"Well look who's finally home," Dean teases from the kitchen.
Not even the sarcasm in his voice can drown out the sheer joy I feel. Hearing Maddox say that he loved me after the way he took care of me meant everything. "Look who's always home," I retort walking to my room. "I just stopped by to change before my shift."
"Man I feel like I never see you these days," He says, following me down the hallway.
"You see me all the time at work and we live together?" I question, giving him a weird look.
"Uh we both pay to live here, you practically live at Maddox's."
I open the door to my room, and turn to stop Dean from following me. "First of all, I don't live at Maddox's place. Second of all, I'm changing so you're gonna have to talk through the door."
He gives me a sly smile, "You don't want an audience?" I don't bother giving him a response other than shutting the door in his face, "I was just kidding!" Dean exclaims through the door.
"I'm aware," I reply loudly, grabbing a tank top from my closet and pulling on a set of jeans. I run a brush through my hair before pulling it up into a messy bun.
"So when are you going to move in with him?" He asks, just as I open the door again.
I jump half a step back out of surprise since I assumed he had gone back to the kitchen, "Jesus Dean. You can't just stand there."
"But you knew I was there? Also you're avoiding answering my question."
My booties are by the front door, "I'm not moving in with Maddox anytime soon. I think you're forgetting that I've only been seeing him for a few months. Plus I'm finally living on my own, I'm not ready to live with a boyfriend again."
Although I can see his point because I do spend more nights there than I do here. It's not as if I'm never home, I guess there's just been a lot going on lately.
"Okay well I guess if I want to talk to you, then I'll have to come spend my hard earned money at the bar," Dean sighs, giving me a smile and grabbing his keys. "You know how John hates when people are late."
My jaw drops, "Oh so you knew I was trying to get you to leave?"
He shuts the front door behind us, checking to make sure it's locked. "Yes, you weren't exactly subtle about it. I do like the blonde though, I just wasn't expecting it."
"Well I'm sorry because I am happy that things are getting better between you and Maddox, but I also wanted to only see him that night."
Dean shakes his head slightly, "I'm guessing I have you to thank for his changing attitude towards me?"
"It was all Maddox. I pushed and nagged to get him there, but it was ultimately his decision." I nagged a lot even after I said I wouldn't touch the topic of their relationship.
He throws an arm over my shoulder, "I appreciate it. I do have other news to tell you! I would have told you when I found out, but you're always with my brother doing god knows what." He shudders at the thought causing me to giggle.
"You don't want to know."
"You're right, I don't want to know. But I got into the fire academy."
My jaw drops and I stop in my tracks, "You got in?"
Dean smiles widely, "I got in."
I throw my arms around his neck to give him a hug. He's been working non-stop on his application every minute he isn't working at the bar. "I'm so proud of you, I knew you could do it."
"I don't think I would have ever applied if you hadn't pushed me to be my own person."
The smile on my face is made of pure joy. Maddox and I are in a great place, Dean is going to get to do his dream job, Jupiter is happy with Alex, and the list goes on and on. Everything is finally going well.
I fall back onto my heels to see that Dean's still smiling just as big as I am. "Congratulations."
The flash of cameras distracts my attention away from Dean.
"Cassidy who are you with? Where's your boyfriend?" One questions, getting really close to me. I cover my eyes with my hand, looking for Dean. Why do they care who I'm with?
"What happened with Gabby York at the charity gala on Saturday?" Another demands, shoving his camera in my face. I take a quick step back, the heel from my shoe catches on a lip in the sidewalk, resulting in me falling backward scraping my elbow in the process. The flash of the cameras is blinding as they continue taking pictures and yelling questions at us.
I'm assuming it's Dean who helps me up, "Can you back the fuck up?" He yells as the flashes continue.
"Can you please just leave us alone?" I ask, trying a different approach as I continue to shield my eyes.
This is madness.
The questions keep coming at alarming speeds until I hear a crash. It's enough to divert attention away from me, and I blink multiple times trying to regain my sight. Dean is brawling with one of the photographers, and his camera lays in a shattered mess a few feet away. "Dean, no!" I shout just as he's about to punch the photographer.
He looks at me and I can see how conflicted he is. I shake my head and he shoves the guy back to the ground, "You'll be lucky if we don't sue you for harassment. My family doesn't fuck around with people like you."
The mass of paparazzi disperse quickly after that statement. "Cass your arm is bleeding," Dean says turning it to see the blood dripping down my arm.
I wince once I see the amount of blood, "I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, we've dealt with this our whole lives. It's usually never like this though."
I look to see where the photographer Dean had fought with was, but he'd disappeared. Probably for the best, "Why do they even care?"
