Chapter 19: Falling Apart

Seattle, August 2009

She feels empty. Nothing matters anymore. She hates school even more than ever, so, if she's not suspended anyway, she skips classes as much as possible. But what she hates the most are her therapy sessions, like the one she's sitting in right now. Max would've loved to skip them too, but after she'd avoided the first three sessions, her parents made it a rule to drive her to the psychiatrist and back again, making sure that she would be attending them.

But today is different. Today, nobody is waiting for her until the session is over and drives her home afterwards. No, because today her mom has a job interview, so that her dad had to drive her to the psychiatrists office, but wouldn't be able to get her home again, because he has to work.

"Max?" the Psychiatrist calls out for her, ripping the still thirteen years old girl from her deep thoughts. Now having the girl's attention again, he sighs. "Max, this is our tenth appointment and you still refuse to work with me."

"So?" Max simply replies with a shrug, clearly showing no interest.

"Max, you experienced a very traumatic event and show every symptoms of a post-traumatic stress disorder, paired with a heavy depression. I want to help you, but I can't if you refuse to work with me."

"There's nothing to help, I'm fine!" retorts Max, crossing her arms and giving the man a stinky-eye.

"Denial and ignoring a fact won't do you any good, we need to…"

"We need to do shit!" Max suddenly yells and jumps up, "You don't understand! Nobody understands! You wanna know some facts? I got tortured and raped, got stitched up again and spent two months in hospital and now I'm fine again. Okay?"

Albeit Max's rage, the Psychiatrist stays calm, willing to continue the argument. "You almost died, Max, and still refuse to talk about the details, even with the police. Don't you want that terrible person getting finally caught?"

"How am I supposed telling them something, if I'm remembering shit, wiseass?"

"This is why we're doing this, here. The goal of this therapy is that you remember this event and learn how to cope it. And I think, helping the police to catch the culprit would be a good closure for you."

Max simply scoffs, almost on the edge of hysteria. Of course, she remembers everything. She knows exactly who had done this to her. But what would be the use of telling someone the truth? Mike Brighton is under protection of his father, who has several connections throughout the entire government of the United States, which makes this son of a bitch nearly untouchable. And Sam…? Sam is now out of her reach, forever. Nobody can help her and she doesn't want any help, nor pity. Therefor, Max grabs her bag, mumbles a "Fuck you!" and leaves the office.

Once she's outside the building, the first thing Max does is going around the corner into an alley and light a cigarette. She inhales the biting smoke deeply, letting the pain in her lungs sooth her mental agony until she needs to cough intensively. Max never wanted to be a smoker, even hates the stench, but right now it was the only thing that kept her sane.

After stumping on the half-smoked cig, she makes her way to the closest bus station and heads home. Not that home is any better than the rest of this fucked up city. Home became hell, because of her mom. At first, things got better between them, because of the incident. Vanessa had taken care of her daughter, soothed her, tried to be there for her. But, eventually, everything fell back into its old scheme. Blaming, yelling, beating. Max has always been on the receiving end.

Right now, she is just glad that Vanessa is at a job interview and she'll have the house for her own. Maybe she should contact Kristen to come over and make out a bit. It would at least distract her a bit from all the shitty-ness.

Having something to look forward to, Max gets out of the bus and walks straight home. At the beginning, everything seems normal and quiet, but the unlocked door would be the first thing that dazed Max.

'Huh, is Mom already home? I thought she has the appointment right now?'

The second thing that bothers her, as soon as she has opened the front door, is the intensive moaning that chimes from the living room. She know those moans; had overheard them several times already when her parents had thought she'd be asleep and really went at it.

'What the fuck?! Is Dad already home, too?'

Cautiously, the young girl strips down her shoes and sneaks towards the living room. As she gazes around the corner her jaw drops to her feet. Her mom is naked and on all fours on the couch table while a strange man is pounding her from behind.

Upon seeing this, Max's mind is rushed by a many conflicting thoughts. On one hand, she's pretty disgusted and angry about her mom cheating on her dad with some ugly bastard. On the other hand, she gets very aroused by seeing how Vanessa gets fucked, because, truth to be told, her mom is a very attractive woman and Max graves women.

For a moment she weighs the option to say something and therefor catching her mother in the act, but decides against it eventually. One day she'll use what she just witnesses to fuck Vanessa over and make her pay for all those beatings.

Very slowly, Max retreats to her room, closes the door, fires up her computer and listens to some tunes in order to ban those lewd sounds from downstairs. At the same time she takes out her phone and starts to type a message.

[Max]: hey Kristen! wanna skype?

