This was a fucking mistake. My jaw clenches when I follow Melanie's finger that's pointing out the window at her building to show me where it is. And guess where the fuck it is? In a shit-hole neighbourhood that isn't making my leaving her any easier. What the hell is she doing living in a place like this by herself? I know she can handle herself but fuck...she shouldn't have to.

"Seriously?" I ask her. I keep my voice low, scared that I'll be overheard. Just because I can talk when I'm with Melanie, doesn't mean I'm ready for the world to hear me. Not even fucking close to ready. The thought alone breaks me out into a fucking sweat.

"What?" She scowls. "You don't get to judge me. I'm doing the best I can."

"I know," I sigh reluctantly, realizing what a dick I probably sound like. Maybe I shouldn't be talking at all. I clearly don't know what the fuck to say. "But...after last night, I am not comfortable leaving you alone."

She side-glances me. "I'll live, big guy. I've survived without you many years and I'll survive this too."

I pull in a breath and try to stay patient. The past day has been more than either of us can handle and after our talk in the kitchen, I've royally pissed her off. I'm walking a fine line with her right now. "Can I spend today with you? To make sure you will be okay?"

There's a pause and I look over at her to find her staring out the window again. I know she needs a minute so I stop the car and lean back in my seat, impatiently drumming my fingers on my thigh. I don't know what I'm going to do if she says no. I can't just leave her. She was fucking attacked and now she's in her neighbourhood that's in some pretty shitty shape and I'm supposed to assume she'll be safe? I know it's not my business, that I'm overstepping, but I can't fucking help it. I meant what I told her earlier — I care about her too much. No matter how many times she pushes me away it's not enough to actually keep me away, whatever the fuck that means.

"Where'd you go those two weeks?" She asks quietly, breaking the silence.

I kind of expected her to ask but hoped she wouldn't. I've already done enough to scare her away in the past twenty-four hours and I don't want to give her another reason. But I know I owe her my honesty because she's asking. Melanie never asks but right now, she's asking.

"The day of our last appointment—"

"It's because I made you take those pictures, right?" She interrupts with a pained expression. "Shit. I knew it."

"No, not that." I turn in my seat to face her. "That was a shitty experience but I chose to do it. It is not on you whatsoever."

Her brows come together. "Then?"

I blow out a breath and run an agitated hand over my hair, trying to find the right words to explain what was going on in my head. It's been decades since I've had to vocalize what I'm thinking. I'm not sure I even know how to. It doesn't help that Melanie keeps eyeing my arms with a look in her eyes that isn't exactly innocent, distracting me. I have to fight a smile knowing that even when she's pissed off she's still attracted to me. Sometimes I wonder why she's attracted to me at all. I can understand girls showing interest in me for my size because that tends to be a common reason but I don't have a pretty boy face whatsoever. I look...mean. Unapproachable.

"What?" She murmurs and I realize I zoned out on her. I do that way too fucking often but I can't help it. She intrigues the fuck out of me.

"That day," I continue and force myself to stay on track. "I almost talked."

Her brows go up in surprise and she turns to face me, drawing her legs up on the seat and waiting for me to continue.

"It freaked me the fuck out, Melanie." I ignore the way her mouth twists down at the use of her full name. She's going to have to get used to it. "I haven't talked since I was five years old, not to anyone besides myself. That day...that was the day I realized you are probably the only person that understands me when I don't speak a word. When I was freaking the fuck out from having my picture taken, you picked up on it instantly and got me out of there. It was an intense realization and I could not help it — I almost spoke."

"What were you going to say?" She hangs on to my every word, no longer pissed off but watching me with an understanding no one has shown me before. Gramps would have fucking loved her. He was tough as nails too.

"Just a simple thank you. I know it does not seem like much because I'm talking a lot now but...that would have been the first thing I said after two decades. It scared the shit out of me because that's how much power you have over me, Melanie. It was so surreal that I had to get away and figure things out. In two decades I never even thought about talking again and that day I nearly did it. You understand that?"

"Big guy," She whispers. Her face is soft with understanding and she looks away before quietly admitting, "You scare me, too. I guess I can't blame you for running because I'm trying to run from you now. I...in all honesty, I don't feel safe going home either. I'm just being stubborn because I'm starting to depend on you when I've never depended on anyone and that scares the shit out of me. I'm pretty fucked up."

