AN: So a few years ago I wrote a little continuation/coping fanfic for the Bay ending. I wanted to do something for the Bae ending as well but didn't have any ideas in mind until recently, so here it is. But this fanfiction is more for closure. I am a Bae Bay fan, however, like many people, I just think that ending was far too short, especially when you compare it to the other one. So not only have I read several fanfics that continue from the Bae ending, I decided to write a little one-shot of my own.

"Hey Max, aren't you going to pack up," Chloe called out to her girlfriend that was just sitting on the edge of the bed in their Seattle studio apartment, back facing towards her.

"I don't know, I'm starting to have second thoughts about this…" Max answered.

Chloe sat down next to the brunette, wrapping her arm around her. "We both agreed to do this so that we could have closure, and that we could see friends and family we haven't seen in awhile," said Chloe.

"I know, but I'm not sure if I see any point to it anymore," Max expressed.

"How long were you starting to have second thoughts?" Chloe asked.

"The beginning of this week I suppose," the younger woman guessed.

"Max, it would seem a bit silly to just bail now. You did all those extra photography commissions to make some extra cash for the trip, and you also took time off from your part-time job."

Max raised her hand to cover her forehead, sighing in frustration. "Yeah…"

Not only that, but Chloe took time off from her part-time job as well. And she told her pro-graffiti buddies that she would be taking a short break from doing graffiti art with them. I really should just man up and go.

"You're right Chloe," Max continued. "I'll start packing now." Max went over to their shared closet of which had an assortment of casual hipster clothes and total punk. Max picked out some outfits the week and pulled out her suitcase.

Chloe looked over at her girlfriend with a raised eyebrow, looking utterly confused. "Um… okay. Guess you didn't need much persuading."

"Well, yeah. You sacrificed your time to work on more graffiti projects and took time off work. I'd feel bad about just waisting it. I guess I wasn't really thinking about those things before," Max explained.

"Uhh… I didn't say anything about my work. But yeah, you're right. Although it's not really that big of a deal. We could both call in and tell 'em we can still work, I can call my friends and tell them I can help them out with the projects, and you can use your extra photography money for something else I guess. I just think…" the punk paused, taking the chance to examine Max's face; seeing the worry, discomfort, and guilt all in one single expression. "We should really go back to Arcadia Bay." Max nodded in agreement.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Chloe asked, bringing Max closer to her.

"More like terrified," Max confirmed, resting her head on the punk's shoulder.

"And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. With what we-especially you, have gone through. I'm scared too; and I know that's it's been over two years, but it still feels like all that shit happened yesterday," Chloe growled at the thought of thinking back to that week. "But again, I do think we need some kind of closure; the therapy I think has helped a little bit, better than what I expected anyway. But this is what we need right now. Plus…" Chloe breathed. "It would be nice to see Joyce again… and even David too." The brunette suddenly pushed herself off the bed, making her way towards the window. She watched as droplets of rain landed on the window, and how the sky's color was becoming dull. "As much as I want to see Joyce too, I don't know how I'm gonna face her," said Max.

"What do you mean?" Chloe questioned; her tone had an apparent firmness to it.

"It was my fault that she almost died in that fucking storm," Max blamed herself as she clenched her fists. "I fucked around with time so much that not only a bunch of whales and birds were dying, but a huge tornado comes along too."

"Max, it is not your fault," Chloe began raising her voice. "You didn't ask for your power; hell, no one knows how the fuck you even got it! But there was a point to your powers Max, I know that."

"Yeah, to let a bunch of people die," Max whispered

Alyssa

Daniel

Courtney

Evan

Principle Wells

Nathan

Dana

Trevor

Logan

Hayden

Stella

And so, so, much more.

"The storm was going to happen either way. You said you had the vision of the storm happening before you got your powers, right? Jesus Max, haven't we had this discussion before? It was because of you and your powers that we were able to find Rachel and put a stop to Jeffershit and Asscott. You're a hero-no, a goddess Max; whether you believe so or not."

"Chloe-" Max spoke.

"Do you want to know why I'm scared?" Chloe asked. The photographer nodded.

"I'm scared that-even though nothing has happened since then; that if we go back, I'll keep almost or actually dying, and another storm will keep coming because I know you'll save me. Because Arcadia Bay wanted me dead." Max hadn't used her rewind powers since she and Chloe left Arcadia, but she wouldn't hesitate to use them again if Chloe were in any type of serious danger.

