• Troublesome • Rhett x Reader •

• Chapter Twenty Seven •

And I stop in my tracks as the knocking turns into banging. My mind instinctually goes to Nicole, but soon darts to "are angry fans here to beat me up?"

"Shit! Come on." No, that voice was no other than Rhett's

I continue standing several feet away from the door, staring. Pondering. I subsequently notice that the door is unlocked, and I carefully reach to lock it, but not before the knob turns and the door swings open.

We both pause. Him standing in the door, sweat pouring down his drained face, frazzled hair sticking along his forehead. Me standing in a puddle of my own bath water, hair dripping wet, hunched over like a monster trying to reach for the doorknob.

"(Y/n)." He seems like he forgot what he was even going to say after having taken it upon himself to so rudely break into my home. "I was worried."

"Get out."

"Look, (Y/n), all I have to do is explain what happened. This'll all be okay." He drops his sweatshirt onto the ground.

"Don't care." I point towards the door, "I said get out."

"Please let me fix this! I can't... I can't handle this without you. Please!"

"Do you want me to call the police? Maybe your fans won't like hearing about you breaking and entering."

"Dang it, (Y/n)! I love you! I can fix this! I spoke to my attorney and she said to wait-"

"Oh my Go- JESUS, RHETT! THAT WON'T UNDO THE DAMAGE!" I slam my fist into the wall of the foyer, causing two keys to escape from the key hooks.

We stop again, staring.

"You won't undo this. I've already heard what everyone has to say about me. About what they think of my looks, my personality, my existence. Even if you tell them the truth, there will now always be people that hate me. Not solely because of this, but because I was ever with you."

His brows furrow and his gaze remains chained to mine. An unspoken battle between both of our needs.

"They've made it well known that I'm not welcome. And if I'm being honest, Rhett? I never wanted to be public about whatever this is. Because shit like this happens. Because people wait for the smallest sign of insecurity and they fucking pounce. When you're in the spotlight, you don't get to make mistakes. None." I fight back the tears I have refused to let out all day. "And I don't know if you've noticed, Rhett, but I make a lot of mistakes. And I'm kinda thinking you might be one of them."

With that, he finally breaks eye contact. His eyes press closed.

"I'm sorry. This is my fault." He admits. "This shouldn't have happened. I should've been preventative about our relationship. To keep this misunderstanding from ever happening."

"Ok." Is all I can say.

"Whatever you regret from all of this, (Y/n), please don't regret me."

He lifts his head, looking at me once again. And I'm taken back, once again, to the night he first kissed me.

Something about seeing him in my doorway, desperate, with his pleading eyes.

"I don't know what to tell you anymore. You should've, you could've, but you didn't, and now I have even more shit to unpack with my therapist."

Silence again.

"I didn't come here entirely to reinstate our relationship. I just.... I wanted to make sure you don't blame yourself." He then noticed the widening puddle of water that trails to the bathroom, and walks around me.

"I guess you figured you should just help yourself and ransack the place while you're burglarizing, right?" I keep my eyes pasted on him as he walks towards the bathroom, continuing to fight back tears.

"What in the heck were you doing?"

"Taking a bath." I shrug.

"Taking a bath? Half of the water is on the floor."

"Because somebody decided to interrupt." I shake my head to stay focused. "Please let me get back to it."

"Okay..." he seems unconvinced, but at last, obliges. He leaves the house and turns towards me once more. "Please call me if you need anything."

"Ok." I reply, shutting the door.

And as soon as the door clicks shut, the tears free fall. I struggle not to, but I collapse to my knees. Every tear that I wipe away is replaced with another, and I keep trying to coax my eyes to hold them in. Just while longer. I don't want to cry anymore.

"I forgot my hoodie." Rhett stands in the doorway, picking up his hoodie, but soon halting and staring at me once more. And his expression shifts from pleading to determined.

He steps forward and sits on the floor - in the puddle. He places his hands on the floor in my drooped line of vision.

"Can you look at me for a minute, (Y/n)?" His voice is closer than before.

I lazily lift my head, prying my hands away from my eyes. The tears continue escaping, and soon begin dripping from my chin.

"Can I hug you?" He asks.

I try to say "yes" but my voice doesn't comply. My mouth opens, but no words. All I can do is nod, and he does not hesitate to spread his long arms out wide and wrap them around me in their entirety. His familiar scent, the feeling of my face cozied against his chest, being cradled in his embrace - it makes my world go quiet.

I just want this.