One More Time

The Doe Effect

Author's Note: I made a terrible mistake.

In the past two nights, I played the entire game again. Episodes one thru four the first night, and the fifth just minutes ago. Literally, minutes ago.

Last time I played this game, I instinctively wrote a 30,000 word story in a matter of days. So you're all getting this early, once again, by impulsiveness. Thank you for all of your reviews, and your support. This chapter is dedicated to Stelosnarcos, my first $15 Patron. Thank you so much for your support. Of course, this chapter is also dedicated to every reader, and especially the reviewers, because you are all awesome.

Please enjoy the Fifth Chapter of One More Time, a Life is Strange Tale.

Episode 5 - Password: 1_L0V3_My_l3u-H-erf1y

Max hesitated before she pressed 'Enter', staring at the ornate password. Chloe could see her inner panic. "Babe, are you sure? I don't need to know. I can see it's eating you up inside. You don't have to show me."

"That's the problem, Chloe." She quickly tapped the keyboard and spun around in her swivel chair. "I do. It's my choice. You deserve to know."

"At what cost, Max? You told me I might hate you for reading this."

She stared off to someplace behind her betrothed from the chair, and thought to herself. "I've been selfish for a long time. You helped me realize that the night you proposed. I always thought about what's the best choice for me, or the best choice for us. Never, once, did I think about what you would want."

"Max..." she gently leaned against the arms of the chair, staring intensely into her eyes. "Don't make me sound like such a cliché, sappy bitch, but what do you think I want? Who did I propose to? Who do I dream of, think of, sleep with, all at the same time? I know I can be a bit... doubtful, but I know, and you know how much we mean to each other. I don't want to destroy that." She reached over, and before Max could blink, she clicked the 'X' at the top right of the monitor. "I can't."

"I'm a time-traveler!"

"...What?"

"See? It's all fiction! Now, you can read it, right? It doesn't mean anything."

"A fiction that you've been writing since you had that dream ten years ago?" She clicked the 'Cancel' button on the confirmation popup. "I've always been curious about what you've done on this computer, but I've never tried to peek. Not once. I knew you'd tell me when you were ready. It's funny; now I don't think I want to. But you win this round, Caulfield. If that's your real name."

"It's not." Chloe blinked, and looked back at her fiancée. "Sorry. Bad joke. I'll shut up now."

"No." She turned back to the computer. "If it's as bad as you say it is, I'm asking for clarification. Let me get the chair, and sit your pretty ass on my lap. And try not to distract me like you usually do."

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Not one question was asked as Chloe perused Max's digital diary, reading every entry, or chapter, seeing every hand-drawn picture. What a fascinating story it told.

It was more in the form of a book, in a way, told in an almost diary-like format. Chloe read about a girl named Blue, and how she had never been the same after her father died. She had lost her best friend, Sam, and her mother re-married a... difficult man. They didn't get along well, and while Chloe couldn't sympathize, she could understand. She read how the girl began on a downward path, spiraling out of control.