything. I wish I was a tougher girl."

Chloe puffs out some air through her tight lips, "Pfft… you showed me how tough and brave you were earlier when you were telling me how you truly felt. And, look at the shit you been through and currently going through... Not a single human being in this world other than Rachel has ever gone through that." She casts a dismissive twitch, "I mean forget your shyness and give yourself some credits for these things."

A huge smile twists onto Max's face. 'Just… Wow… This Chloe is so full of life and supportive. Man... she really does mean something to me in any timelines.' She nods in the air, "Yeah, I know. I have to remind myself I'm still a shy eighteen year old geek that is trying to fit in this crazy world. I just wish I'm better with people."

"Meh…" Chloe mutters under her breath, "You're much better than you think. And also, you're in good hands now. You have Rachel, Katie and me. Both in this timeline and yours."

Max presses her lips thin, continuing with the smile. Again, she is very thankful that Chloe has been listening carefully to all the shenanigans and bullshit time travel stories. She has become a much needed partner and ally in a matter of hours. "Yes, I'm glad that you're here with me, now."

The blonde beams back, "Well also... you can pretend I'm the Chloe in your timeline, too." She tips her nose up, "You can make all the mistakes you want with me before you go back to your real Chloe."

Max rouses her brows at Chloe's words. At least this counterpart of hers. 'Make mistakes. huh? I guess I've been doing that the entire time with my time powers. Always fixing by making mistakes then trying again until I get the right result. But I don't want to keep doing that… And, I don't want to use people like that… Not anymore.'

Max rejects the words, "No, you are my friend, Chloe. I'm not going to see you that way." She drifts a little bit closer, "You are an amazing person and I'm going to earn your trust."

A blush flies into the geek's face, "You have already earned my trust, Max." The bold girl's sunny smile seems to dawn against the ever growing darkness that seeps into the shy girl's heart. This girl is full of confidence, maybe even too much. But it is the necessary light that the time traveler needs in this dreary adventure. "You can always open up to me. You understand?"

More and more cheeriness that Max has never felt before continues to flow into the darkest pits inside her soul. "I understand, Chloe." The freckled face glows in unison with the other girl. A growl erupts from the small girl's stomach briefly interrupts the warmth that is trickling down. Another type of blush emerges from Max as she looks down at her belly, "Ooops. That was my stomach."

Chloe chuckles, "Let's go fix that and get you a snack." She throws a gentle jab at the source of the hunger, but her head quickly focuses back with another thing on her mind, "Well when I said you can pretend I'm the Chloe from your timeline, I only said that because I was hoping you will practice your kissing on me."

"What?!" A sharp of laughter shoves out the pits of Max's stomach, "You're crazy."

The tall girl shrinks, shrugging her shoulders until it up to her ear-level, "Well, where are you going to practice at? With a pillow?"

"Yes!" Max replies back sharply but grinning to reveal her playfulness. "I will practice with my pillow."

"Mm-hmm…" Chloe tips her nose up with her eyes closed. "Then, I shall sneak afterward and grab your pillow." Her arms are extended outward in a grab like she is holding an invisible pillow. "I will hold it tightly against my bosom. I have, but press it against my face." She brings her hands against her euphoric face, taking a long and deep inhale. "And then, the sweet scent of Max reminds me of happier days!"

'Oh...my… dog…' Max plants a hand against her face, "Chloe! You're so gross!" She throws a weak slap toward the other girl.

Chloe hunches her shoulders to defend against the hit. "That's how I roll!" She throws a 'thumbs up' gesture toward the blushing girl.

Max sighs, then letting out a stored laughter. "You're really are quite something, Price." She bobs her head down, covering her own belly. "I like this. But I'll go get myself a snack. I need to be able to do some stuff on my own in this timeline." She takes a step away from Chloe, feeling a bit pried away from the warmth she has been having. She takes a gander at her own beautiful look, "Time to fatten Maxine's beautiful body up with unhealthy and tasty junk food from the vending machine."

Chloe follows closely behind the small girl, "I'm sure Maxine wouldn't mind being thicc." She helps guide the girl to the door but stopping in front of it. Her smile reverts back, "Max, could you keep a secret?"

The brunette looks back over her shoulder, sensing the drop to a more rough tone. "Sure."

The blonde drops her head down in brief shame, "You have a good head on your shoulders. I can tell already. I really wish Maxine could learn a couple of things from you." Her dimples form on her face, warming up. "Sometimes, she could be very reckless and explosive with her emotions. It is a bit controlling for me to wish these things, though. I just want her to be safer, you know?"

