(Author's note: This story is written by two people. In fact we had roleplayed this. But when it got to be so long and so good, we started considering on sharing our story. If ya don't like it, comment and I'll stop posting after to many negative comments. Okay? But if you enjoy it, don't forget to tell us! We love feedback! :) but hope ya enjoy! )
Another year of high school . . . Daryl Dixon sighed and looked up at large brick building in front of him. He shook his head and debated on skipping the first day of school. Thing was, if he did and his daddy found out, he'd beat him good, and he didn't want that. Didn't need anyone to see the bruises or anything like that in gym or the locker room. Growling softly he strode up the steps, one hand on his backpack strap. He swiped at his shaggy hair that threatened to cover his eyes. It was then that a flash of orangish red caught his eye. He turned towards it, curious.
A pretty redhead stood there, looking nervous as hell as she stood in the small crowd of kids. He would have let her suffer, but something made his feet move. He shook his head, couldn't believe what he was doing but kept going towards her. Once he reached her, he stopped to stand next to her. He looked up at the building with her. "You know . . . It don't bite . . . It's just school . . ." He rolled his broad shoulders and started towards the place.
Both of Madison's hands was placed tightly around the straps of her overly girlish backpack, the backpack her step mother just had to buy her for the first year, both of her light blue hues gazing up at the building before herself. On the outside she thought she was playing a pretty bold face, while on the inside her stomach wouldn't stop flopping and she swore up and down she was gonna end up sick before the day was over. Her view of the building was quick to change as she landed her eyes upon the back of her brother's head, watching as he was already crowded by a group of kids, and wooing the panties off the girls. "Typical."She mumbled rolling her eyes while crossing her arms over her chest. Edwin was able to worm himself into everyone easier then Madison ever could, of course at the end of the first week she would have friends...But they wasn't true friends in her mind, truthfully she wished it was harder for the popular kids to like her, Madison took what she could though.
The young teenager jumped out of her skin as she heard the older boy next to her darting a small glare at him before looking back at the place. "School might not, but don't mean the people couldn't,"She mumbled after him lightly kicking at a rock before heading inside before the wave of kids would squish themselves around her to get inside. "Alright Mads. See how long it takes you to get lost." She laughed at her self pulling a small paper out of her back pack to find her locker number, and as well her class list.
He heard her retort as he left her behind and couldn't help but chuckle. At least she wasn't stupid, he thought as he got his paper on what classes he'd be going to this year. The bell rang and rolled his eyes. Of course on the first day he'd be late for his first class. This was already bulshit. Shaking his head, he made it to Trig just in the knick of time. He parked himself way in the back so he wouldn't get called on to much. After almost nearly an hour, the horrid class was over and it was on to the next one. Slowly the day crept by.
When it came to lunch time, Daryl gave a sigh of relief and got his pizza, chocolate milk and chips and went to sit down. He spotted the redhead he saw earlier at the other line and she was apologizing to the bitch lunch lady. He's had problems with her in the past. Frowning, Daryl went over to see what was the problem.
"You don't have enough money young lady. You can only have a bag of chips and a drink with that . . ." Daryl made a disgusted face and pulled out what money was needed. He glared at the lunch lady and nodded to the redhead and went to go sit back down.
Madison was overly hungry by the time she got into the lunch room as well as standing in the lunch line, also feeling a little good that her day was better then she thought. All the classes so far was alright, granted gonna be hard but that was a given. She quickly grabbed herself an apple, chips, pb&j as well as the milk that was given out to everyone but was quickly held at a snag when she was trying to pay for her lunch. Madison was really shocked when the boy from earlier came over and paid what few coins she was missing for her own lunch, he was gone before she could even utter a thank you at him.
Though he wasn't gonna get away from her that quickly, Madison quickly grabbed her tray and followed behind him a few paces only to take a seat at the empty table next to his own. She chewed at the inside of her lip as she opened the bag of chips quickly sending a look at him before looking back at the table in front of herself.
He sat down at an empty table and picked up his pizza. The pizza was nearly to his mouth when he heard someone sit at the next table over. He saw that flash of red and sighed. Looked like he had a pet freshman. He shook his head and knew he was being to nice. He set his pizza down and looked over at her. He debated if he should join her, or tell her to get over here. He finally decided with, "Get over her Red . . . you're sitting by yourself anyway. Might as well sit with my sorry ass so you have some company . . ." He rumbled out.
