Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

An apartment building holding three friends, all three chained together by trauma and love. All care deeply for one another and suffered too much in their lives. Living in California was a dream compaired to their lives in Seattle, the sunshine and better paid jobs. Everything was better here, even if one of the inhabitants lived differently then most.

Moaning in annoyance, a brown-haired girl awoke to a loud alarm waking her up from her slumber. She opened her eyes and pressed the off button, slowly stretching, a knock on her door made her more known to her surroundings.

"Max! Coffee alarm!" a voice becons,

"I'm up..." she replies with a deep voice, yawning and rubbing her eyes awake.

She blinked and saw her room, it was an average sized room with walls painted a creamy brown and small plastic leaves plastered across the area. Posters surrounded her room, the images were of her favourite characters in things she's watched, a desk with a laptop was opposite her bed, a bedside table was next to her and a massive bookshelf with manga books was in a corner. There was also a shelf with a camera on and had a small mural of polaroids surrounding it. The images themselves were of Max and her roommates.

"That's nice for some. We've been awake for a while" a gender-neutral person came in smiling widely and had a sarcastic tone on. They were holding a mug and held it out for Max to grab,

They were already dressed into a white blouse, tight trousers and their shoulder length hair was tied up at the back, only letting a slight side fringe cover the right side of their face.

"Morning Fern" Max replied with and took the mug from their hands. A smile in thanks was her response and she took a sip, the  caffine hitting already. "Defenitly needed a pick up. Thank you"

"Pleasure, bee-tee-dubs, Krissy already left for work. She'll be back ar three today to help with exercises. And now I needa go. Love you Maxi" They waved off in goodbye quickly, already putting on some converse shoes and grabbing their keys,

"Oh! Uh- Thank you Fernando..." the girl was stumbling slightly, clearly not a morning person.

"No problem! Call me or Kris if you need us!" they shouted as they opened and shut the front door.

Barely even five minutes since she woke up, there were apparently two people living with her and she barely recalled their names without thinking too hard. Her memory was... off putting to say the least. Anything before seven years ago had either generally be forgotten or it was lost due to an event Max could barely recall. Anyone she used to have known never reached out so she never knew anyone else besides the people she was living with and the two with her now.

Sighing and finishing off her coffee, Max got up and placed the empty cup on her bedside table and saw a post-it note plastered ontop. It read 'Dress Then Eat Breakfast.', the girl agreed with these words and walked towards her wardobe containing her daily armour.

Today, she decided to wear a pink jane-doe top, a grey hoodie and blue jeans. It was going to be a day full of going through cartoons and such. A comfort day. Her above-the-shoulder length hair was messy and she brushed it to perfection, her freckles seemed louder in volume today and Max didn't mind. Her blue eyes poked out at the end of the fringe plastered over her face, she quickly got a post-it note and wrote next to her mirror, 'Get Kriss 2 cut fringe!!'

She'd know that her friend would cut her hair if she asked nicely enough, probably not tonight though so it would be easier to write it down and ask at another time.

Today was a Wednesday, 'Comfort Wednesday' in this household. It really meant that Wednesday was the day before her roommates have a day off, Max on the other hand doesn't work. Her health issues restrict her from working a full time job and her friends provide everything for her. She does feel embarassed over this and has been able to do solo gigs for people with her photography which do get a bit of money. Her roommates have offered to set up a website with her details on and she could get known but Max thinks that her work was never good enough so passed everytime they mention it.

As Max entered the kitchen, she saw another post-it note plastered on the fridge and it read: 'Out of bread. Eat fruit'.

The kitchen was an open plan connected to the living room, an island seperated them and it was usually their 'dining table', the colour theme was red and white, red cuboards and white frames, photo frames in gaps with the three of them in silly poses and very retro-themed appliences. The three of them were very hipster come to think of it, they loved older technologies and always opted for them over a new modern applience. Even if they were getting harder to find, they still got as much as they could.

Huffing, Max opened the fridge and saw a selection of fruits and vegtables which seemes healthy enough to chomp on, eyeing an apple, Max grabbed it and closed the fridge to make her way towards her seat on the sofa.

The living room was also matching the white and red theme, the two sofas were red and there was a white coffee table. The television was black though, the only compromise. The dresser holding it was white and held their collection of video games and consoles inside, there was also a hefty collection of DVDs that they couldn't get rid of.

She had a specific seat everywhere she went. If someone else sat in it, she'd sulk and complain till said person moved to another or she would refuse to sit back down if the person didn't move. Other's would call this behaviour annoyung and childish but her roomates didn't and she loved them dearly because of it.

The two of them always thought of Max whenever getting newer things as well, anything that they did always made Max's life easier. They always concidered her and never harmed her in any way. That is unless they mention specific events they went through in their past together. Otherwise, its generally nice.

Currently, Max had sat down and used the remote to turn on the television. After it started up, she turned on Netflix and pressed play on the newest show she had become fixated on - Titans. Even if the show wasn't accurate on lore in some respects, she enjoyed watching the DC show and it was one of her special interests.

After binging through half of Season 1, her phone went off alarming her and it reminded her that Kristen was coming home in a little while. The time really flew by and she didn't notice that she forgot to eat lunch. Being distracted by a show shouldn't be an escuse, she just didn't feel hungry.

Max looked up from her phone and decided to turn of the television to force herself to get up and be slightly productive until Kristen returned. Her friend was like a mother figure she always needed and even more so as even after work, she helps Max complete memory exercises in the afternoon.

The brunette shook of any tiredness from her numb legs and got to work slowly. She cleaned her seat and the sofas, she went into her room and made her bed (only a few hours late, but it didn't matter), and she finally cleaned her mug which was on her side table. After satisfied with her small amount of work effort, she heard the door open and she smiled as she saw Kristen open the door,

Kristen was a slightly above average body type, more curves then bones, her hair was half blonde and half black, her clothes were a simple tank top and jeans. Her job didn't require a buisiness attire as her job was more heavy lifting then sitting down neatly. This made the woman have a more toned stomach which Max always found oddly attractive about her friend. A soft smile was on her face as she noticed Max's own.

"Hello to you too Max" she sighed out and closed the door behind herself, "How was comfort day?", she walked over to a hook and put her keys on it, taking off her shoes afterwards and walking towards the kitchen to get a drink.

"It was fine, Starfire and Rachel are talking about Garfield and making fun of him at the arcade" Max said and walked over to Kristen holding a folder.

It took a moment for Kristen to register what Max was talking about, after she did realise, she replied, "That's great, I wanna watch it with you again so maybe we'll watch some more at dinner?" As talking, she grabbed a waterbottle from the fridge, then she sat on a stool next to the kitchen island and patted for Max to sit down next to her.

"That would be great! But Fern doesn't like the blood..."

"They're just dramatic. Its an act 100%, don't give in" she chuckled and Max joined in and sat down on the stool next, their tones got slightly more serious afterwards.

"So... Mind reminding me where we're at Max?"

The brunette blinked and then realised what she meant, she opened the folder and placed it on the table. It contained documents about Max's life before she moved to Seattle and had documents explaining where she came from. The documents itself didn't help her remember a lot but the photographs did.

"We... Are...." Max began flicking through some of the layers and stopped at a range of polaroids, they had Max when she was younger all plastered over. They all had a blonde haired girl with her, Max assumed they were friends when they were younger but lost contact after she moved. "...On the pictures today..."

A sadness hit Max as she tried to recall anything from all of the pictures but it was all too much, her mind went blank and it all became scary. Kristen noticed the change in Max and held her shoulder softly, "Hey... take it slow. We'll just do one at a time"

This made Max's slight panic fizzle away, she always managed to do that. Make all the bad things go away. The woman picked up a single picture and showed it to Max.

The image itself had Max in next to the familiar blond haired girl. They were both wearing pirate gear and smiling, they seemed happy... Every image that had the two in, they were both smiling. They were clearly close... What went wrong between them though? Max never got any contact from anyone past the accident and she hadn't changed her number.

A few hours passed, Max named everything she could see in the photograph and tried to recall little things from them. All the girl could remember were her laughs, a man's voice saying something and a hug between the two girls. She couldn't recall names, areas or anything else.

