The lingering golden rays of the late afternoon sun seemed to blanket the world outside of the small house, glowing in through the windows almost in an ethereal way. It seemed to give everything a sense of comfort. It was beyond the gray boarded skies that now rested in the far distance that drowned the downstairs in a warm ambience, as if it breathed in the spirit of the holidays that were starkly unfamiliar with this time of the year. There was something about tonight that felt like a Christmas Eve dinner, one spent with distant relatives you haven't seen in so long that you hardly remembered what they looked like. Food that had been lovingly prepared all day, and anxious energy mixed in with the excitement of Christmas morning. The combined scent of the pot roast bubbling in the slow cooker, in combination to the idle waiting time before any food would be served at the table. It was something about the small kitchen, accompanied by the nostalgic and homey atmosphere that brought all of these feelings to life even more so. But the irony was that it was nowhere near December, nor was it remotely cold outside. If anything, the house felt stuffy and humid. A window definitely needed to be cracked open. The subtleties of clinking silverware being set out and oven beeps filled the air.

Max was still downstairs, wandering about while making rounds to the kitchen every so often to help Joyce with something. She initially had her set the table, which came across as a little strange because it wasn't like Joyce to be so formal with dinner on a random Friday. Besides, she had been busy at work earlier that day, not only dealing with customers, but also trying to teach three teenagers how to do basic tasks around the diner—ones that they should've already known how to do anyways. This was all unexpected, but oddly comforting in a contradictory way. It had been a while since Max felt truly safe, and not just where she was living per se, but in all ways. She felt like she was being brought back to a time when everything was calm and stable for the first time in a long time. A time when she was younger, much younger—around the years when William was alive. So much was different now, so much darkness and unsettling circumstances that seemed to plague everything around her.

Despite the rather calm feeling in the house, there was an underlying heaviness to the air, even though there wasn't a lot of evidence to support the feeling. Chloe and Rachel had been upstairs, and other than the brief conversation Chloe had with Joyce before storming off earlier, there wasn't anything to be wrong. Everything this day had brought seemed okay on the surface. The entire plan of working at the diner went rather smoothly, and despite the newspaper that Max–and now Chloe–had read, it was a normal day. The clock just ticked a little louder for some reason that night though, and it wasn't because the batteries needed to be replaced.

The side door that led to the garage, located right next to the stairwell, creaked open as David Madsen appeared wearing a large backpack and carrying a travel mug. He looked visibly tired and beaten down, probably having his fair share of a long day like Joyce had. Without wasting much time, he walked into the kitchen only to see Joyce and Max busy working away now making some kind of pre-made dinner roll. He went over to the slow cooker and lifted up the lid. The steam fogged up the air for a brief moment, before dissipating.

"Hopefully it's not as dry as last time," Joyce turned around to carefully embrace him, trying not to get any oil from her hands on his shirt. "I tried adding more broth…we'll see if it actually works."

"I'm sure it will be amazing just like the rest of your cooking." He smiled, but there was something weighing on his mind; neither Joyce nor Max had to look at him to hear it in his voice. David briefly stopped at the fridge to grab a beer before making his way into the living room to turn on the TV. Some loud sports game with whistles blowing and a cheering crowd echoed throughout the downstairs.

David crashed on the couch. "Oh, Mississippi? The Beavers have no chance."

Some baseball game was on, with Oregon State playing on the big screen. A crack of a bat followed by the announcers and crowd going wild.

"Number twelve is up to bat—"

Joyce sighed from the kitchen, shaking her head in annoyance. Max laughed to herself. She knew when Joyce was irritated because she rarely could hide it. The TV was blaring a little too loud, ruining the quietude of the evening, but even then, she didn't dare to say anything.

Max was nearly halfway in the oven, bent over trying to push the little pan of rolls as far back as she could, wearing oven mitts that she could remember from years ago. Nothing in that house changed much, but that's what gave it its charm. She wouldn't have it any other way, though.

"Max, will you go bring Chloe and Rachel down for dinner?" Joyce brought the remaining silverware out to the table. "It should be ready in a few minutes."

"He's going here on the three-two…and it's a smack to the left side…"

"Sure thing, Joyce." Max nodded as she slid the mitts off and put them away in the drawer, beginning to make her way up the stairs.

A part of her always felt a bit hesitant whenever she had to go upstairs to Chloe's room now, and while no one was making her feel that way on purpose, she couldn't deny it. Max hated the feeling with every fiber of her being. Like a possession or attachment she never claimed. She hated that she felt slightly uneasy around Chloe now, her best friend that gave her no reason to be tense. But deep down, Max felt like her presence wasn't just unwanted, but inappropriate. She almost felt like a burden; an accessory to carry around then toss out when done.

Neither Chloe or Rachel had explicitly said what was going on between them recently, even if it was glaringly obvious to every person that came into contact with them. Between the subtle—or not so subtle—innuendos, to the overly touchy-attached at the hip behavior, they were clearly together and it made Max feel feelings she didn't even know existed. They weren't necessarily bad feelings, just different. Seeing Chloe happy made Max happy at the end of the day, and she wasn't going to back down from that. Regardless, Max had bigger problems than to be jealous, and she sure as hell wouldn't make anyone else feel that way. The road forward was only getting muddier, and willfully returning to a time that she knew Chloe would probably choose Rachel a little bit more than her wasn't that big of a deal in the end. Even though it still stung a little each time.

As Max approached the door to Chloe's room she lightly knocked on it, letting the weird sense of dread she felt practically consume her. Somehow a closed door felt more like an answer than whatever she would be responded with. Closed shut meant 'no, leave us alone, we're busy having fun without you'. She was already feeling excluded. Excluded from something that really didn't involve her…something that she should just let them have to themselves…but fuck…Max was overthinking again.

Maybe I should just come back later and–

"Who is it?" Chloe's voice was muffled through the other side of the door. She surprisingly didn't sound annoyed.

Max slowly opened the door, revealing only her head in the doorframe. "Your friendly neighborhood superhero has arrived…" She cracked a smile.