'She must have only known Maxine for no more than a month, but already cares about her so much.'

More intensity tingles along Max's cheeks, "Well, I'm very clumsy and also wander into troubles myself." She reaches to brush the back of her neck, feeling the hairs that stand on it.

A smile remerges back on the tall girl as she leans closer, "That's because you're too busy checking out people."

Max turns her body around, shuttering her eyes. "You bet! I am a photographer. I need to keep an eye out for potential opportunities."

The blonde nods with her wide eyes, "You should take pictures of talented individuals that have… two large… personalities." She cups with both of her hands in front of her, "And, do it when they lean forward pressing those two personalities tightly together with their arms." She mimics her words by tilting forward to press her chest together.

"Hmm…" Max collects her chin into her hand, "That is not an ideal pose for a portrait. For standard portrait, you normally want to be posed standing up straight where the focus is targeted at the upper half of your body." She lifts both hands, pressing in the air in a downward motion. "What you're suggesting is a shift and minimize the focus of the photo to hone solely onto the chest region."

"Look…" Chloe extends her arm, pointing at the door with a stern face, "Just go out and take some pictures of hot sexy girls with giant gazonka-donks, okay?" It doesn't take long for her rigid face to crumble to a shaky laughter, "Gosh, I'm a fucking idiot."

Max presses her lips tightly but also unable to contain her straight face. "Chloe, you're so awesome." Her stomach aches as it is doing a bad job of fully restraining all of her laughter. 'Even when I don't feel like myself in this timeline, being around her makes me feel right at home.' She closes her eyes, shrugging her shoulders, "I can be a bit of a perv, too. I'm just shy about it."

The blonde nods in her direction, "You keep it to yourself like any sane and normal person would."

Max puffs out her cheeks, "Well, I think it's nice that you can express and make a joke out of these things and don't care so much what other people think. It's pretty funny." She prods her fingers together, "I'm more of a listener. So, I rather someone else talking and making the jokes than myself."

Chloe continues to bless the room with her smile, "I'm glad you feel that way." She places her hand onto Max's back, "Do you need some money for the munchies?"

Max interrupts the blessed glow by fumbling in her pockets, unable to find anything that resembles a wallet in them. "No, uh… I'm sure my… wallet or purse is somewhere around here." She sways her body to look at several directions around the room. "Shit, I don't even know what my purse looks like."

Chloe wraps her arm around Max, signaling her to stop her fruitless search, "Actually, I think your purse is still in my truck. Just take a couple of singles from me." She walks back to the set of chairs, pulling up a small mid-sized purse and digging into it.

The curious girl looks on from behind. 'This Chloe is a little tad more girly than the one I know. She's sporting a casual purse like that.'

The blonde stands back up tall, returning back to Max. "Here, you go." She hands a wad of cash, stuffing in the smaller girl's hand, then finishing with a tap to her nose. "You're a pretty cool mouse, Max."

The spaced out dork looks at the cash that has materialized in her hand, "Maybe..." Her eyes roll, squeezing the money in her hand to stuff into her pocket. "Maybe because you haven't known me long enough to see my bad side, yet."

Chloe tips her face up, "Perhaps. But so far you seem like a very humble and honest person. And, I really like that." Her face is also flushed at this point, "As intense and crazy things were earlier… I really enjoyed learning these things from you. It's like watching an anime except this is I-R-L." She makes a fist and gently caresses against Max's face with the knuckles.

This triggers a short laugh from Max. She nods her head, "Me too, Chloe. I really love that you accept me for who I am, no matter how crazyshit it can be. It is probably my number one fear coming to this timeline."

Chloe's eyes roll up to the ceiling, "Well, I'm pretty crazy too. Don't call the Inter-Dimensional Police on my pervertedness."

Max smiles, baring her teeth, "Only if you show me the working professional that is sporting those sweet glasses." She ducks her head, laughing in embarassment as more and more of the humor is rubbing onto her.

The blonde's cheeky smile grows, "You got it!" She taps the freckled girl's nose with her finger, "Alright, you have earned the privilege to see that working professional after you get your snack." She gently pulls away, turning her body to the source of the beeping in the room, "I'll watch over Rachel." She puffs out a sigh, "I also want to learn more about her story, too."

