A/n: this is inspired by a legit argument me and my friend had 😂 Well, sort of. This is dramatized of course.
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-Madison's POV-
We were walking around London, and I was astounded. I grabbed my best friend, Lara's, arm and shook her violently. "LARAAAA! WERE IN LONDON!"
"I know!" She laughed, brushing me off. She looked amused at my fan girling. I loved it here. I'd wanted to go here since I could remember. She on the other hand had been here before, and had spent most of us being here together teasing me. I was enjoying the back and forth thus far.
We went into a diner because we could and sat down in a window seat. We started chatting non stop about the things we'd seen and what we were going to do. "Man I love London...." I finished softly, content.
She smirked at me. "You only love it because Thomas Brodie-Sansgter was born and raised here," Lara teased.
I blushed really hard. "Shut up, I do not. I love London for Harry Potter, for the accents, for the-"
"Incredibly hot British actors with blond hair and adorable, contagious grins?" Lara said in an airy voice, fluttering her eyelashes. In a second she dropped the horrible impersonation of me and scowled, shoving a finger slightly into her mouth to make a gagging gesture.
"I did not say he was incredibly hot," I huffed.
"Hot, adorable, cute- insert keyboard smash here'" she imitated me once more and I blushed even more. "Same difference." She winked, the mood still light.
I decided to throw back some of my own teasing. "Says the girl who sees even a picture of the back of Dylan O'Brien's head, and she almost passed out," I shoot back quickly, smirking.
"That was one time! One time!" She defended immediately, holding up her pointer finger to enunciate her words. I laughed.
"It wasn't even him in real life!" I added.
"Well, it's different," she said, shrugging.
We both calmed down a bit and I sat back in my chair, raising an eyebrow and smiling as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Whys that?" I asked.
"Because Dylan O'Brien is better that Thomas Brodie-Sangster," she said simply.
My smile wiped off my face faster than a blink and I was left stunned and deeply offended, simply gaping at her. "What?" I seethed.
"You heard me." She smirked and mimicked my sitting back position.
I shot to my feet. "Not even!"
She seemed a little put off by my sudden rising anger, getting more defensive and training her face to be neutral. "Why not? Even you admitted that he's hotter."
I struggled for a second and then changed tactics. "There's a difference between what you feel for Dylan and what I feel for Thomas. You're a fan girl obsessed with his looks. I like Thomas because I admire his acting skills, not just because he's hot. Which he is," I added, huffing defensively.
Lara looked at me a second before she rolled her eyes, breath coming out of her nose and she sighed. "Sit down." She looked around and I finally remembered that we were in public. Whoops. She motioned me down.
I did and we stared away from each other, mad. As per usual, I caved first. I sighed and looked at her. "Are we seriously going to let two boys we don't even know get between our time in London?" I asked her, relaxing and letting my emotions settle a little, my guard lowering.
"No..." I allowed a smile to return to my face but it wavered as she shot me a narrowed look, her frown still prominent. "But one thing."
Hesitant, I reminded myself that I needed to play peace maker and sighed before offering a reluctant, "What?"
"Say it."
After she didn't say anything else, confusion took over my trepidation. "Say what, Lara," I asked, irritated.
She sat forward. "Say Dylan O'Brien is better than-"
"No," I said dangerously, cutting her off as my anger returned, more focused and leveled so that it wasn't an outburst, uncontrolled and wild, but a focused stream of fire that was so much more dangerous because it could be used as a weapon any second I so needed. I had tried to make peace. She was the one who was the problem now.
"Yes."
"No," I shot back, my irritation flaring.
She was getting mad again too, her arms unfolding so she flattened her palms on the table. "Yes!" She stood up, perhaps hoping to intimidate me as I'm sure I did last time. She was much shorter than me though, and now I was using my rage as a defense, unaffected and ready for a fight unlike she was last time when I took her off guard.
"NO!"
"Why are you so- UGH!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.
As she plopped back down into her seat, my expression twisted into a sneer. "Why am I? Why are you so insistent on me saying it!"
She shrugged, rolling her eyes. "Because it's true!"
My teeth grinned together as I tried to keep myself calm enough to keep the argument at a respectful volume as we were in still in public. I shouldn't, but I felt offended. "Look, I like Dylan. I respect your preference for him and do my own fan girling for him. Why can't you accept that I like Thomas better? Or, respect Thomas enough not to compare the two. They're different. They're both talented and successful and- and people! Respect that!" I demanded, leaning in.
She scoffed. "It's not that big of a deal! They'll never hear you either way. Just say it!" She insisted.
"If it's not a big deal, why is it so important to you? Why are you so worked up about me saying it?" I was so confused and irritated, my brain was beginning to shut down. My volume rose.
In response, so did hers. "Because."
"Because why?" I pressed, my stomach twisting as I tried to keep myself from storming off since I'd most definitely get lost and it would put a damper on the rest of our trip.
"Because," she continued, getting even more in my face.