Chloe's face instantly lit up. It was almost like seeing Max made the energy in the room completely change for the better. There was no resentment or drama; no exclusion or being left out.

"SuperMax! Get over here," Chloe patted the bed next to where she and Rachel were sitting. "I have a surprise."

Sometimes, Max just had to make an effort to approach people, and not act like they could read her mind all of the time. It was practically why she loved using her rewind power. She could mess up awkward conversations, then rewind and act like it never happened. A saving grace when it came to social situations and relationships. But now as she was left to consciously not use her powers, she couldn't do that anymore. The uneasiness was still present in her—and probably still would be for a while until she talked to them about it—falling behind a curtain to reappear for another time. However, until then, she needed to accept that everything was okay at the moment.

Max cautiously made her way over, steps heavy with hesitation. "Oh great, what now?"

Chloe and surprises were always an interesting combination. It was either going to be a harmless joke, or maybe even a more thought-out prank, but either way, the look on her face was dangerously mischievous. As soon as Max sat on the edge of the bed where she was instructed to sit, Chloe glanced over at Rachel before holding her hand out in a fist.

"Close your eyes. I'm gonna put it in your hand."

"Chloe," Max grimaced as her eyes were held shut. "It better not be a bug."

"It's not! I promise."

Max could hear Chloe and Rachel giggling at something, followed by some inaudible whispers, only making her brace herself even more. Without hesitation, she felt something wet and gooey being placed in the palm of her hand. It was small and sticky. She cringed at the feeling.

"Open your eyes, Max."

"Oh, gross!" A chewed up wad of gum. Light blue in color, but it still had traces of mint lingering on it. Max frowned. "Chloe…why?"

Chloe waved her arms around theatrically. "Surprise."

And a surprise that was. Now Max was left with the glob of gum in her hand—whether it was recently chewed or found somewhere around the room, she didn't know which was more concerning—only growing increasingly more sticky as it lay there. She stood up to throw it away in the little trash can nearby.

"That was entirely Chloe's idea, by the way." Rachel quickly added as Max made her way back over to sit down. She didn't want to risk any more drama between her, even if it was entertaining. But what was even worse than that, was the fact that she didn't know Chloe was going to do that until mere seconds before Max entered the room. She just hoped there wouldn't be any surprises for her…like a hairball or dust bunny found in the depths of the room. Chloe could keep those to herself.

"I figured." Max laughed. "If she still has that half-eaten jawbreaker in her drawer, this is the least surprising."

The jawbreaker. The one her and Chloe started when they were little that she tried to throw away, but was unsuccessful in doing so.

"Oh, that's so gross," Rachel shook her head at the thought, before reaching over to grab Chloe's arm. She frowned. "Please tell me you don't have that."

"I will not confirm nor deny," Chloe smirked back before deciding to stand up and walk over to her closet. She bent down, digging through some old wooden box. Things were breaking and crashing together. Max and Rachel just looked at each other. "Although…"

Max narrowed her eyes on Chloe, watching as she pulled the legendary jawbreaker from years ago out from the box.

"No way…" Max started laughing alongside Rachel. It was too uncanny that she kept it, even after all this time. "I knew you still had it! You can't get rid of anything, Chloe."

"So I'm a little sentimental, okay?" She held the jawbreaker out, inspecting it. From the looks of it, it was stained brown; dirt covered with little specs of lint. By this point, the damn thing needed to be burned, or at the very least thrown away. Chloe stood up and started to approach Max with it. "But you promised that we'd finish it together, no matter how long it took. Don't be a quitter."

Max sighed. She really didn't want to, but there wasn't much to lose anyways. She made a promise to Chloe, albeit a naive one where she thought she would have the decency to throw away something so old and gross, but she wouldn't let her down.

"You're right." Max took the jawbreaker out from Chloe's hand and licked it. It tasted like an old sock. Maybe she should fish out that piece of gum from the trash can, save herself the horrors of tasting it over again. She waved the jawbreaker over to Rachel.

"That biohazard isn't going anywhere near me." Chloe raised her eyebrow in a way that Rachel knew very well she wasn't going to get out of. Max batted her lashes. She couldn't back out now. "You know what…fuck it."

"Yes! The never-ending candy lives on!"

Chloe tossed the jawbreaker back into the depths of the closet, never to be seen again. Or at least for a very long time. They all needed tetanus shots after that experience. The room seemed to go still, winding down after all of the excitement.

"Oh," Max shook her head. She nearly forgot the entire reason she came upstairs to begin with. "Joyce told me to come get you guys for dinner…and that David's home."

Chloe groaned as she fell back on the bed like an angry toddler. "That guy just has to kill the mood. He took my gun and hid it from me…"

"...gun?"

Max looked around the room, slowly growing concerned. She was trying to inconspicuously find the gun but was unsuccessful in doing so. It was no different from when Chloe had it before, but even then she wasn't so sure about it. It didn't matter if it was deemed necessary by Chloe, she didn't need a gun. Max saw what happened to Frank—before going back to rewind, of course. She didn't need another jury trial or potential arrest to take hold.

"Yeah," Chloe simply nodded like it was a well known fact. "It's like a little revolver."

Max sharply shook her head in disagreement. Chloe's nonchalant attitude about it wasn't making her feel any better. "Seriously? Is everyone armed in Arcadia Bay now?"

"Only the ones who shouldn't be. Like step-dick."

"That is so not a good idea, Chloe."

Chloe sat up, growing increasingly annoyed. "Well I don't have it with me right now, so you can chill out, Maximus."

Even if Chloe didn't completely know all of the details of why it was a bad idea, it didn't matter. She was stubborn, and Max knew her enough to know that it didn't really matter what she said, Chloe was probably going to do whatever she wanted regardless.

"How am I supposed to chill out if I've watched you shoot yourself in the past? I'm not going to rewind if that happens."

