A Way Back To You

16| Prepare

Definition: To make ready or able someone or something in order to achieve something.

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Trigger warning: This chapter deals with mentions and implications of abuse, mainly physical but potentially sexual. While the latter is never descript, reader discretion is still advised.

With Maddy. Sunday, 11am.

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"You're sure your Dad is ok?" Maddy asked the question with a concerned lilt to her voice. Mina nodded, slowly, watching Maddy for a moment before responding.

"Yes, Mom's got him booked in for the surgery. Hopefully they'll be able to remove the tumor. For now, he's not in any pain." Mina explained, sipping her coffee and then spitting it out. "Fucking hell that's hot." She cursed. "Argh my tongue!"

Maddy laughed, clutching her mug tightly while watching Mina swallow ice cold water in an attempt to fix the problem. "I'm glad he's ok."

"Now on to you. You look like you have a lot on your mind. What happened yesterday?" Mina asked, raising an eyebrow at her best friend. "Babes don't even try to say 'nothing' or I will personally kick your ass. Or just tell Alpheus that you gave away one of his Star Wars collectors' items by mistake."

"Threatening is an ugly trait of yours, M." Maddy rolled her eyes. It was true that she felt pensive today. Confused, perhaps, and even a little shocked. Maybe the only issue was that she didn't know how to explain that. Maddy was almost convinced that she'd imagined the entire thing. "Ari's just having a hard time at school."

"What do you mean by hard?" Mina asked.

"She's being picked on because she's so small etc." Maddy briefly explained. "It's killing me, cause there's nothing I can do about it. She doesn't deserve to be bullied on top of everything else that she's been through."

"Does Ant know?" Mina asked.

"Of course. I made Ari tell him. I don't want to be responsible for something happening to her." Maddy responded. "So, he knows. His reaction was ridiculous. He wanted to enroll her in a self-defense class. I offered to teach her myself. Poor kid won't cope with being taught to hurt others when others have spent her whole life hurting her."

Mina nodded thoughtfully. Maddy knew that her argument made sense and had been grateful that Ant hadn't pushed the issue. Still, she wasn't afraid to admit her abject confusion the previous morning when she'd awoken to the comfort of Ant's huge bed, her back not aching the way she'd expected it to when she'd dozed off. She couldn't recall being moved, which had caused some confusing mix emotions. Maddy hated the idea that anything could've happened and she'd been too comfortable around him to be alert.

At the same time, though, she wondered if maybe all of that talk of 'progression' from Hazel was finally taking root, and couldn't decide if she hated it or not after all. But to be honest, the most confusing part was Ant's concern over her being alone late at night, not to mention him clearly caring enough to move her once she was asleep and then go and sleep on the couch himself. Between inviting her to the ball, and the small things much like that Ant continually did, Maddy found herself unable to decipher any of what he was thinking.

"Oh, by the way. We need to go Christmas shopping. Look at this place! It's completely free of any Christmas cheer. We've got no lights, no tree, no decorations. We gotta fix this." Mina pointed out, sipping her drink. Her words pulled Maddy from her thoughts, and she nodded with a smile.