𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑒

Chapter 24 ~ Love

Maddox

Once Willow fell asleep after an hour of holding her hand while she tried to calm down and fall asleep, I made my way to the bathroom to clean myself up. I will admit, I was scared of leaving her side for even a second.

I knew I was okay to leave for a bit once I heard her little snores which meant she was resting peacefully.

I run some water through my hair and slick it back to get it out of my face. I look at myself in the mirror and almost jump back from my horrendous reflection. I know for a fact that I'm exhausted because my dark circles are coming out.

I turn off the light and head back to my place on the couch. Willow is still sleeping, I wipe a piece of her hair that fell in front of her face. Is it weird I find her sleeping state cuter than when she is awake?

I look at my phone to see its four in the morning. I think I need sleep, but I promised Willow that I would be by her side all throughout her sleep.

Her couch is a L shaped couch and she is lying on the corner side while I lay the other way, our heads next to each other but our bodies separated. My hands keep wanting to grab her and pull her to me and hold her for the rest of time.

The rational part of myself, tells me to stay put, and if I'm lucky, she will come to me first.

I rest my eyes hoping that I don't end up falling asleep.

🌿

I fell asleep, and I'm awake thirty minutes later because Willow has been squirming in her sleep and her legs won't stop moving. I sit up and grab Willow's hand to help calm her. I plant my lips on it softly, rubbing my thumb in circles on the back of her hand.

The next thing I know,  Willow is also sitting up right and is breathing up and down. Shoot, I thought we would be able to avoid this. Luckily, I trained myself to be prepared for any asthma attacks.

I make sure that Willow's inhaler is in sight if I need to grab it.

Screw it.

Willow doesn't stop thrashing around so I pull her to my chest and have her back to my chest. "Shh." I run my hand in her hair while my other hand is holding her around her chest.

"I'm here baby, you're not alone. I got you." She tries to slow her breathing by taking deep breaths. I can hear the wheeze in her throat so I wrap on my arm around her waist to let go of her chest.

"I need- I need my- water." She breathes up and down more than a couple seconds ago. I reach for the table and grab her water, helping her get it all down. "Good, keep drinking." She holds her hand over my hand that is resting on the bottle.

She lets it go to take a deep breath and starts to calm her breathing down once again. She reaches for her inhaler and takes a puff, then another, and then puts it away.

I can feel her heart beating, so I move us into a laying down position. She is on top of me as I wrap my arms around her and tell her to go back asleep, hoping that now that she knows I'm not going anywhere, she will be okay.

"I got you Willow." My last words to her as she falls back asleep.

🌿

I know it's around one in the afternoon but I don't even care. Willow had one of the worst nights last night, and this morning, I feel like it would be selfish of me to try and get up.

I woke up around an hour ago, all I can hear is Willow's steady and normal breathing patterns as her mouth parts every time she exhales.

I massage her hair with my fingers as she sighs in content and puts her head in the crook of my neck.

My heart is beating a mile an hour, I know I say that every time I'm with Willow, but it's true. Everything she does makes me question how I got so lucky to be here with her? How did I get so lucky to end up at the same college as her after being worried about not seeing her?

How did I get so lucky that she is letting me be here for her?

I will never know, It will forever be a mystery.

"Maddox?" that soft voice of hers calls me. "Yes baby?" She lifts her head up to look me in the eyes.

"Have you been here all night?" She asks and I nod. "I don't even remember my attack. I don't even remember you being here." She rubs her head and sits up.

"Are you hungry?" I ask and she nods to my surprise. I pat her back as she gets off of me and sits on the couch, waiting for me to bring her food. I just put some cereal in a bowl since I know she likes that stuff.

"Thanks." She chows down her food as I watch her. She finishes in a matter of minutes and hands me the bowl. I place it in the sink and walk back over to the couch and fold the blankets we used last night.

"Maddox?" I turn to look at her.

"I'm sorry, for not speaking to you that is."

I smile and go over to her. I pull her into a hug and kiss her temple. "You don't have to be sorry, I know you do this to protect yourself."

She nods as she looks around her clean place. "You should probably go, I already made you skip school for the day."

"No you didn't, I do have to run though, I wanted to wait until you were okay, but just get some water for the rest of the day, eat the leftovers for lunch, and if you need me, I left a paper with my phone number on the counter."

I bid her one more goodbye as I grab my car keys and walk out.

I'm in big trouble. I'm in love with one of the people I consider my friend. My enemy? I don't know what we are. But I'm in love, and there's no going back now.