Chapter 19
MAYA
Maya hadn’t meant to bring the mood–that Hanna and Lily had so obviously been trying to rescue and revive with levity–back down.
A heaviness settled around them. Back at the house they showered to warm up, and Hanna insisted on making grilled cheese sandwiches once she discovered the pantry contained tomato soup.
After a relatively subdued dinner, they realized they had some hours left before bed.
With the current mood, it was a chunk of time that loomed over them.
“We can watch a movie?” Lily said, moving them into the living room and picking up the remote.
Maya nodded and Hanna mumbled her agreement.
“Oh Bridesmaids, just what we need,” Lily said, selecting a film.
“Wait,” Hanna said, looking around the space. “That couch looks comfy but, how cool would it be if we built a movie fort?”
“A what?” Lily said, turning to look at Hanna.
Maya felt a smile relieve the tension in her face. “Oooh I like that idea, this way we can all sit facing the TV.”
“If we grab a laptop we’d have to snuggle,” Hanna said.
“Or we can just watch TV? I’m still unclear as to what you’re asking,” Lily said, and she sounded genuinely confused.
“You know, when you were little, didn’t you ever build a little fort and watch movies or play games or read in it?” Maya asked, but then realized too late that was a stupid question.
“My parents tiptoed around the fact that my dad was actively banging someone else…” Lily responded.
“Right, so,” Maya said, turning to Hanna, “we are going to have to just show her. Lily, where do you keep the extra blankets?”
Maya and Hanna took the lead, and took the extra blankets Lily brought to them and began building a fort, using pillows and extra chairs from the kitchen so they could build a makeshift roof of sorts.
Lily just watched, her blue eyes tracking their movements as if she was trying to put together a puzzle.
“Ok,” Hanna said, “hand me your laptop?”
“We also have an iPad somewhere,” Lily added.
“Too small,” Maya and Hanna said together. While Lily was a ceramics major, she also did design work on the side and had a laptop with a large screen. She momentarily left the room to grab it and then reappeared with a bottle of wine.
“No glasses?” Hanna asked teasingly.
“We’ve shared a bottle, besides I’m not sure glasses are conducive for, in there,” Lily said, gesturing towards the fort.
“Okay so in we go,” Maya said, grabbing the laptop and ushering the other two women inside. Hanna and Lily settled on either side of Maya, so much like the way they always slept together. Maya didn’t mind, she needed the contact.
The comedy helped a bit, with occasional laughter peppering the air, but the mood still felt heavy, still felt like they were constricted by words unsaid.
Maya admonished herself for being “that girl.” She hadn’t meant to get so real and gloomy; it was just something about being with both Hanna and Lily.
She felt comfortable in a way she hadn’t for some time.
Lily was lonely, Maya could see right through her fuckboy persona.
She was terrified of being hurt. It was a truth Maya could see so clearly, and it made her want to hold Lily’s hand and let her know she would always have at least a friend in her.
And Hanna, such a brat at times but really, she was just as afraid of rejection as Lily.
Maybe that’s why they butted heads; they were so similar and yet dealt with their fears differently.
The fact that Maya could see this so clearly made her comfortable.
She understood them, and perhaps that’s why she felt so safe with them, these two women who worked so hard to hide the fact that all of their cards were face up on the table.
Hanna and Lily laughed at the bloopers at the end of the film, and Maya’s chest warmed. The room had darkened considerably with the day, and peeking from inside the fort, Maya saw that fat snowflakes had begun to fall.
“It’s snowing,” Maya said, to no one in particular.
“Oooh let’s go out and see it real quick,” Hanna squealed.
“You’re a native Vermonter, what do you care?” Lily said.
“It’s romantic!” Hanna breathed out, her lips stained red from the wine.
“Could be cute,” Maya said, humoring Hanna. She was willing to do anything to lift whatever spell of a mood she had placed on them.
“This is why I shouldn’t have given you two wine,” Lily said, but there was no real bite behind her words.
They left the fort and piled into the front doorway. They hadn’t bothered with coats; instead Maya grabbed one of the blankets off the top of the fort and wrapped it around them as they poked their heads outside.
“Ah it’s beautiful here,” Hanna said, as they looked out down across the dark property.
Lily’s Aunt Julia had installed solar-powered fairy lights to illuminate different pathways and areas of the retreat.
The effect, Maya had to admit, was quite romantic.
The dark made it impossible to see everything, but that only added to the mystical effect the lights had on the property.
The fact that they were seemingly the only ones witnessing the swirling snow made it feel like it was a scene laid out just for them.
Hanna bounced slightly on her heels, and Maya smiled as she looked out across the property, an inch or so of snow already on the ground. It must have started shortly after they began watching the movie.
“Guess a hike is off the table tomorrow,” Maya said.
“It was a walk, Papaya,” Hanna said from between her and Lily, and Maya’s chest warmed at the use of the nickname.
“Traitor,” Maya mumbled, and Lily laughed.
“It’s beautiful,” Hanna said, and Maya agreed.
They sat in silence for a moment, looking at the dark grounds, the occasional gust of wind causing little snow swirls that were picked up by the lights.
“You could have called, you know.” Lily’s voice was serious. “I get it, I lived with that kind of stuff for years.”
It took a second for Maya to remember that there had been something hanging over them. “I know, I just…I didn’t, I don’t know.”