Madison popped a chip into her mouth when he said something to her making her head pull out of her lap and an eye brow perk up; looking around since he called her Red. "I'm alright, pretty sure you'll have some pretty girl to sit around soon enough, or a group of your friends,"She stated softly reaching into the bag for another one of her chips, merely just picking around at them now. "I just...Wanted to thank you for helping me back there, if I ever run into my brother around this place, I'll get whats needed to pay you back."She said quickly, "The least I could do.."
He laughed softly at that, knowing better than that. "Yeah sure . . . friends . . ." He rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it . . . Just a few bucks . . ." He shrugged. He glanced around, not even sure why he did it, grabbed his tray, and joined her at her table. "Since your so stubborn about joining me . . ." He rumbled with annoyance while he bit into his pizza.
Madison felt herself blush slightly when he came over her to her own table chopping down on the corner of her lip for just a small moment, "Few bucks can go along way for some body."She replied before grabbing her apple to quickly bite into, "Want this?"She asked softly holding the milk out towards him, "I have my own water with me already, but the lady handing them out made me take it." She looked at him for a strong moment before trying to push the milk at him once more. "Also, didn't you notice? I'm a red head, one of the most stubborn creatures in the world."
He knew what she meant, cause he did need the money. It was hard to get money for him, unless he wanted to become a real shithead and get even more into the wrong crowd. He swallowed the bite of pizza he had taken and looked into her deep blue eyes. "That's true . . . Just . . . wanted to be nice is all . . . You don't have to pay me back though . . . Forget about it . . ." He sighed and took the milk, muttering, "Should have gotten Chocolate milk . . ." When he heard what she said next he couldn't help but laugh. Which didn't happen to him alot. Hell, it earned him a few stares. He was smiling when he bit into his pizza again, another rarity for him.
Madison giggled at him a soft bit, finding his laugh to be cute as well as that small smile over his face. Maybe this whole high school thing wasn't as bad as she thought. "My name is Madison, liked to be called Mads though."She introduced herself first to him, "Guess since we'll be having lunch together, we should at least know each others name, yeah?" She questioned before biting into her apple once more. "You a freshmen too?" She questioned, "Your pretty tall, and more...Grown up to be an freshmen."
He looked at her when he heard her giggle, and thought it was cute. He nodded as she gave her name. He then blinked when she insinuated that they'd have lunch all the time. He wouldn't mind, even if he had a reputation. "Yeah . . . Name's Dixon . . . Daryl Dixon. You can call me either one . . . Don't care . . . Not a freshman . . . Senior . . . Actually failed last year and they made me come back . . ." He shrugged his broad shoulders then as if it didn't bother him, when it actually did. He hated to seem stupid. He wasn't, it was just his damnable drunk of a father. Always beating on him, sometimes knocking him the fuck out and he'd miss school. Sometimes he would skip school intentionally so no one would see him so injured. He shook his head from his thoughts, and drank some of his milk.
"Oh."Madison went quiet for a moment picking the stem of her apple while she thought over what he said, leaning forward in her chair a bit, pulling the back legs off the ground. "Well..I could always be like..A help buddy for you?"She questioned up feeling a blush riding over her face, she felt really stupid saying it. "Not like calling you stupid or nothing like that!" She implied quicker, almost wanting to kick herself in the ass. "Just..."She paused giving a frustrated groan before biting into her apple, given up on the subject all together while moving onto her sandwich now.
He frowned at what she said, Daryl feeling stupid now and didn't like it. He growled softly and paid more attention to his pizza now, even if he wasn't hungry anymore. "Ain't stupid . . . Just don't have enough time for this bulshit . . ." He lied easily, his voice low. Most people would be intimidated by it. It was why he sat alone, why he had a reputation. Why he was a bad boy as some girls would call it.
Madison frowned a bit, "Sorry..Wasn't implying that you was."She said softly pulling the crust from her sandwich, already able to hear her brother's voice taunting her heavily. It overly sucked to be a smart girl. "I'll shut up now." She got to finish eating quickly and went to toss her trash into the can near the front of the room before joining him again; pulling one leg up on the chair, resting her chin against it.
His lips twitched at what she said, but he wasn't sure what to say after that so he just finished eating his lunch. He was finishing up with it when she returned to the table. He just let his tray there, planning on getting rid of it when the bell rang. He sighed wondering what to do or say now, for he felt like an asshole and dumbass all in one. "Kind of music ya like?" He asked lamely.
