A/N: I thought since the entirety of the last chapter was from Chimney and then Buck's POV that I would add a few scenes for Maddie :) Plus it gives some extra fluff to add to the beginning of Maddie and Chim's relationship the show left out.

Also a happy belated birthday to one of my dearest friends in the entire world Meowser_Clancy! This one is for you :) xx Mariah

Maddie wasn't sleeping. At least not for more than forty minutes at a time, and even the security app that Chimney had so nicely downloaded onto her phone wasn't helping with that.

Every little noise she heard startled her awake, not that she'd ever been a heavy sleeper, but the constant panic that crept up the back of her neck and grabbed hold of her heart as though Doug would be around the corner or pounding on her door when she woke up.

She felt as though energy was being drained out of her every time she jolted awake and reached for the baseball bat.

When she finally rose from bed at five-thirty she had already gotten dressed from one of the many times she got up she thought it would be the best idea since she couldn't fall asleep anyhow.

Now Maddie blinked to keep herself awake as she drove to work and even stopped for coffee on her way to the call center, getting a shot of expresso to hopefully keep her awake through the rest of her shift.

If she was lucky.

After Sue had reminded Maddie of her own strength things got a little easier, especially at work.

The rest of her shift had flown by and soon she was back on the freeway toward her condo in Eagle Rock when her phone rang. She had hardly glanced from the road in front of her to read the name that popped up on her dashboard.

Chimney.

She pressed the little answering button on the steering wheel and smiled as she heard his voice come through the speakers of the car.

"Hey Maddie," Chimney said, his voice light as he exhaled. "I hope I'm not disturbing you at work."

"Hi Chimney, and no you're not disturbing me," she teased him as she got off on her exit. "Just distracting me while I drive home from work."

He chuckled. "I see. That makes sense as to why you're not home." Chimney replied. "And hopefully I don't sound too creepy, but I was just coming to check up on you."

The first thing that went through mind then was that Buck had told him about her little comment.

Did he know she thought he was cute? Did he know about Doug?

Chimney must know half of the story or have been curious enough to ask why she'd popped up so randomly, but she'd never thought about asking her brother what she had told him just yet.

Then she heard his next few words, "I wanted to make sure the security system was working alright."

She let out an audible exhale. "Oh, yes. Of course!" She tried not to sound too out of it but could tell that her anxious mood had seeped back through from before. "It's been working perfectly. Thank you again."

"No problem," he said as she parked in front of the condo and saw him standing out front. She saw a plastic bag and he raised it into the air. "I brought Thai food. I thought we could get to know each other a little. I don't have many friends outside of work."

She smiled. "Yeah, that sounds perfect. I had a stressful day and Thai food is my favorite." She said as she ended the call, grabbed her purse, and moved out of the car.

Chimney had just slid his phone into his pocket as she walked up to him. "Want to talk about it?"

Her gut instinct was no. She didn't want to tell the story again, especially not to someone she didn't trust, but something made the ice melt around the first wall she kept around her feelings. She felt comfortable and safe for the first time in years with a man she hardly knew.

So Maddie took the first step. "Yeah, I really do." She told him.