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Chapter Thirty-Two: Maggie

After three days of Evan staying in the hospital to aid his injury and to recover from the accident, the doctors finally allowed him to leave, advising him to use crutches while some of his limbs are still sprained, preventing him from being able to walk properly in the meantime.

Throughout all of that I made sure he didn't have to endure much of this inconvenience because even though he wasn't aware of it, I for one knew I was basically the reason why he even got into this mess in the first place.

Yes, I still remember the moment preceding before the fight even happened, having been able to watch the intense showdown between him and Robert, and how it literally ended with Robert hinting at the idea my butthole had a tight opening.

Which caused Evan to pounce on him like a deranged animal, and I think it's safe to say Robert obscenely objectifying me to provoke Evan worked wonders for him.

That's why I'm here now, helping Evan through his recovery for it's the least I could do. I mean, sure, it was a decent thing to have done, but I appreciate it nevertheless.

But that doesn't mean his subtle way of being too handsy is gonna go unnoticed.

I know a genuinely struggling person when I see one, and Evan overdramatizing his injury as a way for me to pamper him even though it's obvious he's just doing it for his own pleasure, not gonna lie, made me wanna deck the crutches right from under him.

It started when we were leaving the hospital. It was me, him, and Tiffany and we were about to go home and I was halfway into entering the passenger seat of their car when:

"Um, Maggie?" Evan had called out right before I could even get in. "Would it be okay if you sat with me here at the back?"

Of course, being confused at that time, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him quite skeptically "Don't you need the space for your crutches?" I questioned.

He thought about it, forming his lips into a straight line before he shook his head. "No, plus it'd be better because I am quite restricted at the moment, physically speaking."

I pondered over it before letting out a defeated sigh "Sure," I said, slamming the car door closed as I moved at the back, sitting beside Evan as we drove home.

By the time we had arrived at his house, however, it was when it had hit me that there was just no way his injury was that severe for him to act like a puppy that had just been kicked in the stomach because that's how he was literally acting the whole time.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked him cautiously, helping him get out of the car as Tiffany came over to help.

"Yeah, it's fine," he said, grunting as his mother examined him with pitiful eyes. "I'm good, don't worry, and would it be okay if you opened the door for us, mom?"

"Oh, for sure, sweetie!"

With that, Tiffany raced to the front door as we tried to catch up with her "Are you sure you're okay? You look like you're having constipation?"

It was obvious he was feigning the whole thing because my brief remark didn't fail to make him look at me with a deadpan expression "Very funny,"

Still, I helped him limp over to his front door, snaking an arm around his waist as I felt his eyes on me "It's okay, we're almost there." I reassured him.

But as we were about to take that one step up the stairs that led to the front door, did he let out a quiet "Oh shit," as I diverted my attention back to him in instant concern.

"What is it-"

But I was abruptly taken aback when Evan lurched forward, due to slipping because of the crutches, causing him to violently lean towards me as I squealed.

I steadied us both, frantically holding onto his waist to make sure he was secured and standing properly on his own two feet "What happened? Are you alright?" I asked out of panic.

But the sense of alarm had quickly gone away the second both he and I locked eyes, our faces inches away from each other that I basically felt his breath fanning against my lips.

Making my entire body heat up as the memory of the pool incident came flashing back.

He was staring at me with this lingering look in his dark eyes almost as if he wanted nothing more but to just take his time and indulge at the moment. Prolonged it even.

"Sorry," he said in a breathy voice "I slipped."

I shook my head, swallowing "N-no, it's fine."

When in fact it was anything but fine.

The first time it happened, it was excusable, I could easily dismiss it but when the same thing kept happening over and over again that it was obvious certain mistakes weren't that really that accidental was when it was time I had to question his transparent motives.

"I know what you're doing, you know," I said to him as we were lounging in the media room of his house after having just finished brunch with him and his parents and my mom "The dramatization of your injury, I can see right through you."

He was playing pool and my statement automatically caught him off guard, causing the cue stick to slip from beneath his fingers as he jerked forward, groaning.

"I-I'm sorry?" he croaked out as I snickered, leaning against the pool table.

