Hey, everybody! A few things! Thank you all for your wonderful support, comments, kudos, and sharing! Keep it up! Also a huge thanks to Ben for keeping things going smoothly posting every week. I'll try to be a little more present!

This week's illustration is from the lovely cinnamonsnaps on ao3!

-Sid (thesilvergoddess)

The three sat in close company, all their bodies touching and their hushed words only reaching each other's ears. Even Chloe leaned in and opened herself to Kate, even though it was slight. Max could see the flicker of hope in Chloe's eyes that maybe this was the beginning of a support network. Her posture was still guarded and wary, but a sense of careful peace enveloped her features and smoothed her worried brow.

A good time after the tears and blossoms of deeper friendship, Kate grudgingly started back to work.

"After all this time, I probably won't have a break for days!" She laughed - still such a beautiful, melodious sound.

Max sometimes wished she could capture how she saw laughs, expressions, and even tears of those special to her. Maybe one day she could accurately portray these things in a photo, but for now, she just experienced it. She felt Chloe's fingers brush against hers then intertwine.

"Come on, cloud child. Let's let Kate get back to work." She squeezed Max's hand lightly and nodded toward the double doors of the hospital.

"Kate, it was so good to…" Words escaped her finite grasp. Good to see you? Good to dump my emotional baggage on you? Good to bond over being kidnapped and displayed?

Maybe the clammy hands gave it away or maybe something on her face, and Chloe squeezed Max's hand a little tighter and amended, "It's good to have someone else to trust."

Max closed her dry mouth and nodded fervently.

A warm smile played on Kate's lips as her small form took on both Max and Chloe in a bear hug. "You can always trust me. With anything. And now I know that I can trust you both, too." She finished squeezing the life out of them and stood back. "Drive safe, and get home before dark. It's supposed to storm tonight."

Max smiled and found her tongue turned back from stone. "You too, Kate."

The two walked hand in hand through the parking lot, the cold ripping through their clothes and stinging their exposed fingers. It remained quiet between them until they both shut the doors of the truck and Chloe started the engine.

"That went better than expected," Chloe remarked as she reversed.

"Kate's good people," Max shrugged and fiddled with the seatbelt absentmindedly. She was almost too nervous to talk to Chloe alone. Sometimes it got that way between them, especially when Max started being weird about her emotions and- No.

Chloe broke the silence. "You look like you have something on your mind. Feel free to chat. Or not."

Max didn't say anything for a while, and Chloe lit a cigarette at a red light. She did that when she was trying to stay cool. She clenched the steering wheel a little too hard for Max not to notice. Again, Chloe was good, but she wasn't perfect. Sometimes Chloe rushed things, but Max understood that she could be difficult to help when she wasn't forthcoming. Max swallowed a little harder than she might have if she hadn't felt a little pressured to talk.

Chloe sighed. "It's either the storm coming, or you're stuck on the photo of me you found in Nathan's drawer. Lucky for you, your girlfriend knows exactly the cure."

Max only partially forced a smile. The other part was natural. "Please don't say memes."

Chloe feigned sorrow by clutching her chest with a pained expression. "Damn, Max, that is so hurtful." Max snorted, and Chloe's canines shone. "I mean, if you want memes, sure, but I was thinking more like cookie dough and Blade Runner."

Max's blood froze over. "I don't know how I feel about Blade Runner anymore,to be honest."

"Is it the whole 'me dying slowly and painfully while paralyzed' thing?" Chloe's tone was light, but Max could tell she was being serious.

Max nodded.

"Well, I know it's… not good to remember, but maybe we can make new memories to replace the old ones." She shrugged, and blue and blonde waterfall curls spilled over her shoulders. Her hair had gotten longer over the last two months; it was striking. She needed a haircut and color but refused to go.

Max felt her tension ease as muted sunlight illuminated Chloe's bright, hopeful eyes. "'More human than human is our motto.'" She didn't dare speak another famous line.

It's too bad she won't live, but then again, who does?

She cringed again. Maybe making new memories with this would be good for her. Besides, watching the movie itself wasn't so bad a memory. It had been nice, in a way, if unbelievably bittersweet. It was what had come after that Max could hardly bear thinking about. Even so, she wasn't sure she could handle the whole "lover on a timer" theme.

