chapter seven
forever and always
Madelyn headed back to her house, wanting to change out of her blood soaked clothes that she had been wearing for the past few days before going to the hospital to see her mum and Nick. She stepped into the apartment and was immediately hit with memories of the days before.
The place was still trashed, broken glass, gun shot holes in things and knocked over tables and chairs. There was a bloodstain on the floor where her mother had been. Madelyn stared at it for a moment before letting out a shaky sigh.
"She's okay Madelyn, she's okay." She spoke to herself in a mutter.
The girl walked into her bedroom, the room being exactly the way she left it, which surprised her... considering. She moved over to her wardrobe, grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. She peeled her clothes off of her body, careful of her bandages.
Madelyn went into her bathroom, grabbing a flannel and scrubbed as much of the blood off of her as she could without having to get in the shower, something she couldn't quite be bothered to do yet before she got dressed into her new clothes. She put her trainers back on, grabbing her phone before leaving the house, throwing her clothes in the bin as she did.
Madelyn drove to the hospital, parking and quickly walking into the lobby. She asked the receptionist where which room her mother was in, having to explain how she was in fact Gale's daughter so the receptionist would actually allow her through.
When she did, Madelyn thanked her, rushing in the direction of her room. She stepped into the doorway, sighing in relief at the sight of her mum sat up in her bed.
"Maddie." Gale breathed out.
"Hi." Madelyn smiled, rushing over and hugging her. "You're okay."
"I am." Gale nodded, hugging her back for a moment before wincing. "But you're crushing me."
"Sorry." Madelyn spoke sheepishly, sitting on the edge of her mother's bed.
"Are you okay?" Gale asked.
"Yeah." Madelyn nodded. "It was Bailey, Ethan and Quinn."
"Ethan?" Gale tilted her head to the side. "I'm sorry honey, I know you liked him."
"It's okay." Madelyn shook her head. "I got out unscathed, a few stab wounds but nothing serious."
"Nothing serious." Gale repeated with a small laugh at the girl's blasé attitude.
"I'm glad you're okay." Madelyn stated. "I thought—"
"No." Gale interrupted. "I'm okay. I'm sorry I scared you."
"You couldn't really help it." Madelyn laughed softly.
"We'll be a fine line." Gale recited.
"We'll be alright." Madelyn finished, a small smile on her face as she moved to gently hug her mum once more. Madelyn squeezed her mum tightly, holding her close and basking in the comfort, allowing everything that had happened to live in the past.
"Hey Gale, guess who I just sa—" Madelyn sat up, turning to see Nick walking into the hospital room. The boy cut himself off at the sight of his girlfriend. "Mads, hi."
"Hey." Madelyn greeted softly.
"I just saw Mindy, she told me everything." Nick pointed behind him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm good." Madelyn nodded. "Uh, we should—"
"Yeah." Nick nodded.
Madelyn looked over at her mum, squeezing her hand. "I'll be back in a minute."
"Okay." Gale smiled.
Madelyn led Nick out of her mum's hospital room, the two walking slightly down the hall so she couldn't eavesdrop on their conversation. They stood opposite each other, an awkward silence settling over them for a few moments.
"Ethan, he, uh, he made it out like you were dead." Madelyn stated. "He was going on about how he juked the roommate lottery and he was glad he killed Chad and that he found you because of your parents and how they always left you alone and that you were just as alone when you died."
Nick stared at her in slight shock.
"And I thought maybe he was bluffing, trying to get a rise out of me, y'know. And then Danny came with the police and you weren't there, and I thought my worst nightmare came true and I wasn't there with you when it happened." Madelyn had begun to cry as she spoke. "But no, you were here."
"Yeah, with your mum." Nick stressed.
"Why? So you could be here when she died inside of waiting to see if I survived?" Madelyn asked, her voice raising ever so slightly.
"You didn't want me to go with you! What was I suppose to do? Sit and wait and drive myself insane?" Nick's voice also raised.
"It's not that I didn't want you to come, Nick." Madelyn shook her head. "It's that we have changed, something is different and you can't deny that. And I have tried, okay? I keep trying with you and it's getting so hard. And it's like, I keep getting knocked down and I have to rise from the ashes like some kind of phoenix. And sometimes I don't want to, and you're supposed to help and you haven't."
"Mads—"
"No, Nick." Madelyn sighed. "I'm sorry that my pain is such an imposition to you after everything, that you had to pull away. But you have to admit that we are sick. I mean, how haven't you noticed? Even Chad's noticed that something is wrong with me. It's like my insides are slowly dying because of the trauma and you haven't noticed, how? If I'm someone you love, how haven't you noticed?"
Nick let out a small sigh, his eyes welling with tears at her words. "I haven't—I'm so sorry—"
"Nick we can't be a sad song forever. I have given you everything, I have bled for you, literally. And I know, I wouldn't be with me either, okay? I'm a pathological people pleaser but... you're losing me, Nick. And I'm done fighting for this." Madelyn stated.
She stood there, tears in her eyes as Nick stared at her. He didn't say anything as she waited for him to speak up, to fight for them. The brunette nodded, turning around and beginning to walk down the hallway.
She tried to keep her tears at bay but they were uncontrollable. Madelyn decided not to go back to her mother's room, deciding instead to head out of the hospital, needing to be alone for a while.
