A knock at Chloe's bedroom door raised her from her current project with a quizzical look. Max and Victoria were out being huge photo nerds, and she sort of assumed things would be quiet for the night. Kate was the only possible culprit, but what could she want? Even on a weekend evening, she tended to be shut up in her room hard at work on something.

Chloe was... unprepared.

Unprepared for the sight of Kate on the other side of the door as she opened it. Unprepared to see the undercut and pink dye job she must have just had done a few hours before. Unprepared for the sight of Kate Marsh in a torn up Misfits shirt, pleated skirt, fishnets, and boots. Unprepared for the outstretched hand holding two tickets to a Portland club where one of Chloe's favorite bands was performing. She didn't know whether to laugh, cry, squeal, hug the other girl, or get her some major therapy for what she apparently put herself through.

"I-I wanted to treat you for... well, I mean it was no real reason whatsoever except it's just us and we never really do anything just the two of us, but the kinda stuff you do isn't the kinda stuff I do, still I figured if I got into the spirit of it that would probably be pretty fun so I got some friends from school to help and anyway the show is in a few hours so if you wanna get changed or anything you should probably do that soon..."

Finally Chloe stopped holding back her reaction, laughing brightly as she wrapped Kate in her arms and squeezed her tight. "You are such a little nerd and I love you! C'mon, it shouldn't take too long if you wanna hang out while I get ready..." It was always a little bit of a gamble when it came to inviting Kate into your room, especially if you were in the process of undressing or whatever. But they were girlfriends too, and had been dating long enough that Kate's nerves were much more in check than they used to be.

The funny thing was that over the summer Chloe had finally let her own hair lose its color and grow out just a touch, enough that she could now pull it back into a ponytail when she was at work. And since she hadn't been expecting to hit the town, her current outfit was a pair of men's pajama pants and a wife beater. As it was, Kate looked far more punk than she herself did. There wasn't time to dye her hair again, but she had more than enough clothes in her closet to out-do the other girl.

It didn't take her long to slip into something less comfortable, though the process wasn't without its hangups. Leather pants were not easy to get into, no matter how much determination you had, and Kate ended up having to offer a helping hand. The top, by comparison, was bright and flashy in every color of the rainbow and sat loosely on her torso. With a pair of black and white chucks on her feet, Chloe was ready to head out.

The girls linked hands and left their apartment in Chloe's truck as she fumbled to put on a CD by the band they were going to see. "Shiny New Heroes! I seriously cannot believe you got those tickets. I thought the show was sold out."

Kate laughed nervously and scratched at the newly shaved spot on her head with a little shrug. "It is. But the same friends who helped me get ready are the ones who sold me the tickets. They couldn't make it tonight or their plans changed or something. They couldn't believe it when I told them I'd buy the tickets."

Chloe flashed an appreciative smile at Kate as she turned toward the downtown area. "You can tell me to shut up if I'm being too pushy, but... Seriously, you know you didn't have to go all-out like this. What's the deal?"

There was a bit of all-too familiar fumbling in the passenger seat. "It's like I said, I guess. I don't spend nearly as much time with you as I do the others. And I want to! But I just... I-I don't know..."

"Is this a guilt thing, Katie?"

"No! I mean, well yeah a little, but I do honestly want to spend more time with you. I suppose it's just that I think I'm not cool enough?" Though phrased like a question, this was something that had clearly been going through Kate's mind a lot lately. Unlike herself, Kate spoke only when she felt it was absolutely necessary. And there had never really been an explosion point where Chloe suddenly decided Kate wasn't her girlfriend anymore. Hell, the act of bringing this up – not to mention the tickets and the hair and the clothes – must have taken a great deal of Kate's energy. And Chloe respected a girl with the balls to go against her own instincts.

"Yeah, well I'm not sweet enough, but we're still dating. Who knows, maybe after tonight you'll discover your inner thrasher and we can do this all the time?" She chuckled and glanced over at Kate again, who seemed to be cheering up more. "Okay, so probably not. But seriously, there are things I love about you, Kate, shit that Max and Victoria just don't have. For one thing, you know how to chill and shut up – like, in a good way. The fact that the two of us could sit in the same room for three hours and only say a handful of words to one another? That, like, means a ton."

In spite of everything she'd just said, Chloe did have to admit that this heart-to-heart felt pretty good too. And she was dying to see Kate out of her element.

Both girls were excited by the time they reached the club and managed to find a parking space. While The Wreck did host a wide variety of acts, tonight the crowd was pretty clearly all from one particular segment of the population. Normally Kate would have looked out of place here, but for once she actually seemed to be part of the crowd, and Chloe was honestly feeling mad proud. They held hands and the pink-haired wonder hung on her arm and chatted amiably with her and giggled brightly at all her stupid little jokes. It took a while for the line to lead into the club, but finally they were crammed into the crowd and cheering as Shiny New Heroes took to the stage.