"And I'm completely normal?" I deadpan and she cracks a smile like I was hoping for. "Don't you remember what you once said to me? The world can use different. You can run away from me but don't run away from what you stand for."

Her mouth falls open and she turns to me, laughing. "So talkative you is a smartass? I don't like him. Shut up again."

"Only if you make me," I smirk and lean back in my seat, my elbow resting on the console between us and my legs spread lazily. Her teeth toy with her bottom lip as she tries to suppress another smile, her eyes skating over me. I have no idea what I'm doing. I've never flirted before and I feel like a douche but it doesn't seem to stop me. "Look. I have a proposition for you."

"About how to make you shut up?" Her eyes slide down the length of me before coming back up, twinkling with mischief. I shake my head. She has way too much fun fucking around with me.

"No," I tug on a loose strand of her hair because I can't help it. There were so many appointments where the ends of her hair would tickle my back as she inked me and I had to literally beg my body not to react. "I know trusting does not come by easy for you but this is your safety we're talking about so can you try something for me?"

Her humour visibly fades away and she grows somber, nodding with a serious expressing. "Depends on what it is but shoot."

"You're saving up for your own place, right?" I ask. When she nods, I don't hesitate. "Until you have enough money, live with me."

"Dude, get real." She scoffs. "I don't have all day. What's your proposition?"

"I'm being serious, Melanie." I look her right in the eye to make sure she believes me. I know how crazy I sound right now but quite frankly, I don't give a fuck and this also makes a lot of fucking sense.

"Oh my God," She murmurs, sitting up straight. "You're actually asking me to live with you?"

"Yes. You almost have enough saved for a new place anyways. You said so yourself it's just a matter of one more month so for that month just live with me. You will be able to save even more money that way and you won't have to go to sleep every night with one eye open."

"I don't know about that," She retorts drily. "Spending a night in your home was hard enough. Forget a whole month."

"Melanie," I take hold of her hand, so much fucking smaller than my own. I could crush her hand with ease and the knowledge makes me so hyper aware that I keep my hold as loose and gentle as possible. "What did I say? I would never hurt you and now you know what happened in those two weeks. It's a lot to ask but I'm only asking because I think it can help you. You know I wouldn't offer if I wasn't committed to the idea."

"I don't know," She pulls her hand out of mine and I clench my fingers, mourning the loss of being able to touch her. "If you asked me anything but this I might have said yes but...I don't know."

"You know me," I repeat quietly. "In a world of chaos, no one pays attention to the silence. No one pays attention to people like me but you did. You helped me more than you know. I would like to do the same."

"You don't owe me anything," She shakes her head, brows closed in on each other. "It's not like I held a gun to your head and made you talk. You did that all on your own, big guy. You're giving me way too much credit."

"And you are not giving yourself enough," I shrug. "It was you who gave me ASL lessons, and told your staff to accommodate for my communication barrier, and stood up for me when my own voice could not. Why do you insist that you have done nothing?"

"You don't have to do this," She looks away, completely ignoring all the things I've just said about her. Knowing her, she'll never take credit. Her selflessness can be troubling and my mouth twists. "You're going to make your life harder inviting me to live with you. Have you even had a roommate before?"

"My grandfather," I nod. "He never voiced any complaints and neither did I."

She bursts out laughing then, throwing her head back with her eyes squeezed shut and I watch her with my own ghost of a smile, my lips barely tipping up. I never used to smile as much as I do now. The action had become foreign for me until I met Melanie, who never fails to crack me up against my better judgement.

"So, you got jokes too?" She shakes her head. "You realize how crazy this is, right? Living together isn't anything like letting me crash for the night. It's going to be hard for me."

"So will living on your own after what happened to you," I remind her. "I'm just trying to make things easier for you but if living with me does not accomplish that, then you go back to your apartment. It's simple."

"And crazy."

"Perhaps," I relent. "But most things suddenly don't seem all that crazy now that I'm speaking."

"Why is it that you just happen to have the answers for everything?" She asks the dashboard more so than me.

"I have always had the answers. I just didn't know how to give them to you."

She's quiet for a moment. "And now?"

"Listen to me, Melanie." My hand goes to my throat. "Listen to me. You can hear my words, not just guess what I am trying to say. If I can do this, then I believe you can give living with me a try as well. Only if you want to."

