A/N: Titled after "Crosses" by José González from the LiS soundtrack.
FFN doesn't allow links, but this is also heavily inspired by a fanart by yahoberries on Tumblr.
Kate always reminded Max of daisies. White petals radiating out of yellow centers, like suns in children's drawings. Something about those two things connected, smooth, in her mind.
But now, watching stark hospital tiles pass underfoot as she held her daisies, Max wondered if she should have bought a different bouquet instead. One of the nicer ones, packed with large, cheery flowers that smelled like heavy perfume. Now her handful of daisies felt insultingly small and not as charming as she thought when she picked it out in the flower shop with Chloe.
Max felt a hand slide around her waist and looked up at Chloe, whose lips were pulled into a smirk that couldn't lift her eyes.
"Chill. They look fine."
"I guess," Max mumbled, staring at the flowers again.
Chloe said nothing, only pulled her close, and Max was suddenly grateful for the warm comfort of Chloe's side against hers. Grateful too that Chloe had agreed to drive them to the hospital, had even asked for the room number when Max hesitated at the front desk, mouth dry.
"This is it," Chloe said. "Max?"
Stood in front of the room door, Max made no move to enter. Instead, she fixed her eyes on a line in the wood grain as her thoughts slipped, running towards all the horrible possibilities of what could happen once she was inside that room.
A pair of hands dropped onto her shoulders and turned her. Chloe peered back at her, a thin brow arched.
"Sorry. I guess I'm more nervous than I thought." Max looked down at the tiles between Chloe's scuffed boots, daisies hanging by her side. She took a deliberate breath. "What if it's weird?"
"You're her friend. It won't be weird."
"And if she doesn't want to see me?"
Chloe slid one hand up the side of Max's neck, thumb lifting her chin and smoothing over the line of her jaw as their eyes met. "Max, you saved her life," she said, sobered. "You did the right thing."
She nodded and pushed a brief smile onto her face. "Okay."
Chloe's hands fell to her sides. "I'll wait out here, alright? Right here." She dropped into the seat beside the door and slouched forward, hands pressed.
Max lingered there, in the moment, palm smoothing over the back of her neck thoughtfully. She eyed Chloe, Chloe with her shock of blue hair and inked skin, and her unyielding loyalty. Max didn't doubt Chloe would always be by her side.
She smiled to herself.
Max pushed forward, opening the door and stepping into a bright hospital room pungent with the smell of flowers and paints. The room was mostly white, but the pair of large-paned windows in the corners allowed late day light to slant into the space, washing everything in an amber glow. Kate sat on a bed by one of the windows, the stray strands from her hair bun illuminated honey-blonde by the sun. When Max entered, she looked up from the pieces of paper that peppered the white bedsheets around her. A smile instantly warmed her bare face, eyes tired but no longer red-rimmed the way they were when Max saw her last. It was a relief.
"Max!"
Max returned the smile easily. "Hi Kate."
"I'm so glad you're here." Kate set her pencil down on the pad of paper in her lap. Her eyes dropped to Max's hands and her brows rose in surprise, then settled, expression sweet. "Are those for me?"
Max's fingers tensed around the stems, crinkling the tissue paper. "Uh, yeah."
"How did you know I love daisies?" Her eyes softened, and so did the weight in Max's chest. "They're beautiful, thank you. There should be room for them in a vase over there."
Kate gestured to a bedside table covered in letters and vases, multiple bouquets to each one. There was an identical table on her other side, but it was even more crowded with a tray of rainbow paints, still wet.
Max chose the lesser crowded one and slipped her bouquet alongside another bursting with yellow tulips.
"Wow, Kate, a lot of people really care about you."
Kate blushed, then returned to fiddling with her pencil, absently scribbling something on the paper. "Yeah, everyone at school's been so nice these past few days. I feel pretty lucky."
Max returned to the table in front of her, glancing over the disarrayed stacks of letters. The seals on all of them looked broken and worn, as if each letter had been taken out and read a few times. She couldn't help but notice one in particular, still lying open. It was hard to read since it was turned sideways, towards Kate, but Max could still make out the large, looping signature at the bottom: Victoria.
After everything Victoria had done to put Kate where she was, Max almost couldn't believe she'd send Kate a letter. She could only assume the card-long paragraph was an apology, even though she couldn't imagine what one would sound like through Victoria's terse, lipstick-dense lips. Based on how many times Kate appeared to have read the letter, though, whatever Victoria said seemed to have meant a lot to her. Kate always had been a forgiving person, quick to trade hard feelings for peace. It was a quality Max adored Kate for having, and one she didn't share.
She reminded herself to keep an eye on Victoria.
Not wanting to pry further, Max took a seat near Kate on the bed, careful not to crush any of the dozen loose sheets of paper. She looked over Kate's arm to see what she was doing and found her sketching a parade of characters in a familiar style, all rounded shapes and soft lines. She smiled when she recognized the first character in the line, a white rabbit dressed in pastels and based on Kate's own pet.
Kate caught Max's eye and laughed, cheeks pink. Her hands moved as if to cover the drawing but stopped short. "I visited the children's ward earlier," she explained. "Some of the kids were drawing, so I picked up a crayon just to keep my hands busy. I ended up drawing a lot of my old characters and telling the kids stories about them. I thought I'd surprise them by going back tomorrow with little comics to read." She ducked her head sheepishly, the shorter pieces of her mussed hair falling in front of kind eyes. "I don't think I've drawn so much in weeks. I guess I just wanted to see them happy."
"I'm sure they'll love it. Who wouldn't love to spend the day with Kate Marsh?"
Kate blinked, hazel eyes round. "Max," she groaned, but there was a pleased lilt in her voice and a smile hidden behind her folded hand.
Max grinned. It was good to see Kate smile so much again. It'd been so long, she almost forgot how warm of a person she could be and what it was like just to be with her.
"Has your family visited yet? Your sisters?" Max asked, eyes wandering over the letters again. "I know how much you must miss them."
"I do, more than anything. They haven't come yet, but my dad called the other day and told me everyone's taking an early flight tomorrow, so I'll see them soon." Kate quieted for a moment, thoughtful. "I can tell they feel bad, like, guilty. I think they're trying to make things up to me, by being here as soon as they can."
Kate lowered her head, and suddenly she looked so much smaller to Max.
"There's another reason I'm glad you're here, Max. The real reason, I mean."
Max tensed at the sound of Kate's voice, heavy. "What is it? You know you can ask me for anything." Even in profile, Max could see the corner of her mouth rise at the words.
Kate looked to her hands, cupped gingerly in her lap. "A few days ago, on the rooftop, I thought… I thought there was nothing left for me." One of her hands lifted to the cross, glinting gold around her neck, and she fingered the pointed edges. "I walked up to that rooftop not ever expecting to walk back down. But then you were there, Max. Like some kind of guardian angel. You told me I could be strong again, even though I felt so weak. Showed me that there was still someone who cared about me. You gave me hope and faith when, for the first time in my life, I had none. When we walked down those stairs together, I want you to know what that meant to me. I want to thank you, Max." Kate smiled, despite the tears that rolled into her lashes, pale with sunlight.
"Kate…" Max said, surprised to find her own eyes growing misty.
Kate startled when Max pulled her into a tight hug, her gasp muffled in the shoulder of Max's hoodie. It wasn't long after, however, that she relaxed into the embrace, and Max realized just how glad she was to feel the warmth of Kate's breath against her neck.