Max's voice was raised to an uncomfortable level. Discussions of her power stayed at a minimum, and every time she brought up a time when one of them had a close encounter with death only put everyone more on edge. It wasn't on purpose, but it wasn't Max's fault no one was taking her seriously. Chloe glanced back at Rachel, however, she didn't get a response. She sighed.

"The past is the past, Max. You can't just compare me to some version of myself that doesn't exist."

"That version does exist."

"Okay, yeah. Whatever you say." Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes shut tight like she was holding back saying more. She really didn't want to get into it with Max, or bring up a potential second Chloe that existed somewhere out in the universe. It was all too crazy and she wasn't high enough to even begin to think about it. "But with all the shit we've gone through, I think we need a little protection. Besides, David keeps them locked up anyways."

"Girls! Dinner!"

Joyce always seemed to interrupt at the best times, breaking apart a potential argument that wasn't going to end well.

The three started to make their way downstairs, only to be nearly blindsided by the change in atmosphere…well, at least for Chloe and Rachel. They had never seen it look so normal, like how a normal family would act if everything in their life was stable. The only thing missing at this point seemed to be a dog and maybe a few patio chairs sat out front. Neighbors sitting in the front driveway talking together. Some guy mowing the lawn next door.

David was still sitting on the couch, enjoying the college baseball tournament as Joyce was bringing the remainder of the dishes out from the kitchen. Each plate was steaming hot with tinfoil covered atop. An extra chair was placed at the end of the table. It looked like it had come from the garage. Max, Chloe, and Rachel all began to sit down, alongside Joyce. David followed, but still seemed too invested in the sports game than anything else. Everyone was starting to serve themselves, piling plates with all of the home cooked goodness that Joyce had prepared.

"I thought you hated pot roast." Chloe mentioned to her mom as she reached across the table, almost knocking over David's beer. He gave her a look in return.

"David likes it and I don't hate it. You can have a no-thank you helping if you don't want it."

"No, I don't care." Chloe shrugged. "I'll have whatever."

She felt Rachel's hand from underneath the table landing on her thigh. A sense of support, perhaps. The air was thick with tension, even more so than earlier. Max knew it. Chloe could feel it. Rachel sensed it from miles away. An elaborate dinner only meant that something was going down. Maybe Chloe was right, there always was a catch to good things.

David cleared his throat. "We…all need to talk."

There it was. Joyce reached over to hold his arm, looking at the three girls in a way that was a little too serious than anyone felt comfortable with.

"Chloe, your mother and I have been talking and we need to know your…motives."

"Motives? I'm not a fucking soldier, David."

A tighter squeeze from Rachel's hand only signaled that she should tread carefully with what she said. A warning to Chloe to keep her head down and deal with it later. David wanted to get mad at Chloe not taking him seriously, but held back. His face, despite it being mostly emotionless, said everything for him anyways.

"What I mean is…having Max and Rachel stay here." He gestured to them as they both began to look drawn back, feeling awkward. "How long were you two planning on staying? You're starting to look like a bunch of freeloaders."

Chloe dropped her fork. "Get your head out of your ass."

"Chloe." Joyce glared at her.

She rolled her eyes back. "Mom." Chloe was starting to lose her appetite. Who knew that food could be a weapon for family arguments? "They both have every right to stay here. You have no idea what either of them went through—"

"I do know what Max went through." David glanced across the table at Max. "She told us right away about…everything." He hesitated on the last word, unsure if it was okay to even bring up. All of it was still so new to him.

"They know David. I told them weeks ago." Max spoke up, seeming to read his mind.

David nodded, almost like it was a call to finally open up about the details. "Max arrived here late at night to tell Joyce and I about her powers, and that you and Rachel were in danger. I've never seen someone so stressed out in my life." He took another bite, as if what he said was the most casual and normal thing to talk about. He watched as Chloe was immensely closed off from the conversation. "Max, have you talked to your parents about all of this? It's been almost three months since you arrived."

"I did. A while ago, actually. They were both supportive."

Three months ago. The phone call in Chloe's truck to her dad. It was the same day Rachel left the hospital. So much had happened since then, so much strangeness and events Max would've never thought to happen when she first came back. If there was a time traveling bingo card, she would have lost the first round. But there was a bit of a problem, one that Max had in the back of her mind since the phone call. Neither of her parents had spoken to her since then, and while initially she didn't think much of it, it was starting to get unsettling. Late at night, she would lay in the darkness, thinking about every possibility and terrible circumstance that could have happened, but it was too gut-wrenching. Something had to have happened, though. Her parents used to talk to her all the time; there was no reason for not a single text either.

"Good. I'm glad to see that you took initiative with that." David spoke through Max's thoughts, bringing her back to reality. He took another spoonful of potatoes, shifting his attention to the elephant in the room. It was something no one had spoken about, and frankly, he was getting tired of it. "And Rachel, do you think you can just show up one day with my step-daughter, pretending like you live here all of a sudden?"

Rachel cowered in her seat. "No, of course not."

"What's your point? Are you going to kick her out?" Chloe growled in a way that was almost a little too protective. It got the attention of everyone at the table.

"No, but she needs to pull her own weight around here. If you're going to live in my–" Joyce gave him a look, making him correct himself. "I mean our house, then you'll have to help out sometimes."

"I understand." She bowed her head in a way to almost avoid eye contact. Over the years, she wasn't really around David that much, trying to avoid him and all the problems he seemed to cause. She heard it all from Chloe. There was no denying that he was a hardened soldier with a rather rough way of providing discipline.

Joyce carefully nodded before deciding to chime in to the conversation. "And since we're talking about this, David, I think you need to know that the three girls will be helping me out at the diner this summer–"

"What, so you can get out of a real job, Chloe?" David snapped back.

Chloe narrowed her eyes on him. A job that paid money was as real as it got. What was this, attack everyone at the table for doing things David didn't agree with? He was putting himself into other people's business and disguising it as harmless questions. It was bullshit, though, and Chloe wasn't having it.

David leaned forward, almost trying to see how far he could test Chloe's patience. "You do know that jobs have drug tests, right?"

