Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

All that Remains

"Wherever I end up after this...in whatever reality...all those moments between us were real, and they'll always be ours." Chloe's eyes were brimming with tears, the wind of the storm blowing around them. Max felt her heart being ripped out of her chest as she heard her best friend telling her to go back in time and just let her...die. After everything she had done to save her from this fate.

The only other option was to have the tornado destroy the whole town, dooming all the people within.

"No matter what you choose, I know you'll make the right decision."

"Chloe... I can't make this choice," Max said, close to tears herself. Oh god, what had she done? If only she hadn't rewound so many times...

Chloe gently grabbed her by her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "No, Max. You're the only one who can."

Max finally realized it. This feeling inside her chest she felt whenever she had looked at Chloe this past week, this need to protect her no matter what.

She didn't know since when she felt it, but in this moment, as the repercussion of all she did was heading mercilessly towards the town where they both met and grew up in, she knew it deep inside her heart. And now she was faced with the possibility of losing her forever. Dying in a dirty bathroom thinking that everyone she loved had abandoned her, not knowing that people did care about her. Dying without knowing how much Max loved her.

"Max...It's time." Max forced herself not to step forward and kiss Chloe, despite every fiber of her being telling her to do so. Instead she took one last look into Chloe's blue eyes, took a step back...

...And tore the photo in two.

“-Name please.” a voice startled Max out of her reverie. She blinked for a second and looked at the woman holding a clipboard andbalso wore a jacket that identified her as part of the disaster relief.

“Sorry, I was kind of spaced out there,” Max said and the woman gave a her a kind look and tapped the clipboard with her pen.

“Could you give me your name please?” she asked.

“Yes. Sorry. Max Caulfield.”

“That would be short for Maxine, right?” she wrote something on her clipboard.

“Yes,” Max said simply, not bothering her usual retort of “Max, never Maxine”.

“Thank you,” the woman said and went to go to a small group of people sitting nearby to ask them about their names.

Max was sitting on cot inside one of the many relief tents camped outside of town. It's been a day after the tornado had passed and the relief teams were busy helping survivors and rounding up the dead. In her right hand she was holding her phone. Before she started to think back on the events up on the cliff she had been texting with her parents, who had been beyond worried by the time she was finally able to make contact this morning.

Sorry, I'm a bit tired. I'll talk to you later. She send her Dad and put the phone into her pocket. In truth she was exhausted. She hadn't slept a wink since yesterday, c ouldn't in fact. Not with all the destruction she had caused in her vicinity.

She felt a pair of eyes on her and turned her head to find Chloe watching her intensely from where she was sitting with Joyce and David. She couldn't even describe how relieved she had been when they discovered that Joyce was alright, save for a few scrapes and a sprained ankle.

When Chloe and her had made their way back into town their first stop had been Two Whales Diner. The first thing that Max had noticed was the lack of burn marks, so the diner clearly hadn't blown up like in the other timeline. When they looked inside through the shattered windows they had found the whole building empty.

Later, when they made their way into the center of town, Chloe had gotten a call from David. W ith a bright smile on her lips and tears running down her face she relayed to Max where they were. When he saw the storm forming he had dropped everything and drove his car to the diner to get Joyce to safety and had taken Warren and everyone else holed up in the diner with him. Where they had sat out the storm? The Dark Room.

Since they had told him about it the previous night and he had gone with the police to apprehend Jefferson he knew of it's location and it was the perfect place to hide during the storm.

At least the sick fucker had been good for one thing. If only for that. Luckily a lot of the stuff in there had been moved out too, so they didn't have to see all the sick shit Jefferson had done in there.

A shudder went through her body as she thought back to when it was herself in front of his camera. Note to self, burn everything related to Mark Jefferson .

She gave Chloe a half-smile and got off her cot. Chloe looked like she wanted to get up herself, but seemed to have thought better of it. Giving Max a smile that made her feel warm inside she turned to David to talk to him about something.

At least they seemed to be getting along.

With a sigh Max left the tent and started to walk in between the tents, her gaze held low, not wanting to look anyone present here in the eye. If it wasn't for her, they wouldn't be here. She didn't notice the person in front of her until she ran into them.

“Sorry-Max?” That voice...

“Kate?” Max turned her gaze upward to look into the face of Kate Marsh. She almost didn't recognize her with her hair down. Without thinking Max wrapped her in a tight hug, tears stinging her eyes. “Thank God.”

Kate too wrapped her arms around Max, albeit much more gently. “We were lucky. My family was picking me up from the hospital when the storm started and we were all moved into the basement.”

They pulled apart but Max left her hands on Kate's shoulders. “ I'm so glad that you're alright.”

“I feared the worst when I tried to text you and I didn't get an answer.”

“Yeah. Chloe and I we...we were at the lighthouse and we-” she swallowed and felt a single tear run down her cheek. “We saw the tornado and the destruction...”

She took a deep breath. “Do you know anything about the others?”

Kate 's expression became one of worry. “I only heard from Stella and Alyssa . Alyssa told me you and your friend Chloe helped her." she sighed "I pray that the others are alright. ”

“Me too.” Max looked at Kate. She deserved so much better than what happened. “I-I think I'll go take a look around. See if I can find any of the others.”

“OK. Try to get a bit of rest, though. You look tired.”

“I am,” Max admitted, finally letting go of Kate and started to walk past her. “See you later.”

She didn't turn around and just kept walking.

It was a few hours later that she returned to 'her' cot. Max slumped down on it and covered her face with her hands. “Fuck...” she muttered. She did indeed find some of others. Victoria and Taylor and she did indeed learn about some of the students.

Courtney was dead. Victoria had been in tears when she told her that and she had her arms wrapped around Taylor in a hug. “I've been a major bitch to her all this time. And now she's dead!” she had shouted in between tears and all that Max could do was offer her words of comfort, to which Victoria had been grateful enough.

But Courtney wasn't the only one. Afterwards she encountered a weary looking Dana, who had been at Blackwell as the storm hit town.

Hayden was dead. So were Logan and Luke. A few other students that she didn't know were also among the casualties of the tornado.

All dead because of her.

“Fuck,” she said again, much more louder this time but still muffled by her hands. She remained that way for some minutes until she felt someone sit down beside her. Removing her hands she looked sideways and into the face of David Madsen.

