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Chapter Twenty-Four: Evan

Why do I even bother at this point?

Standing in front of The Carters' household, I shift hesitantly on my feet, debating whether or not I should knock on the door or just walk away.

After classes, I decided to wait for her in the parking lot thinking maybe we weren't that at each other's throats for her to refuse to take a ride home with me, considering we would just look like a bunch of kids at that point.

But turns out the statute of limitations of how much we can be really petty doesn't have a limit at all, considering she took a ride with Jess instead.

I waited for about 20 minutes at that damn parking lot only to find out she already got home yet here I am now, still desperate despite knowing she'll probably ignore me anyway.

I kept asking myself the question that's been bugging my mind ever since she first walked out on me. Why do we keep trying when we just wind up with where we first started?

I've never had any sort of rivalry with anyone this intense before, and for some reason despite always fighting with each other, I don't see her as my enemy. Like at all.

What kind of enemies would we be if we constantly keep giving each other chance after chance to reconcile because, at the back of our minds, we feel like this could work?

What even is this, to begin with?

When she caught me flirting with another girl, at first I didn't think much of it and assumed she was just being her usual uppity self, always feeling the need to be in control of things.

But for some reason, the way she tried to prevent my interaction with that girl felt something more... personal. Or maybe it's just me being delusional, and if I was, why did I get into it?

Why did I want it to be true? That she wanted to stop it not only because of the contract?

But something more?

I tried to brush it off by thinking I was being crazy for conceptualizing a thing that might not even be real, because what reason would she possibly have to be jealous about? For either one of us to get jealous when we have no right to be possessive over the other person?

That's when I caught her talking with Elijah.

If you think hinting at the idea that someone who hates your guts might've been jealous of seeing you with another girl when you've never had a relationship with her before, imagine that but vice versa, and that instead of a random girl, it's a friend of yours.

Imagine being jealous of your friend for talking to a girl you're not even involved with and feeling the need to interrupt them because you felt like it wasn't right to see her with him?

Like what kind of cliche romance movie bullshit is that?

What's worse is that when you feel those types of emotions, ones that tempt you to do something you don't even understand, they consume you, make you impulsive.

So when Maggie asked me what the hell was I doing, tearing her and Elijah away from each other even I was asking myself the same goddamn thing.

I couldn't understand why I was infuriated with the sight of her and Elijah talking, but just seeing the way he had looked at her as if he had a scheme formulating in his head, which he probably did because just as I was halfway into approaching them, I was already able to put two on two together and register in the fact he was about to ask her out.

Again, I honestly don't know why that gave me the urge to separate them both, because what harm would it be if he asked her out? It shouldn't bother me. It shouldn't.

I tried to convince myself that it's because of the contract, that it should only be because of the contract, and we would never deliberately sabotage each other if it weren't for the engagement.

But no, it was more of a visceral temptation influenced by emotions rather than logic, I couldn't comprehend it, and yet I did it. So here I am now, about to apologize.

I know I look stupid and I probably am because I should just give this a rest and leave her alone, but we just made up. I can't keep letting this unknown feud of ours become redundant.

I knocked on their front door and nervously waited for a response as I briskly tapped my feet onto the concrete ground.

It didn't take long before the front door opened, and my heart was beating rapidly not until Veronica's face was what greeted me instead.

She and Maggie look so much alike, they both had that beautiful doe-eyed look, tan complexion, and wavy brown hair, although Veronica's was much lighter than Maggie's.

That and Maggie looked much meaner compared to Veronica, while she possessed a delicate and rather modest appearance that gave you the impression that she was no less than approachable, despite inheriting Veronica's eyes, Maggie had a sharper look in hers.

The kind that made you feel like she was secretly judging you inside her head, which made me wonder if she got that from her father. My parents always said that Wayne Carter was a scary and very critical man, never associating himself with anyone beneath his pedestal.

That he was disagreeable, arrogant, and domineering. He prioritized much more of his luxuries than anything else in his life, and that somehow the only good personality trait of his is that he was diligent towards his craft and that he never takes anything half-assed.

To which I guess Maggie got from him because though she did get Veronica's enchanting looks, everything down to her attitude, personality, and work ethic screams Wayne Carter.

It does make me curious how someone like Wayne Carter ended up with a woman like Veronica though. Because judging from other people's words, they were the complete opposites, and they are if you put it into retrospect, because a person with a good-hearted nature and someone with a more stern disposition never seemed compatible if you put it into a realistic perspective.

It just seemed chaotic, basing it off now from Maggie's character alone "Hello, Veronica." I greeted with a respectful smile "Is Maggie home?"

