Note: Hey guys! So this is a bit of a shorter chapter, which I'm sorry about, but it is by necessity. Couldn't work around it. It also required some research, which was interesting. Anyway, let's dive in!
"We've all lost friends. Family. Our homes." Seeing Sean Prescott standing up in front of the service brought on all sorts of emotions for Max, but the pit of fear in her stomach was the most distracting, "I myself have lost my son, a shining star taken before his time." Max stiffened, and unconsciously touched her throat, feeling the heat of Nathan's hand.
"Nobody tells me what to do. Not my parents, not the principal, or that whore in the bathroom!"
"Max?" Chloe's hand touched her shoulder, and the memory broke like glass. Max massaged her temples.
"Sorry," Max whispered, "Just thinking,"
"Yeah I guessed." Chloe scowled slightly, "We're probably thinking the exact same thing. I mean, how doesn't the entire town know about how fucked up Nathan is?"
Max shrugged, "You said it yourself, the Prescotts basically own the police here."
She shivered as Jefferson's voice spoke from the back of her mind, "I'm sorry that I killed- The Nathan killed her in self defense."
"Jefferson won't be happy about that," she murmured to Chloe, who gave her a strange look.
Next to Chloe, Joyce made a shushing motion, and Max sat back in her seat. They'd only been there for two days, and already Joyce was being a mom again.
"I guess I don't really mind, if it means she's alive." Max thought. Nathan's father was finishing up his speech, making way for the next person on the schedule, Warren's mother Anna, "Oh Warren... I'm so sorry, I thought I saved you..." Max had been crying throughout the service, as parents and friends of the dead made speeches one by one, "There's so many of you..."
Max gazed at the mural of faces, despondent. Warren. Frank. Evan and Alyssa. Dana and Trevor had been out on a date, killed when a car had been thrown into them by the storm. Brooke had been out, probably searching for Warren. Max didn't know the details, but knew she had been impaled. Her eyes clouded, and she looked at the floor. There were more, so many more. All killed because of her.
"You stupid bitch!" Jefferson roared in her face, needle poised above her. Max whimpered in fear, cowering away from him, "You just don't listen, do you? In fact, you never did hear much in my class." He smiled down at her sardonically, "If you had, you might have seen all this coming."
Max's breathing quickened, the world blurring, and she was running, running away from Jefferson, from Nathan, from everything.
"How?! How did you know that?!"
"I just wanted to know if you'd like to spend the rest of your life in my Dark Room."
"Stay still!"
"You couldn't save anyone, not even your precious Chloe."
Max collapsed in a corner, chest heaving, wrapping her legs in her arms. She clamped her hands over her ears, but he was still there, insidiously leaking into her mind.
Max felt two hands on her shoulders, and she whimpered, hiding her face in her legs, hands tight over her ears. The grip loosened, and she felt an arm slide around her shoulders, gently rubbing her back. Max flinched away from the touch, breath shallow and rapid.
"You can't blame all this on Nathan. I don't care what you do to me. You're gonna die motherfucker. For Chloe, and Rachel, and everybody else."
"I do love your spirit, Max, but you brought yourself her, by your own choice."
"No!" Max sobbed, "No, I didn't!" The pressure around her shoulders was gone, but she could feel someone next to her. Jefferson? Max carefully peeked past her legs, and saw a flash of blue hair. Max blinked, her body still shaking badly.
"What a waste of talent..." Jefferson's voice was softer now, fading away.
"He had me, Chloe," Max sobbed, "He had me, he killed you, you're dead!"
"No, it's okay, you saved me!" Chloe's voice was muffled, and intermingled with Jefferson, but grew clearer as his grew fainter. Finally, he was gone. Max slowly took her hands away from her ears, glancing around. She had run to some hallway, somewhere in the church. Chloe knelt next to her, carefully leaving a few inches between them.
Still shaking, Max collapsed into Chloe's lap, "What's wrong with me, Chloe?" Max said through her tears.
Chloe stroked Max's hair, "I dunno Max. I dunno. What happened? You just took off."
"He- He had me in the Dark Room, I saw him, I heard him-" Max rambled, her body beginning to shake more violently. She could feel her mind clouding over again as air left her faster and faster.
"Max, it's okay!" Chloe said, "You're safe, Jefferson isn't here."
"He was, I heard him Chloe!"