“You alright, Max?” he asked her. It was funny. At the start of the week she had thought of him as a major douche, or step-douche as Chloe would say, who clearly had some serious issues. And now she wished she had trusted him earlier. Maybe she would've used her rewind powers less and avoided everything being so fucked up like it was now.

“I don't think I'll be alright for quite some time,” Max said and looked at the floor.

“I'm sorry to hear that. Young people shouldn't have to see destruction like this.” David looked at his hands. “Reminds me of the war in some ways.”

They fell silent for a while and Max didn't really know what to say. After a while David broke the silence and said: “I, uh, wanted to thank you. For helping me find out about that dirty bastard. I always knew there was something fishy about him.”

“It had to be done. What he did to Kate and Rachel and all those other girls...”

“Listen. I'm sorry about everything that happened. I hope we can start over, like Chloe and I are doing?” This made Max smile a little. And it only had taken a tornado to make them get along.

“I'd like that.” she stifled a yawn. “Sorry.”

“You should lie down for a bit, you look damn tired if I may say so,” David said with his very own brand of concern in his voice.

“Yeah, I think I'm going to sleep for a bit.” Truth be told she felt like she was about to collapse. David stood up and gave her a nod before leaving so that she could have some rest. Taking her camera bag off her shoulder and placing it beside her on the ground she laid down on the cot and closed her eyes, drifting off almost instantly.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

The sound of her camera made Max open her eyes. In front of her the bucket with the blue butterfly on it that she had just taken a photo of. She plucked the Polaroid from her camera and looked at it for a second. Why was she back in the bathroom?

What am I doing? Max wondered , letting the photo fall to the floor, her body moving on it's own.

She heard the door open and soon the all too familiar monologue of Nathan started. Max stayed hidden and when she heard Chloe enter she slumped to the floor . Dammit Max, stand up you need to help Chloe!

But her body didn't respond. Rather than standing up to help she buried her face into her arms, listening to the argument until Nathan pulled out his gun.

“Nobody would ever miss your punk ass, would they?!”

“Get away from me you psycho!” she heard, followed by a gunshot and she regained control over her limbs once more. Max scrambled to her feet and jumped out from behind the corner...

...To find another Max standing over Chloe's bleeding body, instead of Nathan's pistol she held David's gun in her hand. Chloe laid sideways, her cold, dead eyes staring directly at Max. Her hand went to her mouth a s she fell to her knees in shock.

“You know that it had to be done.” the other Max told her, a cold smile on her lips as she turned towards her. “All those people won't have to die now just because you fucked up time and space for your precious punk.”

The smile was gone in an instant and she pointed the gun at Max now. “There's a heavy price to pay for what you've done. So, how would Victoria put it? Oh yeah, fuck your selfie.”

She pulled the trigger.

“No!” Max shouted and sat up abruptly. From besides her she heard a gasp. Reflexively Max turned to the source of the sound to find Chloe sitting on a cot beside the one Max was occupying, leaning down to pick up the cigarette she must have dropped just now.

“Jesus fuck!” Chloe exclaimed, inspected the cigarette and put it back between her lips. “Don't scare me like that, Caulfield!”

Max just looked at her for a few seconds, just to make sure that she wasn't dreaming, then jumped forward and hugged her. She smiled when she felt Chloe's arms circle around her. “A nightmare?” Chloe asked.

“Mhm.” Max nodded and nuzzled her face into Chloe's shoulder. She ignored the smell of smoke on her. She was just glad that Chloe was here, real and most importantly alive.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“No.” Max shook her head. “I'm OK. You're here, that's enough.”

She let go of Chloe and leaned back a little to look at her. Really look at her. In the past she had always been Chloe, her BFF, when she looked at her. But things were different now. They had changed.

Their eyes met and Max was glad that they had a little space between them because there was no way in hell that Chloe wouldn't notice her heart doing Olympics level somersaults. How come it had taken all these years to notice just how beautiful Chloe's eyes were?

Or how kissable her lips were.

Max wondered if Chloe was thinking along the same lines right now.

The buzzing of her phone broke the spell and Chloe let go of her, eyes darting to the side and her right hand going to the back of her neck while Max silently exhaled and pulled out her phone while sitting down properly again.

“It's my Dad," Max said. "I gotta take this one.”

“Sure.” Chloe got to her feet and stretched herself. “Gonna go stretch my legs a little. By the way, they're handing out some food soon. Probably gonna taste like ass, but whatever.” With those words Chloe left the tent.

“Hi, Dad.” Max smiled slightly after Chloe as she left.

“Max. I was getting worried when you didn't call the entire day.” Max blinked and took a peek outside where the sun was already setting. She slept the whole day!

“Sorry, I was more tired than I thought,” she said and followed Chloe suit and left the tent.

“It's OK. So your Mom and I were talking and we think you should come back home.” She knew that this would be coming. And they were right, nothing that was holding her here anyway.

Nothing, except Chloe.

“Dad,” she said before he could say anything further. “I know you want me back home but I can't. It's...I just...It's Chloe. Joyce and her lost everything to the tornado and I can't just abandon her.” Not again she added silently.

“I see...” her Dad became silent for a moment. “Hold on a second.”

She heard how he put his phone down as she walked a little bit. She spotted Joyce sitting with David and gave them a small wave. She waited for a little bit until he was back on the phone.

“Is Joyce with you?” he asked her.

“Uh, yeah,” she said a little bit confused.

“Could you let me talk to her for a bit?”

“I guess...” she blinked and walked over to Joyce and David. “Sorry Joyce. my, uh, Dad wants to talk with you.”

Joyce eyebrows rose in surprise and took the phone from Max. Max saw a smile grow on her lips. “Well I'll be...It's good to hear your voice, Ryan. How's Vanessa? ”

“I'll let you two talk,” Max said and went to look for Chloe. She found her after a few minutes, staring into the sky, the cigarette she had been smoking long gone, a thoughtful expression on her face. With a small smile Max opened her bag and pulled out her camera. The sound of the Polaroid made Chloe turn around in surprise.

“Did you just snap a picture of me?”

“Yup,” Max said, smiling a little to herself and shook the photo a little.

