Chloe was awoken with a punch to her jaw and a scream in her ear. It took her a second to figure out where she was - Max's old dorm. Another hand came swinging close to her face, and she dodged it reflexively. Max was in full nightmare mode, complete with fisticuffs and tortured screaming that made it so much worse for Chloe to watch.
She caught both of Max's wrists, and for a moment she fought harder, trying to pull away. "Max, it's me! C'mon, wake up!" Max froze for a second, and the screaming stopped. "You're alright, I got you." Max choked out her name, arms going limp. She let go of Max's wrists, letting the younger girl's arms wrap around Chloe's neck as Max sobbed. "You're okay, I'm right here."
"Chl-Chloe, h-he killed you," came the stammered reply. Fuck you, Jefferson. Fuck you for doing this to her. It always seemed to come back to that asshole.
"Takes more than that to keep me down," Chloe said quietly. She wound her arms slowly around Max, wishing she could do more. She could feel the deep, shuddering gasps gradually fade into even breaths. Max didn't have a clock in this room, but the sun was just starting to peek into the windows. They were going to meet David for breakfast in the cafeteria, but at this point, Chloe just wanted to protect Max from the outside world as long as she could.
They laid there for a few more minutes before Chloe knew she could not delay the inevitable. "Max, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we're going to have to get up soon," she commented, but didn't move. Max groaned a little bit, and Chloe couldn't help but smile. The brunette pushed herself upright, out of Chloe's arms. Chloe was able to see every freckle in the morning light as Max sat up, swinging her feet off the edge of the bed.
Mine, mine, mine, the little monster in her chest sang, and Chloe felt a grin spreading on her face. Max looked over at her, frowning when she saw the grin. "What are you so happy about?"
"Just how gorgeous you are." As expected, Max turned her head away, but not before a little pink showed up on her cheeks. "What, you'll mack on me, but a compliment is what gets you all flustered?"
Max started fiddling with her fingers. "I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have just..."
"Attacked me?" Chloe sat up as well, sitting cross legged next to her. "Not gonna lie, Max, it was pretty hot." Max's discomfort radiated off of her. It was great. "Feel free to kiss me like that any time, any place."
"Please stop talking about it." Most of Max's face was hidden by her hair, but what Chloe could see was beet red.
Chloe grinned again, putting an arm around Max's waist. She felt Max stiffen a little at the contact before relaxing again. "Fine. It's just so much fun to see you get all uncomfortable about it."
Max shot her a furtive glance from under her bangs. "I just...don't have any experience with this."
"You don't-" Multiple thoughts clicked in to place at once. "Max, was-was I your first kiss?"
Max fiddled with her fingers some more, letting Chloe stew in her own thoughts a bit longer than she'd like. "Um...yes."
"Ho-ly shit," Chloe muttered, floored. There were a lot of different thoughts going through her mind, ranging from PG all the way up to X-rated. "You're telling me all that time in Seattle, and you never got it on with anyone?"
"Chloe," Max said, a slight warning tone in her voice. Her hands were shaking a little. "I was just never interested in anyone there."
Her mind was still whirling a bit, but Chloe felt pretty damn good about herself right now. "Well, I'm honored to be the first, m'lady." She snagged one of Max's fiddling hands, giving it a kiss. Max still looked a little red, but she was smiling now.
Chloe had to practically carry Max out of the dorm to go to the cafeteria. It didn't seem like she was as scared as she had been yesterday, but now that the ice had been broken, Chloe was sure people would start coming up to them and try to engage in conversation.
With Max's fingers interlocked with her own, Chloe thought she could handle that now.
David was sitting outside the cafeteria when they turned the corner, chatting with a man who looked vaguely familiar. As they got closer, the stranger patted David's shoulder before heading out towards the parking lot. David turned to look at the two girls as they walked up, getting to his feet. "Morning, ladies," he said cheerily, smiling.
Chloe was still watching the man walking away. A memory clicked into place. "Hold up, was that Skip Matthews?"
David nodded. "Yeah, his crew's back in town for a bit. They've been helping us out with some structural work. Good man." He shook his head a little before turning to focus on Max and Chloe. "So, er, breakfast?"
"Hell yes. I'm starving," Chloe complained, and Max nodded in agreement. The three of them headed into the cafeteria, joining the line waiting for food to come out. It seemed like most of the same people who were in there yesterday were there. Chloe could see Kate bustling behind the serving tables again, although she didn't see anyone else she knew in the room.
David crossed his arms as they stood there, looking thoughtful. "So, is this-" he gestured towards the two of them, his eyes darting down to look at their joined hands, "-a thing now?"
Max started blushing, looking away. Chloe wasn't so easily embarrassed. "If you consider holding hands and making out to be a 'thing', then yes." She could almost feel Max blushing at this point, and thought she heard her whisper "oh my dog".
David, slightly uncomfortable, tried his best to rearrange his face to look calm. "Well, if you're both happy, that's all that matters." They waited to get their food in silence now, Max seemingly too petrified to speak and David unwilling to give Chloe anymore leash for inappropriate comments. Chloe grinned to herself, tracing random patterns on the back of Max's hand with her thumb.
After getting food and sitting down, David started stirring up conversations - what they were doing up in Seattle, what was going on down in Arcadia Bay, and other random small talk that he could come up with. He didn't say anything about them heading out later that day - Chloe had the suspicion that he wanted them to stay more than a single night.
She wasn't willing to let Max stay in that town a second more than they had to be.
Kate joined them for a little bit for her own breakfast, and a couple of other students stopped by to say hello - Dana Ward stayed the longest. She let slip that Juliet Watson had died in the storm, and it took Max a few minutes to start responding again. Other students, like Brooke and Trevor, stopped by merely to say hello before leaving them be.
