Risky Love// h.s.

Chapter 10

I am so terribly sorry for the extremely long wait! I have been super busy these last couple of months with school, but I hope to be back with more regular updates now, or really really soon. Please read my note at the end to know more about updates and such. Thank you so much for sticking around if you have and being patient. I hope I didn't lose any of you during my absence. I love you so much and I hope you enjoy! xx

*Not edited*

Maddison's POV

Carley's mother and father were standing outside of the restaurant when we arrived. As usual, her mother had a bright smile on her face when we stepped out of the vehicle, and I couldn't help but smile widely back at her. Her bubbly personality was very contagious.

"Hi, Maddison," she greeted me, pulling me in for a quick hug.

"Hi!"

"Mom, don't strangle her." Carly laughed from a few feet over and immediately her mother pulled away from the hug as her husband began to chuckle. 

"It's great to see you, Maddison," he greeted as well, giving me a quick hug before standing back. I had always considered the both of them to be sort of like parental figures to me since my own parents hadn't been in my life for quite some time now.

"Well, shall we all go in and eat?" Her mother asked, leading the way into the restaurant.

It looked to be a fairly fancy place and when we stepped in I couldn't help but look around in awe at how beautiful it was. It was elegant yet not too over-the-top, which I thought was perfect for right now. I hadn't originally wanted to tag along, but I was glad I did by the time we were seated. We ended up taking up a table for four in the middle of the place because it seemed to be rather busy.

"It's really lovely in here," I spoke to no one in particular as we awaited the delivery of our drinks.

Carly nodded, agreeing as she said, "I bet you're happy I convinced you to come now, am I right?" She laughed, thanking the waitress as her drink was placed down on the table in front of her.

"Thank you." I smiled to the woman serving us as I brought my glass of ice-water to my lips. "Yes, I am." I nodded a few second later, diverting my attention back to Carly.

"Me too. It will be much more fun with you here, rather than if I came by myself."

"So, Maddison, how have you been?" Carly's father piped up, directing the attention of everyone toward me.

"I've been alright," I answered, smiling softly. They were aware of the events that had taken place long ago, obviously, so it wasn't uncommon for the both of them to continuously make sure I was alright in regards to that.

"I feel like we haven't had the chance to speak to you in a while, sweetie," Carly's mother, Karen, added to the conversation, crossing her hands on the table in front of her as they both stared at me.

"I've been okay, really," I assured them, chuckling a bit to try to show my point a little further by lightening the conversation.

"Mom, dad, why don't you help us decide what to order? You both have been here more times than we have, I'm sure you know what's good," Carly butted in, directing the attention away from me. I mentally thanked her as I shot her a grateful look, glad that she had distracted them long enough to get me out of the spotlight. As much as I appreciated their concern, I liked it much better when the topic wasn't brought up. Even though they never directly mentioned it, we all knew where the conversation was bound to lead, and I didn't need to speak about my mother at that moment. In fact, she was about the last thing I wanted to think about, let alone discuss.