Chapter Text
Their brief holiday was over, even though it had felt like it had barely started. Max’s break wasn’t a very long one, but while she was sad it was over, she was excited to go and see all her friends at Blackwell again, even Victoria. She wasn’t sure if she would ever get used to that. This time they were leaving a bit late, since it really didn't matter if they got back to Arcadia Bay during rush hour. Even at it's busiest, the Bay seemed like a ghost town compared with Seattle.
“Are you sure you don’t want to take anything else with you back to Blackwell? Do you have enough warm clothes?” her mum asked her in a worried tone.
“I’ve got plenty, don’t worry about it.” Max responded even as she made sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything. It would be so typical of her and Chloe to completely forget something and then have to get it mailed to them. Max didn’t have the best memory in the world, and Chloe... Chloe was Chloe.
“And remember if you’re getting tired of school you can always take another break and visit us.” Vanessa continued on.
“Come on Vanessa, if you continue to bother them then we’ll never kick them out.” Ryan said jokingly, which earned him a scowl from her in return. As Max finished going through her own bag to make sure she had everything, she saw Chloe come down the stairs.
“Heya, we all ready to go Chlo?” Max asked her a Chloe casually put an arm around her. The two of them had been a bit awkward at first even holding hands in front of Max’s parents, but over the last few days things had calmed down a bit, even though Max’s grandparents had been very surprised to find out Max was dating a girl.
“Think so, thanks for letting us stay and eat all your food.” Chloe said to Ryan and Vanessa.
“No problem, thank you for making Max smile more than I think I’ve ever seen.” Ryan responded easily, and Max blushed a bit in embarrassment.
“Thanks for pointing that out dad.” Max said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes, next to her Chloe grinned.
“Best thing I’ve ever been thanked for.” Chloe responded, and Max got even more embarrassed. They were both right of course, and she was so happy that her parents still seemed to love Chloe more than her, but it was embarrassing to have them all talk about it.
“Right, you two had better get going, if you leave it any later it'll be dark before you get there.” Ryan said once they had stopped teasing Max.
“At least we might see a nice sunset that way, but yeah, time to go.” Max agreed, and Chloe nodded too.
“Thanks for letting us stay, we had a really good time.” Chloe said as she picked up her bag. Before they could go, Vanessa and Ryan hugged them both and wished them a safe trip. Once the goodbyes were taken care of, Max and Chloe got back into the pick-up truck and started on the long journey back to Arcadia Bay.
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The drive back to Arcadia Bay was long, but time passed quickly between them, either listening to music or chatting about aimless things, and all too soon they reached their first brake stop, or more accurately after a few hours Max needed to use the restroom. Chloe stopped off at the next gas station, leaving Max to use the restroom as she went into the gas station to buy snacks for the road.
Max got in and out of the restroom as quickly as she could. While she wasn’t insane about cleanliness, this one really needed a bit of work to approach anything near good in her books. She entered the gas station and looked for Chloe, she soon spotted her going through various bottles of alcohol.
“Bit early for that isn’t it?” Max murmured, taking Chloe’s hand from behind. Chloe gasped slightly in surprise, Max still had her sneaking skills apparently.
“It’s 11 somewhere right?” Chloe said jokingly, but Max knew it was actually for when they got to Joyce’s house. Max left Chloe to pay for the alcohol, she didn’t have her own fake ID to get any, and while she waited for Chloe to make the purchase, the door to the station opened up again. Max couldn’t see who it was from here, but she could hear them.
“Shot it right between the eyes. You should have seen it, a brilliant shot.” One of the men bragged loudly. Max paused, her mind instantly brought back to when Jefferson had shot Chloe.
