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Post by Madison Benson on Aug 20, 2015 1:58:59 GMT
Madison had sat in her living room for a while now, just staring at the wall. She found that she didn't have the attention span to pick up the book that she had set aside before Parker had arrived at her home. She could only get through one or two words before her mind started to trail off and she had to fight the onslaught of tears that she knew were only moments away from rearing their ugly head. Her thoughts kept trailing off to questions she wished she would have asked, things that she would have said - had she only been prepared for what he was about to say. She could have had a dozen of comebacks and witty remarks, and maybe he would have realized that he didn't want to break up with her after all.
Pouring herself the last of the bottle of wine she had pulled out, she pushed the thoughts from her mind. If someone didn't want to be with her, she thought, then they didn't deserve to be with her. Another sip of her wine made her admit that she had wanted to be with him and she wasn't sure why he hadn't felt the same. She hated being an adult, she hated having to experience the same pain she had felt at seventeen. At least, she ammended, this time she got wine.
She had sent a quick text to Riley asking her to come over and so she contemplated throwing in her comfort movie, Pretty in Pink, and crying, or waiting for her friend. She figured there was no sense in holding off the inevitable and began searching for the DVD.
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Post by Riley Tyler on Aug 20, 2015 2:03:58 GMT
Riley had been at Adam's when she'd gotten Maddy's text message. Riley had been bouncing back and forth between residences for the past few weeks, she'd spent some time with Maddy but hadn't wanted to take advantage of her friend's hospitality, some time at Adam's, and some time with her father in Queens. But the moment Maddy had requested her presence she'd been up, out of Adam's bed and scrambling for her clothes. He'd laughed at her, helped her to find them without needing much explanation from her other than 'Maddy needs me' and had kissed her before she'd stumbled out of his apartment, trying to fix the strap on her sandal and get to her friend as fast as she could.
She'd made the error in judgment of getting wine before getting on the subway, so she looked like some kind of frazzled lush or crazy bag lady on the train ride over. But she didn't really care. She arrived at the brownstone, concern etched on her features and when Maddy buzzed her up, she made her way up the stairs, willing the bag containing the wine not to break. It was just as Maddy was pulling the door open for her that she realized her shirt was inside out, but resolved to ignore that for the time being. She looked at her friend sympathetically. "I brought wine, tell me everything."
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Post by Madison Benson on Aug 20, 2015 2:18:47 GMT
The buzzer had alerted her to her friend's arrival and she had paused the movie, just in time to watch Molly Ringwald have her first interaction with Duckie, and just in time for her to feel as though she was going to cry for Duckie's unrequited love of Andie. Thankfully the need to answer the door had stopped the compulsion to begin yelling through the TV at Molly for her complete ignorance of her best friend.
Riley's held a bag of wine and Maddy smiled half-heartedly at her, thanking her for coming armed for the evening. "There's really not much to tell," she said, taking the bag from her and moving it into the kitchen, placing the wine bottles that needed to chill in the refrigerator, but pulling one out for her to open now. She was working on removing the cork when she finally figured out what else she had wanted to say. "It was weird. It was just - I don't know. I wasn't expecting it, you know? I thought everything was fine."
She sloshed wine into her glass for herself and pulled out a clean glass for Riley, pouring a copious amount for her too. "I mean - why? What did I do that would have made him want to end it?" Looking over at her friend she took note of the fact that her shirt appeared to be on inside out. Realization hit Maddy quickly. "I'm so sorry! Were you with Adam?"
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Post by Riley Tyler on Aug 20, 2015 2:33:45 GMT
Riley walked into the apartment, setting her things down and listening carefully to her friend. She'd never been a fan of Parker Blye, but she'd encouraged Maddy to go after what she wanted and was sad that her friend had gotten hurt because of that. She looked at her friend empathetically, walking over to her friend and hugging her tightly. "You didn't do anything, Maddy. He just...he just didn't realize what he had. But it wasn't anything that you did."
