Trigger Warning: mentions of sexual assault, abuse, violence.

October 26, 2013

Welcome to what I call… The Aftermath. DUN DUN DUNNN.

In all seriousness, it feels like it's been forever since I've actually written much of anything. So much has gone down since everything happened. So let's see if I can get this all down…

Sometimes I still ask myself if it all happened or not. It all feels like a dream. One of those blurry, weird dreams where everything feels so real but you still question whether it … actually is? I don't know how to explain it. But it happened. Chloe can attest to that. She's sitting right beside me.

That day in the bathroom felt like a literal vortex (ha ha ha… *sarcasm*). It swept us in and I felt like I was going to die. So many times. But it passed through us, fucked us up, and things fell into place afterwards.

Finally.

I consider myself lucky. How could everything have fallen into place so perfectly? After all that crap…

I sort of remember that day in the bathroom, but I was pretty torn up. After /somehow/ pulling off the biggest time rewind I had ever done, I was absolutely destroyed. Everything is a blur. Even now. Chloe tells me that after disarming Nathan and pushing him off, she rushed to pick me up off the floor. Apparently, I had taken a photo of Nathan in action – pointed gun and all. Actual proof. Go me! But I hardly even remember that.

Anyway, Chloe had apparently rushed to get me off the floor and help me walk out of the bathroom. We ended up getting the school's attention ASAP. And I mean, ASAP. The cops, too. I remember this part more clearly. Blackwell actually came through and believed us after they saw for themselves: Nathan with a gun? Hard to deny an actual gun, you know? Blackwell and the police ended up contacting Nathan's family immediately. I mean, the Prescott business suffered a bit from the Nathan scandal, but it was nothing in the long run. Because being rich helps with getting over things like that.

Still, though. Everyone found out and Nathan was exposed. About everything. The drugs, the girls. All of it. The Vortex club was totally brought to an end.

I can never ever speak for them, but I truly believe that a lot of people Nathan hurt got justice because he was finally held accountable.

And most importantly, he is getting help. As in, actual treatment! He may have gone through a lot of shit with the cops, but at least Nathan finally got the help he needed. Thank goodness.

Speaking of help, you know who isn't in the hospital getting help? Kate! I'm so happy for her. She told me she finally made peace with everything after Nathan was found out. She didn't attempt to kill herself like she did… uh… in the other timeline. People actually believed her when Nathan was caught. That's all she ever wanted. Other Arcadia Bay girls that I never heard of also spoke up when they saw Nathan get caught. They all were so glad to finally have something proven that would have otherwise never been confirmed as true…

–––

Oops… that line… my pen just got nudged. Chloe just nuzzled her face in me and covered me in kisses.

But, Chloe.

She did it. That's my girl. I can't believe we actually pulled it off. We've gone through so, so much together and she's still here. By my side. Who knew my partner in time would end up being this blue-haired punk? Oh my dog, I love her.

Last week was rough for her, though. Because all of this with Nathan happened after he raped her, she still ended up being… you know, pregnant. Nathan had got to her before that day in the bathroom, so… she aborted just last week. I was by her side the entire time. It wasn't easy. I can't even imagine…

She's doing way, way better now, though. She made peace, in her own way, by knowing that her suffering will be the last.

And best of all? Somehow, someway… she is in love with me? Like? HOW? DID? YOU? GET? SO? LUCKY? MAX?

?!?

Dating Chloe is the best thing that ever happened to me.

And as for me?

I never found out how exactly I got my powers. Or why. But as Chloe once told me, I shouldn't stress about trying to find out why and label my actions. They just are. But if I were to label myself, I'd probably label myself as That Freak with Powers… ha ha ha. But in all honesty, that first vision in Jefferson's class was when I realized I got my powers. I still have no clue why. I get how I was meant to use them in the end, but I still don't know why. And I don't know if I ever will find out.

Life is weird.

Strange, really.

I've even wondered whether my powers were some sort of – I don't know – 'gift' from Rachel. As if she was watching over us the entire time. Watching over Chloe. Or something…

Don't worry, Rachel. I'm taking good care of her.

