Here's Chapter 12! Madison makes a decision…

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Enjoy!

Steffi

Chapter 12

Summer knew this was going to be a special night, so she dressed up like she hadn't for ages. She had even made Marissa come over to help her get styled.
When the two girls arrived at Kirsten's new office where the dance was held, it seemed like everyone looked at Summer when she entered the room. Her dark brown hair was slightly curled and hung down her perfectly slim shoulders, a decent spark of gold shimmered on her cleavage, giving the black, backfree dress she wore an elegant note. Even Marissa didn't remember the last time she had seen Summer looking that beautiful.

When Ryan spotted the two of them, he came over and gave Summer a kiss on the cheek and Marissa a very long one on her lips. "You guys look fantastic", he said, and pointing with his head to Summer, "especially you. You seem totally happy."

Summer smiled. "Thanks, Ryan. Took me a long time to get to that point."
Ryan gave her a sympathetic nod. He pointed out to the bar with his head. "You wanna go over to the bar? I reserved some seats for us there." Both girls agreed, and Ryan led them over to the bar, one lady at each of his arms.

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Seth sat with his back towards the entrance, Madison next to him. They didn't talk to each other, since Madison was still angry at him. She couldn't even say exactly why she was angry at him in particular, she just was. So the two of them had a real good non-conversation going on.

When Summer, Ryan and Marissa arrived at the bar, Seth's face lightened up, and as he looked closer at Summer, her beauty took his breath away. To him, she looked like an angel that had come to the world, and when she smiled at him, he felt like he was walking on air.

To Madison, Summer looked so stunningly beautiful that she felt sick. And when Madison saw the look on Seth's face when he was greeting Summer, she couldn't help herself. Without saying a word, she went off towards the balcony for some fresh air. She couldn't even blame Seth for how he acted, and if she was honest, she wasn't angry at him. She was angry at the fact that she had never been able to give Seth the things he wanted, or the love he deserved. She had always been too occupied with being jealous and mad at him. And now she payed the price.

Seth saw Madison leave and wanted to run after her to get her back, but before he could, Summer had already taken hold of his hand and was leading him to the dancefloor. "She needs some time for herself." She said. "And while she's gone, you can start making it up to me." She smiled at him from her lowered head.
When Seth heard the first chords of what he and Summer had declared their song at the prom, "Fix You" by Coldplay, he forgot Madison and turned his whole attention to Summer.

Gently, Seth moved Summer to the center of the dancefloor and started swaying to the music.
Summer's face was so close to Seth's chest that she could smell his perfume, the smell that hadn't changed since High School and had always made her feel comfortable. With the sound of "their" song coming to her ears, she shut the rest of the world out completely.

With Summer in his arms, all that Seth felt was pure happiness. Never had a woman ever been so right for him. He knew that he loved her when he saw her on the first day of school when they were kids, and even if a lot of years had passed, his feelings had never changed during all that time. "Happy Chrismukkah," Seth said with a grin.
Summer laughed. "I wish you a very merry Chrismukkah too, Cohen."
"So, do you forgive me?" Seth softly asked, looking down on Summer.
She looked up and into his eyes. "Of course I do.", she whispered. "I know you didn't mean it that way."
Seth smiled. "Thank you."
For a long time, they were just dancing and listening to the music. Suddenly, Seth asked, "Are you happy?"
Summer smiled up at him, her eyes shining full of love. "Right now, Cohen, I am."
And they kept dancing in silence until the song was over.

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At the bar, Madison, who had just come back from the balcony, met Ryan who stood there and watched the couples dancing.
"Hi. What are you doing here all alone?" she asked him when she didn't spot Marissa anywhere.
"I'm just waiting for Marissa to come back from the bathroom. She's been in there for like ten minutes already. And she just wanted to refresh some of her lipstick."

