“I got it,” Brook reassures before he writes down the guy’s details on his phone.
I stand at Meadow’s side, a few feet away, enough to be close but not to interfere. I can feel his pain radiating off of him as I shed a tear, feeling so proud to watch him deal with his pain like this. As the anger slowly dissolves from his system, he slides his face over to me, and his darkened expression softens.
The sun is gone, leaving behind streaks and smudges of gold across the faint blue skies. The lighting compliments his sun-kissed skin as it hits his gorgeous features.
I can’t even count the seconds before his front clashes with mine, his arms are wrapped around me, and his forehead glued to mine as a long moment stretches.
I look up at him through my lashes, trying to assess him.
What’s going through his head? What did he feel out there when he saw it; when he acted?
“You were worried about me getting hurt all summer but who protects you when you’re out there?”
“My brothers.” His voice is breathy. “Down here and up there.”
Panting, we exchange ounces of affection through our gaze as we stare at one another without breaking it once. His palm finds my cheek and I lean into him, needing to bathe in his warmth. I reach up to caress his jaw and give him the same confidence he gave me earlier when he poured his heart out to me.
His breath fans my face, “If that was you out there, I don’t know what I would’ve done, I probably would have killed him.” His confession burns me from the inside and my heart flutters. “I don’t want to lose someone I love again because of someone else.”
“Love…?” I slightly pull back to look into his green eyes which admire me the more they pierce through my soul.
His hands trail up to my neck, where he leaves a wet kiss, “You made me fall in love with you.” He kisses the same spot on the other side. “And fuck, I fell so hard.”
The moment my lips collide with his, nothing else in this world exists around me because that kiss is comforting. That kiss is real. That kiss belongs to us.
When he bites my bottom lip a giggle escapes from me so I bite him back and he chuckles into my mouth but makes atiny groan.
“You can’t stop yourself, can you?” He asks in amusement.
“You know what I love about you, your emotions aren’t superficial, and you feel them down to your bones. You are not afraid to feel. That may seem like a weakness to others, but it is your strength.” I sigh, looping my hand around his neck. “You wear your scars better than most. You can be a pain in my side but… I love that pain. I love you.” I give him a chaste kiss and lick his lip ring right after because I can’t help it which makes him smirk. “You try to hide but you could never hide from me.”
His eyes are fixated on mine. No words come out of his mouth for a long minute.
“I knew you were gonna cause so much trouble, Grinch.” He hauls me across his shoulders and lands his palm on my ass, the smacking sound is muffled by all the noise around us but the sting burns even with my shorts on.
People stare, mainly at him.
No one knows except me and his family and we will keep it that way. Meadow deserves to walk freely around here and shed his mask once and for all.
This is his home where he can be himself.
Meadow
My mom texted me in the middle of the night that Lennon was in labor.
Rushing through the hospital halls, we finally find my parents who tell us Lennon just gave birth and they want a few moments alone.
My phone pings and I lift it to see that Blakely texted me even though she sits next to me in the waiting room.
Blakely
Would you come back?
Meadow
What do you mean?
I text her back and knit my eyebrows in question.