She sometimes worried that the universe was still trying to fuck with her by trying to take Chloe away somehow. She remembered the first weeks after the storm, when she had decided to move in with Joyce and Chloe, and how she couldn't be alone more than was absolutely necessary without losing her grip on reality. Chloe's dead, sad eyes would come back to the forefront of her mind and send her reeling and running to puke in the school's bathroom stall. Her grades had suffered after the storm, and her attendance went south. School had been forgiving, at least. Teachers and students alike suffered after the storm and in the wake of Mark Jefferson. Teachers were overly lenient on the students, giving them extra time to finish assignments and incredible leeway on tests and quizzes, and some even offered extra credit for helping with the reconstruction efforts and publicity.

"Max, are you okay?"

Max looked up and around. They were at the store. Cold crept in through Chloe's open door. When had they gotten there…? "Yeah, I just got a little lost in thought."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Chloe climbed out of the truck and went around to open Max's. She bent over and kissed Max lightly. "That was my chauffeur fee."

Max found herself smiling and reached out to Chloe's heart shaped face. "Oh, darn. I guess I owe you more." They laughed as Chloe helped Max down. "I was just thinking about my grades this semester and how I'm glad it's over for a while."

"School goes away and the Christmas cheer sets in." She sighed and closed the door. "I still don't know what to get mom, and Christmas is just a few days from now."

They walked into the store and mulled over gifts, but decided on a small sum of money from the both of them. For the Vacation Jar, of course. They laughed and elbowed each other all the way to the checkout line where a grumpy kid about their age rang them up. His soulless eyes told her that he was probably a college student just trying to get by.

"There's going to be a snowstorm tonight, so be careful."

Max flashed a smile at the kid. "I hope you can get off work before it gets too bad."

The kid shrugged but nodded. Definitely a college student.

A gnawing feeling attacked Max's insides as they left the store, and she turned to Chloe. "Should we call Joyce to let her know?"

"She already texted me to tell me to get home before it gets bad. She said she's closing shop with Warren now and should be home in about thirty minutes, so she should be fine." Chloe's tone, while nonchalant, carried weariness and worry. Max guessed that after losing a parent to a car crash, she always worried about her mom getting home okay. "The thing is that David might be coming to the house to make sure he can help mom get out again when the snow clears. I'm not exactly happy about it, but at least he cares enough to try."

Chloe started up the truck and, as if on reflex, held her hand out to Max who took it and laced their fingers together. It was easy between them. They rode home in silence and found Joyce struggling up the ramp, which had gone askew in the rising wind. Chloe bailed out of the truck and trotted over to help while Max reacted a little slower. Sometimes it felt like she was moving through syrup. She closed the truck door and walked over to help by opening the house door and carrying the tube of cookie dough.

"It's mighty convenient that you girls showed up right when I needed you. It seems that you do that all the time."

Max saw Chloe cringe as she did, too. "I guess we do," Chloe grunted with another shove, freeing the wheelchair and Joyce from the split concrete that snared the wheel.

Max quickly changed the subject as Joyce scooted by. "Joyce, I thought I could make dinner for us all tonight."

Chloe shot Max a questioning look, and Joyce waved her off.

"There's no need. David is staying through the storm to help out and…" She paused and turned into the kitchen. "Quite frankly, I didn't want him to have to be alone. I don't hate him, you know. He is bringing Chinese takeout for dinner for all of us, and, Chloe, I'd like it if you didn't give him such a hard time. I know you've been better, but you still get so bitter sometimes."

Max and Chloe wandered to the kitchen bar and propped on the two stools there. Chloe (somehow) loudly rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"I'll make sure she's on her best behavior," Max beamed. Relief washed over her that she didn't have to cook. It had been a long enough day.

Max thought she saw a smirk from Joyce's half turned face on her thin lips. "You two just leave any amorous activities until he's gone."

"MOM." Chloe pulled her beanie down over her face and put her head in her hands. "Why would you kill me like this? Your only daughter?"

Max laughed but covered her mouth with the back of her hand. A heated blush crept its way onto her cheeks. They'd talked about it but not much else. "You won't have to worry about us."

"Oh, I'm smart enough to know that you're both young and in love." She folded her hands on her lap and smiled down at them. "I remember when William and I first started dating. No one could even get near us." She shook her head, and her smile turned sad. "I guess it doesn't matter now, but you two should enjoy each other every minute you can… Just not around David. He doesn't know." She paused. "Well, I didn't tell him."

They all heard the door close, and Max nearly threw down Chloe's hand. A grouchy voice from around the corner. "Tell who what?"

Joyce never missed a beat. "That you're a knight in shining armor for braving a storm to bring us wholesome, nutritious food from the far reaches of 4th Street."

David bought it wholesale and smiled as he came into the kitchen and nestled plastic bags filled with yummy treats on the counter. Damn. She was good. He shrugged off his jacket and nodded at Max and Chloe.

