"NOTHING HAPPENED," I mutter.
"But something could've." Sam snips, clearly done with our repetitive argument.
"That's why I called you, that way nothing could've happened. I am fine." I reply, clicking on my phone.
"Listen, I know you're pissed but could you at least look at me while I'm talking to you?"
Closing my eyes and sighing loudly, I click my phone off and drop it into my lap. I look up at him, annoyance evident on my features. "Yes?"
"You know what, whatever Mads, I'm done trying to talk to you. You're acting like your five. Come to me when you're ready to act your age." He huffs, standing off the couch and walking to the front door, shoving his feet into his shoes.
"Whatever." I roll my eyes, hurt panging in my chest at his harsh words as I tuck my knees to my chest.
"I love you." He says, his tone very much implying his still pissed with me, pulling his jacket on.
One thing I've got to hand to Sam is that he doesn't say goodbye, whether it be on the phone or when he leaves my house, until he tells me he loves me, just in case something happens between then and when we see each other next.
Even when he's mad at me, which isn't often.
"I love you too." I mumble, playing with the rips on my jeans.
He shuts the door, and I wait until I hear the snow crunching as he walks down the steps to let my scowl drop, being replaced with a deep frown.
I was a bitch. I'm still a bitch.
"When Rome and I just started dating most of our arguments ended in 'fuck you' not 'I love you'. What kinda voodoo mama juju magic are you using on him?" Amelia says, walking into the living room and plopping on the couch with me.
"I'm so pissed at him." I snap, grabbing a handful of trail mix out of the bag in her lap.
"Mads, you gotta look at it from his point of view as well. Some pervert cornered you in a bathroom and acted like nothing happened, not to mention the fact he goes to the same school as you so he's around you all the time, if he wants to bring it up with the principle you've got to admit it's not a bad plan." She offers, tossing an M&M into her mouth.
"I don't want to have to start a whole thing over that. Nothing happened, I'm fine." I say around a mouthful of food, munching on it with a pout stuck to my face.
"Yeah, but still, there's a chance something could've. He's worried about you, I'd honestly be upset if he didn't react over it." She shrugs, tracing shapes into her little belly.
"Of course he's gonna react, Meelie, but he's overreacting. It's unnecessary."
"Well, you're gonna fight me on this no matter what so I say we just drop it." She says decidedly, brushing her hair out of her face, and I nod.
"Don't you two have dinner reservations tonight? Are you gonna work things out or just have a crazy awkward dinner?" She asks, and I groan, just remembering that.
"I forgot about that. That's gonna be shit." I complain, covering my face and sliding down the couch.
"Good luck, darlin'." She pecks my cheek as she stands off the couch and I roll my eyes, pushing her off.
Barely even a minute later, I feel someone plop down beside me and I look up from my hands to see Roman sitting next to me.
"Boy problems?"
I nod.
"Well, I have a variety of options. I can beat the ever loving shit out of him, I can hide the body if you already got the fun part out of the way, or I can get you some Ben & Jerry's and we can talk." He offers, putting his arm around my shoulders and hugging me.
I lean into his side, resting my head on his chest and sighing. "Sam is trying to contact our principal because of what happened with Gavin the other day."
"Your brothers would've beaten him within an inch of his life had they known where he lives. Or what he looks like." He replies, rubbing my head, and I nod.
"I just- I don't want to make a big fuss out of it. I know things could've gone south quickly, but they didn't and I'm fine, I don't see why we would need to start some big thing when it's already over and done with." I mess with my sleeves and he hums, making me look up at him.
"Listen, I know more than anyone that you can handle yourself. Hell, you've kicked my ass more times than I'd like to admit, but that doesn't stop me from worrying. The world is full of terrible, terrible, people and it scares me to know that you and everyone I care about have to encounter those people, so if I knew I could possible get rid of someone who posed a threat to you guys, I'd jump on the opportunity. Sam isn't trying to make a mountain out of a molehill or make you feel like you can't take care of yourself, he's just trying to take care of you. Protect you." He says softly, and when I open my mouth to object, he gives me a look my brothers give me when I'm being stubborn.
"Before you can come out here and lecture me, this has nothing to do with the fact you're a girl and everything to do with the fact I care about you. If someone was being a pervert to Parker and I knew I was able to get rid of him, I absolutely would." He chides, and I nod, leaning closer to him.