"You're playing pool for Christ's sake, Williams," I said, rolling my eyes as I got a cue stick of my own from the glass cabinets where they had kept them.

"T-that doesn't prove anything," he stuttered as I circled the pool table, bending over as I slid the stick between my fingers, aiming for one of the cue balls Evan had planned to strike before I had interrupted him.

I hit it with complete precision as it caused a collision and one ball fell in one of the corner pockets "It proves a whole lot, Williams." I retorted before I turned around to look at him "And some other things that you weren't really discreet with."

"Such as?"

I rolled my eyes, making my way towards him "Such as those moments you would miraculously reach over one of the cupboards to get a bag of Doritos thinking I couldn't see you and then one moment later acting as if you lost your left foot just so that I won't leave the room in case you needed any help."

By now he looked about as ashamed as an adolescent boy who had just been caught watching porn on his parent's computer after having been shown the search history.

"Or when you would ask me to help you get into bed and hold onto my arm for support and then accidentally pull my body forward so I would end up falling on top of you," I stated incisively, daring him to meet my eye "Am I getting warmer?"

He wasn't even denying anything from this moment on, and I couldn't help but scoff as I looked at him with nothing but sheer disappointment "If you think for one moment I am not aware of your sly little motives-"

"I'm sorry, okay? I admit it, all this dramatization of my injury was just a way for me to have you stick around longer so I can hang out with you more," he confessed.

I threw my hands up "Why?!" I exclaimed incredulously.

He looked at me as if I asked the dumbest question he's ever heard "Um, maybe because it's been so long since you've last acknowledged my existence after our kiss at the pool?"

I was startled by his straightforwardness as I blinked back in astonishment "Evan, please-" I started but he beat me to it.

"We need to talk about this one way or another, Carter,"

"I know," I replied, my voice soft and shaky "But you have to understand that even though we hadn't completely resolved the whole issue, what I said was true either way-"

"That it was a mistake?" he surmised.

"Yes."

"In what way? Because you think it will make things complicated?" he kept on implying as he drew himself closer "That it was reckless because we had no reason to initiate that kiss?"

"Y-yes." I stuttered out, not sure where he was going with this.

He stopped coming closer until I could basically almost feel his chest against mine. "That it was a mistake because realistically speaking, it could damage our friendship? That you're basing that off on rationality? The logistics of it all?"

I jumped as he vigorously pulled the cue stick in my hands, causing me to be pressed against his body as I stared up at him, eyes wide "But don't you understand? What we did shouldn't be based on logic. It was a goddamn kiss, for crying out loud, Carter."

I felt my heart thrumming against my chest in rapid beats, trying to protest but his conviction was too firm and adamant at this point, I couldn't believe this was coming from him.

"So instead of brushing it off because that's what you think you should do, listen to what you want for once in your goddamn life," he claimed.

"Who are you to know what I want though?" I fumed.

He arched a challenging eyebrow at that, jaw clenched "I may not know much, but you telling me not to stop when I first kissed you was enough of a confirmation."

Fuck.

He pulled me closer, staring deeply into my eyes as if he was fully immersed in me "What do you want, Carter? Tell me. Instead of saying it was a mistake, tell me right now it was a mistake for you. Tell me right now you didn't want it. Tell me right now you're only here for business."

He was pleading at this point, clearly desperate "Tell me right now you don't feel the same and I'll back off. Tell me right now, from the bottom of your fucking heart, you never wanted that kiss. That the idea of you and I together is never gonna be a possibility for you."

I didn't answer because I didn't know what the fuck was I supposed to say, and he was staring at me as if he knew. Like he knew I was having a hard time objecting to his implications.

Causing his eyes to soften, leaning his forehead against mine as my breath got caught up in my throat "Please, just be honest with me, and tell me that the feeling isn't mutual. That I forced that kiss on you because if so, I'll stop, and we can go back to where we started."

I closed my eyes tightly at the overwhelming despair in his words, not wanting to answer any of this because all of this can go wrong in so many different ways with whatever answer that I'll end up giving. Because if I go with what my mind is telling me to do, there is a high chance things will change drastically between the two of us, and I don't want that.