For some reason, her tone was anything but pleasant as she responded "She is."

"Oh, well, is it okay if I talk to her?"

She looked at me with that intense, enigmatic look in her eyes, the same one Maggie gives me daily, though hers looks like it stems more from a place of concern, while Maggie's resembles that one's of an interrogator from those in Detective shows, the kind that looks like she's ready to hurl you across the room if you say or do the wrong thing.

It made me wince as she replied: "She is, but she's in a rather foul mood right now."

I bit my lip anxiously at that "Oh since when has she been this way?"

"Since she last came home from school." Shit.

"Oh." I paused "Did she... tell you about what happened? Between her and me?"

She was quiet for a moment before she let out a sigh "Can we talk for a minute? You and me?" It was at this moment when I knew how much Veronica Carpenter could really be a reasonable individual until she decided not to be.

I was finally about to get a taste of who really raised Maggie Carter herself.

* * *

She brought me to her study, locking the door on our way in.

The room had a certain warm ambiance to it, filled with many antique books and wooden furniture that had a certain vintage touch to it.

It was elegant, sophisticated but not pretentious, basically capturing Veronica's character. The day my parents and I met her, she was calm, collected, eloquent, and soft-spoken.

Then there was Maggie.

Maggie once implied how parents like my mother and father could have raised a child like me, one that she had blatantly described as a juvenile hooligan.

I remember just throwing her the middle finger at that time, although in my defense, my parents usually tend to let me get away with a lot of things, they never really paid mind when it came to my actions unless it was needed.

If they were to give out punishments, however, it was overboard. I didn't take any of my relationships seriously? Throw me into an arranged marriage, it is.

Yet people still wonder why I am the way I am.

Veronica sat down at her desk as I took the one that was facing her, as she then folded her hands together, staring me down with a steely gaze "I'm sorry if I caught you off guard by dragging you in here, but Maggie is currently at the backyard's pool relaxing and I don't want her to catch us in the middle of a serious discussion."

I nodded politely "Of course, I understand."

She smiled briefly at me before she straightened her posture "To answer your question earlier, yes, Maggie did tell me about what happened between you two and how both of you are not on good terms at the moment. That's why I was hesitant to let you in at first, because knowing Maggie, whenever she has an issue with someone, she tends to avoid them."

"I understand that, and if you want me to go, I'll gladly do."

Veronica shook her head "The thing is, that would be the easier route to take if I allow you to just do that. To ignore the issue between you two and hope that the issue would just go away. I've been perceived as ignorant of my daughter's problems in the past, and I am trying my best not to be like that again."

"With that said, the more logical route to take is if I stop this engagement and kick you out of our lives for good." she implied which took me aback "But that would mean breaking my promise to Maggie about not stopping the engagement as she asked me to, because we've gone too far to stop it now, and considering I was the one to initiate this engagement, I should at least start listening to Maggie's wishes even though she's simply doing it on my behalf."

"But honestly? I am very much close to breaking my promise to her by terminating the contract despite the repercussions, in the end, I just want my daughter to be happy. I don't ever want her to end up like me, defenseless and taken for granted. I've used my daughter for my own personal gain once just so that I won't lose her, and I am willing to do it again but in exchange for my own demise."

"I'll gladly do it despite what my daughter says because I know she tends to say one thing but means another. That's what happened when I told her about the engagement, but she was persistent because she loves me, and I love her so much too, Evan," she said, her voice breaking.

"I hate having to spend a single day knowing that I put my daughter into a situation she had no control over and I just wish I wasn't so stupid to be manipulated by her father because then I wouldn't have gotten her engaged at seventeen. It was foolish of me."

"That's why I'm as willing to stop this engagement now if it means kicking you out of our lives so you won't hurt her... but as she said, it's of no use considering she endured enough to back out of this now, it was a pathetic reason and it didn't change my mind one bit," Veronica stated.

"But then... something about the way she talked about you stopped me because, for the first time, I don't know what my daughter actually wants. She says she hates having to constantly be around you due to the engagement, but at the same time, she's hopeful. She's willing to give you a chance, not because she takes the engagement seriously, but because... you mean something to her."

I blinked profusely at that as she continued "She didn't necessarily say it like that, but she did say that she doesn't consider you her enemy, and moments when you have proven to be an ally to her, are ones that she said had stopped her from dropping you out of her life. Because you do mean well when you two aren't butting heads with each other."

"She's hopeful, and she usually isn't like that when someone in her life wrongs her, but for some reason, she's giving you the benefit of a doubt."