Kristen and her had been doing this with other photos but didn't succeed very well. They tried and used several completely different images but still the same results. Doctors have sugested in the past that bringing Max to her hometown might be helpful for her; she didn't want to go back though.

She had a routine that she stuck to and hated it changing at a rapid pace. Going somewhere which could upset her balance would never help her properly, she's always thought. She'd never go back there unless it was the only option to remember - And probably was.

Both girls were hungry and it was now time to start making dinner, neither actually wanted to cook so they decided to wait till Fran came home to decide what take-out they should get.

At around 6:30pm, Fernando returned home and was welcomed back home, with a smile, they sat down on the sofa and bitched about their workmates. They ranted on about someone named 'Grayson' who seemed like an actual prick, Fernando deffinetly didn't like him.

They spend a while discussing food choices and settled on Chineese to chow down on for dinner. Although, there were slight mentions for Fernando and Kristen needing a drink. Max assumed they meant water or another drink in the cupboards but was later reminded of another meaning for drinks and rolled her eyes.

Once their food arrived, they played whatever was on the television and just talked while eating,

"I tell you, Grayshit needs to take a chill pill if he thinks I'll work with him."

"Fern, down girl. He probably needs to get laid by someone and he might like youuu" Kristen happily said and Fernando yelled in anger and had a hissing fit,

"Krissy, I love you but no. I do not wanna get laid by a man with all bite. I very much needa wind down with a drink. So... Max, you gonna join us?"

"I uh... I don't know..." Max had turned 21 months ago and only went out with her friends a couple times, she did want to get out of her shell and the annoyance of not knowing her damned memories made her more confidence now, "...Okay. If you want me too?"

The two infront of her high fived one another and smiled in awe at the propersition Max now offered to be included in. They knew Max was a lightweight so Kristen claimed designated driver for the night and the two others could drink as much as they wanted.

After eating their foods, they just fancied going to a casual club and not a particularly busy one. There was a bar which Kristen and Fernando went too before but Max hadn't and it seemed to be a better choice. The three all got themselves ready via flatenning out their hairs and making themselves presentable,

Max retrieved her noise canceling headphones just in case and put them in a totebag which had the bisexual colours ontop, she put on her sunflower lanyard as well for added protection to herself and walked up to the door ready for the next adventure.

Fernando and Kristen quickly followed her and all three went out of their appartment, they walked down the few lights of stairs and made their way to Kristen's car. It was a black toyota and had been one of the first major purchases that she had to take, travelling on the bus just got too stressful for the three of them.

They all got in and Kristen drove off towards a place around 10 minutes away and parked inside a space carefully with Max on lookout, prepared to shout if they were going to hit into a neighbouring car. Once stable and in a space, the three pilled out and had their IDs ready to show if needed to be.

"Oh hello Kris, you going in for your regular?" the bouncer at the front asked, he was an average build and had dark skin, he looked reasonably attractive and clearly had bulky shoulders proving his weight for being a security guard.

"Yep! Clear the way for us three" she jokingly replied and the bouncer stepped aside for her while checking the IDs of Fern and Max.

As the three were now all inside, loud music was pounding and there were a heafty amount of people inside. Not as busy as a well-known bar but still a great place to have fun. The loud noises were making Max slightly uneasy and so the three made their way towards a table and sat down.

There was a small amount of smoke on the dance floor and bright lights surrounding that part of the floor. The area that the three made their ways to was in a more secluded area for Max's comfort, it was darker and less people were nearby making all of them more at ease.

"What you thinking on getting? I'm probably gonna get an Apple Martini, a classic starter" Fern says and smirks,

"I'll have my usual." Max replies, trying to ignore the loud noises and focusing on the two near her,

"Alright, and you Kris?"

"Hm... Just a beer, nothing more. I don't wanna get drunk" Kristen replies and laughs.

Fernando nods and slid out of their chair, making their way towards the bar and proceeded to order.

"All this noise is kinda bothering me..." Max muttred out and growned, Kristen patted Max on the shoulder and looked at her.

"It'll feel better after a little bit of alcohol sweetie, don't worry. We got you"

"Thanks.." Max said in response and smiled softly, Kristen did too and rolled her eyes as she saw Fern come back but empty handed.

"Before you say, staff were busy and said that someone would come round with our drinks!" they said acting all defensive, Max rolled her eyes and smiled,

"Course they did Fern"

"They did I swear!"

"Don't lie to me and Maxi." 

"What- I'm not. Assholes"

The back and fourth banta between Kristen and Fernando was always a spectacle to watch but it was stopped abruptly when a bartender arrived. She was tall, had blue hair and had a visible tattoo on her arm. Her clothing was a black shirt and black trousers, there was also a namebadge with a name on.

"Sorry for the delay-" The woman began and placed the drinks down but stopped talking and stared at Max who looked back, Max had no idea who this woman was and tried to avoid eye contact,

"Max?"

Chapter Text

T.W Slight ED mentioning/ eating habits



"Max, c'mon! You're too slow!"

"I'm trying... You're- Damn you short legs..."

"Oh Maximum slowness, don't blame your height you doofus."

"Oh you can say that c̵͉̥̀̾̽̒̈͆̌̿̕ͅh̴̫̰̜̭̻̆͜l̸͖͍̬̖̪͚̈͛͐̀̅̎̽̉̓̓͐̈́͜o̸̧͕̞̤̝̜͖̔̇̈̓̓̎̓́̕͘e̵̳̱̙̮͚͉̙̖̹͎̅̆͑͝"

What was her name?

An alarm woke up a fifteen year old Maxine C̶a̶u̶l̶f̶i̶e̶l̶d̶, the young girl had spent her first week at SunnySide Children's home. The dream that she just had felt so familiar yet so far away; she recognised her own voice but not the other girls.

Sighing, she woke up fully and looked round the room to see her the only two others who welcomed her here, Kristen and Francesca. Those two had introduced her round and made her feel somewhat safe; being in a completely new environment was weird for the brunette and she had no idea about anything.

Her situation was... Certainly unique.

A year prior, a tragic accident occured which caused Maxine to suffer from long-term memory loss, amnesia basically. Her full story is in her records and she doesn't recall what had happened, besides her parents abandoning her the first chance they got and didn't want to know anything about them again.

Being in a care home was a unique experience but still common in certain areas. The young teenager and multiple others were in similar situations of their parents being incapable or not wanting to take care of the child anymore, Maxine never felt alone but still felt lonely.

Maxine stared at the celling, her bunk was the top one and the wall above her was pain. Nothing of interest besides a great place to think about nothing. A few minutes passed and the sound of two people yawning below her made her concentrate on their sounds over anything else. The two girls slid out of the bed and made small conversation between them, Maxine didn't pay attention to them anymore.  Talking always felt weird to her; or at least, she thinks that it was always weird.

"Maxine, hey! Are you gonna get up or just chill up there?"

The voice of Kristen alarmed her, she wasn't expecting to interact just yet.

"Huh?" the brunette replied with

"You gonna get up? Breakfast is served in like 10 minutes"

"Oh. I'm not hungry"

"You sure? We haven't seen you eat a lot..."

"I don't get hungry in the mornings."

"Strange... But- uh- I won't judge" the older girl smiled, Maxine didn't look at her though, practically ignored her existence.

"Anyways... If you need me or France, we'll be in the dining room"

"Cool."

France was Francesca's nickname given to her by Kristen, although, France did seem to prefer a shortened version of her name similar to Maxine but... France liked fressing in boys clothes and that seemed odd to Maxine.

Getting out of her thoughts, Maxine looked down from her bed and noticed that the two girls dissapeared and went off elsewhere- the dining room. Now she was alone. Alone with the thoughts of her past dream and the weird girl who was in it.

Everytime she dreamt of this girl, her apperance changed, as if she were making her up everytime. As if the actual person she was based on was being forgotten... It didn't matter though, she probably didn't exist. But her voice was so familar...

Blinking away those thoughts, she got up from her covers and went down the small ladder to the floor. The room she was in was made for 2 girls but Kritsten and Francessca were generous enough to share a bed so she could sleep in the same room as them. It was sweet but Maxine didn't really understand it. There were a lot of things that Maxine didn't understand; a lot of social ques for instence.

