Chapter 14: Consequences

It had been a real nightmare to get every last reporter and photographer who was covering the charity gala out of the hotel. The job they had been paid to do ended the minute Miranda Fitzpatrick began to curse her daughter and the heiress of the Tipton Hotels, calling them every last name in the book. They all just wanted photos of London and Maddie and of Maddie's family, not to mention everyone's statement of what had happened on that night. When the last reporter was forced out of the hotel, Moseby told everyone in the staff that they were not to talk to anyone of the press about what happened, and that they were not to allow any reporter, photographer or paparazzo inside the Tipton.

Over the night the news spread all over like a plague. Photos of what had happened on the Boston Tipton on that night, were circulating everywhere on the Internet. All the girls had worked so hard to accomplish with the gala was not even mentioned in the news. The only news that mattered to any reporter was the hidden truth about Maddie and London's relationship, that had been uncovered through the fight that Miranda Fitzpatrick, Maddie's mother had started. Some tabloids went as far as digging up some photos that had been taken of the girls together over the years, and made it sound that they had been in love ever since the day they met. Just as they expected; a bombardment of allegations, rumours and even lies, which had nothing to do with the case, from all kinds of media.

Night never felt so long to either one of the girls. Zack and Cody, as well as the rest of the gang asked them if they wanted them to spend the night at the penthouse, keeping them company. They both appreciated the offer, but they politely declined it, saying that they needed to be alone, in order to get their ideas together, and find out what they were going to do next. Wishing them a goodnight, everyone left the penthouse, leaving them alone.

After changing into their nightgowns, and getting into the king size bed, they placed their arms around one another, seeking some comfort in each other's eyes. The words that Miranda Fitzpatrick told them both kept echoing in their heads, making things even worst, when their only wish was to forget what had happened. They knew that night was most likely going to end the way it had. But, deep inside their hearts, they had the slightest hope that everything could work out. Maddie even had pictured the whole scene in her head. After telling the truth, her mother would hug her and say that it was alright and that there was nothing wrong with her being a lesbian. But that did not happen, and now it felt as if the whole world was against them. Tears of sadness kept dropping from her eyes, as she relived the whole scene in her head.

Zack and Cody did not sleep either, and the same thing happened to Anastasia and Mark. Anastasia asked her mom if she could stay with him that night. Usually, Felicia Fontaine would not even consider letting her do something like that, but on that night, her heart told her that maybe it was the best if stayed at the hotel with her boyfriend.

Since the boys were way too excited to sleep, Carey let them stay up on account that they would not make a single noise. She needed to rest her voice, as well as get a good night sleep. Needless to say that she kept tossing and turning beneath the bed sheets, trying to fall asleep, but she eventually gave up. All that stress put her in such a nervous state that even if she wanted to sleep, her mind would not allow her. Going to the living room, Carey saw Cody lying on the couch, watching the news. But what caught her attention was Zack, who was in front of the computer. Approaching him, she wanted to see what he was doing.

"Whatcha doing, sweetheart?"

"Reading every lie they have been publishing about Maddie and London, over the last hour. What happened downstairs tonight is the motive of chat on Facebook and on Twitter. It seems like every liar in the world, and everyone who hates homosexuals and lesbians decided to crawl out of the holes they live in, and decided to attack them with everything they got." –Zack told her, as he accessed another gossip website. –"In this one they say that Maddie has AIDS, and on the last five I looked over, they say that London met Maddie in a disco in Berlin, while she was under the influence of LSD And Ecstasy." –he told her, feeling disgusted with what he was reading.

"Why do people always come up with these things, whenever a celebrity or a public figure decides to open itself to the world?" –Cody asked out loud, not expecting an answer from anyone.

"Because they are jealous of them, or just because they like to say bad things about people, by coming up with lies and all sorts of defamation." –Carey answered him.

Carey was right about it, and she was not the only one thinking like that. In the Stevenson suite, the situation was no different. Mark and Anastasia were both glued to Mark's laptop, reading the news.

"This is awful." –Anastasia said.

"And it's just the beginning. Once they get out of the hotel, those vultures are going to be waiting for them, ready to bombard them with them with all sorts of questions." –Mark declared, referring to the paparazzi. –"I can already picture the whole thing."

"We can try and make sure that they don't do that." –Anastasia said. –"The question is how we are going to do that?"

"What they need to do is simple. They have got to give a press conference." –a voice told them. It was Stephen, who just like Carey could not sleep a wink, and was now working on another of his novels. –"By doing it, they will be telling them everything there is to know about their relation, leaving them with little to speculate about. Of course, that won't prevent the paparazzi from coming after them, but it will certainly make them pay less attention to the matter, at least for a little while."

