"Chloe, we aren't naming him "Sir Friendzone."" Max said, hugging the teddy Warren had left her. With a cloth cape and armour, the little toy was clearly supposed to be a knight.

"Max. Cuddly Wuddly Accord of 2002. The terms are pretty clear. It's my turn to name one"

I never should have signed that thing. But Chloe had a glitter pen. How was I to resist?

Still, it wasn't like she was about to let go of one of the old hallmarks of their neglected bond. Or forget Williams face as he helped with the terminology. And chose the name.

That man was a national treasure.

"Fine, but you should at least try to be more creative. You have given me three new nicknames already and we have barely been up for an hour. But the best you can do for my new friend is "Sir Friendzone?" Such disappoint."

I will just call him "Sir Friend" until the last part is forgotten. Mwahahaha.

That was how it had been since the two girls came out of their drugged stupor shortly before dawn. Falling into the familiar banter as they waited for it to be time for the inevitable heartfelt reunion.

Max checked her phone again, feeling guilty about her lack of progress at the mountain of messages and emails she had found waiting for her.

"Dude, leave it for later. If they actually give a fuck they will understand. If they don't and are just in it for the drama of being friends with the girl who got shot then they can just fuck off and die."

Max smiled. Chloe always seemed to know when she was drowning in her own bullshit. And never wasted time cutting through it. Except…

"Uhm, did you just tell me not to pick up the phone and reach out?"

"….Crap. Too late to take it back?"

"Nnnnnope"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'm…..trying to move past that shit, okay? And….sorry if I have been a bitch about it."

Max smiled and reached for the next stuffed toy, a walrus wearing a top hat.

"This guy is definitely a Reginald…."

Vanessa was first through the door, face nearly as pale as her daughter's in the early morning light as she rushed to Max's side. Ryan wasn't far behind, giving Chloe a nod in greeting as Vanessa fussed over Max. Her parents settled down beside her, one on each side so they could both hold a hand.

Ryan cleared his throat. "Max, I couldn't be more proud of how brave you were, but please don't ever do anything so stupid again. You came so close to dying, Max."

Vanessa nodded in agreement. "Honey, we don't know what we would do if….. If the worst were to happen."

"Guys, I'm not gonna make a habit of getting shot!"

"You fucking better not. Surprisingly tough to kick. And I thought smoking was a bad habit." Chloe interjected.

Max settled back with a smile. "Well, you are the expert." She closed her eyes as her mother reached out and started running a hand through her hair. That…..felt really nice actually. After all the shit she had been through lately, just lying back as her parents babied her had a certain appeal.

"Max, the Doctors were able to explain to us how you were doing physically, but mentally….they mentioned that after a trauma like this…. Well just look at poor Chloe" Ryan continued. "The shock turned her hair blue!"

Max huffed out a laugh at that, "I honestly don't know how I am doing yet. I haven't really had the time to…..properly process everything, I guess. Um, I'll keep you guys updated?" She had always been able to tell her parents anything. She wondered if that extended to time travel. Or the Dark Room.

Just thinking of telling them about that sent a tense, unfamiliar feeling squirming through her chest.

"Uhm, excuse me, my hair is blue because it is awesome, thank you very much." Exactly like when they were children, Chloe timed her obnoxiousness perfectly to provide Max an escape route.

Vanessa's hand paused in it's gentle caress. No doubt picturing what Max's old habit of following wherever Chloe led might mean for her style, given Chloe's punk makeover.

"Don't worry mama, I won't let her turn it blue." Her mother's eyes widened at having her mind read before her hand resumed stroking it's way through Max's chestnut locks.

"Pink is much more my colour…."

Max was still lying back with her eyes closed when Joyce arrived, although she had shifted to the other side of the bed so that she could lay half in her father's arms, her head resting on his shoulder. Joyce smiled at the comforting familiarity of a sight she hadn't witnessed in years. While Max wasn't nearly as much of a Daddy's Girl as her own daughter, she was still very close to her father and the big, bearded man had never been shy about showing affection physically.

"Well, isn't that a sight for sore eyes!"

Max smiled back at her, too comfortably content to bother with an actual answer.

"C'mon, mum, we can totally outhug the Caulfields." Chloe said as she held her hands out for a hug.

