Chapter 22: Guardian Angel
Kate
The impact hits her hard, yet it isn't as painful as she would've thought, more like a hard jolt. Her eyes still closed, Kate feels how she flies through the air for a short moment. A strong wind brushes over her face and then she hits and rolls over the ground. But once again, she doesn't feel any intense pain; it's rather more like she has landed on a cushion.
Eventually, everything comes to a hold. Silence occurs, the sound of the rain only acting as a background noise, but soon Kate becomes aware that there's more. Just now she realizes that someone is holding and hugging her tightly; that beside the rain also sniffs, sobs and Max's shivering voice are chiming.
"Please don't do it! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Please don't…please don't leave me! I love you, Katie! I love you so much!"
Hearing these words, everything that has happened before becomes unimportant. Her being flooded with overjoy, Kate embraces Max's trembling body tightly, whimpering a quiet "I love you, too!"
Both stay like this for some time, neither caring about the coldness nor the fact that they're still lying on the street.
"Maxi! Kate!" Chloe's voice chimes through the night, which let both, Max and Kate, break the embrace. The bluenette as well as Dana and Juliet are running straight towards them, panting heavily as they have reached the girls. "Goddammitfuckingshit…that was…close! Are ya guys alright?"
The dullness, which had clouded Kate's mind minutes ago, now dissipates as she sees the worried gazes of her friends resting on her. She realizes how much they care for her and that all those depressing thoughts have been nothing more than evil illusions; demons, which wanted to lure her into eternal darkness and damnation. Feeling guilty and ashamed to have considered this dark path Kate breaks down into tears again.
"I'm so sorry!" she cries out, "I…I didn't know what to do! I-I…I thought everybody hates me."
First, Max's arms embrace her. "We love you, Katie!"
Then Chloe's, "Yeah, dude! You're hella awesomesauce!"
Followed by Dana, "You're our friend!"
And eventually, Juliet, "And the sweetest and kindest girl at Blackwell!"
Being surrounded by so much love and friendship, Kate senses an intensive wave of joy and she tells herself internally that she'd never give in to such negative and dark feelings ever again!
Max
As her body collides with Kate's, Max wraps her arms around the blonde tightly, forming a living cocoon. She feels how the truck's surface brushes over the tip of her toes, followed by an intensive wind. An immense pain emerges from her right shoulder as both girls hit the ground and roll a few times over the pavement. And even as they come to a rest, Max keeps the protective hold on her girlfriend.
Knowing that she had managed to save her loved one Max starts to cry intensively, barely able to speak.
"Please don't do it! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Please don't…please don't leave me! I love you, Katie! I love you so much!"
And as Kate replies with an "I love you, too!" she feels so relieved and full of joy that everything else around them becomes unimportant. Even as Kate apologizes for her doings, Max immediately tightens the embrace even more and reassures that she's loved by all of her friends. And said friends confirm it not a second later with their hugs and words.
Eventually, Max breaks the hug and gazes sternly at Kate. She knows that this is probably not the right moment, but she needs answers. She needs to know how it had come to this.
"Katie, I need to know: What happened between you and Victoria?"
As the blonde recalls the previous events her face grimaces once more. A few sobs emerge from her mouth, but after some deep inhales she manages to regain enough strength to speak.
"V-Victoria…sh-she had some…files about you and threatened me that, if I…if I don't have sex with her, then she'd make them public, but…" Kate then locks eyes with Max in order to underline that she speaks the truth. "But I never planned on doing it! Victoria forced herself on me as you came in. Max, I'd never cheat on you!"
"I know," she answers with a heavy voice, feeling guilty of how she had freaked out; feeling guilty that she didn't hear out Kate first thing. Feeling guilty how she had tried to seduce Chloe. "I'm so sorry!" Max whispers once more and stands up. A new flood of grief fills her mind and again it is turned into burning hate as she remembers Sam's death and how she almost lost another loved person tonight.
Max grits her teeth and clenches her hands into fists as her anger grows more and more, covering her vision with a red vail. She knows that this isn't the answer; that it always turns out bad to give in to this hate. But nonetheless, Max begins to run back to the party. Chloe, Dana and Juliet are with Kate right now, so she doesn't need to worry about her, which lets her entirely focus on her target: Victoria Chase.