Steven's idea was an ingenious idea, to say the least. It was not a definitive solution to the problem, but it was better than nothing. Mark and Anastasia silently nodded to each other that it was an excellent idea.

Downstairs in the lobby, the staff was all cleaning up the place. Moseby had given strict orders to Esteban to take control of the operations, while he attended to more serious matters. In his office, Moseby received the call of Wilfred Tipton, who demanded to know what had happened, after watching it on the news. The hotel's general manager did his best to explain what had really happened, always saying that he never thought things would end up like that. As he said that, he knew that he was telling Mr. Tipton was a lie; that he already expected something like that, but never thought that it would reach to the point of the media knowing about it, the way they did.

"Yes, sir, I understand, sir… Do not alarm yourself, sir. The reporters and the paparazzi have all been escorted out of the hotel, and I've given strict orders to everyone in the hotel, to not talk to anyone of the press about the matter in question, or they would face severe consequences." –Moseby declared, over the phone. –"As for London, well, given the circumstances, she's alright. She's upstairs in her penthouse, along with Madeline. They told us they wanted to be alone, so I thought that I would not insist on the matter."

Moseby's voice revealed that he was clearly worried about the girls. After hanging up the phone, he sighed deeply, thinking of what would happen next. He obviously knew that the press and the media would not stop until they had the whole story, and for that, he would have to come up with a way to keep them all away from the hotel, at lest, until things calmed down a little.

Finally, when morning arrived, things had calmed down a little, and London and Maddie eventually fell asleep in each other's arms. Still, the heiress did not sleep more than half an hour. Opening her eyes, she saw that Maddie was still asleep. Looking at her, she could not bring herself up to waking her up. Like always, Maddie looked like an angel when she was sleeping. Moving as slowly as possible not to disturb the blonde's sleep, London made her way to the bathroom in order to get ready for the day that was about to begin.

When she finished fixing herself up, Maddie was still sleeping. She thought to herself on what she would do next regarding the press, but the previous night's argument with Maddie's parents was still haunting her spirit. She tried not to think about it, but it was helpless. The more she tried the more that awful memory made her feel depressed. She needed to talk to someone, anyone about what she should do next. Leaving the blonde asleep, she got in the elevator and made her way to the Martins suite. Just as she was about to knock on the door, it occurred to her that it was still very early in the morning, and they might still be sleeping. Putting her ear against the door, she tried to hear if they were sleeping or not. She heard the television was still on. That was a good sign, she thought. Knocking on the door, she waited for one of the Martins to open the door. It was Cody who opened the door. He was still wearing the white shirt he was wearing at the party, and the first thing that she noticed was how tired he looked, as if he had not had any sleep at all.

"Hey, London." –he said with a drowsy voice.

"Hi, Cody. Sorry if I woke you up, but I need some advices." –she told him with a sincere and serene voice.

"No worries, I wasn't asleep anyway. Come in." –he invited her, as she entered the suite.

As they took a seat in the couch, London noticed that Zack had fallen asleep, his head resting on top of the computer's keyboard. Carey herself was also asleep right next to her son. Trying to not to talk too loud, London explained her dilemma to Cody, and hoped that he could advise her.

"Well, I don't know what to say. It's a very delicate situation." –Cody said.

"Delicate? I think the word I would use is desperate." –London sighed. –"I haven't read the news yet, but I bet every last penny that I have that everyone in this planet is against me and Maddie."

"Not everyone is against you two. We aren't, and we never were." –he remembered her, trying to comfort her. –"I know this might not seem like much, but not everyone is against you. There are some people on the Internet that sympathise with your relationship. They even call you pioneers in the defense of homosexual and lesbian relationships and their rights as citizens." –Cody kept trying to her cheer up.

London sighed. She knew that Cody was trying to cheer her up, but for some reason, his words felt as if they were meaningless. She gave him a big hug for his efforts and then sighed once again. As Cody was about to continue the conversation, someone knocked at the door. When Cody opened it, he saw both Anastasia and Mark standing outside. They had decided to come and talk about the idea of the press conference with the twins, and were quite surprised to see London there.

"What are you doing here, London? We thought you were with Maddie." –Anastasia asked her.

"I left her upstairs, sleeping." –she answered her. –"I needed to get some fresh air and to clear my thoughts, so I thought to come here and just to talk with either Cody or Zack."

"Are you feeling alright? I mean, given the circumstances…" –Mark enquired her.

"I'm fine… I mean, I'm not peachy, but I think Maddie is feeling way worst then I am." –London told him. –"I can't help but to feel that I'm responsible for all that happened." –she sighed once again, this time almost on the brink of tears. The Asian-beauty was feeling bluer by the minute.

