Madison v.s The Horse Thief

Chapter Thirty-Five: A New Chapter

"Alex told us what happened!" Sarah exclaims when I reach her.

I'm immediately met with hugs from the both of them.

"Are you okay?" asks Bishop.

I pull away from his embrace. "Yeah, I think."

Sarah folds her arms. "I can't believe it was Jess."

"I know. She taught me how to ride," Bishop sighs.

"I think it's a shock to everyone," I reply.

"How did she pull it off?" Sarah asks.

I shrug. "Not sure."

"But the sedatives that were stolen by Justin?" Bishop queeries.

"Jess convinced him to do it."

"What about the thief at the show? Or how the thieves got into SEC?"

I shake my head. "All Jess."

Sarah twists the end of her hair. "Wow..."

Bishop places a hand on my shoulder. "Thanks to you Maddie, no more horses will be harmed."

A smile plays at my lips. "Hopefully."

Sarah opens up her arms and I laugh before being pulled into a group hug. It feels nice knowing I have such good friends. Friends that will always back me in everything. Ones I love with all my heart.

"Have you seen Virgo yet?" Sarah asks.

I break away. "No, has he come yet?"

"Yeah! Like ten minutes ago."

"What!" I exclaim, jumping on the spot.

"Go see him!" Bishop laughs, flashing his braces.

In a flash I turn and head to the stables. This time for the first time in weeks I know Virgo is there, waiting for me. I duck through the open doors and head down the aisle. My smile has never been so big.

I get to Virgo's stall and stop. There is my chocolate head. Right where he belongs. 

"How are you, my little captive?" I say over Virgo's stall door.

He lifts up his head from his water bucket, a few drops dripping off his whiskers and lopes over to me. From my pocket I retrieve a carrot and Virgo lips it up quickly making me smile tiredly.

I'm just very relieved he is back home and I know he is too.

"He's happy to be home," a voice behind me says.

Virgo pricks his ears before I turn around and see Alex, leaning on the stable door across from Virgo's.

"So am I," I laugh.

Alex smiles at me and I feel childish that he can give me butterflies by just smiling. He approaches me slowly and I turn back to Virgo who is nibbling at my sleeve. Alex leans on Virgo's stable door like I do and gives Virgo's shoulder a scratch.

"Thank you for being there for me today," I whisper.

"Of course. You've been through a lot and I wanted to make sure you were ok," Alex replies, pressing his shoulder into mine.

"I just can't believe it was Jess all along, I was so sure it was Justin I became blind," I sigh, burying my face into my hands.

"Hey, no one knew. You were just following your gut, Maddie."

"I know I just feel so bad because I made Justin the bad guy. Justin!"

"Maddie, you were the one that tried the hardest to find out the thieves' identity, you were the one that chased after the thieves, you were the one that worked out it was Jess. No one else did that," Alex says.

I let out a sigh and look at him. "It still doesn't make me feel any better."

"Then... let's talk about something that does," he suggests.

I let out a chuckle. "Like what?"

"Well, do you want to go on a date maybe... with me?" Alex asks, nervously.

My jaw parts out of shock for a second. "A date?"

"I mean yeah. We could go on a trail ride or go somewhere else like there's this huge tower with all these telescopes at the top, thirty minutes from here or if you don't like that stuff we could go to this cool cafe where..."

I listen to Alex's list of places where we could go and I can't help but feel this happy tingle in my stomach. It is really cute to see him try so hard to please me.

"Alex, I'd go anywhere," I say, stopping Alex from listing place after place.

His smile widens, running a hand through his black hair.

"It's just... I've never been on a date before and I don't want to screw things up," I murmur.

"I'd be so honored to take you on your first date and Maddie you have to stop worrying, you could never screw things up," Alex reassures me.

I don't know what to say and just hold my large grin while I play with Virgo's mane. After a minute I know what to say.

I bump my arm with Alex's playfully, giggling to myself. "Alex Bruno."

"Yeah?" Alex replies.

I laugh even more. "No, I'm telling you who my first kiss was. Alex Bruno."

Alex looks down at me, confusion clouding his face.

"I said to you once that when I had my first kiss I'd tell you who it was with so I'm telling you who it was with. Alex Bruno," I explain.

"Oh," Alex groans. He snakes an arm around my waist and pulls me in close.

I can't help but laugh as I put my arms around his neck.

"You know what, I'm glad I was your first kiss," Alex laughs.

I cup my hands around his face and pull him close so our lips touch. We kiss for a long while and it makes me think about how good my life finally is. I'm dating Alex Bruno, training at SEC with my dream team, having fun with the bestest friends I could possibly ask for and most importantly I'm with my chocolate head, Virgo.

{And just like that, it's finish!! I'm so sad I might have to let these characters go, writing this book has been an amazing experience for me! Thank you to everyone who has read it, it really has meant the world to me. Love you all ! xx}