"If some dude or chick was being a creepo and cornered Sam, how would you feel?"
I shrug, swallowing hard. "I'd be upset. I don't want Sam to ever be in that position, I love him." I say, before I realize what I just said.
"And I love him enough to want to ensure he'd never be in that position again." I say quietly, and I feel Rome nod.
"Exactly. He cares about you a lot, Maddie, and I'm glad he only wants the best for you. Maybe talking with your principal about it is what's best for you." He squeezes me shoulders and I look up at him, smiling a little.
"Why don't you boy talk with me more often? You're good at it."
"I didn't do much, you just needed to say it out loud and think about it. But I'll take the compliment, I've been working on my listening skills. The whole pregnancy has definitely made Lia a lot more verbal about sensitive things than she usually is and I'm trying to be a better listener, she deserves that support." He shrugs, smiling sheepishly when I 'aw' at the embarrassed look on his face.
"You're a sweetheart when you want to be, you know," I nudge my elbow into his ribs and he pushes me off, rolling his eyes.
"I try."
"Okay, I'm gonna try to talk to Sam or something. I dunno, I was being a bitch so I should probably give him some time to cool down." I say, standing off the couch with a quick peck on Roman's scruffy cheek.
"You need to shave," I scrunch my nose up and he grins.
"Lia thinks it's kinda hot."
"I do not, I think it's disgusting and I refuse to kiss you until you shave that off your face!" She walks into the living room, a hand on her hip, and he winks at her.
"Come here, baby,"
"No." She shakes her head and when he motions for her to come over, she finally drags her feet across the hardwood and to the couch.
He pulls her across his lap and kisses her lips and cheeks, making her giggle loudly, pushing him away. "Roman, stop, it's scratchy!"
"It's love, Lia, love isn't scratchy."
"Your face is, though!"
"Alright, you two can be gross once I've left the room, thanks." I scrunch my nose up, walking towards the kitchen.
They don't hear me, too caught up in their own little world, and I smile to myself.
At least someone's relationship is going well.
~•~•~
Once six rolls around, I start to stress out a little.
Sam told me we had dinner at seven, but that was before we had our argument, so I don't know what the go is on tonight.
Is dinner still on? Is he still pissed at me? Should I get ready?
Deciding to try and suss out the situation, I send him a text.
Mads: Should I wear my red dress I got a few months back or the black one I got at the mall?
Tossing my phone on the bed, I dig through my closet until I find the red dress I bought only a few days after I started school at Newport.
Seeing as it's slightly dressier, I haven't had the chance to wear it yet, but it's honestly gorgeous.
It's gotten colder so I'll have to wear a jacket with it or something, but it's still very pretty.
My phone goes off a second later and I basically throw myself on the bed, quickly reading the message.
Bubba: Wear whatever you want, sweetheart
Frowning, I sigh and send a reply.
Mads: okay
Red dress it is then.
Once I've thrown a denim jacket onto my bed with the red dress, Lia demands to curl my hair and Leo wants to do my makeup, so once again I'm sat on my bathroom floor getting bombarded with pretty smelling lotions and an overwhelming amount of choices to make on my makeup.
"You know, last time we did this, you didn't even know you were a momma." Leo says, pointing a makeup brush at Amelia.
"That feels like forever ago." I mumble, and they hum in agreement.
"Can you believe it was only like, two months? It feels like it was last week and also two years ago." Lia says, and I nod, smiling a little.
"I still haven't gone on a date with Rome since then, even though I said I would. I don't care if it's just eating frosty's in a Wendy's parking lot, we're doing something soon." She adds decidedly.
"Yeah. Park and I need to go on a date." Leo says quietly, puffing her lips out as she dips a brush into some cream colored eyeshadow.
My phone rings as she brushes it onto my eyelid, and Lia drops it into my hand. I move the brush away from my face as I frown down at the contact name.
"Have fun." Leo says, standing up and grabbing Lia, tugging her out with her.
Sticking my tongue out at them, I answer the call, "Hey bubba,"
"Hi sweetie pies, it's Phoebe." She says, surprising me.
"Oh uh, hi Mrs. Olson." I clear my throat, anxiety pooling in my stomach.
What's wrong? Cause I don't know why she would call me on Sam's phone unless something is wrong with him.