"I'm guessing it has something to do with Gabby, but it was only a matter of time until something like this happened. Hayes is taking a break from the spotlight with Sephine so that's bound to mean that Maddox would get more attention. Because you're dating Maddox, that puts you right there with him." Dean explains, pulling me along to the bar.
Dean's explanation though still doesn't make sense because nothing is that exciting about Maddox's life. To be frank, Hayes and Sephine's life isn't all too dramatic either.
I know for a fact that there's a first aid kit at the bar because we've had fights break out before with innocent bystanders getting caught in the middle. "I'm going to be late for my shift," I say quietly.
"I think John will cut you some slack once he sees your arm." Dean says and I fall silent again, letting him pull me along.
*********
My shift was exhausting because I kept replaying every little thing that happened leading up to all the cameras. I'm sure they're going to make it look like I'm into Dean when that's quite literally the last thing that would ever happen. My elbow had been wrapped enough times that it looked like I had suffered a gunshot wound instead of a deep scrape.
I did refuse to go to the emergency room because Jupiter and Dean were completely over reacting. I'm fine. Shaken up, but fine.
"I didn't need a babysitter all night," I say to Dean, who had camped out right in front of my station.
He shrugs, "I know, but if you really think I'm going to let you walk home tonight by yourself, then you're clearly mistaken."
I finish cleaning the counter and the last of the glasses we'd collected from the stragglers who finally left. I told Jupiter she could head out when they did because I haven't been in much lately. I have no problem closing the bar, especially if Dean is going to insist on staying here.
"Well are you ready to go?" I ask, grabbing my keys and phone from where I'd put them in the back.
"Ready when you are."
I trudge up the steps leading to the sidewalk to begin the trek home when I notice Dean isn't beside me anymore. I turn out of pure annoyance to look for him because I know he means well, but this is just becoming too much at this point.
"There's no reason for us to walk when we can take a cab," Dean says with his hand in the air.
"Okay, you're being ridiculous now. I'm not wasting money on a cab when it's within walking distance." I reply ignoring him to continue walking.
I didn't really think he would make the taxi drive slow next to the curb to try and convince me that its not the right time of night to be walking by myself. "Dean, I'm not walking by myself though because you're right there next to me!" I exclaim, starting to have a quicker pace.
He's being an overprotective idiot.
"Just get in the cab, Cassidy!" Dean says and I ignore him completely. I've done this walk hundreds of times over the years and I've been perfectly fine. Earlier was a fluke.
I really didn't think he would do it the entire way back to the apartment. I figured about halfway after they got stuck at a light Dean would abandon ship and just walk with me. I don't even want to know what he payed in taxi fare.
I knew that it wasn't pretty based on the way Dean grumbled the entire way up the steps. "Oh stop being such a baby. No one made you get a taxi," I retort, eager to shower and go to bed.
However, Maddox clearly was more upset about the incident earlier than I was. His hair was sticking up at weird angles, telling me that he had been running his hands through it for a while out of stress. "Are you okay?" He asks immediately once I step in the doorway, running his eyes over every inch of me to see where I was hurt.
"I'm fine." I promise as Dean walks in next.
"You're fine, but my wallet isn't."
This time my temper slips through, "Well it's not my fault you're afraid to walk at night. Not all of us have had the luxury of being driven everywhere. I told you not to get in the taxi, but you didn't listen." His jaw drops and I feel slightly guilty by the hurt in his eyes.
"Sorry for trying to help. I'm going to bed, I have an interview in the morning." Dean walks away without another word, and I groan wanting to hit my head against a wall.
Maddox is giving me a concerned look, "What's that about?"
"I'm tired and I really just want to go to bed. Your brother has been up my ass all night because the stupid fucking people with cameras got in our faces. I don't need a babysitter," I insist stubbornly, and Maddox tries not to smile. I think he's starting to get that this is all much more of a nuisance than a real issue for me.
"He's just looking out for you because he cares."
I reach up to smooth his hair down, "I don't need him to look out for me. I promise that whatever he said, it really wasn't that bad. I'll apologize in the morning."
"So they didn't ambush you and cause you to fall to the ground? Then the photographers wouldn't give you space to get up so Dean had to punch one and break his camera?" Maddox asks and I falter because when he puts it that way, that's exactly what happened.
"It sounds worse than it was. Do we have to talk about it?" I whine, pulling Maddox towards my bedroom.
"No, we don't. We'll talk more tomorrow, I'm really sorry this happened."
I press a short kiss to his lips, "You don't need to be sorry. It wasn't your fault."
I can tell by the look in his eyes that he doesn't believe me, but I don't give him a choice to protest since I head into the bathroom to shower. By the time I'm done, Maddox is asleep on the bed and I curl into him, glad that he's here. His arms tighten around me for a moment and I fall into a dreamless sleep, listening to the sound of his heart beat.