Max walks next to Chloe as they stroll down the path next to the beach.
Chloe: It's weird hanging out with you again.
Max: I know... I'm glad we are, though.
Chloe: It was nice that you sent me actual letters. That's more than any of my other friends have done... And you even wrote on that cool parchment paper. That's so Max.
Max: So pretentious. But I love writing on it, like an English poet. You deserve the best stationery.
Chloe: Probably easier to write than to visit me. I don't mean that in a bitchy way. Not totally. You probably wanted to avoid awkward conversations like this.
Max: Uh...pretty much, yeah.
Chloe: Look, the worst thing you can do is treat me like a baby. I still want to laugh and talk shit with my best friend. Can we stop? This is seriously the best view of the sunset. What do photographers call that?
Max: "The golden hour."
Chloe: See? Without you here, I'd have no clue. Bet you could take some amazing shots... Those beached whales are so sad. I kind of know how they feel... At least I'm alive here with you.
Max: You're a real survivor, Chloe. I know you have to deal with so much.
Chloe: I don't want anybody else feeling sorry for me. I can do that...along with my parents. My dad still feels guilty about buying me that car.
Max: Are you okay to talk about the accident?
Chloe: We never actually have, huh? There's not much to say. Some prick in an SUV cut me off and I flew into a ditch.
Max: Do you...remember everything?
Chloe: I saw everything in bullet time. I felt my back snap and... And that was the last thing I ever felt in my body. When I woke up in the hospital, I literally couldn't move a muscle.
Max: Jesus! I...I don't know what to say.
Chloe: Don't say anything. I'm just happy I did get to see you again. I'm sorry about isadora, max, i can't even imagine how you feel
Max: i don't even know what happened.
Chloe: I'm not entirely sure myself, but my family is praying for you
Max: thank you chloe, how are you feeling, I know you and Dora were really close
Chloe: im managing but i hope she is..
Max: kicking it somewhere safe
Chloe: yeah, i hope so
Max: This is such a different world than when we were kids, isn't it...
Chloe: After that snow and eclipse, it's more like the end of the world.
Max: Do you think so? I haven't kept up with the details.
Chloe: I have more time on my hands than you... Plus I'm a science nerd. But none of this makes sense.
Max: I know things seem out of control, but...as long as we're together, I don't feel afraid.
Chloe: Hanging out with you makes me feel like a total kid again. You don't even know...
Max: Listen, Chloe...I'm sorry I haven't been out to see you more. That was wrong. You're my best friend.
Chloe: Max, thanks for coming out to see me. You're...you're doing awesome.
Max: I don't think so.
Chloe: Um. My...my nose is getting cold. Maybe we should get back to my place.
Max: It is hella cold out here.
Chloe: "Hella"? I hate that word, no offense.
Max: None taken.
Max and Chloe turn around and head back towards Chloe's house.
Back at Chloe's.
Max: This is a pretty high-tech lair.
Chloe: Feels like a high-tech cell. But I am lucky my parents bust their ass to take care of me. I know it's hard for them...
Max: They're grateful you are here with them.
Chloe: Right. Especially when they can't even take a walk alone. Sometimes I act like a total teenage brat just to give them an excuse to yell at me. Pathetic, I know.
Max: Chloe, you're a great daughter. You're kind and sensitive, when you don't even have to be.
Chloe: Trust me, I still get my rage on. Especially when a nurse has to watch while I take a dump, so she can wipe my bum. Or when doctors flip me around like I was a science doll...
Max: I can't even imagine... But you're still amazing. You always have been since we were kids.
Chloe: Thanks again for coming, Max. I, uh...need to get my drink on. Can you bring me some water?
Max gets up from her chair.
Max gives Chloe a cup of water on the nightstand.
Max: Drink up, buttercup.
Chloe: Oh man, no wonder my throat is dry. I don't think I've talked this much the whole year.
Max: Have you ever thought about doing a podcast or something?
Chloe: I wish I could punch your face right now. A podcast? Dude, I am a pod in a cast. Boring.
Max: Ouch. It was just a thought...
Chloe: I know you're just trying to help.
Max: Yeah, that's become a bad habit of mine...
Chloe: You sound like an adult now. It seems like we were kids in another life.
Max: You're right... I wish I could take us all the way back there again.
Chloe: Wish I could build us a...DeLorean.
Max: Well, um, with your scientific mind, you might do that. But time travel can screw things up, too...
