Trial And Error

Chapter Nine

"Hey Mads." Olivia announced as she walked into the quiet house looking for the brunette.

"Hi." She responded quietly, but loud enough for the blonde to hear

Olivia walked over to the couch placing her bag onto the seat, "I was in the area, and wanted to come by and check on you."

Communication between the two had been minimal the past two weeks. It was mostly business or to talk about Olivia's honeymoon that they planned for after the Marines's deployment. Despite their conflicts they couldn't help how much they cared for each other. Olivia scanned the brunette, at least what she could see of her. Madison had herself curled up with a blanket covering everything but her head. Naked of makeup and dressed in sweats, her eyes showed signs of lack of sleep. Similar to a certain Marine, who wasn't in any better shape.

"I'm fine. Is there anything else you needed?" She answered curtly not moving from her spot.

"Look Madison, I'm going to save us some time and just tell you straight up. I'm sorry for lying, but Kian wanted to tell you herself. Who am I to take that away from her, I know how close you two are and you it seemed like the right thing to do. As much as I love you I was also busy accepting the fact that my husband was being deployed as well. So can you please just accept my apologies so that the two of us can curl up and cry together." The manager pleaded

Reluctantly the singer opened up her arms catching the blonde who threw herself at her. She covered them with the blanket and held each other. Olivia tucked her head between Madison's shoulder. Her issue wasn't with her manager, if anything she was the least of her worries. She couldn't blame her either, if she was put in her position she'd do the same.

She snugged closer to the woman, "I'm sorry too. It's not you who I should be mad at."

She looked up, "If it makes you feel any better we told her to tell you multiple times."

"Thanks." Leaning her head against the sofa.

"Now, how are you really?" Olivia looked at her skeptically

"I feel like I just found out my best friend is being deployed into a warzone.. I don't know how you're doing it."

"Well, I just think about the fact that no matter what will happen Lucas will always come back to me. We've gone through too much for something like a deployment to stop us."

For the first time in a while the singer smiled, then it faded. Lucas and Olivia's relationship wasn't always rainbows and butterflies. They had many issues concerning their parents. Olivia's hate the fact that Lucas is in the military. It was mostly her mother who hated it really, because it crushed her dream of the blonde marrying someone who came from the same tax bracket. The manager came from a very well off family, her father owning a well known tech company.

For a long time the blonde battled with the idea of whether or not she should keep seeing Lucas. Like every child she grew up always wanting to please her parents, make them proud. But, the longer she got to know Lucas, the more she fell in love with him. So she decided that love was worth more than the approval of her mother. A good choice on Olivia's part, because eventually Mrs. Sutton came around.

"Kian and I aren't you two."

"I beg to diff."

Madison shot her a knowing glare, "I don't want to hear it right now."

"You both care deeply for each other, some would say on the same level as Lucas and I. If Kian was really just one of your best friends would you really be feeling this way?"

"If you were the one being deployed I'd feel the same exact way. And by the way you and Lucas are married, last I checked Kian and I aren't exactly talking at the moment." The brunette fired back sarcastically

Conversations like these weren't uncommon, but they were maddening. She couldn't understand why the blonde thought there was anything other than a platonic relationship between Kian and Madison.

"Fine."

"How she doin?"

"Working. Lucas's says she's been working herself to the bone. Constantly in and out of the gym, at the range, whatever she could think of doing. My guess is, it's her way of taking her mind off of your current situation."

"Is she sleeping? Usually when she's stressed she has a hard time sleeping. Whenever that happens she calls me, obviously that hasn't been happening."

"I don't know Mads, I haven't seen much of her lately. Only time I ever hear news about her is from Lucas. Why don't you call her? Use what little time you have left."

"I want to Liv, I really do. But I need to focus on myself, to think. It may be selfish of me, but I just need time to process."

"You're not selfish, we all process new differently. Especially when it's something as big as this."

"You know, she told me she's scared." She fiddled with the end of the blanket, "After I begged her to stay. And then she told me she needed to do this, that it's her dream. I didn't think it'd heart so bad, because I understood her it.. " 

"I once got into an argument with Lucas over this. I was so mad at him, because how could being deployed be a dream someone has? He told me it wasn't for him, it was for the little girl who's father was killed by the insurgents. Or the mother who's son was taken and forced to join the cause, otherwise, her whole family will be killed. Kian and Lucas are built for this, they've trained so many hours for this. That has given me some peace of mind. "

With that, they both sat in silence. The gears in the singer's head turned as she digested Olivia's words. She was right, they were built for this. Kian's mother told her so many stories of how brave she was. Stories of Kian standing up to bullies, and defending her teammates back when she played basketball. Mrs. Shepherd knew that from a young age all Kian wanted to do was help people.

"They'll be okay." The brunette muttered, looking over at her manager.

Olivia smiled in response snuggling closer to her, "Yes, this time next year they'll be home. We will all be at my house eating and laughing at all of the memories we create from your tour and their deployment. "

Madison closed her eyes imagining it, all four of them sitting in the kitchen like they had just a couple of months ago. The artist glances over at Kian, who smiles back at her, with her pearly white teeth, and those dimples she adored so much. Madison begged to whatever god was up there, that they'd bring Kian back to her. Because if she doesn't return, Madison had no idea what she'd do.