Ace of Hearts

The buzz in the cafe had just died down, the lunchtime rush had ended a good few minutes ago. The over worked waitress leaned against the counter, wiping her forehead on the back of her hand, giving herself a couple of minutes to gather herself together and make her thoughts coherent, before going to wipe down sticky tables and collect abandoned cups and plates.

Madison watched the young woman bustle around, as she waited for Slade to finish devouring his sausage sandwich, drowned in ketchup. She stirred her glass of lemonade with a straw, the half melted ice cubes clinking together. She sniffed up, trying to compose herself completely, before she told Slade anything. The last thing she wanted was to break down in another flood of tears, she hated crying, and she hated letting other people see her cry. Of course she didn't see crying as a weakness, she just didn't look pretty when she did cry and she hated off loading her problems onto others.

Slade pushed his empty plate away from himself and reached for his glass of coca cola, taking a sip through the straw, his eyes on the distraught girl seated across from him. He was worried about her, she had been perfectly fine when she had left for her father's house that morning, and now she was a wreck. Whatever was wrong, he wanted to fix it. He wanted to see her smile, not cry.

"Do you want to talk now?" He asked, quietly.

She glanced up at him, nodding her head slowly, but not making any attempt to start talking. She wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to say. She could go on and on about her mother, but she was sure Slade didn't want to hear all about that. She had even contemplated making something up, like her non-existent pet fish had died or something along those lines, but Madison had never been known for her convincing lies. So she simply shook her head, no.

"If you don't want to talk about it, at least let me cheer you up."

"Slade, you don't have to, I'm fine, honestly."

"No, you're not."

"I am."

"Maddy."

"Slade."

He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her, taking another gulp of his drink. "You don't have to tell me. I just want to fix things for you, I want to see you smile, not cry."

She teared up again. She'd known him for a weekend, and already he'd made an impact on her. "Let's go somewhere, I'll tell you all about it when we get there." She brought herself to her feet, pushing her chair back, watching him copy her actions. She lead him out of the cafe and along the road to where Blair's car was parked, "give me the keys, we'll get there quicker if I drive."

He pouted, slowly pulling the keys out of his pocket, handing them to her. She unlocked the car and they got in. They sat in a comfortable silence as Madison drove. The tall, city office blocks soon disappeared behind them, closely followed by neighbourhoods, houses, apartment complexes, convenience shops all became tiny spots in the background as they traveled away from the hum drum of the city and straight into grassy fields, full of towering trees. Out here the sky seemed bigger, clearer, never ending. The sun was still hanging high in the sky, sizzling everything in it's wake. Madison found the spot she was looking for and slowed down, parking the car in a lay by and cutting the engine.

"Here?" Slade asked.

She shook her head. "Not yet." She pulled the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car, Slade followed her, a confused look plastered across his face as he did so.

"I - " he began.

She turned to face him, "Slade, trust me, okay? I know where we are and where we're going and how to get back, I promise. Just go along with it, yeah?"

He looked unsure for a moment, glancing at the car. It was almost as if he was going to jump back in and lock the door behind him. But instead, he nodded and followed her into the overgrown field. The grass was waist length, it tickled their bare arms as they walked deeper into the field. Slade still wasn't sure where they were heading, until two tall trees came into view a short distance away. He looked at Madison, walking in front of him, her arms moving as she walked. He reached forward, deciding to be bold for once, and grabbed hold of her hand. She stopped and turned to look at him, before looking down at their hands locked together, a small smile breaking out across her face, as she carried on pulling him along.

It was when they approached the trees that realisation smacked Slade in the face. For hanging between the two trees was a hammock. The flimsy material shivered in the slight breeze. He let go of Madison's hand and sat himself down on it, before falling backwards onto the dusty ground below.

Madison giggled and walked over to Slade, helping him up, the pair of them sitting down on the hammock together, balancing out the weight on it just right. Slade leaned back, laying down on it, motioning for Madison to lay beside him. She hesitated for a moment, before complying, resting her head against his chest, as his arm wrapped around her protectively.

"When I was six or seven, my mom left me and my dad. There was no explanation for it. I woke up one morning to find my dad in the kitchen. He had this confused look on his face, and he just looked at me like it was my fault. I didn't understand, so I went into their bedroom and all the drawers were open, all of her things were gone. Since then, we never talked about her. She just became this thing of the past, never to be seen or heard of again." She inhaled deeply, "When I went up to the apartment, the door was unlocked, so I went in. I was planning on packing some things and making a swift exit, but this woman came out of my dad's room, with my dad."

"It was your mom, wasn't it?"

She nodded, tears filling her eyes again. "I don't know why I left. I don't know why I'm so upset. I guess I blame her for a lot of things."

Slade pressed a kiss to her forehead, allowing her to cry. He held onto her, providing words of comfort as he tried to calm her down.

Because that's all he could do, wipe the tears away and promise that things were going to be okay. This was out of his control. This was the one thing Slade Echeverria couldn't fix, and he hated it.