"You expect me to chill out in the back like a dog?" Max said in disgust as she followed Chloe and Rachel to the parking lot. It was sunny, but dark clouds loomed over the lighthouse and the wind was bitter.
"What? You chicken or something?" Chloe smirked. Rachel laughed. "I'm only joking, Max." Chloe said, seeing Max's concerned face. "Since you're the smallest, you can squeeze in between me and Rachel."
"Oh gee, that really makes me feel good about myself." Max said sarcastically, hugging her thin frame to prove her point.
"Oh come on, Max." Rachel said. "Think about this way: You're gonna be right in between two sexy women."
Max blushed, causing Rachel and Chloe to laugh. "Shut up!" Max giggled. "And also? Ew."
"Ew?" Chloe repeated. "What are you, a 10-year-old boy? Don't want them cooties all over you."
"I want something all over me that's for sure." Max muttered under her breath.
"Ha ha oh my God!" Chloe laughed. Rachel pulled a face and shook her head.
"I don't know if I want to sit next to you after that."
Max smirked at Rachel, and returned Chloe's hi-five.
"Nice one, Max." Chloe said.
They all piled into Chloe's truck, which Rachel had finally implored Chloe to clean, and set off towards the Price's house. As they pulled up to the driveway, Max gazed in awe at the house, which stood tall over her.
"You finished the paint job!" Max cried. "It looks amazing."
"Yeah. One of the few nice things David has done for us." Chloe said, getting out of the truck and stretching.
"He's getting better, Chloe." Rachel admonished.
"That's only because he can't go against two teenage girls calling him out."
"Fair point."
"Yeah, David was actually super nice about it. He got really irritated one day after he started coming here more regularly when he saw it half done, but Mom and I explained to him that was Dad's passion project, and he said that he wouldn't finish it until we were ready." Chloe explained.
"Who knew a closeted confederate could actually show some emotional maturity?" Rachel said.
"It took about a year, but Mom and I finally let him do it, and David asked me to help him, and so I did. Got it finished in about a month during the summer, just me and him."
"How'd that go?" Max asked.
"He was a bossy little shit, like normal, but he was a lot calmer and nicer as well. I wouldn't say it was a 'bonding experience' like Mom did, but it certainly was, to some extent, a little fun."
"Well that's nice."
"Speak of the devil!" Chloe smiled. Max couldn't tell if it was genuine or not.
"Hey girls!" David smiled, opening the front door and letting them in. "Hope you're hungry."
"Where's Mom?" Chloe asked, taking Rachel's coat and hanging it on the rack.
"She said she'd be a little late at work, so I started cooking for her." David explained. He held up his hands as Chloe started to groan. "Now don't worry, I haven't changed the meal or anything, I've just chopped the vegetables and put the onions in the pan."
"Good." Chloe smiled. "Although you aren't a bad cook, David. For a man anyway."
David just rolled his eyes. "Why don't you be a nice host and go get everyone a drink, hmm?" David smirked.
"Sure thing, step-dad." Chloe replied sarcastically.
"I'll take sarcasm if that's what it takes for you to call me that without insulting me." David smirked.
Max and Rachel followed Chloe through the kitchen and into the living room. "He's in a good mood." Rachel pointed out. "It's unique for him."
"He finally got an offer for a job, and you'll never guess where." Chloe explained, opening the fridge.
"Where?"
"He's the head of security at Blackwell." Chloe smiled as she poured out a glass of coke for Max, before grabbing a beer for Rachel, David, and herself.
"No fucking way."
"Language, missy." David said without turning around.
"Sorry David." Rachel rolled her eyes as David continued to chop vegetables. "I can't believe that."
"Yeah, me neither! Apparently they liked his track record and his service, and thought he'd be fit for the job."
"So we get to see his ugly mug around campus every day?" Rachel asked.
"This ugly mug gets to tell you what to do, young lady. Don't forget that." David called from the kitchen before taking a swig of his beer.
"Oh bite me." Rachel replied, making David laugh. "Eugh." Rachel pulled a face after drinking her beer. "This is disgusting."
"David likes it. And I don't mind it."