It didn't bother her personally but to others around her, she was found as rude and impatient. The brunette didn't understand it and shook it off as those people not understanding her and how she works.

Right now though, Maxine went over to the drawer full of her own clothes and she went though to decide what to wear. Nothing was going to happen today, it was the weekend before she went back into education.

She found a white top and jeans to wear, she put them on and put on some white socks. She put on her comfort hoodie as well to shield herself if needed, the other children here weren't that particuarly nice towards Maxine's condition and made fun off her. She didn't understand why they were mean but she liked that her only two friends helped her though it all.

Once she finished, she looked in a mirror and her long brown hair looked like it needed a cut, her freckles looked off and her eyebags were worsening. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she decided to just put her hair up in a ponytail.

After said task, she heard people shouting outside her room and decided to ignore them. The first week here had been incredibly stressful with introductions and the change in environment, Maxine had freaked out at the change of pace and the amount of other people her age being here.

Breathing in and out, Maxine steped away from the dresser and looked around herself. The room was small. Full of colours. Not really her cuppa tea. It was France and Kristen's room so it explained why it was so.

Someone knocked on the door and Maxine made her way towards it, after opening, one of the adults caring for her was there,

"Good morning Maxine, we didn't see you at breakfast today. Is everything alright?"

"I wasn't hungry.."

"Oh? Are you sure?" the adult asked, leaning out their hand for Maxine to take.

Maxine shook her head and looked away from them, not wanting to take their hand or respond.

"Well... Alright then. Do you want to talk to Francessca and Kristen? They're in the living room now if you wanted too"

"O-okay..."

"If you need anything, we're here for you" the adult ended with and ruffled with her hair slightly, not a lot due to the ponytail it was in but still made a little fuzz appear,

Once the adult left, the door was open for her to exit. She could either spend her day in her room by herself and not do anything or go and talk to her friends; neither idea sparked joy but she really didn't want to hide in her room again. She'd already spent enough time in it already and she needed to get into a new routine that doesn't involve hiding away from everyone.

Deciding that was her new task, she fixed her ponytail and walked out of her room and closed her door afterwards. The door was painted white and had a sign saying who's room it was; Maxine's name was on there as well so it was determind that she was staying with the two other girls.

Maxine walked through the hallway with signs to other children's rooms and such, it was new to her but similar. She remembers walking through the hospital corridors and they all had signs on them indicating numbers instead of names; it was a slight taste of familiarity. Still different but similar to what she was sligtly used to.

As Maxine was walking through the hallway, she heard the sounds of multiple voices coming from different rooms of the household. Some were young some were old, all were children and various adults voices were heard. There was a total of four adults in this house and a shocking twenty children here. All with their own issues and such, every child was certainly unique. Including Maxine.

Walking out towards the living room was easy now, she managed to open the door and spot her two friends on one of the sofas with a space for her. The two saw her and waved as she walked closer to them.

"Morning Maxine! You feeling better?" France asked, seeming slightly worried,

"Y-yeah. I'm good"

That reasured the two infront of her and she smiled softly at them, they all huddled together and began discussing what classes Maxine were going to be in; they all shared the same school now and would be joining them in said classes. Even if Maxine was going into the same classes, she needed other solo lessons to help her catch up on various ones, those lessons were after class and she'd have to wait for someone to pick her up some days instead of walking back to the house with Kristen and Francessca.

"So History is with Mr Humphres and he's welsh so like... Don't make fun of his accent" Kristen said and it ignited the trio to giggle slightly,

"Can't wait to meet him then"

"We'll have so much fun! And if we're lucky, maybe skip a couple classes..?" France said and wriggeled her eyebrows,

"I'd much rather skip PE then history but sure"

"Pfft, we'll make sure you definetly skip PE, that lesson is so... Full of try hards." France folded her arms and rolled her eyes,

"PE is fun though!" Kristen complains, not wanting to skip her favourite lesson

"But dude- who actually likes particiating if all you're competeing with are the atheletes??"

"I like having competition"

"And we don't" France held Maxine's side and bundled the two together, both huffing at their friend who actually enoys such a horrible subject.

The three then began bickering over what subject was the most faourable, all deciding different things. Kriste's was obviously PE, Francessca's was drama and Maxine's was art. Two aristic friends and their sporty friend who loved showing off how much she could pick up whilst the other two just applauded her.

Bickering turned into full on debating and the three got a slight audience but no one else interfered, it was weird honestly. Just three people making decent arguments about their topic and people cheering them on.

Time went on and their conversation drifted away and people left, now the three were just chit chatting and watching the television. Nothing in particular was on and the three just stayed comfortably close to one another, apreshiating one anothers company.

Lunchtime came and Maxine still wasn't hungry, she didn't particuarly eat unless it was dinner actually, she just assumed it was normal but comparing herself to others and their eating schedules was weird.

"You hungry yet Maxie?"

That new nickname made Maxine jolt up slightly, Kritsen was known to give people nicknames but that felt nice. Maybe she was like Francessca and liked having a shortened name but then again, she recalled her dream from earlier and remembered being called 'Max'... Her subconsious was a weird place and she shrugged it off.

"Uh.. Y-yeah" Maxine lied, she wasn't hungry but she had to eat soon or someone would call her out on it or something...

"Let's go! I'm sure å̶̳̳̗̠͙̗͜͠r̴͙͂̏̎i̵͈̜̻̱̟̲͈̓͊̑̀̐̕ą̷̭̙̝̤̖͙̍̇̅͑̈́̇͒n̴̡̢̹̭̫͉̞͗͐ṅ̵̛̙͓͆̊̿̕ȩ̵̡̬͈̼͙̋̎͘ has something for us to nosh on" Kristen replied and got up first, the other two girls trailed behind. The trio made their way to the kitchen and got food from the adult in the room, sandwiches and such. Healthy food.

After retrieving their food, they walked to their room and sat on the floor, eating in a triangle and making jokes about this that and the other.

More time went on and they all enjoyed themselves although, Maxine wasn't eating a lot. She took a couple bites from her sandwich and hadn't opened up her crisps, this alarmed her two companions but they didn't want to interfere yet. 

"Heyyy.... Ladies, you all in 'ere?" one of the older kids called on the other side of the door, his name was m̸̛͙̠̬̘͗̀͝a̶͎͙̲̽̍͝t̶̟̭̥͕̅̑͘͝ȟ̶̡̨̥͛̏͠͠ë̸̡̧͙̮͓̩͓͎̇͋͝w̷̧̲͕̖͚͑̾̂̀ͅdidn't like any of them for whatever reason. Neither of them wanted to allow him to enter their room but they had too before he makes up a ridiculous lie as the adults believe him over anyone else; it was pathetic.

A silence from the three engulfed them and the boy barged into the room, his hair was- Y̷̙̪̼̹̜͚̩̙̳̻̭̔͌̂̑̍̀̌́̊̊̕O̵̡̝̥̻̳̬̦̗̝̘̥͊̓͐̑̂̄̍̀̑̑̀̏̚͜͝͠Ư̸͙̝̫̗̺̤̙̬̹̦͔̯ ̷̡̡̨̛̘͇͖̝͖͎̼͙̫̜͎̰͆̆̀̋̅̕̚͝͠͝͝D̴͓͈̠̪͔̓̔̋͂̅ͅÕ̶̢̧̠̝͓̣̦̣̗̪̩̦̰̓̓̾̑̑̌̿͊͗̀̚̕͜͝Ņ̶̨̤͓͚̖͎̩͇̩̊̓͊́͘T̶̛͙̻̗̬̱̏͒̓̚͝ ̵̬͕͓̹̘̜̼̙̭̈́͌͊̋͛͘͜Ŗ̷̢̳̰̥͚̝͚̗̮̑͋́͊͘E̴̡̡̳͍͖͚̩̟̫͊Ḿ̴̮̃́͌͝E̴̢͎̗̖͚̜̫͔̻͈͎̙͗͜M̸̡̪͈̬̙͇͎̍̿̆͜Ḇ̶̡̱̱̝͇͑̓͘͝Ȩ̵̧̧̥̳͎̘͕̩͇̏̃̃̿͆͂͋͆̃̎͘Ŗ̶̺̺̗͔͓̺̪̣̟̹̥̪̹̒̋̒̌̎̔̔̈́̌̍̏ͅ . He was taller then the other three girls infront of him as he was the oldest, Maxine was the youngest.