“Between the eyes? Ya daft bastard, that ruins the trophy, what you gonna stick up on your wall, its arse?” Another man said, identifying them both as hunters. Max’s eyes tightened slightly as she continued to listen to them. She had never like hunting to begin with, taking another life as a sport was just wrong to her. Ever since the week of rewind, she had become an avid anti-gun campaigner. What was wrong with these people? As if on cue, a gunshot went off outside the store. Max started to panic, instinctively flinching back, and her mind instantly playing out terrible scenarios in her head. Even as she knew it was probably crazy, but she couldn’t see Chloe from where she was. What if…
“Chloe? Chloe!!?” Max first whispered and then quickly shouted out in panic. Chloe came around the corner, having dropped her bags to rush over at Max’s cry. Chloe of course instantly realized what had happened, and folded Max in a hug.
“It’s OK, I’m here with you. Calm down, everything’s fine.” Chloe whispered reassuringly, holding onto Max until she stopped shaking. Max didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but they were interrupted by another voice.
“Look at that, a single gunshot and they are cowering like children.” One of the previous voices said. Max looked up, to see two truckers standing on the far side of the aisle. Still in a shock, Max flinched back from them, she really didn’t want to deal with this now. Chloe was just angry. They had just crossed the line. Chloe had become a lot calmer since Max had arrived into her life, but there was one thing she would not accept; people trying to bully her girlfriend. They no idea how much she had fought through or any idea of what she had done. Chloe got up right away with fire in her eyes, and walked over to them, burning with sudden rage.
“You fucking idiots, you would be crying like a little kid if you had gone through what she has to. I dare you, say another word and I will break your jaw!” Chloe almost shouted at them, looking the one who had spoken right in the eyes as she did so. Despite the obvious aggression in her eyes, the idiots did not back down.
“Is that a threat? Here’s a few words, you’re a bunch of fags.” The man said threateningly. To her credit, Chloe had warned him, and despite her warnings, Chloe’s punch took the man completely by surprise, hitting him square in the jaw and downing him in a single punch. The man next to him swore and reached down to his belt for a weapon. Then he paused in surprise, he looked down and found his weapon missing. Before he could do anything else Chloe kicked him in the balls, taking him out as well. Still angry, Chloe looked over to Max, they needed to get going before they got into serious trouble. But as Chloe turned around, Max wasn’t there. Suddenly there was a crashing sound by the door, then a thudding sound. It was Chloe’s turn to panic, and she rushed around the corner, fearing the worst.
To Chloe’s surprise, she rushed around the corner to find Max standing over an unconscious man. The man had a rifle in his hands, he was probably the idiot who had fired the shot in the first place.
“Damn Max, didn’t know you had it in you.” Chloe said, still terrified but also impressed. Max shook her head and dropped a heavy paint can to the ground. The two of them quickly ran out of the store, leaving her drinks behind along with a frightened store clerk as they ran to their pickup truck. Max and Chloe got in it at the same time, and as soon as the doors were closed Chloe punched it, speeding them away.
A few minutes later and Chloe let out a sigh of relief. She had been in worse fights before, and out here she doubted anyone could or would press charges to being beaten up by some girls.
“Wow Max. That was hella hard-core.” Chloe said eventually. For a moment there was silence, then Chloe turned to look at Max. There were tears coming down Max’s face, and she was looking at her right hand in horror.
“Don’t worry Max, you didn’t seriously hurt the man. Though he would have deserved it.” Chloe said, misinterpreting Max’s tears for worry over the man she had hit. Max looked over at Chloe then, and Chloe saw a huge well of pain and regret in Max’s eyes. Something else was wrong here. Chloe swore slightly. Her first thought was that Max might be hurt. Chloe pulled the semi over on a nearby dirt path, hiding it from view of the road. Once they had stopped, Chloe turned to Max, now worried as well.
“Max, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Chloe said worriedly. Max continued to sit there for a moment, and Chloe spoke again.
“Max, speak to me.” Chloe said, getting more worried. Finally, Max looked over at her, as if seeing her for the first time. When Max did speak, it was spoken in a whisper so quiet Chloe could barely hear her.
