When Madison gets to school, she is so dazed that she doesn't pick up any of her friends.

Even Louie looks rather concerned as he looks back at her, but Madison is deep in thought, her gaze falling down to her fingers in her lap. She can't stop remembering the glorious feeling of Nick, the way his big arms had pinned her down against his bed, how his mouth had moved over her, and made her moan in pleasure.

His lips against her bare skin, his fingers pressing deep against her thighs, his broad arms around her form.

She's hot all over, just thinking about it.

"Miss Madison?" Louie voice is tentative.

Madison's head snaps up, rather flustered. "Yes, Louie?"

"We're here," he says, and she can see the light of confusion in his eyes. Her driver clears his throat and adds, "Would you like me to pick you up for your dancing lesson today, Miss Madison?"

For a moment, Madison thinks about bailing on the dance lesson for today. She's so confused about everything that she's feeling and for the first time, Madison doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know what she wants. Nick wanted to get her out of his system, and she thought she did, too, so why can't she stop thinking about him?

This is the exact opposite of what's supposed to happen, Madison thinks angrily.

She nods her head, annoyed at herself.

"Yes, Louie," Madison tells her driver. "Pick me up, right after school."

"Yes, Miss Madison."

When she spots her group of friends waiting for her, Madison remembers everything she has to do, all in an instant. She could curse herself, she thinks, swearing under her breath. Being with Nick made her forget everything but she's got so much to do.

"Wait," Madison calls out to Louie, even as she opens the door. "I have a free lesson in the afternoon, Louie. I need you to pick me up at one o'clock."

"Yes, Miss Madison," Louie says, and he gives her one last worried glance before Madison gets out of her car and he drives off.

Lula is there in an instant, pulling Madison into the school building, chattering away eagerly, even as Madison reaches for Audrey.

"...so Theo and I made up, finally, after Maria made us talk properly. She told me that your idea of dumping him wasn't such a good idea because of how much I really like him, and we had to talk, and I found out that Theo thought I was being rude and I don't really mean to be rude so I'm trying to be a better person –,"

"Lula," Madison snaps, rubbing her head. She makes a conscious effort to stop looking for a motorbike. "Be a better person by not talking."

Lula's face dims and the light of excitement within her face turns to soft disappointment, as Maria clears her throat awkwardly. Elliot and Maria are exchanging looks between each other and usually, Madison would be annoyed at it, but her focus is entirely on Audrey now. Audrey looks much the same as she did yesterday, to Madison's relief, and she doesn't seem to be sporting any new bruises, Madison thinks, eyeing her friend with some worry. She reaches for Audrey's wrist and Audrey smiles at her sweetly.

It's then that Madison already knows it.

Audrey hasn't broken up with Kyle.

Does she have to do everything?

"...Madison? Are you listening?" Elliot is asking her, his brows furrowed together.

Madison turns her head. "What?"

They're all staring at her, even Audrey, in slight confusion. To them, she isn't acting herself, Madison realises and Lula gasps.

"You had sex!" she exclaims, wide-eyed.

Madison splutters. "What?"

"Glowing skin, skirt is rustled, socks aren't pulled up properly," Lula reels off the list, eyeing Madison. "It all adds up. That's me, on a good day."

Everyone begins to crowd around her wildly, demanding details, as Elliot proceeds to pretend to throw up dramatically. Maria is eager-eyed, perhaps overcompensating, like Nick had told her, for her guilt.

"What was he like?" she asks, her cheeks flushed, before Maria furrows her brows. "Is that why you look a bit peaky? Did he leave you?" Already, Maria is jumping to conclusions, clenching her fist. "Want me to take care of the bastard?"

Flashes of Maria attempting to take down Nick flicker in her mind and Madison almost chokes. She shakes her head quickly, eyeing her friends, who are staring at her for answers. Madison realises, faintly, that they think Nick broke her heart and they're willing to fight him?

"Nothing happened," she tells them. "I mean, I did sleep with him and yes, he was good," the best I've ever had, "but that's all I'll tell you."

"But we tell you everything," Audrey protests, her voice quiet.

Elliot is nodding. "Yeah, Madison," he agrees. "If this guy hurt you, we can hurt him back."

She's so startled she doesn't know what to think. The thought that her friends want to defend her is surprising, to Madison, for she's always taken care of them. It's never been the other way around. Something like discomfort writhes within her and Madison shakes her head, fixing her hair.

"He didn't hurt me and it was just a one-off," Madison says, her cheeks flushing, as she refuses to give any details. "Anyway, this school trip. Are you all going?"

"Yeah," Lula says eagerly. "I've already got three suitcases packed."

"Lula, it's for two days."

"You can never have enough shoes."

Both Elliot and Maria throw her suspicious looks that Madison knows means they know that she's changing the subject but she can't be bothered to deal with them. She lets out a breath, seating herself next to Audrey, as Lula and Maria babble away, filling up the air with mundane conversation about the school trip. She's already thinking hard about what she's going to do to Kyle, when she lets herself glance across the room in the same languid, cool gaze that she is often prone to doing, her heart pounding away within her chest. Something hot and fiery is building up within her, and her mouth goes dry when she sees him.

Nick is lounging, as he always does, across a chair, with his legs propped up on the table, without a care in the world. He is sleeping idly, and a teacher is already making a beeline for him. Madison is angry against herself. This is ridiculous, she thinks. This is Nick.

She never feels nervous with Nick.

Her breath hitches, when she notices something.

Because that is a violet bruise blooming against his neck, slightly visible against the white collared school shirt.

