Nick waits outside of her house, having roared up beautifully on his motorbike simply to see her grimace at him and turn her usually practiced, pleasant smile into a genuine scowl. He's noticed that the smile she usually plasters across her face is fake but the scowl that she reserves for him is completely genuine. It's like when he saw her true face and feelings in that night, when he saw her mask break away under the dark night sky, where she seemed human, for once.

Sometimes Nick hates how he catches himself thinking about that night.

But he's not alone, he realises, as he turns his head to eye the man standing on the gravel. The man is in a government business suit, Nick realises. He's a suit. He reminds himself that he hasn't done anything wrong, lately, when the man looks at him, steely eyes staring at him in curiousity. He looks so familiar, Nick realises, his brows furrowing together.

"Are you here for Madison?" the man asks, his voice low and deep.

Nick nods warily. "Are you?"

The man lets out a sigh. "If she'll see me," he confesses heavily. Nick eyes him in confusion and the man explains, "I'm her father."

"Oh." Nick blinks.

Madison's never mentioned her dad, he realises. He can't think how he didn't connect the dots before. They have the same eyes.

"I've come to repent," the man murmurs under his breath and his lips quirk upwards humourlessly. "Are you her friend, then? Or something more?"

Nick almost chokes at the insinuation.

The thought of being anything more to Madison, in that way, makes him grow strangely hot all over. Nick shakes his head quickly, denying everything, as he turns uncomfortable, his cheeks growing a brilliant red.

"No, no, I'm not – I mean, we're not – ," he begins to say heavily, stumbling over his words as quickly as he can, his eyes wide.

Madison's father is eyeing him carefully but before Nick can continue to make a fool out of himself, Madison comes out of the house. She has a brilliant scowl perched at the edge of her lips, her gaze drawn disparagingly towards his motorbike and her lips turn down.

"If you think I'm riding that thing –," Madison begins, her eyes hard, before she breaks herself off, noticing her father.

It is then that Nick notices a change overcome Madison's features. She startles very slightly, her lips parting and something like longing flits across her face as she stares at her father. For his part, her father is attempting to smile bravely, his eyes bright as he lifts a hand to wave stupidly.

"Madison," he says, almost breathless, and wow, Nick has never heard so much love in one voice. "Sweetheart, it's so good to see –,"

"You don't get to call me that," Madison snaps at him. Her voice is taut and her eyes are too bright so she blinks fiercely. "You don't get to call me anything. Did you not get the message or do I have to ignore you some more? I don't want to see you! I have never wanted to see you. I do not need you anymore."

"Madison," her father begins, looking utterly distraught. "Madison, let me explain."

Nick feels uncomfortable, accidentally intruding on something that's way too private for his stupid ass. He wonders whether he ought to step away and then wonders why does this kind of thing always end up happening to him?

"You know what," Madison snarls out.

Though she's angry, Nick can recognise the slight nuances of her face, telling him that she's really not okay. She looks like she's shattering through everything and he knows that, in her wrapped up storm of fury, she doesn't remember that he's here.

"Let me explain because you just can't seem to get the message. You return from the dead during my lovely summer, after fourteen years, thinking that you're just going to swing your way back into our house like I'm some stupid fool. You continue to text me, despite me never replying to anything and refuse to get the message, which a child would get. Newsflash, I am not the little idiot that you left all those years ago." She glares darkly up at her father and Nick can see Madison is trying valiantly to stop herself from crying.

"Let me tell you this now and for the last time. Leave."

*

"Why are we here?" Nick demands, his brows furrowed as he stares around the café, utterly bewildered.

It's a hideous place, with blanched green walls, tucked away within an alcove of streets, called The Love Shack. The booth they're sitting at is closer to the back, near the windows, but above the wall is an ugly painting of some skeletons and burning money. There's nothing like the sleek boutiques that decorate the streets, rather a few bawdy-looking pubs and a charity shop.

"I told you," Madison says, as she meticulously wipes down her seat before sitting across from him in the booth. "Nobody from school ever comes this way and I would rather not taint my reputation with the likes of you."

"And here I thought you just wanted to get me alone," Nick tells her.

"You wish."

"Hi, my name's Macy, and welcome to The Love Shack," the waitress says, her voice a dry monotone as she looks over theme. "We put smiles on your faces and droplets of love in your drinks."

"That sounds illegal," Madison bites, just as Nick snorts.

"Oh, we have some regular jokers here. Joy," Macy says and snaps her gum towards Madison, who visibly recoils. Nick bursts into laughter. "What will you two lovebirds be having, then?"

Both of them splutter at the same time.

"Lovebirds?"

Macy arches an eyebrow. "It's called The Love Shack," she points out dryly.

When Nick looks around, he realises they're surrounded by couples. They're everywhere – the couple nearest to them are making out so furiously, it should be illegal. Madison is looking utterly horrified as Nick turns to look at her. Her horror takes away most of his own and he starts finding the humour in it all, as he always does, with Madison.