Her eyes were glued to her plate, not daring to look up. All she had to do was ignore him and whatever came out of his mouth, hoping that it would end soon. Of course it had to happen today. There wasn't a better time, and David always seemed to know when to bring things up at the worst moment imaginable.

"And you can't show up drunk either."

Chloe's stomach sank to the floor. David knew the entire time about her little secret and he was going to let the whole world know about it. She quickly glanced over at Rachel and Max, but it seemed to go right over their heads. They didn't know yet.

"David, now is not the time." Joyce grimaced, holding back from saying much else.

"That hasn't happened in months." Chloe muttered under her breath, feeling her face heating up to uncomfortable levels. It was quickly becoming apparent that the conversation she was trying to deflect all this time was going to happen, and she had no control over it.

"Oh? Then why do I keep finding my beer missing from the fridge? We've had this conversation multiple times before."

This conversation had happened before, and she could remember it too well. She assumed Max did, too, as she was there. David found all of the beer bottles laying around Chloe's room and gave her hell for it, only to not realize how long they had been there in the first place.

Chloe leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms in a last ditch attempt to protect herself from talking about it all right now. "Do you just make shit up for fun or what? I said it hasn't happened in months."

In an attempt to find something, something no one else could figure out, David bent to the side, digging into his back pocket. Everyone at the table just watched him in uncertain curiosity.

"Then I'd like you to step over here," He pointed to the space beside him, near the fireplace. "And do a breathalyzer test for me."

"...What the fuck?" Chloe desperately looked back between Rachel and Max, and to her mom, hoping for some kind of explanation or support. It was getting frustrating that no one else seemed to say anything.

The breathalyzer itself was small, like a cheap at-home one bought online. It had a little screen on it to show the BAC. This was actually happening. This was all planned out and talked about, and if David thought to do this in the first place, he probably had more up his sleeve for another time.

"David, please."

He started to swing the little keychain around his finger, not seeming to pay Joyce any attention. "We both decided that it would be the best course of action if you want us to trust you again."

"We decided that a long time ago."

"David," Max shook her head, pushing her plate to the side. It clinked with the glass cup nearby. "She was with us all day. She hasn't been drinking."

"I don't know what you two are like outside of the house." David gestured to her and Rachel. "Chloe has abused alcohol in the past."

Chloe stood up angrily. "It happened one time!"

"Of this year." David joined her, pushing his chair back underneath the table to make some room. His voice was rough; he wasn't playing around this time. "Chloe, now."

"No!"

"If you haven't been drinking, then you should be eager for the chance to prove that your friends aren't a bad influence on you." He glared at Rachel in such a way that indicated that he knew so much more than what anyone was saying out loud.

"Oh no. No. No. No," Chloe knew exactly what David meant, reading in between the subtle lines of attacks, all directed at everyone but him. "We are not going there."

A small beep came from the breathalyzer as he pushed a button to turn it on.

Chloe crossed her arms ready to fight, before looking at her mom for some kind of support. "Mom…"

"David felt…"

"Joyce…" David gave her a look, making her correct herself.

"We felt that this was the best way to start fresh. But I didn't plan on it happening right now." She looked at Chloe with a deep sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Let's go, Chloe." David held out the breathalyzer, waiting. "Quit stalling."

The room was extremely tense, almost feeling as if everyone was holding their breath. Nothing about this situation was okay. Not a single bit. David had no right to come onto Chloe like that, and even worse was that Joyce was playing it too safe.

"You can't do that, David!" Max stood up to join the two. "It's so not fair to Chloe."

"Seriously, what's your problem?"

Chloe faintly smiled as Rachel did something she knew she had a hard time doing. It wasn't that she didn't want to stand up for Chloe, no. She just always had a hard time saying anything to David after all this time. It was nice to have more people being a witness to what was going on.

"You too, huh?" David sighed. In his view, anyone who had a problem with it could take part in the activity. The house needed to be free of alcohol and drugs as they were only adding to the problems. He was tired of it all. "Well, Rachel, you can do it next."

"Yeah," She sunk back into her seat. "No thanks."

David snapped his fingers for Chloe to walk closer. She felt like she had no other choice, even if it was practically humiliating. He would pay for this in the future.

"Fine. Whatever." She threw her hands up in the air in defeat before breathing into the device. Everyone stayed still the entire time. Another beep went off and the little screen displayed the number zero. She smiled to herself before putting up her hand to flip David off. "There. Happy now, asshole?"

"We were just worried about you, Chloe." Joyce added as Chloe began to sit down again. She seemed sympathetic but it didn't matter now. Nothing could take back what just happened. "You were in bad shape a few months ago."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "But you didn't help then, did you? You just left me alone to suffer in silence."

"We tried. You pushed us both away."

"You didn't care! You didn't give a damn about me or my life. You have no idea how I felt." Chloe was visibly upset and rightfully so. There was so much she never said, so much she never told anyone about. A part of her felt like she had been watched the entire time, because there wasn't a good explanation to David acting like he knew all of the details. "But since you seem to know everything about me, then you'll know that I haven't been doing jack shit ever since—" She turned to look at Rachel before freezing up. "Nevermind."

Rachel backed away in her seat. This was all coming back to her; another problem she caused. She didn't know how much more she could even take at this point. By the looks of it, Chloe was drinking heavily and it somehow connected to her. She had no idea the entire time, and didn't even think of it being an issue. She had no idea.

David could read the room like a book, instantly noticing what was going on. "Oh, so it was teen relationship drama. Just what this household needs more of." He scoffed loudly in annoyance. "I'm tired of coming home to problems. I'm tired of fighting."

"Well, good news David, we're all leaving by the end of the year to go live in Cali. Guess you won't have any more 'problems to come home to'." Chloe mockingly said back. She could go on all night like this, she could handle it. David on the other hand, well, it was a toss up.

David frowned at the thought. "You're leaving?"

