Note: Hey folks! Sorry this update took so long, Not only did I get super busy, but I also had a lot of trouble with the second half of this chapter. I felt like I was getting repetitive, and wanted to get this right. Well, right it is! I'm pretty happy with it, and I hope you will be too. Without further ado, let's begin!
Chloe gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes having long adjusted to the dark. Her hand groped for her phone, then squinted when the light blistered her eyes, "Like the fucking sun," Chloe muttered grumpily, but making sure not to wake Max. She turned down the brightness, and checked the time: 4:30, "Fucking typical." Chloe said, and tossed her phone next to her air mattress.
Chloe looked over to the bed, and saw Max's small body, stirring restlessly. "Little smartass wanted me to have the bed. Like I was going to let that happen." Convincing Max's parents to let them share a room had been easier than Chloe had expected. For that matter, having Chloe as their yearlong house guest had been easy too. "Though the longer we stay here, the harder Vanessa is going to push about what really happened with Jefferson," Chloe thought, and rolled over onto her side. She glanced back at the bed, and bit her lip, "God, I wish that was big enough for two." They had tried sharing it the first night, but had quickly found out that one of them would end up with a rude awakening on the floor.
Max muttered quietly in her sleep, and Chloe watcher her worriedly. "Her nightmares are not getting any better." Chloe thought, "What if we sacrificed Arcadia Bay for nothing?" She punched her pillow in frustration, "I should have just jumped off that cliff. Forced Max to save everyone."
Max cried out, and sat up like she had been struck by lightning. Instantly, Chloe was next to her, sitting on the edge of the bed, "Hey, it's okay." She said quietly, remembering not to touch Max yet, "It's over, you're safe."
"No!" Max sobbed, "He's here, Chloe, he's coming!" Her entire body was shaking, and her hands gripped the bed sheets, pulling them off the mattress, "He had me in the Dark Room, he said-"
"Max, breathe for me." Chloe said firmly, "You were having a nightmare, okay? It's over. We're in Seattle now, Jeffershit is probably still back in Oregon." Chloe held out her hand, looking for permission. When Max didn't flinch away, Chloe slipped an arm around her.
"Chloe..." Max whimpered, and buried her head in Chloe's shoulder.
"Fuck, I have no idea how I'm supposed to help you Super Max." Chloe thought, "You're normally the one helping me."
"What do I do Chloe?" Max said shakily into Chloe's shoulder, "Why is he stuck in my head?"
"Hell if I know," Chloe said, "But I am going to kill him for this."
Max balked, and began to shake even worse, "No, you can't go near him! Chloe, he'll kill you again, I can't lose you, not again."
"Okay, okay, I'm not gonna die." Chloe said, alarmed, "I'm not leaving you, okay? Not ever."
"You wanted to though!" Max said, her voice heavy with emotion, "At the lighthouse, you wanted to die, I thought I was going to lose you!"
Chloe looked at her feet, "I know. I'm sorry, I just wanted to help. I just-"
"Well it wouldn't help me!" Max said, sitting back so she could look Chloe in the eyes, "After everything Jefferson- After everything-" Max's voice broke, but she pushed on, "After everything that happened, I wasn't going to lose you too."
"Max-"
"I know, I know I'm being stupid," Max sighed, wiping her eyes with a trembling hand, "I just-" She began to shake more violently, but pressed on, "I just saw him kill you again. Before I even could-" Max dissolved into tears again, and collapsed into Chloe's lap. Chloe held her close, gently stroking her hair.
"Max what is going on with you?" Chloe thought, and, without thinking, pressed her lips to Max's forehead. Max froze, tears still streaming down her face, then hugged Chloe tight around the middle, "Oh shit," Chloe thought, "Oh fuck, I should not have done that."
"Max, I-" Max shook her head, and held onto Chloe tighter
"Not now, okay?" She said, her voice muffled, "Let's talk about it later."
"But-"
"Please Chloe, I just- I can't right now, I can't." Max said, her shoulders shaking.
