They spent the day walking through the city hand in hand, caught somewhere between sightseeing and looking for Rachel. Chloe took her to see the Empire State Building, then the Statue of Liberty. They took Broadway, marquees and colorful banners for shows taking up almost all of the visible space.

No matter where they went, people swarmed all around them. Traffic was constantly backed up, the beeping of horns and rattling of engines ceaseless. Max didn't think she could live somewhere like New York. It was too noisy and too crowded. But she could appreciate the anonymity, the safety in numbers.

Food was also incredibly easy to find. There were vendors on the streets no matter where you went, and Max found her face full of all sorts of foods that not even the other girl could name. Chloe would occasionally stop in at places like coffee shops and any bars that were open during the day and ask if anyone had seen Rachel.

No one had, thus far. But they weren't lacking for things to do, at least. Max reasoned that searching would be more worthwhile the later it got. It wouldn't hurt to spend some time together, while they had the chance.

"You wanna stop at a café for a snack? I could use a break." Chloe admitted, rubbing the small of her back to show her pain. Max nodded, the promise of a bagel enough to convince her.

Without putting much thought into, Chloe picked a café on the next corner they passed, holding the door open with an uneven grin while Max went through, rolling her eyes. They both briefly scanned the space; Chloe looking to make sure it had a good atmosphere, and Max to make sure it had a few exits.

They both seemed to realize at the same time. The girl that had been bussing tables turned and Max had been looking at her for seconds on end when it clicked that she didn't just have 'one of those faces' and that she was really staring at Rachel Amber.

Chloe sucked in a breath, frozen with her hand halfway across the space between them. She was probably about to wrap the arm around Max's waist, or her shoulders. But it was like time had stopped for her as she watched Rachel bustle around the café, unmoving.

She was as beautiful in person as she'd been in the photo, despite the obvious wear of working a day job. The sort of beauty that was unforgettable, recognizable. Max couldn't have been mistaken. But it was so bizarre to see her, living a life so normal while she and Chloe had been living so haphazardly in pursuit. Like she had no idea. Maybe she didn't. In fact, she probably didn't.

Max heard it when Chloe finally swallowed, and she tore her eyes away to look at the other girl. She wished she could understand what the expression on Chloe's face was, but it was confusing. Relief, definitely. But also an underlying sadness. And anger. Fear? So many things. What could she be thinking?

But the brunette found herself afraid to ask, afraid to so much as utter a word to Chloe.

They must have lingered in the doorway too long, for Rachel Amber finally took notice, looking up from her work and tucking some hair behind her ear in the same motion. A professional smile began on her lips, but died as her mind caught up with her eyes.

And then she and Chloe were both frozen. If she didn't know better, Max would think that she had accidentally halted time herself. But the rest of the world kept moving, only the two girls suspended in the moment they were sharing.

Max felt herself an invader, awkwardly standing at Chloe's side, too privy to their private relationship to ignore the conversation they were having with their eyes, but not privy enough to be a part of it.

Rachel's eyes hadn't moved, hadn't slid over to her for even a second to size her up. It was as if she wasn't there. She might as well not be. But some part of her feared leaving Chloe alone. Because Rachel was so beautiful, like a model in a magazine, and Chloe loved her.

Who did she love more?

Max couldn't ask, not then. Instead, she reached out and squeezed Chloe's wrist. The girl's gaze snapped to her, brows suddenly drawn in fear, or maybe she was going to cry. She didn't look sure herself. Confused. Max stood on her toes so she could speak quietly, close to Chloe's ear.

"I'm going to sit down."

Chloe didn't respond, but Max left her side anyway, lingering on her wrist before letting go fully and seating herself towards the back, next to a window. She watched Chloe, unfrozen now, approach Rachel, and they spoke briefly before they both nodded and Rachel led them elsewhere.

Rather than watch or try to snoop, Max looked out of the window. There wasn't much in the way of scenery, but there were plenty of people to watch. It was easy to zone into their separate lives, to contemplate them fleetingly rather than consider how much her life might soon change.

Rachel Amber had always been a sort of far-away concept. A goal, but never something tangible. Seeing her, alive, real, it changed everything. There was a real girl, whom Chloe was in love with, and they'd found her. Would Chloe convince her to return to Arcadia Bay? Would she be convinced to stay in New York?

Where did that leave Max? It had been hard enough before to think about a life without Chloe. Now that they'd reached this new level of intimacy, had formed this new relationship… How could she be expected to just give up? But then, how could she compete? Who would Chloe want more? Would she ask to share? Did things like that even happen?