"Yes, they are." Joyce stepped in again, desperately trying to deescalate another potential blowout fight. "We've already talked about it, David. They're old enough to make their own decisions…whether or not we agree with them."

"Chloe, you need to think things through before fully committing to them."

"I did! I-" She was about to slam the table before Rachel interjected.

"She did. She made an entire plan, with every detail covered and cared for."

Her hand found Chloe's, this time with no plans of letting go. It was almost insulting to think that David didn't believe that Chloe couldn't be thoughtful, or at the very least not plan for something. Maybe if he tried to become more involved in her life, he would know these things. Rachel's thumb rubbed against Chloe's in a soothing motion. It was the only thing that could calm her down at the moment.

Although, Max had enough. When she arrived the first day back in Arcadia Bay, she made it clear what was happening to David and Joyce. She knew that David wasn't a very nice guy from the get go, and at one point watched as he slapped Chloe across the face all for some weed. None of that took away from the fact that yet again, this was another confusing timeline that everyone had to navigate on their own terms. She wasn't going to lie, she didn't love the idea of having Daivd help her once again with the darkroom, but she had too. He had done it before, and he successfully did it again. He was so much help with the police, so much so that he practically did everything himself, letting Max take the backseat in all of the legal matters. But at the same time, what had just happened mere minutes ago wasn't okay, and she wasn't going to sit around any longer and watch Chloe get man-handled by her overly assertive step-father.

"You think everyone is a suspect, David." She confidently sat up in her chair. Confronting people wasn't her favorite thing to do, but when it was needed, she knew she had to. If nothing else, it was for Chloe. "I do respect your service, but you don't respect anybody."

David froze in place. "I covered for you, Max…which was highly illegal."

"So is spying on people in your family and at your work." She fired back so assertively that it was getting the interest of everyone at the table. Chloe and Rachel looked at each other. "I appreciate you stepping in to help and for covering for me at the station…but why do you have files on Rachel Amber and other Blackwell students in your files anyway? You owe her an explanation."

Rachel turned to Max, horrified. "What?"

"Is this true, Max?" Joyce, out of anyone else, was taking this to the level Max had hoped. She looked at her in a way that spoke volumes. "Yes, David, why do you have these files at all? I find this very disturbing."

Max had called David out on this before and she would do it a hundred more times if necessary. During the day when she didn't have much else to do, she would wander around to what she did best: being nosy. She never got too far with it, but she did happen to come across the small television hidden in the garage displaying the footage of where the cameras were. It almost felt like a cheat code how Max could almost predict what would happen next.

"I do not have to take this kind of interrogation. Not from you punks." David stood up yet again, this time bringing his empty plate to the kitchen to place by the sink.

Joyce followed quickly behind him. "Maybe you should calm down."

"Oh, you're turning on me now? Of course, women always stick together."

"David, please." Joyce sighed. So much for a nice, quiet dinner. David had gotten out of control and while she desperately needed to talk to him about it, it would have to be at another time in private. "Why don't you go stay at a motel until we figure this out."

He harshly turned around. "You can't kick me out of my own home!"

"It's my home, David. Paid for and in my name." She inched closer, increasingly growing annoyed. "You know the law, right?"

"I thought I knew a lot of things…like when I'm outflanked." He muttered under his breath before making his way over to the front door.

It was almost shameful for him to be kicked out, and it was only making him more irritated. He was breathing heavily, clearly seething in anger. Before opening the door, David reached down to grab the same backpack he was wearing earlier. Just watching him gather all of his stuff together was making Chloe beam in satisfaction. It was probably one of the best things to have happened that whole day.

The front door slammed shut, causing the whole house to shake.

"Have a nice day." Chloe waved sarcastically.

"Chloe, for once…" Joyce rested against the counter, shaking her head. By now, she just wanted to be done with the day. "Just please shut up."


The night was calm, with the sky painted in a swirl of purple and dark blue. Chloe was out back smoking, trying to take a few moments to herself. The entire day was hectic enough, but she still couldn't let go of being scrutinized to the point of doing a breathalyzer test in front of David. How could she anyways? How could she possibly be okay with that? It came out of nowhere, like a strange investigation on the wrong suspect. And the fact that there were cameras in the house and Max didn't say anything about it was just as upsetting. Max might hold information back to not make others uncomfortable, but that was too personal not to share. It hurt to be lied to again by someone she trusted so deeply.

Besides the fact that David was spying on the household the entire time and now all privacy going right out the window, there was still something heavy weighing on Chloe's mind. It was uncomfortable and not an easy thing to outwardly talk about, but Chloe did have some problems dealing with alcohol in the past. And while sometimes it would get pretty bad, that truthfully was all in the past. An excruciating time where Chloe was more at rock bottom than she was after her dad died, and even that was bad. But it didn't matter how much she tried to push the past away, it always seemed to come back with a vengeance; creeping its way into conversations and off-putting events that randomly appeared. Maybe there was no such thing as truly letting go if it was only going to show up again, time after time.

The sliding door unexpectedly dragged open before Rachel poked her head out, noticing Chloe standing nearby. "I was looking everywhere for you." Her voice was tired.

Rachel shut the door behind her.

"The place isn't that big." Chloe lightly laughed before taking another drag. "I'm just so fucking done. I can't even live in my own home."

"Now you know how I felt."

She glanced down at the ground sheepishly, in a way that indicated that she was still letting her dad bother her.

It had been quite a while by this point, with no extra communication from the Amber family made. It was completely expected though, even for Chloe, because Rachel's parents slowly distanced themselves from her over the years after the big hospital confession without ever acting the same since. Neither of them had spoken about James or Rose since Rachel left their house months ago, feeling like it was a touchy subject.

"I'm sorry." Chloe looked at her in such a way that was making her chest ache. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

She threw the cigarette on the ground to stomp it out, before reaching out to wrap her arms around Rachel. Her head gently rested on top keeping her closed in, almost like a grounding action as Chloe could subconsciously feel the tension ever so present. There was a sense of peace in the stillness of the evening, as the warm glow from the distant streetlights and the annoying motion light the neighbors installed—that seemed to go off whenever it wanted—created a type of atmosphere that felt like they were the only two in the world awake. As Chloe was holding Rachel closely, not appearing to let go anytime soon, she could feel the slight movement of her body shaking. Like an internal tremor.

