Just a One Night Stand

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

It had been two months since Drew realised he loved Madeleine. To be precise, it had been two months, one week and 3 days but if he rounded down, it didn't sound quite so soppy and pathetic, right? It had been about 2 months since he confessed his love for her, to her – again he rounded down.

He rubbed the bristles on his chin as he asked himself where it all went wrong. In the beginning, she was just another female with a vagina. No, he corrected himself. She was always different. Even from the beginning. She didn't throw herself at him; she didn't even seem to care about him. She cared more about making sure she donated to the charity the bar, they met at, supported (which he later discovered was the Against Malaria Foundation) than she cared about him. That was probably what intrigued him first. Correction – selfishly, he realised, it was the fact that she was the first female to leave him that first drove him up the wall.

But truth be told, she had his heart after he realised that her beauty was beneath just the surface – she was the most gorgeous girl he'd ever met. She cared, she loved and he wished with all his heart that he would be one of those lucky enough to be loved by her. But he knew he wasn't good enough for her. He'd treated her as though she was a yo-yo. She said it herself...

--- 2 months earlier ---

Drew clutched the basket of flowers – pastel coloured roses – in his right arm as he knocked with his left fist. The door opened and he was greeted with a warm Madeleine smile. Her eyes zeroed in on the basket in his arms.

"Brandon does not really like flowers, his birthday is not until tomorrow and he is with Melanie toady." She told him almost deadpan with the same gentle smile on her face, to soften the seriousness of her words.

"The-they're for you." He cleared his throat. Since when did he stutter?

"Oh." She looked visibly surprised, "Merci. Come in, come in." She beckoned him in. When he was in her home, he placed the basket of flowers on her kitchen counter.

"We need to talk before we eat." He told her. He looked into her warm brown eyes and leaned in to cover her mouth with his hand as he continued in a hushed tone, "Well, you listen; I'll talk. You are perfect. I know you are mentally thinking of reasons why you aren't but you are. You are beautiful – inside and out, you are smart, you are funny and you make an amazing friend. But I was scared. I mean, I am still scared. I don't want a relationship and I never have but... You make me want one. You make me want to spend time with you all day and all night and I still feel like that wouldn't be enough. I think you're amazing but being in a relationship terrifies me. You kind of make me want to try it though. Am I making any sense? I don't feel like I am." With that, he uncovered her mouth. She licked her lips and her lips twitched slightly.

"Drew, I think you're great but," He knew from her tone of voice that what she was about to say would be something he wouldn't enjoy. Although she spoke quietly, her tone was serious, "I don't exactly want a relationship either. Why do you assume I want one? I liked the way things were before the talk we had in the hospital cafeteria – I like being friends with you and I did like the benefits. Can't we just go back to that?" He was stunned. He wasn't cocky but he knew there was a long list of girls that would kill to be in a relationship with him.

"Don't girls like all that romance shit though?" Drew cringed as he realised how crass that sounded.

"Drew, girls are all different because people are all different. I have enough on my plate and I don't need to worry about keeping a relationship going." Her lips tightened in almost anger. She relaxed her features, "Can we just go back to how things were?" She asked.