But if I go with what my heart tells me to do, I wouldn't know how to handle the repercussions that'll follow afterward.

"... It's obvious that all your life, especially the relationship you had with Levi, you handled love as if it was something that you needed to sustain. As if it was more of an obligation and not something you were passionate about, because you were scared to get hurt, you told me so yourself." he proclaimed, lifting his hand to trace my jaw with his fingers.

"And I know all of this might seem too much for you because you didn't expect this, you didn't expect any of this to happen to us, you didn't expect me. I was everything you dreaded but for some reason, we're here now. You've been so used to planning everything in advance and securing your heart, that the spontaneity of being young and... in love. Scares you."

I didn't even realize droplets of tears were forming in the corners of my eyes until I felt him wipe it off "Because you can plan everything and still get hurt by it, right? That one moment, you can be so sure of something, and then the next... it doesn't seem that promising anymore."

I looked down at my feet, not being able to properly process everything that he was saying right now because I was trying so hard to go against it even though I've never heard of anything more accurate and real in my entire life.

"Then I came along, and you knew right from the start I was trouble. I was everything you feared of but then changes were made and now, you don't know what to feel." he said, "Or maybe you do, but your mind is just pulling you back because it's been so used to telling you what's right and what's wrong, but you gotta give your emotions the benefit of a doubt."

With that, he tilted my chin up upwards. "So tell me, for real this time, without planning anything in advance, for you to live in the moment and just go with what your heart wants... that this isn't just business anymore, and that you wanted that kiss as much as I did."

It was deadly silent after that, with him staring at me expectantly as his grip on the cue stick became so tight that his knuckles were practically turning white due to resistance.

I couldn't help but open and close my mouth, trying to look for the right words to say.

"... Tell me what your heart wants, Maggie," he whispered.

I looked up at him and by then, all rationality was thrown out the window.

"Kiss me."

And just like that, every surfeit of emotion that I could possibly decipher flashed through his eyes. Shock, wonderment, adoration, but most importantly... willingness.

The kind that indicated he was more than ready to comply as he tugged at the cue stick, dragging my lips over to meet his as I let out a quick gasp.

With my head buzzing due to all the adrenaline kicking in, all that I could seem to think of right now is how ridiculously thoughtless, chaotic, and wild all of this is but at the same time-

How I never felt more confident to be so with someone in my entire fucking life.

"Sweetie, are you ready to-"

But the feeling of utter boldness didn't last long as I instinctively shoved Evan's chest away when my mother's voice resonated inside the room, causing Evan to yelp as he tumbled onto the ground along with the cue stick as if he too was nothing but a useless inanimate object.

Making me let out a quiet apology before I turned to my mother who was eyeing the scene with immense suspicion "Mom!" I shrieked in surprise "What brings you here?"

She darted her eyes towards me and then to the direction where Evan fell, who was groaning excessively on the ground even when I nudged him with my foot to stop (he didn't) before she opened her mouth to speak once more.

"I just wanted to ask if you were ready to leave?"

I eagerly nodded my head "Sure! If you are! Just go wait for me in the car! I'll catch up!"

She was hesitant at first but complied, nodding her head slowly as she left the room, and once she was out of earshot did I turn back to Evan who had just started getting up on his feet.

"You could've just pulled away, you know? Like I literally just left the hospital days ago." he groaned as I looked at him, my face torn between guilt and nonchalance.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't really expect my mom to come in, you know how she feels about you." I explained in which he chuckled at, stepping closer.

"Still worried about breaking the rules, princess?"

I shook my head at him as I shoved at his chest once again, making him wince "One more word and I'll go back to ignoring your ass,"

I turned on my heel and was making my way out of the room when he called out to me.

"Hey," I turned around to face him. "I'll talk to you later?"

I grinned slyly as I let my thumb brush against my lips suggestively, alluding to our kiss just now as his gaze wandered towards my mouth, eyes darkening.

"I think I've ignored you long enough to give you that. Sure." I teased as he smirked mischievously right back at me.

"Consider me lucky then."

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