Chapter 6: Home Shit Home

Max

The late afternoon sun falls through the small, improvised window, painting the inside of the treehouse into a slight orange color. Max sits in the corner on an old pillow and looks around. 'Wowser! It's now over five years, since I've been here and it looks like nothing has changed; like time has averted this place of childhood memory; this special place; only she and Chloe knew the location. They even blindfolded William, when they needed help with it. Chloe must've taken care of this place over the years.'

She takes out an old photo, showing her and Chloe in their pirate costumes, which was stored in the secret compartment of her wallet and looked at it. A tear rolls down her cheek as she starts to recall that moment. 'This picture has been taken by William a few weeks before he died and I moved to Seattle. Oh Chloe, how time has changed us. At least you tried to stop time by keeping our 'Fortress' in shape. Damn, why were you always so stubborn! I would've forgiven you, if you just would've called or gave me any other sign.' Max sighs, wiping away the wet line that a single tear had left. 'But it's all in the past now, and we can't change it.'

Suddenly there is movement outside. Someone climbs up the ladder of the treehouse and with a thud, someone let's himself fall beside Max, panting heavily. The black-haired girl smirks, without even taking the gaze off the photo. "You're late!"

Chloe

Max: Meet me at our secret place in one hour. We need to talk!

"HELLA YES!" Chloe yells after she finished reading Max's message, tears of joy in her eyes. She makes a jump out of happiness, forgetting that the loaded gun was still on her lap. It hits the ground and with a loud BANG a shot is fired. Totally startled, the bluenette jumps back onto her bed, her arms covering her head.

Slowly, the punk-girl lifts her head and takes a peek at the scenery, recognizing a hole on the opposite wall. "Holy…fucking…shit!" she says between the nearly hyperventilating breathes, because of the shock. Fast and loud steps are now heard on the stairs, heading towards her room. Chloe lets her head drop back into her bed. "And here comes the trouble." she mumbles into her mattress, as the door is opened and Joyce is standing in her room, with worried eyes.

Chloe & Max

"You're late!"

Chloe takes a deep breath in, trying to formulate an answer, without dropping unconscious to the ground, because of the lack of oxygen. 'Damn, my cardio is so fucked up!' "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Had to take a big shower and needed to change. I tell ya, after four days without hygiene you start to smell like a hobo. Aaaaand I got grounded."

Max lifts her gaze, looking into the punks deep blue eyes. "Do I even wanna know?"

"You should, because you were the reason." she answers, shrugging, but with a slight accusation in her voice.

Under normal circumstances, the black-haired girl would've been offended by this comment, but to her own surprise she feels guilty. She waited far too long to give her an answer, although she knew what she wanted to do; that she wanted Chloe to be her friend again, but she never had the guts to tell her, because she was stubborn, too. "I'm sorry that it took me so long to answer and that I called you an asshole and…"

Chloe touches her friend's shoulder and smiles at her. "I deserved it. Max, these last five years have been such a fucked up trip, that I couldn't separate friends from foes anymore. I raged against you, because you were the first person that stepped in for me in years and I didn't see it; I just thought about myself again. Since my dad died, I was imprisoned in a fucking world of self-hate, anger and shit. Damn, if I could turn back time, I would take back these last words I yelled at you, before we got separated." Chloe sighs, trying to hold back some tears. "Max, I'm the one who has to apologize, not you! Telling me that you loved me five years ago and were willing to give me another chance after all this time, should've shown me that you did care about me, but instead…"

Before Chloe could even say one more word, Max embraced her shoulders and takes her in for a big hug. "Apology accepted!" she whispers into the bluenette's ear.

Out of sheer happiness, Chloe presses Max even closer to her and starts to sob. "Thank you!" she whispers back.

After some minutes both part again. Chloe wipes away the remaining tears with her sleeve. "So, tell me, why were you grounded?" Max asks.

The bluenette scoffs. "Well, turns out, shooting a gun in your room is not rewarded with gratitude."

"Why would you shoot a gun in your room?" the smaller girl asks, gasping as she puts the pieces together alone, as Chloe averts her gaze. "Chloe…"

Her face darkens as she embraces her legs and stares into emptiness. "Max, I meant what I wrote. You are the only person I've left. If I would've lost you, I would've lost everything and that was something I couldn't accept. And it wasn't the first time I walked down this dark road and tried it."

