Discalimer: The Life is Strange franchise and all affiliated characters belong to Square Enix. All original characters created are used with the express permission of their real-life counterparts.

Chapter 2: While You Slept

As Max Caulfield returned to the world of the living, she was acutely aware of two things:

One, someone was holding her hand.

Two, she had to take her time opening her eyes because the light hurt way too much to take in at once. It was like after you had watched a movie in class in the dark and then the teacher turns the light on. It just seems to assault your senses. `

She held off on trying to open her eyes again, but she knew who was holding her hand regardless.

It was Chloe. It would always be Chloe.

She reveled in the warmth of Chloe's hand in her own lukewarm one. She gently squeezed Chloe's hand.

"Max?! Oh my God, Max! Are you alright?!"

"Hi Chloe," Max replied. Her voice came out raspier than she would have liked, but she doubted Chloe would care at this point.

She felt a pair of arms gently wrap around her. She felt the heat of Chloe's face near hers.

"I was so afraid of losing you, you dope!" Chloe exclaimed, her voice wavering. She was on the verge of crying, but Chloe was always the type of person to hold her emotions in check unless the event was just too much for her to bear. Nevertheless, she felt a few tears seep into her neck.

In a strange way, it was endearing to have Chloe cry over her. It was nice to know that someone cared for her that much.

"It's okay Chloe; I'm here. I'm not going to be leaving you anytime soon," Max replied in a soothing voice. She found that she could move her arms without any pain, so she lifted them and wrapped them around her longtime friend. If anything, Chloe just hugged her tighter.

"You almost did though Max! Oh my God, when they loaded you onto the ambulance, they said that I couldn't come because they needed all the paramedics working around you. I yelled and say that I would be following right behind, even though I knew you couldn't hear me. I was so worried about you. You were kind of an idiot for jumping in front of a loaded gun you know."

Max laughed softly. Leave it to Chloe to come up with a witty remark to add to the end of a very touching rant.

"Hey, it was sudden and all I knew was that I wasn't going to let the bullet reach you. I may not have been around for a long time, but that doesn't mean I'm going to forget about you that easily."

"Well, it was one hell of a way for the two of us reunite. But uh, let's not meet like that again, alright? I don't think my heart could take another reunion like that," Chloe joked, though her voice got hitched in her throat. She had pulled away from Max, but squeezed her hand in reassurance.

Max attempted to slowly sit up, but found that her stomach was really tender, so sat up about halfway and adjusted her bed so she could better talk to her best friend. Then, she slowly began to open her eyes. At first, the room seemed very blurry, but it slowly began to come into focus.

The first thing that she focused her eyes on was the blue mass that became Chloe, who was holding her hand and looking at her with a gentle and caring expression on her face. Most of the time, Chloe was relaxed and retained a neutral expression. However, the compassion she had for Max was taking priority. It gave Max a warm feeling.

She squeezed Chloe's hand back and said, "I promise that we won't reunite like that again Chloe," she said, smiling. Chloe smiled back at her. "But I will not hesitate to protect you. I don't regret what I did at all. If it meant saving your life, then I am satisfied with what happened."

Chloe look stunned, and tears starting escaping the corners of her eyes.

Max realized that this was the first proper conversation they were having in nearly five years. She wanted to make sure that she told Chloe how much she still meant to her. Rachel's words echoed in her head "As long as you reach out to others, you can make a difference in their lives."

"Chloe, I want you to know something. I know that we haven't talked in years, and I am sorry if it felt like I was abandoning you. That was never my intention, and I had no control over what happened. However, I am back now and while I know that we can't mend five years of separation in one afternoon, I would like to try to do so after I get out of the hospital."

Chloe gasped, blushed, and voiced, "Yeah Max…I'm not gonna lie. It hurt like hell when you left. I know that it wasn't your decision, but it still hurt a lot. I…would like to repair our friendship. I have to say though…you have a hell of a head start on that with what you did for me." She smiled after that last statement.

The two friends smiled at each other and squeezed the other's hand. It was something that they needed to say to clear the air; otherwise it would just become stifling later.

"So what happened after I…was shot?" Max asked, still tripping about the fact that she was taken a bullet.

"Well, I knocked Nathan flat on his face, and that caused his gun to go skidding across the bathroom floor. As soon as I knew he was knocked out, I ran to my step-dou…father and he called the paramedics immediately. He confiscated Nathan's gun and put him in zip-cuffs. He notified the principal and he cleared the hallway for the EMTs. I gotta admit that David did a good job of controlling your bleeding until the paramedics arrived. He also knew that I wasn't going anywhere and so he had me help him out. There was quite a crowd around the hallway as the paramedics arrived and loaded you onto a gurney in record time. I wanted to ride in the ambulance with you, but the paramedics asked me to follow behind instead because they needed everyone working on you. Apparently, they didn't know if any of your internal organs had been ruptured, and they pronounced you critical when we arrived at the hospital. It wasn't until an hour or two had passed before you were finally pronounced stable. David actually drove me, and he would have stayed, but he said he had to get back to the school to deal with Nathan.

