—
—
MADELYN HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO OR WHAT TO EVEN THINK, she hadn't expected for quint to leave a bag of pills quite literally taped to her front door, right out in the open for anyone to see, not even just miles.
"m-miles don't be mad—" she began saying nervously, not wanting any more fights or arguments to happen between them, they had finally progressed somewhere that she was happy about and the last thing madelyn wanted to do was ruin everything that was going for them.
"—i'm not mad" miles cut her off sternly, causing her eyes to widen as she stared at him in disbelief, "y-you're not?" she uneasily questioned him in utter shock, which only made miles sigh.
"i'm not mad at you" he clarified for her before looking down at the small bag that she was still holding, taking it out of her hands gently to stare at it—-shaking his head in anger.
"i don't care how long this has been happening, i don't care what deal you guys have going on, i don't care about any of it, but this stops now" miles sternly said to madelyn, she stared at the older boy in shock still.
"miles... i feel like i should explain my—" she began saying quietly once again, but he shook his head and cut her off, "—you don't have to explain yourself, all i'm saying is shut it down now" he repeated himself sternly once again.
madelyn looked up at miles with intimidation and almost look of slight fear, which didn't go unnoticed by miles, causing his face to drop as he analyzed hers.
"look, i promise i'm not mad at you, i just care about you a lot and i don't want to see you go down this rabbit hole. this shit isn't good for you, it's the last thing you need" he explained softly to her, causing her to suck a breath in before nodding her head in an understanding manner.
she felt a bit of her heart twist at his words, he cares about her.
miles cares about her.
madelyn had never really heard that before.
madelyn lacked structure for pretty much her entire life, she was never sure how to handle stability when it was in front of her, dysfunction had become routine. it had come to the point that in her life, when something was stable, it resembled dysfunction.
"you... care about me?" she asked, she didn't know how to react, she didn't even know what else to say to that.
it honestly seemed like the only appropriate answer.
her stomach swarmed with endless butterflies as she spoke, her two different colored eyes boreing into his dark ones.
making eye contact with someone like miles was never easy, his intensity could set a fire underneath madelyn's body in an instant, there was something so beyond captivating about miles that drew her to him.
"of course i care about you maddy, even though i kind of lost my mind before leaving for boarding school, that was stupid of me, but now, i'm here, and yes, i always cared about you" miles explained to her as he reached over and began rubbing the younger girls back,
madelyn leaned her head to the side, resting her head on miles' shoulder as he continued to comfort her, she still felt a pang of guilt in her chest, even though miles assured that he wasn't mad at her.
"i care about you too" madelyn said back to miles, making a small chuckle escape his mouth as she pulled her head off of his shoulder to look at him, "i know you do" he responded with confidence,
his smirk made madelyn's heart feel like it was going backflips inside of her body.
"pinky promise you're not mad?" she asked him for reassurance once again, holding her pinky out for miles to grab, he looked down at her finger with a small smile on his face, he reached his finger out to collide with hers,
"pinky promise"
—
later that day, miles made his way downstairs, passing through the living room, seeing that quint was simply sitting on the couch by himself, reading a book while no one was around.
miles' jaw hardened.
he stormed over to quint, grabbing the book he was reading and ripping it out of his hands, throwing it somewhere aggressively, both of them hearing it land to the floor loudly.
"what the hell!" quint snapped his head up at the teenage boy in front of him, who was staring at him with nothing short of rage, making quint look at him with confusion at what he was so mad about.
"what?" the older guy questioned with confusion,
"why the hell are you giving maddy pills?!" miles shouted at quint, making quints eyes widen upon realization before his face contorted into anger upon realization, "why did she tell you of all people—" quint began saying, but miles quickly cut him off,
"—she didn't tell me anything, i saw it taped to her door, which by the way, is the dumbest fucking thing i've ever seen" miles said angrily as he shook his head, sitting down on the couch beside quint.
