I frown looking at Maddox who doesn't look to pleased either. "Do we have to do this?" I ask, motioning to the dress I'm wearing and the dress shirt Maddox had to wear.

He places his hands on my hips to pull me close, "Yes, we do have to do this."

"I'm not going to speak." My unhappiness is plastered on my face as I stare at the television set I have no interest of stepping onto.

Maddox kisses me gently, "I love you."

It's enough to make me smile because I still haven't gotten used to hearing him say it. "I love you too."

And then we're being ushered into the spotlight, and Maddox guides me to a seat on the sofa next to him.

"Hey guys! Welcome back to my segment where we catch up on the latest gossip. Today we have two special guests with us," Lesli Arnolds states motioning towards me and Maddox.

I nod politely, and let Maddox take the lead on this. "Thanks Lesli for having us. Cass and I have made a lot of public appearances together, but I guess we've never officially confirmed our relationship."

So we have to confirm our relationship on television for it to count? I try to keep my face neutral, but I can already feel the frown pulling at the corners of my mouth.

She coos happily, "That's okay dear. Thanks for choosing us as the ones to do it. I do have some questions though."

Maddox rests a hand on my knee, running his thumb back and forth. "Ask away."

"How long have you two been together?" She asks, starting off with an easy one.

"Six months?" He looks at me to confirm, and I shake my head.

"Six months in two weeks."

I can see the hint of success in his eyes at getting me to speak, "How did you two meet?"

Maddox is clearly debating on if he tells the real story or not. "I might have caused Cass to spill a glass of wine on her dress. I tried wooing her after that, and boy did Cassidy give me a run for my money. It seemed like if I even tried to flirt she would excuse herself and disappear."

Lesli seems shocked, "You ran from such a handsome face?"

"Looks aren't everything," I remind her which is clearly something she's forgotten based on the amount of makeup she's wearing. Probably not the best thing I could have said so I continue, "But he wore me down and eventually I agreed to have dinner with him."

"And now here we are." Maddox says, trying to keep the tone light. He's much better at this than I am.

"Here we are," She smiles brilliantly. "You two look good together. I'd almost think you're siblings if I didn't know better from the blue eyes and blonde hair."

"Definitely not siblings," I confirm, shaking my head again.

Maddox gives me a funny look, "That would be really weird."

I resist the urge to laugh as Lesli asks her next question, "Speaking of siblings, you were caught by paparazzi hugging Maddox's brother? It made it appear as if something was going on there?"

"Absolutely not. Dean is probably one of my best friends. I've never looked at him as anything other than a friend." I know how the pictures make it look, but it's not even a possibility.

He squeezes my knee supportively as she continues, "But has he looked at you as anything other than a friend? I don't think many of my friends would attack a photographer and break their camera for me."

I bite my tongue and think through my answer before I say it, "Dean and I are just friends. He didn't attack the photographer; they refused to leave us alone, and were demanding answers to questions that are none of their business." Kinda like how you're doing right now.

She looks intrigued, "What kind of questions?"

"I don't know. I was too busy being blinded by the flash after being knocked to the ground to really listen," I reply quickly. My tone comes across harsher than I meant it to, but I mean come on? That was a dumb question.

"My brother was looking out for Cassidy. With the hindsight we have now, it could have been solved in a different manner. Yet, I am glad that he was there. Everyone in my family wether it's Hayes and Sephine, and even my parents have been on the side of aggressive paparazzi. There's no right or wrong thing to do." Maddox says, speaking up putting it a lot nicer than I did.

"That's a really mature way of looking at it," Lesli says, glancing at the teleprompter quickly before redirecting her attention. "How has it been being in a relationship again, Maddox?"

Paige was off-limits. It was the unspoken rule I'd learned after every event with him. No one mentions her other than people who directly knew her.

"It's been nice. I took a break for myself which I think was necessary before dating again. There are plenty of ups and downs, but we're working through them together." Maddox says with a clipped tone that's meant to imply that this part of the conversation is over.

Except that's not how this goes. "You were out of the public eye for a while, is it weird being back?"

"It is and it isn't. I like keeping aspects of my life private, but I understand it's something my family doesn't have the luxury of having. I was grateful that my family has allowed me to lay low the past few years."

I watch him carefully as he smiles. I can tell that it's forced, and I squeeze his hand reassuringly. Just a little bit longer and we can leave.

