Madison's Journey

Part 18: Tobin's POV

The both of us head upstairs to change before pulling our bags out of the closet. "Do we both want to go check on her or..."

"You go ahead Tobs, I don't want to overwhelm her. I'll start pulling out our things."

"Perfect, be back in a sec." I head across the hall into Madi's room. The main door is open so I let myself in, but stand just inside the doorway. "Hey, kid." She looks up from where she is looking at the packing list. "Do you have everything?" Her face scrunches up in worry before slowly nodding. I sigh and cross the room holding out my hand slowly for the list. "Why don't we go through it together just to make sure?" She nods once again. "Street clothes?"

"Y-yes."

"Gear from last camp. You don't need to worry about that you'll get all new stuff before our first practice. So what about a swimsuit?" She hesitates before shaking her head. "That's ok, we may not even use them, it's just a precaution in case we want them. Do you have a pair of sunglasses? Those are a must. Main;y for our stylish game-day fits. If you don't Chris has plenty of extras, she won't mind sharing." She shakes her head once again.

"I'll see what Chris and I can find when we're packing. Now don't forget your phone and charger tomorrow when we leave." She pulls a flip phone and charger out of her bag. The wires are showing at the end.

"D-dos-sen't-t w-wor-rk-k." She puts her head down and stairs at her feet. "Alright, I'll see about getting you a new one." She shakes her head.

"N-no. Y-you d-don't-t need-d t-to d-do th-that-t."

"I know. Go ahead and head to bed. Either Christen or I will come wake you up for breakfast in the morning. We need to leave at about 11 tomorrow for the airport. Did you want something I was thinking either cereal or toast for breakfast does that sound good."

"Y-yes-s."

"Well, I'll see you in the morning sleep well ok?"

"O-k." I head back across the room. "T-T-Tob-bin-n?"

"Ya, kid?" I turn around to face her. She is still looking directly at her feet.

"N-nev-ver-r min-d it-t's it's st-stup-pid-d."

"No, it's not Kid. If there's something going on then it's important to me."

"O-ok, I-is-s is C-chr-rist-st-en c-coming-g o-over-er?"

"She can if you want. Did you need her for something specific?"

"N-no, it-t's n-noth-thing-g I-I-I j-just-st..."

"I can send her in if you want." She gives me the smallest of nods. "Ok, she'll be in in a minute. Good night."

"N-nigh-t." I head back to my room where Chris has piles of clothes laid out across the bed.

"Did you want your black or red Arsenal shirt? No, wait, that's a stupid question. You want both." I go around and kiss her on the head.

"You know me so well. Madi requested that I send you in to see her."

"What?"

"Well more like asked if you were coming in and I told her that I could send you in if she wanted and she didn't exactly say no, so..."

"I'll be right back." She rushes out of the room without another word.

Madison's POV

I start pacing as soon as Tobin leaves the room. 'What was I thinking? Why would I do something like that? I've never. What is happening to me? This is bad. This is so bad.'

"Hey Madi, did you need something?" I turn to look at her.

"I-I-I u-uh uh I... N-night-t." I say to her.

"Good night Madi, I'll see you in the morning. Do you want the door closed?" I nod "Alright see you tomorrow." She closes the door as she walks away.

I go over to the closet, 'Night as well try and get some sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow.'

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The next morning I was going through my things one more time when Christen knocked on the door. I go over and open it.

"Good morning! You ready for the day!?" I nod my head. "I forgot to ask yesterday, did you pack your school stuff? We have you enrolled in an online program so you'll have to start working on it at some point at camp." I shake my head and point over at my desk.

"Ok, do you have any more room in your bag or do you need another one?" I take my school stuff off the desk and place it next to my bag. I open it and am able to place all my books in there. 'Good thing Tobin gave me that suitcase.'

"Perfect, first breakfast then we'll start loading the car. Make sure you wear comfortable clothes for the flight." I nod and she leaves the room.

I quickly change into a light sweatshirt and sweatpants before bringing both of my bags downstairs.

"Alright kid, we've got Cheerios or Coco Puffs for cereal or we can make some toast. We've got jam, peanut butter, or just regular butter." I think for a second, 'What will be the quickest to eat?'

I point to the bread sitting on the counter, "Ok, I'll grab you a plate if you want to pop it in the toaster. Four burns it so I wouldn't recommend going higher than that." I give her a nod and grab two pieces of bread, setting it to two and a half.

"What do you want with it?"

I shake my head but notice she is looking the other way. "N-noth-thing-g. L-lik-ke j-just-t t-toast-st."

"Oh," She sounds confused, "ok, well if that's what you like." She hands me the plate. When the toast pops I head to the table and get eating.

"Tobs did you eat?" Christen questions as she comes down the stairs.

"Ya, you done in the shower?"

"Ya, I'm going to eat so go ahead and head up." She goes into the kitchen and pours a bowl of cereal. 'I wish they'd let me take a shower. At least there's been food.' I let out a silent sigh to myself.

Twenty minutes later I'm waiting at the door as the two players finish bringing their bags downstairs. We're on the road to the airport another ten minutes later.

It takes almost forty minutes to get there and the entire time I'm trying to stay off a panic attack. 'It's fine. Nothing is going to happen. It was a one-time thing. Tobin and Christen... NO! I can't rely on them. Not safe. Foster parents are never safe.'

A/N: Sorry for the wait. Let me know what you think and if there is anything that you would like to see. I'm always open to new ideas.