Thursday morning sped past the four girls, and all too quickly they were bidding Kate farewell at the bus stop - her parents weren't answering their phones when she tried to see if they were coming to pick her up. Chloe had managed to distract Max with a colorful passing vehicle as Victoria and Kate said their goodbyes - their flushed cheeks as they pulled away from each other confirmed Chloe's suspicions on what they may have been doing.

Victoria was almost moping at lunch, barely touching her salad. Chloe kept biting her lip, tempted to comment but also slightly afraid of an outburst. It didn't help that Max kept glancing between the two of them, concern written all over her face. Between all of the odd moods at the table, even her own burger seemed bland.

Before long, they were sweeping up their belongings, bags placed in the trunk of Victoria's car. Max claimed the backseat again, and Chloe didn't argue - the bags under her eyes spoke volumes. Chloe got comfortable in the passenger's seat, watching Victoria carefully as she started driving. The blonde kept her green eyes on the road, but there were waves of tension pouring off of her as they pulled onto the highway.

"Price, you staring at me isn't helping," she finally snapped, glaring over at her beanie-clad passenger.

Chloe winced at being called out. "Sorry, I'm just-"

"Worried, I can fucking tell." She took a deep breath, hands clenching around the wheel. Her whole body was stiff as a board as she drove. "Sorry," she muttered, sounding defeated.

"It's...I get it," Chloe responded, glancing in the backseat to catch Max quickly trying to close her eyes, feigning sleep. Nice try, babe. Chloe sighed heavily, readjusting herself so both shoulders rested against the seat. "Wish she didn't live so far away," she commented quietly, stretching her legs out.

"Yeah," Victoria agreed, shoulders slumping slightly. Chloe didn't ask when they were planning on seeing each other next - no need to rub the distance in any more than the drive was already doing. They sat in awkward silence instead, and after a few minutes, Chloe heard Max's breathing slip into actual sleep after a few minutes.

Evidently Victoria heard it as well, her amused eyes flashing to the rear view mirror. "She conks out quick, doesn't she?"

Chloe nodded, turning to confirm that Max was, indeed, asleep. "Especially when she takes her meds. Think there was just too much excitement this week though, she wasn't sleeping well," she responded.

"Excitement," Victoria repeated slowly, her eyebrows knitting together. Her eyes didn't leave the road, and it made it hard for Chloe to tell what she may be thinking. "Guess that's one way to put it."

"You okay, after yesterday?" Chloe asked carefully, looking at the road, but watching the blonde out of the corner of her eye.

Victoria sighed, taking a hand off the wheel to rub her forehead. "I guess? Fucking sucks to think about it all again."

"I bet." Chloe wanted to ask about the drugs - she hadn't brought it up in front of Max and Kate as internally promised, but she was feeling confident, now that Max was fully out of it. "About the, uh, 'fun stuff', do you still-"

"No." Her eyes darted to the rear view again, as if worried Max would wake up. "I only used it at the parties. Didn't like how I felt on it, but just didn't want to turn it down. Appearances and all."

"Good. That's, uh, that's good." Chloe toyed with her fingers in her lap, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She had never thought of herself as a people person, but dare she say it, Victoria was one of the few people she cared about now. It made her head spin a little. "If you ever need to talk-"

"I know." She glanced over, her expression noticeably softer. She actually had a slight blush spreading across her cheeks. "Thanks."

Chloe shook her head, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth as she pondered how she had gotten to this point with Victoria Chase. "Crazy we're friends now. Like, actual friends, eh?"

Victoria scoffed, although Chloe could just barely see a mischievous glint in her focused eyes. "Don't get mushy on me, Price." A half-smile gradually formed on her face as she thought about it. "Yeah, it's crazy."

This whole year has been crazy. She felt some of the darker things nagging in the back of her head, but she tried to swallow them. Instead, Chloe shifted in her seat so her hip was against the back of the seat, facing Victoria. "Alright, I'm gonna ask you a crazy question, just to be sure of...something."

Victoria looked distinctly concerned as she responded, eyebrows knitting together. "Um, okay?"

Chloe felt a devilish look crossing her face as she watched Victoria panic. "How much of a closeted nerd are you, really?"

The concern immediately evaporated as Victoria glanced back over at her, visibly annoyed. "What the hell are you insinuating?"

"You know what I'm insinuating," Chloe replied, shrugging. "Also, Max might have mentioned that she saw some figurines in your room at Blackwell."

Green eyes flashed up at the rear view again, slightly frustrated. "Of course she did. She's a walking invasion of privacy." She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not a nerd, I just like...some of it."

"How 'bout D&D?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Victoria glanced over at her, disbelief crossing her face. "Please tell me you're joking."

Chloe shrugged again, watching the woods bordering the highway fly past them. "You haven't lived until you murder imaginary creatures with friends."

Victoria shook her head, drumming her fingers against the wheel. "Pass."

"Oh, c'mon Vicky!" Chloe exclaimed, covering her mouth after a second as she realized she was getting a little loud. A glance back thankfully confirmed that Max hadn't budged.

"Nope. I at least have some standards." She glanced back over, now looking inquisitive. "Who're you're even playing with?"

"Steph Gingrich is whipping something up for us," Chloe replied. Steph was texting her every couple of days - she had apparently struck "creative gold" and was uber excited to put a party together.

"Ah." Victoria drove quietly for a moment, processing the information. "Guessing she probably wouldn't want to deal with me, anyways."

It came out almost pitiful, and Chloe suddenly felt guilty about bringing the whole thing up. "Dude, don't do that. She knows we hang out, she's...not your biggest fan," Chloe admitted. "But she's not opposed to seeing you."

There was a small snort from Victoria's direction. "That's surprising. I gave her a lot of shit during all those productions," Victoria responded, a little smirk crossing her face. It was paired with a sad look in her eyes as she reflected.

