TRIGGER WARNING FOR GRAPHIC DETAILS OF RAPE. I REFUSE TO WRITE RAPE TAKING PLACE, HOWEVER, THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF THE AFTERMATH, ALONG WITH A VICTIM UNCONCIOUS. I DO NOT WISH TO UPSET ANYONE IN ANY WAY AND IF YOU ARE A VICTIM WHO HAS NEVER SPOKEN OUT PLEASE, I BEG YOU, TELL SOMEONE YOU TRUST. I AM SORRY IF THIS HAS HAPPENED TO YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW. KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT ANY LESS OF A HUMAN BEING AND THAT PEOPLE WHO PREY ON INNOCENT VICTIMS ARE EVIL AND DISGUSTING. AGAIN, PLEASE DO NOT READ IF THIS UPSETS YOU. 

Rachel's head swam for a moment as she rose from her slumber. She looked around groggily as her vision came into focus and she looked around. She looked up and saw Max was typing away on her laptop, her brow furrowed in concentration. Rachel watched her work for a few moments before she looked around again, trying to remember when she had fallen asleep. 

She didn't remember much of what happened in her smoke session but she knew she had freaked out, she felt drained and her head and eyes hurt. She had been crying hard, but she couldn't remember what about. Rachel concentrated and brief images and memories began to present themselves in the fog of her mind but they weren't significant. One memory came to the forefront, making her blink in shock. 

The kiss.

Max had kissed her.

Albeit, it wasn't like Chloe's kisses; Chloe's kisses left her needy and hot. Left her wondering what more she could be doing with the punk.

Max's made her sleep with a smile on her face, made her swim in a sea of vanilla and kept her dreams peaceful. No sexual intentions, no needy hands, desperate begs, or explorative tongues. 

She wouldn't have it any other way. 

Rachel rose to a sitting position and Max snapped out of her trance. 

"Shit didn't know you were awake." Max smiled kindly at her and Rachel's heart did a flip. "You okay? I could get you another bottle of water. Kate's coming by with tea soon and Dana wanted to stop by once you woke up."

"Probably to yell at me." Rachel laughed a bit and held her head. "Tea sounds awesome right now, and some painkillers." 

Max moved her laptop off her lap and reached into a drawer, grabbing two tabs of aspirin from the bottle Rachel kept. The blonde was an avid drinker and partier and had wisened up enough to keep a bottle accessible and in a drawer she always opened in the morning. The hipster handed them over and Rachel took them dry. 

"Thanks." It wasn't instant relief, but Rachel knew they would work. 

Max nodded, "Chloe's coming over." 

Chloe.. 

I'm so sorry Chlo... I love you, I always have.. Rachel jolted at the sudden memory, she looked at Max in panic as she began to remember the rest of her freakout.

"Rachel." She snapped back into reality and blinked at the hipster. Max was smiling, her eyes knowing. "I didn't say anything, I figure that you two can talk about it. It doesn't have to be today, or tomorrow, or even the next day." Max frowned, "But, it has to happen and it has to happen soon. I'm in some deep stuff right now and I need both of your guy's help to make Mark pay, but if there's tension or bad vibes.." She trailed off but Rachel didn't need her to finish.

"I know Max." Rachel looked away, "I've always known but.. I'm scared."

"Scared of what?" A curious, angry, motherly voice broke through. "Because if it isn't of what I'm going to do to you, you had better reconsider." 

Rachel tossed the dirty blonde a crooked smile, "Hey Dana." She said quietly.

The girl looked pissed and worried, "Rachel what the fuck were you thinking? You can't smoke by yourself, not after..." She shuffled, "The fight." 

Rachel knew what she was talking about. During the fight she and Chloe had, she had smoked almost every day, leaving herself to have terrible trips. Dana had banned her from smoking alone after the sixth one in a week. 

The blonde shrugged, not knowing what to say because there wasn't much she could. 

Dana sighed roughly and wrapped her arms around the blonde. "You're an idiot. You need to stop doing this to yourself, you're gonna end up killing yourself one day." She cupped Rachel's face in her hands and the blonde closed her eyes, trembling lightly because Rose used to do this whenever she came home hammered. "Rach, look at me."