"I like all kinds of music,"She replied lightly pulling at a few strings in her jeans. "Wanna see?" She asked softly before putting her foot down once more, leaning over to pick her bag from the floor sitting it on the table, digging around till she found her i-phone with the head phones already attached to it. "See . . . All of its in here." Madison smiled handed it over to him so he could look, "What about you?"
He nodded as she asked if he wanted to see. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous when he saw she had an i-phone. He looked through it, smiling when he saw alot of things he liked. "You like some of the stuff I like . . . So . . ." He grinned at this and handed the Iphone back. "All I have is a crappy Trac phone . . . and I pay for that shit . . ." His lips firmed at this.
"Well thank my brother for alot of that," She smiled at him softly as she lightly took her phone back, then shook her head. "I paid for this myself with my own money. Didn't even have one before it." Madison wrapped her headphones around it once more before replacing it back into her bag, closing it up after she pulled her class list out once more, since they didn't have long till the bell rang. "So if I pay you back them few dollars . . . You'll be well on you way to saving for one."
His brow went up when she mentioned her brother. "Brother?" He asked softly, inquiring about it. "How'd ya manage that? Iphone's are at least four hundred bucks." He then shook his head when she insisted on paying him back again. "You don't have to . . . Plus I got more important stuff to worry about than saving for a Iphone . . ." He then nodded towards her class list. "What ya got next?" He was honestly curious.
Madison nodded, "Yeah my twin brother. Most likely seen running between the shops downstairs, mostly autobody . . . Or running after some tail." She couldn't help but chuckle softly thinking of Edwin at the moment, "I saved up all summer, I work and won alot of the money." Her back pack was pulled up over her shoulder as the bell rung, "I have pottery next, can't wait for it. Nice easy class after half my morning." She made a laugh rolling her eyes a bit, "What about you?"
Just knowing that she had a twin gave him more incentive to stay away from her. Twins were very protective towards each other. "Wow . . . What kind of work ya do?" He asked softly as he stood to get rid of his tray. He then blinked when she mentioned Pottery. "Really?" He asked softly. "Oddly enough me too. Easy class I could goof off with . . ." He grinned at this.
Madison made a small snort, "That's what you think Redneck." She teased slightly with him following him out of the lunch area and towards the stairwell so they could get into the basement to find the classroom they needed, luckily Madison knew most of the shops and art classes was in the basement of the school. "Ain't sure of you know her or not, but ya know Maggie Greene?" She questioned softly wearing a small smile, "I think she graduated last year though, but her sister is my age. Anyways, I help her dad out at their farm, mucking after the animals and all that junk. Sadly ain't really sure how long I'm gonna be able to keep doing it." She made a small frown as they found the room, and she found a nice lab table with two open seats, a seat for each of them.
His brow rose at the nick name when he got rid of his tray, a small smile gracing his lips. He followed beside her side as they went to their next class. He nodded when she asked about Maggie. "Yeah, she was in my class last year . . . Pretty thing . . ." His brow went up about her cleaning up after the animals. "Never figured you for a country girl . . ." He murmured with a smirk, then asked, "Why not?" He sat down in one of the empty chairs and set his books in the one corner of the table.
"Daryl . . . I live in the country side of Georgia," Her tone was a bit blank, pulling the ya silly head look with him. "I just go somewhere else to do the animal side of the country life." A few strands of her bangs fell in her face as she looked down at the desk top for a moment, not sure if she really wanted to speak on how much of a dick her father was when it came to her future. "Just not an option for me." She answered looking over at him now before the teacher came in to start their class, going over the rules and everything else.
He chuckled softly at her tone and then the weird look she gave him. He rose his hands in mock surrender. His lips twitched at that, but before he could talk to her more the teacher came in and started the class. By the end of the class, Daryl was amused and slightly annoyed. With the teacher and himself. He glanced over at her and said lowly, "Interesting . . ."
Madison rose her brow up a small bit, "What is? This class? I told you." She grinned while chuckling, grabbing her bag once more as their bell rung for next class. But Madison quickly snuck his list from his hands and started to walk out of the room in front of him. "Looks like we don't have next period together . . . But join at the end of the day again . . . Cause your in my health class." She said softly studying over his list for a moment before handing it back to him with a small smile, "That would be fun."
