Winning The War; BOS 4

Their Confessions

Antonio Masters
I couldn't help but keep looking at Maddison. She sat staring at her lap opposite me in the limo. She sat alone, the others all sitting away from her, watching her cautiously. "I shouldn't have left." Maddison says quietly yet we all heard.
"You were hurt." Crystal says.
"So were all of you. I made two of you cry. I betrayed you. Do you know what I did after I saw the news that day? I ran. I didn't stop running. I had no idea where I was going. I just let myself lead the way. I ended up at the entrance to King IQ." She replies without looking up.
"But that's 40 km from home. How could you have run that far?" Delance says in shock.
"I ran because I was trying to hurt myself." Maddison hissed.
She whips out a knife and we all leap back. She uses it to cut the leg of her left jeans leg and pulls it down to reveal long, horizontal scars covering her thigh. "I blamed myself. I got his mother killed and then I thought I'd gotten Antonio killed too." Maddison says sharply.
"Wait. What?" I stare at her in shock.
"That file named failed. It holds all the information of a mission I was leader of when I was 19. The mission to figure out why the Diablos wanted Melody dead and to protect her. We were told that if she died it wouldn't be a big deal as log as we got the information. But to me... To me it was a main priority. But your charm Antonio effected my judgment and I faltered. I lost concentration. I was with you and your mother when she was killed. Not at the party but right next to you two. I was Layla Barlow. It was my fault your mother was killed Antonio. Not yours." Maddison says, suddenly spilling her biggest secret to all of us yet her eyes were glued to mine.
"I-I-I don't know what to say." I stutter and Maddison sighs, putting her head in her hands.
"Why did you have that photo of us in your pocket and why did you apologize to me and not the others?" She asks after a moments silence and Ashley spins to face me.
"Tell her or I'll make you. She's made her confession now you make yours." She hissed and I glare at her.
I think back 10 or so minutes ago to when Maddison admitted to loving me and I sigh. "Because I love you Maddison. I always had. I slept around because I thought I didn't want to be in love and because of that deal we made. I only thought of it because I thought it was what you wanted." I sigh. Maddison sniffs and wipes her eyes.
"I've messed up so bad. I don't deserve to be with any of you. Especially you Antonio. You deserve better that me. I'm just a stupid girl who fell for the guy who killed my brother in law and was seconds from marrying him." She shakes her head and leans back. We all look at her in confusion.
"The girl at the wedding is Catalina. My twin sister and Barbados' widowed wife. My mother gave her up to protect her. No birth records nothing. My father didn't even know. Only me and mum." She explains.
"You know. I don't care about any of the stupid things you've done. We've all done stupid things in our lives Maddison. For example I jumped out of a Russian military jet as it was going over the highly secure Russian camp. It exploded seconds later in a cloud of Crystals fly grenades. They killed everyone important and powerful. I then walked across Russia to the ocean where I took a boat to Washington DC. Then I walked here. I did it all because I love you Maddison and I wanted to keep my promise and come back to you. I just had no idea if my plan would work or not." I say as I move to sit next to her.
"You still don't deserve me Antonio. You basically blew yourself up for America. For me. All I did was cry, cut and almost marry the cousin of your mother's killer. A Diablo to make it worse." She grumbles and I pull her close, plant on a kiss to the side of her head.
"I wanted to be all dramatic and romantic but I need to prove how much I love you. How much I need to be with you." I say and pull of my shirt. I turn and she gasps, her eyes widen. I know she's looking at the tattoo across my shoulder blades.
Two words.
One name.
Maddison Masters.
"Antonio that's not..." I don't allow her to finish by crashing my lips against hers.
She shuts up imediantly. When I pull away she's smiling happily. "Damn I never knew I missed that so much." She says giddily.
I pass her am emerald green box and she frowns. "I rang a Russian contact of mine and got them to specially make it for you. They had plenty of time since I walked across Russia to get there." I say.
Maddison looks at me then down at the box. The others all lean in closer. With a shaking hand Maddison opens the box and almost drops it as she gasps.
Inside was a silver ring with an emerald in the center of a delicate silver flower. "There's an inscription." I say softly.
She carefully takes it out and looks at the inside of the ring. 'Broken Nose + Fainting = Everlasting Love' it said. "I love you with all my heart Maddison.
Will you marry me and become Maddison Masters?" I ask hopefully.
Maddison is silent. She stares down at the ring for what feels like hours before slipping it onto her left ring finger with a smile.
"I thought you'd never ask. Literally." I laugh at her slight joke and kiss her forehead.
First there were confessions.
Then the secret was revealed.
Then more confessions.
But mostly the happiest ending to what was the crappiest day.