She's on the rooftop of the hotel she and Nick had been on, drinking heavily from the bottle.

Madison leans on the ground, uncaring if her dress gets dirty, and wonders why she cannot cry.

She stares up at the cloudless sky, watching as the soft red of the sunset spills across the blue, drops of lilac and pale pink filtering across the canvas. Her phone lies, switched off, on the ground a little way away from her. The anger had spilled out of her, long ago, but now, all that is left is just hollowing emptiness. As though she is just a cage of flesh and blood, but there is nothing within.

Maybe she really is as heartless as they say.

She even lifts a hand to press against her chest, but she can't hear anything.

Madison shakes the bottle and sighs when she realises it is empty. Her gaze falls briefly on the phone and she thinks of Kyle's message, closing her eyes. Maybe she should just let Kyle attack her. It would be what she deserved. Madison thinks of Audrey sadly.

The sound of the rooftop door creaks, but Madison doesn't move.

"If it's your boss, I'll pay him to stay here," she says, but the words are slurred and mush together in her mouth. She clears her throat and repeats herself, her enunciation cast out properly. "You won't get in trouble. I'm good at paying people."

"That's not all you're good at," comes Nick's deep voice, and Madison inhales sharply.

She surges upwards so fast that she makes herself dizzy and before she knows it, Nick has moved swiftly to steady her. Madison sits up properly, very conscious of Nick's fingers at her waist, of his face close to hers.

God, she thinks, her heart aching, she really, really likes him.

"I'm fine," Madison insists, instead.

Nick frowns at her.

"Are you drunk?"

Madison shakes her head quickly, but the motion makes her wince.

"No," she lies, her words slurred.

He reaches for the empty bottle pointedly.

"I thought you didn't like to lose control," Nick says.

She wonders if he's mocking her.

It doesn't sound like it, she decides.

Madison arranges her skirts artfully, graceful as ever, and reaches for his cold, broad hands to cup against her face. Nick is looking at her with concern, but he willingly presses his cool fingers against her feverish cheeks. Madison lets out a breath, closing her eyes.

"I've screwed up, Nick," she whispers into his palm. "Badly."

"I thought I was the idiot out of the two of us," Nick says, but Madison doesn't even smile.

"I'm sorry I said all those terrible things to you."

"I forgive you."

She huffs at him and Nick chuckles.

"I'm sorry, too," he murmurs, looking at her.

"Nobody likes me," she says. "I don't even like me."

Nick stills.

"I like you," he confesses after a moment, and then Madison lifts her head, startled.

She searches his face, to see if he's lying, but he's not. When Nick lies, his eyes brighten slightly, but now he looks utterly serious. Madison feels as though she might cry.

"No, you don't," she mumbles. "I don't have a heart. I'm – God, Nick, I can't even cry. I screwed up so bad and I can't even –,"

She's breathing hard, almost hyperventilating, but Nick reaches forward, pulling her against his chest.

"I like you," he insists, his voice quiet.

And then, Madison breaks down, for the first time in thirteen years.

She sobs against his chest, Nick's solid arms around her comfortingly, as she explains everything.

Hurrying excitedly to see if her mother had finally been proud of her and discovering the lie that her mother had fed her for years. Angrily shouting at her mother and realising that her mother never had her best interests at heart. Going into the club to find comfort from her friends, only to find that she had driven them apart completely. Audrey's attack. Maria's roaring realisation of what she had done for Lula's family. Lula's hurt and betrayal. Elliot's unforgiving face. Shouting at all of them, wounded. Olivia's words cutting her to the bone.

Madison is crying too hard to talk about Kyle and for what feels like the longest, most beautiful moment in her life, Nick just holds her. He simply wraps his arms around her, her entire body cradled within his. She soaks his shirt with her tears, but not a word of complaint passes his lips.

"Everyone is right," she sobs, hiccupping heavily. "I really don't have a heart. I'm a stone-cold bitch. I hurt Audrey and Lula and everyone around me."

"If you didn't have a heart," Nick says, his voice quiet, "you wouldn't be crying so hard right now, Madison."

His words jolt her, and Madison lifts her head to stare up at him, startled. Nick gives her a soft, comforting smile, the one that always makes the world around her feel warmer.

"What?" she asks confusedly.

"You're not heartless. You're not unbreakable, Madison," he tells her softly. "You have a way of looking utterly indestructible. That's why they say you have no heart. But look at you now. Often, people don't see that you're human, too."

Madison blinks at him.

"Do you see it?" she asks, hesitant and her heart heavy in her mouth. "That I'm human, too?"