Max waits for a few minutes, until a tone sounds from her Laptop, indicating that she receives a video call. After she clicks the green button the beautiful face of a slight older, Hispanic-looking girl appeared on the screen.

"Heya, my little, freckled camp-crush! 'sup?" she says with a toothy smile.

"Just ran away from therapy again and feel like shit," Max answers emotionlessly with a shrug, which let Kristen's smile falter right away.

"Aww, my poor Max! Need some cuddling and girl-action? Should I come over?"

Though it has been her plan in the first place, Max let it drop, because of her mom's presence and the fact that she's not in the mood for an argument with her mother about her sexuality.

"Nah, Mom's home and you know that she'll freak if she catches us, making out."

"Bummer!" Kristen states with pursed lips to fake a pout, but eventually smirks again. "Hey, wanna see my new toy?"

Max's eyes open wide. She knows that Kristen has a faible for sex toys, but never could convince Max to use one, because the young brunette never ever wants to have any phallus-like things inside her anymore. Yet, still a bit aroused from before, she accepts shyly, knowing that the Hispanic girl wants to present how it works, too.

"O-okay!"

"I proudly present, the Pink Penetrator!" With a wide smirk and lustful gaze she brings forth a pink vibrator, holding it right into the cam. "So, what do ya think?"

"Looks pretty big," comments Max with a scrunched up nose.

"It actually fits pretty well. Wanna see?"

Gulping down her nervousness, Max only musters a nod, opening her jeans at the same time upon the upcoming show.

Immediately, Kristen repositions her webcam, strips off her clothes and gets comfortable. Max can see every detail of her girlfriend; how she begins to rub her sex. In response, the freckled girl let her hand slide down into her panties and starts to treat her already drenched center, too.

Soft moans escape Max's mouth as she watches Kristen playing with herself, but in her mind she doesn't see the Hispanic girl there. In her imagination it is Chloe or Sam she wants to see, which gives this whole endeavor for a much needed orgasm a dark color. But nonetheless, she continues, feeling her climax approaching, until her mother's yelling kills the entire mood.

"Maxine Caulfield, what the hell are you doing there?!"

Entirely taken aback, because she hasn't heard her mom coming into her room, Max shrieks and falls off her chair. It takes her some seconds to shake off the surprise, but as she sees her mother's gaze shifting between her Laptop, her open pants and her flustered face, Max jumps up and closes her computer.

"Are you watching porn?!" Vanessa wants to know, already closing in on the Laptop. Max instantly shuffles herself between it and her furious mom. She simply mustn't need to know that Max is constantly sex-chatting with her nympho-girlfriend.

"None of your business, Mom!" the young girl retorts, receiving an agitated glare from Vanessa.

"It IS my business, Maxine! You're just thirteen years old and not even allowed to watch such smut! What are you doing here anyway?! Shouldn't you be in therapy?"

"And shouldn't you be at a job interview?!"

SLAP!

"Don't ever backtalk to me, young lady!" hisses Vanessa and turns around to leave, but gives her daughter one last angry look over her shoulder. "Next time, I'll take away your Laptop! Now take a shower and wash that filth off your body! You're too young to do such things! And when your father comes home, we'll have a serious talk!"

Then, the door slams shut with a loud bang.

Max stands in the middle of her room, holding her already reddening cheek with one hand. Her lips are trembling and big tears are flowing down her face in a constant stream. As she was told by her mother, the young girl grabs some new panties and fresh clothes and heads for the bathroom. In moments like this, Max wishes she would be like Chloe. Strong and rebellious at the same time. Just telling her mom to fuck off, no matter what. But she's still Max Caulfield, a stupid, little girl that can't even stand up against her abusing mother.

Max has now reached the bathroom, takes off her clothes and gazes at her reflection in the mirror. She can see all those fresh scars that are running over her entire body, following them with the tip of her finger.

'I'm so hideous! Mike made sure that nobody would love me anymore…not even my mom.'

Suddenly, the phone inside the pocket of her stripped off jeans on the ground chimes. At first reluctant to take a look, Max eventually picks it up and reads the message.

[Kristen]: damn! your mom's such a cunt! big trouble?

[Max]: the usual

[Kristen]: did she see me?

[Max]: no

[Kristen]: wanna continue?

[Max]: gonna take a shower now

[Kristen]: can I have a pic?

Max gazes at the display with eyes wide open upon this proposal. Why would Kristen want to see her naked? She neither has anything that would count as boobs, her body is scarred and her nether region is hairy, because she still lacks any motivation to start shaving. But maybe Kristen can give her a confirmation. A confirmation if someone is actually able to love her body like it is.

