Chloe Price hadn't dreamed since the storm had torn through her life in Arcadia Bay two months earlier, instead spending nights feeling restless and hollow, watching over the small frame of the brunette girl lying next to her as closely as she could.
However tonight was different, and Chloe realized she was dreaming the moment she had stepped into it.
She found herself standing in her childhood bedroom and family home, staring towards her unmade bed at the wall where magazine pages and marker graffiti was scribbled over the place. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head and brought her hand up to her eyes as warm afternoon light filtered in through her window above the desk, then spun around to take everything in. Everything was the same as it was just a few months ago, clothes splayed out on the ground with her usual mess.
I must be dreaming… but what's going on?
Her heart leaped up into her throat as a familiar voice called her name up the stairs.
"Chloe!? Could you come downstairs please! I need to talk to you!" Her mother yelled from the kitchen downstairs.
Instantly, Chloe scrambled for the door, throwing it wide open and almost missed a step as she flew down the staircase with urgency.
"Mom!? Mom!?" She called back, pausing in the frame of the kitchen doorway to see her mother spin around with a shocked expression in response.
"Chloe, what's going- oof!" Joyce Price gasped out as her blue-haired daughter wrapped her up in a tight embrace.
"Mom…" Chloe could only manage a choked whisper, pressing her face into her mother's shoulder and feeling her warmth as Joyce tentatively, then warmly, returned the gesture with some confusion.
"Chloe, are you okay? What's going on? Are you unwell?"
"No, no…" Chloe loosened her grip and stepped back so she could look her mother in the face, tears streaming down to her wide smile. "I just… I've really missed you. And... I love you so much."
Joyce's confused furrow lightened up as she took her daughter's face in, returning the smile.
"I love you too, dear. But we need to talk to you, could you go and get your father in from outside? I think he should be nearly done with the coat on the side of the house."
It took a moment for Chloe to register what her mother had said. She gasped.
"Dad's outside?"
"Yes, dear, so hurry up and go get him." Joyce laughed softly.
But Chloe didn't need to be told twice, she was already making her way towards the sliding door and stepping outside to the backyard.
Sure enough, there was her father William Price, kneeling next to the house wiping a now-blue paintbrush on a rag.
"DAD!" Chloe burst out yelling, her voice a mix of excitement and pain. She ran forward and threw her arms around his shoulders, embracing him from behind and nearly toppling him over.
"Woah, woah! Hey kiddo! Careful, you're not as small as you used to be!" William laughed, reaching one arm behind him to stabilise Chloe as he stood up.
"Dad! Woah, Dad! You're here!" Chloe couldn't help herself, her heart was racing and elation was running through her body. She couldn't believe her father was there in front of her.
William turned around to face his daughter with a grin on his face and obvious surprise at his daughter's reactions.
Chloe began to shake, even more tears trailing down her face, and this time embraced her father more gently. She couldn't help the sobs wracking her chest, she just wanted to hold on to him as tightly as she could.
"Dad, I miss you. I miss both of you." She whispered.
"Chloe, I told you I'll never leave you. I'm always here."
I wish.
Chloe squeezed tighter and it sounded like he was about to say something else, when-
CRASH.
"Fuck!"
Chloe bolted upright in bed, eyes-wide, heart pounding and gasping for breath. She was staring dead ahead at the small wardrobe at the end of her bed, sheets wrapped around her frame and the blankets half on the floor. Sweat caused her black tank to cling to her back and her eyes scanned the room rapidly as she tried to take in the reality she had woken up in.
She looked to her right where the brunette girl would normally be.
Where's Max? She thought just as she could hear the front door being thrown open. The abnormal action sent a cold chill down her spine.
"Max!?" Chloe called from the bedroom, throwing sheets off as she launched herself towards the doorframe. She scanned the small lounge in front of her, noticing the smashed lamp that lay next to the couch, then looked up to the front door that was open and letting in a freezing breeze.
Chloe's heart was nearly in her chest and panic overcame her as she bolted outside and gripped the railing of the staircase, searching for Max below. She couldn't understand what was going on, and she was shocked to spot Max halfway across the lawn below kneeling snow and damp ground.
"Max!?" Chloe called again, making her way down the staircase rapidly while she watched the smaller girl bend over and start to cry.
Oh no, oh no, oh no…what's going on?
Max was sobbing when Chloe placed her arms around her quaking shoulders, trying to find out what was going on. What worried her was that Max didn't normally cry, she shuts down.
She wasn't prepared when Max looked up and cupped her face with one hand in reassurance, stunning her as she smiled.
