His hand rubbed her hip as he tried to push the feeling of utter mortification down. At least she understood what he meant and wouldn't let a guy treat her that way. Freddie deserved more respect than that. "I think that should work," he said with a half smile as he kissed the tip of her nose. "Just give me a good junk punch if I get out of line and then all is well." The thought alone had him cringing. One's junk should never be punched.
A look of shock and dread washed over Freddie's features. "Oh, God no, I intend on needing it for later many times." And this was when she realized that even though she was still extremely hurt by what her mother said, and thus, sad as well, she felt much better. All because of Rhys. Ah, no, she wouldn't be letting him go for as long as he wanted her too.
Rhys blinked at the look on her face and then he laughed, feeling much less douchey now that Freddie got his mind off of it. "Okay then. No junk punching." Fortunately. He leaned forward so he could capture her lips with his, an amused smile still on his face. She seemed much happier now and that made him feel so relieved. Seeing Freddie with tears running down her face made him absolutely furious. Not at her, of course. At whoever would have dared to make her cry. No, he couldn't get over that. It was absolutely unacceptable to him.
"No. And I doubt you'll ever really be out of line anyway." Hopefully. Freddie didn't think he'd be the type, but you never knew. Apparently bad things came from where you least expected them all the time. Then, she smiled lovingly at him for the longest minute in history. "I'm so glad you're here with me. I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating. Thank you."
He was normally very good about being respectful of others, he just occasionally had his 'open mouth, insert foot' moments was all. His eyes lit up at her words. "I'm glad I'm here too. There's nowhere else I'd rather be." Rhys kissed her again, lingering before he looked into her eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of brown. "I love you." He whispered the words, not needing an answer or a reciprocation even. They just needed to be said. Especially when she looked so beautiful and his heart was so incredibly full.
Rhys probably didn't know it, but he was healing her with those words. And with the fact that he showed her he meant them, too. Of course this always came hand-in-hand with the fear that she become so attached to him it became some sort of dependence she couldn't afford to have. Because it wasn't healthy, and because it almost always ended in deep heartbreak for both parties. But she couldn't very well push him away when all he was doing was pull her out of the black hole of sadness she usually felt trapped into.
Indeed instead of answering Freddie pressed her head against Rhys' chest and sighed. Then, she moved up a hand to caress his cute little curls. "I love you too." She whispered faintly. Because yes, it needed saying, as many times as she could say it.