Ａｌｍｏｓｔ Ｙｏｕ

chapter fourteen : space

Maddy ran around my living room like a mad woman making me laugh. She had showed up early with a bucket of cleaning supplies, insisting on cleaning the house before Sarah and Mitch got here tonight.

She ran the vacuum over the rug, moving the coffee table out of the way. I watched her wince a bit, standing up and grabbing her lower back and hurrying over.

"Maddy, be careful with your back, you have a whole party to throw." I said moving her softly and lifting the coffee table out of the way, "I told you this wasn't necessary."

"Rosie and I have literally destroyed your house this week with all the party planning. I don't want you to host guests like this." She said, vacuuming quickly so I could put the table back down.

"Baby, Mitch and Sarah are parents. If anyone is going to understand it's them." I said and she turned to me blushing a bit. I knew she wouldn't address that I had been calling her baby lately, but the bright red nose always let me know she liked it.

"Still. I don't want them to think I'm careless in your home like that." She said, turning off the vacuuming and holding her back as she wrapped up the cord.

"Here, sit down for a minute. I'll wrap it up." I said. I watched as she walked over to the couch, slowly sitting down, her face looked pain.

"Do you think you pulled something?" I said, rolling the vacuum away and putting it in the hall closet.

"No, I think I slept wrong is all." She smiled small, trying to hide the pain.

"I'll massage it right now. Come here." I said grabbing a pillow and laying it in the floor for her. I helped her get up and lay down, positioning myself over her, massaging her lower back.

"Oh, god." She groaned softly, pain clearly on her face, "Not too much pressure, please."

"Okay, I'll be gentle." I said, softening my hands on her back.

We stayed in silence for a while, and she finally seemed to relax under my touch. I leaned down on her carefully, kissing her cheek. She smiled softly, peeking her eyes at me.

"Thank you." She whispered and I nodded.

"Since you're here, do you just want to stay. We were just going to drink some beer and play card games. Rosie can come too." I offered, getting off of her and helping her sit up.

"No, if we are having dinner tomorrow I need to get more party stuff out of the way today. You enjoy your friends. I can't wait to meet them though." She smiled, tying her hair up in a messy ponytail.

"I can't wait for you to meet them. You'll love them. Mitch's a jokester, and Sarah is his perfect other half. She balances him out so well." I said, crawling over and sitting right next to her. She laid her head on my shoulder, grabbing my hand and interlacing our fingers.

"Do you think we balance each other out well?" She said softly and I smiled, biting my lip.

"I do. You're a bit of me, but you're more disciplined than me." I said and she nodded a bit.

"You made me fun again, you know that? I feel like I lost that bit of me. I wish I hadn't wasted so much time hiding it, feeling like I had to." Her voice was soft, like she was deep her thoughts and I squeezed her hand softly.

"We have plenty of time for you to keep being fun. To be adventurous. I'll make sure of it." I said and she nodded, not saying anything else.

"Maddy, I know you asked me to drop it. And, I've been trying...but can you just think about us...being well, more than this." I said softly.