"Was your last relationship anything like this one?" Lesli asks, directing the question at me. "I think we've all seen the video at this point of Maddox punching your ex.

I would really prefer not to talk about Noah. "My last relationship was not a healthy one. I stayed longer, much longer than I should have. I allowed myself to become a version of myself that I didn't like, which is something I'm trying to get past. However, what the video doesn't show is how my ex had grabbed my best friend's arm and refused to let go because I wouldn't speak to him. It didn't reveal the black eye he'd given me a few days prior. I was glad that Maddox was there."

Her jaw drops clearly caught off guard. She finally seems to sense that she's touching on the wrong topic, and Lesli immediately switches to a more friendly one. "I'm sorry to hear that. Focusing on your current relationship, what is your favorite thing about Maddox?"

If it takes the heat off of Maddox and the topic of Paige and Noah, then I'll happily answer the rest of the questions. "Honestly, I'm not sure. There are a lot of things I love about him. His kindness, the love he has for his family. But I think my favorite thing would be that he always manages to make me forget everything else in the world when I'm with him."
Lesli coos happily, and I can feel my cheeks flush because that got a lot more sentimental than I meant for it to.

"Oh don't be embarrassed for admitting that, I think it's sweet." She says, and I'm just mortified that I said that to anyone other than just Maddox. "Are you in love with him?"

Maddox looks quite amused now, whereas I want to die. "I'm actually quite interested in these answers," He muses, but I can tell he's still on edge. I'm never ever doing anything like this again. I think he'll agree with me.

"Yes, I am." I admit, and he tenderly brushes a few pieces of my hair back behind one ear. I think it's his favorite thing to do since he's constantly doing it.

"I think it's pretty safe to say that he feels the same way," Lesli interjects, drawing my attention away from Maddox.

"I do," He says laughing lightly. "Cassidy has kind of changed my perspective on the world."

Her head tilts causing her red hair to hang over her shoulder, "How so?"

"When I met her, I was not in the best place you could say. I've spent a lot of the past few years with everyone walking around on eggshells with me. Trust isn't something that comes naturally to either of us, and it's something I've really had to work on. I know I have more money than I could ever need so I do my best to donate a large portion of my paycheck each month to numerous charities. I've just never realized what that money could mean to different people. I'm not suggesting that it's a burden to have, but something that needs to be thought about. It's not worth everything, and you can't buy happiness."

*********

"I'm serious. I would never ever do that again, even if you promised me all the money in the world." I insist, walking out of my bedroom causing Maddox to laugh. "Stop laughing at me, it's not funny."

He smiles brilliantly, "It's a little funny. There were a few questions she had asked where I thought you might not hold your tongue. You made it clear when Lesli asked something she shouldn't have, but it was still productive for the most part. Especially the sappy parts. Who knew you were such a romantic?"

I stretch my legs out over his lap, and hold a throw pillow over my face. "I was just answering her questions," I groan, being the drama queen I wished I was earlier so I wouldn't have had to go onstage.

"After saying that you weren't going to speak at all." I can definitely hear the amusement in his voice, but I choose to ignore it.

"It's not as if you really gave me a choice. It was speak or look like a bitch because I'm ignoring the host."

His thumbs start to work their way into my calf muscle, "You held your own. I'm proud of you."

I pull the pillow down enough to see if he's still teasing me, and I realize how much I actually love this dork. Enough that I admitted it on television. "I have a question."

Maddox looks curiously at me, "Will I have an answer?"

I roll my eyes at his attempt of being funny, "I think so. How did you get the scar under your right eye?"

"That's your question? It's just a silly little scar. I'm surprised you even noticed," He says, continuing to massage my leg.

It feels incredible, and I almost forget what I had asked. "Well if it's a silly little scar, then I'm not sure why you can't just tell me."

"One of my dad's failed parenting attempts at getting Dean and I to like each other when we were younger was by taking us fishing. Problem was that none of us had ever been fishing, including my dad. He tried casting his line only to realize that he had hooked me right under my eye."

My jaw drops, and I sit up quickly. "You were seriously hooked?"

"Like a fish," He jokes, and I brush a thumb over the small indent.

"That's crazy."

I didn't realize how close I was to his face until Maddox starts kissing me. I pull away, giggling like a school girl, "You're just trying to distract me."

Maddox smiles innocently, "Distract you from what? I answered your question."