"So I've heard." One play in particular still stood out to Chloe, but she tried her best to swallow those comments. We're having a moment, no need to fuck it up now.

Victoria sighed heavily, shaking her head. "I wish I could have done so much of that differently." It was odd how mature she sounded - it reminded Chloe a lot of how Max acted post-Hell Week. Do I sound all mature like that, too? She wasn't sure who to ask for judgment - almost everyone she knew was either dead, or changed dramatically themselves.

"Is that so?" Chloe asked conversationally, facing forward again.

"Yeah." She sighed again, shifting in her seat to sit up straighter. "If time travel ever became a thing, I'd go back and slap myself."

"Wouldn't we all," Chloe muttered, crossing her arms. She could think of a few times her younger self could have done with a sharp backhand to the face.

The sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before Victoria cleared her throat. "This is stupid, but...if you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?"

Chloe felt her breath catch at the idea. She glanced back to make sure Max was still sleeping; her head was leaning against the window, her mouth slightly ajar. She's not that good at faking sleep. "That's not stupid, just extremely personal," she finally replied.

"Wow, so much for the whole 'friend' speech," Victoria teased, but she suddenly seemed nervous, as if Chloe was backtracking.

"Well, Miss Shares-A-Lot, what'd you do besides slap yourself silly?" Chloe inquired, leaning her back against the door.

Victoria's mouth opened and closed once as she thought about it. She glanced over sheepishly. "Honestly? I wish I could have helped Nathan not be a, you know, piece of shit." Her smile had disappeared, replaced with a hollow expression. "Probably a waste of a redo, I know."

Chloe had to fight from shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Victoria's choice felt too close to what Max had done, in Chloe's opinion. "You cared about him, I wouldn't call that a waste." She glanced back one more time to make sure Max hadn't started eavesdropping before clearing her own throat.

"Got yours?"

She nodded, looking down into her lap. "Yeah. I'd...I'd probably make sure she didn't end up down there," Chloe said quietly, jerking her head towards the backseat. Of all the shit Max had to go through (that she knew of), the dark room was probably the worst.

Victoria nodded, green eyes flashing to the rear view again. "Kind of surprised you wouldn't have wanted to, I don't know, save Rachel or something."

Chloe's throat suddenly felt tight. She started playing with her fingers, staring back down at her lap. "I wish I could've," she admitted, picking at a hangnail. "Chaos theory's a bitch though, who knows what would have happened if I had done that. And...she wouldn't have listened to me anyways." The truth always hurts, doesn't it?

"She had her quirks," Victoria agreed slowly, the words carefully chosen. "I never got along with Rachel, but she was something to see. She was just a...a force of nature."

"A storm," Chloe muttered, shoulders slumping. She could feel Victoria's eyes looking her way again, but she refused to look up. "I like to think the storm was her revenge," she said quietly. She remembered thinking and saying it on the cliff side with Max, but it felt weird to admit it to someone else who was out of the loop.

There was a pregnant pause as Victoria processed this. "Some fucked up revenge," she finally retorted, shaking her head in disbelief.

Chloe felt a hollow laugh form in her chest. "Yeah, yeah it is." There was another long pause as they both watched a car speed past them in the left lane. "Let's talk about something else, this shit is getting me down, and we don't have any weed. Unless you've been holding out on me."

Victoria chuckled at that. "Ha, you wish." She shifted again in her seat, looking slightly more at ease. "You guys looking at colleges?"

Chloe nodded. "Max is. Probably going to end up going out east somewhere. She's been eyeing up one in what, Rhode Island?"

Victoria whistled. "RSID? Damn, I've heard that's a rough one to try to get into. But, if anyone could do it, it'd be Max."

Chloe was as surprised at the compliment as she would have been if Victoria sprouted an extra head. "Shit, look at you getting all kind."

The blonde laughed, shaking her head. "Oh, boo hoo. You'd say the same thing, wouldn't you?"

Chloe crossed her arms, frowning. "I'm dating her. I'm obligated to say she's the best at everything she does."

"Uh-huh." She was still laughing, though, and the genuine smile was contagious. "What about you?"

Chloe shrugged, letting her arms uncross. "Wherever she goes, I go. Probably do trade school." She hadn't given it much more thought, but she didn't know what else to do. She certainly didn't want to get back into standard education - she hated the couple of gen ed courses she was taking.

Victoria nodded thoughtfully. "Guess I'm not surprised. Two of you are just about inseparable." She sighed, fingers drumming on the wheel again. "I've been looking at Parsons, but that's in NYC, and then I'd be..." she trailed off, her face falling as she undoubtedly thought about one person in particular.

"Where's Kate wanting to go?" Chloe asked quietly.

Victoria didn't say anything for a second, and Chloe saw her take a quiet bracing breath. "She's not sure. Still trying to decide if she wants to go for art, or do something else. Therapist, or something."

"She'd be good at that," Chloe responded, smiling at the idea. From the conversations she had had with Kate, she was a good, positive listener. I'd let her solve my problems for me, that's for sure. Probably put Dr. Harriss out of a job.

There was a little flush to Victoria's cheeks - Chloe thought she looked proud. "Fuck yeah, she would." It seemed like Victoria's whole body relaxed the more she thought about it.

"You gonna follow her too?" Chloe asked, trying not to let her smile turn into a smirk. She knew exactly what buttons she was pushing.

Victoria's eyes rolled, glaring at her for a second as she groaned. "You think you're so funny."

Chloe nodded, slouching in the passenger seat. "I'll take that as a yes."

She grumbled to herself, shaking her head. "Fuck off," she added, loud enough for Chloe to hear. But despite all her bravado, there was a satisfied look on Victoria's face as she smiled to herself.