Author's Note: Sooooooo! It's been a long time since I last updated this, far longer than I intended. I'm due to go back to university in a week or so, so I had a lot to get ready! I can only apologise for the delay and promise to do my best to keep the gaps as small as possible. Thank You also for all your reviews, they give me the energy and encouragement to keep writing this! Hope you enjoy.

As I looked down at her I couldn't wonder when I had first started acting so weirdly around her, at least wondering about that was a better start to my morning than crying my eyes out.

I had always thought that Kate was a kind and gentle soul of course, it was difficult to imagine anyone getting the wrong idea about her and thinking she was anything but the honest, genuine girl she came across as. We had met early in the term, she had offered her help when I was moving all my stuff in; and god knew we had had a hilarious afternoon trying to build the very sofa that she was now sleeping on. It was difficult to remember a time recently when Kate had laughed; which was a damn shame because she had a beautiful laugh. We had quickly bonded over our mutual love of tea, considering coffee-drinkers uncouth barbarians, and had ended up having weekly tea sessions, although for one reason or another we had not had our tea session in over a week, although with everything that had happened this was perhaps hardly surprising.

Well, that was something that I could change, I thought, secretly grateful for an excuse to not think too much about my thoughts and feelings about Kate, which were more complex and confusing than I ever expected to be having about Kate. However it was a good excuse; for as much as Kate had been there for me during my darkest moments, I knew that i still had to be there for her and, the incident with her mother the previous night, I couldn't help but feel that I hadn't been ever since Chloe's death. That was something I could concentre on, something I could use to drag my attention away from my own sadness. So I reached down and placed my hand on her shoulder, doing my best to ignore the electric-like feeling shoot up my arm as I made contact, and gently encouraged her to wake, and was met by her deep hazel eyes looking back up at me, a half-asleep slightly confused expression forming across her features.

"Max?" Kate yawned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just had an idea what we should do today," I replied, she quirked an eyebrow so i continued, shyly. "As long as you want to spend the day with me."

"Of course I do," Kate nodded.

"Alright, in that case it's been a few weeks now since we've had our last tea-date," I replied, and I saw her face blossom into a broad smile before I could even get the suggestion out of my mouth. "I was thinking we could go to a cafe by the Bay and get us some tea."

"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea," Kate agreed readily.

She glanced over at my phone on my bedside table.

"You should probably ring your mom back," She commented. "I know you ignored her call to help me out with my Mother."

"Yeah, you're right," I agreed with a sigh, I loved my Mom of course but she had a tendency to overreact.

"Do you want me to stay?" Kate asks softly.

"Do you mind?"

"Of course not," Kate smiled gently, climbing up from the sofa to sit beside me as I reached for my phone.

I clicked on the missed call, selected the call-back option, and put my phone to my ear, holding it just right so that Kate could hear as well. As it was ringing I briefly considered how much I had begun to trust Kate over the past few days, I had always trusted her of course but I probably wouldn't have let her listen into a private call like this before. Part of it was of course because she had allowed me to, but it was nice to trust someone that much regardless.

"Maxine? Is that you?"

"Max, Mom!" I insisted almost automatically. "Never Maxine."

I heard a slight sigh and, despite everything, I could not help but smile at the exasperated expression my mom would be wearing about now.

"Fine, Max… We've just seen the news…." My Mom continued. "The Girl who was shot… was that…"

"Chloe," I said with a heavy sigh, taking some comfort from Kate squeezing my hand. "Yeah, it was."

"Oh Max… The boy who shot her?"

"Arrested… along with one of our teachers, Mark Jefferson," I replied. "Classes are cancelled at the moment… we don't know when they're starting up again."

"That's terrible… and Mr Jefferson was one of the reasons why you wanted to go to Blackwell, wasn't it?" My Mom asked, I let my silence answer that question and she pushed on. "Your father and I have been talking, and we want you to come back to Seattle, at least for the moment."

My eyes flashed up to lock with Kate's, and I felt her grip on my hand tighten; it was obvious that she didn't like the idea of me leaving any more than I did. I wanted to stay with Kate, she was the only one who knew what I had really gone through and believed me, and god knew that she needed me there as well, knowing better than anyone else what she herself had come through.

"Max?"

"No, Mom, I don't want to come home; I've got friends here who know what has happened here and can support me just as well as you would be able to, and I don't want to have to deal with having to come back after a long time away," I replied firmly, then pushed on before she could object. "Classes shouldn't be cancelled for too long and I would only be down in Seattle for a few days before I had to come back up, that's a hella lot of effort for all of us for just a few days; I'm fine here, Mom, I promise; I've got my friends."

"Hmmmm," My Mom was clearly not convinced. "I don't know Max, I'd feel much better if you came home for just a few days…"

"I can't run from this, Mom, and I don't want to miss Chloe's funeral above all else," I said simply. "I need to face this."

There was a moment of silence.

"Alright Max, I don't like it but I don't want to make it worse by arguing," My Mom sighed after a moment. "Just look after yourself up there, and make sure your friends know that if they don't look after you, they'll answer to me."

I locked eyes with Kate and smiled slightly.

"I will," I promised. "I love you Mom."

"I love you too, Max."

I ended the call and lowered the phone form my ear and placed it down on my bed before reaching over to Kate and giving her a hug.

"Thank You," I said softly.

"You did it for me too," Kate smiled.

"We should probably get ready to go," I commented, glancing down at the time on my phone. "We've got tea to drink!"