Having made a decision, Max poses in front of the mirror, snaps a photo and sends it to Kristen, awaiting a reply. Minutes pass without another message and Max is almost about to give up hope, until her phone sounds again. And the reply surprises her.

[Kristen]: sry. had to get off first. damn you're a hot gal!

[Max]: rly?! what bout that scars?

[Kristen]: girl, everybody has a flaw. don't worry, you look sexy!

[Kristen]: here's your reward! ;-)

The next message Max receives contains a picture that shows Kristen doing it to herself, probably while she's looking at the freckled girl's photo. Though she feels depressed, the yearning for more sexual activity emerges again.

[Kristen]: have fun, babe! ttyl

'Fuck you, Mom!' Max thinks and starts to masturbate again. Immediately she feels how the emotional pain gets partially suppressed. Though she doesn't have any deeper feelings for Kristen, Max is still glad to have her, because she helps her to have at least a short break from her depression. Maybe it isn't the right way, but it feels way better than therapy. And with this thought in her mind, Max finally climaxes.

Max

A soft kiss tickles her cheek. Another one caresses her freckled nose. And the third one is destined for her lips. Now slowly waking up with a smile, Max replies the kiss and takes a deep inhale. Her body gets flooded with warmth upon the mixture of feeling Kate's soft lips, her scent and that sweet taste which comes with every kiss.

"Good morning, my love!" whispers the blonde, brushing cautiously over Max's cheek. In response, Max touches Kate's hand softly and opens her eyes to finally see her beautiful, warmly smiling girlfriend. "Had a good night's sleep?"

"Mmh-hmm," says Max drowsily with a nod, letting out a big yawn afterwards. "Where's Lynn?"

"Oh, she's up already, but didn't want to wake you. She told me that she felt very safe last night."

"Max Caulfield, savior of the sleepless ones!" chuckles the freckled girl, sits up and gives Kate another peck. Suddenly, Max remembers what Lynn had asked her the night before. She checks if the door is closed and decides to tell Kate. "You know what Lynn asked me last night?"

"What?"

"Firstly, she knows that we're together and…uh… she asked if I'm gonna marry you."

For some while, Kate stays quiet as she thinks about Max's words deeply and their meaning. "Lynn's very smart, like Carla," she states and gazes at her loved one very deeply. "And…uh, wh-what have you told her?"

Max returns the glare, holding Kate's hand tightly. "I told her that I would love to marry you!"

Immediately, Kate pulls her girlfriend into a tight hug. "I'd love that, too!" she replies, but backs away as she hears Max chuckling.

"Gosh, just listen to us! We're not even two weeks together and already talk about marriage."

Though it's a serious topic for both of them, Kate and Max knows that, even in their strong relationship, proposing right now is more than unusual. But still, both had just agreed that they'd do it without any second thoughts.

"Well," Max continues after another yawn, "I better take a shower and be with you guys in a minute!"

Leaning forwards, Kate places a soft peck on her girlfriend's cheek and whispers into her ear, "I'd love to join you!"

Being stunned by these seductive words, Max watches Kate leaving the room. It takes her a few seconds to regain her wits and head for the bathroom after she got some fresh clothes from her backpack in the guestroom.

The bathroom of the Marsh household is big and very tidy, like the rest of the house or Kate's room at Blackwell. After taking in the scenery of the tiled room, Max strips off her pajama and gazes sternly at her reflection in the mirror.

'Kate loves me the way I am! She never looked at my body with disgust. You've failed, Mike! My body is still attractive. Scars will fade!' she tells herself internally, brushing with her fingers over the long scars on her entire body.

Then, she enters the shower, the warm water washing away the remnants from last night's activity with Kate. Just remembering this experience makes Max's entire being yearn for more again.

'Gosh, this was so awesome! Kate felt so amazing! Even thinking about how soft her breasts are, makes me wanna rub myself again, but I wanna save it for tonight! Because tonight, we're gonna continue where we left off!'

Chloe

It feels like someone is constantly performing Riverdance on her head. As Chloe tries to open her eyes, she's blinded by the bright morning light. Having made the decision to keep them closed and to don't move a muscle, the bluenette manages to keep her headaches at bay. After some more time has passed, Chloe gives it another try.

"Ugh, fuuuuck!" she moans as another wave of pain runs through her head.

'Stupid wine! Okay Chloe, internal note: never get drunk on wine again and…'

Suddenly she realizes that the sheets beside her are empty.

'Okay, reality check: I'm still in Dana's room, right? Sooo…where the fuck is she?'

