Ghost - Elmax

Chapter 29 : Massage

Max and Jane spent the day outside, driving in the town from sessions to other sessions. One session with her psychologist this morning, then with her psychotherapist, then a group session, and finally with her psychiatrist. The last one prescribed some antidepressants to Jane, even if the brunette affirmed that she was okay. The two girls were in direction of their apartment, and Jane was quiet, as usual after a day like that.

- "You want an ice cream?" proposed Max.

- "I'm not a child," mumbled Jane.

- "I know."

Max parked her car and took off her seatbelt.

- "Cherry and hazelnut?"

Jane kneaded her right ear before lightly nodding. Max smiled, took her girlfriend's hand, and kissed the back of it, before leaving the car. Jane still had her pride, but Max knew her by heart, she loved too much ice cream to resist to it.

She went back a bit later in the car, giving Jane her ice cream, and holding hers.

- "Strawberry?" told Jane.

- "Always!" smiled Max. "It's not Italian ice creams, but those ones are not bad."

- "Yeah, I kinda miss Italian ice creams. Nocciola and amarena, right?"

- "Sì signora, and fragola for me."

Jane had a small smile on her face, remembering the nice moments they spent in Europe. She was missing it, she hoped they would go back in Europe for vacation.

- "I thought, I don't know...I could try to go running tomorrow morning...What do you think?" said shyly Jane.

- "It's an amazing idea, Jane! It's been a long time you didn't! You want me to come with you?"

- "You don't like running, you don't have to."

- "Jane, if you want me to, I come."

- "...Okay..."

- "Cool," smiled Max.

The redhead was happy to hear that Jane was going to do something she loved doing before, like if she finally wanted to do things. Max knew she wouldn't run a lot, still stressing to go outside, it was why she proposed to come with her, to reassure her and to give her the strength to go through her ideas.

When the two girls arrived at home, Abigail was still not there. The two girls took a shower before going to Max's bed for a session of massage. Max sat on her bed with her legs crossed, a pillow on her lap with Jane's head on it. The redhead covered her hands with massage oil before slowly placing them on her girlfriend's temples and made small circles. Max loved those moments with Jane, it was giving them some intimacy, and it was giving Jane more self-confidence and self-love.

- "Shoulders today?" asked Max.

- "(sighs with her nose) yeah..."

- "I won't hurt you, I promise."

- "I know."

Max focused on her face, especially her ears, Jane was very sensitive in these parts. She loved kneading Jane's ears, they were so soft. She continued the massage to the neck and finished on her shoulders. They were tensed at first, but the massage relaxed her, and Jane let go the tension. After a moment, Max noticed some snores coming from her girlfriend. She had an amused smile and travelled her hands to her face again, caressing her cheeks, chin, temples, forehead, head, and ears. She wanted her to have a nice nap, in peace, with no nightmares, no stress, no sadness, just softness and love.

Abigail appeared at the door. Max made a movement with her head to invite her to come inside. The blonde girl sat at Jane's feet and looked at the sleeping girl with a small smile.

- "Tell me, how was she when I bullied her?" asked Abigail.

- "You really wanna know that?" frowned Max.

- "I need to know. I need to know how much she suffered because of me."

- "Well, uh...she was shaking all the time, she was fearing going back to school, she was fearing to just go outside, even just opening her locker was painful. After you assaulted her in the forest, she avoided the place and was unable to convince her brain that the nice word you cut on her wasn't there anymore. I had to touch her chest to make her realize there was nothing anymore. You really want me to continue?"

- "No, no, I had enough for now," sniffed the blonde girl.

- "You're not like that anymore, and you coped enough, you can stop punishing yourself like that. We forgave you. You certainly needed help before, but no one gave it to you."

- "Yeah, you're certainly right...I hate me so much for this, and you should hate me so much for this too!"

- "We did! But now, you changed, we can see it! I don't know what to tell you to make you feel better, it's like when I tell Jane that I love her but she still doubts on it, you're fine now, you're a good person, you're fighting for your future, you're doing everything to be forgiven and you are forgiven! Now, you should talk about it with your psychologist, I know you see him for what happened, but digging in your past could be a good thing for you."

- "Yeah...Thank you, you're amazing," weakly smiled Abigail.

- "I know!" joked Max.

The two girls had a small chuckle. Abigail began to play with Jane's toes while Max was massaging her head. Her face darkened when she saw a tear falling along her girlfriend's nose. The brunette began to move in her sleep before having a start, opening her eyes while wiping her tear.

- "What the fuck!? I'm crying!?" got surprised Jane, with small eyes.

- "Um, yeah, it happens sometimes," pouted Max.

- "Oh...It's weird."

Jane straightened and frowned at Abigail who was holding her right foot. The blonde girl quickly removed her hand. Jane made a weird face but didn't react. Max wanted to comfort her girlfriend, so she put her hand on her back.

- "NOT THE BACK!" got angry Jane.

- "(quickly removes her hand) I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't want..." apologized the redhead.

Jane pinched between her eyebrows, her eyes closed. She had an awful headache, and Max's hand on her made her feel the pressure she had when she was under those men.

- "I'm sorry, I didn't wanna scream," apologized Jane.

- "It's fine, I shouldn't have tried to touch you there, I knew it was risky."

Jane took deep breathes before turning to Max and grabbing her hand. Max blushed and smiled. It was rare when Jane was showing some affection. She was feeling bubbles inside, like at the beginning of their relation. Just holding her hand was making her happy.

But the one who was smiling the most was Abigail. She was so happy to see them putting the pieces back together.