Trying to Fix You

Chapter 28 {Dinner & a Heartbreak}

It was Sunday night and Madyson had somehow managed to avoid Noah's attempts at communication, thankfully. Jeremy tried calling a few times but that ignore button looked a little too good for Madyson to pass up. She was sitting on her bed, trying to get caught up in physics when she heard her phone buzzing on her nightstand. She picked it up reluctantly thinking it didn't even matter who it was cause, odds were, it was someone she didn't want to talk to. She knew she couldn't avoid the talk that had to happen with Noah but she was sure as hell going to avoid it as long as possible. She glanced at the caller id and was pleasantly surprised. "Hey, Shay."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much, just finishing up some homework. What's up with you?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would be willing to put off that homework for a few more hours and grab dinner with me?"

"I would be more than willing to do that." She couldn't help but smile at the sound of dinner with her best friend for the first time in over a year. She desperately missed doing stuff with her girlfriends; me, Shayla and Dena but she knew that the last part of Jeremy's gross mac n'cheese wouldn't be dining with them. She wasn't sure how long it was going to take Shayla to get over what happened between Lucas and Dena but it felt nice to know that the bridge reaching from her to Shayla was becoming shorter and shorter every day.

~~~

Dena's putting on her makeup in Noah's bathroom when he pokes his head inside and looks her up and down with wide eyes. "Where are you going? A strip club?"

She rolls her eyes at him and looks back at the mirror to begin applying blush. "It's called 'Dave's Dinner & a Display'."

"You mean...the local bar."

She sets down her brush and turns to him with determination in her eyes. "You're driving me."

"What?"

"Yep, and you're going to come in and enjoy yourself and then you will finally agree with me when I say it's not a bar." She begins walking out of the bathroom and grabs his hand on the way out, pulling him along.

"I can't, I'm not of age." He chuckles at his own joke and can hear Dena groaning in aggravation as she pulls him out of his room.

~~~

Shayla sits down at the table of the local Italian restaurant as Madyson sits across from her. The waiter hands her and Madyson a menu but both of them hand them back and order before even glancing at the menu, knowing exactly what they want. This was yet another place of familiar territory for both of them and they could probably recite the menu on command.

"Ordering here is always an easy task." Madyson chuckles and takes a sip of her water.

Shayla nods and looks at her seriously. "So, how have you been doing?"

"I've been...better than expected. I have my breakdowns every now and again but all in all I think I'm finally starting to accept things."

Shayla nods with a small smile. "Good. So...you haven't had any more...hallucinations?"

She glances down at the white tablecloth in sadness, finally understanding the reason behind this spur of the moment dinner invitation. "You mean...have I seen Lucas?"

"I'm sorry...I don't mean to....I'm just curious. I looked it up online and some sites said that seeing a loved one after they've died could be like...a form of their consciousness that has yet to pass on. It might be interesting to-"

"-Shay...he's gone." She looks up at Shayla and feels nothing but pain for her. She was desperate to find anyway to be near Lucas, to see him again, to hear his voice.