Instead of pondering it further, Max imagined that the man crossing the street, who nearly got hit by a car, was actually a man suffering from horrible depression. She didn't particularly know why she prescribed him such a fate, but so it was. And he'd tried to get hit on purpose, she reasoned. But now that the car had missed him, his life was going to change. He was going to take it as a sign that he was meant to be there.

He was probably just late to work, and careless in his haste. He probably almost got hit by cars on a weekly basis. It was New York. But it was hurt less making up stories for other people than considering whether or not she should just slip away while Chloe and Rachel were talking. It would make it easier on Chloe. She wouldn't have to decide.

She didn't want to, though. She didn't want to be alone again.

Tears came as she thought it, tears she hadn't let herself cry no matter how bleak the situation had seemed. There was always some sureness in her mind that they wouldn't find Rachel. There were just so many places, so many people, so many things that could have happened. What were the odds that two girls dodging the government would manage to track her down with nothing more than luck, for the most part?

But they had. And she might lose Chloe. She might lose everything she had. But it was frustrating, because some part of her was happy, too. Some part of her was happy to know that Chloe had found what she was looking for. It only made her throat sting more as she gave in and let herself cry, doing what she could to keep her sobs inaudible to the other people milling through the café.

It crossed her mind for a second- She could undo all of this. If she started right now and kept rewinding till she was about to black out, she could make it so they'd never found Rachel Amber. She could suggest they go to a different café, the one across the street, even. Chloe would never have to know.

She couldn't do that, though. The thought was dismissed almost as quickly as it'd come to her. Rachel Amber meant so much to Chloe, and Chloe meant too much to Max for her to take this away from her.

All of her tears had been cried. Her eyes were already dry, but glassy and red from crying. She wasn't sure how long it had been, but it must have been quite a time if she was out of tears. What were they talking about? What were they doing?

When Chloe did reappear, she approached rapidly. After being apart for what felt like so long, it was briefly overwhelming when the girl was suddenly before her. And she didn't get a chance to even offer a greeting before Chloe had snatched up her hand and began tugging her towards the door.

Max stumbled along behind her, glancing around the café and then back at Chloe. Rachel Amber eventually appeared around a corner, looking tired and surprised. She called Chloe's name, but the girl didn't stop, stomping out of the door briskly and weaving into the foot traffic. If Rachel tried to follow, she'd have a hard time in the camouflage provided by the masses.

They'd walked several blocks at the same alarmingly quick pace before Chloe finally calmed down enough to slow her roll. And when she did, it was from sixty to zero. Instead of pushing through the crowd, they were stopped in the middle, the sea of people parting around them with annoyance.

Her blue hair obscured her face, for she looked at the ground as if it was the one worried about her and not Max. But the way her shoulders rose and fell, harshly, made it impossible for Max to be angry. Instead of trying to say something that would inevitably only make things worse, she secured her arms around Chloe's waist. They stood in the middle of the sidewalk for minutes, just holding each other as if they would fall otherwise. Chloe trembled in her arms, strangely small for the first time. Her hands occasionally disappeared under her hair to wipe at her face, but she was otherwise still as she cried.

Eventually, Max coaxed Chloe back to the hotel. The girl collapsed onto the bed, laying face-down. And there she stayed for a long time. Max ordered food, took a shower, and managed to find Chloe's pipe before she got the other girl to show her face to the world again, to listlessly eat the pizza that had arrived.

She had mindlessly shoveled two pieces in her mouth before she looked down at her third slice thoughtfully. She studied it as if seeing it for the first time, considering it as Max had done her first very first piece back in Chicago.

"Thin crust in New York. You remembered." Chloe observed, glancing up and managing a tiny smile. Max returned it tenfold, reaching across to squeeze the other girl's knee affectionately.

"Of course I did."

Chloe started crying again, but didn't stop eating. It was sort of weird to watch, but Max didn't plan to judge the other girls' 'coping' mechanisms.

After they'd eaten, she convinced Chloe to take a quick shower, and used the time to carefully load the pipe as she'd seen the owner do a few times. She only spilled a little, and it looked just as good as when Chloe did it in her opinion, so she considered it a mission accomplished.

She placed it, along with a lighter and a bottle of lemonade they'd bought from a corner store, on the nightstand. The curtains blocked out the light from the street well enough when she closed them, watching them billow just a bit from the breeze coming in through the cracked window. Noise from the street filtered in, but her mind had already gotten used to pushing it to the background. Still, she found a station on the radio that was playing some of the slower indie that she knew Chloe secretly liked.

