Afterwards: A Life Is Strange Fan-Fiction <A Choice Story>

Chapter 32

"Alright, fine Chloe. We'll leave." I kind of wanted to stay. This guy may have had answers to our problems, but I guess we'll never know.

"Thanks Max. I don't think I could stay in a library for that long and not do something destructive." Oh, I'm sure Chloe. "So, should we just get going?" She asks.

"If you don't wanna stay, then we'll leave now, yeah." I say with slight attitude. I think Chloe picked up on it. She raises an eyebrow and stands up.

"You alright Max? You seem, angry."

"Why don't you just want to stay here for a few hours? We might learn a lot about our situation, and even if we don't, at least we tried. You're just so impossible to be with sometimes, Chloe!"

"I know that Max. That's probably why Rachel left me. Hell, that's probably why you left, and why dad left too!" She storms outside. Shit, I didn't mean to hurt Chloe, I just wanted her to know that I wanted to stay. Now I feel like an asshole. I should probably go out there with Chloe, and I don't think we're coming back in here, so I should put those books back. I take all of the books and stack them, then pick them up. This is heavier than I thought. I walk over to the counter and put the books down.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" The woman asks.

"Yeah, for the most part."

"Anything I can do to help?" She asks kindly. I shake my head.

"No, but thank you though." She smiles and I walk outside. Chloe is leaning up against her truck, sucking the toxins out of a cigarette. Maybe Chloe will get to a point where she doesn't have to rely on cigarettes for happiness and relaxation. Hopefully that's soon, but I won't judge her if she decides to smoke extra the next few days, her hometown was destroyed after all. And her mom....

I walk to her truck, and am greeted by smoke, and a lot of it. "I'm sorry Chloe. I just want solutions to our problems, and I've been stressed and I just flipped out on you." She inhales her cigarette, then blows out more smoke.

"It's whatever Max. I just miss Rachel, and dad. It's been hard, but these past few days I've been coming to the realization that no matter how hard I wish for them to come back, they're not going to. They're really gone, and I can't get over it. I just wish I could at least see them again, you know? And now, mom's gone too, I just-I can't lose anybody else." She inhales once more, then blows the smoke out of her nose. "The reason I don't wanna stay, is because I don't want to waste time doing nothing when we could be out doing something fun together. I just wish I had spent more time with Rachel."

"I'm not going anywhere, Chloe. I'm not going to leave you again." She nods.

"Rachel didn't think she was going to leave me, but then she did. Dad didn't think so either. You left too,  it you didn't think you were ever going to move away from Arcadia Bay, did you?" She's right, the thought of leaving Chloe never crossed my mind once.

"I guess the future is truly unpredictable." I say.

"Which is why we have to seize the day, and all of its fruits, right? Or whatever you hipsters say nowadays." I laugh.

"Sounds good. Where do you wanna go?" She pauses.

"I don't know, actually. Oh, I know, lemme find my weed. I know I have it here somewhere." She searches her pockets frantically.

"That doesn't sound like the best idea." I say. She stops.

"Why not? It'll be fun, trust me." She smirks. "You've never done it, have you?"