“Chloe… I’m sorry… I think I might have messed up.” Max whispered, tears still falling down her face. Chloe quickly looked over her, checking her for any wounds.
“Max, are you hurt? What happened?” Chloe asked. Max shook her head to Chloe’s first question, then took a deep breath to calm herself. The deep breath failed, and Max started to breath quicker, getting into a panic attack. Recognizing the signs by now, Chloe grabbed hold of Max again.
“It’s OK, I’m here with you.” Chloe said quickly over and over again. This time however, Max spoke up.
“No, it’s not OK. Chloe, I really messed up.” Max whispered again. Chloe pulled away from her this time, looking at her seriously.
“Max, what happened?” Chloe asked. It looked like Max wouldn’t speak again, but before Chloe could say anything else Max responded.
“I… I rewound time.” Max finally said, looking over at her right hand. From what Chloe remembered Max saying, whenever she had rewound time she would raise her right hand and somehow just do it. Chloe looked at Max for a moment in surprise, she had assumed that Max couldn’t do that anymore. As Chloe continued to be silent, Max continued.
“You hit one of them, and the other pulled out a gun. I panicked, and I rewound time. I stole the gun from him. Then the other guy came in with a gun, so I rewound again and when he came in I hit him on the back of the head with the paint bucket. Chloe I am so sorry!” Max finished explaining, getting louder as she explained before she burst into tears again. The pieces suddenly fitted together in Chloe's head, how one of them had lost their gun, and how Max had so easily hit the other one from behind.
“Max, you hella saved me again. There’s nothing to be sorry about.” Chloe said, trying to reassure Max, but Max shook her head.
“Chloe! I stopped using the rewind because I almost got you killed! Oh god I fucked up….” Max said, worrying about what would happen. Chloe then remembered what Max had said before, that using her powers had caused the tornado in the first place, and how close Max had come to losing her before. Suddenly understanding, Chloe looked back to Max.
“You only did it once right? Surely that won’t cause the apocalypse or anything? You said you think it was because of all the long time travel right?” Chloe said.
“Maybe, but I am not losing you again! Even if….” Max petered off, but Chloe knew what she was saying, even if it meant losing Arcadia Bay.
“Max, you said there were loads of strange weather patterns and stuff, snow in October and so on right? If we see any freak weather patterns, then you can just rewind to a picture you took this morning or some time before using the power and make sure we never stop there. It will be all right.” Chloe said determinedly. This time, Max did calm down a bit. She stopped crying and just sat there for a moment, wiping her eyes with a now soaked tissue. Chloe could tell that Max thought it wouldn’t be that easy, but it was still a good plan of action. The two of them stayed there for a moment, then Chloe had to ask.
“Do you want to head back to your parents?” Chloe asked, and eventually Max shook her head.
“No, we’ll need to be in Arcadia if something happens.” Max said, and Chloe nodded, understanding. Once Max had calmed down a bit more, Chloe turned on the truck again, and the got back onto the main road.
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Back on the main road, this time they didn’t stop. Though they knew it was super unlikely anything would happen again, neither of them wanted to take any chances. During the remainder of the drive, Max calmed down a bit more, realizing that if things really did go badly she could just travel back to another photograph and make sure not to use time travel again. Personally she felt like that was a convenient way to avoid taking any responsibility, but then she didn’t really understand how it all worked anyway. It was hard to figure how how your time travel worked when using it caused so many problems.
Chloe and Max didn’t stop driving until they were back in Arcadia. Thankfully Max didn’t see any signs of freak weather occurrence as they arrived, but she was still far from calm. Logically she knew that if worse came to worse, she could just go back in time to a photograph before they had left and just tell Chloe not to stop, but she wouldn’t do that unless she knew the storm would come again. Max was still totally against using her powers any more than she absolutely had to, she didn’t want to make things worse by abusing them like last time, if that had even been the cause. If she only knew how it all worked! Sadly, all of both her and Chloe’s long internet searches on time travel hadn’t come up with anything concrete. There were a lot of conflicting theories, and the few that were anywhere close to what Max had been through were incredibly vague on details.
