MAD

~ Chapter 28 ~

After everything that had happened, Maddeline was finally in the road for a full recovery, and so was Sparkling Red.

It had been a few weeks since she had last heard from Joel, and her anger had decreased, at least until she could do something about it, because even if the anger wasn't there, the hatred sure was, because Joel had not only treated her badly, he had publicly attacked her friends.

After their last encounter, Joel had decided that giving an interview trash talking Maddeline and the boys was a good idea, too bad Josh and his team had jumped right in and decided that, having such a public statement made where he claimed so many bad things about all of them, a lawsuit was the best way to defend themselves while accusing him of defamation, among other things.

Maddeline was still staying with the boys, even if she felt well enough to be on her own, because it felt good to be surrounded by people she knew, people she loved like family, and people who were able to keep her mother from flying across the globe to shove soup down her throat.

The boys had gone back to recording their new album, and Maddeline had decided to take up their offer for real and feature in a few songs with them.

Singing with Zach was something she really had missed, and something she hoped she could keep doing, even if they never went back to the way they were before what they now referred to as "the great disaster of 2014".

With the album almost finished, the four boys spent less time at home, but because of their fear of leaving her alone, Maddeline was forced to accompany them to every place they went for an interview. She went to radio and television stations, talk shows, YouTube personalities houses and even some newspapers.

Zachary seemed to be happier too, and everyone noticed. After the mystery of the "unknown girl" was finally solved, Zach had said very shamelessly and very publicly, that even though Maddeline was not his girlfriend, he would love for her to be.

The interviewer, stood in shock for a few seconds before asking Maddeline, who was sitting behind the cameras what she thought of that, to which she answered that maybe, someday, in the future, it could be a possibility, but for now, her only love was food and musicals.

When they were on the way home, she whispered in Zach's ear, that maybe, if he started to be more like himself and less like the rock star he wanted people to think he was, she might just give him chance.

Her birthday was only a few days later, and they decided to celebrate by going out for dinner and a movie, because anything else was still too much for Maddeline's body after the incident. After the movie, when they were walking home, Zach pulled up his shirt sleeve and showed Maddeline the new tattoo he had gotten (for her), Elphaba stared back at her, from a thick layer of smoke and Oz as a background, and the words "Everyone deserves a chance to fly" bellow the image. Maddeline laughed and let her head rest against Zach's chest as he wrapped his arm around her.

"So, do I deserve a chance to fly?" he asked,  voice barely above a whisper.

Maddeline laugh and kissed his cheek.

"Maybe."

~The End~