Heyyy! I'm back with another chapter! I've been putting a lot of my attention onto 'Learning to Love and Be Loved' so I've been somewhat neglecting AJ and Maddie :( Anywho, I wanna give my girls JustCherry73, wwechristina and GoldenGirl 1920 a shoutout for your continued love and support! I love you ladies! We've got a big moment in this chapter and I hope it's worth it!

I don't own anyone affiliated with the WWE, otherwise I'd make Mr. Styles mine :D I only own Maddie, Susie and the storyline.

Enjoy!

Maddie POV

It's been a month since I was forced to move back home and it's been the most incredible month I could have ever asked for. While my dad's health sadly hasn't gotten any better, it hasn't gotten worse, which is always an extremely good sign. My new job with Susie has been very beneficial to me in more ways than one. Not only does it give me a source of income, it's introduced me to not only Susie, but it's introduced me to so many of the wonderful people of Gainesville.

One of those amazing people, of course, being my boyfriend…yes, I said boyfriend with a stupid and silly wide grin gracing my face when my mind wanders to AJ. He has been absolutely freaking incredible and I couldn't ask for a better man to call mine. He's treated me like a fucking queen and continues to do so every single day.

Speaking of treating me like a queen, I look up at the door to Susie's store when I hear the cowbells go off to find AJ walking in with the biggest smile on his face when his eyes land on me. He makes his way directly over to me and wraps me up in his strong arms, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. "Hi, my beautiful girl. I missed you," he said quietly, his face inches from mine.

Smiling up at him, I release a small giggle and frame his face, pressing another soft quick kiss to his full lips. "You just saw me this morning, babe, but I missed you, too. My handsome man," I replied, releasing a light laugh when AJ wrinkles his lightly freckled nose when I don't tell him I missed him too, right away. "What are you doing here? I thought you would have been at work already," I add, tucking a piece of his hair behind his ear that was sticking out from the side of his Georgia Bulldogs baseball cap.

"I may or may not have fallen back asleep after you left," AJ replies, a sheepish look growing on his face and I look up at him in baffled amusement. "Don't look at me like that. It was your fault. You were being very demanding for my attention and of course you know I'm not going to deny my girl multiple mind-blowing orgasms," he whispered hoarsely while squeezing my hips and I can't help but whimper at his comment.

"Don't be a tease with your words," I whine, resting my body into his and AJ leans down to let his lips graze mine while grinning. "And I didn't hear you complaining earlier," I add, nipping at his bottom lip, earning me a quiet growl.

"Now whose being a tease," AJ grounds out, his blue eyes growing dark with lust.

"Down boy," I smirk, pressing a quick peck to his lips before releasing his hold on me and make my way back to behind the counter. The look on his face is comical when I turn back around to look at him and he looks like I just offended him by insulting his skills in the bedroom. Which of course is NOT the case. AJ most definitely knows what he is doing in the bedroom. And in the kitchen. The living room. The shower. Yeah, I think you get where I'm going with this. He keeps me very satisfied and I don't think…no I know I'll never get tired of being intimate with this man. I'll never get tired of him…period.

AJ has become a very special presence, influence and person in my life. I can't picture my life without him in it. Just picturing living life without him hurts…a lot; I don't know what I would do if I ever lost him. I can even go as far as to say that I love him. That I'm in love with him, even though I haven't told him yet. At least not to his face or his awaken state. To say I've told him while he is asleep next to me is a different story. I'm pretty sure I fell in love with him within the first week of knowing him. Although, when I bring up his past when I try to get to know him better, he shuts down on me and has me thinking that something really bad must have happened for him to react like that every time I ask him about it. After the third time, I decided that I'll let him come to me when he is ready.

"You'll pay for that later, missy," AJ promises and leans against the counter, inching his face closer to mine with a smirk on his own, telling that he is going to stand by his word. I shiver in anticipation because AJ always makes good on his promise when it comes to him getting his payback in the bedroom.

"I'm looking forward to it. Now get out of here and go to work; you should have been there over an hour ago," I scold him with a grin that he returns while shaking his head.

"So bossy. C'mere and kiss me goodbye," AJ demands playfully and of course I'm going to grant his request. I close the distance between our faces over the counter and meet his lips with mine, smiling into it.

"You love it when I'm bossy," I whisper against AJ's lips, looking into his blue eyes that I love so much. "I'll see you later, baby. I get off at 3 so I'll head over to you afterwards," I promise and press another kiss to his waiting lips.

"I'll see you then," AJ replies with a wink and one more quick kiss before leaving the store, passing Susie as she makes her way in. She looks at me with a knowing smile and a lifted brow the second she walks through the door.

"Please don't say anything," I plead of her because I know she just witnessed mine and his goodbye. She is one of the few who know about our relationship, but also because I still don't know many people in this town. Hell, even my father doesn't know we are dating. He has his suspicions, but I'm not going to confirm them until I'm ready to. I still don't know why he doesn't like AJ. He's a good man, he treats me right and he makes me happy. You would think that would be enough, but apparently it's not.