“Hey, you feeling any better?” Chloe asked. Max turned to see the worried look on Chloe’s face. Max wanted to just fake a smile and cheer her up, but she knew Chloe would see right through her.
“Better than before at least. I’ll feel better once the sun starts to set and nothing freaky happens.” Max said. Chloe nodded, her eyes still fixed on the road.
“So what happens if nothing happens? Does that mean the storm wasn’t caused by your power?” Chloe asked. Max thought about it for a moment. She really wished that if was that simple.
“I wish. All it means is that it doesn’t make a storm happen right away after rewinding once or twice. If nothing happens I’ll still try not to use the rewind unless we absolutely have to.” Max said. Chloe glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow. Max didn’t need to rewind to tell what Chloe was thinking.
“And no, absolutely have to doesn’t include using it to break into the school.” Max said, making Chloe finally smile.
“I wasn’t thinking that… at least not seriously. We’ll figure this out, together.” Chloe said reassuringly, and Max returned her smile. Now that did make her feel better. She was still terrified of course. It wasn’t a worry about having to go through everything again. As terrible as if had been, she was far more concerned about Chloe. It had felt like destiny had gone out of its way to kill Chloe, and if she was honest, they had been super lucky to escape it once. Then there was the other fear, that she would be forced into making the decision. Last time she had tried to be selfless and choose the good of the many over her own wishes, and she had ended up failing at that. If the storm was still coming, it might mean she still had to make the choice she never wanted to make.
The two of them were silent for the last part of their trip, they were too busy looking for anything out of the ordinary. They even made a detour and drove past the beach, but there were no signs of beached whales, dead birds or random snowfall. Feeling a bit more relieved, they headed back to Chloe’s house. As much as Max wanted to see all her friends and Blackwell again, she needed to be with Chloe for a bit longer. It was probably paranoia, but there was no way she was letting her blue-haired girlfriend out of her sight until they went through the entire day without anything strange happening.
“Looks like Joyce and David are home.” Chloe commented at seeing light on in the house. Max looked over at Chloe. She still wasn’t used to Chloe call David by his real name rather than step-douche or something.
“Good, I could use some Joyce cooking.” Max said. Though all of the worry, she had barely noticed that they hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
“I hear you there. You staying here tonight?” Chloe asked as they pulled into the drive.
“If you’ll have me.” Max answered, getting out of the car and picking up her bags. From the other side of the car, she heard Chloe snort.
“You make that sound like a question.” Chloe responded, and Max smiled again. If she could rely on Chloe for anything, it was that she would be always there to catch her if she fell. The two of them entered, not bothering to knock on the door, and found Joyce and David sitting by the table. Judging from the empty plates, they had just finished dinner.
“Hey there. You have a good trip back?” Joyce said, then looked up over at them.
“You two look exhausted. Long drive?” Joyce asked them as she saw how tired they must look. Max wouldn’t be surprised if her eyes were bloodshot from crying and panicking. Max didn’t like lying to Joyce and David, but she didn’t want to tell them about her rewind either.
“Yeah, I had a bit of a panic attack on the drive, I’m doing better now.” Max explained, and she saw David nod in understanding.
“Poor dear. There’s still some food in the oven if you haven’t eaten.” Joyce said, pointing back toward the kitchen.
“Thanks mum. You’re a lifesaver.” Chloe said.
“I do try. Now you two sit down on the couch, I’ll serve some up for you. It sounds like you could do with a brake.” Joyce said kindly.
“Thanks Joyce.” Max said, then sat down next to Chloe and turned on the TV. A moment later and they were given two large plates of lasagna. Joyce really was a lifesaver.
“So how was things at Ryan and Vanessa’s place?” Joyce asked them.
“That bit was great. I think my parents love Chloe more than me.” Max said, making Joyce and David laugh.
