No One Knows You Like I Do

A few days went by and everything between Nick and Madison seemed to be okay, but Madison couldn’t help feeling as if something wasn’t right. She did her best to ignore it, but it still loomed in the back of her mind. Madison sighed as she sat up. Sleep was no longer happening with everything going on in her head. Nick, who was driving, looked over and smiled as he watched Madison wake up.
“Morning, beautiful.” Madison looked over and gave him the best smile she could muster up.
“Morning.”
“Something wrong?”
“Nah. I just…I guess I’m ready to go home. Touring is fun; don’t get me wrong, I’m just ready to sleep in an actual bed.” Nick chuckled.
“Me, too. Trust me.” He rested a hand on Madison’s knee. “Just a few more days, okay?”
“Can’t wait.” Madison hoped things could go back to normal once they were home.

******

When the familiar “City of Boston” sign came into view, Madison’s heart skipped a beat. A huge grin spread across her lips as she stared out the window. Nick leaned over and wrapped an arm around Madison’s shoulders. He kissed her temple gently.
“We’re home.” He whispered in Madison’s ear.
“Well, almost.” She chuckled.
“We’re only twenty minutes away. And we’re headed straight for the apartment. We don’t have to be at the venue until three.” Madison looked at the time on her phone. It was only 11, so they would have almost four hours at home. She smiled and looked back at Nick. She kissed his lips softly.

The apartment complex was just passed the next light and Madison felt like the red light was lasting way too long.
“Oh my god, CHANGE ALREADY!” Madison shouted.
“Relax!” Nick laughed beside her. “We’ve waited this long, we can wait a few more minutes.”
“No, I can’t!” The light changed. “Green means go, Justin! GO! GO! GO!” Everyone in the car burst into laughter as Justin moved forward and turned into the parking lot. He parked in the closest spot to the apartment and turned off the van. Madison pulled open the van door and jumped onto the pavement. Madison pulled her key out of her pocket and ran to the door. Nick followed closely behind. Madison pushed the door open and jumped onto the couch.
“This feels good.” She laughed as Nick sat on the armrest.
“Imagine how the bed feels after all this time.”
“Oh man, we’ll see you guys at the venue.” Halvo rolled his eyes as he back out of the apartment. He closed the door and left Madison and Nick alone. Nick laughed as Madison got up and went downstairs to their room. He quickly followed and picked her up from behind. He put her on the bed before kicking off his shoes. He crawled onto the bed and lay next to Madison.
“What do you want to do?” He said into her ear.
“Sleep.” She mumbled into the crook of his neck.
“Is that it?” Madison nodded, causing Nick to sigh heavily and roll onto his back.
“Don’t be so dramatic.” She chuckled. “This is the last show of the tour. We get to come home after the show’s over. We have plenty of time for other things later.”
“But Madison…” He whined.
“You’ve waited this long, you can wait a little longer.” She smirked.
“Don’t use my own words against me!” He chuckled.
“I can and I will.” They lay in silence for a few minutes before Madison sat up. “Well, I’m not tired anymore, so…”
“Thank you.” Nick smirked as he pulled her down on top of him and kissed her lips roughly.

******

“You’re late.” Justin sighed as Nick and Madison strolled into the venue hand in hand.
“Not that late.” Nick said.
“We had to sound check without you.”
“Sorry, Justin. It was my fault. I wanted to shower and it took longer than expected.” Madison added.
“It’s fine.” Justin sighed again. “You’re here now and sound check isn’t that important, I guess.”
“Let’s go get some lunch. I’m buying.” Nick smiled, trying to force a smile out of Justin.
“Alright.” Justin finally smiled.
“There’s the smile I was looking for. Now, go get Halvorsen and Loren and we’ll go.”

Everyone finished eating and returned to the venue with a line much longer than when they had left. Fans walked over and started asking for pictures and such, so the guys decided to stop. Madison kissed Nick on the cheek before skipping into the venue to set up merch. Mackenzie was helping Vito with The Maine’s merch, but quickly stopped when she saw Madison.
“Leave it to you to disappear all day when we’re home!” Mackenzie said.
“I’m sorry! Nick and I wanted to go home and--”
“Say no more!” She put her hands up to stop her from continuing. “I haven’t gone home, yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t have a ride. The guys needed to come straight to the venue.”
“I can take you if you want to shower or something.”
“It’s fine. I’ll be going home tonight and, uh, Garrett’s staying over. He’s flying home tomorrow night.”
“Oh, really?” Madison smirked, causing Mackenzie to blush. Garrett walked in and Madison started laughing.
“What?” He asked.
“Nothing.” Madison turned to Mackenzie. “I’ll talk to you later.” She quickly walked over to Rocket’s table and set up all the merch. She was humming a tune as she hung up all the shirts.
“How much do you cost?” Madison laughed as she turned around.
“I’m afraid I’m not for sale. Sorry.” She shrugged.
“Oh, man. Why not?”
“My boyfriend wouldn’t approve.”
“Eh, we can keep it a secret from him.” He smirked and stepped forward, wrapping his hands around her waist.
“Ooooh, but secrets cause trouble.” She giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and attached their lips.
“And Nick knows all about that, don’t ya?” John said as he walked up, causing Nick and Madison to separate.
“What do you mean?” Madison asked.
“Nothing, nothing.” John shrugged and walked away. Madison turned to Nick.
“What’s he talking about?”
“Nothing. It’s just John being John.” Nick ran his hands through his hair nervously. “I’ve got to go do something. I’ll, uh, see you in a little while, okay?”
“Okay.” Madison said hesitantly. Nick kissed her forehead before walking off in the same direction as John.