The crazy thing, though, is that… well…

My powers are gone now.

They just... poof. Disappeared. After that day in the bathroom, I didn't have it in me anymore.

I like to believe that they ultimately served their purpose.

The only thing is, I still get mad anxiety because of it. It's so crazy. It feels like I am going through some sort of withdrawl or something. I get feelings of bad things happening and I get super nervous knowing I can't do anything. I can't anymore. It's gone. I had sort of grew dependent on my time rewind. It was like a safety net. I can't do that anymore, and getting over that is… not easy.

In the end, I lost my power. That part is true.

But I still take photos. So many photos. I still carry my camera everywhere. And photography allows me to stop time… one way or another. I can rescue a moment by using my camera. And in that way, I found another way to stop time and hold it.

I always had that power.

And now? Chloe and I have plans.

After turning Nathan in, we ended up finding out where Rachel was sent off. The cops were able to pull the passport entries and find her approximate location. Not anything specific. Just the city. It's still something, though. She was headed to New York City to start a modeling career. Thanks to Nathan's heavy bribes, obviously.

So...

We are heading there now.

Chloe and I.

We're leaving Arcadia Bay together. We're sitting on the plane right now. Waiting for takeoff.

I dropped out of Blackwell a week ago and packed my luggage half a week ago. Who woulda thought? Max Caulfield. A drop out. I flip back a dozen journal entries ago and I see how excited I was to even get into this school. But oh my dog, I had to step back and look at things differently. I had Chloe now. Not to say that she's holding me back. But I just... can't seem to bring myself to be so small-minded. This small town... this small school... it won't get me anywhere. And I want to make it big.

True, Blackwell is prestigious. But look how small it is. A tiny school in an insignificant town that no one's ever heard of. My future would be sorta lame here. So I took out my scholarship money. Chloe is rubbing off on me, ha ha ha. I took it all out and am using it for this. We got dirt cheap plane tickets. Probably because the plane itself is rickety and sketchy. But it'll do the job!

So here we are. Off to NYC. At least, off to NYC once the plane takes off.

I get butterflies in my stomach thinking about it. Am I really doing this? Damn, Max. How did you get so lucky?

NEW YORK CITY.

Holy crap.

I know this is the place to be if I want to make it big as a freelance photographer. So our next adventure is NYC. And finding Rachel.

Chloe got us a small (and I mean SMALL) apartment in NYC through a dude she knows who's in a punk band over there. Rent's going to be free for the first month, but we will probably both end up getting one or two part time jobs of the shitty variety just to make rent. And try to make it on the side. As a photographer and as... well, I don't quite know what Chloe wants to be.

She's good at guitar. She's always been good at guitar. So her buddy is going to get her a few gigs. She's even started tinkering around with my own acoustic guitar. Her voice is so beautiful. And I want to die every time I hear her play.

MY GIRLFRIEND IS SO HOT~

Phewf. Gosh. Okay.

Yeah. Dog, I know how hard it is to make it as an artist. Especially when you're new to the scene. Chloe hardly knows anyone personally in the NYC music scene. And I know even less than that in the photography scene. Like no one, basically.

This is going to sound super cheesy, but... Chloe and I will be alright as long as we have each other. We don't need much, anyways.

Don't get me wrong – this scares the crap out of me.

But Chloe is home. No matter where we go.

Well... gotta run.

Plane takes off soon!

Max closed the journal and tucked it away in her book bag by her feet. The space of the window seat on the plane didn't allow for much, but it fit her book bag.

On her way back up, she stole a glance at Chloe in the seat beside her, who was busy restlessly fixing her beanie and fidgeting with the bullet on her necklace. Her feet were up on her seat.

Though she was giving off her 'I Don't Give a Shit' vibes, it did not fool Max.

The brunette smiled at her, but Chloe wasn't looking. She was busy staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.

DING!

Chloe flinched as the airplane seatbelt sign went off.

