A/N: Holy crap, Chapter 5. I didn't expect this when I started with the idea that Max would change her mind about sacrificing Chloe in the Blackwell bathroom, and instead try and find a third choice that saved Chloe and Arcadia Bay.. Well, here we are, I've not yet hit the bottom of the barrel in terms of finding ways to explore the alternative universe that could have been created. (Apologies for the delay, however, work has been kicking my ass in the lead up to Christmas.)

Some criticism was received of my portrayal of Kate in Ch4. Look, I understand that her in game portrayal shows her religion being very important to her, but she's also one of the most caring, empathetic characters in the game, and I just don't see her being the 'tut, tut, sinning everywhere!' kind of person, and I extended that to her opinions on same sex relationships, using the example of Christian friends of mine who have shared views that are pretty much as I typed Kate's. If you disagree with that characterisation, that's okay, but, at the end of the day, I'm exerting whatever little authorial prerogative I have.

Anyway, on with the story!

Day three of my recovery finds me still tiring easily and napping frequently. I'm told this is likely due to my body naturally trying to replace the blood I lost and am still low on, despite several transfusions. As such, I'm sort of used to drifting off to sleep in random places and finding myself waking up back in my bed.

Every so often when I wake I find Chloe in the room, quietly sitting on the chairs by the window, looking through the parts of the diary I've gotten up to, rereading them. Unlike the original, I haven't been decorating this one as much as I did during the week-that-wasn't, and the recollections aren't as fresh as they were when I first wrote them, so despite my best attempts to record everything faithfully, every entry seems slightly hazy, like looking through a badly focused lens; despite my frustration with my memory, the words are more than enough for Chloe to engross herself in.

As I watched her this time, she read the same entry several times, then put the book down, looked out the window for a second, and sighed heavily. I shifted slightly, and she turned to look over at me, sensing my my movement, or maybe my eyes on her back.

"Hey, Max," she says softly, crossing to my side and bending down to give me a quick kiss.

"Hey yourself. Which entry were you reading again?" I ask.

She pauses, looks around the room for a second, avoiding the question.

"Chloe…?"

She pulls away and grabs the journal off the table, and flips it back open after she settles back down into the chair closest to the bed, frustratingly just out of touching range.

"Finally Chloe showed up, more bubbly than I would have thought after almost getting killed in a bathroom yesterday. It makes me happy to see her smile. But that smile meant trouble, since all she really wanted was for me to show off my rewind power. So I did and I have to admit, I felt like a total boss. Except I did start feeling weak and woozy the more I rewound. I even got a nosebleed, which kinda freaked me out.

Chloe always wants more, so she demanded we go to her top-secret lair…"

She finishes reading, and looks up and over at me. "Was I really that… demanding?"

There's a second question, hidden inside the first, I think. Something along the lines of how could you stand me?

"Sure you were, but it wasn't as bad as you make it sound. Your best friend had just come back into your life, you were having a blast with how my rewind power worked, and you wanted to play a little more with it. I don't blame you - I went along with it, after all."

"And the next bit?"

Oh, that bit. I can still remember exactly what I wrote.

"She still had to get pissed off at me because I dared to answer Kate's call. I'm not a fan of Chloe's petulant side. She tried to make me feel like an ass, but screw that. Kate was so happy I answered I actually felt worse for her. Chloe has to know I can have two friends at once…"

"Did I… was I…?"

"You were jealous, Chloe. I can understand why, too. You thought Rachel had just abandoned you, and you were on your own for so long, then I came back and you wanted me all to yourself. You were kind of a mess, but you realised what you were doing, later."

"I did?"

"Haven't written it yet," I promise her. "When we visited Kate on Thursday, you said you were glad that I'd been there for her, and that you were sorry for being such a dick about it."

She laughs, but it's not really a happy laugh.

"Chloe."

She's looking away from me, looking out the window, at the door, at anywhere but me.

"Chloe."

She finally looks at me, and I smile at her.

"I forgive you for being a bit of a dick."

This time, the laugh has a bit more happiness behind it.

"And besides, it wasn't you, exactly. You haven't razzed me for answering the phone to talk to a friend - yet."

