Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chloe sat in the woods behind the junkyard with a half empty beer bottle in one hand, a crumpled ball of paper in the other. She wiped tears from her face as she stared at the crumpled ball. Rachel had been missing for months… Now this? 

“Fucking why Rachel? Why didn’t you just tell me?” She choked out through sobs. She’d spent the past few months looking for the missing girl, only to find the note. If Rachel hadn’t scratched the name out, maybe she might have had some kind of clue to follow. Instead, she had heartbreak and a still missing girl. She took a swig from the bottle, hoping to just numb the feelings for a little bit. 

Her phone buzzed. Chloe sat the bottle down and checked her lit screen. The notification signaled another text from Joyce. She stuffed her phone back in her pocket, unread.

“Probably just telling me to come home, that the woods are dangerous. Like I’m going to willingly spend more time with Step-douche.” She kicked a rock as she staggered to her feet, “All this nonsense about a beast in the woods is some fucking conspiracy bullshit.”

Another swig as she started down the path back toward the junkyard. She had been coming out here for years now and as a result knew the heap like the back of her hand. She didn’t need anyone warning her about it. Even if there was some kind of monster out there… Well, without Rachel that wasn’t the kind of thing to scare her anymore. 

Chloe grabbed the bottle, clutching the neck clumsily, and finished the last swig. She carried on walking while stuffing the ball of paper in her pocket, letting the bottle swing empty and aimless by her side. She’d start looking more into it for clues when she wasn’t such a wreck. 

At least now I kn- Her thought was cut off by a loud crunch in the darkness. She turned to her right. Her skin crawled, senses sharpened; the light buzz from the beer suddenly dissipated. The adrenaline started to pump and her eyes narrowed. She reversed her grip on the bottle, ready to swing. “Alright creep, fuck off or Chloe Price is going to kick your fucking ass.”

Better not be Elliot I swear to fucking god. She heard a low rumble in the bush and her skin prickled, a primal fear icing through her veins. She reached into her pocket and grabbed her keys, threading them through her fingers to ready herself. She spoke up again, trying to sound a lot braver than she felt, “FUCK YOU ASSHOLE, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!”

She stared into the dark, muscles tensed and body torn between running or fighting. She could have sworn she saw the shape of something huge in the dark and she felt her gut twist at what she thought was the flash of eyes. Her lips peeled back in a snarl as she prepared to charge at whoever, or whatever , was out there. Any other day she would have run, but in this moment, anger and pain was making her brave. She needed to smash something. Just then the clouds covering the moon parted, and new light showed her something that made her jump. Before her was a young woman, skin pale as the moon itself, with a shock of brown disheveled hair, freckles and very naked. The bottle slipped from her hand, landing with a dull thud on the forest floor as the gears in her mind spun. Her mouth worked open and closed as the woman looked back with brilliant, dark circled, blue eyes. “MAX?!”

The woman’s face changed, from one of exhaustion, to a glimmer of recognition and sadness. When she finally spoke her voice sounded frail and distant. “C-Chloe?”

Chloe watched in slow motion as the girl in front of her crumpled like the note in her pocket. She dropped her keys as she raced forwards to catch Max. She slid on her knees to put herself between Max’s head and the ground, just barely catching her. As she cradled Max’s head in her arms, a billion and half questions raced through her mind. Why the fuck is Max here? I thought she was in Seattle! What is she doing in these woods? Why is she NAKED?! She decided that she definitely didn’t want the answer to the last question, judging by the scratch marks over Max’s body. She knew that would result in her probably killing whoever had dared to hurt Max. The rage and pain were gone, the hurt she’d harboured over Max’s disappearance just vanishing in the face of the girl’s obvious distress. She could practically count Max’s ribs; the woman looked emaciated. “Who did this to you?”

All she got was a gentle groan in reply as Max shivered from the crisp fall air. Chloe gently let Max rest on the ground as she retrieved her dropped car keys, taking off her hoodie in the process to drape over the shivering girl. Chloe scooped Max up, the muscles in her arms shrieking in protest as she lifted. “Yeah, yeah, I need to work out.” Her teeth gritted as she started down the path, Max curling up in her arms.

Chloe slid Max into the bench seat of her truck, hoping no cop would pull her over with a naked woman haphazardly wrapped in the back. She climbed into the driver’s side and peeled out of the junkyard, struggling between wanting to floor it back to the house and driving gingerly to keep the unbuckled Max safe. Thankfully, at the early hour, the roads were devoid of traffic and she was able to make it to the Price house without anyone seeing them. She looked over at the sleeping Max, “What am I going to do with you?”

She looked around the empty street while coming up with the answer.  “Clothes, you need clothes.” She hopped out of the truck and went around to the side of the house, scaling up to her window and slipping in through it. She quickly padded to her closet and pulled out Rachel’s old clothes and went back outside. Doing another quick check to make sure she wasn’t being observed, she dressed the unconscious Max. It was hard while she tried to avert her eyes. She had dreamed of seeing Max naked ever since puberty, but definitely not like this. Getting the pants on was a struggle. The girl was pure dead weight and her legs flopped around like wet noodles as she stuffed them into the legs. The whole ordeal took her entirely longer than she would have liked. Thoughts of David crashing through the front door full of angry questions fueled her with paranoia as she slipped each sock on Max’s feet. Not sure how I’m going to explain the no shoes… She slipped Rachel’s shirt over Max’s torso, her face red from seeing all of Max’s exposed chest up close. “Okay, let's get you inside.”

Chloe hoisted the unconscious Max over her shoulder with a fireman carry she’d half paid attention to and learned in PE. I mean I guess it’s a good thing she’s skin and bones. Chloe slipped through the doorway quietly as she could, locking it behind her. She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when a light flicked on in front of her. There Joyce stood, hands on hips, eyes hard. “Chloe El- Chloe, who is that?!”

Chloe managed a thin smile as she patted Max’s thigh, “I found me a Max Caulfield. We… uh, partied too hard.”

Joyce’s face was caught between bewilderment and amusement, “What is… Max partied too hard? Are we talking about the same Max Caulfield?”

Chloe shrugged, which was something of an effort with a Max on her shoulder. “She can’t hold her booze, so definitely. Is it cool if she crashes here tonight? I can’t exactly get her into the Blackwell dorms.”

Joyce cocked her head to the side, “Blackwell? Why...?” Her tone shifted, softening, “And of course it’s okay Chloe.”

Chloe shrugged as best she could with Max still slung over her, “What the hell else would Max be back in town for if not Blackwell? Anyways, I’ll get sleeping beauty here to bed and we can all talk about this tomorrow, okay?”

Joyce frowned but sighed, “Yes, we are definitely going to be talking about this tomorrow.”

Chloe trudged up the stairs, bracing herself against the banister and wall under Max’s added weight. With a grunt she pushed into her bedroom and lay Max down on the bed before going to lock her bedroom door. She sighed and slipped out of her day clothes before going to look down at the sleeping Max, a hand idly brushing Max’s hair. “Of all the days Max… What am I going to do with you?” She pulled the covers over Max, making sure she was tucked in tight before slipping under them herself, sleep quickly claiming her weary, exhausted form.

She woke up with a stretch, sitting up in bed and looking around. “I haven’t slept that good in ages…” She trailed off as she looked to her side and remembered that Max right next to her. Chloe’s eyes went wide as memories of the previous night hit her. She took a closer look at Max, who was still sleeping soundly under the sheets. “Right. Max.”

She drew her knees up to her chest as she looked down at her slumbering form. “Please be okay.” She whispered to herself. I’m on my meds, and Joyce saw her, this isn’t some fucking hallucination… I hope she’s okay, but someone appearing naked like that in the woods is never a good sign… I wonder if she’s been missing or something. I would have heard about something like that. But how can she be so thin if…

Max stirred, a gentle groan escaping her lips. Chloe leaned in close, her chest overflowing with anxiety and concern; her voice sounding small even to her, “Max?”

Max rolled over, her eyelids fluttering open, Chloe saw the confusion in those brilliant blue eyes of hers before they snapped to her face and the confusion was replaced with a soft expression that she couldn’t place. “… Chloe?”

Chloe nodded, reaching up a hand to brush some blue locks back behind her ear, “Yeah, it’s me.”

Max smiled and a far away look came over her face, “Figures I’d see you after last night... The blue hair looks nice.”

Chloe just wanted to throw herself on Max, hold her and be held by her. The years of heartache melting away in the face of that smile. “Good… to see you too, Max.”

Max tried to sit up, her arms shaking as she struggled. Chloe slipped a hand under her back to help her up before putting another pillow beneath, “Max, what happened? Why were you naked in the forest?”

Max blinked hard as if trying to remember something long ago, “I… Don’t really know. I was out late taking pictures for class and I remember this rustling and then…” Max’s pale features went a little paler and she frantically looked around, “Where’s my camera?!”

Chloe grimaced, shrugging as she gently pushed Max back into the pillows, “You didn’t have it when I found you. You didn’t have… anything on you.”

Max went from pale to red and her eyes widened, “You… saw me?”

Chloe snorted, trying to bring just a little mirth to the situation. “You were, as they say, very naked.”

Max gasped and pulled the covers close to her, only for Chloe to laugh, “Chill dork, I dressed you before I brought you inside… Joyce caught me, I told her we were out partying so…”

Max nodded, her face turning to a grimace, “Yeah… I’ll play along, better than just telling her what I remember.”

Chloe nodded before a bright idea popped into her head. She sprang out of bed, going over to her shelf. Please still be there, please still be there… Yes! “I, er, know it was your birthday last month.”

Max cocked her head to the side as Chloe stood up, hiding the object behind her back. “This was my real father’s camera...” she held it out in front of her, her arm trembling a bit as she parted with one of her dad’s treasured possessions, “… I want you to have it.”

Max’s lip trembled slightly as she took the camera in her hands before trying to hand it back to Chloe, “That is so cool you remembered my birthday, but… I can’t take this.”

Chloe pushed it back into Max’s hands, “Of course you can. He’d be pissed if it was never used, and I know it’ll be used awesomely by you. Plus, you do need a camera and a bit of a pick-me-up after last night.”

Max looked down at the camera with a small smile, “Thanks… Chloe. This camera is so sweet,” her thanks were cut off by a loud grumble from her stomach, “Uh… I think I smell someone cooking…”

Chloe’s eyebrows furrowed, she didn’t smell anything. “Errrr, must be Joyce? Guess we gotta face the music.”

Max nodded as she slipped out from under the covers. “If it means food, I’m in.”

Chloe nodded, “That’s good, you look like you haven’t eaten in a while. Which day do you remember last?”

Max blinked, her face pinched, “October… 6th?”

Chloe sighed, “It’s the 7th today, I guess you only missed out on a few hours then.”

Max nodded, her face clouding. “I can’t remember much of anything, weird sensations mostly….”

Chloe shrugged, deep down she was filled with concern, “We’re going to have to talk more about what happened after food.”

Max’s eye lit up when she heard the word food and started towards the door. She stopped short, looking down at herself, “Whose clothes are these?”

Chloe sighed again, her face contorting into a grimace as unwelcome memories surfaced, “Rachel Amber’s… She was about your size soooo.”

Max looked at them, frowning. “They aren’t really my style.”

Chloe snorted, “What style? You never had a style when I knew you!”

Max gave Chloe an affronted look, “Hey! I like my jeans and t-shirts!”

Chloe snickered, shaking her head. “Sure you do. C’mon, lets go get some breakfast, you look famished.”

Chloe watched Max go down the stairs ahead of her, questions still scircling around her head. From the stairs she could hear Joyce and David talking, causing her to quietly curse, “… nobody’s seen her since yesterday. If she doesn’t show up today, we’re going to have to get the police involved.”

Chloe poked her head around the corner along with Max, seeing Joyce’s mouth open to speak before gesturing towards the pair, “There’s your missing girl, fresh from the mosh pit. Max Caulfield, it’s so good to speak to you again after all these years.”

Max flashed Chloe a sheepish smile, “Uh… Hi Joyce, Mr. Madsen. Sorry if I caused a fuss, we uh… lost track of time.”

Chloe felt a mix of anxiety and anger knot in her gut as she saw the anger flash across David’s face. Not in front of Max you asshole. David shook his head, the look of rage restrained but plain to everyone, “I should have known you were involved Chloe. We are going to have to have a serious talk about this and about bringing strangers into my home.”

Max stepped between Chloe and David, cutting off Chloe’s brewing retort. “It’s not Chloe’s fault, it’s mine. I just… I hadn’t seen Chloe in years and I wanted our reunion to be… special.”

You have a strange definition of ‘special’ Caulfield. Joyce cut in, “Max is not a stranger David, she and Chloe were best friends before… You know.”

Chloe grinned, it was nice having everyone on her side for once. “I do have friends David.” Even if they don’t call me.

David shook his head, dropping it. “Just don’t miss curfew again Max, and you two had better not be out in those woods. A few hunters have gone missing out there and I’ll not have any more Blackwell students AWOL on my watch. Am I clear?”

Chloe crossed her arms, another retort forming before Max cut her off, “Of course. I’m really sorry David…. Um… What’s for breakfast? I’m really really hungry…”

Joyce snorted and smirked, “What’ll you have darling? I picked up some extra groceries when Chloe brought you home last night.”

David spluttered, “YOU KNEW?!”

Joyce rolled her eyes, “You didn’t let me get a word in, David. Anyways, Max, eggs and bacon or pancakes?”

Max blinked and asked in a sheepish tone, “Can… I have both?”

Joyce snorted, “Ah youth. Okay Max, Chloe?”

Chloe blinked, “Eggs and bacon, you know me.”

Joyce smiled as she turned around and started fishing out the ingredients, “David, would you help me?”

Max and Chloe shared a look before they absconded to the couch. Chloe studied Max’s face as the other fidgeted, concern written plain on her face. “Can… we go find my phone after this? I need to find that and my bag…”

Chloe sighed and nodded, responding in the same hushed tone to match Max. “Yeah, do you remember anymore than what you said earlier?”

Max frowned as she closed her eyes, “I remember being way down the train tracks trying to get some nice shots and then… Nothing makes sense. Lots of running? Some weird sounds and smells…”

Chloe’s concern grew as she focused on Max’s face. There was visible confusion there, but also something told her that Max wasn’t telling her the whole truth. Going to have to press more after breakfast when David isn’t around. “Okay Max, we’ll go searching for your phone and stuff after we eat, hopefully it doesn’t take long. David will freak if I don’t get you to Blackwell in time for class.”

Chapter Text

Chloe shook her head as she drove away from the Price residence, utterly in awe of the way Max had managed to out-eat her. Nobody pigged out harder than Chloe… until now. “Max, I have never seen you eat that much food. How the hell are you so thin?”

Max gave her a shrug, her lips pursed like she was confused herself. “I… uh… I was just really hungry? I don’t know, I’ve never eaten that much like ever.”

Chloe looked at Max as if her freckled face might hide the secrets to her ravenous hunger. “What the hell happened to you Max? You show up hella naked in the middle of the night in the woods, no memory and hungry like a wolf? What the fuck?”

Max scrunched up in her seat, her arms wrapping around her knees as she tucked them against her chest. “I don’t know what to tell you Chloe, I don’t remember much that makes sense before I saw you. Just this rustling sound and then something just…” She waved her hands around as if trying to find the right words. “... hit me.”

Chloe felt a flash of white hot anger at the mere idea that someone had even dared to lay a finger on Max. “Hit you? Like over the head? I swear Max, if anyone fucking touched you, I’m going to fucking kill them.”

Max was quiet for a few moments as she drummed her fingers on her knees. “Not like that… Like something big and heavy crashed onto me… I think it bit me?”

Chloe’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of a bite, memories of old horror movies dancing in her brain. No Chloe, this is real life, that shit doesn’t happen . “Max, there were no bite marks on you. Trust me, I saw… everything.”

Chloe spared a glance to see Max’s face go all red. Max all flustered is dangerously fucking cute, it’s so not fair. “I-I... uh… Shit. That’s… Not how I wanted to see you again after all these years.”

Chloe felt the old anger and pain bubbling up and her mouth started moving before she could get ahead of it, “Were you going to see me again? If you started here in the fall you’ve been back in the Bay for a month. Didn’t want me around to tarnish your shiny new reputation?”

Max’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she put her feet back on the floor of the car, her body sagging into the seat. “I was going to come see you Chloe. I just…”

Chloe snorted, her teeth grinding together as she did her best to rein in her anger so she didn’t immediately push Max away. She’d never been good at that. “You just what, Caulfield? I’ve been waiting here for you for five years.”

Max shook her head, a look of desperation on her face as she started to stammer a little bit. “I-It’s not like that Chloe, I just… I just wanted to not be such a dork when I saw you again.”

Chloe shook her head. Max was still definitely Max: as clueless as they come. “Did you never think that just maybe I like you because you’re a dork? Last time we... hung out we were playing pirates at 13 and 14. Dorkiness was like our brand or something.”

Max’s mouth opened and closed again like a fish out of water, her face so red it was hard to see the freckles, “I’m sorry Chloe, I should have stayed in touch…”

Chloe sighed, fingers drumming the shifter as they came to a halt in front of the junkyard. This was not going how she’d hoped it would go. Part of her just wanted to tell Max she was forgiven on the spot but she had so much she needed to get off her chest first, and she wasn’t ready to open herself up to Max like that just yet.  “Look… I’m sorry I snapped at you. We’re here, lets just... find your stuff, okay?”

Max slipped out of the truck as Chloe killed the engine, “Welcome to my home away from Hell Max: American Rust.”

Max snorted, nodding like Chloe hanging out in a junkyard made the most sense in the world. She had this odd look in her eye that usually meant she was about to ask Chloe to start posing for her when they were kids. “Very cozy, very you . It’s… all nostalgic and natural. Beat up and rusted, but still… beautiful, in it’s own way. Totally unashamed of itself. I love it.”

Chloe froze for a moment, her composure lost at Max’s use of the word ‘beautiful’. Did she just imply that I’m… beautiful? She felt her cheeks start to burn. Max thankfully didn’t notice as she pulled out her camera and took a picture of the junkyard. She put the polaroid away in her bag before turning to Chloe. “We just need to follow the train tracks. It shouldn’t take too long to find my stuff because I was just going along them.”

Chloe shot Max a quizzical look. Walking along train tracks in the gloom wasn’t exactly in character for her. “Max, what were you doing out on the tracks that late?”

Max looked at the ground and stuffed her hands in her pockets, “I… Uh… Was trying to get a shot of a train in the twilight. It was supposed to come in twenty minutes according to the schedule before…”

Chloe nodded as she walked past her and Rachel’s old cinder block hangout, a knot of heartache and anger formed as memories of the note were conjured by the small structure. “Before you got jumped, yeah. Let’s get going, gotta get you to class.”

Max nodded, a look of worry in her face as she stepped up onto the rail. Shit, I hope I didn’t sound too mad… The Rachel thing still hurts but Max is going through some weird shit. Chloe joined her up on the rails, reaching out like they used to when they were kids. Max took her hand and the pair started walking down the rails. “It’s… so crazy seeing you again Chloe. This wasn’t the reunion I had in mind…”

Chloe laughed as she walked the rail, “What did you have in mind? Some surprise party or something?”

Max shook her head, “Just not… naked in the woods? Whatever is going on is some scary shit Chloe.”

Chloe flashed Max a smile as they kept walking the tracks. “Hey, now you’ve got me to protect you. You be the intrepid photographer and I’ll be your trusty chauffeur and bodyguard.”

Max laughed and flashed Chloe a smile that made her heart ache, “You totally saved my life last night. What if literally anybody else had found me?”

Chloe grinned as the pair stepped down from the tracks, Chloe’s arm easily draped over Max’s shoulder like when they were kids. “Nothing good, but hey, I saved you. Now we’re totally bonded for life.”

Max leaned into Chloe in a way that made Chloe’s heart flutter, “Weren’t we always? I’m… really sorry about not keeping in touch.”

Chloe sighed, “Why would you have wanted to keep in touch with me anyways, I’m such a fucking trainwreck. I would just weigh you down over in Seattle worrying about me and my shit.”

Max shook her head, “That’s not fair, you needed someone to be there for you and I fucked it up.”

Chloe looked up at the sky, a knot forming in her throat, “At least I had Rachel… until she disappeared. She was my angel Max, and now she’s missing.”

Max gave Chloe a gentle squeeze, “I’ve seen her posters all over Blackwell. We’ll find her Chloe. She’s got to be out there somewhere.”

I wish I could believe that Max, I really do. Chloe gave a nod, swallowing the pain for now. “First let’s find your stuff and get you to class. You’re still my partner in crime, but we don’t want David on our ass.”

Max nodded and they kept walking down the tracks, each lost in their own thoughts until Max halted them, a strange look coming over her face. Chloe could have sworn Max’s nose was twitching. “This… I remember this spot. Let’s look around here… Do you think you could call my phone? It’s the same number.”

Chloe grimaced as Max looked around, tempted to take a jab at Max for never even bothering to text her back even though her number had never changed. I just got Max back; I probably shouldn’t be swiping at her if I want to keep her around. She fished her phone out of her pocket and went to Max’s old contact before hitting the dial button. “I hope it’s not dead Max.”

In answer to her, a light ringing sound drifted from deeper in the woods. “Jackpot!” Shouted Max with a whoop before she took off into the woods.

Chloe blinked as Max just took off in the direction of the sound, “Wait! Shit, Max!”

She took off running after her old friend, silently cursing the heels of her boots. Wish I’d worn sneakers like Max. I hope whoever hurt her last night isn’t just fucking waiting for her to come back and collect her things. She managed to just barely keep sight of Max as she sprinted, trying her best not to roll and ankle or trip in the dense brush. Max seemed like she was the wind, barely troubled by the underbrush as she sprinted. Holy fuck when did Max get all athletic on me?!

Before long, Chloe was leaning against a tree, huffing and puffing as Max stood over the shredded remains of her clothes from the night before, her bag and her cellphone. “Holy… Shitballs… Max…” panted Chloe as Max turned to look at her with her big doe eyes, “What… happened?”

Max’s face was one of panic and terror as she looked at her shredded clothing, “I… I don’t know Chloe. I don’t remember ANY of this! How could I not remember something like this?!”

Chloe walked up, wrapping Max in a big hug like she’d craved when she was all alone, “I don’t know Max, but we’ll figure this out and make the bastard who did this to you pay .”

Chloe felt Max bury her face into her chest, and her shirt started to grow damp, “What… What happened to me Chloe? Did someone…”

Chloe gave Max a squeeze, her voice shaky even to her as she struggled to keep from imagining what might have happened “I don’t know Max, but nobody is going to fucking touch you ever again.”

The pair stayed in each other's arms for many long minutes, Chloe’s eyes lost somewhere in the distance as the trees swayed and the wind picked up. After a while Max pulled away, arm wiping her face as she collected her things. “Let's… get out of here Chloe. I need to get back to Blackwell.”

Chloe nodded and wrapped her arm around Max’s shoulder. She could feel the poor girl shaking a bit as she led Max back towards the junkyard. “You just sit tight in classes for today. I’ll come back and look for clues. I am going to find who did this.”

Max leans into Chloe, head resting on her shoulder as they walk. “I-I’ll… do my best to keep my cool. I just don’t understand what happened and… I’m kind of scared to find out.”

Chloe kept Max close to her as they walked, wanting to just hold her old friend and shut out the whole world for a while so they don’t have to. “I’ll keep you safe Max, I promise. One hint something is off and you just call me and I’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

It was more bravado than she really felt, but Max probably needed to hear that someone was really on her side here. And it sure as hell was going to be Chloe, she wasn’t about to let anyone else do it anyways, she wouldn’t trust them to do a good enough job. “Thanks Chloe, it really means a lot. It’s weird, we’ve been apart so long and it just feels like I can trust you with anything.”

Chloe tried to look less surprised than she felt at the declaration, and totally failed. “T-thanks Max. I’m still totally your faithful companion.”

Max gave a soft laugh, it was a delicate fragile thing, but it was still a laugh and Chloe was going to take every win she could right now. “I’m going to sound like a broken record from all this thanking you Chloe, but I mean all of it. It’s so amazing being around you again. And… I’m really glad it’s you who has my back.”

Chloe fought down the stab of anger that Max could have had this WAY earlier if she’d wanted to, only to wonder a bit at the meaning of the last sentence.  “It’s pretty great seeing you too Caulfield. No shit I’m going to have my First Mate’s back! What kind of captain would I be if I didn’t? Now come on, let’s get you back to Blackhell before Stepdick comes hunting for us or something.”

Chapter Text

Chloe sat on a stump watching a freight train roll by, sucking the last embers out of her cigarette in a long, slow drag. She stubbed the butt out on the remaining bark of the stump before flicking it into the moving train. First Rachel’s letter, now a naked, traumatized Max. The fuck is going on in Arcadia Bay, nothing happens for ages and suddenly now this? She eyed the train, quietly wishing she should just grab Max and ride it to the last stop; where ever that might be. It had only been a couple of hours since she’d dropped Max off at the campus, but this train had put a halt to anything she might have done to actually investigate. Another look down the rails showed her what she had been hoping for, the caboose was in sight. She got back to her feet and walked down to meet it, stretching out with a yawn as she walked. I’m an idiot, I should have brought some water or something, I could be at this all day. Gotta figure this shit out and maybe prove I’m not so fucking worthless after all, right David?

She hopped to the other side of the newly empty tracks, turning to walk back up to where they had picked up the trail last night. Chloe hadn’t had a real chance to look around the spot. She crouched down in the area Max had spoken about earlier, looking around for anything of interest. Chloe wasn’t some expert tracker, but she could tell that some things were off. Patches of tall grass were all trampled and flattened in a broad area. She circled it; brow furrowed as she tried to imagine Max struggling in the patch. The grass didn’t look like it had been moved in that way though, the blades were all flattened in one direction in a vaguely Max sized area, with a few wider spaces around. I wish I’d done more outdoorsy stuff like this, it’s hard to make heads or tails of what happened. From what she told me; Max doesn’t remember a struggle. Was she drugged or something? That would explain the memory gap.

As she circled, she noticed a dried patch of mud with a large print in it. Eyes wide, she approached. It was the size of an old bear paw, her dad had once shown her when she was a kid, except it looked nothing like it in regards to shape. She silently mouthed a ‘what the fuck’ to herself before noticing that the angle of the print was directed towards the flattened spot. She looked further along the same path and saw the smashed remains of Max’s camera scattered next to the rails. It must have gone flying. Was she tackled by whatever made that huge fucking paw mark? This doesn’t make any sense, why would Max’s clothes be all shredded like that? Maybe something attacked Max, knocked her out and then someone took advantage of that? Unsatisfied with her findings, she kicked a rock across the tracks before starting towards the remains of Max’s clothes.

Chloe                                                                                                                        1:34 pm 10/07

    found your camera all smashed up where you got jumped

    weird tracks in the mud

    don’t look human

Max                                                                                                                           1:34 pm 10/07

    Thanks for finding it Chloe, any signs of a picture nearby? I took one right before whatever happened.

Chloe                                                                                                                        1:44 pm 10/07

    looked around more

    no dice

Max                                                                                                                           1:44 pm 10/07

    Crap >.< That could have told us a lot. I’ll come meet you after my classes today and we’ll do some more searching. I’ll ask Warren about weird wildlife stuff, he probably knows.

Chloe                                                                                                                        1:45 pm 10/07

    let me know when you’re done

    then meet @ 2whales

ALSO NO EMOJI

Chloe walked through the underbrush where the pair had crashed through hours earlier. Who is this ‘Warren’? He’d better not be some guy trying to move in on Max… Whoa, when did I get possessive? Like I was always protective but… God I still have a crush on her after all these years, don’t I. She snorted as she walked back onto the scene. I just wish we’d reconnected in a better way. Max naked in a forest was a fantasy, yeah, but not like… that. She shook her head to clear it as she looked at the scattered fabrics. It looks like they fucking exploded. She crouched down next to the scraps of Max’s jeans. It looked like they had burst out along the seams, the fabric curling away in an outward direction. 

Her mind flashed back to old shitty monster movies she watched with her dad and Max as kids, but she pushed back on the memories. This isn’t a dumb B movie with some idiot in a rubber suit. This is real life, get that garbage out of your head. She backtracked a bit, finding a torn and shredded shoe, holding it up in the crisp fall air. What the fuck could make clothes explode like that? If someone tore them off Max, how was she not injured? Why are her shoes all the fucking way back there? This makes no sense unless we’re using monster porn movie logic here. Shit, I can imagine how furious Max would be. ‘Hey, Mad Max, you’re actually a fucking movie monster!’ As if. 

She sighed again as she circled the scene, hunting for some magical clue that would tell her of a culprit. If someone did this, why just leave all the evidence laying around? What if it was some kind of animal? But that still doesn’t explain the lack of injuries… Unless it just wanted to play with the scraps of her clothes? But that still makes NO fucking sense. If this was a person, why wouldn’t he just remove her clothes normally...unless this is some… NO. Do not think like that. I don’t even want to start going down that road. She looked at the splay of destroyed clothes around her before having to sit, find a rock to slump down to, head in hands, “Max… What happened to you?”

A few hours and a couple cigarettes later, Chloe sat in her customary booth at the Two Whales staring into the cup of coffee. She peered in front of her like the swirl of cream spreading through it might tell her some hidden secret she overlooked. In her imagination, she swore she could hear some weird ass whistling, guitar strumming and… a kazoo? She shook her head, trying to clear out the thoughts of some old weird ass game Rachel made her play years and years ago after several too many drinks. Joyce leaned against the booth. “So, what actually happened with you and Max last night? And don’t give me any of that partying bull. She was wearing Rachel’s old clothes, something is up.”

Chloe sighed and looked around to make sure nobody was trying to eavesdrop, “Okay mom, but you can’t tell anyone , not even David.”

Joyce’s eyebrows perked upward but she slipped, casually, into the booth, “Okay Chloe, we’ll keep this a secret. But this had better be good.”

Chloe’s lips thinned to a line as she tried to figure out how to explain. I should probably leave the Rachel revelations out of it… “I… found her naked in the woods. She passed out right after seeing me so I got her home, snuck in through a window to grab some clothes, and put them on her to keep Max decent. We found her stuff earlier today, mom, and it’s like… it’s hella crazy. Her camera was all smashed up near the train tracks and there was a whole bunch of other weird shit. Plus, her phone, wallet and bag were all completely okay. And she doesn’t remember any of it, just walking by the train tracks looking for a good shot and then...nothing.”

Joyce’s eyes went wide and she let out a low whistle. “That… I want to say that sounds like an old horror movie...but I know when you’re lyin' Chloe, and you ain’t lyin'. You should take Max to the police, get some real help with this.”

Chloe sighed and shook their head, “And they’ll do what? We don’t even know what happened! Plus, it’s not like the Arcadia Pigs will do anything about it, they gave up almost immediately after Rachel went missing. Max is going to be by here later, so please don’t let on about what I’ve told you, okay? She’d kill me if she found out that I told you anything.”

Joyce nodded and got up to head over to continue waiting tables. The concern for Chloe in her eyes shone like a neon sign. Chloe felt a bitter laugh brewing about Joyce not giving a shit for so long, especially not about how David had treated her, only to show care now. “You two be careful, okay?”

Chloe nodded, hand slipping to the stolen gun in her pocket. The unspoken ‘I don’t need you missing too’ was not lost on her in Joyce’s tone. Despite everything, she couldn’t do that to her mom. Leaving her alone with David would probably be a fate worse than hell. “Don’t worry Mom, we will be.”

