Hey guys, welcome back. Here is some more Marshfield for you.

Enjoy

Max was rudely awakened by a sudden chill as the blanket she had been warmly wrapped up in was violently pulled off her. She moaned lightly from the intrusion of freezing air that lapped at her exposed skin, sending shivers down her spine. Her body immediately recoiled, curling up into a ball in a vain attempt to preserve heat. She opened her bleary blue eyes a fraction only to be met by darkness, save the thin slivers of moonlight seeping through the blinds. The wind howled loudly outside and the raindrops hit the smudged glass of the bedroom window.

After a few moments of futile resistance to waking Max stretched out, reaching her arms over her head and yawning. Her sleep schedule wasn't the most rigid, something she had been trying to fix over the past few weeks with varying success. One of her earbuds had fallen out while she had been asleep, the quiet strumming of guitar and the haunting lyrics barely audible over the storm outside. She looked down at her arm to see faint red indentations where the headphone wire had pressed into her arm.

As Max laid there on her back staring up at the ceiling, she became aware of the insistent ticking of a clock as it counted away the seconds that passed. This sound was overshadowed by loud thunderous rumbles along with another unexpected sound. Max turned over to see a shaking pile of blankets next to her on the bed. At least that solved the mystery of the missing blanket. She carefully lifted the covers up a fraction to see Kate's shivering body underneath, her face burrowed into her pillow. This was not the first time Kate had stolen the blanket and she was sure it wouldn't be the last. Max couldn't blame her, it was pretty cold right now.

"Kate," she whispered into the darkness, "as much as I love you, you're being a blanket hog and I am freezing my ass off here. Unless you want a Maxsicle, then I'm gonna need some of that blanket back."

Max reached out to touch Kate's cheek to get her attention when Kate lifted her head. Max froze, her hand hovering in the air and her heart stopping dead in its tracks. What Max had mistaken for shivering from the cold seemed to actually be out of fear. Kate's cheeks were tear-streaked and her hazel eyes were red and puffy. She looked at Max with the most heart-breaking expression, sniffling lightly and noticeably winced when another aggressive crash penetrated the air. Instinctively, Max lifted up the blanket and shuffled closer, placing her arm around Kate's waist and tangling their legs together to get as much contact as possible. Their faces were inches apart and she began to diligently kiss away the tears as they fell, determined to get every single last one.

After a few minutes, the tear dried up and Max began to gently stroke Kate's hair to calm her, the blonde strands of hair flowing through her fingers. Kate rarely had her hair down, it had almost always been the case for as long as she could remember. The only time she really let her hair down was at home, like now. When her and Max first moved in together, she had kept it up around the house. That soon went out of the window, much to Max's delight. It was nice to see Kate letting her guard down around her, letting the dorkier, more mischievous side of Kate Marsh loose. Kate's once tense body began to relax as she placed her head on Max's chest, listening to the steady unwavering heartbeat.

"Storms have always scared me," Kate mumbled, sounding so lost and frightened right now. It broke Max's heart to hear her speaking like this. She wanted to make the fear in Kate's hazel eyes and quivering voice disappear, but she wasn't sure how.

"Lynn's scared of them too," Kate continued as she clutched onto Max's pyjama top with an almost vice-like grip, "I always felt like I should have been the one comforting her as her older sister, but we both ended up crying every time. Sarah, my other sister, often found us huddled under the desk in my room. Lynn always ran to my room at the first sign of thunder, safety in numbers I suppose. Sarah never made fun of us though, even though she easily could have."

Kate sighed deeply. Sarah always joined them to try and comfort them. She had fond memories of Sarah humming to drown out the sound of the thunder. In a lot of ways she was the older sister, not Kate.

"Even now storms scare me. I know it's pathetic and I should just get over it, but…"

Another loud crash filled the air, causing Kate to grip on harder to Max, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. Without hesitation, Max took the wire of her headphones and carefully placed the earbuds in Kate's ears, much to her surprise. She messed around for a while and found the song she was looking for. It was one that held a special place in both their hearts.

A tentative knock on the wooden door woke Max from her slumber. She had fallen asleep at her desk buried under her work. As per usual, she had let procrastination win her over and now she was rushing to get this damn assignment done. She sat up, stretching her arms into the air and then rubbed at her face. Her neck kind of hurt from the awkward angle she had been sleeping in. She looked down at her laptop screen, which had shut off due to inactivity. She wiggled the mouse pad and groaned when she saw how little she'd managed to write.

Max glanced at the time on the screen, 12:34 am. It was rare for someone to be calling in on her this late, unless your name was Chloe Price that is. She stood up and ran her fingers through her hair to flatten the sticky out strands, getting it looking semi-presentable. She really needed to wash it, but hadn't had the time nor desire to do it. She made her way over to the door, giving herself a quick once over in the mirror first. The dark circles under her eyes were ever more prominent after her uncomfortable nap and one part of her hair still refused to comply no matter how much she struggled with it. Deciding that was the best she was going to get, Max sighed and gave up. She opened the door with a creak to reveal a girl with a blonde bun and hazel eyes in pyjamas.

"Kate…"

Kate stood there and looked at Max's tired demeanor. A pang of guilt ran through her when she realized that she had woken Max up.

"Oh, did I wake you?"

Max shrugged and rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.

"Kind of, but it's…"

Max was cut off by Kate's hurried apologetic mumbling.

"Sorry, I should just go and leave you to it."

Kate span around to leave, but Max grabbed onto her arm to stop her. Kate turned her head and Max smiled sleepily at her.

"It's cool. I always have time for you, Kate."

Kate heart sped up at this and she nervously bit her lip as Max gently pulled her into the room. It was messier than usual if that was possible. Pieces of paper and books littered the floor along with some crumpled up clothes. Gentle guitar strumming from the Hi-Fi played quietly in the background. Max followed Kate's gaze and smiled sheepishly at Kate.

