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Chloe had a white knuckled grip on the steering wheel. She wanted to keep her gaze off the destruction laying right in front of her but that was an impossibility with her driving. Attention had to remain on the road before them; even if the sight of a destroyed Arcadia Bay made Chloe’s stomach churn.
She cast a quick, worried glance over at Max who was slumped in the passenger seat. Chloe didn’t want to wake Max. If anyone needed sleep it was her. Max saved the world more times then Chloe could count. And this time Max saved her.
A little voice in the back of Chloe’s head said it was at the expense of thousands. She quickly ignored it and kept on driving.
Chloe's breath hitches when they came upon The Two Whales diner. The whole thing got destroyed by the tornado. There was no way anyone survived that. Their friends, family, and her mother-- god her mother. The two of them never got a chance to really talk and now they never would.
She stopped the truck when the tears came. Chloe clamped her hand over her mouth in an attempt to conceal the fact that she was crying. Max needed the rest. Comforting her would only add to the stress Max had faced over the past couple of days.
The tears blurred Chloe's vision so when she saw two figures coming towards the truck she couldn't make out who it was. After wiping her eyes Chloe saw one of the figures was Warren and the other her mom.
“Max!” Chloe roughly shook Max, waking her in an instant.
“Chloe? Wha…?”
“Survivors!” she choked. “My mom made it. So did Warren.”
Chloe jumped out of the truck. Once she checked to see that Max was hot on her heels, Chloe rushed towards her mother. They embraced and neither one seemed like they were willing to let go.
“You get in here too, Max,” Joyce said with a tearful smile.
She lifted her arm to make room for Max. It didn’t take long for Max to get in on the hug, burying her face in Joyce’s shoulder. Warren hung awkwardly in the back until Joyce invited him to join in on the hug like she had Max. It was no problem.Chloe was just so fucking happy her mother made it through the storm.
If Warren and Joyce made it then there had to be others. Chloe broke the group hug, struggling to contain her emotions and cease crying for the time being.
“Were there any others with you, mom?” Chloe croaked out.
Joyce nodded. “The ones in the diner all made it out. I don’t know about the rest of the town, Chloe. There’s just so much debris. So much damage. It’ll be a damn miracle if half the town made it.”
The words were a punch to Chloe’s gut. All those people dead. It was her fault; all her fault. Once again, Chloe shook those thoughts away… literally this time. They needed to focus on finding survivors. Well, only if there were any more survivors. From the looks of the town, it would be hit or miss.
From the moment Chloe drove into the town with Max up until the sun came down they searched as best they could. They found some people alive and some dead. At the end of the day, they went to a motel all set up by the help that had come to Arcadia Bay.
The rebuilding process wasn’t going to be easy. Chloe grew nervous as she thought about it that night and in the upcoming days. Her and Max were so busy that they barely got a chance to talk let alone spend any quality time together. By the time they saw each other at night, Max and Chloe were to exhausted to do or say much else than ‘good night' and curl up together.
“Are your parents still on your case about moving back to Seattle?” Chloe brought up one night. It drifted to Chloe’s mind just as sleep loomed on the horizon. She wanted to mention it to Max before she forgot.
“Yeah they want me to come back home for awhile. They invited you too, you know. And Joyce.”
“I don’t know if mom would want to go all the way out there. She feels like she should be helping Arcadia Bay as much as possible.”
Max rolled closer to Chloe. “Me too.”
Since news of the tornado hit the media, Max’s parents had been bombarding her with calls and texts.They wanted to come down and bring Max back home but Max refused, telling her parents that she wanted to stick around. Chloe understood the desire to stay and to leave.
“Maybe we can drive down this weekend. Go on that road trip we always wanted to go on,” Chloe suggested. “Just get away for a bit. You and me. Give us a fucking chance to breathe.
“... yeah. That sounds perfect, Chloe. Do you want to leave tomorrow morning?”