Joyce nodded and, as if on cue, Max walked through the door of the diner with a tote bag in one hand and comfortably wearing her own clothes again. “Hey Chloe! I brought you back Rachel’s clothes.”

Chloe smiled up at Max, a warmth spreading through her chest at the mere sight of her. “Hey hippie! Thanks, I’ll put them back in the closet when I get home tonight. How did classes go?”

Max flopped down in the booth, a tired look in her eyes like she was experiencing the worst hangover. “Rough, I keep getting weird smells and hearing things. It’s super distracting.”

Chloe’s eyes narrowed as she leaned over the table. Her monster movie sense tingled again; much to her annoyance. Joyce was right, it did totally rot my brain.  “What do you mean, you’re smelling and hearing weird things?”

Max gave a half shrug, the look on her face told Chloe she wasn’t going to get anymore out of her. “I don’t know how to explain it, just things I never noticed before. Like chairs squeaking and stuff. It’s really intense and I can’t focus at all.”

Chloe relaxed back in her seat, eyes narrowed. “That’s… hella fucking weird Caulfield. When did this start?”

Max shrugged, “This morning. It’s been a really weird day, the only thing that’s felt remotely normal is seeing you again.”

Chloe nodded as she drummed her fingers on the tabletop, biting back yet another bile soaked comment about Max leaving her for years. “Yeah, talking about weird, I took a closer look at your clothing and it looks like it just kinda...exploded.”

Max’s brow furrowed, “Exploded…?”

Chloe nodded. Explaining this was going to be difficult and, worse yet, she had no answers. “It looks like it ripped out from the inside Max. I don’t know anyone with the strength to just… rip open denim like that. And then there’s the weird ass pawprints in the mud near where it happened. Maybe something attacked you and just ripped your clothes off? But that doesn’t make any sense.”

Max looked like she might say something when Joyce walked up the table. “More coffee for the party girls? Can I get you something to eat Max?”

Max nodded, “Please, I’d love a burger with… two patties?”

Chloe’s eyes went a little wide but Joyce laughed. “I don’t know how you can stay so skinny while eating so much Max, but sure. Besides, Chloe here has put her whole damn college fund on her tab.”

Chloe gave an angry grumble before throwing Max an expectant look. Max missed it. Instead she stared at the table with a haunted look on her face, Max’s mood shifting drastically. “Uh, everything… okay Max?”

Max’s face twisted in confusion and she shook her head, “I had a memory come back. It’s all a blur... a lot of running and confusion. Weird sounds and smells... Are we going to look into this tonight?”

Chloe shook her head, the desire to keep Max safe in the forefront of her mind. Despite everything, she felt this urge to prove to Max that she was worthy of coming back to, worth keeping if she ever left again. “ I’m going to look into this. You are going to just stay in your dorm tonight, okay?”

Max frowned, a worry in her voice. “Chloe…”

Chloe gave Max a look she hoped would convey ‘yo I got this’, “Max, I can take care of myself and… I don’t want anything happening to you again.”

Chloe could not decipher the expression Max gave in return. “Okay… Just text me frequently, okay?”

Chloe snorted and nodded, “Yeah, I can do that. We’ll go hang out at the junkyard later and I’ll explain the plan.”

“Chloe, where did you get a gun?!” Max’s eyes were wide with shock and horror.

Chloe laughed, relishing the feeling of power holding a revolver gave her. The fact that she had stolen it made the sensation all the sweeter. “Chillax Max, I stole it from Step Douche. I figured if there really is some fucking creep out there, I might as well be prepared.”

Max just shook her head with the classic ‘Chloe please no’ look on her face. “Just don’t shoot yourself in the foot, okay?”

Chloe shook her head, pulling a heavy flashlight out of the bed of her truck, “I won’t shoot myself, trust me. The plan is for us to act as bait for the creep or… whatever it is. Then I can get a good look and maybe subdue them. Shooting is a last resort, Max. I just want to know what the hell is going on.”

Max’s lip trembled but she relented. “Are you sure I can’t help? I can watch your back…”

Chloe shook her head, “Max, no. You’ve already gotten hurt once, I don’t want it to happen again… Plus I can handle myself. I was doing some target practice earlier. Slaughtered the dreaded beer bottles of Arcadia Bay.”

Max chuckled softly. “At least you didn’t ask me to wander around this rust bucket for you to find them. So… what do you want to do now?”

Chloe froze for a moment; I want you to kiss me. She shrugged, trying to look calmer than she felt, and tucked the gun back in her pocket. “We can just chill, let loose. I remember you being so chicken shit, now hang out and have some fun Caulfield!”

Max laughed and tapped her fingers together, “Let loose? What are we going to do, blow up dolls in your bedroom again?”

Chloe returned the laugh, losing herself and the years of pain in the simple joy of having Max back in front of her. “Well, we have actual firepower now, so maybe Captain Bluebeard and First Mate Long Max Silver should sail the stormy seas again!”

Max nearly doubled over laughing, the happiness plain on her face making Chloe’s heart sing like it hadn’t for years, “Oh my god Chloe, you are such a child… Why not? Let's do it.”

Chloe jumped and pumped her fist. The whole thing felt good, she felt like she belonged again. “MAX AND CHLOE ARE BACK, BITCHES!”

Chloe rested in the remains of their pirate tree fort. The pair had spent an hour successfully cleaning out all the discarded condoms and needles from their newly reclaimed hideaway. It had sucked seeing their old hangout desecrated, but Chloe didn’t care. She had Max back, and she was determined to make up for lost time. A ghost of a smile still rested on her lips as she tried her best to keep her mind from slipping back to the troubles they faced. She failed and pulled out a cigarette, “Fucking Rachel, and then something happens to Max… I wonder if the same shit happened to Rachel just… No. Rachel has got to be out there somewhere. I just… need to find the clues and figure out who the fuck she was talking about.”

Click. She took a drag from the freshly lit cigarette, holding it in before trying to blow a smoke ring. It came out ragged and in more of an oval but hey, it was improving. She watched the sunset, letting her eyes unfocus as she went over the plan again in her mind. Go to where Max was attacked, and then follow a grid around the forest, see if she can find anything. It’s a page out of step douche’s playbook, but that was a fact Chloe would have to stomach. “I need answers.” Tomorrow I need to start asking around about Rachel’s note. Maybe Nathan or Frank, she tended to talk about them more. Last time I talked to them Frank was clueless and Nathan was losing his mind about me even talking to them… Maybe Frank is the safer bet with that note. Another drag as Chloe watched the sun slide down towards the horizon. I should have fucking kept Max with me. Knowing her, she’s probably going to sneak out and try to find me, or worse she won’t and I’m going to get ambushed and she could have helped. Way to go Price, you just got a reason to live again and you’ve recklessly risked your life. Smart.

She pulled the gun out of her pocket, practicing how to open the revolver and check her ammo. It was all where it should be. Chloe flicked her wrist to set the cylinder back into place. It bounced back out, nearly spilling her bullets, so she pushed it all the way close with her palm. Okay, need to practice before I start pulling stupid movie stunts.

Chapter Text

Chloe walked the woods, the brightness of the full moon letting her keep her flashlight switched off. Despite everything that had happened, she felt safe in these woods; she’d spent her whole life running around them. The sounds felt as familiar as the chatter of old friends, down to the hooting of owls, the soft rustle of rodents in the underbrush, and soft creaking of trees with the gentle night wind. Whenever she had been lonely, lost in her grief or simply bored, the woods had always been a second home. I am such a fucking hippy, Max’ll never let me hear the end of it if she finds out. Part of her was glad that the woods were a silent witness to her pain growing up, better than any idiot school counsellor or half-assed therapist they couldn’t afford. It was almost like the forest knew her, had seen her at both her most vulnerable and most happy. If I was into that spiritual bullshit Samuel is always rambling about, I’d probably agree that I’m connected to this forest.

And then there was the fact that Max was back. Chloe was still elated to have her best friend return, but the old pain lingered and sometimes tormented those happy thoughts with visions of Max ditching her for an out of state college. The thought made Chloe’s hands ball into fists. Max isn’t going to leave me again, not like that. I’ll totally move to wherever she starts going to college and… She sighed, tempted to pull out her phone and just confess all her feelings to the little photographer, like she’d nearly done a few times just today. I shouldn’t… She’s been through so much; she doesn’t need some fucking pothead loser like me weighing her down.  

Her phone started buzzing, cutting off her train of thought. Chloe groaned and fished it out of her pocket. Stepass was calling. So much for a peaceful night. “David?”

“CHLOE! WHERE IS MAX?!”

She winced as she held the phone out and away from her ear. She took a breath before responding, “In her dorm? She last texted me she was going to get some sleep.”

“She missed curfew. Last chance Chloe, just tell me where she is and this can all blow over.”

Her brow furrowed. What the shit Max, you told me you were getting some fucking sleep. You’d better not be out doing something stupid, like trying to find me. “I don’t fucking know David! she’s not with me, I’d fucking tell you if she was. Maybe she’s out taking photographs at night like a dumbass again, or maybe she’s in the boy’s dorms?” Even the suggestion that Max might be straight and hanging out with a boy after lying to her brought bile to her throat.

“Chloe, we swept campus and checked every dorm room, she’s not here. Skip says he found a strip of fabric that matches her clothing out in the woods off campus.”

Chloe’s gut turned to ice, skin crawling, “Shit, fuck. I’m coming to help look.”

David’s voice turned low and angry in a way that made her cheek burn from memory. “And Chloe... One of my guns is missing.”

Fuck. “Fuck off asshole, you do know that I believe in gun control, right?”

She killed the call and turned to run back to her truck, panic twisting her gut. Had something happened to Max again, and in her dorm room no less? Her run was cut short as she froze, feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. There was something in the woods. Her eyes went wide and she fumbled for the flashlight. The beam of light split the night and she saw it . 

Her mind raced and she instinctively raised the gun, wondering faintly if it would even do anything. The creature before her was bigger than the largest bear she’d ever imagined. It looked like an oversized, over muscled wolf, yet somehow mishappen in shape. Her body was immediately torn between trying to run and trying to raise the gun to fire as sheer terror flooded her senses. She took a stumbling step back, nearly falling in the attempt when her back hit a tree trunk. She tried to raise the gun again but her hand was shaking too hard. The revolver sounded like a rattlesnake. In desperation she looked at the creature, expecting it to be flying towards her, all fury and fangs...but it wasn’t, it just stood there. Watching her. 

Its fur was an oddly familiar shade of brown but what struck her were the eyes. They were blue and filled with intelligence, glinting as it shifted its weight. She tried to steady herself as the creature sat back on its haunches. Its posture wasn’t aggressive, but there was the air of violence to its form that was unmistakable.

If this creature wanted it, Chloe would be dead.

Chloe cocked her head to one side as she studied the beast, trying to get past her fear. It took a step towards her and she jerked the gun towards it, trying desperately to aim. In response the creature shrank back and made a soft whining sound. Chloe’s eyes narrowed at the gesture, trying to parse its meaning. “You… don’t like the gun?”

The creature made a nodding motion and Chloe’s eyes went wide. The gun started rattling again. None of this made any fucking sense. “You can understand me? What the fuck?!”

There was another nodding motion and Chloe struggled to take a few deep breaths before lowering the gun. She focused in on the eyes. It looks so sad. She swallowed hard. “What… are you?”

The creature huffed and made a tentative step forward towards her. It took all her effort not to bring the gun back up, but she managed to stand still with her back up against the tree. The fear and adrenaline started to bleed away, slowly replaced by a pressing curiosity. Since she was still alive and breathing, maybe this creature wanted something else? Chloe took a step towards it, seeing it lower its head in watch. She saw what she thought was hope in its eyes, which just filled her with even more questions. Whatever the fuck this is, it doesn’t want to hurt me, so what the fuck does it want? Hmmmm… Maybe? She put the flashlight down in the dirt and slowly put out a hand towards the creature, the other tightly gripping the gun ‘just in case.’ Was it just playing with her? Chloe’s entire body tensed as she continued to move closer, her face contorted in a grimace as her instincts screamed out. This is a fucking stupid idea. She wasn’t wrong, but something inside told her she had to try this. She watched closely as the creature extended towards her hand; half expecting a bite to come and for pain to overwhelm her. Instead she felt soft fur on her palm. This creature was nuzzling her hand.

She let out a small, relieved laugh and started to rub her hand against the creature’s muzzle. It’s tail began to wag and her laugh pitched higher. So, it has a tail. A smile started to spread across her face as she rubbed over the creature’s head and scratched behind their ears. Her reward was a foot thumping and she laughed again, stronger this time, and much to the delight of the creature. “Someone likes getting rubs, huh?”

A whine and the creature moved a little closer to press its weight into Chloe, nearly knocking her over. “Whoa! Down there… girl?”

The creature nodded and nuzzled into Chloe’s stomach just before looking up at her with those odd, blue eyes again. “Hahaha, okay, good girl! I… guess I’m friends with a giant bear wolf thing now. You need a name… No… Hrmmmm… Well I already have Max as first mate, so you can be second mate. But second mate what?”

She could have sworn the creature made a laughing sound as it kept nuzzling her, wrapping it’s shaggy bulk around her. “Whoa there girl! Someone’s affectionate… Yeah, yeah, I’m rubbing you with both hands! Chill! God I am going to be covered in fur... Name… Name… I KNOW! Second Mate Linkous! Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s weird. It’s the lead’s name of a band I love, he’s dead and was awesome so I’ll name you in his honour.”

She got a big lick in the face and sputtered, wiping her face with her sleeve. “Oh gross! Linkous, that’s no way to treat your captain!”

Linkous backed up, whining in her throat in a way that made Chloe’s chest tighten, “No, no, it’s okay. Just… don’t lick my face like that okay?”

She got a nod as she moved to pick up her flashlight again, the creature following like a shadow. “Look, I’d love to sit here and play with you all night but my friend Max is missing and I really, really need to go find her. I can’t lose her again, okay? I just...can’t.”

She got another whine and the look in Linkous’ eyes made Chloe’s guts twist with sympathy. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. We can look together; I just need to put my stuff back in the truck. You can ride with me, in the back? We just gotta make sure nobody sees you.”

Linkous took a few steps to the side so Chloe could go. She could not help but smile as she walked past and ruffled their head fur, “Just wait until I show you to Max, she is going to freak . I’m sure you’ll like her, she’s amazing. We totally grew up together and she’s back and it’s just been so great seeing and hearing her again. She’s so hella fucking cute and I…”

The words choked in her throat as she turned and got a sense of emotion from Linkous’ face she couldn’t describe. There was pain there, maybe even longing. Chloe felt the sudden urge to hug the massive beast and tell her everything was going to be okay. “… I think I love her? I had a crush on her for ages but her parents moved away and there’s no way some fucking drop out loser like me deserves to be in the same zip code with someone half as talented as her. Anyways, that’s just baggage, I have to go find her. If anything happened to her I’d…”

She shook her head to clear the dark thoughts away before she started trotting back towards her truck, “Come on, we should probably find her before Stepdick does so he doesn’t lecture her to death and send her back to Seattle in a body bag.”

She barely heard Linkous as she padded along behind her. Okay, just a liiiittle creepy. But hey, she seems to just want affection… I wonder if Joyce will let me bring her into the house? Probably not, and David would just want to shoot her. Maybe I can get her to hang around the junkyard and stuff? Fuck I dunno. She stepped through the brush back into the edge of the junkyard, “Welcome to home away from hell, Linkous! It’s not much, but this is my normal hangout spot.”

Linkous lowered her head and sniffed around a bit as Chloe stored the flashlight and gun in the cab of her truck. “Alright Linkous! Hop in the – WHOA!”

Chloe found herself on the beast’s back as she surged under Chloe’s legs. She looked down as she stared in confusion. “You, er… want me to ride on you?”

Her answer was a snort before Linkous bolted out into the forest. Chloe desperately grabbed some tufts of fur as she did her best to find purchase on the beast’s broad back. She mashed her face between it’s shoulders to shield herself from the branches whipping past as the creature moved at a startling pace. I… know this smell. Why do I know this smell? Her thoughts couldn’t go much past snippets as she focused mostly on keeping her hold. Oh god don’t fall off! That would be the dumbest death, Chloe.

Linkous ran on and on, Chloe quickly losing track of time and distance as the forest blurred past them. Suddenly, the big beast skidded to a halt and sat down for her to get off. Chloe slid down to the ground, nearly falling over while her body shook from the adrenaline rush. “Okay… That… Happened.”

Linkous gave her what she could only assume was a smug look before she just bounded off into the brush and out of sight.  Chloe cried out “HEY WAIT!” 

Only the sounds of the forest answered. The creature was gone. “Fuck. I guess I’m on my own…”

She looked around the dark forest, trying to find some landmarks. Judging by the direction and the lay of the land Chloe figured she wasn’t too far from Blackwell. Guess I’m going to go find Max then, thanks for the lift. She started off into the bush vaguely in the direction Linkous had charged off in. Should probably text Max, in case she has her phone on her. She sent a few texts as she walked. No answer as the minutes ticked past. Fuck. I’ll give it a bit then call her?

As she pondered her options, she heard some voices shouting for Max in the distance. Must be the Blackwell Gestapo. She pulled out her phone and quickly checked to see if Max had texted her back. No dice, time to call. As she hit the dial button, the moon went behind a cloud bank. Chloe took a moment for her eyes to adjust as she listened to the phone dial. The faint sound of a ringtone in the distance ahead, drifting through the forest, and Chloe took off in a run to get to it before it played out. If she’s naked again or something, it’d better be me who finds her first.

Chloe barged through a thicket and into a clearing. There sat Max in the grass, staring at her ringing phone like it was an object from outer space. Chloe’s jaw worked to say anything as she looked over Max, who was mostly, thankfully, dressed this time in a loose-fitting t-shirt and some plaid pajama pants. They looked absolutely shredded. Finally Chloe found her voice. “Max?! Max are you okay?”

Max looked up at her with an almost serene smile, like this was just the most natural thing in the world and she was just happy to happen upon her. “Oh, hey Chloe!”

Chloe took a deep breath to keep from just losing her shit on Max. She was making Chloe worry, lying about going to sleep, and fucking wandering around in the fucking forest for absolutely no fucking reason. “Max… What are you doing out here, and what happened to your clothes?”

Max paused for a moment in a way that Chloe remembered from before, it meant Max was about to not tell her the entire truth. Everybody lies. No exceptions. Not even Max I guess. “Uh, er… I think I had a nightmare? I don’t really remember all too much; I just woke up here with my phone ringing.”

Chloe sighed, giving Max a frown to show that she didn’t buy it. “You sleep-ran like a fucking mile out into the woods behind Blackwell? Barefoot?”

Max half shrugged and looked down at the ground. “I don’t know Chloe, I really don’t know.”

Chloe shook her head in disbelief, what was with this girl? “It’s a fucking shame Linkous just took off on me, you would have really liked her.”

Max’s head jerked up, her face scrunched into what Chloe liked to call the ‘Max is thinking really hard right now’ face, “Who?”

Chloe chuckled as she pointed to the fur covering her, “I… Made a new friend, some kind of giant wolf type thing, bigger than a fucking bear. Hella smart and super affectionate, she helped me come find you but took off on me before I could find you. I needed a name, so now she’s Second Mate Linkous!”

Max hid a giggle behind her hand, “You’re such a dork Chloe, you’ve clearly been watching too many movies. I like that I’m still your First Mate though.”

Chloe scoffed at Max’s implication that Linkous wasn’t real before digging her phone out, she didn’t want to make this call but she had to. “She’s real! I’m not making this up Max, we gotta find a way to get you two to meet. And of course, you’re still First Mate! You’re Max fucking Caulfield! Anyways, I should probably let Sir Douchealot know that you’re safe, he’s got the whole damn Blackwell army out looking for you…” the line clicked as the call connected. “Hey David, WHOA, you don’t have to shout! I found her. We’re in a clearing....Yeah, we’ll sit tight until you find us. Um… You’re welcome?”

Chapter Text

Chloe lay in the bed of her truck, feet aching from walking all the way back out to the junkyard. She was not about to stoop to asking David for a lift. That would just be humiliating, not to mention he would have way too many awkward questions. It was too bad the roads were too rough for her skateboard or it wouldn’t have been a problem. As her mind churned through the past night she watched the wisps of clouds lazily drift overhead. What the fuck is going on with you Max? She checked her phone for a text, nothing.

Chloe                                                                                                                     9:11 am 10/08

    you alive?

Max                                                                                                                        9:15 am 10/08

    Just got out of Principle Well’s office, he was furious. He threatened to suspend me if it happens again. David also did a lot of yelling. School    nurse kept mentioning something about a fugue state.

Chloe                                                                                                                       9:16 am 10/08

    damn

    fuck blackhell, they don’t deserve you

    when is your first class?

Max                                                                                                                          9:16 am 10/08

    Nothing until 11, English AP is cancelled. Teacher’s sick.

    Why?

Chloe                                                                                                                       9:17 am 10/08

    figured you need to chill w/ your best friend

    I’ll pick you up

Max                                                                                                                          9:17 am 10/08

    That sounds great, I’ll meet you at the parking lot ^^

Chloe                                                                                                                       9:18 am 10/08

    be there in 10

    NO EMOJI

With a grunt Chloe pulled herself up from the truck bed and jumped out the side, shouting. “Fuck yeah, more hanging with Max!”

She jumped into the seat of her truck, jammed the keys in and gunned the engine, peeling out of the junkyard with a spray of mud spewing up behind her. She had a hard time not bouncing in her seat, even if things were crazy weird right now it was good to get more time with Max. Did she ever grow up, damn. And just the perfect kind of short too, still got those cute freckles and that way of looking at you like you’re everything in the whole world. She let out a contemplative sigh. If Rachel was here, she would be teasing me relentlessly for being so smitten. Or maybe she’d be jealous as fuck? I could never get a read on how into me she actually was. “I wish you were here, Rachel.” 

She pulled her rust bucket into the parking lot, where she watched Max approaching a boy roughly their age. Who’s this? Better not be some fucking boyfriend. She watched him go for a hug and Chloe felt her knuckles tightening around the steering wheel. She watched Max, a moment later, just turn and pull something out of her pocket and hand it to him, totally leaving the guy hanging. The grip loosened. Haha, nice one Max! Guy totally is barking up the wrong fucking tree if he thinks he gets a piece of that hot Caulfield action. She frowned again as Max sat on the hood of his car and started chatting with him. Chloe started wondering why she had decided to watch instead of just rock on up when Nathan came charging out from behind a parked car, yelling. Max shrank back onto the hood of the car. Okay, time for a patented Chloe Price rescue. She gunned her engine as she watched the guy put himself between Max and Nathan, and Chloe responded by honking her horn as she peeled up and threw open the door, shouting “HOP IN MAX!”

Max practically dove into her truck to escape Nathan, who started shouting “GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING DYKES!” only to be cut off by Max slamming the door shut. Chloe mashed her food against the accelerator. She could not help but let out a cackle as she yelled “SUCK IT BLACKWELL!” while leaving a skidmark as her old clunker peeled out of the parking lot and on to the street.

As they drove Chloe kept stealing glances over at the half-panicked hipster, Max’s face haloed in the mid morning sun spilling through the windshield. She wished she wasn’t driving so she could just get lost in those freckles like she used to as a kid. Get it together Price, you aren’t some little fourteen-year-old with her crush anymore. Just play it cool. “So, what the fuck did Nathan want?”

Max just shook her head as she slumped into the seat of the truck, “Fuck I don’t know, he was yelling something about Jefferson…”

“That’s… weird. I mean, he’s always been fucking weird, but that’s new.”

Max got really busy looking at her hands, “I dunno Chloe. All the freaky stuff that’s been happening has me on edge. Everyone at school has been super weird to me lately.”

“Max, you could probably stay the night at my place if you wanted? Stepass can suck it.”

Max shook her head and Chloe’s heart sank at the missed opportunity to revive their old sleepover tradition.  “No… I’ll stay in my dorm and be okay Chloe, I promise. We’ll figure out what’s going on in Arcadia Bay without me breaking curfew.”

Chloe drummed her fingers on the steering wheel to mitigate her annoyance, “Well it’ll be hard for you to meet Linkous trapped in your dorm…”

Max froze up for a moment before shrugging. “Maybe another time? I really need to toe the line right now Chloe, I don’t want to risk my scholarship…”

Chloe snorted. “Oh, come on Caulfield! Like Blackwell is going to let their star photography study slip away from them. I got up to a lot worse at Blackhell, you’ll be just fine.”

Max nodded then shot Chloe a puzzled look, “Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the Two Whales or the junkyard.”

Chloe shrugged and shot Max a wink. “I need to pick up a collar and a leash.”

Max spluttered, her face turning bright red at the suggestion. Chloe couldn’t help but bust out in a cackle. “W-what!?”

Chloe’s laughter settled into a snicker, savouring how flustered Max was. “It’s for Linkous, you dork. If I’m going to have a massive dog bear thing then I should probably at least have some control over her.”

Max for her part stayed beat red and suddenly became fixated with the space between her feet. “And what if she… doesn’t want that?”

Chloe blinked at the question, momentarily caught off guard by the question. “Well I’m not going to force it on her Max, just like… offer it? I dunno, I just thought this was what people do when they get a … dog thing. Maybe I should ask Frank?”

Max gave Chloe a quizzical look as she kept fidgeting in her seat. “Frank?”

Chloe sighed and fought the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. “He’s my dealer. He’s got a dog he loves the shit out of. Maybe he’ll be able to tell me some basic shit.”

Chloe shuddered as she imagined what Linkous could probably do to a human, but oddly felt no threat from her directly. “Wellll fuck it, I guess the leash is off the list for now, wanna go chill at the lighthouse like old times?”

Max gave a smile that lit up her world. “I would love to, let’s go.”

The next hour spent together vanished in the blink of an eye as the two hung out at the lighthouse, only Max’s alarm alerting them that the time had slipped away. Max tucked her new wad of polaroids of Chloe and the sea into her journal as the pair ran down the trail laughing together and most of the way back to Blackwell. When Chloe went to drop off Max, she was startled to see principal Wells standing by the entrance to greet them. He gave Max a friendly nod as she scampered past him to hurry off to class. Chloe leaned over to close the door, but Wells held it open. “Chloe, a moment?”

Chloe was caught in between her usual desire to just flip him off and bolt, and to hear him out since this was probably Max-related. She went for the path of least resistance. What was he going to do, expel her again? “Sure, fuck it.”

Wells nodded, at this point he wasn’t going to be phased by her language. “I know you didn’t part with Blackwell on the… best of terms. But we’d all like to extend a heartfelt thank you for helping with the Max situation.”

Chloe could see where this was going and she didn’t like it. If he brings up Rachel I’m fucking flooring it, not my problem if he gets hurt. “And it’s also nice to see you looking... happy again Chloe. I mean it. One of the big regrets among the Blackwell staff is that we couldn’t help you when you clearly needed it. If I’m being honest I fought like hell to try and scrape the budget together to get you proper grief counseling, but we’re so dependent on the Prescotts and they barred that from happening. I’m sorry.”

Chloe stared at him, her mouth was hanging open. The idea of Wells giving a damn was utterly foreign to her, let alone that he had actually given enough of a shit to go up to bat with the Prescotts. Suddenly she felt like the biggest ass in the whole world for taking out so much of her rage and despair on the poor Blackwell staff. Had they tried to gently encourage her, only for her to explode like a hand grenade with each attempt? She did her best to keep from sounding all choked up. “I’m… sorry for being such an ass?”

Wells gave her a small smile as he retreated from the car door. “It’s okay Chloe, I don’t expect you to apologize. How about you help keep Max from… wandering off after curfew again? It would be a big help to not have to worry about such a promising student.”

Chloe nodded back, starting to feel numb at how surreal the whole moment was. “I… Er, yeah, okay. Sure.”

Wells walked away with just another one of his trademark nods and Chloe was left alone with her pile of jumbled feelings. In a daze, she drove out of the parking lot to head home, mostly on auto pilot as she tried to parse Well’s words. The concept that the authority figures from her past five years had actually given even a shred of an actual shit about her felt alien. She kept failing to wrap her mind around it. “Fuck this, I need a toke.”

Chapter Text

Chloe stared up at her ceiling, holding her ashtray on her chest as she missed her finished joint. At least my anxiety has settled down. Fuuuuuck I’m hella tired… I’ll just... have a nap… She fished out her phone and shot Max a quick text message telling her she was going to have a quick lay down and to shoot her a text when she was finished classes. Then the dreamless sleep claimed her.

When Chloe’s eyes opened, her room was pitch black. “Shit.”

She rolled over, digging out her phone from under the covers. The screen was a roll of missed texts from Max; starting off teasing her over sleeping too much to slowly descending into asking if Chloe hated her. Then a shitload of phone calls from her that abruptly stopped a half hour ago. She checked the time, 11:34 pm. “Fucccck. Tomorrow is going to suuuuuuck.”

She fired off a quick apology text to Max before getting up to turn on the light. Now able to see she spun around and almost put her head through the ceiling. In the window of her bedroom was Linkous, watching her with a curious expression. She stood, holding her chest and panting. Good thing I didn’t scream, David would probably just start shooting. She carefully made her way to the window before opening it. “Hey girl, what are you doing all the way out here?”

Linkous made a soft whining sound and cocked her head to the side. “Ohhhhh, you missed me did ya? Sorry, I kinda overslept today… like by a lot.”

Linkous made a snorting sound and backed away from the window a bit, followed by a long whine. How the fuck has nobody seen her? “Does someone want me to come outside?”

Linkous gave her a nod and just kind of pawed at the roof. Chloe shrugged and started pulling on her boots. “You’re fucking crazy, you know that? Someone could have seen you.”

Chloe squeezed out of her window before sliding it shut and sitting down on the roof next to the big dog bear thing, who gave her an expectant look. She chuckled softly and opened her lap up to Linkous, who immediately nuzzled into it and curled up around her so she could lay her head against her floofy flank. Chloe cuddled in close, enjoying the warmth of another body next to hers as she watched the night sky. She was quietly grateful for Arcadia Bay’s shitty street lights, drivers would have a really tough time spotting the pair. As she watched the stars thoughts immediately drifted to the times she’d spent cuddled up in Rachel’s arms. She dug some nails into her palm to distract her thoughts and Linkous gave a soft whine before nuzzling the clenched hand. She sighed and relaxed it, Giving Linkous’ head a pat. “Sorry girl, there’s just this… woman I really miss. Her name is Rachel and she went missing a few months ago… I really hope she’s okay.”

Linkous nodded and pressed herself against Chloe for a few moments before the pair relaxed and watched Arcadia together. Chloe found brushing her fur to be hypnotic and felt her anxiety slowly bleed away again, her worries about accidentally ghosting Max and the whereabouts of Rachel fading as she stroked. I should have gotten a dog years ago, that probably would have helped a lot… Her hand twitched with the urge to have a smoke and she stopped petting to try and dig out a cigarette, “Hope you don’t mind if I smoke.”

Linkous made a low rumble and her response was to nuzzle her head over the pocket Chloe’s smokes were in. Linkous gave her a sad look that Chloe was sure she had seen somewhere else. Jesus how the hell does this dog bear thing constantly remind me of Max? What even kind of animal is this? I’m going to have to do some serious internetting later. “Okay fine, no smoking. Your fault if I get all crabby about it though.”

Linkous made a huffing sound but didn’t move, and so Chloe resumed petting the big creature. I really hope David doesn’t check my room, or he’s going to fucking freak if he sees us up here… She could already feel sleep tugging at her again, Linkous was so comfortable. She turned her eyes to the sky and watched the haze of stars over the relative darkness of Arcadia. Fuck I guess I’m just going to keep reminding myself of Rachel, aren’t I? I blame Linkous, this is what happens when I don’t smoke.

