Heyyy! I'm back with a new chapter of one of my favorite couples I've concocted up in this crazy brain of mine! Last chapter was pretty steamy though...wasn't it? :D I want to give my girls JustCherry73, GoldenGirl1920 and wwechristina a shout out for your continued love and support! Love you girls!
I don't own anyone affiliated with the WWE. I only own Maddie and the storyline.
Enjoy!
Allen POV
"Sooo," Luke says as I roll myself under the Ford I'm about to do an oil change on. Rolling my eyes, I begin my task and get to work. Christmas is right around the corner so somehow I know exactly what it is he is going to bring up.
"Sooo? Spit it out, Gallows…" I reply with a slight edge to my tone, but I know how to hide it. I've been irritated and annoyed lately because Maddie's been getting snappy, short and not to mention she has been being a bitch lately. I hate it and it hurts me to even say that about her, but everything I do she criticizes me for it.
Her mom and dad's remains are with us, sitting on a shelf in the living room, I built specially for them. Everything that she needed to sell for extra cash got sold and it was a lot easier than we thought it was going to be to sell her parents house, but we managed to do it.
All the stress from everything from a month ago is gone. Done. Over with. So I don't know why she's been acting the way she has. She's not all the time, but it sure as hell feels like it.
"Christmas is next week and I know you were talking about getting a promise ring for Maddie. Or at least that's what you want to do…" he said and my arms drop to my sides with a sigh. The tools in my hands clatter to the concrete floor and I drag my hand down my face as my mood suddenly plummets at the subject of me not giving Maddie a promise ring, but to use that ring to propose to her.
"Al…?" Luke calls my name and I close my eyes as I take a deep breath.
"I don't wanna talk about it, Luke," I answer him, my tone leaving no room for argument.
"But,"
"I said I don't wanna talk about it! Just drop it!" I bellow out, fighting everything within me to not cry. I'm met with silence, so I pick the tools back up and resume my task. Only, my mind is racing in so many directions, I don't realize my dire mistake until it's too late and I have old motor oil pouring onto my face. "Ahh! Fuck!" I cry out and quickly roll myself out from under the car. I get to my feet and wipe at my face before ripping my shirt off and use it to get the oil off my face and out of my eyes.
I hear two sets of feet trample towards me until they stop at my side. "Whoa, what happened? Are you alright, man?" I hear Karl ask and I growl, putting my attention onto him.
"Do I look okay to you?" I exclaim, angry at the whole situation as I continue to try and wipe the oil from my eyes and face. I can faintly hear Luke telling Karl to call Maddie and I groan out my displeasure of learning I'm going to have to deal with more of her wrath because I'm a fucking dumbass.
"Here, use this. This might help some," Luke says to my sitting form and hands me a clean rag with a water bottle. "At least you can try to get most of it out of your eyes," he tells me before continuing, "what happened man? You can talk to me…you know that," he says and I look up at him helplessly.
I shake my head and look down at my lap, unable to hold back the tears this time. "I don't know. Things have been really hard at home lately. Something's up with Maddie and I don't know what it is or why she's acting the way she is. I've never seen her this angry or annoyed with me in the time we've been together. Fuck, a month ago everything was perfect despite her dad having just died. We were going in the right direction and now I just don't even know…" I express to my best friend and look up at him.
There is concern written all over his face, but I can see he has no clue what to even do to help me in a situation like this. "Have you tried talking to her about it?" Luke asked and I release a non-humorous laugh.
"Yeah…and have my head bitten off. No thanks. Fucking hell, this hurts like a motherfuckin' bitch," I ground out, trying to wipe more of the oil out of my eyes. "What?" I ask when I look back up at him and he has an 'aha' moment mixed with excitement on his face.
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe she's pregnant?" Luke said quietly and my eyes widen before I scrunch them up shut again from the pain.
"It would explain her behavior and mood swings. Oh god, I really hope she is…" I voice my want and desire to be a father.
Luke smiles at me and turns his head in the direction of the front of the shop and I can hear that Maddie's finally made it. I close my eyes again and take a deep breath to prepare myself for whatever mood she is in at the moment.
"Where is he? Allen?" I hear Maddie's voice get closer and I swallow hard before opening my eyes to look up at her with scared and apologetic eyes. "Oh Allen, what the hell did you do?" She asks with concern lacing her tone as she takes the rag and water bottle from my hands.
With her standing in front of me and the level she is at, her stomach is directly in front of my face and I want nothing more than to rest my hand there, but I know it won't be the wisest thing to do at the moment. Instead, I keep my hands to myself because I don't know how she'll react to me touching her at all at the moment, if I'm being honest.