"I didn't say anything, dear," she grins, stepping behind the counter with me, placing her items next to mine underneath. Turning to me, she asks, "did you tell him yet?" A look of hope shining in her green eyes and I shake my head dejectedly, knowing exactly what she is talking about. "Why? It's obvious you both feel the same way, so how come you haven't told each other yet?" Susie asks me and I sigh, leaving from behind the counter to straighten a few things up that the previous customer had made a mess of.

"It's not that easy. Believe me, I want nothing more than to tell him, but it's too soon. There is no guarantee that he feels the same way and I don't want to scare him away by telling him prematurely," I voice my concern about telling AJ that I love him.

"Oh sweetheart," Susie begins, walking around the counter and to me. She frames my face within both of her fragile hands and strokes my cheeks with her thumbs, "but it is that easy. He loves you, too. I can see it in his eyes and the way he treats you. You two are and have something special. It's something I haven't seen before. What you two have is rare. Don't be afraid, honey. I know you won't be disappointed in his reply, I can guarantee it," she reassures me and I nod my head subtly.

"Alright, I'll think about it. I know I do wanna tell him soon, I just don't want to tell him too soon," I tell the older woman and she provides me with a motherly smile.

"That's all I ask for. You're like the daughter I never had and the two of you are special to me and all I want to do is see you two happy. I know you do that for each other," Susie replies and I smile with a nod, agreeing with her statement.

"Yeah, he does make me pretty happy. Happier than I have been in a long while," I smile.

AJ POV

"Dude, would you relax; she's gonna come. She said she'd be here after she got outta work, did she not?" Karl said, working on the car next to mine. Apparently, I'm more fidgety and vocal than I thought.

"Yeah, she did, but I can't help it. It's already 4 and she got outta work at 3. I love her man, you know I'm gonna worry when I don't hear from her–what if she…" I begin to say, but I'm cut off by Luke, reading exactly where my mind is going.

"She's not cheating on you, man. Maddie is crazy about you. Hell, I have no doubt she loves you with the way she treats you. Never mind that, I've never seen someone look at their significant other the way Maddie looks at you. She looks at you like no one else on the planet exists; like you're the only man in her life," Luke said and I look over at him, then at Karl who nods his head in agreement.

"Maybe. But that doesn't stop me from having those thoughts. You know what…she…did to me. It fucked me up bad, so you can't blame me for having that mindset," I retort and before either of them can respond, my phone goes off, alerting me of a text message. My phone is sitting on the table next to where Luke is standing and he grabs it, handing it to me.

"Speaking of…it's your girl," he said, wiggling my phone in my face and a small smile develops on my lips.

Maddie: Hey baby, sorry I didn't get the chance to text you sooner, it got crazy at work out of nowhere. I'm heading out now and should be to you in less than 15 minutes Xoxo

Closing my phone, I put it in my back pocket, returning to my task on the car in front of me, "she's on her way now. She got caught up at work," I inform them, knowing I was and am overreacting with my insecurities, but can you really blame me?

"See? No need to worry, bro. I'm sure she would have texted you sooner if she could have," Karl replied, then unnecessarily added on, "I gotta take a piss; I'll be right back."

"Thanks. Didn't need to know that," I retort and he flips me the bird, pulling a laugh from both Luke and myself.

When Karl was out of earshot, Luke sidled up next to me, a brotherly look of concern written on his face. "Are you sure you're okay, man? Since you two got together, I've never seen you this troubled about your relationship. Did something bad happened between the two of you that's making you think like this?" He asked me and I shake my head.

"No. That's the thing; it's the complete opposite. Maddie's been nothing short of amazing. But you know how badly she fucked me up. Mentally and emotionally. I just don't know if I'd be able to survive it if Maddie ever did that. She means the fucking world to me," I reply and Luke looks up at something behind me.

"I still think you should give her the benefit of the doubt. She's a good girl and no doubt loves you; I can see it in the way she looks at you," he tells me then addresses whoever or whatever he was looking at, "hey babygirl, finally got free from work?" He said and I spin around, facing my girl.

Before even responding to Luke, Maddie walks straight to me with a smile on her face. Wrapping her arms around my waist, Maddie molds herself into me and presses a kiss to my lips that has my toes curling. "Hi baby. I missed you like crazy," she whispers, her face inches from mine.

My heart races a mile a minute hearing her say that after the conversation I just had with Luke. I wrap my own arms around Maddie and hold her tight, pressing my own kiss to her lips, putting all of my love into it. "I missed you, too. So damn much," I whispered back, my voice wavering.

Maddie looks up at me with concern when she hears the tremble in my tone and I can feel her tighten her hold on me. "Is everything alright, baby?" She asked quietly and I provide her with a small smile.

"Yeah. Everything is perfect now," I reply just as quietly, pressing my lips to her forehead. She throws me a skeptical look, but lets it go with a nod and finally turns her attention to Luke without letting go of her hold on me.

