Disappear

(Present time: late October 2019)

"Good morning, Chloe Price". Chloe, still in bed, looked to her left and saw Rachel smiling at her. It was a familiar scene, Chloe still in bed, and Rachel already up and at it. "Well, some things never change", Chloe thought to herself. She was usually the latter of the two to get out of bed, especially on days off.

"How are you feeling this morning", Rachel asked. Chloe groaned and said she still wasn't feeling too well. Stomach cramps had been plaguing her for days, and she felt feverish. Chloe hated the fall months, especially when the weather was not good.

Rachel sat down on the edge of their bed and reached for Chloe's forehead with her hand. "You're burning up, angel, you will need to stay in bed today. Doctor Amber is prescribing rest therapy".

Chloe thought to herself that at least being sick had a silver lining, even when you felt like complete shit. Having her angel nearby, nursing her, made things a lot better already. The two of them never got tired of calling each other angel.

Rest therapy was certainly a lot better than the drugs Chloe used to take, her only vices now being the occasional cigarette, some beer and wine. And she would always follow Doctor Amber's advice to the letter.

"For a moment there I thought you might have morning sickness", Rachel teased. Chloe gave her an angry look, and Rachel laughed. "If that were true, you could always call Max and ask her for tips". Chloe's thoughts drifted briefly to her best friend, Max Caulfield, now a locally famous young photographer frequently exhibiting her work to rave reviews.

"Oh, and one more thing Chloe, happy anniversary", Rachel smiled. Chloe smiled back at Rachel and recalled the happiest day of her life. The day she became Mrs. Amber, which had been her deepest wish for years. "I love you, Mrs. Amber", Rachel said. "I love you too, Mrs. Amber", Chloe replied. It ended with a kiss, as nearly always.

Chloe always took great pride in emphasizing to anyone she was Mrs. Amber now. She still loved her father very much, more than a decade after his death, but taking Rachel's name was something she had decided upon early in their relationship. She'd been obsessed with Rachel for years, and after several ups and downs and near fatal tragedy, they got back together and finally executed Rachel's original plan to move to Los Angeles.

They still lived there, and it was also where they had gotten married. Their Santa Monica wedding was now five years ago to the day. Above all, Chloe remembered feeling super awkward when in front of the altar, and she had surprised everyone with her choice for a dress.

But for all the many good things in their lives, Rachel was very aware of Chloe's ongoing anxieties. Chloe still occasionally displayed a recurrent fear that it was all just a dream, and also she was still suffering from periodic fear-of-abandonment issues. However, the stability that Rachel provided in her life slowly helped her to deal with all the issues. It was getting better every year.

Rachel was very happy to prove to Chloe that the lives they were now leading were very real. She comforted Chloe as many times as was needed. And Rachel herself frequently relied on Chloe for support whenever she had nightmares about her past ordeal in the Dark Room. Fortunately, Rachel's nightmares no longer came as frequent as they used to.

"You haven't forgotten about Max coming to visit next week, have you Chloe", Rachel asked.

"No, I hope I'll feel better when she comes, I probably will", Chloe answered.

"Warren's coming too", Rachel added.

"Mr. Friendzone owes me", Chloe thought to herself. She was amused every time she recalled having finally succeeded in setting Max and Warren up together. Faking letters from one to the other, setting up a dinner and movie date for them, and finally managing to push Warren to ask Max to be his girlfriend.

Chloe had known that Max wanted him to do just that for quite some time. But the geek had not been able to summon up the courage needed. Chloe, transforming herself into her alter ego Pricecupid, through her machinations finally managed to get the job done. Max and Warren were still together after more than four years, and married for almost three. Pricecupid had also helped Mr. Friendzone with the proposal. Chloe wondered if Max knew about it.

Helping Max was the least Chloe felt she could have done for her childhood friend. And it was one of many things she had done after reconnecting with Rachel. Once Rachel had left the hospital after her near-death experience at the hands of Mark Jefferson and Nathan Prescott, Chloe started regaining her happiness and eventually ventured to spread it to others. Chloe sometimes thought to herself that it would have been easier if she could have used those awesome rewind powers Max used to have.