"You two are never apart, are you?" It wasn't a calculating question, just an observation and peaceful opener.

Chloe fixed her beanie to cover her long roots. "We are partners in crime."

David quirked his head, but Max gave Chloe a fist bump and a smile. Tonight wasn't so bad.

It got worse.

Not immediately, of course. David went around and boarded up the busted windows while Chloe and Joyce shuffled around, placing gallons of water in easily accessible places in case the power went out - which it probably would. Chloe pulled out the emergency stash of chicken stock, poptarts, beer, and canned beans.

"My beans, Max," she said, quite offhand.

Max couldn't stifle the snort that made Joyce look up inquisitively, but she didn't ask questions. She let the girls have their inside joke and left it at that.

Max felt useless, so she went and poked a fire to life and stood there a minute before deciding that going to the shed for firewood.

"That wood be a good idea," she mumbled to herself.

She opened the sliding door with a few more jerks than it usually would have taken. The house's foundation shifted during October's storm, which made the doors stick and need an extra shove to fully open. A part of her worried about the stray kitten she and Chloe had been seeing from time to time. She instantly regretting going outside. The wind had risen exponentially, and the first drifts of snow pelted her under-clothed body. The sky overhead was unnaturally dark for 5:30 in the afternoon. The temperature must have dropped twenty degrees from the time she and Chloe had gotten home.

Her hands felt numb but not from the cold, the snow was freezing on her face. Don't forget me, Max. The wind rushed by her like a tornado. Her head. Oh, god. Her head hurt so badly. Feeling too far from her body, she was only vaguely aware of herself reaching up with the back of her hand to touch under her nose. She felt like she could hear ticking from somewhere far away.

A hand on her shoulder. She jumped back, feeling herself snap back into her head like a rubber band. Her heart was racing, and sweat prickled under her arms and down her back despite the cold.

David stood there looking confused and… worried? "Are you feeling okay?"

Max responded quicker than she thought she could. She was getting okay at telling lies. "I wasn't feeling well this morning, and I guess it just hit me again." She wiped at her nose again. No blood. "I was going to get firewood and started feeling dizzy and sick."

"You're white as a sheet. Get inside before you pass out on the bricks. I'll get firewood and stack some inside. Keep the fire going."

She nodded and watched a second as he walked off. A shiver danced down her spine. She went back inside where she got a little too close to Chloe to be platonic. Her chill ran to her bones and through. Chloe seemed to sense something amiss and kept Joyce and David entertained through dinner.

Max excused herself after picking at her sweet and sour chicken and putting the rest in the fridge. Joyce told Max to go get a warm shower and she would make some ginger tea to settle her stomach for after. She graciously accepted and went for round two in the showers. Instead of actually showering, she just sat in the tub while the shower ran. She kept trying to think of things that didn't hurt, but everything just seemed so cloying - the steam, the memories, the sensations. There was too much.

Just as her breathing started becoming erratic, she heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Are you alright?" Chloe. Her voice was quiet, but insistent.

Max didn't answer. Her tongue felt sewn to the roof of her mouth.

"Max, I am going to break in there if you don't answer me."

She couldn't move. Everything hurt. She wanted to scream. She wanted to scream to be left alone. She wanted to scream for help. She wanted to scream into the void. If it would make her feel better, she wanted it. She didn't want to feel like this. She wanted to be okay and normal, but she couldn't even do that. She couldn't even hold it together through dinner.

She heard the door latch click and Chloe came in unceremoniously. She didn't say anything. She stood there a second, Max saw from the corner of her eye, and she undressed down to her underwear. She climbed in the shower and helped get the soap out of Max's hair. She didn't say anything. On some level, Max wished Chloe would yell at her. But she didn't.

Max couldn't really feel anything until Chloe touched her lightly. There wasn't anything sexual about the way Chloe touched her, but it wasn't clinical either. Once her chin length hair had been rinsed, Chloe shut off the water and stepped out of the shower for a second, only to wrap a warm fluffy towel around Max and help her stand. She couldn't look Chloe in the eye. Like she might a child, she helped Max into some mismatched pajamas and got into her own.

Max tried to crack a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "That wasn't the way I imagined our first time naked together would be."

Chloe picked up on Max's effort to be light and played along. "Well, for the record, you were the one that was naked. Not me."

Max started feeling a little more like herself and blushed. "I'm… I'm back. Don't worry."

Chloe shrugged. "I'm going to worry. You're my girlfriend." She paused a minute. "And you're my best friend."

Max smiled more genuinely this time. "You're mine, you know."

Chloe stretched, her belly button showing from pulling up her shirt. Her exposed stomach and pretty little hip bones were all too nice. Max caught herself staring and blushed.

