Maddie’s POV
“I can’t do this anymore,” Luke’s voice quivered over the phone line. “I can’t go months without seeing you and pick up the phone like everything is okay.”
I tried to speak, to plead with him, to tell him we could make it. We always make it.
“Maddie, it’s over.”
.
.
The phone line went silent.
.
.
I felt someone shaking my shoulders. I couldn’t turn around, I was frozen staring at the phone screen.
“Madeline wake up,” My father’s voice awoke me from the depths of my dream. Of my low scaled nightmare.
I sat up quickly, rubbing my face and fixing my sleepily strewn hair. Opening my eyes, I saw my father was franticly hovering above my bed.
“W-what?” I yawn, glancing at the clock. It was 6:15 in the morning why is he waking me up?
“Our flight time got changed. It leaves at eight a.m. not p.m.” he paced my room worriedly, fidgeting with his fingers. “You have to get up, we have to leave.”
I gaped at him, stumbling out of bed. “We can’t leave yet!” I croak, my voice still lost in my dream.
“Get dressed and meet me downstairs, we have to load up the car.” My father glares at me before storming out of my room.
I shut my door, searching under my pillow for my phone. Grabbing it, I dial up Luke’s number. No answer. I try Ashton’s phone. No answer. Calum and Michael; no answer.
“Wake up,” I groan, trying each of their phones again. It was no use, I wouldn’t be able to reach them.
Slipping on my clothes, I redial their numbers again and again, waiting for the moment when one of them would pick up. I ignored the part of my mind telling me it was no use. I had to get to them.
I couldn’t leave without a goodbye.
On the verge of tears I try again, my hopes slowly crumpling in front of me. My bedroom door swings open, my father glaring at me.
“It shouldn’t take you twenty minutes to get dressed,” My father walks into my room as my mouth gapes open, listening to the robotic voice telling me to leave a voice message.
I try to ignore his presences, trying again to dial up Luke’s phone number. Just as I was about to hit the green button, my father grabs my phone from my hands. I look up at him, tears threatening my eyes.
“Give it back!” I yell, tears escaping. “I need my phone!”
“You need to get downstairs and help me load the car.” He points down the stairs, my phone hidden within his grasp.
I glare at him, storming past him and walking down stairs. The next half hour was filled with me loading boxes and trying to contain my tears, my worries. I had the smallest seed of hope telling me I would find a way to say goodbye, but the darkness surrounding me overshadowed and suffocated the seed.
Loading in the last box, my father walked over to me, arms folded tightly across his chest.
“Ready to go?” He stares at me. Taking in my broken expression.
“No,” I frown, bowing my head to wipe away a tear without him seeing.
“You have to accept the fact that this is happening,” he tries to lift up my head, but I jerk out of his reach.
“You can make me go, but you can’t make me be happy,” I snapped, keeping distance between us.
“I’m giving you everything you need!” My father lifts his hands in frustration. “Food, shelter, money, as much clothes as you want, a good education, what else could you possibly want?”
I snickered, shaking my head at his pure ignorance. “What about love dad? Maybe I needed someone to tuck me in at night and kiss my forehead, someone to hug me and tell me everything was going to be alright, someone to shield my ears from you’re fighting. Maybe I needed a real family.”
“Right now the only thing you need is to go get into the car,” My father’s voice was low, looking away from me. He silently excuses himself, walking into the bathroom.
I force myself to walk out to the car, slamming the passenger seat door shut behind me. Resting my head against the window a flash of pink catches my eye from my father’s open bag. I sit up quickly, glancing towards the house to make sure he is still inside. Grabbing my phone quickly, I stare at the time. 7:03.
I dial up the only person I haven’t tried yet; Grace. The phone rings until it hits voicemail, my throat closing up. My phone sits on my lap, useless. Just as I was about to put it back in my father’s bag it began to ring. I yelp, answering it quickly.
“Maddie?” Grace’s hushed morning voice came over the receiver. I was breathing heavily, hiccupping to keep the tears away. “Is everything okay?”
“No, it’s not, I’m freaking out, my flight got changed and I leave in an hour and I can’t reach any of the guys and I’m so scared Grace. I’m so scared,” My voice went from a frightened ramble to a broken whisper. I was unable to hide my quiet sobs from her.