“Some things never change. I miss spending time with them.” Joyce said. David looked a bit awkward, so Max decided to change the subject.
“Things been quiet in Blackwell during the break?” Max asked David.
“Yeah. It makes a nice change of pace. Things have been hectic for too long.” David said, then he coughed and continued in a more serious tone.
“Also, we’ve got a fixed date for… for that memorial for Rachel. It’s not long away.” David said. Max felt Chloe tighten up at the mention of Rachel Amber. They had gone through the funeral shortly after her body had been found. But because of the agreement Max had made with the Prescotts, they had also commissioned a memorial to Rachel. Right now Max didn’t want to think about anything to do with the Precotts, so she put it out of her mind.
“So how have things been here? Weather been good?” Chloe suddenly asked. Max didn’t react to the question, but she was listening intently to the answer.
“Same old same old. It was a quiet day in the diner.” Joyce replied, not understanding the real meaning behind Chloe’s question. Max looked out the window, she couldn’t see the sun with all the houses blocking her view. That was good right? If it was getting dark soon and she there weren’t any freakish weather patterns, then maybe they had dodged a bullet after all? Once she had finished her meal, Max lent against Chloe and relaxed a bit, keeping her eye on the windows in case she saw something strange. They stayed like that for just over an hour until the sun had finished setting. Max hadn’t seen any snow or dead birds. Just to be extra safe, she quickly checked the internet on her phone, there was no mention of any beached whales either. After a while Joyce and David left to get an early night, leaving the two of them alone.
“You OK?” Chloe whispered next to her. Max looked back into Chloe’s eyes and let out a relieved sigh.
“I think so. Nothing strange happened. Sorry about that.” Max finally said.
“Don’t apologize, I was hella worried too.” Chloe said. Max was silent for a moment. Though Chloe didn’t mention it, Max knew that she kept on having doubts about herself, worrying that she wasn’t good enough. But Chloe had probably been worrying just as much as Max if not more, but she had put it aside so that Max could feel better. Even after everything that had happened to Chloe, who had gone through so much at such a young age, she was still so strong and thoughtful. Maybe Max was biased, or maybe she just knew Chloe really well, but in her eyes Chloe was the most brilliant person she had ever met.
“I love you, ya’know.” Max said quietly.
“Yeah I know.” Chloe replied, and Max didn’t have to look at her to know she was smirking.
“You’re meant to say I love you back.” Max said, trying her best to sound hurt and not smile.
“OK. I love you more than anything in the world, you are my light and all that mushy stuff. Happy?” Chloe said with an exaggerated sigh. Max giggled and nodded.
“Happy.” Max said, snuggling back into Chloe.
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Max was back. The wind was howling through the trees, lighting illuminating the dark nightmare landscape around her. But as much as she wished otherwise, Max knew this wasn’t a nightmare. You didn’t feel the rain chill your body in a dream, and even though her mind was screaming in fear and anger, she couldn’t wake up. Max flinched as the thunder sounded around her, but she couldn’t wake up. She was back at the lighthouse, back in this same vision of the storm wiping out Acadia Bay. Just ahead of her she could see the lighthouse, still standing tall against the storm. Though the tall evergreens blocked her sight, Max knew the tornado was pulling into Arcadia, destroying everything in its path as nature cleaned the slate clean.
“What? No. No you can’t do this to me again.” Max whispered to herself. She felt a surge of anger at the unfairness of it all, mixed with the exhaustion and grief of it not being over yet. Why? Why couldn’t she be allowed to just live her life? As if in answer to her thoughts, a translucent Doe appeared in front of her, looking straight at her. From what she had learned, it was meant to be her spirit animal. Max had though spirit guides were meant to guide people. But after everything that had happened, whenever she saw the doe, only darkness came after. The first time she had seen the vision of the storm, Max had assumed she was meant to use her powers to stop the storm, and had almost destroyed reality because of it. Suddenly angry, Max started shouting at the doe.
