Madison v.s The Horse Thief

Chapter Twenty-Two: Under The Tree

"Maddie! What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

I can't answer him. I long wail comes out of my mouth as my legs collapse again. Alex, for some reason, catches me right before I hit the ground. The tears and pain don't stop and I continue to cry, muttering words that have become butchered, under my breath.

"Hey, hey, hey. Maddie, it's alright," Alex breathes.

It's not alright though. It will never be alright!

I push all my weight into Alex as he stumbles to the wall of the stable and sits down with me. Everything is such a blur to me I forget it's Alex I'm with and wrap my arms around him and sob into his shoulder. Alex doesn't push me off or roll his eyes. Alex doesn't do anything Alex Bruno-ish at all. But he does wrap his own arms around me and places his chin on the top of my head.

Everything I could ever feel-anger, sadness, grief-fills me and each emotion passes over me in waves. I forget my surroundings to try and stop my body from feeling this but it doesn't work. I continue to weep and wail and scream out Margo's name even when my body becomes tired.

 Time seems to stop as I continue my uncontrollable actions, making me feel even stranger. Suddenly my body seems to give up. Maybe it ran out of tears or maybe it wants to stop the pain. With my eyes shut tight and every muscle relaxing, I don't remember anything else.

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Similar to how I woke this morning, dry air catches in my throat and my eyes snap open. My vision is blurry and my headaches but soon I remember I'm in Virgo's new stall. Like a bullet hitting me, everything comes rushing back. Me waking up... collapsing on the floor... pushing Lily away...running into the stable... crying on Virgo... Alex holding me.

Wait! Alex holding me?

I look up and see I'm leaning on Alex with my arms wrapped around his shoulders and his wrapped around my waist. He turns to face me when he feels me shifting. "Oh, you're awake. That's good."

I blush and look away from Alex. I'm a mess right now with blotchy skin, messy hair, and a snotty nose. I'm even still in my pajamas. Alex's hoodie, I notice, has a fresh wet stain on the shoulder from where I've been crying. "I'm so sorry for ruining your hoodie."

Alex smiles. "It's fine, honestly. Lily and Sarah tried to find you about an hour ago but I told them I was handling it."

Poor Lily. She tried to comfort me this morning but I shoved her off so cruelly. She and Alex must be so confused.

"How long have we been down here?" I ask, shifting off Alex to sit next to him.

"Only about three hours."

"You've stayed here with me for three hours, listening to me cry?" I gasp.

Alex shrugs, trying to hide a smile. "Yeah, of course. You only cried for an hour though, before you fell asleep. I didn't want to wake you because you seem to be having a bad day."

I groan. I've been asleep on Alex's shoulder for hours, he must think I'm so weird. "Again, I'm sorry for dragging you into it."

"Maddie, I'll always help you," Alex sighs.

I glance at him with a questioning look on my face but Alex just laughs it off. This didn't seem like Alex at all.

"And so will, Virgo," Alex adds.

Virgo walks up to me and snuffles my knee. I stroke the white snip on his muzzle and whisper my thanks to him. He's the only one here that knows why I'm such a mess. I feel my body really start to wake up again as shivers run down my arms and legs.