...What?
She wasn't prepared for the sudden embrace, either.
Yet Chloe allowed herself to relax for a moment as Max pulled her close. She's here. Chloe thought to herself. She's okay. Her mind flickered back to the dream world she was just in, where she had found herself in her mother and father's embraces too. Embraces she'll never find herself in again. The blue-haired girl squeezed Max gently as another thought came mind.
Max is all I have now.
A warm fire ignited in her chest as she held tight, and stayed when Max pulled away, grabbing her hand and leading them both back to the apartment. Chloe was slightly overwhelmed by the mixing pot of emotions swirling through her mind that she almost missed it when Max spoke.
"Let's get inside, I've got something I want to talk to you about." Max had said.
"What?" Chloe asked, just realizing how cold she now was making their way up the staircase. The legs of her sweatpants were soaked through, sodden from snow and wet grass. In fact, it had only just dawned on her that the reason why everything was cold was because it was starting to snow heavily; Their outdoor surroundings were starting to disappear in a white-out. Chloe looked down to Max's hand leading her back up the stairs and noticed how blue they both were, their arm hairs on end. "Fuck, it's cold!"
Max giggled lightly, but said nothing else ahead of her.
Did Max just...giggle?
Did I hear that right?
...She never laughs.
Chloe hadn't heard that laugh once, not since they had left Arcadia Bay. She had begun to believe she might not ever hear the girl laugh for the rest of their lives, especially not after witnessing the entire city flattened and shredded by a tornado.
It almost sounded like a miracle from the disheveled frame of a girl; a girl who carried the weight of an incredible power she never asked for on her shoulders.
"Max?" Chloe asked once they had closed the door behind them and watched Max head into their bedroom. She followed her and found the brunette throwing a clean hoodie on, standing in the doorway observing Max her with intrigue as she then searched for something else on the floor. "Uh, what you doing?"
"Chloe, it's okay, I'm just going to change into something warmer then we'll talk." Max told her. She didn't sound upset, and she was no longer crying, so Chloe allowed herself some relief before searching for something warmer to change into as well.
"Okay…" She breathed out and Max smiled at her as she turned around, and once again Chloe was stunned.
Woah.
Seeing Max smile was also an uncommon occurrence, but whatever was going on it brought a lightness to her features, causing Chloe to stare a little longer that what was considered... normal.
In a fresh pair of trackies she recalled recently finding in a goodwill store (much like most of their clothing these days), Max turned and walked out to the kitchen, leaving Chloe to finish getting changed herself. She threw on whatever she could find, again caught by surprise when Max called to her from the other room.
"Would you like some tea?"
...Tea?
She's making... Tea?
Max hasn't made herself a drink in... I don't even know.
Do we even have tea?
"Uh… coffee?... Maybe?" Chloe answered.
"Um. Where is it?" Max called back. Chloe padded out to the small kitchenette opposite their room and joined her just as she finished filling their kettle with water.
It occurred to Chloe that Max didn't quite know where things were because she barely eats or drinks, if it weren't for the fact she'd nag and encourage Max until she does so.
Chloe walked to the sink and opened a cupboard above it, pulling out a bag of instant coffee mix, while Max found two mugs and took the instant mix out of her hands to prepare their drinks with milk.
Max, what is going on with you today?
What's happening in that head of yours?
She couldn't help but observe her best friend. Something truly different was going on, but she didn't dare say something that might... put her off. She hadn't seen Max look so alive in what felt like a lifetime.
She could almost pass for 'normal' right now.
Max turned towards the taller girl, briefly smiled, then spoke softly. "Chloe, go sit down and I'll bring these out soon. I promise you I'm okay. The duvet is on the couch."
Still unsure, Chloe followed orders and relocated to the couch that up against the window. The smashed lamp that must have been the source of the crash was laying on the ground with a broken bulb. She figured she was going to find out what happened there soon enough, so she picked up the duvet to sit down and pulled it up to partially cover her.
Something fell to the floor when the duvet moved, and Chloe noticed Max's private journal on the ground next to a phone and a note.
The note I wrote her?
She must have read it. And the journal looks full…
She looked up again to the girl making coffee.
Did Max sleep at all last night?
She examined Max's form, recognizing what prompted Chloe to write to Max in the first place, hoping it would be taken seriously since she struggled to open up about herself in person. The past two months had been unkind to the smaller girl, and Max had lost a lot of weight, becoming so pale and weak. It was breaking Chloe's heart to see her once bubbly, dorky best friend like this.
