Chloe was troubled. Well, she was always troubled. That was kind of her deal. It would be more accurate to say that she was worried. Of particular oddity was the fact that she was worried about Kate. The four girls had really only just become A Thing recently, and so far it felt more like a straight line with her on one end and Ms. Goody-Good at the other. Or, if she were being honest, it was like each of them was in a relationship with Mad Max, and they tolerated one another. She did at least find a certain joy in sparring with Victoria from time to time, but that was about the extent of it. When it came to Kate, they didn't have a goddamn thing in common.

And yet here she was in the girl's room. She'd originally come by to bug Max, but she was apparently out with Princess at some fancy shindig. She had gone all the way out to Blackwell, and didn't exactly feel like going back home. So on a whim – and really, wasn't that her whole life in a nutshell – she'd decided to visit Kate. She had the fuzzball out of its cage gnawing on some lettuce, and the cute animal drew her in despite her reservations. It was something at least, a talking point so they could avoid the elephant in the room. Something was clearly wrong. Ever since that fucked up week in October, everyone knew they had to keep a close eye on Kate, and for a time things were golden.

But lately she'd been hanging out less, always afraid to spend money, and she wasn't even hanging with Max as much. Something was on her mind, but she was locked up tight about it. And for all the secrets she herself kept, she didn't like being out of the loop, and she definitely didn't like to see Max upset.

Both girls were seated on Kate's bed, and after its delicious meal of greens, the fuzzball had ended up in her lap. Chloe was idly fiddling with its ears and finally decided to launch right into it. "So c'mon, spill the beans, Angel, what's got you down?"

Kate's face fell and she got that look like she was going to start crying. Shit, Chloe hated that look. "It's noth-"

"Don't you dare tell me it's nothing," she said, perhaps more sharply than she'd intended. These things happened to her a lot. "You're one of us, so... I don't know, pretend I'm Max or whatever!"

There was a long pause, as Kate did little more than fiddle with her hands in her lap. Chloe feared she had gone too far, but finally Kate's lips parted, she hesitated, and then tried again. "I think maybe this was a mistake. Us. The group... thing. I don't know if it's right."

"Yeah, it's a little scary, but it's not as if we're hurting anybody. If anything, it's the best thing that's happened to any of us in a while. Max is clearly into you in a big way, and I've seen how you snuggle up to Victoria like a kitten. You're happy, right? Aren't you...?" A dumb question to ask, she knew too late, but these things had a way of flying out of her mouth before she had a chance to wrangle them in.

Even in the midst of her sadness, Kate still managed to look downright appalled at the suggestion. "Of course! Even you, Chloe, you came to see me, you're asking me about this stuff, so I know you care, in your way." Shit, she was so quiet, Chloe sometimes forgot how observant Angel could be. "No, it's... Well, I started going to that new church, and everything was fine until one day I let it slip to one person that I had girlfriends. Plural. And they looked so horrified, I knew I'd screwed up. Less than a day later and pretty much everyone knew. People were apparently praying for our souls, and the pastor has taken a dig at us at least once per sermon. He'd say shit..." here Kate paused and looked frustrated with herself. "Stuff... about 'We know there are those in this congregation who sometimes stray' or whatever. And then everyone looks in my direction."

Chloe could hardly believe what she was hearing. Wasn't this place like... her home away from home or whatever? How could they be that awful? Well, they weren't beating around the bush now, so she figured she might as well dig as deep as she could. "Are they charging you to be gigantic assholes? I know you've been eating in the dining hall more, skipping out on meals with us at Two Whales. Joyce thought it was her cooking!"

"They have a very literal definition of tithing. Everyone knows how much everyone else has, and if we don't give a full ten percent, you get shamed. Bad. I was getting so much sh- stuff from them about you all that I've actually been giving extra each week."

"I'm coming with you. Sunday. I'm picking you up at 10:30. Be ready." There was no room for argument, and the bunny was back in Kate's arms before she had a chance to say anything.

And so it was that, as promised, Chloe picked Kate up that weekend at 10:35. This was extreme punctuality for the blue-haired girl. Not only that, but Chloe was clearly trying super hard. Kate would put money down that Chloe owned one dress, probably originally owned by Rachel Amber, and she was wearing it now. Her hair was still blue, her shoes still construction boots, but it was an adorable sight nonetheless. She sat in the passenger seat of the Tank, worried about what exactly Chloe was plotting. She had that impish look, but things were already set in motion, and she was essentially along for the ride.

The truck came to a stop in a parking lot filled with fancy cars and minivans, looking as out of place as Chloe herself did. The stares and whispers were worse than ever, but Kate found that clinging to Chloe's arm helped. Suprisingly, though, things were relatively smooth for the first hour. Relatively. There were a lot of points where it was obvious Chloe had no clue what she was doing, like a lost puppy just trying her best to be a good girl. She stood up too long, or sat down too early, she could only mouth along to the Lord's Prayer. But... she was really trying! Her heart felt warm. She even played along when Chloe stopped her from putting her money into the offering. Yes, she had a plan, obviously.

The sermon was arguably the worst part. The pastor had that glint in his eye when he saw the two girls together, clearly doing the math in his head as to who the mystery guest was. His dig was even more obvious, talking about harlots who marked their bodies with signs of the unrighteous, temptations of the world, and he suddenly seemed convinced that blue was the color of evil. Kate had to jab Chloe in the ribs when she heard her mutter "Subtle..." a little too loud. But they had done it, they had survived the service, and Kate began to wonder if maybe she would make it through this day unscathed. Then, she remembered that it was the first week of the month, and that meant free food after the service. Chloe would be all over that! She tried tugging her toward the door, but it was no use. Mere seconds later, the two were attached at the hip in the fellowship hall, trying to hide off in the corner with a plate of cookies and finger sandwiches, sipping juice and ignoring all the glances cast their way.

