Max was presently staring at Kate. It was not something she did consciously. It was merely that Kate was so very stare-able. Deep beautiful eyes and honey hair piled high and the way she seemed to burrow into her sweatshirt and coil around a mug of tea like it was the only thing keeping her from icing over. Yes, Max had a serious problem here, and she knew it, but had only recently been willing to admit it. Why the hell couldn't it have been... anybody else? She was sure that seeing Chloe after all these years would spark feelings. But she was happy with Rachel, and Max was quite content to see the two of them delight in each other. Victoria was basically her rival, and that right there was prime real estate for a blossoming romance. But no...

Max, the transbian disaster, just had to form a friendship with the good Christian girl Kate and develop the world's most heart-wrenching crush. And it was made so much worse by how sweet and kind and innocent Kate could be. She didn't even seem to understand that her best friend was so different from herself. Or maybe she didn't care. Either way, it was as torturous as it was life-giving.

"Max?"

Snapping to attention, Max realized that she had no clue how many times Kate had called her name. "Oh! Sorry, Kate, you were telling me about something and I'm here just spacing out in my own little world."

"Come on now, Max, it's not even that big a deal. If you have something on your mind, I'd be happy to let you have the floor for a while."

If she weren't so concerned about her own face flushing, she might have noticed the fact that Kate was looking a little overly-warm herself, despite the late fall weather. "No way. I would much rather hear about how things are going for you. Which I know sounds... hella insincere considering I was just going totally blank. But I promise it's just because I didn't sleep too well last night."

"It's really nothing new, exactly... Just Victoria giving me her usual sh- Her usual crap..."

Max sighed sadly and downed the last of her tea. "Grr, sometimes I just wanna..." her hands began wringing the open air, before she suddenly remembered that Kate was probably not so fond of violent behavior. "I-I don't know. Teach her a lesson? Turn her to the side of good. Just... something. She's already so high up, what good does it do her to tear others down?"

Surprisingly, Kate just had another one of her little knowing smiles. Somehow so peaceful even when hurting. "Yes, it would be nice to wave a magic wand and stop her hurtful behavior. As it stands, I'm afraid we can only do it the slow way. I believe they call it 'killing with kindness'?" Kate giggled, and Max was just so impressed with her poise. Victoria didn't deserve kindness, and yet Kate seemed almost dead-set on giving it to her regardless. It was the reason Max cared for her, why she wanted to hold her, and promise that things would get better. Because Kate deserved such kindness. "Hmm... Well, I can't argue with that."

Kate didn't really wish to throttle Victoria, obviously. Anyone with eyes could see that she was just an incredibly insecure mass of issues. Kate would never say such a thing out loud, but she pitied Victoria most of the time. But she also had a very keen ability to pick out the thing you were most anxious about. And when it came to Kate, nothing stung her heart worse than when someone managed to see through her carefully maintained image. Almost from day one, Victoria zeroed in on little things – not just Kate's religion or abstinence, but her broad shoulders, her pronounced chin, her awkward posture.

Her family might have been shockingly accepting of her, but the world was not so kind. Others could be cruel and judgmental, and as a general rule, Kate preferred to keep herself closed off to any but those who had proved themselves.

Max had certainly proved herself time and time again. She was also so kind and sweet, and she didn't care if Kate was a little bit different. But unlike her friends Alyssa or Stella, she found she just couldn't come clean when it came to Max. And as much as she hated to admit it, she knew the very simple reason why. It was easy to tell someone you didn't always identify as a girl when you weren't romantically interested in them. But when you put forward the simultaneous idea that you have a nasty crush on them but also that maybe the kind of body they like isn't the kind of body you have, it's just... all too much.

So Kate kept right on dancing around it, assuming that Max was merely the greatest kind of friend one could have. The familiar click and flash of the camera brought her back to the moment at hand. "Kate, seriously, do you have a bad angle?" She shook the photo as it developed, glancing at it with a satisfied smile.

I have many, Max. You just refuse to see them. That's the only thing I can think of. Victoria sees only them. Perhaps that is what makes you two like polar opposites. She shut down this horrible thought with a giggle. "Well, I suppose you would know better than me, Max. You practically have a second camera in your head. You seem to have an almost... natural ability with this stuff." She nervously tucked a bit of hair behind her ear.

"You're one to talk, Kate! You pick up a pencil and you just create... magic. Seriously, I can't wait for the day you make that first kids book. Everyone will love it." Kate's face immediately lit up like crazy, and if she weren't so distracted by her embarrassment, she might have noticed that Max looked rather red-faced after her compliment.

She knew she had to say something before her silence went on too long. "Don't worry, you'll be the first to know. After all, I'm going to need those photos done by a talented artist, no?"