“Shouldn't you be paying me for being your model?” Chloe asked with smirk and walked over to her to take a look at the photo. “Dude, just look at that sweet ass. Hawt dayum.”

“You're ridiculous.” Max chuckled, yet couldn't help but agree.

“You're glad that I am.”

“Yes, I am,” Max said and put about the photo and her camera. They walked back together and joined David and Joyce where they were sitting.

“Here you go,” Joyce said and handed Max her phone.

“What did he want to talk with you about?” Max asked.

“You're leaving for home tomorrow,” Joyce said and Max felt her heart sink and she noticed Chloe's expression growing dark. “I agree with Ryan and Vanessa. It's better that way. Chloe,” she looked at her daughter, who made it a point of looking down at her hands. “You're going with her.”

Max and Chloe looked at each other in surprise. “Mom? The fuck?”

“Watch your tone, young lady.” Joyce warned her, but couldn't hide the amused twinkle in her eyes. “Ryan and I discussed it and he said you could stay with them.”

“Are you sure?” Chloe asked.

“Chloe. There's nothing here anymore but ruins. It's going to be a while until repairs will start, if at all. A lot of people already left the town anyway after the Prescott's pretty much took over. I don't think there's much of a future here anymore. And it would put my mind at ease knowing you're with Max and her parents instead of here,” she gestured at all the tents. “Don't worry. David and I will manage.”

To emphasize his wife's point David put his arm around her shoulder, and gave them a smile. Chloe and Max looked at one another and shared a small smile of their own.

They left at noon the next day. Not before Max went to say goodbye to her friends though. Warren had been down a for a moment when he heard the news, but had regained his usual cheerfulness quickly enough as they hugged.

She promised Kate that she would text her everyday and that they would eventually make good on their promise on a tea trip.

Dana hugged her tightly and wished her well.

She even managed to get a hold of Victoria, who too was being picked up today by her parents.

“See you around, Maxine,” she had said before getting into the car and with a small chuckle Max refrained from correcting her.

The lighthearted mood from earlier quickly dissipated though when Chloe drove them through town and Max had to see once more just how much had been destroyed. Leaning her head against the window she just looked, committing everything to memory so that she would never forget. This was her burden to bear, and she would do it for the rest of her life.

They had just passed the empty Two Whales when Chloe stopped the car and Max felt a hand brush gently against her shoulder. Slowly Max turned to look at her. Chloe gave her a comforting smile and a look that said that everything would be alright eventually. And despite everything that happened, Max believed her.

Giving her a smile in return she sat up straight and looked at the road ahead. No looking back,she told herself as they passed the town sign.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

After they left Arcadia Bay they decided the best way to proceed would be to drive to Portland and from there take the I-5 to Seattle. If the traffic wasn't too bad they would arrive in Seattle in the evening.

The first hour of their trip was spend mostly in silence. Neither of them really kn ew what to say, so they busied themselves with either driving or in Max's case inspecting her camera. But after it passed Chloe had finally enough and put on some music.

“ Nah ,” she said and switched to another channel.

“Hey, I liked that.” Max turned away from her camera and looked at Chloe, who gave a her a wry smile.

“Figures.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. But I figured you'd be all into Syd Matters. 'Too all of you, American girls, it's sad to imagine a world without you',” she mock sang with a grin. “ Yeah, sounds pretentious enough to fit any hipster ' s need.”

Max frowned and opened her mouth to retort how Chloe still looked like she could be on the front page of a hipster website herself, but was cut off before she could.

“ Oh now don't gimme that look, Mad Max, here.” Chloe switched back to the channel. “There, just for you. But once it's over we're switching to my kind of music.”

She huffed and leaned back in her seat. Sometimes she really didn't get Chloe. But at the same time that made it all the more fun to hang out with her, she was always good for a surprise. Max just hoped that after this week those surprises were of the more pleasant kind.

As the song ended she turned her head once again to watch Chloe, who made a show of switching the channel, and simply smiled to herself.

“Something the matter?” Chloe asked after noticing her staring.

“No,” Max said. “I'm just glad that we're here. Together.”

Chloe smiled. “And I'm not going anywhere. From now on it's you and me. Always.”

Yes, but in the way I'd like us to be? Max thought. She still wasn't sure if Chloe felt the same. They'd been friends for such a long time. Being friends for so long was complicated, it was like they were part of the others family and Max could see the wall that it formed between them. It confused the hell out of Max.

And of course there was Rachel. It was clear that Chloe had feelings for her and finding Rachel's body had nearly destroyed her. So maybe it would be best if she waited. But that was easier said than done when all she wanted to do was to make Chloe stop the car so that she could kiss her silly without causing a traffic accident .

Heat rose to her face as the mental image of her sitting on Chloe's lap popped in to her mind and she quickly looked at the road ahead. Down girl!

“'sides,” Chloe continued. “This is just like back in the day. Captain Chloe and her first mate Max, together again.”

“That reminds me, why are YOU the captain?”

“Why? Obviously because-” Chloe pointed to her beanie. “I always have a hat – shut up that also counts as a hat – and,” she slapped the steering wheel. “This be my ship. Duh.”

This made Max laugh for the first time since ever since Thursday. “OK then, Captain. Full speed ahead then.”

“That's what I like t'here.”

After arriving in Portland they had spend an hour in the city to refuel and eat something before driving onto the I-5 in the direction of Seattle. Chloe had been a bit bummed that their planned road trip to Portland had turned into this but became increasingly excited about Seattle the closer they came.

“You gotta show me all the cool shit,” Chloe said with a grin and Max chuckled.

“Sure I can show you a few places. Don't expect me to be an expert on the local night life though.”

“Pfft, duh.”

Max just shook her head and stuck out her tongue.

“Don't flaunt it if you don't intend to use it,” Chloe said and turned her gaze back to the road.

“Who knows, maybe I will.” Max pulled out her camera and took a photo of the landscape. When Chloe didn't answer her comment Max turned to look at her, her eyes still focused on the road in front of them, holding the steering wheel with one hand while the other was on the stick shift. Slowly Max reached out with her left hand and placed it on top of Chloe's.

This earned her a look from Chloe and she simply smiled. Chloe's eyes darted from one side to the other before smiling back.