She groans, her head falling back against the seat. "You're so...stupid."

I tilt my head in confusion. It can be difficult trying to understand when Melanie is joking and when she's being serious. Sometimes she uses insults to hide her feelings and sometimes—well, most of the time—she means them. I'm not quite sure which of the two apply here.

She glances at me and elaborates. "Stupidly perfect. Stupidly awesome. Stupidly hot. You're stupid. So fucking stupid."

I'm still not sure what she really means. I raise a brow. "Thank you?"

"Stupid," She mutters.

"Is that a no?"

"No," She rubs her temple, closing her eyes briefly. "That stupid was for me because I'm saying yes."

"Yes?" I repeat a little disbelievingly. Up until now, I'd prepared myself for her to tell me to fuck off.

"Does speaking weaken your understanding?" She raises a brow. I take her sarcasm as a good sign because the more she cares about something, the more her snark comes out. That means this matters to her. I cough into my elbow to hide my smirk. "Don't make a big deal out of this or I'll change my mind."

"My lips are sealed," I promise. "I happen to be quite good at that."

"Not right now, you aren't." Her lips quirk. "Maybe I'll have to shut you up after all."

I choose not to reply to that because I might say something beyond idiotic like you should. That would just complicate things. This situation is complicated enough and I have a lot to figure out.

I don't know if I'm going to start talking to anyone besides Melanie. Coach and the guys have briefly crossed my mind because those fuck heads are like family to me and, in their defence, they've pushed a lot to get to know me better. Coach and I have a pretty decent relationship and my respect for him is making me restless. I feel like I owe it to him and the guys both to speak with them but I'm getting way too ahead of myself. For all I know, I'd freeze and look like a fucking idiot so I need to wait until I'm ready. But I don't know when that's going to be and I don't know what's next for Melanie and I. This is the most drama I've had in my life and I groan, missing my once quiet life. I wouldn't trade it though. Not if it meant giving up Melanie. I don't know what the fuck that means either.

"I should pack," Her nervous tone snaps me out of it and I meet her eyes, looking about as incredulous as I feel. This is actually fucking happening. "Grab a few clothes and some of my things."

I nod in agreement. "I'll help."

"Okay." She nods. "Then I guess we're doing this."

***

A couple of hours later we've transferred half of Melanie's things into the spare guest room of my house, or what used to be Gramps' room. This isn't permanent so her apartment is still livable in case she decides she doesn't want to do this at any point. I know there's a huge possibility this won't last, that I'll be lucky if she sticks around for even a week, but I try not to focus on that because this isn't about me. I also don't want to explore why the thought of her leaving feels like ten stones in my gut. I close my eyes briefly, unable to comprehend how overloaded with emotions I am. I'm used to feeling next to nothing. I'm impossible to get through. Now it feels like I couldn't put my walls back up if I tried. Fuck me.

"I can't believe we're roommates." She scrunches here nose as she surveys her temporary room. It's already equipped with a bed and dresser and has its own bathroom but now it's also full of Melanie's things. It's homely unlike the rest of the place. "The Mute and The Bitch. It's like the start of a bad joke."

I cross my arms as I continue to survey the room and mutter, "You are not a bitch." When she turns my way wearing a huge grin, I raise a brow. "What?"

"I never thought I'd hear you say the word bitch. It's surprisingly entertaining. Do it again."

"No, Melanie." I lean back against the dresser and this time she's frowning. I sigh deeply. "Now what?"

"I'm getting used to hearing my full name. At least when you say it."

"And that's bad?"

"It's a fuck show," She scowls. "There's too many changes happening in the last twenty-four hours alone. How can you not be freaking out?"

"I don't know," I answer honestly. "But that just means I must be going in the right direction."

"And the right direction is me?" She snorts. "Good luck, big guy."

I shake my head as I watch her scan the room almost unbelievably. She really has no fucking idea, does she? "I can handle you, Melanie."

"No guy can handle me," She says it with sarcasm but there's a flash of hurt in her eyes. Christ. What the hell happened to her?

"Then I guess I'll just have to show you," I continue undeterred. Maybe she's used to people giving up on her but I'm not like that. I can be stubborn as fuck when I want to and she's about to find that out for herself.

"You're wasting your time," She mutters underneath her breath like she didn't mean for to me hear but I did. I did and I'm pissed.