"Is everything okay?" I blurt out, pulling my knees up to my chest.
"Oh, yeah, of course. Sam's in the shower and I don't have your number so I'm just borrowing his phone, I was hoping you were the contact saved as 'my girl' with a blue love heart." She laughs a little, and I let out a small sigh, chuckling with her.
"Yeah, that'd be me."
"I would just run over to talk to you but I think Rory's teething and he's been really fussy, so I'm just gonna stay here." She tells me and I hum, nodding to myself.
"So, for Christmas we're surprising Sam and the kids with a trip a trip to Siesta Key, around the end of February."
"Oh, that'll be so nice! Sam has told me how he went when he was younger and he loved it." I smile widely, remembering how excited he got talking about the trip he took when he was thirteen.
"I've been wanting to go back since then but we never got the chance, and the kids have never been on a proper family vacation so I thought this would be the perfect time. I also thought you might enjoy it and we'd love to have you come, so I figured I'd check with you before I told Sam you could make it." She says, making an even bigger smile spread over my face.
"You really want me to come?" I ask, and she laughs lightly.
"Of course I do, honey bunches. The kids love you and you're the sweetest girl, it would make me so happy if you could come. Also, the trip would be for a week and I doubt Sammy could go that long without seeing you." She teases and I giggle, any sort of anxiety I had earlier melting.
"I'll have to check with my brothers but I doubt they would mind, that sounds amazing. I'd love to go, thank you, Mrs. Olson."
"It's Phoebe, Maddie." She corrects again and I laugh, nodding even though I know she can't see it.
"Sorry, I got it. Phoebe."
"Well, Sam's getting out of the shower so I'll quickly let you go, but it was great talking with you. We're planning on getting the plane tickets pretty soon so please get back to us on whether you can come or not sooner rather than later, so we know how many to get." She says.
"Oh, I can ask my brothers to help me out with finding the right website for buying my ticket." I assure her and she laughs.
"No, don't be silly, love. This will be our Christmas gift to you."
"I can't ask you to do that, Mrs- uh Phoebe."
"Too late. It was lovely talking to you, sweetheart. Bye," she says, a smile in her voice, and hangs up before I can respond.
She's way too kind to me.
Poking her head back into the room, Leo asks, "Is it safe? Are you crying?"
"No I'm not crying, you idiot," I snort, and she walks farther into the room, plopping down on the floor in front of me again.
"Did you two sort everything out?" She asks, picking up the eyeshadow pallet again and looking for the brush she put down somewhere.
"That was Phoebe, actually. She invited me to their family vacation in February."
Leo grins, finding the brush and going back to doing my eyeshadow. "Babe, you're basically apart of the family now."
"Dude, Nick didn't even let me go to their Christmas Eve breakfast." Lia giggles, plopping back down and grabbing the curler again.
"That's cause Nick is a little bitch who doesn't know how to appreciate a badass chick like you." Leo says, disdain evident in her voice, surprising Lia and I.
"Aw, thanks, Leo," Lia smiles widely, blowing a kiss to her and she just smiles and waves her off.
In the middle of curling my hair, Amelia randomly says, "You know, I was thinking about how weird and rushed my relationship with Rome was."
"What do you mean?" Leo mumbles, sticking her tongue into her cheek as she attempts to do an eyeshadow wing on me.
"Well, we hated, and I say hated, each other for most of our lives. Sometimes I would go home if Roman showed up at Maddie's house, and when I stayed all we would do was argue. We slept together for the first time after screaming at each other for at least an hour, that was hot by the way, and we weren't even dating when that happened. We didn't start dating for awhile after that happened, actually. And then, bam, ten months later and I'm knocked up with his babies." She dissolves in a fit of giggles after that, making both of us laugh with her.
"You never do anything traditionally, do you, Lia?" I say, and she shakes her head, still laughing loudly.
"Traditional is boring."
"Well, I feel a little better now," Leo giggles a little, now working on picking a mascara that she wants to use.
"How come? I mean, I'm glad I could help, but I don't know what you're talking about." Lia composes herself a little, trying to finish my hair.
"Well, I only waited like a month and a half to sleep with Parker." She shrugs, a deep red blush on her usually pale skin, making Amelia grin.
