Written In The Stars: Book Two

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: A CALL FOR HELP

Elijah sat at his kitchen table eating dinner when his cell vibrated against the wood. Looking down, he saw Madeline's name on the screen. Now that he thought about it, she only ever called him one time, back when she'd first entered a relationship with shit bag; a call he didn't answer.

When she was a child, they lived right next door to one another. When she was an adult, they'd just texted back and forth. This was the first time she'd ever called him when he was in a place in her life where it made sense to answer, and Elijah quickly had to push that out of his mind in order to answer it before it went to voicemail.

"Hey."

"Hey," Madeline mumbled. "I heard about what Jonathan said to you in the hallway. I am so sorry."

Elijah ran his fingers through his hair, realizing he desperately needed a trim. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Madeline. As far as punching him goes, in my defense, I had been trying to keep the peace between him and I. He was looking for a fight. All I did was give him what he asked for."

Madeline let out a laugh that quickly died off. "My dad told me he was trying to start something with you in the waiting room during my surgery, too. He said you kept trying to de-escalate then and tried doing it again tonight. I don't blame you one bit for hitting him. I would have been tempted to do the same if I wasn't in a hospital bed."

It was impossible not to smile at that. But like her laugh, it quickly faded. "It can't be easy for him, having me around, Madeline. I'm not trying to defend him, believe me, but you can't deny it. I do have a habit of bringing out the worst in the guys you're with."

"That's true," Madeline agreed. "I just don't like how he's handled this whole thing, you know? I get why you're a sore subject for him, but he basically told me that as soon as I'm out of this hospital, you and I will not see each other again. It wasn't even an ultimatum. Jonathan just flat out told me it's not happening."

Elijah rubbed at his face, half-tempted to look the prick up so he could find him for a second round. "And what did you say?"

"Nothing at first," Madeline admitted. "I was so damn shocked. He's never talked to me like that before. I've never seen him that angry before, and it freaked me out.

"After you hit him, and he cleaned himself up, he was telling me that whatever my parents said was because they're too close with you to see your real issues, and decent parents wouldn't have allowed a criminal to be in my life in the first place."

Elijah's laugh was breathy as he leaned back in his chair. These were things he had to think about in his sobriety. All the paths he shouldn't have taken, but had. The paths that were good for him he left behind. "He isn't wrong, Madeline. I was a criminal, and I was violent."

"Maybe," Madeline agreed. "But it's like he baited you until he got the result he wanted as some sort of proof to hand over to me. I don't think he would have stopped until he got what he wanted from you, even though anyone in your position would have done the same."

A car door closed outside the apartment, and Elijah watched as the front door opened and Mitch and Mary walked in. Mitch took the bag out of his wife's hand and carried it upstairs, while Mary caught his gaze, then went to sit on the couch.

There were no secrets in this family when it came to Elijah and Madeline. There were more personal moments neither had shared, but more so because it hurt too damn much to talk about. Even he'd only shared what happened that last day once outside of therapy, and that was with Jay after he'd caught Elijah drunk for the second time.

"Tell me what you want me to do here, M&M." His voice and the words spoken came out a plea. Elijah was desperate to do the right thing this time around. To do right by her. "I don't want to fuck up your relationship. I may think he's a douche, but if you love him, and if he can't deal with having me around-"