Seems Like We Lost It All

Matt stood frozen, the only movement was the opening and closing of his mouth as he tried to comprehend what had just been said. “You- I- No-No I’m not fucking happy! How could you be so stupid? And you-” he spun around to face Brian “-I should kick your ass right now. Once for touching my sister and once for dragging her away and leaving Val and I both worried sick! Madison get your shit together I’ll be waiting downstairs in the lobby. We’re going home.” He let himself out, slamming the door as he went.

“So you’d have to be stupid to have sex with me, good to know,” Brian joked, awkwardly running his fingers through his hair.

Madison groaned and covered her face with her hands as she sank down onto the bed. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I said that. I am fucking stupid apparently. I’ll tell him I lied as soon as he calms down so he doesn’t kill you in your sleep or some shit.”

“Or you know, we could just do it then you don’t have to change your story.”

Madison snapped her head around to look at him only to find he was laughing. “I should probably punch you for that, but I’ll let that one slide since I owe you for saving me last night. Speaking of that, my head is fucking killing me.”

“Right, here you go.” Brian grabbed the small bottle of pills from the nightstand and tossed them to her. She gave him a grateful smile before grabbing some water and swallowing two of the pills. Hopefully they would kick in sooner rather than later, especially if she’d be having to deal with her brother all the way back home.

“I dread having to ride back to Huntington Beach with Matt. He’s just going to bitch the entire way.”

“Don’t ride back with him. We can sneak out to my car and you can just text him once we get a few miles away.”

“I don’t know, Bri, he’s already pissed.”

“Then the damage is already done. Come on, you can have a couple more hours in peace before dealing with the fallout.”

“You’re such a bad influence, Haner.” Madison said as she hopped up from the bed and started cramming things into her suitcase. The sooner they got out of here the better. It was only a matter of time before Matt came back up to see what was taking so long.

Five minutes later all of their things were sorted and they were on their way down the elevator. Madison was bouncing on her feet, nervous about sneaking out of here right under her brother’s nose. The coast was clear when the elevator doors opened on the ground floor and they quickly darted down a hallway toward a side exit of the hotel. It was just looking like they’d actually managed to make it unseen when Matt’s angry voice called out to them from behind.

“Shit, busted. Let’s go!” Brian grabbed Madison’s hand in his and they broke into a run.

“Madison! Stop!” Matt yelled, not caring that everyone in the lobby was now staring at him.

Brian quickly unlocked his car and threw their bags inside while Madison scrambled into the passenger seat. Brian put the car in gear and gassed on it right as Matt was coming out the door. They’d made it.

“He looks so pissed! Oh this was such a bad idea,” Madison said as she watched her brother’s quickly shrinking form in the mirror. She saw Brian glance at her from the corner of her eye and when she looked over at him and spotted the smirk on his face she completely lost it. She laughed until there were tears streaming down her cheeks and her stomach ached. Then whenever she’d think about the look on Matt’s face as they’d sped away in Brian’s car it started all over again.

Finally after a good ten minutes she’d managed to get herself under control. She turned to stare out of the window, slowing feeling sadness creep over her again. It wasn’t long until more tears were slipping down her cheeks, this time not the good kind. Brian noticed and pulled the car off the road.

“Hey don’t be so upset. You know Matt can’t stay mad at you for long,” Brian said gently, reaching over to squeeze her hand.

“It’s not about Matt. I just don’t know how to feel about everything. I could almost forget about Alex’s affair while we were in Vegas but going back home means having to face everything. I can’t run from it anymore. I’ll have to tell everyone why we just disappeared and I’m not ready to deal with everyone feeling sorry for me. I’ve had to deal with enough pity from becoming a widow at twenty six, I can’t handle anymore.”

“I’ll be right there beside you when you tell everyone, if you want me to be. We can call everyone over to Matt and Val’s and get it over with all at once. Then once it’s all out in the open you can start to work on moving forward.”

“I don’t even know what moving forward means for me right now. I thought I was finally doing okay. Packing up the house to sell it was supposed to be the first big step in becoming myself again. Now I don’t think I know who I am anymore. Alex and I got together when we were sixteen, we got married when we were eighteen. We became adults together. How much of who I think I am was really because of his influence? I have to figure out who I am without him and that’s terrifying.”

A sudden pounding on the car window made both of them jump and Madison let out a shriek that would have been hilarious under different circumstances. A very red faced Matt was standing on the side of the road next to the car.

“Shit,” Madison murmured, rubbing her hands over her face as if she could hide the fact that she was crying from her brother.

Brian rolled down the window and Matt stuck his head inside, getting in the longer haired man’s face. “Why is she crying, Haner? If you did something…”

“He didn’t do anything, Matt, just shut up. Go get in your car I’ll be there in a second.”

Matt didn’t look happy about being told what to do but he turned and walked away anyway. Madison waited until he was out of earshot before turning to Brian again. “Thanks for being so great to me over these last few days, Brian. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. I’m going to ride back the rest of the way with Matt and explain everything to him. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to tell everyone else, I’ll need all the support I can get.”

“Just take care of yourself, okay? I’m here if you need anything. Even if it’s just to vent. Matt and Val and everyone else are there for you too. You don’t have to deal with all of this alone.”

Madison was blinking back tears again. “Thanks again.” She pressed a quick kiss to Brian’s cheek, took a deep breath, and climbed out of the car.