"Are you gonna have a talk with me too, Max, or are you good?" Joyce appeared at Chloe's door with her arms folded and a raised brow.

I chuckled airily, but I hated to admit that I did needed some advice from her. After listening to what she and Chloe were talking about, I think that asking wouldn't hurt. Or, it would hurt a little bit.

"Well," I drawled the "ell" in the word, "I might have a couple questions."

"Alright," she nodded and then walked into the room, sitting down next to me on Chloe's mattress.

"I met this girl recently, Joyce." I started, feeling a smile starting to form, then fall again, reminding me of what she was going through now. "Her name's Kate and she's absolutely great. She's so smart and works hard and sweet and caring. But, she learned recently that a girl she thought was her girlfriend really… hurt her throughout their senior year. I don't know how to help her and maybe you have some ideas?"

The real word was lingering around my mind and still waiting to get out. It was sour and made me madder as I thought about it.

"You seem to have a real dilemma."

"I do. She made Kate believe that everything she was doing was good and that it was okay. I have to call Kate later to see how she's doing, but I really want to help." The scars haven't left my mind yet.

"Is that why you drove here? To rest?"

"Oh, no, Chloe really wanted to see you. Kate used to go to a Christian academy here in Oregon a few miles off and I was told me by a little birdie the girl is still around delivering pizzas. So… I was thinking of directly confronting her, but Chloe really wants to kill her more than anything."

"If you really want to help, then you should go talk to her. I'm sure Kate can't confront those feelings, something like betrayal and she's probably confused and asking herself questions. I already worry about Chloe, don't tell me things like that." She placed her hand on my shoulder as she explained. I couldn't help but laugh at the last part; I worry about Chloe too.

"I just don't know what to expect. It's clear that she regrets what she did to Kate, but… why now? Why only now is it wrong? You know what I mean?"

"Right. Then, help her. You can't force someone like Kate to do that and, since you're here, you could find a way to get to her. You and Chloe always seem to find a way." She stood up and sighed. "Anyway, I need to get some late-dinner ready, so you and Chloe rest now, alright?"

"Yeah, thanks, Joyce."

As she left, Chloe came in. She seemed to be chewing on something as she walked in and then jumped right into bed, landing on her back. "So, how're we gonna bash this bitch's face in?"

"We're here to talk to her." I reminded. "Let's talk about it after I call Kate."

I got up from bed and took my phone out, calling Kate right away. I hope she was sleeping, but hearing her voice would at least tell she was still around.

"Hello?" Kate answered after the third ring. She sounded almost fully awake.

"Hey, we just got to Oregon. How are you?" I nearly hopped at hearing her.

"Just getting by, I guess. Took my medication, got ready for bed, but here I am, drawing and re-watching some finished parts of the short film."

"Oh? How is it so far?"

"It's very good. I think it'll win at the festival for sure." I could hear a little laugh at the end of her sentence. I finally smiled again, mutely releasing a sigh of relief. Her laugh is so light. I want to cry just hearing it, especially after what I saw.

"Can't wait to watch it." I rested my back against the wall. "You've been talking to your other friends, right?"

"I try, but now it's difficult when those visions keep coming back to me. I can't concentrate anymore…"

"You're not gonna heal right away. No one expects you to learn and forget. You're strong, Kate, one of the strongest people I know. I know you can do it."

"Thank you, Max," Kate said with a sigh, I can imagine her smiling right now, "I'm going to try to sleep now. Enjoy your time in Oregon and I'll try my best over here, okay? And I know I could call you if I can't."

"Okay, I hope you do rest, Kate. Sleep well and sweet dreams. Goodnight, Kate."

"Goodnight, Max."

I went back inside and saw that Chloe was staring up at her phone, but flawless timing, her phone slipped out of her hands and fell right onto her face. She yelled out a "fuck!" as she tried (and failed) to cover her face with her hands.

"That looked like it hurt." I couldn't help but laugh at her.

"I did that on purpose!" She sat up as she grabbed her phone again and faced the screen to me. "Look how hot my girlfriend is!"

I looked at the picture of Rachel, which was already set as her phone background, with her hair dyed a more platinum blonde and had the sharpest winged eyeliner, I had no doubt that it could cut someone. She was winking into the camera, and her smirk told that this photo was just for Chloe's eyes only. Maybe mine too?

"She should always have wavy hair." I nodded.

"I think so too. God, I'm so in love with her." She looked at the picture again.

"What else is new." It was more of a statement then a question. "Let's… try to find the girl tomorrow. Victoria sent me the location of the place."

"I was thinking more like getting her while she's working. You kick her in the shin and then I will beat her over the head with the pizza shit in her hands—"

"We're not gonna hurt her." I grabbed Chloe's shoulders. "We have to talk to her. She has to explain why she did what she did and then you could give her one slap to the face."

"Thank fuck." She bounced on the bed. "But… just one? I honestly think I should shoot her in the knee—"

"We're not gonna make her paralyzed, Chloe." I reminded once more. "Victoria said she'll handle the rest."