"You are not a waste of my time," I enunciate the words slowly, in a low voice that has her glancing over at me in surprise. When she meets my eyes I continue. "Don't tell me you don't matter. You don't get to say that to me. Not now, not ever."

Her mouth falls open and I decide she needs to stop doing that because I'm seconds away from kissing the shit out of her. "Since when are you so fucking bossy?"

"I don't negotiate what is important to me. That's a line no one gets to cross, not even you."

A sound of surprise leaves her as she slowly shakes her head. "Just when I thought I had you figured out..."

"Yes, well, that would make two of us." I push off the dresser and straighten up, my face stoic so she can't read the shit show that's happening in my head. "What can I make you for dinner?"

She faces me and crosses her arms right back. "So, we're just going to pretend you don't have the ability to switch from The Hulk to Bruce Banner like it's nothing?"

The fuck? I blink slowly. "I did not understand one word of that sentence."

She holds her fingers up to tick off the points she makes. "First of all, it's a disgrace and a half that you haven't been introduced to the Marvel world. Second of all, I will fix it immediately. And third of all, I'm basically saying you can be crazy dominant and alarmingly sweet in the same breath."

That's a lot information and I'm not sure what to focus on first. I go for her last point. "I am not crazy dominant."

"You just told me off!"

"I made a point and I did it kindly."

"No, you didn't. You literally went Christian Grey on me." When the corner of my mouth curls up, she sneers. "Oh, so that reference you got?"

Fuck yeah, I did. I can't help but take a step closer to her, thoroughly enjoying our banter. "You think I'm a sex god?"

"What?" She sputters. She shoves me back with a laugh. "Do you see what I mean? You're so full of it. How would I know what you're like in bed?"

As soon as she says the words the air around us charges with tension. Our eye contact suddenly feels ridiculously intimate and I can't help but wonder what it would be like to fuck her wild, wonder if she's thinking the exact same thing. I feel my eyes hood just as hers glaze over and now we're both breathing a little harder and faster. Fuck me, I want to kiss her so fucking bad. It's fucking torture staying in place and not closing the distance between us so I can slam my mouth to hers and satisfy the way I ache for her.

"Stop looking at me like that," She demands breathlessly.

"You first," I tell her in an equally low voice. My already raspy voice sounds even raspier and I think she likes it because her eyes drop to my throat and she starts nibbling on her lip relentlessly. That just evokes a growl from me that has her meeting my eyes again. "And stop chewing on your fuckin' lips."

"See?" She murmurs, lips tilting. "Bossy."

"Consider it a taste of your own medicine," I pull in a breath and force myself to cool down before I do something I can't take back. "Dinner?"

"Fine," Her mouth twitches when she realizes I'm going to be the responsible one here instead of giving into this flirting like I really want to. Melanie is trouble and if I don't watch it, she'll rope me in before I even realize what's happened. "Buzzkill."

She licks her lips and my attention is drawn back to her mouth. For the millionth fucking time since it happened, I'm thinking about our kiss. I know she enjoyed it as much as I did. The way she'd moaned into my mouth and pressed her body closer to mine said it all. That's why it takes all my fucking strength and then some to pull my eyes away and leave the room to the sound of Melanie laughing quietly under her breath. Trouble. So much fucking trouble.

I always thought she'd kissed me to prove a point, whether it was to show herself or me that what we have is all in good fun and nothing more. But the more time I spend around her, the more our chemistry seems to crackle whenever we're in the same room, I'm getting the distinct feeling that Melanie wants me. Genuinely wants me as badly as I want her even though she's not ready to admit it yet. That's why I'll wait until she doesn't have anymore doubts. I want her to let me in and I want it to be her choice so she doesn't have any regrets. I don't ever want to be someone she'll doubt along the way. If she can make me speak...I sure as fuck can make her trust.

__________________________

A/N

*fans self wildly*

Can we just discuss Wolfe? Because that is what I like to call A MAN. He knows what he wants and he is all about it!

I freaking love the banter between these two. Their back and forth has me grinning and the foreplay over here? CHEMICAL. I have a very good feeling these two will be my hottest yet and Wolfe is going to melt all of your panties so hold on to them! Who is ready?

Please VOTE, comment and share if you liked this chapter!

Happy Reading :)