Brooke returned to her room to get ready for her tea date with Kate. The analog clock in her room said it was 4:46, so Brooke had about 15 minutes to kill. She sat on her bed and played some games on her phone, before a thought occurred to her.

Was this a date?

Of course not, it was a tea date in the platonic, get-together sense.

Right?

Brooke's heartbeat started to accelerate and she found herself clutching her chest. Stop getting nervous, it's not a date, it's just tea. But anxiety was a slippery slope and she was already starting to breath rapidly. Brooke had always had a bit of an anxiety problem, it's part of the reason her parents got her that tea.

Most of Brooke's anxiety stemmed from social situations, she didn't do empathy well, and her constant sarcastic attitude had the tendency to push people away. She couldn't help it, that's just how she was. Usually she could talk to most people fine, but whenever the stakes were high, like a one on one tea session with someone she had odd feelings about, Brooke tended to choke.

Gripping the edge of her bed, Brooke tried taking deep breaths until she steadied herself and laid back in a huff.

She was never going to survive this tea date.

Brooke arrived at 5pm sharp, after all it was just down the hall, so she really had no reason to be late.

Kate's door was already open and Brooke could see she had arranged a short table next to the couch with a couple of cups on it. Kate was doting by the windowsill fiddling with something Brooke couldn't quite see.

Brooke rapped on the door with the back of her hand.

"Anyone home?" She asked in a sarcastic droll. Kate spun around quickly and composed herself, obviously caught off guard.

"O-Oh Brooke! Come on in!" She chirped, grabbing a tea kettle that was behind her and set it down on the table. "Have a seat!" She patted the couch, smiling.

Brooke began to feel flustered, feeling a little hot in her hoodie. After closing the door, she took a seat next to Kate, who began pouring hot water into the tea cups. "Now you might want to let it sit for a bit, it's pretty hot."

Like you. Brooke mentally slapped herself, she really needed to stop having these thoughts. Kate blew on her cup and took a small sip.

"This is really good chamomile tea, thanks for getting it for me Brooke!" Kate gave her another trademark smile. Brooke gave a small smile back, it was good to see Kate happy again, she must be doing a lot better.

Brooke decided to take a sip of her cup, the tea tasted ok, warm and soothing, filling Brooke's stomach with a pleasurable aura.

"How is it?" Kate questioned.

"Pretty good for boiled leaf water." Kate giggled at Brooke's comment, which caused Brooke to feel even hotter.

"Are you okay Brooke? You look uncomfortable." Kate's smile shifted to a slight frown of concern.

"Yeah just a little hot." Brooke responded, involuntary tugging at her jacket.

"You know if you're hot you can take off your jacket, I mean I assume you've got a shirt on under that."

"Uh yeah, sure." Taking off a jacket shouldn't be nerve wracking, but it was. Kate looked at her, either expecting Brooke to do something, or say something else.

Brooke huffed and began taking off her hoodie, pulling it over her head and clumping it up on the side of the couch.

Kate looked at her and laughed into her hand.

"What, did my mask peel off to reveal my lizard head?" This caused Kate to laugh harder and instead of feeling perturbed, Brooke felt, lighter? Happy? Whatever it was she felt good.

"N-No," Kate managed to get out, "Your shirt." Kate pointed to Brooke, still smiling. Brooke looked down in confusion, all she was wearing was a simple graphic tee with a 1-up mushroom that said: 'Get a Life'.

"Really, you thought it was that funny?" She asked incredulously.

"No, I thought it was punny." Kate giggled at her own joke. Brooke found that adorable laugh infectious, and soon she was giggling along with her.

"So, this is what you usually do at these tea sessions, giggle at dumb stuff?"

"W-Well I guess, Max and I usually just talk about anything really, it's just nice to spend time with someone else you know?"

"Yeah, so um, uh…" Brooke trailed off, looking around, trying to come up with some other conversation topic. Her eyes finally came to rest on Kate's violin case, which was leaning up against her desk. "Do you still play the violin?"

Kate's smile faltered slightly

"I-I haven't really played it since, you know… I've been meaning to try practicing again, but I really haven't found the motivation."

"I get that, lack of motivation sucks, but hey playing the violin is pretty cool."

"Do you like the violin?"

"Well I guess I like it as much as any other instrument." Brooke shrugged. She wasn't much a music buff, so she was mostly indifferent towards it. "Well one time I saw a YouTube video of a violin cover of Through the Fire and the Flames, it was really bad ass."