"That's not the point," I counter, and then I'm ignored as his lips brush against mine again. He presses his hand into the small of my back to guide my body until I'm straddling his lap. "What time will Dean get back?"

"Not sure, guess we'll have to be quick," I say as I start to fumble while unbuttoning his shirt. I can't focus on something that takes concentration when Maddox is biting my neck. "Stupid shirt, why didn't you change when I offered you clothes?" The last few buttons are stuck so I pull harder which leads to them breaking off and flying across the room.

"Are you really going to destroy my clothes?" He asks, leaning back on the couch cushion chuckling.

I pull my hair back to tie it into a ponytail so it stays out of my face, "That's obviously my end goal because then you won't wear clothes."

His bright blue eyes seem so alive right now, "So if I do the same to your clothes then you won't wear any either?"

I roll my eyes as his hands toy with the bottom of my shirt, "There's always more where these came from. But I'd prefer if you didn't ruin my clothes." I lean forward again, kissing him slowly.

He cups my cheek momentarily before pulling my hair tie out of my hair, letting it fall across my shoulders. I pull away just enough to stay out of reach, "Why did you do that? I just put it up."

Maddox smiles at me, "I like it better down." He says it so charmingly that I can't be annoyed. There's nothing to be annoyed about anyway. I pull my shirt over my head before Maddox can make good on his idea to tear my clothes. At least when I did it to his shirt it was an accident.

He pulls me closer by grabbing onto my hips. When Maddox moves to kiss me again, I hang back just barely out of reach, I can see his eyebrows knit in confusion. "I really do love you," I say softly.

"I love you too." His face relaxes, "You make me happy Cass. Thank you for today, I know you didn't want to do it, but it means the world that you did."

"I hope you know I'd do pretty much anything for you. Just please don't make me go through another interview again."

"No promises on that one," Maddox says quickly kissing me before I can protest. His kisses are intoxicating. I don't think I'll ever get enough.

Then, the lock on the front door clicks. My reactions are sluggish, but at least Maddox has enough sense to grab my shirt that I'd unintentionally left within reach.

I push myself off of his lap, while trying to pull my shirt over my head. Maddox grabs a pillow, and I can feel my face turn beet red at the idea of Dean catching us. Why did I decide rooming with my boyfriend's little brother was a good idea? "Hey Dad," Maddox says, clearing his throat after I successfully get my shirt back on.

His dad is staring at us in shock, along with Dean who is covering his mouth trying not to laugh.

Maddox's shirt is next to my foot and I slowly lean over to hand it to him. "Hi, Mr. Benson," I say politely, praying that he won't hold this against me.

"Nice to see you again Cassidy." At least he's meeting me in the eye, he could be slut-shaming me in his head for all I know. "Son, I hope you're using protection."

Maddox's jaw drops slightly, but he still manages to nod once. Dean is shaking his head at us, "We got dinner and I told Dad about my five year plan. He wanted to see the apartment, and I didn't realize you guys were here or I would have tried harder to get ahold of you."

"You were right Maddox, he has a good plan. It's not what I would have chosen for him, but Dean has it planned out." He says and I get up off the couch to pull Dean aside for a second.

Now he can't help but laugh, "My god, your bedroom is like ten feet away? Is it that difficult to get up and move?"

My cheeks burn and I hit his arm, "You could have knocked, or called, or I don't know tell me that your father was coming over tonight."

Dean doubles over laughing, and I run my hands over my face because now Maddox and their dad will definitely hear him. "I'm not knocking to get into my apartment, and I did call you. I guess you were a little preoccupied because it went to voicemail. You were so busy stressing out about the interview that I didn't want to give you another thing to worry about so I didn't tell you. I don't know if Maddox has told you, but this isn't the first time I've caught him with a girl. " He teases which doesn't exactly make me feel better. Dean does have a good point though because I was freaking out this morning.

"But still. Try a little harder next time," I say, still mortified.

"How was the interview?" He asks changing the topic, but the smirk still doesn't fall from his face.

I roll my eyes, "It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Lesli asked about you though. I had to explain a few different times that we're nothing more than friends. She didn't seem to take my first answer because it didn't include enough drama."

"Sounds like you've just had a great day," Dean snorts, and I feel my face flush again.

"Please let's just not mention this again."

I can tell just by his lack of response that he's definitely not going to forget it.