But this morning... Chloe could see a lightness to her features.
"Max...were you up all night last night? Was it because of the storm?" She asked as Max crossed the room with two coffees.
Max simply nodded as she placed them down on the small coffee table in front of Chloe.
"Mhmm, yeah," Max confirmed. "I... woke up sometime after midnight."
Chloe shuffled over slightly as Max lifted the other end of the duvet, joining her and leaning back so they were facing each other. Chloe picked up a mug and passed it to her, then took a sip from her own, allowing the warmth to seep through her.
"You should have woken me up. I know you don't like storms." Chloe stated.
"You were really asleep. It sounded like you were having a good dream, and I didn't want to disturb you. It's okay."
Chloe thought about how peaceful and loving her dream with her parents was. It might have been the most peaceful thing to happen to her recently. "Yeah…" She murmured, "It was."
Max smiled with a depth of gentleness to it, and Chloe's heart fluttered a little against her ribs.
"So... what did you want to tell me?" Chloe asked. "Why were you outside?"
Max didn't answer for a few moments, pensively staring at the mug between her palms. When she spoke, her words were low and soft.
"I uh… I saw Joyce."
Huh?
"What?" Repeated her thoughts, all eyes on Max.
What does she mean?
...Like the dream I had?
"Um. I'll explain. I think it has something to do with…something that's happened to me before. Chloe, did I tell you about the doe? In Arcadia Bay?" She raised her vision to meet Chloe's again. She was serious.
"A doe? Like a deer? No, I don't remember you saying anything about one…"
Max bit her bottom lip for a moment, the way Chloe notices she always does when she's got something heavy on her mind.
"Ah. It had something to do with Rachel Amber." Max's blue eyes watched Chloe intensely.
Chloe was surprised to hear the brunette bring up the name of her deceased best friend, whose body the two of them had dug up during a week of traumatic adventures.
"Rachel…? Wh-what?" She stammered.
Max's shoulders slumped a little as she exhaled strongly, then continued with her explanation.
"I guess back then there was so much going on that I never really thought about it that much. But during that whole, fucked up week, I kept seeing this…doe. In the forest, in the junkyard, and I even tried to take a picture of it… but when the photo developed it wasn't there. Even though I had seen it right there, right in front of me. It was in my visions too...it would lead me to the lighthouse and show me where I could go safely, or find the newspaper that let me know the tornado was coming that Friday. I thought maybe I was going crazy, but I mean I had the power to rewind time. I don't think it came anywhere close to any of the insane stuff we were going through at the time..." Max's sentence trailed off. She was looking at Chloe earnestly, and the blue-haired girl hadn't moved at all.
Chloe was taking it in slowly. Max was right, it doesn't sound nearly as crazy as time-travel does.
"Go on." She gently urged her.
"So…" Max continued, "When we found Rachel...she was there. The doe, I mean. She was watching us... and I mean I was watching you, but when I looked up again the doe started to fade away." She paused and audibly swallowed. "Then you remember when I blacked out on the beach, and had that fucked up nightmare while you carried me? She was in my dream too... She lead me to the bathroom so I could keep going where I needed to be. I didn't really think about it until long after, but. I really think it was Rachel guiding me." Her eyes pierced through Chloe's with intensity. "Back to you."
Chloe turned and gazed out the window now, reliving the memories inside her head. They weren't as raw as they used to be, but they still weren't pleasant. The snow was still falling outside, the world cold and white. She took a moment to think about what Max was saying.
She's saying...Rachel really could have been there that week?
Rachel was some kind of… spirit doe?
It...would make sense, in a way. I remember feeling as though Rachel could have been watching over us during that week.
It's not the most far-fetched thing, not after everything. Maybe it is true?
Max was still, only holding her coffee between two hands while watching Chloe's face. Chloe could feel those beautiful blue eyes on her and thought about how this was the most Max has opened up to her about specific details of that week. She trusted Max with every inch of her being; if Max believed it was Rachel Amber guiding her that week, Chloe would believe it too. The thought made her chest swell a little.
"So the doe was Rachel? What does this have to do with my mother?" She asked in a tiny voice.
"I saw a doe this morning that looked exactly like the doe in Arcadia Bay."
Oh?
"Is that why you were outside?"
"Mhmm." Max nodded. "I had to find my camera, I had to find out if it was the same. Oh, and I knocked over the lamp stumbling off the couch."
"Ah…I heard."
Max's tiny smile was sheepish for a second, then flicked back to serious. "I ran outside and took a photo of it. I was scared it was going to run away, but after I took the photo it came up to me and I touched it. Chloe, it was like I was filled with warmth and love… and I had this vision of your mother, she was smiling at me."