He shook his head a small smile on her face. There was something about her that made him smile. Maybe cause she was crazy different than others. He was about to check what class he had next when she took his list. "Hey!" he barked out with a frown. "Oh what joy! Health . . ." He said with sarcasm. He rolled his pale blue eyes. "That's a class that I hated and slept through, cause it was boring as fuck . . ." Let alone it was his first class last year and slept through it cause half the time he was recovering from a damn concussion.
Madison smiled a bit tucking some of her hair behind her ear once more. "We'll . . . You'll have me this time and I'll make sure you pass . . ."She grinned bumping into him slightly, "Even if I have to do your share of the work." She mumbled lightly, "But save me a seat, alright Dixon?"
"Heh . . . We'll see . . ." He looked at her when she bumped into him. "Yeah sure . . ." He mumbled as he started towards his next class, wondering why she was so different than others. He wasn't the social kind. Hell, most thought he was a scum ball. He sighed and tried to pay attention to his next class, which wasn't his strong point. "Damn English . . ." He muttered after he got out of class and went next to Health class. He slipped into a empty chair, noticing Mads wasn't there yet.
Madison's math class sped by quickly and she was sorta happy to head to the next class, pretty happy the fact she made friends with someone . . . That hopefully wasn't going to use her in the end. She quickly got into the class room a second after the bell rang, smiling at Daryl as she had a seat next to him which was taken by herself quickly. This class was going to be pretty interested with him in it with her.
His lips twitched up, as he returned a small smile to her. The class was going by slowly, until they started passing notes. Then that was interesting and went by faster than Daryl realized it could go. He actually was having fun. The bell rang, surprising him that class was over. He grabbed his books and stood to leave the class. It was the end of the day and he was surprised that it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.
Madison happily waited for him outside of the door since she was able to smush out of it fast then what he could. "Well? Wasn't so bad was it?" She asked him with a smile, of course smiling because he was still following her as she headed towards the hall that held her locker. But he was slightly making her heart rush at the feeling. "Guess we'll do this all over again tomorrow, and no . . . You won't have to pay for my lunch." She laughed softly getting her locker open to place some books away while putting a few into her back pack.
He was happily surprised finding her waiting for him. He smiled slightly at that, "No. Not that bad . . ." He rolled his eyes at this. "Like I planned on it anyway?" He teased with a smirk. Hell in the past day he smiled more than a whole damn month. He couldn't help but like her. "I need to get rid of these books so . . . I'll see ya tomorrow then?"
Madison giggled at him softly before nodding her head, "See ya around redneck." She said pulling her back pack onto her back before waving him off.
He waved back at her with a small smirk and went to dump his books in his locker. The next few days passed quickly and easily enough. He was actually wanting to go to school. Cause he enjoyed talking and spending time with her. Something just drew her to him that he couldn't explain, and didn't care too. Another reason his days went by fast is cause Merle was in prison, and his daddy was passed out drunk in his bed, the recliner or the floor. But Thursday night when he got back from hanging out in the woods after school that his daddy laid into him bad.
In the morning he felt like his head was five times bigger than it's norm, let alone his hands and arms hurt, and his ribs ached that it was almost hard to breathe. He debated on skipping school so they wouldn't see him like this, but he didn't want to be here either. But he also didn't want Mads to see either. He put a dark hoodie on and let his shaggy hair hang in his face. Hopefully she wouldn't see the bruise on his brow/temple and his split lip. He was at his locker gathering his books when he saw the flash of red, knowing it was her coming close to him.
"Hey Dixon," She smiled a small bit stepping off to the side to lean against the other locker beside his, arms wrapped around her morning books. "I thought about how you paid for my lunch the other day, so I packed us both a lunch together." She smiled, barely taking notice of him hiding himself at the moment. "Made everything in it myself, and I even brought something for the sweet tooth of yours." Of course by this time Madison did have more friends in the school, and of course half of those friends wasn't to thrilled of her hanging around the redneck kid. But to Madison it went in one ear and out the other for her. As much as her friends tried to get her to sit with them at lunch, she was always sitting with Daryl; of course they didn't really talk much, but the companionship was enough for the redhead. Madison's mouth slowly closed up when she finally was able to look at him, a soft hand reaching to grab his upper arm, "Hey . . . The hell happened?" She whispered softly.
His lips twitched up as he heard her voice, let alone the kindness she gave to him that no one else would. "You didn't have to, but thanks Mads . . ." He murmured. It was then he felt her touch on her arm and he turned his head slightly away so she couldn't see how bad. "Just got in a fight is all . . . You know how bad some of these assholes can be . . ." he lied easily. He knew he wasn't taking this damn hoodie off otherwise she would see how bad his forearms were.