"Well, that makes us two, I think." Max answers calmly, without any accusation or lack of understanding, showing her the small scars on her wrist.

"Fucking hell! When did you…?"

"Four years ago, before I started my training." The black-haired girl shakes her head slowly and scoffs. "Chlo, we all make some mistakes in our lives. The thing is to accept them. I never covered these scars in order to remind me of how close I was to give up, but also that I had the strength to carry on." She sighs, before continuing. "But it's no use to look back, we need to look forward and this is what I want to do now; I want to start over with you; I want you to be my friend again."

Chloe nods and smiles at her. "I want that too. And this time, I will make it work! So…" she reaches her hand towards Max. "Friends?"

The smaller girl smiles back, takes the bluenette's hand, but instead of shaking it, she pulls her in for another hug. "Friends!"

"Well, now that we're friends again, I want to ask you something. Max…is it possible, that you…uhm…can you…"

Max shoves Chloe a bit away from her, mustering the punk-girl with her blue eyes and furrowed eyebrows. "No, we won't become friends with benefits!"

Looking at her a bit speechless, because of this comment, Chloe needs a bit to catch her voice. "Uhm…No! Geez, Caulfield! Get your head out of the gutter and listen to me! I just wanted to ask you, if you could train and teach me this crazy Martial Arts stuff…and of course meditation."

It takes the black-haired girl a moment to process her friend's words. "You want me to teach you?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

Chloe nods. "Yeah! Now that I stopped taking drugs and smoking cigs; granted, not complete voluntarily; I need some distraction. It works for you, soooo…"

Before the bluenette can finish her sentence, Max answers. "Okay, but I have to warn you, it will be hard work and I can be a little dictator sometimes, and if you don't take it serious, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Fair enough!" Chloe answers with a shrug. "But to get back to the benefit-part, if you want…"

Max stands up and walks to the entrance in the floor of their treehouse. "Chloe, I'm seeing someone." she says, not looking at the punk; almost expecting Chloe to be sad or starting to rage, but nothing like that happens.

"Seeing, as in dating?" Max nods, still averting her friend's eyes, blushing a bit. "You dawgh!" she cheers. "How long are you here? One and a half months? And you already found a girl? Damn, Caulfield! You became such a real lady-killer! So, tell me about her!" the bluenette says to her in anticipation; giddy as a little child awaiting some sweets.

Max looks back in Chloe's direction, but her gaze rests on the wall behind her. It was like she tried to look right through it, in order to see Kate at Blackwell. "Her name is Kate and she's in my class. She's the sweetest, cutest, smartest, most loveable and far most beautiful person I've ever met; she's my angel. And I-I love her."

With every describing word, Max's eyes glowed more and more. Chloe could see that she was really in love and smiles at her. "She sounds like a great person! You have a picture?"

Max nods, takes out her phone and hands it over to Chloe, who sees a picture of a smiling blonde girl. "She's a real cutie, kudos! But hey! No Instant-Photo of her?"

The smaller girl takes back her phone and puts it back into her pocket, shaking her head. "My Instant-cam took the shit the day we had our fight, because I threw my bag at the fucking dorm wall out of frustration, right before deleting your name from my punching bag with my fists." She says with some shame in her voice.

"Hmm…that would also explain your bruised hands." is everything Chloe could answer, before she stands up, walks to the entrance and starts to climb down the ladder. "C'mon, dude!"

"Where are we going?" Max asks, following her.

"Home Shit Home. I have something for you!"

Seattle, September 2009

With a click a small flame emerges from the tip of a lighter, igniting the tobacco of a cigarette. A deep draft let it glow in a bright orange, accompanied by bluish smoke as Max breathes out. She stares at the ceiling, lying on a bed, completely naked.

The now 14-year old girl takes another draft and then turns her head to her left, looking at the back of a another girl with Hispanic roots; tanned body, black hair; a bit curvy, but not chubby. She feels depressed, disgusted, violated. A few hours ago she had her first time with a girl and she hated it. She'd loved to rewind time to undo it. 'What a great birthday-present. Happy fucking birthday, Max!' she thought in a sarcastic way. 'Thank you, Kristen! You made my life even more livable.'