I huffed and stood up, giving up as I realized we were getting too loud and angry. If anything would ruin our trip, a huge fight over two men who didn't even really matter in our real lives would definitely do the trick- especially when they were so emotionally important to both of us. "I'm not saying it and you're not going to drop it, so I'll see you in our hotel later when you cool the fuck off." Then I left. I walked a little ways away, knowing Lara would want to take the car because she hated walking. I folded my arms and walked until there wasn't a crowd. "Why can't she just- UGH!" I wanted to punch something.
You may ask why this meant so much to me. The thing is, Lara knew. She knew about how lonely I'd been. How my parents had been so hateful and discouraging all my life. She knew that I had leaned on the idea of being an actress to keep me going.
As my mind cleared I felt guilty. Even if she hadn't heard it, I was accusing her of being a bad friend and that wasn't fair. Sure, she knew my past, but she didn't know how it connected to my love of Thomas. She didn't know that I looked up to Thomas and his acting skills. That my love for acting had manifested in my love for Thomas' acting, looking up to him as an example of success and pillar of what people should be like. She couldn't possibly know, and here I stood accusing her. Goodness.
I grunted again and finally leaned against a wall and closed my eyes, my face facing the sky, the top of my head on the wall behind me. I recited the one thing that came to mine. Poetry. Ever constant and ever beautiful. It never pushed me or judged me, just kept this constant beat that leveled my racing mind and steadied my shaking hands.
"It was many and many a year ago,
In the kingdom by the sea.
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabelle Lee
This maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to loved and be loved by me."
I let myself come off the wall and got into the poem, letting my voice mimic the voice of the poet, my body moving to speak the story.
"She was a child and I was a child
In this kingdom by the sea
But we loved with a love that stronger than love
I and my Annabelle Lee
With a love that the winged serifs of heaven
Coveted her and me-"
I rubbed my forehead and leaned my butt against the wall, my palms on my knees. "What is the matter with me?" I whispered.
"Nothing. Please don't stop." I shot straight up and looked at the one person I thought would never be there. The one person who's voice I would know in a million.
Thomas Brodie-Sansgter.
I gaped slightly at him. "Uh...." I offered blankly.
He chuckled. "Well, how literate of you."
"Forgive me," I apologized. I meant it to make me sound more of a person and not make him uncomfortable, but it came out, "your accent makes my brain shut off."
He busted up laughing. "Well then..." He had the grin. The grin! Fuuuuuuckkkkk
"Stop," I croaked. "It's not fair. I can't think when you smile like that." I wanted to slam my head into the wall. What was I saying?! After all that training and lecturing myself if I ever did meet a celebrity, I was breaking down like the weak knees fan girl I was. This was not the way to leave a good first impression on your idol!
He smirked. "Really?" He smoothly moved closer, leaning forward, a hand on the wall next to me. He bit his lip and let his head fall forward, looking up at me slowly, then winked.
"Fuck you," I whispered. "You know what you're doing to me." Now I was genuinely irritated. Was this going to be one of those things where your idol ends up being an asshole after all?
He shrugged. "Maybe."
I rolled my eyes, focusing on the dick move he just did. It wasn't Thomas. I let my mind clear. It wasn't Thomas. It was some ass hole at my school. Anyone but him. "Well, do you have some reason to approach a stranger as she's stressing out or are you just that desperate for sex?" I dead panned.
His eyes shot wide, shocked and maybe even a little intrigued by my sudden change in attitude. "Well, sassy. I have a reason." I raised my eyebrow, waiting. He smiled. "I wanted to thank you. You really defended me in the diner."
My confidence disappeared and I was left frozen stiff and locked tight as I tried to keep my level head and failed. "Y-you were th-there? H-how much find you hear?" My words were cut off and sharp as I choked on them.
"Everything," he said simply, shrugging.
My shoulders sagged. "Oh..."
He shook his head. "Don't worry. I was really happy with your opinion. Most people don't care that much. I'm just... Good looking to them." He wasn't boasting. His face was twisted with disgust, annoyance.
"Just a pretty face with no personality," I hummed, nodding.
"You understand," he said. His expression became more pleasant. "Makes sense." My logic recognized that he was flirting with me. Realized he had been flirting with me before too, as well, enjoying my reaction to him and how he could undo me so easily. I wondered for a moment if he maybe saw me as a strong person and enjoying too much how he could make me so weak. My heart refused to accept it, screaming to drown out the noise of my thoughts.
"Not personally," I answered casually, directing us away from growing too friendly as I seemed unable to handle it. "I had a friend or two. I'm not popular or pretty." I shrugged, not feeling bad stating a long known fact between me and everyone I knew.
"You don't think you're-" he looked at me, incredulous. I shrugged again, not sure why it upset him. He shook his head. "Can I have your number?" He asked me suddenly.
I cocked an eyebrow. My emotions screamed louder. "Uh... Let me process that really fast."
He smiled again. "I like you. You're sassy and straight forward."
I smiled and reached in my bag for a sticky note. I wrote my number on the top one and peeled it off, folding it and handing it to him. "Don't share it, okay?"
He smiled, taking it smoothly from between my fingers. My skin burned from where it brushed against his. "Never."
"See you around?" I asked, starting to slip around him and then walking away.
He watched me. "Definitely."
I turned and walked away. I would see him again. Very, very soon.