Heaven Knows

Gabriel sighed contently as his index finger trailed down the soft flesh of her jawbone. She tugs the heavy comforter to her chin and tries to bury her head into his warm chest. It’s 2 in the morning, and the last thing Maddie wants is to be awake. She rubs her eyes with balled up fists and yawns, she struggles to even open her eyes.

“Go back to sleep, Gabe.” She whispers lethargically.

He pouts like a little boy who wants to open his presents on Christmas Eve, “I don’t wanna.”

“What are you thinking about?” She murmurs and her honey coloured eyes stare into my eyes.

“Don’t you ever think about how different we are, yet we seem to go together so well? I mean, you’re so quiet and calm, and I’m loud and Swedish.”

Maddie instantly bursts into a fit of giggles, what being Swedish has to do with anything, he has no idea. Gabriel is just rambling like he usually does when he can’t fall asleep.

"We're not that different, you and I."

"Yeah right, we're completely opposite and you know it."

"Not really," She shrugs, "I mean we both hurt, right? We both laugh, cry, love, don't we? We both have feelings, and sometimes we say mean words to hurt each other on purpose. You always talk about how different we are, but we really aren't."

Maddie smiles at his confused expression, "If you really think about it, we're kind of the same."

“I never really thought about it like that… do we really say bad things to each other?” He questions, a hint of disbelief in his light tone. He couldn’t recall any times he had called her anything too bad, and if he had he would have apologized immediately.

“Sometimes,” she starts slowly, “when you lose a game, or you’re having a bad day you say some harsh stuff… I think the worst is when you don’t talk at all. I hate seeing you upset, and I wish I could do something to cheer you up.”

Gabriel feels guilty as she speaks, “I’m sorry… I didn’t know that upset you so much.”

Her tiny hand reaches out and gently grabs his bicep, she shifts her body so she’s curled up closer to him, “Don’t worry about it Gabe, just go back to sleep.”

She sighs when his hand gently rubs her hip bone. Of course he thought she was beautiful and sexy, but his lust for her was never sexual. No, he lusted for her love, warmth, and comfort. He knew he was greedy when it came to Maddie; he wanted her all to himself and refused to share with anyone else. Maddie never complained about his gluttony though, Gabriel knew it was because with his greed, also came protection and a safe haven. Since the first day they had met, Maddie had opened up to him, she had put her trust in him, and he would never do anything to betray that. Just a mere two weeks after they had met Maddie had opened up about being abandoned by her mother at the tender age of 7, and having to grow up without a mother figure. She opened up to him about how alone she felt in high school when she would get bullied everyday, or how she felt like a failure because it seemed like she couldn’t do anything right.

Maybe it was then when Gabriel realized just how much they needed each other.

They had grown extremely close in the short span of just a few months, and though she was used to all of the guys on the team, she was terrified of the WAGs. She hated the thought of being a part of something that could possibly change her for the worse, but she hated being judged by them even more. Gabriel was exceptionally happy that she hadn’t conformed to the WAGs, he loved seeing Maddie cheering him on at home games, wearing his jersey and a pair of battered sneakers, instead of a dress and heels. He loved how she had become a permanent fixture in his condominium, he hadn’t even asked her to move in; she just chose to spend the nights with him.

Gabriel finally fell asleep a few minutes later, thoughts of Maddie still on his mind.

When he awoke a few hours later the bed was empty, but Maddie’s vanilla musk scent remained on the sheets and pillows. Gabriel sighed and stuffed his face into one of her pillows, he loved the soft aroma. Another scent wafted throughout the condo, the scent of bananas and bacon. Gabriel hastily shot up from the bed, not bothering to put a shirt on or making an attempt to fix his unruly hair.

“Good morning.” Maddie smiles when he enters the kitchen, “Can you flip that pancake for me?”

“Are you making banana pancakes?” Gabriel asks enthusiastically as he picks up a spatula and attempts to flip the pancake. The pancake breaks in half, and he quickly eats it, hoping Maddie doesn’t notice. The roof of his mouth burns, and his eyes water. When he turns around Maddie is staring at him with an amused smirk, watching the whole scene unfold. She shakes her head and turns back towards the stove, flipping pieces of bacon and hashbrown patties. She finishes breakfast 15 minutes later, and they both sit on the couch like they usually do in the mornings. He flips through the channels, stopping when it comes to the movie section and he realizes Step Brothers is on.

“We’ve seen this movie so many times.” Maddie sighs, shaking her head dejectedly.

“It’s better than The Notebook or Titanic.” He replies with a shit eating grin.

“What are you talking about? You made me watch those movies, and you cried.”

He scowls, “I did not cry!”

“Yes you did! I saw those tears at the end of The Notebook when they both died.” She argues back.

“That was really sad, okay?” Gabe pulls her into his arms and hugs her dramatically, squeezing the living daylights out of her, “She didn’t even remember him! If you ever got Alzheimer’s you better remember me, Maddie! You know how much I suck at reading, so I wouldn’t even bother reading to you.”

She squeals when he pulls her into a playful headlock, “Besides, you only watched that movie because of Ryan Gosling.”

He makes kissy noises and presses wet kisses to her cheek, earning giggles from Maddie.

She punches him in his gut, but he hardly even notices, “Oh please, you know you have a man crush on him too.”

“No, he has an ugly face.”

She gasps, “So do you!”

Gabriel holds her tightly and pins her down to the couch, his hands lightheartedly pushing her cheeks together, “Tell me I have a pretty face... chubby cheeks.” He demands.

“Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

“Tell me I have a pretty face… and that I’m the best hockey player in the world.” He smirks

She snorts, “I refuse to feed your ego more than it has already been fed.”

“You’re staying here until you say it Maddie.” He says stubbornly.

“Gabe… you have a very pretty face, and I guess you’re a good hockey player too.”

Gabriel thinks about her answer for a few moments, “I guess I’ll take it.” He finally gets off of her and she sits up dizzily. She runs a hand through her thick hair, an attempt to calm down the soft waves.

Then everything seemed to hit Gabriel like a freight train.

‘I love this woman.’

He watched as she got frustrated and just threw her hair into a messy ponytail. He always knew that he liked the bashful female, but the love he felt for her at the moment was so overwhelming that it made his chest hurt. Sure, he had gone through girlfriends, and there were times where he genuinely thought he was in love, but sitting next to Madelyn Hyatt he realized that she was the only woman he truly loved. Not only did she need him, but he needed her. He craved her presence and desired the comfort she seemed to bring him.

Love is hard.

Love is hard when you can’t clear your mind because they’re on it 24/7, when your chest literally aches every time you think of them, when you want to see their face, but your hundreds of miles away, when you try to put your emotions into words, but you just can’t. Love changes the way you live your life, that person becomes your main priority and you want nothing more than to make them happy, you want to protect them with your life.

Love is hard, but it is also rewarding.

Gabriel has come to find that if Maddie is happy, then he is happy, when Maddie is sad, he is sad. Though their personalities are so diverse, they seem to mesh together perfectly. It’s like someone ripped out both of their souls and combined them together into one.

“You love me?” Gabe asks her as she spreads her tiny frame out on the sectional part of the couch.

Her golden eyes gaze up at him, “Of course I love you.” She states without even hesitating.

He grins and nearly tackles her as he jumps onto the couch next to her, his lips attacking her face with affectionate kisses. She runs her hand through his blonde hair and kisses him back.

“I love you too Maddie.”

Their relationship wasn’t going to be easy, no great relationship ever was. They would probably get into a fair share of arguments and insult each other, but Gabriel knew that at the end of the day they would both go to bed, still loving each other.

Love might be hard, but he knew they could get through anything together.