"But I don't want her to be making such decisions that she'll probably end up regretting, then again she is a smart girl and she knows what she wants, but it's best to be cautious. So I'm asking you this now..." she drawled "Do you value her?"

I cleared my throat "I'm sorry?"

She narrowed her gaze "Is your friendship with my daughter, or whatever it is, just as valuable to you as it is to her, that you're willing to give it a chance? Despite whatever it is that you two are going through now, I need to know if you're reciprocating." she said harshly

"That you feel like you can change and that you care about her well-being as much as she cares about the chances of you two getting along and that you take her seriously, because if not..."

She tightened her jaw and pointed at the door behind me "Get out."

I found myself taken off guard at her bluntness as she continued "Get out if you're not just as willing to reciprocate her efforts because I don't want you wasting my daughter's time. If you don't care about my daughter just as much as she cares about you, then please, get out."

It was silent for a moment, with me digesting everything she had just said as she continued to stare me down, daring me to decide right now because it's either now, or fucking never.

"... I'll be honest with you, your daughter has gotten on my nerves plenty of times in the past. She's loud, she's argumentative, she's stubborn and quite frankly, she tends to judge me whenever she has the chance to do so." I started as Veronica listened.

"But that doesn't mean I never deserved it, and I could see why you would worry because, to be honest with you? I tend to treat my friendships quite poorly. I stole the girl that my best friend liked just to spite him, and I slapped my last girlfriend because she cheated on me when I was the one who treated her badly during our relationship..." Veronica's eyes widened.

"Now, here I am making your daughter's life miserable when it was already enough she had to lose her boyfriend and friends all because of me. These pieces of information alone should be enough of a reason for you to throw my ass out of your house, and I don't blame you."

"Yes, and I probably should." Veronica implied.

I nodded my head in a pained gesture "Exactly, but if I were to answer your question yes, I do care about your daughter. She's criticized me tons of times and each time I've learned from it, and there have been times when I have gotten defensive and ignored her criticism because of my ego, and each time she's walked out on me, and I wouldn't blame her if she finally does for real. She has all the reasons to do what's right and so do you."

"But if she is willing to give me a chance, and if you're asking if it means something to me, it does." I proclaimed "It really fucking does even though I don't deserve it one bit."

Veronica was silent as I let my head fall, my eyes on my lap. "Although it's up to you, if you want me to get out of this house for Maggie's sake, I'll gladly do it."

It was eerily quiet for a while, with her clearly pondering over my decision while my mind raced frantically about what she's going to answer next because I know what I have to do if she does tell me to get out of their lives, but what I want deep down is another topic.

Despite how many times Maggie tells me she doesn't care even though she probably does even just for the slightest bit, does mean something to me.

It means so much and that gave me the most significant reason to stay and keep fighting.

To keep fighting yet at the same time, to put my armor down for once.

For it seems as though she's already done so with hers.

"I think it's up for you and Maggie to decide that now" Veronica stated, leaning on her chair as she motioned her head towards the door "Talk about it with her, and if you really know what's best for the two of you, you won't be biased. You'll do what's right."

I nodded my head, standing up from the chair as I smiled at her "Thank you, Veronica."

She didn't return my appreciative tone as she spoke: "Don't thank me just yet."

* * *

I walked into the backyard where the pool was located to see if Maggie was still here.

I was still in deep thought due to my talk with Veronica, trying to prepare myself for the upcoming conversation I'll be having with Maggie.

For her to decide whether or not having either one of us in each other's lives is a good idea.

I was fearful of the outcome of this conversation, but it's up to her and what she decides is best for us. Of course, the engagement will not be terminated, we just won't be... trying to get along throughout said engagement.

I walked in with an objective state of mind, telling myself not to be biased and choose what's right for me, for us, and for her.

But as soon as I saw her ascending from the pool as she pushed herself up from the water, clad in an orange bathing suit while her hair was slicked from the back, did I find myself not being able to breathe due to the sight before me.

She turned her body and sat onto the dry edge of the pool, drying her hair as she roped it within her grasp and squeezed, throwing it back onto her shoulder afterward before turning her head as she met my gaze.

She was shocked to see me here, blinking a couple of times at the sight of me "Evan?" she questioned, "What are you doing here?"

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat as I hesitantly took a step forward "I just wanted to talk to you about something."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion "Who let you in?"

"Your mother."

She sighed deeply "I can't believe this."

"Wait!" I pleaded as she attempted to stand up. "I was the one who convinced her to let me in, she was hesitant at first but she actually sat me down to have a quick chat."