"Babe, you're a saint. And Maddie, I don't know how Maddie's doing what she's doing, especially with her Damon Salvatore of a man." She says, making me bark out a loud laugh, covering my mouth.
"I'm not trying to be a hoe like you, Lia," I tease, and she snorts, Leo finding that way too funny as she attempts and fails to open a mascara tube cause she's laughing so hard.
"Why are you so mean to her, Mads?" She giggles, shaking her head.
"Yeah, Maddie, why are you so mean to me?" Lia puts her head on my shoulder from behind me and I elbow her, grinning.
"Okay, okay, stop making me laugh I have to finish your makeup." Leo chides, but still cracks a smile, and finally gets the mascara open.
"But yeah, Maddie, when are you gonna join the hoe's group?" Lia asks, making Leo dissolve into another fit of giggles, her hands shaking way too much for me to let her near my eye with the wand.
"I dunno, I'm like twelve. Why do you wanna know anyway?" I laugh, and she shrugs, sitting beside a still giggling Leo, fluffing up my hair and relaxing the curls.
"We're your best friends, we're supposed to be the first people to know." She says, and Leo nods, wiping under her eye.
"Uh-huh,"
"Girls, Sam is here." Rome leans against the doorframe, shirtless for some reason.
At the same time I hiss, "Oh, shit," Lia whistles loudly.
"Baby, you're so fucking gorgeous," she points at him with the curling wand and he smirks, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"I'm having his babies!" She hoots, making him break out in a little grin, his nose scrunching up like he always does when he's happy.
"It's like six thirty though, I'm not even dressed!" I panic, standing up off the floor and checking my reflection.
I'm missing lipgloss, but the rest of my makeup is all good, and my hair is fine so it's not that bad.
"He wanted to talk with you before you guys went to dinner." Roman supplies, making Lia stand up so he can hug her, her face smushed into his tattooed chest.
"Ooh, you're in trouble," She teases, making me roll my eyes as I tuck a stray curl behind my ear.
"I'm not."
"Wait, get dressed first, he can't be mad at you when you look hot. He'll be too flustered," Leo rushes out, quickly grabbing my dress and shoving it into my arms.
"That's so unfair." Rome says, letting Amelia push him out of the bathroom.
"No it's not, that's entirely fair. I've used it on you and our arguments are dealt with in no time." Lia shrugs and he gapes at her.
"That's so not fair!"
"Roman, get out, I have to dazzle my boyfriend so he doesn't get mad at me." I shove him out, Lia and Leo following after, and I quickly shut the door.
As fast as I can, without screwing up my makeup or hair, I've pulled the dress on and I'm tugging the zipper up.
"Leo, help me," I push the door open, only to find my room empty except for Sam sitting at my desk chair.
"Here," he offers, standing up and walking over to me, gently turning me around.
He pulls the zipper up to its spot before stepping back, no purposely touching the skin of my back while he does it or hugging my waist or any of the usual things.
Shit. Lia's right, I'm in trouble.
Turning around to face him, I see him swallow hard, scanning over my entire body before landing on my face again. "You look amazing, Mads."
"Thank you. You look very handsome." I murmur, taking in his nice jeans, a leather jacket I've never seen before, a light pink button up underneath, and slightly tamed curls.
He clears his throat, stepping back from me and shoving his hands into his pockets. "We should probably talk before we go."
I nod, twisting the ends of my hair between my fingers.
"So uh, I'm sorry about storming out, that wasn't exactly the most mature way to handle the situation." He says quietly, his eyes flitting between my face and the wall behind me.
I open my mouth to reply, but he seems to have other ideas.
"But it also doesn't help that you didn't even attempt to talk to me about it. I try to be so patient with you, Maddie, but half the time I feel like I'm putting in two times that effort that you are. It's so frustrating." He adds, and I scrunch my eyebrows up, putting a hand on my hip.
"Pardon me?"
"Don't act surprised. I sat with you for an hour and you said three words the whole time while I tried my hardest for us to have a civil conversation, but you didn't give a shit about that." He says, raking a hand through his curls, doing away with any sort of neatness from before.
"Because I don't want to go to the principal and I told you that, Sam, that's all there was to say." I reply, making him huff out a loud breath.
"And I'm trying to tell you that you're being stupid, Maddie." He snaps, making me reel back a little, the shock quickly being replaced with anger.
