Bad Boy's Baby Girl

All of You

*Cade's POV*

I stare off into the distance as Mackenzie blabbers on about something beside me and try to control my anger that Monroe showed up with that guy. He was at her house yesterday too. She really didn't waste any time moving on did she? I'm so lost in my own thoughts, I don't even notice her walking up to me until she says, "Hey. Can we talk?"

"Oh my gosh Monroe, just leave him alone already. In case you forgot, he's done with you," Mackenzie snaps at her and I lose it.

"Shut the fuck up Mackenzie. Don't you dare speak to her like that. I've already told you to leave me the hell alone multiple times this week. What part of I'm not interested don't you understand?"

"Whatever Cade, I'm over you anyway. I've got way better options," she says and stomps away.

I turn to Monroe and see that she's watching me with an eyebrow raised. I say, "Sorry about - that. She's been - you know what, it's not important. Let's go talk." I lead her through the house and out the front door. We start walking down the street and she says, "Well, um, I wanted to talk about what happened the other day, but I'm not really sure where to start. What you said really hurt me Cade."

"I know. I'm sorry. Charlie told me after about your parents."

"What exactly did she say?"

"Just that they're both dead."

"You know, that's not even what upset me. I was more mad that you made those kinds of assumptions about me. I felt like we had something real and then you just went ahead and assumed I was some spoiled little rich girl whose daddy handed her everything on a silver platter."

"What was I supposed to think then Monroe? It's not like you tell me anything. If what we had was so real, why are you hiding so much?" I stop walking and she turns to face me. I can see the anger and frustration in her face.

"You were supposed to judge me based on my actions and my character! My history has nothing to do with who I am as a person."

"That's bullshit and you know it. Your history is what makes you who you are."

"If that's what you think, you should probably just leave now and save yourself the trouble," she says and a tear escapes her eye and she swipes it away angrily.

"What does that even mean?"

"I literally moved across the country to escape my past and now you're saying that escaping it is impossible. You can't even begin to understand how shitty that is for me."

"Then help me understand, Monroe. I want to understand."

She shakes her head and says, "I - I'm afraid that if I tell you everything, it'll change how you see me. I've dealt with the looks and the stigma before and I will not do it again."

"Nothing you could tell me could change the way I see you. I don't care how bad you think it is."

"It's really fucked up Cade," she says quietly.

"I don't care. I don't know why but when you left Monday, it felt like you ripped out my heart and took it with you. I want you. All of you. But if this is going to work, we're going to have to be honest with each other. All the cards on the table. Do you trust me?"

She searches my eyes for something for just a second before saying, "I do."

"Okay then. I'll start. My mom wasn't always this okay. When I was little, she was addicted to meth. She lived in a trailer park and she would do basically anything for a hit. My biological father was one of her dealers. There was basically a revolving door of men in and out of the trailer while I was growing up and my mom was rarely lucid.

When I was about 8 years old, she got arrested for possession and wound up in jail. It turns out, that was the best thing for her. I stayed with Xander's family for a bit and she got clean. When she got out, she got a job and started seeing Ben. Eventually, they got married and Lily and Hanna were born.

You would think that things would be better, but Ben is a giant piece of shit. He cheats on my mother constantly and is always threatening to send her 'back where she came from' if she does anything to piss him off. So, I need to go to college and get a good paying job so that my mother can leave him."

"That's a lot of pressure to be putting on yourself," She says.

"Yeah I know. This isn't an excuse but I feel like I should explain this for transparency sake: after you left Sunday, Ben told me that you were too good for a piece of trailer trash like me and started saying that you've probably got a whole future planned for you and that I shouldn't fuck it up for you. He got in my head and then when Charlie brought up college applications, I just snapped."

"I see. I get why you were angry, but you know you can't just take that out on other people right?"

"Yeah, I know. And I really am sorry for all that stuff I said. It was completely unfair to you."

"Thank you, for explaining. And for the apology." she says with a small smile. "So I guess that means it's my turn huh? All the cards on the table?" I nod and she takes a breath and starts her story.

"Well, my father was a very successful businessman and my mother was a high school music teacher. When they met, apparently my father was super nice and sweet and all that crap until they got married and I was born. Long story short, he forced her to quit her job and dedicate every minute of her life to pleasing him and being the perfect wife. She couldn't leave him because she signed a pre-nup and he threatened to take me away from her.

That's the problem with assholes that have a lot of money: they can get away with whatever the fuck they want. As I got older, he got worse. His emotional manipulation turned into physical abuse somewhere along the line. I was maybe 6 the first time I saw him hit her. By the time I was 10, my mother was basically a prisoner in her own life and she couldn't take it anymore so she killed herself."

"I can't even imagine how hard that was for you," I say, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not done yet. You sure you want me to keep going?" I nod and she continues, "Well, when he found my mother's body, he went into a rage and drowned his anger in pills and booze. I found him on the floor in a puddle of his own vomit and called the ambulance that saved his life. Which, it turns out, was a mistake. When he came back home, he had to direct his anger towards someone else since my mother wasn't around anymore and I was the next closest person. T

hat's when I joined an MMA gym. The owners, Tommy, Ryan and Dylan basically raised me through my formative years. I spent as much time away from my Dad as possible. It got even worse when I hit puberty because the friends my dad would bring into the house would stare at me and would constantly make very inappropriate comments about my body. I constantly feared one of them would try and touch me so I would lock myself in my room and I would just hide.

When I was 15, I had had enough. I found a lawyer who was willing to help me and I filed for emancipation. I won and when news of the court battle broke, everyone in Manhattan found out what had happened. That not only turned me into a social pariah because nobody wanted to be caught up in that shit show but also caused my father to rage spiral again. The only difference was that I wasn't there to call the ambulance.

He overdosed one week after my emancipation was officialized. Being his only living relative, I got his company and every penny he had. I had to defer my senior year to deal with the fallout. I changed my name, sold everything and moved across the country, and now here we are."

"That's a lot to process. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that and I'm sorry for saying all those things. I understand now why that hurt you so much" I say.

"I'm surprised you're not running away screaming," she says. I can tell she's trying to make a joke but it fails miserably because I can see the fear written on her face.

"No way. I told you, nothing could change the way I feel about you. You're strong, and smart and kind and so much more. I want you, fucked up parts and all."

She looks at me and so many emotions play across her face before she wraps her arms around my waist and snuggles her head into my chest. As I hold her tight, for the first time since Monday, I feel like I can breathe again.