"Max? Max, can you hear me? Please, say something." Chloe was on her knees next to Max, her arm still around her friend's shoulders. The rain was sheeting down and both were totally drenched, but neither cared not noticed.

"Chloe?" Max's voice was weak, but she struggled from her position with hands and knees on the ground and head lowered in front of her, to a more traditional upright kneeling position. She shook her head as the thunder once more crashed overhead, accompanied by the flash of lightning that violently illuminated the approaching storm. "I… I must have passed out. Sorry."

"Oh thank God!" Chloe yelled above the wind, relief evident in her voice "Don't you ever do that to me again, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, I guess." Chloe struggled to her feet, but Max stayed on the ground. "I had a nightmare. But it was so fucking real. It was… oh Chloe, it was horrible," she said, as Chloe helped her up. She took a few steps forward, her face a mixture of wonder and horror as she just stared at the tornado and she began to cry.

"Max?" Chloe's voice was full of concern.

"This is my storm, Chloe. I caused this."

"What?"

"I caused all of this. Don't you see? I changed fate and destiny so much that I actually did alter the course of everything. I tried to do the right thing, but all I ended up creating was death and destruction!"

"How can you even think that?" Chloe grabbed Max's shoulder and shook it. "You were given a power, an amazing power. You didn't ask for it, but you used it. To save me. Over and over. It had to happen, all of this had to happen. Except… except for what happened to Rachel. Although… maybe you, we were meant to find her. Maybe that's why all of this happened. She wanted us to be together, and to put everything together and find her."

"But…"

"No buts! Okay, so you're not the goddamn Time Master, or Doctor Who, or whatever, but you are Maxine Caulfield. You're my… friend, my best friend, my hero. And you are totally amazing." Chloe's voice caught on the final sentence and she hugged Max tightly. They stood like that for a while, comforting each other, before Chloe pulled away. Max knew immediately that something had changed. Chloe's face now wore a mask of sorrow, and Max's stomach plummeted.

"Chloe?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Max," said Chloe, refusing to look at her friend. "This is the only way." She had something in her hand that Max couldn't quite see. But then Chloe held it up; it was the photograph of the blue butterfly on the pail, the photograph Max had taken in the bathroom on Monday. Chloe pressed the photograph into Max's hands and she took it, her own hands trembling as she began to realise the implication of what Chloe was saying.

"I feel like I took this shot a thousand years ago," she said, walking away from Chloe, but the older girl just followed.

"Max, you could use that photo to change everything. Right back to where you took that picture." She began to cry. "You don't have to do anything, Max. Just sit there and let me… let me…" She couldn't go on and held her head in her hands, sobbing fiercely.

"Fuck that!" shouted Max. "No fucking way am I letting you die. Just… no way! You are my number one priority now. You are all that matters to me."

"I know," cried Chloe. "You've proved that over and over again. Even though I don't deserve it."

"How can you say that?"

"Max, look at me," yelled Chloe, walking away. "Look. At. Me. I'm nobody! I've fucked up my life since you went away. I'm an awful daughter, I'm an even worse step-daughter. I've made my mom's life hell, and David, don't even get me started on him. Why did you even save me? I'm not worth saving!"

"Don't say that, Chloe!" shouted Max, starting to cry herself.

"I'm so selfish, Max! Not like mom. Look what she had to give up and live through. She deserves so much more than to be killed by a storm in a fucking diner." Chloe was babbling now, her voice had risen a few pitches and she was shouting through her tears, taking great whooping breaths in between sobs, which just pierced Max to the heart. "Even David, my step… father deserves her alive. There are so many more people in Arcadia Bay who should live. Way more than me."

"Don't say that, Chloe!" shouted Max, shaking her head violently. "I won't trade you!"

"You're not trading me, Max," said Chloe. She walked back over to Max and took her friend by the shoulders. "You've saved me over and over this week. Being shot, being run over by a train… maybe you haven't actually been saving me. Maybe I was supposed to die in that bathroom. Maybe all you've been doing is delaying my real destiny. Look at what's happened here since you first saved me. I know I've been selfish, but Max, for once I think I need to accept my fate. Our fate."

"Chloe…" Max couldn't bring herself to say anything else, the words wouldn't come through her own tears.

"Max, you finally came back to me this week, and you've done nothing but show me your love and friendship. You made me smile and laugh, like I haven't done in years. Max, don't you get it? It's been the best week of my life! Wherever I end up after this, in whatever reality, all those moments between us were real, and they'll always be ours."

"Chloe, no…"

"I know you'll make the right decision, Max."

"Chloe, I can't make this choice… you can't ask me to."

"I can, Max. Because you and I both know we could never live with ourselves if we could have saved everyone and didn't. And Max, you're the only one who can make this choice."

"Chloe, I'm so sorry," Max was barely able to stand up, she was crying so much. "I'm so sorry, I… don't want to do this." Chloe threw her arms around Max and they embraced tightly, as if their lives depended on it.

"I know, Max, but we have to. We have to save everybody, okay? And you'll make those fuckers pay for what they did to Rachel." Chloe stepped back and regarded Max at arm's length. "Being together this week… it was the best farewell gift I could have hoped for." Her voice cracked and failed her. "You're my hero, Max," she said, turning and walking away.