The aspiring model looked up, gazing into Dana's blue eyes. She wasn't mad, not truly. She was mad at Rachel's vices, the fact that Rachel felt so lost that she had fallen back on her crutches. She was mad that Rachel felt so horrible that she tortured herself to this point. 

She loved Rachel, like a daughter or a little sister. And she didn't want to lose her.

Rachel closed her eyes again, she didn't want to peek into Dana's soul again. It was too much for her, she wasn't ready to accept that people actually cared about her and that what she was doing wasn't only hurting her.

Dana tapped her forehead to Rachel's, "I'm taking your weed away again and I don't want you sleeping alone."

Rachel nodded, Dana had done the same thing when she and Chloe were fighting.

Dana sighed shakily and pulled back. "I'll go get Kate, smells like the tea is done." She moved from the dorm and Rachel looked out of the door to see that people were peeking inside Rachel's room. Her eyes met with Juliet's but the light brunette disappeared. 

She looked worried too. 

"Where's Vic?" Rachel asked, looking at Max who had given the two privacy and was back at typing on her laptop.

Max looked up, "Vic? You mean Victoria?" She pondered for a moment, "Said something about going over to Nathans'" The door to the dorms opened and closed and shouting from the hall made the two girls look up.

"What the fuck chick?" Nathan.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Victoria.

"Tell me the truth, you shithead!" Chloe.

Chloe!

Rachel flew to her feet, getting hit with a wave of dizziness and staggered out into the hall.

Chloe had Nathan by the scruff of his shirt, her fist drawn back to strike. Her face was deadly.

"Chloe what the fuck?" Max cried, pushing past the blonde, who wasn't much use, and grabbed her friend's wrist. "Let him go."

Chloe turned and Rachel was convinced she was going to snap like she normally did but when she saw Max her expression shifted entirely.

Rachel watched in amazement as the sharpness of Chloe's expression melted away as if it hadn't ever been there in the first place. Her brows relaxed and furrowed not in anger, but guilt and sadness. Her mouth relaxed into a slight frown. Her hands relaxed and she let go of Nathan's shirt.

The prep-boy stumbled back and blinked in shock. He, like Rachel, never seen the punk switch like that on a dime. 

Max 

Max brushed her fingers along the punk's wrist, interlocking their fingers and massaging the delinquent's wrist with her thumbs. She gazed into Chloe's ocean eyes, confusing swimming in her gaze. 

What set you off? She thought.

Chloe looked at her, her face like a guilty puppy's. She was protecting Max, Max knew that expression. It was the same she had when she had beaten someone up in middle school for making the hipster cry. 

Max leaned up and tapped her forehead against Chloe's breathing out slowly. Chloe sighed.

"Sorry." She said gruffly, her voice still rough from anger. 

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to dork." Max said affectionately, giving the punk a smile.

Chloe looked at her and couldn't help it. She returned the smile, albeit it was small and crooked.

And like that, the tension around Chloe faded, like it wasn't ever there. Chloe pulled Max close, so that their stomachs were touching and wrapped her arms around the hipster's waist. She closed her eyes as she relaxed into the forehead touch completely, Max gently touching the bluenettes' face, cupping her cheeks to do so.

All of a sudden, they were kids again. Max was a tiny hipster calming down her pitbull of a best friend, whose knuckles were bloody and her temperament too snappy for even adults to feel comfortable getting close to when she was charged up like she was.

They stayed like that until a cough made Chloe look up.

"Hate to break it to you, Mad Max, but people are staring." She gave Max a perverted smirk, "Should we give them a show?" She teased.

Max flushed and shoved the punk away, making the tattoo artist howl in laughter. "Dog, way to ruin a moment! You suck major balls." She grumbled, pouting and looking away.

"You're too cute to take seriously when you're mad." Chloe said, making Max flush and pout deeper. 

"I'm not cute." The hipster grumbled.

"You're right." Chloe nudged her, "You're hella adorable." She winked and Max let out a loud groan.

"Go into the room." She shoved the laughing teen into Rachel's room, "And stop starting fights!"

