Sad, Beautiful, Tragic

The ten minute car ride to the hotel was silent and tense, both teenagers hoping that the other would just say whatever was on their mind but neither of them had the nerve to do so. Alex pulled up to the hotel and parked the car, taking the key from the ignition he turned to face Madison with his hand lingering on the door handle he said "I'm gonna check us in so just stay here."

Madison robotically nodded her head and stayed put after Alex shut the car door and made his way to the hotel entrance. Alex pushed the lobby door open and made a bee line to the front desk where a tired, elderly man sat behind the counter. Alex cleared his throat in an effort to gain the mans attention.

"How can I help you, son?" the man, whose name tag read "Albert" inquired before erupting into a fit of throaty coughs; a sure sign that the man had spent the better years of his life chain smoking in the factories, at least that's what Alex presumed.

"I have a reservation under Gaskarth" Alex tiredly rubbed at his eyes as Albert turned to the dated computer and slowly searched for the reservation.

"mhmm, right here...room 113" Albert spoke mainly to himself but Alex nodded anyways and continued to watch as Albert sluggishly wandered to the cabinets behind him and grabbed the corresponding room key. Alex gave himself a metaphorical pat on the back that he was smart enough to pay in advance because with "father time" behind the counter he was sure paying for the room on spot would have taken centuries. Soon enough Albert was sliding the key across the counter to Alex's eager hand, "Everything alright kid, you ain't a runaway are ya?" Albert asked his hand over the key card just out of Alex's reach.

Alex held himself back from rolling his eyes at the nosy man "No sir, just road tripping with my girlfriend." Alex faked a tight lipped smile; all he wanted was the damn key so he and Madison could get some rest.

"Oh, girl problems then I presume?"

This time Alex did roll his eyes, not in the mood to deal with it he huffed out "yeah, something like that"

" You look a bit defeated, son, keep your chin up" Albert advised, finally handing the room key to Alex who all but ran out of the entrance yelling a polite "Night, sir" as he pushed the doors open and felt the cool night air against his face. He shoved the key into his pocket and made his way back to the car to get Madison and their bags.

He approached the car from the back and popped the trunk to grab the two small suitcases, hesitantly letting his hand linger on the hatch as he overheard Madison on the phone. Normally, he would have never crossed the line of eavesdropping on her but with his uneasy mind his judgment was off.

"It's been a good day, I just felt a bit light headed and had a few dizzy spells but nothing I couldn't handle" Madison said. There was a long pause on Madison's end, her head silently nodding to what was being said on the other end of the phone.

"Nate, i'm okay, I promise. Honestly, the only bad part of my day was that I upset Alex...again." Madison sighed, her head resting against the cold window.

Alex began pushing the trunk closed but once again stopped himself as Madison began speaking again.

"I know, okay? I know I should be more honest with him but I--I just don't want him to feel as scared as I do most of the time. I'm not as strong as he thinks I am, Nate" Madison confessed, chocking on her words.

Alex shook his head and loudly closed the trunk before walking to the passenger side of the car to open the door for Madison.

"Look, Nate, i've got to go but just tell mom that I love her...and that I told her to tell the doctor that everything is par for the course. Love you" Madison stressed the second instruction with great importance before hanging up the phone and shoving it in her front pocket. Alex stood to the side as she hopped out of the car and closed the door, their eyes not meeting for one second. Madison silently followed Alex to the room and silently waited for him to open the door before proceeding to silently sit on the bed and watch Alex set their suitcases on top of the small dresser.

Alex turned around to find Madison anxiously pulling at the skin around her finger nails, drawing small drops of blood from her cuticles. He kneeled down in front of her and wrapped his hands around hers gently.

"Stop" he whispered. Madison looked down into his eyes, her own glazed over with unshed tears "a-are you mad at me?" she asked quietly, her small voice cracking with pent up emotion. For someone that was so stubborn and abnormally independent she sure let her veneer crack when it came to Alex. Alex bit his lip, he wasn't mad per say, or at least he didn't think he was but he was definitely upset and perhaps a bit disappointed.

"Mads, no" he cooed quietly but by the look on her face Alex knew she wasn't convinced that everything was peachy, and she was right.

"I...I just...why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well? I wouldn't have made you do all of this stuff today."

Madison pulled her hands from Alex's and placed them on his cheeks, gently cradling his face. Her thumbs lightly traced over his cheekbones as she spoke, "because, you didn't see the smile on your face and the light in your eyes that I saw today 'Lex. You looked so happy, I didn't want to ruin it for you..."

She dropped her hands into her lap and sighed "but, I guess I ended up ruining it anyways. I'm sorry"

Alex stood up, pulling Madison up with him he pushed her bangs out of her eyes and kissed her forehead. "Mads, please don't think you ruined anything. All of this...this whole trip is for you and if anything...I'm the one that is sorry." Alex spoke quietly.

Madison shook her head "Lex…" she sighed.

"No, just listen." Alex quickly cut her off. "I'm sorry. It was unfair for me to blindside you into performing and then get upset about your song. It's just that...I get so scared that every time I go to sleep that when I wake up you'll be gone. So, hearing you sing the last verse of that song really got to me." Alex explained, his hands sitting on Madison's hips and gently tugging her body closer to his until his arms were wrapped around her waist and his chin hooked over her shoulder.

"Alex" Madison tried again only to be shortly interrupted once again " I know, I know it's going to happen. You've said it, the doctors said it...I know. Everyone knows...but, I can't accept it yet." Alex tucked his head into the crook of Madison's shoulder where it met her neck.

"Lex, please...." Madison begged for his attention to just let her speak.

"I don't want you to get any worse I just...I wish I could trade places with you, Mads. It's not fair, it's not fair." Alex's grip tightened, pulling her body flush against his as he truthfully told her how he felt. Madison felt the salty water drop from his cheeks and gather in her shirt as Alex cried and his body shook. Finally, Madison pulled back from their embrace and held Alex's flushed face in her hands as she brought their lips to meet. It was only a simple kiss but it was enough for her to get Alex to listen to her.

"I know it's hard and scary, trust me, I know. But, I promise to be more honest from now on. I'll tell you when I don't feel well, i'll tell you everything but for now i'm exhausted and you're exhausted too so let's get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day and with you, i'm sure it'll be a new adventure." Madison rationalized the situation at hand with Nate's advice to be more open and honest in her relationship. She already knew it was unfair for her to be hiding things from Alex, especially when she knew how much damage that had caused them in the past and she definitely didn't want to lose him for any of amount of time ever again, her time left was too precious to spend without him by her side.

"Okay" Alex simply said, kissing Madison once again before stripping down to his boxers and falling back onto the bed. Madison rolled her eyes and grabbed her pajamas from her suitcase, quickly changing into them before crawling into bed next to Alex and cuddling into his side.

"That's all, just okay?" Madison jabbed her bony finger into his side making his body involuntarily jump away from her before he pulled her body close to his again, his lips hovering right above hers "for the record, I love you." Madison smiled against his lips "for the record, I love you too" she pushed her lips to his quickly before pulling back and cuddling into his side while Alex twirled a strand of her hair around his pointer finger. It wasn't long before Alex felt her breathing even out against his bare chest and he whispered into the still and silent hotel room "I’m going to marry you someday" before he too fell into a much needed slumber.