The two stood in silence, each avoiding the other's gaze. Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Seemingly out of nowhere his throat had grown excruciatingly dry, feeling as though it would crack into a thousand tiny pieces were some one to touch it. Maddie's skin was now drained of color, her muscles tense and frozen in place, giving her the appearance of a statue. Time seemed to come to a halt as the pair finally locked eyes, a harsh mixture of violet and green. The crisp autumn air was tingling with the intense emotions of both the Brit and the Canadian, a thin layer of tenseness that could at any moment be shattered like a sheet of glass. Finally, Arthur spoke.
"Ma-" He began but was cut off by an angry female voice.
"Leave." Madison snarled, her voice ice cold without the slightest hint of friendliness.
"Wha-What?" Arthur stammered, startled by her sudden outburst. "I don't understand."
"Leave." She repeated, her tone laced with authority. "You'll only make things worse. For both of us."
"But... Madison, I-"
"Save your breath, tea-drinking bastard!" She shouted bitterly. "It's over between us! You hear me? I don't want anything to do with you and there's nothing you can do or say that will change my mind!" And with that, she slammed the door and retreated into the house.
Maddie ran up the staircase and into her bedroom, tears flooding down her cheeks. If she hadn't been absolutely certain before, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Arthur hated her now. She had known that it would hurt to see him again, but she hadn't expected it to be this painful. And having to pretend that she too hated him when all she wanted to do was crawl into his arms only amplified the pain. She collapsed on her bed, grabbing a pillow with her right hand and bringing it up to her face to muffle her sobs.
A thousand emotions bubbled up inside her, causing her to cry harder than ever before. She just wanted to run, to get away from it all, to escape this living hell. If only she could. Her eyes fell on her nightstand, where her gun was kept. A twisted smiled formed on her lips as she thought of how nice it would be to end this once and for all. But the smile quickly faded when her mind reminded her of her many failed suicide attempts.
"Really, Maddie?" She scoffed at herself. "You don't have the guts to take your own life, even when you've got nothing to lose? You're pathetic."
Hurt by the sting of her own words, a fresh batch of tears made their way from her puffy eyes, only to be sopped up by the pillow that she clutched against her face. Had she not been so lost in her despair, she might have noticed her bedroom door opening, and she might have noticed the figure that stepped through the open doorway. And just maybe, if she didn't have her face buried in a pillow, she would have noticed how the figure was slowly moving towards her, stopping when it reached her bedside.
A/N - I fail at writing long chapters. :P
Y'all should review if you've got time, it'd make my day. :)