The brunette's lips twist, giving a faint grim nod. Chloe continues, "We…" She waves a finger between herself and the other blonde. "We got into a huge fight and never quite… cleared the air between us. It was outside this hospital." Her head cranes toward the window then taking a step toward the sleeping girl that somehow looked peaceful despite the streaks of bruises that looks like dried veins that have already burst out of the bandages that wraps Rachel's face.

The glow vanishes as Max turns to the other badly injured time traveler, "Yeah, there will be some time for that. It could get a little crazy when she gets up." She scratches her head, "I'm not so sure if she's totally cool with me."

The blonde brings up both of her fists, showing off her knuckles, "Don't worry. I know earlier I was standing around with a thumb up my butt. But I won't let anything blow up between any of us."

Max chuckles dryly, "Well, not only that." She lowers Chloe's arms back to her sides, leaning in close to the tall girl's body. "There's something else."

Chloe widens her eyes, sensing the serious tone. She peers down to her, "What is it?"

The brunette takes a curious glance to make sure the other time traveler is still deep in her slumber. Her voice is low, "Rachel discovered some things in my timeline that she didn't know in hers." She points a finger toward the floor, "Hers as in… this timeline."

She tilts her head up toward Chloe, "When she was in my timeline, she found out her mother has cancer. A type that is hereditary. Though thankfully Rachel is safe from it, but because it is hereditary I would think her mother would most likely have it… in any timelines." She tilts her head, feeling a gasp of weakness but she continues, "My timeline is three years back from this timeline and her mother is already seeking treatments. But…" Her blue eyes hang uneasily, "Her mother in this timeline may not be aware of it at all. At least Rachel never heard of her mother mentioning it."

Chloe's face warps to a horrified look, "Oh god…" She looks over at poor soul, placing her hand over her mouth. "So…" Her whimpering voice breaks out into a squeak.

Max presses her lips thin, "Rachel is going to… have a talk with her mother." She presses both of her hands into her own chest, "And, we will see what happens." Her index finger swirls in a circular motion, "And also we will see if there's going to be time powers involved. Because Rachel may use it to save her mother."

The blonde sniffs her nose, "I remembered her talking about that earlier but I was so super confused at the time that I couldn't even process much of it." Her breaths grow heavy as she tilts her head to embrace the lights, "Even you telling me that my father is dead in your timeline still gives me the fucking chills." Her lips wrinkle to an unsteady shudder. "Even though it is a different timeline, it still feels like some sort of premonition of things to come. But still… poor Rachel..."

"It's…" Max bobs her head, letting the loose weight of it dangle on the tendon on the back of her neck, "It's crazy. That's all I can say. So, we all have to stick together on this."

Chloe takes a deep inhale, then follows with a steady nod. "You're right. For now, there's only so much we can do." She lowers her head to the shorter girl, "Both of you guys will turn your wounds into wisdom. I know you two will."

The sweet words send a flutter into Max's lips, warming her up with pleasant intensity. 'Should I…' A veil of invincibility flows through her at rapid pace to overflow her reservations and timidity away. Not wanting to say any more words to break the moment, she inches closer and closer to her best friend. She can feel it in her heart that this is what she wants to do.

The blonde shrugs her head to the right, averting the advance, "I… uh… shouldn't."

Max freezes her body, feeling her heart is no longer knocking in her body. 'Shit… Fuck me!'

The blonde turns her head back, still partially hunched to the side, "I'm sorry that I'm totally leading you on. I want to… but… but I can't." Her hand reaches out to caress Max's cheek, with her shoulder shrugging in the direction of the sleeping girl. "I… just can't do this in front of Rachel. As much as I want to." Her eyes droop down, "For a little while, I've been… upset…" She struggles to push out that word that it cracks her voice, "...how Maxine been treating and ignoring Rachel. I know she isn't you but…" She groans, covering her face with a single hand.

Max bobs her head with no disagreement. 'I think… it is the right move.' She looks in the direction of Rachel, getting reminded of all the pain and trouble that she had to go through. "No, you're right. I totally understand." The selflessness of Chloe seems to shine out any darkness that cast during that small mishap.

Chloe, still feeling bummed of her actions. "I'm sorry, I… shouldn't have said anything."

The brunette swivels around, keeping about a few feet between her and the other girl. "Chloe, I know you still have feelings with Maxine. Because when you broke up…" She does the 'quotation marks' gestures with her fingers. "...you still had sex with each other." She tries not to make it into an interrogation or scolding session.

The blonde jams her hands into her pockets, "That… was a mistake. A huge one on my part. I didn't… want to repeat it again." She holds her hand up, grabbing onto the small girl, rocking her with some force. "I'm so sorry."