"Are you saying that I should have let you die?" Max asked; her voice becoming tense.

Chloe also rose from the bed, heading towards the opposite side Max was standing as she looked into the younger woman's eyes, leaning against the wall. "Max… I know that choice was difficult for you to make, and I'm glad that you chose me, and I owe you my life. But sometimes, yes, I do wish you used that photo…" She paused. "I just think that you would have been happier without me. You wouldn't have to deal with my shit; you could just go to Blackwell and everything would be normal."

"Chloe, that is not true." Max's voice started to become raspy as water began to trickle down her cheeks, just like the raindrops on the window.

"I've already told you this but I'll tell you again," Max swallowed. "You are all that matters to me."

"Max," Chloe spoke, feeling tears begin to well up.

"It was the choice to save you. Do you know how awful I would feel-letting you die and you feeling like no one loved you, not knowing what happened to Rachel, or not having a friend by your side? There's no way I could do that to you!"

"Max… please," Chloe begged. Max was starting to make her cry, which Chloe couldn't stand.

"Also, you may think I'm so great," Max continued. "But really, I'm just selfish. I couldn't lose you again. Being apart for five years and watching you die over, and over again-I just couldn't! I love you so much, Chloe!" The brunette sobbed, whipping her eyes with her sleeve. "I love you… I love you Chloe; more than you can imagine."

Before the artist could say anymore, the rebel already had her arms wrapped around the smaller woman; clutching Max's jacket as she pulled her closer. "I love you too Max… I'll always love you…"

Max gave Chloe a sad smile as she brought both her hands to Chloe's cheeks, wiping the ongoing tears continued to stream down from the brunette's eyes. Chloe placed her hand on one of Max's, gently stroking it before guiding it to her lips; giving each of Max's pink-tipped fingers a tender kiss, including the palm of her hand.

A few days have gone by and the couple was only twenty minutes from Arcadia Bay. The two originally planned to arrive in Arcadia Bay yesterday but decided to stay in Portland overnight. Staying at the hotel that Chloe and Max stayed at over two years ago when leaving the town. Neither of them was sure if they stayed at that hotel again because it was the place where they confessed their feelings, or that they just happened to like it. Maybe it was both? Either way, it was nice to visit Portland again. There was a comfortable silence between the two of them as their car ride continued. Soft rock played on Chloe's stereo as she rested her arm against her side of the truck window, while Max stared out into the distance on her side, thinking about what will happen when they return to Arcadia Bay; especially since she hasn't been using her powers since two Octobers ago and death hasn't really been nagging Chloe either. The brunette eventually glanced over at her girlfriend; studying the punk's features and admiring her beauty. She noticed that when Chloe was deep in thought, her expression was quite profound; maybe even a little intimidating. But her expression can also show her more vulnerable side. Max caught onto this and decided to get her attention by tapping her shoulder. Chloe turned her head to face Max's direction, noticing the photographer holding her hand out, smiling sweetly at her. The older woman returned the smile, putting her hand that provided a headrest for her on the steering wheel, and using the other to take Max's hand.

It was then that the "Welcome to Arcadia Bay" sign was in sight, obviously demonstrating that the girls had made it to their hometown. Max felt her hand being gently grasped; she looked up and studied Chloe again before returning her gaze back to their joined hands, also giving the blunette a soft squeeze, assuming that it was supposed to be a way of reassurance.

"Well, guess we're back Caulfield," the punk announced.

Max looked around at the buildings that they were passing by. A lot of them were fixed and good as new, basically a refurbished version of the original. It was like every building was getting a makeover. The brunette, however, did see some establishments that were still damaged and being worked on. One of them happened to be the bowling alley. Seeing it again made Max reminisce about her childhood once again, and how it felt like a thousand years ago to her now; while most people view their childhood as something that happened yesterday, she felt the opposite. She remembered how William and her father would occasionally take her Chloe out for bowling, and every first Saturday of the month, the bowling alley would have glow bowling and they would go nearly every time the event was held. Max remembered how she and Chloe would make fun of the little cartoons that displayed on the T.V. monitors after someone would roll the ball, or how they would give themselves funny nicknames, giggling whenever it was one of their turns. She also remembered the cringy dad jokes that William and Ryan would sometimes tell to her and Chloe. But despite the jokes being pretty bad, the two girls couldn't help but grow to love them.