Madison made a small face. "Let me see it," She said softly reaching up slightly, allowing a soft finger to rest under his chin, trying to let herself see how bad his lip was, as well as the bruise. "Who beat you up?"A frown was planted on her face, clearly concerned about him as well as upset about whom ever did this to him. To her . . . Her mind quickly stopped that sentence in her head. "Did ya clean it up or anything?" She questioned, "Don't need you to get all infected on me now."
He frowned, he kept his neck stiff, but slowly relented. He sighed and finally looked at her, if only briefly. His eyes then went to the floor. "No body special . . . Don't worry about it . . . I'm fine . . ." His lips twitched again. "Cleaned it up quickly this morning . . . Could only clean so much with the time I had . . ." He mumbled.
"Well that special no body will have me to deal with, once I find out."She said softly pulling her hand away from his chin to give another soft squeeze at his upper arm, just as the late bell rung for first period. "Shit."She whispered under her breath before looking back at him, "See you at lunch Dixon. Remember I have your food, so don't get in line." She called as she parted ways with him to quickly get to her class.
He frowned at that, not liking his drunk father towering over her and then laying his hands on her. Just the thought made him shudder and realize he would try to protect her. She didn't deserve to be beaten like he did. Far from it. Hell in his eyes he saw her as a red headed angel. Maybe annoying sometimes, but that was okay. "Yeah . . ." He called out to her as she ran off to class. He went to his own, hiding his face of course. At one point during the day he got to warm and pushed the sleeves up on his hoodie, revealing more bruises and cuts. But no one seemed to really notice. Until Lunch.
He got in line and only got two cartons of chocolate milk then sat down at their table. He didn't have to wait long.
Madison met them at their table with two brown paper bags and a light smile on her face as she sat in the seat next to him today. "Alright time for me to repay your kindness and the money for my own lunch." Sitting the bags down she slowly pulled out a small plastic bag of chicken. "I wasn't sure what piece you like the most, so I packed one of each for you." She smiled softly feeling like she had a reason to blush. "And don't tell me I didn't need to do this, cause we had so much left over when I made it last night." She pulled out another small container for him. "Potato Salad, since mash potatoes taste really gross cold." She said sliding it towards him, "And then my special for this afternoon . . . My peach cobbler." Her smile was ear to ear now as she pulled it out, "And of course . . . A can of soda."
His lips twitched up at her kind and happy demeanor. He then full on smiled when she said not to say what he said to her a few days ago. "You cook? Damn girl . . . You're gonna make a good wife one day . . ." He grinned with a wink, already pulling the bag of chicken towards him. "Mmm . . . it all looks good. Thanks Mads . . ." He grinned when she said cobbler. God he hadn't anything like this in a long damn time. A home cooked meal . . . He almost wanted to cry it was so damn thoughtful. "I haven't had a home cooked meal since my mom died . . ." He sighed and looked over at her. He then saw the dark bruises on his forearms in the corner of his eye and frowned, hoping she wouldn't notice them.
Madison's cheek turned the color of her hair, she knew it right then and there that they did. "Well don't wanna brag or nothing." She said softly, clearly overly flattered by him now." But what girl from the south can't cook?" She questioned softly with a giggle, but what she did next shocked the hell even out of herself as she lent over and pecked his cheek lightly, "But I'm so glad you like it, so get used to it Dixon." Madison then turned to pull her own lunch out, which wasn't as up to do as his own, mostly a sandwich and the peach cobbler too. "Sorry about your mom, D." She said softly, "I bet she was a real nice lady, I mean . . . She did raise a sweet boy like you."
His mouth seemed to be stuck in a grin as he dug in. He looked at her for a second while he chewed on his food, feeling his heart swell. He never had a true friend . . . so he never had this feeling before. Just as he turned to his food again was when she pecked his cheek. It seemed his heart stuttered in his chest, then begin to race. He even blushed, and was afraid to look at her afraid of what he would do next. Let alone what she would do. He swallowed and kept looking down, embarrassed to say the least. "It's okay . . . She wasn't the greatest . . . But she was my ma . . ." He finally said, and thought back. It really was true of what he said. Sometimes his ma would help his dad beat him. Sometimes she would be kind as hell.