Max waves her hand up, halting any further concerns, "Don't worry, I get it. But tell me something... Officially, you want to break up with Maxine because you want her to be closer to Rachel." Her eyes draw up to meet the other girl, "But, I feel there's a bit more to it?"

Chloe holds her distant stare back, "Well, I suck at playing smooth, huh?"

The brunette doesn't feel satisfied, continuing to pry more with her curiosity, "Is there something about Maxine that you want to share with me?" She bobs her head down, "Come on, you can tell me."

The blonde sways her legs while staring blankly into space. "I-I… don't really know anything. And, I don't want to make any blind assumptions."

Max narrows her eyes, knowing that many things in this world cannot always be sugar-coated. "Just tell me."

Chloe's body winces in a single jolt. She gulps while still baring her teeth. "Alright." She scans down the body of the smaller girl like she wants to be absolutely certain with her decision. She prods her upper lip with her tongue, rewetting it, "I-I uh... felt Maxine always keeping something from me. Could have been something small or something big." She casts an arm out, with a wiggle of her shoulders. "Or, could be nothing at all." A chuckle slides roughly out of her mouth, as she reaches to comb her hair, halting her hand at the back of her head. "But Max, if you see, notice or hear anything strange let me know." She drops her arms to her side, eyeing stronger than before. "Like, if you get a phone or text from someone you don't know or see someone you don't know who approaches you." She points an index finger at her chest, "Just come running to me, okay?"

Her skin over her throat gets pinched, wrinkling the brows of Max. "Was... Maxine involved with a bad crowd?" The blonde swings a weak dismissive wave, "I... don't know. I also don't mean to spook you either. But I feel Maxine could be involved with dealings with money or drugs." She tilts her head, filling with the disappointment of her own ignorance. "I never had the balls to truly confront her." She lets out a sigh, "I'll be perfectly honest with you. Both me and Maxine didn't have... the grandest of relationships. I know it's not something you like to hear because you have feelings for me in your timeline." Max droops her head down, "Well, it is wishful thinking and to be honest, I haven't really put that much thought into it." She shrugs her entire body, putting some emphasis on this foreign possession of hers. "Many things have been going on…"

A brief ample amount of mischievousness dawns on Chloe's face as she jolts forward to poke Max's belly.

"Hey…!" The brunette cowers her stomach, beaming back.

The blonde tilts her head, swinging the long lush of hair, "Max, you're a good person. The stuff I said before, I-I… really mean it." She brings her forearm up, pressing against her forehead like she is feeling feverish. "I sound like some scumbag personality trait whiner but…" She bows her head slightly so her blue eyes can make contact, "...some of the things that bugged me about Maxine, you… you…" Her face flushes, stunning her tongue for a moment. "...you don't have. You're… really nice, Max." Her stumbling words are dry but the way she is stuttering, she is choked up with conflicting thoughts.

Max blushes, shrugging away, "Well, uh…" Her eyes widen, circling and surveying herself. "I wished I was a lot less shy and you know…" She looks down at her chest, propped up by a push-up bra. "...being in a relationship and uh…" Her voice drops to a mumble, "...sex."

The almost muted word sends a signal into Chloe. If she had antennas, it would spikes up immediately. "Oh, you want to have sex? Let's do that… right now!" She shoves her finger in the direction of the filthy hospital floor.

The brunette winces, flailing her arms laterally. "N-N-No… Nope!" The blonde squeezes her hands together, drooping forward with her arms, waddling closer. "Well… well… look what we have here?" Her eyes sweet across the height of the timid girl.

Max looks down in a slight amount of shame but a separate fresh wave of heat that soothes over her skin. "Thanks Chloe, for everything." Her feet want to stay rooted to thrive in this blissful warmth, but her stomach demands to be satisfied, "I'm beating around here for too long. Let me grab some nosh." Nonchalantly, she aims her shoulder toward the exit of the room.

Chloe wipes her forehead as if it is covered with beads of sweat, "Yeah, I also need to go beat off as well."

Max's tongue is lightning quick, punching back with a single word through her own confusion. "What?"

"Huh?" Chloe scoffs the word back as quick as her eyes widen. She purses her lips tightly and her brows arch upward subtly but rapidly.

"Ugh…" Max groans, rolling her unamused eyes and her head back toward the door. Not wanting to be bamboozled, at least, not until her stomach is filled. "You go have fun. I'll be back with my snack."

