Light *on hold*

Light 10

The ride to my house was hilarious. Maddox couldn't stop talking about the girl that Max was with. He kept making faces of disgust and he told me he wanted to choke the hell out of Max.

Now, him and I are at my house. It started to rain pretty hard. I couldn't even see out the window it was so bad.

"Avi, really it's fine. I can just drive really slow to my house. I don't wanna intrude." He goes to pick up his keys but I smacked his hand away.

The weather was too bad for him to be driving especially when it's dark outside. I didn't want Maddox to get hurt driving back.

"Maddox you are not intruding. I don't want you out there driving in that weather. It's too dangerous. Hell, I can't even see the yard through the window!" I stood in front of him and looked him in the eyes.

I know, I met the man about a week ago. So what, I really like him and I don't want him getting hurt. The weather is fucking horrible and the rain is so thick. Some of the streetlights got blown out too.

"Avi, I'll ju-"

I put my hand over his mouth. I arch my brow as if saying try me.

He finally complied. Maddox took my hand in his and off of his mouth.

"Well, since I'm being held hostage, I need a shirt and something to bathe with ma'am." He steps back and sits on the couch where the tv is.

"Just give me your shirt and I'll put it in the dryer. I'll give you your towels when I come back." I stood in front of Maddox ready to take the shirt.

Maddox stood and walked towards me. He had a smirk on his face as his hands reached the bottom of his shirt and lifted it slowly over his stomach, chest, then head. I watched as his muscular arms flexed.

Fuck! I'm wet again.

I shift on my feet and take the top from him. He chuckles at my shyness and kisses my forehead. I just smiled and left to the laundry room and put his shirt in the dryer.

I don't know what he's going to sleep in.

Anyways I walk to the towel closet and grab a wash cloth and a drying off towel. I handed it to Maddox and we both went upstairs. He went into the hall bathroom and I went in my room.

I walked into my bathroom and stripped. I already put some towels in here so I won't have to walk downstairs for any.

I get into the shower and lather my body in body wash, washing away today's events. After I was finished I grabbed my towel and dried off. Wrapping it around myself, I walk into my room to get some pajamas.

I settled for a tank top and some shorts with a pair of socks in case I get up later.

I put on my pjs and hop in bed. A few minutes later I hear the other bathroom's door open then close.

Maddox's footsteps approached my room. He knocks on my door frame causing me to look up.

Oh goodness. Why?!

His appearance had me gasping. He was shirtless with a pair of boxers on.

I can see his print. He's a big boy.

Maddox clearing his throat snapped me out of my trance.

"I um don't have any pants to wear so, I just put on my boxers. Where will I be sleeping?"

I was thinking to say the guest bedroom but my mouth had a mind of its own.

"Here." I said. I pat a spot next to me on my bed and walked inside the room.

I moved to one side so he could fit in.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable in your own home, Avi." He says.

If he was making me uncomfortable I would have called the police.

"It's fine, Maddox. I insisted on you staying here. It's horrible outside and it's still raining really heavy." I say.

"Ok. Well since you don't have a tv in here, what should we do?" He asks.

Yeah, I should've bought three TVs instead of one.

"We can talk to each other until we fall asleep." I suggested.

"Well, I know we already talked about the whole Max situation, but why was he so damn mean to you today at the mall?" He shook his head at the event.

Honestly, I don't know. It made me feel like I didn't mean shit to him ever since we met. I was supposed to be the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with but that all changed when he started acting different.

"I honestly have no answer to that. I'm not going to lie it made me feel bad. I don't have feelings for him anymore and I don't know how to feel about that either. I feel bad for not missing him or crying over him because it seems like I'm a bad person for not being sad over someone I thought loved me when I loved them so much. Everything I thought about him was a lie. I loved him so much I would've died for him. The minute he started to change had me a little puzzled but I still went with it. I put up with some things I promised myself to never put up with."

"And what was that?" Maddox asked as he pulled me into his lap. My back was to his chest as he leaned on the headboard.

"Well, he started to be distant with me. We stopped going on those cute little dates. He stopped spoiling me and surprising me with trips. Hell, even the sex was different. He'd be satisfied and I would just lay there unfinished. Then he started complaining about what I ate and what I looked like. When that started happening I also noticed he was coming home late. I'd ask Max why he was coming in at 2 or 3am but he would just mumble under his breath and go to sleep in the room. He smelled of perfume and I saw some makeup on his clothes when I did laundry. The reason I left in the first place was because he put his hands on me."

Maddox jerked. "He what?! What man puts his hands on a damn woman?"

No man puts his hands on a woman. A little boy will, but not a man. Men know how to act while little boys throw tantrums when shit doesn't go there way.

"That's the point. He isn't a man. Not anymore." I said.

I held my head down. I didn't want Maddox to see me so vulnerable.

His body shifted and he sat in front of me. His hands cupped my face and lifted my head up.

"Avi. God, you are amazing. You truly are extraordinary and strong. The reason why you put up with that, is because you loved him. Love makes you blind to all the bad shit a person does. It's up to them to change for the better. If they don't, they don't love or respect you. Octavia, you came to your senses and left. Not many women do that. They stay with the man not knowing that they are damaging themselves. Honey, I know this has nothing to do with this but I would never fucking treat you like that." His thumb rubs my cheek as he looks in my eyes.

I stare back into his. All I saw was the truth. Maddox is a good man. He wouldn't treat me wrong. He had some baggage but so did I, we would work through it and heal together.

"Would you get back at him if you had the chance?" He asked.

Would I?

Cause Max pain. The pain of heartbreak. That feeling of your chest feeling heavy and feeling like your heart literally shrunk. The pain of knowing that the love of your life doesn't even want you. No.

"No." I shook my head.

"Why is that? Wouldn't you want him to feel what he did to you?" He asks. He looks into my eyes waiting for an answer.

"Because the pain of losing the person you love whether it be by death or anything hurts so fucking much. Even though I went through it with Max, I wouldn't want to inflict that pain on him. I wouldn't do it to anyone at all. Because I know what that pain can do. It'll either kill you, or change you into someone you promised not to ever be."