She shifted to watch Linkous’ face again. “Do you watch the stars much, big girl?”

Linkous cocked her head to the side before she nodded, her big eyes darting up to the night sky. “Rachel was always obsessed with stars. Had this little thing on her night stand that would make them play over the ceiling. It’s funny, Max was always focused on the ground, looking for that next picture. Noticing shit nobody else did because she was really paying attention. Rachel was always watching the sky, trying to hit that shot to the moon to get us out to LA…”

Linkous nuzzled into Chloe’s lap as she turned her own gaze back to the heavens. “I used to worry about having to pick between them if Max ever just showed back up by some miracle… They’re both so special, you get me? Rachel was just this complete force of nature, doing what and who she wanted and I was just along for the ride. Max makes you feel like you’re the only thing that fucking matters in the world, all she cares about is you. Shit. I held a torch for her for five years of her not talking to me. Fuck… Maybe that’s why she never got serious with me… as much as Rachel could get serious with anyone. She knew that I was so hung up on Max that she probably figured we’d reconnect eventually.”

She ran her fingers through the fur behind Linkous’s ears and gave a good scratch. “She was right, like usual. Fuck, I wish we hadn’t lost all those years. It would have been amazing to have her be my first everything instead of… the garbage that happened. I don’t know if we’d have lasted if she’d stayed, I was such a goddamn wreck back then. I’m surprised Rachel stuck around for more than five minutes.”

Her fingers keep stroking. “Maybe she was right to just vanish for a while, let me not be so fucking volatile so she didn’t get hurt.”

Her mind cast back to easier days. Pirates in the playground, wine spilled on the carpet, sleepovers without much sleeping. Her brain stuck on sleepovers, and a stupid plan was fixed in her brain. Max may not be around, but… “Hey, how about you spend the night at my place?”

Linkous’ head snapped up and there was an apprehensive look in her eyes. Chloe cupped her muzzle and nuzzled against the top of her head to reassure her. “It’ll be okay, if stepdick gives you any trouble you should, like… maul him or something. I don’t know, I won’t let anything bad happen to you, okay?”

She got a half-hearted whine of protest but she could see in the creature’s eyes that she just wanted to curl up next to her in bed, but was afraid of… something. Chloe felt her recklessness surge up and she declared “fuck it”. She was going to have a dog bear thing in her room and screw the consequences. “Come on, we’ll get you in through the other window. You might have to squeeze, but you can do it.”

She managed to tear herself out from all the fur and slid the window open before slipping inside to start hurriedly clearing out space next to her bed for Linkous to get in, who for her part just stuck her snout in through the window and stared. She shot the creature a wink and kicked the remaining pile of crap under her bed before motioning for her to come inside. “Come around girl and you can slip in through that window, it’s much bigger.”

The face disappeared from her other window as she slid the main one open and pulled the screen away. Good thing too, because soon the creature was squeezing her massive frame in through the hole, she almost didn’t fit and the wall gave a groan of protest. Chloe grabbed her around the torso and hauled with all her might to help out until they both fell into the room, thankfully without too much of a crash. Chloe got up and put the screen back in place before turning to Linkous with a shit eating grin on her face. “Hella yes, now we get to cuddle up in the bed!”

Linkous nodded as furiously as a wolf-bear could before curling up in Chloe’s bed, the springs making some concerning groans under the strain. Chloe kicked her boots off and stripped out of her day clothes, swapping into something fresh. Linkous made some whining noises and shifted her head to not watch. Chloe laughed at this curious modesty before crawling into bed, drawing the covers up over herself as she nestled close to Linkous. “Could only be better if Max were here…”

The next day, Chloe’s eyes snapped open to be greeted by the twilight gloom before dawn. She yawned, stretching some as she sat up in her bed and groggily recalled the events of the night before. Without turning she reached back to give Linkous a rub, only to touch skin. Her eyes snapped wide and she spun in her bed to find a once again very naked Max sleeping peacefully in her bad. She stared in open mouthed shock as her brain spluttered, failing to start and then finally giving up with a gasping wheeze in explanation. Max was laying exactly as Linkous had been, except much smaller. Did… Linkous go snatch Max in the middle of the night because I asked or…

Chloe buried her head in her hands as her mind tried to digest the information. Or what, that Max is a fucking werewolf ?! No fucking way, weird shit happens in Arcadia but a fucking werewolf? I would have woken up if Linkous had moved which leaves me with some Bram fucking Stoker bullshit. Fucking werewolves. I’m high, crazy, crazy high or Arcadia Bay is just the most fucked up place on earth… Probably just all of the above. She bit her lower lip as her gaze wandered over Max for a few stolen moments. She was human after all. Okay, okay, let’s just… think about this rationally. Max said she vaguely remembered a bite, but there was no sign of any injury. She’s been stupid hungry lately but still looks like skin and bone. You found her naked once, and then another time Linkous takes off basically directly towards her then vanishes, only for you to find Max in a bunch of tattered clothes. And then there’s that huge paw print you saw in the mud near when Max got jumped and how her old clothes fucking like exploded off her. And don’t forget how she’s smelling cooking way before you can. Her heart started hammering in her chest as she connected the dots and came up with the impossible. Max Caulfield, the small, shy, adorable little hipster she’d known for so long, was a fucking werewolf. The insanity made her wonder if she should go grab an extra dosage of her meds, just to be sure that she wasn’t completely off her rocker. 

Sooooo my fucking best friend is probably a fucking werewolf. That would explain… a fucking lot. I bet she fucking knew it too, the way she reacted to the comment about a collar and leash. Fuck it, might as well ask her. Chloe gently shook Max by the shoulder, slightly worried at how the little hipster was going to take this. Max for her part gave a gentle groan and slowly opened her eyes.    

“Morning Max… Or should I say Linkous.”

Max’s bleary eyes suddenly focused, her face went completely red with an oh shit expression as she scrambled to pull a sheet over herself. “Mmmm- Oh fuck! Chloe?!”

Chloe shrugged and sat at the edge of the bed, watching her. Does she even remember? “Yeah, it’s me. Care to explain why you’re all… hella naked in my bed? Not that I’m complaining, but I didn’t take you for the type to move so fast.”

Mortified didn’t begin to describe Max’s expression as she clutched the sheets like a sailor to flotsam. “I… I can explain?”

Chloe smirked as she scooted closer to Max and ruffled her hair playfully, hoping to ease the tension for a moment. “Sure thing. Lemme guess, you’re a werewolf.”

Chapter Text

“I-I’m a- WAIT how did you know?!”

Chloe laughed and sprawled out on her bed. “Max, please. I’m not a fucking idiot. I went to sleep with Linkous in my bed, and then woke up to a naked you. I can connect some dots.”

Max got busy studying her knees. “I… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. That first night I could barely remember anything and yesterday I was terrified. I tried phoning you to tell you after class but you never picked up so I thought you just like hated me or somethi-”

Chloe cut off Max’s brewing spiral with a hug, holding her close and letting her calm down by resting her head on Chloe’s chest. “It’s okay, seriously. How the fuck do you tell someone ‘Oh, hey, I’m a motherfucking werewolf.’? I can’t hate you, you’re still Max Caulfield. I just had a toke that knocked me the fuck out.”

 Max nodded as she rested against Chloe for a few moments, her breathing steadying from the rush it had been a few moments ago. “Oh… okay. Anyways when I… turned? I just had to come looking for you to see what was up…. Can I borrow Rachel’s clothes again? I’m kind of cold.”

Chloe rolled out of the bed and took the clothes out of the closet, tossing them over to Max. “Here you go, I won’t watch.”

Max snorted as she rolled out of bed and slipped into the clothes. “As if you haven’t already seen everything.”

Chloe’s face went red, spinning around to try and protest. She paused at the sight of Max in Rachel’s clothes, again. God damn she is so hella hot looking like that. “Yeah girl, let your inner punk rocker out.”

Max gave her a goofy grin, struck a pose and replied with “Ready for the mosh pit, shakabrah.”

Chloe groaned and walked up to Max, grabbing her by the shoulders, “Never say that again. But come on Max, you’re a fucking werewolf! You can afford to take chances!”

Max’s eyebrows raised as she cocked her head, “Take… chances?”

Chloe laughed, an idiot grin spreading over her face as a plan formed in her mind’s eye. “Fuck yeah! They get in your way and you just wolf out on them! You can do whatever you want! … For example, I dare you to kiss me.”

She got a slightly flustered and confused look from the hipster. “What?”

Her body tingled with a giddy thrill. “I double dare you. Kiss me now.”

Max put one hand on Chloe’s shoulder, the other cupping her cheek, as she got up on tip toe and gave Chloe a kiss. Chloe’s mind spat sparks as it combusted and she stumbled back, hand flying to her mouth. FUCK SHE WANTED MORE CHLOE YOU IDIOT. “D-damn, you’re hard core Max! No, I can let all those Blackwell punks know they’ve got no chance… unless they’re into girl-on-girl action.”

Chloe turned to hide her rapidly reddening face and Max teased with a “You’re such a dork… I should probably get back to the dorms so nobody notices I’m gone. I managed to hold onto myself until after curfew check this time.”

Chloe took a few deep breaths to hopefully get her massive blush under control. “W-well let’s get you to Blackwell, we’ll just go out my window. Wells asked me to keep an eye on you, as if I’m going to fucking narc.”

The pair slipped out the window and ran quickly into Chloe’s truck. Before long they were making good time in the light, early morning traffic to Blackwell. “Soooo you said ‘managed’ to hold onto yourself? Can you not control it much?”

“I... asked Warren a bunch of stuff about werewolves and his best guess is that it’s something to do with the full moon.”

Chloe felt a flash of jealous anger at the idea that Max had asked Warren about this stuff first. “You asked… Lemme guess, you were going to ask me but I was asleep.”

Chloe silently cursed herself for the small outburst but kept her mouth shut to give Max room to talk. “Y-yeah, pretty much. I put it in terms of writing a story and he came up with stuff about the full moon. And since the moon has been pretty full the past couple of days…”

Her fingers started drumming on the wheel as she thought. “Sooooo what you’re saying is that you’re going to be wolfing out for a while until you get this better under control.”

Max nodded and drew her knees up to her chest, “Yeah, and I’m scared that I’m going to get kicked out of Blackwell for breaking curfew all the time and I don’t think changing in my dorm room would end well…”

Chloe felt her hands get sweaty and clammy as she came up with an improbable idea that totally wasn’t inspired by the earlier kiss, she would swear up and down to that. “What if… You weren’t living in the dorms?”

Chloe stole a glance at Max’s suddenly red face. “I… Uh… One kiss and you want me to move in?”

You could probably fry an egg on my cheeks right now. “I-It was just a thought! If you’re going to be wolfing out all the time then you wouldn’t need to worry about curfew and shit!”

Max laughed and Chloe felt the tension ease a bit. “I appreciate the thought, but somehow I doubt David would be okay with it… Or that Principal Wells would allow it. I’ll be okay, if I can hold on until after curfew I should be fine, especially once the moon starts waning.”

Chloe sighed, it’d been a hairbrained scheme, but it would have been nice to wake up to Max more often. “So like what’s the long term plan? Should we track down whoever bit you and, like, look for a cure or something? Do you.. Want a cure?”

Max scrunched up her face the way she used to when she was thinking about something hard as a kid. It was so cute that Chloe had to tear her gaze away from Max so they didn’t end up in a ditch. “Yeah. Turning into a werewolf constantly is going to make… everything difficult.”

Chloe nodded, as much as she loved a fluffy Max to snuggle with... “Maybe if we can figure out who bit you, we can start figuring out a cure… Did you tell anyone you were going out that night?”

Max shuffled a bit in her seat. “I… don’t talk much with people in class. I told Kate and Mr. Jefferson what I was doing, I didn’t give details.”

Chloe drummed her index fingers on the steering wheel. No idea who this Kate person is, but Jefferson rings a bell. Rachel was talking about him right before she disappeared, something about a new photograph teacher. He’s probably why Max bothered to come back to this shit pit in the first place. “Either of them have a dark side to them? Maybe the teacher likes to stalk his students.”

Max gave a full throated, musical laugh that made Chloe’s heart flutter. God it’s like I’m 14 again around her. “Kate? A dark side?! No way.”

After taking a moment to compose herself and wipe away a tear, she continued “Hell no, Kate Marsh is as sweet as they come. Jefferson… I think he had a teacher’s function that night… Wait, no, he was helping Victoria with something. She’s throwing herself at him so hard, it’s disgusting.” 

Chloe snorted; she definitely knew Victoria Chase. “Someone’s up to her old tricks then. Gross. So we can cross those names off our list, which leaves us with… Some random werewolf wandering the forest around Arcadia Bay. Fuck. There goes my evenings.”

A dark thought floated across her mind about Rachel and she squashed it mercilessly. Max thankfully brought her back. “Well I guess we can like look at that print you found? Maybe I can sniff them out in wolf form?”

Chloe nodded, the idea did make a lot of sense, provided they could get Max out of the dorms after curfew without notice. “Okay, but if I’m going for a ride again, we are getting you a collar or something. I don’t want to be holding on just by your fur.”

Max’s face went all red again as she fidgeted in her seat. “I… I guess you can collar me.”

“I never figured you for a kinkster Max.”

Max spluttered and lightly punched Chloe in the thigh before pouting out the window. Chloe was forced to pull over so her overwhelming laughter didn’t cause an accident. Max glared. “Did you have to do that?”

“Yes. Yes, I did. How could I miss out on an opportunity to see Max Caulfield blush?”

“Next you’ll be telling me that you’ve had a crush on me since we were kids.”

Chloe felt her heart squeeze as she briefly considered admitting all her feelings right then and there. Anxiety kept her from it as visions of rejection danced in her brain, Max hadn’t even known she was gay, there’s no way she returned the crush. Then again, she totally walked into my tits.... Instead she snorted and got back on the road. “Come on, let’s get you to Bleakwell.”

Max’s arched eyebrow let Chloe know she noticed the nonanswer, but she let things slide. “I should probably just start keeping clothes at your place. We need to have a plan for when I start ‘wolfing out’ or something. Going to your place in the middle of the night was really stupid of me.”

Chloe shrugged as she pulled up in front of Blackwell. “It was kind of sweet actually, you needed help and you came to me. Plus, the fluffy cuddles were hella awesome… Can we do them again?”

Max just laughed as she started gathering herself up to go. “You are such a goop. Yeah, we can do that again. It was… really nice actually. I’ll text you when I’m in class.”

Chloe’s face was positively beaming with a smile so bright she figured she could probably replace the lighthouse. She hadn’t felt this happy since… she could barely remember. Even the whole ‘Max is a werewolf and Rachel missing’ couldn’t put a damper on the offer of more cuddles. God I am so into her, it’s fucking embarrassing. I can already hear the shit Rachel’s going to give me. “We’ll figure out a game plan! At least you should be able to sneak back in this early, I know Rachel used to all the time back in our heyday.”

Chapter Text

Google offered little to satisfy Chloe’s questions beyond the usual silver vulnerability and fanfiction. Tantalizing, lurid fanfiction. Not that Chloe Price would ever admit to reading such things. Not in a million years. Where does one get silver bullets at this hour? It’s not like I can just forge them out of nothing. I’d need tools, a mold, not to mention some fucking silver. At least David has the supplies for hand loading, there’s probably a manual there somewhere. Chloe typed into google’s search key as an idea started to form in her mind, dots starting to connect. Some of her dad’s old coworkers had made it clear they’d do pretty much anything for her. Daryl would let me use their equipment, but the silver? I need money. Fucking money, always a god damn problem. Not like Frank is going to loan me anything, it took me forever to pay back what I borrowed for Rachel.

She sat back in her chair with an aggressive sigh, feet flopping onto the table as she leaned onto the rear legs. God I could use a joint right now… I can’t stop thinking about what would have happened if I’d just told Max I love her, then and there. How can someone as talented as her even be interested in a burn out loser like me? Like, when she was wolfed out she just… sought me out, so I guess that’s good? God, I’m such a nervous wreck around her, you’d think after five years I’d know how to not be such a disaster but here I am. Gay as a daisy in may… God dammit Rachel why did you make me play those games. She grabbed the remote for her hifi and flipped it on, trying to get that persistent earworm out of her head. Bright Eyes started drifting jauntily over the air as First Day of my Life started to play and she gave a rueful grin at the irony of it all. “God I should just ask her and be done with it. I got a kiss with Max Caulfield, her being a werewolf is like the second most amazing thing to happen today.”

She pulled out her phone and spied a text from Max. Score.

Max                                                                                                                   10:24 am 10/09

    So, I’ve got a plan. 

Chloe                                                                                                                 10:26 am 10/09

    all ears for this, fluffy

Max                                                                                                                   10:28 am 10/09

    We’re going to meet at the junkyard again, I’ll meet you after my classes are done for the day and give you some of my clothes and then we wait until it’s curfew time. I’ll text you when I feel the change coming on then we head there to let me turn.

    Also, Fluffy? Really?

Chloe                                                                                                                 10:29 am 10/09

    smart 

    should i bring anything? kinda low on silver here

    also good werewolf nicknames that go with max are hard

Max                                                                                                                   10:35 am 10/09

    … The collar… I swear to god if you make it sexual I’m so done. It’s just for you riding me, nothing else.

Chloe                                                                                                                 10:36 am 10/09

    how am i not supposed to make THAT sexual

    not fair

Max                                                                                                                   10:38 am 10/09

     >///< God dammit I walked right into that.

Chloe                                                                                                                 10:39 am 10/09

    if you want me so bad max, just say it

    ALSO NO EMOJI

Max                                                                                                                   10:41 am 10/09

    You’re the worst. I’m having tea at lunch with Kate later and I do NOT need to be all flustered for that.

Chloe felt a quick flash of jealousy as she briefly imagined that get together as a date, but she stamped that down as best she could. Max went looking for you in the middle of the night for help Chloe, not Kate. Also she just kissed you. Calm the fuck down.  

Chloe                                                                                                                 10:43 am 10/09

    fancy

    you fine ladies have your tea, i’ll go find the biggest damn collar in arcadia bay.

It would probably help if she knew where to find good dog supplies in Arcadia. Luckily, she knew just the guy.

Chloe                                                                                                                 10:44 am 10/09

    hey frank, you free?

“There is no fucking way you are getting a dog Price. I know you, you’re not the type.” 

“The dog just kind of found me Frank. Look, all I need to know is where to get basic supplies, okay?”

Okay, so maybe contacting Frank for help wasn’t the best idea. The guy was unstable at the best of times, but they’d always gotten along well before Rachel disappeared. Fuck, the guy had killed his boss and friend to save her sorry ass. Something in what she said worked though, because she immediately noticed his expression soften. “They have a way of doing that, don’t they. There's nothing good in town and stay the fuck away from the big chain stores, they treat the animals like shit. I usually get my stuff from Elen’s in Portland. It’s worth the drive, she treats the animals really fucking good and she always gives Pompidou a treat. I’ll text you the address.”

That’s the first words out of Frank I’ve gotten in three months other than “Where’s my money.” “Alright, guess I’m in for a road trip to Portland.”

Frank just looked at her and scoffed, “In that rust bucket? Good fucking luck.”

Chloe glowered at him, tempted to defend her poor truck’s honour, but she was in a good mood today. She had gotten to kiss Max, after all. “I’ll just have to take my chances, thanks for the advice Frank.”

Chloe                                                                                                                 11:21 am 10/09

    max

    road trip

    gotta go to Portland

    kate can come too.

Max                                                                                                                     11:24 am 10/09

    Whoa there, why do we need to go to Portland in such a hurry?!

Chloe                                                                                                                   11:25 am 10/09

    heard from a reputable source that it’s where we can get the supplies

    also i know you love powell’s

Max                                                                                                                     11:25 am 10/09

    This is SO not fair. Kate isn’t going to be ditching any class though. Have tea with us then we’ll go?

Chloe                                                                                                                   11:25 am 10/09

    ask me to put a pinky up and i walk.

Chloe wasn’t sure what to expect from Kate Marsh, but a mousy girl in church clothes and a loose bun with an actual honest to fuck crucifix neckless was not on her list. Max finished introductions, a beaming smile on her face like she just did the most wonderful thing in the world introducing them. Kate smiled at her nervously, as if she were a rabbit staring up at a hungry eagle. For her part, Chloe was just as nervous, cute girls always did that to her and Kate looked so sweet she could feel the cavities forming. Don’t fuck this up for Max, just be nice. If she gives you a ‘don’t do drugs’ lecture, just walk out. “Uhhhh... Sup?”

Kate gave a small squeak that was probably supposed to be a ‘hi’, Chloe could see the intimidation written plain on the poor girl’s face. Along with a lot of redness in her cheeks. Shit, she probably thinks I’m some kind of fucking hard ass here to ruin poor Max’s life with my sinful ways… Actually, I kind of like the sound of that. Especially the sinning. Her hand went up to rub the back of her head as she tried to work through the awkwardness. “It’s… er, nice to meet you Kate.”

Kate’s face immediately went beet red at the compliment and she gave Max a wide eyed look, like she never expected anyone to say anything nice about her ever. Especially not some punk with an arm covered in tats. Max, to her credit, noticed the tension and chimed in. “She’s really nice, she’s that old friend I told you about. We go way back to when we were little kids.”

And when I didn’t look like I sling drugs for Frank… Kate managed to compose herself, though her cheeks stayed rosey. “Well...i-it’s nice to meet you Chloe. A-anyone Max says is a good person must be; and she’s been saying... a lot of good things. Please, comte in and I’ll start making some tea.” Well shit, someone’s been gushing about me to her friend.

Max’s face was all smiles and Chloe ached to make up for this morning’s stumble. Behave Chloe, not in front of the little Christian girl. “Soooo what’s for tea?”

Kate gave her a blindingly bright smile. God damn she’s cute, I can see why Max hangs out with her. “We were planning on some nice oolong today, if you’d like some I’m more than welcome to share. I’ve also got some good black or herbal teas if you’d rather that.”

Fuck I have no idea what she’s talking about. Coffee drinker in a tea party; probably should have asked Max to explain some shit to me. She scrambled to come up with some response and Max picked up on her confusion. “Have a taste of it, and if you don’t like it you can have something else.”

Chloe opted to play into Max, giving a little flourish of a bow, which elicited some throaty chuckles from Max that she definitely wanted to hear again.“I bow to your wisdom, oh mistresses of tea.”

That line had Max practically giggle snorting, which was a sound almost entirely too cute for Chloe’s poor gay heart. Kate for her part was politely giggling with a hand covering her mouth. Score, got both of them giggling. Kate was the first to recover, spinning back to her closet as she extracted her kettle and the tea. “I need to go grab some water, Max, can you introduce Chloe to Alice for me?”

Chloe blinked, there were only three people in the room. She span and then saw it. There was a bunny. A fucking cute little bunny in a cage and her already soft gay heart was a puddle on the floor as she couldn’t help but gush. “Awwwwwwwh!”

Max and Kate giggled again as Chloe crouched next to the cage, eyes big as she watched Alice thump around. She didn’t even care that her whole punk, tough girl image was completely shattered. Bunny. Bunny beats tough girl. Max scooted over and opened up the cage, Alice for her part immediately springing out of the cage like she’d been waiting for this exact moment. Her trajectory put her right on a path into Chloe’s arms. Mercifully Chloe caught the bunny and was overcome by a feeling she could only describe as the ‘warm fuzzies.’ She held the rabbit delicately, afraid to possibly harm her small frame. Kate clapped as best she could with her hands full, “Awwwwwh! She likes you! Just set her down on the floor and she’ll probably flop down into your lap.”

Chloe did as instructed, sitting down first and releasing the rabbit, who hopped around a bit before flopping right into Chloe’s lap as foretold. Max smiled broadly and took a seat next to her, reaching out to gently pet the rabbit. Kate smiled warmly before slipping out of the room to fill the kettle, leaving Chloe and Max alone together. Great. Her stomach turned in knots at Max’s hand hovering over Chloe’s thighs to pet the bunny. One kiss and I’m a nervous wreck, get it together Chloe. This is Max, you’ve been friends for ever. “So…”

Max’s head turned and she smiled up at Chloe as she kept on petting Alice. How dare your smile be this cute, it should be illegal. “So?”

Chloe's chest tightened up at the doe eyed innocence of Max’s expression. How a fucking werewolf managed doe eyed innocence was beyond her, but if anyone was going to pull it off, of course it was Max. This is so not fair, I should be all swagger and confidence, but where I am with a rabbit in my lap and my… what even is Max to me now? My crush? Shit. When did I get all goopy like this? Max's smile widened and she guessed that what she felt was written all over her face, so she blurted it out. “So that kiss.”

Max’s lips twisted up into a smirk, but her eyes were full of this warmth and affection that made her palms go all sweaty. “Chloe Price. Are you asking me for another one? In Kate’s room?”

You’re not wrong… Chloe gave a little cough as she turned her face away to hide a growing blush. “I… Uh… I just…”

Mercifully, Kate chose that exact moment to walk back in. “I’ve got the water! Awwwwwh Alice really likes you Chloe! She’s so comfortable.”

Max smiled innocently up at Kate as she gave Alice some scritches. Chloe had to work to not gape at her. Oh you are so toying with me now Caulfield. “Yeah, Alice is such a little suckup and Chloe just can’t resist.”

Chloe started petting the bunny to distract herself, feeling a little thrill of electricity each time her hand brushed up against Max’s. Fuck, I’m such a blushing teenager. Caulfield, how could you do this to me? It’s so not fair! She’s acting totally cool, like nothing is going on right now. Kate showed her mercy again by either not commenting on Chloe’s obvious blush. “Well I’ll get the kettle on and put some tea in the pot!”

Chloe took a few deep breaths, leaning against the frame of Kate’s bed as she tried to calm herself down. Keep it together girl, you’re going to have a three hour round trip with Max to talk about your fucking feelings… I just hope she doesn’t reject me. The revelations on that morning seemed already distant as she watched Max and Kate making idle chit chat about their homework and classes. The fact that Max was a werewolf didn’t matter at all right now. Just that she was back with Max and the world seemed… right. Like this was her home, where she belonged. She hadn’t felt like she’d belonged anywhere in so long, she fought to keep down tears. On some level, she knew Max wasn’t going to reject her, but that did nothing to help her anxiety. She also knew she should probably still be mad at Max for ditching her for five long years, but she just couldn’t bring herself to. Any remaining resentment melted away with her here and with the knowledge Max needed Chloe’s help. She was brought out of her spiraling thoughts when a tea cup and saucer were thrust in her face. “Earth to Chloe? Tea’s ready and Kate made some sandwiches.”

Chloe’s stomach growled audibly at the mention of food and Max laughed. “Told you’d she be hungry, she’s always hungry.”

Kate smiled as she held out a container of sliced sandwiches out to Chloe. “They’re nothing special, just cucumber. Don’t want to drown the flavour of the tea with the food.”

Chloe wasn’t about to turn down food. She nearly took a third of the offered sandwiches before reminding herself that table manners were in fact a thing that existed, and that she should probably behave herself in front of Max’s friend. It helped that Kate was so cute. She took a sandwich and put it on the oh-so-thoughtfully provided plate and waited as patiently as she could for everyone to have their tea. Look at me, being all classy and shit. Rachel would probably lose her goddamn mind. Max flashed her a smile that made Chloe’s poor little gay heart sing as she poured a helping of tea. Definitely going to have to ask for another kiss as a reward for being so well behaved later. Kate beamed as everyone was served and held up her tea cup. “Bon appetit everyone!”

Chapter Text

The Arcadia Bay sign blew past and she sighed with contentment as weight lifted from her shoulders. Finally! Out of Arcadia, been meaning to do this for so fucking long… Figures it would be Max who finally got me to do it, she always gave me this weird courage to do stupid shit. She looked to her right and didn’t even bother trying to stop the big stupid grin on her face with Max in the seat next to her. “Hey… Uh, thanks for inviting me to tea again. It was actually really nice.”

Max grinned back at her, looking happier than she had in days. “It was really great to hang out with you and Kate; I’m impressed you managed not swear around her, and that you have any table manners.”

Chloe laughed, leaning back in her seat and draping one arm across the bench as she drove. “I can have manners! I just… don’t see a reason to use them most of the time.”

Max snorted as she swiftly pulled her camera up and took a shot, the click and whirr of her father’s old camera echoing through the cabin. “I missed you Chloe, I really did...and I’m really really sorry. I just… I kept wanting to find the perfect words to tell you and I could never find them.”

Time for this conversation… I guess… Her grip tightened on the steering wheel as she felt the joy drain away. She’d known they’d have to talk about it eventually, but part of her just wanted to keep putting it off. As it was, she already felt the beginning of tears as the old scab was picked at. “Just any words would have worked Max. Anything… a post card, a letter, a phone call, a fucking text! Just as long as it was you Max, it would have meant the world to me.”

Max opened her mouth to reply but the floodgates were open now, and she wasn’t about to stop until she was finished. “ You meant the world to me Max. I don’t think you fucking get it. After dad died and Joyce moved on, talking to you was all I had left. I kept clinging to the idea that you’d talk to me again. I fucking wrote you a pile of letters I never sent because I was so afraid that you’d never reply to them, I just never bothered.”

She was pretty sure she was crying now, seeing the road was getting harder so she focused more on it. Seeing Max’s face right now probably would have caused her to break down completely. “And before you ask Max, I don’t hate you. How can I? You’re Max fucking Caulfield! All I wanted was for you to come back so we could be stupid pirates again and shit. When Rachel found me, it helped, it helped a lot. But it was just… never the same. We were close but never… fit together like we do. Then she fucking left me for some other guy, one she didn’t fucking tell me about, and then went missing Max. Who the fuck does that? That night I could have sworn fucking everyone had abandoned me; I was out in the woods trying to get wasted so it would stop hurting and then…You show up. So all of that crap stopped mattering because I had you back and you needed my help.”

Chloe gave up on trying to keep driving, pulling over onto the shoulder and hitting the hazards. She was definitely crying. Time stretched on as she waited for Max to say something, anything . Nothing came but the sound of sobs and when she turned her head she saw that Max was also crying, her head buried in her hands. A small, evil part of Chloe was happy that Max was so upset, that she was understanding even a little bit of the hurt she had caused. The thought horrified Chloe. She didn’t hate Max, all she’d ever wanted was her back in her life, and here she was. Was going to last after that outburst? She wasn’t sure, but Chloe had needed to get those words out. She sighed and rested her head on the top of the steering wheel as she struggled to steady her breath. The silence opened into a wide chasm and Chloe felt every inch of distance between her and Max. The band aid over the pain was gone now. The words had needed to get out and she didn’t regret them.

“Chloe… I am so so sorry. I-I had no idea that I put you through so much pain.” Her voice was low and cracked with so much emotion that her heart ached. Chloe was used to people lying to her, but for someone to be so open and genuine was something new and uniquely Max. “I didn’t want to hurt you, I never wanted to hurt you. I just... didn’t want to fuck up and say the wrong thing. I didn’t want to make everything worse by opening my mouth and saying something stupid like I always do. I was just paralyzed by fear at the very idea of saying anything wrong, of being some asshole to you and ruining everything. You were my only friend for so long... I did write you things, I promise. I would reread them and just hate them. They were never good enough for you, nothing was good enough for you. You deserved something so amazing and I could just never come up with the right words to do it. And then so long had passed that saying anything to you just seemed like too little too late. I was going to come find you Chloe, I really was, I promise.I just wanted to find my confidence first and not be drowning in anxiety. I could have gone to so many photography programs across the country, but I chose Blackwell because it gave me a chance to find you again. You meant the world to me Chloe, and that’s what made it so hard. I didn’t want to fuck it up.”

