Chapter 7

Madison just had put the potatoe casserole in the oven when Seth came back from work. He threw his jacket and briefcase on the couch, went over to her and kissed her half-heartely on the cheek.
"Hello, you. How was your day?" he asked, sitting down at the kitchen table, seeing through a stack of letters that had arrived with the mail that day.
"It was ok." Madison answered, her attention focused on the food and the temperature of the oven. "I hope you're hungry, cuz I think I've made enough to feed a whole company with it."
It was only then when Seth realized the smell of food that filled the place. When he saw that Madison had been preparing a whole meal, he sighed. "Actually, I'm having dinner elsewhere", he admitted.
Madison seemed to be disappointed. She first looked at her food, then at Seth, waiting for him to explain the situation. She put one hand in her hip and stared at him with her typical pout.
Seth hesitated to tell Madison the truth, because he knew too well how his girlfriend reacted to his best friend. But lying wasn't in his nature, so he went for the truth. "Summer asked me to eat with her. She needed to tell me something important."
When the name Summer filled the room, Madison's chin dropped and her eyebrows went up. A unnerved "what?" was all she could manage to say.
Seth stood up and went over to her. He put one hand on her shoulder and put a strand of Madison's blonde hair behind her ear. "There's nothing to worry about," he assured her, "she's just a friend, and she's in trouble. All I do is listen."
Madison sighed. She turned away from him, facing the potatoe casserole in the oven. "Well, I guess I can't stop you," she said, wishing his mind would maybe change.
Seth smiled and kissed her. "Thank you." he answered. "I promise you, we'll have dinner tomorrow. I'll cook. And I apologize beforehand for the bad cooking skills I have heired from my mom."
Now Madison couldn't help but smile. Seth had always been a charmer, and she could never be mad at him for more than five minutes. Lovingly, she stroke his cheek. "Whatever you do, I'll survive," she joked.

Just when the two of them started to kiss again, there was an urgent knock on the front door, accompagnied by dull sobs.
Both Seth and Madison looked to the door, wondering what was going on out there. Seth frowned and let go of Madison, running over to the door. When he reached it, the knocking had stopped, but the sobs began to increase. "Who is there?" he carefully asked.
"Cohen, it's me!" Summer's voice came through the door, sounding scared to an amount Seth had never heard before.
When Madison recognized Summer's voice, her good mood dropped and she turned around to face her food once again.
Seth flung the door open and couldn't believe his eyes. There was his beautiful Summer standing in front of him, trembling, her eyes thick from crying, blood running down all over her face, her clothes stained by some of it as it had fallen down. His first reaction was to lay an arm around Summer and guide her into the living room. He was still speechless, not able to say anything since he was still shocked by what he had to see. This time, Eric had moved on her very hard. An incredible anger came up in him, and the urge to punish Eric the same way back rose by every second that passed.
But he tried his best to stay calm. One of them needed to be. "Did he do that?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Summer started to tremble even more and nodded.
Seth took a deep breath to kill some of the anger that had risen in him. "We need to call the police," he said, his hand moving for the telephone. Before he reached it, Summer grabbed his hand and pulled it back. "Please, don't," she whispered, more tears coming down her face.
This time, Seth remained stubborn. "Yes, I will." He said in a tone that didn't allow any more words. And before Summer could react again, he was already dialing the police's number.

When Madison heard Summer's cries and Seth's raged voice, she peeked out into the living room and she was shocked. She came running over to them, sitting next to Summer on the couch. Tears were in her eyes as she was confronted with the brutality Eric had used on Summer. She didn't like the girl but what had happened there was simply unacceptable. Softly, Madison stroked Summer's hair, trying her best to comfort her while Seth was talking to the police. "It's gonna be ok." She whispered. "You're safe here."
Summer only nodded, the shaking of her body and the tears that were still running down her cheeks not allowing her to answer.
After Madison had taken a short look at Summer's wounds, she stood up again. "I'm gonna get something to clean your wounds," she announced, disappearing into the kitchen again.
When she returned she saw Seth sitting on the couch again, holding Summer's hand and trying to stop her crying. She sat with them, holding up the cloths she had fetched to wash away some of the blood on Summer's face. When she touched her wounds, Summer whinced. She gently pushed Madison's hand away from her face.
"Can I use the bathroom?" she asked, trying to gain some of her stability again. Madison and Seth nodded in unision.

When Summer had disappeared into the bathroom on shaky legs, Seth faced Madison to tell her what the police had been saying. They wanted them to come over to give evidence about the crime, and another part of the staff was already on their way to track down Eric and lock him into remand.
Madison nodded. "That's a good thing", she said. "But before we go there, she needs to see a doctor."
Seth sighed, making two fists. "You can't believe how furious I am. How can a man do such a thing? He should be punished for it, really really hard."
Madison touched his arm. "He will." She assured him. When Seth pulled his arms away from her touch, Madison was quite confused.
"You don't get it", Seth yelled, letting all of his anger go. "When I say he should be punished really hard, I mean that I'm going to break all the bones in his body, to make sure he'll never ever dare to look at her."
Madison nodded again. "I know, but you need to let the police handle this. You're no use for her if you get violent, too." She explained, hoping to calm him down a bit.
Seth shook his head in a 'you-don't-understand-me'-manner and stood up. And in the exact contrary he had just yelled at her, he softly knocked on the bathroom door, checking for Summer. "Are you ready?" he asked in his kindest voice. "We need to see a doctor before we'll go to the police station."
Just when he had finished the question, the bathroom door opened, and an extremely disshelved Summer stood in the doorway. "I'm ready," she said in a trembling voice. Seth lay an arm around her and guided her towards the door. "Don't stay up, it's gonna be late," he said to Madison.
And with that, Summer and Seth disappeared, leaving Madison behind. She wiped away a tear that had appeared in her eyes, and made her way back to the kitchen. She didn't understand why Seth was being so harsh on her. She had tried to get along with Summer, and she really wanted to help her.
Madison laughed bitterly. "Face it, Madison Baker," she told herself. "You'll never be able to cope with precious Summer."