Max met the 16-year old Kristen Ferreira two months ago during a camping trip with her parents. The Hispanic girl hit on her from the first day and Max played along for some time. At first she just wanted someone to at least hang out with, but as time went by, she let her closer. She hoped that Kristen could comfort her; give her a new reason to live; make her happy. But it never happened. Her life stayed dull.

Smoking distracted her for a while, but never could cure her. With another draft the brunette takes another look at Kristen and remembered last night.

The day before, Kristen mentioned that sex could fix almost everything; that it was fun, especially when the 'magical' first time would be something like a birthday-present. Max had nothing to lose, so she agreed. They started at midnight with some slight kissing, then some more intensive tongue-action, groping, petting and then fucking. At first Max got aroused by the foreplay, but the more they did, the more she lost her interest. Her thoughts drifted away to her most negative memories. She tried to play along for a long time and as Kristen had her first orgasm, Max thought that it was finally over, but Kristen didn't saw it this way. She was so horny and wanted her friend to have an orgasm too, that she continued rubbing Max's cunt like a maniac. Soon it became sore; hurt like fuck; more depressing thoughts emerged from the dark depths of her brain. To end it, Max faked her orgasm, trying to hold back the tears. And still, the older girls wasn't satisfied and wanted more. At this point, the brunette wanted to kill her, but out of unexplainable reasons she swallowed down her anger and ate her out, preventing the Hispanic girl from touching her some more. With the second climax, she finally fell asleep. Max went to the bathroom instantly and had a meltdown. She felt so dirty, so she took a shower and as soon as the water hit her private parts it hurt again. The pain made her remember and she finally decided that she wanted to die.

Most of the night, Max smoked and thought about how to end her life. Her birthday seems to be a nice date. 'Definitely gonna look kinda morbid on a tomb stone. Maxine Caulfield, born September 21st 1995, died September 21st 2009.' she thought with a big grin on her face.

The buzz of her phone disturbs her thought. She unlocks it and reads the message.

Dad: Happy Birthday, kiddo! Please come home as fast as possible, mom and I want to talk to you. Dad

'Great! More bullshit on an already shitty day.' Max takes a last draft, and then squeezes her half smoked cig into the full ashtray. She gets up and starts dressing.

"Good morning, cutie!" a voice chimes from the bed.

Max doesn't even bother to turn around. "Hmm…morning." she mumbles.

"What are you up to, pretty birthday-girl?" Kristen asks with a sweet voice.

"I'm going home." Max answers without any emotion.

"Really? Bummer, I thought we could go another round and after that get some nice breakfast." Kristen throws the blanket from her body and stretches her naked body in order to seduce the younger girl.

But Max just glares at her with an angry expression. "No, thanks! One time was punishment enough!"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!" the older girl gets up quickly, her face a mixture of hurt, anger and unbelief.

"It meant what I just said. While you were having fun, it was torture for me, but you haven't even noticed. I had to fake my orgasm and lick you into sleep in order to make you stop. My cunt still hurts when I take a piss and I still got your fucking hairs in my mouth!" she yells at Kristen. "And before you even have any dumb ideas, I never loved you and never will. You were nothing but a pain in the ass and fucking you was the biggest mistake in my life!" the brunette continues, grabs her remaining stuff and leaves the room, slamming the door shut.

On her way home, Max feels nothing; no guilt; no pain. She said what she had to say and that's it.

At home her mom greats her with a hug. "Happy Birthday, my little girl!" Max just gets it over with, giving no answer, showing no emotion. Everything was dead inside of her.

As her Dad hugs her, a small amount of feelings rush through her body. He's the only one she would miss, when she finally leaves this fucking world. He looks at her with a concerned expression, like he knows what is going on inside of her.

"Where were you, Maxine? Your dad and I were worried." Vanessa asks, with a slight accusation.

Max just shrugs. "I had sex with Kristen, but it sucked, so I broke up with her." she says with a dull voice, ignoring the dropped jaws and unbelief radiating glances of her parents.

"What?!" her mom yells. "Maxine, you're just 14 years old and you already have sex…with another girl?!"

The brunette girl looks at her mother with angry eyes. "At least it's better than fucking your tax consultant on the kitchen table!"

Vanessa's mouth opens and closes a few more times, unable to form words. She looks at her daughter with a shocked expression and Ryan looks at his wife the same way.