“First thing in the morning. Let’s make sure to tell my mom first before we leave or she will be hella pissed at me.”
Once Max fell to sleep Chloe followed. Surprisingly, she was the first up in the morning and out of bed before Max even opened her eyes. Chloe itched to get out of Arcadia bay, even if they only spent a few days in Seattle.
She would happily welcome the reprieve from Arcadia Bay. Being here was a constant reminder that this was all her fault. Max chose her and Chloe couldn’t shake the guilt. Getting away might be just the thing to help.
“Hey Maximus. Time to get up,” Chloe murmured. She crouched down over Max, breath gently brushing over her cheek. When Max failed to move, Chloe sighed. “Caulfield don’t make me drag your ass out of bed. You know I’ll do it.”
Ten seconds later Max’s eyes fluttered open. A sleepy expression remained on Max’s face but clearly Chloe’s words had some impact. She slipped out of bed and groggily went through the motions of getting ready.
It took a half hour for Max to finish but Chloe didn’t care. They were on their way out of Arcadia Bay and hopefully Chloe would be able to rid herself of some of this guilt.
~*~
Chloe felt like she could breathe when the signs read they were only a mile from arriving in Seattle. The farther they got away from Arcadia Bay the better Chloe felt. Or at least she thought this was the case. Chloe just felt desperate to get rid of the guilt.
She knew talking about it with Max might help. They could discuss Max’s motivation for saving her, whatever the fuck it was between them, and other heavy shit. Chloe purposely avoided such a conversation.
The only reason Chloe brought it up the night they arrived in Seattle was because of Max. If Max hadn’t approached her, Chloe didn’t know when she ever would’ve mentioned it.
“Hey Chloe, are you okay?” Max asked as they slid into her bed. “I mean, I know none of us are okay but… are you?”
“I’m as fine as I can get, Max. This is a hella fucked up situation. Our fucking town is destroyed, people died and for what? For me? There’s something fucked up about it. Like clearly the universe didn’t want me to live or a fucking tornado wouldn’t have been sent in retaliation for you saving me.”
“Chloe…”
She backed away. “Forget I said anything, Max. I’m here so let's focus on that. What I said isn’t important. I’m fine… or I will be. Just fucking drop it.”
“Chloe, of course, it is! If you feel that way then it’s important. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Oh so I should just bring it up while we’re in the middle of rebuilding our fucking lives? Or maybe I should say ‘Hey Max you fucked up big time by saving me and I think it was a huge fucking mistake to save someone you barely talked to in five fucking years,” Chloe snapped.
Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes but she was quick to put her back to Max so she wouldn’t see. None of this was supposed to come out; especially not now when her and Max were supposed to be spending time together.
Chloe felt the bed shift and then arms wrap around her waist. Max’s chin rested her chin on her shoulder but she didn’t say anything; at least not right away. The silence comforted Chloe. Eventually they would have to talk. Chloe wasn’t sure if she was ready or if she’d ever be ready.
“Chloe fuck the universe and what it wanted. I… I know it might sound selfish but I couldn’t let you die at the hands of Nathan and that fuck Jefferson. You’re my best friend, Chloe. I love you.”
“There were so many people died, Max. It doesn’t seem worth it that they died because of me.”
“You are worth it, Chloe; so fucking worth it. I know I wasn’t there for five years but know that it isn’t some way for me to alleviate my guilt. I couldn’t imagine a world without you, Chloe.”
Chloe let out a shaky laugh. “Well it would be pretty fucking boring without me, wouldn’t it?”
“Hella fucking boring,” Max whispered.
“We need to talk more but not now. It’s late and I’m fucking exhausted.”
“We’ll definitely talk, Chloe.”
She shifted in Max’s embrace so they were face to face. Before Max could say or do anything,Chloe kissed her. “So in the morning, yeah?”
“Yes, first thing.”
“... not first thing, Caulfield. I want to have some coffee first. What kind of animal are you?”
Max laughed.
Maybe things would be okay… eventually.