Bright

Matt's eyebrows raised and he turned his gaze to Madison. He wanted to question her, ask her who this date was with, where she was going, and how long she would be gone, but it was none of his business. He just felt as if now that this whole thing was going on, she shouldn't be dating anyone. But that would be a double standard, wouldn't it, since he was seeing Val? Well, technically he wasn't seeing Val, he was married to her. That was different, right? He cleared his throat and looked down at his plate, stabbing his fork into a green bean and frowning when it broke in half. He sighed heavily and picked up both halves on the end of his fork and eating them. Val smiled at Madison and nodded her head. "Absolutely," she murmured. "I would be happy to."

@ voltage oblivion.
Madison looked over at Matt, biting down on her bottom lip. She held back a frown when she hard him sigh, smiling over at Val when she agreed. "Is that okay with you, Matt?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow as she looked over at him. Clearly he had a problem with something, though she was sure if it was the fact that she had a date, or if it was Val watching Chase. Couldn't she have some fun once in a while? Matt had Val, wasn't she allowed to have someone in her life also? It was just one date, Madison highly doubted it was even going to turn into something more. She just wanted to get out and not have to worry about if things were going to blow up at any given moment for a while.

Matt looked at Madison and nodded his head. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I don't think I have anything to do tomorrow. I guess we could both watch him." Val grinned and reached across the table to grab Matt's free hand. "That's great, honey. We'll have so much fun." He nodded his head and gave her hand a squeeze before he let go of it to grab his drink and take a sip of it. He looked over at Chase, wondering how he felt about this, knowing he couldn't act differently around Matt if Val was there, and now he had to spend a whole night with the two of them tomorrow.

@ voltage oblivion.
Madison smiled, looking over at Chase and rubbing his back a bit. "Doesn't that sound like fun, Chase? You get to spend time with Val, Matt and Bella tomorrow," she said, Chase's eyes finally lighting up at the mention of Bella, Matt's puppy that he had gotten not to long ago. "Bella?" Chase repeated, Madison nodding. That was probably what got Chase to keep quiet around Val, him playing with Bella. She didn't understand it really, he fell in love with that puppy the moment he laid eyes on her, they were like a match made in heaven. Whenever Chase was around Bella followed him everywhere, it was so adorable, Madison loved it. "Bella! We're gonna spend lots of time together tomorrow!" Chase yelled as he got up out of his seat, running outside to where Bella was running around playing while they were eating.

Matt couldn’t help but chuckle as Chase got up and ran outside for Bella, shaking his head. Honestly, the kid was just too adorable. He looked at Chase’s plate to make sure he’d eaten a sufficient amount of food, looking at Madison and giving her a look that said it was okay for him to go play. Now it was just the three of them and it felt even more awkward. He cleared his throat and shook his head. “Uh, so, Madison,” he mumbled after a moment of silence, “where are you working at?” He was genuinely curious anyways, as to where she worked. He really didn’t know that much about her, come to think of it.

@ voltage oblivion.
Madison played with a loose hem on her skirt, looking up when Matt asked a question. "I'm a model," she said, her cheeks heating up and turning a nice pink color. "I didn't really have that many options after the tour, I couldn't dance forever, so I ended up doing modeling," she said, biting down hard on her bottom lip. It wasn't the best career choice, but it paid her bills. She was slowly climbing the social ladder and getting in bigger and better magazines and modeling better clothing lines or makeup brands, hopefully she'll be able to make big money soon. Even though her dream job is to be an artist, but that would never happen.

Matt arched a brow and sat back in his seat, folding his hands in his lap as if he were a psychiatrist giving her an evaluation. “A model?” he questioned. “Don’t models spend a lot of time away from home? I mean, do you get to spend a lot of time with Chase?” He frowned when Val told him to stop, that it was none of his business, when really, it kind of was. But he wouldn’t mention that to her because then shit would hit the fan pretty quickly. He blew out a breath of frustration and looked down at his plate. “Sorry, I guess that’s rude of me to assume.”

