chaos theory. (with potter-kun)

[Styxx]

To leave behind all she had ever known was to leave behind the good as well as the bad, the parts that Chloe Price had been desperate to hold on to as well as the pieces that she would have gratefully thrown away. Leaving behind the body of her best friend also meant leaving behind her mother; though their relationship had grown strained as Chloe had grown in to a young adult, Joyce Madsen was a mother that she could be proud to call her own. She tried her damnedest even though her daughter was a hellion and no one, especially her, deserved to die.

There's little she could do, though. She stood and watched the storm hit Arcadia Bay with Max by her side. Both were devastated - both were losing the people they had loved. Chloe held Max tight in her arms and did her best not to cry. Maybe if someone was lucky they survived, and they would be pulled from the wreckage as search and rescue piled in and began to sort out what could be fixed and what wasn't worth the time. Only as the storm died down and the roads became safe did Chloe speak to Max, huddled close in her arms as the rain poured down on them.

They had no homes now. What they did have was Seattle, and Max's parents. It was the only logical place for them to go and there was no doubt that her parents would be worried sick about Max. The cell lines had dropped quickly. Now the pair were dressed in dried clothes in Chloe's beat up pickup, slowly making their way towards Seattle.

"You alright?" Chloe asked from her spot in the driver's seat, noticing that Max appeared rather shaken.

 

[Potter-Kun]

Max stared out the window, much of the light in her eyes was gone. She was happy she was able to save Chloe, happy her best friend didn't have to die, that she had changed destiny. Was the price worth it though....She had traded the life of everyone in Arcadia Bay for Chloe, and while there were some jerks there, there were many great people too. People she could call friends and who she enjoyed hanging out with. Was one life, even Chloe's, worth all of their's?

She snapped out of her stupor as she heard Chloe speak to her. She thought for a moment...she didn't want to tell Chloe that she might be regretting saving her, she wasn't sure how that would come across. She bit her lower lip and then let out a sigh as he rubbed her face with her hands.

"Not really....I'm just...thinking about the Bay...all those people...how many of them might have made it...if all their lives fall on my shoulders, you know?" Max sighed deeply, she would be crying if she weren't so worn out.

"Sorry, I'm sure you don't want to hear it." she turned to give Chloe a small, worn out smile. She was trying to show she was strong and that she would be alright, she wasn't sure how good of a job she was doing at that though.

 

[Styxx]

No, Chloe understood. Though she tried to put on a tough face she was also struck with guilt over those who had probably been lost and she could only imagine how that must have felt to someone who had controlled that. Had the right call been made? Was one person really worth the loss of many? Had situations been reversed, Chloe would definitely had made the call to save Max - she was selfish like that. But for Max? Chloe had never met a more caring person in her eighteen years on this world, and she had never expected that somehow she would be chosen over the entire of Arcadia Bay. Chloe would never have saved herself, though, and she hadn't expected Max to save her; Chloe didn't fear death, she feared being forgotten - and she knew that even if the last week became the week that never was she would be remembered if by no one else, than by Max. That had been enough.

"No, don't apologize," Chloe took one hand off of the steering wheel and rubbed Max's shoulder gently for a moment. Both of the women were solemn; both understood the gravity of what they had witnessed and as much as Chloe felt hopeless, she wasn't going to let that show if Max needed someone to lean on. "Hey, they won't all be gone okay? We'll keep an eye out on the news, and it's not your fault. Just because you can mess with time doesn't mean you should, right?"