Here's a new chapter! The events of Max and Maxine's chapters are happening at the same time. Half of this chapter is paralled to the previous one, while the second half will be paralled to the next one. I hope this isn't confusing.

Thank you guys for the support! You're awesome! Oh, and shout out to my dear friend Tosca who's been giving me inspiration.



The blurriness and pain were forgotten the moment Max heard her counter-part's words.

She woke up in her world. The world where she left Chloe on her own. If she didn't think that the universe was making fun of her earlier, she was sure of it now. Everything was a mess. A big mess that she created.

She was starting to think that maybe Maxine's words were true. There was no use in helping others.

"How is she?" She asked, hoping that her blue haired friend was okay.

"Of course you'd fucking ask that." Maxine replied in mock offence which made her try to roll her eyes, and causing another headache in the process. "Nothing like: Hey! How are you my dear superior self? Are you hurt? I missed you! Are you enjoying my awful sense of fashion…? Wait… Is that a fucking Resident Evil shirt?"

"Haha, Fuck you." She answered with her best annoyed voice.

"Ugh, that's gross, why would you even suggest that? " She mentally groaned as Joyce handed her a cup of water. "To answer your question, your girlfriend is fine. She seems upset about our situation. I told her everything."

"She's not my… forget it. Look, please look after her. I'll find a way to fix this."

"Why should I?"

"Please." The conversation with her counterpart ended.

"Are you okay, Max?" Joyce inquired in her motherly tone. Her face was mirroring the concern that she was feeling.

Max checked under her nose absently. The bleeding was happening too often. "I'm okay, Joyce. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"Coming back here must have been… a bit too hard for you." Joyce said, looking between Chloe and Max. "Vanessa told us about your condition. We should have been careful."

What condition?

"What condition?" Chloe voiced the brunette's thoughts. Her eyes were a mixture of concern and curiosity. Max could see that they were a bit red from crying, which meant she didn't pass out for too long.

Joyce eyed the brunette then sighed. "It's not my place to talk about it. Max, please get some rest. Forget about whatever happened in there." She said before walking to the kitchen.

Max's eyes widened. Did Joyce know about Chloe? Did they know about her request but chose to ignore it?

"Max, I… I'm sorry." Chloe's voice sounded worse than earlier, it was shaking. Was she crying? No matter what it looks like she only caused pain to her best friend. "I was so frustrated and… you just don't understand. No one does. Do you know what it's like to cause the people you love to suffer and feel helpless all the time? I'm stuck Max! I'm stuck in this chair forever!"

Max almost laughed at the irony and similarity of the words.

"Do you know what it's like to wait for your father to come home when you're a kid? And he never does?!"

"Don't I know it…?" She answered, catching the blonde off guard. "My friend, jumped off a roof, few days ago. I could've helped her, but my help wasn't enough. I can move and do anything I want and yet I can't fix anything! I'm the worst friend ever. If I never left to Seattle-"

"Don't…" Chloe tried to interrupt her but Max wouldn't let her.

"What if I was in that accident with you? Would things have changed? Would you still be on your feet?"

"Max… what are you saying? This isn't your fault." The blonde stated quietly, trying to process what was happening.

"What I'm saying is that my life is full of nothing but what ifs. The questions and the regrets are everywhere. I'm a loser who is always hiding behind the camera's lenses! I can't help anyone! It looks that every time I try to help, I make things worse!" Max confessed, while holding her arm, digging her nails into it. It was nothing compared to the pain in her chest. "I'm sorry if this sounds selfish but I'm as trapped as you are! It is different, but in a way, I understand what you're feeling and I know it's terrible. But then you ask me to do that! Do you know how much it would suck to lose you?"

The rush of emotions and words left her confused. She never knew that she felt this way, until it was out.

Chloe knew that better than everyone. While she was the one to scream and kick and cry when she was angry, Max was the one who would bottle her feelings and never speak of them. That's was how she was ever since she was a child. It was unhealthy. The blonde saw the photographer break down once, and she didn't want to see it again.

"I'm so sorry Max… I had no idea you felt this way." Chloe started, then paused, looked for the right words to say. She wasn't the best speaker. "I wasn't thinking. I fucked up. I thought that everyone would be better off without me. I was being selfish."

"You've always been selfish, Chloe." Max said, her hand reaching for hers. "But you were always looking out for me too."

The girl in front of her was the one who befriended her when everyone else thought she was weird. She was the one who protected her from bullies and encouraged her to follow her dreams.

And Max always ended up ruining her life in one way or another.

"I have to go." Max announced.

"Wait!" She stopped and turned to see blue eyes staring at her, pleading her. She could've sworn she saw that familiar fear of abandonment in there.

She cupped the blonde's face and placed a kiss on her forehead, then rested her own forehead on hers, her gaze never leavings hers.

"Why would you go this far for her?" The question that her other self asked earlier rang in her head.

She was starting to know what the answer was.

"I'll see you later, Chloe." She pulled away slowly.

"You better." Chloe whispered and gave her a small smile.

Max decided to walk instead of taking the bus. She needed to sort things out. She was so tired and stressed out. She really felt old.