Hearing Max pouring her own heart out felt like pouring peroxide on a cut. It stung and it burned, but it was also cleansing to make way for their healing. She’d lived with this pain in her so long that getting it out hurt in and of itself. She scooted closer to Max, just wanting to be near her, and the two quickly ended up in an embrace while they cried as the grief flushed out. Chloe held Max’s face to her chest as she buried her own head into Max’s hair. It takes a minute, but she noticed the smell, it was the exact same smell from when she had her face buried in her fur and her mind snapped back to those moments of glee and terror riding on Max’s back. That crazy dash through the forest was now a soothing and calming memory, helping her find her way out of turmoil. She didn’t hate Max, she couldn’t hold onto any negative emotion towards her; those feelings always just slipped away. When she finally spoke, it came as a hoarse whisper. “I forgive you, Max.”

Max’s body sagged into her at the words and her hands made fists of Chloe’s loose tank top. She probably thinks she doesn’t deserve to be forgiven. You’re wrong about that Max. Max tilted her head up to look at Chloe, who pulled her head out of Max’s hair to return her gaze. Those soulful eyes looked up at her, glimmering with tears and a mix of emotions Chloe couldn’t hope to describe. All she knew was that there was this magnetic pull towards her, the way Max’s mouth was slightly parted. She didn’t hesitate as she slipped a finger under Max’s chin and leaned in. This time she didn’t stumble away as their lips met, though she half expected Max to freak out. Max did the opposite, her arms wrapping around Chloe’s neck as she pressed herself up and into the embrace. The years of isolation and yearning collapsed and Chloe felt emotions she’d only distantly remembered from the time before Max moved away. Max had been Chloe’s near all-consuming crush from as far back as she had had crushes, and here she was, basically making out with her. Yeah both had just been crying their eyes out earlier, but that made it all the sweeter as they held the kiss and each other.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and they both came up for air. Max stared at her, red eyes wide. “… Wowser Chloe.”

The way she breathed ‘wowser’ set Chloe into hysterics, and she ended up on her side, happy tears streaming down her face. Max crawled over her with a half concerned, half amused look on her face. “Chloe, breathe.”

Chloe followed Max’s instruction, taking a few deep breaths to get her laughter under control, which took longer than it probably should have. “S-sorry, just the way you said that was just… so hella fucking dorky.”

Max snorted as she lay back in her seat, watching Chloe as her face adopted a contemplative expression. “So… I guess that happened.”

Chloe got herself back up into a sitting position, nothing felt real but her heart was still pounding from the kiss. Had she actually just… made out with Max? “Are… are you sure?”

Max grinned mischievously as she scooted close to plant another, lingering, kiss on Chloe’s lips. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

Chloe felt like the butterflies in her chest were about to erupt out of her throat. “Just… making sure.”

Max laughed as she punched Chloe in the shoulder, “Greedy much?”

Chloe starts getting ready to drive again, only to realize that all the windows were fogged up. She flicks the blower over to defog and drummed her fingers on the dashboard. Even after all… that, I’m still too chicken shit to say it? “Sorry just… I feel like that should have happened so hella long ago… What does this make us?”

Max’s smile always had a way of making her feel like she was the only person in the world who really mattered. She had this way of smiling when it was just Chloe, her lips curling just a bit more, the smile in her eyes with a mischievous tinge and the way her front teeth poked out just a little bit. She’d spent five years dreaming of seeing that smile again, fantasizing about getting a kiss like that and here she was, afraid to lose it all because she’d pushed too hard too fast. Max put all those fears to rest as she laid her hand on top of Chloe’s and laced fingers with her. “We’re Max and Chloe. Like we always were, like we’re always going to be. We’re going to figure this shit out, unwolf me, find Rachel and then I don’t know, travel the world or something.”

Max said it with such passionate force that made her believe all of it without hesitation. Max and Chloe versus the world. Bring it the fuck on… as soon as the stupid fucking defog works. Chloe rolled her hand over and they just held hands while they waited. Max’s palms were sweatier than mine, god damn. “Also I really like the body wash and deodorant you started using.”

Chloe spluttered. “I NEVER TOLD YOU ABOUT-” Max just tapped her nose and raised an eyebrow. Werewolf. Right. “Shit. Sorry, I should probably cut back on smoking until you’re dewolfed.”

Max’s entire body sagged as she gives an exaggerated sigh of relief, “A little bit would be great. I do like some of the smell though, I associate it with you now. Getting used to smelling and hearing all these things I normally don’t is weird as hell, but the smell of weed, cigarettes, cheap beer and the lavender bodywash that you’re using now...that means ‘Chloe’ to me and it just… calms me.”

Chloe’s poor gay heart was already melting, and her words reduced it to a helpless gay puddle somewhere on the floor. “I… well… shit Max, you really know how to turn up the charm.”

Max smiled, closing the distance again to rest her head against Chloe’s shoulder. “This is home now. Not talking to you sooner was the biggest mistake I ever made, and I’m going to do everything I can to make it up to you.”

When did Max take charge?! Not that I’m complaining… I still can’t believe I just kissed her like that. Their intertwined hands made their way from the dashboard down to the bench as Max just rested her head on Chloe’s shoulder and Chloe put her head on Max’s. We’re Max and Chloe, but what does that actually mean now? Like, we’re way more than friends at this point… Chloe watched as the fog slowly started lifting from the wind shield and she made a mental note to give the climate control a serious going-over when she had the money. At the same time, the disappearing fog made her melancholic because it means this moment is ending and she’s going to have to start driving again once she can see the road and she doesn’t want to. Fuck it if it’s cliché, I wish I could just relive this over and over again.

 Chloe kissed the top of Max’s head as the fog lifted enough to show her the road and she checked her watch, almost a half an hour gone in the blink of an eye but it felt like the start of a whole new life. She could practically hear 14-year-old her screaming at the thought that she made out with Max, and that Max had pledged to make up for her absence. I’m going to hold her to that. She gave Max’s hand a squeeze as she readied herself to start driving again. “Time to get rolling again Max.”

Max gave a little grumble of protest but let go of Chloe’s hand so she could drive with both hands. “I wish I could rewind time and just do that kiss again.”

Chloe laughed, planting a kiss on top of Max’s head. “Somehow I don’t think that’s going to be the last kiss like that we ever have… girlfriend.”

Chloe rolled the world over in her mouth again and again, just savouring the feel of it. Max smiled up at her as she took her head off Chloe’s shoulder to kiss her cheek. “I love the sound of that. Now let’s go, you promised me Powell’s.”

Chloe laughed as she checked for any traffic, there was none so she floored it to get rolling again. Her heart sang as she left skid marks and let out a whoop of excitement. Max laughed as she did, her hand moving to rest on Chloe’s thigh until her hand was free again, not that Chloe was ever going to complain about that. “I’ve got half a mind to just run away with you forever.”

Max grinned in response and Chloe was pretty sure she’d say yes if she actually asked. “Only half a mind?”

Chloe shrugged as they started eating up the miles again. “Gotta figure this werewolf shit out first and find Rachel. Then we can totally blow off Arcadia Bay.”

Max nodded, a strange look flashing on her face at the mention of Rachel. “What are you going to do when we find her?”

Chloe gripped the wheel a bit as she tried to think of an answer, she certainly wasn’t about to let Max go for Rachel. “I… honestly don’t know. That night, before I found you, I found a note from her telling me she’d found someone else but she never gave it to me. She even scratched the fucking name out Max. It was my best lead and I don’t even have a name.”

Max’s mouth turned into a grimace and she gripped Chloe’s thigh. “She fucking left you, and never told you? What the fuck kind of person does that?”

The venom in Max’s voice shocked her, she’d never seen Max so angry about something but the plug on her feelings was still pulled. “She betrayed me, just like pretty much everyone else does. But that doesn’t matter right now Max, she’s missing and we need to find her. After that…”

Max nodded and she relaxed her grip on Chloe’s leg. Chloe moved her right hand to the shifter and Max did the same. “Okay.”

Fuck, I should say the damn L word, shouldn’t I… She wanted to say it, but getting the words out was difficult. She’d spent so many years dreaming of it, of Max coming back to her and her saying those three words. And here she was choking again because of her stupid anxiety. YOU JUST MADE OUT CHLOE, YOU CAN SAY IT! “Max… er… I love you.”

Max’s face was beaming as she gave Chloe’s hand a squeeze. “I love you too Chloe.”

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe you’ve been crushing on me since we were kids!”

Chloe laughed as they turned off US-26. “Oh, come on! I fought a girl for saying your freckles looked stupid. Yeah, I was crushing on you so fucking hard.”

Max laughed with her, shaking her head. “How did it take us this long to figure things out?”

The punk snorted, rolling her eyes. She could believe it; the little photographer was legendarily clueless. Chloe’s excuse was the incredible thickness of her own skull. “I still can’t believe you didn’t date anyone in Seattle. You moved to the big city and nobody was interested?”

Max coughed and shuffled a bit in their seat. “I... don’t think that it was because nobody was interested. I just wasn’t interested. In anybody. There just wasn’t the connection that we have.”

Chloe nodded, her heart fluttering at the idea that Max really only had eyes for her, even when she was gone. “I can imagine it now, half your school lined up to try and get a date with THE Max Caulfield, only for you to not even notice. Talk about a heartbreaker!”

Max snorted, shaking her head. “You know me, I don’t have many friends.”

She shot the hipster a disbelieving look. People not liking the shy little photographer was just an alien concept to Chloe. “I call bullshit Max. You’re friendly with, like, everyone at Blackhell except the queen bitch and Nathan.”

Max pondered the question as they started making their way through Portland. “I guess? Kate is definitely my friend, plus Warren... provided he doesn’t freak because we’re… a thing now. Maybe Dana is? She’s always trying to talk to me…”

“Five years and you’re still Max Caulfield. You probably have way more friends than you realize, you’re pretty likeable.” Chloe shot Max a wink, who responded with a gentle shoulder shove.

“Flatterer. Plus, you’re totally biased considering you’ve been crushing on me for, like, ever.” Chloe held up a hand in surrender.

“Guilty as charged, I can’t help it, you’re like crazy cute,” Max snorted and double checked the directions on her phone. “Any idea what you want to get at Powell’s?”

Max tapped her chin and looked thoughtfully off into the distance, “I don’t really know. I just love to get lost in stacks of books; it makes me feel nostalgic… I should probably pick up some books on photography though.”

Chloe giggled as she started hunting for some parking. When was the last time I was this giggly? It feels like it’s been forever. “I’m going to grab anything I can find that might tell us about werewolves. Maybe we’ll find something that’ll help?”

Her hipster nodded sagely at the suggestion. “Good idea, it’s going to be weird in there with my new senses. If I get overwhelmed, I’ll come find you, okay?”

Chloe nodded as she pulled into a space and killed the engine. “Maybe we should have gotten you some headphones or something to muffle the noise, you’ve been wincing a bit since we hit the city.”

Max sighed as she stopped trying to hide the pain she was in, her face twisting into a grimace. “Yeah, earplugs or something would have been a good idea. Hopefully it’ll be quieter in Powell’s.”

Chloe smiled as Max twirled through the shelves of books, in her own private heaven as she wandered. Even with all the shit that’s happened to her, Max can still find that innocence she’s always had. “Having fun Super Max?”

Max’s head cocked at the nickname but her face was filled with a broad grin. “Super Max? And I love it, the smell of books, the rustling of papers...I could spend all day here.”

I’ve got a few ideas on how to spend the day here with you… She pulled the hipster into a hug and smiled down at her, just to see Max happy made the whole trip worth it. “Because you’ve basically got super powers! So yeah, you’re Super Max.”

Her face darkened a bit and she gave Chloe a gentle squeeze. “I don’t feel so super. I’m so scared about hurting someone when I turn. I guess I didn’t hurt you because of how bonded we are, I recognized you on such a deep level that I knew you were… part of my pack I guess? I don’t know how to explain it, my thinking changes so much when I’m turned that it’s hard to comprehend when I’m mostly human, never mind explain it.”

She had figured it was something like that, however hearing it made Chloe feel like she was going to vomit the butterflies that filled her chest whenever she was this close to the hipster. “That’s why we’re picking up supplies. We need to be prepared if something does go wrong. Whoever bit you is probably behind all those missing hunters and they’re the real danger. I know you, you’re such a gentle soul I don’t think you could ever hurt someone unless they hurt you first. Anyone who hurts you is gonna hella pay for it from me anyways.”

Max snorted a little and she gave her cheek a kiss. “Chloe Price, pledging to protect the werewolf. Always the bad ass.”

She felt her face go red and she reached up to rub the back of her neck, “Whaaaat? I’ve always been hella protective of you…” Then she added in a softer tone, because it still didn’t feel real to her, “now I just have an extra reason to…”

Max’s smile softened and she looped a finger around her punk’s bullet necklace to pull her down into a kiss. She wasn’t about to fight such a request and the pair shared the moment in quiet bliss. Oh yeah, I could get used to Caulfield kisses alright. The moment ended and she smiled up at her. “I know what you mean, I’d level Acadia Bay for you if I had to,” While the passionate force of the words shocked her, and the sentiment positively blew her away. Chloe was used to people lying to her constantly or waiting to stab her in the back, but the statement was completely genuine. She’d always had a good read on the hipster but the level of sincerity was mind blowing. “I’m never losing you again. I promise. No matter what happens.”

Chloe squeezed Max tight and did her best not to cry. They were in public after all. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and steady her shaking hands. “I’ll… hold you to that. Let’s go find some books.”

Max smiled and pulled her in again for a quick little kiss. “Sounds good.”

In retrospect, Chloe was starting to understand the appeal of e-readers as she balanced the stack of books about werewolves and photography. She followed her freshly minted girlfriend around, trying not to spill paper pages over the floor. That, or she really needed to start working out beyond skateboarding. “Not a bad haul Super Max, think we’re good?”

Max spun and gave her puppy dog eyes. “Can we stay for just a bit longer? Pleeeeease?”

She wasn’t sure if it was the werewolf or if Max was just that good at making her cave immediately. “Okay, we’ll buy these and then you can wander around a bit while I go get the dog supplies, if you think you’ll be okay.”

The hipster nodded as she led the way to checkout. “You sure you can find something that fits? Maybe we should start with, like, a rope harness or something…”

She mocked embarrassment, shifting the books to one arm to cover her mouth. “Max!” she hissed, so that only her new hearing would pick it up. “We’re in public !”

Max froze, her face deep crimson as she turned to glare at the punk. “You know that’s not what I meant!”

All she could do was just give her a shit eating grin. “Did you expect me to tease you less as your girlfriend? … But yeah, we’ll do the rope thing.”

Max sighed and turned, grumbling. “Keep that attitude and I’ll tie you up.”

Now it was Chloe’s turn to go red as her mind explored the possibilities. File that one away for later… She shifted the books to both hands again as she sped to catch up with Max. “Super Max, why am I carrying all the books again? Aren’t you, like, super strong?”

Max shot her a wink as she spun again and started walking backwards without missing a beat, “Aren’t you super broke? I’m paying for the gas and books.”

Chloe sagged with a sigh, Max had her there. “Okay fine, we’ll hang around in Powell’s until our parking is up, then we’ll head back. We’ll grab food at the Two Whales.”

Max’s face was beaming as she spun back around. I kinda wish she had the wolf tail and ears in human form, that would be too cute… I bet her tail would be wagging like crazy right now. Max fished her wallet out of her bag as Chloe dropped the stack of books onto the counter with a dull fwump. The cashier cocked an eyebrow at the stack of werewolf material but kept to his bullshit small talk with Max. Chloe leaned against the counter, her focus fixed on Max and her radiant happiness. Fuck I love this girl. It’s… kind of crazy to actually be with her. Like I need to get some fireworks and shit to properly announce this… Max finished the transaction before getting up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on her lips while she was distracted. Chloe felt her face go red and Max smiled up at her, full of mischief and joy. I am the best good bad influence. “So he’ll keep the books behind the counter for us while we wander around, okay Chloe?”

Chloe nodded, visions of makeouts between the shelves dancing in her mind. “Sounds good to me, lead the way.”

Max took her by the hand and started leading her somewhere in particular. Chloe’s mind started jumping to conclusions as Max took her to a quiet spot in a far corner. “So… what are you planning?”

Max spun around with her camera with the ‘Max has a flash of inspiration’ look plastered all over her face. “I hope you feel like modelling!”

Chloe’s dreams of makeouts in between the shelves withered on the vine. She tried to hide her disappointment, she wasn’t about to turn Max down. Being her muse when they were kids had been so much fun and given that they were girlfriends now, who knows. Girlfriends… it still seems so strange to say. Like it still doesn’t feel real yet. Apparently, she wasn’t very good at hiding it though and Max blanched. “C-Chloe?”

She faked a cough and shrugged, trying to recover some dignity. “Sure Max, like, what do you want me to do?”

Max gestured to the shelving. “Just be you Chloe, I’ll capture the moments.”

Chloe pondered exactly what Max had in mind with the suggestion of ‘Just be you’. She probably didn’t mean to set things on fire or start vandalizing, so Chloe shrugged. Rachel would probably be all over this , Chloe thought. Instead, she just leaned against a bookshelf and scanned the titles opposite to her. Waaaait a second. This is a bunch of stuff on the history of punk rock. Max you little fiend. She heard a click and a whirr but she didn’t pay it any mind. She had been trained by Max to not react when she was little and she wasn’t about to ruin things now. She reached out and plucked a volume off the shelf, turning it over in her hands as her face lit up. There were so many awesome old bands to discover, with just as many new songs to find. She pulled a sharpie out of her pocket and started writing down the bands from the book on to her arm so she’d remember them later. More clicks and whirrs accompanied her actions as she moved from book to book, skimming a few paragraphs to decide if she might enjoy the music before writing it down. Before long she was out of space on her inner arm and started writing on the other side like some insane tattoo of awesomeness. Max was eating it up, hovering around her with the camera and snapping away. It was like old times in a way, Max just loved capturing moments and Chloe was more than happy to provide. It helped that Max always made her look way better than she thought she ought to.

The impromptu photoshoot came to an end when the alarm in Chloe’s pocket went off to let her know it was time to get back on the road to Arcadia. Max sighed as she stashed her final photograph of Chloe looking annoyed at her phone into her pocket. “Guess it’s time to go. I wish we could stay.”

Chloe nodded as she pushed the book she was holding back into the shelf. “Yeah, I wish so too. This little impromptu road trip was awesome… Tell you what, when we manage to solve this mystery we’ll do a whole weekend trip out here.”

Max jumped at Chloe, who caught her in a hug and span around, trying her best to be careful not to knock anything over. “Yes! I would love that so much!”

I guess I’m doing good at this whole girlfriend-ing thing. Chloe held Max tight for a few moments before setting her down. “You getting hungry? Because I hella am. Hopefully we can make good time back to the Bay and get our nosh on before I die of starvation.”

Max grinned and took her hand, like it was nothing to lead her back to the counter. Again with the hand holding! It’s like she’s been waiting forever to hold my hand all the time. It’s like when we were kids… Fucking how did we not figure this out earlier, seriously? Chloe found her arms loaded up with books again and she let Max lead her back to the truck. She deposited the books on the far side of the cab as Max sat in the middle. Chlose plunked down in the driver’s seat and started the engine with a twist of her key “Come on Max, food awaits!”

Max laughed and settled into the seat as Chloe pulled into traffic. Before long their hands found each other again as they headed off down the highway and back to Arcadia Bay.

Chapter Text

Despite all Chloe’s speeding, it took them a solid hour and fifteen minutes to finally pull into the Two Whales parking lot. Chloe lurched out of the truck, dazed at the smell of fresh food. Max had told her to grab some snacks before they left but Chloe had rushed and didn’t listen. She thoroughly regretted it. Note to self, Max is usually right, listen to Max. Max giggled as she slipped out behind Chloe and pushed the door closed. “I don’t need my hearing to hear your stomach grumbling.”

Chloe grumbled about it but their hands found each other again as they headed into the dinner. Joyce was just finishing up with a table when they stepped through the doors. She spun and gave Chloe a stern look, “Chloe Price, where have yo…”

Chloe’s face knotted in puzzlement at her mom’s trailing off until she followed Joyce’s gaze down to their hands. Oh. Well shit. When she looked back at her mom, she could have sworn the woman was going to explode with happiness. “ Well … This is sudden but I’m so happy for the both of you!”

Max grinned sheepishly, free hand rubbing the back of her head. “Uhhhh… Surprise?”

Joyce immediately pulled both of them into a hug, “I just knew Max being back would bring something special, but I wasn’t expecting this so soon!”

Chloe blinked at the use of ‘soon’. “Waiiiit, you expected this?”

Joyce’s laugh rang clean and clear through the dinner and few of the patron’s leaned out to get a glimpse of the commotion. “Oh sweetie, of course I did. We used to have a running joke with Max’s parents about how quickly you two would figure it out.”

Max and Chloe shared a wide-eyed look of ‘oh shit we’re dumb’. “I… didn’t know it was that obvious mom.”

Joyce snorted and released them from the hug. “You could only be more obvious if you had a neon sign above your heads. Go, grab a booth and don’t worry about paying for dinner tonight.”

Max grinned and started leading the way to a booth in the far corner. “Thank you so much Joyce!”

Chloe followed along, feeling dazed by the whole thing. She hadn’t seen Joyce so happy about something involving her in a long time and it just added another layer of unreality to the whole situation. Today has been fucking crazy. Max is a werewolf, my girlfriend, we went to fucking Portland, and now Joyce is all happy for me. Either I’m having one hell of an episode or my neck is about to crack from the whiplash. She slid into the booth across from Max and couldn’t help just grinning at her over the tabletop.

Chloe wasn’t sure who started the footsie under the table, but by the time Joyce got to their table it was going fast and furious. Joyce was practically beaming at Max as she set the pair up with a couple of coffee mugs and filled each up. “It’s so good to see you both so happy. I haven’t seen Chloe smiling ear to ear like this since you two were kids.”

Max’s face went all red as she added milk and sugar to her coffee. “It’s hard not to be happy around Chloe…”

Joyce shot Chloe a wry smile as she pulled out her notepad. “What’ll you be having tonight Max?”

The mischief maker in Chloe really wanted her to say ‘your daughter’ and the look Max shot her told her she was considering the joke. “I’ll… Just have what I had last time, I’m really hungry.”

Chloe sagged a bit at the missed opportunity. Come on Wolf Max! Let your trickster out! “I’ll just have the usual mom.”

Joyce nodded and her face was all smiles as she went off to get their order on the way. My cheeks are getting sore from all of this smiling. She leaned back, sipping her coffee as she contemplated the night to come. Okay, food, go to Max’s dorm and gather up some of her clothes, leave her for the curfew bullshit and kill time at home then pick her up before she turns and get her to the junkyard. What could go wrong? … I probably shouldn’t have asked that. She was about to look at Max when she heard the familiar click and whirr of a camera going off. She was about to protest but relented. Chloe was the artist’s muse, what was she going to do? “Definitely a keeper, this one.”

Chloe snorted before taking another sip of her coffee. “Like you ever take a bad picture.”

Max shot her a wink as she tucked the image into her back. “Hard to when you’re in the frame.”

Chloe felt her face heat up for the umpteenth time that day. “So not fair Max. You’re the boss with a camera, I am merely your humble servant.”

Max laughed in a weird way that Chloe had never really heard before, all throaty and low. “Be careful what you say Chloe, never know if it’ll come back to bite you.”

Chloe nearly did a spit take with her coffee, much to Max’s delight as her laugh changed to its usual jaunty melody. For once she was speechless. When the fuck did little Max get all flirtatious on me?! She made the effort to swallow her coffee and just stared at Max for a few moments before finally uttering “W-where did that come from?!”

Max winked at her once more and rubbed her foot against Chloe’s shin, “You were the one making the bondage and collar jokes earlier, figured you deserved a taste of your own medicine.”

Chloe was about to retort but Joyce arrived with two plates overburdened with food. Like, double the usual number of fries. Chloe stared up at her mother wide eyed and got a laugh in return. “It’s a special occasion Chloe, eat up.”

Neither of them needed to be told twice and dug in.

“Dude, you are such a hipster, you have fucking fairy lights up.” Chloe surveyed Max’s dorm room. It reminded her so much of Max’s room when they were kids that she could also smell the old Caulfield house.

Max threw a pillow at her and pegged her square in the face hard enough she stumbled back a step. Fucking werewolf strength, god damn! “Shut up, I love the look!”

Chloe tossed the pillow back at Max, who easily caught it. “I didn’t say it looked bad, just that it’s very hipster.”

She leaned in to examine the wall of photographs Max had taken and was positively blown away by how much she had improved since they were kids. “Holy shitballs Max, you’re fucking amazing. And no, I see that look, it’s not because I’m your girlfriend now. You’ve always been really good at photography… But these are actually amazing. Like, so many of these should be in a gallery kind’ve amazing.”

Max pouted at the compliments, uncomfortable. Girl’s a motherfucking werewolf and she’s still doubting herself so much… “T-thanks Chloe. I wish I could believe that. I still haven’t been able to work up the nerve to enter something for that stupid photo contest.”

Chloe saw the way Max was starting to retreat into herself, chin tucked down into her chest, arms folded. She took a few steps closer and reached out a hand to tilt up Max’s face to deliver a gentle kiss. “You can do it Max; I believe in you.”

Max’s returned the kiss, her arms wrapping around Chloe’s neck and held before separating. “Thanks… Chloe.”

Something felt off and her eyes narrowed as she studied Max’s normally doe eyed face. She wasn’t sure if it was all the excitement from the day, the usual teenage hormones or Max’s furrier side, but she had this strange look about her that sent a thrill through her gut and at the same time made her feel uneasy. She saw Max’s eyes dart between her and the bed and her own eyes went wide at what she figured must be running through Max’s mind.

“Max?” She asked, more than a little nervous at the implication. Not that she wouldn’t love the idea of having sex with her, but they were on a pretty tight schedule. Max didn’t seem to notice her nervousness as she grabbed her necklace and tugged her down into another kiss, this one deeper and full of need. Chloe went along, not about to turn down a kiss from Max but wondering how long they had before Max started turning on her. Before she could ask though, Max pushed her back against the wall hard enough that the air was knocked out of her lungs and she started sliding down, gasping for air.

“OH MY GOD I’M SO SORRY!” Max’s earlier expression vanished and was quickly replaced with shock, panic and the beginnings of tears as she dashed next Chloe and started trying to help her up. Dazed Chloe just coughed in response and waved Max back as she struggled to catch her breath. “I’m… fine…”

Max just knelt next to her, starting to blubber a bit as she watched her, those blue eyes all big and doe-like again. “I-I just… I didn’t mean to push you that hard! My control was starting to slip and-”

Chloe cut her off by holding up a finger as she forced the air back into her lungs. “It’s okay Max… It’s okay. It was an accident. I’m fine. You just… don’t know your own strength yet”

Max looked like she was about to just burst into tears as she looked at her own hands. Those nails look awfully long… “Chloe… Maybe you should get going, I don’t want to accidentally hurt you. It’s really hard for me to control things until after I’ve turned.”

Chloe nodded in agreement and opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a knock on the door. Kate’s voice came through the door and Max gave Chloe a look of panic. “Max are you okay in there?”

Chloe responded, gesturing to Max’s closet with her head to try to tell her to start getting the clothes she needed ready. “We’re okay Kate, I just tripped and hit the wall.”

Kate’s voice was puzzled as it came through the door again. “Chloe? What are you doing here?”

Max was just fixated on her hands, and she breathed a sigh of relief when her nails started shrinking back to normal. “I hadn’t shown her my room yet so I invited her up Kate, she was just about to get going when she tripped.”

Chloe closed her eyes, hoping that Kate bought it. She’d have time to parse the whole Max pushing her up against the wall thing later. Max quietly went over to her closet and grabbed some clothes at random. She tossed them at Chloe, who stuffed them in one of the bags from Powell’s. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later then.”

Max and Chloe both sighed with relief and Chloe got back up to her feet, still trying to get her breathing back to normal. Max stared at the floor as she whispered. “I’m really sorry again.”

Chloe walked over to the startled hipster, enveloping her in a hug almost automatically. “It’s okay, we’ll just… need to be extra gentle, okay?”

Max returned the hug and held Chloe so tight the wind was almost forced out of her lungs again before Max remembered her own strength and eased up. “I know, I just… This is scary Chloe, I almost lost control of myself and I hurt you…”

Chloe kissed Max’s forehead and rocked her back and forth in the hug a little bit. “’Tis but a scratch, we’ll just have to be careful about the moon and junk until we can get you cured. I’m okay, I promise.”

Max looked conflicted as the hug broke up but nodded. Then she piped up from the whisper they’d been talking in, for Kate’s benefit Chloe was guessing. “Thank you so much again for taking me to Portland like that. I’ll see you later?”

Chloe grinned, slipping back into the mood she had been in before the whole wall pushing thing. “Anytime Max, and you can count on it,” she added quietly with a quick “I love you” that Max returned those three sweet words in kind.

She gave Max a quick kiss on the lips that she wished would last a lot longer before turning and heading out the door, only to find Kate Marsh watching her from across the hall. She shut the door behind her, giving a smile and nod to Kate who promptly walked up to her, her hands balled into fists. “Don’t you dare hurt her.”

The accusation startled her, and not just because Max was a fucking werewolf who could probably toss her around the room like a stuffed animal. She stood there, mouth agape as Kate glared at her, trying to look as intimidating as her tiny frame could. “Max deserves someone amazing and you’d better be that for her.”

Chloe’s eyebrow went up as she figured out how to respond to the pretty weird things Kate was telling her. “Are you jealous or something Kate?”

Kate’s face immediately turned red and her bravado deserted her. “I-I… No! I’m not jealous! Max is just wonderful and deserves to be treated properly!”

Definitely at least a little bit jealous, no way she'd be acting like this if she wasn't. Chloe relaxed and lifted up her free hand. “I, Chloe Elizabeth Price, do solemnly swear to never hurt Max Caulfield, my best friend since we were little kids.”

Kate glowered at Chloe. Okay, so flippant was probably not the best response… “You know what I mean Chloe! Don’t like…”

“Don’t do what, abandon her or something? Last I checked, I was the one people ditch,” she sighed as Kate shrunk away, looking more than a little scared. “Look, I wouldn’t do anything to ever hurt Max. Ever. I mean it. I don’t know what you think happened there or on our little road trip, but I promise you it was nothing bad.”

Kate adopted a bit of a pout as Chloe tacked on, “Why? Do you think we’re dating or something?”

Kate bit her lower lip and tapped her foot in a way that Chloe decided was probably the most goddamn adorable thing since Max’s puppy dog eyes. “I… Juliet saw you two at the Two Whales and texted half the school.”

Fuck. Kate sighed, staring at the floor. “I was just worried you were… You know… Being untoward. I realize now that I’m being paranoid but when I heard that crash, and with Max not being there for curfew…”

Chloe rolled her eyes at the insanity of it all. I was being untoward? Just who do you take me for?! … Me. Probably. Shit. “Kate, I would never let anybody touch Max without permission or they’d lose a hand for it, okay?”

Kate looked at her, eyes wide in shock. “Y-you’d…?”

Chloe sighed and leaned against the wall, stuffing her hands in her pockets. Admitting her feelings publicly without the tough girl act had always been hard, but she felt safe opening up to Kate, weird as it was. There was just something about her that made her that was completely unthreatening. “It’s a figure of speech. Look, I really love her, okay? Ever since we were little, we were a team, a pirate crew in fact. I’d never do anything to put this in jeopardy.”