Joyce beamed even as her eyes boggled. Chloe hadn't been this affectionate in five years. She had accepted being called by her name, mostly out of the fear that trying to insist on something more maternal would result in one of Chloe's ever expanding list of derogatory nicknames. If Chloe ever called her even a quarter of the things she had labelled David…..the idea hurt too much to even entertain.

The concerned mother wasted no time bustling over to the punk's side, pulling her into a long, tender embrace. Whether this was a surge of nostalgia the Caulfields familial intimacy had brought out in her, her wounded daughter turning over a new leaf or simply the result of an act of god, she wasn't going to let it go to waste.

Chloe's usual smell of weed, men's deodorant, cigarettes and rust had been replaced by the antibacterial sterility of the hospital. It might have been less offensive, but it lacked…character. Joyce hoped that, at the least, whatever nurse had helped Chloe bathe had been pretty. Chloe deserved a little affection, and Lord knew she had little enough interest in men, these days.

It had been quite a shock, when she realized, but at least it had alleviated her main concern about Chloe's future; unexpected pregnancy.

Joyce cradled her daughter gently, hesitantly, like she would approach a frightened animal she was worried about scaring off. Chloe relaxed into the motherly affection, simply enjoying the overdue reconnection.

Then she turned to Max, smiled, and smugly stuck out her tongue. Max rolled her eyes.

"Chloe, don't try to turn family hugs into a competition."

"Pffft, you think just because you have us outnumbered we aren't worth competing with? I see how it is"

And just like that, Joyce thought, the magic is gone.

"Wowzers, Chloe, I…really wasn't expecting you to go there. But, since you brought it up…."

"Whatever, Max" Chloe smiled. "I have more ribs then you, so there!" It was delivered in such a smug tone that Max couldn't help but giggle, sending a flash of pain through her bullet wounds.

"Jeez Chlo, keep making me laugh like that and the Doctors are going to separate us."

"Just like the teachers back at school?"

"…Chloe, you were a year ahead of me. Of course you weren't supposed to be in the same classroom as me!"

"Those hallways all look the same. Easy to get turned around and wind up in the wrong room."

"You literally snuck in through the window a few times."

"Well, they started locking the door. What was I supposed to do? Mr's Walter didn't need to yell at me over it."

"Because you had faked diarrhoea to get out of school that day. You were supposed to be home with the "Apocalyptic Megashits", not sneaking me candy bars."

"You can't focus when you are hungry. I was helping. You still accepted the candy, Max."

"I was eleven. It was candy. I probably would have accepted it from a creepy man with a goatee, handing it out from some van or RV."

"What does Frank have to do with this?"

Max snorted and rolled her eyes. "Uhm, Chlo?"

"…You want candy, don't you?"

Max sighed "Yeah…yeah I do."

Chloe's grin practically split her head. "Sure, Maximum Cavity Risk. Erm…where….."

Ryan laughed. "I saw a vending machine in the hall, let me show you." He reached forward to help her struggle out of bed.

As soon as the door closed behind them, he turned to her with a serious look in his eye and said "I have been meaning catch you alone to talk to you anyway."

Chloe gulped audibly.

"Im sorry!" Chloe blurted out after a tense half minute of silence.

Ryan quirked an eyebrow, mouth hidden behind his big, bushy beard.

"For….for getting Max shot."

Ryan snorted. "Chloe, that wasn't your fault."

"Fuck it isn't." She muttered, following him as he walked away.

"If I hadn't frozen up, if I had pushed Max out of the way –"

"Chloe, as soon as I heard the name "Prescott" I knew there was a chain of a hundred people responsible in one small way or another. Nathan being in that bathroom with that gun meant that a great many people failed in their duties. From his parents to Blackwell's staff to the local police. I watched that video. The boy was unhinged."

"Dude, Max's video didn't show everything. Before it started I provoked-"

"If it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else. Or traffic. Or stubbing his toe. Anything could have set him off, but only Nathan is responsible for his actions. Every day Max spent in the same building as him she was at risk, all of the students were at risk. You two being the ones there when he finally snapped doesn't make you responsible."

Chloe couldn't find the words to explain. She knew it was all her fault. Everything Max had gone through in each timeline, when it wasn't directly because of her it was because of Max's attempts to do something for her. She had brought more pain and misery into Max's life then any one person should ever be expected to face.