She hears that someone calls her name, but ignores it and keeps on moving. As soon as she has approached the pool building and enters it, Max slows down because of the masses. Whoever has the bad luck of being in her way gets tossed aside, which lead to a lot of complains, but she doesn't give a damn.
Now she comes close to the VIP section. The entrance is guarded by a broad jock, probably a new member, who wants to make himself useful as a bouncer, yet the first person who wants to stop her us nobody else than Courtney Wagner.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Where do you think you're going, bitch?" says Victoria's minion as she tries to stop Max by stepping in front of her. Big mistake!
Without loosing much momentum, Max grabs Courtney by her arm, uses it as a lever and tosses her into the pool, causing a loud splash. The wannabe-bouncer follows stat as he tries to stop Max as well by touching her shoulder.
Without anybody guarding the entrance anymore, the enraged girl enters the VIP section of the Vortex Club. There, she lets her red vailed sight wander over the scenery, scanning it for Victoria Chase. As soon as she has spotted the blonde with the pixie-cut at the bar, Max continues her way with fast paced, angry steps.
Most of the people in this section of the party are already too drunk or high to stop Max or to even realize that she doesn't belong here. Once more, she pushes and tosses everybody aside who dares being in her way.
Then, she has finally reached her. With a violent grab on the pixie's shoulder, Max turns Victoria around, then gets a hold of the collar of her cashmere sweater, lifts her up and slams the blonde onto the bar with a loud growl. Leaning over the frightened Queen-Bee, Max stares deeply into her green, out of fear dilated eyes and raises her fist, ready to strike it down on Victoria's pretty face. Instead, only small droplets of rainwater from the black-haired girl drenched bangs are dripping down on her while Max's clenched hand keeps on hovering above her.
"M-Max…I-I…" Victoria starts to stammer, her eyes welling up, but she gets interrupted by Max's hissed words.
"You almost killed her…" she says, sorrow chiming with every syllable, before she unclenches her hand grabs the blonde's collar again and yells into her face. "YOU ALMOST KILLED HER!"
The loud music stops and Max knows that she's in the spotlight of everyone's attention, yet nobody dares to interfere.
"I-I'm so sorry…" whimpers Victoria, her façade of invincibility crumbling as she starts to sob. But Max doesn't care. She still has this red vail in front of her eyes, which tells her to take revenge for all that pain Victoria has caused, but so far it just makes her yell at her nemesis again.
"You're sorry?! YOU'RE FUCKING SORRY?!"
Only a soft touch on her shoulder and the sweet beloved voice of Kate breaks this vicious circle of rage, eventually.
"Max, don't do it, please!"
Like this fateful moment in the dorm's shower room a few weeks ago, Kate's voice and her warm touch calms Max down right away and lets her lose the grip on Victoria's clothing. Softly, she gets turned around and looks at her entirely drenched girlfriend, who's flanked by Chloe, Dana and Juliet. She then cups the freckled girl's cheeks with her hands, leans in and places a passionate kiss on her lips.
Right at this moment, Max feels so full of joy that she embraces Kate and pulls her closer. But as the blonde returns the hug, a stinging pain emerges from her shoulder, making her hiss.
Immediately, Kate backs away and gazes at her blood-stained hand. "Oh my god, your shoulder!" she gasps, covering her mouth.
"It's not that bad," Max simply answers back with a shrug, but only receives a head shake of disagreement.
"Nonetheless, we have to take care of this. C'mon, my love!" Touching her arm softly, Kate guides her girlfriend towards the exit, every single gaze following them. But they simply don't care. Being together is everything that matters to both of them right now.
"Well, guess the party's over!" calls Chloe throughout the VIP section, about to follow her friends. "P.S.: I texted my step-douche and told him that you guys are serving booze and other nasty stuff. He should be here in a minute. Later, fuckers!"
Nathan
From a dark corner, Nathan watches how the five girls leave the party and – as Chloe had predicted – how not a minute later, David Madsen with a bunch of security guys are crashing the party, searching for alcoholic drinks and drugs.
Normally, he would've bribed the right guards to stay away from the VIP section and to ignore every wasted student, plus that the Principal got ordered by Nathan's father to keep any unbribable guard and teacher at home and away from the party in order to receive another high donation.