"Hello, Earth to Max. You there?" Chloe called interrupting Max's thoughts.

"Um, yeah. What's going on?" the photographer asked, trying to gather her sense of reality.

The punk chuckled. "We're here."

"Here?" Max looked around at her surroundings. "At Two Whales? I thought we were going to your house."

"Oh, Joyce texted me hella early this morning saying that she would still be at the diner by the time we got here," Chloe explained.

"And you decided not to mention it until now?" Max teased.

"No, more like I completely forgot to mention it. I was going to tell you when we entered Arcadia, but you looked deep in thought, so I didn't want to bug you."

"I guess you're right," said Max as she and Chloe began to exit the truck. The two women looked at the exterior design of the building, especially at the sign, which seemed to take on a bolder design. The two women noticed that the diner looked the same as it did before for the most part. Despite that though, it felt as if Chloe and Max had walked into a completely unfamiliar place. Everything was brand new; the booth areas looked cleaner and more comfortable, there was a new gumball machine with new gum (guess Max would no longer have to worry about eating extremely old gum anymore), a new jukebox, new souvenirs, and the rusty, aged walls were completely gone and replaced with new ones. The diner, of course, did still have the same color scheme though, which is what really kept that "Two Whales Diner" feel to it.

Chloe and Max spotted some familiar faces, including the police officers that often ate at the diner, and that one weird lady. Not only that, but Justin was sitting at one of the booths as well, drinking a cup of coffee. They decided to approach him.

"Hey Justin," Max greeted.

"Why if it isn't Maxster and the Badass-Skater-Punk," Justin gleamed. "How've you two been? How's Seattle?"

"Not bad, we're both working our asses off doing part-time, but Max is doing hella rad with her photography and I really enjoy doing the whole professional graffiti thing, even though sometimes I miss just using my sharpie," Chloe explained.

Justin chuckled. "Yeah, I hear ya, I've been working full-time. But still, manage to get high whenever I get the chance," he gave Chloe a thumbs up.

"Lucky, I don't really have that luxury anymore." Chloe wrapped her arm around Max. "Promised this nerd here I'd try to quit since it wouldn't really look for me professionally…"

"Well now since you're back in Arcadia Bay, the three of us should hang out and get high. Max can watch us rip some rails too," Justin suggested.

Max scratched the back of her neck. "Sorry Justin, weed really isn't my thing. I'll just stick to photography. But I would love to watch you guys skate together. I haven't seen Chloe skateboard in years and I always liked your style, Justin. Plus it would be a great photo op."

"Cool," said Justin. "It's nice to have some pals back to hang out with. Things have been hard after ya know… what happened…"

"We're really sorry about what happened to Trevor," Chloe apologized, giving her condolences.

"Yeah," Max continued. "You guys were really close… we're here though if you ever need anyone to talk to."

"Thanks," he replied. "I just can't get over the fact that we left things on such a bad note…"

The brunette winced at the confession. Now she had another reason to feel guilty about sacrificing the town; she knew Justin was referring to the fight he and Trevor had over Dana.

"But at least he's in a better place now… and so is Dana," he continued before taking a sip of his coffee. "It makes me feel a little better knowing that they're happy. I should have thought this way when they were both still alive."

"Don't beat yourself up too much," said Chloe, extending her fist.

Justin smiled, accepting the fist bump.

"And just like Max said, if you need anything, we're here for you. We'll be in town for a little while. And don't be afraid to reach out to us on Facebook or whatever," the punk said.

"Yeah, I should start messaging people more… guess I've been too busy with work. Speaking of which-" Justin pulled out his phone from his back pocket to check the time. "I better get going."

"We'll talk later Justin," said Max.

"Yeah, I should be having some free time soon so hit me up whenever. I'll see you guys later." Justin rose from his booth, giving them a friendly goodbye wave.

Chloe and Max then sat down at a nearby booth, waiting for Joyce to come out of the kitchen. Soon enough, the kitchen doors spread open as a blonde women wearing deep red lipstick entered the dining area. Her eyes widened in joy and a grin appeared on her exhausted looking face.

"Chloe! Max-" Joyce couldn't even finish her sentence before bringing both girls into a great bear hug.

"It's good to see you again Joyce," said Max as she gave Joyce a pat on her back. Feeling more remorse rush through her, knowing that she is now facing Joyce.