"Don't say that, London. It's not your fault if Maddie's mom can't see what's in front of her eyes." –Cody told her.

"We're here for you, and well, I think we came up with a way to, maybe, help you and Maddie through this." –Mark said, talking about the idea of giving a press conference that his dad had given them.

At first, London did not even want to know what they had to tell her, but through much insisting, Mark and his girlfriend managed to explain her, their idea hoping she would react to it the same way they had. Little by little, the heiress began to understand that giving that press conference would definitely silence everyone about all those shenanigans that people were saying about her Maddie; or at least, it would make the paparazzi let them go for a while, heading back to their constant job of chasing Paris Hilton, in one of her already usual sex scandals.

"You guys are the greatest!" –she said as she gave them all a bear hug.

"That's what friends are for, London." –Cody said.

Friends… now there was a word that the Asian-beauty had been learning to appreciate and understanding the real meaning over the last few months. It had been Cody, along with his brother Zack, Mark, Anastasia and everyone in the hotel that made everything possible between Maddie and her. If it had not been for any of them, the girls would have probably never expressed their true feelings for one another.

"I got to go and tell Maddie about this…" –London declared, as she got up from the couch. –"… Wait! Do you mind if I call room service through your telephone, Cody?"

"Go ahead, but why do you want to call room service?" –he asked.

London did not need to answer him, because all of them heard her ordering a huge breakfast. She definitely wanted to surprise Maddie by serving her breakfast in bed. After finishing the call, she waved goodbye to all of them, heading back to the penthouse. Ten minutes later, Esteban appeared pushing a cart with everything London ordered. Thanking him, she opened the penthouse door and took the cart herself, trying to make as less noise as possible, as she pushed it through the living room, on her way to her master bedroom, where the gorgeous blonde was asleep. .

Her plan was quite simple. After serving Maddie her breakfast, she would tell the blonde everything, assuring her that everything would end up alright. Unfortunately, when she entered she saw that Maddie was already awake. She was sitting on a settee next to one of the windows, staring at the horizon. At first, London looked at her and thought everything was alright. But all that changed in a matter of seconds. Maddie was there, but her mind was not. She had heard London coming in, but she did not shuffle an inch. She was still wearing her nightgown. Her hair was all frizzy, as if she had stepped inside a twister, and her bags beneath her eyes revealed that she did not sleep much. You did not need to be a rocket scientist to see that Maddie was not well. Approaching her, London placed her left hand on her shoulder, hoping that she would react.

"Hey, Blondie." –London said in a playful but reserved tone.

"Hey." –Maddie said lifelessly.

"Are you okay, Madeline?" –London asked her with a more serious tone. She only called Maddie by her full name when she wanted to talk with her about something serious.

"I'm fine." –Maddie said, as she kept staring at the horizon. It was obvious to London that her girlfriend was not well.

"I brought you some breakfast." –London said, as she approached the cart and grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She had those made especially for Maddie, for she knew that the blonde loved them.

"I'm not hungry." –Maddie's responses were becoming more and more lifeless.

"Come on, Maddie, you've got to eat. I told Chef Paolo to make these just for you. See? I even told him to cut the custard, because you are always saying that you hate the custards on your sandwiches." –London showed her the sandwich once again.

"I'm really not hungry, London." –Maddie answered back, not even paying attention to the huge sandwich that the brunette was holding in her hands.

"Now, Maddie, you can't do that. If you don't eat, you will get sick."

"I don't care…" –the blonde answered back, her voice revealing she was feeling more and more depressed.

"Come on, let's make a deal… I'll split it with you. You keep one half, and I keep the other half." –London told her, as she broke the sandwich in two, waving Maddie's half playfully in front of her face.

"I DON'T WANT ANY STUPID SANDWICHES, I DON'T WANT TO EAT ANYTHING AND I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE! WILL YOU PLEASE JUST GET OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE?" –Maddie snapped out, suddenly raising herself from the settee, throwing her half of the sandwich into the air. Her eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets from the amount of rage that was building up inside the blonde.

The way Maddie shouted at her, surprised the heiress, who did not expect the blonde to yell at her like that. The rage in her voice made London feel like crying, but she held it together. Whatever was wrong with Maddie, she was going to find out and try and understanding it.

"NO! I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!" –London said as her spine stiffened. –"And don't tell me that everything's peachy because I can see that something's wrong with you! You're not alright!"

"You want to know what's wrong? YOU WANT TO? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG! I've got the shittiest life on the planet! My mother, as well as the rest of the world hates me! I'll never be able to go out in public without someone pointing out on the street: Hey, there goes that lesbian girl who's a slut and is dating the heiress of the Tipton Empire, who also happens to be a lesbian."

