𝐀/𝐍: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫! 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞 (𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 '𝐈'𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞.') 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐚- 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝟒 𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐲, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝! 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫!
Maddie smiled while walking around the neighborhood she still knew so well. There were some things that changed like the small go mart that was at the bottom of the hill she lived on was now changed to a market with actual grocery's, and the small ice cream shop they were currently visiting now actually had a menu on the wall and a porch that wasn't half broken off. "So you used to come here a lot?" May asks as the four walk away from the shop after Zach and May ordered their sweet treats.
"Yeah," Maddie says smiling and turning slightly to meet the eyes of her younger sister. "but there was a different manager at the time, his name was Bill but me and the rest of the neighborhood kids just called him B. On Sundays he would save all of us a popsicle, I don't know if he could actually afford to do that or he paid for them out of his own pocket but none of us had the money and he always seen us running about so he would always give us something, he would say that we couldn't die of a heat stroke on his porch." Maddie laughs lightly thinking back on the memory of the kind man who covered his acts of good with a comment that made each kid laugh.
"So not everything was bad?" May asks curiously as she and Zach make it up to where they're beside the other two. Maddie rarely spoke about her home life before she met them and the few things she did mention made it seem like her life here was horrible. Sighing Maddie shakes her head. "No, no it wasn't."
"I had a lot of good moments and a lot of good friends who understood and who were going through the same things as I was, but at home most of the memories were bad." Maddie explains as they stop at the small park again so they can rest and May and Zach can let their food settle.
"Did you have any memories here?" May asks looking around making the older teen chuckle. "Yeah, this," She pauses pointing to the marry-go-round. "is where I face planted and popped out my front tooth." She explains pointing to where her baby teeth had been replaced with permanent ones. "Sounds about right." Justin jokes smiling at Maddie who shook her head. Maddie and May were the ones doing most of the talking. Zach loved listening to he stories, he unlike the rest had actually heard a few of the ones she had already told because when Maddie first moved in Zach wanted to know all about her.
Justin on the other hand stayed quiet because he had an awful feeling in his stomach. Of course he knew that there was a point in her life where Justin hadn't even been in her mind but it was hard for him to listen to it, especially the good memories because it just made him feel like an after thought, like he didn't really matter. He knew that wasn't true and that Maddie loved him more than almost anybody else in the world but he couldn't help but feel some sort of jealously to the fact that she had a life for years before they even met.
"How did you face plant on a marry-go-round?" May asks laughing imagining a young Maddie. "I didn't always have the balance I have today and I was with a bunch of kids who enjoyed pushing the stupid thing so fast the girls would fall or jump off." May laughs but it's quickly interrupted by a voice of someone unknown.
"Maddie was always determined to stay on, prove us boys wrong." The four turn to a blonde teen walking towards them with a smile that didn't meet his eyes. "Do you know my sister?" May asks but the look on Maddie's face could have easily answered that for her. "Do I know your sister?" The blonde chuckles looking at the girl who was much older since the last time he had seen her. "She was my best friend once upon a time." He says smiling turning back to the young girl.
He brings his hand out to May and nods to it, smiling May takes it and shakes his hand firmly. "I'm May." She introduces herself with a proud smile. "Well, it's very nice to meet you May, my name is Adam." He says and looks to Maddie. "Long time no see Maddie." Adam says raising an eyebrow making the teen sigh and stand up. "We'll be right back." Maddie says quickly grabbing Adam's arm before dragging him to the basketball court where they'd hopefully be out of ear shot.
"What the hell are you doing?" Maddie asks crossing her arms. It was true Adam and Maddie had been best friends for quiet a few years if she was remembering correctly but as soon as Maddie got out of the house and environment she was in, her and Adam did nothing but fight and the last one was when she was ten, while she was still waiting to be adopted. It ended with Adam saying a few really hurtful things and Maddie punching him.
