Life Is Strange: Final Destination

Brave New World

(Chapter named after the good ol' Hedley song)

Two weeks. That's all it took to drive Chloe off the walls. Two weeks of constantly fighting with Max. All about stupid things. The most common one was about Seattle. It was the worst tornado in history, and she was still struggling to convince Max it wasn't their fault.

Chloe knew they were both probably suffering from PTSD, Max the most, but they both were stuck with each other. There was no way they could ever explain to a therapist what happened, and they couldn't just leave each other, even though the circumstances were toxic.

She was woken up by another classic nightmare. In their new apartment they didn't share a room. But Chloe could still hear Max screaming from down the hall. She ran her hands down the hallway wall as she walked slowly to the door. The floors were always littered in random things. They didn't do much of anything anymore, not even clean.

"Max." She whispered, opening the door slowly. She knew it was useless, the girl couldn't hear her over her own shrieking.

"Fuck. What can I do to get sleep around here?!" She yelled, walking to the bed.

"Wake the fuck up Caulfield." Chloe touched her lightly and Max's eyes flew open, blood dripping down her face.

"Shit." It hurt her to see the girl she loved like this, but she had to pretend to be unsympathetic.

"Why the fuck are you waking me up!?" Max spat, springing up from the bed.

"You were screaming again. You're hurting." She said, not caring about pretending to be rude anymore.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't give a fuck!? We deserve to hurt Chloe!" She yelled and Chloe flinched, sitting down onto the bed.

"Max. Please. Don't do this. I love you and I can't see you like this." She whispered, the pain in her heart continuing to ache. They were stuck with each other, and they had no choice but to push and pull at each other like this. But Chloe had somehow become the weak vulnerable pushover.

"Like what!? I care about you! But we deserve it!"

"You're acting like me!" Chloe yelled back, feeling her eyes start to sting. She couldn't let Max see her cry once again. She needed to get her tough-self back, she needed to be able to defend herself and not seem weak.

"I guess we changed spots." Max grumbled and Chloe stood up, running out of the room.

"Where the fuck are you going!? Chloe!?" They hadn't left each other's sides in two weeks. She could hear the pain and panic in the brunette's voice, but she couldn't deal with it any longer. It might have been midnight, but she had to leave.

She ran outside, not thinking about how it was November and she was bare foot. Good thing it wasn't too cold in LA.

Chloe didn't stop running until she was blocks from her apartment, turning the corner down the street. People were smoking crack in the alley ways but she sped right past them, numb to everything around her.

After about fifteen minutes, she sat down on a random bus station's bench, sobbing uncontrollably. Her whole body started wrenching and she began to gag, trying to calm down. Her head was pounding and her world was spinning. How had she let things get so fucked up?

"Mind if I sit?" A voice asked and she nodded, wiping at the snot on her face.

"You look pretty rough. Your feet are bleeding." The person observed and Chloe snickered.

"Why don't you fuck off?" She spat, looking down at them. They were also bruised.

"Hey, you said I could sit here. Why don't you relax darling, I'm just trying to help." The girl said and Chloe froze in her spot, afraid to look up. She hadn't recognized the voice before, but hearing 'darling' definitely rang a bell. Rachel used to call her darling all the time.

"Fuck... Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." She whispered, drumming her leg. She heard the familiar giggle and slowly sat upright, staring off into the distance before she finally turned her head to look at her old friend.

She looked different than what Max had described. Her hair wasn't bleached, and there weren't bangs. She was probably wearing a wig that day. The Rachel before her had her natural golden hair, but it was cut down to her shoulder.

"Long time no see, darling."