"and why was i not supposed to know?" miles questioned quint with anger fueling his tone of voice, which only made quint roll his eyes at how dramatic miles was being in his eyes, "because..." quint began as he stood up from the couch,
"...i knew you would react like this" he said, which only burned miles up even more, "yeah, maybe i'm acting like this for a reason! maddys dad died of a drug overdose and you're going to give her pills?!" he shot up, standing up from the couch like quint was now.
"i didn't give her enough to overdose on—" quint began saying a he held a hand up, attempting to get miles to calm down as he did so, "—it doesn't matter! you could get her addicted, that's the last thing she needs!" miles still continued to scold the older man,
"you're overreactingggg" quint said in a mocking sing song sort of voice as he made his way to the kitchen, but miles wasn't going to let him get off that easy.
it was clear to miles that quint was treating this like some big joke, and he wasn't going to accept any of it.
"overreacting— overreacting?!" miles repeated out of frustration, not believing the way that quint was responding to the entire situation right now, miles trailed behind quint as they made their way closer to the kitchen.
"you're sitting here drugging up a fifteen year old because she had a h..." miles began saying before trailing off as he made his way into the kitchen, seeing mrs. gross making ms. jessel and flora lunch,
he stared at the three of them like a deer in headlights, which honestly only made quint smirk at how ridiculous he looked at that moment.
"miles, do you want lunch?" mrs. grose asked, "no— no, i'm good, thank you" miles politely declined before shooting his gaze back over to quint, who he really had a bone to pick with at this point.
and that didn't go unnoticed by ms. jessel, usually quint and miles were laughing like brothers and attached at the hip, but now... she could sense the tension, and it was thicker than ever.
miles quickly moved before grabbing quints arm, dragging him out of the kitchen aggressively, "you are drugging up fifteen year old just because she had a hard day!" he whisper shouted at quint, finishing his sentence from earlier.
"maddy is innocent, and she's sweet, she doesn't need to be knowing or doing anything involving whatever the hell you're trying to get her into!" miles protectively rambled for madelyn, which only made quint raise a brow.
"aw, how cute" quint teased as he eyed miles up and down, seeing the way that he was getting so worked up over madelyn at the moment, but miles' eyebrows contorted into confusion,
"the fuck are you talking about?" he asked angrily, not ready to hear what he could possibly be getting at now to change the subject,
"nothing, nothing... it's just cute to see you get like this over your little girlfriend" quint teased him, making miles shake his head, "wh— she's not my— whatever! i don't care, this stops now!" he said angrily, but quint refused to wipe the smirk off of his face.
"oh you're in love" quint shook his head, which only made miles shut his eyes out of frustration, sucking in a deep breath and exhaling loudly before he found the strength in himself to speak again,
"i said what i said, don't ever give her anything again, got it?" miles said lowly, not breaking any eye contact with quint, who only gave the younger teenage boy a knowing look.
"got it?" miles repeated himself more sternly, to which quint only held up his hands in a mocking surrender as he slowly backed away, teasing the teenage boy relentlessly as he did so,
"yeah, got it, lover boy"
—
madelyn sat across from her aunt and uncle once again, who would not stop visiting in desperation that the young girl would come live with them, however, she wouldn't budge as she at across from the table.
"i'm not coming to live with you" she said in a soft tone of voice, so sick of having to repeat herself to two people who were nothing but strangers to her.
"you need to test yourself for cancer" her aunt emphasized, madelyn felt a pang in her chest, she tried her best to block that part out, because there was no way in hell she had any chance of having cancer.
"i-i don't have it" madelyn wearily choked out, "you don't know that!" her uncle shouted as he slammed his hand on the wooden table aggressively, making madelyn flinch in her seat as he did so.
"i'm sorry honey" he said gently as he instantly regretted it, but madelyn shook her head, feeling her throat beginning to tighten up as she tried her best to fight off the tears that were welling up in her gorgeous eyes.
she wanted this to end, this entire situation to disappear from her life.