"Through the Fire and the Flames?" Kate asked curiously, head tilted to the side.

"It's this power metal song, so it was cool to see a violin rendition of it, it felt really medieval, which I of course loved."

"You like metal music?"

"A little yeah." Brooke didn't want to admit her music playlist was full of video game OSTs and anime openings. Brooke looked over at Kate and saw her typing something into her phone, before putting it back in her pocket.

"I've really enjoyed this tea session with you Brooke."

"Yeah even though we barely drank any tea." Both cups sat untouched on the table, probably tepid or room temperature by now.

"You know I didn't think you'd actually agree to do this with me." Kate admitted, looking a little dismal.

"Why's that?" Brooke questioned, genuinely interested.

"Well I just didn't think you were my friend or anything." Kate now was gripping her shoulder nervously.

"What made you think that?"

"Y-You kind of made fun of me a lot, for being religious." And with that, a long-suppressed memory of Brooke's resurfaced.

"Hey Kate, on your way to the abstinence club meeting?" Brooke asked Kate dryly. Kate was all dressed up and making her way towards the exit of the dorms.

"No, I'm just heading to church." Kate responded calmly. Brooke just rolled her eyes.

"Same thing," Brooke snorted, "I don't see how you can possibly believe in something that obviously fake." Kate flinched, like Brooke had punched her.

"I mean not everyone has to believe in my faith, but that doesn't mean it's just a bunch of lies."

"Sure."

"Regardless, the morals and ideals it teaches are what's most important really." Brooke still wasn't having any of it.

"Yeah like you can't have good morals without joining a glorified cult." Kate didn't respond to that one, Brooke was barely listening, and Kate doubted this argument was going to go anywhere.

"Look if you wanna bail on your 'Holy Christian Faith' and join the rest of the intelligent populace, just talk to me and I can lead you to the wonderful world of atheism."

"I-I think I'll pass." Kate turned away and began her walk to church, with Brooke smirking behind her.

"Brooke! Brooke! Are you ok?" Kate cried out in a panicked tone. Brooke snapped back to reality, Kate had her hands on Brooke's shoulders, a look of concern on her face. That memory was one Brooke had desperately tried to suppress, hoping if she forgot about it she'd feel less shit about it. But guilt has a way of coming back to you.

"W-What happened?" Brooke inquired.

"I said you made fun of me for my religion, a-and you sort of spaced out for a while and wouldn't respond to anything, I was just worried…" Brooke started shaking. She had been such a rude asshole to Kate, and here she was, being concerned about Brooke.

"K-Kate, shit, I-I'm so sorry." Brooke couldn't stop herself from swearing, she knew Kate didn't like it, but it just came out. Her glasses were starting to fog up, was she crying?

"Brooke it's okay-"

"No it isn't!" Brooke pushed Kate away, taking off her glasses and rubbing her reddening eyes. "I was such an ass to you, I mean I guess I wasn't as bad as Victoria or whatever, but I shouldn't have insulted your beliefs like that for really no reason."

"A-And I'm such a shitty person, I only wanted to see how you were doing cause I felt bad about myself, I couldn't even be a decent enough to see you just to be nice, and also I try to act like I stand on some intellectual pedestal and-" Before Brooke could continue with her self-hate, Kate swiftly wrapped Brooke in a comforting embrace, similar to the one they shared a few nights ago.

Brooke stopped talking and simply cried it out, she'd had this feeling of guilt and self-loathing built up for so long, it felt comforting to have someone there to listen and try to comfort her. Especially when that someone was the person who caused Brooke's introspective guilt.

"It's okay Brooke" Even though the statement was simple, Kate said it with such certainty that Brooke started to believe it herself. After some time, Brooke finally pulled herself together and wiped the tears off her face.

"Thanks Kate, I really didn't think I had that in me." Brooke finally managed, breaking the embrace.

"No problem Brooke, are you feeling better?"

"I think so," Brooke sighed, "Um Kate, are we cool or whatever? I mean I get it if we aren't" Kate smiled reassuringly.

"We're cool Brooke, you're sorry, I forgive you, so let's just move on, no point in dwelling on it." Brooke was thinking something similar, but having Kate confirm it made Brooke feel better. "So, do you maybe want to do this again sometime, with a little less drama?"

"Yeah, I'd like that." Brooke laughed, giving Kate a hopeful smile.