Madison smiled. "Men will never understand that," she said, "Besides, there's no better place than the bathroom for a good chat between chicks."
Ryan smiled, too and took a sip from his eggnog. For a while, neither of them said anything and they just watched the happy couples dancing. Almost at the same time, both their gazes went to Seth and Summer, who were in the middle of the dance floor, seeming totally lost to all their surroundings.
When Madison noticed that Ryan was watching Summer and Seth as well, she took a big sip from her whine and asked him the question that was burning on her mind for ages now.

"They're still in love with each other, aren't they?"
At first, Ryan didn't get who they were talking about, but when he saw the sad look on Madison's face he knew what was going on.
"Seth is over Summer." He just said.
"Really?" Madison wasn't so sure about that.
"Yeah, definitely." Ryan took another sip of his eggnog and looked at the both of them again. "Or at least he wants to be." He added.
That was the answer Madison had been most afraid to hear. But on the other hand, she had known it for a very long time now. "Do you think he'll ever be able to love another woman?"

Ryan looked at her from the corner of his eyes. Since talking still wasn't one of his specialties, he just blinked and looked back at his glass.
Madison came closer to him. "Ryan, please. The truth."
Ryan sighed. He let the question sink in to find the right answer. He looked straight into Madison's eyes. "Not as long as there's Summer." He answered honestly.

Just then, Marissa came back from the bathroom, smiling at the two of them, and pulling Ryan in the direction of the dance floor. "You don't mind, Maddy, do you?" she asked, but before Madison could answer, the happy couple had disappeared to dance.

Madison was really hurt by what Ryan had said. But she also knew that she had lost the fight for Seth. As long as she wasn't Summer Roberts, he would never be able to love her. And this was the moment she made her decision.

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On the ride home, Madison didn't talk much, but Seth had been used to that for the last couple of days, so this behavior didn't surprise him. When the two of them were back at their apartment, Seth turned on the tv and Madison disappeared into the sleeping room. This wasn't unusual either. The only unusual thing about this situation was the fact that Madison reappeared this time, carrying a suitcase in each of her hands. She put the suitcases to the floor when she was in front of Seth and sat down next to him on the couch.

Seth could sense that something weird was going on, and he turned the tv off again. He knew that it would be better not to say something now, so he just sat there, waiting for Madison to finally start speaking.

Madison took a deep breath. "I love you," she said, looking into his eyes, analyzing his reaction.
"Yeah, I-I…" Seth stuttered. He couldn't tell her these words. They were just not true.
As if Madison seemed to know what was going on in Seth's mind at the moment, she continued. "And I know that you don't love me. Or at least not the way that I love you."
"Madison…"
"No, please. This is really hard for me, so let me just talk, ok?"
Seth nodded and prepared to listen.

Tears came into Madison's eyes as she went on. "All those years, I have been living at your side, hoping that one fine day, your eyes would show me the love that they always show her. But after these past couple of weeks, I know that this will never happen." She wiped away a single tear and continued straight ahead, because she didn't want to lose her poise. "You're not happy with me, Seth. It's like the saying you can read everywhere… You never forget your first love, and in your case, that's Summer…" She sighed. "And concerning me… I'll never forget you."
Confused, Seth took Madison's hand. "What…"
"No, Seth! I played along with this for a very long time. But now I'm not gonna stand here and pretend that I'm your girlfriend when I'm not. Or at least not anymore. You know as well as I do that you have to be with her. And I won't stop you. You can't fight fate."

Seth was speechless. "I really don't know what to say…" he finally said.
"How about goodbye?" Madison asked, standing up. Seth stood up, too, not knowing how to act now. Madison gave him a kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Make her yours forever… and never let her go."
Seth nodded sadly. He felt guilty that Madison was leaving now.
Madison took her suitcases and kissed Seth again, this time on the lips, a long kiss that would be their last. "Bye, Seth Cohen." She whispered and went to the front door.
Seth raised his hand and waved half-heartedly after Madison. "Goodbye."

TBC...