"Allen, baby. Open your eyes and look up; I'm going to pour some of the water into your eyes…okay?" She tells me gently and I subtly nod my head, still unable to say a word, but I do as she says.
The sensation and feeling of the water hitting my eyeballs has me hissing out my disapproval and I jerk away from having anymore of it poured into my eyes. I grab the rag from Maddie and wipe at them in agitation.
"Allen, stop wiping at your eyes, you're only going to irritate them more. I know you don't like what I'm doing, but it needs to be done because it's the best way to get it completely out. You keep rubbing at your eyes like that, we're gonna have to go to the hospital and I know that's the last thing you wanna do," Maddie tries to reason with me.
"Fine…I know," I grumble and let Maddie lift my head up once more and the simple touch spreads warmth throughout my body, followed by chills. And not the bad kind. It's been a couple of days since she's touched me in any sort of intimate way or one that's suppose to be gentle…loving. Caring. A mother's touch.
I finally reach my hands out and grab Maddie by the hips as she steps in between my parted legs while she continues to rinse the oil out of my eyes. "Baby, talk to me. What happened?" She asks gently, dabbing my eyes with a new clean rag that Karl gave to her.
"At home. Please?" I reply quietly and she looks up and over at Luke, who I'm assuming gave his okay since I pretty much will be useless for the rest of the day, when she looks back down at me with a gentle smile and a nod of the head.
Placing the rag aside, Maddie holds her hands out for me and helps me to my feet. "Alright, come on. Let's head home, my handsome accident prone redneck," she teases before placing a soft kiss to my lips before breaking away from me completely. I miss her touch immediately.
I look at Luke and say, "I know I can trust you to get my truck home to me safe and sound?"
"Of course you can, brother. Karl and I will come up with a plan on how to get it back to you tonight. Just focus on getting the rest of that shit out of your eyes and explaining to Maddie everything that happened and ease your conversation into way of suspecting that…well ya know," Luke replies, but whispers at the end.
"You're the best, man. Thanks," I tell him and go to hug him, but think better of it with the amount of oil that is still on me. I grab a large sheet and place it over the passenger side seat, hopping in.
Maddie POV
Every now and then, I look over at Allen, finding his head resting against the window with his eyes shut. Maybe the oil did bother his eyes a lot more than expected and keeping them shut helps, but he's been way too quiet. Allen is never this quiet. Unless something is wrong.
I know I haven't been myself lately and earlier today, I found out why. I rest my hand on my lower stomach with a small smile, knowing that something Allen and I created is growing there. I had my suspicions, so when Allen left for work, I made an appointment with the local gynecologist and lo and behold, I turned out to be a month pregnant.
My smile drops though when I reflect back and realize how horrible I've been to Allen when he's been nothing but amazing to me. It's probably why he had that terrified look on his face when I showed up; I'm sure he was expecting me to blow up on him again. I cover my mouth with my hand to mute the sob that wanted to break free. I want nothing more than to reach over and grab his hand, but it's probably not a good idea right now. Especially, when I don't know where his headspace is at the moment.
I drive down the small dirt road that leads to the house and less than two minutes later, I'm parking the truck and I shut it off. I look back over at Allen, but he hasn't budged. I would have thought he'd have fallen asleep if it weren't for his body being so tense. I frown, knowing I did that to him.
"Allen, baby…we're home," I say softly and I get no response from him, even though I know he is awake. If how I'm feeling to him not responding to me is even a fraction to the way he's been feeling for the past month, I really do feel like a fucking bitch and the scum of the earth, knowing he's been silently living with this for as long as he has.
I decide to get out, knowing he won't be far behind. At least, I hope he won't. He needs to take a shower since he's still covered in motor oil and lord knows how much of it is still in his eyes.
Making my way into the house, I head straight for the kitchen, knowing he's probably hungry. So, while he takes a shower, I'll make him something to eat. I hear the front door slam behind him, but he doesn't try and look for me. Instead, moments later, I hear his footsteps go up the stairs, followed by the bedroom door closing.
My hormones get the best of me and I begin to cry, even though I have no right to. I deserve the silent treatment I'm getting at the moment. Even if it does suck. I put on my big girl panties and dry my eyes.
To make it up to him, even only if it's for a small fraction of what I've done to him this past month, I'm going to make him his favorite dish after my baked ziti. Shepard's Pie. But to hold him over until then, I make him a sandwich of ham, roast beef and cheese. Making it just how I know he likes it. I add a small side of his mom's recipe of homemade potato salad I made earlier in the week and pair it with a glass of sweet tea.
