Broken Generation (Austin Carlile FanFic)

Chapter Seventeen

*Madison's POV*

We walked into the hardware store and I smiled at the man standing at the counter, Alan's dad.

"Hi, Mr Ashby." I said.

He smiled. "Hey! You're back!"

I nodded and went to the counter. "Yeah. Im back for good."

Austin came in behind me and waved at Mr Ashby, then walked down the aisles.

"So what brings you back?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I didn't like Michigan. And I missed Austin."

He nodded. "Oh I see. Where are you living?"

"With the Carlile's. Until I can save up to get my own place. I have to find a job." I said.

He smiled. "Well lucky for you, I'm hiring."

I smiled. "Really? Could I have an application?"

He shook his head. "You don't need one. You're hired."

I smiled bigger. "Well thank you so much, Mr Ashby!"

Austin came up behind me and set down some tool I had never seen before. "Hey, Mr A."

Mr Ashby rung him up. "Hi, Austin. How are you?"

He smiled and put his arm around me. "I got my best friend back, so I'm good."

I looked at Austin. "Mr Ashby just gave me a job."

Austin smiled. "That's awesome, Mads."

Mr Ashby handed Austin a bag. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Mr A." He said, walking towards the door.

I smiled. "When do I start?"

"How about next week? Monday." He said.

I nodded. "Okay. Thanks again." I followed Austin outside.

We got in Austin's truck and I looked at him. "When are your baseball try outs?"

"In 3 weeks." He said. "I'm gonna be practicing every day."

I nodded. "Okay. I'll help you."

He smiled and patted my leg. "I'm so happy your here, Mads."

---
*few days later*
*Austin's POV*

"Dad? Where's Madison?" I asked, walking past him.

"Out front, I think." He said.

I went outside and saw Madison sitting in the porch, her head down. She was concentrating hard on something she was drawing.

I sat on the step next to her, looking at her sketch book. Her drawing was amazing, but it was sad. It was the house next door, her old house. But it was darker. The windows were broken and the whole looked like it was deteriorating.

I rested my head on her shoulder. "You okay?"

She put her pencil down. "How could they just leave?"

I looked at her. "I don't know."

She looked at the house. "How could they just give me up and leave? Like I didn't exist." She shook her head. "Where are they?"

I put my arm around her. "I wish I knew, Mads."

She looked at me. "I hope he's dead."

I frowned. "Your dad?"

She nodded and looked back at the house. "I hope he choked on his own vomit."

I shook my head. "Mads..."

A tear slid down her cheek. "I know you're not supposed to say things like that, but after the things he did to me, I hope he rots in hell."

"Come here." I said, hugging her.