Hey everyone, less plot development and more character development here. Still, I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

Chloe reached into her stash in her desk and promptly sat on said desk. She took her lighter and her blunt out of her pocket. With a cheesy grin, she lit up. Warren watched semi-curiously as Chloe took her hit. He was left with the unfortunate position of not knowing what to do. Not knowing where to put his hands or where to stand. Could he sit? He didn't know.

"Dude", Chloe said after blowing her smoke, "you can sit down."

Warren sheepishly sat on the edge of her bed. He suddenly had an itch on the nape of his neck. He scratched absentmindedly as he watched Max sleep. She quietly breathed a small sigh.

"Not to bring you down, Graham, but it's a little creepy watching you watch her sleep."

Warren blanched and turned his head hard and away from his sleeping girlfriend. He felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Chloe chuckled and held out the blunt to Warren. Warren looked up and barely hesitated before shaking his head no. If he ever chose to smoke (and he probably won't), he didn't think now would be the appropriate time.

He wondered for a second if he should continue Max's story through time. It seemed logical, but it seemed unfair to her. Max had survived through two months of mourning and loneliness to reunite with her friend for all of 5 minutes. Chloe, for her part, had now not even seen hide nor hair of her friend for years. They deserved some time for themselves, and he knew Chloe deserved to hear the story from Max. He knew she trusted Max, probably more than anyone alive today.

Chloe probably didn't trust him, let alone like him. She was most likely just dealing with him until Max got up. He supposed the two of them weren't going to be close, but he was going to try to be friends with her.

He thought about just returning to his dorm room altogether. He thought about just leaving Max to Chloe so they could have a proper reunion. He didn't want to leave Max though. He didn't want to leave her again.

Chloe's voice surprised him. "Well, Graham, I'm out. We can't just sit here and watch Sherlock here sleep. We got hella adventures to go on."

Hella? Is this where Max got that little gem from? Warren smiled a little as Chloe walked to her door.

"Well?" she said, "Are you coming?"

Before Warren could process this, his unlikely companion gave him a cheeky grin and strode out of the room and down the stairs. Warren shook his head and disbelief and decided to follow the girl. Warm sunlight beamed down on his face as he walked out of the front door. Surprisingly Chloe had already climbed her way into her truck and started the car.

"When do you think Mr. Madsen or your mom will be back, Chloe?" he couldn't help but ask the blue-haired girl.

Chloe returned his question with a shit-eating grin and shrugged. "Mom works late tonight. Who knows when Sgt. Shithead will come back." She shrugs. "I doubt he'll check my room if he comes back, unless he has fucking cameras everywhere."

Warren shrugged. He knew Mr. Madsen had a reputation of being "over-protective", so to speak, but he doubted the man would go so far as to put cameras in his own home. That was just perverted.

"And by the way, Graham, don't call that piece of shit Mr. Madsen," she said in a crude imitation of Warren's voice, "that fucker doesn't deserve an ounce of respect."

Warren got a little irritated at her imitation of him. But still he chuckled. Partly because of what he knew, party because Chloe was actually a little funny. "He really does care about you. Even if he doesn't show it."

Chloe put the car into reverse and spun out of the driveway. Even still, she was rolling her eyes at him the entire time. Warren pondered if it were safe for her to drive high. Probably not, but at least she was more placid than she were clean.

"Please," she said, driving out of the street and going into downtown Arcadia Bay. "The only things David loves is his car, the military, and his ego. That's it."

Warren wasn't the biggest fan of David Madsen. That's for sure. But he remembered as clear as day how distraught he was when Chloe died. He had never seen the man more vulnerable than when he gave his brisk eulogy at her funeral. He remembered feeling sorry for the man. After some thought, he said, "Chloe, I know he cares. After you had died, he went to your funeral. I'd never seen him so broken. He, Max, and your mom are probably the strongest people I know."

To her credit, the girl took a moment or two to digest that sentiment. Eventually, she muttered, "Warren?"

It was almost so quiet, he wasn't sure he heard her. He felt as if he did something wrong. Man, his neck itched again.

"Do me a favor." Not a question, but a quiet demand.

"Yeah?"

"Don't talk about any possible futures until Max wakes up."

"Okay."

The truck moved on through town. Warren watched the people meander through town, oblivious to the nearly impossible coincidences and decisions that led to these two people being at this place at this time. Unfortunately, neither of these unlikely companions knew what to say to break the awkward silence that polluted the atomosphere inside the truck. Warren himself struggled to think of something the two of them had in common to break the silence.

Fortunately, Chloe found her voice. "If all this weird shit wasn't going down Graham cracker, what would you be doing right now?"