"How is Chloe?" She found herself asking the other time traveler.

"I already told you she was fine." Maxine answered, and for the first time, she found her voice to be a source of comfort.

"I just miss her." She admitted, feeling the tightness in her chest. "I'm alone here. I don't know what to do, or who to trust."

There were few minutes of silence before the other brunette answer. "She's fine. She said she 'hella' missed you." The answer brought a small smile to her face. "You never told me about you and Chloe… and a certain kiss."

Max blushed, wondering how she found out about that. "It's just a stupid dare."

"Tell that to someone who isn't yourself." Maxine scolded her. "If there is one thing I'm sure of, it is that I would never go this far for someone, unless I loved them."

Max froze, repeating the words through her head. Her mind wandered to that night in the pool, the dare, her resolve to fix Chloe's life, and everything else. She even tried to shoot Frank.

Max Caulfield was never one to face her problems or get close to people who'll leave her troubled. She HATED feeling troubled and avoided anything that would give her a headache. What she was doing lately was against everything she's been doing so far.

"I admit you have great taste. Chloe is really hot, especially with the blue hair. She also has a better ass than Nathan."

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Max voiced her thoughts and blushed as she got weird looks from people passing by.

"I swear I did not do anything… apart from some teasing… You're jealous, aren't you?" She could almost see her counterpart's smirk.

"I hate you."

"I aim to please."

Max sighed and decided to face her feelings later, she was too tired to deal with them. When she reached the dorms, she saw Rachel putting a flower on what seemed to be Kate's memorial.

Oh poor Kate…Max felt a stab in her heart. Kate didn't deserve any of this.

She approached the blonde who turned and was startled with her presence. "Hey Rachel." She greeted. She noticed that the blonde was uncomfortable. It was weird to see her act this way, especially after finding out what kind of person she was in her timeline. "Thank you for helping me."

"Oh, um… You're welcome, it is nothing." Rachel just shrugged and gave a friendly smile. "You don't look like you're just here to thank me, though."

"Actually, I wanted to ask if you were at the vortex club party when the video was taken." Max started. She wasn't in the mood to dance around the topic, or maybe it was her counter-part's personality rubbing off on her.

In an instant, the blonde's expression changed and it became cold and bitter.

"Haven't you all done enough?" Rachel asked angrily. "Can't poor Kate just rest?"

"I'm asking because I want to find out what happened!" Max answered, surprised by the sudden change. "I know that Kate wouldn't act like that!"

"Kate is DEAD." Rachel stated, crossing her arms and looking down. "None of that matter now."

"Of course it matters!" The photographer.

"Why would YOU care?" The blonde glared at her. "You're Maxine Caulfield! You don't care about anyone! You're cold and manipulative! Everyone knows that. So why should I trust you and tell you anything?"

Max remained silent.

The words struck her like thunder. If she truly cared, she would have contacted Chloe earlier, she would have helped Kate before she even thought about suicide. She was manipulative too. She used her powers to make people like her.

Maybe she wasn't that different from her counterpart.

She didn't want to be that kind of person anymore.

"Kate Marsh was drugged. I'm going to make whoever did this pay, with your help… or without it." She stated and walked past the startled blonde.

Rachel watched her walk away.

How did she ever get mixed up into this mess? Oh, yes. A blue butterfly caused it.

Max threw herself on the bed and closed her eyes. She went through so many emotions, pain, sadness, anger, and now she was just numb.

Today, was the first day that Max Caulfield ever wanted to die.

"Are you still awake?" She thought, hoping for an answer.

It was weird, to communicate with another version of yourself through your thoughts.

"I don't mind disturbing my beauty sleep for you." The sarcasm in the answer was so strong that she rolled her eyes. "Actually, you have perfect timing. What's up?"

Max noticed that something was off with that answer, but she was too tired to question it.

"I'm sorry."

"What did you just say?"

"I've been acting as if I was some sort of hero or whatever. The truth is, I'm far from that. I'm an awful person. I'm sorry for judging you." Max confessed. She wanted, for once, to be honest with herself.

Well, in this case, other self.

"Congratulations. You caught me off guard." There was a pause then. "I don't think we're shitty people. One thing I know for sure, is that we have terrible luck."

Terrible luck? She had a nice life so far. However, she never asked for the things that were happening lately.

What did she really mean by that?

"How did you do it?" She asked instead. "How did you manage to not bother anymore? To not care? How did you manage to forget about Chloe?"

The only answer she got was silence.

She sighed and got up to change her clothes, but when she did, her bag fell down, along with something that was inside.

It was her diary.

Of course, curiosity got the best of her.

She opened it and her eyes widened at the first page.

Curiosity killed the Max, indeed.

2010. Stop forgetting. Was written on the paper. There were others words but they weren't clear. The only thing she could make of the date was the year.

What did it mean?

Just then did she get the answer to her question.

"I never forgot."

About the resident evil shirt joke... when I was looking at the concepts for Max, I found one where she was wearing a RE shirt (i don't know if that thing is real or not haha) and let me tell you, the shirt was awful.



Hope you liked the chapter!