Kristen and Francescca were both sixteen whilst Maxine was fifteen, m̸̛͙̠̬̘͗̀͝a̶͎͙̲̽̍͝t̶̟̭̥͕̅̑͘͝ȟ̶̡̨̥͛̏͠͠ë̸̡̧͙̮͓̩͓͎̇͋͝w̷̧̲͕̖͚͑̾̂̀ͅwas seventeen and actually the oldest in the house; he was leaving in a few months due to his birthday and him being an adult and such. But now, he acted like he were a child.

W̵̞̣̱̜̖̤̲̱̹̠͇͕̉̓̿͛̑͋͗̄̔̃͘H̵̛̲̱̅͗̉̑Ă̵̛͓͚͙̹͔̓̏͂̔̈́̕͜͠T̶̹̒̅̐̀̎͋̿̊̄͛͝ ̸̞̖̭̗̪̈́̇͐͗Ḩ̸̰̤͓̓̓̈̍͊͗̊̆͜Ą̵̛͇͑̐̍͋̓̐́͒̈́̓̌͗̚̚P̵̛̫̠̞̣̿̅̏͗͊́͋̾͑͐́̅̚͝P̷̨̨̧̛̜̺̣̗̲͈̟̬̳͎̟̂͊͛̐̒̓̈́̍̉̉̓̌͘Ḛ̸̮͇̯̪̬̖̮̐̀N̵̡͙̪̪̹̞͎͎͌͑̔̾̉͊̍̃͜Ȩ̷̳͓̺̗̭̞͎͈̀̋͘D̵̡̞͓͎̥̠͍̖̠̗̹͚͊̈́̐̑͐͘͜͠͝?̶̢̭͔̼̠̾͆̽͑̓̆

The next thing the young brunette remembered was her head on the ground, blood falling out her nose and adults rushing towards her. Everything felt dizzy and she fell unconsious to the yelling of the adults asking what happened.

She awoke once again in a hospital bed and once again, more head trauma. But... Something different happened. It seemed as if she went into another reality, the adults around her were not the ones from her carehome but claimed that they were. The boy didn't exist anymore.

Kristen and Francescca were still here though, they explained that she collapced and had a sesiure but that wasn't what happened, right?

The brunettes memories were glitching in her mind, she remembered different people, she remembered a different set of events. She remembered m̸̛͙̠̬̘͗̀͝a̶͎͙̲̽̍͝t̶̟̭̥͕̅̑͘͝ȟ̶̡̨̥͛̏͠͠ë̸̡̧͙̮͓̩͓͎̇͋͝w̷̧̲͕̖͚͑̾̂̀ͅbut no one else knew of his existance and thought she made him up. But she didn't. He did something to her, right?

She recalled one of her past dreams with that girl she couldn't recall the name of, maybe everything actually was a dream and this was reality. Her brain certainly wasn't good enough to help her understand what had happened and so she gave up thinking about it. Nothing made sense but still, everything made sense....

Blinking back into reality, Max remembered where she was and noticed the blond haired girl infront of herm asking for her.

"Max?" the girl said, sounding desperate and her facial expression was full of anger.

"What..?" Max replied with and looked confused, her friends also seemed confused as they didn't recognise the girl asking for Max.

"Max fucking Caulfield?!" the girl shouted and looked incredibly annoyed, Max seemed scared and looked at Kristen desperately for help,

"I- Uh- I'm sorry..?" Max muttered out clearly uncomfortable and Kristen held her hand in comfort,

"Don't fuck with me Max. You know what you did-"

"Uh escuse you? How the fuck do you know Max." Fern said and stood up, ready to defend Max.

"Escuse me? Oh wow Max, you ditch me for seven years and have a fucking dog sent after me? Well, fuck you too." The girl stormed off and went to her workplace again, she clearly seemed upset and snapped at a work colleauge as she returned to her space.

Max was left in shock and so where the other two, the blue-haired girl claimed that Max had ditched her for... Seven years.

"She said seven years." Max said and looked at her friends, "She- She must've known me... F-from..."

"Holy shit..." Kristen muttered out and gripped onto Max's hand while taking a massive glug from her beer.

Fern was looking at their drink and back at Max, they looked really uneasey, "Should... Should we say something to her?"

"I... Think I should? I- I mean... She knew me. Maybe talking to her more would help me remember her?"

The two friends looked at each other and back at Max, "Alright, but we'll be right behind you sweetie" Kristen said and rubbed her hand,

Firstly though, they had their drinks and it would be a partial way on how to talk to the girl, she was a bartender and seemed to not be preocupied with anything right now. She was just cleaning the counter she was at.

"You don't have to do this" Fernando said and held Max's shoulder as she walked towards the bar, Max shook her head and went forward.

Once she arrived at the bar, she felt uneasy, fear of the unknown. The woman basically attacked her with anger and now she was walking into her grasp, she had no idea what she would get into.

"Uh.. H-hello..?" Max said and it immedietly got the attention of the blue haired girl who gave her daggers, "I'm sorry but did you know me..? You seem to know my old name and-"

"Uh huh. No 'Hello Chloe', 'How you been Chloe', just straight to your messed up point." she growled out, slamming her cloth onto the counter, "The hell do you mean with if I knew you? I'm Chloe your best fucking friend from Arcadia. Did Seattle mess you up so much for you to forget me?!"

Max didn't know how to respond, Kristen took over and pulled Max away briefly, "We're sorry Miss... Chloe..? But Max-"

"Max can speak for herself. Not get someone else to speak for her, I thought I taught you to stand up for yourself.." she muttered the end bit slightly and Max got back to where she was. Kristen looked at Chloe and her face from anger turned to slight sorrow, she realised that Chloe must've helped Max in the past, now forgotten about.

"I'm terribly sorry... Chloe, I- Something happened to me and I don't even remember that well. C-can we talk someplace else? Kinda... Kinda deep shit needs to be explained I guess?"

Chloe looked at Max in the eyes and at the two next to her, clearly possesive over Max. She huffed and looked at the clock,

"Give me 10, I'm then off shift. I'll take you back but only you Max." Chloe said and went back to her work, she needed to do work and not chit-chat as she was being called upon,

"Well shit. Max? Do you want to do that..? You'll be by yourself..." Kristen said with worry all over her face, Fran was looking on at Chloe, trying to see if something was off about her for whatever reason.

"I have to do this right..? If I'm not going back to Arcadia Bay then I have to talk to her. Even... Even if it's in a new enriroment.... I-I need my headphones..." Max was slowly panicking, her friends weren't coming with her and she needed to get her thoughts straight and away from the noise.

Fern helped her out and put her headphones on her, making sure they were stable and tried not to look angry. They sighed out and held back their feelings,

"If this Chloe talks shit to you, just tell me. Okay?" they said and held Max's and softly, they were really trying to not upset Max,

"Okay. I don't know though... Her voice... It sounded really familiar. Like... I dunno, like I was hearing it earlier..."

"Do you think she's the girl in the pictures?" Kristen said and went into her purse, she held out a photograph of younger Max with the blond girl. It was the one where Max was in pirate gear with her friend from earlier. Kristen must've bought it with her incase Max had a spontaneous memory attack. A gasp went out of Max's face and she smiled,

"That's her!" Max said and clapped slighlty, "She has the same eyes..."

"Right... So Max, look at the time, she'll be ready any second now. Hold onto this and ask about it, alright?" Max nodded and hugged Kristen,

"If I get overwhelmed, I'll go here. Don't move... please..." Max mumbled out and felt Kristen nod, Fran did a thumbs up and a cough disturbed them.

"Uh huh, Max. C'mon" Chloe said with a hint of sarcasm Max couldn't catch up on.

Max let go of Kristen and looked at Chloe, she was walking towards a door saying 'Staff Only' and waved Max to follow her. She did catch up and was lead into the backarea.

Chloe lead her towards a sofa area and sat down, "C'mon, sit down Max. I don't bite anymore" a slight smile went across her face but was stopped. There was another person inside but they were preparing to out to the bar, probably replacing Chloe. Max sat down next to her and couldn't make eye contact with Chloe. She felt too awkward,

The blunette's position on the sofa was her arm leaning over the cushion and lazing down, as if she were at home. She looked as Max shuffled down towards her.