"You're missing out on satisfaction, Ant-Max."

"I don't care; we're not gonna hurt her."

"Fine." She groaned and stood up. "But, we should totally sneak out of here later and head to the lighthouse."

"We wouldn't be visiting Arcadia Bay if we didn't go there. So, let's head out later, okay?"


We decided to leave downstairs, still arguing about whether we should hurt Kate's ex or not (news flash: we won't). When we got down, we could hear a male voice, slightly upset and was venting. We both knew it was David, as she rolled her eyes at me as she heard him, but we continued to leave downwards.

He was in the kitchen, helping Joyce with the food, and like she said earlier, David was wearing the Blackwell security uniform from having to deal with students that snuck into the school. He saw me first, sending shock into my entire body, but I acted like nothing was happening and I smiled to greet.

"Hey, uh, David." I forced as I reached to the last step.

"Max, Joyce told me you would be here." His tone made anything he said sound like he hated you, but after knowing him, it was just how he talked. He gave me a salute, though my guard was still high.

"Welcome back, Chloe." He reached his hand out. Chloe hesitated, but reached in, grabbing his hand in a firm handshake. The room didn't feel tense, but it did feel a little awkward.

"How's holding the job down?" He asked her.

"I work at night now," she replied with formality, "I met a friend from Blackwell and she hooked me up. So, hella hard to switch, but I'm happy to not be around expresso machines anymore."

"Chloe, I mentioned to David about some problems you have," Joyce started to set up plates at the dining table, "and he wants to help."

I saw Chloe fall back for a second, like she was ready to groan, but she stopped and said, "I guess I could bring it up…"

"Then Max, could you help with some things here? I need some ingredients and an extra hand for the sides."

Chloe and I split up after giving each other a nod. I went ahead and helped Joyce with the really-late breakfast she decided to make. She finished the pancakes and made me place it on the table, then I manned the bacon sizzling on the pan, while Joyce made eggs on another.

"It's nice to see Chloe and David really talking to each other." Joyce said, while keeping her eyes on the pan, using the spatula in her other hand to move the sunny-side up. "So many years of them not having any connection or bond, it's nice to see her grown up."

"She wants to marry Rachel. That's pretty grown up to me."

"The moment I met her, I knew they were stuck together for eternity. I'm glad that she met someone who helped her through everything that happened, even when I couldn't help her. And I'm glad you came around when you did."

"Chloe's my partner-in-time. I would do anything for her if that meant she was happy and safe."

"That's good to hear, Max."


Dinner was very uneventful. Only because Joyce and I finished our plates before they stopped talking. We sat with them still as they ate breakfast, making small talk about what we have been doing in San Francisco and what David did at Blackwell and Joyce's day at the Two Whales Diner, and, honestly, it felt like a family. I'll never forget all those times Chloe put her mom and stepdad through hell and irritating them, but I think she realized that they were people who cared about her. But, Rachel cared the most obviously.

Speaking of her, Chloe's phone suddenly went off. I could see Joyce's smile form when she heard the muffled Firewalk song go off. Chloe had to leave, not excusing herself and just leaving the table as she chewed.

"Hey Rachel," I heard as she left.

"So, Max," David cleared his throat, "How has school been?"

"I'm just… scraping by. I'm glad to have Chloe with me over there."

"Yes, she is happier being there, I've noticed. Uh, I would like to thank you for helping her." He sipped from his mug. "And apologize. I want to apologize for my actions in the past. I just wanted what was best for her, us, but I've realized what I did was not the correct way to go about it."

I was speechless. I couldn't say a single word. There was so much going on, I couldn't believe David Madsen was saying he was sorry. There was so much sincerity in his voice and face. "Apology accepted, David. Chloe honestly wants to be closer to you."

"Good to hear."

When he looked down, I got up and placed my plate in the sink. "Thanks, Joyce, dinner was great… And thanks, David. For talking to both of us." I ran upstairs and walked into Chloe as she was saying a compliment to Rachel on her phone, "No, you look hot. Wife me up already, what the fuck."

I raised my eyebrows and made an awkward chuckle. Chloe, you're the one who's gonna wife her up.

"You're hella hot." Chloe smirked as she looked down at her lap. "You want to do what? Here? Now? While Max is here?"

I felt awkward. What did Rachel want to do? I had no idea, but if I knew anything about Chloe, she was just gonna tell me.

"Hey," Chloe held her phone screen against her shoulder, blocking the microphone so Rachel couldn't hear anything, "I'm gonna help Rachel rub one out real quick, fucking leave."

She pushed me out of the room and slammed the door on my face. I knew what she meant; I just didn't want to believe it. Her door clicked, locking me out indefinitely. Well, shit. How do you have phone sex in a time like this?


I was stuck outside, not really wanting to bother Joyce and David and not wanting to knock on Chloe's door, sitting against the wall next to Chloe's room. I was stuck with my mutual crush hurting back in California, trying to sleep her past away. I wish I could be there to be her shoulder to cry on, but I always wanted to help by confronting this girl myself. I really thought about Chloe's ideas and, as tempting as I wanted to hurt her too, we had to at least let her talk.

