Sure we might lose some puzzle pieces, but the stars are always there.

It's now Halloween night, and Chloe is antsy.

While she's still convinced that Jefferson has something to do with the whole thing, both she and Max agree that there's something going on with the Vortex club, and if the rumors to do with "Prisscott" selling drugs are to be believed, he's their prime suspect.

So that's how one slightly grumpy and disheveled looking punk ended up spending her Halloween night among a crowd of rowdy teens, grip tight around the red solo cup in her hand. She only sipped at its contents, weary, even though she'd gotten it herself, afraid of spiking. She stood watch over Max, who mingled somewhat awkwardly with the rest of the party-goers.

After a while, it became apparent that Max was totally hopeless at pretending to be drunk (Max too was afraid of the punch, thought Chloe had tried to reason that it was unlikely the entire bowl be spiked), and so Chloe decided an intervention was required.

"What're you doing?" Max turned glaring accusingly, until she saw it was Chloe who had placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, Maxi-pad, I'm dancing with my girlfriend," the former blonde smiled and started swaying to the music, getting into the rhythm.

"Chloe, we both suck at dancing."

"Well yeah, we suck but," she gestured with a tilt of her head around an area of the room, "they hella suck at dancing. They're just too drunk to care. So c'mon, nobody will remember by morning how dumb we all look. Besides, don't you wanna help Kate?" she said, pressing her forehead down onto Max's so the other girl could hear her without Chloe having to scream her throat raw to be heard over the din. She felt Max nod slightly against her own head.

They go to the VIP area to try and poke around, but no dice. There's no way in. One attempt to go around the back almost ends with a speaker falling into the pool and possibly electrocuting anyone in it, but Chloe managed to steady it at the last second. The wire connected to it is still pulled out, and the music is briefly interrupted. Max and Chloe are promptly removed from the party, and they're left with nothing to do except stand around.

Chloe suggests going to Nathan's room, but Max shuts the idea down. It's too late to try sneaking into the boy's dorms now, security is increased after 10, and besides, what if Nathan comes back with another Kate, another victim? The aforementioned girl had been conscious long enough to notice she was in a room, and so all three of them had assumed it was just Nathan's room. But the more she pondered it, the less solid that idea seemed. After all, how had they gotten Kate into the boys' dorms? There were doormen there during the day who forbid members of the opposite sex to enter the other's dorm any time after 9, and with the added security from 10, Nathan couldn't have snuck her in.

She voiced these concerns to Max, who agreed with her.

"Maybe there's someone else in on it. Someone older, with more sway-"

"Like Mark Creeperson."

"Chloe we talked about this-"

"Yeah yeah Max, I know he's like your hero and all, but that guys seriously gives me the creeps."

"Well David gives me the creeps, but you don't see me accusing him of drugging Kate," Max sighed in exasperation, dropping to the curb and rubbing a hand over her eyes. He hands came back smudged, and she cursed silently as she belatedly remembered having put on make-up for once in an attempt to blend into the partying crowd more. That had worked so well.

Seeing the younger girl's fatigue, Chloe's features soften from the hardened expression it had taken when she thought another fight with Max was imminent. But she scolded herself internally for that, Max wouldn't start a fight with her for no reason. The time without her dad and with David had made her quick to take a defensive stance. But Max wasn't David. Max wasn't William, either, Max had come back. She lowered herself to the pavement beside Max, and lay an arm across her shoulders, pulling her into her side as Max curled in on herself.

"I'm exhausted Chloe. I want to help Kate, I really do, but I feel like I'm looking at a jigsaw puzzle of a big group of people, but the pieces that make up their faces and other features are missing, and I'm trying to fill in the gaps with like, bits from a totally different puzzle, you know?"

Chloe nodded, understanding completely.

"I kind of felt like that when my dad left. Then you left, I mean we were, are, still best friends, but it wasn't the same as actually having you here with me. Then Rachel disappeared. I was trying to figure out why people kept leaving. That's the real reason I want to find out what happened to Rachel. I mean yeah I hope she's okay, but even if she's not, I guess I just need…"

"Closure?"

"That's it," she said, pressing a grateful kiss to the side of Max's head, "We'll get this, you know that right? Because you're Max-fucking-Caulfield, and I'm Chloe-fucking-Price," she huffed, glaring up at the sky and then noting with delight, "Hey the stars are out tonight."

Max looked at her, incredulously, with the sudden topic change. But then her eyes flicked to the sky and the back to Chloe, who was still staring into space, eyebrows furrowed like they always were when she was trying to remember something. Probably the constellations. Max smiled warmly at her, but she was still deep in thought.

"Beautiful," Max said, just before her eyes were drawn back up to the stars.

I almost wasn't going to write this. I had my last Christmas exam today, and I was exhausted and tapped out, and also doing a little post-exam drinking (I'm Irish did you expect otherwise?). But I knuckled down and had no idea what I was writing. I might've forgotten in the morning. But I have to get this to you guys. I feel like with your continued support I kind of owe it to you to make good on my promise to deliver a chapter a day so here we go. I'm sorry if any of this is totally incoherent but as I've said, I'm a tad drunk. Feel free to point out spelling mistakes and such, I'll correct them in the morning. I'm also too damn tired to go posting and copy-pasting chapter notes to ff.n, so I'll upload this there tomorrow too.