Max effortlessly put her seatbelt on and then continued to watch Chloe sit up and fumble with the metal clasp of her own seatbelt, hands shaking.

I remember now.

That night under the stars!

Aw, Chloe.

We sat in the back of your pickup truck and told each other our fears... I remember now!

Mine was losing you.

Yours was... planes.

I thought you weren't afraid of anything, Price.

Max watched as the blue-haired punk gripped the hand rest between their seats. Her anxiousness seemed to surface, painting her knuckles white with tension.

She took subtle but sharp inhales, so Max caressed the top of her ice cold hand, causing the blue-haired girl to turn towards Max.

In return, Max didn't have to say anything. She simply looked at Chloe.

It was a different look. It was pure.

An accidental look that showed her love for Chloe. No one was more important than the girl sitting beside her, and it showed on Max's face. Her wide doe eyes were filled with love.

This is their adventure.

Their story.

The girls felt the plane move slowly on the ground.

Max bit her lip playfully and let a warm smile paint her face.

"Hi," she whispered.

The plane began to pull onto the takeoff lane.

"Hi," Chloe said right back with a small, nervous smile. Her electric blue eyes met Max's deep brown and in that moment, warmth filled her, washing away her anxieties.

The plane aligned itself on the takeoff lane and halted quietly for a mere second before the muffled jets of the plane engine burst, gently pushing the girls back in their seats.

Faster and faster.

Max squeezed Chloe's hand.

"There's no turning back now, Chlo."

The plane accelerated and suddenly tilted upwards, taking flight.

Chloe gave Max a smile, taking Max's support and using it to calm her nerves.

"I know, babe. I can't wait."

They squeezed their hands.

Fingers intertwined.

A/N: Done. It's finally done. This story comes to an end and it's so, so bittersweet. I put in so much effort into this story and I'm happy with how it turned out. Based on the word count, this is basically the length of a novel. And I'm proud of that. Wow, what started off as a one-shot smut turned into this: STILL top favourited and STILL top followed of all LiS stories on this site. THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH. My love for you is relentless.

So I feel like I owe you an explanation on why I've been so afk. I've gotten so so so many emails, messages, posts, etc. asking about the hiatus. If you remember, I last mentioned that I had gotten accepted to law school. I ended up saying no, kek. I went through a lot of personal things. One of them being figuring out my sexuality. I like girls. Specifically, one girl. I met her during this hiatus. Shout out to her for pushing me to finish this story. Shout out to her for hearing me complain about my fanfiction being incomplete. Shout out to her for putting my fanfiction link as her tinder profile bio when we first met and were still talking on tinder LOL. Shout out to her for being so lovely.

Also shout out to the Life is Strange game AND community for being such an important part of my coming to terms with my gayness. So Hardcore was not just a story for me. It helped me sort through my own orientation. To put it into context, when I started writing So Hardcore, I identified as mainly straight and (THE SAFE LABEL OF) bicurious. HAHA. By the end of this story, I am now your homegurl fag. Writing helped so much. You, the readers: thank you for going on this journey with me.

Overall, I loved writing this! The smut was hot for me to write. And it was just overall super cool to experiment writing other genres, like romance/action/suspense/etc. I also loved changing POVs between Max and Chloe. So many thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my story. And put up with my late updates. I really do savour your reviews, though. Please, please let me know what you thought of this. Even if it made you so mad, you rage quit. How can I improve if you don't tell me, right? Especially because I plan on writing a drabble next – pure AmberPricefield smut.

As for me, if you want to get in touch with me...

- my IG (THIS IS THE FACE BEHIND THE STORY): cntdestroyer69

- my tumblr: lightthewayahead. tumblr. com

- I also run an aesthetic page on FB for all you weeb trash who like art (shameless self-promo). I run it with my girlfriend. However, the art is probably not up your alley. Actually, it may be more up Nathan's alley. We post art that we edit: facebook com/ nureteru/

(tfw the A/N is longer than the chapter itself, wh00pz)

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