"Oh Chloe!" cried Max. "I'm gonna miss you so much." She ran after Chloe and threw herself in Chloe's arms.

"Me too, Max," said her friend. "Me too." They separated, but only slightly, enough for Max to be able to look into Chloe's eyes, tears streaming down both girl's faces.

"Chloe…" she said, uncertainly. Chloe's face was mere inches away from her own, and time seemed to slow down. The blood roared in her ears, the rain pounded on her back in sheets, and she closed her eyes, tilting and moving her head forward ever so slightly. A few seconds later, she felt her nose brush against Chloe's until finally, their lips met. She felt all her love for Chloe reciprocated in that instant as Chloe's tongue ran gently over her bottom lip in a gentle caress. Chloe put her hand behind Max's head and pulled it close as the kiss intensified and they held each in the tightest embrace Max could ever remember. This was no dare. This was real. Too soon, however, the kiss broke and the girls parted.

"Max?" Chloe's voice was full of wonder.

"I… I love you Chloe." The blood pounded in her ears still and her heart stopped for a moment.

"You… what?"

"I love you." It was easier to say the second time.

"You do?"

"I… I think I just showed you that, didn't I?"

Chloe smiled through her tears. "You certainly did. Max… I had… no idea."

"I know, Chloe. But I realised this week that I'd do absolutely anything for you. I thought that meant that I had to keep you alive at all costs, but I know now that it means that I love you so much, I have to let you go."

"Max, I love you too. This week has been… awesome."

"Then my first kiss was… special for both of us?"

"That was your first…"

"Uh-huh."

"Damn girl, you're a quick learner. I mean, I felt that." She pressed her hand to her heart. "I felt it right here."

"Me too, Chloe." Both girls smiled genuinely at each other as they continued to embrace, but they both knew that time was running out.

"Max, it's time. We can't put this off any longer, or it'll never happen." Chloe left Max's arms and stepped backwards. "Max Caulfield, I will always love you. Now go! Do it now, please, before I really freak."

"Chloe…"

"Goodbye Max. Don't you ever forget about me."

"Never, Chloe. I'll never forget you." She turned away to the storm and focussed on the photograph, the beautiful photo of the electric blue butterfly. Soon, it began to flutter and vibrate, and she felt the familiar sucking in her stomach as the world faded. Just as it did, she heard Chloe's final words, carried with her across time and space.

"I love you, Max Caulfield."

Silence.

She looked at the photo she'd just taken as the butterfly sprang back into life and fluttered around the bathroom. It slipped out of her numb fingers as she sank to her knees, waiting for Nathan to open the door. It seemed like an age, but soon, he did so.

"It's cool, Nathan… don't stress… you're ok, bro. Just count to three… Don't be scared… you own this school. If I wanted, I could blow it up… you're the boss, Nathan. Remember that."

The door banged open once more. Max sneaked a look around the back of the stalls and saw Nathan in his expensive brown jacket, holding his head and looking in the mirror. Chloe stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She checked the three stalls before returning to Nathan.

"So what do you want," said Nathan, looking up at her.

"I hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say," said Chloe. "Now, let's talk bidness."

"I got nothing for you."

"Wrong," she said. "You got hella cash."

"That's my family, not me." Nathan continued to show his back to Chloe, and Max felt her knees begin to tremble fiercely.

This isn't fucking fair! After all I've done this week, I have to watch the girl I love die? Shot in the bathroom by… a psycho? And she won't even know I'm there, she won't know about everything we've been through.

"Oh boo hoo, poor little rich kid. I know you've been pumpin' drugs n shit to kids around here." She walked slowly and deliberately to the sink to the right of Nathan, and looked directly into his face. "Perhaps I'm talking to the wrong people, huh? Perhaps I should be talking to your respectable family, let them know exactly what their perfect son Nathan Prescott gets up to. Dealing drugs. I bet they would help me out if I went to them. Man, I can see the headlines now…"

"Leave them out of this, bitch."

"… I can tell everybody that Nathan Prescott is a punk ass who begs like a little girl and talks to himself… Don't think I don't know you, asshole."

Chloe… I love you so much…

Suddenly, Nathan stood up, pushed the girl back against the door of the bathroom and pulled out a gun, pointing it right at her face. Her expression changed instantly. This was going south very quickly.

"You don't know who the fuck I am or who you're messing with, bitch! You've got some fucking nerve, coming in here and talking to me like that!"

"Where'd you get that, Nathan? What you doing? Come on, put that thing down!"

How can this be right? How can I be asked to give up the thing I love so dearly?

Max sneaked forward and peered around the stalls again, covering her mouth in horror as Nathan put one hand around Chloe's neck and pressed the barrel of the gun against her chest. She collapsed back on the floor of the bathroom as she tried desperately to prepare herself for what was about to happen.

"Don't ever tell me what to do, you hear me? I'm so sick of people trying to control me!"

"Come on Nathan, you are going to get into hella more trouble for this than drugs…"

"Nobody would ever even miss your punk ass, would they? It's not like that other whore still hangs around with you. You've got nobody, you hear me? Nobody!"

I'm sorry, Chloe. I'm so sorry, I can't do this.

Without really knowing what she was doing, Max picked up the hammer she knew was on the floor next to her. As Nathan began to shout, she drew her arm back and hit the fire alarm as hard as she could.