Not Letting Go

Chapter 21

Max firmly but gently pulled Kate along as she guided her to the bus stop. On the way, the blonde seemed almost in a comatose state. She probably would have just stood in place, staring off to no where if Max had left her. The brunette rubbed the drying blood away from under her nose, her actions unnoticed by the other. When they reached the stop, Max sat the blonde down on the bench. Sitting beside Kate, she immediately put the dazed girl's hand over her own and interlocked their fingers.

When Max took off the cloth napkin to put it down, she winced, causing the blonde glance down for a moment. She used her free hand to hold Max's wounded one and carefully turned it until the cut was in sight. She gasped, now clearly coming out of her fugue state.

"Max, your hand..." Her fingers hovered just above the cut, an at least inch long incision along the side of her palm.

"Don't worry, I think the bleeding stopped."

Kate still look up to Max with concern and said, "What happened?"

"I just...got angry and hurt a myself...accidentally. Please, don't worry about me. I promise I'll be okay. Let me take care of you now."

Max put her hand on Kate's cheek. The blonde closed her eyes and let her head dip down until it rested on the brunette's shoulder. She slipped back into numbness, having the other's permission. She barely noticed Max's hand come down from her face to hold her close.

When the bus came, Kate needed to be helped inside. Not a word was said on the way back, but Max found herself in the reversal role of before, with Kate's head in her lap, her own fingers now running through blonde hair. It was not enough, Max thought. She had to get her back to where they could talk openly. That is, if Kate would want to or even be able to speak again tonight.

Finally getting to Kate's room, Max got them straight into bed. She lay Kate down and took off her shoes, holding the first foot she exposed for a moment, unable to not pause at the preciousness of its small size. Once done, she took off her own shoes and lay beside the blonde. Max looked to Kate who stared off with her head on the pillow.

"Katie?" Max almost whispered.

Now safe in her room, with enough time to get over her shock, this was all that was needed to make Kate fall apart. Her eyes closed as she sobbed.

Max put her own head close as she stroked the other's face, trying to mimic the sounds she had heard from Kate before.

"Shh, shh, Katie...I'm here...I'll always be here..."

She would not tell her that it would be okay. Max did not think Kate wanted to hear that, if she would even believe it right now. Despite her caution, the words only seemed to make Kate's cries worse, so Max just moved to put her body against the blonde's. The freckled girl then wrapped her arm around the other and cautiously slipped a leg between both of the other's, which was allowed without hesitation. Max felt Kate work frantically to mold their bodies together. The devastated girl held the brunette fiercely and sobbed more uncontrollably than ever. Max felt her own tears come, feeling helpless to do anything more for Kate. She hated seeing the anguish on the blonde's face, but Max did not turn away. This girl's pain was her pain. She would share it as much was possible. Max was not given much chance to keep her gaze though as Kate soon buried her head into her neck.

It was a long while before the blonde stoped crying. At some point after that, she fell asleep. Only after several minutes of certainty did Max allow herself to close her eyes and join the other in slumber. They stayed wrapped around each other for all of the night.

It was not yet dawn though, when Max woke up with a start. Kate slightly stirred, but did not wake yet. There was a second of disorientation before the brunette recalled the image that woke her. It was not the same, not Jefferson this time, but something else. Then it became clear. It was the totem pole at Blackwell that students called the Tobanga. She recalled the faces seemed to be staring at her, beckoning her to do something, but she did not know what they wanted. Her previous apprehension of the mysterious Native American relic during the week with Chloe was now multiplied. She was not sure if this was better than being woken by Jefferson. At least she understood that fear.