It was an amazing evening, each song more ear-bleedingly delicious than the last, and while going deaf wasn't her thing, Kate was having fun dancing with her regardless. The first part of the set was amazing.

And then...

And then, some asshat mistook their playful dancing for the formation of a new mosh pit and carelessly decked Kate in the face with his arm, sending her careening into Chloe's arms with a bloody nose. Thankfully, there were a handful of punks around him who didn't take kindly to seeing young girls being hurt and led him outside for a lesson in gentleness. Meanwhile, Chloe guided Kate to tip her head back and was walking her out the front door and back toward her truck.

Away from the crowd, she unthinkingly whipped off her shirt and pressed it to Kate's face to help catch some of the blood. "Heh, I-I think that's probably enough excitement for one night..." Chloe helped Kate into the truck, then started driving back toward their apartment. Unlike what she'd said earlier, this quiet lack of conversation did not feel good. Kate had done something so sweet and amazing for her and she completely fucked it up. Chloe should have protected her, kept her farther away from the crowd, been more attentive. Instead, she was way too focused on having a good time. Idiot! She's never gonna let me live this down... And Max and Tori are gonna kill me!

Chloe was speeding a little to get back home, wanting to get Kate somewhere safe so she could get a better look at her. But surprisingly, with a rather cold tone, Kate just walked in the front door and headed for her room. "It's just a nosebleed, Chloe, I've got it..." Before she could do anything, the door was shut, in both the literal and metaphorical sense. In a fog, knowing just how bad she'd screwed up, Chloe went to her room to change back into her pajamas from earlier. Instead of going back to work on her latest piece, she found herself turning toward her small stash of weed and putting a joint together. She needed to unwind a little.

It was actually pretty peaceful out on the balcony. The neighborhood was quiet, the weather was beautiful, and the weed was pretty damn good. It helped, but only just so. She still couldn't get over the fact that she had screwed things up so royally. This wasn't the first time the subject of her and Kate had come up, and now that she had a chance to keep the romance between them, she threw it all in the garbage instead.

The sound of the door from behind her caused Chloe to jump a little. Kate, having since changed into her own pajamas, leaned up against the balcony next to her. It looked as though she had her sad face on. That was not a good sign. Okay, be cool, Chloe. At least she's not mad, right? Who am I kidding, this is way worse! Just woman up and apologize. No big deal. She's understanding.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm s- wait what the fuck?" Kate still wasn't fond of 'language' but Chloe couldn't help herself. "You're... But you... didn't?" Chloe also wasn't terribly eloquent yet.

"I wasn't careful and I went and got myself hit in the face. There was supposed to be like... another hour of music! So instead of enjoying ourselves and dacning more, we had to come back home. I ruined everything... including your shirt..."

Chloe couldn't believe it. Actually, no, she could totally believe it. Poor, sweet, innocent Kate. It would be one thing if this girl was playing the martyr to try and get sympathy, but Chloe recognized mental health trouble better than family members. Kate honestly thought that she had somehow ruined tonight just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And in hearing her girlfriend apologize when she didn't need to, Chloe now wondered if she was about to apologize for nothing as well.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Katie. Hell, you did everything right. You're so sweet and thoughtful, and I cannot tell you how into you I am with that new hairstyle. I know you're worried that you're not good enough for me, and nothing could be further from the truth. Because I feel exactly the same way..." Chloe leaned over and kissed her cheek, noting by now just how red from embarrassment Kate was.

After a few failed attempts to say anything, Kate raised the bar for surprises that evening by motioning to the remainder of the joint in Chloe's hand. "Can I... get a bit of that?" A momentary flashback from a year before hit Chloe as she passed the joint to her with a smirk. "I'm thinking and feeling too much. It'd be nice to stop..."

"Yeah... Yeah, I feel you. You can't really turn it off, but sometimes it's nice to use a shortcut. Although, please never be as bad as me." There was a bit of coughing and hacking before she took the weed back from her.

Kate grinned and nudged into her shoulder. "I'm pretty sure it's impossible for me to ever be as bad as you." Having finally gotten her lungs back under control, Kate turned her head to the side and kissed lightly at Chloe's sleeve tattoo. "I love you, Chloe..."

"I love you too, Kate. I really... really do." The two were practically beaming. After some hesitation, Chloe opted to roll another joint in honor of this very special occasion. Just as she flicked the lighter, she heard the sound of the front door and Max calling their names. "Out here, babe!"

"Oh my god, what are you doing?" Victoria asked as though she were a woman in her sixties clutching her pearls. She had a tendency to be overly protective of her primary. "And what happened to your hair...?"

Kate took a quick draw from the joint and giggled softly. "Sin. Now get over here and join us."