The whispers and stares only began to get worse as time passed. Even after Warren had managed to get the pictures taken down off the website, people still talked about Max and Kate. People still spread rumors about them. They were the talk of Blackwell Academy for being the only openly gay couple. People would wait for them to get out of class just so they could see them holding hands, or walking together, or just being together for that matter. They had attracted an audience, and it was a nuisance to the both of them. And Max could tell that it was weakening Kate; she was getting worse as each day passed.

Every morning when she woke up, a new message would be written on both of their boards. Max didn't mind it, she only found it annoying. But she could tell how much it tore Kate up inside that everyone was thinking all these negative things about her. When Kate went to shower, the girls would talk about her in there. Saying she wasn't a real christian because she was a lesbian, and that's what hurt Kate the most. They weren't only bashing her relationship, but they were bashing her religion too, and she didn't take well to that.

But her façade never fell. Kate put on a fake smile for Max, lied to her girlfriend about everything that was floating around in her mesh of a headspace, just so that she wouldn't be worried sick about her every waking moment of the day. But Max knew better; she knew her girlfriend was sad, she just didn't know that she was almost borderline depressed. So that's why she tried everything in her power to make her girlfriend happy. They went on twice as many dates, had twice as many sleepovers, scheduled plans with their other friends like Warren, Stella, and Alyssa. Nothing seemed to work though. Of course, Kate was always happy when she was with Max, but deep down, there was that lingering feeling of disappointment, the feeling that she was fucking up.

Kate didn't like that feeling; she didn't like feeling sad all the time. She didn't like feeling different, or that she didn't belong. And even church didn't help the poor girl, if anything, it only made her feel worse. She was sinning, with the lying and being depressed and what not. She couldn't take it; her sanity was going away piece by piece, and Kate didn't know how much longer she could take this. She didn't know if she was strong enough; and she knew that Max should definitely not have to be strong enough for the both of them.

"What do you want for Christmas?" Max asked Kate, pulling the girl out of her thoughts as they sat at the diner, eating once more. It seemed as though Kate drifted in her thoughts a lot these days. And Max tried hard to keep her out of them. Overthinking things was always the worst. It was mid December; a fresh layer of snow on the ground outside Arcadia Bay, and Blackwell was about to go on winter break, letting the students be free for a few weeks. It was nice, not having to go to classes and what not. And Max knew that she could spend all that time with Kate, despite if her girlfriend was sad or not.

Kate shrugged as she played with her food on her plate, not feeling very hungry these days, "I'm sure I'll love whatever you get me." She answered.

Max sighed, "Come on, it's our first Christmas together, there has to be something you want."

"What do you want?" Kate questioned in return, changing the subject.

"For you to be happy." Max answered in a heartbeat. "High school is almost over Kate, I know we can do it, we can make it."

She liked Max's enthusiasm, but if she was being honest with herself, the blonde was sick and tired of false hope. It just wasn't working. Kate shook her head, "And what about after high school? Huh?" She asked, looking up at Max. "People are going to be like this everywhere we go. We're not normal, we'll draw attention to ourselves wherever we go." She added, her brown eyes softening if only slightly. She couldn't take that; she couldn't be the center of attention all the time. And she knew she was speaking the truth about this subject. There were so many people against same sex relationships, she couldn't take it.

"People are changing Kate." Max answered simply, smiling halfheartedly.

Kate sighed, her brown eyes darting down to her plate of untouched food, "I wish I could be like you, Max. Just brush it all off... But I can't, and I'm sorry. I know you want to have fun and do stuff all the time, but I'm just sensitive, okay? I can't handle all this like you can, I can't take people talking about me all the time! Especially when I did nothing wrong! All I did was try to be happy, and now look where I am." She rambled on, not being able to look Max directly in the eye anymore.

Max was speechless as she stared at Kate with her baby blue eyes, "I'm sorry Kate." She spoke gently, reaching across the table to grab her girlfriend's hand. She hadn't heard Kate rant like that in awhile, but deep down, she was glad she was doing it. Kate needed to get this stuff off her chest so it wasn't eating her alive inside. "I'm just trying to be supportive, you know?"

A sigh escaped her lips, "I know, I'm sorry." She apologized. "And I didn't mean to go off on you like that."

"No, I'm glad you did." Max answered honestly. "You need to talk about this stuff."

"Are you ready to go?" Kate asked, just wanting to get back to her dorm and go to sleep.

"You're done already? You didn't even touch your food." The brunette frowned, taking notice of her girlfriend's poor eating habits that had been taking place these past few weeks. Her plate looked like it hadn't even been touched, and she hated the fact that Kate was doing this to herself.

"I just want to get to bed." Kate replied, and stood up, ready to leave.

"Okay."