"That was all yesterday. Today I learned that Nathan told authorities that Mark Jefferson, the art teacher, was utilizing his family's underground bunker to drug and photograph students without their consent. However, I learned that Nathan…he…he…he killed Rachel!"

At this point, Chloe just broke down and started sobbing.

"Chloe, come here," Max whispered, holding her arms out to her longtime friend.

Chloe complied, holding on to Max for support and comfort as she cried about Rachel. Max didn't know that she had passed away, only that she had spoken to her in limbo. She should have put the dots together earlier, but she had been so busy listening to Rachel's wisdom that she hadn't realized that when Rachel said 'figured out her fate', she meant that she had been killed!

Chloe's eyes darkened, "I found out that he had drugged Rachel and had her photographed in that bunker without her consent. However, he overdosed her on the drugs and ended up murdering her instead, and then hid the body underground in the junkyard." By this point, Chloe had entered a new round of sobbing, and was clinging to Max. Max held her gently and rubbed her head as she worked through her grief.

"I'm so sorry you lost her, Chloe. I know that you two were very close," Max spoke softly, holding her friend close and rubbing her back gently.

As Chloe's tears slowed, she pulled away from Max with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Yeah, she was hella important to me…but how do you know that Max?"

Max realized that she had spoken with information that Rachel had given to her. She knew that she wasn't going to hold anything back from Chloe, so she decided to be honest, but she wanted Chloe to finish recounting events on her end first.

"You haven't been the only busy person in the past day or two," Max spoke seriously. "Why don't you finish telling me about what happened and then I'll tell you what happened on my end?"

Chloe looked curious, but dropped it for the moment.

"Beyond that, not much has happened. Mr. Jefferson was arrested, and a thorough investigation of the underground bunker is underway. I've been staying by your side ever since, asking every God I know of to make sure that you're okay. Another girl came by this morning. She stayed by your side until an hour or two before you woke up, saying she had to attend her afternoon classes. Does the name Kate Marsh ring any bells?"

Max smiled, so happy that one of the few people at Blackwell she really liked had cared enough to come see her. She would have to thank her when she was able to go back to Blackwell.

"Now enough about what Super Sleuth Chloe has been up to. Tell me how you know that Rachel and I were friends," Chloe pressed.

"Chloe, what I am going to say is going to sound absolutely bizarre, but I ask that you withhold any sort of judgment about it until I finish. Can you do that?"

Chloe merely nodded, far too intrigued to worry about how bizarre things were about to get. She was clearly intrigued about how Max had facts that she couldn't possibly know without having talked to either Chloe or Rachel first.

"Okay, so I remember being shot, but I lost consciousness soon after that. I did hear you yelling my name though," Max smiled at Chloe, clearly happy that Chloe remembered her. Chloe blushed knowing that Max had heard her.

"Anyway, when I woke up, I was in a gray…space. It wasn't a room because there were no walls, but everything was gray. I also noticed that I wasn't in any pain despite being shot. Then, I heard a voice, and I turned around to see Rachel standing there…"

Max continued to speak to Chloe for a half hour regarding what Rachel had told her, from the time travel powers, to the meaning behind her sacrifice, to learning about the relationship between Chloe and Rachel, to the words that Rachel had told her about how reaching out to others can make a big difference, and about how Rachel might have also been some sort of deity.

For her part, Chloe never interrupted her once, although her expression changed from amusement, thinking that Max was having her on or the medication was tripping her, to shock, to sadness, to intrigue. When Max finished recounting her story, Chloe was silent.

"It sounds like, even though she 'left' me, she really did care about me and regrets leaving me in the dark on some things. Now that I know Jefferson killed her, I will make that bastard pay for it. At least I know that God Rachel is watching over me." Chloe smirked at the last bit, not really knowing whether or not there was a God. If there was, Rachel was the best avatar.

By now, Max was feeling tired, knowing that her body was still recovering, and her painkiller was making her drowsy. She promised Chloe that she wasn't lying to her, and that she would happily answer any question Chloe thought of when she woke up again and felt more alert.

Max told Chloe to eat and get some rest, and she would text her when she felt better. Chloe left Max's phone on the bedside table so she could reach it when she woke up. With one gargantuan effort, Max sat up completely and the two friends embraced each other.

"I'm really glad to see you again Max," Chloe whispered in her ear.

"I feel the same way Chloe, and I promise that I won't leave you again," Max promised.

Max lay back and Chloe took her hand and squeezed it before she left. Max shut her eyes and let sleep overtake her. Her dreams were filled with a certain blue-haired girl, and the two of them were making cookies together, just like when they were younger.

The nurse who was checking up on Max smiled when he saw that, despite being asleep, his patient had a smile on her face.