One Temptation

What happened? (Chapter 35)

I literally didn't even know how to write this chapter. I wrote it, rewrote, then edited and rewrote it again.

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Madison's POV:

I woke up that morning with a strange heaviness in my chest.

My body felt sluggish, and my mind kept circling back to recent events—the small moments of closeness that felt real.

There was a comfort in them, something I hadn't expected. But now, the uncertainty crept in, making me second-guess everything.

Still, I forced myself out of bed, pulling on my hoodie and walking downstairs for breakfast.

I walked into the kitchen. Gran Lizzy was at the stove, Jake, Cole, Lia and Em, already seated at the table.

I found it strange that West was sitting in a completely different seat then usual, he usually sat in front of me. But that could be pointless to think about.

"Morning, everyone," I muttered with a yawn.

Jake grinned up at me, "Morning, Madi You sleep okay?"

I smiled at him, Cole, Lia and Em also replied and I fell into a conversation with Gran Lizzy before sitting down.

Gran gave me a warm smile. "Morning, sweet. Help yourself to some breakfast."

West didn't say a word. He didn't even glance in my direction. My chest squeezed tighter, but I told myself it didn't matter.

Maybe he hadn't heard me. Yeah, that was it. He was distracted by something on his phone.

I was convincing myself bullshit, it was an excuse to stop that feeling settling in my stomach that something was wrong.

But as the morning wore on, it became clear that wasn't the case.

I sat down, making sure not to make it obvious that I was paying attention. Waiting for any acknowledgment. Anything.

But every time I tried, he just... didn't care. It was like I wasn't even there.

I sighed, it was completely normal for him to ignore me in the mornings, because he just wasn't a morning person in general, but today felt off.

Even in those mornings he had made it a habit of saying good morning to me first, and smiling, cracking a joke that made me laugh.

"So, what's the plan for today?" I asked, directing my question to everyone at the table.

Jake and Cole started talking about some thing they wanted to do today. Getting a conversation out of Lia, Em and Gran, but all I could think about was him.

I stared at him for a second, waiting for something—anything.

But the longer I waited, the more my heart started to sink. He hadn't even looked up from his damn phone.

Jake was halfway through some story about something when his elbow knocked over a glass of water, sending it spilling across the table.

"Shit, sorry!" Jake jumped up, grabbing napkins to clean the mess.

Water dripped toward the edge, spilling into West's lap. He barely flinched, eyes still glued to his phone.

"Uh, West, your phone's gonna get wet." I said loud enough for everyone to hear, so I couldn't make the excuse of he didn't hear me.

He finally looked up, his eyes meeting mine with the coldest, blankest expression I'd seen in a while.

"I can handle it," he said, his voice sharp and detached.