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Max opened her eyes as she laid in bed with Chloe, her girlfriend’s arm securely around her while she slept. Max sat up slowly, carefully moving Chloe’s arm away. Chloe let out a noise of protest but didn’t wake up, Max couldn’t help smiling.
Her eyes went to the picture that now lived in their nightstand, Max’s selfie from the days before the Caledon fire. Despite their best efforts, buildings still burned. People still died. She could go back, one more time. She knew things she hadn’t then. She could save everyone. She could stop the fire.
She looked at Chloe, who was still asleep. She’d promised her she wouldn’t jump into pictures, especially the picture of Caledon. Gripping the picture tight in her fingers, she stood slowly then leaned over to kiss Chloe’s head. “I love you,” she whispered before silently leaving their apartment.
When Chloe woke up, she instinctively reached for Max but found her side of the bed empty. “Max?” she called. She lifted her head to look around the room as the sun began to rise outside. “Max,” she said again before her eyes fell on the space on the nightstand where the old selfie once lay, its spot now empty.
“Max,” she yelled, jumping out of bed. “Fuck, Max!” She yanked open their bedroom door, looking around their small apartment. “Fuck! Fuck, no. No. God dammit!” She found her phone, dialing a number quickly.
“Come on, come on,” she muttered. “Fuck,” she said again when Max’s voicemail picked up. “No, no, please.” She dialed a different number, closing her eyes as it rang.
“Moses,” she breathed when he picked up. “Max is gone. I know... you told me to destroy that picture and I didn’t and now she’s gone and the picture... oh god.” She fell onto the couch. “I know! I know, dude, I can’t undo the past. I’m not... fuck, what do we do? No, there has to be something.”
She put her head into her other hand as she held the phone against her ear. “God, I’m an idiot. I’m such a fucking idiot. Why’d you leave it up to me? You should’ve... no, you could! We didn’t even need to know about it,” she said, shaking her head when he started to explain why he couldn’t destroy the picture when the door to the apartment opened.
Chloe’s head snapped up as Max walked in with two cups of coffee and a bag of bagels. “Max,” she gasped, dropping her phone. She ran to her girlfriend, hugging her tightly, Max struggled to hold the coffee cups so they wouldn’t spill all over both of them.
“Hi,” Max said with a chuckle. “I... missed you too? I’m sorry I left without waking you up but...”
“You... you left,” Chloe breathed, stepping away from Max. “You went... you went to get coffee.”
Max nodded her head. “You were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to wake you.” She watched as Chloe moved around the apartment, catching her breath. “What’s wrong?” she asked, putting the coffee on the counter.
“I... I woke up, you weren’t there. The picture was gone. I thought you... I thought you jumped into it,” she told her, moving her hand through her hair.
“I told you I wouldn’t.”
“I know. I panicked and I’m sorry. I should trust you. I just... I know you want to go back there.”
Max nodded. “That’s why I got rid of it. I dropped it into a storm drain near the coffee shop. Having it... it’s too tempting. Every night when I go to sleep, every morning I wake up and it’s there. I had to get rid of it. It was drawing me back.”
Chloe let out a shuddered breath. “Thank you. Fuck. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she assured her, stepping over to her to hug her. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”