The heavy rain started to diminish with the sun coming into sight. The skies showed authenticity from the darkness as it shined with life. Madeline stirred on the bed a little but held tightly the body that was sleeping tranquilly in her embrace. Wren was resting her head on Madeline's shoulder and her arm was wrapped around her waist loosely.
Last night, none of them spoke a word, instead, Madeline took her to bed and wrapped the blanket around their naked bodies. She kept Wren warm and gave her comfort till she calmed down and gave up to sleep.
Madeline broke the embrace and pulled away from Wren as she sat up slightly and leaned on her elbow. Her gaze was at Wren's form. She became skinnier and weaker. Madeline observed her body and the small bruise on her hip, and she frowned at the sight, feeling sorry for Wren.
Madeline saw Wren's necklace that had their engagement rings and moved her hand grazing them with her fingertips, accidently making Wren stir in the bed but she didn't wake up.
She sighed and got up, wore dry clothes, and placed some clothes for Wren to wear when she's up, then headed to the kitchen preparing breakfast for them both.
.................................................
Monique was on the phone with Madeline, pacing in the kitchen and Elise was drinking her coffee calmly watching her girlfriend bite her finger nails as she processed Madeline's words and she nodded every time she said something.
"Okay... are you sure?... Alright... I'll tell the others. And Madeline... thank you." She hung up and went to Elise sitting across from her at the table.
"So?"
"She found Wren and she spent the night there apparently, so that's good news, I think, but Wren didn't say a word to her. And she's still asleep. She said that she found Wren in a bad state last night."
"Normal. She's shocked about everything and seeing Georgina made her burst. I don't blame her if.. she's not okay." She said as she started eating her pancake and that's when Monique looked at her with narrow eyes.
"How're you so calm about all of this? Last night you kept your coolness and helped us all to calm down. Aren't you a bit worried about them?"
She shook her head while chewing. "I'm not even tensed about what's gonna happen next, you know why?"
Monique shook her head and that's when Elise got up from her seat, walked over to her and offered her hand for her to get up as well.
"Because if Madeline is still mad at Wren, she could've just taken her to her house but... she did something else. She took her to her apartment and let her spend the night for a reason. Now if you think about that, you'll know that things will go great between them again. All we need is for Wren to get up from her sleep and have her talk with Madeline." Elise kissed her cheek, earning a smile from her. "And a little faith. It's between them now."
"You're so cool and that's why I love you."
"Just that?" She smirked pulling her closer and in response Monique wrapped her arms around her neck and stared deeply into her eyes with a playful smile across her lips.
"Well..." She chuckled. "There're some other stuff."
"Like?" She tilted her head to the side.
Monique flashed her a genuine smile. "Like how you care about other people."
"You forgot something."
"What is it?"
"I love you."
She grinned and pecked her lips. "I love you too."
.................................................
Finally, Wren started opening her eyelids, groaning softly as she turned over to the other side of the bed and found it empty. She narrowed her eyes trying to remember last night, and when she did, she closed her eyes as she sat up straight on the bed.
Opening them again, she found a black sweater and grey jeans that belonged to her. Wren scanned the room for Madeline and when she couldn't find her, she started wearing the clothes.
She got up from the bed, taking a deep breath as she made her way to the kitchen with her nose detecting the smell of fresh coffee and delicious breakfast. She halted in her place on seeing Madeline's back turned to her while she prepared the food. Wren swallowed hard and her heart raced inside her chest as if she was running for her life.
Madeline sensed eyes were watching her intently, so she raised her eyes from the pan and waited for a movement or any sound to be made but nothing happened. She turned around slowly and Wren looked down at the ground again in shame.
Madeline gathered up all her courage to be the one who speaks. "Take a seat." she said softly.
Wren walked to the kitchen island and took a seat silently as Madeline served her breakfast.
Wren closed her eyes briefly and sighed before she re-opened them. "I can go if you don't want me." she managed to say.
Madeline put a hand on her waist, looking at Wren as their eyes met. "You don't look so well... you need to eat." she said with a strict yet a soft voice that showed concern for the skinny woman. She grabbed the coffee and placed it beside the plate but Wren didn't move.
"I can't do this, Madeline." She stared down blankly at her plate as she shook her head. "I can't pretend that... that everything's good between us when I know I'm at fault and I hurt your feelings." Wren sighed and ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head slowly and Madeline crossed her arms, deciding to listen to what the other woman has to say. "I wish if I never met her. I wish if it was you instead of her. I wish if I was sober that night. Sober enough to kick her out of our house but I wasn't. Instead I hurt you. I made a mistake and I'm paying for it because I deserve it but you don't deserve this, to feel sorry for me and let me spend the night at your house, you shouldn't have done it. You should've not sheltered me from the cold but left me there instead." Madeline looked away for a split second blinking back her tears. "If I apologized now, it wouldn't matter because what I did was unjustifiable." She got up from her seat and looked at Madeline. "So, I'm gonna go. I don't want to cause you pain again. I'm sorry for everything."
She turned around and headed for the door but Madeline spoke. "Is that what you do now? You just walk away? Because that's not what you do. You talk to me, Wren. Stop walking away and face me for once." Wren looked over her shoulder and Madeline continued after taking a deep breath. "There's something you should know. About you and Georgina."
Wren frowned and whirled around, meeting her gaze. "What do you mean?"
Madeline placed a hand on the counter and bit her lip hesitantly before speaking. "Georgina... she came over yesterday and we talked... about you. We need to talk about what happened when you were in New York."
Wren was hesitant for a moment but nodded at Madeline. They walked over to the couch and took a seat.
"She told me the reason why you were acting strange around me when you came back from your business trip."
Flashback:
"What're you doing here?" asked Madeline.
