Soooooooooo, this took a whole hell of a lot longer to get out than I expected, but here it is at last! I hope it's worth the wait and you've all stuck around, promise the next chapter won't take anywhere near as long!

"I'm going to sit out here for a bit, Kate," I said as we stopped in front of the Dorms.

Kate fixed me with a cautious expression and I could see the concern in her eyes. I smiled slightly and placed a firm arm on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes; I needed her to see that I was in fact okay. For the first time in a few days I actually felt like there was hope in my life… for the first time I hadn't spent most of the day thinking about Chloe. Between the day spent drinking team with, and talking to, Kate, followed by an afternoon of photography from a beautiful viewpoint, I had been reminded that some of the good things in my life were still very much there. This revelation I owed entirely to Kate's care and consideration, despite everything she was still dealing with she had devoted her entire day, for the third day on the run now, to ensuring that I was okay. This alone was humbling, and conscious as I was about it I had been doing my best to ensure that I'd done what I could to ensure she knew that I would be there for her as well, at least somewhat. I knew that I still had a long way to go, but I also knew that I wasn't alone, and like it had been for Kate in the other timeline, it was enough to make me step back from my own cliff of despair.

"I'm fine, I promise." I said softly.

"Okay Max, I trust you," Kate nodded and headed inside.

I sat down on the bench near the Tobanga and looked at the mysterious totem for a good few minutes before I heard movement behind me and turned, mustering a smile as Dana

"Hi Dana," I said in greeting.

"Hey Max," Dana smiled warmly. "How are you doing? You look better than you did the last time I saw you."

"I'm feeling abit better," I admitted. "It still hurts, but I don't feel alone."

"I take it we can thank Kate for that? The two of you have been inseparable the past few days," Dana commented thoughtfully as she sat down beside me. "And when we hear you crying out in your sleep, it was her that always got to you first."

I blushed, I didn't know that I'd been making as much noise with my nightmares as I must have been for the entire floor to hear, but then how else would Kate have known to come to me. But there was no judgement in Dana's eyes, word of how close I was, or had been as far as they were all concerned, with Chloe must have spread and it didn't take a genius to understand that watching anyone, much less a friend, get shot in front of you would be traumatic.

"Kate has helped alot… she always seems to be there when I've needed her since… since…" I reply, choking on my words a little before taking a deep breath. "I feel like I should be doing more for her though…"

"I wouldn't worry about Kate, Victoria took that horrible video down as soon as your friend was shot, and the rumour is that Nathan, and Mark Jefferson, were involved in drugging girls, so most people realise Kate was one of them," Dana said firmly. "Besides, you know Kate better than I do, so you know that she'd rather help someone else with their problems than wallow in her own… helping you is helping her."

I nodded slowly, there was certainly some truth to that.

"How are you doing, Dana?" I asked after a few moments. "Before all this happened I heard a rumour… I meant to check-in on you…"

"No, it's okay I understand… but what you heard is right… I was pregnant, Max," Dana replied with a sigh. "I couldn't keep it… and it was hard… but I'm getting better now."

"Trevor helping?" I smiled slightly.

"How did you know about that?" Dana chuckled. "We thought we were being really subtle."

"Dana, I saw him coming out of your room really early one morning this week," I laughed, comforted that someone other than Kate could get me to laugh again, not that I minded it being just Kate. "And let me tell you, that stride of pride was a thing to behold."

Dana laughed and went more than a little red but she was undoubtably happy and I found myself smiling in return at her; it was good to see one of my friends so happy. I knew from the time that never was that Dana had gone through a hell of a lot, what with getting pregnant and then either getting an abortion or miscarrying, I still wasn't quite sure on that point. It was good to see that she was happy now with someone else.

"So… what about you and Kate?" Dana asked wryly.

It was my turn to blush bright red as I looked away from Dana, causing her to chuckle (and no doubt essentially answering her question, without any words. Of course I hadn't really thought about in too much depth, I knew there was something about Kate that I couldn't get past, that I'd never felt anyone before, but I'd not really been in the right head space to consider it. But now that someone else, Dana, was directly asking me I found myself actively considering it properly for the first time.

"What do you mean?" I asked shyly.

"Don't be coy with me, Max, I've seen the way you look at her," Dana prodded gently. "Almost like the way Warren looks at you, but with far more intensity."

"I…" I stuttered.

"More to the point I've seen the way she looks at you, not just this past week even before, but now she seems more alive than I've seen her, and that's not just because your distracting her from that damned video," Dana said firmly. "When she's with you its like there's a light in her eyes that I've not see in her since the beginning of term, and let's face it, if she's willing to even consider overlooking her faith's teaching on homosexuality for you, that has to mean something."

"I guess you're right," I concede.

It was this last statement that hit me the hardest. Given that she was raised in a staunchly Roman Catholic household, and was devout herself, it stood to reason that she should have been very opposed to a relationship with another girl. The very fact that she was behaving the way she was, and being as obvious to people like Dana as she was, rather than hiding her feelings away, had to mean that they were strong enough to overcome her upbringing to at least some degree.

All for little old me?

For someone such as myself, who had never had a serious relationship to speak of, or any boy really show any interest in me, this was a surprise to say the least. Moreover I found myself wondering at what Dana had said; if I was falling for Kate did that make me a homosexual? I found myself oddly okay with that idea; the Pacific Northwest was hardly the least welcoming place for the LGBT community. Unlike many young girls in my position I at least knew that my family would not be a problem; my father would support me in pretty much anything, whilst my mother just wanted what was best for me; I knew I could count on them. Was I actually considering this?

"What should I do?" I ask quietly.

"Have you tried taking to her?" Dana replied with a smile.

"We talk all the time, we have started to realise that something's changed but we've not really talked about it," I reply thinking back to our time together today. "I wouldn't even know how to start, it'd be hella awkward."

"Well, if you don't want to talk you have to let your actions speak for you," Dana said firmly. "Have you thought about kissing her?"

"I would't even know where to start on that either," I reply blushing brightly. "It'd be my first kiss."

"Think of it this way, it'd be her first kiss too," Dana countered, ignoring the fact it would be my first kiss, which I was eternally grateful for. "if neither of you are going to come out and say it, one of you needs to make the leap of faith; I doubt she'll shoot you down."

"You may be right," I said quietly. "When should I do it?"

"Tonight, or tomorrow," Dana replied promptly. "Do it before Chloe's funeral… if you don't have something to hold onto you'll be back where you were at the beginning of the week."

"You may have a point there," I agree, wincing slightly at the mention of Chloe's funeral. "I'll do it tonight."

"Attagirl," Dana smiled.

"And then what?"

"Then you see what happens next."

Please review, and stick around for the next chapter which should be a lot sooner!