The Player Next Door

#21- Ashes

#21
Cole's POV

I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around my waist, ensuring it is tucked in.

"I'm going to grab us some clothes" I tell Madelyn.

She had stopped crying for a bit, but I could see the tears starting to well in her eyes again.

She nodded in response.

I leave the bathroom in my towel and walk out by Chris and Cara.

"How is she?" Cara asks.

"She's crying. So I think that's good" I say to Cara and Chris.

"She's crying after seeing you naked? Maybe she's crying for another reason." Cara says and Chris snorts.

"For your information, she started crying before she saw me naked." I reply.

"Okay quit talking about being naked with my sister and just grab some clothes." Chris says.

"Oh yeah" I walk over to my bag and pull out some socks, underwear, and sweats. I then make my way over to Madelyn's bag and realize I have no clue what she wants to wear, "Hey Cara-", before I can even finish my sentence, Cara is by my side and rummaging through Maddie's bag. After a bit she hands me a handful of clothes. "Thanks".

I take the clothes back to the bathroom and we dress in silence.

"You ready?" I ask her.

She nods her head, her eyes puffy.

"Okay" I mutter before pulling the bathroom door open. The cool air hits my skin as I usher Maddie out of the bathroom.

"Hey" Cara says to us, mostly to Maddie, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine" Madelyn lies to all of us.

All of our eyes widen, hoping that she hasn't gone back into her trance.

"How do you actually feel?" Cara rephrases.

"Like someone stabbed a butchers knife right through my chest" She responds.

I watch as the relief washes over Cara and Chris's faces.

"Do you want something to eat?" Chris asks.

"I'm not hungry"

"Okay" He responds, more than likely not wanting to push her.

Madelyn is such an empathetic person, she feels everything on different level than everyone else. It's almost as if she feels her own grief as well as everyone else's.

"I think I'm going to go to bed" Madelyn announces to everyone.

Madelyn crawls into bed and I shoot Cara a look. Cara gets up from her seat shortly after and crawls into bed next to Madelyn.

I take Cara's spot at the table next to Chris.

"How are you handling all of this?" I ask him.

"Fine I guess. I really don't remember much of my father, and just knowing that he could've stopped Madelyn from going through so much makes me mad. But at the end of the day, he's my father. So I'm hurting a little. But I think we should focus on Madelyn."

I nod in agreement, "Losing a parent is never easy, no matter how much you think that you hate them."

Chris doesn't pry at my statement.

***

I'm awoken by someone knocking at our hotel door. I groggily get out of bed, assuming that no one else is going to do it. I turn the doorknob and pull out door open to a man wearing a black suit and holding a manila envelope.