"I think the better question is what are you doing? You left this place why are you here after all this time?" Adam questions his intense eyes suctioned to her face. "May wanted to see where I used to live, get some insight into who I was." Maddie says keeping her arms crossed as she tried to matched the intensity of his eyes but nobody could ever match what his golden, amber eyes held. "So you're here to show her how much better your life is now? How many innocent kids you left behind?" Adam asks his tone hard and accusing and all of a sudden Maddie wishes she had turned down May's idea to visit her old life.
"Adam, you know damn well I had no choice in leaving and even if I did and I chose to leave it was a good choice." Maddie says anger in her tone as she tries to defuse the situation before it got any worse. "Wow," Adam chuckles. "you really have changed." He laughs now as he too crosses his arms. Maddie glares now without even trying, and this time her ocean blue eyes hold the same amount of hate and intensity that his did. "Yeah, for the better." She says going to turn around and walk away but Adam quickly, grabs her arms and turns her to face him.
"No not for the better, because that's not who you are." Adam says the bickering teens having no idea that the trio they left behind were now up and ready to run to them if things got even the smallest bit physical. Maddie scoffs at this and takes a step back. "No, this is who I am. Who you knew was who I had to be to survive and the fact you don't know that proves just how little you know me." Maddie says angry but breathes in when she sees him begin to speak, again. "Fine. You're right. This is who you are. Hiding who you are underneath nice clothing and shoes, little miss perfect." He says and Maddie lets her arms hang. "I am not little-" He cuts her off now.
"Yeah you are," he says taking a step forward. "Little Miss Perfect, you get everything handed to you now. You have the perfect life. Because you left us behind. You knew what we were all going through and you left us behind because you're selfish and all you think about is yourself and your perfect lif-" He gets cut off from the rest of his sentence as Maddie swings, hard and fast, as if she hadn't even thought the action through.
But a gasp escapes Maddie's mouth and her eyes widen as she looks up to him, while he glares yet again, now with her fist caught in his hand. "I'm not ten anymore Maddie, and I've had to fight a lot more than you have." He says as he smirks, his eyes lift to meet Justin who was ready to pounce but was held back by Zach. He quickly switches his grip on Maddie's hand and twists her arm around so her arm is twisted and held against her back.
Maddie closes her eyes when she see's the three looking at her. "Like I said, you know nothing about me." Maddie says through gritted teeth, and as soon as Adam goes to laugh Maddie slams her head back against his lower face making him loosen his grip and take a step back, quickly she lifts her foot up to the back of his knee and kicks it making him slip back, with anger and speed Maddie twists around and pins him to the ground with her knees on his arms.
"I'm not ten anymore either." She says glaring at him as he stares up at her with wide eyes. "I have new tricks, so if I were you, I'd leave me be." She says as she scoffs and stands up leaving him on the ground as she walks away with the three people who meant the world to her.
"So I'm guessing not a friend?" May asks Maddie as they walk along the side walk so that they can make their way to Maddie's grandparents. "He was, once." Maddie says looking down at her sister. "When I got taken because of everything he basically told me I was horrible for leaving and for leaving all those kids who were going through the same thing, but when you guys adopted me I never seen him again, until now." Maddie says and they all nod silently.
"You ready?" Maddie asks once they make it to the small house. "Are you?" May asks and Maddie breathes in. "Of course." She says but Justin grabs her head and she turns to look at him, surprised because he had hardly spoken to her since they started walking around. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to." Justin says to remind her but Maddie shakes her head with a small smile looking at him, grateful she could always trust him to keep her safe. "I want to, my grandfather and grandmother were more like parents to me during that time of my life, they were really good people. If nothing they deserve to see how I turned out and they deserve a thank you."
Quietly the four make their way onto the porch and Maddie takes an extra step forward to knock on the wooden door which was obviously recently put in. "Hello?" Called a voice as they opened the door, as soon as it opened Maddie breathed in with a smile. To Maddie surprise it didn't take more than a second for her grandfather to remember who she was. "Madison?" He asks tears coming to his light blue eyes as he looks to his favorite relative. "Yeah, it's me Pappy." She says her voice cracking and quickly the older man brings her into his arms, glad to see her after all those years. "Honey who's at the-" Tina, her grandmother- well step grandmother- cuts herself off with a smile looking to the teen. "Maddie?" She questions with a smile, of course she had known Maddie for a few years but not as many as her husband though she still took care of her like her own child when need be.
