Chase and Madelyn: A love story

Chapter 21

TW: Mentions of self harm

Madelyn's POV:

It had been 3 weeks since I cut myself in the tub that night.I had pretty much been adding one every day since then. Because of the Jess and makeup encounter, I had gotten fairly good at covering up the scars myself. I wasn't doing well, but I was pretending for Chase. I knew he wouldn't be able to handle another breakdown of mine. Outer Banks season 2 was almost done, we had about 3 weeks left of filming. We weren't planning on doing anything for the next couple of months, just resting before the press tours started.

It was a Sunday morning and Chase and I decided to go to the flea market. It was fun, we hadn't been out in a while because we were so busy. We headed home a couple hours later.

As I entered the apartment, I realized that the door was unlocked. I had a weird feeling and looked at Chase but there was no expression on his face. It seemed as if he was expecting this. To my surprise, my mom, dad, Madison, and therapist Carrie were all sitting in the living room. 

"What's going on?" I asked with a bit of laughter. I was confused and uncomfortable.

"Why don't you take a seat Maddie. Your friends and family are worried about you and would like to have a chat. I'm here to facilitate that discussion." Carrie said.

I turned around towards the door. I wanted to run, run from this awkward situation and all my problems, but Chase was blocking the door. I could tell he was standing there on purpose like he was expecting it. 

"C'mon Mads, let's sit down." Chase said while placing a hand on my back to guide me to the gathering.

"Did you know about this?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"Are you serious? You've been lying to me? We were having a "fun" day at the flea market while everyone sat here waiting for a little intervention?" I said growing angry.

"Maddie, let's not accuse Chase of anything. Come join us and we can have a civil conversation." Carrie said.

"C'mon honey, let's talk." My mom said. Her, my dad, and Madison all looked very awkward. It's like they knew they betrayed me.

I followed Chase and sat down on a chair, he sat down next to me. My mom, dad, and Madison were across from me on the couch and Carrie and Chase were on either side of me. I was trapped, I couldn't escape now. 

"Great, now that we're all seated, I'd like to preface this by saying that we all care about you Maddie. Everyone in this room loves you and doesn't want to see you struggle." Carrie said while looking around the circle. I subtly rolled my eyes. I knew that this was true but this method of intervention felt stupid and extreme. 

"Chase, would you like to begin by sharing some of your concerns?" She asked. 

"Yeah, sure." He said while putting his hand on my knee and looking into my eyes. "Mads, I know you're not doing good. You haven't been eating and we don't really talk about deep stuff anymore. And I know that you've been cutting again. I love you and hate to see you like this but I don't know how else to help you." Chase said. His voice was cracking like he was about to cry.

"What, did you pull my pants down and look at my legs while I was sleeping like you do with my arms?" I said jokingly.

"Yeah." He whispered while looking at the floor.

"Shit, I was joking! You actually did that?" I yelled.

"Madelyn, calm down. We're just trying to have a conversation." My dad said.