Allen's been in the shower longer than I anticipated…probably to keep away from me…which I don't blame him for, but it still hurts. I put his drink and sandwich in the fridge and continue to chop the veggies needed for the pie. I've already got the potatoes peeled, cut and boiling as well as the meat browned and set aside for when I need it.
He eventually comes back downstairs and slowly makes his way towards the kitchen, sitting down at the kitchen table. After finishing up the stalk of celery I was cutting, I put the knife down and turn around to face Allen. He looks anywhere, but at me and my heart plummets. I deserve that too.
I walk to the fridge and pull out the food I made for him, placing it on the table front of him. "I made you a sandwich to hold you over until dinner…" I tell him and he pushes the plate away from him.
"Not hungry," he replies, monotoned.
My frown deepens and his rejection hurts more than I thought it would. "Well, I'm making your second favorite dish of Shepard's pie," I try to tell him with what little bit of enthusiasm I have left in me. When he doesn't respond, I walk up to him and lift his head, "how are your eyes?" I ask and before I can even get a good look at them, he pulls his head from my grasp.
"Come on, Allen. Please. Talk to me, baby," I beg him and I know he can hear the agony in my voice. He looks up at me with tired and defeated eyes and while he was in the shower, I can see he's been crying. I know none of it was from the oil.
"Why? Just so you can belittle and yell at me some more? All because my mind was and is so fucking jumbled up because of you, which is the reason I got motor oil in my eyes to begin with? No fucking thanks, Madison. I've had enough trauma today and this past month to last me a lifetime," he lists off and I know all of this is my fault. I know it is and I just want to make it right. Especially, now that we have a little one on the way…
"Look, Allen! I'm sorry! I know I've been a fucking raging bitch for the last month and I know you did absolutely nothing to deserve it," I cry out, finally letting the tears fall that I tried so hard to fight.
"So then why did you do it? Huh? I've been nothing but understanding and good to you! Even when your dad died, you weren't this big of a bitch from all of the emotions! I was there for you through everything and that is how you repaid me?" He exclaims, getting to his feet and creates distance in between us. My face drops even more at the action.
Allen POV
In the back of my mind I know I'm being unfair to her. But the logical part of my brain refuses to let her get away with it. I love this woman so damn much, that it breaks me inside to know that this is happening between us. I just want to know what I did wrong for her to treat me the way she's been treating me. Everything was going so well between us until overnight it's like she just snapped on me and turned into this completely different person.
"Fucking answer me, Maddie!" I bellow out as tears of my own begin to fall. She jumps back at the volume and tone of my voice, but I can't find it in me to care at the moment; I think I've earned the right to feel the way I'm feeling right now with all the shit she's put me through.
Maddie opens her mouth to respond, but I decide to cut her off and make her feel even worse than what she does right now. I know it makes me an asshole and a piece of shit for even wanting to do that, but I've been hurting this whole past month and have been disrespected for no reason. Its my turn to get my thoughts and feelings out.
"When I heard Luke tell Karl to call you after my stupid stunt…thanks to you no less…" I ground out and Maddie flinches at my jab towards her. "I dreaded knowing I had to see you and not know what Maddie I was going to get. I literally had to mentally prepare myself for whatever wrath you were going to expel on me when you got to the shop. Why do you think I was quiet the whole time there and on the way home?
"I didn't wanna piss you off and have you yell at me for something for absolutely no reason. When you actually showed compassion towards me and kissed me, I didn't know how to react. It's been so long since you've shown me any type of affection like that, I thought I stepped into a fucking alternate universe where I had my old Maddie back. The Maddie that actually gives a shit about me…"
"I do give a shit about you, Allen! I'd give up my life if it meant you got to live!" She yells and her confession catches me off guard that I stare at her wide eyed and shocked. "I have no excuse whatsoever for the way I acted and treated you! I hate myself for it and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, so I'm not going to ask for it. If you want to, it'll be on your terms. But there is a reason why I've been acting the way I have…although, right now, I'm sure you won't care. But god knows you'll prove me wrong because of how amazing of a human being and boyfriend you are," Maddie said, growing more quiet.
"What is it, Mads?" I say just as quietly, slowly closing the distance between us once more. I hesitantly place my hands on her hips, but Maddie wraps them around herself more. She looks down at her hands that play with the hem of my shirt before looking up at me. "What is it, Maddie?" I repeat myself as I raise my hand to stroke her cheek.
Pressing her face into my hand, Maddie looks up at me with so much love and apology shining in her eyes. "You're going to be a daddy, Allen," she whispers with a smile on her face.