"Jesus, do you ever shut up?"

James stopped and raised an eyebrow at the blonde across from him. She was glaring at him, but he was used to that. She'd come around eventually. He smirked at her. "Only when I've got what I want girlie."

Maddy rolled her eyes at him. "So basically, you're never going to stop talking."

His smirk only grew wider. "That depends on you."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I regret letting you inside."

"What are you talking about? I'm a joy to be around."

"Egocentric much?"

"Admit it, girlie, you're enjoying having me around." He leaned back in the chair, hoping his charisma would help him get her where he wanted.

"I'm used to you being here, but enjoying it?" she scoffed and shook her head. "No. Being used to something and enjoying it are two very different things."

"Whatever." He sighed and let his chair fall back onto all four legs. The thud reverberated around the room. "By the way, I heard you're going crazy." He twirled his finger near his temple, smirking at her again.

She glared at him again, but he ignored it. "Yes, well, it's your fault."

He leaned back, not surprised by the venom in her voice, but wondering how she could say her going crazy was his fault. "How is it my fault beauty?"

"Thanks to you and your family, I have PTSD and-" She stopped. "Hey! That's none of your business!"

He snickered and leaned back again. "And yet, you don't seem to mind telling me. Am I that trustworthy?"

She scowled at him and went back to her book. "No."

"So, you never told me. What exactly happened between you and loverboy?"

"Would you stop calling him that please? We're not even together anymore."

"I know, but I don't know why and I really want to."

"Why don't you go ask him?" She snapped, her eyes narrowed menacingly at him.

He yawned, knowing it would irk her further than he already had. "Too much effort." As she reached out to hit him, he grabbed her hand and ran a finger over the scars on her knuckles. "Where'd these come from?"

She jerked her hand out of his grasp and held it protectively against her side. "I punched a mirror. Why do you care?"

He opened his mouth to snap back at her, the retort dying in his throat when he noticed how prominent the dark circles under her eyes were. "When was the last time you slept?" This time, his concern wasn't faked to try and get her to like him. No, now, he was genuinely concerned and he leaned forward, brushing hair out her face.

"What are you doing?" she snapped, swatting his hand away. "The last time I slept isn't any of your business! Get away from me!"

He placed a hand against her forehead, his eyes widening. "You have a fever! You need to lay down."

"Would you stop?" She snapped, pushing him away. "I'm fine! And honestly, I don't see how my health is any of your concern!"

Ten minutes later, he'd somehow managed to pin her to the couch and was making soup. He wasn't sure why she was staying on the couch, but he wasn't going to try and move her. Getting her there had been hard enough, he didn't want to try it a second time.

"You're just like him."

He looked out to her. "Excuse me? Who?"

"Matthew."

He bristled. "I am nothing like him."

"Really?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Because he would've reacted the exact same way you did."

"So it's wrong for people to care about you?"

She buried her head in her hands. "God, it doesn't matter which one of you I'm around anymore. I can't handle either one of you."

He rolled his eyes and muttered sarcastically, "Pardon me for caring."

"You're pardoned." she sniffed, blowing her nose and throwing the tissue in the trash can he'd put at the foot of the couch.

He rolled his eyes again and shook his head, an amused smile tugging at his lips. "Good to know." Pouring some of the soup into a bowl, he went to the living room. Sitting on the edge of the couch, he held the bowl out to her, confusion settling over him when she stared at something over his shoulder distantly. Realization dawned on him and he put the bowl on the table, reaching out to gently grip her shoulders. "Hey, whatever you're seeing. It's not real."

She pulled away from him and curled into a ball. "My veins are turning to ice."

"What?" Concern washed over him and his smile faltered. "Hey, it's not real. You're fine."

She shook her head. "Ice, that's all I am."

He bit his lip. He wasn't sure how to handle this! "You're not ice. You're living, breathing flesh and blood and bone." He reached forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. "You're fine. It's not real. You're going to be fine." She was trembling, though that may have been because he was too. He grit his teeth, trying to shove the distressed feelings down. Freaking out wasn't going to help. She was covering her face with her hands and he hugged her tighter, wishing he could do more to help, even though he wasn't sure how to.

By the time, she took a shaky breath and said she was fine, her soup had gotten cold. She picked up the spoon and ate it anyway. "C-could you get my medication?"

He practically shot up like a rocket. "Of course! Where is it?"

"Upstairs in the bathroom. It should be in the top drawer beneath the sink."

He nodded, before running up the stairs and searching the bathroom for the medication. Once he found it, he hurried back down the stairs, his heart pounding against his ribs. "Found it! How many do you need?" He twisted the cap off the bottle, ready to dump the pills into his palm.

"Just one." she replied quietly, looking at him expectantly. He shook one into his palm and held it out to her. She took it with a mumbled, "thank you," and swallowed it dry.

He scratched the back of his neck nervously, before looking around. "Will you be okay if I leave?" When she nodded, he made his way over to the door. "I'll see you later then." He left before he could hear her response.

Later that night, James was sitting on his bed, gripping his head and staring at the floor. He jumped when the door slammed open. "Allen?"

"So how'd it go today? Is she madly in love with you yet?" His brother practically sing-songed and plopped on his bed.

"No." James replied, sinking into his sulking again. "After what she's told me, I'm not sure she's going to be 'madly in love' with anyone again."

"What's the point of trying to get her to love you if you're just going to give up?"

"I think I'm getting in too deep Allen. She had a hallucination today."

"Oh? How was it?"

"Awful."

"For who?"

"Both of us. She was shaking and it hurt that I couldn't help her. I think I'm starting to actually care about her Al."

Allen rolled his eyes. "Isn't that the point? If she's going to genuinely care about you, shouldn't you actually care about her?"

"Not like this." James mumbled, sinking lower into his bed. "Not like this at all."

I know I just updated earlier, but I wanted to post this chapter because I've had the idea for it floating around for a while and I wanted to get it written while I still had motivation.