Chase and Madelyn: A love story

Chapter 24

TW: Brief mentions of self harm, eating disorders, and addiction

Chase's POV:

I watched as Madelyn walked with Erica until she was out of sight. I quickly left the building before I cried. In the parking lot, I called Pam, Maddie's mom to let her know how it went. She thanked me for being there for Maddie and said she'd see me soon.

I drove around for a while listening to Maddie's favorite songs. It had only been an hour since I'd seen her but I missed her so badly. I reluctantly arrived home and felt the sudden loneliness when I entered the apartment. Her smell was still there, but she wasn't. I changed into one of my shirts that Maddie had worn the night before. It smelled of her perfume. I sat on the couch and lingered in the scent for awhile, just thinking about her.

I texted Madison and asked her to come over. I needed her help letting everyone else know what was going on with Maddie. She agreed and said she'd see me soon.

I answered the door and was greeted with a hug from Madison.

"Hey, how are you holding up? How was today?" She asked while still hugging me.

"Not great." I replied with a big sigh. "I feel so bad. Mads was really upset earlier." I said referring to the moment when I said goodbye to Maddie. It made me tear up just thinking about it.

"I know. You did the right thing though. Don't beat yourself up about it. Maddie is safe." Madison replied.

We walked into the living room and both sat down on the couch.

"Chase," Madison began, "I wanted to tell you about something that happened at the party yesterday."

"What?" I asked with concern.

"When Maddie was really drunk, she said she felt sick so I asked her if she was going to throw up. And she said that she already did that today." Madison said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Chase, I think she still has an eating disorder. She's lost a lot of weight." Madison responded.

"I know. She wouldn't talk about it with me but I know she's brought it up during therapy. Whatever is happening, they'll know how to treat it there." I said.

Madison nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Ok, so how do you want to tell everyone?" She asked.

"I don't know, I don't want to freak anyone out." I replied.

"What if we did a group FaceTime with the cast. JD, Rudy, Austin, Drew, and maybe Elaine too?" She proposed.

"Yeah, that would work. Maddie's other friends know already." I said while pulling out my phone. I texted the cast group chat letting them know that Madison and I had something we wanted to talk about over the phone. Within a few minutes, everyone joined the call.

"Yo, what's up?" Rudy asked.

"Hey man." I said.

"Where's Maddie?" Drew asked.

"That's what we wanted to talk about..." Madison said while moving into the camera frame.

I hesitated. "Um, so as you guys know, Mads has been struggling with her mental health and self harm."

"Is she ok?" JD asked with a concerned look on his face.

"What's wrong dude, you're scaring us." Rudy said.

"Her therapist had her check into an inpatient facility today. We don't know how long she'll be there for but it's for the best. She wanted me to let you guys know because she won't have her phone or anything." I said.