Nick crosses his arms. "Something you want to tell me, Madison?"

The horror drains from Madison's face promptly, as she throws a perfect scowl towards him. "Shut up," she tells him, rolling her eyes at him as she arranges her skirts artfully. "Let's just get this over with. I'll have a green tea."

"Excellent choice. Really original," Macy says sarcastically, before she turns her head to Nick.

Nick purses his lips. "What kind of cakes do you guys have?"

Macy lets out an impatient huff. "Cream cake."

He waits but the waitress simply snaps her gum at him some more, flicking her pen against her notepad. Nick blinks. "Then... I'll be having a cream cake."

"A green tea and a cream cake. The chef will be so happy with the challenge," Macy tells them dryly.

Both Madison and Nick take the time to roll their eyes together towards her, as she leaves. Silence descends upon them both heavily, lingering thickly until it becomes awkward and uncomfortable between them.

When he's sick of the silence, Nick blurts out heavily, his fingers drumming distractedly against the wood of the table, "I was drunk."

Madison blinks. "What?"

He clears his throat awkwardly. "That night," Nick says. God, he said some stupid things, didn't he? He told her all about Mitchell and Will's dad – why did he do that? Better yet, why did she help him? "I was drunk. Whatever I said, I didn't mean it."

Her cheeks flush lightly and Nick suddenly remembers that Madison had also confessed the same amount to him, as well, her cheeks flushed in that same colour. God, she's pretty, he thinks, slightly dazed before catching himself.

"Me, too," Madison says quickly. "And that stuff with my dad –,"

"I won't say anything," Nick promises. "You were drunk, after all."

Both of them are looking at each other, pleasantly surprised with the other and slightly grateful, too. Madison's lips quirk upwards in quiet amusement as she nods towards him. "Yeah," she agrees, her voice lilting and soft. "We were both really drunk."

They're lying through their teeth and it's so obvious that Nick wants to laugh but he's not backing out. He's grateful when their food comes. Madison's thin fingers wrap around her warm cup of tea as Nick examines his cream cake. It's dry and crumbles on his plate, the icing almost falling off the top. Nick purses his lips in disappointment, before cutting a small piece off and eating it carefully, chewing. He lets out a sigh, the dry cream cake heavy in his mouth.

"This is awful," Nick says, to Macy's annoyance. She looks utterly affronted but Nick reasons, she didn't make it. "What else have you guys got?"

Macy shoots him a dark scowl, clearly very annoyed that he could be asking her to do work when she is working. The sheer audacity of him. She lets out another impatient huff before reeling off a list.

"Chocolate orange cake, strawberry shortcakes. I think we've got a cheesecake, too," she tells him. "Cream cake was the special."

"Well, emphasis on was," Nick says. He shakes his head and announces, "I want all of them." Madison throws him a confused look. "Uh, please."

The waitress glowers at him darkly before flouncing off. Madison's lips part as though she wants to laugh but holds herself back. She leans forward, running a slim finger against the rim of her cup of tea.

"Okay," she begins bracingly, her brows furrowed together. "Now, this dance that we have to do together –,"

"I'm not touching you. I could burn."

"One can only hope," Madison bites back and she scowls at him. "You need to tell your mother that you want out."

Nick splutters, defiant. "Me?" he asks. "Why do I have to do it? You tell your mum."

"My mother is in Monaco," Madison tells him, her smile turning almost smug. "Yours is still in Redwood."

He scoffs at her. "It's not like technology doesn't exist. Ever heard of Skype, rich girl?" Nick retorts before he arches an eyebrow. "You just want to please your mother."

"Well, so do you!"

"Then what are we going to do?" Nick huffs at her. Macy returns, balancing several plates of cake. "Thanks," he tells her gratefully, choosing to ignore the dark scowl she throws him, and turns to Madison. "You want some?"

Madison shakes her head but he sees how her eyes linger on the thick chocolate cake. Nick takes the time to eat a small slice of each cake, chewing it carefully, as he hums to himself.

"Okay, so the cheesecake is nice but it's not as sweet as I would have made it," he tells Madison, who looks at him like he's grown a third head. "We've established the general failure of the cream cake. The strawberry shortcake has to join that queue because I don't think that's a strawberry and frankly, I'm too scared to ask about the shortcake. But the chocolate cake is really good. You want to try some?"

Madison is staring at him. "Shut up, Masterchef," she huffs at him. "We have real problems. I'm not going to break my mother's heart."

"Well, neither am I," Nick retorts heavily.

"Well, then," Madison says, and she's growing annoyed with him, "you'd better turn up to the first dance lesson! If you're late, then I'll tell Mother you're not interested!"

"I'm not going to be late," Nick bites back. "If anyone's going to be late, it's going to be you! And then I'll tell your mother that you're not interested!"

They both scowl at each other before leaving.

*