"Cody, you're awfully quiet. Are you upset?" Maleena asked in a quiet voice. The air in the truck was tense and heavy as Cody's bruised hands tightened their grip around the steering wheel. His truck accelerating down the road was the only audible sound. 

      Cody shook his head harshly, staying quiet. Letting out a sigh, Cody switched hands on the wheel so he could rest his head against his hand on the window sill. Maleena was genuinely concerned about how upset Cody seemed.

        "When were you goin' to tell me that you went and talked to Dillion?" Cody finally spoke, every bit of his words laced with frustration. This was a side of Cody that Maleena had never seen before, and she was unsure how to react. 

       "I...I don't know. I didn't think it was a big deal. I'm sorry." She countered, defensive. 

      Letting out a scoff, Cody refused to look at his girlfriend. "Are you goin' to tell me now when you got to see him?" 

       "It was before you and I started datin'." Maleena picked at her nails like she always did when she felt stressed, especially in tense situations. 

       "That doesn't answer my question, Maleena." His voice was low with anger.

       "It was the night that I was late to the rodeo and had that really bad ride and you invited me to Steak N Shake with everyone." Maleena gave up. This was not at all what she had envisioned their first fight as a couple being about. 

       Cody mulled over Maleena's comment for a second before his body language changed. "That was the night that I asked you out." He realized, his voice almost sad now. "You and I have been together for an entire month, and never once did you think to tell me that you and your ex-boyfriend met up and talked? Clearly y'all talked for a while if you were late to the rodeo." 

       "Cody, I'm sorry." Maleena looked over at him as he drove, just wishing he would make eye contact with her. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal, honestly. And you and I weren't even datin' at the time, so I really don't see what you have to be upset about." 

       "Should I even bother to ask what y'all talked about, or will you lie to me about that, too?" Cody, getting more and more upset, asked. 

        "Woah woah woah. Lie to you? Cody, I have never once lied to you. You can't be serious right now." 

         "Okay, maybe not lied, but you have clearly been keeping things from me." Cody flipped on his turn signal to hang a right down another road. 

        "Well, then what do you want to know, if that is what it will take to get you to stop bein' upset with me?" Maleena turned in her seat to better face Cody. He kept his hands tightly around the wheel, his arms rigid.

       "How about you start by tellin' me what possessed you to meet up with him in the first place, then show up at the rodeo all mad and take it out on me, then, omit the truth and not tell me about the confrontation, even when I asked you out." A thought sparked in Cody's mind just then. Not even giving Maleena a second to answer, he asked, "Do you still have feelings for him, and that's why you didn't tell me?" 

      "What?! Cody, are you kidding me?! No, I haven't had any feelings toward Dillion since I walked in on him cheating on me." Maleena's voice was now raised. 

       "I'm going to ask you one more time, Maleena." Cody tapped his hand on his steering wheel with every word he said. "What did you and Dillion talk about?"

      Maleena took in a breath. "It was mainly just me yellin' at him. He..." She hesitated, looking down to her nail that she was picking at. Lowering her voice, she continued over the roaring of Cody's truck accelerating, "He told me he still loves me and that he was sorry." 

       "Sorry? He said he was sorry?! He told you he loved you?" His grip tightened on the wheel, even tighter than before, if that was even possible. His knuckles showed white through his scraped and bruised hand. "Like he actually meant it." Cody scoffed. "And I'm assuming you accepted his apology, and y'all are friends now, huh?" A very upset, and clearly jealous, protective boyfriend asked. 

       "No, Cody, I didn't. In fact, it was the complete opposite. I told him that I never wanted to see, or even hear from him again." 

       "Well based on what I just witnessed today, and from what Dillion told me, it sounds like y'all have been in contact pretty recently." Cody flipped on his turn signal, beginning to slow down at a stop sign.

       "Are you goin' to let me give my side of the story, or are you just hearing what you want to hear because you want to be mad at me?!" Maleena yelled at Cody just at he stopped the truck. 

      For the first time since they got in the truck after leaving the auction grounds, Cody finally looked over at his girlfriend. "Okay, fine. What is your side of the story?" He made no motion to drive away from the red sign. This time, Cody refused to tear his eyes away from Maleena. 