As on a signal, the door opens and a pale-looking Dana staggers into the room, clearly not feeling well. Slowly she heads towards her desk and rummages through its content until she brings forth a plastic bottle with what seems to be aspirin, a pack of gum and a bottle of water. With a groan, she lets herself fall on the bed beside Chloe, who tries to sit upright.

"Morning!" murmurs the cheerleader, immediately reaching Chloe the aspirin.

"You look like shit, Dana!" comments the bluenette dryly, before she gulps down three pills.

"Look who's talking," replies Dana in her turn, taking some pills too, plus a swig of water, followed by a gum. "At least you're able to keep everything inside."

"Years of practice…and I'm not proud of it!"

For quite some time, both stay silent, waiting for the painkillers to kick in. But soon, Chloe feels an inner unrest, which let her get up eventually. Whereas Dana is already dressed in her pajama, Chloe is still naked and tries to gather her clothes which are scattered over the entire room. She feels Dana's constant glare on her body, which on one hand she finds kind of funny and arousing, on the other hand it makes her feel uncomfortable.

Still on the search for her panties, Chloe let her sight wander around the room, until her gaze meets with Dana's who has the searched for garment hanging on her finger, reaching it to the punk girl, who takes it with a smirk.

"Thanks!" she says with a wry smile and puts it on.

"Chloe," then Dana speaks sternly, while the bluenette continues to get dressed, "I hope you're not mad at me for what I've said last night."

"Nope, we're cool! Don't worry!" Chloe has now put on her jacket eventually and wants to leave, as she stops mid-move and turns to the brunette with a grin. "Hey, doesn't get your friend-with-benefits at least one mushy hug?"

Not wasting a second, Dana stands up with a chuckle, wraps her arms around Chloe's neck and gives her a passionate kiss.

"Take care!" the brunette says, earning herself a chuckle by Chloe.

"Jeez, mush-girl! I think we hella need to practice this whole friends-with-benefits-thingy a bit more."

"I know," scoffs Dana in reply, bringing Chloe outside, where the brunette almost collides with her best friend, Juliet, who's standing in front of her door. "Oh shit! Jules, I'm sorry! I…"

"It's okay, D. I just wanted…" As Juliet spots Chloe right beside Dana, she goes silent and let her gaze wander between the two girls. "Uh…I-I didn't know that you had…uh…company over night."

"Hey Ariel, 'sup?" greets Chloe her friendly, but soon realizes that the blond, ongoing journalist feels uneasy.

"Oh…uhm…I'm okay, Chloe. Just…well…it's not that important. I'll better be on my way home, just had to get somethin'. Bye!"

Both, Dana and Chloe, follow Juliet Watson with their gazes. Only after the door to the staircases shuts close, Dana is able to speak. "What the fuck was that? I've never seen Jules like this before."

"Well, looks like my job here's done," mentions Chloe nonchalantly with a shrug, which makes Dana to look at her with a quizzically frown. "Dude, don't tell me that you can't read the signs!"

"What signs, Chloe?"

"Stuttering, bad mood, slumped shoulders, cheap excuse for a leave? Juliet has a crush on you! Or me, which I highly doubt since we haven't seen each other in ages."

"Okay, stop! That's just ridiculous! Jules is one-hundred percent straight. Yes, we did it once for experimental purposes, but that's it."

"Did you like fucking her?"

At first stunned by this question, Dana soon remembers that one night, she and her best friend Juliet became intimate, which paints a warm smile on her face. "Yes! I…I actually did."

"Dana," Chloe eventually says, gazing deeply into the brunette's eyes, "Just go for it! I'm only good for the fun-part, but when it comes to the mushy stuff or even love…well, count me out! Besides, the worst thing that could happen is that she says no."

After giving Chloe one big hug and a peck on her lips, Dana follows her best friend, Juliet. With her mouth forming her characteristic smirk, the bluenette watches as her friend-with-benefits leaves.

'Well, Price, looks like you're on your own again. At least I can now say that I fucked a cheerleader.'

Max

Max's car comes to a halt in front of Arcadia Bay's Catholic Church, a standard, white-painted, wooden building.

"Well, here we are!" says Max to Kate and Carla, opening the seat belt, "Are you two ready?"

"Yeah," mentions Carla dryly, "but you two should cut back the smooching now!"

Both, Max and Kate, gaze at each other, before they start to giggle. "Don't worry, Carla, we didn't plan to make out in church," replied Max jokingly.

Now the three of them, disembarked the vehicle, grab their stuff – Kate her violin and Max Lynn's guitar.

Since Max has her own car and nobody wanted to squeeze into the Marsh's family vehicle, Kate and Carla wished for to drive with Max to church, but of course there were some more reasons to do so. Firstly, Max and Kate wanted to have some more time for their own and secondly, Carla wanted to know some more details about their relationship.