Max deserved so much more than just an opportunity to have her work published on a silly little childrens book. Max deserved kisses and cuddles and joy. And Kate knew that ultimately she would never be the one to provide it for her.

Chloe was fully aware that something was up with her best friend. She'd known it for... hell, weeks now. They brought Max out to the junkyard to maybe get her away from things for a while. And yet here she was, sitting in the secret clubhouse, knees tucked up under her chin. Chloe shared a significant glance with her girlfriend, silently arguing about who ought to take the job. Eyebrows raising and lowering, soft coughing, glancing back and forth between themelves and poor Max.

Chloe finally relented since she was the one who had known Max back when she was... well, okay her name had always been Max. It wasn't a tough transition. This was her best friend, everything else was just details. She stood up, dramatically dusting herself off with a drawn-out sigh. "Alright. Out with it. You've been a Mopey Maxine all day and frankly it's exhausting. I'm not gonna let this go. Just tell me if there's some ass I need to kick or whatever, you know I'll do it."

"It's not that, Chloe... It's..." She sighed, hugging her knees even tighter. God, she looked like such a sad-sap! This was interminable. "It's Kate..."

"What, your girlfriend?" Rachel quipped before Chloe could say anything, and she reeled back to slap her shoulder with a quick glare. "Sorry! I just... it is kinda obvious..."

Chloe sighed again, even lower and longer. Maybe she shouldn't have brought Rachel along. But too late now, sending her away would just make her look like a dick. "What Rachel means to say is that we... kinda sorta thought you were basically already dating."

"You know we can't, Chloe... She's... She's a Christian and we're just friends and... and she deserves someone way better than me." Max refused to so much as look at her. This was depressing, pathetic.

Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait. Did Max not know? Every waking minute she didn't spend with Chloe, she spent hanging around that girl. Didn't girls like her have a sixth sense for this kind of thing? Hell, she was sure Kate would have told her the truth by now! But Max seemed legitimately certain that Kate – the shit-fucking goddamn Angel of Blackwell – wouldn't have any interest in dating a trans girl, despite the fact that Max would willingly tear both her arms off or smash up her camera if it meant making that girl's day better.

This was so fucking dumb. "Maxine Caulfield! You are utterly in love with that girl, and I don't think there's a single soul in this world that would treat her better than you. Think about her behavior, the kind of people she surrounds herself with. Think about just how much she already cares about you, and how much better that could be if you would just admit you're in love with her."

There was a long silence as the two of them stood (or sat) their ground and just watched carefully. "You know if this backfires you're gonna owe me a tub of ice cream."

"Our usual agreement then. Fine."

Stella took in a long, deep breath, then gently adjusted her glasses. "Kate. Kate Kate Kate Kate... You are, and I say this with the utmost love and caring, a gigantic idiot."

Her friend looked at her from across the room with that wide-eyed innocence and anxiety. She loved that look. She hated it. Kate seemed to feel so many things so deeply, and she just couldn't relate. It seemed Alyssa couldn't either. Both of them had reached the breaking point with this whole damn situation. "Seriously, girl, you are being forcefully ignorant at this point, right?"

"Wh- I don't know! Maybe! Whenever I think about all the things that could go wrong, it's like... like my heart is just snapping into pieces. If just thinking about it hurts that much, how much worse will it be when it actually happens?" She whimpered softly and stared at the floor, refusing to make eye contact with either of them.

Stella forced herself to think emotionally, if only for five seconds. Or... barring that, she could at least try and use her rationality to make Kate think about the positive side for a moment. "Okay just... follow me on this for two seconds. Ignore all that... bad stuff. Take a second to consider the best possible outcome. You tell Max everything, and she's all 'Kate oh Kate!' and she throws herself into your arms and shit. Think about how awesome that could be for you."

It wasn't exactly hard to see the major details that Kate was seemingly making herself overlook. Kate wasn't the only trans girl at the school, and she damn sure wasn't the only one who wasn't straight. If Stella were the betting type, and somewhere deep down she was, then Max was pretty much a perfect fit for her. She wanted so bad to take her friend by the shoulders, shake her viciously, and tell her what she was missing. But that wasn't her job. Only Max and Kate could share that kind of stuff with one another. Which meant all Stella and Alyssa could do was push her in the right direction.

"That would be so nice... And... you think it's really possible? What if-?"

Alyssa huffed. "What if? No more 'what ifs' Kate! You know what you want and you have the opportunity. Be glad, the only obstacle in your way is yourself. Go on. Go get her."

Kate actually shot up to her feet, hands clenched at her sides in determination. "R-Right! I... I gotta go..."