The girl herself emerged from the bathroom shortly in a wave of steam, her skin sparkling where water still beaded. It looked like she hadn't dried off at all. With a sigh, Max got up to meet her, intercepting with a towel and drying her from head to toe.

Chloe kissed her cheek as thanks, flopping back into bed, naked and hair still slicked back with water. It should have been frustrating, but it seemed sort of like she was moping, and Max found it sort of endearing. She was kind of enjoying indulging Chloe's childish side, too.

Retrieving the hairbrush from the bathroom, she pulled Chloe into a sitting position and toweled her hair till it was damp rather than sopping. Then she carefully parted and brushed it into Chloe's normal style.

She traded the brush for the pipe, offering this to Chloe next. It garnered far more interest, and Chloe inhaled appreciatively when Max lit it for her. She smoked almost the whole thing to herself, but that was fine because Max's mind didn't need to be fuzzy.

Chloe sighed as she settled down on top of her, for the most part. Her head found Max's shoulder, and she hooked a leg over the smaller girl's hip. Max ran her fingers along Chloe's back in patterns she hoped were soothing, like the other girl did for her at night sometimes to help her sleep.

It felt like Chloe wanted to talk, but she likely couldn't find the words, or maybe the strength. Max let her take her time, content in just spending time with the girl, glad she still had the opportunity.

"…She came here with this fucking drug dealing burnout from Arcadia Bay. Frank." Chloe blurted suddenly, her fingers that had been splayed along Max's ribs fisting up in her shirt instead. "She left me without a word to fuck off with the town fuck-up. Shit!"

Max frowned, fingers stalling for a moment before resuming their circles. She could feel Chloe's tears soaking through her shirt, but she didn't bring it up, just pretended that she didn't notice. It was a while before Chloe was composed enough to speak again.

"The worst part is that she tried to kiss me after she told me everything. She said she'd missed me. She said she fell in love with Frank, but she missed being with me." She snarled, quivering with what must have been rage. "As if everything was fine, and we were still the best of fucking friends!"

Max wasn't really sure what she could say. She didn't know the true extent of Chloe's relationship with Rachel. She didn't know what they had agreed on, or what they felt for each other, on either end. She didn't know how much of a betrayal this was, but she got the feeling that, for Chloe at least, Rachel had crossed an uncrossable line.

"Fuck! I'm just so-" She cut off, searching for a word and failing to find one. She just made an aggravated growling noise instead, going limp against Max as a final show of her emotional overload.

Chloe's hair had dried enough for Max to run her fingers through it, so she angled her arm up to switch to that instead.

"I'm so tired of feeling. It hurts." Chloe murmured, her voice shockingly soft after her bout of shouting. Max rolled over so she could lay side by side with Chloe, finally looking her in the eyes. She brushed some hair away tenderly, lingering on the skin of Chloe's cheek. Even with her eyes red from crying, Chloe looked so starkly beautiful, misplaced neon in a film noir.

Instead of trying to verbalize further, Chloe kissed her. Max sort of anticipated it being hard and desperate, because the girl seemed to be rather in distress. But it was very careful, and very purposeful. Instead of any sort of heat or breathlessness, it was more about the closeness, about pressing as near to each other as they could.

They would need to talk about it more. A lot more. But for the time being, Max was going to let Chloe sleep and forget for a little while, at least.

In the meantime, she was left to think about the future that just opened up to her. She couldn't remember ever being so glad that she hadn't altered the progression of time. It felt somehow more significant that Chloe was still with her without any manipulation involved than if she'd rewound so they hadn't found Rachel.

They'd found her, and in the end, she was still with Chloe. It was comforting. It was exhilarating. But were they done with Rachel Amber, just like that? Chloe was content just knowing that she'd been wronged? Would anyone really drive all the way across the country just to give up because the person they were chasing didn't say the things they wanted to hear?

But then, things had changed along the way. She'd met Max, namely.

Still, if whatever they were was going to be long-term, they were going to need to get on the same page. It was time to talk about everything they'd been pretending didn't matter. Time to talk about the way they felt and where they were going with each other.

Chloe shifted a bit in her sleep, mumbling something that was incoherent before going still again. It caught Max's attention, and instead of thinking through things, like she'd planned, she found herself watching the other girl instead. The rise and fall of her chest, the darkness between her lips where they parted, the haphazard fanning of her electric blue hair across the pillow.

It was so easy to get lost.

When Max finally did fall asleep, it felt like she was woken only moments later. She'd managed maybe two hours, at best. Chloe woke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, a fresh face and fresh attitude doing her wonders after a night of sleep. Her grin was comforting enough of a sight that Max didn't even complain about getting woken up, though she yawned in passive complaint. It wasn't as if Chloe could know that she'd stayed up much too late for no real reason, torturing herself over things they'd have to deal with together anyway.