"That's cause you have men's taste in alcohol." Rachel admonished. "Which is to say, no taste."
"Eat me."
"Later." Rachel whispered under her breath. Max laughed.
"Ew, no thank you." Max said as Rachel tried to offer Max her beer.
"You're still such a baby Max." Chloe said, shaking her head.
"A baby with taste." Rachel smirked, leaning over to steal a sip of Max's coke.
"Hey!" Max cried before playfully shoving Rachel, almost knocking her off her chair.
"Settle down, you two." Chloe said with a smile on her face. "I can't believe I'm the mature one for once."
"Must feel nice, huh?" Rachel said, smirking.
"Don't get used to it." Chloe grinned.
The front door opened, and in walked a very exhausted-looking Joyce Price.
"Hi, honey!" David called from the kitchen before turning to Chloe. "Chloe could you cover me for a second? Just to make sure these onions don't burn."
"Sure thing, David." Chloe smiled, before rolling hey eyes at the two girls, who giggled.
"How was work?" David asked, kissing Joyce on the cheek and hanging up Joyce's coat for her.
"God, dreadful. The assholes I have to deal with." Joyce whispered under her breath, but Max heard it.
"Why don't you go sit down? We can handle dinner until you're ready." David offered.
"No no it's fine I-" Joyce started to say, then stopped herself. "No. You're right. Thank you. Just a short rest."
"Take as much time as you need."
Joyce walked over to the couch in the living room and practically flopped backwards into it, the momentum of her body swinging her legs in the air, bringing them down to rest on the coffee table.
"Hi, Joyce." Max said rather gingerly from the dining table.
"Oh hi, Max!" Joyce cried, craning her neck to turn around. "How are you? Haven't seen you in a long time."
"Yeah, it has been a while. I'm alright. How are you, Joyce."
"I'm dog tired, Max." Joyce sighed. "Work is super stressful right now."
"I can imagine. You look nice in that outfit."
Joyce laughed. "Why thank you, Max!" She shook her head. "Gotta look professional if I want to pass off as a competent manager."
"Well Mom I think you're doing an absolutely swell job." Chloe beamed, walking over to Joyce to give her a glass of water.
"Oh thank you, Chloe. How's dinner coming along?"
"Swimmingly."
"SHIT!" David cried from the kitchen, before running to the sink to put his hand under cold water.
"I'll excuse that one just because you burnt yourself." Joyce called. "I better go take over. Thank you both."
"It's alright, Mom. As long as you want to, don't feel like you have to."
Joyce gave Chloe a look before gesturing to her husband, who was continually sucking air through his teeth as the cold water ran.
"Good point."
Twenty minutes later, dinner was ready, and David's hand had since stopped burning. "Damn oil." He had said.
"The oil does spit, I'll tell you that much." Joyce sighed, handing her husband a large plate of spaghetti bolognese.
"Thank you honey. Sorry I couldn't be more help."
"Honey, you've done a wonderful job." Joyce bent down and kissed her husband, who smiled and lightly touched her face in return.
Chloe flinched slightly. She still hadn't gotten used to David and Joyce being intimate with each other. Max regarded this rather sadly. She looked over at David and considered him. He was still clearly not even half the man William Price was, but it felt like this time that he knew it. He was aware of the hole he was failing to fill. She watched as he regarded Chloe sadly for a brief second, as if aware of her flinching at him. He looked down at his plate and began to eat, as Joyce began handing out everyone else's plates of food. Max breathed in, inhaling the scent of her food. She suddenly realised how hungry she was. She had no idea when she had last eaten, and time-travelling tends to consume a lot of energy, in her experience. She started inhaling the food, then slowed down when Rachel gave her an odd look.
"You must be hungry, Max."
"Well your cooking is always amazing, and I'm not sure if I've eaten that much today." She admitted guiltily, only really half-lying.
"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it." Joyce pursed her lips. "And a girl your size cannot really afford to skip meals, young lady."
Max looked down and said nothing. She silently chewed on her food, savouring the incredible taste. There was a few moments of silence as everyone ate their food.
"How's the hand?" Chloe asked her stepfather, shovelling a large forkful of spaghetti in her mouth.