After the tears and sappy hugs Maddie laughed lightly, overjoyed to be with the two she loved so much. "Pappy, Tina." Maddie says smiling looking to the couple before turning and moving slightly. "This is Zach and May, they're my siblings." She says with a smile looking to the two and the older couple smile, so proud of their granddaughter for having the family she had always dreamed about. "And this is Justin." She says pointing to the boy who stood with a smile. "My boyfriend." She says smiling and it only grows when she see's the smiles on the lips of her grandparents.
After awhile the older couple was smiling and laughing as they told stories and showed pictures of Maddie to the three who had complained her. "She looks so happy there." Zach laughs looking at a picture of Maddie as a baby in a baby swing in the kitchen. "Oh, yeah, she just loved that." Ron, her grandfather, commented as he smiles touching the picture. "We'd put her in that thing but instead of pushing her we'd yell 'kick the baby' and barely touch her with out foot but she'd just laugh and giggle all day long." The older man reminisces at the memory as he looks to the grandchild he was oh so proud of. "Is that Maddie, too?" May asks as she points to a picture that looks similar to her sister though a few features were off and if she had looked at the color of the eyes that the baby had she wouldn't even bother asking.
"Oh, no." Ron says his voice less joyful now. "That is MacKenzie." He explains but doesn't bother mentioning her title, which made Maddie extremely happy, she had even more respect now for him just because he respected her and her wishes to not be associated with them. "But she looks just like Mad-" She then cuts herself off looking to Maddie. "Oh, right." She says her voice now loosing the happiness that it had a few minutes ago as she remembered the sister that Maddie once had before her.
"Oh, here, let me turn that frown upside down, we'll get cookies." He says smiling as he stands and takes her head to lead her to the kitchen to get a small snack. Maddie smiles looking at them and turns back to the boys. "Thank you guys for this, it means a lot." She says smiling and they both smile back. "No problem, you deserve this." Zach says and Justin nods and opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by the ring of Maddie's cell phone, quickly she answers after looking at the name.
"Hey Monty what's-"
"Maddie it's not Monty it's Estela, I really need you to get here as quickly as possible." Estela says her voice quivering and Maddie frowns. "Estela, Honey, what's wrong? What happened?" Maddie asks and flinches when she hears a crash on the other end. "I just really need you to get here."
"Yeah, of course." Maddie says and hangs up. "We gotta go." Maddie says standing up and the boys quickly nod in understanding and go to get May. "What do you mean you're leaving?" Ron asks as he steps out making Maddie frown. "My friends, they really need me." Maddie says worry in her tone and her grandfather lowers his head and gives her a sad smile, he was glad she turned into such a dependable young woman. "Can I visit again?" Maddie asks hopefully as she looks to May who had a smile and a handful of cookies. "Of course." Her grandfather said with a genuine smile as he hugged her. "Come anytime you want sweetheart, you guys too, you're all welcome here. It was nice to meet you guys." He says smiling and shaking everyone's hand before giving May a hug.
~~~Authors Note~~~
Hey guys, I really hope you like this. I know it's kinda all over the place, though, but i wanted to throw in a lot.
Is there anything you guys are looking for in this book? Because I probably only got a few more chapters before I end this book and start the second book.
Speaking of, is there anything you guys want in the second/final book? Because i have a lot of idea but I also want to add in what you guys want and see if what I have in mind matches kind of what you want because if not I don't want to add it in.
Please, please, please, pleaseeee comment because I defentily need some ideas for both books! Anything you want is helpful whether it be a friendship, a relationship, a random idea, a moment, or anything off the wall that had nothing to do with the show because I really want Maddie to have her own issues/ problems and events going on, I mena without that then there's no reason for her to be in the second book hhaha.
Thank you guys so so much for 115k!
{6.22.20}