"Whooops, did I reveal your little secret? Yes, I saw you two! I saw you fucking on the couch. I saw you getting it on in the bathroom. I watched you getting screwed on the kitchen table. I even caught you doing it in my room, you little whore! I saw you two every time I skipped school; every time you thought you had the house for yourself!" Max says with an evil grin, she simply doesn't give a shit anymore that her words may destroy her mother or the marriage of her parents. She puts a hand behind her ear. "What? No raging? No yelling? Not a word? C'mon, bitch! Slap me, again! Do it! Beat me to death, I beg you!"

"Max, stop it!" her father says, his voice is commanding, bit still calm. Streams of tears are running down Vanessa's face as she turns around and runs out of the house. Ryan looks at his daughter with misty eyes, her grin vanishes. "Max…"

Max couldn't withstand his gaze; she runs towards her room, closes her door and slides down on it. She wants to cry, but she can't. She wasn't sorry about what she just yelled at her mother, but her dad…she felt sorry for her dad.

Moments later it knocks on the door. "Max, please, let me in." her father's voice chimes from the other side.

The girl stands up and sits down on her bed. "It's open."

Ryan enters the room and sits down beside her. He looks at the opposite wall. "Max, please talk to me. What is going on?" Silence. He sighs. "Max, I know what's going on with you. I know the signs; I saw them on other people. Please Max, I'm already about to lose a wife and if you go too…I…I couldn't take it. Max, I don't know what happened to you during the last six months, but I see were this is leading to. I can't force you to tell me, but I can offer you help." He reaches inside his pocket and gets out a business card. "The first months we lived here in Seattle, everything was really stressful. You, my new job, your mom's failing business, just everything. I was about to lose it, but I couldn't afford it; I needed to stay strong for all of us. A colleague of mine gave me this card and it helped; I learned to receive control over my life again. And it would help you too. Please Max, I beg you, call this number, make an appointment and get help, because I don't know what I can do anymore! I'm so desperate right now." Max stays silent, staring at the floor. Ryan sighs, lays the card besides his daughter, squeezes her hand, gives her a peck on the cheek, stands up and leaves the room.

She stays silent for a while more, finally stands up, opens her bag and gets out a switchblade she bought some time ago for self-defense. With a click the sharp blade unfolds. Max places it on the left side of her right wrist. 'One cut from left to the right and then down the arm, along the vain; makes it difficult to stop the bleeding. I'm sorry, dad! I just can't take it anymore.'

The blade cuts in her flesh, deep-red blood runs over her pale skin and drips to the floor; she feels no pain. But suddenly she stops. The first tears are running down her cheeks. 'Godammit, just do it!' She changes sides, hoping it would be easier, but again she hesitates. With a loud scream she throws the knife away and starts to cry. Tears are mixing with her blood as her body shakes with every sob. 'I can't do it! I fucking can't do it!'

After a while, the young girl stands up again and looks at the business card her father gave her. 'For you dad! Only for you I'm gonna give life another chance!' She picks up the card with her blood stained hands and reads it.

Master Tsun's Dojo
Dr. Li Tsun
Master & Psychiatrist

Chloe & Max

They climbed onto the roof in front of Chloe's room window and entered the house this way to prevent that Chloe's caught by her mom.

"Wow, your room looks…so…" Max starts a conversation, taking a look around, while Chloe's rummaging through one of her shelves.

"Just say it, it's a shithole, like the rest of Arcadia Bay." she says, without averting her attention. "Aha, gotcha!" the bluenette cheers finally, holding a grey box in her hand. No, not a grey box, it's an old cam. She walks over to Max, who's sitting on the bed and hands it over to her. "Here take this! It was my dad's and he would be proud if you could put it to good use."

Max looks at the Instant-camera with awe. "C-Chlo, I can't…"

"Yes, you can! I'm the reason your old cam broke, so…"

"Thanks!" The black-haired girl takes it with some hesitation, looks at it and takes a photo of her blue-haired friend.

"Hey, no pictures!"

Her heart stung as she heard these words. They remembered her of the night she and Sam kissed for the first time, but she gulps the emerging pain down and smiles. "Why not? It was the perfect moment!" she says, shrugs and hands the punk the picture over.

