Fighter

Ch. 47

After dinner with the boys, I was calm enough so I drove back to the house. When everyone got out I looked around for Maddox's car. Thank God he's not here; it's too hard to see him.

"Well, Alex, you ready to get going?" Chris asks.

"Hadley and I were supposed to talk." Alex says, looking at me.

Ah, dammit why couldn't he just forget about me, forget about everything? We've talked about it, I said my piece, it's done. If this were any other guy but Alex I would ignore him until he went away.

"Alex, we can talk another time. I think I said all I needed to say today. Maybe we could have lunch tomorrow? Just the two of us and you can get everything off of your chest."

"Okay, tomorrow. Is noon good?" He asks.

"Yeah, that's fine. Bye, boys." I say, hugging Chris then Alex quickly.

"Are you coming in?" I ask, Tyler.

"Do you need me to?"

"Yes, please. You're my favorite shoulder to cry on." I admit.

"God, you make me feel like a chick."

"You're not?!" I yell, in fake shock.

"You're asking for it, babe." He says, throwing his arm over my shoulders. We walk to the house and into my room.

"I'm going to call him, that's really why I want you here." I say, quietly. Going to my bed we both sit against the headboard. I take my phone out of my purse and hit send on Maddox's number. It rings once and he answers.

"Hadley." He says.

"Maddox." I reply.

"Did you have fun tonight?" He asks, calmly.

"Yeah, I did, it was relaxing. There was no fighting or arguing, it was a whole new experience."

"I bet." He replies, irritated.

"Maddox, our relationship, it's not working. We are trying to make it work and all we do is argue. The tracking app you put on my phone was crossing a line that we can't step back from."

"Are you breaking up with me?" He asks, his voice dangerously low.

"Yes."

He takes a deep breath. "No."

"Maddox, I-..."

"What if you're pregnant? Have you even thought of that? Have you once thought about how I might be so terrified that something could happen? That's why I put that tracking app on your phone. I admit, it was too much and I should have told you, but fuck, Hadley, I'm so scared I won't be there with you when you need me. That I'll have to find you, like I did them. When I said it was for peace of mind, I meant it."

'Them' meaning his parents. That he would find me like he did his parents. My heart aches for this little boy.

"What the hell is wrong with talking to me? Why can't you say this stuff before you need to? I don't get any insight to how you feel about anything, because you don't tell me! You're so closed off you either don't trust me or you have absolutely no respect for me and what you're doing to me in this relationship. We'll cross the road of me potentially being pregnant when I miss my period." I say. I feel Tyler tense up beside me and look at him, his eyes are closed. I see his impossibly long eyelashes twitch when he starts to squeeze his eyes shut tighter.

I touch his arm and he snaps his eyes open looking directly into mine. At first I'm shocked by his expression, he looks so devastated and broken that I don't realize Maddox is even talking until I hear him yell my name.