Hanna, shorter than her and Lily, had to look up at her slightly. In the faint glow of the lights outside, Maya could read genuine concern on her face. “I—we could have been there for you, I didn’t realize…it sounds like that was a lot, Papaya.”
“Or at least texted us to let us know what was going on, babe,” Lily said, and Maya’s stomach flipped at the pet name. The use of it made something inside her come undone, and a small tear escaped from her eye before she could blink it away.
“It’s just been like, I don’t even really know how my dad is managing, but my mom needs me so much.
She wouldn’t even get out of bed. If I didn’t cook for her, I’m not sure she would eat.
” Maya began to cry. “And I feel guilty being up here with you two, but I really needed this, and then you both started fighting and–” Maya cut herself off with a sob.
In what seemed like a swift single movement, she was wrapped up in both Lily and Hanna. Lily held her from behind and Hanna from the front. They slowly began to rock, back and forth. “We’re sorry,” they said, continuing to rock back and forth, eventually moving in a circle.
They stayed like that for a while; the movement was so soothing and combined with the release of what she’d been carrying, Maya began to calm, to relax a muscle she hadn’t even realized she’d been clenching.
“Thank you,” she said. “It has been a lot taking care of her,” Maya admitted, wiping her eyes.
“I know babe, so let us take care of you,” Lily said from behind her into her ear. “We got you.”
“Yeah, we’ve got you,” Hanna repeated.
They moved in silence, though the tension had lifted.
In its place was a tenderness Maya hadn’t known possible between the three of them.
They kicked off their shoes and moved back into the house, all while still wrapped up together.
It was like neither Hanna nor Lily wanted to let go of her, and Maya was grateful.
When Lily started to move towards the living room, Maya asked, “Wait, we’re going back to the fort? ”
Lily laughed and said, “We spent all that time building it!”
Hanna also laughed and said, “Admit it, you secretly liked it,” and Maya knew Lily did.
The way she’d watched them putting it together.
Maya smiled. She could give this to Lily.
It didn’t really matter where they were, she just wanted to be close to the two women.
The urgency of that desire had her urging Hanna in the direction Lily had started in.
“Come on, it will be like another sleepover,” Maya chuckled, and Hanna just shook her head.
They piled into the fort, now with an extra blanket and a half roof, but it was theirs and somehow felt more intimate than the big bed they’d been sharing. Though Maya supposed her back would disagree in the morning; Lily’s bed was incredibly comfortable.
Maya settled in, still between Hanna and Lily. “Thank you both,” Maya found herself saying.
“Come here,” Lily said as she took Maya’s chin between her thumb and index finder so that she could bring her mouth to hers.
Unlike the hungry and dominating kisses Lily often gave, the kiss was slow and sweet.
Lily still had all of the control, but it felt intentional and purposeful.
She could feel Hanna pushing her curls to the side and kissing the back of her neck, a spot she knew drove Maya crazy.
And it did, but something about it felt hot, not simply in a sexy way, but hot in the way that she was acutely aware that she was with both Hanna and Lily, and truly believed that they indeed did have her.
Slowly, Hanna and Lily moved away from Maya and both began to undress.
In a moment of clarity, they’d put on extra sweats before going outside to look at the snow, and they peeled off layer after layer without breaking their gazes.
Maya was so taut with anticipation and the need to feel each woman that she thought she would die if they looked away.
Finally, both were gloriously naked. Both fair women had full breasts, Hanna’s a little bigger.
Lily had a medium build, even through her hips and legs.
A small patch of neatly trimmed blonde hair was barely visible in the shadow of the fort.
Hanna’s curvy, soft figure was only slightly covered by her long black hair.
They were both beautiful, and they were hers tonight.
Each woman then began to peel off Maya’s clothes.
Holding her gaze, they removed first her socks and then her pants gently, Lily taking in the sharp breath she always did when she took off a pair of underwear, like every time she was amazed by what was underneath.
They kept going till they got to her shirt and bra.
Then they were on her, Hanna’s arms were around her while Lily captured her mouth with hers for another deep and slow kiss.
Hanna kissed down the back of her neck, till she came around to the underside of her chin.
Maya broke away from Lily, and turned to where Hanna’s mouth was waiting for her.
Lily began to kiss down her body. It was like they wanted to cover every part of her.
Lily found one of Maya’s nipples and tongued it greedily, her head bobbing slightly as she worked the pebbled flesh, and Maya was gasping.
“Please,” Maya said into Hanna’s mouth. She couldn’t stand the distance she felt like was between them, even with their clothes off. She needed them all over her, around her, inside her.
“We got you,” Hanna breathed back, and she slid a hand in between Maya’s legs, right to her slit already slick with want. “Oh fuck, we got you Papaya,” Hanna whimpered as she dragged a finger from Maya’s center to her throbbing clit. Maya gasped.
Lily slid one of her hands to join Hanna’s, and Maya’s body jerked with the added stimulation.
Finding a rhythm, the two women began to work her together, sliding her clit between each one of their fingers before Hanna took over and Lily slid a finger inside of her.
Lily turned to kiss Maya deeply once more.
Maya could feel her release building, and tried to use her hands to reach Hanna and Lily. “Not yet baby, we got you,” Lily whispered with her lips against Maya’s.
Maya would have argued, she loved touching them too, got off when her partners got off, but just then she could feel herself being overtaken by ecstasy, falling deep into the feeling, and so she let herself fall.