The tall girl squeezes her eyes, tipping her glasses upward, then letting it fall back on the bridge of her nose. She fans her hand frantically in a large arcing motion. "Ta-ta!"

Maxine Caulfield
Arcadia Bay: Hospital - 3F
September 23th, 2016 11:58 PM

Max steps out of the hospital room, taking a large exhale to expel the smoldering heat that has accumulated in her body. She fans the side of her head to help contain the wildfire that is spreading across her freckled face.

'Freaking… Chloe… Geez, she's so sweet and amazing… and hot. Gosh darn it, why does Maxine get all the fun?'

Slowly, she lets the world expand all around her. Everything is suddenly unmuted compared to the small hospital room, letting the torrential of life inundates into her eardrums. Her pupils constrict from the brightness of this area that she is only briefly familiar with on her way in. She closes the door gently behind to sever any assistance from Chloe for the time being. Her fatigued body leans against the door to stretch the knots in her body as she surveys the surroundings.

The ghostly lights above that are stained with an aging amber smear provides a rather eerie and foreboding vibe, despite the nurses and doctors working robotically in examining their reports and typing onto their individual thrumming workstations.

'It seems Maxine is a bit… problematic. If a sweet girl like Chloe can't even handle her, then something really is wrong. A part of me feels… special that I'm… better in some ways over Maxine. But at the same time, it kind of hurts. This person is still… me. How different can she be?'

Max eyes around, feeling a small but familiar tinge of shyness erupting into her body. 'Careful, Max. Like what Captain Chloe said, there are monsters out in the unknown sea. I have to tread carefully. Stay in the public area.'

A flush of heat sails in a winding-fashioned up the nape of Max, signaling her to draw out a churning gulp. She shakes off this sensation, trying to regain her faux limited confidence within herself. She lowers both her arms down to her side, with her eyes landing at her own pale pink shirt and jeans. Again, gauging her appearance in this foreign body to the public. Pretty and casual, thankfully not something too far off from what the shy photographer would normally wear.

Her head hangs a little lower, making sure there's no drooling has occurred from that intense moment she had with Chloe. Her pounding heart presses into the heavily padded bra that is strapped tight against her flat chest, which is actually something that she wouldn't wear as she would never want the attention. Except maybe...

'Alright Max, stop thinking about this padded bra and how you wouldn't mind rubbing it all over Chloe's face until her glasses fall out for a single moment, you darn horndog. You were never like this. It has to be Maxine's body spawning the perverted demon in you, right? Right?! Shit, time to play it cool. Don't let anyone else see through your masterful disguise to find out that you even more awkward than you already are.'

Her eyes hang on the large block in the distance with a glowing light to illuminate the contents within it. 'Ah ha, there's the contraption that will distribute the nom-nom to solve my hunger issue.' With a single step forward, her trembling shoe plants closer toward her goal. She squeezes her eyes close then lets out a relaxing sigh to invigorate herself across the hallway.

A faint voice of a woman trickles across the room but somehow identifiable what she is saying, "Hey, wasn't she here before?"

The sole tendon beneath Max's ear twitches at the mention of her but it only accelerates her pace to avoid any awkward confrontations with anyone else in this strange new world.

She reaches to her objective which is secluded from the populated area, shifting her full attention to the array of snack selection. A whisper of her heated breath collects onto the unblemished glass of the vending machine. Max's eyes gaze at the myriad of droplets that form and disappear just as rapidly, spacing out in this rare moment of calm to collect her thoughts in the silence.

'Hopefully, Rachel will wake up soon. From there, we will pray to the gods of fate that things will be alright. Then, I can go back home to my own timeline.'

This imaginary roadmap draws a glossy smile in the girl that is reflected on the smooth glass of the machine. The thought of all the girls back in her world, waiting for her return. 'I miss you, Chloe and Kate. And, I will like to meet and learn more about you, Rachel.'

The brief mental sanctuary that formed in Max's mind quickly dissolves. All the vibrations and tremors in the world dissipate in the thin air surrounding her, forcing the time traveler to root her footing on the chilling glacial tiles of the hospital. Her eyes churn in the confinement of their individual socket, studying the newly instantiated muffled and dreadful scene.

In the distance and ever so softly, a pair of faint footsteps creeps up behind her, approaching closer and closer with each bellowing stride. A gust from the winter depths sends the hairs on the back of Max's neck to stand up in paralyzing terror.

An ethereal voice slits into her skull. "Max…" It is Jefferson's haunting voice. His enticing breaths almost seems to wring Max by her eardrums. The brunette squints her eyes, hoping she could shield herself from the horrid voice.

