Love Arranged (#1)

Chapter Sixty-Six

Chapter Sixty-Six: Evan

I wait.

I arrived at the same park Maggie and I agreed to meet at, as I looked down at my watch to see what time it was, I felt a rush of excitement course right through me to see that it's 6:30 AM and how Maggie will be arriving shortly a couple of minutes from now.

I huffed out a quick breath and watch as it morphs into a foggy mist of air, considering it's still January and the weather was still kinda cold, I hug my thick coat a little bit tighter around my body, shifting on my feet from where I stood on the park's gate beside my car.

I peep inside the backseat and see the way my luggage was cramped in the tight space along with a couple of paper bags filled with food, thinking if we were going to spend a five-hour-long drive to San Francisco, we were going to need lots of refreshments to get us through the trip.

I had messaged my aunt last night to tell her we'll be crashing at hers, and after some careful deliberation and me explaining to her what had taken place with Maggie and her father last night, she agreed to take us in.

That's not to say she wasn't skeptical at first, saying how mishaps like these aren't something Maggie and I can just run away from and how eventually we'll have to deal with it.

But with the way I witnessed Maggie's breakdown last night, I knew we needed to get away for a while, even just for a bit, so that she can have some peace of mind before she confronts her father again, and how I'll be there for her each step of the way, even if it meant we had to risk our safety.

But I'll protect her, she was there for me in times I needed someone to confide in, and she was there for me when I needed to reconcile with people who held a grudge against me despite knowing she didn't have to do it. She helped me in more ways than one, stayed to see me become a better person, not only for myself but also for the well-being of others. She was there for me in ways no one took the time to do so.

That's why as much as I can, I wanna be there for her as well. I wanna be the person she can run to when times get tough and I wanna shield her away from any sort of danger.

In the same way that she did so with me when Robert picked a fight with me two times in a row, or when my parents tried to forbid me to go to New York and tried to take my plans away to go to different states and live my life in whatever way I want.

She did so much for me without having to expect anything in return, denied the gifts I wanted to give her thinking she didn't deserve it. But she does.

She deserves so much more and to be happy and to live her life in whatever way she wants, go to college and meet new people she can be friends with, travel around the world like how she planned to without having to worry about how her parents are monitoring her every move in hopes to tie her down.

I know how that feels more than anybody and if I'm able to, I'd do everything in my power to make sure she doesn't get stuck in the same place her whole life, remaining defenseless and submissive to the needs of her parents as if they own her. I know how she is as a person and as much as she loves her mother and fears for her well-being and how Wayne is still her dad, she doesn't wanna be dragged down by them.

She doesn't wanna be dragged down by anyone and that's why... I love her. I love her in ways that whenever the thought pops into my head, I can't help but want to suck in a quick breath because the idea alone makes my heart stop and race at the same time.

She's fierce, she's passionate and she's brave, and she cares so much about others and just wants what's best for them and sometimes I ask myself how someone can be that compassionate? To empathize with other people without expecting to gain anything back from them in return?