Chloe: Plus, you'd have to be my live-in assistant to help me build a machine.
Chloe: As you can see, I can't keep all my other friends away.
Max: You have me. I'm not leaving you, Chloe. Chloe: Well, you didn't visit me a lot either. I mean, I loved your cards and photos, but...
Max: I know I wasn't around much. No excuses, I'm a loser. But, I am trying to make things right.
Chloe: How? Dude, you're not Super Max. And I'm not trying to guilt-trip you. That's what my parents are for...
Max: They love you so much. Chloe: I know. My mom and dad are so cute. They always pop in here and make sure everything's okay with me. I think Joyce and William are incredible.
Chloe: Max, the accident has been so hard on them. Our insurance sucks and the medical bills are fucking insane.
Max: I bet. This tech must be crazy expensive.
Chloe: Along with the drugs, the nurses, the supplies... Mom and Dad are always broke and they get so frustrated... Is it worth it?
Max: Chloe, you're priceless. Uh, no pun intended.
Chloe: You are such a geek. That's why I love you. Of course, I know a geek when I be one. See, I'm practically a human entertainment system. It would be sweet to chill out together and watch a movie, like when you'd spend the night at my house...
Max: What do you want to watch?
Chloe: Uh, I think I'm in, like, a mellow "Blade Runner" mood. I always cry at the end. Plus you know I always wanted to have cool colored bangs like Pris.
Max: I know. You would look incredible with blue hair. Now let's get this show on the road. And you better not fall asleep on me, like you always do when we watch movies.
Chloe: I remember, Max. Swear I won't fall asleep. Not when you're here. Not yet.
Max searches the left drawer beneath the TV to get the DVD.
Max (thinking): Aha, here's the DVD, Dora loves this movie, i hope she isnt gone in this universe. I can't lose my sister
Max places the DVD in the player and sits next to Chloe. They start watching Blade Runner; Max is next shown waking up in the morning.
Max: I cannot believe you fell asleep so fast. How dare you.
Chloe: I know you were beat down after the day with me. And Blade Runner is a pretty dreamy movie to watch at night. Uh, do you think Deckard is a replicant? Sorry, I can see you're not wide awake like me.
Max: No, I'm sorry I crashed so hard. Were you...okay?
Chloe: I do have a mother and father when you're not falling asleep on me.
Max: You are a bitch in the morning.
Chloe: It's the company I keep... Yesterday was such a blast.
Max: It was great, seeing you.
Chloe: I know things were different when we were just dorky kids, but being with you made me feel like we were little pirates, jumping and running through the forests again. It meant a lot to me just to chill out with you and bullshit. Ahh... Fuck. Um, I'm getting my regular head pains... Uh, can you pretty please go upstairs and get my--my morphine injector in the bathroom?
Max: Morphine injector?
Chloe: It's--ahh. It's total Star Trek shit. You can't even see the needle. Seriously, I need it. Um, my parents keep the swag upstairs because they think I can't get to it...but you can, Max. Like a pirate, right?
Max: I'm on it, Chloe.
Max walks out of chloes high tech room and sees William at the table doing some paperwork
Max: Hey, William. Am I bothering you?
William: Why, yes, Max, I love going through bills. Kidding. How can you bother me? I haven't seen you in forever.
Max: I know. You look exactly the same. It's so cool.
William: Good, or I'd be ascared if I didn't look like me... Of course, you seem more adult now. So what's on your mind?
Max: Being around you and Joyce again is so nostalgic. William: Very old school, as they say. I think it's great for Chloe to see you. It makes Joyce happy, too. So it's not all bad news in Arcadia Bay. Or is it? I was reading about my sister again
William: im sorry about isadora max, me and Joyce are keeping her in our minds, i hope she is safe... I get scared thinking about Chloe and that we might...lose her someday.
Max: I have to go see if Chloe needs anything. It was so great talking with you again.
William: You act like it's the last time. And please, keep me from this bills whenever you want.
Max heads up stairs and enters the bathroom to take the morphine injector from the left side of the cupboard above the toilet.
Max (thinking): Here it is. Never thought I'd be delivering morphine to my best friend.
Downstairs
Max heads downstairs and goes to Chloe to give her the morphine.
Chloe: Finally. Give me the blue pill...
Max: I'm sorry. I'm nosy, but not precise.
Chloe: Go ahead and plug it right in. It's so easy. And painless.