@ voltage oblivion.
Madison sighed softly, running her fingers through her hair. "No, It's okay, really," she said with a small smile. "We have the advantage of living in California, so I don't have to spend a lot of time away from home. They're usually day trips and I can take him with me," she said with a small shrug, beginning to pick at her plate again. Clearly if he was going to pick at her life and ask questions involving Chase, it was going to have to be at a later time. But he was definitely going to have to come out to Val soon because Madison wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to take these awkward dinners.

Val smiled at Madison. “That sounds really good,” she said. “I’m glad you get to spend a lot of time with him. Most working mothers don’t get to see their children all too often, unfortunately.” And she knew this because her mother had been in that situation. She’d had to work hard when she and Michelle were children, and they barely got to spend time with her. Matt looked at Val, raising an eyebrow. She usually didn’t open up like that to other people, and he was wondering if it was maybe because she just loved Chase so much, or if she was really making good friends with Madison now.

@ voltage oblivion.
Madison nodded, looking out the back door at Chase. "You're right about that," she murmured, not realizing as a small frown made its way onto her face. Madison never got to see her mom either, she was always working. By the time Madison was old enough, she had a job of her own to help support her mom with the hundreds of jobs she already had. Times were tough then. Madison snapped out of her thoughts as Chase came inside, covered in mud, along with Bella. "Oh dear," Madison mumbled, her eyes wide. "What have you gotten yourself into? I don't have a change of clothes for you," Madison groaned, getting up and rushing over to him, picking him up so he wouldn't get mud all over the floor. Not that it mattered, because Bella was doing that for him. "Oh no," she groaned, watching Bella, run everywhere.

Matt’s eyes widened when Bella ran inside and he stood up, quickly rushing over to pick her up. “Well, I wonder who’s taking a bath now,” he said, smirking when Bella whimpered. She absolutely hated taking baths, and she had to take them quite often because she got into shit all the time. He looked at Madison. “If you want to give him a bath, we can wash those clothes and he can wear one of Val’s old t-shirts until they’re dry.” He felt bad that she hadn’t come prepared with extra clothes, but he probably wouldn’t have either. He didn’t expect there to be mud outside, it had probably sprinkled a bit while they were eating.

@ voltage oblivion.
Madison sighed and nodded, kind of embarrassed that Chase ended up getting all muddy. Not only did he get muddy, but he also got Bella all muddy also. "That would be great. That way I won't have to give him I bath when I get home," she murmured, reaching up and wiping some mud off of Chase's cheek. "I am so sorry about this," she said, frowning. This certainly wasn't how she imagined the night going at all. Though she was kind of glad that they had this surprise, since things were going kind of awkwardly at the table.

Val walked over and shook her head. “It’s no problem,” she said. “I can clean the floor.” She smiled at them and started cleaning off the kitchen table before she could clean the floor. Matt led Madison upstairs and turned the tub on, letting it fill up a bit before he set Bella in there and turned to look at Madison. “Maybe if he gets in there with Bella, it’ll distract her so I can wash her,” he suggested. He grunted when Bella leaped forward at him, almost making it out of the tub, but slipping back in. “Bella, stop it, it’s just water. Christ’s sake.” He mumbled the last part under his breath, not wanting Chase to hear him and repeat the words.

@ memento mori.
Madison followed Matt upstairs to the bathroom, giggling as she watched him with Bella. "Yeah. You wanna get in there with Bella?" she asked Chase as she sat him down, her eyes widening when Chase made a run for the tub with his clothes on. "No, Chase, wait," she said, trying to grab him. She slipped on the rug, her heel getting caught, making her twist her ankle on her way down into the tub. Madison squealed, along with a weird groan, Bella instantly coming over to lick her face. "You two are such a handful," she said as she cracked one eye open, reaching up and grabbing Bella. She kicked her shoes off, really glad that this was a big tub. "I'll wash her. I'm in here now," she said, ignoring the pain in her ankle. it was just something she was going to have to live with, she didn't have time to go have it looked at, she had a kid to take care of, and a date tomorrow.