Warren sat up a little in his seat. Thankfully this was something he could pitch in on. "I would probably be using my flash drive as an excuse to talk to Max."

Out of his peripheral vision, Warren watched Chloe wiggle her eyebrows suggestively. Warren belly laughed, "Not that kind of flash drive!"

She laughed at his exclamation. It was a relief to hear her laugh and enjoy his company. After a few seconds of laughter she continued, "And then…?"

"Try to find the courage to ask her to the drive-in. Obviously that's a moot point now."

He smiled and she even smiled a little. Which quickly morphed into a smirk. "She's so fucking in love with you, dude."

"You think so?"

"I know my best friend. I had never seen the look she gave you."

"That's good right?"

"God," she said sarcastically. "For such a nerd you really are oblivious."

"I may have heard that one before."

They laughed together. It was now almost like their own inside joke. "So which movie were you going to ask her to go to? Hopefully something badass like Blade Runner."

"Nope. Even though I know your favorite movie is Blade Runner."

"That bitch told you way too much about me."

"That she did." Warren shot her his own cheeky grin. "But no, I wanted to take her to a Planet of the Apes marathon."

Chloe suddenly hit the breaks inside a deserted parking lot. Warren had to put his hands in front of him to avoid his head smacking against the dashboard. He had not even noticed that they had arrived at the beach. "No way. No fucking way. You were going to ask your future girlfriend to an ape movie marathon?!"

"Yeah!" Warren said adamantly. "She would even agree to go! We were going to go ape and-"

Chloe cut him off with her laughter. She laughed so hard that he could see tears in the corners of her eyes. When she finally caught her breath, she exclaimed. "You were going to go ape on each other! You were going to do the monkey business!"

"We weren't gonna-"

She pointed at him and laughed. "You were going to climb on top of her and go-" she exaggeratingly pounded on her chest and made loud "ape" noises.

Warren sighed in defeat. He let her laugh it off. When she finally calmed down, he asked good naturedly, "I assume we're here now?"

"Yep!" she said cheerfully. She opened the door and before she closed it she shouted, "C'mon, Monkey Man!" She promptly slammed the door before Warren could retort.

"Urg," was roughly all he had to say before exiting her truck.

Grinning, his companion pounded her fist against a trailer. After a few moments, a blonde man came out. Warren did not recognize the man, but could only assume this was the one and only Frank. Frank was wearing a red t-shirt with a black falcon design on it. He wore brown pants and had an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"Price? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Why else would I be here, Frank? So," she said still grinning. She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "You got any?"

"Jesus, Price. You always come at the worst times. I was eating my beans."

She rolled her eyes. "You're always eating fucking beans."

Warren shuffled his feet awkwardly. Frank noticed.

"Who the hell is he?"

"A friend," Chloe said immediately. "Don't worry, he's cool. Sooo…"

"I got some," he said. He finally took his eyes off Warren and reset them back at Chloe. "But you still owe me money."

Chloe moaned in disdain. The ever present debt she carried with Frank stuck with her like glue. "C'monnnn. You know you love me! Let me have some…"

"Not unless you have some fucking money. I'm not a charity service."

Warren dug in his pocket for his wallet. If he remembered right, he had a 20 on him. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and produced that 20 and flashed it. Frank noticed and eyed the boy. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Money," he said semi-confidently

Chloe smiled and plucked the 20 out of Warren's hand. "My generous friend here has offered a donation to satisfy your greedy demands." She handed over said donation and Frank sighed.

"Fine. I'll be right to get you what you want." He eyed Warren once more than headed to the back of his trailer.

"That was so badass." Chloe looked over at Warren and offered him a fist bump. Warren cautiously took it. Warren didn't want to admit it, but Frank intimidated him. "I owe you one," she stated.

Within a minute, Frank came back and he exchanged (very secretly. Well at least as secretly as he could), a plastic baggie in Chloe's outstretched hand. Frank stared down Warren one last time before simply saying, "Next time, kid, don't go flashing your money like that. Makes you seem… eager." He looked at Chloe's smirk and back at Warren. "And find some better fucking friends."

The dealer then promptly slammed the door in the two teens faces.

Chloe happily put her new possession deep in her pocket. With a nod she implied that Warren should walk with her on the beach.

How in the hella did I end up in the situation?

Wait, did I just think hella?

Fuck, now she's getting to me.

"Something on your mind, Ape Boy?"

Warren blinked himself out of his thoughts. He just said the first thing on his mind. "Frank's kind of a…"

"Dick?"

"Something like that."