A hickey.

Oh my God. That is a hickey.

She gave him a hickey?

For a moment, the world sways before her and Madison inhales so sharply and so loudly that Elliot stops talking. Elliot turns his gaze towards her, his brows furrowed slightly.

"Madison? You okay?"

Maria is agreeing, her voice a concerned hum. "You look a bit peaky, baby. Are you still on that diet?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Madison snaps, with a little too much force than necessary.

When her friends look slightly affronted, Madison forces herself to calm down and waves their concerns away with a soft, cool smile, offering some lukewarm excuse. She wets her lips nervously and waits a moment, before she lets her gaze sweep across the room idly again.

The bell rings. The teacher is talking to him now, snapping at him angrily, and Nick is sleepily blinking up at the man, rubbing his fingers against his neck absently. Something hot flares in her stomach and Madison thinks about how she knows exactly why he is so sleepy.

His gaze finds hers and Nick offers her a smug, crooked smile, his fingers trailing dangerously across his white collar.

Madison ignores him and stalks into class.

*

When Louie comes to pick her up, Madison gets into her car gratefully.

She's been fending off her friends all morning and Nick has been annoying her. He hasn't actually done anything, save for a few wary glances when he thinks she's not looking, but that's not the point. Madison is annoyed and God, the way he looks at her sets her aflame.

"Would you like to stop for lunch, Miss Madison?" Louie asks her, as he pulls away smoothly from the school.

Madison blinks. Her driver has never asked her such a question before, she thinks, staring at Louis before she realises it's rude to stare and tears her gaze away. When she takes too long to answer, Louie clears his throat awkwardly.

"It's just that Becky tells me your diet needs you to eat only at lunch," Louie explains.

Madison is still startled. Her driver does not usually make comments.

"Yes," she says, finding her voice again. "Yes, Becky's right."

"Would you like me to find a restaurant, Miss Madison?" Louie asks.

But Madison shakes her head and though her stomach grumbles, she presses her shaking fingers down against the ruffles of her school skirt.

"No, thank you, Louie," she tells him, quietly. "I must adhere to the diet my mother left me. After I deal with this, I'd like you to take me home so that I may eat. You may call Becky and tell her to prepare my salad."

She drops her head down to tap quickly at her laptop, having pulled it open to fix a few things, quickly shooting off a text on her phone. When Louie speaks, he speaks after a while and there is something stuck in his throat.

"Yes, Miss Madison," he says, polite as ever. He clears his throat again. "But if you don't mind my saying, Miss Madison."

"What is it, Louie?" Madison asks, not looking up from her laptop.

"You know that I have a granddaughter about your age."

"Yes, Chloe," Madison says, nodding idly, thinking about the time that her driver's daughter had asked her for help, flushing hotly all the while. Though Mother forbids it, Madison used to think of the servants as family and so, when Louie had confessed that his daughter's husband had run off with all of their money, Madison had quietly and swiftly offered her help. His granddaughter, Chloe, who Madison has never met before, now goes to a famous boarding school that Madison managed to wrangle a few strings for. "Is she happy at Rutherford?"

"Yes," Louie says, as he stops the car, and Madison looks up. "Yes, she's very happy."

Her driver is looking at her in the mirror and Madison is rather startled to see the amount of concern within his eyes. For a moment, she wonders whether something terrible has happened.

Louie is continuing, "Her mother says she gets good grades and all. We have you to thank, Miss Madison." He pauses. "Not only have you helped me, Miss Madison, during my direst moments, but you have also taken care of me and my own. I am very grateful for it. Most of the reason, it's why I understand and respect your wishes to keep your life private from the rest of us and that we do not ask questions or make assumptions." Madison suddenly feels very cautious, but from some strange surge of confidence, her driver is continuing. "Becky and the others feel much the same way, Miss Madison. We've grown with you, we've raised you. We have taken care of you. I look upon you just like Chloe." Louie lets out a breath. "Which is why we are very worried about you."

Of all the things she was expecting for Louis to say, this was not it.

For a moment, Madison wonders if she is offended but realises that she is not. Instead, she feels something strange, as though she might cry. She lets out a quiet breath and fights to get a hold of herself.

"Louie," Madison says, and she's glad that her voice does not shake, "while I am grateful for your concern, I assure you it is unnecessary."

Her fingers are trembling.

Louie stares at her in the mirror and Madison does not know why she feels as though she is lying, when she isn't.

"Miss Madison," he says, and his voice is soft. "You do not eat the amount that you need to be eating. You are too hard at work for such a young girl, that I have not seen you relax for a very long time this year. I understand that you have exams soon, but you seem to be working above and beyond that, including for your mother's company, too. It seems to be too much pressure on you. And we fear for you. Your mother is away, which means that you are home alone and –,"

"You are overstepping, Louie," Madison says sharply, her voice snappish.

Gone is her sudden uncontrollable urge to cry, for in its place reigns her anger. She did not mean to snap, for it is something that Mother doesn't like, but Louie's words have hit too painfully close. Madison is breathing hard and she lifts her head, turning her gaze away from Louie. She hates that her driver is questioning her, she hates that her driver is being cruel about her mother's absence, but most of all, she hates that he is so concerned.

She is not used to people concerning themselves over her.

"Yes, Miss Madison," Louie is saying, his voice a murmur. "I apologise."

Madison only swallows and gets out of the car. She lets out a breath, composing herself quickly, before she goes inside the building. Before her stands the very person she's been wanting to see, for a while.

"Kyle."

*