The young punk was pathetically grateful that she couldn't explain herself to her best friends father. If he understood, for even five goddamn minutes, she would never get to see Max again. Instead she had the comforting warmth of his hand on her shoulder as he guided her through the hospital. It was so easy to lose herself in the paternal affection, to let go of the self loathing that had crept into every facet of her life.

"When I asked to talk, I actually wanted to thank you."

"Fucking thank me?" This was too far. Far, far too far.

"Yes, you little dope, thank you. You and Max, the way you just…..the banter…No one in the world would think you were two girls reunited after a tense five years apart. It's like you were never separated at all. Max was terrified of talking to you again. She was convinced you would hate her, for the way she wasn't there for you during such a hard time."

"Well, taking a bullet for someone is a pretty effective apology, man.

Ryan chuckled. "Im sure. But even the best apology in the world isn't much more then a foot in the door. On it's own, the best an apology can do is get a relationship out of trouble – it doesn't build a relationship, just stops one from deteriorating further."

Max's father smiled. "But you and Chloe have just picked up right where you left off. I can't imagine you have forgiven her entirely but with her so hurt and vulnerable, you aren't showing a hint of resentment. She needs her best friend back and you have been so great about giving her that."

Ryan stopped walking, reaching out to take her by the shoulders and turning Chloe to face him. "Whatever this godawful town has turned you into, whatever you have had to become to get through William's passing and Max's absence….The core of who you are, that overwhelming love for the people in your life that always defined you, made you the best friend my daughter could have asked for, a delight to have in our home and the centre of William's life…that's still who you are, Chloe Elizabeth Price." He pulled her into a hug she was grateful to accept so she could hide the tears in her eyes as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"W-what the fuck is it with you Caulfields? Punks don't cry…" Chloe muttered.

When they finally got to the vending machine, Ryan chuckled smugly as Chloe tapped away at the keypad.

"What's so fucking funny, dude? You are the one paying for this haul."

"You didn't even hesitate. Just picked out all of her favourites."

"Well…..Max is easy to please."

The doting father snorted. "No she isn't. She wants things to be wholemeal and free trade and organic and locally sourced and free range and all that hipster nonsense. She might love a greasy burger as much as any trucker, but her coffee costs five times what mine does."

"Okay, yeah, I just remember what she likes. I missed her, alright? It's not like I thought about her every day."

I totally did, didn't I?

"She did, actually."

"Fucking what?"

"Think about you every day. At least for the first few years. She would spend a while staring at her phone, trying to figure out what to say, at least once a day."

"She could have said literally fucking anything. All I wanted was to hear from her."

"I know but she…don't tell her I told you this, okay? She had a lot of trouble fitting in, when we moved. The bullying never got too bad, but it was bad enough, especially with her trying to deal with the move, Williams death and being separated from you. She withdrew from everyone, barely speaking at all some days. You had just lost your father, and Max was afraid if she called you it would turn into her complaining about school when you were going through so much more. She wanted to stand on her own, then be there to help you through things. But by the time she was ready to call, it had been so long that Max convinced herself you would hate her. And her insecurities just…..ate her alive from there."

"I never wanted some….some hero to save me. Just….just my best friend." Chloe glared at the vending machine.

"I know, Chloe. But she wanted to be your hero. So very badly."

Chloe blinked away tears. 'Well, she got there. Took her a while, but she got there. C'mon, hero needs her junk food."

Ryan and Chloe returned to a welcoming cheer of "Candy!" from the subject of their conversation.

In the quiet darkness of the hospital at night, it was easy to hear Max's whimpered "No."

Chloe sat upright so quickly her bullet wound sent a surge of pain strong enough that she let out a whimper of her own.

"Please…please don't…" Max shook her head back and forth, whatever nightmare she was trapped in continuing to torment her. Her elevated heart rate brought a nurse in to check on her, but as Chloe watched, Max threw out a hand, the nurse starting to run out backwards and the door slamming shut in front of (behind?) her.

Max was rewinding.

Chloe's mouth went dry, her hands starting to shake.

Max was rewinding.

That probably meant the weather was going to get apocalyptically homicidal.

Amazingly, that wasn't even the biggest issue.

Because Max was rewinding.

And it wasn't affecting Chloe.