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Chapter Thirty: Maggie

"... Maggie? Sweetheart?"

Cracking my eyes open as I adjusted to the blinding light of the room, I rubbed my eyelids despite the deep slumber I was pulled out of, having a hard time trying to adapt to my surroundings and figure out who was the reason why I even woke up in the first place.

But once I got my bearings and took in the sight of Tiffany standing in front of the bed with a smile on her face, did I let the reality of the situation sink in as I tried to properly sit up and acknowledge her. However.

"M-Mhm," a deep groan suddenly rumbled beside me, making me turn my head only to be left utterly mortified as I was greeted with the sight of Evan pulling at my waist, hugging me.

"Evan." I hissed as I tried to shake him awake, feeling the embarrassment kick in "Wake up."

He only grunted some more as I slapped him on his shoulder "Your mother is here, for crying out loud! Let me go."

"No," he whined.

"What do you mean no, you little-"

"It's okay, dear." Tiffany chuckled, amused by her son's stubbornness "Let him sleep, he's had a rough time, and it's obvious you did too, seeing as how you two fell asleep together."

The distinct note of the fact we slept on the same bed crashed down on me like a bucket of ice. I glanced back down at Evan only to see that he has made zero attempts at waking up from his sleep, let alone setting me free from his tight embrace, snoring the day away.

I couldn't help but sigh on the outside, but smile shamelessly on the inside.

I was too busy gazing down at him that I didn't even notice the sound of rustling coming from Tiffany's direction "Here, sweetheart." she said.

I looked back at her to see that she placed a plastic bag of what seemed to be takeout on the chair beside us "Eat while you stay, have you been here long?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure, I arrived here at 8:00 AM," I told her "What time is it?"

She looks down at her wristwatch "1:00 PM."

My eyes widened. "We slept for five hours?"

"Wasn't that long, really." she said, chuckling as she caressed my hair lovingly, "The fact you even came here so early says a lot about your concern for Evan's well-being."

My cheeks heated up at her remark "Well, I was there during the fight so in a way I was too traumatized to even let him out of my sight."

Tiffany grinned, coming over to sit on the edge of the bed with us "Which is understandable, you two have grown incredibly close so seeing you be this worried about him is very endearing. But worry not, we'll make sure whoever did this to him will be held accountable."

"Absolutely,"

Tiffany directs her gaze back at her son, sighing deeply "Though, I am quite confused as to why he keeps dismissing whoever did this to him. He basically told me to inform the school that it was all just a misunderstanding and that suspension is the only punishment he wishes to give them." she looked up at me "Do you happen to know why?"

I slowly nodded my head in confirmation "The thing is Evan wasn't really innocent in the whole situation. He had provoked the guys he got into a fight with back then, and in a way, this was their revenge. I don't condone it especially considering violence doesn't solve anything, but I understand why Evan would be adamant to just let this whole thing go."

Tiffany raised a questioning eyebrow at that, clearly baffled "Sometimes it's just so hard to keep up with his shenanigans. We've been so easy on him growing up yet he always ends up in these sorts of predicaments and he barely provides us with any context of what happens behind the scene. He's always so secretive."

I bit my lower lip in thought, quite intrigued with her sudden confession "Well... I don't know if Evan told you about this before, but he had admitted to me at one point that the reason he gets himself into these sorts of situations is due to the lack of guidance and communication coming from you and Mason." I said as she looked at me, taken aback.

"You guys are always out and you barely spare him the time of the day, and this is just me, but a lot of the time you guys forget your roles as parents. I know it's up to him as to how he should treat people and his level of empathy and understanding, but children and teenagers still need an adult figure in their lives. He's only eighteen and I know he's already an adult, but he still needs you guys." I explained as Tiffany looked absolutely shocked to be hearing this from me.

"His lack of respect for people, especially with the women he gets involved with, can't be solved by you throwing him into an arranged marriage thinking I can fix him." I proclaimed "Though I am not saying to terminate the contract, because you know, my mom and I still need the loan?"

Her eyes widened at my sudden jest as I continued "All I'm saying is that everything in life can't be solved with money. Take the time to acknowledge your roles as parents, because to be real with you? At our age, we're still susceptible to things that our parents do."

"Whether it be the absence of parenting or lack of affection, we take those things with us as we grow up, and I know I shouldn't be telling this to you knowing that you're his mother, and you managed to raise him into the man he is today, but sometimes that just isn't enough."

"Raising a boy and giving him everything he wants and validating his actions even when they're wrong doesn't create a man, it just preserves something that's already rotting."

By the time I was done, Tiffany looked absolutely stunned, and I can understand where she's coming from because even I'm astonished by myself and everything I just said.

"I-I never thought about that before," she said, her voice breaking. "I can't say I'm really shocked about all of this because I'd be lying to myself if I say I'm not completely aware of my absence as a mother when it comes to Evan. It's just that I've always been so used to focusing on maintaining the empire our family created that I didn't even take the time to guide Evan through life. I just thought maybe he'd do it all on his own because that's what Mason and I were used to when we were growing up."