Madison ate a bit of her sandwich picking at the crust a bit as she would chew her food. "My step mom is pretty alright, but don't really have boundaries and always trying to get me to open up about the silliest of things. But she's really nice to myself and Eddie." She paused again to eat a little more quickly drinking down some of her own soda, playing with the tab. "My birth mom is a junkie though."After that she was real quiet, not really wanting to look up at him.
"At least you have someone that cares . . ." He glanced at her and continued to eat. "I'm sorry about your birth ma . . . Hopefully she'll get off the junk . . ." He took a drink of his soda, then swished the liquid inside, wondering what else to be said. Finally he just spit out, "God I don't wanna hang out with my cuz today . . . Her mama is busy at work and I have to watch her after she gets out of pre-school . . ."
Madison perked up an brow as she looked at Daryl wrapping up what was left of her half eaten sandwich. "Whats so wrong with watching a little kid? Sounds like something that's up your alley. After all you tend to act like a giant man child." She giggled a little bit grinning up at him. "But if its to much trouble for you Daryl, I could come help you out, or you can just bring her to me." Madison felt herself blushing a small bit while biting down on the corner of her lip, "I need to get used to be around kids again, since I'll have a niece in a few months."
He looked over at her, a little offended by her teasing. "Am not . . ." He frowned and shook his head, then rose his brow. "You have a bigger brother or sister?" He asked stupidly, thinking Eddie wasn't that much of a man whore. "But if ya wanna help me . . . ya can . . . I don't mind . . . Gracie would probably like you . . . even if she's super shy . . ." He shrugged his large shoulder and finished off his chicken then, already almost done with his potato salad. "Oh . . . and apparently there's a party tomorrow night . . . Ya gonna go?" He inquired softly.
Madison shook her head, "No . . . Eddie got some girl pregnant that lives in the same county as my mom, and I can't stand the hell out of the female." Madison's eyes would make a heavy roll, "I have NO clue on why my brother thought putting his junk into that would be a good thing." She was quiet for a moment before giggling, "Alright wanna meet somewhere after school?" She asked him, "I have to go home first, so I can tell my parents where I'm going and all that fun stuff. I'll just tell them I'm going to go to the library or something." Madison made a shrug before finishing off her cobbler. "And I uh . . ." She paused for a moment, "I had no clue about a party till just now." The red head looked at him, "You going?"
His pale blue eyes went wide with that. "Oh . . . damn . . . " He then laughed at what she said about her brother. "She fugly then?" He asked with a grin. "Yeah sure . . . How does the park sound?" It was a place where he could sit and watch Gracie play on the playground. "Sounds good then, and yeah . . . I figure why not . . . It's something to do . . . Rather than sit around at home . . ." He finished the last bite of his potato salad and glanced at the cobbler. "Damn . . . I'm full . . ." He murmured with a frown. "Still wanna taste though . . ." He said lowly, and stabbed his fork in the edge of it and lifted it back out with a piece and placed it in his mouth. His taste buds seemed to explode with it. He grinned immediately and looked over at her. "Tastes like heaven . . ."
"The park sounds good. I don't live that far from it myself so I can easily walk to meet you guys." She smiled before rubbing at the back of her neck, "I guess I might go. Just depends if Eddie pitches a fit or not cause I know he'll be there too." Madison made a big grin on her face, "Looks like I should pack you a lunch more often then huh?" She asked gathering up her own trash to toss out, feeling herself blush deeply at his comment, "Your just saying that."
He'd have to remember that little tidbit of her as he nodded. "Why would he pitch a fit?" He chuckled and didn't answer her question. If she wanted to make him lunch, then he definitely wouldn't stop her. "That's completely up to you babe . . ." He then shook his head. "No I'm not . . . I haven't tasted anything like that in a long ass time . . . So thank you . . ." He smiled and gathered up his own trash, and rewrapped the cobbler, saving it for later.
Madison's whole face lit up red when he called her babe, doing her best to hide a shy grin but it was heavily plastered on her face. "Oh you know..Sibling stuff really. Truthfully I think he just don't want me to embarrass him with his friends." She smiled a small bit watching him get up to leave the table.
He chuckled when her face turned red, then shrugged. "Forget him . . . If ya want, ya can hang with me all damn night . . . That way he'll hardly know that your there . . . hell . . . Don't even tell'em!" He grinned. He tossed his garbage and started towards his locker to leave the cobbler there and get what books he needed and such. "To pottery then!" He pushed his sleeves up further on his forearms, forgetting about the bruises.