The hipster turned to Nathan, "I'm sorry about her." She apologized, even if this guy was a dick to her she didn't want to give him another reason to target her. "She's really sweet once you get past all of the asshole." She tossed a glare towards the door, trying to calm her heartbeat.

Nathan blinked, looking unsure of how to take all this in. "How the fuck did you do that?"

Max perked up, tilting her head. "Do what?"

Nathan gestured wildly, "That psychopath was this close to beating me into a bloody pulp and one touch from you made her melt into.." He seemed to struggle for a word, "into a harmless puppy!" 

Max blinked, "That's all Chloe is." She looked back at the room again, seeing that Rachel had gone back inside. "She's mostly harmless."

"She's beaten the shit out of people here on more than one occasion." Nathan growled.

Max tossed him a crooked smile, "I said mostly." She said with an awkward giggle. 

Nathan snorted and he looked at Victoria.

The prep girl huffed, "Keep your dog on a chain then." She growled at Max, "She shouldn't even be on campus."

"And he," Max nodded to Nathan, "Shouldn't be in the girl dormitory, no matter if his father owns them." She crossed her arms, steeling herself. "Keep this quiet and nothing will happen."

Victoria narrowed her eyes before she snorted, "Whatever hipster." She spun on her heel and began to walk back towards her dorm before she paused. "How's Mrs. Perfect?" She asked.

"Why do you care?" Max rose a brow, "You don't like anyone outside your circle."

Victoria let out an annoyed huff, "I'm not heartless Max, I have feelings." She scratched her arm, "And I don't hate you." She said slowly, "You just bother me." 

"Wow, I was almost moved." Max snarked, rolling her eyes.

"God, can't you just-" Victoria rounded on her, glaring venomously. "You're a good photographer Max," She huffed, catching Max off-guard with the sudden non-backhanded compliment. "You impress me despite being so far underneath my status in society. You worked your ass off to come here and you got Mark's favor." Max tensed at the teacher's name but forced herself to relax. "You're the biggest threat I've got." She looked away, "And you stand up to my bullshit, all the other idiots here don't have balls as big as yours." 

Max rose a brow, "Glad you think their so big Vic." She teased, making the blonde flush and open her mouth to retort. The photographer held her hands up in surrender, "You're photos are fine Victoria. And unlike me, you actually put them out, you're ten times braver than I am." She gave a laugh. "You're balls have got to be like, a hundred times bigger." She went on, grinning at the prep.

Victoria eyed her silently before she snorted, though it sounded suspiciously like a covered up laugh, and smiled back. "Yeah, whatever." But there was gratefulness in her tone. 

"Rachel's fine." Max said, "Or at least she will be." 

Victoria snorted, "She'd better. She's the only decent model in this fucking school." With that, she walked towards her dorm. Nathan followed her more slowly before he turned and looked at Max.

"Control the pitbull and now the snake." He mused, raising his brow. "You're weird Max." 

Max chuckled. "So I've been told." She smiled at him, "Give Victoria a few days and it'll be a cat and mouse game again."

"Nah," Nathan shook his head, "That was genuine respect." He gave a shrug, "Sorry for being a dick." He said, giving Max a smile. "I'll see you around Max." With that he followed the blonde, disappearing into her room.

Max sighed softly and glanced around, seeing that many of the students had either moved on or were whispering, gazing at the hipster in amazement. 

Her eyes found Kate, who was slipping out of her room with a cup. 

"Tea?" Max greeted, smiling.

Kate nodded, returning her smile. "I see you got onto Victoria's good side." She said, tossing a glance after the girl.

Max snorted, "I don't know if Victoria has a good side but I guess." Max shrugged, "Nathan said I earned her respect. Don't know what I did." she took the cup from Kate's hand and the Christian snorted.

"You stood up to her. You didn't give in, everyone else does." Kate smiled, "Everyone except Nathan, you, and I. Even Taylor and Courtney let themselves get walked over sometimes." She gave the two girls a glance. They were gossiping, tossing Max suspicious looks. "She needs people who see past that facade' she puts up in her life." 

