Miracle {Hysterical Sequel} COMPLETE

She Still Likes Me?

TW// Mentions of sex, sexual abuse

Max sat at the table for dinner. Things felt a little less weird now that her and Sue got on better terms. She took in the smell of the food, made with love. "It smells so good."

"Thank you, precious." Sue sat down at the table and got comfortable. "We usually say grace at dinnertime. Max, do you mind?"

Max shrugged. "Go ahead, it's fine."

Charles said grace, per usual. "Lord God, Heavenly Father, bless us and these Thy gifts which we receive from Thy bountiful goodness, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen."

"Amen." Everyone excluding Max repeated. Although she felt rude for not saying it.

"Sorry, I'm just not... religious." She apologized.

"It's okay, not everyone believes the same things." Sue picked up her fork. "Go ahead and tell me what you think of the pork chops."

Max took a bite of her pork chop and licked her lips. "mmn, I like it." She looked at Lukas. "Why don't you cook for me like this?" She teased.

"Cooking isn't my thing." Lukas chuckled.

-

That night was quiet, peaceful even. Maybe a little too peaceful. Lukas and Max were in the living room, watching a movie on the TV. Sue and Charles were in their office, working on some of their own stuff. Erica was upstairs on the phone with Tina.

"Lukas?" Max nudged her boyfriend.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'm a horrible person...for not being at the hospital with my mom right now?" Max really needed reassurance about that topic.

"No, no...you have a lot to cope with right now. It's okay that you took a day away. I'm going to take you to see her tomorrow, remember?" Lukas reassured her. "Plus, the hospital said they'd call if something new happened."

"Yeah, but still..." Max sighed and leaned on Lukas' shoulder. "Can we kiss?"

"With my parents home?" Lukas tilted his head.

"We can't kiss? It's just kissing." Max pouted.

"Yeah, but my parents don't know about...your trauma. If they see us kissing for more than a couple seconds, they are going to think we're about to take it further." Lukas explained.

Max sighed and kissed Lukas quickly on the cheek. "I like kissing you. It feels good, and it doesn't trigger me."

"That's good." Lukas rubbed her shoulder. "I like kissing you too. Especially when it escalates to making out."

"Making out is fun. It's the closet thing to a sexual act that Neil hasn't ruined for me." Max checked the time on her phone. "I'm getting a bit sleepy..."

"Alright, bed time." Lukas turned off the TV and stood up. "Do you want to take a shower first?"

"Do I smell?" Max joked.

"Oh yeah, totally." Lukas grinned.

"Screw you." Max threw a decorative throw pillow at him. Lukas threw it back. Before they could realize it, they were pillow fighting like kids again.

The fun stopped when Lukas dropped his pillow and put a hand over his forehead. "Dammit-"

"What's wrong?" Max dropped her pillow.

"Headache. I keep getting them. Damn side effects..." Lukas hissed.

"Let's go to bed." Max stood up and rubbed his back. "Take an Advil before you go to bed."