Chloe gasped.
Does this have something to do with my dream, too?
"Do you… do you have the photo?" She asked. Max nodded, placed her coffee down on the table again and went back to their bedroom. She came out holding the Polaroid. Chloe reached for it, studying the picture with furrowed brows.
"There's nothing in it… it's just snow and grass?"
Max's smile was part grimace this time; she didn't look entirely sure of herself.
"Yeah. I know it sounds crazy but, she was there! She ran away as soon as you called my name."
"Oh."
The brunette reached down past Chloe and picked up the journal, flipping through its pages searching for something else. Stopping on a page in the middle she turned it to Chloe, and she could see there was a polaroid taped to the page as well. It featured grass, bushes and trees.
It looks like the junkyard?
"There's also nothing in this photo?" Chloe asked, looking up at Max.
"Yeah, I know. But that's where the deer was standing in the junkyard. Before we found Rachel. I know, it sounds crazy, but I saw the doe."
Could it really be?
"Max… last night I was dreaming about my parents. Joyce, and William. It was so vivid and so real... and I could hold them in my arms. I was so happy, Max. The happiest since…" Chloe trailed off, but Max's smile grew.
"When the doe touched me it really was her in my vision, Chloe. Your mother. There was so much love. I think… I think it was a sign. I think she's watching out for us."
"A sign?"
"Yeah…" Max was sitting back down again and reached out to grab Chloe's hands, holding them in front of her.
"Chloe, I-I don't know what it means but I know it's … moved me in some way. I feel like something is going right or something is going to be better and…" She looked sideways, as if mulling over what she had to say. When Max looked back at her again her eyes brimmed with tears.
Damn, she's crying again!
I might cry too.
"Chloe I'm so sorry I've shut you out all these weeks. You have been amazing and I need you to know I'm so grateful… you have been saving me. You deserve better and I'm going to let you in from now on, I promise. You're my number one priority and I'm going to start sharing stuff with you okay? If what happened this morning is a sign then I'm going to take it and…and…" Her voice cracked as she began to choke up.
Oh Max, my Max…
Hearing Max cry made her chest ache, and Chloe jumped forward and pulled the small girl into her, wrapping her arms around those slender shoulders tightly. Max reciprocated, and she could feel the smaller girls chest rise and fall in quakes against her own. Max pressed her face into her shoulder and Chloe could feel dampness against her skin as tears fell down her own cheeks, burying her face in the brunettes hair.
"Oh Max, you're my family now okay? You don't have to apologize, I understand."
"I love you Chloe." Max spoke against her collarbone, then raised up to kiss the blue-haired girl softly on the side of her head as they held tightly.
"I love you too, Max."
Don't cry Max, I've got you.
She gently rocked them for a few minutes while they silently comforted each other. This is how it goes, now. They needed to be there for one another, and Chloe was so grateful that Max had opened up to her. Seeing Max suffering in silence killed her inside. She wanted to be there for the girl as much as she could.
They pulled apart from the embrace, wiping tears from their faces. Max quietly got up, padded across the room and started to rummage through a kitchen drawer in search of something, so Chloe followed her to see what she was doing.
"What are you looking for?" She asked.
"I uh…think I've almost… yes! Got it!" Max stepped back with a small roll of tape and walked back across the room as Chloe's eyes followed her with curiosity. The brunette picked up the photo from the couch, turned to the wall beside it and taped the picture right to the middle of the space.
"Uh?"
Max turned around and grinned at the tall girl, grabbing her hand as she looked up into Chloe's eyes. An electric buzz shot through Chloe at the sight of that grin.
Fuck, that smile!
Chloe's heart warmed and she was smiled back. Max pulled an arm around Chloe's waist and gestured to the whole wall with her free hand. Where Max was touching her Chloe felt a tingling.
"This is going to be our new wall of memories. Starting today. We have a new life ahead of us and this is going to be where we put it all." Max explained.
Chloe couldn't help but stare down at the other girl with wide-eyed wonder.
"Really, Max?"
"Yes, really." The brunette squeezed Chloe's side. Chloe wrapped her arms around her with a sense of pride and adoration. Seeing Max with a sense of hope in her, oh, it was enough to make Chloe melt inside.
"Okay Max… let's do this."
She couldn't help herself when she leaned down to kiss the top of Max's head. The small girl just nestled her head into her chest and hummed contently in response.
Chloe realized that this was what home felt like, too.