"Yeah, we've really missed you, Mom," Chloe added, trying not to sound awkward. It has been a long time since she and her mother had really hugged.

"God, it's only been a few years, yet it feels like millions since I last saw you two." Joyce studied the two women in front of her. "You guys just look so grown up."

"Mom, I don't think we look that different," the punk teased. "But I grew out my hair just a little bit, while Max decided to experiment with some hair dye." Chloe playfully jabbed Max's arm with her elbow.

Joyce chuckled. "Yes, I can see that. Max has purple tips while I see your hair is still blue. Guess Chloe's been rubbing off on you, huh Max?"

"Yeah," said the photographer. "Chloe is a good bad influence on me."

"Well, that might be a little concerning," Joyce half-joked.

"Wow, thanks, Mom," replied Chloe playfully.

"It's okay Joyce," said Max. "I've been a good influence on her and keeping her in check."

"I figured as much; you've been a real positive change in her life since you came back to Arcadia Bay. When Chloe and I talk on the phone, she talks about how she loves her professional graffiti. Didn't think nothing good would come out of that," the blonde sighed. "I remember sometimes seeing Chloe's little "messages" she'd write in sharpie. Like the one she did in David's toolbox. Joyce gave her daughter a short glare, earning an awkward smile in return. "But I'm glad that Chloe's made good use of it. And it's nice hearing Chloe talk about her part-time job too. Never thought she'd get one."

"Yeah, Chloe's been doing really well," Max responded.

"Anyway girls, I better finish up my shift; should be done in about 10 minutes. We can catch up when we get back to the house. You two can wait here, I'll bring you guys some muffins or something," Joyce then made her way towards the counter area as a new customer sat down. He looked like one of Arcadia Bay's fishermen.

"So, what did you draw in David's toolbox?" Max quipped an eyebrow, smirking at her girlfriend.

"Oh, you know… Just a dick, because he was being one. And I may or may not have written 'Box of dicks' as well," Chloe hinted.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "You are terrible Che…"

"Hey, I was sixteen," Chloe defended. "And at the time, I hated that man's guts with a burning passion."

"Even more than you did when we started hanging out again?" The younger woman questioned.

"Hell yeah, way more," the punk emphasized

Soon after, Joyce returned with two muffins and two steaming cups of coffee, one of which was a very light brown due to all the creamer that was added. Max remembered Chloe always overdoing it with the coffee cream since she wouldn't drink it otherwise. It's apparent that Joyce took this is into account when she made the drink. There really are some things that never change about people. And with Chloe, this was one of those things.

Chloe took a sip of her coffee as she noticed Max staring at her. "Mind wandering again Max?"

Max smirked, preparing her response. "I guess you could say that. I was really just thinking how adorable you look when you drink coffee."

"Damn Caulfield, you really do know how to make a girl feel special," the punk winked.

Max giggled before taking a small bite out of her muffin. The couple resumed dining on their coffee and snack while chatting about trivial matters. Joyce was then finished with her shift, and the three of them returning to the Price household; Chloe and Max taking the old truck, while they followed Joyce's car. When they all arrived, Joyce unlocked the door leading to the living room from the garage, allowing herself, along with Max and Chloe to step into the home. Both Max and Chloe were shocked by how different the house had looked, inside and out. Even though they figured they shouldn't be due to the damage of the storm. The young adults couldn't believe that it was still the same house that they spent a lot of their childhood in. As the three women stepped into the house, they were greeted by a man sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.

"Hey Joyce, welcome home. How was work?" David asked, giving his wife a hug.

"Today was actually pretty relaxed compared to most," she replied, returning the embrace. "And of course, I brought back Chloe and Max."

"Hello, David," Max greeted awkwardly.

"Hey Max, how are things?" David asked, reaching his hand out.

"Um… good. You?" Max returned the question as she accepted David's handshake. The brunette was grateful to David for saving her from the Dark Room, even though he doesn't remember it since her getting kidnapped was in a different reality. But regardless, when Max and Chloe ended up reaching out to David and told him what was going on with Mr. Jefferson, he believed them, no questions asked, and infiltrated the barn and put a stop to Mr. Jefferson and his sick crimes. However, Max couldn't help but still feel a little nervous around David. After all, there was that incident of Max taking the blame for Chloe, making her look like a stoner when she never even smoked weed in her entire life. And then there was the whole "blaming David for his weird security fetish" situation, causing the whole Price drama fiasco and him getting kicked out of the house for a little while there. Way to go Maxine, way to go.