"what if i have it?" madelyn finally weakly choked out, finding the strength inside of herself to finally look at her aunt and uncle that were sitting across from her, and not just at some random corner on the table.
"then we see what your best option is at survival" her uncle gently said, but madelyn shook her head once again, that wasn't a good enough answer.
even though madelyn wasn't the biggest fan of her life, any one that she had to live without miles was hell for her. when he was there, that was her heaven. he was her rock and her only friend.
the only one that was there for her.
and she wouldn't give that up for the world, no matter how much she hated her life. wherever he went, she went, and that was all that she cared about.
like clockwork, miles walked into the kitchen, freezing abruptly when he saw madelyn sitting in a ball at the kitchen table, looking upset as her aunt and uncle sat on the other side of it.
"hey, you okay?" miles questioned as he made his way over to madelyn, kneeling beside her so he was eye level to where she was sitting in the chair, her aunt and uncle watching the situation silently—-madelyn nodded carefully, not saying a word.
until, her aunt spoke up.
"maybe we could use your help" her aunt suggested, making miles shoot a glance towards her as madelyn looked up at her aunt with wide eyes, not wanting miles to know what was going on.
"how so?" he asked as he placed his hand on madelyn's back, rubbing it up and down gently—-knowing that whatever was going on, she needed someone to comfort her, and that was the only thing on his mind right now.
"we think madelyn might have—" her aunt began saying, but madelyn quickly cut her off, "—i-i might move in with them!" she frantically said, causing everyone and everything in the room to fall silent.
she knew her aunt was about to tell miles about her potentially having cancer, and that was the last thing she wanted him to know about—-because she wasn't even sure if she had it, and if she did, she wanted to tell him on her terms.
granted, madelyn really didn't want to tell miles about how her aunt and uncle were harassing her to move, but it seemed like the lesser of two evils in the situation at this point.
however, miles looked completely distraught.
"moving in with them?" miles repeated slowly as he shot his gaze between madelyn's aunt and uncle, and the frail girl sitting next to him like that was some sort of a sick joke that he was hearing.
madelyn's aunt caught onto why she blurted that out, attempting to go along with what she was saying.
"y-yeah, its up in the air right now but its on the table" madelyn said quietly through a shrug, trying to do anything to get the attention off of her and the situation, miles nodded slowly.
but no matter how madelyn went about it, she knew that miles was going to be upset.
who wouldn't be? some random strangers come into his house and try to take the girl he has become so close with over the years in the blink of an eye. it didn't make any sense, and he definitely wasn't a fan of it.
miles shot another look back to her aunt and uncle.
"is that necessary?" miles asked, referring to the entire moving situation, which only made her aunt and uncle shift in their seats uncomfortably,
"uhm— we believe that it is" her uncle said as he clasped his hands together on the table, but miles only tilted his head slightly, not liking his answer at all.
"miles, it's uh..." madelyn began, trying to dial down the situation a bit, "...it's my decision, i suggested it, not them" she said as she lied through her teeth, trying to do anything to make him go away at the moment so she could make them go away.
"oh" miles said flatly as he looked down, sounding disappointed.
"i don't know, i might need change, you know?" she said gently, which the boy still kneeling beside her hesitantly nodded to, "yeah— yeah i get it, i guess" he muttered the last part under his breath as he stood up,
"well, i hope all goes good then" he said as he began backing up and out of the living room, his entire vibe changing as he heard the news of what was really going on with madelyn the entire time.
madelyn peaked her head over, making sure that miles was gone.
"look, i promise ill go to that doctors appointment and get checked for cancer, as long as you guys don't tell anyone here about it and don't make me move out, okay?" madelyn said frantically through a whisper as she leaned closer to them over the table,
her aunt and uncle shot looks at each other, not really liking her offer.