"Better now, albeit a little cold." David chuckled. "Thanks, Chloe." He smiled at her, and she weakly smiled in return. Max could cut the tension in the air with her knife. She briefly thought back to the original timeline, when they are at each other's throats - a rebel with a sharp tongue and temper and a no-nonsense war veteran who hated women. Now they actually seemed like a loving family, or at the very least they respected each other's place in the Price household. Joyce smiled at both of them, clearly happy with the progress they made. Max wondered if Chloe was only nicer to David because she knew in another time David had saved Max's life. That fact cannot have been easy to process, and Max was still reeling from it herself, that was one of the timelines she had been forced to erase herself. She remembered sitting in class, rushing to find David's number to arrest Jefferson, preventing everything bad from ever happening to her and Chloe.
"How was Seattle? Must feel weird, coming back to live here, so far away from your parents." Joyce's question interruped Max's thoughts, completely throwing her off guard.
"Uh... yeah! Seattle was good. Real city for artists." She looked down sadly. "But what good is art if you don't have people to share it with?"
"Oh, Max." Joyce sighed and looked at her sadly.
"Max you said yourself you made some friends in Seattle." Chloe looked at her, a small crease of anger on her face.
"Yeah but none of them were like you, Chloe." Max smiled at Chloe. Chloe blushed and turned away, quickly resuming her eating. There was a brief but awkward silence. "Seattle treated me well, I liked living there but..."
"You missed Arcadia that badly, huh?" Joyce asked.
Max shook her head. "Not the bay. I missed you guys too much." Max smiled at Joyce. "I know things were hard on you when I left. I wanted to run all the way here so badly, just to help you guys."
Joyce reached across the table and grabbed Max's hand. "Max, don't you remember? You did help us. All of us." Joyce smiled at Chloe and David. David put an arm around Joyce's shoulder, moving his chair so he was closer to his wife. "Thanks to you, Chloe and I managed to get through the darkest period of our lives. You helped me forgive myself, you helped me learn to love again. You helped Chloe learn to love again, too."
"I found myself loving the wrong things, Max." Chloe nodded. "You, and Rachel, pulled me out of that hole." Chloe put an arm around Rachel and kissed her head." Max found herself feeling alone, again.
"I miss William." She sighed.
David looked at the ground sadly. Joyce looked at David briefly before speaking. "We all do, hun. But we gotta learn to move on. You helped us learn that, remember?"
"Of course." Max looked up and smiled, a single tear falling down her left cheek. She wiped it off. "Yeah." She finished eating and placed her fork on her plate. "Thanks for the food, it was lovely." She picked up her plate and put it in the kitchen sink. David walked over to her.
"Hey, can I talk to your for a quick second?" David asked.
Max still felt intimidated by him. "Sure." She smiled weakly, and walked over to the stove where the others couldn't hear them.
"I told Chloe this several years ago, so now I wanna tell you this." He sighed and took a deep breath. "I'm not here to replace William. That's not my job."
"I know that." Max nodded.
"You might tell yourself that, but I can see it in your eyes. An air of resentment. You look at me and see a ghost of William."
Max looked away and said nothing.
"I'm not going to be the best father Chloe has ever had, I don't expect her to feel that way. It took a long time for Chloe to realise her father was never coming back, and I was here to stay, to keep Joyce happy. I understand I have a lot of problems. The Prices helped me realise that. That's why I went to therapy."
Max looked at him, surprised.
"There's a cheaper service for vets." He nodded. "My therapist helped me realise I was more affected by Afghanistan than I originally thought." He leaned on the counter next to Max. "I was scared, Max. Completely and utterly frightened from what I had seen, and I thought it would never leave me. But my family helped me realise I could get help." He looked at Max closely. "You wanna know who it was that sought me to seek therapy?"
"Who?" Max asked, even though she felt she knew.
"Chloe." David answered. "One night she found me downstairs on the couch, clutching a bottle of whiskey, and she said she had never seen someone more agitated."
Max recoiled at thought of Chloe returning home late one night to see that.
"After that, she started walking on eggshells around me. She was a lot nicer and more patient to me, knowing how devastated I truly was. Eventually we started getting therapy around the same time, and we've been happier ever since."