"Are you cold?"

"No," Rachel immediately went stiff. "I'm fine."

Chloe raised her eyebrow in return. "Hungry?"

"Chloe. Stop." She unraveled herself out of Chloe's arms, now starting to feel claustrophobic. It hurt to do it, but she didn't need to be watched over every move she made. "Do you feel any better from earlier?"

A subject change she hoped wouldn't be noticed. Rachel stood back, staying a bit of a distance away from Chloe. God, it was so painful. She almost gave in, allowing herself to just be loved and cared for like a normal person without so many problems. But there was more going on then she wanted to say out loud and unfortunately, having anyone pry into her life and ask about how she was feeling at the moment made it all more excruciating.

"What do you mean?" Chloe leaned back on the wall casually, not seeming too thrown off by Rachel's behavior. She pulled out her lighter, sparking it repeatedly in boredom.

"You were stressed the fuck out, Chloe…"

Rachel was desperately trying to ignore the damn lighter because for some reason it was way more annoying than it ever was before. Chloe always did this whenever Rachel wanted to have any kind of serious conversation with her. The metal clinked open and closed again. Looking closer she noticed it was a zippo, not what Chloe usually carried around.

"...You told me that up in your room, remember?"

"That was today?" Chloe rubbed her forehead, recounting the seemingly distant memories. It was still the same day that they all worked their first shift at the diner. By this point, it felt years away. "Holy shit. This day is never going to end."

Rachel kicked a few small rocks around with her shoe, clearly having something on her mind. There was a reason she was looking for Chloe around the house, and she really didn't come outside for small talk, even if it wasn't such a bad thing.

"I…need to ask you something."

"You make it sound so intense." She tried to joke, but could tell that Rachel was anxious about something because she always acted distant when she felt that way. Chloe's eyes were searching her face, picking up on her quiet discomfort. It was putting her even more on edge. "What's up?"

Rachel let out a frustrated sigh. "Can you help me look for my file?"

It was slightly embarrassing to even ask in the first place, but she knew that having a little help wouldn't hurt. Chloe was completely confused at what was going on.

"...The one David has on me?" Rachel added, pretending like the additional information would help.

"Rachel, I–" Chloe's voice trailed off in hesitation. She was always up for an adventure that included exposing David's misbehavior, but it was late and she really didn't want to be subjected to any more stress for the day. Despite all of it, she knew that somehow Rachel was going to make her do it anyway, or end up doing it herself in protest. Chloe sighed, knowing very well that she really had no choice in the matter. "…right now?"

There was a sparkle in Rachel's eyes that instantly lit up in a way that took her by surprise. She could flip her mood so drastically that it was scary, but by this point Chloe was far too used to it. It was the yin and badass yang of Rachel Amber.

"Yeah, come on," She grabbed Chloe's arm to pull her back into the house, recklessly sliding the back door open. "It'll be like a secret mission."

The downstairs was almost pitch black, except for the TV that was turned on as Max sat in front of it on the couch. Her shadow flickered on the wall from the bright light casted on her. Other than the noises of the people talking on the news that were displayed on the screen, a distant chatter of muddled words, it was calm and quiet.

"Where do you think it is?" Rachel whispered to Chloe as she started to look around the house. There were so many places to look, and so much time to spare.

"And tonight on KATU News…the rapidly developing case in Arcadia Bay has kept the residents growing increasingly concerned for the future of the town, as the mysterious murder mystery turned escapade fails to yield any substantial results."

Chloe was too distracted by watching Max; her mind started to become entangled with thoughts that were only brought on by the unsettling news that seemed to carry throughout the downstairs. Seeing Max still so invested in the case, combined with everything that had happened lately, was a recipe for disaster. Rachel nudged Chloe in the side which in turn made her snap out of her daze.

"Sorry…" She shook her head. Her attention was still on Max, barely looking away to speak. "It's probably in the garage."

Rachel eagerly pulled Chloe along, making her way over to the door across the room, only for Chloe to stop midway. She stood behind Max, both in a trance watching the television. Rachel was becoming annoyed by the lack of enthusiasm in her little investigation, but paused with them to listen to whatever was pulling their attention so bad.

"The web of confusion and lies clearly serves as a disruption for a larger, more ominous agenda. One that the small fishing town has yet to admit for the time being, as the light shines brighter in the darkness of the shadows. Thank you for joining us tonight and stay tuned for more—"

Max reached over for the remote to turn the TV off for the night. "Okay, that's cryptic as hell."

She could feel that Chloe and Rachel were standing behind her, aside from the fact that they made so much noise when they came back inside. She turned around to face them. They were clearly up to no good.

"What are you two up to?" Max smirked as if she didn't just get caught with her own mysterious nightly activities.

Chloe gave her a questioning look in return.

Rachel leaned over the back of the couch, still holding onto Chloe's arm. "Max…we need your help." She truthfully needed all of the help she could get, and with Max's powers, it was looking promising. She was the one to bring it up earlier anyways. "I need to find that file David has on me."

Max looked back between Rachel and Chloe, unsure of how to feel about the sudden adventure. She didn't blame Rachel for wanting to know about the hidden file, or else she wouldn't have brought it up earlier in the first place. She reluctantly nodded, but before she could say anything else, Rachel grabbed Max's hand and pulled both her and Chloe into the garage.

Without wasting any time, Rachel eagerly started to go through all of the cabinets, pulling out boxes and plastic containers, nearly messing up any form of organization David had created. Max and Chloe hung by the door frame watching her do her thing. There was no stopping her when she really wanted to do something, and they both knew how intense Rachel got.

"Hey," Chloe leaned over to Max to whisper in her ear. "Is everything good?"

