Maddox:
"Maddox, for the hundredth time, I swear I'm okay now." Rose places her hand softly on top of my clenched fist, her fingers slowly tracing my busted knuckles and I hug her to my chest even tighter.
The sight of her unable to breathe and shaking in fear is engraved into my brain. I'll never be able to get rid of that image. It scared me near to death when she couldn't breathe and I know she's okay now but I can't calm down just yet.
"Can I please clean your hand?" She asks quietly, and I shake my head, my arms locking behind her to trap her body against mine. She sighs and looks down, her fingers playing with a loose thread on the front of my shirt before she looks up at me with sadness. "I'm sorry, Maddox."
"For what?" I frown in confusion because she has nothing to be sorry for, but she shrugs sadly.
"I know you're worried about me. I know I scared you earlier with the panic attack." She mumbles, looking ashamed of herself and I feel anger fill me all the way again. "It was a bad one, but those are rare, I swear. It shouldn't happen again any time soon. I mean, it just happened because he touched me and I hated it, but---"
"Please stop talking." I interrupt her because I don't think I have it in me to hear this right now. "You have nothing to apologize for. It wasn't your fault, and it's nothing to be ashamed of, Rose."
"But I know you're still worried about me." She points out as she scoots a little closer over my lap. "I'm sorry for making you worry so much."
"If I hear you say you're sorry one more time, I'm bending you over my fucking knee, baby." I promise, dead serious and she blushes adorably before nodding her head in understanding. "I love you. All of you. Every tiny little part of you. You get that?"
She nods again before dropping a quick kiss to my lips and I take a deep breath after that, letting my eyes shut for a moment. "Can I take care of your hand now? You have a game next week. You can't play if your hand is not perfect."
"Don't worry about it, Angel. I'll ice it later and Tyler will do the rest. He's really good with patching up small injuries." I say and she grins at me.
"Had a lot of practice in high school, the both of you?" She looks like she's about to wink at me like the dork she is, and I sigh in relief, only now believing that she is truly okay.
"Yeah, we used to get in all kinds of trouble." I mumble, my arms still tightening around her small figure. I can't believe her fucking ex decided to show up and confess his undying love to her. He's a fucking idiot and an asshole for not respecting her wish when she told him she didn't want to see him. And touching her was way too fucking far.
"Maddox, stop." Rose's surprisingly stern voice grabs my attention and I blink twice before focusing on her. "First of all, you're gonna break my ribcage if you don't stop squeezing me so tightly. Second of all, just let it go. Trust me, I'm mad too, but what's done is done and he's gone now, for good."
I sigh, resting my forehead against her shoulder. "Sorry."
"It's okay. Just please calm down. I love you." She moves her small hands across my shoulders soothingly before moving them through my hair and I fucking purr because that feels too good. "Tell me what I can do to make you feel better."
"Come home with me this weekend." The words escape my mouth faster than I think them through and when her hands freeze in my hair I almost curse myself as I lift my head to catch her eyes.
"What?" She asks.
"Worst fucking timing ever, I know." I shake my head because I'm an idiot. "But my mother's birthday is next weekend. We have a party every year. Not a big one, just my parents, my sisters, their husbands and children, and Tyler and I will be there. I want you to come with me, baby."
She blinks at me for a few seconds before nervously swallowing. She looks down again, her eyes too unfocused and I know she's not as enthusiastic about this as I am.
"It's okay if you don't want to or if you're not ready for that yet. I'll totally understand, I promise." I rush the words out but she shakes her head.
"It's not that." She mumbles quietly and I frown.
Pushing her head up with my fingers beneath her chin, I search her eyes. "Then what is it?"
She sighs. "Let's talk about this later, yeah?"
"Rose, what's wrong?" I think I'm panicking a little because she looks at me for a second too long before sighing again.
"You're already in a bad mood. I don't want to argue." She bites her bottom lip nervously.
"Why would we argue? I told you it's okay if you don't want to come, baby. I'll understand. You know I never want to pressure you into anything. We can wait, Angel." I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear gently and caress her cheek.
"It's not about waiting, Maddox." She shakes her head with a huff. "And of course I do want to meet them, I'd be honoured but..."
That calms down my heart a little. "But what, my angel?"
"What do they know about me?" She asks with a raised brow.
"They know that you I love you. That I've been in love with you for two years. They know that I was going to ask you out but you took your classes online for a year. I've told them that you're back and that we're friends. They know we've been getting close but they don't know we're together yet. I'm planning on tell them soon, though." I answer her truthfully and she sighs once more.
"Do they know why I've decided to take my classes online?" She asks, already knowing the answer and my frown deepens. "Do they know about my condition? The stutter? The attacks? Everything else?"
I get now where she's heading with this and I clench my jaw as I shake my head.
