The little's room.

Max was never good at instigating social interactions. Usually everyone else made that first move, but she like Kate. She was always so nice to her, so seeing her so upset made her upset. She wasn't sure why, but Kate had become a target of harassment from her classmates and it was having an effect on her.

"Kate, you okay?"

A little's bathroom was different from a regular bathroom. It had stalls, but only two of them had toilets. There were three of them larger than typical stalls, with each stall having a padded table for sitting on and a variety of toiletries from public use. Trash-cans, wipes and different, cheap brands of diapers and pull-ups for littles in different stages of headspace.

The restroom was mostly empty. In the stall at the end of the room, she could hear Kate sobbing.

Suddenly, someone bumped into her.

"Sorry!"

The girl -- a senior student -- meant no harm, but she looked wracked with worry.

Max didn't know who she was, but she had seen her throughout school. Her hair was blonde and she had a distinctive earring with a blue feather.

"Kate! Kate honey, are you in here?"

"H-Here."

The girl ran to the end of the stall and gave it a knock.

"Kate, let me in. Come on honey."

The lock on the stall clicked and there stood Kate, her eyes red and cheek streaked with tears. The senior pulled her into a hug and Kate let her.

"It's gonna be okay, honey. You're gonna be okay."

"N-No it isn't," said Kate, her voice slurring with raw emotion.

"Don't talk like that, honey." They broke off their hug and the senior put her hands on Kate's shoulders. "Do you need me to do something for you, baby girl?"

Kate couldn't bring herself to look up at her. Instead, she pulled up her skirt. Instead of big girl underwear, Kate had on a bright pink diaper. It wasn't a pull-up to prevent accidents like Max's, but a full-on, little-sized diaper. It was bright pink with illustrations of white rabbits on the front, died yellow. Kate had either gone pee-pee during class or on the way to the bathroom, but that was what diapers were for.

"Okay honey. Lets get you all fixed up and then you'll feel better, okay?"

The senior reached into her handbag and pulled out a pink pacifier and put it in Kate's mouth. She hiccuped and sniffed, fresh tears still pouring out of her, but she accepted the binky without complaint.

"I'm sowwy," said Kate, the binky in her mouth and regression into her headspace making it harder to talk.

"Don't be sorry, honey. That's what diapers are for. Now lie down and we can get that thing off of you."

The senior unzipped Kate's skirt, letting it pool onto the floor as Kate did what she was asked. It was when the senior started undoing the tapes of her diaper did Max realize that she was starring and backed away, allowing them their privacy since they forgot to close the stall door.

She waited patiently as she listened to the sound of her diaper change, the senior giving small talk about how cute she was while Kate made cooing noises, calming down into full baby-mode.

She heard the sound of something being thrown into a garbage pail and took this as a sign that they were finished. She quietly went back up to the stall and knocked.

Kate's skirt was still off, but she was in a newer diaper -- a blander adult-diaper provided by the restroom -- as she curled up into the senior's lap. She sucked on her binky, her head lying against the senior's shoulder and her eyes glazed over. The senior hummed to her little as she rubbed her back.

"Hey. Is she okay?"

The senior gave her an odd look.

"Um, she's not great, but she's better now."

"Okay."

There was a beat.

"Look, if you're here to make fun of her, could you not? Kate's been having a really rough time and--"

"Woah woah, I'm not here to do that. She looked upset and I just wanted to help."

"Mwax?"

Kate looked at Max. She was really deep into her headspace. You can always tell by their expressions when a little is in baby-mode.

"Mwax pway?"

Rachel's odd look came back, spiced with surprise.

"You're Max?"

"...yeah?"

"Uh, Kate's mentioned you. She said your photos are killer."

"Thanks," said Max, drawing the word out with confusion.

"I'm Rachel. I'm Kate's caregiver."

"Max. Though you knew that."

Kate seemed to be in a much better mood, making aimless baby sounds as she sucked on her binky, one of her hands making a fist in Rachel's shirt.

"Hey, could you do me a solid? I don't think Kate's going to be ready for next period. Could you tell Professor Grant she won't be coming to class today?"

"Y-Yeah. I actually have her next. I can do that."

"Thanks."

As Max walked off, confident that Kate was in good hands, Rachel was lost in thought.

"So that's Max, huh? She's cute. Think Chloe should know about this?"

Hearing "Auntie Chloe's" name from Mommy Rachel, baby-Kate gave a dumb smile from behind her binky and made a little hop in her lap. Playing along, Rachel bounced her knee.

"Yeah. Why not?"