Disclaimer: looks around Nope, still don't own anything.

Author's note: I meant to have this up earlier today. I went to the dentist and ended up taking a nap when I got home….a very long nap, so I kinda sorta just woke up, lol. Anyway, thanks so much everyone for your reviews.

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Cover up with make up in the mirror
tell yourself it's never gonna happen again
you cry alone and then he swears he loves you.

Madison woke up the next morning at the sound of her alarm clock going off. She rolled off of her bed and onto her feet before shuffling to the bathroom as she tiredly scratched her head. She grabbed her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth, her sleepy form going into automatic routine mode. After she finished brushing her teeth, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. The unfamiliar sight that greeted her caused her drooping eyes to open fully. A part of her had thought that what had gone on outside of the restaurant last night hadn't really happened….like it was a dream or something like that. But seeing the patch of red rough chaffed skin on her face told her otherwise. On the edge of the wound on her face, she could see further redness on her delicate skin from where Ben had hit her. She looked down as a tear slipped down her cheek at the memory of when he struck her.

"Hey, how does it look?" Vida asked as she seemed to appear right beside Madison. Madison wiped away her tear and looked up, gazing at her sister's reflection in the mirror. Vida winced at the unsightly mark on her sister's face. "Eeash," she said. She then gave Madison a smile through her reflection. "Well, lucky for you, your darling sister is pretty handy with a makeup brush, come on," she said, taking Madison's hand and gently pulling her back to their bedroom.

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"You know what's better than having to work bright and early on a Saturday morning?" Xander asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he and Chip approached The Rockporium together. "Having to do it while still feeling sore all over from yesterday," he said as he slid the key into the lock on the door. Toby had told Xander at the start of the teen's shift the previous day that he had a dentist appointment and would need him to open up the store.

"Hey guys," Nick said as he climbed off his motorcycle and joined his friends. The three of them entered the store and began setting everything up for the brand new day.

"So, Xander, what time did Toby say he'd get here?" Chip asked.

"Not sure. He seemed kind of uneasy about the whole dentist thing, something tells me our dear boss is in for a long session," Xander replied. "So, until then, I'm in charge," he said, smiling brightly as he grabbed a magazine and sat on one of the armchairs in the store. Nick and Chip groaned and rolled their eyes as they continued what they were doing.

"Supervising again, huh Xand?" Vida asked as she and Madison walked in.

"But of course," Xander smiled as he flipped through the magazine. Vida rolled her eyes as she made her way to the turntables and began making her music selections for the day. Madison kept her head ducked with her hair falling over her face as she made her way to the backroom to get the register tray. Nick watched as she disappeared into the room before passing Vida some records she had asked for. Madison picked up the plastic tray and held it against her stomach as she made her way to the register. On her way out of the back room, she bumped her injured arm against the door jam. She dropped the tray and held her arm to her. "Maddie, you okay?" Xander asked as he got up from his chair. Madison nodded.

"Yeah, just bumped my arm," she said. Xander leaned down and picked up the tray for her. "Thanks," she said. She went to take it from him when he noticed the redness under her forearm. He set the tray down on one of the shelves and lightly took hold of her arm.

"Whoa, what happened?" He asked, "is that from just now?" Madison quickly pulled her arm away.

"I fell," she said, picking up the discarded tray and walking to the register.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. Madison shook her head as she inserted the try into the register. Xander peered down at her and pulled back her hair to see her face. "You're wearing make-up," Xander observed. Madison shook her head again and let her hair fall lose from his hand.

"Just trying something knew with my look," she said.

"I think she looks great," Vida said, walking over to them. "Hey, Mads, can you punch me in for the day when you do yours?" She asked.

"Sure, let me go do that now," Madison said as she slid past Xander and went back to the backroom. Vida looked at Xander.

"She fell down yesterday," Vida said. "In front of Ben. She's already embarrassed about it enough as it is, don't make it worse," she warned.

"All right, all right," Xander said. "Guess I'll just go back to supervising," he smirked as he went back to his chair. Vida rolled her eyes and went back to the turntables. After that, the day went on as normal, the five of them assisting the customers and occasionally talking with each other. Nick noticed that Madison was acting a little different. She seemed too preoccupied with hiding her face with her hair and just in general, her whole demeanor looked off. Nick had seen Xander talk to Madison earlier that day so he approached his Australian friend as he was busy flirting with a pack of giggling blondes.

"Uh, Xander, mind if I talk to you for a second?" Nick asked. Xander looked at his friend and then back at the girls. He gave them a charming smile before winking at them, which seemed to only increase their giggles.

"Don't go anywhere," he said. The girls smiled back at him.

"We won't," one of them said in a sing song voice. Xander and Nick walked over to the back shelves together.

"What's up?" Xander asked.

"I was just wondering if you knew what was wrong with Maddie," Nick said. Xander's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Wrong with her?" He asked. He simply shrugged. "Vida said she fell down yesterday, I guess she got pretty hurt or something. Her arm looks pretty skinned,"

"She fell down?" Nick said, not understanding why a fall would change her so much.

"Yeah, V said it was in front of Ben," Xander said, casting a look at Madison. "Poor girl, it probably ruined her date or something," Xander mused gently. At the mention of Ben's name Nick couldn't help but feel a certain tightening inside of him.