Kate nodded and we briefly parted ways to get ready for the day, grabbing quick showers and getting changed. I bumped into Dana outside her room, she was a little worried about me as she hadn't seen me at all the previous day. I reassured her that I was alright, that I had just needed the day to myself, and once more promised to speak with her tomorrow; this time determined to actually do that. I knew from the timeline-that-never-was that Dana would be a friend and be supportive. Returning to my room I briefly considered what clothes to wear, in the end I decided just to wear my Jane Doe t-shirt with jeans and a zip-up hoodie to help fend off the cold winds of fall. I found myself stood in front of my mirror, taking far more attention to my appearance than I ever had before and I physically had to catch myself.

Get a grip, Caulfield, it's not like you've not done this with Kate a dozen times before!

I smiled slightly, satisfied none the less and stepped out into the corridor, just in time to watch as Kate stepped out of her own room and looked at me, smiling as our eyes locked. It was cold as we stepped out of the Dorms, the breeze was gentle but it had a cold bite and I was glad for the hoodie and quickly zipped it up. We talked lightly as he crossed the quad and waited for the bus into town, both grateful for the warmth once we stepped onto the bus and found our seats. It wasn't that long a ride into town, although I found myself remembering the bus ride I had taken into town in the timeline that never was, on my way to meet Chloe to convince her about my powers. I could remember the sights outside and the song that had played through my headphones, Crosses by José González. I found myself staring aimlessly out of the window, clearly looking sat as I felt Kate's hand take mine and give it a squeeze. Glancing at her, she gave me a comforting smile that I, just about, managed to return. We remained holding hands for the rest of the ride into town and I found myself taking comfort just from the simple human contact, although, I admitted to myself, at least some of it was because it was Kate. As he stepped off the bus into the cold morning air we rubbed our hands together and began the walk towards the tea shop.

Our destination was a quaint little place owned and run by an elderly British couple who had, some years ago, emigrated to America and, despite gaining US Citizenship, had refused steadfastly to give up their, rather stereotypical, love of tea and had decided, in their retirement, to run their own little tea shop. The interior was cosy and had memorabilia from all over the world, including a great deal from Britain itself, including a photograph of the Queen. Of course, this sort of atmosphere was right up mine and Kate's street so we felt at home almost as soon as we stepped inside. We were greeted by an elderly woman who guided us to our seats and took our orders. We explained our love of tea and after a good ten minutes of discussion we agreed to taste a range of blends, clearly the woman was pleased by two young Americans who shared their love of tea. Over the next few hours were must have drunk gallons of tea, the woman and her husband plying us with pastries and cakes of varying sorts, and for a few hours as we talked to each other, and our hosts, we forgot of troubles.

"Well, we came for a cup of tea and ended up staying for a dozen and some cakes," I smiled broadly as the woman took away our mugs and teapot for the last time. "It's a lovely little place you have here."

"It really is, we had a wonderful morning," Kate agreed earnestly.

"We're glad you liked it, love," The Woman replied. "Hopefully we'll see you again."

"Definitely," Kate and I agreed at the same time, before giggling.

"Oh you two do make a lovely couple," The Woman commented with a smile, then stepped away.

I felt my cheeks warming even without looking at Kate and when I turned my eyes upon her I saw that she was blushing as brightly red as I was sure I was. We made our way back out onto the street in silence, and I was secretly glad for the cold air, even though it was afternoon by now, as it helped to return my cheeks to a more normal, and less embarrassed temperature and colour. It was only once we looked each other in the eyes again that we both burst into a fit of giggles that broke the tension.

"I can't believe she thought we were a couple," Kate smiled.

"Well, what do you expect when we spent most of our morning tucked away in a corner with tea and just each other for company," I reasoned with a matching smile. "Besides, every time you came over she probably saw you gazing into my eyes."

"You have beautiful eyes, Max," Kate commented shyly. "And when I look into them I see care and compassion that I've not felt in a long time… I like it, so it's hard not to stare."

"Oh Kate," I said softly, realising just how lonely she must have felt. "You, um, have beautiful eyes too."

Smooooooooth, Max.

Kate snorted and the tension was once again broken.

"So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" I queried.

"I was thinking we could go for a walk," Kate suggested. "It might be cold but it's a beautiful day."

"I think that's a wonderful idea."

We started our walk along the beach, which in this timeline were thankfully devoid of dead whales or anything else related to the tornado, that was something at least. From the beach we made our way up into the woods, heading for the lighthouse. As we walked I began taking photographs, as Kate had rightly said it was a beautiful, if cold, day and this gave plenty of opportunities for photographs, both of the views and the wildlife. It was only as we were standing on the point by the lighthouse that I caught Kate watching me fondly as I framed a photograph of Arcadia Bay.

"Why do you look like the cat that just ate the canary?" I frowned as I took the picture and waited for the polaroid to dry.

"Nothing," Kate replied with a smile. "It's just good to see you taking photographs again."

Something about her smile made me suspicious as I walked back over to her and I stopped just before her and looked her in the eyes before I realised.

"You planned this," I accused. "You suggested we come up here because you knew I'd start taking pictures again."

"I may have hoped coming up here would get you taking pictures again," Kate admitted. "But only because I know how much enjoyment you take from photography, I wanted you to have that back."

"I…" I struggled to find words, truly touched by her consideration. "Thank You, Kate."

"Anything for you, Max."

Author's Note: Please review!