Max had been sitting in her room for the longest time, going over the events of the past week in her head over and over again, trying to understand where she went wrong. She understood that Kate had just returned from her hospital trip, but avoiding Max entirely? Something seemed entirely off. Max fumbled with her phone, scrolling through their conversations and analyzing every word. "This still doesn't add up..." She scrambled to her feet, heading out into the hall and down to Kate's room.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. "Kate? You in there?" The voice was all too familiar to the blonde who was sitting at her desk, catching up to the assignments she'd missed while taking a break from school. "Yes, Max. I'm here. Come in." She called out, not bothering to so much as turn around as the hipster entered the room. "Hey." The shy, quiet girl spoke over her shoulder, feeling the glare of Max's concerned look burn into her back as she worked diligently.

Max frowned uneasily as she noticed Kate casually dismissing her presence in favor of work. She understood that homework was a priority, but even Kate would normally take a break to converse. "Uh... How are you doing?" Max asked, breaking the silence that had awkwardly fallen between them.

"Well enough..." Kate's tone seemed almost dismissive of Max's question, and she didn't so much as pause her dexterous hands as they worked. "Yourself, Max?" The Christian's words appeared rushed, as if she were trying to avoid speaking altogether.

"I'm uh..." Max seemed to fall into a daze as she looked for the right words to say. Her mouth was open but nothing seemed willing to come out, like her brain had lost all senses and become detached from the situation entirely. "I'm worried, Kate..." Max managed to say at last, frowning again when her mouth at last came to a close.

The phrase was all Marsh needed to hear before her diligent hands stopped and she turned to face Max, meeting the frown with one of her own, a concerned frown that seemed almost like a pout. "What's wrong, Max..."

Max twiddled her thumbs, looking somewhat puzzled that Kate hadn't figured out that the problem didn't lie with Max, but rather with her. "Well... I'm worried about you, Katie..."

"Oh..." Kate blinked back surprise and shifted uneasily in her chair. "I'm fine, Max... All thanks to you..." The blonde flashed a smile to the hipster who didn't seem all that convinced. "But, if I may ask, what has you worried about me?"

Max swallowed. What could she possibly say now that would justify her state of... dismay? No that wasn't the right word, more uncertainty than disappointment. "It's just... you've been rather distant since you returned from the hospital, and I understand that you have homework to catch up on and tons of other things that you're probably dealing with I just... feel like you've been... avoiding me... I know, it's stupid..."

Kate's face slumped into a frown as Max confessed her state of concern, a wave of guilt washing over her. She knew that Max was entirely right in thinking this way, for in fact, Kate had actually been avoiding her in general. But if she opened her mouth to speak now, she'd have no idea how to justify herself- not to mention she'd have to admit to having somewhat romantic feelings for Max, which was utterly frowned upon by every church or bible study she'd ever attended. The faithful christian thought that time away from Max would help relieve her of the ungodly thoughts running through her head, but now, more than ever she had felt the weight of her convictions. She never meant to hurt Max, especially not like this.

"Max, I'm sorry... I guess I got too absorbed into being back that I cut off the people I care about..." She said at last, grabbing Max's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I promise I'm okay. And I promise after I'm finished getting caught up we can hang out just like we used to." Watching Max smile again seemed to put something inside of Kate at ease as she smiled back.

"Alright, Katie. Sorry for getting all paranoid on you." Max said, hugging the girl in front of her quickly. "I guess I just missed you a little too much." A blush formed on Max's face as she laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head. This caused Kate to blush too.

"Well I promise after I'm up to speed, We can hang out again. Just don't worry too much about it. Okay?" Kate wasn't sure if she could handle being alone with Max for such a long time with the way her heart kept trying to leap out of her chest with every smile, laugh and warm touch that came from the girl before her.

Max thanked Kate for her reassurance and left the girl to her work without a second thought; the second that Max closed the door, Kate felt something stirring up inside of her. How was she going to survive this?