Paper Hearts (TK & MM)

Chapter 3

Marshall and I were walking along the large sidewalk to his house, just a few steps away. I had let go of his arm, only for him to wrap it lightly around my shoulder. A breeze would hit every now and then, and he'd casually pull me closer to him, and the cold air only made my face hurt more than it already did.

"Almost there," He reassured me. "I should've used my car." He said quietly, chuckling right after. I lightly laughed, and we eventually reached his ginormous house. He had a thumb print scanner on the left brick column that held the gate together, and once he scanned his thumb, the gates elegantly shifted away from each other, allowing us to enter. I never realized how big his house was until that very moment. Sure, it was huge just driving by. But actually standing in front of it? A whole different story.

We continued walking up the large driveway, entering through the set of double doors. He pushed one of them open, and allowed me to go through first, coming in behind me and shutting it behind him.

"Well," He started, leaning up against the door. "Like it?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"The Mathers Mansion." He replied. I laughed and took a good look around at my surroundings, deciding shortly after that I was absolutely in love with it.

"It's.. amazing. It's so "homey", you know? I really like it."

"Yeah, it's definitely somethin'," He retorted. "You want anything? A drink, somethin' to eat?" He politely asked, considering that I was technically a guest. He had made his way into his massive kitchen, deciding to follow him.

"Nah, but an ice pack would actually be great." I laughed off the pain that was soaring through my cheek.

"Oh, fuck, right." He walked rather quickly to his fridge, pulling out an ice pack. I had sat down on one of the barstools sitting all around the large island, placed right in the middle of the lovely room. He made his way over to me and bent down enough to see eye-to-eye, and gently pressed the ice pack against my cheekbone. I winced in pain, even though I tried to hide it, but he wasn't stupid - he knew. "God.." He said under his breath, looking down.

"What?" I mumbled, my hand over the hand that was holding the ice pack.

"He's just.." He looked back up into my eyes, as if he was searching for the right thing to say. "..a fuckin' asshole.. honestly, what kind of man hits a woman? I can't believe you stayed with him this long. No offense or anything."

I lightly laughed, responding right after. "I mean, when you love somebody, you'd do anything for them.. you know?"

He looked back down at the ground, and nodded. "I do know. I know exactly what you mean."

Neither one of us had said anything for a while. I looked up at him and noticed a blue and black bruise appearing on his right jaw from where Mikey had punched him the hardest. "Oh, my God, Marshall." I muttered under my breath, removing the ice pack that I had been holding by myself, and placed it on his jaw. He groaned and sighed.

"Ow, goddamnit." He said. He was now sitting on a barstool, and I was now standing in front of him, in between his knees, with the ice pack pressed against his face. "Fuck, that hurts."

"Yeah, he hit you pretty hard." I smirked, only kidding. He tried to hide the smile that was forming.

"Yeah, but I did better." He said in an emphasizing tone. I laughed, (and agreed) and continued to press the ice pack to his face.

After a while, I noticed that the house had been completely quiet, and it was strange. "Don't you have kids?" I asked.

He looked up at me. "Uh, yeah, I do. Whit, Hailie, and Laney. Whit's with her mom, Hay's with a few friends, and Alaina is probably with her boyfriend. That's why it's been so quiet."

"Gotcha," I replied. "It seemed quiet." I chuckled.

"Oh, yeah, if they knew you were here, they'd probably flip the fuck out; they love you. They're obsessed, if I do say so myself."

I was flattered. "They love me? That just made my day, I can't wait to meet them."

His hand, out of nowhere, was now on my waist, and he looked me deep in the eyes and said, "I can't wait to introduce them to you."

It's not like I didn't want his hand there because, trust me, I did. I wasn't prepared for it. I've always liked him, and maybe that was why this didn't bother me. I just assumed he knew he was 20 years older than me, and didn't want to try to make something out of nothing.

He had grabbed hold of the ice pack, and made a motion to get up, hand on my waist to get past me, and put it back in the fridge. He came back over to me, and lightly held my wrist, pulling me to the couch in his TV room. "Wanna sit for a little?"

My stomach was in knots. In a good way though. "Mhm." I nodded, and he led me to the large, soft couch, and sat down rather close to me.

I liked it though.

Oh, but I was feeling vulnerable.. and I didn't want that to be some type of excuse if something were to happen.

But then again, I'm not necessarily the "vulnerable" type. So, maybe it'd be okay. Gah, who knows.

I suddenly noticed that the lights had gone dim, and I looked over at him to see him completely relaxed. Sexy as fuck.

Shut up, Tori.

"What?" Marshall said, breaking the silence. I then realized that I had been staring at him the whole time, without even noticing.

"Uhm, nothing, nothing. Sorry."

"Nah, what were you thinkin' about?" He inquired. He was now somewhat closer than he was before, and..

I was okay with it.

"Just.. thinking about why I couldn't have found somebody better.. like, an actual man. He was a boy. A little, immature boy.. and I need a man."

"Yeah," He agreed. "You.. you do need a man. Somebody that.. would take care of you.. be faithful to you. Somebody that would never, ever, ever hurt you. Both physically and emotionally."

"Exactly. I need a man."

I watched him as his chiseled jaw started to clench, as if he was thinking about the scene that unfolded right in front of him. He saw me fall to the ground. He saw his hand smack against my cheek. He saw it all. And the look on his face gave me an instinct to try to calm him down.

"Hey," I whispered, getting closer to try and comfort him. "it's over now.. I wasted four years of my life on him, almost five.. but it's over now. I'm not doing that again, ever. Believe me when I say that, okay?"

I was close enough to his face to feel his breath on my mouth. And.. before I could even process what the hell just happened, his lips pressed against my own.

Marshall was kissing me.

I didn't really want to keep going, but I sure as hell didn't want to stop. I felt his hands gently cup my face, and he suddenly pulled back to look into my eyes, looking for a sign to tell him to stop.

"Marshall, I-"

"Goddamnit, Tori, I'm sorry." He looked down, as if he was ashamed of himself.

"What? Why?"

"Because, we.." He trailed off. "I don't know you, and you don't know me, and I'm fuckin' stupid to try and kiss you, when you just broke up with someone. I'm sorry. I am.."

He resumed his position of looking back down. I was staring at him, searching for his eyes. I then mentally told myself, that in reality.. I really didn't have anything to lose.

So, that being said, I reached for him, cupped his face, and hungrily kissed him back. It took him a while before I finally felt his palms pressing into my back, as my body was now up against his, with my knees on either side of his thighs. My arms were wrapped around his neck as we continued kissing.

And after what felt like hours, we eventually fell asleep on the couch together, with my body curled up against his own.

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How's that for a plot twist though? lol, hope you enjoy. <3