David then turned his attention towards his stepdaughter, who had her arms crossed, facing the other direction.

"And how 'bout you Chloe?" The security guard asked.

"I'm… good," she replied, trying to sound civil rather than rude.

David gave a small nod. "That's good to hear." He didn't attempt to try and get a handshake from her, feeling that he would be crossing the line. Instead, he went to sit down at the dinner table.

"You girls sit down, I'll get the plates ready," said Joyce.

"Let me help mom," Chloe insisted, following her mother into the kitchen and leaving Max and David alone. David folded his hands, resting them on the table, while Max placed her hands on her knees as she watched Chloe and Joyce set up the plates. It looks like they were having steak, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. The two of them then came with two plates in each hand; Chloe gave one to Max and one to herself, while Joyce gave one to David before sitting down in her seat. All four of them said "grace" before beginning their meal.

"You've always made the best steak mom," Chloe remarked as she finished chewing her first bite of steak.

"Yes, I know how much you love steak so I decided to make it when you told me you were comin' for a visit," replied Joyce.

The four of them ate in comfortable silence after that before David decided to speak up. "So Chloe…"

Max looked over at her girlfriend, seeing that "oh shit" mixed with her "what now?" face.

"Your mother's been telling me about your little graffiti deal, and that you work as a bartender."

Max couldn't tell if David was going to end up lecturing Chloe about her career choice or if he was just genuinely curious.

"Yeah, that's right," Chloe answered dryly.

David continued to look at the rebel, trying to press for more details. Chloe soon got the hint and continued.

"The graffiti I do is completely professional this time so you don't have to worry. People ask us to paint on their buildings to make it stand out," Chloe explained. "It's usually small businesses that reach out to us though."

"What do you usually paint?" David asked.

"Whatever they want us to," the punk answered. "Usually it has to do with their business, so I come up with themes and designs to match what they're looking for."

"Ah, and uh… how 'bout the bartending? How's that?" The man continued,

"It's alright. Sometimes you get the drunk ass- I mean, er, jerks. But other than that it's pretty laid back and the pay's not so bad," Chloe replied, taking a bite out of her corn.

David frowned. It seemed Chloe was giving the "correct" responses before, but clearly, she said something disapproving just now. It was probably her language, which Chloe almost has no control over. In fact, the brunette was surprised when Chloe held back on saying the word "asshole" to David. The women never hesitated when it came to swearing at David. Maybe Chloe was trying to be more respectful to David than she had originally thought.

It was then that Joyce noticed the awkwardness in the room and decided to pitch in. "That reminds me, how's your photography goin' Max?" Joyce asked.

"It's been well," said Max. "I've been getting a good amount of commissions surprisingly, and sometimes I get to do photography at studios to help out. And right now I'm trying to save money to get my own studio. Plus, Chloe and I want to get a decent house someday, or at least a bigger apartment," Max chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm aware of how hard it was starting out was for you at first, but you've made such a great comeback," said Joyce. "But that doesn't surprise me, you've always had a talent for takin' pictures.

"Yeah," Chloe cut in. "Max is basically just a really cute little camera," Chloe joked as she gave Max a small pat on the head.

"I'm just so thankful that you two got out of that godforsaken storm and have done well for yourselves," said David. "Now we can all just worry about bein' a family."

"Yeah, I guess so," Chloe responded sincerely, with no sarcasm.

Joyce smiled at her daughter and husband, thinking that the two of them really could get along. For once, things were actually starting to go right.

Hours passed before everyone was in their respected sleeping area. Chloe and Max got the guest room which isn't quite finished yet. The walls haven't been painted yet, and there was no furniture besides the single bed. And there was a tall fan plugged into the nearest outlet to cool the room down. Max flopped onto the bed wearing an oversized gray t-shirt that use to belong to her dad, along with pink camera emoji pajama pants that Chloe bought her for Christmas last year. Chloe was slipping into a comfortable pair of boxer shorts, and removing her tank top, replacing it with a tight, laced sleeve pajama top. The punk also flopped down onto the bed, resting her eyes as soon as she was done changing, curling up to Max, spooning her. Max smiled in contentment as she felt Chloe break the distance between them. But felt her eyes jolt open when she felt a sneaky hand find its way under her shirt, rubbing her stomach. "Shit, Chloe! Your hands are freezing," Max exclaimed.