"There's still tension."
"Of course there is." David shrugged. "I'm afraid that'll take a long time to go away, but at least it's better now." He shook his head. "Sorry for rambling, I just wanted to give you a little context and insight to how our family operates."
"No, thank you David. I really appreciate it."
Then David did something strange. He bent down and hugged Max. "You're welcome, Max. Any time." Max barely had time to return the hug before David let go. "I should go help Chloe clear the table and do the dishes. After that, Chloe will take you and Rachel back to Blackwell."
Max was left standing by the stove, completely dumbfounded by what had just happened. "My actions had more of an impact than I thought." She looked at Chloe and smiled as she brought up some empty plates. Max quickly turned and grabbed the pots and pans and put them in the sink, before walking out into the hallway. She sat down on the lowest step to think. "I never thought my actions would be paid forward so... extensively. Chloe helped Rachel, David, Joyce..." She thought about the girl she talked to at Blackwell, the one she had never seen before. "Even Samantha and Nathan." Billions of thoughts once again skittered around Max's brain like rats. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but after a while Chloe was tapping her on the head.
"Hello, sleepyhead. Wake up." Chloe said smugly.
"I wasn't asleep." Max said, confused.
"No, but you're doing that thing where you space out for ages, and I can tell you have a lot on your mind. Come on, I'm taking you and Rachel back to Blackwell."
"Oh."
"Grab your stuff and say goodbye."
Max quickly hugged Joyce and waved goodbye to her and David, before exiting out the front door, putting her coat on.
Most of the drive back to Blackwell was done in silence, with a few pleasant remarks about the evening here and there. Max mostly listened, still thinking about her conversation with David.
"We're here!" Chloe cried eagerly, startling Max.
"Huh?" Max said, causing Chloe to laugh. Rachel got out of the truck and stretched.
"You coming, Max?" Rachel asked.
"Uh, yeah, give me a second."
"Actually, Max, hold on." Chloe said to Max before turning to Rachel. "Is it alright if I talk to Max for a second? Just about... well, you know."
Rachel considered Chloe for a brief moment. She nodded, but she looked slightly sad.
"Cool. I'll see you tomorrow, Rach. Love you." Chloe smiled.
"Love you too, dork." Rachel smiled and blew a kiss as she walked away.
Chloe pretended to catch it, before turning back to Max. "Listen, about tonight..." Chloe faltered. As usual, she was having trouble finding the words. She looked nervous.
"Yeah?" Max prompted.
"I could tell you were going through some complex feelings, about Joyce, about David." She paused. "About me."
Max bit her lip and looked away.
"I can't ever say I know what it feels like, to walk away from five years of your life, to walk away from almost everything you had, just so a few people would be safe." Chloe smiled. "But I do know what it's like to lose everything. So please, just know that you're not alone in this. You're not the only one having complex thoughts, and I know we can go through them together."
Max considered Chloe for a moment. "What are you saying?" She quickly shook her head. "I mean, of course I'm going through some shit, but what about you?"
"Well, lately I haven't stopped thinking about one of the things you had to lose." Chloe looked out the front windshield of her truck. "You had to lose me, just to keep me safe."
"Chloe I didn't lose you, you're here. We're here right now." Max felt tears forming in her eyes.
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Chloe said with no ferocity or malice in her voice. She was oddly calm. "I just keep imagining it. A world where you and I are together. You walked out on that to make sure Rachel was alive. To keep her happy. To keep me happy. That was an incredibly brave sacrifice."
Max said nothing.
"I want you to know, I won't let it go to waste." Chloe turned around again, and stretched out her hand so it rested on Max's leg. "As I said, I've been feeling some complex feelings too. About my relationship with Rachel, and how that coincides with my relationship with you. I want them to intertwine."
Max looked Chloe deep in her eyes. "You mean-"
"Rachel is still figuring out her feelings, and that will take her some time, but I know how I feel." She grabbed Max's face and pulled it closer to hers.
"Chloe, I-"
"I love you, Max Caulfield. Now and forever."
"I love you too, Chloe Price."
And as the rain began to pour, they kissed within the shelter of the old pick-up truck.