"That's just what he wants you to think," she said sagely. "He wants everyone to be intimidated by him. In reality, he cares more than he lets on. Hell, he saved a dog from a dog fighting rink. He deserves some credit."

She's more intuitive then I give her credit for, Warren thinks to himself. The two walk in comfortable silence before Chloe sat down on the sand. She motioned with her hand for Warren to sit beside her.

He sat beside her and took off his shoes and socks. He dipped them into the ocean. The cool water felt good on his skin. Chloe pulled a lighter and blunt out of her pocket. As daredevilish as only she can be, she lit up and smoked her joint. She puffed her smoke out and extinguished it into the sand. "I tried to kiss, Max."

Warren felt white hot anger course through his veins. He wanted to get up and scream at her and rip her a new one. And he almost did. But somehow the rational part of him reasoned that he should listen to her. Hear her out.

"Why?" It came out harsh. But it was justified. Chloe, on her part, looked slightly chastised.

"It was a heat of the moment type thing. She had just reappeared, suddenly, and claimed she loved me and…" she shrugged. "I don't know.

When I was 14, I was just starting to, what did my shrink call it? 'Get in touch with my sexuality?' when I randomly thought of Pris from Blade Runner. Then, soon after that, Max.

Yeah, I know, too much information.

What I'm basically saying Warren G. Harding, is that Max was my first crush. Goddamn, I'm cringing just saying that. Anyway, when Max moved away, I lost more than a best friend, you can understand. Then she comes back, out of the blue. It just reminded me of Rachel. My angel always being there at the right place, at the right time…" she trailed off and shrugged.

Warren's anger slowly subsided as sympathy grew for Chloe. He didn't know what to say, so he nerdishly drew chemical formulas in the sand.

"You two, as squeamish as it makes me to say, are cute together. It makes me puke how revoltingly adorable you two are. Anyway, what I'm basically saying is, I'm glad she has you, nerd. But if you ever hurt her," she smirked and gave him a look. "I'll bury you alive."

Before Warren could answer, they were interrupted by an onrush of sand from behind.

"What a strange pairing," said a sardonic voice behind them.

Victoria and Nathan cockily walked up to the duo. They wore respective shorts and tank tops for the unseasonably warm weather. They also wore matching sneers. "The punk and the alpha phag. What a trip," Nathan added.

Chloe stood and faced the two antagonistic students. "Chase and Prescock. How am I not surprised."

"Whatever. You and that little bitch didn't scare me in that bathroom. None of you better say shit."

"Or else." He said as he bumped his chest into Chloe. The two locked eyes and stared at each other. Warren looked at them and looked at the smug look on Victoria's face. He sighed and inserted himself between them. He knew not to be too confrontational, he didn't want a shiner like Max showed him he had.

He got between the two warring teenagers and separated him with his hands. He prepared himself for a Prescott sucker punch but one never came. Perhaps he didn't want things to get violent in front of Victoria.

"Watch your back, Price. We wouldn't want things to get ugly."

"I think she's more scared of your haircut than you, Nathan," Warren couldn't help but to retort.

Nathan's notstrils flaired. He started to get up in Warren's face until Victoria's maroon-nailed fingers stopped him. "Nathan, you're supposed to take me to the pier." Nathan shot her a look, but she shot him a glare back, determined. "Leave Price and Gayram to their geeky activies," she looked down on them over her nose. "We have more important things to do."

Nathan looked back at Victoria. With a glare at both Chloe and Warren, he took Victoria's wishes and they stalked off down the beach.

"Warren, that was so fucking cool. You almost made me laugh out loud when you mentioned his hair. The look on his face was hella priceless."

Warren thanked her, but his mind was preoccupied. He thought of how much Victoria had changed in the months that passed Chloe's death in the past timelines. She didn't become a saint, but she had become more sympathetic and understanding. To the point that Max and Victoria could be considered friends. Disappointingly, it couldn't be said the same now. This was possibly the worst thing about going back.

Well, aside from Nathan and Jefferson being free.

Chloe had stepped in front of Warren and had shouted, "Brain Boy," removing him from his mind.

"What?"

"Were you even listening to me?"

"Yeah… mostly. Stuff about Nathan and Victoria. Max probably not answering your texts."

"Did you hear the part of having sand in your hair?"

"No," he said, shaking out his wavy locks. "I should really get a hair cut."

She smiled widely in response. "Let's go get one then! There is a barber shop right by the Outta Sight clothing store!"

Well, if there's one thing he liked about Chloe, it was her never ending enthusiasm. Jeez, he thought marijuana was supposed to make people relax.

Even still, he followed her into her truck.