Nick stood frozen in time, right where she left him, thinking about everything. She was right, he knew it, Madelyn Riley was always right.
It was one of the things he loved about her.
He loved everything about her.
He loved her.
He always knew he loved her, he had told her he loved her multiple times. But this realisation was so much stronger. He still loved her.
After everything, after every traumatic moment and all their combined flaws, he still loved her.
Loves makes people do crazy things.
That was a saying that Madelyn had told him once, many many years ago and it still rang true. Love made him do a crazy thing. Allow the best thing in his life to walk away from him, from their relationship.
It was a crazy, stupid thing to do.
Which is why Nick's legs moved before his brain had fully caught up, running down the hall in the direction that Madelyn had headed, fully fuelled by his heart. He swung the door open, rushing into the parking lot where rain had began to pour down.
"Maddie!" Nick shouted.
Madelyn turned around at the sound of his voice, her eyebrows furrowing as he got closer and closer to her. "What?"
"I love you." Nick stated.
"What?"
"I love you." Nick repeated. "I want you. I want to marry you, I want to be with you for the rest of my life. You're the best that's ever been mine. And I want to be yours, forever and ever until the day I die and then into the next life, I want to be with you. I don't care that you're a pathological people pleaser. I couldn't care less about that."
Nick took a few steps closer to her. "I want to live with you, fight with you, love with you. I want to do everything with you. I moved to New York for you and if you went to Stanford, I would have followed you there too. I would follow you to the ends of the Earth because I love you. I'd risk everything for you, I have risked my life for you and I would do a thousand times more. Because you are my best friend in the entire world."
Madelyn sniffled as the rain poured around them. Nick took another step, now being only one more step away from her. "You said a few days ago that I could be Ghostface because I could kill everyone, feel no remorse and get away with it." Madelyn nodded at his words. "I could kill everyone, everyone except you. I could never hurt you, Madelyn. I would die a thousand times over if it meant that you were safe and happy. I love you, and I will fight for you until the world blows up, I will fight for you. I love you, Madelyn Riley, more than anything in this world, more than I will love anything or anyone in my lifetime."
Madelyn let a small smile spread across her face at his words. She stared at him before quickly closing the gap between them, pressing her lips to his. Nick was taken by surprise but he quickly reciprocated the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him. Madelyn had one arm around his neck, her other hand on cupping his cheek. They spent a few glorious moments kissing in the rain before Madelyn pulled away.
She pressed her forehead against his, a small giggle escaping her lips. "I love you too, Nicholas St James, more than words could ever express."
Nick smiled, kissing her once more before they decided to escape the rain, walking back inside. Madelyn walked into her mum's room, noticing the woman was now sleeping and deciding to let her rest. The couple left Gale's room walking down the hall and into Chad's room, the rest of the group already in there.
"Hey lovebirds." Tara greeted them first.
"Hey guys." They waved.
Madelyn made her way over to sit on the edge of Chad's bed. She punched his shoulder gently. "How you doing Dewey 2.0?"
"I'm alright, what about you Prescott wannabe?" Chad retorted. Madelyn shook her head with a small laugh.
"I'm okay. Prescott wannabe wasn't an insult, Sid's thriving." Madelyn shrugged making Chad's smug expression drop. Nick laughed at the two of them, moving to hug Chad gently.
"I'm glad you're alright, man." Nick told him.
Chad nodded, pointing a finger at him. "We're not getting another roommate, ever."
"Glad we're on the same page." Nick agreed.
"Maybe we should move too?" Sam suggested, looking over at Tara.
"Definitely." Tara nodded.
"Me too." Madelyn added.
"I'm good actually." Mindy shrugged, receiving laughs from everyone in the room.
"Hey Mads." Tara spoke up, sharing a look with Sam before glancing at the girl. "Wanna move in with us?"
"Really?" Madelyn asked.
"Yeah." Sam nodded. "We're family, remember?"
"And I've gotta keep an eye on you, make sure you actually go to therapy." Tara stated, doing an 'I'm watching you' gesture with her fingers. "But seriously, move in with us."
Madelyn smiled softly. "I'd love to."
The two sisters smiled as Chad suddenly began cheering. "Everything is working out! Core fucking six y'all!"
"We're the fucking avengers." Mindy cheered alongside him. Nick quickly joined in with their cheering, Sam not far behind.
Tara and Madelyn shared a look before letting out a sigh, rolling their eyes as they added their hands into the high five that had begun.
"Core six." Tara smiled.
"Avengers, baby!" Madelyn cheered.
Chad began to cheer even louder at the sound of their words, having finally broke them and made them join in on the nickname he had given them. Laughter echoed throughout the room. Madelyn looked at each of them individually, a large smile on her face.
This was her family.
Forever and always.
( 💌 ) isobel's notes
i love them sooo much
last chapter :(((
currently dying from the heat while on
holiday in france
thank you all for the love and support
of this book i couldn't be more grateful
and i'm glad you love mads and nick as
much as i do 🤭🤭
go check out my other books while
you're here :
paper rings, jj maybank
wildest dreams, stranger things oc x oc
wonder, ej caswell
summer love, conrad fisher
once again i love all of you so much and
i have loved reading your comments