"Holy shit! It's perfect!" Chloe says as she looks at the photo, showing her face from the side as she gazes out of the window, while she's enlightened by the evening sun.

"I've got something for you, too." Max says with slight smile, takes out an envelope and gives it to Chloe.

"What is it?"

"Just open it!"

Chloe opens the envelope. In it, there are two pieces of paper. The bluenette looks at them and gasps. The papers are checks; one is worth 4,000 dollars, the other 50,000 dollars. "Dude, what the fuck?!"

Max looks at her friend sternly, so that she knows that this isn't a joke. "The 4,000 dollars are for you. It should be enough to pay Frank and to repair you passenger's door window. The 50,000 dollars are for Joyce to pay her debts, making it for dipshit Prescott impossible to threaten you or her. Before you ask how I know the amount; I hacked into the Arcadia Bay Bank's server and did some research."

Being speechless, the punk-girl stares at the checks. 'Holy shitballs! This would solve a whole fucking lot of problems! But to what price? She already hacked a bank's server and I don't wanna know how she got so much money. I can't take it! It's too much! I need to find my own way out, not making my friend a criminal in order to save my butt.' Finally, Chloe decides to put them back into the envelope, handing it back to her friend. "No!"

"No?"

"Max…" she sighs. "Thanks for the offer, but I can't take it; and mom wouldn't take it, too. Max, you just turned eighteen, 54,000 dollars are a large amount of money and I don't even wanna know where you got it from. Don't ruin your future by saving my sorry punk ass."

All Max could do is laugh, but not to make fun of Chloe. It's more a hysterical laughter. Chloe stares at her with a raised eyebrow; uncertain if her friend has just lost it. "Chlo, belief me one thing, I don't give a shit about the few bucks I just gave you. I have enough money to call it a life for the next ten years. And before you ask; no, I didn't rob a bank or hacked some servers to transfer it to my bank account. I earned it!"

"You're shitting me?" Chloe asks in awe, but the muscular girl shakes her head. "Then why are you still going to school or live in a dorm?"

Max's smile fades. "Look at me, Chlo. Do I look like a rich brat to you? Like someone, who could live in a large house, living a boring life? No! If the last years taught me anything, then that money isn't everything. Only if you earn the things you want, you can fulfill your life. And Kate proofed this to me. If I wouldn't have attended Blackwell, I never would've met her. This money…" she grabs the envelope and shakes it in the air to proof her point. "…is just for paying college, emergencies or to help others, nothing more."

"Does your dad know about this?"

Max shakes her head. "He'd want me to get rid of it, eventually. But enough talking! Here, take it, use it!" She gives the bluenette the envelope back, who takes it with some hesitation and jumps at her to give the smaller girl a big hug. "Okayokayokay, that's enough mush for now!" Both part and the freckled girl sees a tear rolling down her friend's cheek. "Are you crying?"

Chloe turns her head away. "Nooo."

Max gives her a soft push. "Liar, Liar, pants on fire!" The punk looks at her again and sticks her tongue out. Both girls are giggling. Then the smaller girl takes out her phone and looks at the time. "Shit, I need to get moving. Can I change here?"

Nodding with a shrug and raising an eyebrow, Chloe looks at Max with a puzzled expression. "Change? For what?"

"Well, wanna looking good on my first date!" she says with a wide smile.

"Wait! You have your first date with your girl tonight?"

Before Max could answer and give her some details, the main door of the house is slammed shut and some heavy boots are stomping their way up the stairs. "CHLOE!" a male voice yells from the stairs.

"Shit! My step-douche! Max, you need to hide!" the bluenette says with some panic in her voice.

"Why?"

Looking around for a good place to hide her friend, she answers. "Firstly, I'm grounded, so no friends allowed. Secondly, step-ass doesn't like having strangers at home, because he's fucking paranoid; y'know, in a PTSD-way. The closet!"

"Hey!" the younger girl complains, while pushed into the closet. Standing in a pile of unwashed clothes, she closes the sliding door. An unpleasant stench of old sweat, cold smoke, burned weed, alcohol and vomit crawls up her nose, making it wrinkle. 'Yuck! Do some laundry, girl!' she thought, trying not to throw up. She looks through the space between the panels.