"Max Caulfield, you were checking me out. That is so fucking gay."

Max rolled her eyes and padded out of the bathroom quietly, sneaking off to the room Chloe and Max shared with Chloe close behind. She yelped as Chloe pinched her butt and swatted her hand away. They giggled and got into Chloe's room, where Chloe clicked the lock in place.

"I just get back from brain hell, and you're pinching my butt," Max sighed incredulously.

"You're the horn dog who was checking me out in the bathroom."

"Touche."

They both fell into a fit of tired induced giggles, and Chloe pulled up her laptop to play the movie. A slightly sweaty cookie dough tube and a butter knife sat on the desk. Max crawled into bed, hearing the heater kick on again and the opening title play from Chloe's laptop. Chloe made her way onto the bed and set the laptop on top of an old yearbook on the bed beside her, forcing Max to lean across her to see the movie. Chloe ran her fingers up and down Max's back absentmindedly and quoted bits of the movie like a nerd.

They'd just gotten to the automaton owl portion when Max looked up at Chloe and saw her eyes tracking the motion of the film, completely engrossed.

"I went outside and felt… the storm happening again."

Chloe's eyes stopped tracking the motion of the figures and looked down at Max. "I know." She didn't say anything else and went back to tracking Harrison Ford running across the screen.

"I love you, Chloe." Max tore her eyes away from the dimly lit face that turned back toward the screen then back to Max.

"Max?"

"Yeah, Chloe?" She looked back up to see Chloe's eyes serious. "Are you alright?"

"You don't tell me things, Max. You don't tell me if you're okay. You don't tell me if you're bad. No, that's not right. You always tell me you're okay even when you're not, and I don't know what to believe sometimes. I worry about you all the time, and I just don't know what to do."

That must have been a long time coming. Neither of them moved. They scarcely breathed. The movie went on quietly as it had been.

Chloe broke the silence, but her voice was only barely louder than the movie. "Max, you've been so afraid of losing me that I don't think you know how afraid I am of losing you, and when you don't talk to me, all I can do is assume the worst."

Max didn't say anything back, just let her mouth fall open and stay there.

"I love you more than the world, and I just want you to… come to me. Sometimes I worry you think that I'm too fragile to handle it or some bullshit."

"Chloe, I-" Max swallowed and sat up. "I don't think that at all."

"Then why won't you talk to me?" She looked like she was either going to cry or yell.

"Honestly, Chloe?" Her throat felt dry. This wasn't exactly how she envisioned this night going.

"Please, Max." It was a plea. Not a sarcastic, snarky go-ahead. A genuine plea.

"I… Sometimes don't know I need help. It either hits me so fast and hard that I never saw it coming, or I think I can handle it and then I realize too late that… I can't…"

Chloe's face relaxed, brows unknitting. She leaned back against the wall and started watching the movie again, a little less interested than before.

Deckard and Rachael in the house together.

Max couldn't focus very well.

"Are you mad?" She finally asked.

Chloe leaned over and kissed her softly - hot, chapped lips on Max's cold ones. The kiss was by no means chaste. It was… desperate - like Chloe was trying to tell Max that it was okay. That she wasn't mad, and there was nothing to apologize for so don't you dare. The kiss dragged on for a moment longer. Chloe pulled away first but not by far. Their heavy breaths mingled as the dialogue and music grew louder. Max stopped tracking the plot. She leaned in to bring Chloe's face back to hers. Chloe didn't resist.

Hands twined in hair. Bodies pressed close. The covers had long since been kicked off. Max sat on Chloe's lap, heart beating fast. She could feel Chloe's heart racing underneath her dumb band shirt. Chloe's warm, sure hands settled on Max's waist, and the two looked each other dead in the eye. This was as far as they'd ever gotten - flustered, tired, and nervous with one of them on the other's lap, hands roaming bodies or locked together in a tight embrace. That was alright for them. Neither was really ready for anything else.

Max felt a bit lightheaded from so many kisses and so much heavy breathing. She felt her face and chest continue being hot and, probably, bright red. Chloe's cheeks settled into a baby pink, visible even in the dim light of the laptop. Max rolled off Chloe's lap, and Chloe pulled the covers back on the bed. She pulled Max to lay on her chest and left her hand firmly on Max's Right Boob.

"Babe, I'm grabbin your heart."

Max rolled her eyes but looked up at Chloe, making no attempt to remove her hand. What? It isn't like she was opposed to a little pre, during, and post makeout groping. "That's my right boob, though."

Chloe laughed and stroked Max's hair with her free hand. "Babe."