I was confused on it too. How could any do something so awful to someone like Kate? She was so happy. She was so happy to know her and consider her, even after everything, her friend. Thinking back on what Kate told me about losing her v-card at her school, the events that happened after wasn't… Kate. She was emotional and she took relationships to heart, so she would never let romance happen without talking about it. She would never just casually fuck someone, when she clearly cared about school more than anything. I didn't want to judge her, but thinking about it now, nothing was Kate.

I felt sick again. The thought of someone telling and convincing Kate everything was okay and normal was sickening, forcing her to throw those feelings of sadness and discomfort away. It was like Kate forgot those experiences as they were and dissociated to be good things. Like, her feelings never mattered.

I knew I had to ask one person: Me: Hey Victoria, how's Kate?

Before I knew it, Chloe's door opened and she walked out with a smirk, like she accomplished her greatest achievement. I avoided asking at all as I stood up again.

"You know what we should do?" She asked me firstly.

I didn't reply.

"We're dyeing your hair, Maxoto Kusanagi." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the bathroom, switching the light on and started to dig through the various drawers and plastic containers.

Of course, all Chloe had was blue. I couldn't think of how she came up with this idea or why she thought of it at all, but I was letting it happen. Turns out, there was a hair clipper in the box, so she took that out as well. I wasn't nervous, but all I wanted to know was why.

"What brought this up?"

"My hair's black as fuck and I like it like this. And Rachel dyed her too. But, you haven't dyed it before. And I'm shaving the back again, unless you have any requests."

I huffed. I have a tattoo already, I might as well go all the way.

I let Chloe do as she pleased. I was scared she was going to shave my entire hair, but she shaved from my eyebrows down, then used a black hair tie from her wrist to tie up what was left. She then grabbed nearly half of my bangs from the left side, and then bleached and dyed it the same bright blue she used to have. It was… new, to say the least. Everything was more Chloe's style, but then again, I still looked like myself from a year or two ago and she was probably sick of looking at me.

"Are you happy now, Chlopium?" I asked as I looked into the mirror, bending over the sink and turning my head.

"Nope," I saw her shake her head in the mirror, "Your clothes are the same Blackhell ones. It's even the same jacket."

"I like this jacket!"

"We're fixing it!" She made me wait upstairs as she grabbed our bags and brought them into her room. She took my jacket, and then replaced it with a purple flannel I got from Rachel. I was forced into ripped, black jeans and that was the finishing touches Chloe made.

"Max two-point-oh!" She cheered. "Kate will forget about that asshole in a second once she sees you." Well, that's not how it works, but she'll be happy to see how much I changed. I checked my phone:

Victoria: She's sleeping, thank god. Please fuck off, I need sleep too!

I wanted to be crazy. I had a crazy, crazy idea. "Then, let's go to the lighthouse!"

"Fuck yes!"


Chloe guided me through her bedroom window and then down the roof and the ladder on the side of her house that was conveniently left for us to leave. She even took the keys to the truck and, it still worked as she turned it on and backed out of the driveway and towards the forest.

"I can't believe this thing still works!" Chloe rolled her window down as she sped down the street, passing red lights and feeling the warm air pass the car. She had her hand outside to feel the wind as we sped through the quiet town.

I had to laugh with her—it felt like old times and being back in Arcadia Bay made us hella nostalgic—while I did the same with my window and had my whole arm outside. We both whooped and yelled at the top of our lungs as we sped towards the lighthouse brightly shining its light in the distance.

The first thing we did, when we abruptly stopped, was race each other to the lighthouse, pushing each other to get to the top first. I won as I hopped onto the bench, lying down against the seat and taking up all the space.

"Beat you, Chloe!" I rubbed in her face, trying to act like I wasn't tired.

"Rematch! I was thinking about what Rachel was doing earlier!" She tried to argue as she breathed heavily.

"Nope, I won that fair and square!" I sat up correctly to let Chloe rest. The bench faced outwards, towards the moving ocean tides and the full moon, glowing down on us. The lighthouse's light, not only helped any seamen, helped us look at the horizon and the dark blue water move in waves.

It was just a perfect moment for me and Chloe to enjoy; I needed one picture. We stayed quiet, absorbing our surroundings, and feeling our past play out as kids, playing pirates and playing through the trees, and more recently when I met Chloe again. It didn't have to be said and that was okay.

"You know what? Sure." Chloe said suddenly.

"Sure what?"

"Sure, we'll just talk to Kate's ex first. You know a thing or two about talking to exes." Chloe patted me on the back.

"Thanks… I think. Glad you see it my way. So, tomorrow, what are we gonna do?"

"We could thank Victoria for helping us with finding where she works. Maybe we could check out the school too. See this shitty, awful place. But, we'll find her."

"I have a feeling this is gonna be sweet."