A man enters the room. He's tall and broad, wearing a Blackwell-Security-Guard uniform. His face is stern and he has a moustache. Max recognizes him; David Madsen, head of Blackwell Security. 'This asshole is Chloe's step-father? Poor girl!'

"Chloe! You will tell me right now, why you were shooting one of my guns in your room!" he yells and starts an argument between them.

"Chillax, dude! I just played a little bit with it and then a shot broke and that's it. No harm done."

David points at the hole in the wall. "This is not 'no harm done'! You could've killed someone! I would've expected some more responsibility from you."

"Oh really? Then why are you still treating me like I'm an unreliable person; like I'm some piece of shit? And by the way, I wasn't the one leaving the fucking gun cabinet open, Mr. 'I'm-so-perfect'"

"You had no right to go into my working room!"

"Oh, now some parts of my mother's house are even off limit for me? Any other restrictions for me, oh mighty step-fuhrer? Maybe I should always give you a memo if I hit the shitter or better, when my mensis are coming. Wanna install a camera in my room, so that you can see me fucking myself?"

David blushes because of the offending comment. "Y-you will treat me with respect!"

Chloe laughs out loud. "Respect? You want respect? Dude, nobody respects you! You're just a small Security Guard, who compensates his tiny wiener with his gun!"

SLAP!

Max's eyes widen as she heard the sound of a flat hand hitting Chloe's cheek. 'Bastard!' Anger builds up inside of her. Bad memories are flooding her brain. She loses control. With a kick she rips the sliding door out of its rail. The gaze of her anger grimaced face locks on her target, David Madsen! She darts towards him, time slows down. Max sees that David has some sort of combat training, because he shook off his surprise pretty fast and is already going into a defensive position.

At first, the black-haired girl wanted to place a punch on his head, but realized that David was already moving his arm to parry it. So, she stops the first attack in the movement and changes it into a feint, now using a kick, aiming for his knee. She hits it, making Chloe's step-dad kneeling, but he wants to get even with an elbow, aiming for her stomach. 'Nice try, asshole!' she thought, grapping is arm, twisting it with a swift move behind his back; the other arm follows. Finally, she puts her knee on his back and pushes.

David groans because of the pain, as his arms are stretched way beyond their normal comfort zone. Max bends over and hisses with a threatening voice. "Listen, you little fuck! I don't give a shit if you are her step-father or the head of Blackwell Security, but if you touch her ever again, I'm gonna kill you. Are we clear?"

"You are in big tr…argh!" David's threat is swallowed by another groan as Max intensifies her grip.

"Are…we…clear?" The Security Guard nods and with another smooth movement, Max pulls him on his feet and shoves him out of Chloe's room, letting him go. "Now beat it!" she adds and slams the door shut. For a moment there is a complete silence, only broken by Max's heavy breathing. "You shouldn't have provoked him, y'know?" she finally says.

"I know." Chloe's shoulders drop a bit, looking on the floor. "But you heard what shit I have to deal with all the time. He blames me for fucking everything and doesn't even wait for an explanation."

"I don't say that he didn't deserve the beat-up, but sometimes it is better to avoid conflicts then provoking them." She walks over to her friend and brushes with her hand over the reddening cheek. "Since you know him, how many times have he hit you?"

"This was the second time."

"Have you ever told Joyce?"

Chloe shakes her head and puts her hand onto Max's. "No, she wouldn't have believed me. She always takes this asshole's side."

Max withdraws her hand because of Chloe's sudden touch, walks over to her bag and takes out a fresh black jeans and violet button shirt. "How do you know, if you never tried?" she asks her friend and starts to undress.

The bluenette stays silent, because of the lack of an answer; instead she looks away, trying not to stare at Max's body again. 'She has a girlfriend now, so her body is off limit for you, perv! And she's right, I should've told mom from the beginning.'

"Chloe?"

Turning around, Chloe looks at her black-haired friend and almost chokes on her spit as she sees her in her new clothes. In compare to her normal clothing, the tight black jeans and the button shirt underline her body. 'Damn, she looks so gorgeous! But I need to play it cool. No flirting anymore. You blew it, Price! Now live with the consequences!' she thought, but puts on wide grin. "Looking hot, girl! Kate's gonna be all over you."

Max answers Chloe's comment with a smile. "Thanks!"

The bluenette puts on her mocking grin. "So, Caulfield, need some last advice for your first date or the aftermath?"

