Jackson-

We both lay half-naked entangled in one another on the floor and I thread my fingers through her hair as her wide eyes examine mine.  She likes to say my eyes are the most beautiful blue she's ever seen, but that can't be possible for surely she's seen her own reflection. 

If I could, I would memorize her eyes like I've memorized every fucking inch of her perfect skin, but it's impossible because they are ever-changing.  Tonight they're an electric blue with waves of emerald green and if I'm not careful I'll be lost in them.

How could I have ever turned this woman away before?  I thought love was bullshit before I met Maggie. I always figured the four-letter word was the state in which people fool themselves into thinking there was only one person for them.  How ridiculous a notion, to just elect one person to give your heart to and hope to fucking God they don't fuck you over.

I swore I'd never fall in love after seeing the bullshit so many other couples go through.  The backstabbing, the lies, the affairs, all in a day's work, I was practically a regular moviegoer to other couples' failed relationships.

I was a complete asshole.  I never gave two shits about anyone except myself and I was fucking proud of it, until I found her.  She was begging me to see what was right in front of me but I couldn't, I wouldn't. I didn't want to be pulled into the helpless and vulnerable abyss most whelps call love.

Until I met Maggie, the woman who single-handedly changed my unchangeable mind.  I never knew what it was to have someone truly give a fuck about me. I know Maggie thought I was a different man when we met, but even after opening up and showing her who I truly am, an irrevocably fucked up broken human being, she still poured her love out to me.

My finger traces the outline of her jaw and her eyes gently close.  She's completely knackered.  I slowly drag my fingertips down her neck to her shoulder and see goosebumps begin to rise.  It still amazes me how her body reacts to my every touch as if there were some imperceptible magnetic force between us. 

I'm grateful she's relaxed now, at her mums house she was overly on edge which surprised me because she's usually so calm.  Maggie's mum was a nutter.  Nah, let's be honest, she was a fucking cunt and that's putting it lightly. Maggie briefly warned me about her on our first date but I assumed she was exaggerating. 

In my experience, people generally rag on their parents more than is actually deserved. Maybe they were too strict, which generally means they worried so much about your safety they were a tad overbearing.

Maybe they were too lax, leaving you to make your own supper or pick out your own clothing in the morning before class. Generally, that's because they're working so hard to provide food or pay bills, again, not a bad parent.

My parents hadn't bothered with me at all. I was left alone on the doorstep of a firehouse at the age of a few months. When you grow up in multiple foster homes, always moving from place to place never really knowing family, it grinds on you a bit when others complain about their loving parents.

I would have originally considered Maggie's mum to be in the overbearing category however, the remarks she makes seem to have the absence of love.

How Maggie turned out to be such a remarkable woman is a complete paradox to me.  She's the exact opposite of her mother.  Maggie's caring, kind, she's got a bang-on personality, however, she does have that same feisty streak.

I know Maggie's fallen asleep when her arms fall limp and her head becomes heavy on my chest.  At first, she was so shy around me, never really letting her guard down and now she's falling asleep half-naked in my arms. 

I place my arm under hers and the other beneath her legs and effortlessly pick her up.  She usually squirms whenever I attempt to carry her, pouting about being too heavy, which is a laugh.  Tonight she's so exhausted that she slightly stirs but just buries her head further into my chest.

I lay her gently on the bed and brush the hair away from her face after pulling the grey silk sheets over her body.  Although I fucking love every inch of her naked body, it feels wrong to keep her exposed while she's unconscious.

Maggie believes her father is still alive and that her mother has been lying to her for over a decade.  Any sane person would doubt this as being possible, but I've doubted her before and learned my lesson. 

Whatever she discovers, whenever she discovers it, I'll be there.   I'll be sure hold her hand, let her cry on my shoulder, or fight by her side. 

I place a delicate kiss to her temple before I crawl in bed next to her and realize just how much of a fucking whelp I am.  I've done what I've always strived to protect myself from.

I fucking love her.