"Sorry about the mess."

She cleared a space on her bed by sweeping her hand along the duvet and motioned for Kate to sit. Max shut off her laptop after one final look at her pathetic attempts to work and joined Kate on the bed.

"I rarely see you up past twelve," Max casually commented as she got herself comfortable. Kate could feel the heat radiating from Max as their shoulders nearly touched. She rang her hands nervously in her lap.

"I… I had to see you."

Max's eyebrows shot up in surprise for a second, then she grinned cheekily, gently nudging Kate's shoulder with hers.

"Can't resist the Caulfield charm, huh?" Max joked, her eyes filled with amusement and a cheeky grin on her face. Max always had time to crack a joke to lighten the mood, something Kate both appreciated and feared now. Max wasn't wrong. Kate took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest. This was such a stupid idea, she knew that much. She should never have come here, but it was too late for reservations now. Max tilted her head curiously at Kate, waiting patiently for her to speak, her gaze intense.

"Well, I…"

Kate's voice broke, the words getting caught in her suddenly dry throat. She felt a warmth on her hand and looked down to see that Max had placed a hand over hers. Over the past few months, Max had been progressively more touchy feely with her and Kate was uncertain as to what that meant. She liked it when Max was close, when she hugged her out of the blue… when Max's fingers lightly brushed against hers as they walked to class together. Kate didn't know if it was by accident or not, but it had been happening more frequently as of late. Each time it made her skin catch fire and her heart feel as if it were about to explode in her chest. Max's eyes were encouraging and soft.

"Take your time, Kate. No need to be nervous. You can tell me anything."

Kate let out a self-depreciative laugh.

"Are you sure?"

Max nodded assertively without hesitation.

"Positive."

Kate swallowed, mentally preparing herself for this. She wasn't sure what to say, but she felt that she had to say something.

"Max, I'm not sure how to say this and I'll probably mess everything up. Over these past few months you have been so good to me. You were there when no-one else was and I am so grateful for it."

Max's blue doe-like eyes flickered with joy, not hiding anything. That was something Kate really appreciated about Max, she never tried to hide how she felt to fit in.

"I'm glad to have spent every second with you, Kate."

Max's words were only making this so much harder. She had been so kind to Kate, offered her everything she had. Kate couldn't help but think that Max liked her in a different way from a friend… or maybe she hoped that was the case. Kate had spent many sleepless nights trying to figure out just exactly what Max was to her. Max never failed to make her laugh and brighten up her day. No matter what she had been through, simply talking to Max made everything better. She really listened, even if it was to something really irrelevant. Kate had talked with Alyssa and Stella about how she felt, or more accurately they had called her out when she went on one of her many gushing over Max rampages. Kate had never even considered that maybe she liked Max like that before then. She freaked out at first, worried about what her family and Church would think. She tried to deny it initially, hoping it was just a phase but slowly came to realize that the more she tried to hide it, the stronger the feelings became until there were almost suffocating. After much soul searching and a few pep talks from Alyssa and Stella, she had decided to go for it. Now that she was here, it was much harder than she had anticipated.

"You're the best friend I could ever hope for and I… maybe I'm overthinking everything, but sometimes wonder whether… if… "

Kate was silenced when Max leaned in and gently pressed her lips on Kate's. Kate froze, her mind short circuiting as Max's lips brushed against hers. She couldn't process what was happening right now. Was she imagining this? Was this some cruel dream she would wake from any second? Whatever it was, right now she didn't care. Just as quickly as their lips had collided, Max withdrew, her eyes widened in fear and she placed a shaking hand to her mouth. What had she done? After everything that Kate had been through, how could she do that to her?

"Oh shit. Kate… sorry, I… shouldn't have done that. I'm…"

Kate tentatively reached out and placed a shaking hand on Max's cheek. She was scared, scared of what would happen after this, but this fear was overridden by the desire to be here with Max, to feel her. Max licked her lips nervously and gazed deeply into Kate's eyes, trying to work out whether she had messed everything up when Kate closed her eyes and leaned in. Their lips collided clumsily, both inexperienced and nervous. The kiss was tender and slow, both girls adamant not to rush this. Max's hand found Kate's as they kissed, their fingers intertwining. Everything about this moment was so right. Neither Kate nor Max had ever felt anything like this before, like they were the only people in this world right now. Max slowly pulled away, making sure to kiss Kate's nose before she completely pulled away, which earned her a giggle. Both girls took a moment to stare at one another, slightly out of breath, blushing and light headed.

"I guess you really can't resist the Caulfield charm," Max finally quipped, a smug smirk on her face.

"Don't act so smug, Max. It's very unbecoming," Kate joked as she playfully punched her on the arm. Max held her hands up defensively.

"Hey, I bruise easily," she laughed at the expression of mock annoyance on Kate's face, one she couldn't maintain for long. Kate gently bumped her head against Max's and sighed contentedly as the song came to an end.

'We'll cast some light and you'll be alright.'

Max tucked a stray strand of Kate's hair behind her ear. At least this way with the music, Kate wouldn't be able to hear the oncoming storm. She smiled at Kate, her blue eyes soft and reassuring. No further words were needed. Every so often, Max placed a tender kiss on Kate's cheek, her nose, her neck… anywhere she could reach to help keep her calm. Max would do anything to make sure she was ok. Kate glanced up at her.

"Max…," Kate's hesitant half-whispered voice hung in the air, breaking the silence. Max squeezed Kate reassuringly.

"Yeah?"

Kate pulled one of the earbuds out from her ear and bumped her forehead lightly against Max's, gazing deeply into her blue eyes.

"With you here, the storm isn't so scary."

Have an awesome day and keep yourself safe out there.