Kate tilted her head a bit at the ‘pirate crew’ line but nodded, apparently satisfied. Chloe caught a hint of wistfulness to the expression that told her Kate was probably-definitely jealous of her. “Anyways, this the whole Juliet texting the whole school thing, she mentioned this Warren guy who might freak? Anything I need to be worried about?”

Kate almost burst out laughing at her suggestion that Warren might be someone to be worried about. “Warren?! Oh, heavens no Chloe! He’s got a very obvious crush on Max but he’s just really not that kind of person… What’s with the bag of clothes?”

Chloe closed her eyes and started cussing up a storm in her head. Of fucking course she had to fucking notice the fucking clothes. “Just in case we end up having a sleepover or something like we used to. Nothing “untowards” here, I promise. Now if you don’t mind I really need to get going before my mom freaks on me.”

Chloe turned the key in the ignition, her truck rumbling to life as her brain turned over what the hell had just happened. Definitely need to be way more cautious around Max now, that was fucking scary…even if it was a little hot. And there was the whole confrontation with Kate, too. Warren and Kate have the hots for her, next you’ll tell me that fucking Victoria is also into her. I wonder how many broken hearts Max left behind in Seattle because of me? Fuck, I need to toke but I’ve also got to work with wolf Max tonight and I should probably be sober for that...especially after what just happened. She pulled out of the Blackwell parking lot and started driving home as quickly as she could. Need to find rope and some of Rachel’s old stuff so Max can get a scent… I really need to figure out a way to get my hands on silver, too, in case the other werewolf decides to come… She sighed as she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. So much happened today and I don’t regret getting together with Max… but what if Rachel comes back? What am I going to do? Like she said she found someone else but then never fucking told me about it, I was totally going to wait around for her to come back until I found that… Wait shit did I get into this too quick with Max? Like I’m not over Rachel yet and now I’m with Max… Fuck I really hope I don’t fuck this up.

She took a deep breath as she tried to get her mind out of the spiral. Focus. Max is a werewolf. We need to help Max and find Rachel before even starting to sort out all the bullshit.

Chapter Text

Chloe pushed through the front door of the house, books under one arm, as she tried to make her way upstairs in a hurry only for Joyce’s voice to ring through the house. “Chloe!”

She cringed and set the things down at the top of the staircase. So close… She came back down the stairs and saw her mother leaning against the wall. “So, we need to talk.”

Chloe froze, wondering just what the hell she was in trouble for now. “Uhhh okay?”

Joyce jerked a thumb at the answering machine. “Got a call from David. Said Max missed all her classes this afternoon. Was that your doing?”

Fuck, caught red handed. She hung her head and held up her hands in surrender. “Yeah, guilty. It was a spur of the moment trip to Portland, Max really really wanted to go to Powell’s.”

Joyce snorted, apparently amused about the whole thing. “Chloe Elizabeth Price, since when are you such a romantic? You’re just like your father…”

Chloe choked up a bit at the comparison, her dad had always had a habit of surprising them with trips to somewhere Joyce had wanted to go. Joyce shook her head, probably in an effort to remind herself that she was supposed to be angry. “Look, I get it. You’ve always had eyes for each other and it got out of hand. David is furious about it, started making wild stories about you being behind all of Max’s missing curfews when one of the students told him about you two.”

Fucking snitches. “Just… don’t drag Max down, okay? She’s a sweet girl.”

Chloe fumed for a moment at the implication, and the irony of it. Chloe was the one helping Max with the whole werewolf bullshit. “What’s with everyone getting on my case about not dragging Max down?! I’m not going to make her flunk out of fucking school, okay? I just… She’s had a hella rough couple days and she needed something awesome. So I made it happen. I won’t make her miss any more school and I had nothing to do with her missing curfew the other night. I just found her before anyone else did. I…”

She took a deep breath and Joyce raised an eyebrow at her hesitation. After all the walls she’d put up over the years, even admitting something so obvious to her mom was tough and she dreaded the moment David got home. “I love her mom. I’d never do something to hurt her.”

Joyce's face went soft and she took a few steps to wrap her arms around Chloe, pulling her into a tight hug. “You’re so much your father’s daughter it moves me to tears sometimes. He’d be proud of you for doing that for Max, and then let you out of whatever punishment for making her miss school. I’m proud of you too Chloe, seeing you like this after all these years shows me that my daughter was always in there, under all the anger. Seeing you happy again has been such a blessing.”

Chloe stayed in the hug for a few moments. It had been so long since she’d heard the words ‘I’m proud of you’ from Joyce she found herself on the verge of tears again. All the talk of dad was definitely not helping. When she spoke again, her traitorous voice sounded all cracked up. “Thanks mom… I’m going to go lay down, today has been… a lot. But first I need to go grab some tools for my truck from the garage.”

Joyce nodded as she smiled to Chloe, “Alright sweetie, just let me know if you need anything, alright? I’ll try and talk David into not giving you any lip over taking Max to Portland today.”

Chloe smiled back at her mom before quickly turning and making a beeline for the garage before her mother caught her crying. God mom, way to push all the emotional buttons… She took a deep breath as she started searching around the garage for rope. Thankfully it didn’t take her particularly long to find a nice length of nylon chord. This should do for now. She opened the garage, tossed the chord into the bed before going back inside and heading up the stairs, retrieving the books and plonking them on the desk in her room. She pulled her phone out to check the texts from Max, nothing so far, so she fired off a quick text to Max.

Chloe                                                                                                                   8:12 pm 10/09

all good here, let me know when you need me.

She stared at the phone screen for a few minutes but got no answer. She cast her eyes around for anything she might need for the night. Her eyes settled on the metal box under her bed. With a heavy heart she slid it out, opening it and pulling out Rachel’s old bracelet as tears started stinging at her eyes. I just hope there’s still some scent to it… She grabbed a plastic bag out of her desk and put the bracelet inside before stuffing it into her pocket. 

She checked the time again and sighed. She did say she would call me if she couldn’t hold it… Curfew isn’t until quarter to 9… Might as well get reading. She pulled the first book off the stack, a meaty tome titled ‘The History of Lycanthropy’. This is either going to be really dry, or really pulpy, but maybe it’ll help.

It was the former, a painstaking history of depictions of werewolves stretching back into antiquity. The author’s penchant for run-on sentences and abusing comas was definitely not helping to ease the read. Still, there were some potential leads in there for cures, even if most of them caused the werewolf colossal pain or even death. She had to fish out a paper pad to start taking notes of things that cropped up repeatedly as cures or ways to keep the change at bay. She studied like she hadn’t since she started at Blackwell, time vanishing until her phone started buzzing like crazy; Max was calling.

She got to her feet, opening her bedroom window and sliding out, “Hey Max, I-”

Kate’s voice cut her off from the other end of the line, her voice in that weird whisper shout “Chloe get here quick! She says she can barely hold it anymore.”

Kate didn’t have to tell Chloe twice as she pulled out of the driveway and floored it towards Blackwell. “I’m coming Kate! Try and get her to the parking lot without being seen.”

Kate didn’t reply and the line went dead. Chloe slammed the dashboard and cried out obscenities as she started going dangerously fast. Come on Max, hold it together! Come on come on come on… Her battered old truck ate up the distance as quick as it could, but the seconds seemed to stretch out into eternity before her. She silently cursed herself for not taking a dose of her meds at the very least as she sped towards Blackwell.

She screeched to a halt in the Blackwell parking lot, eyes scanning around for Max as she hopped out. Kate and Max came out from behind a van, Kate helping Max move by taking one of the hipster’s arms over her shoulder. Oh shit… Max did not look good, her skin was pale, her face scrunched up in obvious pain. Her left hand was starting to go all wolf and patches of her skin were becoming overgrown with hair. She didn’t question Kate’s involvement. Max trusted Kate, so she probably either told her, or Kate found out the bad way. She waved them over and the pair started hobbling towards her as she ran to the back of her truck and dropped the back. “We need to put her in the bed,” she hissed to Kate, “If she wolfs out in the cab, we’re all in trouble.”

Kate nodded though she obviously didn’t like the idea of putting Max in the bed of the truck, but Chloe wasn’t going to give her a choice as she moved to help Kate lift Max up and into the bed. Damn, she’s getting a lot heavier right now. “1… 2… 3… LIFT!”

The girls barely got Max into the bed, who managed to retain enough awareness to scramble deeper into the bed of the truck as Chloe and Kate ran into the cab after putting up the back hatch. Chloe mashed the accelerator the moment the doors were closed, leaving skid marks and the squealed protests of tires in her wake. A glance over at Kate showed wide eyes and panic, learning werewolves are real and that her friend/probable crush was one had to be a shock. Welcome to my fucking world Kate. “What happened Kate?”

Kate blubbered out the details, she’d been minding her own business, relaxing in her dorm when Max had come knocking. She’d quickly noticed that Max’s hand was starting to change and started freaking out until Max told her at least the basics of what was up and that she needed to call Chloe right now. “Well I guess you’re up to speed then. Yeah, Max is a fucking werewolf, hella crazy isn’t it.”

Kate boggled at her. “YOU KNEW?!”

Chloe nodded, fixating on the road as best she could while heading for the junkyard. “Yeah, I figured it all out this morning. She’s been seeking me out in wolf form because I guess I’m just someone she knows she can trust on a super deep level or some shit like that. When we get to the junkyard, we’re going to need to get her clothes off real fast.”

Chloe stole a glance to see the cornucopia of emotions on Kate’s face, terror, concern, shock and a dash of flustered at the whole ‘get her clothes off’ bit written on her face. “G-get her clothes off?!”

Chloe nodded again, trying to keep it all business as she turned onto the road to the junkyard. “Yeah, or they’ll explode off her and she’s down a set of clothing. I’ve got spare clothes in the truck in case that happens but we’d rather avoid that.”

Kate probably nodded or something but Chloe was laser focused on the dark road in case some idiot deer jumped out in front of them. Thankfully that didn’t happen and she skidded to a halt in the front of the junkyard. Both girls sprang out of the cab and ran to the back. Chloe’s heart ached and she gasped at Max writhing in pain in the bed of the truck. Through gritted teeth Max managed to get out a “hurry”. Chloe glanced up at the sky as she pulled down the hatch to the bed. The sun was setting really fast. “Okay Kate, we’re going to carry her out of the bed, get her clothes off and then back the fuck away, okay?”

Kate nodded, a look of determination on her face as she climbed up into the bed with Chloe. Kate grabbed Max’s ankles and Chloe clutched onto Max’s writhing body as they managed to half drag her out of the bed and onto the grass. Chloe wasted no time in ridding Max of her pajama top and Kate’s face went all red as she freed Max from her shorts and underwear. “Okay get back!”

Kate didn’t need to be told twice as she sprinted back away. Chloe though, for some idiot reason found herself rooted in place as she watched Max’s form start bulging and twisting, the small woman she’d only just admitted to being in love with for so long’s body changing rapidly before her eyes. Max screamed in pain, loud and long only for the scream to morph into a howl as the change accelerated. It was utterly mesmerizing to her as she watched. Then she realized her mistake when the change stopped and Max’s head jerked towards her, a low snarl in her throat as she uncurled from the ball she’d ended up in. Chloe fell to the ground, horrified as she saw Max’s eyes turn towards her. They were Max’s eyes alright; she didn’t know how she hadn’t been able to tell prior, but they utterly lacked the sparkling innocent quality from before. These were the eyes of a predator; the violence in them was unmistakable as she started towards Chloe. Her mind flashed back to Max’s admission that it took her a few moments after the change to orient herself. A few moments were all this creature needed to do some real damage to her. And she’d forgotten the fucking gun.

“M-Max?” She asked, voice shaky and fragile as she started crawling back from the beast moving towards her on all fours. “It’s me, it’s Chloe!”

She saw nothing in those eyes. The softness she’d seen in her past two encounters with wolfed out Max wasn’t there and terror coursed through her veins. I’m going to die. The thought didn’t scare her more than she already was. It was a statement of fact. They should have gotten Max out of the truck earlier and drove on ahead or something, but hindsight was such a bitch. Max’s canine snout curled back into a snarl as she stopped crawling, her body tensing over her rear legs as she prepared to pounce. “MAX!”

Max’s head jerked and cocked to the side as Kate stepped in front of Chloe, arms outstretched. “Max! No! It’s Chloe! You two kissed and went on a road trip today! Remember that!”

Chloe tensed for Max to pounce on Kate and then turn to her, instead they got a gentle whining sound. Kate you are insane and I love you so much right now. Max’s snout appeared again as she gently pushed past Kate, a sad soulful expression on her canine features. The tension flooded away as she watched Max, panting. How can I stay mad at you… “It’s… okay Max, I’m okay. You didn’t hurt me.”

Max pawed at the ground, staring down with her ears flat. Guess she feels guilty for scaring the shit out of me. She moved to get up but Max pushed her snout into her chest and whined, pressing some of her weight into Chloe. She sighed and started petting the fur on Max’s neck. “Okay, okay Max, I’m okay, I promise, you’re fine.”

Max nodded and pulled back a bit, giving Chloe the space to get up. Kate offered her a hand, which she took before pulling the mousey girl into a big hug. “You hella saved my life Kate!”

Max whined behind her at the implication before nuzzling the pair as they hugged. Chloe could feel Kate’s entire body shaking with what she imagined was sheer terror. “It’s okay Kate, she’s going to be fine now. The last two times she gave me a ride on her back and we cuddled up in bed together. She’s not going to hurt us.”

Kate nodded but didn’t say a word, Chloe totally understood her as the adrenaline started to wane a bit. “Look… I know this is a lot Kate, I don’t blame you if you want to just go back to your dorm.”

Kate shook her head, taking a step back from the hug. “No. Max needs help and I’m not going to turn my back while she needs it.”

Chloe nodded, sighing softly, unsure of how Kate could really help in this situation. Max nuzzled into her hand and she responded by rubbing the top of her head. “Okay… I’m not sure if Max can carry two people but we can at least go check out the print I found.”

Kate’s eyes went a little wide and she reached out a hand to rub Max’s snout. “Carry?! Like riding on her back?”

Chloe walked over to her truck, leaning over the side to grab the length of nylon chord. “Yup! That night they found Max out in the forest, she gave me a ride to that spot. I brought this rope along so I wouldn’t just be holding on by the fur… What do you think Max, can you carry both of us?”

Max nodded, pawing at the ground and giving a soft bark. Chloe shrugged, quickly thinking through the logistics of the whole thing. “Okay, so I’ll make a quick little harness with the rope and you can hold onto my waist.”

Chloe could see Kate’s cheeks flush a bit at the suggestion in the growing twilight but she paid it no mind. She coaxed Max into the position she needed to start looping the rope over the hipster-turned-werewolf’s shoulders, chest and back, tying the knots tight enough so she wouldn’t worry about things coming loose but not so tight that Max was uncomfortable. “Okay, there we go. Ready Kate?”

Kate took a breath but nodded. “Ready as I’m going to be.”

Chloe grinned as she packed away Max’s clothes and tossed Kate the bag of spares. “Alright, let’s go track down a fucking werewolf.”

Kate just stared at her; eyes wider. “Chloe, what are we going to do if we find one?”

“Fuck if I know, come back tomorrow with some silver bullets? Worst case we run,” Chloe climbed up onto Max’s back, who was watching them both with concern. We probably should have thought this out more … “What’s important is finding out if they’re still in the area.”

Kate sighed and got up behind Chloe, her arms wrapping tight around her waist as she pressed in close. “Just don’t let me fall, okay?”

Chloe felt her face go a little red as Kate’s chest crushed into her back. They both got low on Max, who started to slowly pace around a bit. Please don’t get jealous Max, now isn’t the time… “I won't, I promise. Alright Max, let’s go check out that print.”

Max huffed and started moving with a loping gait down the train tracks. Chloe felt an odd thrill as Kate clutched at her tighter as they picked up speed. God dammit why am I so fucking gay? I just met Kate! At least it’s much easier to just hold onto this chord instead of just grabbing at her fur… “Doing okay Kate?”

Kate’s response was to squeeze Chloe and bury her face in her back. I’ll take that as a yes. At least Max is taking us pretty slow right now, this is nothing compared to last night. Max came to a stop where she had been attacked two nights ago and started sniffing around where she fell, then went over to the muddy print. Chloe gripped the harness a bit tighter as she prepared for Max to take off running as she felt the werewolf tense up. “Guess you found the scent? Let’s see where i-WHOA!”

Max sprang off into the woods at the same insane pace that she’d used two nights ago. Chloe felt Kate’s grip jerk and for a moment she was afraid they’d lose her, but the girl was made of sterner stuff than Chloe gave her credit for. Chloe gritted her teeth as the chord started to dig into the skin of her hands. I should have worn gloves; we did not prepare for this properly. She buried her face into Max’s fur as she kept going to protect her face from whatever branches weren’t just destroyed with Max’s running. We’re heading inland… I wonder how far a werewolf’s territory is?

Chloe quickly lost track of time as Max kept running and running, her face buried in her fur. At least she still smells like Max… How long have we been running for? An hour? Two? My hands are really fucking starting to hurt… Still Max ran on, dodging between trees and rocks as she ran in the valley between two mountains. This plan was fucking insane, we don’t even have a weapon to defend ourselves with. I’m such a fucking idiot… Max skidded to a halt suddenly and Chloe was nearly thrown off Max’s back from the sudden change in momentum, hanging on mostly with her legs. “What the shit Max?!”

Kate let go of Chloe and staggered off of Max before falling to her knees and looking like she was going to puke. Chloe slid down off Max, her own legs shaky from the experience. “A-are you okay Kate?!”

Kate sat up and she gave a small, weak nod. “Yeah… Just I get seasick a lot and that was really intense…”

Chloe smiled softly and did her best to help Kate to her feet while Max paced around them, making concerned whines as she watched Kate. Kate reached out a hand to give Max a gentle pat on the head. “I’m okay Max, I promise.”

Max gave another soft whine and Chloe gave her a pat as well, wincing at the pain in her hands. She gave them a quick look, her eyes already adjusted to the moonlight. Deep red lines crossed over her hands where she’d been gripping the chord. Yeah, I definitely need gloves for next time, and to clean this shit out when we get home. “Okay Max, why’d we stop?”

Max whimpered and motioned with her head out into the gloom. Kate pulled out her cell phone and flipped on the light. In front of them was a massive cliff and a river at the bottom. “Oh. Shit.”

Chloe sat down on the edge of the cliff, staring out as Kate sat down beside her. “So, what now?”

Chloe shrugged, fishing a cigarette out of her pocket, which Kate plucked from her lips. “No smoking. We need to figure this out.”

Chloe just stared at Kate, bug eyed. Max gave an approving snort at the whole thing. Did she really just fucking… “Ugh, fine. We can either try and find a way past this river, or check for Rachel’s scent. Does your phone have any signal?”

Kate quickly checked the maps app on her phone and shook her head. “Not even one bar and no GPS.”

Chloe sighed and buried her head in her hands . Of fucking course. “Okay, so this is kind of a dead end without a map unless we want to run all night in one direction hoping we find a bridge or a ford or something… Guess it’s Rachel time.”

Chloe stuffed her hand into her pocket and pulled out the plastic bag with Rachel’s bracelet. She opened it up and offered it to Max, who stuffed her nose inside and started sniffing. After a few moments she gave a soft whine and started pacing around in circles, sniffing at the air before returning to the cliff edge and whimpering.

“Do you have a scent Max? Like something recent?” Chloe felt a glimmer of that old traitor, hope. Maybe Rachel had run off with some guy into the woods or something. She got a whine and head shake in answer and she pressed her forehead into Max’s, more than a few tears staining her fur. “Shit… Is it because there’s no scent on the bracelet?”

Max’s head bobbed in the affirmative and she pressed tight into Chloe.

Chloe wiped her face free of nascent tears and she felt Kate start rubbing her back, “Don’t worry, we’re going to find Rachel together.”

“Thanks, you two. I know this is out of nowhere for you Kate but it means so much that you just care at the drop of a hat.”

Max lays down, resting her head on Chloe’s lap as Kate wrapped her in a hug. “Of course I care. Max cares about you a whole lot and I care about Max. I think it’s incredible that you haven’t given up searching for Rachel after all this time, I’ve seen you putting up all those posters around Blackwell.”

Chloe sighed, her fingers running through Max’s fur as she stared up into the night sky. All the stars were out with no street lights to hide them. “She was there for me when I needed it, when I had nobody else. She… always loved the stars, they reminded her that there was so much beauty out there, which we almost never see.”

Chloe felt tears starting to well up as the memories of what happened with Rachel’s mom bubbled up. “She and Max were my stars after my dad died. Even if I couldn’t see Max’s, I knew she was out there and that gave me something to cling to until I met her. Rachel burned so bright that it made it impossible to see anything else and I was okay with that… Until I realized that I was blind to her getting with someone else behind my back. Now I don’t know what to think anymore Kate, I really don’t. She was my everything and she just went off and disappeared without even saying goodbye.”

Kate squeezed her tight as the tears flowed. “It’s okay Chloe, you’ve got Max… And you’ve got me. You’re not going to be alone again, I promise.”

Chloe leaned against Kate as she softly sobbed, so many raw nerves had gotten touched today that she was emotionally exhausted. Max leaned more of herself against Chloe so she was sandwiched between the wall of fur and Kate’s hug. “T-thanks… Both of you. I know I’m a fucking mess.”

Kate smiled and rubbed Chloe’s back some more. “I’m sorry I was so scared of you earlier… You just were not what I was expecting. I didn’t think someone like Max would be friends with…”

Chloe snorted, a smile creeping onto her face. “A no-good punk like me?”

Kate’s face became flushed and she stared down off the cliff. “I’m sorry for judging a book by it’s cover. You’re actually a really sweet person and I see the way you care about her...”

And you’re totally jealous of me for being with her? Chloe could see it written all over Kate’s face in the gloom. “It’s okay Kate. I don’t exactly try to advertise that side of me… Really it only comes out around people I really care about.”

Kate nodded, her eyes studying Chloe in the gloom as she leaned back against Max. “You’re careful about the people you trust with yourself?”

Chloe sighed as she started scratching Max behind the ear. She had no idea why she was telling this person she’d barely met all this stuff, but she felt like she could trust her. Max certainly did. “Yeah… After my dad died and Max moved, I coped pretty fucking poorly… especially when mom got together with that asshole.”

Kate’s face turned downcast and she gave Chloe another hug. “I’m so sorry.”

Chloe smiled softly as she returned the hug. “Thanks… I’m just glad I have Max back. I feel like without her this huge piece of me was just missing, now that she’s back I feel… more complete, I guess? More like the old me at any rate.”

Kate nodded, her expression hard to read as a cloud passed over the moon. “That sounds very romantic.”

Chloe definitely wasn’t about to argue that as Max made a huffing noise and nuzzled into her side more. “You’re okay with that given…”

Kate froze up a bit at the implied question. “Because of my faith? It can sometimes be a bit tough to reconcile that but I can see how much you two love each other and I know that God would be okay with it…”

Chloe’s eyebrow shot up, clearly there was more to this than Kate was saying. “You sound like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

Kate’s face was clearly red, even in the low light of the moon. She could have sworn she heard Max make a giggle-like sound. “I-I’ve thought about it, yes…”

Chloe knew on some level that she probably should back off on this, but the urge to get Kate flustered was a powerful one. “Oh yeah?”

The cloud moved on, and Kate’s very red face was knotted up in a look of embarrassment. “Just… The bible only talks about men laying with other men… And the god I know wouldn’t condemn people for loving each other.”

Oh… OH! Chloe grinned a little bit as she clearly saw what Kate was implying. “You definitely have thought about this a lot.”

Kate opened her mouth, only for her reply to be cut off by a far away howl. Right, this is where another werewolf lives. Max, for her part, went rigid and shot back up onto her feet with an expectant look at the pair. “Time to head back?”

Max nodded and turned her gaze off into the distance with worried eyes as Chloe and Kate scrambled up onto her back. Chloe grabbed the chord from a different angle to hopefully spare her hands the same pain as earlier. Kate grabbed her tighter than before, mashing herself into Chloe’s back as Max went running off into the brush back the way they’d come..

Chapter Text

Chloe’s eyes cracked open before her alarm sounded, the exhaustion from the night’s activities making her want to destroy the damn thing and sleep for a year. She turned and looked around, unable to recall coming back to her house and getting into bed. She was even still fully dressed from the night before. She tried to sit up but felt weight on her chest keeping her pinned down. Looking down to one side she saw a naked Max, gently snoring away with her legs tangled up with Chloe’s. On the other side was Kate Marsh, clinging to her like a koala as she slumbered. Riiiiiiiiight. The memories started coming back to her. They couldn’t exactly get Max back in the dorms while she was a wolf, so they’d all crashed here. Kate had seemed all too eager to climb into bed with them, something about never having had a sleepover before. Poor girl, so sweet and sheltered.

Chloe lay back down in the bed, savouring the moment as she ran her fingers through Max’s hair. She was tempted to run her fingers through Kate’s as well, but she could see it was tangled like crazy after her bun had been obliterated by riding a werewolf. The whole thing felt… Chloe scrunched up her face as she struggled to find a word. It was definitely comfortable but that didn’t capture things. Her mind flashed to Kate totally saving her ass the night before. Who knew the little church girl was such a stone cold badass? She looked down at Kate, studying her in the early morning haze as she slept peacefully. She couldn’t quite make heads or tails of her. Chloe had totally expected a prim and proper girl after the tea party, but dropping everything to help her friend Max after discovering she was a werewolf, then stepping between a very pissed werewolf and Chloe’s no good ass, that was something else… The ring of her alarm broke her train of thought, spoiling everything.

Kate grumbled as her own eyes cracked open. Chloe couldn’t help but flash her a shit eating grin. “Slept well?”

Kate’s face turned several intense shades of red rather quickly. Chloe couldn’t help but laugh as she reached over and shut off the alarm. “It was… comfortable…”

Chloe smiled as Kate rolled back over and watched her, almost like she was afraid of something. “Relax, I’m not judging you. But you are hella cute when your face is all red.”

Kate’s face stayed red and she gave a gentle cough. “Ummm, Max is naked.”

Chloe looked down at Max and shrugged. “Yuuuup. We should wake her up and get you two to Blackwell before anyone notices you’re missing.”

Chloe gently shook Max’s shoulder, which elicited a groan of protest. “Wake up Super Max, we gotta get you clothed to protect Kate’s innocence then get you back to your dorm.”

Max’s head snapped up and she stared wide eyed at Kate, her hands scrabbling desperately for a sheet to cover herself. “Crap!”

Chloe just grinned as she sat up and handed Max the blanket. The hipster gave her a thankful look as she covered herself up. “I’m so sorry Kate, I couldn’t stay up long enough to turn back and change…”

Kate’s face was completely red but she also didn’t turn away. I know, it’s hard to take your eyes off her. “I-It’s cool Max…”

Max and Chloe share a look and Chloe can’t help the mischief written all over her face. “What’s the matter Kate, got the hots for Max?”

Kate looked like someone just guessed her deepest darkest secret, probably because Chloe just did. Out loud. In front of Max. “I-I… Ummmm…”

Max sighed, shooting Chloe a quick glare. 

Chloe smirked as she started to scoot her way down towards the end of the bed to retrieve the bag of Max’s clothing. “I could tell she was so jealous the way she was after me. It was pretty cute actually.”

She can hear the slap of Kate burying her head in her hands as the poor girl strangled out. “I’m sorry! You two are together and I shouldn’t be jealous… I can’t be. Oh god my mother would kill me if she knew about this.”

“It’s… okay Kate. I don’t want to stop hanging out with you or anything. We’ll work this all out and nobody is going to tell your mom.” Max started, her eyes darting between Chloe and Kate.

Chloe leaned against her desk, watching with her arms folded. “Better not. Kate saved my life last night; I think that gets her at least friend privileges with us.”

Max’s eyebrow twigged at the ‘at least’ but she busied herself with getting dressed as Chloe focused on Kate. “Look, you dropped everything and skipped out on curfew to help Max with no warning. That means a lot, to both of us,” she can’t help but watch the little butt wiggle that Max did as she squeezed herself into her jeans. “We’re a team on this werewolf shit and I’m not about to police Max’s life because we’re dating. We gotta have trust and all that garbage.”

Max chuckled as she slipped into her shirt and walked over to peck a kiss onto Chloe’s cheek. “Great speech, now can we get to the dorms? We’re running out of time.”

“Shit, right. Before we go though, I need to know, why couldn’t you get Rachel’s scent?”

Max shrugged. “The bracelet just smelled like weed, sorry.”

“Well shit.”

Chloe hadn’t felt at home for so long she’d forgotten the feeling. Yesterday on the road trip she’d felt closer to that than she ever had since her dad died. Like she had somewhere she belonged, and that was next to Max. But driving Max and Kate to Blackwell, the three bickering, teasing and laughing she felt like she didn’t just belong, but that she mattered. “Oh, I totally beat up a girl for making fun of Max’s freckles and got suspended over it.”

Kate’s laughter was high and had this melodic quality to it that sounded like she belonged in the opera as she nodded in agreement. “I don’t blame you; they are really cute on her!”

Max pouted and crossed her arms. “Betrayed! How could you Kate?!”

Kate stuck out her tongue in response, “Because freckles are cute and I’m not going to lie about it.”

Max huffed and gave a mock glare at Chloe. “How could you turn her against me?!”

Chloe took her eyes off the road for a moment to flash a wink at Max. “What can I say? I’m the best bad influence. I’ve got the good little Christian girl sneaking out after hours and going on wild adventures with us!”

Kate’s voice sounded concerned but also excited. “Adventure s ?”

Chloe cackled with delight. “You’re hella stuck with us, Marsh! We’re going to go find Rachel and take this fucking werewolf down, then figure out how to help Max!”

Max laughed along, “You’ll be fine Kate, we’ll be more careful with next time. Like drop me off and let me turn then catch up with me.”

Kate’s voice went pensive. “Do we have to let you turn? I… can’t stand hearing all that pain.”

“I know what you mean Kate, listening to you hurting, Max… I hope we can find a way to fix this.”

Max sighed and drew her knees up to her chest like she always did when she felt shitty and guilty. It made Chloe’s heart end up in her throat. “I’m sorry, I’m trying to control it… It’s just like I’m in this lake treading water and something starts tugging at my ankle. I can keep my head above water most of the time, but when it starts getting dark, I start drowning and…”

Kate wrapped her in a huge hug that Chloe desperately wished she could be part of, but driving. “It’s okay. We’re going to find a way to help you.”

And like that, they were at Blackwell and Chloe was alone in her truck again, exceptionally tired. What the fuck was that… Fuck it, that’s ‘future me’ problem. Time to go home and sleep more.

Chloe’s alarm woke her up at three in the afternoon and her head felt like someone had hit it with a fucking jackhammer. With a groan she rolled to turn off the alarm and blearily stared at her phone. Three dozen texts from Max Caulfield. “Shit…”

Chloe                                                                                                                   3:02 pm 10/10

i’m up

Her cell immediately started buzzing.

“Hey Max.”

“Fuck Chloe… You had me worried.”

Chloe snorted and sat up in bed, stretching out her very sore back. “Worried? What?”

“… About you being jealous or upset or something…”

Did I not explain shit to Max this morning? “No, I’m not. It’s not like you’d go do something with her behind my back like fucking Rachel did. That’s not you. Besides, we’ve both been into each other since we were kids. I’m not about to throw that away because someone agrees with me that you’re hot. ”

Max’s quiet for long on the line that Chloe wonders if she’s hung up. “Max?”

