"What's wrong?" Jace asks after a long and very silent car ride. I don't feel like myself, I feel like a broken girl who keeps getting more broken, and the worst part is that the hurt comes from the people she cares about.
"I'm just a little disoriented with everything, I guess that car crash—"
"Car crash!" Jace almost stops the car.
"Yeah, it's okay, I'm okay now."
"Madison." He sighs as he pulls into the small parking lot outside of the hotel. We step out and walk into the lobby, finding out small room.
"Madison what is really going on?" he asks as I sit down on my familiar small hotel bed. I take a deep breath before finally daring to look at him.
"I . . ." The tears flow.
"I should have listened to mom, she was right—" I break down and Jace tushes by my side, letting me lean on his shoulder.
"Miles—"
"What did he do?" Jace interrupts, his voice is angry.
"He . . ." I look up at him, I can't get the words out, I don't know what to get out. What did he do?
"What Madison?" Jace's light eyes scan my face.
"I don't know, he hurt me . . . he lied to me." I manage.
"About what?"
"About everything." I swallow, drying my tears even though they want to escape again.
"Oh, Maddie, how did this happen? How did we get so far apart and how did you get so close to him." Jace breathes, leaning into me for a hug.
"I don't know." My voice is entangled in my emotions.
"I'm just glad you're still my Madison, because no matter what he lied about, you have me, your mom and yourself, you didn't give yourself away like everyone else would to a guy like him." Jace says and I bite my lip hard as I try to keep myself from bursting back into tears.
I gulp down my emotions and pull away, giving Jace the best smile I can muster. I need a distraction and hugging is only going to make everything worse.
"How about we watch a movie?" I ask and he nods.
"Just like old times." He smiles and I nod. Watching movies together was one of our favorite things to do and it didn't matter that it was on an old tv or that it was the same four movies over and over again.
"How is mom?" I ask as I sit on the bed, eating the popcorn we bought.
"Madison." Jace sighs as he picks out a movie. He stands up and sits back down in front of me. My phone buzzes again and this time I take off the sound and place it on the nightstands next to me. Jace looks at the phone for a second before looking back at me.
"You don't need to worry about her this much." He says and I nod.
"I know, it's just ever since I heard the news that she was sick, I've been traumatized."
"I know Madison, but she's okay, everything has changed now, Your dad left a while ago, you're nineteen now, and your mom is getting better, I don't even have to help as much around the house." He says with a giggle and I smile.
"Really? She's getting that much better?" I ask and he smiles.
"Yeah, but I still feed her crazy duck for her." We laugh. I haven't laughed since Miles told me the truth. Being at Jace's house for a whole week for a few hours after my dad left, scarred me. I was with my best friend playing innocent game while knowing that my mother was home alone, crying to herself with no stop and it was worse when I heard her during the nights.
That's when she stopped being as productive as she was. I used to watch her as a little girl as she catered to the garden and the animals we had but after my dad left, she wasn't the same. Her legs started hurting and she was in pain every day and that's when it started.
She finally went to a doctors appointment and the doctor told us that her legs were getting worse everyday and she should use them minimally and because my mother didn't want to hear more bad news on top of my dad, she stopped going.
She stopped until now; until Jace finally started taking her.
"Do you remember when my dad tripped over the couch in the living room?" Jace asks and I burst into laughter.
"Yeah, Ben was in a hurry." I giggle.
"Exactly, my dad should have taken it easy, if you don't take it easy, things start to happen, just like with your mom's legs.
She didn't take it easy, even with the pain she worked with those animals, and my dad was worried about having Christmas dinner perfect that his foot had to be taken cared of during the whole dinner." Jace says and I nod at him.
He always knows how to make me feel better, no matter what I'm going through.
"My point is . . . " He continues, placing his hand on mine.
"My point is that I . . . you need to be careful, you're hurt this time and before you trip over something, I'm going to take care of the inner you." He says and my heart flutters at the care he's showing me.
He's always been this kind but there's something about not having seen him for so long, I got used to personalities like Miles's who don't care and now with everyone stabbing me in the back, I realize I've needed nothing but Jace this whole time.
"Are you still coming to WSU next semester?" I ask knowing that there's only one month until. Jace nods with a smile.
"Let's skip the movie, I want to hang out with you, I've missed you Maddie." He says and I smile at him with a nod.
"Me too."
"So anyway . . ." Jace licks the chocolate off his fingers.
"Hasn't Christmas break started?" he asks and I nod.
"It has." I breathe, realizing that I have no plans and going back to my dorm with Stephanie will only make it easier for Miles's phone calls to turn into knocks. Why is he calling me anyway? What could he possibly say?
Miles's POV
For the fucking hundredth time today, my finger presses on her name, the name that I've grown to like too much.
All of this shit was supposed to be so simple, but there was something about her, about those eyes, about those lips, about fucking everything that I couldn't get out of my mind. And that moment in the cabin when the electricity went out was the only moment I could truly be myself, no one was around, no one was expecting anything of me, I wasn't expecting anything of me, and yet, I managed to fuck even that up.
I slowly get up from the same damn corner I've been sitting in for the past few hours. After Jacob fucked me up, I couldn't stand up and I didn't want to. I wanted to stay there in pain because I know I deserve the pain, I deserve much more than just getting punched.
I finally manage to get the hell up and my legs are tempted to give up on me but I don't let them.
Waking up after sleeping against the wall and being hung over after a whole bottle of whiskey is the most fucked up way to wake up, that and of course knowing that I've fucked up the only thing I care about.
"Fuck." I groan as I walk out of the basement.
Everything is chaos which for once, isn't my problem. I smirk before grabbing a drink off the counter and spilling on the living room rug. Hayden deserves this shit, he deserves bloody murder.
I glance around the room, everything is trashy with a couple of whores sleeping in the couch. My Madison would never be like them, she barely wears anything slightly revealing.
"Jacob." I say as I watch a familiar head of stupidity attempt to get out through the door.
"Back off Miles." he barks like one of those small and fucking annoying dogs. I smirk at him and he looks at me angrily.
"Still moping over the news?" I taunt him.
"Madison ins't in her dorm." He says and my smirk disappears.
"What?!" I ask harshly and Jacob plays a small smile.
"And since when the fuck do you go out looking for her? She's not yours—" I bark.
"She's not yours either, Miles." Jacob taunts me and I realize he's right.
She's not mine and she never truly was.
"I'll see you Miles." He says, attempting to leave again.
"Where the fuck is she?" I shake my head, grabbing at his annoying blue jacket.
"Somewhere we can't find her." He says, walking out the door and traveling down the icy steps. I watch as he walks away without a care in the fucking world—that prick.
"Where are you hiding,Madison?" I breath into the cold air.