Max: Um, okay, but get ready to yell for your folks if I screw up. (Max injects the morphine into Chloe's IV)
Chloe: Oh, trust me, I will. Of course, my pain just keeps getting worse...but you caught me on a good day. Max, I'm so grateful that I'm even able to hang out with you. See, I'm getting mushy. I'm already high.
Max: You are so adorable. Do you want anything else?
Chloe: Um, stop me if I'm being too emo, but can you grab one of the photo albums over there? I'd like to check out some old pictures of us when we were kids.
Max: Please. My diary is like emo ground zero. Plus Max Caulfield does not pass up a photo op with Chloe Price. Ever.
Max takes the photo album on the chest of drawers near the window, then returns to Chloe and places the album on Chloe's lap.
Max: Is that okay?
Chloe: Perfect. Oh my god, look how little we are there! We look like toys!
Max: I remember that day by the lighthouse.
Chloe: My dad was pissed at us. He actually tried to give us a time-out!
Max: And you laughed at him. My dad would have banished me.
Max turns the page.
Chloe: Whoa, awesome picture. We all look so badass in our pirate gear.
Max: We should have taken over Arcadia Bay when we had the chance.
Chloe: There's still time for you...
Max turns the page.
Chloe: Oh man, there we are making pancakes. I love that shot of us three. I miss isadora max, i hope she is ok.
Max: i do too
Chloe: you know It is hard to believe my dad took that picture only five years ago.
Max: Literally seems like yesterday...
Chloe: I wish it was.
Max: Me too...
Max (thinking): This photo... Maybe I could...
Chloe: Listen, Max, my respiratory system is failing and...and it's only getting worse. I've heard the doctors talking about it when they thought I was zonked out. So I know I'm just putting off the inevitable, while my parents suffer along...and I will, too. This isn't how I want things to end.
Max: What? What are you saying?
Chloe: I'm saying that being with you again has been so special. I just wanted to feel like when we were kids running around Arcadia Bay...and everything was possible. And you made me feel that way today. I want this time with you to be my last memory... Do you understand?
Max: Yes, I do.
Chloe: All you have to do is crank up the IV to eleven...
Max: Chloe...
Chloe: I'll just drift asleep...dreaming of us here together...forever.
Max gets up, turns up the IV, then sits down again.
Chloe: Thank you so much. I'm so proud of you for following your dreams. Don't forget about me.
Max: Never.
Chloe: I love you, Max. See you around.
Max: Sooner than you think.
Chloe's eyes close and her muscles relax. Max focuses on the photo.
Max: I'm sorry, William... but isadora and Chloe come first
After a successful focus, Max returns to her 13-year-old body.
Young Chloe's House
(Camera flashes)
Chloe: Someday Dad will get one of them newfangled computers.
William: I hope the flash didn't scare you, Max. This is a keeper.
Young isadora: it's the best shot ever
(Phone rings, William picks up)
William: Hello? Hey, honey... What? Oh, I didn't know you had to get groceries. Of course I'll come pick you up.
(Max stands near the fireplace and looks at the photo William just took)
William (in background): Shit, where are my keys?
Chloe (in background): That's a dollar for the swear jar!
William (in background): You mean your college fund. Keys, please...
(William searches under the hat and finds the keys)
William: A-ha! You can't hide from me forever!
(Max burns the photo in the fireplace)
William (in background): And no isadora, Chloe and Max wine-tasting session...
Chloe (in background): Dad!
William: Don't blow it because tonight your mother promised to make her world-famous salmon surprise with chocolate cake for dessert. Isadora, Max, you'll be here too, right?
Chloe: they are never leaving me!
William: That makes all of us. (William walks out the door)
(Max leans against the wall with her head in her hands)
Chloe: Max, you are being so fucking strange, like you're never going to see us again.
Max: Chloe, I'm so sorry... I tried to make things different for you... I...I did try...I'm sorry.
Chloe: I don't know exactly what you're talking about, but come on. (Chloe holds Max's hands, then lets go) You have made things different, like my whole life. You're my best friend. I've got you and a great family. What's to be sorry for? We'll be best friends forever. And when we grow up we're taking over the world.
Max: Listen, whatever happens, I want you to be strong. Even if you feel like I wasn't there for you...because I will never abandon you, Chloe. (Max holds Chloe's hands) I'll always have your back. Always.
Isadora: we all will
(Fades to white, scenes of the alternative timeline revert back to the original events)