"What's with the headphones? You listening to hippie music?" Chloe said and eyed the lanyard that Max was wearing, now she wished that she shut her mouth as she swore that she recognised the sunflower pattern.

"Oh- Uh- They help me calm down... Too much noise. Too overwhelming..."

"OH! Sorry I guess? Anyways, lets get down to bidness." her position went to a straight back and eyes booming into Max's skull, a gulp from Max happened and she tried to look back at Chloe, "What 'happened to you' that distracted you from just saying 'hi' or some shit."

"I- ... Can I ask you something first?" Chloe rolled her eyes and shrugged, "Are you the girl in this picture?" Max held out the photograph and Chloe looked at her as if she were joking,

"Are you having a laugh?" she laughed quite loudly, "Yes it's fucking me. With fucking you. Now, answer my damn question Max!"

These noises coming from Chloe scared Max and she tried to stay calm, she began fiddling with the sleeves on her hoodie and still couldn't give Chloe any eye contact, a moment of silence happened and Max knew that she'd have to speak up sooner then later.

"An accident happened. We- uh... M-my parents... They- uh...." Max didn't want to say what happened, it always bought back flashbacks that she couldn't even recall but the girl infront of her was getting more angsty.

"They kinda left me- When I younger... I uh... Got in an acident? I- I don't really remember that much..."

"Oh god... Fuck..." Chloe muttered out and stopped using her hard as stone persona, she looked at Max and tried to hold Max's hands but Max moved away from Chloe.

"D-don't touch me. I-I don't l-like that." Max said in a stern tone, Chloe was about to speak again but was stopped,

"Let me continue..." Max went on and Chloe nodded slightly, "I-I was out of it for a long time... Like... Such a long time that my long term memory was fucked up and I basically forgot everything and everyone. I didn't even know who I was- I didn't know where I was and the only relatives I still had couldn't help me so just left any information about me to the doctors and left me alone."

Max rambled on and she stopped herself, she felt tears dropping onto her hands as she stopped and saw Chloe looking away from her.

Silence occured for a few minutes, it was stopped.

"So... You... Don't remember me..?" Chloe said without looking back, sniffles were heard and Max felt a strong guilt stabbing her,

"I'm sorry... I- I don't really... B-but! But! These pictures... I have many... I do memory exercises with Kristen and sometimes I can remember things..."

Chloe looked back at Max and sighed, "Jez Max... All this time, I thought you hated me but you litterally couldn't remember me. I feel so bad..."

"H-hey... Don't worry..." Max tried to say, getting closer and attempted to rub Chloe's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry for just acting like an asshole when I first saw you. That- That was uncalled for."

"I was quite shaken... But... You didn't know. No one told me that you were my friend or anything, no one helped me when I tried to find the person in the photos except my friends... T-they tracked you down to Arcadia Bay but never found your name. They- they tried..."

"Wow... You got hella good friends Caulfield"

Max slightly winced at that name, Chloe realised and spoke again, "You said that I called you your old name. so. Let's start again alright?"

"Huh?"

The blunette stood up and held her hand out infront of Max, "Nice to meet you, the names Chloe Price."

A soft smile went across the brunette's face and she took Chloe's hand, "Nice to meet you too Chloe Price, I'm Max Brown"

"Brown?" Chloe slightly tilted her head and Max smiled,

"Kristen, Fernando and I share a last name. We've been together for as long as I can remember-" she saw Chloe's other fist tighten but continued anyway, "They've helped me with my stuff and we're like sibings."

"That's great Max..." Chloe sighed out and lets go of the handshake, she obviously didn't seem happy but tried to seem at least neutral towards Max,

"Cool. Can I have your number so we can talk again?" Max quite plainly states and Chloe just stares,

"Straight into second base Max? Impressive" she chuckled but Max didn't she just looked confused.

"Second base?"

"Y'know what... Never mind, But yeah, have my number. Better not ditch me again, 'kay?"

"Okay." Max handed Chloe her phone and she inserted the contact, naming herself 'Captain Bluebeard', once finished, she gave Max her phone back and both stood there not knowing what to do next.

"I-I should go..." Max said and slowly made her way out but Chloe got infornt of her and stopped her.

"Max... I really want to talk to you again okay? Promise me that you'll text me, okay?"

"Okay? You gave me your number so why would I not text you?"

"Nevermind... Seya round Max"

Chapter Text

Days had gone by and Max wanted to use her phone to text Chloe but neither girl had attempted to message the other. Either by fear or by not wanting to know what the other feels about the other.

Her friends held her close as she wept in fear over Chloe's conversation with her, a past she forgot and regretted forgetting. She always knew someone was missing in her life but she never knew who it was. Even if it wasn't a person, she'd always experience things where she'd be missing just something. Years of feeling the gap was normal but as soon as she saw Chloe, that gap was filled. The gap of emptiness dissapeared and she wanted to talk to Chloe again.

Exercises with her memory were going the same as ever, her memory wasn't miraculously better after seeing Chloe but she recalled more things then she used too. Looking at the photographs more and more made her remember snippits of them. Specifically the one where they were in pirate gear and smiling towards the camera.

Max remembered that the man taking the photo was Chloe's father.... What was his name?  Something... Like Bill? She slightly remembered him, not enough as Chloe but she recalled him being a major part of her childhood as well as Chloe.

Staring at her phone, the contact ID open read 'Captain Bluebeard', maybe a joke from their childhood? Was that her pirate name? What was Max's? She should ask.

"I'm gonna do it." the brunette said to no one in particular, her housemates were at work today and she was alone. She knew Chloe must have work too but she needed to know how her old friend was, one way or another.

"Here goes nothing..." she muttered and wrote.

Captain Bluebeard

Hey Chloe. This is Max, sorry I took so long to not text you >-<
(13:20pm)

Well. That went as well as you could get. Max stared at her phone for a few minutes, hoping that this actually was the right number and Chloe didn't just give her a fake. She should've tried sooner, trusted her more even. 

Buzz buzz

Her phone went off and Chloe's name appeared, a smile appeared on her mouth too. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad?

Captain Bluebeard

Hey Chloe. This is Max, sorry I took so long to not text you >-<
(13:20pm)

Sup Caulfield
Crap.
I mean Brown? Was that it??
(13:24pm)

Yup, Brown. s'cool dw
(13:25pm)

Cool. cool. uh.
Hows u?
(13:25pm)

Good ig... wanted to know how ur doing :)
(13:26pm)

Aw, shucks Max. I'm good. Bars just being slow + i got to leave early
also, cuz u forgot and i needa remind you (not ur fault btw)
NO EMOJI.
ty for my pep talk
(13:27pm)

pfft
did i used to send you tons of em or sum?
(13:28pm)

u were evil.
(13:28pm)

ha! worth it
also, ig ur not busy now then?
(13:29pm)

Ig so. y aren't u at work then?
(13:30pm)

no job
plus no1 would hire me as im 'special' smh
(13:31pm)

yooo isn't that ableist???
(13:31pm)

probably. but then again, i dont wanna work :,<
(13:32pm)

u dont wanna be a photographer then?
(13:32pm)

uh...
cameras make me uneasy for sum reason, like... idk.
(13:33pm)

oh.
uh
anyways, u asked if i were free, u are also free. sooooo...
(13:34pm)

we could hang out somewhere? :0
(13:34pm)

call me brown, u owe me
(13:35pm)

Max smiled at these simple pixels and now Chloe wants to call her? Sure anxiety was a bitch usually when calling, but this was Chloe. A childhood friend that she's always missed, and they could be hanging out in a bit?

She pressed the call button and placed the phone next to her ear, still smiling.

"Hey Max" the girl said on the other side, small memories came to her...