"I won't," she says quickly. "I promise I won't get petulant or upset or jealous."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," I tell her, then smile to soften the blow. "You're slow to trust and easy to anger and you've been let down so many times in your life that you lash out sometimes. And sometimes, that's going to be at me, even when you don't want to. I already know that, so it's okay. I love you, and that won't change, even if you get mad at me sometimes. As long as we let each other cool off and talk again afterwards, we'll always be fine."

I pretend not to notice the tears in her eyes that she flicks away angrily with the back of her hand, or the sniffle that she turns into a raspberry.

"Ahhh, I hate soppy shit," she lies.

"C'mere."

She sets the book down beside me, and sits in the space I make for her, then I pull her down to me and kiss away the tears on her cheek, then her nose, then her lips…

This is what I was prepared to sacrifice myself for.

This is meant to be.

This moment is perfect.

The perfect moment doesn't last nearly long enough, as usual.

Mom bursts into the room, talking over her shoulder. "I don't think this is the time, Officer!"

I think Chloe just about bounced through the roof as she sat up and hopped off the bed, but either mom didn't notice, or she's chosen not to for the moment. Either way, she's got an angry look on her face, like she's been on the losing side of an argument, and Mom hates that.

"Look, Mrs Caulfield, we need to get a statement from your daughter sooner or later, and the doctors said that she's awake enough and strong enough to handle it. I'm sure she'd rather get it out of the way and over and done with. Wouldn't you?"

He turns to me, and I recognise him from the diner, talking about Nathan and Frank and the Prescott family.

I can't let him know that I know more than I should, I realise. That would be super suspicious. Then I remember my conversation with Kate.

"Officer… I was wondering, would you mind if Kate Marsh was here? And maybe you could interview us together? It's just… I don't want to do this alone."

"You're not under investigation, Miss Caulfield, I promise you that. But we still do need to ask you a few questions in a formal setting."

"I understand that, but this is probably as formal as I'm going to get, at least for the next few days. I know you need to ask Kate questions too. You probably even have some follow-up questions for Chloe. Wouldn't it be easier if we were all here?"

He sighs, and gives me an appraising look. "Very well. I assume you have Miss Marsh's number?"

I nod, and Chloe tosses me the phone.

"Kate?"

"Max?"

"How quick can you get to the hospital?"

"Why? What's the matter? Are you okay."

I laugh. "I'm fine, Kate. Just… there's an officer here, and he wants to talk to me now, so I figured…"

There's a short intake of breath, then I can hear her steeling herself. "I'll call a taxi and be there in fifteen minutes," she says.

"You don't have to do this," I remind her. "It's no big…"

"No Max, I want to do this. I need to get closure, and this is going to be part of it. I'll be there soon."

"Okay. Thanks, Kate."

I hang up and look over at Mom and the cop. "She'll be fifteen minutes or so."

"Very well." The cop looks around, then sighs. "I'll be back in twenty minutes, then," he says, realising the look on my Mom's face.

After he leaves, she turns to Chloe. "Do you mind giving me and Max a few minutes, Chloe?"

"No problem, Mrs Caulfield."

"Chloe, my name is Vanessa. Please, don't call me Mrs Caulfield. It makes me feel old."

"You are old," I joke, and she sighs.

"We won't be long, promise," she says, and pats Chloe on the shoulder as she leaves.

Then she turns to me, and Inquisitor Mom is in full effect. Uh oh.

She gives me a stern look, one that softens slightly when she sees me flinch. "Oh Max, you're not in trouble, I promise. I just.."

She sighs, and sits on the edge of the bed next to me, and grabs my hands in hers.

"We need to talk about Chloe."

I knew this was coming, but it's still a shock to hear. "Did you want to be a bit more specific?" I ask carefully.

"I saw the two of you," she starts, then pauses, blushing, and she looks away in embarassment. "I didn't mean to intrude, but you're in a hospital and I was coming to your room and..." she stumbles over her words a bit, and I can't help but grin.

"You saw us what, mom?"

She looks back at me sharply, and then when she sees the stupid smile on my face, she sighs. "You're teasing me."

I don't bother replying.

"Okay, I saw the two of you getting intimate... but I overheard Joyce say that you hadn't even been in touch at all until the day you were shot... don't you think that's a bit fast to be diving into a relationship?"

Ah, here comes the part I can't explain to her. I can't tell her about the week-that-wasn't without her committing me to a psych ward... I don't think anybody other than Chloe would be able to accept the truth of what happened.

