By your side (Rúben Dias)

Chapter Two

Maddie woke up disoriented. Where was she? Right, the guest room at her apartment. And she quickly remembered the reason why she was there in the first place.

When she got out of the room, she saw there was someone sleeping on the sofa and for a second, she worried it'd be Rob. But it was Rúben. Of course, he stayed. I don't deserve him, she thought.

Maddie wasn't stupid. She knew Rúben liked her but she was in a relationship and, unlike Rob, she didn't cheat. Actually, she had felt so bad about the few times she fantasized about Rúben because she felt that betrayed Rob. Well, she didn't feel bad about it anymore.

Knowing Rúben would always be there for her made her feel a lot stronger. And now she was single...well, maybe something could end up happening between them two but it was too early. The boxes full of Rob's stuff were still in the living room. One step at a time.

"Rúben", she said softly but he didn't move. So she kissed his cheek and that did wake him up. Maddie couldn't help but smile seeing his sleepy face. He was adorable. "Thank you for everything, Rúben. I don't know what I would do without you. You're the best".

"My pleasure. How are you feeling?"

"Better than expected but I guess it'll still be rough".

He nodded and got up. Maddie couldn't help but check him out while he moved to go to the bathroom. No one should be allowed to look that good wearing shorts and a simple shirt.

[Linds]: party tonight?

Maddie sighed. She needed to tell her friends what happened but she feared it too. And she definitely didn't want to do that via text so she called her friend.

"What's up? Ready for tonight?"

"You'll need to cheer me up, so yeah".

"Why? What happened?", Maddie could tell how Lindsay's voice changed from casual to worried and smiled at that.

"Rob and I aren't together anymore".

"But...why? I mean, as much as I didn't like him, you were fine less than 24 hours ago...wait, what did that asshole do?"

"He cheated".

Maddie had to move the phone away from her ear when the screaming started. Wow, that was a lot of different insults. Lindsay was always the most creative of their group.

"We don't have to go out. We can have a girl's night at home and do whatever you want".

"No, I want to go out. And get drunk and dance and...I don't know, hook up with the first guy I see".

Maddie heard a choking noise and turned to see Rúben, now out of the bathroom and drinking from a glass of water. Well, choking on that water.

"Who's that? Is that asshole there?"

"No, Linds. It's Rúben".

"Of course it is". Maddie rolled her eyes, imagining Lindsay's smile after finding out Rúben was with her. They all wanted her to ditch Rob and date Rúben and weren't subtle about it.

"We'll settle on a time to go out later, ok? I need to get ready for work".

"Sure. Call or text if you need anything. Love you".

"Love you too".

Rúben was still staring at Maddie when she hung up. She was probably joking but...he couldn't face the idea that he could lose Maddie to someone else again. But he couldn't tell her what to do either. Why was everything so complicated?

"I could drive you to work", he said because it was the first thing that came to his mind.

"No, I'm fine. Let me make you some breakfast as a thank you for staying with me".