Life is Strange: Butterflies and Wolves

The Reynolds

As the group sat inside, admiring the traditional wooden furniture that surrounded them in the dining room, they felt a warmth that had been long forgotten. A family warmth, one that the group had not felt in what felt like forever.

It was peaceful, they sat with hot chocolates in their hands, warming up the cold that bit at their fingertips.

Claire then walked into the room with Chloe's hot chocolate, placing it down on the table in front of her.

"Thank you," she uttered, staring down into the milky-brown mixture.

Claire then sat down at the table with Stephen on one side, while the others were sat opposite them.

"It's freezing cold outside, what were you all doing out there, on the road?" Claire started with a worried and confused tone present.

Sean then looked up. "After what happened with Dad... we met Max and Chloe near Arcadia Bay, they'd gone back to mourn their friends back there-"

"Oh, goodness. You two are from Arcadia Bay?" Claire asked them, her face softening as she spoke.

Max nodded. "We were there the day of the storm, I think we might have been... the only survivors," she admitted, stumbling on her last sentence slightly whilst thinking back to it.

"God, that tornado came out of nowhere, it was on the news... pretty much everywhere," Stephen shook his head thinking back to the horrors that were plastered on TV screens everywhere.

Claire shook her head, thinking of the disastrous event. "I'm assuming you had family there."

"My mom and step...father were both there that day, and all of Max's school friends, too," Chloe added, sipping her hot chocolate emotionlessly.

The elderly couple looked at each other with sympathy in their eyes. "Oh, sweetie, that must've been hard for you both-" Claire started with a soft tone.

"What about your parents?" Stephen looked at Max.

"They're in Seattle, still. I moved back to Arcadia Bay three years ago to achieve my dreams of becoming a photographer..." she informed them, sipping her beverage.

They nodded in sync, looking over to Sean and Daniel as they felt the solemn tone getting the best of the girls.

"So, Sean, how are you doing? After what happened in Seattle?" Claire asked them, reaching out to place her hand on Sean's, but he moved back slightly.

"They-they killed him... That police officer. And then... everything went blank, I guess," he detailed the event, still audibly suffering from the shock of it all.

They nodded and looked at each other once again. "Stephen, could I talk to you, for a minute?" she asked, getting up from the table and leading him out of the room and in front of the stairs.

Sean looked over at Max. "Your parents live in Seattle?" he asked her, surprised that he hadn't known sooner.

"Yeah, I remember when it all happened and I text them to make sure that they were okay, just as they text me after the storm."

Claire and Stephen then entered the room, sitting down at the table as Claire began to talk.

"We don't want you to keep running from the law, like- like criminals. We want you and your brother to stay here-"

"We can stay?" Daniel came back into the room in a pair of princess pyjamas that likely belonged to their mother before.

Claire nodded with a smile on her face that seemed rather determined. "You are gonna stay with us," she almost demanded. " I don't think I could cope thinking that you two were out there on your own," she shook her head just thinking about it.

"Yay! Awesome! Thanks, grandma, thanks, grandpa!" Daniel yelled with joy, hugging them one at a time as Stephen chuckled.

Claire beamed seeing Daniel so ecstatic, it was like having the grandchildren that she had always wanted. "Okay, but we have to lay down the rules, it's very important that you listen to these if you want to stay out of the way of the police," she informed them, a more stern tone coming on.

Max turned to smile at Chloe who smiled, too, scratching her fading blue hair as she did before returning it to the satisfying warmth of the mug in her hands.

"Well, we totally just reunited the family," Chloe uttered as she adjusted her beanie.

"That we did," Max replied. "Here," she then slid Sean two slips of paper each with mobile numbers written on them.

Sean looked down at them and then back up at the girls. "Wait, you're leaving?" he then asked, wide-eyed.

"Well, yeah-" Chloe started before being interrupted.

"Not at this time of night, you're not, you'll catch a cold out there! You two can stay here for the night," Claire said abruptly.

"Guess we've got no choice, then?" Chloe joked wryly, looking over at Stephen.

"You heard the woman! What she says goes here!" he laughed as everyone around the table let laughs slip from their lips.

As the night progressed, everyone turned in for the night, going their separate ways, but not without their individual "goodnight"s to one another, Sean and Daniel in the spare room while Max and Chloe slept on the sofas for the night, making themselves comfortable after the car journey that turned into a road trip almost.

"Max?" Chloe asked, unable to sleep.

"Mmm..." came the sleepy reply.

"Where do you think we should go tomorrow?" she asked, thinking about where their journey might lead them next.

"Hmm..." Max thought for a second. "New York City," she let out, sleep thick in her tone.

Chloe scoffed. "If you think we can make it in one day, then you're high," she laughed to herself.

"I mean eventually," she replied sleepily.

"Did you even hear my question properly?" Chloe asked her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her, she scanned over the Christmas decorations that dotted the lounge and the fish tank to the right of her sofa.

"What?"

"Good night, Max," she laughed to herself again, knowing her best friend all too well.

"Good night, Chloe."

Thank you so much for reading Butterflies and Wolves, if you enjoyed the chapter please vote/comment and follow me for updates on the book!