girlfriends | elmax

XII

!WARNING : HOMOPHOBIC SLURS¡

When she arrived downstairs, much to her dismay, she saw Neil, beer bottle in one hand and a price of broken glass in the other. Seeing Robin, his eyes filled with anger as he let out the most forced laugh known to man.

"WELL LOOK WHO DECIDED TO SHOW! SUP DYKE, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" he yelled, swaying from side to side as if he was on a boat.

"None of your business Neil." replied the older teen, showing no sign of fear.

"PROBABLY FUCKING SOME FAG FOR MONEY WEREN'T YOU! YOU DISGUST ME." the drunken man spat, getting closer to the girl.

"That's enough, Neil. I think you should go back out." Robin stares firmly, glaring at him.

"REALLY?! BECAUSE I DON'T THI-" the man began, before Billy stood in front of his sister to face Neil. Unable to contain his anger, the teen boy swing is right fist at the man, hitting him square in the jaw.

"Leave, before I do worse." threatened the boy. Wiping the blood from his mouth, Neil laughed a sinister laugh, but did as he was told.

"YOUR DEAD HARGROVE, DEAD YOU HEAR ME!" he yelled as he slammed the door and left. Max stood out of sight, shaking like hell whilst Robin turned to Billy, looking like she'd just seen a ghost.

"Dude how the fuck? I don't understand-" Robin exclaimed.

"He's kinda scared of me since I punched him when he tried to hurt Max." explained Billy, Robins jaw still wide open.

"Well shit! Thanks bro." the girl said, patting her brother on the back before walking off to the kitchen. Even though she knew she should go back to Jane, Max was just too embarrassed. I mean, what did she think she was doing?! Inviting her crus- I mean, new friend to her house, not only putting their friendship in danger but also putting Jane in danger herself. Feeling a small tear roll down her cheek, she mentally slapped herself a few times before straightening up and walking back to her room.

Opening the door softly, she saw Jane sat on her bed, playing with her hair. Looking up, she saw the redhead looking at her sheepishly with glossy eyes, and immediately got up and pulled her into a hug, which was returned by the taller girl. The two stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the moment, before Jane pulled back and wiped the tears from Max's face.

"Hey, don't cry. It's ok, he's gone." Jane whispered softly, as Max sniffed and tried to stop the tears.

"Fuck what's wrong with me," the younger teen muttered, unable to look Jane in the eyes, "I could've gotten you hurt. God I hate this, why can't I just have a normal family, not a drunken abusive step father. Then you could come over all the time, it could be normal. And I hate this," she continued, referring to the tears on her face, "Nobody ever sees me vulnerable, that's how it should be. I'm the tough girl, I'm not supposed to cry. Tough girls don't cry, weak girls cry. And I'm not weak!" after that she just let herself melt into the tanned girls arms and cried, giving in.

"Come on, sit down." Jane said, bringing Max towards the bed. Placing a hand on Max's cheek, she turned the redheads face towards hers, but her eyes still wouldn't look at the brunettes own.

"Max, look at me." Finally, the freckled girl met the teens brown eyes. "You, you are not weak. You are so strong, I mean dealing with Neil, living in this house, I wouldn't have been able to survive! But you, you have. Crying does not make you weak, crying is just a way of expressing your emotions. It's okay to cry, to let it all out." reassured the older teen, making small circles on the pale girls cheek with her thumb.

"Thank you, Jane. For everything, seriously." the ocean-eyed girl whispered, smiling a little.

"It's okay, Max. But how about we go to my house next time, yeah?" joked Jane, making Max giggle.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan."

(skip to later when Jane has gone home)

Laying on her bed, Max simply laid, sprawled it across her bed, looking at the small glow in the dark stars she had stuck to her ceiling. She could still feel the girl caressing her cheek, she could still see her deep brown eyes, looking right through the walls she had worked on building up for so many years. Sighing, she stretched her arms and felt a soft piece of material hung over her bed post that didn't feel familiar. Unhooking it, she sat up and pulled it off the post to see what it was, to find a purple hoodie from 'The Gap'. Smiling, she brought it up to her face and breathed in the scent of cherry and vanilla. Knowing the girl wouldn't mind, she pulled the hoodie on over her plain white shirt and sunk back into her bed, caressing the material and thinking of the caramel haired girl.