Not Letting Go

Chapter 11

Max was not ready to see Kate, but it was too late to pretend she was not in her room now. The freckled girl doubted that she could allow herself to deceive her friend anyways. She retrieved a jacket and put it on almost as just something to get her mind off of her worries. With nothing left to do, Max sat in bed, lost in thought as her leg shook. she heard a knock on the door. A million expletives shot off in her head while she tried to collect herself before letting Kate in.

When she did open the door, Max paused, momentarily distracted from her anxious thoughts. Kate did not appear completely different, but even under her large but stylish coat, there was something more done up about her.

Max blurted out her thoughts before she could stop herself.

"You look extra nice today."

Kate blushed and tilted her head down under the unexpected complement.

"Well, Sunday..." Kate brokenly responded with a small shrug.

"Oh yeah."

No one spoke for a moment. Kate peered behind Max and noticed the guitar had been moved, probably after being played. She wondered if Max was still playing Chloe's song, but focused on the present and said, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let's do this."

Max stepped out and closed the door. As they walked side by side, Max and Kate periodically exchanged glances, both subtlety smiling afterwards.

Kate spoke up. "So, I'm ready to fight for you."

Max missed a step and almost fell over, thinking of Victoria.

"Shit," Max said at her near accident. Then nervously to Kate she stuttered, "F-fight?"

Kate had moved to help her, but Max has already recovered her footing, so she just said, "To keep you here. Your parents?"

"Oh yeah," Max mentally sighed in relief. "So what's the plan?"

"We'll just show them how much we need each other. We'll make it criminal to separate us."

Max chuckled. "I can work with that."

"It's true though anyways, right?" Kate ventured.

With a sweet tenderness she could not contain, Max's tone spoke so much more than the one word she breathed out, saying, "Yeah," and shared a meaningful look with the other girl.

They were quiet again until they reached the Hot Spot. When entering, Max nervously searched around for Victoria while they found a booth to claim, but did not see her. The brunette hopped in first, to face towards the door to be able to see her parents, or anyone else, coming. She was a little surprised to find Kate scooting in next to her.

"Umm..." Max said not knowing what to say.

"Oh, sorry. I just wanted to see what it's going to feel like later."

Max thought her heart was going to fall out.

"When your parents get here, you know?"

Max felt stupid, but the way she added that last sentence sounded all too sly, and she wasn't sure that she was being dumb at all. Still, it was so hard to know what words to read into with this girl.

"Ah, yeah, Got it."

She put a hand on Max's colder one under the table and smiled before moving out to sit across from her.

"Don't miss me too much, I'll be back soon," Kate said playfully.

Max just smiled shyly back.

The waitress came over to them. The Hot Spot was one of those hybrid restaurants where you could sit in an area to be served, or order at the front and the food is dropped off at your table. The versitality is one of the reasons it had become so popular. Max knew her parents would want to have the full restaurant experience.