"̸̰͊̈́W̴̻͑e̷͕̔'̵̢̫͒̓l̸̫̎̃l̴̰͍̉ ̶̛̲̀w̵̧̮̒̊r̷̾ͅï̸̛̞̮t̶̢͝ẹ̷̄ ̴͎̺̓ą̵̀͗n̷̨͒d̷͎͔̍̊ ̵͚͠t̶̥̏ả̷̮̰l̴̰͚͗̓k̶͉̆̈ ̵̟̇͠ȃ̴̧l̴̺͗͊l̴̗̈͗ ̷̼̔̕͜t̶̫̔̅͜h̵͍̅e̵̡̲̽̃ ̵͈̿̏t̵̢͇̍i̷̙̎m̸̪̻̒̓e̴̠̗͑.̶̤̝̒ ̴̦̳̑̐A̴͕͆̑ṋ̵̨̊̄d̷̨̎̚ ̷̝̽t̶̙͂h̵͓̎̉e̴̠͛ņ̵̕ ̵̜̀̀ȳ̴̞͙͛o̷͖͂̕u̶̹͛'̶̙̗̓̏l̷̠͖͗̋l̸̬͊ ̸̝͊̈́c̶̆̿ͅö̴̢̨́m̶̱̲̓͠ĕ̸̥̟̉ ̸͓͑̇v̷́̓͜i̶̤͋s̴̩̱̀̌i̶̹̒ť̷̗́ ̵͉͈̉ȁ̸̲̦n̶̙͔̋͊d̸̩́̌ ̵̨͖̊î̶͈̚t̸̺̂͛'̶̙͗̍l̷̲̈͛ͅl̷̦̃ ̷̬͇̀b̶̙́̔ẹ̸̕ ̴́͜l̴͎̣͒͒i̷̞͉̓̚ḱ̵ͅe̵̩̍ ̷̫̣̀I̵̥͖͋͋ ̷̼̫͝ń̷̠é̶̙̄v̴̪̱͐e̸̦̻͊ṛ̵͍̑ ̸͓̤̑̇l̵̩̼̅ȇ̵͖̥f̴̧͗̓t̷̰̉.̴̘̙͋̄"̴̹̭̑̄

"What.." Max said aloud, without recognizing she was still on line with Chloe,

"Huh? You good?"

"Hm? Oh- uh.... I dunno.... You started talking and I... I think I remembered something..."

"Is that a good thing?" the punk asked, Max could feel the confusion in her tone too,

"I uh.. Anyways, uh- S-so... We're both free. Doing nothing in particular."

"That we are Super-Max"

"Super-Max?" Max tilted her head, Chloe couldn't see though so she could only hear the confusion in her voice,

"Yeah! I gave you the hella best nicknames back then... Now though, I have to recap them to ya"

"Wouldn't that be interesting..?"

"Yuh huh, where you wanna chill?"

"Uh... I didn't think this far ahead..." Max confessed, she could've sworn that she heard Chloe chuckle

"You- Right! I'll pick you up n I'll take you somewhere?"

"That... Seems nice."

"Just gimme an address and your chariot awaits!"

-------------

The chariot in question did not seem... like a chariot.

"I can feel your evils from all the way over there Caul-... Brown. C'mere and say 'hi' to Bessie"

"Are you cereal? You gave your car a... name?" Max said with a confused face but smiled, she stepped closer to the truck.

The truck itself was old, rusting nearly everywhere you could think of and the paintjob looked rotten. It seemed to fit Chloe though; a punkass punk with a punkass truck. Chuckling at her own joke, she edged closer and smiled at Chloe.

Chloe smiled back, it felt safe, familiar even. As if it was a face she made before. 

"So... Where are you taking me o'mysterious Chaffuer?" Max said an earnt a laugh from her friend, she shook her head and reversed the car out of the loading bay and onwards to the road.

The roads weren't nessesarily busy but still it took some time for the two to head where the punk was driving them towards, around the edges of the city they went and Chloe parked at an area and there was the beach nearby.

Max herself did enjoy going through the sands when she was in the mood, today she wasn't expecting it but if Chloe wanted to splish splash then so would she. She tilted her head and looked at Chloe who was watching her.

"Huh? Is there something wrong?" Max asked, just seeming embarassed by the stares of Chloe.

"Nothin'... Just... I never expected to see you again."

"Oh." Max looked to the ground and felt guilt, she knew something happened to her years ago and her parents abandonded her. Whatever did happen all those years ago had still effected her today and now she'd have to deal with the concequences of those things.

Her fucked up memory and an old best friend who seems non the wiser then herself.

"Max... I uh- If you don't ever remember, its fine. Really." Chloe said, putting on a brave face and putting her hand on the brunette's shoulder, Max flinched slightly but didn't back away, just stayed there and looked back at Chloe;

"Can you honestly say that? I don't know anything about you besides what I have in old pictures... Nothing else. I don't remember anything about you, about us. Nothing."

Chloe knotted her eyebrows slightly and sighed out, pulling Max into a hug and they both hugged the other.

"Its okay... I looked up what happened yknow..? You were in the hospital for some time and in care homes. Whatever happened with you, you deserve to just be happy now, okay? I'll be here with you. The whole way round."

Max sniffled and chuckled lightly, "You looked it up, huh? Am I that important?"

"You're uber important Maxarooni" Chloe ruffled the girl's hair slightly and pulled her head up to look at her, "Enough of this sad moody time now, I brought you here for a reason."

"And what reason was that then, Chlo?" Max smiled softly,

"We'll see." The punk offered back and slid off, moving towards her door and opening it. Max followed suit and left the truck.

"How long have you had this truck?" Max asked, noticing how old it really is up close and quesitoning how it's even operating still.

"Since 2010 I think?" Chloe said, locking up and looking back towards Max who was stroking the hood.

"It's 2015 now Chloe."

"So?"

Max scoffed and walked up to Chloe, "Get a new truck."

"Nope" Chloe smirked and walked onwards, chuckling lightly.

"Its gonna fall apart man!" Max said and caught up to the blunette's speed. Chloe being much taller and only taking a few long strides means multiple for herself and it felt annoying but she managed to keep up.

"You're gonna fall apart if you insult my truck again Max" She chuckles more and the blue in her eyes just shines off as the sun briefly reflects on it,

Max realised that she wanted to remember this moment, Chloe laughing freely and the lighting looking perfer right now. The shadows in her friend's body looked magnificent and indicated her body language-

She doesn't have a camera though.

Chloe noticed how distant Max seemed and looked at her, stopping her movement and tilted her head towards the brunette who stopped after Chloe did.

"Max."

"Hm?"

"What you thinking?" She stepped closer and Max just blinked, not fully expecting Chloe to be as clingy as it seemed to be right now,

"Just... How pretty you'd look if I took a picture." Max said and folded her arms slightly, her medium long fringe blowed into her face just then and it blocked her sight momentarily, she felt warm fingers moving across the hair and brushing it out of the way.

"You said that you felt weird taking pictures, right?"

Max nodded

"Hm. You still like the idea of them don't you?"

"I guess... I see some old camera and state facts about specific models sometimes but I don't remember where I got the information from... And I remember all these weird facts about lighting and posture- i- I'm sorry... I'm probably boring you now"

"What? No. I was listening to you" Chloe says quickly, she wanted to know more about how Max remembered things, she had a small theory that Max remembered objects over people and thought ahout what to do with her to try and spark something from her.

Today, she was going to test her theory and see if anything happens if she brings her somewhere.

"O-okay.." Max mumbled and chewed on the inside of her cheek, chewing on old teeth marks from past awkward encounters and such but Chloe didn't need to know that.

"C'mon, I wanna take you somewhere" Chloe smiled softly and held out her hand, Max took it and the two were now walking hand in hand towards where the punk intended to help out the ex-photographer.

In fact, Chloe was going to give Max something later. The gift would hopefully trigger some sort of reaction if she recalls anything in the store they were headed towards. A few moments of walking passed and Chloe nidged Max towards a store entrance and opened the door for her,

The two went inside and it was an art supply place, it seemed homey and full of canvases, paints and an area for photography equitment. Chloe led Max towards that area and pointed something out.

"See this here?" Chloe said and picked up a pack of film, Max nodded in response and tilted her head, "Do you know where its from?"

"I'm not a complete idiot Chloe. Its from a polaroid camera, this one if one which prints colour in so the polaroid camera itself would need to be an instant one with enough ink for it to print off of."

"Aha! Nerd!" Chloe smirked and slapped Max in the shoulder lightly, Max rolled her eyes in response and smiled,

"I just remember some useless facts about cameras. Probably an old fixation?"