Of course, security finds what they are looking for and the party is indeed over now. Who gets caught drunk or high, is arrested right away, the rest is ordered to leave for the dormitories.
Gritting his teeth and clenching his hands, Nathan exits the building through the back entrance. His broken finger and nose start to itch and throb as rage crawls through his entire body, which reminds him even more of what Max has done to him.
But he isn't done, yet. Swiftly, he pulls a disposable phone out of his pocket and speed-dials a number.
"Yeah, it's Nathan. The show starts tonight…No, you have to wait! You…We…Just shut the fuck up! We had a deal! Now stick to it and get these two fags!"
With a furious growl, Nathan pockets the phone again, walking towards his car.
'I'm not done with you, Cockfield! Victoria failed, but I will not! Soon, you'll know how real pain feels!' he thinks, embarks his truck and drives into the night.
Max and Kate
"Thanks again, guys and have a good night!" says Kate to Dana, Juliet and Chloe.
"Stay awesome, you two and don't rock the dorms too heavy!" replies the latter with a wink, the other two friends chiming in with a "Good Night!"
After Kate has closed Max's room door, a cold shiver runs through her body and as she turns her sight towards Max, she sees that her, as well entirely drenched girlfriend isn't doing any better.
"W-we sh-should get r-rid of our c-clothes!" remarks the freckled girl with trembling, slightly blueish lips, her arms wrapped around her body. Since her adrenalin rush had faded, Max's body quickly went back into functioning on normal terms, causing her to feel cold and exhausted.
With a nod, Kate begins to strip down her clothes, starting with her button shirt. "Do you have some towels?"
Max walks over to the closet and pulls out two towels, but as she wants to hand one to Kate, a new set of stinging pain emerges from her shoulder, making her sharply breath in through her teeth once more. "Shit!"
Gazing at her with worry, Kate stops to undress, now her upper body only covered by a bra. "I'm gonna help you!" she insists tenderly, opening the zipper of Max's hoodie. As if it isn't hard enough to strip off wet clothes anyway, doing it with an injury is even harder.
At first, Kate helps Max to get her left, uninjured arm out of the fabric. Then cautiously peels it from her right shoulder before slipping it off the right arm. The same procedure is used with Max's band shirt. And just now, Kate sees the degree of her girlfriend's wound: her entire right shoulder is scraped open, bleeding and oozing. The blonde then cautiously pulls Max's sport bra, which's right strap is ripped, over her head. Next, she opens her girlfriend's black pants and pulls it down, revealing her purple slip and muscular legs. After the soaked pants, underpants, shoes and socks have become undone too, Kate has a hard time not to stare at her completely naked girlfriend. Knowing that Max is still cold, she takes one of the towels and wraps it over her body.
"Sit down on the bed and I'll take care of your shoulder! Let me just get rid of my clothes, too."
Giving Kate a nod, Max sits down and watches how Kate strips off her garments. And to her surprise, without turning away. Her bra is the first thing to go, revealing the blonde's breasts, followed by her jeans and panties, as well as shoes and socks. Additionally, Kate opens her bun and lets her wet hair fall free over her shoulders. Max's heartrate increases, and her breathing becomes shallow as she sees her girlfriend in full glory for the first time. From one moment to another, the coldness and pain are entirely forgotten.
Sadly, right after Kate has dried herself off, she covers her naked body with the towel, takes some medical supplies from the drawer of the closet and takes a seat right beside Max.
"I need to clean the wound and will then put a bandage on it. It's…it's gonna hurt a bit."
"Mmh-hmm," replies Max, letting the towel fall from her shoulders, closes her eyes and tries to get in a state of meditation. But as Kate's soft fingers run over her skin, Max just feels jolts of electricity running through her body. Only the pain from the disinfectant breaks this stunning state for a moment.
"Sorry!" Kate apologizes, resuming her work on Max's injury by putting a bandage on it.
Soon, the blonde has patched up her girlfriend, but somehow she doesn't want to stop touching her. Randomly, Kate's fingertips draw soft patterns over Max's upper back. So far, the black-haired girl hasn't complained, therefore she continues, her fingers now making their way to her girlfriend's tattoo.
"I love your tat!" says Kate quietly and follows the drawn lines over the entire arm. Then, she leans in and places a soft kiss on Max's back, followed by a bunch of others until Kate has reached her neck.