"Can I come in?" asked Georgina.
Madeline scoffed at her. "What do you want, Georgina? I think you got what you wanted. She's yours. You can have her." She was about to close the door, but Georgina placed her foot in between, blocking her attempt.
"I want to tell you the truth about Wren."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. There's nothing to tell. I've seen it."
Georgina sighed heavily. "She didn't do it, Madeline." Madeline stopped and opened the door a little but she held the knob tightly. "She couldn't do it." said Georgina sadly. "She was thinking of you, that's why she stopped before it got any deeper. Well, before anything could ever happen actually."
Madeline swallowed and opened the door for her to enter. As much as it pained her to remember that night, she needed to hear the truth, not from Wren but from the one who she knew started it first.
"Did Wren send you here to tell me this?"
"She doesn't know I'm here. Look... I know you hate me but I need to fix this, okay? So, just give me the chance to do so." Madeline crossed her arms but nodded. "When we were in New York, I, uh, got jealous of the way she spoke about you. She has so much love to you that she never had for me. All I wanted was to be with her but you got in my way." Madeline stared at her blankly and she had the urge to shut the door in Georgina's face but something stopped her from doing so. "So... in order to get her with me for one night... I spiked her drink that night before the flight."
"You did what?!" she said with an angry tone.
"Yes, I did that and... She got really drunk, so I helped her to go to the room. My room and I slept with her but not in the way you think." She held up her hands. "We didn't do anything because the last thing she said before she dozed off was... your name." Georgina took a deep breath. "I'm guessing when she woke up the next day, she thought that we did something and that's why she was avoiding you for weeks and giving me the cold shoulder."
Madeline shook her head in confusion and held up a hand. "Wait, wait... you're telling me that you made her think that she slept with you?" Georgina nodded and Madeline covered her face.
"And the night you caught us together, I took advantage of her when she was drunk but she was defying my attempts. I thought she was finally giving in until she stopped me and I realized that she was back to her senses, back to you... that's when you came in and thought that she cheated on you while in fact she didn't and never did. Even when I kissed her it's like she's never there."
By the end of her story, Madeline had tears streaming down her face. She felt stupid for thinking that Wren stopped loving her. For causing such pain for both of them, yet again, she was in pain in the first place, so she had the rights to take her time and space.
"I'm sorry." said Georgina. "I went to her today... at work and I've never seen her like this before. I didn't know I could make her feel this anger. I felt the need to do something right for once. For her." She let out a sigh. "Turns out, she really loves you and a keeper, Madeline, and I envy you for that. I'm leaving to New York in a few hours. You won't see my face ever again."
End Of Flashback
Wren frowned and played with her fingers trying to remember everything in New York and Madeline saw the anger and frustration in her eyes as she clenched her jaw, so she reached out and held her hands tightly and then Wren looked at her with glassy eyes.
"Why would you believe her, Madeline? Although some of her words make sense now. I knew I didn't sleep with her. I knew it but had to believe her made up lies. I can't believe myself." She pulled her hand away from Madeline's in shame and covered her head, as she shut her eyes tightly, trying to put the pieces of puzzle in her head.
Madeline gave Wren a small smile. "Nate came over yesterday as well, and he told me that... when he left to New York for some business of his for one night, he saw you and Georgina the same night he arrived at the hotel. He said he saw a woman with dark hair was helping you get to your room which is actually hers if you put two and two together. He also said you were having a hard time walking, but the thing is... I know that you'd never drink that much alcohol. You were always careful with the alcohol intake ever since... the coma. So, again I believe Georgina's story because Nate confirmed some parts of it by what he witnessed. And I know he'll never lie to me... even if he wanted to break us apart. He's not a bad guy." She sighed and bit her lip.
Wren brushed her lips with her finger as she stared ahead, recalling something. "I saw you kissing Nate in the street once." Madeline's heart skipped a beat.
"No, that's not what happ-"
"I was... gonna try and apologize to you again." She stared at the ground. "... but I saw you locking lips with him." She shrugged and sighed.
With a sigh, Madeline moved closer to Wren and grabbed her hand again. "He kissed me. Not the other way around. I didn't kiss him back."
"Why didn't you?" Wren raised her head and stared at Madeline softly, studying her expression.
"Because... despite the pain you caused me..." Wren squeezed her hand firmly. "I wasn't over you." Madeline smiled weakly at Wren and her eyes sparkled with tears. "I love you, Wren."
Wren smiled a little and brushed her thumb over her knuckles before she lifted Madeline's hand up to her lips and pressed a soft kiss on the back of her hand. "I'm so sorry about everything. You were right. I need to trust you and talk to you about anything I'm doubtful about. I would never hurt you like that again. I'll change, I promise. For the both of us."
Madeline smiled widely through her tears and wrapped her arms around Wren's neck and unclasped her necklace as Wren watched her take the necklace and pull out the engagement rings.
"Do you still want to marry me or are you getting cold feet?" asked Madeline with a chuckle as few tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Do you?" asked Wren smiling softly and brushed her thumb over her cheeks.
Madeline nodded and took Wren's ring putting it on her finger and Wren took Madeline's hand kissing it first then slid the engagement ring on her finger as well.
"I love you." said Wren as cupped her cheeks as she said it again firmly. "I love you and only you, Madeline Anderson."
Madeline held Wren's wrists as she stroked the skin gently and smiled at her warmly, holding a soft eye contact with hers. "I love you too."
A/N
What a chapter, whew! Took me long to edit, and if any of you found any errors, ignore, lol. And you guys, we've come this far. Only two chapters left and sadly, this story will come to an end soon. Once this book ends, I'll give you a fun fact when I started writing this book and I'd love to know your thoughts and opinions about it, but for now, let's finish and end this book together. Enjoy :D