“Sorry… I just never had someone call me hot before… And now you and Kate are into me and I don’t know what the fuck is going on anymore.”

“I know what you mean, life just cannot fucking chill right now. Look, no matter what, you and me are a fucking team. We sorted that out with our little declarations of undying love in the truck. Now Kate and all the wolf shit? We’ll have to play it by ear. Are you done with classes?”

“In two hours.”

“Cool. I’ll meet you on campus and we can chill and talk to Kate, figure shit out. I’m going to hit those books until then.”

She heard the bell ring for classes in the background, “See you later Max… I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Click.

And Chloe was alone. Again.

She flopped back onto the bed with a heavy sigh. Two days ago, she didn’t care about being by herself. Three days ago, she was ready to die. Now I have something to actually live for, I guess. Fuck. And what the hell are we going to do about Kate? Like I seriously owe her one for just saving my stupid ass, that was so fucking bad ass of her. Who knew the little church mouse was so fucking fearless? Staring down a wild fucking werewolf like that. And Max… listened. Her gut churned at seeing Max like that, and Max not seeing her . I’m not sure if it would be better or worse if she had recognized me… I need a fucking shower. I reek. She rolled out of bed and staggered off towards the bathroom, thankful that Joyce and David weren’t around to start peppering her with questions.

The hot water helped, rinsing off the caked on sweat and grime from the previous day’s misadventures. Of course, her mind kept wandering to what she’d do with Max in the shower… Then she pictured Kate in the shower with her. Fuck what. She slapped her face just out of pure reflex to get her mind off that track. Brain what the fuck. We met this girl less than two days ago, she was terrified of us… She sighed as she shut the water off, leaning against the wall of the shower. I just fucking got Max back, why the hell is any other girl in my thoughts right now except, maybe like, Rachel. She shuddered at the idea of picturing Rachel in that moment, the girl who fucking found someone else and never had the guts to tell her. At least Kate doesn’t seem like she’d ever do anything to hurt anyone anyways. Or maybe she’s actually a massive freak under that church girl stuff. She shook that particular image out of her head. She had Max; Max should be more than enough. She’d dreamed of it for so long. I need a toke and to hit the books, relationship bullshit can wait. We need to figure out how to help Max.

The next two hours were a blur of books as she skimmed, looking for anything related to a cure or a way to keep Max from turning, even if it was temporarily. It didn’t help that the book was so dry she felt like it belonged in an ancient desert mausoleum. Still better than stewing in her own thoughts and wishing she could just move into Max’s dorm and away from fucking David. It’s weird that he hasn’t been on my case at all. Either Joyce worked a fucking miracle or a shit storm is brewing. That I really don’t fucking need.

Her phone buzzed and she didn’t even need to check the message to know Max was done with classes. She fired off a quick text telling Max she was on the way as she tossed on whatever cleanish clothes were in the pile on the floor, barely pausing to grab a random fruit from the kitchen to munch on as she sprinted to her truck.

In retrospect, she probably shouldn’t have grabbed the apple, instead maybe taken the moment to brush her goddamn teeth. Fucking… apple skin… get out! Picking at the apple skin lodged firmly in her teeth was probably not the safest thing to do be doing while driving, but she didn’t want to look like a fucking dumbass for Max. I still don’t know if yesterday was a fever dream or what… I’m going to have to kiss Max again, just to make super sure.

She rolled into the parking lot and saw Max waiting for her on the steps, Kate and that Warren guy sitting near her, the three chatting. Max smiled and waved before walking over, Kate lagged behind and Warren looked like a lost puppy. Chloe pulled into a space and hopped out as Max rounded the back of the truck and practically launched herself at her. Chloe caught her with an oof and spun around while Max clung onto her. She could hear Max breathing deep through her nose as she buried her face in Chloe’s neck and heard a gentle sigh from the hipster. “Hey… I missed you.”

Chloe grinned as she saw Kate’s growing flush and Warren’s dumbfounded expression. “I missed you too Max. Sorry about sleeping all day.”

Max gave a soft chuckle as she kept her face firmly buried in Chloe’s neck. “It’s okay, Kate’s been a complete zombie all day and I don’t blame her.”

Chloe chuckled, giving Kate a nod as Max clung to her, “What’s with the attack of the flying girlfriend?”

Max responded with a long, deep kiss that made Kate’s face go red and Warren got really busy studying his shoe laces. “I just… Missed you. Class is really tough with everything and you help me not notice everything.”

Chloe grinned before giving Max some kisses in return. “I missed you too. I’ll take you away somewhere quiet soon, okay?”

Max smiled at her as she got back down onto her feet and Chloe gave Kate a wave. “Hey Kate! Hope you’re doing okay.”

Kate gave Chloe a nervous smile and shuffled forwards. “I’m just really tired…”

Chloe nodded as she leaned against the side of her truck. She was tempted to fish out a smoke but she could tell that Kate would just take it again. “Yeah, you were amazing last night though.”

Kate’s face went redder and she rubbed the back of her neck. Chloe caught Warren’s stunned face out of the corner of her eye and didn’t even bother suppressing the smirk on her face. “T-thanks Chloe. I didn’t do much but I was happy to help out.”

Max shook her head as she held Chloe’s hand. “You did lots. Let’s head up to my dorm and talk about it? And thank you again so much for getting those supplies.”

Wait, supplies? What supplies? Max started walking, leading Chloe by her hand as she went, Kate following along a couple paces behind. As they neared Warren, he looked like he was going to run away, but he approached, trying his best to look brave. “Hey, I’m Warren. You must be Chloe, right?”

Chloe wasn’t sure how she felt about him. Kate had told her that he had been crushing on Max, but Max clearly was not interested or something probably would have happened. Poor guy, he never stood a chance. She extended him a fist bump with her free hand. “Hey Warren.”

Warren returned the fist bump before he rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes darted between the three women. “So… I guess you’re going to go chill in the dorms? And what were you talking about?”

Nosy much? Fine. “Yeah, super secret girl stuff. No biggie.”

Warren’s eyes went wide as he no doubt jumped to many, many wild conclusions. She couldn’t tell if he wanted to cry or worship the ground upon which she walked. “OH. Sorry, I’ll just…”

Kate chimed in, probably to save the poor guy some embarrassment. Max was fixing Chloe with a ‘really?’ look. “Don’t you still have to finish that assignment for English? It’s due to tomorrow.”

Warren’s eyes went wide as he looked at Kate. “Shit, you’re right. I haven’t even started it yet. Well I guess I’ll see you later then…”

With that he was off in a half sprint towards the dorms. Max gave Kate a quizzical look. “We aren’t in his class, how did you know he had an assignment?”

Kate just giggled and had a smile like she’d just pulled off the greatest cookie jar heist in history. “Well I know he doesn’t like his English class so…”

Chloe gave an appreciative whistle. “Damn, Kate’s more mischievous than I thought!”

Kate beamed up at Chloe, a twinkle of mirth in her eyes. “I have my moments.”

Max gave a gentle gasp. “Chloe! Don’t lead little Kate astray!”

Chloe simply cackled at the fun of it all as Max tugged her towards the dorms. As they started walking across the campus, an older man approached Max looking like he was on a mission. Chloe automatically tensed up, recognizing a teacher when she saw one. Max was completely relaxed however. “Hi Mr. Jefferson!”

Right, the teacher Max told about her photography excursion. “Hello Max. This is?”

Max looked over her shoulder and to the hand she was holding. “This is my… girlfriend, Chloe Price.”

Jefferson’s appraising eye turned to Chloe and she felt like she was under a lense, but not a welcomed one like Max’s. There was something about the man that set her teeth on edge. “So she is. I’m Mr. Jefferson. I’ve heard some stories about your girlfriend Max. I take it she’s why my star pupil missed her class.”

Chloe shrugged, stuffing her free hand in her pocket. “Most of them are probably true. And yeah, my bad, just… sudden romantic getaway to Portland.”

Jefferson gave Chloe a weird look before, shaking his head. “Charming. Anyways, are you sure you aren’t going to enter a photograph for the contest Max?”

Max looked like she wanted to crawl into a box and just hide. Note to self, find a way to make Max stop doubting herself so fucking much. “I… had an accident on the train tracks that night and destroyed my camera.”

Jefferson raised an eyebrow at Max. “That’s certainly a... novel excuse. Surely you have something you can enter.”

Max tensed up a bit at the demand, seeing her like that nearly made Chloe snap out at him for intimidating her, but causing Max problems with classes would probably only complicate the situation. She squeezed Max’s hand, who returned the squeeze. “I’ll… see if I can find anything that fits the theme.”

Jefferson smiled an easy but completely mirthless smile. “I’m sure you will. Anyways I’d better be going, I have assignments to mark. Nice meeting you, Chloe. Kate.”

“Max, why the shit is there a giant pile of egg cartons in here?”

Kate stared intently at the floor. “I… Uh, Max was complaining about the noise so I asked the cafeteria staff for the egg cartons from breakfast so we would soundproof her room. I said it was for a project.”

Chloe stared at Kate before picking the girl up in a massive hug, spinning around the room with her. “KATE YOU’RE A GENIUS! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”

Max laughed as Chloe set down a very startled Kate. “Easy there, we gotta get this stuff all up first, which means we need to get a bunch of stuff off my wall.”

Chloe ruffled Kate’s bun as she looked around the room. “And I gotta get the high up stuff, don’t I?”

Max nodded and leaned up to kiss her cheek. “Yup! Kate will get cartons all ready with poster tac while we take stuff down… I’m leaving the photo wall up though.”

Chloe glanced at the photo wall and smiled to see a whole bunch of pictures of her in a certain bookstore on the wall. Shit I look hot when I’m being all bookworm. “Okay Max, where should I start?”

Max vaguely gestured around the room. “Any posters or pennants really, I’ll try and put some back up over top of the cartons.”

The trio got to work and Chloe was able get the stuff down pretty quick so she started putting up the cartons well before Max. The room slowly started getting quieter and Max started getting more and more relaxed as they worked until they ran out of cartons. Unfortunately, there was still wall left. “I’m sorry Max, I’ll try and get more tomorrow!”

Max smiled warmly and pulled Kate into a hug. “It’s okay Kate, this is already helping a lot. This was a really sweet idea.”

Chloe added herself to the hug, sandwiching Kate between herself and Max. “It’s hella nice to know that Max has you looking after her too. Means I don’t have to keep an eye on her all the time.”

Kate’s smile could probably cure the sick and make crops grow. “T-thanks. I know Max would do the same for me…”

Max smiled softly as she finished rearranging some of her posters. “Any time Kate. Now. I need to pick a picture for Jefferson’s stupid contest…”

Chloe flopped down on Max’s couch, reclining and just drinking in the new ambience. Damn, I should do this back in my room… “What’s the contest anyways?”

Kate sat down next to Chloe, “The theme is passion.”

Max grumbled softly as she pulled out a stack of photographs. “Why does every assignment with him have to be a stupid contest anyways. I’d rather just get a mark.”

Kate shrugged. “Probably to get us used to entering them. He keeps going on about the art world being about putting yourself out there.”

Chloe leaned back into the couch, fingers twitching for a smoke she knew Kate would just take away from her. “Why did you stop me from smoking?”

“Smoking kills.” Kate’s voice is firm, like that’s the entire discussion right there.

“And you care because?”

Kate pursed her lips, as if she was offended Chloe asked at all. “Because I care.”

“Not answering the question Kate. You know me for a couple of hours and you step between me and a fucking werewolf.”

Kate sighed. “Because Max cares about you and it’s the Christian thing to do.”

Chloe felt the urge to needle at her faith like she did to the assholes protesting at pride, but they might as well be entirely different people next to Kate. Kate saved your life, be nice. “Well… thanks. The only people who’ve ever given a shit about me are Max, Rachel and my dad.”

Shit, made Max wince… “I’m sure a lot more people cared about you than that Chloe. Like your mom.”

“Then my mom wouldn’t have married an asshole who hit me.” Shit I cannot believe I just said that.

Max and Kate both just stared at her, mouths hanging open. Max spoke first, her voice flat and full of this calm rage that was just the right kind of scary. “He does what?”

Fuck it, it’s out now. “Started when he caught me with a joint that Rachel left. He just slapped me, said pot was the reason I was a complete fucking failure and a fucking drop out.”

“Chloe… I’m so sorry.” Kate enveloped Chloe in a hug. She didn’t ask for one, but Kate just knew. It was nice, warm.

Chloe couldn’t help herself, the pain she’d never even told Rachel about spilling from her lips like a flash flood.

“Does Joyce know?” Max got on her knees in front of Chloe, tissue box in hand and photographs forgotten as she wiped up the tears Chloe didn’t know she was making.

“What the hell do I tell her? The asshole who makes her happy most of the time hits me?”

Kate nodded, her words cutting the issue apart simply. “She deserves the truth, if he hurts you, he probably hurts her in ways you can’t see.”

The mere idea that David would hurt her mom caused Chloe to see red, her fingernails digging into her legs. Both Max and Kate hugged her and the warmth from the twin hugs pushed the rage just out of her reach.

After what felt like an eternity, the crying slowed to a stop. Chloe relaxed into the couch a bit, her emotions spent. “Well… I guess that happened.”

Max ran her fingers through her hair, head resting on her shoulder. “It’s okay Chloe, it’s not your fault.”

Before Chloe could argue the point, Kate gave her a gentle squeeze. “You’re not responsible for his actions Chloe. He makes his own choices.”

I wish I could believe that. Kate gave her another squeeze. “You should believe it because it’s true.”

“Oh… did I say that out loud?”

Max nodded and gave her this look that was so full of hurt and anger, not at her, but for her. “Yeah, it’s okay Chloe. David is never going to lay another finger on you.”

An image of Max all wolfed out bearing down on David danced in her mind, it was pretty satisfying to see the tables turned. Is that selfish and petty? Probably. “I don’t… want to hurt him, I just want him to leave me the fuck alone.”

Max nodded and relaxed a little bit, the fire still in her eyes but less all consuming. Damn, when did this girl get so fucking fierce? “Anyways, enough of my garbage, we gotta talk wolf shit.”

Max froze a bit, the colour draining from her face. “I-I’m sorry Chloe. About when I turned…”

Chloe shook her head. “Forgiven Max, we gotta give you space when you turn. I can’t exactly hold it against you. Also we need to figure out our plan for getting silver and keeping you from turning.”

Chapter Text

“Kate, we can’t just take your jewellery!” Max protested; a look of horror etched onto her face.

“It’s okay Max, really! I hardly ever wear it anyways. I prefer my crucifix and that’s it.” Kate, always putting others first. I wonder what I’d be like if I did that? Probably in a fucking hole in the ground. “And it’s better than Chloe stealing some.”

Chloe’s eyes went wide and her mouth started to work in protest before she surrendered. “Damn, busted… It was going to be this sweet ass heist and everything.”

Both Kate and Max burst into laughter, and Chloe could swear she’d never heard a sound she liked better… Well, except for the sounds Rachel made when I got going juuuust right… Her mind jumped to Max making those sounds and she could feel the burn in the tips of her ears, then she started picturing Kate and – “Chloe? Earth to Chloe?”

Chloe’s eyes darted around, wondering what she’d just missed out on as Max gave her a weird expression. “Uh, yeah?”

“Your heart rate was going crazy. Are you okay?”

How the fuck d-fucking werewolf. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. My mind wandered off on me.”

Max snorted, mischief in her eyes. “Well I’ll just have to put a leash on it then.”

SO NOT HELPING MAX. Kate gave both of them a puzzled look until she finally got it and her own face looked like a high heat stove element. “Max look what you did to poor Kate, we’re going to need some water or she’ll start a fire.”

Max just grinned as Kate spun and darted into her room with a quick, “I’ll get the silver!”

Chloe sighed, softening as she shared a gentle kiss with Max, both allowing it to linger. “I missed you so much Max, this is like a fucking dream.”

Max’s smile was so sweet it belonged on her mom’s pancakes. “A dream come true for both of us… I wonder what kid-us would think of this?”

Chloe couldn’t help but giggle. “All kissing and shit? 14-year-old me would be full gay panic. Like… Oh god, I was such a dork around Rachel, you wouldn’t believe it.”

Max’s smirk told her that she could believe it, so she continued. “We were on this train car together, ditching class. I wanted to say that it was a nice day, but I fucking said ‘It’s a nice Rachel we’re having.’”

Max couldn’t contain her laughter and Kate poked her head out of her dorm to see what the fuss was about. So, Chloe told her and soon all three were laughing at the sheer absurdity of it. “That’s Price less,” quipped Max as she gained her composure, which sent Chloe into another giggle fit.

Kate smiled warmly at the pair as she held a small jewellery box, “I got what little I had, most of it is all old gifts I never really wore much.”

Chloe had a weird feeling about taking these from Kate, even if they were to help Max. “Thank you so much Kate, for all your help.”

Kate’s lips tugged up into a smile and she gave a shy glance to Chloe. “It’s really okay Max, I’m happy to help however I can. Plus, there should be enough in there for…”

Chloe completed the thought for Kate but didn’t say it. Saying it would make it real somehow, that they needed a failsafe in case Max couldn’t get control. “Alright, let's test this I guess.”

“Are you sure about this, Max? I have a lot more research to do…”

The look Max gave her immediately told Chloe that this was happening and please stop asking questions. “Yes. It’s a bracelet, if it’s bad I can just take it off.”

Chloe steeled herself for the worst as she pressed the silver bracelet into Max’s skin, Max wincing and hissing with pain. “Don’t. Stop.”

Chloe nodded, her hands started trembling as she closed the fastener and stepped back. The agony on Max’s face was plain and potent as she tried to fight the pain, her teeth clenching and her muscles spasming as she started to stagger a bit. Both Chloe and Kate rushed to Max, but she waved them off with a half snarl. After a few more seconds and her composure broke. Her anguished gasps echoed around American Rust but she gave the pair a warning glare to stay put as she worked through this. Chloe and Kate shared a concerned look as Max dropped to a knee and went quiet.

The silence stretched out; Chloe afraid that if she broke it that Max would start howling in pain again. Kate grabbed her hand and squeezed as they watched Max’s face twist. I swear I can smell burning fur… With a gasp Max fell to her hands and knees, her entire body shaking violently, fingers clawing at the dirt. Again, they tried to approach Max, only to be snarled at. What the fuck Max, what kind of bullshit are you trying to prove?

Then suddenly Max was fine, a sigh escaping her lips as she got back to her feet and Chloe moved without thinking, wrapping Max in a hug and holding her tight. A moment later Kate was hugging from behind as Max sagged in their arms, a weary sigh escaping from her lips. “It’s okay Max, we’ve got you. What… happened?”

“T-thank... The pull feels a lot weaker.”

Kate nodded as she pulled back from Max and Chloe’s hug, a slightly guilty look on her face. “It sounded like it really hurt Max.”

Max pushed her face harder into Chloe’s chest in response. “Yeah. It really fucking burned at first, like my arm was made of lava… Now it just feels like I have a bad rash.”

Chloe balled her hands up in Max’s sweater, holding her tight. “I wish there was a better fucking way, but everything I’ve read involves killing you to cure it.”

Max nodded, nestling into the hug. “It’s at least something. I hope it can keep me from actually turning tonight…”

“Hey, we’ll keep an eye on you to see if you do, we’ll sit in my truck and you can chill in the junk yard until something happens.”

“Thanks, both of you, I really mean it.”

Kate smiled gently as Max pulled herself out of the hug, before pulling a map out of her bag. “So, I guess we need to figure out where we ended up last night now?”

Chloe grinned. “One step ahead of me. I tried to swipe Step-ass’s GPS but it wasn’t there, so we’ll have to get one before we head out again.”

Max nodded as Kate spread the map out over the hood of a rusted out car. “I… should be able to figure out where we ended up. My memories when I’m turned are still hard to understand.”

Chloe nodded as she placed some rocks on the corners of the map before handing Max her trusty sharpy. “I’m sure you can figure it out. All we really need to do is find the river.”

 Max nodded, brushing her hair from her eyes as she found the Bay on the map and marked roughly where they were standing with a circle. “Okayyy, so if I remember… I started going this way…”

Soon the map was covered in marks as Max did her best to remember each time she had changed course over their nighttime escapade. Chloe silently regretted not bringing Max a compass or something, but the girl seemed to be figuring things out based on the terrain. As the sun started getting low in the sky, Max had the final spot picked out and they followed it to the river that had blocked their path. All three leaned over the map, following the river until they found a bridge, which Max diligently marked with the sharpie. “Okay, so we know how to get past that stupid river. So, Saturday we’ll head out in my truck.”

Kate and Max nodded as Chloe started to pack up the map. “And what if Max turns before then?”

Max and Chloe share a shrug. “We just hang out in the junkyard, we can take turns keeping an eye on Max. It’s probably for the best if we go looking during the day in case that other werewolf is prowling around.”

“Alright, let's get you two back to campus before step ass freaks.”

Chloe parked her truck in the Blackwell parking lot, stepping out with Kate and Max to walk them back to their dorms. The three froze as they saw Mr. Jefferson coming across the quad, but he paid them no heed as he rushed down the steps into the parking lot and over to his car.  “I wonder what his rush is?”

Max shrugged before taking Chloe’s hand in hers. “Maybe Victoria was creeping on him again. She keeps calling him by his first name and it’s super eugh.”

Kate shivered. “I… don’t even want to think about that.”

Chloe shook her head, her mind flipping through the file labelled ‘Rachel gossip’. “I remember Rachel being super into him before she vanished, and that Victoria was practically throwing herself bodily at him.”

Kate covered her ears. “I can’t hear this! Lalalalala”

Max and Chloe both bust out into laughter as the three made their way to the dorms through the late afternoon haze. Chloe froze up as she spotted the Queen Bitch herself sitting on a bench along their path, looking like she was fuming. “Oh shit, we spoke of the devil.”

Max gave Chloe a worried glance before she sighed. “We’ll just have to… walk past her I guess.”

The moment Victoria spotted them, her face transformed into a sneer. “Oh look, it’s the dropout and her two pets. How does it feel to ditch Mark’s class for this fucking loser Maxine?”

Chloe’s body tensed, the urge to just tear Victoria apart surging up in her throat. She’d always been a fucking bitch but nobody was going to mess with Max or Kate. There was a tug on her wrist as Max stepped between Chloe and Victoria. “Chloe is so not a ‘fucking loser’.”

“Pssh, as fucking if. She couldn’t even manage to hang onto her shitty little scholarship. And Kate, whatever happened to the abstinence club? Diving between the sheets with these two…”

Kate stepped back, face pale. “I… What? I-I didn’t…”

“Oh Puh-lease. Everyone fucking knows you showed up this morning with these two tramps and I totally heard you yelling at Chloe to ‘not hurt Max’. Jealous much?”

Chloe’s lips pulled back into a snarl. “Listen you fucking bitch.”

Max tugged at her wrist again but Chloe was pretty fucking done with this. Victoria scoffed at her. “Like I’d fucking listen to the dropout who’s only claim to fame was being that slut’s friend.”

Rage. White and hot flooded her veins. Her nails dug into her palms as she clenched her fists. Her voice was hard and low. “What did you call her.”

Victoria just rolled her eyes. “Max, call off your fucking attack dog before she makes a scene.”

Max let go of Chloe’s hand and let slip the dog of war. Chloe hauled Victoria up by her shirt, grinning as her eyes went wide and her feet left the ground. “I’m making a fucking scene. You ever say a fucking word about my girlfriend, Rachel, or Kate ever a-fucking-gain, and we’ll see how pretty your perfect little face is after a broken nose and a bunch of missing teeth.”

Victoria’s response was a red face and a little squeak before Chloe put her back down on the bench. “Come on, let’s go.”

Kate looked like her eyes were bulging out of her skull. Max glanced at Chloe apprehensively before the three carried on walking to the dorms. The spluttering anger of Victoria behind her was all the more satisfying because of how empty her threats were.

After they dropped Kate back off at her room and were safely in Max’s dorm, Chloe found herself pushed up against the wall and Max’s lips attached to hers. It was nice. The way Max’s hands were getting all grabby extra nice.

Max came up for breath, the wolfish glint in her eyes again. “That.” Her lips sealed over Chloe’s shoulder and her teeth followed up. A gentle groan escaped Chloe’s lips. “Was fucking hot.”

Chloe grinned as her own hands started sliding over Max’s sides. “You like it when I’m scaring the shit out of Victoria? You’re into some kinky shit Caulfield.”

Max growled gently and repeated herself on the punk’s collar bone. “You standing up for us, dork. I haven’t seen her get that bitchy in a while… And her heart picked up when she saw Kate.”

Another gasp.  “Think she’s jealous?”

Max’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Hella jealous.”

The lips seal and suck. “S-sure… Damn, two days together and you’re all over me Max.”

Max moved up to her neck. “I’ve literally been dreaming about you for so fucking long Chloe…”

Her breath starts hitching. “S-shit M-Max, you kn-ungh-ow how to f-flatter a girl.”

Hands under her shirt, teeth on her earlobe. “You want this so bad. I can hear how fast your heart is beating when we’re together.”

“R-right, werewolf.”

The teeth return to her neck and she balled a fist in Max’s hair to keep her there. “Say it.”

She panted for breath, mind racing. She’d wanted this for as long as she’d realized how gay she was, picturing Max all grown up. Too fast, holy shit too fast. “S-say what?”

The teeth ground into her neck, she was going to bruise. Pop. “Say you want me.”

Her knees threatened to give out completely. How much of this is Max and how much is the wolf? “I-I want you Max.”

Suddenly Max was off her, the grin on her face downright predatory. “Lose the shirt.”

She wasn’t about to argue. “D-damn, taking charge.”

“And the bra.”

She hesitated a moment. This is everything she’s wanted for so long, but the feeling was off. “W-what’s the hurry?”

Max’s head cocked to the side, her expression going puzzled. “Why the hesitation? I can practically taste your excitement in the air.”

Fucking werewolves. “I was just... expecting something slower f-for our first time.”

Max’s puzzlement gave way to a small smile, more of the Max she knew coming out. “That’s sweet Chloe, but… I don’t think I’m ready to go that far just yet.”

Chloe nodded, taking a deep breath. I showed my tits to Rachel a fuckload of times, why the hell am I hesitating in front of Max? Fuck I am such a coward. Fabric hit the floor. More heavy breathing. A soft touch on delicate, sensitive flesh. “They’re beautiful Chloe.”

Her chest went all butterfly. Her cheeks burned hot. “They’re nothing special…”

More soft touching. “They are special, they’re yours.”

More cheek burning, lips that made her skin ripple with electric fire. “T-thanks…”

Those blue eyes smiled up at her as Max explored. Sometimes dreams do come true. For a time. She had to bite down on her finger to keep her voice down. Rachel always wanted to do things in the junk yard because she was so loud.

After a few moments she had to push Max away, her legs threatened to give out entirely. “Y-your turn.”

All the confidence and that predatory grin deserted Max. “O-oh…”

“Fair’s fair Caulfield.”

Max’s hands fidgeted with the hem of her shirt and her teeth worried her lower lip. Holy fuck talk about whiplash, one second you’re all hands and now you’re all shy? The urge to blurt out that she’s seen all of this already was there on her lips, but she doesn’t say it. This was different. This was Max’s choice. Max’s jaw clenched in that cute way she did when she was working up her courage.

More fabric hit the floor and Max was standing there, back to her old deer-in-the-headlights self. Chloe was stuck in the moment, breath coming as a shudder as she took in the sight. Seeing Max, like this, for her made her head buzz and her heart skip beats. She had to fight to move, something in her brain protesting that if she reached out for Max, it would shatter everything. Those blue eyes were fixed on her, nervous and expectant.

A knot formed in her throat. She swallowed. “D-damn girl, you look great.”

She couldn’t get over the way the girl’s freckles spilled over her shoulders and onto her chest. It was so cute it should have been illegal. Something in the back of Chloe’s mind started screaming about time. She didn’t care. Her hands finally moved and she was touching Max. Kissing over her neck. Getting her to make the noises she had made. Their bodies pressed together and suddenly they were on top of Max’s bed, lips and tongues locked together.

Her heart sang, her body burning. Staying above the waist suddenly seemed like a really fucking stupid idea. Her skin itched at the clothes still on her as the tangle between them got ever deeper.

Then there was a knock on the door.

Fuck.

“Curfew check.”

Max pulled herself out from under Chloe. In the dim light her face was so red she had to force herself not to giggle. “H-here!”

David sighed outside. “Chloe, I know you’re in there. Your truck is in the parking lot.”

Shit! Fuck! Shit balls! She had to take a breath so her voice wouldn’t crack like Max’s. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Don’t…” Another sigh. “Stay the whole night Chloe.”

Footsteps faded down the corridor. Max and Chloe stared at each other before busting out into laughter. Chloe couldn’t help it, it was so fucking absurd. Here she was, half naked with Max and David totally fucking busting them like they were 14 and fumbling around or something. Max was laughing with her.

There was another knock, Kate’s voice tinged with concern. “Are you two okay?”

Max collected herself first. “Y-yeah, we’re fine Kate.”

The door opened. Max forgot to lock it.

If a blush could set something on fire, Kate would burn the building down.

Chapter Text

Silence filled the truck. It suffocated. Chloe’s normal response would be to take out her CD case, but she needed to watch Max. Kate was supposed to be sleeping but she couldn’t turn off. They both stared mutely at Max and waited at what was hopefully a safe distance. Kate hadn’t said much since she walked in on them, just meekly followed and stuck to the plan. She’s probably never seen anything like that. It must suck being so sheltered. Chloe could feel the heat rise on her face from the memory. Her fingers drummed on the dashboard. She knew she should talk to Kate about what happened, but what the fuck could she say? Everything was just anxiety now.

Mercifully, Kate spoke first. “So… Um…”

“Yeah?”

Kate’s face was already red. “That… happened.”

“Yeah... it kinda did.”

Silence filled the cab again.

“She… um, started it if you’re wondering. Nothing untowards on my end, I promise.”

Kate nodded and shuffled in her seat.

More silence.

“I’m sorry I ruined that... moment for you two.”

“David already did, you’re fine.”

Another long pause.

“Was that… your first time seeing something like that?”

“Y-yeah. You… I… um…”

“Didn’t you already say that it’s okay with the big guy for girls to do that?”

“I-it’s one thing to t-think about it. S-seeing it…”

“So, you never?”

Max started twitching a lot out in the junkyard. “What?! No! That’s…”

“There’s nothing wrong with porn Kate.”

“It’s sex outside of marriage!”

Ah fuck, this rabbit hole. “And what you walked in was?”

Kate stared at her feet. “It… doesn’t count.”

This old stupid debate. “It doesn’t count because…?”

“Because there’s n-no penis.”

Yup, there it fucking is. She couldn’t hold in the aggressive sigh. “That is such bullshit. Lesbians fucking count. Also, like, strap-ons and trans women exist.”

Kate just stared, confused. “Trans… women?”

Chloe had to keep from rolling her eyes. “Do you… I should have expected this. Short version, born a boy downstairs, girl in the brain. Had an online friend who was one, did some googling. Look it up tomorrow.”

Kate’s brow furrowed before she sagged. “I… can’t say I really understand that Chloe… I’ll look it up.”

Chloe nodded, fingers drumming on the steering wheel. “Look, you like Max, right?”

“I like... both of you.”

“Not ‘like’ as friends Kate, I mean your crush on Max isn’t hard to miss.”

“I-I…”

Chloe sighed. As much as I love baby gays, this shit can be exhausting. “I get that you’re having a crisis of faith or whatever, but you’re proooobably not straight if you feel the way I’m pretty sure you feel about Max.”