The rest of the ride they spend by talking, listening to music and occasionally stopping so that they could take a photo or two, the very first of their new, happy memories Max hoped. By the time the sun started to set they had crossed the city border and it was Max's turn to tell where Chloe needed to drive to get to her home while she texted her parents that they'd be there soon.

Another twenty minutes and they pulled into the driveway of Max's home.

Chloe let out a whistle. “Not bad,” she said as they got out of the car. “Though I think my car stands out a bit.”

“Your car stands out anywhere,” Max joked as the front door opened and her Mom rushed towards them. “Hey Mom.”

Vanessa pulled Max into a tight hug. “Thank God you're here. It must have been terrible.”

“It was...” Max said quietly and closed her eyes. They hugged for a few more seconds and Vanessa then looked over Max's shoulder to see Chloe standing there, looking a bit awkward upon seeing the reunion. Letting go of her daughter she walked towards Chloe.

“Chloe Price,” she said.

“Heh. The one and only,” Chloe said sheepishly before she too was being pulled into a tight hug that she awkwardly returned.

“I'm so sorry about everything that happened. You're safe now.”

“...Thanks.”

Vanessa pulled back and smiled. “Look at you though. A grown woman now. Ah, that makes me feel so old.”

“Who's old?” a male voice asked and they all turned to see Ryan walk towards them, dressed in his usual flannel look and a smile on his face. He too gathered Max in a hug. “Hey, sweetie.”

He looked Chloe up and down for a second then said: “Nice tattoos, you fronting a punk band or something?”

“Depends. You working as a lumberjack?” Chloe shot back and Ryan's smile turned into a grin.

“I see someone got some guts over the years. Good,” Ryan said approvingly.

“Do you two want something to eat, you must be hungry?” Vanessa asked. Max and Chloe shook their heads.

“We ate earlier and to be honest I'm just tired.”

“Yeah.” Chloe nodded in agreement. She too was tired. Probably more so than Max since she had been driving the whole time. “A shower and a change of clothes would be neat too. Been wearing this outfit since Friday.”

“You can have some of mine,” Max said. “But yeah a shower sounds good.”

“Well, get inside then,” Ryan said. “Chloe, your room's up the stairs, the first on the right. The bathroom is right across from it. Make yourself at home.”

“Thanks, Ryan.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

After having showered and gotten a change of clothes Chloe and Max had went into their rooms to rest a bit. But for Chloe sleep hadn't come, instead she had spend all the time twisting and turning. With a groan she sat up in bed and looked around the room.

It looked nice. Not exactly what she would call hot shit, but it would do. And she was with Max, that was the important thing.

Max. It was still hard to believe that they were back together again, even after this weird as fuck week. Chloe didn't know how to feel about it. So much had happened, Max's power, the town being destroyed because Max had kept saving her again and again. She was grateful and seeing as the universe hadn't tried to kill her again so far she presumed that they were in the clear now.

Yet a lot of people died because of one girl that should have died in a fucking school crapper. She wasn't sure if she would ever get over that. The best she could do was move forward, carry that burden, maybe try to live in all those people's stead or something like that. It would at least make the guilt more bearable she figured.

And then there was all that weird shit with Nathan and that fucker Jefferson.

Fuck, Rachel , Chloe thought and buried her face in her hands. She had loved her. More than she probably should have since Rachel clearly hadn't felt the same way about her. And now she was dead, because of them. She wasn't sad that Nathan was dead and she was glad that Jefferson got what he deserved too. Not only for Rachel, but also for what he had done to Max.

And she was back to thinking of Max. Again. She had been doing that constantly these past few days. How could she not? Max had basically thrown everything away just for her. When they were on the cliff Chloe had refused to look away and held Max close to her, being her anchor in her own time of need.

Chloe sighed. She couldn't deny it any longer that she might be in love with Max. Might even have felt that way for a long time and all this flirting that she had done were just her past feelings resurfacing again. And like some little girl with her first crush she didn't know what the hell she was doing!

“Holy fuck! Chloe, get it together.” she told herself and grabbed the pack of smokes that she put on the night table. She put one between her lips and grabbed her lighter, but thought better of it to light it in here and got up from the bed, left the room and entered the bathroom. Might as well take a piss while I'm at it.

Chloe opened the window and lighted her cigarette, taking a long drag of it. Damn I could use a doobie, she thought, but another part of her told her that now might be a good idea to call it quits on the drugs. With all the dying she seemed to have done and the death she had witnessed it seemed wrong to waste her life on that stuff.

Hell, she might even quit smoking down the road. Well, one vice at a time that is.

She took her sweet time, doing her business all the while, then tossed the smoke into the bowl before flushing. As she walked back to her room she spotted light coming from underneath Max's door . The raunchier part of her brain immediately assumed that Max must be taking care of some...personal matters, but she dismissed that thought. Besides, who had the lights on for that unless they 're using a magazine?

Her curiosity getting the better of her she walked up to the door and placed her ear against it. What she heard sounded like...typing?

Chloe stepped back and knocked on the door. “Max?” she called as quietly as possible.

“Yeah?” came the muffled response. Chloe opened the door and stuck her head inside the room. Max was sitting at her computer, dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts, and was looking at her from over her shoulder.

“Can't sleep either?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah. You can come in if you want,” Max said and turned back to her computer to continue typing. Chloe stepped inside, closing the door behind her, and had to smile as she took in the room. The room simply said 'Max Caulfield'.

“Hey Max, Whatcha typin'?” Chloe asked as she plopped down on Max's bed.

“Just catching up on some stuff I missed during the week and, uh, well posting on 4chan,” she said the last part a bit embarrassed.

“Maxine Caulfield, a shitposter on 4chan?” Chloe gasped in mock shock. “Quick someone call the cops!”

Max chuckled. “I'm not shitposting, you know?”

They grew silent and only the sound of Max's typing could be heard. Chloe's eyes fell on the TV. Not bad.

She laid down on the bed and stared at the TV for a while. “So, since we both can't sleep, how about we catch a movie?”

Max turned towards her and smiled. “Sure. Anything you wanna watch?”

“Your house, your movies. So you decide.”

Max looked at her for a few seconds, her face turning into that cute little frown that she always put on when deep in thought. “How about...Blade Runner?”