“It’s okay, calm down,” She breathes, pleading me to stay calm. We both knew that was impossible. We both knew what was on the line here. “I will take care of the boys, just delay for as long as you can.”
I agreed, telling her our flight information and terminal number. As the front door opened, I was forced to hang-up, putting my phone back into my father’s bag.
Grace’s POV
7:15 a.m.
I run up to Michael’s front door, knocking in desperation. After a minute I start pounding my fists, kicking the bottom of the door in hopeless urgency.
The handle turns, a sleepy Michael smiling confusedly at the sight of me on his porch.
“Hey babe, I thought we were meeting at eleven-“He takes in my face, the tears hiding behind my frightened eyes. “What happened?” Michaels asks cautiously.
I take a deep breath, telling him everything that Maddie had told me over the phone. Michael’s face falls, rubbing his bloodshot eyes before pulling me inside. We run to Luke’s room, the two of us pushing him on both sides, shouting his name to try to wake him up.
Luke rolled over, covering his face with a pillow.
“Wake up Luke!” Michael was panicking, punching the bed. “Luke, Maddie is leaving in fucking forty minutes!”
Luke sat up, mouth agape, staring at the two of us.
“W-what?” He runs his fingers through his hair. Michael quickly tells him everything. Luke stumbles out of bed, slipping on a shirt and sweatpants and grabbing his car keys. Michael, still in his Pokémon boxers and a blink t-shirt pushes him quickly out to the car.
“We need to go get Ashton and Cal,” Michael jumps into the back of the car with me.
“Maddie isn’t answering her phone,” I groan, hitting redial for the sixth time.
Luke slips on his beanie, speeding through the rise of dawn to Ashton’s house. When we get there he parks the car with a jerk, the three of them running up to the door and pounding their fists against the wood. There was no answer.
Luke is covering his face, avoiding a breakdown, taking shaky breaths to stay calm. He has been fighting the pressure, struggling to hold it above him, but his arms were getting weaker, eventually it would come crashing down.
Michael jumps, clapping his hands, “The hide-a-key!” He shouts, running over to a plant on the corner of the porch and searching around in the leaves. Opening the door, we spill inside, a mad rush to Ashton’s room. The boys don’t hesitate, Michael jumping on the bed, kicking Ashton’s side as Luke screams and flicks his head.
“What the hell?” Ashton grumbles, glaring at the two of them. He wasn’t much of a morning person as it is. Michael and Luke start rambling the details, Ashton shot up throwing on some clothes. Calum came stumbling into the room, rubbing his eyes and asking what happened. Michael quickly filled him in, the news awakening Calum at once.
Ashton swings around, gripping Luke’s shoulders, “What time is her plane leaving?”
“Eight,” Luke chokes, his shoulders slumping.
Ashton finds the clock. 7:36.
He turns his head slowly back to Luke, “How long does it take to get to the airport?”
Luke stared at the wall, unable to speak.
“Twenty minutes,” Calum whispers.
Ashton stiffened, grabbing his phone and running out to the car, everyone quickly following behind.
Ashton was gripping the wheel tight, his knuckles turning white as he sped through the sleeping town.
“She still isn’t answering,” Michael whispers. Luke’s face drains of all color.
Maddie’s POV
“Can I please have my phone?” I pull my knees up to my chest, sitting in front of the gate to our plane. My suitcase lying at my feet. My father ignores me, typing away on his laptop. I sigh, resting my head on my knees and glancing at the clock. Five minutes until boarding.
I couldn’t leave without a goodbye because I had this gut feeling this was going to be a final goodbye.
Grace’s POV
“What is all of this fucking traffic?” Ashton slammed his fists against the wheel. We were two blocks away from the airport, but at this rate we wouldn’t get there for another half an hour.
“We only have five minutes,” Calum whispers, looking out into the unmoving traffic.
“No shit,” Ashton growls. “Sorry,” he bows his head. Glancing at Luke, he squints his eyes. Luke was hunched over, eyes focused on his phone. “What are you doing?”
Luke doesn’t look up, typing something in slowly. “Something I should’ve done a long time ago.”
The car moves a few feet before having to stop again.
“Let’s just run,” Michael moves up in his seat, surveying the condensed road. “Let’s just ditch the car and run there.”
