After dinner with the boys, I was calm enough so I drove back to the house. When everyone got out I looked around for Maddox's car. Thank God he's not here; it's too hard to see him.

"Well, Alex, you ready to get going?" Chris asks.

"Hadley and I were supposed to talk." Alex says, looking at me.

Ah, dammit why couldn't he just forget about me, forget about everything? We've talked about it, I said my piece, it's done. If this were any other guy but Alex I would ignore him until he went away.

"Alex, we can talk another time. I think I said all I needed to say today. Maybe we could have lunch tomorrow? Just the two of us and you can get everything off of your chest."

"Okay, tomorrow. Is noon good?" He asks.

"Yeah, that's fine. Bye, boys." I say, hugging Chris then Alex quickly.

"Are you coming in?" I ask, Tyler.

"Do you need me to?"

"Yes, please. You're my favorite shoulder to cry on." I admit.

"God, you make me feel like a chick."

"You're not?!" I yell, in fake shock.

"You're asking for it, babe." He says, throwing his arm over my shoulders. We walk to the house and into my room.

"I'm going to call him, that's really why I want you here." I say, quietly. Going to my bed we both sit against the headboard. I take my phone out of my purse and hit send on Maddox's number. It rings once and he answers.

"Hadley." He says.

"Maddox." I reply.

"Did you have fun tonight?" He asks, calmly.

"Yeah, I did, it was relaxing. There was no fighting or arguing, it was a whole new experience."

"I bet." He replies, irritated.

"Maddox, our relationship, it's not working. We are trying to make it work and all we do is argue. The tracking app you put on my phone was crossing a line that we can't step back from."

"Are you breaking up with me?" He asks, his voice dangerously low.

"Yes."

He takes a deep breath. "No."

"Maddox, I-..."

"What if you're pregnant? Have you even thought of that? Have you once thought about how I might be so terrified that something could happen? That's why I put that tracking app on your phone. I admit, it was too much and I should have told you, but fuck, Hadley, I'm so scared I won't be there with you when you need me. That I'll have to find you, like I did them. When I said it was for peace of mind, I meant it."

'Them' meaning his parents. That he would find me like he did his parents. My heart aches for this little boy.

"What the hell is wrong with talking to me? Why can't you say this stuff before you need to? I don't get any insight to how you feel about anything, because you don't tell me! You're so closed off you either don't trust me or you have absolutely no respect for me and what you're doing to me in this relationship. We'll cross the road of me potentially being pregnant when I miss my period." I say. I feel Tyler tense up beside me and look at him, his eyes are closed. I see his impossibly long eyelashes twitch when he starts to squeeze his eyes shut tighter.

I touch his arm and he snaps his eyes open looking directly into mine. At first I'm shocked by his expression, he looks so devastated and broken that I don't realize Maddox is even talking until I hear him yell my name.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"We're not done here. I just need your patience. I'm not used to talking about what I feel or what I'm supposed to do in a relationship. I've only ever thought of making sure I'm there to protect you. I need you safe at all times, I need to know you're okay. I need you. I love you, I can't lose you and I worry about you every day."

"Maddox, that's not a happy, healthy relationship. You need someone that understands you. I just don't have it in me to be smothered constantly. It's not about patience it's about the lack of trust, I can't trust you to talk to me. When I'm with you, it's not easy, it's always an uphill battle like I can't breathe with you. If you can't be honest with me about the things that are bothering you until you have to be, then we don't have anything special, like I thought we did. We have nothing."

The silence is deafening, our breathing isn't even heard. I break it when I say, "I'll let you know this weekend whether we should be worried or not. Goodbye, Maddox." I say, hanging up.

I look back at Tyler and he doesn't look any better. "You might be pregnant?" He asks.

"Yeah."

"Why wouldn't you be safe? You don't seem like the type to be careless." He points out perplexed, running his hand through his hair.

"To be completely honest, I didn't know we didn't use protection until later." I say, embarrassed.

"How many times?"

"Two, maybe three times." I shrug.

"He knew what he was doing. That mother fucker!" Tyler yells, standing up. He starts pacing getting madder and madder.

"I don't think he'd really do that. Forget on purpose. He told me he couldn't control himself, he told me to get on birth control."

"Maddox has slept with a lot of girls. I doubt he ever forgot once to wrap it up. But he conveniently forgot when he was with you. You're a very smart girl, think about it. Not once would he forget when he was drunk or in the moment. He did it to keep you from leaving him." He states.

"No. He wouldn't do that." I argue, thinking about the first time. How he didn't tell me he didn't have any condoms and when he wanted to do it again. How he didn't care about the thought of me getting pregnant, how he said it would keep me with him forever. Maddox always gets what he wants. Tyler must have seen the recognition of Maddox's behavior hit home with what he just said. He takes my phone from my trembling fingers. I hear him hit a few buttons.

"No, you fucking prick, it's Tyler. Tell me you didn't try to get her pregnant." He orders, disgusted.

I see Tyler put the phone on speaker. "....mine, do you hear me, will always be mine? I didn't try to get her pregnant. I just didn't care if I did or not." Maddox says, defensively.

"You're one fucked up piece of shit. She won't need you even if she's pregnant you know." Tyler says, seriously.

"It's my child, of course she'll need me. You think she needs you? Huh, best friend? That's all you'll ever be to her." Maddox states threatening Tyler or warning him, I'm not sure.

"You're so selfish. I didn't care if you made her happy, I was content to..."

"Content to be her friend, right? Yeah, I know, I see it. I'm not blind, but she is."

"Why didn't you care if I got pregnant or not?" I interrupt. I think I know the answer but I ask it anyway.

"Hadley, I love you. Why would I not want you to have my kids?" He questions, not surprised that the phone is on speaker.

"So, you didn't care at all what it could have done to my future?" I ask.

"I'm going to take care of you no matter what. Our future is kids, our future is being together. It's another life to share it's not death. I didn't set out to get you pregnant. You were there too, Hadley, come on. You're going to listen to him? He wasn't there, he has no clue." Maddox responds, sounding defeated in a way. "That's why I put the tracking app on her phone, she's new around here and she could be pregnant with our child. You may think I'm a selfish asshole, but I didn't do it to violate her. I did it for my sanity and her safety."

"I bet you're really hoping you succeeded in knocking her up now. Right?" Tyler accuses.

"Go fuck yourself, Tyler." Maddox says. "Anymore insulting questions to ask?" We don't say anything. "Well we have an appointment to get you on birth control on Thursday, are we still going? I'm sure they can do a blood test to see if you're pregnant or not. That way you can get rid of me for good. I'm just as tired as you are, kitten, because I'm willing to fight tooth and nail for you, but you just give up on me so damn easily. You're always running to him, I don't understand it and I don't like it. Now, I have a fight to get to tonight, so I need an answer about the doctors as soon as possible." He says, hanging up the phone.