Striding down the hallway, filled with purpose, Max was heading straight for Kate's room. So it was kind of a shock when she suddenly ran head first right into Kate herself. The both of them fell rather dramatically to the ground.

"Hey, jeez, I'm sorry, I'm kind of in a rush..."
"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault, but I really have to..."

"Kate!"
"Max!"

They were speaking nearly over each other, and Max could feel her friends watching from the sidelines. And unless she missed her mark, Stella and Alyssa were spying from the nearby open door.

"I'm so glad I ran into you! Hah, literally, jeez. I actually wanted to talk to you."
"Max, we need to talk, can I-?"

They finally caught on simultaneously to the way they were speaking in sync and began laughing. Max was up on her feet first, offering a hand to Kate which she gladly took, and hauled her up too. "You said you needed something?"

"Oh! Yes, well... Yes, um... maybe we should get out of the hallway first though." Kate used the grip she still had on Max's hand and quickly dragged her the rest of the way down the hall to her room. In something of a whirlwind, the two of them were sitting on Kate's bed across from one another. She was still holding her hand with incredible strength while her free hand picked at a loose thread on her skirt. "Um..."

"Well... Well, there were some things I wanted to say too, so... maybe I could start? And then you can go?" Max smiled in a way that she hoped was helpful and encouraging. Judging by Kate's enthusiastic nodding, she figured this was it. The thing she'd been avoiding doing for months now. She just had to remember, this was Kate. Kind and sweet and understanding. This was totally easy and doable. "Kate, I've come to... really admire you. And... And I like you. In a way that is not just friendly. A-And I wish that was the only thing but there's something more important that I have to tell you. I'm... I'm trans. And for some people that's fine. And for others that's a huge problem. And so I just needed to dump all this stuff in your lap before I completely break from holding it in." Max drew in a long, shaky breath, trying to not break down. "All I ask is that... if nothing else... we can keep being friends. Because you are like the most important person in my life."

Kate sat there, staring at her, slack-jawed for a time. Max was more certain with each passing second that Kate was about to kick her out. But instead she broke out in a gigantic, earth shattering smile that could outshine the sun. "Max~" Granted she'd always said that name in a way that made her melt. But right now, Max was sure she could die happy. "I can... hardly believe my luck. I spent so long afraid to tell you the things in my heart. And now I come to find out that they are in your heart too." Without warning, Kate launched herself across the bed to pull Max into a tight hug. She could hear her sniffling slightly and quickly started to hug her back.

"So then... you too...?"

"All of it. I-I was so scared to tell you and now come to find out I've been a complete fool!" She sniffled again, and Max realized that she finally had what she wanted. She could hold Kate and comfort her. She could hold her and she could...

There was nothing Max wanted more in that moment, and she was certain now that Kate did too. So she pulled back from the hug just enough, taking the girl's cheek in her hand, looking into her eyes that were glittering slightly with foolish tears. "No more of that. There's no point in lingering on how ridiculous we were. Everything is okay now." And they kissed. Thank god, they kissed. It was so good. Better than Max could have ever hoped for. Kissing someone who understood, kissing someone who didn't mind. Kissing an angel.

"It warms the heart to see two of Blackwell's biggest losers hooking up." Kate's shoulders had a way of unconsciously tightening every time she heard Victoria say anything. Doubly so when she was being her usual... mean self. Not that long ago, she would have kept right on walking. But that was when she felt a familiar hand fill the space within her own. And she knew she had nothing to fear.

So she turned to look at Victoria, and more than ever before, she felt that sense of pity rather than fear. Her eyebrows turned up slightly and she shook her head. What did you say to shut down the girl who has everything. "Victoria, if I can get a girlfriend, literally anyone can. There are lots of pretty girls in the Vortex Club. Would you like us to set you up with someone?" She didn't say it maliciously. In a way, she meant it. And perhaps that was why the blonde looked so flummoxed and confused.

That was about the time Rachel sidled up with a much more playful, puckish grin. Her weapon was definitely not kindness. "Vic. You know those two aren't to be messed with as long as they are on holy ground. And Kate is never not on holy ground. Give it up and find a new target. Or better yet, give up the princess schtick and try being a decent human being for once in your life."

She was wordless before and now she was basically struck totally mute. Without any kind of clever follow-up, she went stomping off down the hall for parts unknown. Rachel turned and winked at the pair, obviously glad to help. Kate had assumed that accepting herself and going out with Max would be a fairly straightforward blessing. But now she saw that it came with new friendships, new companions, new opportunities, and so much more. Sometimes she felt the urge to chide herself for waiting this long. But then she would remember to be thankful for the moment, for the now. And she was thankful indeed.