Life is Strange

Can't Leave Her Behind

Chapter 1

The bedroom was in chaos. Chloe was on her hands and knees, digging through the wardrobe like a wild animal as clothes flew in all directions behind her, forming a massive pile on the floor. Eventually, she saw that the wardrobe floor was empty and that the coat hangers had been stripped bare. She stood up and turned around, reorganising her hair as she looked around for the other girl who should have been in the room with her. Unfortunately, Max seemed to have vanished without a trace.

'I hope she didn't get bored of waiting!' Chloe thought frantically. 'Actually come to think of it, when was the last time I heard her speak?'

"Max?" she called out uncertainly. As if on cue, the pile of clothes groaned as the young thirteen-year-old crawled out, gasping for breath with a training bra draped over her head. As comical as it was at first glance, Chloe couldn't keep the concern from her face. "Oh my god, Max! Wait! Don't move! Stay right there!"

"Air..." Max gasped weakly. "Water... Instant camera..." At that exact moment, Chloe ran back over with William's instant camera in her hands. Her dad had said Max could borrow it for the day since she was always drooling over it. He'd guessed that she knew and so decided that their last days together should be spent having all the fun they could. If that meant he had to shell out for new film afterwards, so be it.

"And hold it there." Max looked up to see Chloe looking through the viewfinder with her finger over the button.

"No!" The flash went off. Max's fate was sealed as the picture slid out and Chloe grabbed it from the front of the camera, shaking it to develop it.

"Oh, this is definitely a keeper!" she practically cheered as she set the camera and the photo on her nightstand before heading back to grab Max's hand and drag her from the pile. Max pulled the training bra off her head and flung it over her shoulder onto the pile as Chloe dusted her down quickly. "Are you okay now, m'lady?" With that she bent to kiss Max's hand theatrically only for her to pull it away quickly, a furious redness creeping up the shorter girl's neck.

"Oh, please! You're the beautiful one. If anyone's getting a boyfriend first, it's you." Chloe was about to say something, but Max's words caused her to choke on her breath and she dissolved into a coughing fit as her best friend patted her on the back fiercely. Eventually, she was able to straighten up and take a few normal breaths to calm down. "Was it something I said?" Max smirked cheekily for a few seconds before her expression faded to be replaced by concern. "Seriously though, are you okay?"

"Yeah." Chloe nodded as she waved her off. "I just... Have you ever wondered why didn't grab my camo face paint and tranquilliser rifle as soon as I hit boyfriend-hunting age?"

"Because you don't have either of those things?" Max guessed with a grin, her voice verging on laughter. "Seriously though, why? I mean I always just assumed that you'd never need to go hunting for one. I figured they'd be tripping over themselves to get to you." Chloe burst out laughing. It was a spontaneous thing that she didn't plan. As soon as she realised what she'd done, she quickly glanced to Max. Luckily, Max didn't look hurt and didn't seem to think Chloe was laughing at her. If anything, she looked curious.

"I heard two of the boys talking at Blackwell." Chloe told her. "One was asking why we girls always 'have to travel in packs' and how you were supposed to get one on her own to ask her out. I thought I was going to die laughing. Trouble is, it's the same for us. I have my eye on someone but I've known them for a long time. I don't want to risk ruining what we have if they're not ready. Or if they don't feel the same."

"I'm sure your handsome prince will come for you." Max grinned. At that, Chloe could only snort with laughter.

"Hell no! I'm not sitting around like a damsel in distress." With that, she picked up the plastic sword by her wardrobe and held it aloft. "I don't plan on waiting around for a knight in shining armour. I learned learned to wield the fucking blade myself in that time!" Now it was Max's turn to laugh. Chloe knew it was a pirate cutlass rather than a knight sword, but her point was made. She put it back and noticed something else tucked inside the door that she hadn't seen the first time around. She reached in and grabbed it, lifting it up to see what it was. "Oh my god! My Magic Eight Ball! I haven't seen this in forever!" She held it up triumphantly as Max's eyes grew wide in amazement.

"Does that still work?"

"Can these things even stop working?" Chloe asked, perplexed. With a shrug, she started to shake it vigorously. "Okay then... Am I ever getting tits or what?" With that, she turned it over to look at the blue lens on the bottom as the response appeared.

'Don't count on it.'