“Shit, been a long time since I saw that one. Sure, I'm down.” Chloe grinned in excitement.

“Just let me finish up here,” Max said and typed in the last few words before clicking on the post button. “And done.”

Chloe watched her get out of her chair and look through her movie collection, her gaze slowly wandering down Max's body to stop and that cute little butt. She lifted her gaze as soon as Max turned around, giving her a lopsided grin and started to get comfortable on one of the pillows as Max put the movie in.

“This is gonna be awesome,” Chloe said as Max joined her. The movie had always been one of her favorites, so watching it with Max again was really special. As the movie went Max leaned her head against her shoulder and, with a small smile, Chloe put right her arm around Max's shoulder to pull her closer.

After the movie came to a close Chloe asked “So, you think Deckard's a Replicant?”

For a second she could have sworn to see a look of pain cross Max's face, but it was gone so fast that she might have just imagined that.

“From what I remember Scott intended for him to be one, yeah.”

“Heh, I knew it.” Chloe grinned and found herself stifling a yawn. “And I'm sure as fuck that I'll be able to sleep now.”

She got up from the bed and was about to take her leave when Max grabbed her gently around the right wrist.

“Stay with me?” Max asked her. “I...I don't want to sleep all alone tonight.”

Chloe wondered if Max was afraid of having another nightmare. She could hardly blame her with everything that happened. She smiled and laid back down on top of the bed. “You sure your parents won't mind?”

Max smiled gratefully “We've slept together in the same bed for how many years? This is hardly different.”

Oh, but it was. Back then things were simpler, just two childhood BFFs sharing a bed during one of their many sleepovers. But five years had passed and now she looked at Max and saw someone she wanted in different ways now. She looked at Max's face, focusing on her freckles and Chloe found herself wondering where else she might have them. Part of her wanted to find out right now.

She managed to push the thought aside for now.

“Just don't try to hog the covers for yourself,” Chloe said as they made themselves comfortable.

“I'll make no such promises,” Max said and turned the lights off.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Max woke up feeling much more refreshed than the last time she had slept. No nightmares had plagued her this night, which was most likely due to Chloe's presence. With a smile she turned to Chloe and opened her eyes.

Only to find Chloe gone. Instead Max found a Polaroid photo lying where Chloe should have been. Raising her eyebrows as much as she was able so early after waking up she picked up the photo and took a look at it. It featured Chloe, face directed at the camera, leaning over a sleeping Max and making the most ridiculous duck lips she had ever seen.

Dammit, Chloe! Max thought and placed it on her nightstand, then looked at the clock to see that is was past 11am already. Her parents would be off to work and a quick look at her phone showed that her Dad had left her a message.

We decided to let you two sleep in. Food is in the fridge and I left my credit card in the kitchen so Chloe and you can buy her some new clothes later. Just don't try to bankrupt me.

Try to take it easy for a while, you hear?

Thanks, Dad she send him back and got out of bed. She grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom to take a shower, all the while wondering where Chloe was.

As she headed down the stairs she could hear sounds coming from the living room and lo and behold there was Chloe, bumming it out on the couch and watching TV.

“Mornin',” Chloe greeted Max as she sat down beside her.

“I see you're already feeling right at home,” Max said with a small grin.

“I just can't have this beautiful TV go to waste, can I?” Chloe looked at her with a grin of her own. “So what's on today's agenda?”

“Something to eat and after that we're going to get you some new clothes. Dad's buying.” she watched Chloe's face grow serious. “What's wrong?”

“I mean, I'm already living here and now your folks want to buy me new shit?” she rubbed the back of her head. “Is that really OK?”

“My Dad wouldn't have offered if it weren't,” Max said and placed a hand on Chloe's shoulder, giving it a short squeeze. “Besides, how many times have I slept and eaten at your place in all these years? Just thank them later and that'll be enough.”

“Well if you say so.” Chloe sighed and smiled. “So you said something about food?”

“Follow me.”

After having eaten Max had gone to get Chloe some clothes to wear outside and even though the pants were a little short on Chloe, they would do for the day. On their way Chloe couldn't have acted more like an obvious tourist if she tried to, but Max could hardly fault her.

Seattle sure was different from Arcadia Bay, or even Portland for that matter. It kinda excited her too, seeing Chloe like this. They didn't even bother with the stores that Max had frequented and went right into a store that specialized in punk stuff.

Max then spend the next hour playing judge for Chloe's very own mini fashion show. All the while she texted with Kate, who was currently on her way to her relatives outside of Arcadia Bay.

Gotta admit I really thought the 'new' Chloe would be way less picky about her clothes, she thought andjust as she send another text she saw Chloe coming out from the changing cubicle with a new combination of clothes. Max made a so-so gesture, causing Chloe to pout for a second beforegoing back to try on something else.

After Chloe had finally decided on what she wanted Max was actually surprised in how reasonable priced it all was. Seemed like living on a tight budget had made Chloe adept at that kind of stuff.

It kind of explained her shitty car, too.

They then went to buy Chloe the other essentials, namely underwear and just a little bit of make-up. Non-animal based of course.

After leaving the last store Chloe hooked her arm through Max's. “Alright, I got my new digs and we've got plenty of time. Now show me around your turf, Max Payne.”

“This is hardly my turf, you know,” Max said and shook her head at the nickname. “But fine, I'll show you some of my hangouts.”

So they headed to Fremont, starting with the Troll. Upon arriving there Chloe looked at Max.

“Somehow...I'm not surprised,” she said with a cocked eyebrow.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Kinda figures that you'd hang out at...artistic places.”

Max sighed. “Yeah I know, instead of showing you exciting places I take you right into snooze-ville is that what you wanna says?”

“No...Well maybe last week I might have, but this place is very you,” Chloe said with that smile that made Max's heartbeat go faster every time and then jogged over to the Troll, sitting down on it's right hand. “Come on, hippie. Take a photo of me.”

“I thought I was supposed to pay you for modeling.” Max laughed and pulled out her camera. “Fine. Try to make a pose.”

Chloe laid down on it, holding the back of her left hand against her forehead in a very exaggerated pose as Max pointed the camera at her. “Now make me a star!”

Max froze as she heard those words.