"Nice try, Price! But Kate isn't my first girlfriend and I already had sex with another girl, so no kinky talk for you!" she mocks back.

"Was Sam your first girl?" Chloe knows that she may push it too far, but she wants to know more about Max's past. 'She just got all hardcore on step-fucker. Five years ago she would've stayed in the closet without moving even a limb and now she kicks in the door and throws this asshole out of my room. Someone's character doesn't change that much without some heavy bullshit input.'

Her smile drops as the punk-girl mentions this name. "How do you…?"

"CHLOE ELIZABETH PRICE!" Joyce's voice echoes through the house in a high volume, followed by the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

"Oh shit! Now here comes the real trouble. Max, please don't hurt her!"

'How does she know about this name and that I had something going on with her?' It took the freckled girl some time to snap out of her deep thoughts, but she manages a grin. "Chlo, believe me, I never could harm her. Her cooking is way too good!"

The door flies open and a very pissed Joyce enters the room. Her eyes gaze around the room, looking at Chloe, the broken door and finally on Max. "What the heck happened up here? And what is Max doing here? And why did David try to call the police?"

Chloe sighs. "Okay, listen, mom. Max is here, because we needed to sort some things out and then step-ass came in here and started to rage, so Max and I showed him the way out."

'Oh Chloe, why have you lied again? It never helps you. Damn, girl! Just tell her the truth!' Max thought, while staying silent.

"Why have I the feeling that you're not telling the truth?" Joyce asks her daughter with one raised eyebrow and one hand at her hip. "And his name is David!"

Radiating anger, Chloe starts to yell at her mom. "Because you never belief me, but that douchebag is always right. He can do whatever he wants and I'm the one who has to take the shit!"

"STOP IT!" Max suddenly yells, earning the surprised glares of Joyce and Chloe. "Just tell her the truth, Chloe! Tell her that this asshole hit you; that you tried to kill yourself with this fucking gun, but decided against it, because of her!" The punk-girl looks at her with wide eyes. "Yes Chloe, I know that my message wasn't the full reason you didn't do it. Damn it, Chlo, she always tries to help you…" Her voice gets calm again. "…like my dad tried to help me. If he hadn't, I wouldn't stand here. And Joyce…" now her sight shifts towards the strawberry-blonde woman, whose eyes are misty. "…listen to your daughter! She needs you! You're the only family she's left!"

A big silence fills the room. Nobody talks. Chloe and Joyce just stare at the floor, too ashamed because of their immature behavior.

"She's right, mom." Chloe says all of a sudden. "I-I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time." She walks towards her mother and hugs her.

"It's okay, dear. It has been hard for the both of us. I'm sorry that I wasn't always there for you."

Seeing both of them arm in arm, makes Max smile. 'Like in the old times; an argument, followed by a hug and apologizes.' She takes out her phone and looks at the time. "Shit! I'm already too late." Grabbing her stuff, the small girl tries to walk past the two women and out of the door, but is stopped by Joyce.

"Not so fast, young lady!"

'Oh shit! Please, don't give me a hard time for being here.' Max turns towards her, looking into a smiling face.

"This is the second time I see you after five years and I hadn't had the chance to have a proper talk with you! I think you should stay a bit longer and we…"

"C'mon, mom! Let her go! She has a hot date and can't be late." Chloe disrupts.

Joyce raises one eyebrow, while a big smile grows on her lips. "I see, little Max Caulfield has a date! I already wondered why you're wearing such beautiful clothes. And who is the lucky boy?"

"Not a boy, mom. She's dating a cute and – I have to admit – very hot girl." The punk-girl says, giving her friend a wink, who replies it with a wry smile, blushing a bit.

"Oh…" the tall woman gasps. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Well then, I won't stand in your way, but we definitely need to do some catch-up."

"Agreed! And you two, talk! Chloe, we see us tomorrow morning at 7 at the dorms, no excuses! And no, Joyce, grounding is no excuse, 'cause she isn't twelve anymore!" Max says in a strict voice, walks down the stairs, out of the door and heads for her date in a fast pace.

Chloe and Joyce stay behind, looking after Max and a moment later at each other, until Joyce breaks the silence. "C'mon, we have some talking to do, sweetie." The bluenette nods and follows her mom downstairs.