"Fixation..?" It was finally the blunette's turn to be confused as she tilted her head lightly,

"Yeah. When I find something interesting, I can get obsessive over it and not want to talk or do anything that isn't related to the topic. Like right now I'm fixated on the DC franchise and most conversations I have with my roommates is about it.."

"Oh! Yeah! I remember you going on and on about photography and you nicknamed me off one of your favorite photographers at the time. Che."

A small spark of memories went though Max's mind as she remembered herself being eighteen. It was completely different to what she remembers though, she was in a girl's room. It was messy and had tons of punk posters across the room. She remembered that she was with Chloe here.

She called Chloe 'Che' as a joke and they continued their conversation, she couldn't recall anything else, it all faded away from her head as if it weren't ever there. In reality, Max just smiled softly at Chloe and stayed quiet, seeming in thought for a moment and phasing back out.

"Yeah... I remember calling you that once..." Max said and Chloe's eyes sparkled, she thought that she managed to trigger past memories from when they were kids, little die either know that she might've made Max recall memories from a reality neither knew of.

"That's amazing!" Chloe said, smiling and side hugging Max, the brunette herself moved her head closer into the punk and the two went off to the till for Chloe to buy the film in her hands.

"Why do you need that?" Max asked as they walked out and head off towards the beach, Chloe shrugged and carried on walking. This left Max in thought and she began thinking of possible reasons to why Chloe had bought her to see the film being purchased and to why Chloe would even need it.

Her thoughts were stopped when Chloe pulled off the backpag she didn't even see Chloe have on.

"I bought the film just in case there wasn't enough." Chloe mumbled and held out an old polaroid camera, "It used to be my father's but he's gone and won't use it again. Neither will I and- and I know you said that you don't like photography anymore but this... is just an idea."

The blunette held the camera towards Max who stared at the device. She recalled it being in someone's room and her holding it herself, she remembered holding it and taking a photo near a mirror...

She took it from Chloe's hands and looked at it closely, she recalled the details it had and even remembered the teeny tiny dent on the casing near the bottom.

"I... I remember this.." She said with a smile and looked at Chloe, "I remember taking a photo with this somewhere"

"The only time you used it yourself was before you moved" Chloe shrugged and put her hand on Max's shoulder comfortingly, "You feeling alright? Not too overwhelmed?"

Max's heart melted at Chloe's kindness and shook her head, smiling still and had a bright idea pop up in her mind, "Selfie?"

"Anything for you Max" Chloe said and the two got into a comfortable position next to one another, they were smiling and Max pushed the button.

Flash Flash Flash

"You look so perfect Max..."

"So, innocent..."

The camera nearly fell from her hands if she wasn't gripping onto it tighter, the polaroid dropped out and Chloe pulled it out, not noticing Max's change in mood yet.

Whatever Max just recalled made her feel like ice, she doesn't recognize the voice, the feelings she just felt nor what happened. She felt grounded when Chloe spoke,

"Damn Caul- Brown! You're still an amazing photographer!"

The comment felt lovely but inside her mind, Max felt like throwing up and destroying the camera. She couldn't though, it meant something to her and Chloe so she couldn't do that. Breathing was somewhat normal and her heartrate was calming down...

Having Chloe so close to her made her feel safe and comfy, maybe being around her more would help her remember more and quicker as well as being able to calm down quickly while being near her.

Chapter Text

After the small downside of Max nearly freaking out over a simple polaroid camera flash, she put the device itself into her bag and sighed out. She didn't want to upset Chloe nor accidentally drop the camera.

The cold voice she heard, it sent shivers down her spine and she didn't want to know who's voice it was. She didn't recognise it and she didn't want to try and ask her friend for help right now, just focusing on what Chloe wanted to do was what she aimed to do.

"I'm not that great of a photographer... I-I don't use one anymore and that's why this photo isn't that good"

"Nonsense! Look at it!"

Chloe showed the polaroid to her and she looked at the image infront of her, the lighting was perfect and the framing was well done. It was a simple selfie of the two girls, Max's firnge obviously needing a trip and Chloe's smile looking perfect in the image. It brought a smile to the brunette and she chuckled.

"Alright, its decent"

"More then decent Maxaroni"

Rolling her eyes, she slapped Chloe's shoulder lightly and got a chuckle from the punk,

"Anyways, come come!" Chloe ushered Max away and they made their way towards the beach.

A few minutes later, they arrived and Chloe's bagpack seemed to have a hidden blanket inside. She smirked as she pulled it out and gave it to Max.

"Pick somewhere for us to chill, just you n me"

"This... This is really sweet Chloe" Max smiled and felt a small heat go across her body, it was different but definetly not unwanted. She felt so comfortable around this person so quickly that she felt at home with her.

They wondered through the sand after taking off their shoes and just going barefoot on the yellow sea of particled rocks, Max found a perfect spot near an outside bar and there were trees nearby for shade.

"Here" Max stated and placed the blanket down, Chloe imediately claimed the blanket and laid out over it, "I thought we were sharing..?"

"Duur, just make me share."

"Is that a challenge Captain?"

"It is, first-mate!"

Max huffed out and contemplated this, she knew that being at the beach would be messy and she wasn't fully ready to get messy yet. But then again, she would always get messy here and her feet was already in sand so why not?

"Fine!" the brunette jumped ontop of the taller girl and they fought each other to the death. Not litterally, just pulling their arms and tickling one another till the other gave up.

Chloe wanted to do this as a way to help Max trigger her memories, after doing research into these memory disorders she found that doing things the person had done before can make them remember things. She wanted to help Max desperately as in reality, Chloe had no one to rely on anymore.

In her life, she went through so much and finding Max again was a beam of light. Now she wants to be Max's beam of light; to help her remember who she used to be.

The fighting itself felt familar to Max, she remembered Chloe being overly sensitive on this particular part of her hip and she tickled it. A loud laugh came out and squeals too, "FUCK MAX STOPPPP!!!"

"HA! Got you!" Max found the weakness and attacked it relentlessly, a few moments of winning passed  and Chloe had enough.

She held down Max's waist and flipped them both so she was ontop of the brunette. Smirking, she tickled the shit out of her but after Chloe pinned down Max's wrists she begn to freak out.

"C-Chloe let go!" Max yelled, breathing quicker and was pushing her friend off in a panic,

"Hey- hey.." Chloe imediately let go and sat up straight as Max was shaking, looking like she was about to cry. "Did I go too far..?"

The brunette didn't know what to respond with; she had no idea what went over her and looked at her wrists. She felt a familiar sensation on them, like something was tying them up.

"Duct tape..." She mumbled, sensing something wrong. The sensation she was feeling went away shortly afterwards and she rubbed her wrists, not understanding what it was.

"Duct... Tape..?" Chloe raised an eyebrow and looked at Max concerned. The punk moved in closer to Max and raised her hands closer, "Can I touch?", motioning towards Max's wrists and got a nod from her.

"Right.." The blunette slowly touched Max's wrists and rubbed her thumb over them, trying to understand what was going on in the head of her best friend. "Feeling anything?"

Max felt the feeling of Chloe's thumb and it didn't feel the same as what she felt before, the feeling of duct tape wasn't there and she shook her head.

"I remember... something new..." she spoke softly, as if the memory would dissapear in seconds if she said it wrong, "Like... Something held my wrists down and- and I-... I was panicking... But why was I panicking?"

A feeling of guilt went inside of Chloe's mind, she remembered her ex talk about a similar experience. Someone managed to save her ex in time but never found out who saved her- Max was describing an extremely familiar experience.

"Max..." Chloe's voice was serious, her grip onto the brunette's arm was stronger, "Do you remember anything else? Where you were?"

"Uh..." Max tried to think but she couldn't remember it. The memory disapeared as soon as she recalled it, it just went. "I... I don't remember..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Chloe! I-It just went! Why... Why does my head do this all the time- I-I forget shit and don't know whats going on.." Crumbling down, Max felt upset over everything and just wanted to go home. She felt overwhelmed, Chloe was making her this way, she needed to be in her bedroom and hold her blanket; hide in it as well.

All of the sounds of the waves, birds, children, everything, was getting to her head and she didn't like any of it. It felt sickening and she wanted out.