The trouble started when the pastor came over, and on impulse Kate released her hold on Chloe and jumped to her feet as a sign of respect to the man of God. "What did you think of today's service, Kate?" She forced herself to sit back down, and Chloe's hand latched onto hers like a magnet. The tight grip told her all she needed to hear. She couldn't even get a word in edgewise before Chloe jumped in.

"Very enlightening! You hit that twenty minute mark, and I thought, surely he can't possibly top himself, and yet you continued on. Forty minutes, that's got to be a record!"

"That was actually one of his shorte-"

"I tend to go on for an hour or so, but I felt it best to keep my remarks brief. I just had to get the chance to meet one of our Kate's infamous... friends..." There was practically venom dribbling from the man's mouth.

Again Chloe's grip tightened and Kate winced. This would not end well. "Your Kate? I wasn't under the impression you all owned her. Though if what I hear is right about your titling process..."

"Tithing, Chloe, tithing..."

"You clearly have a pretty tight grasp on her."

The pastor looked aghast – a fancy word, but really the only one that fit. "The way I hear it, Kate has a good many owners." His eyes narrowed. Chloe's eyes narrowed. The bomb bay doors were opened and atomic nuke Chloe was approaching the ground fast. "No one owns Kate. Sir. She's her own woman."

"Chloe, m-my hand..."

"Not you. Not these self-righteous fuckers. Not even your fucked up interpretation of a moldy book!" In a blur, Chloe was on her feet, pulling Kate with her, and into a very... very passionate kiss. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the famous Price Bird flipping off the entire room. Their lips finally parted amid over-dramatic gasps. "I'm just the blue-haired temptress who's saving her from this godforsaken shitheap. C'mon, Angel, we're outta here..."

Kate was practically dragged out to the Tank. Everything as a blur and she really didn't know what to think or say. She'd been in cuddle piles with Chloe before, but that was her first time kissing the girl. Had it been a show? Or was it something more than that? Oh, God, she could never come back to this place. But she was finally seeing a little more clearly and was fairly certain that would have been a bad idea anyway. She could only sit there in the passenger seat with her hands folded in her lap, unsure what to think or feel. When she finally snapped back to reality, she realized they were not back at Blackwell, but instead Chloe's home. "Mom and step-douche are out, thank christ. Shit, sorry!" Kate just shrugged as she was taken from the truck and inside.

Next thing she knew, she was sitting on Chloe's bed with a glass of water. She had apparently sipped some of it. She hadn't dissociated this bad since... October. Apparently Max wasn't the only one with a hero complex. Kate was vaguely aware that Chloe had changed out of her dress at some point and was sitting at her computer, furiously typing away and printing the occasional sheet of paper. Kate really had no idea what was going on anymore, but she didn't even have the capacity to question anything yet. She continued drinking her water, focusing on centering herself and slowing her breathing.

Finally the storm seemed to pass, both the one in her mind and the one called Chloe. She moved from her desk to the mattress and sat crosslegged next to Kate. The glass was empty now, and Chloe gently set it on the floor before laying out each printed sheet separately in front of her. She watched in mild awe as Chloe reached out and pulled her hair out of its usual bun, running her fingers through it, looking at her with very sincere concern. "You with me yet? Shit, I'm sorry, you know how I get. Everything gets hot and I start going with my gut. But, I think I-" Kate shook her head and pressed her hands to Chloe's cheeks, pulling her in for a desperate kiss that went on a good deal longer than the one in the church.

"Apology accepted, temptress" Chloe could only stare in utter shock at the mousy girl. Her Angel. This was a day of firsts. She was starting to wonder if she should press her luck and convince Kate to unwind with her, but that was probably going too far just yet. "Cool. So. Um."

"Chloe Price, speechless? Wow."

"Shut up... Anyway, here!" She motioned to the papers with an adorably flustered hand. "There's this place, not too far from Arcadia Bay." She passed her a print-out of the website's front page, followed by one of a cheery looking woman in a black robe. "That's the pastor. She's an ag-whatever."

Kate looked over the pages as they were passed to her. "Agnostic?" she said, trying to hide the amusement from her eyes.

"Yeah, don't know how it works, but there you go." The next page showed the same woman presiding over a marriage ceremony for a local gay couple. The one after that a mugshot. "She got a little angry at a Black Lives Matter rally. I figure if you're gonna get preached at by someone, better someone with a wicked rap sheet, y'know?" The rest of the pages detailed the church's work with Planned Parenthood, their queer group, and a totally lame and not at all sweet poem written by one of the members.

"So there you go. Chloe Price might rage and wreck everything, but she helps rebuild too." She huffed and sat back, and Kate could see just how out of breath and frustrated she was. And Kate really didn't know what to say. She carefully gathered up all the pages, folded them together, and placed them together in her purse. Without a word she lay her head down in Chloe's lap and the eager fingers resumed combing through her hair. "You'll need a ride, I don't think the bus goes that way. I mean, if you want. Not like I do anything on Sundays except wake up at noon and chill."

Kate smiled and closed her eyes, snuggling up a little more, completely wiped from the morning's adventure. "Promise me one thing?"

"Name it, Angel."

"Never wear that dress, ever again. Ever."