Janine Marsh and Lynn are already waiting in front of the church with a bunch of other people, who are all greeting Kate and her sister. Max, on the other hand, stands back. She simply doesn't want to be in the middle of everything.

Though Max is already used to get judgmental glares from other people because of her attire, the nearly evil glance from Kate's mother almost gives her the chills.

'I know that I'm not the dream of any future mother in law, but Janine obviously doesn't approve with me. Gosh, let's just hope that she won't turn this weekend into a shit-show!'

After a few exchanged words between the community-members, everyone enters the church and takes a seat, except for Max, Kate and Carla, who are preparing for their gig.

Then the church's bell chimes, signing the beginning of the sermon. The entire time, Max feels nervous upon the unknown ahead. She never attended a sermon or anything that comes close to it, let alone that she's about to perform a guitar play in front of an audience.

Right after the bell's last toll faded, Richard Marsh begins the sermon with some introductory words. Max doesn't listen to them. She simply focuses on her task ahead, giving her girlfriend a few glimpses and smirks from time to time. Oh, how much she would've loved to kiss her every single time their gazes meet. Then, suddenly, the moment has come.

"…Since it has become a tradition in our house, we will now hear the song of this sermon, but this time there will a slight change!" announced Richard Marsh, pointing at the three girls in front of the parish. "Today, a friend of my daughter, Kate, who's spending the weekend at our home, will play the guitar instead of our little Lynn. Although she's not a part of our community, she has freely agreed to support us and this should be seen as a sign that the Lord has a place in everyone's heart! And now, let us all close our eyes and listen to this wonderful music that will fill this house of the Lord!"

'Holy shit! The Lord has a place in my heart? Jeez, let's hope that they will never find out why I'm playing here or else they're gonna burn me at the stake!'

One last time, Max turns towards the other girls, who both give her a slight nod of determination.

'Okay, here we go! You can do this, Max! And don't worry, Enjoy the Silence is a classic, nobody can hate this song!'

Tapping on the body of the guitar four times, Max sets the rhythm. Carla is the first who starts to play the melody with a piano, Kate chimes in with her violin a few seconds later and eventually Max follows, with the guitar.

The music fills the entire building and more than once, Max glimpses at Kate when she's doing a solo. Some time ago the young, black-haired girl had realized how overwhelmingly beautiful her girlfriend is when she's entirely focused on her violin play. And right now, Max feels a big yearning again. But it has to wait! Now is not the time! Therefore, she shifts her attention to the audience and sees that some of them where slightly bobbing their heads or tapping with their feet to the rhythm of the music.

'They love it!' thinks Max with a faint smile on her lips, hoping that this little rebellious act wouldn't end in a fight.

After the last tunes have chimed through the church, Kate, Carla and Max stand up and bow slightly towards the audience, which gives them applause.

Max feels happy and relieved upon seeing this reaction, but as soon as she spots Janine Marsh, who's giving the three girls a very angry glare while her face has turned red out of agitation, the happiness falters.

"We're so screwed!" speaks Carla quietly. Obviously, she has noticed and interpreted her mother's reaction the same way. And as Kate adds a hissed "Shit!" Max internally prepares for a big fight.

Max

During the drive back to the Marsh's house nobody speaks a word. All three of them know that they're in big trouble. So far, neither Richard nor Janine has said anything about their performance and Max immediately knew that this is just the silence before the shitstorm. And said quietness continued until lunch. Even the prayer recited by Kate's father is nothing more than a few words.

Everybody feels the heavy tension that his hovering above the table. It's so dense that Max wished to scream, only to break it. But, in the end, it is Janine Marsh who speaks the first words, her gaze throwing piercing daggers at Kate and Carla.

"You two realize that there will be consequences, right?"

"Sorry, Mom!" answers Carla, lowering her sight.

"Why?" Kate, however, replies defiantly, earning the entire focus of her mother.

"You're really asking, why?"

"Yes, I do!" the blond girl snaps back, holding her mom's and dad's dead-serious gaze. "Because we didn't do anything wrong! Yes, the song wasn't on our list, but it's a classic, not against the Lord and most people liked it. So, what's the problem?"

Upon hearing such a backtalk from her daughter, Janine drops her cutlery with a clattering sound and leans in to underline her authority.

"The problem is that your behavior has changed very much since the last two weeks, and not in a positive way." Now she shifts her angry gaze towards Max. "And I think I know who's responsible for this!"

"Mom," Kate gasps, "that's not true! Leave Max out of this!"