Max joined the other girl on the balcony after she'd gotten dressed, watching Chloe drag heavily from a cigarette, banishing the smoke into the wind in thick clouds. She seemed thoughtful, maybe pensive even, looking across the horizon at the greyish city light.

"So, I was thinking we could shoot down to New Orleans while we're on the East Coast. I've never been." She offered, as if that justified the randomness of her comment. She brought it up as if it were just another stop on their way to New York, rather than a new destination in itself.

Max considered calling her out on it. They needed to talk about things, needed to open up to each other and really talk about what they were going to do. It was time to start thinking about the future in real terms. And, honestly, it was her opinion that Chloe probably needed to have a more thorough conversation with Rachel. The two had things they desperately needed to sort out, at the very least.

But she let it go, at least for the time being.

"Okay." She agreed. They'd have plenty of time to talk about it on the drive to Louisiana. And Chloe very obviously needed to get away.

Chloe trapped her against the railing, holding her snugly for a moment as what was left of the cigarette burned to ash between her fingers. Her body didn't provide much heat, but the nearness didn't go unappreciated. Max clung to the back of her shirt, breathing her in for a moment, thanking the stars that she still got to do things like that.

"Let's leave now." Chloe decided. Max nodded, pulling back to return to the room and begin packing again. There was no rush, not really. No reason she needed to be quick and efficient. But something in Chloe's voice made it feel urgent, as if New York, Rachel Amber, her loss, was suffocating her slowly.

They were heading back to the truck before most people in the hotel had even stirred.

The couple that had let them borrow their driveway invited them in for breakfast which they were too road-weathered to refuse. Free food is free food, no matter how awkward it might be to walk into a relative stranger's house.

The older looking of the two women, who had introduced herself as Carmen, led the way to a small table in the kitchen, and the other, Lola, continued cooking, cracking a few extra eggs into a pan and going into the fridge to get more bacon.

"To be honest, we thought it'd take a bit longer for you two to come back." Carmen admitted, smiling politely. "Most girls your age can't leave New York after just a day."

Chloe glanced towards the window, and Max glanced at Chloe. Carmen, apparently rather perceptive, immediately dropped it, offering to get some drinks for everyone instead. Max squeezed Chloe's hand under the table, offering the only support she could, really.

"You said you were from Oregon, right? Or was it Washington…" Carmen tried again.

"Oregon." Chloe provided, sipping at some coffee she'd been provided.

"Are you headed back that way now?" Lola piped up, not looking away from the pan while breakfast finished up.

"Mmm…" Chloe hummed, looking at Max as if for her opinion. The brunette, of course, didn't really have much of one. If it was with Chloe, she'd go just about anywhere. That must have read in her eyes, for Chloe nodded. "I think we'll start heading that way, yeah. We're going to detour for New Orleans, and I imagine we'll make a few stops, but we'll be heading that way."

"Think that truck'll make it?" Carmen laughed, quirking a brow. Chloe grinned too.

"Ehh, we got this far."

It was sort of nice to see Chloe interacting with other people, beyond goods and services. They hadn't really stopped long enough to make any friends along the way, so it'd been mostly just them talking to each other. Seeing the other girl having a pleasant conversation with someone was refreshing.

It was also particularly interesting to see how differently Chloe behaved around other people. Max had never realized just how comfortable her companion must have been around her. While Chloe was friendly with Carmen and Lola, it was far more reserved than what Max got.

Her smiles weren't as big, her jokes weren't as terrible, her sentences not as wordy. It made the brunette feel just a little special.

Chloe tried, with little success, to distract the couple from Max's deplorable eating habits with idle conversation. They watched her voracious appetite clear three helpings worth of eggs and bacon before Chloe managed to put an end to it. Carmen and Lola, of course, took it with good humor.

"I'm flattered you like my cooking so much." Lola giggled. "Carmen says I don't use enough seasoning, but I think the little one would beg to differ."

Max found it in her to flush, hiding in her orange juice while everyone got a good laugh. Chloe patted her back reassuringly, honing in for a moment with her gaze to make sure that everything was still alright. The smaller girl let her lips quirk into a tiny smile, and it was all the reassurance Chloe needed.

Carmen took the dishes to the sink, but poured Chloe another cup of coffee. It was an invitation to stay longer, and it didn't seem like the girl had plans of declining as she mixed some sugar in.

