We'll Make the World Bow

I know this isn't any of the prompts I should be doing, but Episode 3's ending just... whoa. So, here's some sweet Pricefield, for the sake of my feels.

"Grow up! You're not the only one in Arcadia Bay who has problems!"

"Insert groan here..." Max whispered, taking her time getting up the Blackwell Academy steps. "You are such a colossal fuck-up, sometimes..." The brunette's words turned to thoughts as she sauntered toward her dorm.

Max labeled the last twenty-four hours as "crazy-shit-fun". Breaking into Principle Well's office, and ransacking a crazed drug dealer's RV was the "crazy shit" portion. Going for a midnight swim with the girl she may or may not have fallen for, then an impromptu sleepover, followed by a kiss made up the "fun" portion.

It was also the portion that made Max blush the most.

But the last five-minutes, the photographer had somehow found a way to screw shit up.

Finding out that Rachel may have had a "thing" with Frank, and decided not to tell Chloe about it; was probably the worst time for Max to shout at her like that.

She could still hear the roar of Chloe's truck in the distance, it raised and lowered in octave; signaling that she was probably driving like a maniac before fading off completely.

Max shuddered a bit, regretting what she couldn't have held back in the truck. She didn't mean to yell at Chloe like that, but that was one of those times the punk just ground on Max's last nerve -completely shutting out everyone's aid and forcing herself in the locker of "Self-loathing Chloe".

As Max reached the dorm; she continued to think. She knew everyone that had come across Chloe almost always had the same story about her. Bad, loud-mouthed, rebellious, and hard to deal with. As much as Max hated to admit it, sometimes she felt similar. Like being around Chloe was like walking on thin ice.

Max was one of few who knew better.

She knows Chloe so much better than the punk façade she put on every day. She knows how broken Chloe is on the inside -crying out for someone.

"Probably why she got over me leaving, so fast."

Max used to think otherwise. She thought her entry back into Chloe's life -and the sudden acceptance of it- was just a patch on things until they found Rachel. And as soon as they did; Chloe would ditch and head to Los Angeles.

Last night at the pool was where things... changed.

"That was some sappy stuff, but... it was nice." Max's thoughts revolved around Chloe's 'Don't be so sad. I'm never leaving you...' line. Things changed. And Max felt like she was a staple in Chloe's life again.

"Not stumbling in time. This is real."

Her dorm room door came soon enough. The Rachel-clad brunette slipped inside. She faced the open window, forming a tiny grin at the sun setting below the bay. The sights were soothing almost. It made everything below the window-line dark. Covering up the piling mess that blanketed her room.

"Looks like a tornado tore through here," Max choked a little, "Okay, bad joke, probably shouldn't crack jokes about what I'm probably gonna fail at stopping..."

She haphazardly tossed her bag next to the couch before making a grand flop onto her cozy bed -completely ignoring Nathan's "Art" on her wall.

"Just... need to get my mind off shit..."

Her phone was the only bastion of hope in this situation, "What's better than pirated music, and shitty phone games?" Max reached for the device. Chloe had been 95% right when it came to Rachel being her size, but the jeans were a bit tight. In a poor effort to get her phone out; Max yanked the rest of her pocket's contents out with it.