Kate’s hands clutched at her skirt, Chloe wincing as she realized Kate is more than likely about to cry. “I-I… Chloe, I’ve been fighting this for so long. You don’t understand. If my mom found out I-I… I was supposed to go to a Christian College, start my career making children’s books, find a nice Christian man and have kids.”

Shiiiiit. “Are those your dreams or hers?”

“I-I... don’t know anymore. I feel like I don’t know anything anymore. I used to just think that everyone was just more interested in girls but apparently that’s not the case! God I was so naïve ! And then I find out that werewolves are real ?! I-I feel like this is some insane dream I can’t wake up from.”

Yup, she’s crying now. Way to be sensitive, me. “Yeah, the… werewolf thing is pretty crazy. But I can talk to you about the gay thing.”

Kate nodded before she mopped up tears with her sleeve. “I-I… Okay… Like what… made you gay?”

Chloe had to bite the inside of her cheek not to laugh. “Nothing did Kate. I just am.”

“I-I… I thought something bad had to happen for people to be gay, that’s what my pastor used to say. Gay people are just hurt and hate god so they sin.”

If she brings up Dad… “Nothing bad had happened to me when I first started feeling things for Max.”

“O-oh.”

Chloe’s heart ached at how small Kate’s voice was. It was clear that something Kate had thought was a bedrock truth was being torn away. Fuck, I feel sorry for her. “You… I’m pretty sure there are less… judgy churches out there.”

“I-I know, I’ve been… looking at them. I kept feeling like something was different before I came to Blackwell. Like my classmates just couldn’t not talk about boys and I had to make things up to talk with them. I just figured ‘I haven’t met the right man yet’ and that’s why I didn’t feel anything for any of them. It made the whole… abstinence thing easy.”

Chloe nodded before she focused her attention on Max. She looked pale and was shaking like a leaf. “I can imagine.”

“Y-yeah, and then I started at Blackwell and people are just so… free about things. And then I met Max and I…”

Chloe spared her a glance and got a face full of blush. “I know the feeling.”

“Y-yeah, I guess. Just being around her makes me feel so… warm inside. So comfortable.”

She can’t help but reflect on how crazy things were. She was listening to someone else crush on her girlfriend and was somehow totally okay with it. This should be hella weird but… “Yeah, I know. I was such a wreck when she was gone, but now she’s back and…”

“I see the way you two look at each other…”

“Does it hurt?”

“Y-yes… and no.”

Chloe watched the girl, while she wrestled with her own confused feelings and her sympathy for a baby lesbian in need. I know what it’s like to watch someone else be all over someone you’re into.  

“The way you two look at each other… I can see just how much you mean to each other, there’s that history you share. It’s so beautiful and special, I don’t know how anyone could think God would be against something like that.”

The words spread a fuzzy warmth through Chloe’s chest as she watched Max fidget. Hours and she hasn’t turned, I just hope she’s okay. “Yeah, Max is -- special just doesn’t cover it, and that was before the werewolf shit.”

Kate shuffled in her seat, a hand going up to fix her hair as she mumbled something.

“Hm?”

Kate shrank into her seat “N-nothing.”

Silence again.

This time Chloe was glad for it, her mind churned with weird thoughts. Anyone else and Chloe would be so fucking jealous. Why the fuck am I not jealous about this? I knew that I couldn’t have Rachel all to myself, and I was kind of okay with that as long as she fucking told me about it. But that’s not Max, it was always just us. I was totally jealous about that Warren kid, but not Kate? Hello brain, what the fuck?

The urge to toke up was real, she’d always been able to work out her feelings about Rachel while high. But she couldn’t right now, she had to watch Max. For her part, Max looked like she was in pain, but it was creeping up on 1am and she had yet to turn. If she can keep this up maybe we can get a good night’s sleep tomorrow.

Chloe sighed, leaning against her door. “Look, I’m… not mad about how you feel about Max. She’s something else. I wouldn’t be surprised if half her classmates back in Seattle had been crushing on her without her having a clue.”

Kate nodded slowly and seemed to relax a little bit. “I… I just expected you to try and keep me away from her because…”

Chloe shrugged. “Look, I - Yeah I’m protective of Max, but you’re our friend.”

Kate looked at her, wide eyed. “I… thank you.”

Thankfully the conversation was abruptly brought to a halt by Max knocking on the passenger side window, which led to Kate yelping. Max flashed a thumbs up and Kate fumbled for a moment with the door lock before there was the soft chunk and Max climbed inside.

“We good?”

Max nodded as Kate slid over. “Y-yeah. I think I’m good now.”

Kate leaned over to rest on Max as Chloe put the truck in gear. “Where too?”

Max sighed. “I’m so not in the mood to sneak into the dorms.”

“Kate? … Kate?”

“Mmmmn yeah?”

Chloe shrugged. “She’s fading fast, I guess it’s my bed again.”

Chloe couldn’t sleep. She stared at the ancient plastic stars on the ceiling through the gloom while her mind rolled over the day. Max was on one side, head on Chloe’s chest, sleeping gently. Kate’s face was buried in her shoulder. She could practically hear Rachel cheering her on for being in bed with two incredibly cute girls, even if nothing had happened. Max? Max had been easy, like slipping into old comfortable clothes with memories of better days. Figuring out things with Max had just been a matter of getting old feelings out in the open and letting them breathe; then they had grown quick like weeds. Even with the whole werewolf thing. Remembering a time when she wasn’t crushing on or missing her was just impossible.

Kate wasn't easy. Kate was clearly into Max, she would probably come between them someday. But Kate saved both their asses, getting Max out of Blackwell, literally distracting an angry werewolf; all without asking what was in it for her. She had even given them her fucking jewellery the moment Chloe had brought up maybe needing silver. Max deserves Kate. She deserves someone who’s actually kind and has a fucking future, not some dropout loser like me. The thought stung. That she couldn’t really argue against it hurt even more. The fuck have I even done with my life other than ride Rachel’s coat tails, get high and fail at everything else? Both of them are going to finish high school, then go off to college and I’m going to be stuck in Arcadia fucking Bay, mooching off mom.

The urge to light up was strong, to let the buzz of weed obliterate her bad thoughts...but she did not want to wake either of them up. Fuck, what does it matter? It’ll be over come the summer anyways. The thought of losing Max again digged at her, but she couldn’t deny it. I’m fucking stuck here, I’m going to die in this shitty town. Unless…

She managed to pull her phone out from under Kate without too much trouble and looked up what getting her GED would take.

Chapter Text

Chloe pulled away from Blackwell, Max and Kate successfully dropped off in the early hours. Part of her was going to miss this, she didn’t sleep much to begin with anyways and waking up cuddled up with Max was definitely an item off her bucket list. I think I’m even going to miss waking up with Kate… She frowned, looking at herself in the mirror. “Get a grip Chloe.”

She pulled up in front of her dad’s old garage. If anyone was going to have the tools she needed, she could find out from here. Hope this goes better than last time. She tried not to remember how she’d melted down all those years ago at the mural of her dad they had put up in the shop and braced herself to face it again. These people like you Chloe. They’ve helped you out of jams before because of your dad, they don’t ask a lot of questions. You just need a plausible story. She idly played with her bullet necklace as she tried to hammer out the final details of her little white lie. All she needed was a cast of the bullets, David had a habit of reloading his own rounds so she had the brass and the powder. He had even left a fucking manual for it out on the counter.

After a deep breath she swung the door open, hopped out onto the pavement, and walked to the door. Her hands were damp from the anxiety. Inside stood a portly man with a barrel chest who was evidently refusing to accept the fact that he was going bald by scrapping what remained into a bad comb over.

“Holy shit, guys! Chloe’s here!”

“Hey Daryl.”

“It’s been a while, how’s the old girl running?”

“She’s still kicking. Need to replace the blower for the climate control soon though.”

“No shit? I’ll get the part ordered in if we don’t already have it.”

“Dude, I don’t have any money.”

“It’s on the house, Chloe.”

A procession of mechanics ranging from middle aged down to pimple faced teens wandered along the counter. Everyone who would have known her dad had loved him, and for some reason that loved had transferred to her bratty self. She had an open offer to start working as a mechanic if she could finish high school. Probably some deal her mom had put them up to. She went through the motions of giving them all fist bumps, asking the usual pointless questions about how shit was going, answered the polite questions about her ink. It was all time she couldn’t afford to waste and her skin crawled with each lost second. However, the handful of men and one sole woman were all still links to her dad. Formalities completed, they all got back to working and Daryl led her to his little side office.

“Thanks dude but I’ll find the cash to pay you.”

“Not up for debate Chloe.”

“Fuck, fine. That’s not why I’m here though.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I… need to ask a favour, it’s kinda weird though.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I’ve… got a girlfriend and-”

Daryl holds up a hand before poking his head out of the office. “YOU WIN LUCY, I OWE YOU A FIFTY!”

“TOLD YOU YOUR DAMN GAYDAR WAS BUSTED!”

She can feel her cheeks burning. She’d never told them about Rachel and had just assumed that everyone in town had known about it. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“Uh, Max Caulfield.”

“Fuck, I owe her eighty now. Your dad totally called it.”

Her chest tightened at the mention of her dad. Fuck we were so obvious. “Y-yeah, just took us a while to figure it out.”

“Well congrats, what’s the favour you need?”

“Well…” She fiddled with her bullet necklace. Chloe the punk ass werewolf wrangler, fumbling over herself to try and ask a favour for her girlfriend. Fuck I’m such a mess. “She really likes my necklace so I figured I’d make her one from scratch.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I’ve got the brass from David but I need the bullets cast.”

“That’s a pretty simple job, not sure why you need us to cast lead for you.”

Now the tricky part. “See… She’s super big into werewolves and I figured I’d cast them with silver. Give them a nice two tone effect.”

Daryl whistled low. “Casting silver is a fuck of a lot harder than lead… Tell you what, I’ve got a friend of mine who’s a jeweler down in Oceanside. Does a lot of work with silver, I’ll give her a call. What caliber is the brass in, and how many do ya need?”

“.38 special and six if you can swing it, that way I have some spares for fuckups. Thanks so much, dude.”

“Don’t thank me just yet, gotta get her to agree to it. Go ahead and catch up with Lucy, I bet she’s fucking dying to talk to you about this.”

Chloe shrugged and stepped back out into the shop, making sure to grab some ear protection out of old habit as someone started working away with an angle grinder. Dad had been sure to drill proper safety into her when she started hanging around the shop back when she was a kid. She remembered Lucy back then, her little childish, unattainable crush. Broad shouldered, sinewy with muscle from working with the heavy machinery, but incredibly sweet to anyone who wasn’t one of the shop bros. The woman had always made younger Chloe clam up in gay panic. She had not gotten better about it. Lucy had aged gracefully, still powerfully built but now her face had laugh lines and a sterner air about it. Lucy waved her over and motioned to the door, pulling out a pack of smokes from her overalls.

She followed her out and pulled out her own little cancer stick. “So, you’ve finally got yourself a girly.”

“I-er, yeah. I guess I do.”

“That Rachel girl don’t count?”

So they had heard about it. “We were never, like, ‘official’ if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t think anyone was ever really ‘official’ with her.”

Lucy’s laugh is a harsh bark. “Don’t I know the fucking type. People like her either end up wandering the country or setting up a little commune.”

“Personal experience?”

“I’m fucking in one. Why do you think I’ve got four rings tattooed on?”

“I never really got what it meant.”

“You never asked. You never talked much around me anyways. Gay panic?”

Fucking hell. “Y-yeah.”

Lucy just grins at her. “Can spot it in a baby gay a mile away. Anyways yeah, I’ve got four wives. Not… legally mind you, but in the way that really counts.”

“How… does that work?”

“Nobody teaches you… Fuck, who am I kidding, of course not, polyamory in a tiny town like this is taboo as fuck. We have our arrangements, schedule time so everyone gets theirs together and to make sure nobody is jealous. It takes a lot of communication and a lot of work, but when it clicks…”

Lucy just smiles wistfully before blowing a smoke ring.

“That sounds… incredible.”

“Hell yeah it is. Worth every second. Now, who’s this girlie?”

“It’s… Max.”

Lucy’s smile broadens and she slaps Chloe in the back. “Fucking took you two long enough, how’d it happen?”

Chloe told her the story, fudging some details to avoid the whole… werewolf thing.

“Fuck you are so much like him. A sudden romantic getaway to Portland, just the two of you? I bet he’s smiling down on us now.”

Chloe’s eyes stung a little. “Y-yeah.”

“Shit, you okay?”

“I’ll… be fine.”

“Still hard?”

She just nodded and Lucy wrapped an arm around her. Chloe’s heart exploded into butterflies. “We all miss him Chloe. You ever need to cry about him with someone, just give me a call. He helped me a lot when I was having trouble sorting out the whole ‘wives’ thing.”

“He… never mentioned that.”

“I fucking hope not, I swore him to secrecy.”

“O-oh.”

“Yeah. Back then I was stuck between two girls and just couldn’t make up my fucking mind. He was just like “Do you have to choose?” Turns out, I didn’t. It took a lot of wrangling to get it started but once it started, hoooooo girl.”

Her cheeks gently started burning as her mind pictured something like that with Max and Kate. What if nobody had to choose? Nobody had to get hurt? She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “D-damn.”

“You remind me of him, a lot. You’ve both got that air about you like you really care, ‘cept you’re not ready to show it yet.”

“You can just read me like an open book, can’t you?”

“Girl, you end up with four wives you’d better be good at reading people.”

“Are you done talking the poor girl to death or should I come back later?”

“Shut the fuck up Daryl.” She stubbed out her cigarette on the wall of the building and tossed it into the waterlogged bucked next to a sun-bleached plastic chair. “You ever have girl problems, just give me a shout, ya hear?”

Chloe just kind of nodded dumbly before heading back inside. Daryl spotted her and sauntered over. “So, what’s the word big guy?”

“You’re in luck. I had to call in a favour but they’ll be here by tomorrow.”

“What do I owe you?”

“Favour’s a favour Chloe. That’s all you owe me.”

“Dude at-”

“If you care that much, finish fucking high school and come work for me. Your old man would haunt my ass if I let you keep going without doing that much at least.”

“I… was planning on doing that anyways. Go to whatever community college in the city Max goes to school for.”

He slapped her on the back and Chloe coughed a bit from the force. “There you fucking go. As soon as you get your GED you can start working here. I know you’ve got the chops.”

“T-thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just glad you’re finally making steps. I’ll give you a call when those casts show up and that part arrives. Give Joyce our best, okay?”

At least she didn’t have to melt down Kate’s jewellery, so that was a bonus.

Chapter Text

Time was always something Chloe had an excess of after getting expelled. Usually, it just meant she got into more trouble, breaking into the dorms to hang with Rachel and drinking herself stupid in the junk yard. Chloe had never really had a mission before, something to dedicate her time to doing beyond seeking out the next escape from the seemingly never-ending pain parade of her life. Now she had something to do, and she kept plowing through the dry paragraphs of each book they had found. It wasn’t very encouraging, everything she read was about curing lycanthropy through killing the person, or using the blood of the sire, which would mean tracking down whoever bit Max and getting a blood sample. Even then they didn’t know what the hell to do with it.

“Another adventure with Max?”

Oh fuck. Her dad’s voice echoed around in her mind as she caught a glimpse of flannel out of the corner of her eye. Her hands immediately started fumbling with the drawers of her desk. “Where the fuck did I leave my pills?!”

“It’s okay sweetie, just relax.”

“You’re not real, you’re dead. I’m fucking having an episode again.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t have a chat.”

The bottom drawer stuck and she started to try and rattle it free. “Kinda hard to talk to dead people, Dad.”

“Well I’m here, aren’t I? I know when my little girl is stressed out.”

Come on you stupid fucking drawer! “Gee, what gave it away, the hallucinating a dead man or talking to myself?”

“The fact that you forgot how that drawer locks.”

Oh. Shit. She turned the handle 180 degrees clockwise and the drawer emitted a faint click. She pulled it open and fished out her prescription bottle. Still in date, thank fuck. “… Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

She tapped a pill out of the bottle and let it settle on her palm, staring at its powder blue form as she weighed her options. “I… am stressed out actually.”

“How about you take a load off with your dear old dad. After all, dead men tell no tales.”

She rolled her eyes as she turned to see her dad. He looked the exact same as he always did, even the same outfit as that final day. “Haha, since when did you get all hella fucking morbid? … But that sounds nice actually, shit has been pretty crazy.”

“Oh yeah?”

She shrugged; quietly glad she wasn’t like the kid in the Sixth Sense. “I mean Max is a fucking werewolf.”

William whistled low. “That’s a new one kiddo. So much for pirates, huh?”

“That’s… Not all of it. We’re like… a couple now.” Her eyes darted to the pill again. This wasn’t real and she needed to stop, but it felt good to catch up with him anyways.

“I’m proud of you sweetie. You were always so happy together.”

The tears started dropping as the hand holding the pill shook. “T-thanks Dad. But it’s hella more complicated than that. Like Lucy kind of complicated. There’s another person who’s into Max, Kate. She’s this cute little church girl who hella saved my life. They’re both going to graduate and Max is going to leave me behind again once we get this werewolf shit figured out.”

“Max didn’t choose to leave you Chloe, she did choose to come back.”

Chloe slumped in the chair; eyes fixed on the pill. “She came here for photography, not me. Plus Kate is so fucking cute it makes me want to just die. I’m so helplessly gay, I just got Max and I’m thinking about the girl crushing on her.”

“And you’re worried she won’t pick you in the end?”

“Yeah, or we won’t be able to cure the werewolf thing without killing her.”

She shoved the pill into her mouth before grabbing the glass of stale water on her desk to choke it down with. Her dad just smiled sadly. “You’re a smart cookie, sweetie. You’ll find a way.”

She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, trying to get a slow, steady rhythm going. “Thanks for the pep talk.”

“Any time, you take care now.”

She counted down from one hundred as she got her breathing steady, opening her eyes to find she was alone again. She wiped the tears from her face and moved to the bed with an unceremonious flop. I’ve been fucking good for years, why the fuck is this happening TODAY?!

Her phone buzzed and she fished it out of her pocket. Why is Max calling? “Su-”

“WE WON! WE DID IT CHLOE!”

She blinked in surprise. “Won? What did we win?”

“The photo contest! I won this one!”

“That’s all you Max, what the hell do you mean we?”

Her phone buzzed with a notification, she pulled it away from her ear to see that Max had messaged her a photograph from their trip, one of Chloe tearing through a book on classic punk rock, her arm covered in band names. Her face was super intense, like every word was some form of holy scripture, which it kind of was to her. “O-oh.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Max, all you had to do was enter a picture and you were a shoe-in to win, okay?”

“I-I never did before this week, okay? Nothing serious, just bullshit because I was so scared of showing work I actually cared about.”

God dammit Max, you’re going to make me cry again. “You’re awesome, you could take a photo in the Blackhell bathroom and it’d look amazing.”                                                                        

“… I’m not that good Chloe.”

“Yes, you so hella fucking are Max. Your work is going to be hanging in like the Louvre or something.”

“…”

“You still there?”

“Yeah, sorry. Had to duck Nathan again.”

“What the hell does that punk ass want with you?”

“Something about a blue haired dyke touching Victoria.”

“… Shit, sorry.”

“It’s fine, he’s been acting really weird this week. Like he’s way twitchier than normal.”

“That’s weird.”

“Yeah, at least Victoria is being quiet around me.”

“Shit, did I go too hard on her?”

“Unless you get sued, I don’t think so. She may have also totally gotten off to you while we were going at it.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

“I heard it.”

“Fucking werewolves! Well she can fucking dream about this bod all she wants, she can’t have it.”

“… Do you want to come here after my class finishes? Kate got more egg cartons for us to put up.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“There we go, last one.”

Max sprawled out on the bed, a look of pure bliss on her face. “Thank you both so much. It’s nice to be able to listen to myself think again.”

Chloe nodded as she sat on the bed next to Max, brushing her hand through her hair as Kate took a seat on the couch. The way sound barely echoed around the room at all set her nerves a little bit on edge. “Dorm life is pretty tough on a werewolf, huh?”

Max nodded slowly, nuzzling into her thigh. “You have no idea. Dana really needs to stop with the moaning at night.”

Kate’s face turned pink and she got really busy staring at Chloe. “I… uh…”

Chloe shrugged in reply. “Sounds like Dana, girl always thirsted like hell.”

Max snickered as she lazily kissed over her thigh. “Got some firsthand experience?”

Seriously, in front of Kate?! “I… If you count drunken makeouts at a party. Rachel probably put her up to it just to mess with me.”

Kate picked up a pillow and started kneading it. “I didn’t know Dana was into girls.”

Chloe quickly tried to do a headcount of the number of people she’d seen Dana all over at one party or another. She quickly lost count. Damn, props girl. Way to just take what you want. “Pretty sure that girl swings with whatever way the wind blows. Probably pan or whatever.”

“Pan…?”

Chloe suppressed a sigh as she gave Kate a weary look. “I seriously need to link you to some articles on this or something. Pansexual, basically attracted to people regardless of their gender.”

Kate’s face got significantly redder and she buried it in the pillow. “O-oh… How is that different from being bisexual?”

Max shrugged as she took the opportunity to nibble on Chloe’s hip a little, Chloe felt her cheeks start to burn. “They’re similar but not necessarily the same. Bisexuals still care about gender and stuff, but they’re attracted to more than one.”

Kate shuffled in her seat and gripped the pillow tightly. Chloe gently guided Max’s head away from her hips before she started making any hickeys, just to be safe. Jesus, down girl! When did Max get so thirsty?! “S-sorry for being so naïve. I’m just so wrapped up in figuring things out I don’t really do any research about anything else.”

Max grinned up at Chloe before laying her head on her thigh. “It’s cool Kate, we’ve all got our own stuff to figure out. It took Chloe years to work up the courage to dare me for a kiss.”

“You little traitor! I was going to do that before you moved away!”

Max winked up at her and Chloe got lost for a moment in those sparkling eyes and freckles. How is it possible to be this fucking gay? “Suuuure you were. That’s why you nearly fell on your butt when I did it.”

Kate started to giggle and the bubbly sound did nothing to ease Chloe’s rapidly reddening face. “I-I wasn’t expecting you too!”

“Oh please, we’re so gay our parents probably had a bet on it.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes and started to tickle Max like she had when they were kids, and was quickly rewarded with a giggled shriek as the hipster thrashed around on the bed. “Bet you didn’t expect that!”

 Kate laughed at the spectacle while Chloe intensified her tickle assault, more shrieks and laughter greeting her ears. “CHLOOEEEEEE! STOOOOOOP!”

She didn’t stop, tickling harder and harder until Max managed to squirm her way off the bed with a dull thump, which caused her to start laughing along with Kate. Max glared up at her, her tongue stuck out playfully as she panted, her cheeks rosy. God it should be illegal for anyone to be this fucking cute. “Mean.”

“That’s what you get for embarrassing me in front of Kate!”

“Oh please, like you need my help with that.”

Chloe offered a hand down and pulled Max back up to her feet. “Ouch! Betrayed by my own girlfriend! Kate, help me!”

Kate was too busy burying her face in the pillow to reply, instead she shook her head. “Well fuck you too Kate, why do you two gotta gang up on me?”

Max chuckled low as she leaned in to whisper into Chloe’s ear. “Oh, we’ll gang up on you alright...”

Okay, what the actual FUCK?! Is this like werewolf related shit or what? She felt her cheeks burning so hot that there should be steam rising off them. “W-whoa there, Max.”

Max snickered and kissed Chloe’s burning cheek before nestling into her side. “Couldn’t resist.”

Kate watched the pair, an eyebrow raised and her cheeks even redder. “S-should I go?”

Chloe shrugged, despite the thrill in her chest and the warmth in her gut. If she goes Max is going to be all over me, not that I’m complaining… “Up to you.”

Kate fidgeted some more with the pillow before setting it down and getting to her feet. “I-I have some homework I need to get done; I’ll see you two later.”

“Thanks again for the egg cartons Kate, they really help.”

“A-any time.”

And like that, Chloe was left with Max, all alone in a dorm, complete with a locked door. “Uh, er… Hey.”

Max’s voice was deep and husky in a way that got her blood pumping. “Hey yourself.”

Chloe had tried to slow things down yesterday because of the question in her head, she still needed answers. “As much as I’d hella love for you to jump these bones, I seriously gotta ask, how much of this is you and how much is the wolf? Because you’re usually hella timid.”

Max paused, her teeth worrying at her lip as she pulled a ‘Max is thinking really hard’ face. “I… I guess the wolf is just getting the crap out of the way. I really feel this, I want this with you and the wolf is pushing me to go faster.”

“Do you want to go faster?”

Max tapped a finger to her chin as she mulled it over. “Yes… and no.”

Okay, what? “Oh yeah?”

The hipster took a deep breath and grimaced. “I mean… I’ve wanted this with you for so long. But I scare myself sometimes, like I’m a backseat passenger when we get hot and heavy. On the way to Portland it wasn’t so bad, but it’s been getting stronger. The silver helps but it’s still there… When we get going I kind of lose my grip.”

“That… makes a lot of sense. Do you want to go hot and heavy or just take it slow for now?”

Max nodded slowly and leaned in to plant a gentle kiss on the punk’s throat. “We’ll take it slow. When we do… that, I want it to be you and me, not with the wolf… Not yet.”

Chloe grinned and tousled that brown mop of hair. “Sounds good to me, not that the wolf stuff wasn’t hella fucking hot but… It wasn’t you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I dunno, I expected you to be a bit more… timid the first time.”

“I-I was!”

Chloe rolled her eyes before planting a kiss on her hipster’s forehead. “Yeah, after it was your turn to get your clothes off.”

Max sighed and pressed herself against Chloe. “I’m… just shy, okay?”

“Girl, you have nothing to be shy about. Like you’re fucking gorgeous. You’ve even got the good little Christian girl wet.”

Max snickered and kissed over Chloe’s throat some more. “Heh. Yeah, I could smell it.”

God damn fucking werewolves. “We-”

Chloe’s question was cut off when Max’s lips found her own and she let the words die. Max was here, Max was now, figuring out the Kate question could wait until after they’d finished tearing each other’s clothes off.

Chapter Text

Well… that happened. Chloe stared up at the ceiling as the dawn light crept through the window, her muscles aching from the night's ‘activities’. Max is going to look great with all those hickeys though, I bet my back is covered in scratch marks. Nice. The shaggy brown mop on her bare chest groaned and shifted. “Hey sleepyhead.”

The hair monster lifted up to reveal freckles and groggy eyes. “Toooooo early…”

She shuffled underneath the creature from the hipster lagoon. “Gotta get an early start today, remember? I hope that nose of yours can smell something beyond how horny you made Kate yesterday.”

The brown shag grumbled some more and a petite fist thumped against her collarbone. “Uuuuugh… Can’t we just cuddle for a while? Also, you do it to Kate too.”

“I… won’t say no to cuddles, but we do have to get going pretty soon. We need to grab gear and hope those bullets show up before we need to head out.”

Max finally perked up and lifted her head from Chloe’s chest, immediately Chloe missed the weight. “Bullets?”

Chloe blinked, inwardly cursing. Fuck, I totally forgot to say a fucking thing. “Shit, I thought I told you. I called in a favour yesterday to get some silver bullets cast so I can load them into the revolver. Just in case.”

“Since when do you know how to load bullets?”

“Since David left his shit out on the counter.”

Max nodded slowly, as if this was the most natural explanation possible. “Alright, and what if they aren’t ready?”

Chloe just shrugged before she ran her fingers through the tangled brown mess. “We’ll still move out, it’s daylight so we won’t need them.”

“And how long until we have to move?”

Laughter bubbled out of Chloe as she kissed the top of Max’s head. “My tits are hella irresistible, huh?”

Max flicked her head to clear hair from her face before planting a series of kisses over Chloe’s chest, which earned the hipster a shiver. “Definitely comfy.”                                                                 

Chloe doesn’t even bother hiding the smugness in her voice. “You just can’t get enough of me, can you?”

Max landed back on her chest and she felt a freckled cheek nuzzle into the valley between her breasts. “If I could go back and tell past-me that if I kept talking to you, we’d end up together, I totally would’ve. I’m pretty mad at myself for missing years of this.”

Chloe chuckled and combed her fingers through the tangle of Max’s hair. “Knowing us, we’d have kept dancing around the issue until like last year anyway.”

“Oh definitely, you’d dare me for kisses a whole bunch and then totally wuss out.”

Chloe thumped the top of Max’s head with a pillow. “ONE TIME!”

Max cackled into Chloe’s chest. “It was so cute though; I could hear your heart hammering in your chest the whole time.”

“This werewolf shit is so not fucking fair.”

A gentle knock on the door caused Max’s head to jerk up. “We’ll be ready in a couple minutes Kate,” she whispered into Chloe’s ear. “Her heart rate just spiked when I said ‘we’.”

Chloe groaned and ruffled Max’s hair again. “I mean, we weren’t exactly quiet last night.”

Max wiggled her eyebrows. “We weren’t the only ones not being quiet last night.”

“Oh yeah?”

Max leaned in close again, her breath tickling Chloe’s ear. “Vic was getting herself off and moaning your name again last night.”

“W-what?! I thought you couldn’t hear outside the room anymore!”

Max pulled up from Chloe with a wink, the blankets spilling off her bare form. “I still can, it’s just quieter. And she totally was, you should have heard her heart back when you grabbed her! I bet she's been fantasizing about you roughing her up for a while...”

“She can dream as much as she likes, she’s not getting a piece of this. Must be nice knowing when someone is into you.”

Max planted a lingering kiss on Chloe’s lips. “It is nice. Though I could have done without hearing Juliet going down on Dana.”

Chloe laughed as she pushed herself up to trade some more kisses with Max. “Holy fuck.  Is there something in the water here that makes all the girls in the dorms gay?”

“I don’t think you’re complaining.”

“Nooooope! This school being hella gay was the only good part.”

When they finally pulled apart to gasp for air, Chloe sighed already annoyed with herself. Time to spoil the mood. “Something up Chloe?”

“Yeah, we seriously, uh, need to talk about Kate.”

Max nodded, drawing back from Chloe to watch her. I’m not sure if she’s just nervous or confused. “What’s on your mind?”

“Just… I don’t… Ugh, fuck, this conversation was a lot easier in my head.”

The shaggy brown mop of hair swished as Max cocked her head to one side. “It’s okay Chloe, you can say it.”

“Just… she’s super into you a-”

Max held a finger to Chloe’s lips, a wry grin on her face. “She’s not only into me, trust me on that.”

Chloe’s eyebrow went up of its own accord as she nodded for Max to continue. “She’s into both of us, I’m pretty sure.”

Chloe felt her cheeks reheat as Max’s finger fell away. “I… Well shit yeah, I can see it. Still, what should we do about it?”

Max shrugged as she got off the bed, Chloe not bothering to keep her gaze from roaming over. She was a woman who had needs, dammit. “Do we have to do anything about it? Kate isn’t the type to do anything crazy like try to break us up. Besides, I don’t think she’s really accepted herself yet.”

Chloe fidgeted, her fingers playing with the sheets. “I meant, like, the other way. Do you remember that garage my dad used to work at? Well, there’s this woman there, Lucy. Fuck, she used to give me gay panics when I was little. Anyways, she’s got like… four wives, which got me thinking…”

Max threw back her head and barked out laughter. “Oh my god Chloe, are you trying to get a harem going?”

Chloe’s cheeks were definitely burning up now. “N-no! She just… hella saved my life, she’s cute and you obviously like her. I just…”

Max leaned in, amused. “And here I thought you were going to be all possessive of me.”

