After the Storm

Who Remains

As Chloe pulled up next to Two Whales, the girls noticed that it was only slightly torn apart, compared to the other buildings that looked demolished. Chloe ran to the diner with Max, both of them digging through the debris.

Max heard coughing under one of the pieces of wood. "Chloe! Help me lift this one."

Chloe ran over to where Max was and helped her lift the tattered piece of wood that once held up the sweet aroma of pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, coffee, and maple syrup. Under that piece of wood was Joyce. She was bruised, bloody, covered in dirt... the only place you could see her skin was where her tears had stained her cheeks.

"Mom! You're okay!" Chloe pulled Joyce into her arms, crying tears of joy as Max smiled.

"I'm going to check if there's anyone else under the rubble." Max walked away, trying to listen for any signs of life. She heard a scream, though, and it was a scream like none that Max had ever heard. This was a real scream of someone struggling and dying, and it scarred her to know that she did this. She ran over to where she heard the scream and pulled the piece of wood off of the person with the help of the adrenaline that shot through her body. It was Frank.

"Holy shit, I saw the light before my eyes... thank you, Max. I thought I was a goner."

"You're welcome, Frank. I'm sorry about Rachel, by the way." Max frowned, knowing how hard that tidbit of information she gave yesterday was crushing Frank.

Frank looked down, "She was my angel, the only thing that was good in life, and she was just stripped away from me just like that. Uh, do you need help looking for other survivors?"

"Yeah, that would be nice," Max replied coolly. She knew how much both Frank and Chloe were struggling with the loss of, as they both said, their angel. The weight of knowing that she destroyed an entire town by choice was also killing her. Frank and Chloe don't have a home anymore, they lost their angel, and it seemed like the only thing keeping both of them going were the ominous beats in their chest, which, in Chloe's case, Max had to restore many, many times.

"Yo, Max! I found the science nerd, but he doesn't look so good." Chloe shouted, and as soon as she did, Max ran over to see the condition that Warren was in. His face was battered and bloody, he looked pale and made only minuscule movements with his fingertips.

"Max, just go find others, there are more people that need help. Don't waste your time on me." Warren said weakly, the way he spoke was cinematic. It seemed scripted and it drove Max crazy. She knew she couldn't save him, though, there was nothing that could repair him to the crazy science nerd that he once was. He was broken.

"I'm sorry, Warren." Max choked up, knowing this would be the last thing she'd ever say to him.

"Come on, Max, we have to get Joyce to David." Chloe helped Joyce to her truck, as did Max. Tears streamed down Max's face as she realized what she was really doing to Warren. She did want to help everyone and as many people as she could, but Chloe was her main priority. She was the most important thing to her, nothing else could measure up to Chloe Price, her pirate, her partner in crime, her partner in time.

"I'm so proud of you both. You two," Joyce choked back some tears, "aren't kids anymore. You're both taking everything like adults, hell, like heroes. Chloe, you've grown so much over these five days, I'm so happy. Max, thank you for shaping my daughter up," Joyce chuckled, "you guys deserve each other."

Chloe and Max smiled at each other, "Don't worry mom, we'll always be partners in crime. No matter what happens, we'll always have each other's back."

"Don't be so cheesy, Che." Max smiled, and at that point, she knew how in love she really was with Chloe. It was indescribable...

"The moment I saw her beautiful pissed off face and butterfly blue hair, I wanted to kiss her again."

Max put her hand on Chloe's thigh, trying to inconspicuously show her love for Chloe, as she did not know how to express it yet. She wanted to give Chloe all the happiness that she could give her. Max, being a confused teenager who has fallen in love for the first time, had no idea how to do such a thing. She still can't understand how or why she was granted the power of time travel. Why was it her? Why would 'fate' bring Max and Chloe together, only to force them to break apart once more? Or was this all to bring Rachel closure? Why was it her? Did this happen to other people, was she the only one? Why her?

Perhaps it had to be her, perhaps Rachel knew it had to be Max who had to save Chloe and give her and Rachel that closure. Perhaps Rachel knew that with her gone, Max would be the only person to bring Chloe at least some sanity. After all, Joyce was right. Chloe changed. She was ready to give up her entire life for people that she claimed to hate. Before Max left and William died, Chloe was compassionate, grateful, she was radiant. She needed structure in her life, and the structure that she needed came from none other than Max Caulfield.

As they pulled up to the, once decrepit, now destroyed farmhouse, Joyce had a puzzled look on her face. "Why did we come here?"

"It's a long story, Mom, but David is here." Chloe opened the car door, helping her mother out. Max got out on the other side, wrapping one arm around Joyce, the other holding her right hand.

"David!" Chloe screamed as she opened the hatch to the hellish bunker.

"What? Is it your mo-" David's words stopped right in his tracks as soon as she saw Joyce. He broke into tears when he saw everything that she had been through plastered right in front of him. The pain, the suffering, everything was shown through her hurting eyes, as well as the blood and the dirt and the bruises and the tears which gracefully stained her cheeks.

While all of this was happening, Chloe had a bad feeling about Max, considering since she just saw one of her only friends die in front of her for good. There was no going back, no rewinding, they already survived one storm, there wasn't going to be another one, not on Max's watch.

Chloe pulled Max into a different section of the hellscape and sat down. "Mad Max, how are you holding up?"

This caused Max to burst into tears, but she quickly hushed her tears to a quiet, blubbery sob. "I'm not, Chloe. I killed so, so many people. The worst thing is that I would do it again, and again, and again if it meant you could survive."

Chloe hugged Max from the side, holding her tightly and crying beside her. They had gone through hell and back that week, but they were also on top of the fucking world, just as long as they had each other, they knew they could get through anything.

"Max... I really can't express my love for you and my gratitude for you. You endured so much over the course of this week, all for me, for Rachel... you mean everything to me. I love you, and not that bullshit platonic love that everyone has. Fuck it, I've loved you for so long and I thought I lost you when you left. You came back... you came back. Not necessarily for me, but you made me your number one priority. You fucking gave up your dream of San Francisco for me! My love for you has only grown stronger since you came back. Without you, I would literally be dead. You saved my life... and I really don't know how else to thank you. But there, I love you."

"Oh, Chloe." Max turned to face her and grinned. Everything that was going on inside of Max was indescribable, everything was happening at once. Her heart started to beat faster, her breath quickened its pace, she started to feel a bit dizzy and sweaty. Max put her hand on Chloe's cheek. Their eyes locked and it was like two oceans mixing together to create a beautiful, scenic clash of two polar opposites. But they made it work, for it was, as mentioned, beautiful and scenic. Max leaned in for the kiss that fate had seemingly been preparing for them for their entire lives, only to whisk their happiness away from them. Max wouldn't let Chloe get away that easily, though. Fate would have to destroy the entire fucking world to even get near Chloe.

The kiss itself was gentle and fragile, it held up everything to which those five days built up. It was the one that they both wanted and craved, it was the one that actually had meaning behind it, it wasn't some stupid dare that could be misconstrued as 'just a dare,' this was real and there was so much love behind it all.

"Holy shit," Chloe smiled, and for the first time that week, Max could tell that it was genuine.

"I love you, Chloe. I hope you know that." Max rested her forehead against Chloe's, kissing her nose gently.

Chloe smiled and grabbed Max's hand, "You're a fucking dork."