"I know," Chloe agreed. "That's why I'm using your cute tummy to warm them up for me," said the punk.

"Chloe, I am not a heater. Put your hands under your pillow or something," Max mumbled.

"I could do that. But then I wouldn't be able to hold you," the rebel indicated, pulling Max closer.

"Okay, but can you at least put your hands onmy shirt?" Max turned her head to face her girlfriend, giving her a small scowl.

"Fine," Chloe grumbled as she placed her hand's on top of the photographer's t-shirt.

"Here," offered Max, placing her hand on top of Chloe's. "Is that better?"

"Yeah, but as soon as my hands warm up, I'm putting them back where they were," Chloe teased as she nuzzled into Max's neck, giving playful kisses. The freckled girl couldn't help but giggle as Chloe's kisses felt ticklish.

"And knowing you, your hands might go other places besides on my stomach," Max accused. Chloe's only response was a smirk, for she knew Max was probably right and that she most likely would. It was just like the time she and Max broke into Frank's van, and how Chloe asked Max if she could see them "heading down the coast to Big Sur and beyond." Max responded by saying "Yes, we'd be tearing up the highway. And you'd probably want me to kiss you again. Chloe blushed at the thought of that memory. She wondered where the conversation would have gone if Max didn't change the subject to finding Rachel; it probably would have been awkward on her part. But obviously finding was more important, even though the results turned out to be utterly horrible. Chloe winced, tugging her beloved even closer at the thought of Rachel. Yes, Chloe still thought about Rachel quite often; she missed her terribly, and still loved her like she always had. Chloe would never be able to get over Rachel's death, but she felt that she could at least move on because of her love for Max. Max was the reason that Chloe was able to fight the grief and the pain.

"I love you, Max," Chloe suddenly murmured.

"I love you too Che…" Max paused. "I'm glad nothing happened today."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked, lifting the brunette's sleave and kissing her shoulder.

"I mean, I'm glad nothing happened to you," Max replied, turning her head to face Chloe.

"Oh, you mean how I didn't die?" Chloe asked. "Although I didn't really do anything that could cause me to die. Those times when I did, I was playing with guns and laying on the train track. Plus there was that Jefferson fucker that shot me. But I feel like that would've happened regardless…" she scowled.

"Something could have happened while you were driving," the artist mentioned.

"That's true. Guess it would've been Arcadia Bay's new way of trying to get me killed," the older woman sighed. "I'm glad nothing happened as well-to either of us."

Max turned her person so she was facing Chloe, looping her arm around the brunette's waist. "Us? Jefferson is in prison, there's no reason to worry about me," Max insisted.

Chloe scoffed "Yeah, right. How do I know you won't end up in some alternate reality or something again?"

"Chloe, what was the point in coming back if all we're doing is worrying?" Max questioned, slightly changing the subject. "We should have just stayed in Seattle."

"And not see anyone again? You know how broke Joyce and David are because of all the payments they had to make towards fixing the house. So there's no way they'll be getting out of Arcadia Bay anytime soon. Same goes for Justin. And for people who did leave are off where ever. Didn't you say that a lot of Blackwell students went off to college?" Chloe asked firmly.

"This seems ironic coming from you, considering how much you hate this town," said Max as she sat up on the bed, looking down at Chloe.

Chloe turned to lay on her back and began looking up at the ceiling. "I'm just tired of running away," the taller woman answered. "That's what I feel like we've been doing when we left, and not coming back. These two years with you have been amazing but I just feel like we should just face our fear."

"Chloe…"

"And I promise I'll be extra careful while we're here," the punk stated.

Max gave a small smile, thinking about how much Chloe has really matured in the last few years. She's not the same reckless punk they used to be. Well, not entirely anyway; Chloe is definitely more cautious than she used to be.

"Alright, I trust you," said Max, planting herself over Chloe as she began to play with the rebel's bullet necklace.

"Thanks, Max." The punk gave a small peck on her girlfriend's nose before sleep eventually took them over.

Almost a week has passed since Max and Chloe arrived to visit Arcadia Bay. The two of them did things around town, went to the lighthouse, and spent time with Joyce and David. And was also able to get in contact with Justin. Nothing dangerous has happened to Chloe or Max for that matter; both women were also very cautious in what they did and said. But maybe Arcadia Bay has given up its past intentions and has decided to leave Chloe alone. Perhaps fate really did want Max and Chloe to be together.