"that's my only deal, or else i'm not doing anything" madelyn whispered once again, still not moving from her position of leaning closer to them over the table, she saw her aunt sigh before she went to speak again,
"you need t—" she began saying,
"—my only condition" madelyn repeated once again, this time far more stern as before, to which her aunt and uncle shot each other looks once again, before silently coming to an agreement.
"okay, it's a deal"
—
"miles?" madelyn asked as she poked her head through his bedroom door, she saw the tall teenage boy sitting on a chair in his room while playing guitar, he broke his gaze that was looking down to look up at her,
"hi" he said softly,
he was upset, and she knew it.
madelyn sighed under her breath before opening the door a bit more to come into his room and shutting it behind her quietly and making her way over to his bed, that was sat next to his chair.
but he still didn't say anything, he just continued to play his guitar.
"uhm... are you gonna say anything?" she shyly asked the boy in front of her, making miles scoff as he still continued to play the guitar, "what do you want me to say?" he asked her, which was a question that madelyn didn't know the answer to.
"i don't know... i don't want you to be mad" was all she said back,
"you always think i'm mad at you when im not, i just wasn't expecting it" miles explained himself as he still continued to strum the strings on his guitar, refusing to even look up at the girl in front of him.
"can you look at me?" she asked, noticing his lack of eye contact.
if there was one thing about miles, it was the fact that he made a hell of a lot of eye contact, and now the fact that he wasn't, was really beginning to freak madelyn out.
something felt off, it felt different.
and she hated every moment of it.
miles finally stopped playing his guitar with a sigh escaping his lips, looking up at the girl sitting on the bed that was diagonal of him, "now what?" he questioned,
"it's not permanent or anything" madelyn lied, she knew that she wasn't going anywhere, however, she really didn't want to have an entire i might have cancer conversation with miles, that was something she didn't want to add to her plate at all.
she already had enough going on as it was.
"but you should be here" miles emphasized, not wanting her to go.
"i don't even know if i am yet, it's just up in the air, okay?" she reassured him, however, he didn't say anything as he began to simply play his guitar again, which only made madelyn more upset.
"miles..." she trailed off as she watched him play the guitar,
"i had a rough day maddy" was all he said back, which again, only made her feel worse, "because of this?" she questioned, referring to the entire situation unfolding before their eyes,
"not exactly, got into it with quint today" miles explained, which made her eyes widen greatly, never thinking she'd hear those words come out of miles' mouth, ever.
"about... what?" she questioned in confusion, but miles just shook his head, "he just said some pretty mean things to me, that's all, he can be a dick sometimes so it just made me mad" miles began explaining before putting his guitar down,
"and then that whole thing happened with your aunt and uncle, so all in all, today just sucks" miles explained as he placed his guitar on the bed behind madelyn before sitting back down in his chair to face her.
"i'm sorry" madelyn apologized regretfully,
"don't be, it's not your fault" miles shook his head, never wanting to hear her apologize again.
madelyn sucked a breath in.
"no matter what happens..." madelyn began, grabbing miles' hand, which made him furrow his brows as he stared at her with confusion, "...promise me that we will always be friends, okay?" she asked him,
"where is this coming from?" miles asked her, but madelyn shook her head stubbornly,
"just promise me okay?" she asked him once again, "okay, okay, yeah, i promise" miles said as he nodded, realizing that whatever it was, she wasn't going to tell him.
madelyn pursued her lips as she let go of his hand, knowing that the miles she had now, could be heartbroken soon.
i think...
i think i might have cancer.
—
AUTHORS NOTE:
hey yall!! i told u i was coming back and updating all my books HAHAHAH. sorry for leaving u guys high and dry for a year but i'm glad to bring this book back bc i do know that it is a fan favorite!! shit is starting to get real LOLLLL. make sure u check out all my other books bc i updated every single one!!! okay goodnight, mommy loves u and it is late as shit. GOODNIGHT ONCE AGAIN YALLL.
WORD COUNT: 3476 <3