"Oh come on, Kate! Gutter language, tattoos, dyed hair, this ridiculous car…I think I made my point! She's a sinner like all the others in this den of iniquity, called Blackwell Academy!"

"That's not fair, Mom! Give her a chance!" now Carla joins in, too, to defend her sister's friend. "Dad, please say something!"

But Richard Marsh stayed silent, obviously not willing to take a side. And Max did the same.

'Somehow I knew that Janine would blame everything on me and, actually, I don't care. If I intervene, things might get even more complicated. Let's just hope that things will calm down soon.'

Of course, this hope is in vain and right the opposite happens as Kate's mom begins to talk herself into rage, shooting barrage after barrage at Max.

"I don't need to give this…this WOMAN any chances, because I know her type. Dressing and acting like a man, not knowing her right place in this world. One of those homosexual feminists, who never wants to have a family or children!"

This last comment let a strong wave of sorrow rush through Max's body. Her fists are clenching and her eyes start to well up as she tries to fight down her sadness. At this point, she isn't able to stay out of this anymore, her voice merely an eerily whisper.

"Or can't have children anymore!"

And suddenly, the heated tension turns ice-cold. Everyone is now looking at her with wide open eyes.

"Wh-what?!" says Kate with a trembling voice, touching her girlfriend's shoulder soothingly.

"Carla," Max then speaks softly, looking at the young girl with glasses with a faint smile, like she wants to tell her that everything's going to be fine, "please, bring Lynn up into her room and stay there."

"Okay!" Kate's sibling answers quietly with a nod and takes her sister upstairs.

"How dare you ordering my children around?!" hisses Janine, clearly agitated that her kids listened to the black-haired girl.

"I didn't order them around, I just asked politely so that they don't have to hear what I wanna tell you." Then Max looks at the blond woman coldly, while she grabs Kate's hand under the table to have some hold. "You're right, Janine, I'm gay, maybe also some kind of a feminist, but I'd love to have a family some day. Sadly…I can't. At least not from my side."

"Then the Lord spoke justice upon you and made sure that your…your decease doesn't spread any further!" Janine commented dryly, which pushes Kate over the edge, let her jump up and yell at her mother.

"What the fuck, Mom?!"

"Kate Beverly Marsh, watch your mouth!" now Richard intervenes, chiding his daughter, who, however, keeps on raging.

"No! What Mom just said was just cruel! Max is sad that she can't have any children of her own and she just says that it's the Lord's punishment and that she deserves it?!"

"Yes, Kate, I do. Now sit down again and stay quiet!" Janine commands her daughter and while Kate's eyes are welling up even more and she almost loses it, Max just scoffs, once more drawing anyone's attention towards her.

"The Lord's punishment…yeah, sure! I bet he also made sure that my Mom hit me whenever she fucked up and that I got tortured as a 13-year-old." Then her cold gaze meets Janine again. "You called me and my homosexuality a disease. Do you know that the people, who took away my possibility to receive a child, called me the same? Decease, illness, dyke, fag…I heard them all. People like you are in one row with mass-murdering bastards like Stalin, Hitler or the Inquisition. Just take a pick, bitch!" Slowly, Max gets up and wipes a single tear from her cheek. "Actually, I'm pretty sad that such a…person like you has such three wonderful daughters and I just hope that they'll all turn out different than you are!"

Lacking any answers and her eyes now burning with anger, Janine Marsh gets up, too, her words now hissed venomously. "I want you out of my house, right now! And don't you dare coming close to my family ever again!"

"She will and I will join her and never come back, too!" adds Kate, flinging an arm around Max's waist.

"Don't be ridiculous, Kate! Go up to your room and stay there. We two have a serious ta-…"

"Fuck you!" Kate blurts back, making her father jump up, too.

"KATE! Apologize, this instant!"

"No! She just called me and my girlfriend a disease and the hell I will spend just another second under one roof with such an intolerant, fucked-up person who thinks that people like me and Max should be punished for our love!"

Silence occurs after Kate's words are fading and their meaning seep into her parent's minds. Upon realizing what her girlfriend just did and that things might get even worse now, Max presses her closer like she wants to protect her from an attack. She tries to read Richard's and Janine' expressions in order to predict what will happen next. Obviously, hence to the silence and the wide open eyes, both are shocked and Janine's eventual reaction doesn't surprise Max in the slightest, yet it might be a hard punch for Kate.

"You are not my daughter anymore!" she says with gritted teeth and leaves the table with angry steps.

"And I don't wanna be your daughter anymore!" Kate yells after her, before she buries her face in Max's shoulder and starts to sob.

Richard, on the other hand, still stands there in silence, his shoulders hanging and his gaze fixed on the table.