       "Dillion would not leave me alone for the whole week after I broke up with him. He kept on calling me, and that Saturday, he called me until I answered. When I finally did, he begged me to meet up with him to talk. We both wanted closure, and he was not taking no for an answer, so reluctantly, very reluctantly, I agreed to meet with him." Maleena's voice was more frustrated than anything; her voice was down to a normal level. "When I got there, he continued to tell me that he still had feelings for me, that he was sorry for what he did and what he put me through. And he said that he still loved me, all of which I called him out on. I knew he didn't mean any of it. I ended up doin' most of the talkin', well, yelling, actually. I told Dillion that I had moved on and I wanted him out of my life for good. That was it. That was the last I ever heard or saw of him. Until today, at the auction. That's my side of the story. Take it or leave it, I don't care." Maleena let her hands hit her lap, turning her head to look out the window. 

       Cody, without saying a word, accelerated his truck away from the stop sign. As he did so, he reached over to the radio, turning up the volume on the radio loud enough to drown out any sound that would come from either of them talking. It was clear that Cody didn't want any more conversation to ensue between them.

        About a half hour later, Cody's truck rumbled down Maleena's driveway. Parking it in his usual spot between the barn and house, Cody slipped the truck in to park, letting out a deep breath. 

       "Can you please say something, Cody?" Maleena pleaded, turning to look at her boyfriend. 

       Cody rubbed a hand over his face, his other still tightly gripping the steering wheel. "I'm sorry, Malie." His voice was quiet, sad. 

       "Cody, I'm sorry, too. I should have told you that Dillion and I met up and talked. It wasn't right of me to keep that from you." She reached a hand out to grab Cody's shoulder, squeezing it in a comforting way.

       "No, it's also my fault. It takes two to fight, and I should have let you tell your side before I gave in to what Dillion was sayin', and I should have believed you over him." Cody gave in to Maleena's hold on his shoulder, looking over at her. 

      "Can we please just agree to not let Dillion be the cause of any more of our fights, please?" 

       "Yes, absolutely." Cody nodded his head, agreeing immediately. 

      "So, we are good now?" Maleena asked, cocking her head towards him, raising her eyebrows.

       "Yeah, darlin', we are good. I'm sorry again." Cody chuckled slightly, looking down at his busted up hands. "So, I reckon I didn't punch out a guy for no reason, then, huh?" 

       "You had every good reason to beat up Dillion, no worries." Maleena chuckled, slowly reaching a hand up to Cody's left cheek bone. "You are goin' to need some ice, honey. You are going to have a pretty nice shiner." 

       "I will be okay. It isn't the worst I have gotten punched. Plus, if you think this is bad," He used his scuffed up hand to point to his nasty looking bruise. "You should have seen the other guy." 

       "Oh, I did. You got him good, darlin'." Maleena winked. "But, promise me no more beatin' up guys who are jerks to me like that all the time. That side of you scares me a little, not goin' to lie." 

       "Well, I can't promise that it will never happen again because it drives me up a wall to see a guy mistreating a woman, my woman especially. But, I can say that Dillion drives me insane, so that's a lot of the reason that I was upset as I was, honestly. But yes, I promise I will be more careful next time." 

      Maleena rolled her eyes before grinning. "You're impossible." Her eyes diverted to the worsening bruise on Cody's cheek. "Do you want to come in and hang out for a bit so I can clean up your hands and cheek?" 

      "You seemed to have already made the decision for me, but yes, I would love to." Cody turned off his truck, unbuckling his seat belt and hopping down from the cab, walking over to Maleena's side to open the door for her, offering her a hand down, not letting go even after she was safely out of the cab of the truck.

      "Do you want to stay for dinner as well?" Maleena offered as they slowly walked across the lawn to her house. 

      "Sure, that sounds good. What are we havin'?" Cody and Maleena walked in sync up the porch steps, hand in hand.

      "I'm not sure, actually." 

      "Well, I know whatever your mom makes, it will be delicious." Cody grinned, dropping Maleena's hand to open the door for her. 

      When the couple walked into the house, they saw Maleena's mom standing in the center of the living room, looking at her phone. Upon hearing the screen door shut, Suellen turned around to see who just walked in. Making eye contact with her mom, Maleena became worried when she saw how pale her mom's face was, her eyes droopy, eyebrows pushed together in worry. It almost looked like Suellen had just seen a ghost based on the expression on her face.

    "Mom?" Maleena took a cautious step forward. She watched her mom glance down at her phone once more before tucking it away in the back pocket of her jeans. Suellen looked between Cody and Maleena one more time, the look on her face not falling, her jaw clenched tight. "Mama, what's wrong?"

                                                                 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note: Hey y'all, sorry it took me so long to get this update out. I have been having problems with Wattpad recently, and between Christmas, celebrating birthdays, New Years, and going back to college, I have hardly been able to write at all. Hopefully y'all can forgive me. ;) Anyways, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. Please let me know what all y'all think of it! Thanks, and God bless. :)