She had suddenly felt so uneasy about everything, but tried to ignore it in hopes she was just making it up. There was something different about this night that seemed to carry itself in ways Chloe didn't like the look of at all. It wasn't because of Max or Rachel, it was bigger than that. She had no idea what this feeling was or where it came from, only adding on to the discomfort.

Max smiled and nodded. "Yeah. All good."

Chloe frowned. Max was terrible at lying and this was no different. She was obsessed about the situation with the Prescotts and while she didn't blame her, it shouldn't have been such a big issue to worry about. Chloe didn't even know what to say about it more than she already had, mostly because she didn't care about the bizarre case as it wasn't affecting any of them. If anything, life was beginning to look somewhat normal for once…putting aside the annoying confrontations with David, but that was expected.

But at the same time, she hated seeing her so viscerally upset over it all. It almost felt like Max knew something Chloe didn't, something much more supernatural or otherworldly. All of it was so new, so different from anything she remembered about Max that she felt like she was walking on eggshells around her. It was one thing for her to just show up five years later, but knowing that she was supersized with added Prescott drama left for a very unsettling situation.

"This is bullshit." Rachel muttered as another drawer was being opened maniacally. Another cabinet being slammed shut. "Why does he even care about me?"

She reached up to pat along the top shelf, trying to feel for something. Anything. There was nothing except a thick layer of dust.

Chloe shrugged. "Because he thinks that anyone who hangs out with me is a problem."

"No, the only problem is David." Rachel was looking everywhere, searching in every corner of the garage. Not a spot was being missed. "Thank God he's not here right now."

She opened the nearby drawers of the tool box, even if they were logically way too small for a file. Max stretched out her arms tiredly, growing frustrated for Rachel and decided to stop the hunt early. She did have some insider knowledge after all.

"You're not going to find it there, Rachel. It's on his laptop." She pointed to the turned off laptop sitting on the countertop, waiting to be explored. It was exactly in the same spot as before, almost too perfect to be considered a coincidence. Eerie.

Rachel's face lit up at the suggestion as she urgently turned it on, only to see that it was password protected. She sighed to herself, knowing that anything David had was never going to be that easy. "Great. It's locked."

Max began to walk over, laughing quietly to herself. "The password is 112708." She reached over and started typing it in.

Chloe and Rachel just stared at her in shock.

"It's the day he met Joyce at the diner." Max quickly added, now trying to find the folder in the computer where all of the student's files were.

"How the hell do you know that?"

Chloe squinted at the screen, watching her intently. She wanted to look for herself, see everything else David was potentially hiding, but held back.

"Time traveling abilities." Max yawned, waving her hands like she had for David when she first arrived.

"Right, how could I forget…"

"Max the Time Traveling Master," Rachel bowed jokingly. "I stand in awe of your powers."

Max let out a small laugh, one that momentarily seemed to lighten the mood, before moving to the side for Rachel to look at her file. She scanned the screen closely. It only had one image, alongside a police report dated late last year. The whole thing was fairly uneventful, but it was clear that David was seeing more than he let on.

Rachel's voice wavered. "He was…following me?" She was being watched the whole time. Not having a single moment to herself.

"What?" Chloe walked closer to look at the screen with her, placing her hand on her back. The pale glow of the dimly lit screen casted shadows on their faces in ways that seemed to make it all more tense in the room. Chloe's heart sank when she read the words written on the document. "'Followed Rachel to Lighthouse'? 'Frank and Rachel meet once again'?"

The two sentences, out of four, that were written on the file were bad enough to make both of them feel sick. There were no additional details or statements, just vague descriptions of Rachel's wearabouts. The small picture provided was of a distant shot of her and Frank talking outside his RV. Rachel stepped back, horrified.

"And that's not even the half of it." Max shook her head as she walked closer to the two. "I'd bet in a few months he's going to have more files on Blackwell students…wait, shit…" Her voice trailed off, rubbing her forehead as she was deep in thought. It was hard to balance each reality with all of the potential situations that may or may not unfold. "...Maybe not since Jefferson was caught."

"What? Why?" Chloe desperately looked between Rachel and Max for answers. Nothing about this felt right. From the dinner conversation to now, David was seriously going to pay for all of this. "Why would he even do this?"

"He knew for a while that something weird was going on at Blackwell, but he couldn't figure it out." Max started to pace around the room, trying to explain the situation in the best way she could. "So, he tried installing cameras everywhere to find out…but ended up doing more harm than good."

The security camera petition by Ms. Grant was only the beginning of a strange trace of clues that David wasn't the only one who had suspicions about something going on at Blackwell. The room fell into a heavy silence, as Chloe and Rachel were struggling to try and make sense of the information just shared. The only thing Rachel knew, however, was that if it wasn't for Max in all of this, so many more terrible events would have happened that ultimately didn't even have to do with herself. She really was the hero everybody needed, but she knew Max would never admit it.

"So do you think he knew about Mark Jefferson and me?"

"Based on your file…no." Max leaned in closer to look again, even if she had seen it before. "He never knew that Jefferson was bad until I told him."

This was all too much. If Chloe would have known about all of this earlier, she would've done something she wouldn't be able to take back.

She huffed in frustration, anger boiling over the edge. "He knew about this shit the entire time, and he didn't even try to help you? It took Max to show up for him to finally do something about it?" Her eyes blazed in fury. "This isn't fair! He shouldn't have this on you!"

"Life isn't fair…I think I'm starting to realize that now." Rachel looked up at Chloe, but for the first time she wasn't as upset as she was. She couldn't be. "It doesn't matter anyways. What did you say earlier? That the past is the past, or something like that? That file was from at least a year ago, which equally sucks…but still, it'll help me sleep better if I lie to myself, anyway."

"I'm really sorry guys," Max yawned again with her tired voice cutting through the moment. She was unusually exhausted that night, but it was probably from such a long day she assumed. "I'd love to help more, but I am so tired. I really need to sleep."

"That's okay. Sleep away, girl." Chloe reached over and patted her on the shoulder before moving out of the way. "Don't let us stop you."