“Why! Haven’t I suffered enough already! I won’t do it! I won’t kill Chloe!” Max shouted at it. As if in answer, the Doe looked at her, then jumped over to the fences against the cliffs. It looked down at a newspaper and then back to Max, as if pointing towards it.
“What’s the point? You just want me to kill the one I love the most!” Max continued to shout at it, but it continued, tapping a hoof against the paper. Max almost screamed in anger, but walked over to it, being careful not to get blown off the cliff by the wind. She could now see the tornado approaching Arcadia Bay. Somehow it looked even larger than it had before. Now that Max looked more closely, there were other smaller differences as well. Something was off. She had been given the vision of the storm multiple times, but they had always been the same. Something had changed. A bit confused now, Max looked down at the doe next to her, and picked up the paper.
‘Grand Opening of Pan Estates.’ The main cover read. Max looked over to the date on the paper, it was set to happen in about a weeks time. This was just like before. They tried to make Max think she could save everything, but instead she had caused it all to happen. Max allowed herself to fall to her knees, so that she was looking the doe right in the eyes.
“Why are you showing me this? Last time you convinced me to use my power to change things, but I was the one to cause it in the first place! What are you trying to show…” Max broke off from her tirade as she doe shook its head, and Max paused for a moment.
Something didn’t add up. It had never added up, but with everything else happening she had been able to ignore it before. The storm was not here to force Chloe to die, when Chloe had been shot by Jefferson it had happened anyway. It also wasn’t because of Max abusing her powers. She had gone back and changed only one thing before then stopped, when she had got Jefferson and Nathan arrested before anything could happen, but the storm had still happened in that time as well. The only thing different this time from then had been Max getting shot by Nathan. Was it the events that had changed things? It took Max a moment, but then her eyes opened wide as she realized.
“It wasn’t me. Something else is causing the storm.” Max whispered, the tears she had unknowingly be crying froze on her cheeks. This time, the doe nodded.
“And I stopped it last time?” Max asked, and the doe shook its head.
“I didn’t stop it? I… I postponed it?” Max asked, and the doe nodded. She got the feeling the vision was coming to an end, though she wasn’t sure how she knew. It all now made more sense- why she had got her vision before ever using her powers, why nothing had seemed to stop the storm until it accidentally just happened. She had it all wrong. Neither Max nor Chloe had been the cause of the storm, it was something else, something they had missed. Max felt a strange mixture of relief that she had not caused all this destruction, but dread at knowing that it wasn’t over, the storm could still happen and she had no idea how to stop it. Max only had one more yes or no question.
“Can I stop it?” Max asked, and this time the doe paused, then gave a barely noticeable shrug, as if to say ‘you have a chance, but not a good one’. Then the doe looked back up at her, meeting her eyes, and it vanished. Max had time to have one last look out at the storm just as it reached Arcadia Bay. This tornado was larger than the one before. Max felt a mix of determination and dread almost overwhelm her. Somehow, a part of her was relieved. If the storm wasn’t caused Chloe, it meant she would never have to make that terrible choice. That was truly a huge weight off her shoulders.
On the other hand, the last time this had happened, she had almost lost everything and everyone. Even after accidentally stopping it, it turned out she had only postponed it. It seemed like both her and the storm would be given one last chance, one last chance for Max to save everyone, and the storm one last chance to destroy everything.
“Max! Please wake up!” A voice shouted out to her, and Max instantly recognized Chloe’s voice. She allowed the vision to end, finding herself back in bed, with Chloe sitting next to her.
“Thank god you’re awake. What happened? One moment you were talking with me, then your nose started bleeding and you passed out. Please tell me you’re OK?” Chloe said in a slightly panicked tone. Max sighed for a moment, taking out a tissue and wiping the blood from her face.
“Chloe, It’s not over, the storm may still happen. We’ve got a lot to do. This strange life of ours is about to get stranger yet.” Max said.