Alfred took a deep breath and knocked on the door, the sound echoing hollowly back to him as he stood on the porch. A few minutes passed and he frowned, knocking again. The door creaked open, slowly revealing the blonde hermit he'd come to see. "Hey dudette!"

Maddy's eyes narrowed at him and she remained silent, her gaze burning into him. Finally, she sighed. "What do you want Alfred?"

His eyes widened slightly. He'd thought that maybe Matthew had been kidding or over exaggerating just how much venom dripped from her tone, but she sounded like she truly hated him. Instinctively, he backed up, raising an arm to shield his face in case she pounced. It wouldn't be the first time. No matter how many times they talked or how often Matthew had assured him that she wouldn't murder him, Maddy always found some way to make the personification of the United States uncomfortable.

She rolled her eyes. "Alfred, tell me what you want or leave. I'm really not in the mood to deal with your shenanigans today."

"I just want to talk." he muttered, forcing himself to relax.

"What makes you think I want to talk?" she snapped, her eyes glowing as the sunlight hit them. "Do you have any idea what today is?"

Alfred stopped, wondering why the date would put her in such a bad mood. It was a monday, true, but she usually didn't threaten to go on a killing spree because of mondays. Maybe she's on her period? Even that usually wasn't enough to make her threaten his life though. He flipped through his mental calendar and the few dates he actually had engraved into his memory and suddenly, it clicked. "Oh.. Dudette, I didn't mean to-"

She slammed the door in his face. He stood there for a minute, the full weight of what day it was finally sinking in. Shaking, he opened the door and walked in. There were few lights on and the closed curtains did nothing to help the lack of lighting. He looked around then went up the stairs and began checking rooms. He found her curled in a ball on the floor of the closet in what he assumed was her bedroom. He carefully stepped over a pile of clothes on the floor and stood in front of her. "Do you want to-"

"Go away." she muttered, furiously wiping the tears off her face.

He sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. It seemed that was enough for the moment, but he refused to look at her, giving himself time to come up with what to say. He wasn't really one for emotional conversations and talking about his feelings. He couldn't actually remember the last time he'd let himself talk to someone about his own feelings. Well, that wasn't true. He could remember the last time he'd talked to someone about his feelings and allowed someone to see past his 'hero' facade. It had been after the girls had first gotten there. "Talk less, listen more." Brittany had told him. It was funny, how sometimes he could go for days without breaking down at the memory of his sidekick and other times, one thing reminded him of her and he would have to spend the rest of the day alone so no one would see him cry.

"It hurts Al."

Alfred hugged her tighter and closed his eyes, hoping he wouldn't start crying too. "I know." He wondered just how much she was hurting. If losing Brittany had affected him, Arthur and probably Lukas as badly as it had, then how bad was it for her? The two had known each other for years and had practically been sisters.

"Can you believe it's been twenty years? Sometimes, I look at old pictures or I wake up and think no time has passed and I'm going to go downstairs and she'll be there." Maddy paused and blinked rapidly to keep the second onslaught of tears at bay. "But she never is. I go downstairs or I go out and reality sets in again. I couldn't protect her Alfred. I promised myself I would. I always said that I'd be there for her no matter what, but I- I couldn't. I wasn't there when she needed me most and she got shoved off a roof because of it."

"That wasn't your fault." Alfred snapped, suddenly feeling guilty. "I was the one who suggested that we split the two of you up."

"I remember." she muttered in a cold voice, her eyes darkening. "I remember everything about it. She promised me she wouldn't die and if I had gone with her, maybe she wouldn't have."

"Stop. None of that was your fault. You didn't suggest splitting up, you didn't push her off that roof. Nothing that happened was your fault. You put yourself in danger trying to keep the two of you from being separated. Do you remember that?"

She looked away, not wanting to admit that although she did remember, that didn't make her feel better. She's fought him when he'd suggested they split up, yes, but not for very long. Plus, thinking about it made her remember how things used to be between her and Matthew and that wasn't something she enjoyed recalling. After a minute, she realized Alfred was looking at her expectantly, most likely waiting for her to respond. Her mind began racing and she desperately tried to come up with something to say. Realizing she no longer wanted to linger on this topic, she did was she was best at. She stood and changed the subject, "You know... I heard about this haunted house. It could be fun."

Alfred gaped at her, his annoyance raising. She was doing what she always did. Changing the subject, diverting the attention away from herself and pretending the problem had been resolved. She was changing the subject, but more specifically... running away. Finally, he forced himself out of his train of thought and raised an eyebrow at her. "A haunted house?"

She nodded. "Yeah and I heard this one doesn't have any ghosts."

She remembered that? "All haunted houses have ghosts."

"Well... okay, I'm sure it has ghosts but there aren't supposed to be a lot of them."

He thought about calling her out on her act, making her realize that he knew what she was doing, but he stopped. She was smiling a little too widely and her hands were shaking. His resolve faded and he sighed, knowing he wasn't getting out of this, even if it was only because he didn't want to push her. "Alright."

"Really?"