Max blinked, her mind connecting that to how she was with Chloe. Everyone thought that Chloe was this unpredictable rabid animal; Nathan's nickname of pitbull was pretty accurate she thought.

Big and scary from the outside, with a mighty bark and a sharper bite. But on the inside she was truly gentle and just needed the right amount of love, turning into more of a harmless puppy when it was received. 

"That's why she has you." Max said, "You teach her things that no one else has." Kate blushed.

"I try." She admitted.

The photographer laughed, "She's lucky."

Kate smiled, "Yeah? So is Chloe."

Now it was Max's turn to blush. "Dog, I can't believe everyone saw that." She covered her face. "Seems like Chloe's facade has been permanently tarnished."

Kate laughed, "She'll forgive you, I think." She smiled, "That was pretty amazing though, and cute. You like her?"

Max stuttered. "W-What? N-no? Y-Yes?" The hipster thought for a moment, "I dunno." She rubbed the back of her neck, "I guess? I haven't really thought about it."

Kate blinked, "Well you should, maybe then you'll notice."

Max looked up, "Notice what?" She asked, but Kate was already making her way to her room.

The Christian tossed her an all-too-knowing smile that made Max feel somewhat uncomfortable. "You'll know when you notice." She winked and closed her door, leaving Max standing in the hall, one hand holding a cup of hot tea and the other frozen on her neck.

Max roused herself and thought about Kate's words, anxiety scratching at her stomach. Notice what? 

She sighed and moved into Rachel's dorm, closing and locking the door. 

Chloe was laying on the bed beside Rachel, who sat up as Max offered her the cup.

"Remind me to kiss Kate." Rachel said, "God, that girl is a literal angel." 

Chloe rose a brow, "I see her with Vic all the time, going to the coffee shop across the street. They're a pretty cute couple, Victoria is totally into her."

Max blinked, "Seems the feeling is mutual then." 

Rachel snorted, "About time, those two are not subtle at all with their staring." 

Max laughed slightly before she climbed onto the bed, sitting on it. She looked at Chloe and Rachel silently for a few moments before she sighed. 

"So," Chloe prompted, "What's up Super Max?"

"Close the blinds." Max ordered and Chloe followed it quickly before returning to her spot. "Alright, so you guys know how I've been trying to expose Jefferson?"

"Yeah?" Rachel asked, "Can you do it yet?"

"No," Max said, "Well, I don't know. I've been getting these texts, by an unknown number." she showed them a picture of the very first text she received. 

The two read it and Chloe immediately growled. 

"That's Jefferson."

Rachel nodded in agreement but Max shook her head.

"That's what I thought at first," She said, "But then, today I got these texts." She switched over to her inbox and tapped on the unknown number, she passed her phone over to Chloe and Rachel leaned over, reading the texts with the punk.

Chloe's brow furrowed, "It could be a trap." She pointed out.

Max pulled out the driver, "One way to find out." She said, "He said that this has proof of Mark being a bad guy. Why would he give me anything that I could use to expose him?"

Chloe tilted her head, "Cockiness?"

"No." Rachel's voice was small, "No, Mark takes every precaution he can ensure he won't be caught. Even if he gave Max even the most cryptic of information, if she can tie its traces back to him he wouldn't make the risk. If this driver really does contain something it means we can confirm that it's not him."

Chloe furrowed her brow, "Alright, but what if it doesn't contain information and has a giant virus or something on it?" 

Max frowned, she hadn't thought about it.

"Use my extra laptop." Rachel said, making Max look up. "It's brand new but I haven't ever used it. My dad gave it to me." Her voice was filled with bitterness. 

Max rose a brow and glanced at Chloe for guidance. The delinquent shook her head, this was something Rachel would have to tell Max if she wanted to know. The hipster looked around and saw the laptop on the floor. She picked it up and opened it, brushing off the dust and unlocked it. 

She looked up at the two girls, taking a breath to steady herself, and plugged the driver into the laptop. 

The information downloaded quickly and Max was brought up to a document.

What she saw horrified and disgusted her.

Pictures of girls, pictures of files with names. She felt Rachel and Chloe looking over her shoulders.