When Maddy realized Riley had come from Adam's and apologized, Riley quickly shook her head. "It's fine," she assured her. "The second you asked me to come over there was never any place that I was going to be." Actually, when she thought of how easily Adam had accepted that she was practically running out the door, it endeared her to him even more. "He can wait and he knows it."
Taking the glass of wine from Madison, she nodded. "Do you want to talk or do you want to watch Pretty In Pink?"
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Post by Madison Benson on Aug 20, 2015 2:40:34 GMT
She hadn't realized how much she had needed her friend's hug until she actually embraced her. Holding it together was a more strenous activity than she would have thought and it felt nice to have someone there to support her, both figuratively and literally for a moment. She picked up her wine glass and took another sip, "I just wish I would have listened to you before when you said to be careful. I was just so sure that it was going to be different this time. It was just stupid wishful thinking."
Nodding as he friend told mentioned Adam, Madison had to smile a little. Their relationship was quickly becoming something of envy and she was so happy for Riley. It had been a long time since she seemed to have the weight of the world lifted off of her shoulders. "We can talk - if you want. I want to know how things are going for you - you seem happy."
Just because she felt like drowning her sorrows in a thousand bottles of wine didn't mean that her friend didn't deserve to be happy. And besides, the longer she kept from crying, the stronger and more like an adult she felt.
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Post by Riley Tyler on Aug 20, 2015 2:54:38 GMT
"Maddy," Riley said gently. "I told you to be careful, but I also told you to go with what you wanted. And, to be honest, I gave you relationship advice when I was engaged to Garrett. I know it sucks right now, but it'll be okay. You're better than him, he proved that by being an idiot and throwing away the best girl he was ever going to get. And now you know, which maybe is better than never knowing and always wondering what if you had given him another chance." She smiled, "You're not stupid. I think that maybe, sometimes you have to get hurt before you can find what really makes you happy."
And Riley believed that wholeheartedly. After all, she'd recently been hurt - though in a different way. Garrett hadn't broken her heart because he'd never had it. But Eliot Quinn and Garrett DeLuca had made her world come crashing down around her and in the middle of it, Adam had stayed standing at her side to help her pick up the pieces.
"Things are okay, I've been able to spend a lot more time with my dad than I have in a while lately. And I've got some promising leads on new jobs," she smiled. "I'm happy, I'm glad I don't have to lie anymore. And I don't think I ever told you just how sorry I was for keeping something from you. I thought I was doing something right, by standing by Garrett and not telling anyone a secret that I didn't feel was mine to tell." And she stood by that, she didn't think outing someone dealing with their own sexuality was right. "But I hated lying to you."
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Post by Madison Benson on Aug 20, 2015 3:03:06 GMT
If Riley had been able to walk away from the pain that she must have felt in the aftermath of her own heartbreak and devastation before, then this shoudl have been easy. It was the not knowing that was killing her. The fact that she still had a thousand things she wanted to ask him, and yet she was sure that she never wanted to see him again. She just felt hollow. It was the best way she could think of describing her overall emotions at the moment.
"The getting hurt part I could do without."
But regardless of how she felt, she was truly glad that he friend was doing well. "It's okay," she nodded, "I'm not angry with you for keeping that secret. I'm not angry with you at all, really. I just really want you to be happy and I'm so glad that you seem to be."
Madison just hoped some of that happiness was contagious.
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Post by Riley Tyler on Aug 20, 2015 3:26:42 GMT
Riley wound an arm around Madison again, leaning her head on her shoulder. "Getting hurt blows, but I'll tell you what - next time I see Parker Blye, I'm going to punch him. And I'm going to aim for the nose," she nodded, only half-kidding. There was a strong chance she might actually take a swing at the miserable British man. "And I'm happy. How could I not be happy, Maddy? I've got the best friend in the world," she teased, squeezing the brunette before taking a sip of wine.
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Post by Madison Benson on Aug 20, 2015 3:39:01 GMT
Maddy smiled at her friend and nodded. "Yes, please do punch him. That would make me feel a lot better, actually." She took hold of her wine glass and collected the bottle off of the counter, "Come on, Andie is about to friend-zone Duckie, but then Blake's going to show up and it's going to be wonderfully '80's and cheesy."
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