Max bobs her head slightly to give Kate more access and before she knows it, the blonde is already busy planting more and more wet kisses on her skin, while her hands have now reached Max's small breasts and start to cautiously massage them. A soft moan escapes the freckled girl's mouth as her lust and yearning increases.
"You're so beautiful!" whispers Kate into Max's ear, her desire now peaking, as well.
Max now turns her head and both girls' lips meet for a cautious and tender exchange of kisses and tongue play. Only for a short moment both back away a bit, gazing at each other deeply with desire while catching a breath.
Then, Kate lies down onto the bed, loosens the knot that has been holding her towel in place and reveals once more her naked body. Entirely stunned upon witnessing her girlfriend's beauty again, Max's mind simply goes blank. But that spell doesn't last for long, because right away, Kate touches the freckled cheek of her girlfriend softly with a warm smile and pulls her slowly in for another kiss.
Tossing her own towel off the bed, Max lies down beside Kate, and now her hand is the one, which does the exploring.
She starts with brushing over Kate's soft cheek and then moves further down over her neck and her collarbone until she has reached the blonde's mounds and shifts her entire attention towards them.
As Kate feels how Max tenderly massages her breasts with her hand and her mouth, she can't hold back a slightly louder moan anymore. Her lust now reaching formerly unknown heights, she arches her back a bit and begins to roll with her hip, searching desperately for some friction.
Max notices this and sends her hand further down. It brushes over Kate's stomach, going way deeper until she touches her thighs, stroking them up and down. Just as she realizes how much Kate literally begs for an intimate touch by groaning "P-please, Max…I-I want you so much!" Max moves her hand towards the blonde's private section and starts to at first fondle with her pubic hair and then brushing over her sex before she uses her middle finger to get between her folds to give it a tender massage.
Unused of being touched down there by someone else, an intense wave of pleasure flushes through Kate's body, which causes her to moan out as she enjoys this new sensation.
"Damn, you're so wet down there!" mocks Max playfully, giving her girlfriend a wry smirk. In return, Kate uses her free hand to search for the freckled girl's wetness, too. And after some soft brushes over her thighs she finds her destination.
"Look who's talking!" she whiffs, now grinning back and begins her treatment on Max, too.
Groaning upon these new pleasures, Max spreads her legs further, leans in and kisses her beloved Kate with even more passion.
Burying her free hand in Max's black-dyed hair as her neck gets kissed intensively, Kate lets herself fall entirely, not caring about how loud her moans might be or that this is going to be her first time. She simply embraces the moment and focuses on Max's so longed for touches. She feels her girlfriend's fingers exploring every inch of her sex; feels how they brush over her clitoris and folds, yet still avoiding her center. But from time to time, Kate realizes Max's cautious attempts to bridge this last border, yet hesitates to continue her endeavors.
Out of a sudden, Kate grabs Max's wrist. Taken aback, the freckled girl stops the kissing and gazes at the blonde with a concerned demeanor, fearing that she might've done something wrong or have gone too far.
"I wanna feel you inside!" whispers Kate and guides Max's finger towards her entrance.
With a gulp and a faint nod, Max slowly enters Kate, who, at the beginning, closes her eyes shut with a frown of discomfort. But the more seconds are passing by the more relaxed her expression becomes as the former feeling of uncomforting internal pressure becomes a delightful sensation.
"Are you okay? Should I move?" asks Max, earning a nod by Kate, who embraces her neck with both arms and pulls her closer, moaning into her ear.
"Fuck me, Max!"
Obeying her loved one's wish, the freckled girl cautiously starts to move her finger in and out, not forgetting to give Kate's sensitive spot some treatment, too.
Never having experienced such intensive feelings before, an indescribable heat builds up inside Kate's abdomen, which eventually peaks in an intense orgasm that lets her moan out loudly.
After the last wave of lust has rushed through her body, the blonde just keeps on lying still, gasping heavily. Only a soft kiss brings Kate back into the here-and-now and as she opens her eyes again, her gaze falls on Max, who's smiling warmly at her while softly combing through her lose blond hair.
"How was it?" she asks quietly, placing another peck on Kate's soft lips.
"Amazing!" she replies with a sheepish smile and takes another minute to calm down. "But what about you?"