'It must be heavy for him to see his family breaking apart. Dad looked like the same for days after he found out that Vanessa was hitting me regularly and was cheating on him. I don't think that our presence here will neither help him nor Kate right now.'

Therefor, Max decides to leave with Kate right away to give everyone some space and time to cope what just happened. "Richard, we pack our stuff and head back to Blackwell. Sorry that it turned out like this!"

Arm-in-arm, Max and Kate walk upstairs to grab everything they need at Blackwell. They haven't even made their way to Kate's room as they meet Carla, already standing in the hallway, her cheeks wet from tears and her eyes red-cried.

"I'm so sorry!" the young girl whispers with a brittle voice and tightly embraces the two older girls.

"Have you heard everything?" Max whispers, which is answered with a nod. Then the door to Lynn's room opens and all three turn towards the youngest girl.

"Katie, are you and Max leaving already?" she asks shyly and immediately, Kate approaches her, trying to give the young blonde a weak smile.

"Sadly yes, little bunny! But we'd never leave without saying good bye!"

"Can you bring Max next weekend, again?"

Max witnesses how Kate's demeanor falters and new tears are flowing down her cheeks. She knows that she needs to do something to don't make it too hard for Lynn.

"Hey, munchkin!" the black-haired girl says, kneeling down beside Kate and in front of her little sister. "Listen, things are pretty rough right now and I and Kate won't be able to visit you. But," she then looks at Carla, too, "you and Carla can visit us at Blackwell or in town some day and then we'll make lotta crazy and cool stuff. How does that sound?"

Carla now joins in, too and flings her arm around Lynn's shoulder. "That sounds cool, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Then it's settled!" Max eventually says and takes the two sisters in a tight embrace, Kate joining in, too.

Right after that, Kate and Max pack their stuff, say one last Goodbye to Carla and Lynn and head towards the front door, where Richard Marsh awaits them. Still being on the edge, Kate immediately goes into the offence.

"There's nothing you can say or do to stop me, and I definitely won't apologize to Janine!"

"That's not my intention, Kate!" Richard says calmly, holding up his hands in order to sign that he doesn't want to fight. He sighs deeply before he continues to speak, the heaviness of the previous events clearly shown in his demeanor. "I'm a preacher; a man of words and for the first time I lack the ability to speak. What happened today is just…I-I don't find words for it. What I heard…these horrible things that happened to your friend…girlfriend and…I'm so sorry for what your mother said! I'm just shocked!"

"But still you should've said something right away and not just now, Dad!" Kate instantly shot back, not giving him a quarter.

"I know, and I'm sorry. That's all I can say." Richard bows his head in shame and reaches inside his pocket, bringing forth a credit card, which he reaches to his daughter. "Here, take this! I know that it won't undo my misbehavior nor comfort you, but…you're still my daughter and whenever you need something, I'll always be there for you!"

Shedding some more tears, Kate embraces her father tightly, sobbing into his shoulder.

"Take care, my little Kate!"

With a faint nod, Kate backs away, takes the credit card and her luggage and walks past Richard, so that only the preacher and Max remain.

"Richard," Max eventually speaks, reaching the taller man her hand, "again, I'm sorry how things went!"

"Max," he sighs, not giving the handshake, "I need to be sorry for my wife's reaction and words, but…I can't forgive that you brought disharmony into our home. You planted a seed into the minds of my daughter's, which-…"

"I didn't plant anything, Richard!" she immediately countered, "Just look at them! Look at your daughters! They're open-minded and not restricted by your religion anymore. You just have to accept that the world moves on and that your daughters have an own free will. Don't be like your wife or else you'll lose them, too! Me and Kate…we're no criminals, just in love!" Then, Max looks deeply into his eyes. "Be tolerant and give your daughter's support, that's what they need, not guidance into bigotry!"

Once more, Richard Marsh lacks an answer. Max on the other hand, gives him a smile and a touch on his shoulder.

"Just think about it, 'kay? You have such amazing daughters! Carla and Lynn are happy for me and Kate and…I hope that, one day, we can sit at one table again and simply talk without any hatred or prejudice!"

Kate is already waiting by Max's car as the black-haired girl exits the house. Both put their belongings inside and leave the Marsh's premises. During the first minutes after they had left, none of the two girls speaks a word, only Kate's quiet sniffs and sobs break the silence from time to time. Max feels that her girlfriend needs some time to process what had happened; to realize that things will never be the same again. She tries to give her some soothing touches and Kate even responds by taking a grip of her hand, but she clearly doesn't want to talk and Max respects it.

