AN: So, this is... well it was supposed to be a one-shot, but it's more like a bunch of drabbles, but winter keys asked me to write a one-shot for her. It's very overdue and for that, I apologize deeply to her. But I hope she still enjoys this, as well as everyone else. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the OC Madison, nor do I own Cheng. The first six quotes I based each scene after are not mine, I found them on someone's profile named XHugsOKisses and I'm not sure where she got those. The last one is from a site called allgreatquotes and credits it to Ingrid Bergman.
&.Heart.&
"Sometimes you put up walls not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down."
He watched Madison plaster a smile on her face whenever someone looked and then, when she thought no one was looking, let a frown take it's place. He could tell that something was bothering her and he could also tell she wasn't ready to talk about it. But he didn't know how much longer he could go without knowing what was silently making her cry.
She looked up and caught him staring and forced a smile. He gave her one back, just to appease her worry that he saw her frown, and turned around. After class, he would ask her after class.
The bell rang and he slowly packed his stuff up. He watched her leave and waited a few seconds before following after her. They had lunch next so it wouldn't be weird if they were a little late.
"Madison."
She let out a surprised squeak and loudly shut her locker.
"Oh, hey Cheng."
He said nothing more before wrapping his arms around her. She stiffened in surprise before melting into him and returning the hug.
"You know, I'll always be here to listen right?" he asked her.
She gasped, obviously not expecting him to say that, and went to push him away. He tightened his hold on her.
"I don't care what it's about, I'll always listen to you."
He felt her tremble before she let out a big sob.
"I just... my parent's are fighting alot and it's just..."
She couldn't finish, on account of the tears and sobs she could no longer hold back. He merely smiled, rubbing her back in a comforting manner. He may not be able to keep her parents together, but he could be there for her and be her shoulder to cry on.
"Never frown, even when your sad, because you never know when someone could be falling in love with your smile."
He loved his seat in math. From here, whenever he looked up and to the right a little, he could get a clear view of Madison. He loved just being able to look at her, she always seemed so peaceful. She was always smiling and she was always making people around her smile even when they were sad. She just had that effect on people, especially him. He always felt like he was walking on air when he was around her.
"Cheng, eyes on your own paper."
He crashed back to reality and as his eyes focused he realized he had been staring at her. She smiled sweetly at him and he felt his face heat up as he dropped his eyes. Oh yeah, they were taking a math test. This wouldn't go over very well. While he was a genius in math, Madison was not. It wasn't that she wasn't good, it was that she struggled sometimes to grasp the concept.
She would probably be freaking out the rest of the day, worried that she didn't graph the function right or that she messed up in her multiplication somewhere along the line. She usually questioned herself after every test, but math especially.
He glanced up at the clock, saw they had 35 minutes left, glanced down at his paper, saw he only had to do 20 more problems, and decided he could easily get them done in the time limit. He rested his head in his hand and doodled random things on his paper, one being his name in flames and another being a stick ninja, telling the teacher that the stick ninja was going to steal a few bonus points. When drawing got boring, but he wasn't quiet ready to put his mind to work, he decided it would be okay to take a quick peak at Madison.
He peered up and had to smile when he saw her chewing on her pencil, eyebrows furrowed and tapping her fingers on the table. He was right, she was already freaking out. He dropped his eyes when he heard his teacher stand up to walk around the room and picked his pencil up and started doing the next problem.
He was able to easily finish his test, and he was even able to add a few more drawings to his paper. He slowly gathered his stuff as Madison finished the last problem and turned her test in.
He smiled as they walked out of the room together, interlinking their fingers and heading towards her next class.
"Calm down," he leaned over to kiss her cheek, "You did fine. Smile. You look better smiling."
"When two hearts race, both win."
The two laid on a blanket under the stars, chatting quietly to each other and pointing out different constellations. It was Friday after a long day of school and the two were just relaxing.
"Look, the little dipper," Madison told him, pointing it out with her right hand and squeezing his hand with her left.
He smiled and squeezed her hand back. He enjoyed quiet moments with her like these, where it was just the two of them and they didn't have to worry about tests or homework for awhile.
"It's nice tonight," she stated, gaze sweeping over the deserted park where the two were at, "And quiet. I like it."
"Yeah, I'm glad we could do this. We really needed this."
"For real."
A silence insued, not an awkward one, but a comfortable one. He liked how the two of them didn't have to talk and they could just be with each other. His smile widened before he squeezed her hand and turned his head to look at her.
The moon was shining down on her and reflecting off her eyes, making the dark brown orbs sparkle and shine. Her light brown hair was splayed out in waves underneath her head and he felt his heart speed up at the sheer beauty he was gazing upon. Upon realizing he was staring, she turned her head towards him.