"I'm fine, Katie! Just-…"
Before Max can finish her sentence, she's tenderly pushed onto the bed and immediately Kate continues where she had left off, kissing her intensively while softly rubbing her nether region.
Kate breaks the kiss for a short moment as an idea comes to her mind. Max had once told her that, one day, she would love to lick her clean. 'I guess it's my turn now to do the licking. I already asked myself anyway how Max would taste,' she thinks, biting her bottom lip in anticipation of implementing said idea, while she gathers some courage to eventually enter unknown grounds.
Already wondering why she's receiving no kisses from her girlfriend anymore, Max wants to open her eyes, but leaves them shut close as she feels that Kate is placing wet kisses on her thighs, closing in on her sex. She knows what her girlfriend is about to do, yet nonetheless she moans out in surprise as Kate's tongue licks over her clit. It actually feels so good that Max buries both of her hands in the blonde's long hair and begins to move her hip.
"Am I doing it right?" asks Kate, using only her fingers for a short moment while her hazel eyes are glaring lustfully at Max, who replies with another moan and a nod.
"Y-you're doing great! A finger…ugh! Just…stick a finger in my pussy too, please!"
Her wish is granted right away, which brings her pleasure onto another level. Being turned on by giving her girlfriend pleasures like this, Kate's body heats up again, begging for more sex.
"Whoa, fuck Katie, yes! Y-you're so good! Ugh, shit! I…I wanna taste you, too!"
Out of a sudden, Kate stops and gives Max a dumbfounded glance. She knows that there are lots of different positions and stuff; she even tried to do some research in order to be prepared a bit. But right now she doesn't know how she could fulfill Max's wish without stopping her own treatment. "Uh…h-how…?"
Giggling slightly, Max sits up and pulls Kate in for another kiss before she whispers seductively into her ear. "Just lie down and you'll see!"
Kate does as she's told to, not sure what's about to happen next, until Max climbs atop of her, private section pointing at her face.
"Have fun!" Max says with a wink as she gazes one last time over her shoulder, before she leans in and starts the oral treatment.
If Kate thought that being satisfied by fingers feels great, then she's taught differently, now. It literally takes the blonde several moments to get used to the new set of pleasure before she goes on with licking Max.
Both girls' moans are now chiming through the room, getting more intensive and louder with every passing second, until they eventually peak in a cacophony of passionate groans.
Chloe
"Stay awesome, you two and don't rock the dorms too heavy!"
After Chloe has said those words and Kate has closed the door, she sighs, knowing that everything is going to be alright for them.
'Damn, these two lovebirds really belong together. Well, no place for me in their little world,' thinks Chloe with a tat of melancholy. Only Dana's words distract her from these thoughts for a few seconds.
"Hey Chloe, you wanna join us for a late-night snack and drinks?"
"I-I dunno, guys," answers the bluenette with a sad demeanor, scratching her neck, "I'm hella busted and kinda not in the mood for a threesome."
While Juliet blushes shyly upon this joke, Dana simply chuckles, a bit of anticipation shining in her eyes. "Though it sounds very appealing, I don't think that Jules is ready for a threesome, yet. C'mon, Chloe! Let's just chill a bit together and talk some shit. It's gonna be great!"
"Uh, no! Thanks D, but…I-I better get going. See ya!"
'Thanks for the offer, Dana, but I don't wanna ruin everybody's evening with my bad mood. You and Max have your happy end now and I'm not needed anymore. Or better said: my stay would make everything even more complicated.'
Leaving behind a puzzled Dana and Juliet, Chloe leaves the dorms, hands dug deep in her pockets as she enters the rainy night again. Bunches of former party-goers are now running back to their rooms, since Chloe had taken care that the Vortex shindig gets crashed by security.
'Serves those fuckers right! Hopefully, Wells will finally shut down this fucking club and put an end to this fascist elitism, though I doubt it! Prescott will simply pull the check-book, make another hella big donation and BOOM, the Vortex Club is back in business and nothing will have change. Just another reason to leave this shithole behind!'
'I better grab that emergency bag, Rachel and I had packed, from the junkyard and get the fuck outta here. Maybe I'll find a better place to stay. A place where I'm not the all known troublemaker and delinquent. A place that's not flooded by such giant assholes.'