"Hey Luke, yeah leave it to just as soon as I got to leave work after a slow day, everyone decides to come at once. I couldn't leave Susie to deal with all of that, so I helped her check everyone out and rearrange the shit people put out of place," Maddie shrugs, resting her head on my chest.

"Thank god you got here when you did. This one right here…" Karl interjected into the conversation and pointed at me, causing me to roll my eyes with a shake of my head, "…was about to call for a search party. He was getting worried about you when you didn't show up when you said you were going to," he said and Maddie looks back up at me in question.

"Well that point is futile now, since she is right here," I snap at him, annoyed that he was close to exposing the real truth as to why I was worried. My attitude has Maddie frowning up at me and she reaches a hand to stroke my cheek with the pad of her thumb.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Maddie asked, a hint of scolding in her tone, but I refuse to look at her, my glare set on Karl. "AJ, this isn't like you; why are you acting this way?" She asked again. I remove my stare from Karl, looking down at Maddie, my eyes hard and even though my anger isn't directed at her, I take it out on her.

"You apparently don't know me then," I ground out, releasing my hold on her and she looks up at me in pure shock that I had just spoken to her like that.

"That's because you won't let me in, AJ! How can I get to know you if you keep me shut out?!" She retorts just as fiercely and I look at her, my eyes still hard and I scoff, shaking my head as I walk away and into the office, out of sight. I know I'm overreacting right now, but at the moment, I don't care as I hear her yell out my name, but I ignore it.

My moment alone doesn't last long when Maddie follows me into the office and slams the door shut behind her. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" She cries out and a look of disappointment and hurt is on her face, but I keep mine stoic. I refuse to let her see the pain on my own face.

"There is a lot wrong with me, Madison; where would you like for me to start?" I replied and my response is not what she was expecting due to the flabbergasted look on her face.

"Wh–what?" Maddie asked, taken aback by my sudden aloofness.

"You heard me. What fucked up part of me would you like to learn about first, so you can run away and add to the torment that has been my life for the past 20 fucking years!" I bellow out. My explosion of anger doesn't scare Maddie off like I expected it to. Instead, she looks at me with so much sadness and hurt that it actually has the opposite effect of what would be normal to any other human seeing someone they love in pain the way Maddie is right now. "Answer me, damn it!" I yell and tears begin to fall from her eyes.

"This isn't you, AJ. I know this is not who you are!" She cries out, wiping away the never-ending tears that just keep coming. The wall that I put up begins to crumble when I see how distraught Maddie is becoming…because of my attitude and actions, but my anger is what keeps me from acting on instinct to comfort her.

"Then who am I, Maddie? Hmm? Tell me," I retort, throwing my hands up in the air in aggravation. "I'd love to know!" I exclaim and turn away, not being able to see the disappointment written all over her face.

"I don't know who you are because you won't let me, but I know this isn't the AJ I fell in love with," Maddie said, her voice cracking in the process and my body stiffens at her confession.

I quickly spin around to face her, my eyes wide and shock clearly evident on my face since that was the last thing I expected to hear come out of her mouth. "You–you what?" I breathe out in disbelief, wanting to close the distance between us, but my feet refuse to move. For what reason, I don't know.

"I love you, AJ. I'm in love with you, so you can't imagine how much it hurts for you to be doing this to me right now when I did nothing to deserve it. I know you're angry at Karl for whatever reason, but that doesn't give you the right to take it out on me when I voice my concern over it," Maddie cries and my feet finally decide to work for me. I hurry over to her and pull Maddie into my arms, pressing a passion filled kiss to her swollen lips, only breaking away when breathing become a necessity.

"Say it again," I breathe, swallowing hard, "please," I beg Maddie. "Say it again. I need to hear you say it," I grasp both sides of Maddie's neck gently and rest my forehead on hers, my thumb tracing the prominent vein beneath her skin.

Maddie pulls back just enough to look up into my eyes and I can see her own vulnerability shining through. "I love you, Allen Jones. So much that it scares me because I've never felt this way before about anyone," she whispers and I look down at her with so much happiness radiating from my eyes. I lean down and press my lips to hers with a kiss that I put all of my love into, hoping that she feels it as much as I do.

I rest my forehead onto her's and lick my lips before pulling my head back to look down at Maddie. "I love you, too, Maddie. I've been in love with you since the night I had to change the flat tire on your truck. I was just too afraid to tell you because I didn't want my heart to get broken again after what happened," I reply and Maddie looks up at me in happy disbelief, but also a hint of sadness can be seen in her brown eyes.

Maddie presses her body into mine and kisses me again, this time deepening it, her lips desperate against mine. "Take me home?" She asked quietly and somehow I knew she was talking about my home. After all, she almost spends more time at my house than she does her own. If it wasn't for her father's illness, I have no doubt she'd be with me more often than not.

"Absolutely. Just let me tell the guys I'm goin'," I tell Maddie and she nods her head in understanding. Within 30 minutes, Maddie and I are back at my house, in my bed with me buried deep inside her, promptly making love to her over and over again.