"So, you two are… Together?" Lola prompted, her emphasis of 'together' implying it meant more than Max thought. Well, she could probably guess what Lola was really asking.

Again, Chloe turned to her, and it seemed she considered it for a long time, maybe searching for the answer in the stormy blue of Max's irises.

"Yes." She finally replied. Insignificant, maybe, but it was the first time she'd ever really said so. It made Max's heart ache pleasantly. If either of the older women noticed the long pause, they didn't say anything. Instead, they both just smiled knowingly, sharing a similar conversation with only a look. It was comforting to know that other people could do that, too.

It was actually sort of hard to say goodbye when Chloe killed the last of her room temperature coffee. They'd passed a few hours with the couple without realizing. It had been nice, though. They departed with the promise that they'd visit if they were ever in the area again.

The truck's engine turned over concerningly the first time Chloe tried the key, but it started with a roar on the second go, so she shrugged and they waved goodbye to the couple as they hit the road again.

The feel of the highway rumbling under the tires was a welcome familiarity. It almost felt normal, in a way. Chloe seemed far more relaxed as well, easily directing the truck along, southbound. Her shoulders had visibly drooped into her normal slouch, her right hand tangled up with Max's loosely between them.

Max was starting to recognize the songs that played on the radio, and she found herself mouthing the words to the soft song playing. It was one of Chloe's favorites, she remembered her mentioning. It had a strange vibe to it, sort of a sad resignation. A feeble acceptance of what life doled out. Perhaps that's why Chloe liked it so much. She wound up singing along, too.

At the end of the song, Chloe exited, driving to some secluded area that was mostly just houses and winding roads. Max was a bit concerned when she stopped, putting the truck in park and then removing the key. Chloe gave her a mischievous smile.

"You need to learn how to drive." She announced.

Max's eyes widened in horror. But before she could dive out of the truck to escape, Chloe had grabbed her arm, effectively trapping her.

"Come on. I'm going to teach you. And there's no one out here, so it doesn't matter if you're not good at first. This is literally butt-fuck nowhere. Come on." She urged. Max bit her lip, trying for a moment to be petulantly stubborn. But she gave in with a sigh, in the end, switching seats with Chloe and trying to listen to the overwhelming amount of things she needed to keep track of to drive.

It took her literally thirteen tries to even get the truck to move without it dying. She was almost in tears with frustration. Why were there so many pedals? But Chloe just calmly explained what she was doing wrong, and tried to direct her to correct it. When she finally did manage to get it, Chloe lit up, practically screaming about how 'fucking rad' Max was.

She would make a really good teacher, actually.

After about three hours of trial and mishap, during which Max nearly killed them twice and actually might have killed them a third time if she hadn't managed to rewind just before they smashed into the ditch she'd just swerved into trying to avoid another driver, she decided to take a break.

But when they woke up, stiff and a bit cold the next morning from sleeping in the truck, Chloe made her try again. And there was some more mishap, but by the end of it Max had managed to go a steady 40 miles per hour on a winding side road without hitting any other cars or ditches. It was a start.

And she had a feeling that it was only one of the many things Chloe was going to start teaching her to do. Because, and she realized this as she was fiddling with Chloe's phone and saw that she had changed her background picture to a 'selfie' they'd taken a few days ago, Chloe was now thinking about her in the long-term, too.

They were in this together, for the long-haul. If they could cross the country with the government very likely on their tail to find someone who only thoroughly broke Chloe's heart and come out walking with their hands clasped, what could stop them, really?

A/N: Sorry, again, for the wait! I was waiting to get this through my editor, but life happens. She's been super busy, and hasn't had a chance to go over it yet. I felt bad, though, making you guys wait so long. So my plan is just to go ahead and post this now, and then post the edited copy when she gets the time.

It shouldn't be significantly different. Like the edits for the first few chapters, it'll mostly be just wordplay. I'd let you guys know if I made a change significant enough to effect the overall story, don't worry. Sorry again for the wait, and unedited chapter. I'll get the edited one up as soon as I can.

So, believe it or not, this story has sort of warranted an 'arc' sort of organization in my mind. I only mention this because we've reached the conclusion of what I'm going to call the 'New York' story arc. That doesn't mean the story is over! Just that things will shift gears in the next chapter, so be prepared.

Thanks for the feedback thus far guys! I know I'm behind on replies for the last round of comments, and I'm sorry. Much like my editor, my life has been happening pretty hardcore, too. I've definitely read, them, though. You guys have no idea how huge I smile anytime I get an email about a new message. They light up my day, seriously.

Alright, that's all for today, folks. Thanks again, and till next time!

KuroRiya
九六りや