"Watch your tone."
"You wanna talk about tone, Mads? Cause I have a lot to say about how rude you were earlier, so if you want to come at me about tone then we're gonna chat about the attitude you've had all day." He fires back, roughly shoving his hands into his pockets again.
"You gave me an attitude with your nonstop nagging."
He nods, sticking his tongue into his cheek with a sarcastic, "Uh-huh,"
"Oh, fuck off," I roll my eyes, taking a step back and picking at my nails.
"That's real mature." He says, and I sigh loudly, looking back up at him.
"Let's just go, Sam, obviously our talk isn't panning out." I mutter, walking over and grabbing my black ankle strap heels, the heel only short.
"I'd really rather not. I want us to actually talk about it instead of ignoring it until it just gets worse."
Sitting down at my desk, I slip my foot into one of the shoes, "What's there to talk about? I said no, you're stubborn and refuse to listen, I'm being immature, and you're being a dick. That's the gist of it, right?"
When I look up at him after putting on my other shoe, he's scowling, his arms crossed over his chest.
"You know, Madeline, I don't think dinner is gonna work out tonight. Maybe next weekend we can try again, though." He says, snagging his coat off the back of the chair and walking to the door.
Pushing down the burning in my eyes that threatens to make tears surface, I grate out, "Fine."
He opens my door, it shutting a second later, not another word exchanged.
Not even my I love you.
My heart squeezes and so much of me wants to chase after him to apologize, but I stay put, hot tears filling my eyes.
There goes our civil conversation, dinner, and our romantic evening.
I'm not sure how long I sit on the chair, messing with my fingers and trying to distract myself from the thickness in my throat, when I hear my door creak open again.
I don't look up until I feel someone slide their arm around my shoulders, Leo quietly asking, "Are you okay?"
I nod, forcing a smile. "Yeah, thanks for checking on me."
"Do you want me to talk to him? He's just upset with Gavin, it's not your fault." she offers, and I stand up, shaking my head.
"No, it's fine. He needs to cool down and so do it." I shrug, reaching down to pull my shoe off, then the other.
"But you got all ready, you were so excited."
When I look at her, she looks sad, her mouth turned down at the corners.
She's the most sympathetic person I know, she's way too sweet for this world.
"I'm fine, Leo, promise. I'm gonna shower then probably head to bed, can you please make sure the boys don't hit Sam?" I grate out a little laugh, pulling my hair in front of my face so she can't see my eyes start to fill with tears.
"Well, do you wanna hang out with me after you shower instead of just going to bed? We can snuggle and bake cookies."
"Thanks, Leo, but I'm kinda tired anyway. Maybe later on we can watch a movie or something." I tell her, quickly wiping under my eye and walking to the bathroom.
"Oh, okay. Tell me if you wanna talk or anything."
I turn and give her a smile, nodding. She nods back, tucking her light blonde hair behind her ears.
Stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind me, I lock it and grab my phone off the counter.
Quickly scrolling through the contacts until I find the one I'm looking for, clicking it and holding it up to my ear.
I dig through makeup until I find my eyeliner, I pull it open with my teeth, slowly dragging it across my lid to make a small wing that I kinda screw up, but who cares.
"Hey!" Lennie says cheerfully, as I move onto my next eye.
"Hey, something came up and dinner isn't working out with Sam and I, is that party invite still open?" I ask, my mouth hanging open while I attempt to get the other wing to match.
"Yeah, of course. It doesn't start for another hour or so, want me to come pick you up? I drive past you anyway, I need to grab some last minute crap from the store. Chips, cups, soda, all that stuff."
"That sounds great, actually. Thanks." I murmur, tears rushing into my eyes again for some reason.
A party instead of a romantic evening with my boyfriend.
Fantastic.
****
maddie is about to be a sneaky lil brat and we all know it.
also, I CANNOT DEAL WITH THEM ARGUING, IT MAKES ME SO FRICKEN SAD.
i would like you guys to know this chapter was supposed to end in sam coming back instead of leo and they talked it out and had dinner, bUT NO I HAD TO MAKE THINGS SPICY
anyhowwwww, thank you guys so much for reading! sorry it was so short, but that's just the way it panned out.
please comment and vote, it makes my day!
love youuuuuuuu
- f a i t h y