Chloe has reached her truck and is about to get in as she stops and sighs once more.
'Sorry that I have to leave you behind like this, Maxi. But I can neither deny nor ignore the feelings I have for you and…if I'd tell you that I'm leaving, you'd want me to stay and sort things out. That's not gonna happen! I won't tempt you to cheat on Katie, nu-uh!'
With a clattering sound, Chloe brings forth her keys and wants to open the driver's door, as suddenly someone violently grabs the back of her head and smashes it right against the rusted frame of her truck. Entirely dazed and with black spots dancing in front of her eyes, Chloe hits the wet pavement.
She tries to move; tries to get up; groaning as her attempts are failing. She feels how a liquid warmer than the cold rain runs over her forehead.
"M-Max…" she achieves to say with a weak voice, fighting the need to pass out. One last time she gathers all her strength and opens her eyes. In her partially blurry sight she spots a man with a scarred face, standing right above her.
"Lights out, fag!" he says emotionlessly, right before his foot drops down on Chloe's head, sending her into the inevitable darkness.
Victoria
'I almost killed Kate! I'm so despicable!'
For the last hour, these words are constantly repeating themselves inside Victoria's head in an infinite loop. She never had thought about the consequences of her doings; never had thought that she might destroy the life of her victims. She thought that they might simply move on after they graduated from school and would take her treatment as a lesson for their later way.
But tonight Victoria has learned that some people don't just move on; that her bullying leaves scars. Scars, which will never heal; scars that are so deep that they can rip the soul apart, and tonight she had caught a glimpse of such a shattered soul as she had been forced to look into Max's eyes. Hurt, anger, sorrow, loss, vengeance; Max is a person who already had experienced so much pain that even a Victoria Chase wouldn't be able to cope it.
And then there has been Kate. Although she would've had any reason to let Max continue, the blonde had intervened. Maybe the others are right. Maybe Kate is a real angel. A person who only sees the good in people…even in an evil bitch like Victoria Chase.
"I'm a bad person!" Victoria says silently as she gazes into empty space, a single tear dripping from her cheek.
"No. No, you're not!" soothes Taylor right away, flinging her arms around her girlfriend from behind. But this embrace is immediately broken as Victoria jumps up and yells at the other girl.
"Then what am I, Taylor?! I harass others to make me feel better. I use people as my slaves. I…I-I…"
Her voice breaks. Like before, the aura of invincibility falters as Victoria bursts into tears, hugging her by sobs trembled body. In response, Taylor embrace's her once again, rocking her softly.
"Remember, when you helped me through my bad times while my Mom had this back-surgery?" the long-haired girl says, soothingly brushing over her girlfriend's back. "You remember when you took me to Seattle for a weekend and spoiled me from head to toe just to distract me? Do you remember our first date?" She cautiously backs away and brushes over the pixie's wet cheeks, followed by a soft kiss. "You have so much good inside of you! I know it, 'cause you show it to me every single day. Yes," she sighs, "we sometimes behaved like real assholes, especially towards Kate, but…maybe we should just leave it behind. Move to someplace else, go to a new school, meet new people, start anew…together!"
Is this really the answer? Just running away and start a new life as a better person? The more Victoria thinks about Taylor's words, the more appealing they're becoming, because as long as she has the stigmata of being the uber-bitch, the chances of being accepted as a nice person are close to zero. Too much shit already happened.
She is about to give Taylor an answer as suddenly her phone chimes. Not knowing who would contact her in the middle of the night, Victoria grabs her phone from the couch table and gazes at it with a frown as she sees that she has received a message from Nathan.
[Nathan]: 2morrow n8 this bitch s goin down!
Victoria instantly knows who he's referring to. She knows that he has something planned for Caulfield; knows that his plan is aiming at physically hurting her; aiming at getting revenge. But she now also knows that it doesn't do any good; that the price is way too high to get a satisfactory result. Besides that she doesn't want to see Kate get hurt again.
[Victoria]: Nate, it's not worth it!
[Nathan]: fck u! she'll suffr!
[Nathan]: 2morrow. midn8. bw fb field. b there or not
Bewildered, Victoria stares at her phone, not knowing what to do or write. Laying her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, Taylor gazes at the display, too and lets out a scoff.
"Damn, Nate likes to get in trouble!"