I shook my head "Not everyone is like that, and it's no excuse to neglect him as a son. I should know," I clenched my jaw "Being neglected by one parent alone already caused too much damage despite my mother's love."

Tiffany nodded in understanding "Which is why I'm glad that you're here now, and although this will defeat the purpose of the point you were trying to make..." she carefully reached out to hold my hand in hers "I am so happy you stuck around. You had the option to back out and find somebody else who could help you and your mother who wouldn't be this much of a handful," he isn't a handful, I thought to myself, but considering I've already said too much of my unsolicited opinions, I bit my tongue and let her continue "But you clearly saw something in him and loved him for it even."

Love.

I looked down at Evan sleeping peacefully beside me as I felt my heart pounding both at the insinuation and the sight before me.

"Even though he can be annoying, stupid, and too much of a handful, there are times where he makes me wonder... what's not to love?" I implied, letting one end of my lip curl up.

Tiffany's entire face broke into a beaming smile, but before she could comment about it long enough for me to regret what I just said, her phone started to ring.

She took it out of her handbag and shot me an apologetic stare "Excuse me, dear. But I just have to take this." she said, "Perhaps we can continue this discussion later?"

"Of course, I'm not going anywhere."

She looked at me appreciatively before exiting the room, taking her call.

"... What's not to love, huh?"

The low husky sound of his voice caused me to blink back in shock as I felt his hold loosen around me, though they were still quite there, caging me in his arms.

Despite not really looking at him, I just know that familiar shit-eating smirk is plastered on his face. "That's why I emphasized that most times you irritate the shit out of me." I bit back.

I felt his laughter vibrate against my body as I decided to stare back at him "One of those instances being this one right now." I added.

He could only look up at me in obvious mirth as the ends of his lips curled up into a mischievous grin, staring up at me as he stretched his body "So I simultaneously impress and irritate you?" he retorted "No wonder you stick around, can't find anyone who can do both, huh?"

Despite the usual playfulness both in his words and tone that would typically make me wanna roll my eyes, I couldn't help but just let all my attention focus on him as he laid here beside me, face glowing despite the cuts and bruises traveling across certain areas of his face.

It caused me to zoom in on his face much more intensely than I would normally allow myself to, just something about how he can be littered with injuries all over his face and body but still manage to smile and joke around at the end of the day looked so... captivating.

The way his face broke into his one-in-a-million type of smiles caused his eyes to crease on both ends while his nose twitched adorably at the same time, emphasizing the small dots of freckles scattered upon the bridge of his nose that I would often notice whenever I looked at him, but never had the chance to admire just as much as I did now.

In the same way that I never got to admire how ridiculously long his eyelashes were, especially when they fell beneath his eyes or when they would beautifully flutter up.

Or the way his hazel-green eyes would sparkle much greater whenever he was in a good mood.

Or just the sound of his laughter. So boyish, so pleasing to the ears, despite how his sense of humor is utter garbage so he can literally be amused by everything, which in a way, is an admirable trait because it gives people the advantage to hear said laughter...

"Carter?"

Snapping out of my own trance, I profusely blinked back to see Evan looking at me with his eyebrow arched, obviously curious and weirded out by my sudden moment of stupor.

I felt myself heat up due to the embarrassment as I cleared my throat "I-I'm sorry, I was distracted." Distracted by your face, specifically.

He tilted his head, amused by my response "I didn't know my company was that boring for you to be distracted by something else. What were you thinking about?"

My breath hitched as he slowly leaned in "Or rather... who were you thinking about?"

"Okay, I'm back!"

I jumped as Tiffany's loud voice disrupted the moment, all the while causing a sense of relief to course through me "Oh sweetie, you're awake." she said, walking over towards us.

Evan nodded as he shot me a look that indicated that we weren't finished talking about this.

But I'm glad we were in the meantime because I don't think I would be able to properly explain how I was literally fantasizing about him even when he's here inches away from me.

I was literally having my typical high-school girl daydreaming moment, per usual.

It was absolutely intoxicating and mind-boggling because I never found myself looking at Evan in that sort of light before.

My perspective just did the ultimate 180 and shifted into this part of my brain I didn't even know existed. It was practically equivalent to what those cliche love songs keep talking about.

With butterflies in your stomach, being tongue-tied as you tried to make sense of your own words but struggled to do so because even you can't understand what you're feeling, so how the hell are you supposed to express them without sounding like a blubbering mess?

It was the most frustrating thing I ever endured, but I couldn't help but get sucked into it.

I know what it is, but at the same time not.

Because in a way, this is the first time I ever felt it.

Hey guys! I'm back and updating again! I'm so sorry for the long wait for updates and I hope they were all worth it - I decided to dive back in quite strong with four consecutive chapters following where I last left off and I hope you all enjoyed them! The story is still ongoing and we still have a long way ahead before the ending so I hope you guys are strapped up and prepared because the chapters following ahead are gonna be a rollercoaster ride of emotions, so stay tuned for that!

Other than that, I hope all of you are doing amazing and I can't wait to resume back to this journey with all of you! I missed you guys and again I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Love ya!

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