No Matter What

After Matt was stitched up, they let him go, and one of the guards came and got him and escorted him back to his cell, but I wasn’t allowed to go. For some reason Tripp and Madison, and a couple of guards thought that if I went back out there in the shape I was in, I’d wind up getting into another fight.

“I’ll be back in a little bit, okay Madi?” Tripp looked at Madison as she came back from getting me a quilt.

“Okay, I’ll be here.” She said, and Tripp walked out of the room, letting silence take over.

“Thanks.” I said as Madison covered me up with the blanket.

“No problem. They keep this place like a freezer.” She said, and I sighed.

“I thought it was a freezer. Everyone inside’s ice fucking cold, we’re all closed in here…” I said, and she let out a light laugh.

“You have a point.” She said, and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

“You don’t have to watch me, you know.” I looked over at her.

“There’s nothing else to do, besides, I know you’re not going to hurt me.” She said, and I looked at her curiously.

“How do you know I’m not going to hurt you? I mean, I could get up, knock you out, then make a bee line for the door.” I said, and she looked at me, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Because…you just don’t look like the type of person that would hurt someone. Especially not a girl.” She said, and I propped a hand behind my head.

“So what? I’m a cute cuddly teddy bear like Matt?” I asked not being able to keep a smile off of my face.

“No,” She smiled. “I mean you’re the only person in this hell hole besides Matt that actually says please and thank you, and doesn’t lash out at me or Tripp and try to kill us whenever we get close to you like most of the inmates do. Though it’s taken Matt a while to stop trying to kill Tripp, and thank anyone here properly for anything nice that they may do ever so often.” She said, and I nodded.

“Okay, so you think I’m nice.” I stated, and she smiled a little more, trying not to.

“I guess you could say that. You’re…a sweet person.” She said, and I sighed, emotions washing over me.

“I haven’t heard that in a while.” I looked back at the ceiling. “I’m actually starting to question how sweet I really am.”

“What do you mean? She questioned quietly.

“I’m getting thoughts in my head. Maybe I’m locked up in here because I really am a dangerous person.” I looked over at her, as she watched me with curious eyes. “I didn’t mean to kill my step father, I really didn’t. I may have hated him, but I wouldn’t have killed him.”

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Madison’s POV*^
It was odd, but I had this strange feeling in my heart that he was telling the truth. I liked having this conversation with him. Brian was a sweet guy, and there was a feeling in my mind that he didn’t belong here. Just…the way he was made me believe that. The soft tone in his voice, the loving look in his eyes, the way he acted.

“You didn’t?” I asked and he sighed, and looked back at the ceiling.

“I know you probably hear stuff like this every day, pathetic criminals telling you that they’re not guilty, that they didn’t mean to pull the trigger, that they didn’t mean to take the money, that they didn’t mean to lose their temper.” He looked back at me, and his voice got a little softer. “But…but I’m telling the truth.” There was this strange…sincerity in his voice. I knew something wasn’t right with this situation. With someone like him locked up in a place like this.

“I believe you.” I said simply.

“You don’t have to. For the moment you’re simply someone I can confide in, someone that will actually listen to me for a few seconds.” He said, and I sighed.

“I’ve known since I saw you for the first time that something wasn’t right about you being in here. You just don’t seem like that violent of a person. Maybe someone who would get in a few fights here and there on occasion, but not a murderer.” I thought for a second. “You know, I could always talk to the judge and-”

“No, don’t try and get me out.” Didn’t think I’d hear that. “Don’t let me burden you with my shit.” He let out a light laugh.

“But what if-” I was cut off before I could finish my sentence as Tripp walked in. I couldn’t finish my sentence around him, and our small conversation was over as fast as it started. Brian looked back at the ceiling, and I stood up, returning back to normal. “So, Trippy, where have you been?” I asked, using the nickname Matt had given him.

“Oh god,” Tripp groaned. “You’re turning into Matthew.”

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Brian’s POV*^
I fell asleep that night with an odd feeling in my heart. I had someone to talk to. Madison believed me; that I didn’t really kill him. The fact that she didn’t seem shaken by being around criminals every day was odd, but there was something different about her in general. She wasn’t like Tripp, she didn’t keep her guard up probably as much as she should, and she wasn’t that cautious around anyone. I could already see that I was most probably going to end up in here quite a lot, so I could already see a friendship forming between us. She was definitely someone I could get used to being around. Though as I fell asleep, I couldn’t help but wonder about what she was going to say before Tripp walked in.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
The next day, Madison came back in at seven, just as Tripp left, and the guard who had been on guard still hadn’t arrived for work, so Madison and I were alone once again. I watched as she walked towards the door to the office. I needed to ask her something.