"Max, it was just a memory. Just a memory. We're at the Arcadia Bay Memorial, remember?" Max swallowed, and tried to breath regularly, "My mom, and your parents are both here too, okay? Do you want me to go get them?" Max shook her head rapidly, "Alright. That's okay. I'm gonna keep you safe, okay? If Jeffershit comes anywhere near you-"
"You're gonna punch him in the dick." Max laughed, then started hiccuping violently.
"Exactly." Chloe said firmly, "He doesn't get to do this to you and get away unpunished." Max carefully sat up, and with Chloe's help got to her feet, "You good to go rockstar?"
"I think so," Max said shakily, "Could- Could we sit in the back though? Just in case."
"Of course. Come on, let's go."
Chloe ignored the various murmurs coming from the people around her, and held tight to Max's hand. She listened absently as Max chatted with a brunette whose name started with an S. Sandra? Sarah?
"If you ever need any help with your family, let me know, okay Stella?" Max said, and dropped Chloe's hand to give the girl a hug.
"Stella, got it." Chloe thought, "Fuck it, it's not like I'm going to see any of these people any time soon. At least I hope not." Chloe hadn't talked to her mom about staying in Seattle yet, and just the thought of it sent her fingers tapping rapidly.
She jumped when Max's fingers slipped back into hers, and glanced down at their intertwined hands, "What's this about anyway?" Chloe had noticed how touchy Max had been ever since the storm, but hadn't had the nerve to comment on it. She certainly wasn't going to complain, even if Max was just looking for some emotional support, "Can't really blame her there."
"Hey, can we get out of here?" Max asked quietly, "I've seen everyone I need to, and-" She broke off, staring at something over Chloe's shoulder. Chloe glanced back, trying to figure out what she was looking at.
"Max, what's up?" Chloe nudged her lightly.
Max blinked, and looked away, "Nothing. Sorry, it's nothing. Thought I saw something." She gently pulled Chloe towards Joyce, "Come on, let's see if your mom's ready to go."
"Lead the way, Super Max."
Together, they weaved through the milling crowd, until they made it to Joyce. She was sitting out of the way, talking quietly into her phone.
"How long do you think he'll have to stay?" Joyce waved at the two girls, and held up a finger, "I understand. When would we be able to visit him? Great, thank you." She hung up, and sighed, "They think David will be in the hospital for two weeks at most. After that though..." Joyce shrugged, "Recovery can take a very long time."
"How long do they think?" Max asked nervously, gripping Chloe's hand tightly.
"Could be weeks. Could be years. He might never recover fully, an injury to the spine is just so damn tricky." Joyce rubbed her temples, "I'm just glad he's alive."
"Me too." Max said quietly, her hand clamping down on Chloe's.
"Yo Super Max, lose some of the super strength!" Chloe yelped.
"Sorry!" Max tried to let go completely, but Chloe held on anyway.
"It's fine, just a little looser would be nice. I generally would prefer not being crushed."
Joyce gave the two of them an odd look, then said, "Anyway, whenever you girls are ready, I'd like to go visit David. Take your time, we have plenty-"
"No, we're ready!" Max said quickly, "That's what we just came over to talk to you about."
"Great," Joyce said, and stood up from the bench, "To the car then."
"Shotgun!" Chloe said immediately.
"You're gonna stick me in the middle?" Max asked.
"That's what you get for being a munchkin!"
"I'm not that small!"
"Pretty soon you're gonna be singing about the Lollipop Guild."
"I'm ignoring you now."
Joyce sighed, and walked out the door, leaving the two girls to follow behind.
Note: Alright. Not too much happened in this chapter other than our first real look at Max's PTSD, which I've researched pretty heavily. I want to show that as realistically as possible, as it is a huge deal. Also, I want to mention if you're struggling with any mental problem such as depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, or just you're feeling really down, don't be afraid to ask for help. It's been so heavily stigmatized, and it shouldn't be. Therapy can be very beneficial, even if you don't have any disorders, so please please ask for help if you need it. Anywho, I plan to come out with Chapter 6 sometime next week, and that deadline is probably going to be accurate for once. I have people asking to see some of my work, and as I don't know them well enough to show them fanfiction, I have to write something for a novel I've been working on for awhile, so I'll need a little extra time before I get back to Chloe and Max. Also, I'm not really sure where I'm going next, and I want to avoid lackluster chapters if I can, so I need to do a little more planning. So I'll be slowing the breakneck pace I've been publishing these to make sure my quality stays up. I will do my utmost to keep to at least one chapter a week however. That's all, thanks for reading folks!