“I mean… I’ve never been great with sharing.” The snort from Max did not help the red in her cheeks.

Max snickered and kissed over Chloe’s neck. “So, you’re greedy. Got it.”

“You are so not fucking helping right now Max.”

The hipster reached down to grab at the discarded clothes from the night before, left haphazardly on the floor. “I know. I wouldn’t be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about this, but I don’t think either of us are going to hurt Kate. I’m just worried about it hurting us .”

Chloe bit into her lip and nodded. “Yeah… I know what you mean. I’m just worried about… getting left behind. Maybe we should talk to Lucy about it, get her advice before we commit to anything.”

Max nodded in agreement as she finished fishing her clothes off the floor. “Chloe, I’m never leaving you again, okay? And are you sure you aren’t going just to go see a hot lesbian mechanic?”

“Fuck off, I am a hot lesbian mechanic.”

Chloe hefted the water jug into the back of her truck. She’d rescued it from the attic where it had sat unused since their last camping trip with her dad. “I think that’s the last of it. Should be enough food and water for until we need to head back.”

Kate dragged the jug deeper into the bed before wiping some sweat off her brow. Max’s camera clicked away in the background. “Sounds good, we should probably get going then.”

Chloe nodded as she offered Kate a hand to get down from the bed, which Kate graciously took as she hopped to the ground. Both did their best to ignore a soft snicker from Max. “Ready to go, shutterbug?”

Max nodded and the three clambered into Chloe’s old junker. Max smiled up at Chloe as she brushed a hand over her thigh while she started the truck. Chloe’s phone buzzed, a message from Daryl saying the bullets had arrived. “Well shit, one more errand.”

The engine spluttered to life as Max spoke softly. “I think we’re probably going to need them. That werewolf is the one who bit me…”

Her teeth ground together as she did her best to stay focused on the road. “I’m going to make the bastard fucking pay.”

Kate’s gentle voice brought her down to earth. “What if it was an accident?”

“How the hell could biting Max be an accident?”

Max gave Chloe’s thigh a squeeze. “Maybe they don’t have the same control as I do, and that’s only because I fight like hell to have it…”

Chloe gritted her teeth but nodded as she drove towards the garage. I’m just glad those bullets showed up on time.

Collecting the bullets, introducing a blushing Max to Daryl, then heading back to her house to load the ammo ate up another hour of their time. Most of that was Chloe fumbling, anyways. The rest of the drive passed with quiet chatter between Max and Kate, mostly about class stuff and Kate gushing about Max’s winning photo while Chloe mulled things over in her mind. I still have no fucking clue what to do when we find this werewolf, or how I’ll react. Who knows, maybe this fuckface is involved in Rachel’s disappearance… Kate’s voice intruded on her thoughts. “This is the spot we marked.”

Chloe hit the brakes and the truck settled to a stop on the dirt road. “Alright, guess we follow Max’s nose. Think you can just stick your face out the window or do we have to walk?”

Max wrinkled up her nose and shook her head. “I can’t smell anything in here, it’s just exhaust, motor oil, and the joint you have in the glovebox.”

“H-hey! You don’t gotta narc on me!”

The other two giggled as Kate pulled the door open. “It’s okay Chloe, I won’t tell anybody.”

“You’d better not, Kate!”

Max leaned over and gave Chloe a kiss. If this is how I get my apologies, I’m not going to complain . “Sorry girlfriend. But seriously, that stuff reeks.”

“Want me to quit smoking?”

“I’ll think about it, I still need to try it.”

Chloe grinned; the idea of Max stoned out of her mind was an amusing one. “Yes, yes you do. Do you want us to walk and just ditch the truck or...?”

“I could just… walk ahead. You and Kate can follow me.”

Chloe cast her gaze over to Kate, who was watching the pair expectantly. “Yeah, sure, just run back to us if something goes wrong.”

Hours passed as the trio slowly made their way through winding back roads. Frequent stops to figure out what roads actually would get them in the right direction only added to the slog. Kate, for her part, seemed content to study the map and listen to the mixtapes that cycled through the stereo. Some part of Chloe’s mind told her that she should probably say something to her about what’s been bouncing around her head, but then she would probably start babbling about Rachel. Rachel. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel… Just… Please be alive.

Max waved for her to stop and the three got into the bed of the pickup to tear into the MREs that Chloe had ‘liberated’ from David’s stash. The veggie omelette made Max run for the side of the road to get away.  Kate muttered, “I don’t see what all the fuss is about.”

After a single bite, Kate spat it out and joined Max. Chloe kept the rest for herself. “Fine, I’ll leave it to the wildlife!”

“They won’t eat it!” shouted the other two in unison.

After more edible rations were prepared the three were back down the winding dirt roads, Chloe barely even touching the gas pedal. Max kept walking along, her head roving back and forth. Her fingers idly drummed on the steering wheel as the mind-numbing monotony really set in and she just mindlessly mouthed along to the words. Kate’s pencil scratched away in her sketchbook as the minutes crept on.

Max abruptly halted and gave Chloe a ‘cut the engine motion’. “Shit, guess this is it.”

In one motion, she shut down the truck and slid out from her seat, her eyes narrowed as Max stood in front of a patch of thick bushes. “What did you find Max?”

Max grabbed at a bush and started pulling, the underbrush quickly giving way and revealing part of a small dirt pathway headed into the woods. “These are fake and the wolf’s scent gets really strong that way…”

“That’s… fucking weird, why would there be fake bushes hiding a path?”

Kate’s gentle voice comes from behind her. “Because someone doesn’t want this being found?”

The suggestion only caused more questions to spring up in her mind as Chloe grabbed the other fake bush and hauled it away from the path. Please don’t let this be someone’s murder cabin. “That’s fucking sketchy… Maybe I should park the truck a little up the road before we go, so whoever’s trail this is doesn’t see it.”

Max and Kate shared a glance before they nodded in agreement, Chloe quickly bounding back into the truck and driving it around the next bend. Max wrapped her up in a bone crushing hug as Chloe returned, all of them now standing at the head of the trail. “Are you ready?”

It was not like they could really turn back after spending all day on this. “No, but let’s fucking do this.”

The path itself was winding and steep, worming its way between several small cliffs in the rising swell of the mountain. The trio battered their way through the dense undergrowth that threatened to consume their little goat path. Occasionally they got glimpses beyond the canopy out to over the mountain valleys below. Damn, Max should have brought her camera, I always forget how fucking beautiful it is up here.

It took about half an hour of hiking for the trail to start descending and Chloe silently grumbled to herself about not bringing more water or a pair of hiking boots. Thank fuck I didn’t bring heeled boots; I would have sprained my ankle. I’m still probably going end up with a fucking blister after this though.

The trail kept going down, the underbrush growing thicker as they moved down into a valley, the sunlight blotted out by the thick canopy. The three traded idle chitchat about how beautiful the forest was. Kate lamented that she can’t stop and sketch out the beautiful vistas, Max griping about lacking her camera. Chloe was silently thankful that she brought the gun just in case and made mental notes to take the two girls out on some of her favorite hiking spots.

Chloe, lost in thought, almost walked into Max’s back when the hipster came to a sudden stop ahead of her. Confused, Chloe blurted, “What’s up Max?”

Max pointed off into the woods and Chloe saw it. A cabin, worn and dilapidated. The grey wood was utterly devoid of paint and the roof left patchy after years of neglect. Chloe tugged the revolver out of her pants and made sure Kate was behind her

The front door creaked open as she skidded to a stop in front of it as a figure stepped out of the gloom. Her hair was an unkempt mess, clothes moth eaten and several sizes too big.Her thin shoulders bowed; her gaunt cheeks pulled into a tight smile while her sunken eyes flicked between the three of them.

“H-hey Chloe.” Said Rachel Amber.

Chapter Text

For all the ways Chloe had imagined this interaction going, for all the fantasizing about tearful reunions and spine shattering hugs, none of that seemed to unfold. The whimpered apologies and angry shouts all evaporated from her brain as she stared into those hazel eyes trying to find some kind of answer. She stuffed the rattling revolver back into her jeans before she could cause an accident. Longing and anger fought with each other to see who could rise to the top fastest. Max’s hand slipped into Chloe’s and their fingers laced together. She couldn’t miss it as Rachel’s eyes darted to the gesture, the subtle way her lips tightened for a split second. But it was enough, Rachel was jealous and anger won.

“HOW FUCKING DARE YOU?!” Chloe’s voice didn’t even sound like hers, raw and cracked as she leaned into Max for comfort. Rachel visibly winced. “I SPENT FUCKING MONTHS LOOKING FOR YOU! A-AND YOU’RE JUST FUCKING HERE, CHILLING OUT IN THE FUCKING WOODS?!”

“C-Chloe I-”

“NO! FUCK YOU! YOU DIDN’T EVEN LET ME KNOW YOU WERE FUCKING BREATHING, AND THEN,” her voice dropped, the anger and grief choking her throat. “T-that fucking note…”

Rachel’s head bowed. “I-I’m-“

“WHY COULDN’T YOU JUST FUCKING TELL ME?! You were always fucking full of shit, but I thought I was different, that I at least got something fucking close to the truth! I FUCKING GUESS NOT THEN, BITCH!”

“That’s not what happened!”

“BULL-FUCKING-SHIT! WHAT FUCKING REASON COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE FOR JUST ABANDONING ME?”

“I didn’t abandon you, Chloe!”

“YES YOU FUCKING DID! JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE FUCKING DOES!” A sharp crack echoed through the forest as her fist hit the rough wood of a tree. She then spun around, stomping away, ripping her hand out of Max’s. Whatever more words she had to spit at Rachel died under the lump in her throat as Chloe was consumed by the need to get away. She ran past an utterly shocked and bewildered Kate. Max’s voice called after her, she could hear footsteps following as she kept moving . Her breathing went ragged and gasping as the sobs threatened to overwhelm her, but she couldn’t stop. Chloe stumbled, her foot catching on a root but she kept going despite Max’s yelp of alarm.

She managed to finally collapse into a small depression behind a tree, letting the burning in her throat take over. Her body convulsing with sobs as she curled up in the depression, knees hugged tight to her chest as the riptide of emotions dragged her out. SHE WAS FUCKING HERE THE WHOLE TIME! SHE FUCKING ABANDONED ME FOR THIS STUPID SHITTY CABIN IN THE WOODS! Her mouth opened as she screamed silently into the crook of her arm. A hand started brushing through her hair and Max’s gentle voice cooed to her. “Shhhhhh, it’s okay Chloe, it’s okay.”

“I-its fucking not okay! She fucking abandoned me! Just like fucking everyone does!” Max’s arms wrap around her, but her mind wouldn’t stop its spiral. She was afraid Max and Kate would leave too, but her mouth wouldn’t form the words to ask. They’re going to fucking leave and never look back because that’s what always fucking happens. I exist to be forgotten. I deserve to be forgotten, I’m a total fucking loser.

Max’s arms squeezed tighter and rocked Chloe gently, her voice warm. “I’m not going to leave you ever again, I promise.”

“B-bullshit. You’re going t-to go to college and y-you’ll leave me.” Her chest was too tight, her throat burned, she couldn't breathe. She leaned into the squeeze. “Everyone always leaves.”

The thought that this would have been easier if Rachel had died instead lanced through her. She hated the thought, despised it. But she couldn’t fight it. If Rachel was dead then she wouldn’t have abandoned Chloe, she would have been taken and she could hate anyone else, not herself. She’s spent the past six months hiding from me. Why the fuck did I think finding her would be a good idea? If she wanted anything to do with me she would have reached out… Am I really so fucking shitty that living in a shitty little cabin in the fucking mountains is better?

“Shhhhhhh Chloe, I’m not leaving you. I promise.” Max’s voice was hard to hear in the midst of her swirling thoughts, the sheer amount of her own self hatred consuming her. All the emotions she had been trying to drink away the night she’d found Max were now making up for lost time.

Chloe’s nose ran like a faucet as her voice refused to work, her body letting her grief out. She couldn’t fight anymore. As minutes wore on, her grief and anger slowly gave way to sheer exhaustion. She let Max’s repeated assurances guide her back from the brink. Her hand itched for the revolver in her waistband but she fought that idiot urge, Max needed her. Kate needed her. She let out another silent scream as she buried her face in Max’s chest. Max’s gentle touch rubbed over her back as she tried to fight the torrent of emotion and failed, over and over again.

“It’s okay Chloe, we’re here.” Kate’s gentle words and touch intruded into the maelstrom alongside Max’s embrace. The flash flood of emotions subsided, leaving emptiness behind.

“S-s-shit…”

“Just let it out.”

Max’s arms squeezed tighter as Chloe choked out a final few sobs before taking in a long, shuddering breath. The lack of sleep from the past week had caught up to her as she slumped into Max’s arms. “Fuuuuuuck… I-I just fucked th-that up.”

Kate pressed herself into Chloe’s back and embraced her as well. “No, she told me she kind of expected this.”

Was she avoiding me because she’d known I’d be mad? What the fuck?! Max’s voice headed off her simmering anger. “Maybe we should go ask her what’s going on?”

She screwed her eyes shut, just breathing in Max’s smell and melting into the pair’s embrace for a few precious moments. Rachel and her bullshit could wait until she could think clearly.

It took a few moments but she managed to stand, Kate and Max following her up and each holding a hand. Max smiled gently and gave Chloe’s cheek a quick kiss. “Are you ready?”

“No, but fuck it.”

When they walked back into eyeshot of the cabin, Rachel was still outside. She leaned against the side, arms crossed. Chloe borrowed her hand from Max to wipe her face in her hoodie’s sleeve. Rachel’s eyebrows shot up at her hands being held by both Max and Kate, but she said nothing when her gaze settled back on Chloe.

“I’m… sorry Rachel. I shouldn’t have freaked on you like that.”

She shrugged, a finger tapping on her arm. “’s fine. I hella expected a freakout if we ever saw each other again… Do you have any smokes?”

Kate gave a polite cough and Chloe sighed. “No, miss do-gooder here made me leave them in the truck.”

“Shit. I haven’t smoked in a hella long time.”

“It’s not like town is that far away Rach. What the hell are you doing out here?”

Rachel’s finger tapped more aggressively on her arm and she kicked off from the wall. “I don’t have a choice.”

“Why the fuck not?”

Her lips pulled tight and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Because… I’m a werewolf, Chloe.”

Chloe jerked her head at Max. “No shit. She is too.”

Rachel looked puzzled as she fixed her gaze onto that freckled face before her face went white and her eyes widened in realization. “Shit. FUCK!”

Max took a small step back. “What?”

“I-I-I-I SHIT. I think I’m the one who bit you.” Rachel groaned, her body falling back into the cabin’s wall. “FUCK! Oh, this is fucking bad. This is so fucking bad.”

Chloe snapped her fingers. “Rachel, focus. What’s going on?”

Rachel stepped forwards and swept Max up in a hug. “I’m so so so fucking sorry!”

Max squirmed for a moment and Rachel set her back down. “It’s okay! Did you do it on purpose or something or?”

Rachel shook her head and sighed. “No, I barely have any control when the full moon is around. That’s part of the reason I’ve been living out here.”

Chloe squinted at Rachel. So many fucking questions. “So why were you down by American Rust?”

“I-I was trying to find you.”

“So you could what, fucking bite me?!”

Rachel’s palms met her forehead as she looked wide eyed at Chloe. “NO! I… I missed you, Chloe. Like I said, I can’t really control myself when I’ve turned and...”

Max shrugged, her hand finding Chloe’s again. “It’s okay, I know what you mean about it being hard to control. I’m Max by the way. She’s Kate.”

Rachel’s mouth dropped open. “Wait. Max? The Max?! FUCK! I’m so fucking sorry!”

Max’s head turned to Chloe, her eyebrow raised. “The Max?”

Rachel slumped against the wall of the cabin. “She never shut up about you. Like ever.”

Max’s lips twitched up into a grin before she turned back to Rachel. “It’s fine, you biting me is how we found each other again.”

Rachel’s lips tightened for a moment again before Kate spoke up for the first time. “What about the hunters that went missing?”

“That’s… the other reason I’m up here. Those assholes make sure I can’t leave.”

“Which assholes, the one in your note?”

The would-be model’s lip quivered and she closed her eyes. Her voice cracked with emotion, “I’m so, so fucking sorry Chloe. I thought getting close to Mark would open so many doors for me… Instead, this fucking happened.”

Max and Kate’s hands tightened around Chloe’s and the two both spoke as one. “JEFFERSON?!”

Rachel winced and nodded, her shoulders slumping. “Yeah… He fucking bit me, and he bit Nathan. They try to keep me from escaping when I turn, something about protecting the mother of their pack or some bullshit.”

Chloe’s own hands tightened as she gritted her teeth, cold fury pumping through her veins. “I’m going to fucking kill them. If they’ve fucking touched you, I’m going to make it hurt .”

Rachel shook her head as she stepped forwards and hugged Chloe, the trio returning the embrace and holding her tight. “They haven’t, not yet.”

The rage in Chloe’s chest burned dense and hot, a neutron star of fury waiting to be unleashed on those fucking monsters. For now, though, she focused on Rachel, the once vivacious woman now broken; reduced to skin and bone. Fuck she reeks, I wonder when she last had an actual shower? “We’re going to get you out of here, Rach.”

Rachel, shook her head and Chloe felt her frail arms press harder into her body. “I can’t, they’ll just track me down and drag me back like they did that morning after I bit Max.”

“Then we’ll fucking wait for them and kill them. Two werewolves and some silver bullets should do it.”

Rachel pulled back and Chloe saw something she hadn’t seen in those hazel eyes in a long time, desperate hope. “I-I… Okay, but you and Kate need to stay inside. Shoot from the doorway or something when they come…. Did you bring any food?”

Chapter Text

Chloe and Kate finished clearing away the remains of the rations and tossed them into the overflowing bucket Rachel used as a trash can. Max and Rachel had spent their limited time comparing notes on being a werewolf, and it had been clear that things were very different between the two. Makes sense, Rachel always was a wild child and Max was the considerate softie… I wonder what I would be like as a werewolf? Probably a total badass. She tossed a glance over to Max and Rachel, who were still deep in conversation, the topic turning to how Max was using silver to keep from turning. “I’m going to step out for a smoke. Wanna join me Kate?”

Kate nodded, a small smile on her face. “Sure, just… no smoking.”

Max shot the pair a smile but said nothing as she returned to her talk with Rachel. Chloe stepped out of the rickety door and leaned against the siding. She pulled out her pack, only for Kate to take them right out of her hand and toss them away. “I said no smoking.”

Chloe couldn’t help the groan that escaped her lips. “Shit, why is everyone on my case about smoking?!”

Kate shrugged and leaned against the wall with her. “We’ll get you some nicotine gum or something then. No lung cancer for Chloe.”

“Fuck! Fine. I don’t get why you care so much. Do you like, want to get out of here before shit goes down? This isn’t your fight.”

Kate shook her head, shuffling a bit closer to Chloe. “Yes, it is. I care about the two of you, and I can’t stand by while those... creeps are doing this.”

Chloe pantomimed having a cigarette between her fingers with a twig off the ground. “I can see why you care about Max, why the hell do you give a shit about me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because I’m a piece of shit with no prospects and no future.”

Kate spun and stared at Chloe, her jaw set hard and she stabbed a finger at her. Fuck it should be illegal to be this cute. “No! You’re an amazing person Chloe Price. How many people would just accept that their best friend is a werewolf after that person abandoned them for five years? How many people would drop everything to take that friend on a romantic getaway that same day because they needed it? I’m sure when this is all over, you’ll find a way to make it work with Max.”

“And you’re okay with that? Your crush on Max is pretty fucking obvious. I figure you’d just wait around, you both graduate and then you two ride off into the fucking sunset.”

The determination set in her face gave way to pale shock. “W-what?! NO!”

“So, you don’t want to get with Max?”

Kate’s face was filled with disbelief. “I don’t want to break you two up!”

Chloe cocked an eyebrow at Kate and shrugged. “Fair enough, then what do you want? Might as well get it out, we’re up against at least two pissed off, creepy werewolves. We might die.”

Kate bit her lower lip and tapped her foot on the ground. “I-I… there’s a lot I want, especially if I might die.”

Chloe did her best to keep her face neutral, but the hint of a smirk was unavoidable. “Like what?”

Kate froze up for a moment as her face reddened and her voice came out as a tiny whisper. “A first kiss would be nice.”

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded. “Got someone in mind?”

Kate chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments as she fidgeted. Chloe once again had to try and keep a straight face. Her and Max are weapons grade cuteness, I swear to fuck. “Do I get to know who?”

Her answer was Kate turning and getting up on her toes while she tugged on Chloe’s shirt so she had to bend down and into a tentative, tender kiss. She didn’t fight it, letting Kate do what she wanted. In a couple hours they might be dead, so fuck it. 

After a few moments, Kate pulled back and fidgeted with a guilty look on her face.

“Heh, so Max was right.”

Kate’s tomato-red face stared slack jawed at Chloe. “What?”

Chloe didn’t even bother trying to keep the smug, cocky grin from her face this time. “She can hear your heartbeat speed up, remember?”

Kate’s eyes dropped and her face somehow managed to get a little redder as she muttered something about werewolves. Chloe snorted before her eyes flicked up to the darkening sky. “Seriously though, last chance to get out of here. The three of us should be good without you.”

“No. I’m here for both of you. I’m staying.”

Chloe sighed and opened her arms to take Kate into a hug, which she accepted warmly. Chloe held the small woman close, just enjoying the feeling. “Thanks for sticking it out with us. You seriously didn’t have to.”

“Well I want to be here. You both need everything you can get.”

Gentle snickering floated out from the doorway and Chloe groaned loudly. FUCKING WEREWOLVES. “You two fucksticks can come out now.”

Max slipped out from the doorway, running over to hug the pair. “That was so cute!”

Kate let out a soft giggle as she and Chloe looped an arm around Max and pulled her into their hug. “You too Amber.”

Rachel poked her head out, a sly smile on her face. “Look at you Chlo, I leave you alone and you get yourself a little harem going.”

Chloe felt her cheeks burn as Max laughed. “I-IT’S NOT A HAREM!”

Rachel smirked and turned back into the cabin. “Suuuuure, you three have fun.”

Chloe sighed and pulled Max and Kate closer, her heart sank as she started worrying if any of them weren’t going to make it out of the coming fight alive.

An hour later, the four sat silently around the rickety, time worn table. They’d put their plan together. Kate was to stay in the cabin and help if anything went wrong; Chloe was to stay in the doorway with the revolver to take any shots she could. Rachel and Max would turn and go toe to toe with them. All they had left to do was wait for Rachel’s change to come and for Nathan and Jefferson to show up. I should have brought some extra silver for Rachel, that would have been smart.

The analogue clock in the kitchen struck ten and Rachel shuddered before making her way to the door. Fuck, here we go.

Rachel staggered out of the door, shrugging off her oversized clothes with ease as her change took hold. There was no screaming, no writhing in agony. Instead she roared in rage as she changed, her lithe form quickly bulking and bulging into a sandy furred creature. She lacked the gentle air that Max had when changed, there was no kindness or sadness in those hazel eyes. Instead there was pain and anger, a wildness suffused posture as she snarled and howled out into the night. Chloe licked her lips as she stood in the doorway, her hand dropping to the revolver tucked into her pants in case Rachel lost it. Rachel’s head cocked when her eyes met Chloe’s and she sniffed the air, slowly wandering closer. “H-hey Rach. It’s me, Chloe. We’re going to put an end to those shit stains and get you back home. Remember?”

Rachel’s head dipped and she turned to sit on her haunches, facing out into the woods. Guess that’s that. Chloe sighed and headed back into the cabin to wait with Max and Kate. Max’s phone started buzzing on the table. Max picked it up and looked around. “I don’t know the number; I’m amazed I even have reception out here.”

I think I know what the fuck is up. “Answer the call and put it on speaker?”

Max did just that and laid the phone down in the middle of the table before speaking up. “Hello?”

Jefferson’s voice oozed from the speaker, dripping with smugness. “Why hello Max. I trust Kate and Chloe are with you. I really will have to thank Rachel for siring us another pack mother and bringing in another two to turn.”

Chloe couldn’t bottle up the fury boiling in her veins. “HEY FUCK YOU!”

Jefferson’s laughter was low and dark. “Oh Nathan will enjoy breaking you.”

Max’s fist slammed down onto the table. “You’re not fucking touching any of us. Eat shit and die.” Her finger stabbed at the end call button.

“D-damn, that was hard core Max.”

Kate nodded, her face pale as she hugged herself tight. “We’re going to win this, he’s just trying to get into our heads.”

Max nodded, gritting her teeth. “I need to turn quickly, before they come.”

Chloe and Kate returned the nod as Max quickly stripped down. Chloe couldn’t help but smirk at how red Kate’s cheeks got as she leaned in and planted a kiss on Max’s forehead. “Let’s kick some fucking ass.”

Chloe tried her best to not stare at Max’s ass as she walked out the door, she really did. She didn’t do a very good job at it, and Max tossed a knowing wink over her shoulder before the silver bracelet dropped to the ground and her change came. There was still screaming, but less of it this time as she turned. Before long Max was snarling around in feral fury before her personality reasserted itself and those kind eyes locked onto Chloe and Kate. She paced a few steps forward and both girls ran their fingers through her fur. Max then trotted over to join Rachel in staring out into the darkness.

Jefferson and Nathan didn’t make them wait long, soon coming down the path, easily visible in the pale moonlight. Nathan was already turned, his fur a light brown and his form radiating barely contained violence. In stark contrast to Rachel and Max, his fur was patchy and his form wasn’t some giant oversized bear wolf thing. This was the kind of werewolf you saw in the movies. More human in form with elongated arms, swollen in musculature. Chloe swallowed hard as she quickly tugged the revolver free and thumbed back the hammer.

Jefferson’s smug face turned towards her and smirked before he let his silver watch fall to the ground and he turned himself, shredding his suit in the process. His transformation was near immediate and Chloe was left blinking in astonishment as he darted straight at Max. Nathan went for Rachel, the difference between the two was obvious. Jefferson moved with control and purpose, while Nathan was fury incarnate.

She focused on the fight between Max and Jefferson, holding the revolver level from inside the door frame and trying to track Jefferson while Max dodged attack after attack. Jefferson pressed the attack in such a way that Max was kept between him and Chloe’s gun. With a snarl of frustration, she pivoted to Nathan, only to find him and Rachel tangled up in a tangle as she lunged into his attack and barreled him. Her teeth started seeking out their mark, snapping air. Shit, no go. 

Chloe pivoted back to watch the Max and Jefferson fight. Max was still weaving away from his blows but she was running out of room fast and Chloe had no angle. Fuck it, change of plan.

She sprinted from the door, keeping an eye on Jefferson as she moved out into the middle of the fight to be able to draw a bead. Jefferson wasn’t an idiot and tried to adjust, circling around Max to keep her between Chloe and himself. Max, for her part, darted in to try and open up the angle she needed. It didn’t matter, she was blind sided by a backhanded swipe from Nathan. The gun tumbled from her grasp as she crashed back into the side of the cabin. Her chest exploded in hot agony as she landed awkwardly, her rib cage making first contact with the siding and the air ripping out from her lungs.

She lay there for a moment, trying to blink away the spots from her vision. She heard a snarl and her head whipped around to see Nathan loping towards her, Rachel sprawled out behind him. She scrambled, desperately trying to find the gun. No luck. Her spotty vision tunneled around Nathan as his loping turned into a charge.

The explosion ripped through the night and Nathan’s form twisted, the yelp that erupted from his mouth turning into a scream of pain as his form reverted and he was left wailing on the ground. Chloe’s vision swam around as she tried to find out what had happened. She swept over to Rachel, who was back on her feet and charging forward. She tried to turn, fighting the flare of pain only to see Kate standing with the revolver clutched in trembling hands. Holy shit, she fucking saved me.

Nathan, who was writhing on the ground, shrieked in pain. He gave a final jerk then lay still after a second explosion echoed through the night. Chloe caught sight of Rachel barreling into Jefferson’s side, Max taking advantage of his distraction to attack his flank. Chloe's vision swam again and she refocused to Kate sprinting over to her. She could see her lips moving with panicked shouts, but all she could hear was ringing.

“… you … Chloe! … walk? … up! … stay…”

Chloe's eyes slid closed and she tried to suck in some air only for pain to lance through her chest. A gurgling sound reached her ear. Oh that’s bad. A cough erupted from her chest, her world exploding in pain. When it stopped, she felt a trickle of something wet and warm on her chin, the taste of copper. Oh that’s really bad. Her eyes flicked open again as Kate tried to pull her to her feet and the agony exploded through her body. Kate stopped the moment Chloe yelped in pain. Chloe tried to blink the stars clear again, her head swiveling to see the fighting. 

Alone Jefferson didn’t last long, Rachel’s sheer aggression made sure of that and he tried to limp out into the woods, one leg a shredded mess and an arm hung limply at his side while she circled. Max was running over to Chloe and she felt Kate trying to haul her up onto her back. The pain was excruciating but she could tell what they were doing. They wanted to get her out to safety. She did her best to pull herself up and onto Max’s back, Kate following close behind and clinging to Max’s fur below Chloe’s armpits, the rest of her tiny frame pressing close. Max started running. Each loping stride sent shockwaves of agony through her body. But she clung on, teeth gritted against the agony.

Max skidded to a halt and Kate scrambled down before she wrenched open the truck door. Max pressed her bulk into the side of the cab and Kate started dragging Chloe’s body inside and onto the bench seat. With a grunt Kate managed to haul Chloe inside before scrabbling out the driver’s side door, the silver chain Max had dropped earlier twinkling in the moonlight. She barely heard the howl turn into a shriek, then a gasp. Her consciousness slipped for a moment, only to return to an unturned and freshly dressed Max driving her truck. “CHLOE… AWAKE… STAY… US… WITH… PLEASE!”

 Her consciousness slipped again.

Chapter Text

Chloe heard snippets of words. Something about ribs, bleeding and lungs. All she knew was pain. Lots of pain. She was dimly aware of not being in her truck anymore, of people crowding around her. She barely noticed when someone placed a mask over her face and she felt no more.

Author's Note

I know, I know. How dare I leave you on that cliffhanger. Don't worry, we'll get to that. I just want to say a few things first.

Thank you, each and every one of you reading this. Thank you all so much. Chloe and the Beast is not the first fic I ever wrote, but it was the one I decided to use to toss my hat into the ring. I totally expected to get a handful of hits, maybe a couple of kudos and a comment if I was lucky. This fic blew up more than I ever expected it to in my wildest dreams. Writing has always been a passion of mine, but I never felt safe in exploring it due to some... unfortunate stuff in my past.

So seriously, thank you for showing me that my anxiety is a lying bitch, I seriously don't know if I'd have published far more personal and involved works like Statistics if this fic hadn't taken off.

I know people say that you're supposed to write for yourself, and I do. Nearly half of what I've written has never seen publication and honestly, I don't know if it will. A huge reason I chose this fic as my debut was because I wasn't super invested in it. If it was a flop, I could pretty easily move on with things.

Yeah well that didn't happen and now my plans for this silly little werewolf AU have ballooned into a trilogy of fics.

You heard right, a trilogy. Reach exceeding grasp? What's that?

Anyways, it's kind of weird to be writing to you directly like this, doubly so for me to have actually completed a project. Part of ADHD means that starting and finishing things are really hard, so I'm glad I was able to keep my foot on the gas to get this finished. Don't take this to mean that I don't intend to finish my projects, because I totally do.

And speaking of finishing things, here's what you've been waiting for, the sequel to Chloe and the Beast.

Much Ado About Kate.