Someone Get Me a Doctor, Someone Call the Nurse

(Jared POV)

The horse I sat astride was a grey with dark brown flecks. He was sturdy, and I found myself glad of his surefootedness as we trotted along the beach. Out in front, Maddie raced Shannon’s light-brown gelding, laughing loudly from atop a deep brown mare. Tomo chuckled beside me, his buckskin mare easily keeping pace with my own horse.

“Good thing she’s not fallen off yet. She’s like a burr, the way she keeps her seat.” I nodded, feeling grateful that she was cheering up at last. In fact, I managed to get her to smile at me once we had gotten to the stables. The four of us paced up the beach for a good hour before turning around and heading for the stable, hunger deciding to make itself known. Maddie and Shannon arrived back first, horses snorting from the exercise. Tomo and I followed behind by a few minutes. We paid for the ride and left, discussing what we wanted for dinner.

“Let’s ask the locals! They usually can tell where the little treasures are.” Maddie smiled brightly, almost bouncing in the seat.

“Sounds like a plan.” With the windows open, Maddie’s collar flapped open and closed, distracting my thoughts on food. She had kept the white button-up on, leaving it untied at the bottom. Blinking and turning to look out the window, I found myself recalling this afternoon on the beach and swallowed roughly. Maybe Shannon was right…I hadn’t screwed anyone in quite awhile, and perhaps that’s why all these crazy thoughts kept popping into my head.

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After an amazing dinner, we all piled into Shannon, Tomo, and I’s room to watch whatever was on the tv. Sandwiching herself between Shannon and I, Maddie flipped through the channels, landing on HBO. After the opening studio logos, familiar music trickled out of the speakers and I looked down at Maddie to see if she was doing it on purpose. Her head was tilted in curiosity, ruling that out.

“I wonder what it is…The music’s pretty.” I let out a long breath. Tonight was going to be a long one.

“They are like people. You can love them for years…feed them, nurture them, but still…They can turn on you” Beside me, Madison stiffened ever so slightly, puzzling me. 30 or so minutes into the movie, Madison raised her head from my shoulder and pointed at the screen.

“Was that…” Another, longer view confirmed it. “Jared…You’re in this movie?” I nodded, torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to crawl in a hole. Playing the lover of Alexander…I wondered if she’d question my sexuality, and the thought made my chest tighten strangely.

The scene where Hephaestion dies is where all hell broke loose. Maddie sniffled once, twice, and then just started sobbing. Shocked, we all turned to her and made a mad scramble to figure out what the hell just happened. Flapping her hands, she just cried and tried brushing it off.

“I’m fine…I don’t know why I’m crying.” Blinking at her in confusion, we all just sat back and waited. Laughing through the tears, Maddie sat up and tried wiping them away as they fell. “I feel so stupid. It’s just…I really liked him.” I smiled, feeling proud that she liked one of my characters. As the tears finally subsided, we all just kind of sat there, unsure of how to react.

“So…which one was your favorite?” Shannon grinned at her, wiggling his eyebrows. Giggling softly, Maddie pushed him in the shoulder.

“Alexander of course. Colin Farrell is just so sexy.” I pouted, wondering if she was serious.

“What about Hephaestion?” She looked at me and rolled her eyes.

“Please…he’s a dandy. And he’s fat.” My jaw fell open, even as she busted out laughing.

“Nu-uh!” I crossed my arms, feigning anger. Maddie frowned at me, patting my elbow.

“You know I’m kidding. He was my favorite. I mean really—it made me cry when he died.” I tilted my head away, pretending to be hurt. What I didn’t anticipate was for her to just leap on me, enveloping me in a hug. Since I was on the edge of the bed, the force knocked me over. As the two of us fell to the floor in a heap, Shannon and Tomo shared in raucous laughter. Maddie managed to keep her arms around me, making the position we were in rather awkward. Her warm breath sang across my ear, making me shiver. “I’m really glad you didn’t die for real. I don’t know what I’d do without you…all of you.” Her grip tightened for a second before she attempted to disentangle herself, making the two men above us laugh harder.

Gravity pulled her back down to the ground, my legs tangled with her own. Her arms planted on either side of my waist, she barely caught herself before smacking her head into my chest. As she looked up, I was looking down, and just the barest whisper of skin on skin send a bolt of lightning through me. It couldn’t even be called a kiss, but just the action alone brought all kinds of thoughts into my head. Maddie looked just as shocked. Luckily, none of the others noticed, and we quickly disentangled ourselves and got up.

“Well…I’m kinda tired, so I’m going to go to bed. Night guys!” With a wave, she was out the door. Disappointment filled me as I sat on the bed. Shannon clapped me on the back before heading to his own bed.

“I’m tired too. Night bro, night Tomo!” And then there were two…I leaned back, not sure what to feel.

“Night Jared.” Blinking, I looked over at the other man.

“Night.” As I laid there, I began to wonder, not for the first time, what Maddie was to me.

(Maddie POV)

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Pacing the room, that’s all my mind could supply me with for the first 5 minutes since the incident. We…he…I kissed JARED LETO! My heart thudded in time with my footfalls while my brain tried to slide into darker areas. It was an accident, of course, but still. What do I do? What do I say? What will happen to our friendship now? Suddenly, a wave of fear broke over me and pushed me to the floor in anguish.

What if he thinks I’m trying to get with him?! I mean…sure he’s gorgeous, but I wouldn’t want to destroy our friendship. In the last year, it had grown so far. I had even brought him into my other circle of friends, only Amanda really knowing who he is. My heart clenched at the thought of never seeing him again, and I crawled into my bed, trying not to cry.