He nodded, pushing his fingers through his hair and got up. "I'll be downstairs." He walked out of the closet and made his way downstairs, flopping onto the couch. A few minutes later -much sooner than he'd been expecting- Maddy came down the stairs, putting her hair in a ponytail. He raised an eyebrow at her again. "Done already?"

She sent him a confused look as she grabbed her keys off the desk. "I didn't have that much to do." She grabbed her sneakers and came over to the couch, sitting down before putting them on. As she laced them up, she brushed her bangs out of her face and stood again. "Shall we?"

He stood as well and followed her to the front door, willingly being ushered out the door as she locked it and paused, checking her pockets. Satisfied that she had everything, she closed the door and followed him down the driveway. He stopped at her car and waited for her to unlock it. She clicked the button on her remote and got in the driver's side, reaching up to adjust the rearview mirror slightly. The car was started as he got his seatbelt on and the radio came on, Eye of the Tiger leaking through the static. The haunted house was a short drive away, but they didn't talk and instead sat, listening to the music in a way that somehow managed to become uncomfortable.

This was such a bad idea. Why did I let her talk me into this? Alfred turned and looked around, searching for both the ghosts who'd chased him down the hallway and Maddy, who'd run away screaming when they'd gone into a room full of clowns. Something cold brushed his hand and he jerked it away, holding said appendage protectively against his side. "Oh god…" he looked around again, his heart pounding.

"Alfred!" Fingers closed around his wrist and he jumped. "Calm down! It's just me."

He sent the blonde a look that was a mix of relief and anger. "Where have you been? Clowns aren't that scary! They're just people in costumes!"

"So are the ghosts, but I don't see you standing up to them!" she snapped, releasing his wrist and planting her hands on her hips. Her voice was laced with fear and her eyes darted back and forth. A ghost dropped down between them and Alfred screamed, jumping back. It grinned devilishly at him with a wide, crooked mouth and squinty, glowing eyes. He ducked under it and clung to Maddy, his eyes squeezed shut. "Al! It's a glow in the dark sheet on a wire! Let go!" He shook his head and tightened his grip on her. "Alfred F. Jones, you're not a koala! Let go of me!"

The blonde sighed and resigned herself to being trapped in a bone-crushing hug until they got out of here. Unfortunately, she had never really had a good sense of direction and this haunted house was more maze-like than any she'd been in before. Looks like we're going to be trapped here awhile. Cold fingers gripped her shoulder, she felt breath on her neck and she rolled her eyes. "Al, that's not funny."

"I'm not doing anything." he mumbled, his face still buried in her shoulder. "It's probably another one of those clowns. Or," he looked at her. "Maybe it's a clown spider hybrid."

Alfred felt more than saw her shudder before she glared at him. "Don't even joke about that." she looked around, before prying him off her. "We should keep moving."

They went down the hallway, more shuffling along than actually walking and both keeping a wary eye out in case something jumped out at them. Another ghost dropped down and Alfred took off, screaming so much that it seemed like he should've lost his voice already. Maddy rolled her eyes and began jogging after him, picking up her pace as the cold fingers and the feeling that she was being watched came back.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into that." Alfred muttered, getting into the passenger seat and rubbing his arms. He kept a wary eye on the entrance to the house, in case some ghoul had decided to follow them out.

"I can't either." Maddy replied, starting the car. She kept glancing back at the house as well, but not out of fear of the ghosts. Chills crawled up her spine and she looked around, wishing that she didn't feel thousands of eyes on her. Alfred watched her, concern sending his heartbeat into a frenzy, even though the adrenaline was fading. She blinked and looked at her white knuckled hands on the steering wheel for a minute. He reached over and gently patted her shoulder. She seemed really out of it and he wasn't sure if it was a good time for her to get inside her own head.

"Do you think Brittany would've had fun?" he asked, mostly to break the silence and bring the blonde back to reality.

She scoffed at him, releasing the brake and allowing the car to roll forward. "No. She hated haunted houses. There wouldn't have been a way for us to get her inside, never mind, how she'd be afterward. Do you remember how she was after you took her into that haunted house at the amusement park?"

Alfred looked away, the memory bringing up things he didn't want to think about right then. "That did kind of mess her up."

"Kind of?" The car rolled out of the parking lot and the two blondes fell into silence again. It wasn't until they'd gotten to Maddy's house that they spoke again. "Not to be rude, Al, but I've got some stuff to do."

"No, it's fine, dudette. I've got some things I need to do anyway." He got out of the car, going over to his own. "See ya!"

Maddy waved at him from her own car, waiting until he'd left to get out. She sighed and went inside, turning the lights in the house off as she went about. It wasn't until she was standing in absolute darkness that she allowed the tears to fall. "Damn it." Her hands clenched into fists at her sides and she sat down, resting her chin on her knees. She hadn't been planning on going anywhere today, certainly not with Alfred. Her hands were shaking and she balled them up in her shirt, hoping they'd stop. After a while, she got up and stumbled to her bed, where she laid down and stared at the ceiling for about an hour before falling asleep.

pinkittwice54: XD. Yes, he probably is doomed. I'm glad you approve, I'm honestly very worried about how this story will turn out. I've got lots of ideas floating around. Yes, your character being MIA will become a very prominent issue throughout the story.