"It's complicated."

"You say that like it explains everything, but it doesn't. It just makes it more.."

"Complicated?"

"Damnit Max! I am trying to understand, okay? I am trying to..."

"Accept that your daughter might be a lesbian? Or bi?" I think about it for a moment, trying to work out if I feel the same about any other girls I know. Brooke? Nah. Kate? No.

Victoria? Hell no.

"Hmm, maybe I'm just a Chloesexual," I say, mostly to myself.

"Don't turn this into a joke, Maxine Hannah Caulfield."

Mom normally never uses my full name unless I'm in trouble.. but I can feel the anger surging suddenly through me.

"I wasn't," I tell her, my voice cold. "Mom, I know what I feel about her. Believe it or not, she feels pretty similar about me. I don't know what the future holds for either of us, but if you think that I'm not going to grab hold to the one person in the world I've found who makes me feel like this..."

My rant runs out of steam when I look up and see the look in her eyes. It's a mix of admiration, and happiness, and fear, and maybe just a bit of sadness and desperate denial thrown in for good measure. I wonder if she's thinking if Chloe and I stay together, she won't have grandkids?

"Jeez, mom. It's not like we can't adopt. Or use a sperm donor or something," I mutter.

"That's not... okay, that might be a part of it - a small part! But... tell me truthfully, Max, if you had a daughter, and one day she was shot and then spent a week in a coma, and when she came out of it she was suddenly attracted to her female best friend, wouldn't you wonder? At least a little bit?"

It's not fair, I think suddenly, and my anger is back. I thought she'd be fine with this! I want her to be fine with this.

I need her to be fine with this.

"Yeah. I would wonder. And then I would talk to her, and find out how she really feels about this new aspect of her life, see if she's just as scared as I was, about how it would change her. Then I'd ask if she was sure, and if she was willing to commit to the relationship, take the good with the bad... I'd ask her if she was in love, as much as I was with the love of my life... and if she said yes then I'd promise her that I would love her and support her with everything I had, unconditionally, because I trusted her."

I pause for a breath.

"I wouldn't be scaring her, making her feel like she's being backed into a corner, like she might be forced to choose between her family and her love."

Mom's mouth drops open and she gapes at me, like I just turned into a rabbit or something.

"Max… I… is that… is that really what you think?" She stops, looks away for a second to compose herself, then looks back again. "Do you really think that either me or your Dad would ever do that to you? For any reason?"

Instead of answering, I draw my knees up to my chest and wrap my hands around my shins, tucking into a tight ball.

"Max, we do love you unconditionally, but we also worry about you. For the longest time, we wondered if maybe this was just something you weren't ready for or, maybe not ever. You never really showed any interest in… boys - or girls! - or, you know, dating in general… so it's come as a bit of a shock to find you… well…" she trails off again. "Look… I'm sorry I upset you, I didn't mean to. I just wanted to know if you were really serious, and I guess I got my answer. You really love her, don't you?"

I nod, not trusting my voice thanks to the tightness in my throat.

"Then love her with everything you have, and we'll consider her a part of our family… not like that wasn't already partially the case five years ago… I guess it'll just be a little different."

She leans forward and puts her hands on my shoulders.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, Max, and I'm sorry for making you think that we might not be okay with you loving whoever you want to, I was just worried, and worry makes me say and do stupid things. Ask your father if you doubt me."

She kisses the top of my head and half hugs me, then sits back.

"Now, you're going to be safe, right? You have protection?"

"Mom!" I interrupt. "Jeez, I just got shot! Thats… that's not an issue right now!"

She grins wickedly at me, and I realise that she's got me. Damnit.

"I'll go see if your friend Kate is here, then find that officer. Want me to send Chloe in?"

"Sure, mom."

A few seconds later, Chloe's back in the room, back sitting beside me, back holding my hand in one of hers. She shoots me a comforting grin, but her eyes are asking questions that will need to be answered sooner or later. How much did you hear from the door? I wonder.

I don't get any time to enjoy her touch though, because the cop is right behind her, along with Mom, and Kate.

He settles into one of the chairs by the window, looks over at us, and smiles without a convincing amount of sincerity.

"Okay, who wants to go first?"