MAD

~ Chapter 5 ~

By the end of the night, Maddeline was exhausted as she dragged herself up the stairs to her apartment.

After leaving Josh's office, she had rushed to the other side of town so she could fix the mess with the construction company working on her most recent project.

As soon as she crossed the door and it closed behind her, she kicked her shoes off and dropped her jacket on the floor, soon followed by the rest of her clothes as she made her way to the bathroom.

Half an hour later, she laid on her bed with a towel wrapped around her wet body. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she let herself relax and enjoy the silence surrounding her. A few minutes had passed when she felt something tickle her feet, making her smile instantly as she sat up and started petting the dog.

"Hey there buddy, how was your day?" she asked, running her hands through the dog's fur. "Yeah, I know, I missed you too." She cooed.

Maddeline pushed herself off the mattress and went into her walk in closet, pulling on an old shirt and a pair of pajama shorts before making her way to the kitchen, dog in tow, knowing she was going to feed him.

"There you go." She placed a bowl of food and another of water next to the counter where a tub of ice cream was waiting for her.

As they both enjoyed their meals in silence, a know on the door broke the peace. Barking, Larkin started jumping at the door.

"Come on, let me open it." Maddeline asked, pushing the dog aside.

Opening the door, she saw three man standing there, looking at her with concern on their faces.

"Boys." She nodded. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?" she asked, stepping aside to let them in.

Each and every one of them hugged her on the way in, before facing Larkin, who stood in front of them looking very protective over Maddeline.

"Larkin, don't be mean, let them in." she scowled, before guiding the boys into her living room and offering them a seat.

"Did you seriously name your dog Larkin?" Gabriel asked, looking at Maddeline as he would look at a crazy person.

She simply smiled and nodded, sitting on the couch.

"Yes, of course I did." She answered firmly. "So, how've you been?" she turned to Gabriel and Michael while grabbing Nate's hand.

"Well, we've been on a world tour and stuff." Michael shrugged. "What about you? We haven't seen you in years Maddie! And now, we find you in a fucking record label!" he started to raise his voice as he spoke, alerting Larkin, who moved closer to Maddeline.

"You need to calm down." She spoke softly, as her free hand moved to caress the dog. "Michael, you know damn well why I left. And you also know that I never stopped being in touch with Nate and Gabe. You stopped responding to my texts and answering my calls. You didn't make the effort, so I stopped trying too." She said, as calm as she could possibly be confronting a friend.

Michael looked down, ashamed of his actions.

"I'm sorry," he sighed "I was just so mad that you wouldn't hang out with us anymore. You were the first one to believe in us as a band and you gave us so much support, and then you simply disappeared right when we were about to make it big. It was hard for me to not have you there while we were recording and touring and all of that..." he shook his head and looked down at his hands, that were twitching on his lap. "I'm really sorry."

Maddeline let go of Nate and moved closer to Michael, pulling his head down and resting it against her shoulder.

"It's fine" she tangled her hands in his hair "Just please, stop being such an asshole." She smiled softly as the others laughed at the exchange.

They stayed up until late, telling stories and catching up on the event they had missed out in each other's lives, slowly, but surely going back to what they used to be.

"So," Gabe started, looking shocked and amazed at the same time, "what you're saying, is that you'll be opening a new discotheque soon?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." Maddeline answered, with a laugh.

"Who knew you would turn out to be such an amazing entrepreneur" Michael looked fairly astonished by Maddeline's new activities.

"You own like three restaurants and now a discotheque?"

"What can I say, I'm a woman of many talents!" she shrugged, letting her fingers paly with the fur of a sleeping Larkin.

"Talking about talent," Nate spoke up "what were you doing with Josh?" all the boys looked curious about that matter, nodding their heads as they saw Maddeline's cheeks flush deep red at the attention.

"Well, we've been talking about me making a record..." she looked down at her lap before continuing. "We're going to sign the contract some time next week, I think."

She looked up to be met with looks of pure joy and proudness.

"Finally!" one of them exclaimed, making the others quickly murmur agreements.

"Oh, I think I know what you should do!" Gabe jumped in his seat, clapping his hand enthusiastically and whispering in Michael's hear.

"What are you two whispering about?" Maddeline asked, sounding curious, but somewhat afraid of their idea. "My house, my rules. Spill it out!"

"Okay." Michael agreed. "We think you should record a couple of tracks with us."

"Hell yes!" jumped Nate.

"Fuck no!" proclaimed Maddeline.

The two of them shared a look with Nate and soon enough the three of them were giving her pleading looks as Michael and Gabe begged verbally, going as far as falling to their knees.

"Come on guys, this isn't fair." She grumbled. "You know I don't want to be near him, and you go and ask me to sing with him?"

"Please?" Nate joined Michael and Gabe on the floor, making it humanly impossible for her to refuse. "It will be just like the old times. All of us, singing together, dancing around and shit..."

With a sigh, she stood up and walked to the front door, opening it and pointing to the hall. As they walked past her, looking sad and dejected, they said their goodbyes, even as they stood outside, waiting for her to say something back.

"Fine, I'll do it. But if he dares to say anything out of line, you'll have a lead singer with a new nose!"

The boys cheered and said their farewells once more before leaving Maddeline alone with her thoughts.

As she laid in bed, her decision finally downed on her, making her burry her head on the pillows and scream as loud as she could.

"It hasn't even started and I'm already regretting it Larkin," she said softly to the dog laying next to her. "Please let it all be a dream..."

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Author's Note:

Hello everyone!!! Hope you're all having a good year so far and all of that.

If you liked this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment and all that jazz!

See you in two weeks!

Besitos,

Jessy.