𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 ✓

40

"So what's the plan for today?" Kiki asks from beside me but I'm so distracted by the sight of a crowd gathered around something interesting. The commotion and my attention to it draws Kiki's gaze as well, and we automatically start to drift closer out of pure curiosity. I hear some people talking to each other animatedly about a fight and I'm guessing that's what is going on in the center of the circle of people.

Not interested in witnessing this event, I start to drag Kiki's arm away, back towards her dorm when I hear "If somebody doesn't stop Maddox, he'll kill him this time." I gasp and immediately drop Kiki's hand and force myself through the crowd, needing to see for myself if it is Maddox fighting. People curse at me as I push them but I just force through until I get to the inner ring of the circle of people, immediately spotting the tattooed boy that has stolen my heart.

The pain in my chest throbs at the sight of his bloodied knuckles pounding into someone's face, covered in so much blood that he is unrecognizable. Maddox has clearly won this fight, but by his relentless fists and the dangerous glint in his eyes, he's not nearly finished. "Maddox!" I scream out, trying to get him to listen to me but he doesn't even blink, continuing to bash the poor guy's face into the ground, and not one person from the crowd tries to pry him off, probably from their sense of self-preservation; Maddox is terrifying right now.

I knew that he had a temper from the sight of his bloody knuckles at dinner that one time, and he told me that he was in a fight and that the guy deserved it, but nobody deserves to be beaten to within an inch of their life like this.

"Stop! Maddox!" I scream again and try to move closer to him, not listening to the people around me telling me to stop. Carefully trying to avoid his elbows, I grab Maddox's right arm to stop him from throwing one more punch but he shrugs me off harshly and jumps off of the guy. He spins quickly and balls his hand into a fist before turning around and aiming it at me.

His eyes widen when he almost hits me and I flinch back severely, almost having fallen to the ground if it weren't for the pair of familiar arms that wrap around me from behind. I don't turn around, I just bite my quivering lip and stare at Maddox with wide eyes, knowing that my face betrays the fear I feel at the sight of his seething anger turned to me.

His eyes reflect the same fear that I know is in mine and I can't help but turn around in Chase's arms and cry into his chest. He runs his warm hands around my back and I can feel his jaw move against the top of my head as he mouths words, probably to Maddox, before turning around with me and practically carrying me to his truck. Kiki follows close behind, muttering to herself.

Chase sits me down in the front seat, pulling the seatbelt over my heaving chest as I hyperventilate. He immediately climbs in, unbuckles the seatbelt again after seeing the state I am in, and pulls me into his lap. His voice is calming and after embracing me for who knows how long, I finally relax and my tears cease to fall.

The truck is silent as we drive back to the house after dropping Kiki off at her dorm, I insisted on being alone with Chase and she agreed to give me some time, after making me promise that I'd call her as soon as I felt better. Nobody could understand my reaction to seeing Maddox that way, but I preferred to keep it to myself, not wanting anyone to pity me, especially after all that has happened with the fainting, and almost drowning.

Chase carries me up to my room and we snuggle into the covers of my bed. He puts on Tangled, which was always my favorite movie, but this time it makes me cry at the sight of it. This movie now reminds me of Maddox and how sweet he is with his sister, how sweet he is with me usually. I watch the movie anyway and about halfway through, I hear a knock at my door.

I sit up abruptly and look at Chase, already knowing who stands on the other side of the door. Chase's jaw flexes and he climbs off the bed to greet him so that I don't have to. He pulls it open slightly, not enough for me to see past his body. I can hear the two of them whispering but can't make out the words they exchange.

Chase looks back at me. "He wants to talk to you. To explain." My eyebrows furrow and I think about it. Should I even give him the chance? He almost hit me. I close my eyes at that thought but all it does is force the picture to the front of my mind. I open my eyes and nod hesitantly. After everything that Maddow has done to protect me and show that he cares, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Chase exits the room and says one more thing to Maddox, that I'm unable to hear, before leaving. Maddox steps in slowly, closing the door but never taking his grey eyes off of mine. His head hangs low and he walks slowly to the bed, taking a seat on the side and leaving a fair amount of distance between us which I should appreciate but don't. Even now, I crave to be close to him.

"I'm so sorry Princess. I would never hit you. I was just so angry―"

"Why?" I plead. What excuse for his anger could he possibly have to make me forget that he nearly killed that guy earlier? He bows his head again.

"It was the same guy that I fought that other time." He says and I blink multiple times before nodding for him to continue. "The first time, we were in the locker rooms and he was saying shit about you, things that I couldn't listen to, wouldn't listen to... so I hit him. All the guys knew he deserved it, and I guess he did too because he didn't press charges. After that, he obviously knew that I cared about you, so today he showed me a picture that he took that one day at the beach. It was a picture of you, wearing that pink bathing suit. You were bent over, picking something up. It doesn't show much, but the fact that he had a picture like that on his phone, that fucking scumbag..." He growls and I run my hand soothingly up his muscular arm, realizing that I've inched closer. "I grabbed his phone and deleted the picture, so he hit me. It all went downhill from there." Maddox explains and I listen, nodding throughout. I can tell that he is telling me the truth.

I move my hands to cover his torn knuckles before grabbing his good hand to pull him out of my room and into our bathroom before lightly pushing him to sit on the countertop which he does without argument.

Finding the first aid kit beneath the sink after some searching, I stand back up and move his legs apart to stand in between them, applying some antiseptic to a cotton ball and looking up at his face. The other guy got one good hit to Maddox's face, splitting the skin on his cheekbone open a tiny bit.

"This is going to sting," I warn him before gingerly pressing the cotton to his cut. Maddox doesn't so much as flinch and just stares at my face. Blood rushes to my cheeks and I can see him smile from the corner of my eye. I apply some ointment to the cut and leave it open to let it breathe for a minute before applying a butterfly strip. Looking down at his knuckles, I see that they are all completely busted open so I run them under the water to find that they aren't quite as bad as they look.

The entire time I work, Maddox sits quietly as his eyes roam. I clean up his hands and wrap them, looking back up at him. "All fixed," I say and keep my eyes on his.

"Thank you, this is much more than I deserve," Maddox mumbles and I just shake my head.

"You're wrong. You were defending me when I couldn't speak for myself against a bully. You're more than I deserve."

"You deserve the world, Princess," Maddox says and my heart melts in his broken hands.