As the door shut, El heard Max sigh from the other side, her heart dropping. The pain in her chest worsened, and tears brimmed in her eyes. Max must be so disappointed with her, she knows she's lying, it's obvious when she speaks.
El hates lying, she's not good at it, she hates the reactions she gets from it, but right now she felt like she had to.
Hunger rumbled in her stomach but even the thought of eating made her feel physically sick. Just 30 days. 28 more days and she'll finally be able to not feel repulsed when looking in the mirror. 28 days and maybe the internet would stop. 28 days until Max will be able to look at her and feel pride. Pride that they were together. Proud to be seen with her.
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she sniffled as she wiped them away, knowing that Max preferred sleeping early when she had work the next day. Her girlfriend was an actress, making almost 2 movies a year, and getting closer to international stardom with each passing day.
While El was a music artist, she had already released an album on Max's 18th birthday in April, 2 years ago now. She had gone viral online, and had already signed up to a record label, and won 3 grammys. But after a few pictures got posted on social media due to the paparazzi, she had been receiving even more hate than she had before for apparently not looking as good as she used to when she first caught the eye of the public.
Everyday she would read the new comments people had been saying, most of them agreeing with the post, and giving her new insecurities she had never even thought of having before. But she couldn't stop even if she wanted to, on every social media platform there were the same comments, and everyone who tried to defend her had just received backlash even weeks after their comment was first written.
She felt like a burden to everyone who had tried to help, but especially to Max, certain she didn't love her as much as she used to. Despite her occupation leaving her with barely any time to herself, she spent all the time she did have, worrying about El and what was going on with her recently. El didn't want her to worry, I mean why focus on the girl who used to live in a forest when you could become an actress that would be celebrated around the world and maybe even remembered for decades?
———
An hour or so later, Max opened the bedroom door again, this time not saying anything as she got changed into a shirt too big for her, not wearing any trousers or shorts.
El lay in bed, zoned out as she thought about the new things she had read, but also thinking of how it used to be. Ever since she turned 18 it had felt like everyone had turned on her overnight, and finally got the chance to say the things they had been keeping in, just because she was now an adult and that apparently made it okay all of a sudden.
She was quickly snapped out of those thoughts as she felt the bed dip from behind her, turning to see Max putting the blanket over her, a small smile on her face.
"Hey." She whispered, even though they were the only ones there.
"Hi." El whispered back, making Max laugh lightly. "Why are we whispering?"
"I don't know..." She stopped as she saw that El had been crying again since they had last spoken, less than an hour ago. Instead of saying something like she had earlier, she widened her smile and took El in her arms, burying her face into her neck.
"What's this for?" El asked, confused.
"Do I need a reason to hug my girlfriend?" Max replied with a playful smile, coating the growing pit of worry in her stomach. Something was definitely wrong, she was certain of it. She just wasn't sure how to help her, even though her heart wanted nothing more than to do just that.
"I love you." She spoke quietly, pulling away from the hug and kissing her lips softly. "I love you so much, you know that right?"
"Of course I do." El chuckled, despite just wanting to burst into tears in her arms and finally stop all the lies. "I love you too, more than anything. And... I'm sorry for earlier."
Max shook her head, "Don't apologise, but tomorrow, please eat something. I just want to make sure you're okay."
"I am, I don't want you to worry about me." El replied, feeling the guilt again.
"You're my girlfriend Ellie, of course I'm going to worry about you." She turned around and turned the lamp off before turning back to her. "And I will continue to, no matter what."
"I..." El began, but she found nothing to say as she felt Max snuggle closer to her in the darkness, both comforting each other while snuggled under the blankets.
Max's hands found their way to El's hoodie, pulling her impossibly closer as their legs intertwined, El's tracksuit bottoms comfortable against Max's bare skin.
"Shhh." Max said, her eyes closed, "Nothing you say will stop me." The younger girl smiled, putting an arm around her waist.
A few minutes passed in comfortable silence, both of them wrapped in each other's arms.
El remained awake, not being able to sleep very well lately. "Hey... Max?" She asked quietly.
"Hmm?" She replied, half asleep.
"Please..." Eleven hesitated, "Please don't leave me." She looked at the peaceful girl in her arms lovingly, her hand stroking her hair. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
The older girl grinned, her smile sleepy and innocent. "I wasn't ever planning to. And I can't imagine my life without you in it either. Come on, we're almost at 2 years, we won't stop until we make it to 50. Or 60. Or 70."
El smiled, so glad she no longer slept alone at night. "Goodnight." She spoke, kissing the top of her head.
"Goodnight beautiful."
And so El closed her eyes, and after a few minutes, she fell into her dreams.
YOU ARE READING
The Actress and The Artist
Fanfiction(BOOK TWO 🤍) Sequel to: Two Dreams Intertwined -Contains mature themes- Max and El both have the ambition to become famous and inspire, albeit in different ways, but more than anything they want to be together happily. Now that they've finally mov...
