All Good Things: The Final Fanfiction Saga

Chapter Ten: Retreat

Then, the betrayal: Madeline had whirled into his life with the intention to expose it for the public to read. It took Justin months to get over his anger, but something in him knew he still needed her. Then, when he finally found her, it took all of Justin's strength not to smother her with kisses on sight.

Yet they still had a long path ahead of them until the day they danced at Disneyland and sealed their love with that long-awaited kiss. It sparked off a series of giddy adventures, capping off with Madeline's summer "job" as a videographer on the group's summer tour. It wisely kept her out of the camera's eye, and kisses were only stolen when the record button was off.

Fights were few, and usually squelched by a puppy-dog look from Justin, a wide-eyed glare from Madeline or a clinging kiss that escalated into fits of giggling, groping and in some cases, wrestling. Despite her weight disadvantage, Madeline proved quite agile, sometimes tangling her taller boyfriend in knots and pointing with glee at her conquest.

"Madwoman," he'd snarl jokingly, "You drive me bonkers."

It was always the signal that all was forgiven and water under the bridge. And then the cycle would start again.

"I don't know how you all have the energy," Emma observed one day, shaking her head. "You guys are like those helium-hydrogen atom things that crash into each other in the sun."

"Mama," Justin said, laughing. "No one knows what on earth you're talking about."

"She's right," Madeline chimed in. "That's how the sun burns, you know; there are particles colliding over and over. Did you ever set foot in a classroom, Mouseketeer?"

He tackled her at once, and Emma covered her face with her eyes. "If you guys are 40 and still able to do this, I'm gonna keel over," she sighed wearily.

Emma and Justin had always had a special friendship, but it never occurred to Madeline that Justin had ever compared the two. She and Emma, though close, were two very different personalities, but Madeline assumed, despite Justin's affection for Emma, that he preferred her for a companion.

Maybe she'd assumed wrong.

"Of course you're not Emma," Justin was saying now. "You guys are different people, and I have obviously different relationships with both of you."

"But," Madeline said, studying his face, "you sound like you have expectations of me that compare to Emma and J.C."

Justin paused and frowned a little. "Well ..."

"Do you wish I was her, Justin?"

"No, Madeline."

"Then what is it? Why is her name popping up in this discussion about our relationship?"

Justin's eyes met hers. "Because our situation, this relationship," he began, "is kind of unique. So I don't have many people to compare notes with, except J.C. now he and Emma have been going strong for over two years now, and they're about to get married, so I'm calling that a successful relationship.

"So I'm thinking, 'What do they have that we don't have?' and the only thing that comes to my mind is distance. They're together all the time – we're not."

Madeline opened her mouth to respond, but the argument on the tip of her tongue had already been used in two previous arguments. She tried a different tack.

"Why now?" she asked. "Why after all this time, is it suddenly about me having to pick up my life and move?"

He dropped his head and closed his eyes. "Aren't you tired of only seeing each other for a quick weekend? Squeezing in visits and always hurrying off to the airport? Are you comfortable with that? Or does part of you like the distance so that you don't have to deal with the closeness?"