“I could stay with the car,” I whisper softly, looking at all of the boys.
“We can’t just do that,” Ashton looks back at him, hand hovering over the ignition.
Luke put his phone in his pocket, looking up at the boys. The silence of the car was broken with the unanimous sound of seatbelts being unclicked. Ashton turned off the car, throwing the keys to me. He looked at all of the boys, giving them a nod. They bolted out, beeping horns greeting them in the middle of the bumper to bumper street. Running through the rows, they began sprinting towards the airport.
Maddie’s POV
“Final call for boarding flight 307.” The flight attendant’s voice filled the gate foyer. Several people slugged over to her, walking through the barrier.
“Madeline, let’s go.” My father was staring at me, his suitcase in hand, standing in front of the boarding gate. He handed his ticket to the lady, crossing over to the other side of the barrier.
I bite my lip, staring into the crowd of people walking throughout the airport. Little girls had Minnie mouse hats on and princess gowns. Couples were hand in hand.
They weren’t here.
I couldn’t expect them to be.
This is it.
The flight attendant was glaring at me, “Are you boarding miss?”
“Yes, she is.” My father scowls at me, motioning for me to come over.
I sigh, picking up my suitcase. I took small steps towards my father, trying to suspend the inevitable. Maybe a tornado would come out of nowhere and the flight gets canceled. Or a tsunami. Or maybe the power would go out. Maybe I could pull the fire alarm, did airports have them?
Suddenly I heard gasps from the crowded airport. I turn my head, the crowd parting quickly down its middle.
“MADDIE, BABE PLEASE!”
“MADDIE WAIT!”
“WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?”
“MADDS!”
I recognized each voice before I saw them. Before I saw four panting, sweaty boys, two of which were still in their boxers.
I dropped my suitcase as Luke and Ashton caught sight of me, grabbing the other two and making a sprint towards me.
“Madeline. Come here.” My father squinted uneasily towards the crowd. “Madeline we are leaving right now.”
I ignored him for once. Ashton’s collided with me, his arms lifting me off of the ground and cupping the back of my head. A flash of blonde running past us.
Ashton’s chest was heaving, his hair flat, back sweating.
“We- we’re here,” he panted, spinning me around gently.
“Ash, I have to go,” I close my eyes, holding him tight. Wishing that I never had to let go.
He let me down, brushing the hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear. His thumb grazed my cheek, wiping away a tear. I held my hand over his.
I turned to look for Luke, but my vision was cut off as Michael and Calum embraced me in a group hug.
“Final call for flight 307,” the attendant was watching the scene, a tissue in her hand. She gave me a sad smile, glaring at my father.
“I have to go,” I let go of Michael and Calum, each with watery eyes.
“No, you don’t have to go.” Luke’s voice came from behind me.
I turned around, Luke was panting, his shirt clinging to his sweaty stomach. He grabbed my hand, eyes finding mine.
“We worked to damn hard for this Maddie. We can’t give it up now,” Luke pleaded, pulling me closer to him.
“Luke-“
“Maddie, let’s get out of here. Come with us,” he held out a plane ticket. My name was printed along the top. I gasped, looking up at him questioningly, but he didn’t answer my gaze.
“Luke,” I stare at the ticket, taking it in my hand before looking back up at him. “Luke, we can’t.”
“Why? We can.” Luke looks at me sternly. He looked so sure. He looked so confident that this would work out. It wouldn’t work out. Luke pulls me closer to him, his eyes searching mine in desperation. “All I really want is you.”
“We are too young!” I bite my lip. I knew the odds were against us, but he was right, we couldn’t just give up on us.
“Madeline Morrison, you get over here right now young lady.” My father growled at me, his arms crossed tightly. He took a step towards us, but the flight attendant held him back, making up a policy that refrained him from leaving the boarding zone.
I bend down, my hands reaching for the handles of my suitcase, but Luke grabs them. He pulls my hands up to him, turning my face towards him. He leans close, his nose hovering near mine. Luke whispers softly, pleadingly.
“Runaway with me?”
Ah, should she go? :o
Crazy times...hope you liked the chapter :o
By the way your comments make me so happy like I look forward to them so much each chapter, they make me smile so much so thanks a million for that guys.
Love you so much,
Maddie