ᴜɴᴄᴏᴠᴇʀᴇᴅ | ꜱᴀɴᴛᴀɴᴀ ʟᴏᴘᴇᴢ

Seventeen, Dance With Somebody

Madeleine sat with her legs sprawled in Isabel's lap as the girl did her homework, Maddie watched her sister carefully as she easily completed math equations in her head that Madeleine would struggle to do with a calculator. Isabel notices her stares and speaks up, talking over Mercedes and Rachel's arguing.

"Mommy's been called to the stand tonight, and George will be there." She says quietly.

"I know, it's going to be okay though." Madeleine reassures both her sister, and herself.

Her thoughts are soon interrupted when Schue scribbles 'Whitney' on the whiteboard, Madeleine turns to Santana who was beaming brightly.

"About time!!" Rachel says clapping her hands.

The bell rings and Rachel pulls Madeleine to the side of the room as everyone leaves, Maddie raises an eyebrow at her.

"Everything okay?" She wonders.

"Look. I just wanna congratulate you, I heard about your Juilliard letter and I want to wish you good luck in your audition... I know we haven't really seen eye to eye- and I realise I shouldn't have been so harsh on you... you have had it rough these past few years and I admire how strong you are." Rachel says.

Madeleine's gaze softens and she pulls her in for a quick hug.

"Thank you Rachel... good luck with NYADA, we all know you got it!"

(Madeleine is Santana, Britt danced w Tom at the start and Mads w Tana)

Maddie and Brittany had been choreographing a number for a while, so when the opportunity came to perform a duet together, they did.

--

Santana approached Madeleine a few hours later with a bewildered look on her face, the moment Maddie saw her she burst out laughing.

"What's up with you?" She asks.

"I have just agreed to do a number... with Berry?" Santana mumbles, still looking confused.

"Yeahh, I got a huge pep talk from her this morning and it surprisingly did not make me wanna rip my hair out. I guess we are maturing." Maddie says linking pinkies with her.

"Whatever you do... don't let anyone record- I don't want this getting in public." Santana replies.

"Of course not! That would be awful..." Madeleine says as she pulls out her phone and scrolls down in her contacts for Finn.

Santana just told me she'd love if you could record her and Berry's number, I am too but we wanna get all the angles!!

Finn: 👍🏻💪🏼

Madeleine chuckles to herself before sitting down beside Thomas and taking her phone out, the record button ready. 

Santana scowls at Madeleine the moment she notices the phone, but as the performance goes on she actually starts to enjoy herself and her scowl turns to a smile, afterwards she sits herself down next to Madeleine. 

"I hate you." She mumbles, biting her tongue to hold her smile. 

"That's not what you were saying last night." Madeleine winks and laughs at how red Santana gets. 

--

Madeleine picks at the hem of her long black dress, it was Charlotte's in another life. This was the first court case in weeks that her father would be sitting in, after he verbally abused her and the therapist- he wasn't allowed in the room. 

"Andrea Parker to the stand!" 

Madeleine does what she always does in the courtroom, she blocks it all out. But the moment her mother raised her voice she couldn't help listening.

"George was a manipulative, he told me if I ever tried to leave... he would find us and kill us. I was so terrified of what he was capable of- that I never left. It was the biggest regret of my life, I could've gotten us out and safe much sooner... and my Maddie would've never went through all those surgerys." Andrea sniffs. 

"George Parker states you had a clear drinking problem while the children were in your care when he was serving in Japan." George's lawyer speaks up. 

"I did. I made terrible mistakes, and I payed the price for it- I was comatose for a long time and I believe I deserved that, but who didn't deserve to be treated like they were, were my children. They are perfect beautiful kids- and I don't know what possesses someone to hurt them." Andrea looks straight at George. 

"You will stay away from my kids- don't you dare lay another fucking hand on them, do you understand me!" She shouts over to George. 

"You are an alcoholic and an unfit mother!" George roars. 

Madeleine buries her head into the nape of Charlotte's neck, she strokes her hair mumbling comforting words as George is dragged away from the room. 

"My client has been clean for 7 months, she has had multiple CPS checks on the home and it is clear the children are in good care." Maddie's lawyer speaks up. 

Charlotte is surprised when Madeleine doesn't pull away from her as they leave the courtroom, Andrea is too shaky to drive so Charlotte takes them all back. 

"How about I stay?" Charlotte asks Madeleine softly who nods. 

The sisters curl up in Madeleine's bed, closer than they have been in months. Charlotte missed this, she always had such a close bond growing up with her sister and that slowly was taken from her as the years went on. 

"How is school?" She whispers. 

"Good... I can't believe we are already graduating, I'm gonna miss it." Madeleine admits. 

"Just remember, every Cheerio's and Glee Club competition our fabulous little sister will be part of- we can always go watch, plus she'll probably be in all the smart kids clubs we were never clever enough for." Charlotte says with a laugh. 

"Have you thought about New York?" Madeleine asks her. 

"Yeah, I'm going to go. You were right, I can't live life taking the easy safe options- not after what we've been through." Charlotte replies. 

"I'm proud of you, Lottie." 

"I'll need a little room-mate, until she gets on her own feet. I have a pretty good candidate." Charlotte teases. 

"What's she like?" Madeleine asks. 

"A small, pretty blonde. Kinda annoying, but she can sing and dance for days... she's also going to be attending Juilliard." Charlotte shares. 

"She sounds amazing." Madeleine continues. 

"Trust me, she is." Charlotte replies.

"I love you, Lottie." 

"I love you too, Maddie." 

Thoughts?? 
Do we want more Lottie/Maddie? 
Should they move in together at the start of Season 4? 
Mads is really seeing the brighter side of life... do ya'll think I'm planning on keeping it that way?

Ellie x

BTW I AM PUBLISHING MY STRANGER THINGS STORY AGAIN! IT IS MY FIRST EVER BOOK ON HERE SO I CHERISH IT, PLEASE SHOW IT SOME LOVE <3 

THE LABORATORY'S CURSE | STRANGER THINGS