Just answering with a humming sound at first, the pixie gives the whole situation another thought. She already experienced how wicked Nathan's plans are.
"You're not considering going there, do you?" Taylor eventually chides with a frown.
"I-I actually don't know. Nathan tends to overreact."
"So?"
Normally, everyone would expect to receive a pissed-off glare by Victoria upon backtalking to her, even Taylor. Yet, her demeanor is full of concern as she glances back at the long-haired blonde. "T, do you remember Samantha Myers?"
"Sam Myers? As in Nathan's ex-gf? The wallflower that dropped out of High School, because she couldn't keep her panties on?"
Not replying anything, Victoria stands up, opens a drawer of her desk, rummages through it for a few seconds and brought forth a sheet of newspaper, which she hands to Taylor. The blonde reads it and with every read word her frown changes until she looks at the other girl with a shocked expression. Right away, Victoria explains the meaning of the obituary.
"She killed herself about a year ago."
"But why?"
Before she's able to continue, the pixie needs to sit down again, gazing at her lap as she tells the sad story.
"As you already said, Samantha and Nate had been a couple until…until he wanted to do some kinky stuff with her and she didn't. Of course, he went full on ballistic on her and the following fight ended in big tears. Eventually, security had to drag Nathan away from Samantha, threats from his side included. Of course, she broke up with him and I think, poor Sam regretted fucking him from this point on."
"So, she killed herself because of the breakup?"
"Not by a longshot," scoffs Victoria, "Samantha…I don't know, I think the breakup had been good for her and everything seemed to be back to normal, until…"
"Until?"
"…until Nate's revenge." Once more, Victoria sighs, fighting to keep herself from crying. "He invited her to one of our parties. Said, that he wanted to apologize, but instead…he drugged her. A few days later, some pretty lewd photos of Samantha went viral all around the Bay. The shitstorm that had followed peaked in massive bullying and a few days later, she had been kicked out of Blackwell. After that, I just heard rumors that she had to be brought into a loony bin and one day," she points at the newspaper, "I found this in the Beacon. One of her former classmates, Steph Gingrich, had it released. I think she wanted to show the whole Bay the consequences of their actions." Wiping her eyes and inhaling deeply, Victoria stands up, Taylor following her doing.
"T, tonight I almost did the same and…I'm feeling so bad about this and I know that I don't wanna see this happening again. I need to talk to Nathan before things get out of hand!"
Max & Kate
Her fingers are tenderly combing through Max's scruffy, black-dyed hair while they both lay side-by-side. Silence is filling the room, where, not an hour ago, wild passionate moans had chimed through the night.
"You're so beautiful!" whispers Kate out of a sudden and places a soft kiss on the other girl's freckled cheek. "I can't believe we actually did it."
"Yeah," answers Max in return, her gaze dreamily fixed on the ceiling and a soft smile forming on her lips. "It was so awesome!" Then she shifts her gaze to Kate, her words nothing more than a whiff, "You're awesome!"
Their lips connect as Max closes in and takes Kate into a tight hold. Just feeling their naked bodies on each other, the kissing gets more and more intense. But before they're about to cross the point of no return, though, Max backs away again.
"Damn," she says, "I'd love to do it with you again, right now! But…" she pauses for a moment, gazing into empty space pensively. "There's something I need to get off my chest, first."
Giving her a reassuring "Sure," Kate brushes once more over her girlfriend's cheek and though she knows that Max loves her unconditionally, a tiny bit of fear remains. The fear that Max has doubts about their relationship. That the past events of this night might hover over them like a cloud, ready to darken every bit of their love so that it won't blossom anymore.
With a deep sigh, Max gathers some courage. Kate realizes that the upcoming topic must be something heavy on her girlfriend's soul; probably something that needs to be released, therefor she stays quiet and simply listens.
"Katie, I…I wanna tell you everything. My past, what happened to me, just…everything. You'd be the first person who hears the complete story. Not even my dad knows every detail." Once more, Max breathes deeply before she gazes into Kate's hazel eyes intensively. "Kate, I'm doing this, because I trust you with my entire being and I know that, no matter what I'm gonna tell you now, you'll still love me."
"Always!" whispers Kate in reply, planting a soft kiss on her beloved girlfriend's lips.