"And since when do you care about what other people say about you?" –London snapped back at Maddie. –"Weren't you the one that told me that I shouldn't care about what other people say about me, and that what was important was what I felt about myself?" –she yelled at Maddie, remembering the time when the blonde had told her that.

"Not when it came to this kind of subject! JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE, LONDON!" –Maddie yelled at her, tears rolling down her face. She just wanted to be alone right then; alone with nothing else but the pain that was ripping her soul into shreds.

"NO, I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE! Okay, so your mom hates you! It ripped your guts apart when she called you and me all those ugly names, as well as the way she yelled at you, I get it! When someone who knows you like your own mother yells at you like that and points out all your imperfections and all your flaws, it feels like the world is about to crumble beneath your feet, believe me, I get it! BUT YOU CAN'T LET THIS MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE SHIT! I know what you are feeling right now."

"You can't possibly know how I'm feeling right now! And you want to know why? Because your family doesn't hate you… because your own mother hasn't told you that you're no longer her daughter!" –Maddie yelled at London. –"So don't you dare tell me that you know what I'm feeling, because you don't know!"

"OKAY, have it your way!" –London shot back at her. –"Let's say that I don't know how you're feeling now… what are you going to do about it? You can ignore what I'm telling you, thinking that no one really cares about you or knows how it feels to be like that; you can slap me in the face with every last bit of strength you have because you think that I'm lying to you, or you can simply go back to the settee and spend the rest of your life staring at the horizon. The choice is yours! But believe me when I tell you that I'm not leaving you in this room all by yourself! I'm not going to just stand around here and let you feel sorry for yourself! That's not the Maddie I know!"

"THEN, MAYBE YOU DON'T KNOW THE REAL ME! Maybe the person you have seen all this time isn't the real me!" –Maddie shouted. You could see she was boiling red with all that anger inside her chest.

"That's not true! I know you Maddie… I know you better than your own family. And let me tell you that the Maddie I know would tell the people who said those awful things to go fuck themselves and that they could go rot in Hell for all she cared for! THAT'S RIGHT, YOU HEARD ME! The Maddie I know would stand up and fight for what she believes in, not only because of the wild and untamed temper that runs in her Irish blood, but because she knew deep inside her heart that she was right about everything she stood up for. That's the real Maddie, and the Maddie I know!... (sob)… MY MADDIE! And right now… (sob)… I want my Maddie back!"

London was now sobbing. Her throat ached from yelling so much, but she did not regret it. She had told Maddie what she thought about how she was acting, and now, all she could do was wait to see if the blonde. Slowly turning her back on Maddie, she just said:

"And… (sob)… for the record, not everyone hates you! I love you… (sob)… with all my heart and soul! Hell, I… (sob)… would even take a bullet right in the chest… (sob)… for you without thinking twice! And you… (sob)… know why? Because you're my soul mate… (sob)… the love of my life; but… (sob)… above all else… (sob)… because you're my best friend, and… (sob)… I'll never hate… (sob)… you for being yourself."

The heiress was about to leave, when she felt a hand grabbing her arm. The thing that happened next surprised London. Maddie embraced the brunette and kissed her, as they both broke down, weeping. For what looked like an eternity, it felt like a silence wall had been erected between Maddie and London, separating them. The only sound that was heard was the muffled sobbing of the girls. It was only when Maddie talked that that wall crumbled.

"I-I'm s-sorry London…(sob)… I'm s-s-so sorry, London." –Maddie kept sobbing, feeling awfully bad about the way she had talked to London. –"It's j-just… (sob)… I'm afraid."

"It's okay, Maddie… (sob)… let it all out." –London hugged her, pressing her body against hers, while feeling Maddie's heartbeat synchronized with her own. –"I know you're… (sob)… afraid, but remember one… (sob)… thing. I'm here for… (sob)… you, as well as Zack, Cody… (sob)… Mark, Anastasia, and… (sob)… everyone else in the hotel. We're not… (sob)… letting anyone… (sob)… hurt you." –she whispered to Maddie's ears, which made Maddie cry even more, only this time, her tears were not tears of sadness, but tears of happiness. In her chest she felt happiness roaring inside her heart.

"T-Thank you, London… (sob)… for being so good to me." –Maddie whispered back at her, as she wiped the tears off her eyes, using her sleeve. –"Tell me… can I still eat one of those sandwiches that you brought me?"

London smiled as she went to the cart and grabbed another sandwich and handed it to Maddie. They both shared breakfast, without saying a word to each other, not because they were angry or anything, but because they did not need to. The reflection on each other's eyes was more than enough for them to say that everything was okay. On the back of their minds, they both remembered the promise they made to each other about not fighting over stupid or trivial things, and that no matter what happened, their friendship and their love would always come first.