"Max," Kate suddenly speaks hastily, "Please, stop the car!"

Immediately, Max does as she's asked and parks the vehicle on a side road that leads into the woods. Without another word, Kate gets out and walks maybe two yards into the forest. Worried about her well-being, Max disembarks the car, too, but doesn't follow since she knows that Kate probably needs some space right now.

Out of a sudden, the blonde stops and picks up a branch that is lying around. With a loud scream she starts to thrash around with it, letting it hit nearby trees and plants until it breaks. But even then she keeps on crying out her emotional pain until Kate falls on her knees and buries her face in her hands. Her body is trembling from heavy sobs as her crying intensifies. This is the point where Max realizes that Kate needs her.

As soon as the freckled girl has reached her girlfriend, she embraces her tightly. "Ssh, I'm here, Katie!" she says, rocking her soothingly and as a reply, Kate turns around and presses her even closer with all the strength she could muster like she never wants to let go of her girlfriend ever again.

Chloe

Normally, when Chloe has been bored, she used to smoke some weed and stare at the ceiling of her room for hours, while some tunes were playing in the background. But since she started her training with Max, the bluenette rather prefers to jog.

This time she had decided to run to the junkyard. Once she had reached her destination, Chloe looked around the place and made the choice to clean her old hideout from everything that would remind her of Rachel or her drug-abusing past.

'Huh…to waste or not to waste?' she asks herself as she flick through an old smut magazine. 'Hmm…it's actually one of the good ones, soooo…ugh, fuck it! I'm single and can use it later!'

After throwing the mag onto the makeshift table, she turns her attention towards a small box.

'Rachel's stuff. I wonder what she hid in here, since I was never allowed to touch her private stuff…So much for trust.'

She opens the box and rummages through its content, throwing everything she takes out on a junk pile.

'Let's see…old condoms. Cigs. Some weed…Blech! Never gonna touch that stuff again! Pictures of…Frank fucking Bowers?! NAKED?!'

With a scream of frustration, Chloe throws the box out of the window, directly onto the tracks.

"Here, you can have this shit back, you stupid cunt!" she yells, hoping that the next train would head towards L.A.

Now lacking any further motivation to continue the cleaning, Chloe let herself slump onto the old makeshift couch and tries to calm down again by doing some meditation.

Being exhausted from the run and last night's activities with Dana, Chloe slowly drifts into a light slumber, until her phone starts to chime. With a grumble, the punk girl glances at the display, only to see that she receives a call from an unknown number. Reluctantly, she takes it, sighing annoyingly.

"Whaaat?"

[Rachel]: "Chloe, is that you?"

Right away, Chloe gets up with a start, gripping her phone tightly.

"Rachel?!"

[Rachel]: (relieved) "Yeah, it's me. Listen, I'm so glad that you haven't changed you number. I-…"

"Yeah," she scoffs, "now I wish I would've changed it. What do ya want?"

[Rachel]: (sighs) "Chloe, I need your help."

Now Chloe breaks out into a hysterical laughter. "Y-you…you need…haha…you need MY help?!" Then it dies and she gets dead-serious. "Listen, you stupid bitch, you raped and abused me. You fucked others behind my back and used me like I was just a disposable toy. Why in the fucking world should I help you?"

[Rachel]: (sighs again) "Chloe…I-I know I fucked up big time and I'm sorry for that! I…I wouldn't even have called if it weren't about life and death, and you the only one who can help me out. Please, Chloe, I need you!"

'C'mon, Chloe, you know how she treated you and that she's a darn good actress. Just tell her to drop dead and move on!'

"Okay, what's going on?"

'Fuuuuck! How stupid am I?!' Chloe thinks, slapping her hand on her forehead.

[Rachel]: (sighs in relief) "Thank you, Chloe! I swear, I'm gonna make it up to you! But…I can't talk to you on the phone about it. You need to come down here!"

"What?! But you know that it's a bazillion miles drive to L.A., right?"

[Rachel]: (trembling voice) "Chloe, if you don't come to L.A., I'm dead! Please, Chlo! I beg you! Please!"

'Fuuuuuuck!' Chloe curses internally, but has already made a decision.

"Fine!" she sighs, "But if this is just some stupid bullshit, I'm gonna beat the crap outta your bitchy brain!"

[Rachel]: "Sounds fair. Thank you, Chloe!"

"Yeahyeah, whatever," the bluenette just answers plainly and terminates the call.

'Shit! If I'm gonna drive to L.A. for real, I won't go there alone. I don't trust Rachel and need someone to cover my ass in case she tries to fuck me over, and there's only one person capable of doing that!'

Right away, she speed-dials another number. Max's number.