Ex's Can't Be Oh's

When she reached her destination Madeline breathed a sigh of relief. She stepped through the door, smiling at the young girl behind the counter as the bell above the door tinkered quietly. Walking up to the desk Maddy placed her order before strolling over to the large bookcase that stood in the corner where she picked out a thick novel with a grin. Once she had collected her drink Madeline surveyed the room before selecting a seat in the far corner of the shop where it was slightly darker and due to a radiator emitting a lot of heat, a lot warmer.

As she settled down into the large couch Maddy sipped at her drink and stared out of the window. It was in Utopia Coffee House that she liked to sit and think, it was the only place she knew she could be alone with her thoughts and no one would disturb her, even if she burst into tears. It was like an unwritten rule of the coffee house; do not disturb anyone.

Even the staff kept their distance; unless you specifically spoke to them they wouldn’t speak to you. They wouldn’t collect your empty mug and ask if you would like a new one; that was down to you. Despite the fact she felt so very alone whilst she was in the shop she loved it and was usually there at least once a week.

Madeline watched as the people strolled past the window, their coats wrapped around their bodies to keep the heat in and the cold chills out. At this time of the day most of the people were off on their way to work, heading towards the subway or the building they spent nine hours a day in, five days a week. Doom as Maddy referred to it.

Barely flinching as the bell above the door chimed unexpectedly Maddy picked up her book and pulled it open about halfway through. For five minutes she became totally engrossed with the sappy romance novel that she had been reading for three weeks, getting through it a chapter or so at a time. It was only when a dark shadow appeared over her book that Madeline looked up again.

“Didn’t expect to find you here,” Alex smiled pathetically as he took a seat on the couch opposite and set his mug of coffee down on the small wooden table between them. Madeline nodded her head and closed the book gently, setting it down beside her.

“I like it here,” she stated simply.

Alex nodded slowly and surveyed the girl he had befriended several years previous. He knew that she blamed him for the whole situation because it had been him who had essentially pushed her and Zack together. It was Alex who first told her about Zack and it was Alex who after that one night in her bedroom started talking to Maddy as though they were the best of friends.

“Did I really ruin your life?”

Madeline looked at up Alex shocked. An overwhelming feeling of guilt swept over her and as she stuttered out a string of incoherent words she attempted to form a sentence in her mind. In truth Madeline had said that Alex had wrecked her life but that was almost a whole year ago and even though it still hurt her, she had grown up an awful lot since then.

“I used to think that you had,” she said softly and Alex nodded gently, “But I guess over time I realised that none of it was your fault.” She paused for a while and simply stared out of the window once again, “It was no one’s fault really except mine, I let my guard down, I let someone in and got my heart broken.” Feeling a little teary eyed Madeline cleared her throat before continuing, “It sucks but eventually I’ll get over it and maybe I’ll even learn to forgive and forget.”

Alex laughed sarcastically, “How can you seriously think that all that was your fault? I wanted to punch Zack in the face when I found out what he did.” Maddy smiled softly and shook her head.

“Why didn’t you?” she asked even though she already knew the answer.

“You’re kidding right, Zack could easily knock seven bells of shit out of me,” he answered with a grin that caused Madeline to let out a gentle laugh. It had been such a long time since she had felt this relaxed around someone other than Cassandra that as soon as the laugh left her lips she started to get up and leave. “Where are you going?” Alex asked frantically following her out into the cold.

Madeline didn’t answer him instead to walked briskly back towards her apartment, only speaking once to apologise to someone she bumped into. The walk didn’t take them long and soon both of them were shut up in Maddy’s room, questioning gazes etched onto both of their faces.

“What are you doing?” Maddy asked first causing Alex to exhale with irritation.

“What am I doing, what the hell are you doing?” he bit back and Madeline shrugged running a hand through her fringe. She wasn’t doing anything, she was sitting on her bed trying to relax, only Alex was making that hard.

The duo continued to stare at each other for five minutes, neither of them uttering a word until Alex realised what the problem was.

“You can’t stop letting anyone else in just because Zack hurt you, people aren’t going to hurt you, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said softly and Maddy’s glare softened considerably.

Why was it that Alex Gaskarth was the only one who realised what was wrong?