3.0 The Chronicles of Us - Choas & Clarity

Chapter forty-four

*♡  Ellie ♡*

"Tex? Are these enough snacks?"

When he doesn't respond, I stop piling glazed donuts and look over my shoulder. He stares at the floor while leaning against the fridge; his mind somewhere back in time.

Three months have gone by since he discovered the audio file. We talked about it almost every night for two weeks and then we stopped. I didn't want to push him, so I let it go. A couple more weeks went by before he brought it up again. He started writing in a new journal, frowning a lot while doing so. I tried to take a peek at it, but I wasn't allowed until it was finished.

I know he's been scribbling down his thoughts and memories, creating a timeline or something like that. I hope he doesn't get stuck in his past. Forward is the only way to go.

I turn to him and suck some icing from my fingers before walking them up his chest. "Gummybear?"

His eyes meet mine, disgust clear on his face. "That's one of the worst things you've ever called me."

"Really?" I tease the skin behind his ear. "I thought you hated snuggle-bunny the most."

He cringes visibly, trying to hide a smile. "Yeah, that one's bad too."

"Liar. You love it." My lips touch his for a quick peck. "Are you nervous?"

He takes me in his arms, lacing his fingers behind my back. "You remember having to do those presentations in high school?"

"Sure, but I didn't mind them. It was fun sometimes."

"Fun? Christ! You're an outright freak." He shakes his head and chuckles. "Anyway, I hated it and this feels like that but ten times worse."

It never made sense to me how he can comfortably sing-scream his heart out on stage, yet finds it difficult to be the center of our friends and family's attention. We all love him.

I cup his cheek and look into the midnight eyes that still make my heart skip a beat every time. "You don't have to do it. I can just go in there and tell them all that you never cheated. They don't need proof, my word is enough."

"I know ... " He sighs and leans into my palm. "But I sorta want to. It's time to share with them why I've been an insufferable asshole for so long. Before I met you, I mean."

"Okay, then, let's go in there." I smooch him once more and then turn back to the counter top. "Can you carry one of these trays?"

He looks over my shoulder. "Jesus! Why did you make so much? We can feed the entire seven nation army with that heap of food."

I shrug innocently. "My mother taught me to be generous."

"I know." He presses his groin against my backside, his hands on my bosom. "That's why you have these tits and that fine ass."

I rest the back of my head on his collarbone and reach up to run my fingers through his hair. "I love you, Tex."

His lips trail from my shoulder to my ear; his arms wrapped around my waist. "And I love you."

To be in his arms, his presence, and his life, is something I'm grateful for every single day. Sometimes, when I imagine what my life would've been like hadn't I fled from my wedding when I was twenty-one, I get really somber for a second and then extremely happy.

I have my man, my sweet, angry man. If he was meant for anyone in this world, he was meant for me and me alone. Two opposite characters, unlikely to even get along, yet a perfect match.

I turn and hug him so tightly, he chokes out a breath of air. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing." With my face snuggled against his chest, the words are barely audible. "I just love you so, so much."