Minutes later, he found himself sitting in a vermilion barber's chair, a mid-20s, reasonably handsome black man named Terrell snipping at his long hair. It had been a long time since he last remembered getting a hair cut. Yet something felt achingly familiar about getting one.

Chloe excused herself once Terrell had started clipping his way through Warren's hair. About 10 or so minutes later, she returned with her hands behind her back. First, she adressed Terrell, "How much longer?"

Terrell shrugged, "Almost done."

Chloe nodded and adressed her companion, "Guess what?"

He raised an eyebrow expectantly at her, "What?"

She excitedly whipped her arms around and displayed her secret in front of her body. It was a blue shirt with a white Periodic Table of Elements displaying brightly on it.

"Chloe, you shouldn't have…" he said in response. Terrell, in the meantime, took the apron off his neck and shoulders.

She shrugged. "I wasn't going to just sit here and watch you get your haircut. It looks nice by the way. Don't expect me to say anything else about it, attention whore. Anyway, I saw the shirt and said, "Who is the biggest nerd I know?"

"Obviously, you're looking at him," forcing a smile.

"Try it on." Warren tried it on, and, he knew it would be a perfect fit. It was the exact same shirt Max had gotten him in the timeline before they saved Chloe. He knew she did not want to know this, so he kept it to himself.

But looking at Chloe's face as he told he loved the shirt, he could tell that she actually likes him as a friend. She clearly stole this shirt for him, unless she somehow magically created money out of thin air. He was willing to accept this without an issue, because he was just grateful she accepted him as a friend.

After Warren tried on the shirt and took off the tags, he paid Terrell for his services. As he paid both the new friends received dual texts.

Message from Max

5:46 p.m.

Hey guys, I just woke up. Can you come back to Chloe's? FYI: David came home and he's unfortunately pissed that you're (Chloe) not home and I am. I managed to talk him down. :3

Chloe read the message to him as he received his change. Another message came in, and he dug his phone to look at it.

Unknown number (503) 781-4512

5:46 p.m.

Were on our way

Warren saved her number just before her next message came in.

Message from Chloe

5:47 p.m.

NO EMOJI

"Let's go," Chloe said with a smile and nod of her head.

"Hey," said Terrell behind him. "You said you're a nerd right?"

"Uh," Warren replied. "Yeah…"

"We don't have time for this shit," Chloe said. Her voice betraying her irritiation. "We gotta get going."

"I just need one question answered. I really don't know it. For my astronomy homework, man."

"Go ahead," Warren complied politely.

"What's the most abundant element on Earth?"

"Iron," Chloe said without hesitation. "Let's go, Graham!"

Warren just shrugged, "She's right."

Impressed that Chloe is much smarter than he gave her credit for, he ran a hand through his newly trimmed hair and followed her into the truck.

The silence that filled the truck was much less awkward than the one going into town. There was a newfound respect that existed between the two of them. Although both knew that they might never have the same bond that they had with Max, they knew that this knew one they had had potential.

When they arrived, Chloe nimbly jumped out of the truck and practically skipped into the house. She also nearly skipped right into the step-father.

"Where do you think you're going, girlie?"

Chloe rolled her eyes so aggressively that Warren worried they might fall out of her skull. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me 'girlie'? You make me sound like a child."

"Don't avoid the question. Why do you have a random girl sleeping in your room?"

"Nice try, David. But we both know that that girl is Max Caulfield." Chloe crossed her arms. "It's like you don't even pay attention to the students your supposed to secure. I guess what happens when you have your cameras, you don't need to learn names."

David was just about to angrily retort when Warren jumped in. He tried to not to stare at the vein that pulsed in David's forehead.

"Max was beat from photography class when we got here. We decided to let her sleep while I… got a haircut."

Unbeknownst to Warren, just a few minutes ago, Max Caulfield had told him a very similar story. David, of course, had read Warren Graham's file. Striaght A student, teacher's pet, but had a small pention for playing pranks. Still a trustworthy kid.

Luckily, David decided that he could most likely trust this kid. Possibly more than his step-daughter.

"Fine. Go upstairs. Keep it quiet, I have some stuff to work on. And don't think I don't know why your eyes are red, Chloe."

"Whatever," Chloe said, thankfully shoving past her step-father and stomping her way upstairs.

With one last fleeting look at David, Warren followed his friend up the stairs and through her bedroom door to find his girlfriend sitting Native American style on Chloe's bed. She shook a fresh poloroid out from her camera and smiled at the two of them, "Hey, guys.

We need to talk."

Thank you to everyone who reviews. It lets me know you are reading and you want more which speeds up the process.

Til next time!

Holywoodunderfed