“My turn now!”

“Make me a star.”

“Just make me look young.”

She closed her eyes at the memory. New, happy memories,she thought and opened her eyes with a smile and released the shutter. She took the photo and shook it a little while Chloe returned to her side. They looked at it and Max said: “Well, you have the honor of being my first, real model shoot.”

“By the end of the day you're gonna have an entire portfolio.” And it wasn't a joke. They had spend hoursdriving all around Fremont with Chloe posing at various places for Max.

As the day went on they went to visit some other places until Chloe managed to drag Max to the Sky Needle. Yeah, she definitely acted like an obvious tourist.

“Holy fuck, just look at that view!” Chloe exclaimed as she took it all in. In Max's opinion it wasn't special at all, but that was most likely because she had gotten so used to Seattle after all these years. She preferred the view over Arcadia Bay from the lighthouse...or at least she had done so.

Her expression darkened as her thoughts went back to all the destruction that she had caused. She knew that she was a selfish person, but as she looked at Chloe she knew deep within her heart that she would do it all over again if she had to. And that scared her to no end.With small steps she walked up behind Chloe and put her arms around her, leaning her head into the back of her shoulders.

“Max?” Chloe asked, placing a hand over one of Max's.

“Mhm?”

“Everything alright?”

“I'm a bad person,” Max said and felt tears welling up in her eyes. She was glad that no one else was around to listen in on them. “The town destroyed, all those people dead. All because of me. I could have prevented it, but that would have meant giving you up and I couldn't do that, not even when you told me to. Not after...”

“Max-”

“You should hate me,” Max said. “I was ready to let Joyce, and David and everyone else die even after you told me that they deserved better. Just because I couldn't let you go.”

“Don't say that!” Chloe said angrily and wrestled herself out of Max's hug, turning around on her heels to look at her. “Now listen. Don't you ever tell me that I should hate you.”

Max looked away, not bothering to stop the tears anymore. One of Chloe's hands cupped her cheek and turned her face so that their eyes locked. She had expected Chloe's eyes to flash in that anger that she had become so familiar with during the past week, but she also found something else, something she didn't recognize.

“I could never hate you. You're the nicest, most amazing person I know. And I'm telling you that I meant what I said at the lighthouse. I'll always be with you, no matter what,” Chloe said and pulled her into a tight hug. “It's too late to live with 'what-if's'. What's done is done. All we can do is move forward, right?”

Max sniffed and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Good.” They remained like that for a while until Max pulled back out of the embrace, brushing away her tears.

“That...sounded awfully mature, you know?” Max said, with a small smile.

“I, uh, like to think the years finally started catching up?”

Max snorted and started to laugh.

“The fuck was so funny about that?!” Chloe demanded to know but still grinned. “Yeah, well fuck you too, Caulfield!”

That only made Max laugh harder.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

The drive back home was a quiet one. Max had spend the entire time looking out of the window, barely paying attention to the passing surroundings, thinking over what Chloe had said. She silently cursed herself for forgetting what she told herself when they left Arcadia Bay.

No looking back . But she guessed that was easier said than done when a lot of things just reminded her of it all. Even on the internet they spoke about what happened, so it was hard to avoid thinking about it. Thanks to Chloe she felt better now, and she knew that when she was doubting herself again she would be there to reassure her. Her very own tower of strength.

Thanks Chloe, she thought and smiled. She glanced over at her for a second. It was been funny how mature Chloe had been all of a sudden, but at the same time it made her feel safe. Chloe was always the one trying to get her out of that shell of hers, testing the limits of her comfort zone, but this side of Chloe was the same that she had seen at the lighthouse, the one that was ready to lay down her life to save others. The good person underneath all the anger at the world, the one that still had hopes and dreams.

They pulled into the driveway of her home. It wouldn't be long before her parents would be back she wagered. Chloe and Max got out of the car.

“Say would you mind if I dusted off that old PlayStation of yours later?” Chloe asked as they walked to the door. “I'm seriously craving some Final Fantasy right now.”

“Be my guest,” Max said and unlocked the door. Chloe went up the stairs to put her new clothes away while Max went into the kitchen to get herself something to drink. After her thirst was thoroughly quenched she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. She simply sat there, enjoying the silence, with only the occasional sound from upstairs.

She remained that way until she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and turned to look at Chloe, who stopped in her tracks when she noticed Max. She felt a flutter inside her chest when their eyes met. Those blue eyes. The same eyes that she had looked into before making her decision on the cliff, the same eyes that had looked into her ownwith such intensity that it made her shiver just thinking about it.

“Uh, Max?” Chloe asked.

But Max didn't hear her as she got up from the couch and walked towards Chloe. Max stopped in front of her and gently cupped her face with both hands.

Before Chloe could react she had closed the distance between them and captured her lips in a soft kiss. It took Chloe a second to register what was happening but quickly circled her arms around her waist and started to kiss her back.

It was gentle, slow, everything that Max imagined an actual first kiss would feel like. She sighed pleasantly as they both pulled back and looked at one another.

Then a wave of embarrassment hit Max and she gently stepped out of Chloe's embrace, her face bright red. “I, uh, just saw that we don't have any milk in the fridge, so I'm just gonna go buy some real quick. And, uh, you wanted to play some PlayStation anyway. Be back soon!”

And without waiting for a response from Chloe she dashed out of the front door.

With wide eyes Chloe watched as Max hurried out of the door, too stunned to say or do anything. She just stood there, her fingers touching her lips absentmindedly. Did this really just happen? She wondered.

Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt slightly dizzy. Holy fuck, this really just happened. They fucking kissed!

She felt....she couldn't even describe how good she felt!

Part of her felt incredibly stupid to have pulled back during the dare kiss now. Chloe's face split into a wide grin as headed into her room. She threw herself on the bed, folding her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling. And how damn cute she looked...right before she ran off.

The grin on her face turned into a serious expression. Why did she run off?

She didn't feel ashamed, did she? After all what was there to be ashamed about?

...Unless Max didn't know about her feelings. Chloe groaned. Of course she didn't. She had only been out of denial mode since yesterday.

Great, just fucking great, Chloe thought and covered her face with one hand. She needed to talk to Max ASAP. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and was about to text Max but hesitated for a moment. No that would be something they needed to talk about in person. So she would wait until Max came back. Yeah, that sounded good.

