Hannah and Ella’s lives were turned upside-down. They made their way through the whole ordeal together. All plans and decisions were made together. They helped each other cope and mourn and stay strong.
Over the ensuing months they grew closer and closer and spent more and more time together. When one got down, the other lifted her up. They talked and watched movies and ate meals together. They held each other. Then one night, surprising them both, their hugs became kisses. Their tongues danced and their hands pranced and their clothes came off and they made love.
Neither had had a sexual relationship with a woman before, but it had happened so gradually and naturally there was no holding back. They became ravenous, curious lovers, and their bed became their playground, and they shared that playground for the next eleven months.
Some friends and relatives suspected how their relationship had progressed, but it was never discussed. They ended it, not because they wanted to, but because they thought they should. Because of guilt, confusion, fear. Was it wrong, was it right, was it taboo, was it healthy? Or was it just a pain-killer?
—-
“So, how was your week, Ella?” Elizabeth asked.
“Good.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that. How’s Max?”
“He’s good too. It’s been a good week. I think he’s going to tell me he loves me.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know. Is it too early to say ‘I love you’?”
“I don’t know if there are any rules about that, Ella. That’s a very personal thing. I think it would come down to what is comfortable for the person. Everyone is different.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Ella said. “It gets hard to separate sometimes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Love and sex.”
“Ah,” Elizabeth said. “A universal question. Do you love Max?”
“I don’t know. I think so. I know I could love him, but I don’t know that I’m ready to say that yet. I feel it, I just don’t know if I trust it, you know what I mean? I love talking to him. We connect on so many levels. And the sex… It’s incredible. My orgasms, Oh My God. So intense! I mean, I haven’t had orgasms like these, since, uh…”
“Since when?”
“Since Hannah,” Ella said softly.
Elizabeth wrote some notes onto her tablet. Ella continued as she was writing.
“We had dinner at Hannah’s house last weekend.”
“And how did that go?”
“Very well. She liked him. She told me it’s okay to marry him,” Ella laughed.
“How did that make you feel?”
“Good. But I was pretty sure she’d like him. He’s the real deal.”
“And Max liked Hannah too, I take it.”
“He did,” Ella said, sipping from a bottle of water. “We kissed.”
“You kissed? Who…”
“Me and Hannah. We kissed, and it wasn’t a peck, either. It was hot, I’m telling you, just like the old days. It just happened out of nowhere, surprised us both, but we were into it. I got tingles.”
“What did Max…”
“He didn’t see it, he was in another room. I don’t know if he’d understand. I’m not sure that I understand.”
—-
Over the next few months, Ella and Max’s relationship kicked into overdrive. They spent most nights together, exchanged I-love-yous, and much of the time they spent socializing with friends. Ella’s friends got to know Max, and Max’s friends got to know Ella. They moved in together, into a one-story, single family home. More and more of their time was spent with Hannah and Max’s sister Carly, and they all became better acquainted and very comfortable together.