But it was unclear if those powers had ever been real. Max had talked about her weird experiences with time during their investigation of Rachel's disappearance, and how she often questioned whether any of it had ever been more than illusions.

Chloe's life with Rachel so far had been her dream come true, despite the occasional anxiety. Rachel, now member of a theatre group and singer in an up-and-coming rock band was her angel, her everything. Rachel had saved her life in more than one way, and in a way Chloe had also contributed to saving Rachel's life, as had Max, and others. Now she and Rachel were together 'til death do them part.

Chloe had spent a few years as a waitress because the couple needed money. But with Rachel's career slowly taking off, Chloe could now afford to work as a clothing designer, something she had never thought she would end up being. It was far removed from the science girl she had once been, acing her way through school until her father's premature and tragic death.

Designing clothes for Rachel, her band and her theatre group was Chloe's favorite thing to do, apart from spending time with Rachel herself. The two still loved attending underground concerts, and went on many road trips. Chloe's favorite trips would always be to remote places with abandoned cabins where it was just the two of them.

When Rachel had first failed to follow through on their agreement to elope, then had gotten involved with Frank Bowers and finally completely disappeared, it had caused Chloe to develop a protective shell around herself. She had started to display extreme cynicism and selfishness, lashing out at anyone who tried to approach her. Chloe became a rebel, and often her mother Joyce would be the target of Chloe's bitterness.

Even Max had to suffer some of Chloe's anger and frustration when she reappeared in Arcadia Bay to study at Blackwell, though the two still re-established their long-term friendship.

The happy ending to the bad times had helped Chloe make peace. First with herself, then with her mother and most remarkable of all, with step-douche, or step-hero as Chloe now referred to him. David had played an important role in saving Rachel. Step-hero had also fixed up Chloe's truck after she had to abandon it on that fateful night. Who would ever have thought back then, that she would even acknowledge him, let alone like? So much had changed in her life, and almost all of it for the better.

She no longer needed a protective shell. She looked forward to seeing Max again. Spidermax, Maxipad, Batmax, her first crush, Max-a-roni, Maximus Prime. Chloe planned to ask Max about what it was like to be expecting a baby, and the most important question would be to ask exactly how many times Max had needed to rewind to get Warren to hit the right spot. Chloe started feeling better already, gleefully anticipating Max's expression upon being asked that particular question. However, Chloe knew better, she would ultimately keep this particular thought to herself.

Rachel interrupted Chloe's thoughts, sat down in front of their computer and opened the music player. "I have a gift for you, Chloe. I've worked on this song for a long time, it's a bit of a break from our genre but it's finally ready. My band recorded it with me in advance of our debut album. I hope you like it because I'm dedicating it to you. I just want you to know that I'll always be with you and will do anything it takes to keep convincing you of my love for you."

Rachel then blew Chloe a kiss and said the song was called "Disappear".

Chloe sat up in bed and started listening, by the look she gave Rachel it was clear that Chloe loved the song, and the lyrics that symbolized their mutual struggle.

Say I'm crying
I'm looking at what's on TV
Pain and suffering
And the struggle to be free
It can't ever be denied
And I never will ignore
But when I see you coming
I can take it all

You're so fine
Lose my mind
And the world seems to disappear
All the problems
All the fears
And the world seems to disappear

Say you're mine
And give yourself to the feelings that you know
I'm needing all that you can give me
All the things that you do so well
Words are healing
Sweet anticipation
Making spells as the shadows closed in
Fell across all our yesterdays

You're so fine
Lose my mind
And the world seems to disappear
All the problems
All the fears
And the world seems to disappear

Say if I could
Look into myself and reason
But I could never never see
Or make sense of the dealings
Turn around
Am I looking at salvation
Make me realize all that I am
You put the light inside this girl

You're so fine
Lose my mind
And the world seems to disappear
All the problems
All the fears
And the world seems to disappear

Credits

Life is Strange, Before the Storm and all characters in those games belong to Dontnod Entertainment and Deck Nine Games.

The song "Disappear" belongs to Jon Farriss and Michael Hutchence of the band INXS.