After giving the blonde's hand one last squeeze, Max stands up and rummages through one of her drawers, bringing forth a small, red notebook, which she hands over to Kate before she flips on her reading light and sits down beside her girlfriend.
"Katie," she says, opening the first side of the booklet, where the picture of a girl with golden-blond, long hair and stormy-grey eyes is glued in, "I want you to meet Sam!"
Kate
It's now about 3 am as Kate walks back into her room. Though she should feel tired from the past events, the blonde's mind is racing as it tries to cope what Max had just told her for the last few hours.
Max hadn't lied as she had said that she wanted to tell everything. The story had begun with Sam. How she and Max had met and how both had becoming best friends, which had culminated into a strong bond of love that not even torture and imminent death could break. Kate had learned how Max had fallen into pieces by the constant abuse by her mother and the horrible torment she had experienced, only to rise from the ashes like a Phoenix. The cage fights, her failed attempt to safe Sam, and why she came back to Arcadia Bay. Max had even confessed that she had made a move on Chloe right after the incident with Victoria.
Though it had hurt Kate at first, she eventually came to understand the reason, why Max had done it and right now she's just so thankful that Chloe had prevented anything worse from happening.
Summed up: The last few hours had been a rollercoaster of emotions, but also liberating for both girls, since the last border of doubt has now officially been crossed. For Kate, Max is the love of her life and vise versa. They trust each other and have no secrets.
Sadly, this big step of their final bonding has been shadowed by another realization. Kate has won the Everyday Hero contest and is supposed to fly to San Francisco right in the morning with Mr. Jefferson.
At first, Kate wanted to refuse to go to San Francisco until Max had been coming up with the idea to hack the airport's server and simply change the name on Jefferson's ticket. Even more sweetened is that idea by the fact that Max wants to book a suite in a fancy hotel, turning the whole travel into a relaxing, and in Kate's hope, sex-filled weekend with some sightseeing on the side.
Already feeling this warm sensation in her stomach again, Kate enters her room, now wearing one of Max's shorts and a band shirt. The door behind her has just closed and she is about to head towards her closet in order to pack some luggage for tomorrow's travel as, out of a sudden, a male voice with a Russian accent chimes from her bed.
"Good morning, Miss Marsh!"
Entirely startled, Kate turns around on the spot with a loud gasp, taking a few steps back as she spots a slender man in a black suit, carrying a sword in his hand. He gave her a warm smile and swiftly got up.
"Wh-who…wh-who are you? Wh-what're you doing here?" Kate asks with a fear-dripping, shaking voice while taking some more steps back until the wall stops her from going any further.
"You don't have to be afraid, little girl!" the man says, closes in a bit more and then bows his head slightly. "My name is Dimitri and I'm here to bring you to my client."
"Wh-what?! Who…?"
Before Kate can finish speaking, Dimitri simply raises his hand, signing the young blonde to be quiet. "I'm sorry, but I won't tell you the name of my client and if you try to run or call for help…well, let's just say that I don't have the intention to hurt you, but I will if this is what it takes to finish the job. Now," he stretches out his hand, like a cavalier who asks her for a dance, "just come with me and I swear on my ancestors that no harm will come to you!"
For a long moment, Kate gazes at Dimitri's hand, considering her available options. Sure, she can call for Max, but this guy has a weapon and she doesn't want anyone to get hurt, plus that she wants to find out what's going on. Therefor, she nods in acknowledgment, ready to give in to her fate.
"Just let me get dressed, Mr. Dimitri."
"Of course!" he says calmly with a soft smile and turns around like gentleman, though Kate just puts on some sweatpants and one of Max's black hoodies. Eventually, she gives Alice a big carrot and combs one last time through the bunny's fur.
"Good bye, Alice! Mommy will be back, soon!"
Then, both leave. One last time, Kate gazes at Max's room door, wishing that her clueless girlfriend would've the ability to read her emotions and come to her rescue.
"You'll see her soon!" whispers Dimitri reassuringly into her ear and grabs Kate's hand firmly. But his words didn't give her any comfort. They actually unsettle her, because this fact tells her that, whatever is going on has something to do with Max, as well and maybe she has the chance to protect her girlfriend. Maybe this time she needs to be a Guardian Angel.
Author's Note: Only one chapter remaining!