After their lengthy breakfast, they headed back to the dorms to pack up Max's room - she wouldn't be staying there again any time soon, after all. Chloe ended up doing a lot of it; Max sat quietly on her stripped down bed, staring ahead blankly for a good portion of the packing.
"Alright, we can haul this out if you're ready," Chloe said as she gently set the last of the photographs from Max's memorial wall into a box. There was no sound of movement behind her. "Max?" There weren't any waterworks, but Max just sat there, looking extra small. Chloe sat down next to her, grabbing a hand. "What's up?"
Max looked up at her for a second before resting her head on Chloe's shoulder. "Everyone keeps apologizing, and acting like...like it was all a big fluke."
"Max, don't-"
"I did this, Chloe. Me." She pulled her head away, giving her a defiant stare. "Look me in the eye and tell me that I'm wrong."
A sad smile pulled at the corners of Chloe's mouth. She reached up with both hands to cup Max's face. "Max, you did not do this," she responded, pleading, staring into those blue eyes. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that."
Max stared back, looking for any sign of a lie, but Chloe was telling her the honest truth. One of her hands came up to grip Chloe's wrist, ensuring Chloe could not pull away.
"Don't you dare kiss me, Max, or I'm going to start thinking you're just keeping me around to be your therapeutic sex doll," Chloe joked, satisfied when a shy, little smile appeared on Max's face.
David escorted them to the Price house, which had been deemed structurally sound, but he had been avoiding it. Chloe understood - Joyce was everywhere in that house. A couple of windows had been blown out and shingles and vinyl paneling hug loose, but the inside of the house looked the same, like Joyce would come walking out of the kitchen any second.
Her room was just how she left it, with the exception of a few missing items that must have been in the box David brought up. She still hadn't unpacked it, with the exception of stealing some shirts out of it. She threw her things haphazardly into bags and boxes, trying not to focus on what she was grabbing. She left most of her wall decor - the posters weren't worth keeping.
Max was helping this time, gingerly pulling things off of shelves and packing them away safely. At one point, they were in a near mirrored version of this morning's packing, this time with Chloe sitting on her bed. But Chloe was angry, angry at a world that proved over and over that no good deed went unpunished. She wanted to Hulk out and just trash the place, let all of her feelings out over broken belongings and holes in drywall.
"Chloe?" Max's voice was small, almost like an echo from a far away place. She had closed her eyes, not wanting to keep seeing her room, not wanting to see Max's concerned face.
"Max, just give me a minute," she hissed, aware of how strained her voice was. She didn't want to lash out at Max, not now, not here.
"No, Chloe. Talk to me." Of course she would choose now to be stubborn.
"Just give me a fucking minute, okay?" It was just this town. Once she was back out of Arcadia Bay everything would be fine. Rachel had had the right idea all along.
Rachel. She'd know how to get Chloe to snap out of it. Rachel would have shoved her down onto the bed and made her forget how angry she was. Rach had always been an action over words kind of person. Maybe that's why they had gotten along so well.
But Rachel never got out of this town. Not in any way that mattered.
It was a sobering thought, and it helped bring her back to Earth. She could still feel Max's eyes on her, and when she looked up, she took to counting the freckles on her cheeks rather than looking directly into her eyes.
"Better?" Max asked quietly, still a few steps away. Is she afraid of me? She hoped not.
"Yeah, 'bout as good as I'll be while we're here." The words came out in a monotone. "Sorry I snapped at you."
The corners of Max's mouth twitched as she walked over to sit down on the bed. "What were you thinking about?"
Chloe exhaled heavily. "All bad things. Just the shit the world keeps dumping on us." She glanced over at Max, who watched her quietly. Screwing her face into the best impression of a smile she could, Chloe knocked their knees together. "But hey, you haven't run away from me yet, so maybe it'll be okay."
"I'm never going to run away from you, Chloe. I won't leave you again." She sounded so sure of herself, and looked so confident about it. Chloe felt a pang in her chest as she relived those missing five years in fast forward, but Max was here now.
"You better not," Chloe muttered, only able to make it sound half joking. She leaned over to rest her head on Max's shoulder. She felt Max's arms stiffen for a second before wrapping around her. Chloe bit her lip to keep from making a sarcastic comment, because although Max's hesitation was adorably awkward, her embrace also felt hella nice.
"As much as I'd love to stay here all day, I want to get back to your folks before dinner," Chloe said after a few moments. "Let's get this shit in the truck and force David to let us go." Max seemed like she didn't want to let go, though, so Chloe took the opportunity to plant a kiss on her nose, enjoying the blush that immediately followed. "You're a keeper, Max Caulfield," she declared before getting back to her feet.
Saying farewell to David was about as drawn out as Chloe had been expecting. She really did feel bad leaving him behind again, but her place was with Max now, as sudden as that seemed. She hadn't really had time to process that, but it had been the truth for a while, probably for their whole lives.
"David, we really need to get going," Chloe told him as he wrapped her in one last hug. "Thanks for...thanks." She didn't know what needed to be said, but he seemed to understand.
"It's my job, Chloe." He rounded on Max, giving her a firm hug as well. "You take care of my d- of her, alright?"
Max nodded as she pulled away, a slightly odd look on her face that Chloe couldn't quite place. Then again, Chloe was a little more flustered by him almost calling her his daughter. "Always," the brunette confirmed.
And with that, they hopped into the truck, leaving Arcadia Bay with a little more optimism than the last time they had fled. It probably helped, Chloe thought to herself, that Max held her hand the whole drive back.