The walls of the hospital emerge with an ooze of darkness, edging itself downward from the crest of the walls. The moisture hits her nose, tainting her lungs with the presence of a menacing maniac. Max's whimpering voice pries through her tightly shut lips, "Stop it..." A throbbing prick penetrates the side of her neck, that springs her soul to swing her arm in an arcing motion.

The tips of her fingers make an impact on the metal edge of the vending machine, pulsating the joints in her fingers into a feverish pain. "F-F…" She mumbles as the world also seemingly responds to the glowing blaze in her body as everything lights back up to its original glow.

"Hey…" A gentle yet bold voice calls from the side that stirs her more and more away from her dreary trip.

The redness continues in her vision with the vending machine remerging into her sight with the glass already piled up with a sheet of mist from Max's scorching breaths. She grasps at the pain and jerks her neck to the right to find Katie standing beside her with crossed arms. Her blue colored contacts pierce into the stunned girl, demanding for words. "U-U-Uh… K-Kate? Erm… Katie?" The only words she could sputter out to this stranger.

Author's Note: Well, I'm starting to sound like a broken record but it has been a while. There were many things that happened in IRL that kinda kept me not in the mood to write at all. And on top of that, my motivation for anything LiS-related and writing has declined heavily. I think it simply from just being burnt out. LiS-Before the Storm didn't really inspire me anymore, not knocking on the game... but because this story kind of established itself already and that's why I'm not really taking much stuff from BTS (like Rachel's mother/parents name, history, etc). It would just be too much of a pain to retcon, especially giving the slow speed I'm already writing/building this world. I give props to the writers and readers that are still engaged with the LiS community. I know LiS 2 is coming out soonish too, we will see where the fandom goes. :P Anyway, enough blah blah for now.

So, this story starts off more of a recap for myself to kind of unite the two time travelers and "Alt Chloe and Katie". There are some tensions that needed to be cleared between the two girls at least for now. Ultimately, Rachel needs to finally be put to rest as much as she is pushing on. This switches the driver seat to Max, who has even less of a roadmap in this new world.

Alt Chloe is a character that I really loved in TM from the beginning but was put in limited scenes for obvious reasons. In fact, I feel out of the four girls, Chloe is one of the more neglected one in general in my story. So, the hospital room scene is extremely chatty, so I get if people have gripes with it. In fact, in hindsight I have some with it, too. I wanted to have some time to express Chloe's personality and build up her bond with Max. If Max is going to obtain an ally in her party in this timeline, she has to build it up from scratch by being honest with her backstory, time powers, etc. For the sake to progress the story, it has to be compacted in a scene (though a lengthy one) as well as build up some silliness and tease I wanted to throw in.

With this new timeline, I did want to give some hints about Maxine. Even though we as the readers "see" her as the Mousey Max, she is 'still' in Maxine's body with the burden of any consequences/actions she had made in the past. Not trying to make it sound bad, but that is really what it is. Prime Max has very little idea about Maxine and the rest of this unknown timeline. She hopes Rachel will wake up and everything will resolve itself. This chapter ends a bit abruptly as this chapter was actually split. It got too much to handle, but splitting was the right choice so I could focus on Alt Chloe. Then next one... well Max will have some time with Katie and discover what she has to say. :) In this new timeline, I have to build up Chloe and Katie to be "likable" or at least able to sympathize in general. And, this applies not just for the readers but to Max as well. Max is bonding very well with Chloe in this timeline, slowly opening up to her. And, starting to realize that she can't always let her hesitation and shyness hamper her all the time, even how confusing this strange new timeline is. So we will see what happens. :D

My poor friend Harpuia, who draws amazing fan arts for this story... I forced him to help alpha with the earlier stage of this chapter. Just on a whim, he wrote that "Minority Report" conversation. I actually never seen the movie but he wrote that exchange and I thought it'll be funny to just throw it in. I may have... spiced it up a bit here and there but the overall dorky humor was attributed by him. 3 He is probably reading this Author's Note before the actual chapter as I speak. Jeah... :thinking: He always have a way to dorkified any scene and it is work of art the way he does it.

Thanks for reading this. Sorry for the delay and I don't blame people for being turned off from the lack of releases. To me, this story is simply my personal project. While it is a fanfiction and started with lots of rooting with LiS, it simply has detached itself a little bit. Of course, I would like to work on it if I truly can... but motivation and IRL stuff does get in the way and I have to balance with that.