"What?"
He smiled and leaned forward to kiss the tip of her nose, "I love you."
A light pink blush painted her cheeks as she turned back towards the stars, "I love you too you sap."
"A teardop is insignificant in a pool of water, but it can touch the soul as it runs down someone's face."
School had just let out and he was in a hurry. Madison hadn't went to school that day and he was going to her house to make sure she was okay.
"Hey Cheng, coming to the park after school?" one of his friends asked as he passed by.
"Maybe later."
He was out the door before anyone could ask where.
He had to refrain himself from running to her house and keep it at a brisk walk. But he was there in about 15 minutes.
"Hello Mrs. Stewart, is Madison here?" he asked polietly in his best English.
Normally, Madison's mother would smile and say what a well behaved boy he was, but not today. Today she looked tired and her eyes were blood shot and she hadn't even changed out of her pajamas. Today she just let him inside and let him walk to Madison's room.
"Madison?" he knocked lightly at the slightly open door and pushed it open slowly.
She was sitting on her bed, knees drawn up to her chest and when she looked up he could see a tear slip out of her eye. That single tear broke his heart and he was by her side in a second. He pulled her into his arms and she willingly went with the flow, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He rubbed her back as she started crying and rocked them back and forth. He asked her what was wrong but either she was crying to hard to hear him or just didn't want to tell him.
The more tears that soaked his shirt the more his heart broke and the tighter he pulled her to him. Those tears were like burns that scorched his skin and he didn't think he would ever be able to forget the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach as he listened to her cry. He couldn't do anything to stop the tears. He wasn't able to protect her.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear, "I'm so sorry."
He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. Her tears. Her pain. Or his tears.
"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be their world."
He wasn't sure when he had started falling in love with Madison, it just kinda happened. One moment she's the new girl and the next moment she's all he can think about. One moment he's focusing on his karate and the next moment hes focusing on the way the sun shines on her hair. One moment she's not in his life and the next moments she's everything.
He doesn't like to think about what his life would be like if she wasn't in it. It seems dull and boring and full of karate and tournaments and nothing else. With her theres trips all over the city and fun days out at the park. And school. School actually had a purpose now. At school the two would hang out all time and help each other study for tests and do homework together.
And his tournaments were even more fun. Now, instead of playing dirty and cheating to win, he won by pure strength and his need for her to see him in a winning light. She was always there, clapping and shouting and being a cheerleader in general.
He wasn't sure if waking up thinking about her and going to sleep dreaming about her was healthy, but he really wasn't complaining. He was always excited to see her and he loved hanging out with her.
He really didn't care that she was the center of his world, as long as she stayed there.
"When you get caught looking at him, just remember, he was looking back."
He loved doing his homework outside in the sun, especially when Madison was helping him. The sun always seemed to make her hair shine and it turned a lighter brown then it actually was. The sun illuminated her skin, much like the way it made Edward Cullen sparkle, expect it didn't creep him out.
He loved just watching her. The way she tucked those pesky pieces of hair that got in her eyes behind her ear. The way she wrinkled her nose when something didn't quite make sense. The way she absently mindedly hummed to a tune he couldn't quite place, but didn't mind hearing. He just loved everything about her.
"Stop staring."
He blinked twice before he realized she was smiling at him.
"Sorry," he grinned, "You just look really cute."
She blushed, "Shut up and get back to work."
He chuckled but did as she was say.
"You look really cute when your watching me," she mumbled and he outrighted laughed.
"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superflous."
He was nervous. Like, butterflies-are-having-a-party-in-my-stomach nervous. But who could blame him? He was getting ready to confess to Madison and this was rediculous. Cheng did not get nervous, ever. Not for tournaments. Not for the first day of school. Not for tests. Not for anything. Then what was so different about now?
Maybe it was the fact that he found Madison absolutely gorgeous. Or that her laugh reminded him of angels. Or maybe it was the way everytime she smiled it sent his heart racing.
"Hey, Madison? Can I uh... talk to you, for a sec?" he asked, rubbing the back of her neck.
He had caught her at her locker, right before lunch which was perfect because the hallway was empty.
"Sure, what's up Cheng?" there it was, that blinding smile that made him momentarily forget what he was doing.
"I was just... I wanted to tell you that... God, this is ridiculous."
He rubbed his eyes and leaned forward, kissing her cheek, "I just... wanted to tell you I like you."
She seemed shocked for a moment before she giggled, "I like you too."
&.Heart.&
AN: So, winter keys, what do you think? Was it okay? I tried my best and I really liked the way it turned out, but the fourth one could have been better. :) Other then that, I hope it's okay.