angeline ✔️

4 - christopher

angeline

"maddie! i didn't know that your ride along was today." i grin, wrapping my arms around her tightly.

"yep. with the one and only athena grant." she smiles.

"cap, this is our sister, maddie. youve heard about her, but never really met her." buck says, tossing his arm over her shoulder.

"maddie, you ready to get some breakfast." athena smirks.

"breakfast? after that? damn girl." she scoffs, walking backwards to the car, waving at us.

-

i slap eddies hand away from my plate.

"back up, whore." i grumble, picking up my fork and digging into the salad cap made.

he holds his hand to his chest with a mock hurt expression and evan laughs.

"first thing you should have learned about ann. no one touches her food." his eyes widen as he chuckles.

"i tried once and i barely made it out alive." hen sighs.

"not my fault yall wanted to snatch my food." i shrug.

"the more time i spend with you, the more i see how you and buck are related." cap tells me.

"thats the worst thing anyones ever said to me." i drop my silverware and place my hand on my chest, wiping away an imaginary tear.

evan rolls his eyes and i nudge him. "you love me."

"sadly." he mutters.

i turn back to eddie, who is staring at me with an amused smile.

"what?" i ask, pushing my hair off my shoulder.

"nothing." he shrugs, going back to his own plate.

I just shrug, going back to my delicious food.

"so, evan, how is your new place?" i ask. he had recently moved into a new apartment, away from his ex girlfriend's home.

"great. now I don't have to worry about paying bills that aren't mine." he grins and I shake my head.

"you would be the only person to pay someone else's bills." eddie shakes his head.

"he tried to buy my love as a kid." i laugh, remembering how he would hand me monopoly money for me to reach the higher cabinets and get him a snack.

"i was like three!" evan exclaims, everyone laughing at the situation.

"don't you know you're meant to know how that stuff works at one and a half?" hen rolls her eyes sarcastically.

suddenly the bell rings overhead and we all drop our silverware. i hop down the stairs and into the truck, throwing on my gear and buckling in.

-

"i really do love your hair maddie." i smile, toying with the ends of her now short hair.

"its my new start. new hair, new job, new home." she grins, letting out a content sigh. "i have no idea how you have managed to do this all these years, ann. just live your life without worrying about matt coming back for you one day."

"i definitely worry." i sigh, setting my boxing gloves on the ground and plop beside them. maddie sits down next to me, catching her breath. "there really never will be a time where you don't. no matter what, you will always have the paranoia of your abuser being out there. matt always told me, 'if i don't find you quickly, just know, i will put all of my energy into it. to make sure you're back with me forever'. it scared the fuck out of me for a long time, and it still does. i still have nightmares about what he will do to me if he finds me. i just wish i was able to leave a little bit sooner. maybe then i would have a baby girl or baby boy with me today." i smile sadly.

"you are so strong, angeline. you don't hear it enough, but you are. i never truly understood all that you had gone through until i met doug." she admits. "you know, the only reason i was able to actually leave this time was because of you. if you did it, i could do it too. and it was true."

"mads, you are the sweetest soul. you are just as, if not stronger, than me" i mutter, pulling her into a hug. "but i don't know, i always thought when i was little that i wouldn't want to have kids, but then i was pregnant and bleeding out on the floor, praying to god that the baby would be okay."

"i get that, but maybe it just wasn't your time to be a parent just yet. this whole situation will cause you to love your kids, if you ever have them, more than anything because you know what its like to lose one." she holds my head close to her and scratches my back.

"god, how did evan get so lucky with two wise ass older sisters?" i joke.

-

"christopher!" i exclaim, falling onto my ass as he tackles me into a hug.

the kid and i have a blooming relationship ever since i got him out of school to see his father. he sticks by my side, no matter what.

"sometimes i wonder if he likes you more than he does me." eddie sighs, shaking his head with a small smile. he looks lovingly down at his son sitting between my legs.

"you know it." i grin, tickling chris's stomach. "right, buddy?" he just giggles, turning in my hold to hug me again.

eddie has some stuff to do and i offered to watch christopher so that he wouldn't have to take carla, his babysitter, away from her husband in the hospital.

i rub chris's back, only standing after a few minutes. i help him up and he immediately jumps into his fathers open arms. the sight nearly has me tearing up, too sweet for me to handle.

that could have been me.

my smile drops, but i quickly plaster a fake one on my face.

"im gonna go now, okay, buddy?" eddie says, ruffling the boys hair. "ann has my number if you need anything. anything. don't hesitate to ask to call, alright?"

chris nods and pulls away. he runs off and jumps on my couch, pulling a blanket over him.

eddie stares for a second before turning back to me. "thank you so, so much for this. i would have taken him, but he hates the gym and stuff."

"of course, eds. anytime. you and i both know he enjoys it here, and i would do anything in the world for him." i grin, turning to look at the boy who is now snuggled fully into the couch, already taking control of the television.

"i know. but seriously, thank you again." he says, pulling me into a hug.

i wrap my arms around his shoulders, setting my forehead against his shoulder. his arms set themselves tightly around my waist as he nuzzles his face in my neck.

we stay like this for a second, just breathing each other in, until finally he pulls away, his hands placed on my hips.

"alright. bye you guys!" he calls out, waving his hand as he makes his way to the door.

we each call our own goodbye's, watching as he steps out of my apartment, and the door slowly shutting behind him, my hips cold without his touch.

damn it.

i like eddie diaz.