Love Again ✔

9. Unexplainable

I should've waited a little while before updating, but I'm as impatient as a person can get. *too excited*

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Rose:

Maddox touched me.

That's the first thing that comes to my mind when I open my eyes to the new morning. That Maddox touched me and it didn't flood my mind with memories and feelings and emotions like usual, no. It actually calmed me down. It made me feel safe and protected. Like nothing bad would ever happen to me as long as Maddox is touching me.

This gives me so much hope. I haven't known him for long at all, but now that I'm comfortable with him, that I trust he wouldn't deliberately hurt me, I feel so much better. The stutter is gone when I talk to him, and I don't feel like dying when he touches me. That means I'm making progress. That means there's hope for me after all. I'm not too far gone.

Yes, I've been broken for a while now. But I think... I think I'm finally starting to heal.

And that would've never happened if it wasn't for Maddox's friendship.

So with the biggest grin on my face, I jump out of bed and hurry to get ready for today. I have two afternoon classes and an essay to write and then my study session with Maddox later.

Walking towards the bathroom I find a piece of paper taped to the door.

'I didn't want to wake you up so I left after tucking you in. I'll see you tomorrow, Angel.

Here's my number, please text me so I can save yours and text you in case coach decides to treat us like animals again.

Ps: Happy birthday.

-M.'

My insides feel mushy all over again and I sigh at how sweet he is. I love that he respected my boundaries and didn't make a big deal out of my birthday.

Grabbing my phone, I send him a quick message, my smile still perfectly intact.

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Maddox:

"I wanna meet her, dude. Please. She's my future sister in law." Tyler whines again from beside me as we head inside our room and I chuckle at him.

"She's not ready yet. Social anxiety, remember?" I shake my head.

"I'm not telling you to bring her a party or introduce her to the whole team!" He waves his arms around. "Just me."

"I'll try to test the waters and see if she's up for it, alright?" I reason with him, because I know he's genuinely excited to meet her. I've been obsessing over her for a year and a half now, it makes sense that my best friend would be impatient.

"Thanks!" He grins, throwing his body on his bed. "So what are we gonna do about Lola?"

My mood instantly sours at the mention of her. Watching Rose on the verge of having a panic attack because of her puts her on my damn black list. I've been patient with her, avoiding her as discreetly as possible because I'm not the kind of guy to hurt a woman's feeling, but now she's definitely crossed the line. "I'll talk to her in a few. We have a lecture together and I'll put an end to her bullshit."

"Yeah, it's about time." Tyler nods his approval. "If it was me, I would've definitely given her a piece of my mind a long time ago by now. You've told her time and time that you're not interested and she doesn't seem to get it. Hell, you've told her that before you ever touched her. Chick is psycho, dude."

I run a hand through my hair with a heavy sigh. Now I wish I never touched her at all.

My phone pings in my pocket, and when I see the message I feel my heart beating fast enough that I have no doubt who it's from. It reads, "Thank you for tucking me in last night. Good luck with practice today."