Rachel smiled back at her as she was leaving. "Thanks, Max, for everything. I really appreciate it."

Max hummed in response, which was about the only other thing she could do, before making her way back to the couch to sleep. Chloe gently shut the door behind her, leaving just her and Rachel in the garage together.

"I feel so guilty for making her sleep on the couch this whole time."

"I do too, but I don't think she minds. At least…I really hope she doesn't." Rachel went back to the laptop, examining it for a final time. There really wasn't much to see anyways, but she couldn't miss anything else.

"I don't even know what to do about all of this." Chloe mentioned, though it was more of a thought said out loud than a conversation she wanted to have. She began to wander around the garage aimlessly, until she came across a book titled 'Act, React Or Die: A 21st Century Survival Guide.' laying on a stack of old cardboard boxes. Intrigued, she brushed off the cover and flipped open to a random page.

"Only true survivors emerge from the chaos within. An inner battle of oneself doesn't appear out of nowhere, it is manifested in true power that…"

"Me either." Rachel was still glued to the laptop screen, voice sounding a bit muffled. She was about as distracted as Chloe was.

Chloe's brows furrowed deeply as she flipped more of the pages, growing a little too intrigued by the obscure messages.

"The way of doing is the way of living, that is to say that nothing comes easy to the seasoned veterans of what we like to call the real world. A symbolism of delusion and the raw essence of the naturalistic part of humanity. A primal instinct to find solace in community despite adversity. When faced with obstacles, humans do the unthinkable; setting out on the road of longing for a better future never to arrive."

What the fuck–

"I'm starting to feel like we're going to be stuck here forever."

Chloe glanced up, steadily being taken out of the bizarre book. "No, don't say that. Chloe's Crazy Plan is still in action. I didn't forget."

Rachel turned around, visibly thinking. "Then why is it when one of us finds out something, it digs us further into more shit?" She paused for a moment, meeting Chloe's gaze with a kind of desperation that was startling. "Chloe, this is going to sound really crazy, but…what if Arcadia Bay is cursed?"

"Cursed? Yeah, that does sound crazy, Rachel."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Just think about it…I know you can."

"Are you calling me dumb?"

Between the notions that she wasn't the only one taken to the darkroom, to the fact that people just seemed to show up in her life at such perfect timing, to even the entire Prescott family murder mystery, there was no reason for Rachel to think any differently. She shook her head.

"I know there's a part of you that wants to believe in this kind of stuff, but you're too afraid of being judged. I'm not going to judge you."

"Right. Yeah." Chloe sighed. She hated when Rachel did this. "So the town is cursed…okay. What do we do, perform some kind of ritual in the middle of the forest?"

"We could get a few candles…maybe a ouija board…" She put her hands out, clearly envisioning the plan she had in her head. "Conjure up the spirits of the town…" Rachel wasn't really joking and Chloe could tell.

"Rachel—"

Chloe let out another deep sigh, this time growing even more annoyed. She really didn't want any more drama in either of their lives anymore. But Rachel wasn't going to give up quite yet.

"Don't you remember those totem poles hidden around the town? I know they're like historical and shit, but I just feel like there's more to them. Something…strange."

There were multiple totem poles in Arcadia Bay, but it wasn't like Chloe thought too much about them. She didn't think anyone did. There was one outside of the dorms at Blackwell, called 'Topanga' and another one Chloe had seen at the overlook with Rachel years ago. That one specifically talked about a raven. She remembered it well.

Arcadia Bay was once inhabited by a Native American community, until settlers decided to overthrow them and take the land for themselves. They had left numerous relics across the town all in heritage to another life. It was no secret that there was a bit of mystery in the small town, but nobody really talked about it.

Chloe wandered around, thinking about everything Rachel was saying.

"So you wanna go to one of them, sit around in a circle, and hope something magical happens? Sounds like a bad idea."

"You're seriously no fun." She rolled her eyes in return. "What happened to the Chloe that would do anything, no questions asked?"

"She's dead, apparently."

Rachel frowned at the thought.

"Listen, I'm all for doing weird shit but that just seems…I don't know…stupid as hell."

Rachel went over to Chloe and reached up, grabbing onto her face to make her look at her. "Give me one good reason why."

"Uh, because there's weirdos that live in the middle of nowhere who would just love to have some 'innocent young girls' on their property. Sorry, but no." Chloe just laughed, pushing her hand away.

"So bring a gun."

"Max would actually kill me."

"A knife?"

"Can't bring a knife to a gunfight."

"Can you at least think about it?"

"...Sure." Chloe just looked at her, raising her eyebrow skeptically. "Okay, just thought about it…and no. Not happening."

Of course she didn't want to. Rachel crossed her arms and took her time walking around, making sure that she was seeing everything this dingy garage had to offer. A few rusty tools laid out across the work countertop. She grabbed a screwdriver with a red handle, scraping the wood beneath her.

"Alright, so here's my other idea…and I'll let you sleep on the other one," She playfully winked at Chloe but she wasn't having it. "We see how much we can figure out on our own, and go from there."

Chloe sighed. "Okay, Detective Amber, what's the plan then?"

"Maybe ask around town…follow David to see what he does during the day…" Her voice trailed off, as she was unsure of how far she wanted to take it. Oh, she had bigger plans, but it would have to wait for another time.

"Like I want to be around him for any longer than I already am." Chloe grumbled.

"For me, Chloe." Rachel's eyes softened to a dangerous level. "Please." She reached out to gently hold her hand.

"Fine." Chloe groaned. There was no winning in this conversation. "We can start tomorrow. But, I promised you a movie night. Let's just forget about all of this right now."

"You're right," Rachel looked back at the laptop one more time. Maybe Joyce was right earlier in saying that they all just needed to relax. Chloe was waiting for an answer, only for Rachel to nudge her in the side. "I'm surprised you didn't forget."

Chloe rolled her eyes before grabbing her arm to drag her upstairs. "Less talking, more walking. Let's go, Amber."