When Dom woke up the next morning, he was happy to see that Madison was still sleeping soundly next to him. She had her eyes closed, her lips slightly parted, and her head on his shoulder. To him she looked like the cutest person alive. He slowly moved her to roll over onto his side so he could see her better, quickly taking notice of the dark bruise around her eye.
He slowly reached out to cup her cheek, gently running his thumb across her cheekbone right under the brusie. The more he looked at it, the angrier he got over what happened to her. He couldn't understand why any man would do something like that to a woman. At no point should a woman ever be touched like that.
He couldn't shake the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. As long as he was still around, he would make sure that she never got hurt again. "Are you watching me sleep?" He heard her soft voice, a smile coming to his lips, momentarily replacing the anger that he felt. He could never be angry around her.
"No. What gives you that idea?" He whispered through a laugh, Madison's accusatory look in her eyes falling on him. She knew he was doing it. She had already caught him.
"Because you have been staring at me for ten minutes." She simply stated as if it were obvious. She didn't mind it. Nobody had looked at her that way in a very long time. She met his gaze with a smile to reassure him that it was okay and not something that creeped her out.
"Only because you had drool coming out of your mouth." He joked, falling into a fit of laughter when Madison reached out and smacked his chest before she lifted a hand to make sure he wasn't telling the truth. She shot him a glare when there was no drool remains to be found.
She lowered her gaze to the padlock necklace around his neck, her fingers wrapping around the piece of metal before she brought it up closer to her to examine it. "Do you wear this a lot?" She mumbled, her eyes looking up at him before looking back down at the padlock.
"Yeah, most of the time. It's my favorite accessory. It fits well with my image." She let out a light laugh when a random thought popped into her mind, her teeth grasping her lower lip to silence it.
"You know, your image makes you seem like a grunge spongebob. Edgy but still hyper and adorable at the same time." Dom found her comparison to be quite true, though he hated to admit such a thing. Before he had a chance to respond, she tugged on the padlock necklace to bring him closer before leaving a small kiss on his cheek.
"I have to get ready for work. You have a great day and text me, okay?" She mumbled, Dom nodding and staring out into space with a surprised expression. He was caught off guard when she kissed his cheek, but smiled nonetheless.
She got out of bed and headed back to her own room to get ready. She hated her job but it was a distraction and helped her make some extra money to do things that she wanted to do. She always refused when her brother told her he would give her money and that she didn't have to work. She wanted to earn her money, not have it handed to her.
She was a bartender at a local bar not far from her house. She hated it because of the drunk assholes who always hit on her and offered to buy her drinks. Sometimes they got a little out of hand, sometimes they were easier to deal with. Still, she didn't like to be harassed.
Once she got to work, her boss was standing at the bar looking as if he wanted to pull his hair out. He looked even more stressed than usual. She made her way over to where he was standing and placed her bag on the counter. "What's going on, Matt?" She asked him. He turned his gaze to her with a look of relief.
"I'm so glad you're here. Our singer quit at the last minute and we have nobody to fill her position for tonight." He was furiously swiping on his phone, no doubt looking for a quick replacement. She had an idea immediately pop into her head, her body turning to face Matt more.
"What if I could provide someone for you? Take the trouble off your hands." She offered, his eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree. He looked relieved, all of his stress going away. He put his phone down and tilted his head in her direction to give her his full attention.
"I'm listening." She told him all about her brother, who he was, how famous he was, and how he could bring more business to the bar in just one night. He seemed to like the idea of more business and liked the idea of him not having to search for someone himself just as much. "Okay, can you get him here?"
She nodded and retrieved her phone from her bag before unlocking it and sending a quick text to him.
Madison: have i ever told you how much i love you?
Colson: oh god. what do you want?
Madison: i need you to do me a huge favor. well, it's more of a favor for my boss.
Colson: okay, what is the favor?
Madison: his performer quit at the last minute and he needs someone to cover tonight until he can find someone tomorrow.
Colson: you want me to perform at a bar for your boss? lol
Madison: if you don't, i have a feeling he's going to want me to do it and that's not happening.
Colson: i would pay big money to witness that.
Madison: no, you wouldn't. because it's not going to happen.
Madison: will you do it?
Colson: yeah, let me get dressed and get the boys to get off their asses.
Colson: might bring your boyfriend with and perform the new song.
Madison: shut the fuck up he is not my boyfriend.