"Oh," was all he said before leaving Xander to return to the girls. A while later, the door to the store opened to reveal Ben walking in. He caught sight of Madison ringing up customers at the register and walked over to her. Madison looked up and saw him before quickly looking down at the counter.

"Uh…thank you for……uh……shopping at Rockporium, please come again," she said to the customer she was handing their bag to in a small voice.

"Maddie," Ben said, standing next to the next customer on line. "Can we talk?"

"I'm sorry, I'm kind of busy," she said softly.

"Hey, I've got it," Chip said, coming behind the counter next to her. He put a hand on her back. "Go on," he smiled. Madison looked up at her friend.

"Oh…….okay..." she said. She slowly walked out from behind the counter and over to Ben. He took her hand and led her outside. Once they were outside, Madison snatched her hand away from him and fixed him with a cold glare.

"What is it?" She asked. Ben looked down.

"Okay, you have every reason to be mad at me," Ben said. "But, I…..I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am," Madison looked away. Ben gently reached out to her hand turned her face back to him. "I swear Maddie; I never meant to do that to you last night,"

"Yeah, but you did," Madison said, her eyes filling up with tears again. "You hurt me,"

"I know," Ben said. "I…..God, I can't believe I did that. It……..it felt like it wasn't even me. Like, I was outside of my body or something and watching this go on," he pulled her closer. "Are you okay?" He asked. Madison hesitated before nodding slowly.

"I…..I told Vida that I tripped on the curb," she said. Ben folded his arms around her, making her rest her cheek against his chest and tuck her head under his chin. He lowered his head and planted a soft kiss on the side of her forehead.

"Come here, I want to show you something," he said. He released her and took her hand in his car that was parked at the corner. Madison stood on the sidewalk as he reached to get something out of his car. He came back out with a long black velvet box. Madison looked at the item with questioning eyes before Ben slowly opened it to reveal a medium sized glittering blue heart shaped pendant on a silver chain.

"Oh……oh wow," Madison breathed out. "It's beautiful,"

"You're beautiful," Ben told her. He smiled. "So, I guess it's only fitting that it should go around your neck," he said. Madison's eyes widened.

"For me?" She asked. Ben nodded. Madison had never had a boy give her a present before…….because, in fact, she had never had a boyfriend, so there she was, standing in shock as he slowly peeled the chain out from the box and placed the empty box on the hood of his car. He held it out open in front of her. "Oh," Madison said, understanding what he wanted. She held her hair up and turned her back to him. She felt his arms go around her neck as he put the necklace on her and snapped it shut before planting a tender kiss on the side of her neck. He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around before going and getting more things from his car. He came back out with a large blue teddy bear with white lace tied around its neck in a bow in one hand and a bouquet of roses in the other. Madison covered her mouth, surprised by all this.

"Oh my god, Ben," she said. She took the bear from it and held it to her. "It's so adorable," she took the flowers from him and smelled them. "Ben, you're spoiling me," she said. Ben grinned.

"Good, you deserve to be spoiled," he said. He leaned over and kissed her. "I love you," he said. Madison smiled brightly at him. That was another thing that had never happened to the young blue ranger.

"Really?" She asked. Ben nodded and smiled at her.

"Really," he said. "I love you." Madison kissed him.

"I love you too," she said. Ben's smile got wider as he planted a sweet kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Well, I've got to go. Chemistry exam on Monday, need to study," he said. "Just wanted to come see you before engaging in the torture that is studying." Madison giggled.

"I'll call you tonight," she said. Ben nodded and the two joined in for one last kiss before he got in his car and left. Madison smiled brightly as she made her way back to the store. The others saw her practically float in the room with her things as she went to the backroom. Vida smiled at the sight of her sister and went to the backroom. She saw Madison put the teddy bear and flowers on the table by her things.

"Wow," Vida said. Madison turned to her sister; her smile seemed to reach her ears.

"Ben gave these to me, and this," she said, showing her sister the necklace on her neck. Vida groaned.

"Oh my god, you have such a great boyfriend. Can I steal him from you?" She asked. Madison laughed.

"He wanted to make sure I was okay, after yesterday," she said.

"Oh, he wanted to see you were okay from the fall? That's so sweet," Vida said. Madison only smiled. She had almost forgotten about what had really happened the night before. Ben's gifts and his words seemed to make up for everything. Well, I did fall down, she told herself. And he said he was sorry.

"I know," Madison said. "And guess what else?"

"What?"

"He told me he loves me," she said. Vida's eyes grew wide and she rushed over, pulling her sister into a hug.

"Oh, Maddie! I'm so happy for you!" She said. Madison laughed as she hugged her sister back. She felt so happy. She felt good. The previous night had just been a simple bump in her and Ben's relationship. Madison knew things would be perfect.

Nick watched as the two sisters came out of the backroom. His eyes became trained solely on the long haired sister. He noticed that her previous sad and meek demeanor had been changed and she was back to smiling and laughing like normal. He sighed to himself. He was glad that Madison was feeling better and was happy again…….but he also wished he was the one having that effect on the blue ranger instead of Ben.