"You bastard!" she muttered bitterly as she passed it to Max. The young brunette turned it back over and paused thoughtfully before asking. "Will Chloe ever find love?" She shook it as Chloe stared at her best friend, totally struck dumb by the question.

"Wait, what? Why are you concerned about me? You should be worrying about yourself?"

"Nah." Max shrugged. "I hear all these girls at school talking about boys and I just... I don't get it! I really don't. I just care about you. I want you to be happy." As Chloe's mind raced, trying to process Max's words, Max turned the ball over in her hands.

'It is decidedly so.'

"Hey, you see this, Chloe? There's hope for you yet!"

"Well duh." Chloe sighed. "I know I'm single but I at least have a crush. While I have that, I have hope." As soon as she said it, Chloe wished she hadn't. Max's intrigued expression confirmed that on the spot.

"Have you been holding out on me?" she asked, a mischievous note creeping into her tone. "Come on, Chloe! I need details!"

"Nope!" Chloe said simply as she took the ball back and shook it. "Is Max telling the-" She was cut off as there was a sharp cracking sound and the ball split open at the seam. Whatever solvent they'd welded it shut with must have degraded over time in the wardrobe, because the two halves split open and showered both of them in blue liquid. It was absorbed into their clothes instantly and Chloe knew straight away it would stain. "Oh, son of a bitch!"

"I guess that answers your question." Max grimaced as she took a look at her shirt. "They can stop working." Chloe let out a frustrated sigh as she grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head, throwing it off and flinging it to the side. It was an effort not to grin as Max's expression turned to complete shock. "Wait- what are you doing?"

"Max, we have a big pile of clothes right there and the perfect excuse to play dress-up." With that, she grabbed a shirt that she remembered being slightly too small for her and threw it to Max. She turned to retrieve the pieces of the broken Magic Eight Ball only for Max to yelp in surprise and cover herself.

"Turn around!"

"Oh, come on!" Chloe sighed as she grabbed the pieces and took them over to her waste paper bin. "We're both girls. Imagine if you'd been that shy all those times we used to play together in that inflatable pool we had."

"What actually happened to that?" Max asked curiously as she lowered her arms, obviously following Chloe's line of thinking, before slipping the shirt on that she was holding.

"Bongo bit a hole in it, remember?" Chloe smirked. "Then he freaked out when the water spilled over and drenched him as it deflated."

"Oh, I remember that!" A grin spread over Max's face that left Chloe with a burning sensation in her chest. It was just so irresistibly cute that the thought of not having her there was like having a hole shot through her and then salt being poured into the entry wound. "By the way, what were you going to ask that thing?"

"Always with the questions." Chloe clapped her friend on the back as she walked past and headed back to the clothes pile. "I was going to ask it if you were actually telling the truth when you said you'd mastered the opening to Soul Eater." Max's grin only deepened. Chloe loved it when she smiled so genuinely. It just seemed to light up her whole face.

"Want me to teach you?" she asked as Chloe noticed something jutting out from just under her bed. Curiously, she walked over and reached under. Her hand closed around something thin and plastic and she pulled it out quickly.

"Maybe later." Chloe turned around to show Max what she'd found. "Are these Barbies? I thought I microwaved all of these! I must have missed two of them!" She turned back to Max who was busily making sure the shirt fit her okay. It was a pink and white one with an image of a blue blob in a cage and a caption saying 'Release Me!' which Chloe felt had never sat right on her even when it fit her. That said, Max seemed to wear it so much better than she had. The colour suited her perfectly and the fit of it showed off her figure just right.

'Stop it, Chloe!' she snapped at herself internally. 'She's moving away in three days! This whole day is supposed to be about her telling you that! Get your shit together!' With that, she stood up and tossed the Barbies on her bed while trying to hide the shakiness that had crept into her voice.

"You can keep that shirt if you want. It's too small for me, anyway." She turned back to Max, heading over to the pile and grabbing something for herself. "Okay... First we're going to have the time of our lives playing dress-up. Then we're going to raid the indoor fireworks set for some blasting caps. We're going to make these Barbie dolls regret the day they left the factory."

Author's Note: Well it's been a while. This was a project that stalled out on me some months ago and I recently finished up today. I'll be uploading chapters of this while I finish up other stuff I'm working on. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. The next update should be later on in the week. Stay safe in this COVID-infested wasteland and I'll see you all there.