Matt's eyes widened as he watched the little display, clearing his throat. "Uh, do you still want to wash his clothes?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at the two of them, both fully clothed in the tub. He felt awkward standing there, knowing Val was downstairs, cleaning the kitchen, and he was up here with his actual family. Well, could he consider Madison family? She was the mother of his child, after all. He wasn't sure. But either way, this felt kind of awkward. He knelt down next to the tub and reached over, running some water over Bella's coat.

@ memento mori.
Madison bit down on her bottom lip, looking over at Matt. She could tell by the look on his face he was feeling weird about this whole situation, which she wasn't sure why. Things happen, you just have to roll with it. "We can just rinse his clothes off and throw them in the dryer," she said, standing and getting out of the tub before she got to wet. She definitely didn't need to get her wet dress wet in places it didn't need to be. Madison kneeled down next to the tub, ignoring the pain in her ankle as she watched Matt wash Bella, and Chase try to play with Bella. She wished this was how it always was, minus the slight awkwardness. She wanted a family. She wanted a husband that loved her and Chase, a little dog for him to play with, and just a happy home. Hopefully, just maybe this date she's going on tomorrow will be the guy that's apart of her future.

Matt looked over at Chase and smiled slightly before he turned his attention back to Bella. He cleaned her paws first, and then the rest of her body, washing her fur thoroughly. He pulled her out of the water and grabbed a towel, drying her off before he let her run free. After she left the room, he turned to look at Madison, seeing how wet her dress was. "Do you maybe want to borrow some clothes from Val?" he asked, scratching his neck. "You'll probably get cold if you go out like that." While it was typically warm outside, it did get a bit cooler at night and the wind was always blowing, so he didn't want her to catch a cold or something. He'd feel responsible for it if he didn't offer her some clothes to change into.

@ memento mori.
Madison bit down hard on her bottom lip, looking down at her dress and letting out a small sigh. She really didn't want to borrow any of Val's clothes, she knew they were going to be too small for her. "It's alright, theres only a few spots that are wet," she said with a small smile. "I'll be fine. Thank you, though." Madison leaned down and pulled off Chase's clothes, rinsing them off in the tub before handing them to Matt. "If you could get him something to put on while these get dry, that'd be great," she said, biting down on her lower lip. Madison just wanted to hurry up, get Chase's clothes dried, and go home. She didn't know why but ever since she mentioned that she was going on a date tomorrow, Matt was acting weird, and she didn't like it.

Matt watched her, frowning slightly. Maybe he was making things awkward for her. He took the clothes and walked downstairs to the laundry room, tossing them into the dryer and putting it on for a half hour. He walked back upstairs after sneaking past Val, something he’d only ever had to do when he was drunk, not when he was secretly having family affairs behind her back. He stood in the doorway of the bathroom, watching Madison. “Hey,” he mumbled after a moment of silence, “you’re not feeling awkward about this, are you?” While he was indeed feeling awkward, he wanted to make sure that she didn’t. He didn’t want her to suddenly change her mind about things and kick him out of her life. Well, Chase’s life.

@ memento mori.
Madison raised an eyebrow, shaking her head a bit. "You're not upset that I'm going on a date tomorrow, are you?" she asked, biting down on her lower lip. She'd totally understand if he didn't want the guy around Chase, especially since he just got back into Chase's life. But Madison deserved some fun every once in a while. Besides, Matt had Val, who did Madison have besides Chase? Even though her baby boy was the only thing she could ever need, sometimes she just craved some male attention. Just right now, this whole situation was fucked up. Matt really needed to tell Val about Chase, it would just make things so much easier. But she wasn't going to rush him, he'd do it when he was ready.