She carefully gets off my lap and stands up, tying her hair into a high bun at the top of her head. "I know I've been doing better with crowds lately. That being around people doesn't scare me as much as it used to before. But how am I supposed to meet your family if I'm gonna stutter every time someone talks to me? How am I gonne tell them not to shake my hand or touch me at all? How are we supposed to explain that if someone makes physical contact with me, even accidentally, I might freak out and cry and have a panic attack just like I did half an hour ago?"
"Stop it." I say, sternly. "Stop making yourself believe that you're not good enough. I fucking hate it when you do that."
"I'm good enough for you, I understand that. You love me as I am, I get that too." Rose speaks, her eyes bright with a fire new to me. "But if I go there it'll be catastrophic, Maddox. The second I refuse to shake someone's hand and stutter as I explain that it scares me, they'll think I'm a freak and I'll embarrass you and I don't want that."
"Fuck, Rose." I shoot up to my feet, a visible scowl on my face. "You'll fucking embarrass me? Are you serious?"
How could she think that? How could she still not see how amazing she is, how kind and caring and sweet?
"I told you I don't want to argue." She huffs in annoyance, shaking her head.
"Oh, we'll argue, baby. Whenever the fuck you talk about yourself like that, we'll argue. Because you're fucking perfect, and you still don't know that. Your heart is made of pure fucking gold, Rose." I stare her down and she bites her lip again.
"I want to meet them when I'm normal again." She admits sadly and my heart fucking breaks.
"So just because you're not comfortable with people touching you and you get nervous when you're talking to strangers, that automatically makes you abnormal?"
Rose remains silent as she looks at me, her eyes a little ashamed of herself and I'm glad for that. Because she needs to hear that nothing is wrong with her.
"You're always so worried people will notice the things you hate about yourself, even though you've learnt to accept them. Why do you never think that they'll notice the good too?" I take step closer to her. "My family will absolutely love you because they will see how beautiful you are inside and out. They'll see how kind and sweet and selfless you are. They'll see how strong and brave you can be when you want to. They'll see how fucking happy you make me, Rose."
Her eyes get glossy with unshed tears and her bottom lip trembles slightly, and I go on. "Fuck, baby, even that dickhead of an ex you have just confessed that you've been right all along. You were never delusional, never stupid or naive like you believed."
Her eyes widen slightly, and I know that her anger and hurt toward him blinded her from looking at it this way. "You were smart enough to see what he spent months trying to hide from you. You were honest enough to admit what he couldn't. You were brave enough to try and take the risk he was too much of a coward to take. And even after everything, you were strong enough to get over it, to move on, to love again."
A couple of precious tears fall down her cheeks and I wipe them away gently, my eyes never moving from hers. "I know you're hurt and that you hate him, and fuck I wish I could punch him again for what he has done to you, but you know what? I'm fucking glad he came here today. Because now you know for sure it was never your fucking fault. You've done absolutely nothing wrong. You never hurt yourself nor did you destroy it like you believed. You no longer have to blame yourself for anything, because every single assumption you've made was right. That's how fucking smart you are, Rose."
"I..." She sniffles, "I didn't think about it like that."
"I know you didn't. And it's understandable. But I need to hear you say it. You were right all along. You were never to blame. Come on."
Her lips turn into a small shy smile, her eyes soft and still a little glossy even though she's not crying anymore. "I was never to blame."
I nod my head encouragingly and grin.
"I was right all along." She grins back at me, bouncing a little on her small feet excitingly. "I was good enough, Maddox!"
"Not good enough." I quickly shake my head. "Too good, baby. Too good for him and probably too good for me, but I'm a selfish dick and I'm never letting you go, so."
She laughs loudly at my statement before jumping right into my arms. "I love you!"
"I love you more, my angel. So much more." I shove my face in her neck and chuckle as she hugs me tighter than ever before, glad that my Rose is happy again.
Pulling back, she stares at me with a warm smile. "I can never live without you, you know that, right? You're the best boyfriend and friend on this planet, and I'm so lucky to have you by my side. If you ever let me go I'm literally going to murder you."
I laugh loudly and sit down with her on my lap. "You're insane if you think I can live without your ass. I'm marrying the shit out of you when we graduate, just so we're clear. You better fucking say yes to me, Rose."
I'm serious, and I know she gets that because her smile turns into a beautiful shy grin and she says, "I think you already have your answer, Maddox."
I don't think I've ever been happier than I am right now as I capture Rose's lips in a soft, sweet kiss to seal that promise.
She pulls away soon and looks at me softly. "I want to meet them. Your family."
I grin. "You do?"
She nods her head with a cute little blush. "Just give them a hint first about the stutter and the no touching thing, because it'll be awkward to see the confusion on their faces when we get there."
"Fair enough." I nod my agreement then gather her in my arms again. "They will absolutely love you."
"Tell me more about them?" She asks, her eyes shining with excitement and nervousness alike and I grin before I tell her all she needs to know.
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