"What the fuck is this?" Chloe asked, sounding horrified.

Max scrolled down and almost vomited. 

"No..." Rachel said, her tone stunned.

It was a picture of Rachel naked, Jefferson was still inside her. Blood and semen were around her and Rachel was unconscious. 

"Who the fuck does this?" Chloe asked, voice shaking with anger and sadness, "What kind of world does this?"

Max shook her head and scrolled past the awful picture to some text.

She blinked and read it out loud.

"Mark Jefferson's first real victim is Rachel Dawn Amber. He lured her to his house with the guise of a photo shoot that could kickstart her wish to be a model and then raped her until she fell unconscious. She woke up an hour after he had his way with her and he drove her home." She looked at Rachel.

"It's true." Rachel murmured, "All of it."

Max felt sick but she forced herself to keep reading. 

"Since Rachel, he has been preying on other girls. He made advances to one Kate Marsh, who had not fallen for his traps. Another victim of Mark Jefferson is Victoria Chase, who is his most recent."

Max scrolled down and felt a sob rise in her throat.

Victoria was unconscious, tears and mascara staining her face, blood was around her and Jeffersons erection was standing up proudly despite the monstrous atrocities it had just committed. 

"Victoria, oh god." Chloe cried. 

"Victoria had stayed behind, trying to fox her way into a better grade when Jefferson struck. He pinned her onto one of the tables and silenced her screams with a shirt. She passed out because of the brutality, much like Rachel, of his actions and was discarded outside of the dorms. She went to her friend Kate Marsh, who let her in quickly. Chase warned the girl not to ever allow Jefferson to get her alone and Marsh honors those wishes as best she can." Max read, bile rising in her throat. 

"He's disgusting. This is proof." Chloe said, shooting to her feet. "We could go to the police right now."

"No, we couldn't. This doesn't have solid evidence, to the police, this would be accusations with no real lead." Rachel said, "We need something that we can pin on him without a shadow of a doubt."

Max nodded, "Rachel's right Chloe, we can't get justice yet. We need more information, more evidence to use in a case against him."

Chloe huffed, "If he's as meticulous as Rachel says then he'll leave nothing, the bastard."

"Unless we exploit something." Max said, scrolling through. "Wait, Chloe, listen." She began to read an article out loud. "Jefferson has taken a keen interest in a student from Seattle, Maxine Caulfield. He called her out on the first day on her PTSD without pity and has tried to get her alone multiple times, Rachel Amber makes excuses so that she can't." 

"Is that true?" Chloe asked, blinking.

"Yeah, all of it." Max felt her skin crawl. "They even know about my PTSD." Max furrowed her brow.

"Only people in that classroom would know those details," Rachel said, "especially noticing me covering for you."

Max nodded, "I know."

Chloe's mind was working, one glance at the tattoo artist and Max could tell. Her brows were close-knit and her eyes shifted as she pieced things together. Suddenly, she snapped her eyes up and looked at Max.

"It's Nathan. Nathan Prescott. He's your informer. God, it all makes sense, Frank was telling me everything." She paced around and Max rose a brow.

"Frank talked to you?" Rachel asked, sounding a bit disturbed. From Frank or Max's findings on the driver, the hipster couldn't tell, probably a mixture.

"He told me that Nathan was acting weird, he said that Nathan has been watching someone, someone who could control Chaos Theory." Chloe said. "Chaos Theory, at its core, basically means that shit happens because shit happens. No one can truly control Chaos Theory unless they could control time."

Max snorted, "Your tripping, I can't control time."

Chloe groaned, "It's a metaphor, you see? Nathan doesn't mean really controlling time, though that would be dope, he means you can alter the past. Two victims of Mark Jefferson who can never speak out, their history is unknown. That moment of time is unheard of, but you Max? You can change that, you can 'control' time."  

Max blinked, taking Chloe's words in. "But only if I piece together this puzzle and pin something on him." She finished, "And it's three victims. Nathan too."

Chloe frowned, "He'll pay." 

Rachel nodded, "No more victims, no more innocent people broken."

Max nodded, "We're coming for you Mark." She declared, glaring at the screen.