The confusion on her face deepened "About what exactly?"

I felt my shoulders sagging in relief, knowing she was willing to hear me out. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about if you let me."

She was dubious but allowed me, heading straight back into the pool as I walked over towards her "I haven't got all night, make it quick." she ordered.

"Okay," I said meekly, "First, I just wanted to apologize about what I did earlier."

She looked up at me as she descended back into the pool and floated around, causing my eyes to zoom in on her face and how the lights from beneath the water made her seem much more mystifying "About you being an asshole? We've been here before." she retorted.

I couldn't help but shake my head. Why does she always have to be this way?

"To put it simply, yeah." I quipped "About what happened back at the hallways and with Elijah, I was way out of line, and I guess I had just gotten petty."

"Which you had no reason to be," she scolded "If I didn't know any better I would've assumed you were actually jealous of Elijah."

She could only let out a snicker at the idea, whilst I, on the other hand, couldn't help but keep quiet as I looked down at my shoes.

To which Maggie immediately picked up as she cleared her throat "So what did you and my mom talk about?" she asked.

I diverted my attention back at her "Feels good in the pool, huh?"

She was taken off guard due to my random question but slowly nodded her head "I guess?" with that, she splashed her hands in the water as I stared down at her, smiling.

Biting my lower lip, I let my hands travel to the hem of my shirt as I gently lifted it and pulled it over my head, and seeing how Maggie's eyes widened at my sudden act, she stammered.

"U-uh, what are you doing?" she questioned, reluctance and bewilderment dripping from her tone as I tossed my shirt aside.

I shrugged my shoulders "I can't let you have all the fun, now will I?"

With that, I jumped straight into the pool, hearing her faint shrieks before I delved deep into the waters only to spring back up, afterward grinning from ear to ear seeing as how I soaked her.

"You hooligan!" she exclaimed, wiping the water off her face "Why do you have to make such a mess of things all the time?"

"I do not," I argued, playfully splashing some water back at her again, causing her to scowl at me as she lifted herself from the pool to get her towel. "You're such a buzzkill."

"May I remind you, you're the one who waltzed right in here uninvited," she said, drying herself up as she carefully dabbed the towel on her neck, to her collarbones, and then to her chest...

Somehow, despite how the water was at the right temperature, I felt my body heat up.

"So again," she drawled, looking back at me "Your talk with my mom?"

"O-oh, yeah," I started, stuttering. "Well, it was a long one, my conversation with her. I actually came here an hour early, but she sat me down at her study, considering she knew about our current... dilemma."

Maggie paused while drying herself. "Yeah, I told her about it."

I nodded "Which is understandable, she was skeptical to let me in at first, and she kind of did a lecture on me saying that if I only carried ill intentions and continue to fight with you all the time, she would have no choice but to terminate the contract, considering she said that she only wanted what's best for you."

Maggie's expression was indescribable, for she could only listen to me with immense focus as I continued "Plus she asked me if I valued you and I said yes because, to be honest with you?"

I flickered my eyes to meet hers, with her staring down at me, the subdued and tensed mood of the atmosphere between us making the scene right now much more compelling than it should be "I don't wanna have to keep fighting with you just because we fooled ourselves into thinking that we completely despise each other, even though there are so many things about us that make us wanna come back to each other time and time again."

"I especially don't wanna have to keep distancing myself away from you because we feel like the rivalry is the only thing we'll ever be accustomed to when it isn't," I added.

She blinked at me, at a loss for words because of everything that I just said "But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to do what's right for our sake," I continued "For your sake."

Her face was evident of concern and doubt, almost as if she was at war with herself of how she was going to react to that "I'll do what's right if it means gaining the trust of your mother to let her know I only want what's best for you. Even if we fight a lot, disagree with each other constantly, it's not like I ever planned to be that way with you. We naturally clash and if it means giving you a break from that and putting your mother's mind at ease... then so be it."

The faintest of smiles curved on her lips, coming forward as she sat down by the edge of the pool, letting out a sigh that formed a faded mist into the air.

"I'd be lying if I said I don't feel the same way. I can't understand it, but I don't wanna have to give up trying to get along with you just because I feel like we can never get along, because we do. Whenever we talk I always feel understood because when we're not purposefully provoking one another, we get along just fine. I don't have to hide anything away from you, because, in a way, you're just as fucked up as I am."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that as I swam near her "Thought I was the only one." I teased.