Until then she might as well dust off that PlayStation. She got up from the bed and headed into Max's room. Chloe had just pulled the box with the PlayStation from out of Max's cabinet when she heard a sound from downstairs. Placing the box on the ground Chloe jogged out of room and slid down the banister in hopes of catching her a little off guard.

She felt a little disappointed when she found Ryan and Vanessa in the kitchen. She must have looked the part too, because Ryan cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Were you expecting someone else?” he asked, an amused tone in his voice, sitting at the table.

“I, uh, thought you were Max.”

“Oh, she isn't here?” Vanessa asked as she walked to the counter.

“She said she wanted to buy something from the groceries store,” Chloe told her and joined Ryan at the table.

“On foot?” Ryan asked and Chloe just shrugged.

“Beats me, honestly.” Chloe lied and leaned back in her seat. Ryan and Vanessa gave each other a look, but he too simply shrugged while Vanessa shook her head. “Uh, thanks by the way. For the new clothes.”

“Ah, it's fine. As long as I'm not sleeping in the cardboard box at the end of the month that is,” Ryan joked. “Now, if you ladies would excuse me, but I think I'll listen some music for a while” He got out of his seat and Chloe perked up after he mentioned music.

“Whatcha gonna listen to?” she asked.

“Oh, just some of my old LPs. You know, old geezer stuff,” he joked. “Why, you wanna check them out?”

Chloe gave him a crooked grin. “You betcha!”

Idiot idiot idiot! Why the fuck did I run out of the house? Max asked herself as she walked back from the grocery store, just having bought some milk just to cover up the quick lie she had told Chloe to get away from the situation.

Good work, Max. Didn't promise that you would wait? Max asked herself. And here you go, kissing her.

And this time she couldn't just blame it on Chloe daring her to. This one was for real. And no rewinds anymore either.

Chloe probably thought she was an idiot now, or she would be pissed off.

Max sighed and rubbed her hand across her face. As she rounded the corner into the driveway of her home she spotted her father's car, which meant that her parents were now back and as she entered the house she could her mother being busy in the kitchen.

“I'm back,” Max said and entered the kitchen, placing the milk she had bought on the table. Her Mom greeted her with a smile then raised her eyebrow when she saw the milk.

“I'm pretty sure we're still good on that front,” Vanessa said.

“I, uh, well better safe than sorry, right?” Max sat down at the kitchen table, her back turned so that she could hide her flushed face. “Where's Dad?” she tried to change the subject

“Chloe and him are in his hobby room, listening to some of your father's LPs. So I guess they are 'Rawking out' right now.” Vanessa chuckled at the last part. Max too chuckled. Yeah, that sounded like Chloe alright. She let out a sigh, at least that meant Chloe wasn't pissed off then.

“So are you going to tell me what happened between you two?” Max's eyes widened and turned to look at her mother, who was standing there with her arms crossed and smiling that knowing smile of hers. “Because I don't believe for a second that you went to buy milk 'just to make sure' and Chloe acted a little weird earlier. Did you two get into an argument?”

“No we didn't,” she said, hoping in vain that she would drop the topic. Of course she didn't.

“What was it then?” Her Mom sat down at the table. “You know you can talk to me.”

Max rubbed her forehead. “It's complicated.”

“Oh, 'it's complicated'.”

Max groaned and buried her face in her hands. Whatever. Fuck it. Can't become much worse anyway

“I...kinda...kissed her earlier,” Max told her. If her Mom was surprised she didn't show it. “And when she kissed back I chickened out.”

Max felt a hand being placed on her shoulder. Vanessa gave it a gentle squeeze “You know this isn't something you need to be ashamed of, if that was what you were afraid of.” she said and Max smiled a bit. It made her relax a little. To be perfectly honest she had been a little afraid of what her parents would think when she came clean about her feelings for Chloe...or, well, girls and guys in general now it seemed. Leave it to her Mom to be supportive. And if she had her approval she also had her Dad's.

“Thanks, you don't know how much it means to me to hear that,” Max said. “But I'm more afraid that I've gotten ahead of myself and Chloe doesn't feel the same way. Chloe and I have been friends for so long, it's...like a wall that's standing between us and instead of climbing it slowly I just took a bulldozer and rammed right through it without checking the other side.”

“You just said that she kissed you back. I think maybe the other side has just been waiting for you to make the first move.” Vanessa looked at Max and gave her shoulder another squeeze before resuming her work on dinner. “Talk to her, Max. And whatever happens, I'm a hundred percent behind you.”

“I'll try, Mom,” Max said and buried her face in her hands. Easier said than done though. She got up from the chair and started to leave the kitchen to go hide in her room for a bit until she managed to gather enough courage. “....Fuck.”

“Language, Maxine,” her Mom called after her.

Dinner had been to awkward to say the least. Max avoided as much eye-contact with Chloe as possible, which made it rather hard to look into her father's direction since they were sitting next to each other, enjoying an in-depth conversation on why Queen was awesome. But every so often her Dad tried to include Max into it and she found herself only giving one word responses and focusing on finishing her dinner as fast as possible. As soon as she had done so, she excused herself from the table and all but sprinted out of the room, not paying attention to the worried looks that she was given.

Once inside her room she leaned against the door for a few seconds, taking deep breaths and then tried to busy herself with something. Namely writing into her journal in hopes that it might help her nerves.

The knock on her door didn't exactly surprise her, but her heart still skipped a beat. “C-come in.”

And of course Chloe walked in, sitting down beside her on the bed. They didn't say anything until Max finished her journal entry and turned towards Chloe.

“So, about earlier,” Chloe said, her face serious. More serious than she had seen her even in the previous week.

“Sorry,” Max said, then sighed and when she saw Chloe frown she started to rub her hands together like she was sitting in an interrogation room. Was it getting hot in here?

“For the kiss.” Max sighed. “I didn't know what came over me.”

“Don't,” Chloe interrupted her, placing a finger on her lips to shut her up. “Don't apologize. I kissed you back, didn't?”

Max nodded, feeling nervous about Chloe's next words, and she could hear her own heartbeat in her ears.