“What the hell, John?”
“You have to tell her!”
“I will, okay? So, just stay out of my business.”
“When, Nick? When do you plan on telling her? The day before your wedding?”
“Shut up, man. You’re just mad that she doesn’t want to be with you. That’s the only reason why you care.”
“I care because she’s my friend. You’re supposed to be honest with her since she’s your girlfriend. If you don’t tell her, you’re lying every single day. And if that’s the case, you don’t deserve her.”
“And you do?”
“This isn’t about me! It’s about you cheating on the girl you’re supposed to love!”
“I do love her.”
“Then show her! Don’t just pretend your stupid fuck up didn’t happen. Of course she’s gonna be hurt and upset, but if she loves you, she’ll come around.” Nick sighed and covered his face with his hands.
“Fuck!” He shouted. “Alright. I’ll go tell her.” He turned around and headed back toward Madison. When the merch area came into view, he realized doors were open and fans were surrounding the tables as well as the stage. He sighed and went over to Madison anyway.
“Madison, can I talk to you for a second?”
“What’s up?” She asked as she handed a girl a shirt.
“Let’s go somewhere less…crowded.”
“I can’t right now. I’m selling your merch, silly.”
“It’s kind of important.” Garrett was standing by and knew exactly what Nick was trying to tell her. He walked over to him and gently pushed him out of earshot.
“It can wait ‘til after the show. You can’t tell her right now. It will just fuck up the whole show.”
“John is gonna tell her if I don’t. She had to hear it from me.”
“I’ll talk to John. Just don’t tell Madison now. Wait until you get home or something.”
“Fine.” Nick sighed and walked back over to Madison. “We’ll talk about it later, then, okay?”
“That’s fine.” Madison laughed. Nick kissed her temple.
“Madison?” Madison looked over and saw the last person she wanted to see. Especially with Nick standing next to her with his lips to her temple.
“Alison…” Alison’s eyes darted between Nick and Madison.
“Well isn’t this weird.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I happen to be a fan of Mr. Sa--Nick’s band.”
“I see.” Madison looked up at Nick as he ran a hand through his hair nervously.
“So, were you two, like, fucking the whole time he was our teacher or did you at least wait until graduation?” Alison crossed her arms over her chest. She was obviously upset that Madison had him first.
“I hardly think that’s any of your business, Alison. I think you should go.” Nick said.
“Since you obviously enjoy jailbait, I’m still 17 ‘til next month. Give me a call when you’re done with this skink.” She turned and walked away, leaving Madison in shock.
“She’s such a bitch. Don’t listen to her, okay?” Nick said.
“Yeah, uhm, I need a minute. Can you watch merch while I go get some air?”
“Sure. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She gave him a fake smiled and quickly headed for the door.
Madison had never been called a skank before, or anything close to that. She had been lucky enough to go through school without being called names and whatnot, so this was new to her and she didn’t know how to handle it.
“You’re not okay.”
“Who’s watching merch?”
“Mackenzie. I’m sorry Alison said those things to you. I wish there was a way I could fix this.”
“Aren’t I though? A skank, I mean. I tried sleeping with you that night we met and as soon as we got together, we slept together. That totally makes me a skank! And you were my teacher!”
“Madison, you’re not a skank and, to be fair, we knew each other before I was your teacher. Just don’t let her words get to you. They don’t matter; she doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that I love you and you love me. We’re in a relationship with each other, not everybody else. Who gives a fuck what they think?” Madison stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Nick’s torso.
“This is exactly why I love you.” She whispered. Nick laced their fingers together and they ran inside.

******

The show was over and everyone was packing up for the last time on this tour. All of The Maine, minus Garrett, were driving home after they finished and Justin, Halvo, and Loren were all flying home. Everyone began their goodbyes, which would surely last awhile. John caught Nick alone and quickly walked over to him.
“I’m guessing you haven’t told her, yet.” Nick sighed and rolled his eyes before turning to face John.
“No, John.”
“Well, you’re to have to tell her. The sooner the better.”
“Tell who, what?” Madison said as she appeared at Nick’s side.
“Looks like the time now.” John said before walking away.
“What’s going on?” Madison furrowed her brow at the worried expression on Nick’s face.