She chuckled softly at that, amused "But I can understand why my mom would worry because I have seen the parts of you that are worthy of skepticism. The one who doesn't care about other people's feelings, the one that's aggressive and selfish... I hate that part of you and it's not like it went away the second I called you out on it, there's always gonna be that part of you and maybe that's why we'll never just be buddy-buddy because I can't set aside my principles just to adjust to your behavior."

I nodded "I get that. I really do, and Veronica has all the right reasons not to trust me."

She shook her head "It's not just that, the thing is... what you don't know about my mom and my dad and how their marriage didn't end well, wasn't only because my dad was an unfaithful, asshole who never treated her right, but it's also because he never really wanted to be married to her in the first place."

My eyes widened at that "What do you mean?"

She lets out a sigh "My parents got together because of an arranged marriage as well."

The bells in my head started ringing as it all dawned on me, but still, I couldn't fathom what was just said "Seriously?" I gawked.

She nodded solemnly "Yeah, when they got together he pretty much grew this unreasonable hatred towards her when all she did was to try and get to know him and for them to get along, but he abused that chance despite her kindness. She tried to make it easier for him, tried so hard to make him happy even though in the end he just... didn't become happy."

"He grew more resentful, and what sucks even more, is that she fell in love with him." she laughed dryly "Which to this day, I still couldn't understand because how can such a wonderful woman fall in love with a monster of a man? One who never deserved her in the first place?"

I looked deep into her eyes as I nodded "Yeah, I get you."

She lets out a breath "He made it seem as if it was all her fault, he never let her live it down and he kept reminding her, holding it over her head that she was the reason why his life fell apart, when in fact it wasn't. He just tried to make it seem like it was her fault because it was much easier to let the woman who loves him absorb his pain for him."

"I despised him so much because of that, because why treat her like that when she tried to make it easier for you as much as she could, even though she didn't have to? That even if he constantly cheated and mistreated her, she saw a man that was worth fighting for."

"A man she can have a child with," she croaked, tears spilling out of her eyes "But never went out of his way to help her, to take care of me. He was so incompetent and selfish, so fucking selfish to the point that despite making her go through hell, he was the one who had the audacity to leave us and rob us all out of our own money."

She aggressively wiped her tears away, shaking her head "Since I was young, I wanted nothing more but to make him feel the kind of suffering she went through. Maybe so much more, because you can't treat a woman like that and expect not to feel her pain right back."

"That's why when I saw what you did to Mandy, I just fucking hated you. I hated you so much and maybe that's why I got so hung up on Levi because he seemed the safest option to pick, the one that could never hurt me. After all, I was afraid that I might go through what my mother went through, but I realized we can never avoid that kind of suffering no matter how much we try..."

"I just regret ever thinking what she went through was easy, because it wasn't. You just can't choose who you fall in love with..." her eyes fluttered up to meet my own, glimmering despite the dim light and I couldn't help but feel my insides churn because of the way she was looking at me.

She was in pain, and it was all because she didn't wanna have to have history repeat itself.

"I'm so sorry," I told her "I'm sorry about what I did and I know I should be saying that to Mandy, which I will. For now, you have all the right reasons to be cautious of me. What I did was fucked up, and if anything, I deserve much worse because no person should have to go through that."

I swam towards her, putting my hands on the edge of the pool as I caged her in my arms, lifting myself as her breath hitched due to the proximity

"Exactly," she muttered back, not once breaking eye contact.

I swallowed, feeling my heartbeat quicken "I promise I'll never be that man ever again. Ever." I said, my eyes falling to her lips.

"... I just never wanna be the man you think you can't be with, Maggie."

With her breathing coming off in short pants and my heartbeat drumming rapidly inside my chest, the moment felt too fragile, so fragile that at any moment, it can just break.

"Yeah?" she said quietly.

I nodded, inching my face closer towards her "Yeah."

... Or maybe not.

Before she knew it, I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips onto hers, knocking the breath out of her as she tumbled, but not once going against it.

Making me kiss her deeper as she then closed her eyes, giving in, wanting it, egging it on as she circled her arms around my neck and brought me closer.

"E-Evan," she panted, pulling away momentarily as she looked at me, her eyes dazed and foggy.

I leaned my forehead against hers, my breathing coming in short as I spoke: "I'll stop now if you want." I said, making her blink at me as she hesitated.

One second, she doubts.

Next, she ponders.

Then... she caves in, shaking her head.

Giving me the confirmation I needed as I took her lips with mine once again, cupping her cheek as I slid my tongue in to meet hers, making her let out a sound at the back of her throat that made the ends of my lips tug up as I kept going.

And going.

And going.

And fucking going.

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