"It's been awhile since I've been here," Chloe announced, holding Max's free hand.

Max didn't say anything, but rather she scanned the area, examining the gravestones. Her eyes soon falling upon a dark stone with a golden plate on top. The plate read:

"In loving memory of every fallen victim of the storm. You will all be deeply missed."

Below the message was a list of all the names of the people that passed away due to the tornado. Max gently pulled Chloe towards the display, reading off all the names that were displayed in her head; Chloe gave her girlfriend a quick glance before deciding to read the names as well. The punk gave Max a gentle squeeze as she noticed her head droop down.

They would still be here if I didn't fuck around with time. The photographer thought to herself. She then reluctantly let go of the punk's hands and made her way to the graves, placing a flower on various graves that belonged to fellow classmates, and even to people she didn't know very well. She noticed Daniel's grave covered in his drawings, and notes assumed to be from family members. Daniel never really talked about his family to the brunette, but from what these letters say, they indicate that he had a very caring and loving family. The photographer admired Daniel's artwork, a lot of which she hadn't seen before and were from when he was younger (as shown by the dates). She was really going to miss seeing Daniel draw... There was also Dana's grave, which was surrounded by a variety of flowers, along with cute jack-o-lanterns and ghosts. Max gave a doleful smile. "You were so obsessed with Halloween Dana," said Max. "But everyone loved that about you, including me." There were also various photos of Dana and her friends, including one of her and Juliet. "Guess Juliet was here too," Max added. "It makes sense since they were totally best friends." Chloe just followed Max's lead, going wherever she went. Much like a duckling following its mother. The punk would say something if she had something good. But really, even though she felt terrible about what happened to all these students. She hardly knew any of them at all, despite going to school with them. After all, Chloe was known for skipping school and didn't really have any friends besides Rachel. Well, sometimes she would hang out with the skater kids or Steph and Mikey, who also passed away. Chloe asked Max for a few flowers, putting them on Steph and Mikey's grave, remembering how the three of them would sometimes play D&D together. She tried to plant a smile on her face for her thoughts. After all, they were fond memories. But all Chloe could form was a gloomy expression as she felt a slight ache in her chest.

After visiting this section of the cemetery, they went to a small part of the area that has been occupied for over seven years. "Hey Dad," Chloe whispered. She set a flower down for her father and another family picture. It was a photo of Chloe, William, Joyce, and Max a year before William had died; it was one of their annual summer barbecues. "It's been awhile William," Max greeted. "It's good to see you again.

"Yup, that's right dad. Maximus is back," the punk declared as she wrapped an arm around the shorter woman's waist. "We're together now. You may not have been expecting it. Or, maybe you were..." Chloe paused. "Either way, my life's been so much better because of her. She's helped me through so much shit-"

"That's a dollar for the swear jar Chloe," Max intervened. Tears started to build up as she looked up at her childhood friend, trying to form a smile.

"Heh, guess it's not just you anymore dad," Chloe tried to sound painful, but really she just sounded a little choked up. "But yeah, Max has been there for me when I needed her most. I love her so much, and I don't know what I would do without her. Things will still be really tough for awhile, but I know that I can get through it with her by my side. And I know that… even though you're not alive anymore, you're still looking after Mom and I. You'll always be with me dad, just like I'll always be with you. And I'm sorry that I was so angry before, I hope you can forgive me. I love you, dad." Clear crystals began to gently descend down the brunette's cheeks.

"You were a great father William," Max said, wiping a tear from Chloe's face. And feeling her tears on the rise as well. "I never told you this, but I think of you as part of my own family, just like you did with me. Please continue to look after Chloe."

Before they knew it, the two young women were holding each other, sobbing. And not just over William, but to all of those that had to suffer through the storm-alive and dead. But not only were they crying tears of melancholy, but also tears of gratitude. They were thankful that they were still together, and that's how it would stay. Because fate doesn't want them to be apart.

Please tell me your thoughts and some prompt requests if you would like. :) I have some Pricefield ideas in mind but I'm not sure if they would be very good (lol). I also have a Twitter and Instagram if you would like to follow and contact me besides using ff.

Twitter: cloudsandskies

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