“Hey, Madison,” I called and she turned around and looked at me. “Come here.” I said, and she walked over.

“I’ve already told you, they won’t let me touch the thermometer.” She said, and I shook my head.

“No, I need you to ask you something.” I stated, and she looked at me curiously

“What is it?”

“Do you…do you remember what we talked about last night?” I asked, and she nodded.

“Yea, I do, why?” She asked, and I looked down, then back up at her. I was about to continue, but the phone rang. She held up a finger, and walked into the office at the end of the room, and I watched as she picked up the phone, and said a few words to the person on the other end. After a minute she put the phone down and walked back into the room. “Sorry about that.” She said, walking back over to me. “What were you saying?”

“I was wondering if you remembered what you were going to say before Tripp walked in.” I looked at her as she sat down in the chair.

“I was going to say what if I wanted to help.” She said, looking down.

“But why would you want to help me?” I asked, not exactly understanding why she would want to help me get out of this place.

“Because,” She looked up at me. “You seem like a really nice guy that doesn’t belong here.” I smiled a little at her words. The first genuine smile I had on my face since I had got here. Maybe there was a light at the end of this tunnel. She actually wanted to help me. But what about her? She might lose her job if she tried to help me. I don’t need her help. Anyways, maybe I do belong here. That smile was gone with my thoughts.

“What if I’m not a good guy like you think? What if I am a bad guy?” I asked her.

“Trust me, if you were a bad guy there is no way in hell I’d be having a conversation with you right now.” She said, and I couldn’t help but let a chuckle escape my lips at the light humor.

“Good point. But really,” I took a deep breath. “Don’t try and help me, don’t waste your time with me.” Here comes that dark mood again. “I wouldn’t want you to lose your job or anything over me.”

“Is it odd that I’d like to lose my job over you? I mean, this is a shitty job anyways, getting hit by rouge cellmates, and having needles slung at you, and have to be around so much violence... Trust me, this is a job I’d like to lose. Especially if it meant helping someone who was convicted of something they truly didn’t mean to do.” Something told me she was telling the truth as she smiled lightly at me.

“I’m not worth it. Don’t let me waste your time.” I am fucking worth it. Please waste your time talking to me. I like having these little conversations with you because you’re the nicest person I’ve met in here besides this one tall guy that’s completely off his rocker.

“If you say so.” She stood up, and went to walk away, but I desperately sat up and grabbed her hand, ignoring the pain in my ribcage.

“Wait, I was…I was just kidding. Please, don’t go.” I begged, really wanting to talk to her some more. She looked at the clock and weighed the options around in her head before smiling at me.

“I guess it’s going to be a slow day. I have some time to spare.” She sat back down, and I laid back down with a sigh.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Madison’s POV*^
Brian and I started talking about everything. I really liked talking to him. He was so easy going, and down to earth. He wasn’t caught up in prison life like everyone else was. He was nice, and never got angry at anything it seemed. Brian was… Wait, no, I can’t think that. Not yet, at least. I’ve only known him for a little over three days. But he was kind of cute, and not to mention very nice. He was nothing like Matt, or anyone else in this whole prison. He was very different than any of the guys I’ve ever met really in my whole life. There was something about him that drew me to him. That made me….that made me like him. I couldn’t help myself. We talked for the whole day. I wouldn’t have wanted to spend a day any other way. I didn’t even go to lunch. I just sat and talked to Brian for hours on end. It was safe to say that we became friends. Very quickly, might I add. We had this attraction to each other, and by seven o’ clock at night, when I was supposed to go home, and Tripp came in, we knew almost everything about each other, but we didn’t stop talking and laughing every once in a while even as Tripp came over and asked what we were talking about.

“Uh, prison food.” I answered and Tripp nodded suspiciously, and walked into the office, where I watched as he propped his feet up on Dr. Walton’s desk and flipped on the TV in the corner.

“He sure is nosy.” Brian said, and I nodded.

“Nosy, but lazy all at the same time.” I said, and then looked at the clock, and realized what time it was exactly. Eight o’ five. “Shit.” I got up from the chair and ran over, grabbing my coat, but Brian stopped me before I could get to the door.

“Hey, wait!” I turned towards Brian.

“Yea?” I asked.

“You’ll be back tomorrow, right?” He asked hopefully, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Bright and early at seven AM. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I said, and he nodded with a smile, and I walked out.

“Bye Madi.” Joey said from the other end of the hall.

“Bye Joey!” I called back, grinning like a fool as I waved over my shoulder at him. I got my jacket on as I walked towards the stairs. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.