Maggie had been in the court house for hours. she had already testified and was now awaiting the jury's decision.

Out waiting in the hallway of the courthouse was the perfect opportunity for Maggie's nerves to eat her alive.

Her phone rang abruptly which earned her several dirty looks from spectators, people that she didn't know or recognise. She rushed to reach into her bag and clicked 'answer' without checking who was calling her.

"Hello?" Maggie whispered into the phone, her voice sounding breathy as she tried to get over her embarrassment of not putting her phone on silent.

"Hey, sorry. I hope I'm not interrupting but I wanted to see how you're holding up." The voice of Ben Chilwell echoed down the phone line and Maggie's shoulders visibly relaxed as a result.

"I don't know. I don't know what result I want." She sighed as she became honest with him. He had had her back from the beginning, not because he felt like he had to but because he wanted to.

"Hey, things will work out. What's meant to be will be and we'll all be there for you." She smiled, hearing his words and letting them comfort her a little.

"Hold on, how are you calling me? You're supposed to be playing a game." Maggie asked, confused as to how he had managed to make a phone call.

"It's half time but I actually need to go. I'll text you once the game is done. I love you!" Before Maggie had the chance to respond to Ben, he had ended the call.

As soon as Ben Chilwell ended the call, he realised what he had said and he immediately cringed. He didn't mean for the words to slip out but they did and now he knew that he would have to face the consequences when he next spoke to Maggie. He could avoid her but he knew that wouldn't help his situation. Ben just couldn't believe that he had told her that he loved her before asking her to be his girlfriend. He was almost scared to talk about their feelings towards each other in case he freaked her out and he knew it was ridiculous but he wasn't the greatest at it at the best of times. Clearly.

Maggie sat in the hallway completely stunned. Ben loved her. Ben Chilwell loved her. She didn't know how to react. She didn't even know if she loved him back. She enjoyed what they had. They didn't have any of the pressure involved with labels and Maggie enjoyed that since she wasn't the best at relationships. She had never had a boyfriend, only a handful of really awful first dates. She was dreading the conversation with Ben that she knew was to come because she didn't know if they were on the same page or two different ones.

Her thoughts were interrupted when everyone was called back into the courtroom.

The jury had found Trevor Ross guilty of grievous bodily harm and he was to have a sentencing date the following month.

Maggie was numb. She didn't feel much at all. She didn't feel any sympathy towards the man that had caused her and her mother so much pain. Maggie thought that she was sick for the way that she felt about it all. She felt relieved that she wouldn't have to face the man for a long time.

Walking out of the courthouse, Maggie felt liberated. She was free. Free from her dad but she still had to face ben. He had text her five minutes ago to tell her that the game was finished and that he would be heading straight home so Maggie knew that they would arrive at Ben's house at the same time.

***
Walking into Ben's house was weird for Maggie. Since her dad was now in jail and would be for a considerable amount of time, she was safe to go back to her flat but in a weird way, Ben's house now felt like home to her.

"Hey, how was it?" Ben greeted the brunette girl, seeing no sense of emotion on her face.

"It was fine, I guess. I don't know. How do you describe a court hearing?" She questioned more herself than Ben and he could see that she was becoming closed off again.

"He was found guilty." She informed him rather nonchalantly and that worried Ben.

"What you said on the phone earlier, did you mean it?" When the words came out of Maggie's mouth, he was stunned that she was so up front about it but he supposed that one of them had to be.

"I didn't mean to say it there and then but I do love you, Maggie." Confessing his love seemed a little underwhelming for the defender because he received nothing more than a nod of the head from Maggie.

"Maggie, i don't want to freak you out, I'm sorry-" Ben was immediately cut off by the sound of Maggie's voice.

"You don't need to apologise, Ben. You can't help what you feel. It's just that I need time to figure out what it is that I'm feeling because I feel something for you Ben, I really do but," she stopped herself, sighing as Ben watched her try to pull herself together.

"I need to figure out what love is. I've never really experienced love before. My parents have practically always hated each other. I don't know what love is yet but when I do know, I promise that I'll let you know." Maggie gave Ben one of her signature smiles and he nodded his head at her, letting her know that she didn't need to rush. There was no pressure and she could tell him in her own time but for the moment, he was going to continue to love her.

a/n: i feel bad for them because i really want them to have a smooth sailing relationship but this is wattpad, it's not really supposed to happen.

sorry it's late... again! i don't actually have an excuse other than i was too busy dancing around my room at 12 so yeah, sorry about that one everyone.

a little reminder to those who are interested, i'm uploading the first chapter of my jack grealish fanfic, called 'boyfriend' at 5pm gmt time so that's 40 minutes away!

what premier league team do you hate the most?

enjoy and stay safe!

lots of of love, e x