"Alright." Chloe said reluctantly, "Later."
Max fidgeted nervously with her fork, staring suspiciously at the yellow and brown mass set before her.
"Come on, Maxaroni, eat up!" Chloe said cheerfully, waving a whisk like a baton.
"I didn't know you knew how to make scrambled eggs." Max muttered, poking at the meal on her plate.
"I don't," Chloe leaned on the table in front of her, and flashed a smile, "Didn't seem that hard, so I decided to try it. We don't have Joyce's cooking anymore, and all you can make is cereal. My turn!"
"I dunno, Chlo, I'm not really-"
Chloe pointed the whisk threateningly at Max, "Are you trying to get out of eating my eggs, Caulfield?" Max wiped something off her face that came from the whisk, and gave Chloe a dirty look, which she ignored, "Come on, you're fighting off Jeffershit every night, and you're scared of some bad eggs?"
Max tensed, and her fork clattered against her plate as her hands started shaking.
"Stupid bitch!" Max flinched away, eyes half closed against the bright studio lights. She whimpered quietly, fighting the lethargy, the drugs coursing through her system.
"They're wearing off..." Max thought weakly, "I just have to... Stay strong..."
"You just don't listen, do you?" Jefferson asked, a hard edge to his voice, "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." He knelt down, and Max tried to push herself away from him, but couldn't conjure the effort, "Goddamn, you are a fighter though. I've had my eye on you, and I've noticed you've been more fearless this week than maybe your whole life."
Jefferson held up the needle to the light, and it flashed into Max's eyes, "No..." Even the one word took up nearly all of her strength.
"Remember my number one rule: Always take the shot." Jefferson leaned forward, and grabbed her hair, pulling her head back gently. Max struggled, kicking against the duct tape, trying anything to get free. Then she felt a sharp sting in the side of her neck, and everything went black.
Max woke on the floor, and felt someone stroking her hair. She jerked away, expecting to see Jefferson grinning behind her.
"Max, it's me! It's just me." Chloe said, holding her hands up, and watching her with concerned eyes. Max stared at her uncomprehendingly, still poised to stand and flee, "It's alright, you're safe. You were in another flashback, you're safe now."
Max warily glanced around, looking for any sign of Jefferson, or the Dark Room. All she saw was her kitchen, chairs, table, counter. The smell of overcooked egg. Max's shoulders slowly fell, her breathing returning to normal, "Damnit," She muttered, "How long this time?"
"Just a minute or two." Chloe offered a hand, and Max hesitantly took it, and Chloe pulled her to her feet, "You okay?" Max squeezed Chloe's hand tightly, "Stupid question. Here, have some food. Maybe that will help.
Without thinking, Max reached over, and put a forkful of eggs in her mouth. Instantly, her eyes started watering, and it took all of her self-control not to cough the eggs back up. After she swallowed painfully, she said, "What the fuck did you do to these eggs?"
"I dunno!" Chloe said defensively, "I threw them on the stove, and I know you like cheese and salt so I put some of them in, and whisked it all together-"
"Chloe that's not how you make eggs!" Max said incredulously, "How did you have Joyce as a mom, and lived for eighteen years and think that's how you make eggs? How did you even get them to look anywhere near normal?" The two girls stared at each other for a moment, then both of them burst out laughing. Max was still shaking, and felt like she wanted to throw up, her head spinning, but somehow she was laughing. Max tackled Chloe in a hug, and buried her face in her shoulder.
"We'll stick to your cereal then, huh?" Chloe muttered, sounding almost sheepish.
"Thank you, Che..." Max murmured quietly, and Chloe pulled back and looked at her, confused.
"For what, terrible eggs?"
Max shook her head, choking back laughter and tears, "No, for being here for me. Every night, every day. For helping me through whatever the hell this is. And, yeah, for making me terrible eggs."
Chloe bit her lip, and smiled, "What else would I do? We're best friends, dork." She pulled out a chair and flopped into it, putting her feet up on the table, "You up to getting us some cereal, or should I?"
