It took me years to appreciate stories set after the storm, actually. For a while I couldn’t touch them, but now I think some of the best Chloe and Max fiction explores that impossible choice. 'Blue Moon' by Recourse is a standout, dealing with the sacrifice-Arcadia-Bay ending in a way that feels emotionally true without being melodramatic. The author nails Max's guilt and Chloe's survivor’s guilt, their dynamic shifting from a desperate, chaotic energy to something quieter and more domestic, which is a hard tone to capture.
If you want something lighter to start with, 'Better Then' is an older classic, but I find the time-travel mechanics overshadow the relationship sometimes. The real gems are often in the shorter, less-polished fics. I stumbled on one called 'The Ocean Refuses No River' that’s just a series of vignettes of them road-tripping, and it has this raw, immediate feel that a lot of the more plotted epics lack.
What you consider 'best' really depends on whether you want to see them earn a happy ending or watch them navigate the immediate aftermath of trauma. Both angles have produced amazing work.