“Max, kissing you made me feel like I haven't felt in a long time. I know that we've only been back together for barely a week now.” Chloe pulled her finger away. “Wow, that actually came out easier than I thought.”

Max didn't say anything, instead she focused on Chloe's eyes and saw the same look that had been underneath the anger on the Sky Needle. And Max finally realized that Chloe had been throwing rocks over to her side of the wall the entire time. “I...”

A shiver went through her as Chloe pulled her close, resting her forehead gently against Max's. “...I want this. More than anything I've wanted before. I don't want you to take it back.”

That was it. They couldn't simply go back to their innocent childhood anymore, where they had simply been BFFs. So all that was left for them now was to move forward. Like Chloe said, they had to stop living with what-if's.

Max leaned slightly forward, nuzzling her nose, and she could feel warm tears come to her eyes. Her voice quiet she said: “I won't. I never will.”

That was her promise, to Chloe and to herself.

“Max...” Chloe leaned in closer until their lips were only mere millimeter's apart.

“I love you,” Max breathed out and closed the gap. Their lips lightly touched each other. Somehow this alone felt already more intense than their earlier kiss, and Max felt slightly dizzy. They pulled back for a second before going back in, this time longer and deeper. Chloe wrapped one of her arms around Max, burying her fingers inside her brown hair.

Max felt Chloe's tongue run across her bottom lip as she was gently pushed onto her back. She opened her mouth to invite her in and felt a pleasant jolt go through her body as their tongues brushed. It was clear that Chloe had a lot more experience than her, but Max couldn't care less. She was sharing this with her now. She moaned slightly and circled her arms around Chloe's neck to pull her in more.

Eventually Chloe pulled back to look at her, gently touching her cheek. Max smiled and placed her hand over Chloe's. Chloe leaned back in to plant several small kisses over her face. Max laughed a little and wriggled underneath her. “Stop, that tickles!”

“Not until I've counted every single freckle on your body!”

“Stoooop,” Max whined, trying to hold back her laughter enough so that her parents wouldn't come barging into the room

“So you fell for me, huh?” Chloe asked cheekily, her kisses starting to go lower, and she pulled Max's shirt down a little to expose her right shoulder. “Of course. Who wouldn't? Ooooh, you have freckles on your shoulders too!”

“You are so full of-” she gasped as Chloe started to plant kisses over her neck, slowly wandering down to her shoulder. It took all of her willpower reserves but she eventually managed to wriggle free of Chloe's grip and sit up, leaning against the headrest of her bed. Chloe didn't seem to let that stop her and followed immediately, aiming once more for her lips, but was stopped by two hands holding her by her shoulders.

“Say it,” Max said with a cheeky smile, her face flushed red and breathing a little heavily.

“I love you too, you fucking nerd,” Chloe said with a smile that mirrored her own. Satisfied with what she heard she pulled Chloe back in for another kiss.

“There's no way your folks will approve of me sleeping in your bed now,”

“Shut up,” Max said and pressed their lips together.

Chapter Text

Epilogue

November 14th

And here I am again, having neglected my journal, but the last couple of weeks have actually been rather busy, so I guess I just have to work through it now. Better late than never I guess.

A month has passed ever since Chloe and I have gotten together.

Chloe was right and the revelation that we were a couple had caused Dad to lay down some new ground rules, which mostly involved that Chloe and I were to sleep in our respective rooms. It only made Chloe roll her eyes and tell me 'I told you so' the entire day until I started chasing her with one of my pillows.

That very night Chloe had weaseled into my room of course. Never change.

Everyone was slowly moving on with their lives.

Warren has moved to Eugene with his parents and was going to school there and plans to apply for the University of Oregon. Well, if someone can do it, it's him. Give him a few years and he'll be Dr. Graham, I'm sure. He also seems to be doing pretty well on the dating market, having finally gotten himself a girlfriend. Go Warren!

Kate and her family are in Salem and she's doing better than ever. I'm so happy for her. Someone as sweet as her only deserves the best...Damn better hope Chloe won't catch wind of this or she's going to tease me to hell and back that I MIGHT have had an unconscious crush on Kate before having met Chloe again.

She's applying for college and while waiting she decided to finally start some of the groundwork for that children's book that she always wanted to make. She promised to send me an early draft and that she wants my feedback. I can't wait!

I also recently had contact with Dana again. We didn't get to talk much, but it seems her and Trevor were doing great. I'm really happy that despite all that happened they managed to grow closer.

And Victoria...well she's still Victoria, I guess. Though the last I heard of her was that she was planning on entering another photography contest next year. For all it's worth I hope she succeeds. Though I feel that it definitely wasn't the last time that I heard of Victoria Chase. 'See you around' indeed!

Joyce and David have left Arcadia Bay not long after we did and were now living in Portland. From what Chloe told me David had landed a pretty good job and Chloe had promised to visit them soon. It's great that they are finally getting along. I wonder if Chloe told them that we're a couple now...

And since I'm speaking of Chloe now. She has gotten a part-time job too!

In the store where we had bought her clothes of all places. How she managed that one I don't know, but she says she fits right in and she is happy enough with it, so that is all that matters to me.

But the best part was that Chloe recently filled out the paper work for the North Seattle Community College. I'm so proud of her!

Being in love with her is amazing. I thought that the happiest I ever felt was when we were kids, but no, it's right here, when I'm together with her like this, that I feel like everything that happened, all of the pain and suffering that we went through, was worth it. I always said that it must have been my destiny to save her, but now I'm sure of it. Chloe is my destiny.

That sounded so corny and I'm actually blushing, so I better move on.

I still have nightmares, and I'm sure I will have them for a long time. Courtney, Hayden, Luke and all the other people that died will always be on my mind, but the nightmares aren't as frequent anymore and I've come to accept the consequences for my actions. So I guess I'm finally ready to move on little by little.

I'm currently back in school, finishing up that little bit of school that I still have left and I'm honestly glad for the distraction...even though it's back to IEP again. Groan.

I'm a bit undecided on what I should do after I'm done, nothing new there I know. Chloe encourages me to put my talent to good use, do some freelance work, create new portfolios, try to get recognition via other means than some contest.

I think it's worth a try.

And Chloe will be with me every single step of the way.

Always.

The End