"I got it." Max went over to the cupboard, and grabbed the Cheerios. Her hands were still trembling, but Max managed to pour out two bowls before nearly dropping the box, "Hey, Chloe, could you-"
"I got you, Super Max." Chloe hopped up, and snatched away the cereal, "Should've done this in the first place." She pointed toward the table, "Go sit, Chef Chloe has got this."
"Chef Chloe nearly poisoned me with scrambled eggs," Max muttered, but didn't argue. She focused on breathing instead, and carefully set herself in the chair Chloe had vacated.
"Here we go, Cheerios with skim for the healthy heroine, and 2% for her sexy sidekick." Chloe grinned at her, and Max blushed.
"Damn right." Max thought, before blushing even more.
"Chloe, how am I supposed to function like this? We go back to school tomorrow?" Max said, changing the subject.
Chloe sighed, and began eating her Cheerios, "I dunno man. That reminds me," Chloe shifted in her seat, looking awkward, "I know it's not my forte, but I did some research."
"Maybe I should start calling you Sherlock," Max said through a mouthful of cereal.
Chloe flipped her off, then continued, "You've been freaking me out dude, alright! I haven't had any idea how to help you, and I thought, you know, might as well try it."
Max smiled slightly, "Chloe Price, asking for help that's a first." Chloe lobbed a Cheerio at her, and Max ducked, grinning, "What'd you find, Doctor Chloe?"
Chloe bit the inside of her cheek and began bouncing her leg, "A lot of the stuff you've been going through, the flashbacks, nightmares, paranoia, shit like that-"
"Checks on all boxes," Max said grimly.
"Well, after what you went through with Jeffershit, I'm wondering if you're having some PTSD reaction or something?"
Max froze, and tried to remember to keep breathing, "I wasn't in a war though, I don't- I couldn't-" Chloe reached a hand across the table, and Max shakily took it.
"What you went through was fucking terrifying. And I know that idea is really fucking scary, but I'm not even sure yet. We both know I'm shit at researching, or making connections. You were the one who figured out where Nathan was going. So let's go all Sherlock and Watson, and figure out what's going on with you. It's just a place to start, okay?" Max nodded, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking. Chloe squeezed her hand, then leaned back into her chair, "I'm gonna need your intellect on this one, cause my best advice would be to get you high. Not that Miss Moral Max would do anything that illegal," Chloe gave her a wink, then went back to her cereal.
Max debated for a second, then said, "You do know that marijuana is legal in Washington, right?"
Chloe froze with her spoon halfway to her mouth, "What?"
"Marijuana got legalized here late last year, it was a huge deal."
"You're fucking with me."
"Nope."
"Seriously, you're fucking with me."
Max laughed, "No, I'm not Chloe! December of 2012, weed got legalized. You've gotta be eighteen, and there's a few other laws, but-" Chloe began rapidly shoveling down Cheerios, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Wolf those down!" Chloe ordered, pointing at Max's cereal with her spoon, "We're going on a fieldtrip."
"Wait, now?"
"Fuck yeah!" Chloe shouted, and Max flinched, "Sorry." Chloe grabbed her phone from her pocket, "SIRI, where's the nearest marijuana joint?"
"Chloe, you don't have an iPhone."
"I don't give a fuck; I can get high without anyone arresting me!" Chloe pushed herself away from the table, and sprung up, "Come on, Caulfield, let's go!"
Note: Alright, this next chapter is gonna be a little funky, deadline wise. I'm currently at a writing seminar, which does mean I will be starting Chapter 8 right now, however my weekend is crazy busy. I have multiple appointments, possibly having a lunch with my girlfriend's mother, and am seeing several of the Harry Potter movies in the theaters, plus homework. So while I hope to finish Chapter 8, I make no promises. I will get it done as soon as possible however, as I am excited to get back to this story. I always hate when I don't have time to write. Anyway, I've gotta go, get to work on Chapter 8! Hope you enjoyed it, leave reviews/comments, and have a great day!