This was an outcome of remembering something traumatic Max realises. Whenever she recalls something from when her parents left her or similar, her body reacts like this. She feels sick, angry, upset, guilt, everything bad.

Chloe loosened her grip on Max and put her other arm around Max's waist, grounding her from what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry Max, I-I made you think too much. It won't happen again, promise"

Max places her head on Chloe's shoulder and sighed out, "I should be appologizing, I forgot everything and this is how my stupid head remembers shit..."

"Its not your fault, I'll help you remember and I want to help you remember. Whatever's happened to you, I'm gonna be here to help you. And tell me if I get too much, seriously. You've probably forgotten how stubborn I get but you can just say the word and I'll stop"

"O-okay.." Max nodded once her friend stopped and the two stayed in a small silence before Max's phone buzzed in a ringtone. "Oh! I forgot to tell Kristen I was going out, she's probably calling to ask where I am"

"S'cool, do you want me to bring you home?"

"We'll see. I-I do want to hang more but if I'm needed home then.." Max shrugged and picked up her phone to Kristen's voice, the brunette put it on speaker as she's more comfortable with that volume and Chloe was listening in.

Kristen: Max? Where are you?

Max: With Chloe, I forgot to tell you I'd be out... I'm sorry

Kristen: Ohoh! Its fine Maxy, how are you two?

Max: We're fine...

Chloe: We're at the beach if you wanted to know where

Kristen: That's nice! I haven't bought Max to the beach in some time... Its nice for you two to be doing things together

Max: Yeah! Uh- Do you need me to come home?

Kristen: It doesn't matter, just needa know if you need to have food yet and to know if you're coming back for dinner?

Max: I didn't bring food for lunch-

Chloe: I'll take her somewhere for lunch, don't worry

Max: You don't have to do so... I-I can go home..

Chloe: It's fine Max, plus, I'll steal your food if I'm allowed for dinner??

Ktisten: Fine by me! Just be careful...

Max: Promise!

Chloe: Under my protection, pirate's honour. Swear.

Kristen: Alright then, just tell me when you're coming back

Max: Okay, text you?

Kristen: Mhm! See you two later.

Kristen ended the call afterwards and Chloe was smiling softly, tilting her head at Max who was making a weird expression.

"Watssup Max" 

"You really want to take me to lunch..?"

"Hella yeah! I wanna take you somewhere close to here. Not far."

"I-I don't want to take up all your time today, you've spent the whole morning with me and I'm sure you have other people to see today as well as having a break today..."

"I'm allowed to spend my free time doing whatever I want right? So. I wanna spend it with you. I haven't seen you in years and you don't even know when you last saw me so, only fair we just make up for lost time now, hm?"

"That... Makes sense I guess."

"Right! So!" Chloe held Max's hand and they got up, the punk packed up the blanket and put it into her bagpack. Looking back at the brunette, she noticed Max looking at the ocean and she stood next to her, "You feeling okay? If you want to go home, I'll drive you. Today's been a hella weird one for you already."

"I'm... adapting." Max shrugged and turned to face Chloe, "Lead the way?"

"Course, now hold on. Don't wanna loose you" Chloe winked and held onto Max's hand softly, Max helf back and the two walked onwards through the beachside.

A few minutes passed of peaceful silence and they ended up at a diner with a seaside theme. It was called 'A fisherman's Dream', Max seemed to be familiar with the theme of the diner and didn't seem uncomfortable with it.

The couple walked inside and Max felt deja vu, the smells were different yet felt familiar. Wherever Chloe seems to take her or do with her today seemed to be familiar actually, the tickle fight and where Chloe's weakness was, the polaroid camera from before then and how she remembered a small dent that she shouldn't have known about, the faded memory of being held together in a chair-

"A chair?" Max mumbled as they sat down into a booth together, opposite each other.

"Huh?" Chloe was confused, even Max.

"A chair. Why am I remembering a chair?" Max plainly said, her face showed confusion and she didn't even know what she was thinking about besides a chair and..

"Huh... A chair and duct tape..."

"Are you... remembering?" Chloe asked, her face showed concern.

Even if it was all confusion, Chloe was putting the clues onto one another. She knows these things right now;

1. Max doesn't like photography anymore,

2. Max doesn't like being held in a specific position- to her it made her remember something including duct tape,

3. Max doesn't need to have all of this upset things blocked up in her head and all this trauma is of course upsetting her. No wonder why she snapped slightly at the beach, she didn't know what she was remembering and Chloe was upsetting her by trying to get her to remember something she'd already forgotten.

Her ex had a similar experience. She was abducted when she was 18 and Chloe was newly 19. Her ex was traumatised and never spoke about her experience besides her career form being a model to just being someone who does theatre. She hated cameras and dropped out of Blackwell academy before she finished her senior year to even her parents dismay, she was the golden child and whatever happened to her made her leave.

They broke up because she left without Chloe. Chloe didn't want to leave on a whim anymore and wanted to get a job before leaving Arcadia Bay so she could afford things for them both but she left without Chloe. After her promises to  never leave without her.

It couldn't be possible for Max to have experienced the same thing though. It was similar and maybe... If Chloe could talk to her ex again, maybe her telling Max her experience might make her remember and get closure on that specific trauma. 

"I'm not sure... I'm not even sure if I want to remember this thing... It seems to be always blocking itself up when I try to think about it? Does that make sense?" Max seemed so innocent, sweet, a pure person.

Her doe eyed expression was on and Chloe was looking into the blue eyes she'd remembered so well but there was a saddness inside them. A layer of grey over the eyes, everything Max had been through had effected her now and whatever caused her parents to begin this sadness has brought so much to her.

"Its fine if you don't wanna remember... But- Uh- Don't you ever think about figuring it all out?"

"Hmm.." Max stared at the corner of the table, "I thought there was nerdy grafiti here..." she muttered, whincing slightly,

"What? That-" Chloe knew exactly what Max was talking about. There was science dwabbles on the table in the booth at Two Whales Diner... But Max never saw it..?

"You couldn't even know that..?"

"Huh?"

"I- I mean. Back home- Arcadia Bay. My mom works at a diner kinda like this and-"

"Did you take me here so I could remember something?" Max smiled softly, she somewhat admired that Chloe was trying everything she could in such a short amount of time to help her remember...

"Maybe..?" Chloe chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck, "Uh anyway. At the diner, I sat at a booth with some nerdy science joke on it but it was new. You couldn't have ever seen it as you left long before it was made"

"Huh??" Max was now super confused, "How do I remember that then?? Did I turn up in... Arcadia Bay..? U-uh- Did I turn up there somepoint?"

"I honestly don't know Max..."

"I'm sure I would remember turning up there again. Maybe Kristen or Fernando knows?"

"Maybe..." Chloe sighed out and a waitress came round to take their order.

Max ordered a belguim waffle and Chloe ordered the same. The waitress wrote it down and went off to give their order to the chefs, Max tilted her head at the direction the waitress went and spoke,

"Did your mom have an... accent?"

"Do yall mean this kinda accent?" Chloe mimicked what her mom sounds like and smirked, Max nodded quickly and giggled.

"I remember that! She... She always made me pancakes didn't she?" Max was remembering things she'd never be able to recall without Chloe and she was smiling so much because of it all. Her smile was so genuine, it made Chloe smile back.

Both smiling and Max was beginning to recall memories like the back of her hand. She remembered going to the park and playing with Chloe on the slides as one of their first play dates. She remembered getting ice cream with Chloe once and sharing her ice cream with Chloe as she dropped her own. She even remembered Bongo!

Within a few hours, Max remembered so much about her past that she remembered how she used to act and slowly began to act like how she used to, her small mannerisms came back. Her hands moved whenever she spoke pationately.

Their food came round and they ate while still speaking, Max was having so much fun just remembering everything she could and loved that Chloe was able to help her so much.

Yesterday, she was panicking over if Chloe hated her for not texting yet but today? She was only panicking over how late they would be if the two were continuing to talk for hours more. They had to go home later still.

Once they finished and Chloe paid, the punk and brunette linked arms and made their way towards Chloe's truck and before they got inside of it, a blonde girl was leaning on the truck and smiling at Chloe.