"I always saw it," Nick says proudly. "I think you have the biggest heart out of anyone I've ever met. You would never care so much for the people around you, if you didn't." He shrugs at her. "I was never afraid of you."

"Audrey is," Madison says. "Audrey thinks – Audrey doesn't want to see me. None of them do. I thought – I thought I was doing the right thing."

"I think, apart from actively hunting Kyle which was just plain stupid," Nick says, "that you did do the right thing. It was good of you to protect your friend like that, but Audrey deserved to know. So did Lula. You shouldn't have given her money, when you knew that she would refuse it. You know that. It's their lives that you were holding in your hands, Madison. Audrey and Lula deserved your respecting it."

For a moment, Madison simply stares helplessly at Nick, before she buries her head in his chest, wrapping her arms around him tightly. She can't quite get the words out of her throat right now, but Nick hugs her back. He gives her that smile that makes her think that everything will really be okay.

"What about you?" she says, finally pulling back and fixing her hair.

Nick blinks.

"What?"

"You can't get anything over me," Madison tells him. "Something's happened. Your eyebrows look like they're going to fall off."

Despite the worry in his eyes, Nick chuckles lightly under his breath. Madison is glad that she can make him laugh in the midst of his worries. Even so, she's still concerned for him and tilts her head up to look him in the eyes, narrowing her gaze.

Nick lets out a heavy breath and explains everything, her arms wrapped around him tightly and comfortingly.

Talking to his mother about the dance. Picking up Jake's phone call. Discovering he was in the hospital, after a hit from Mitchell. Jake's panic as he insisted he was next. Hanging up to see his mother's ashen face. The discovery of another warehouse set on fire. His mother telling him about Mr Carroway's lawsuit. Connecting the dots to realise that he was behind Mr Carroway's firing. His mother realising that he was the reason behind her beloved company almost collapsing in itself. Attempting to explain, but his mother refusing to even see his face.

He shudders against her and Madison realises that Nick is crying too, her heart hurting. Nick's always such a big and strong figure that it hurts, to see him break down like this.

"I told you I was the biggest idiot out of the two of us," he tells her, caught between crying and laughing humourlessly.

"You're not an idiot," Madison says, shaking her head. "You just did something stupid. You need to talk to your mother, but maybe when she's calmed down a bit. She loves you more than she loves her company, but that doesn't mean you don't have to go all out on your apology gift." She chuckles tearfully with him, as Nick leans his head against hers. "And this lawsuit is just a bitter Mr Carroway, trying to hit you. It'll likely get thrown out, for your age and lack of evidence alone, but even if it doesn't, we can call the best lawyers."

"God," Nick murmurs, "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," she whispers back at him, feeling warm inside.

Madison stares helplessly at Nick and he stares back at her. She wants nothing more than to kiss him senseless, the air between them flickering and tangible. Her breaths coming a little fraught, Madison opens her mouth.

"Mitchell is coming for me."

"Kyle is going to kill me."

*

Nick is pacing furiously, while Madison sits, cross-legged, on the rooftop, thinking frantically.

Darkness dips across the night sky, the gleaming stars illuminating them. The cool night breeze filters softly through the air, rustles her curls, and Madison hugs Nick's jacket closer to her, goosebumps rising on her arms.

"I can take care of Kyle," Nick is saying.

Madison shakes her head. "Kicking him out of Redwood didn't work," she says. "He came straight back."

"Did you tell the police?"

"Yeah, I pulled a few of Mother's contacts at the station to look for him," she tells him, furrowing her brows. "What about Mitchell? What's his weakness? Does he have a girl?"

"He's got several," Nick says. When he sees her face, he shakes his head. "They all know what they're getting into and he doesn't care about them. He doesn't have any family either. I heard about a brother once, but that might have just been rumours."

"It's still something," Madison tells him. "I can look into it."

She reaches for her phone, switching it back on before it starts vibrating like mad in her fingers. Madison frowns at it, as her phone lights up frantically. Nick turns his head.

"It's – it's my dad," she says uncertainly.

"Are you going to pick up?" Nick asks her.

"I don't – what would I say?" Madison says. "Last time I saw him, I said – God, I was such an asshole."

"You always are," Nick says teasingly, as she rolls her eyes at him. He grows serious. "He'll be fine, you know. It's like in a parental contract – you can't be annoyed with your kid if they run away after finding out their mother's been lying to them."

"What a specific contract," Madison jibes, but her fingers linger on the screen. She lets out a cool breath, before picking up. "Fa –,"

"Madison? Oh, finally – Madison, where are you? Your mother's been calling me like mad – everyone's worried sick about you, even Becky called me up, saying you hadn't come home and after the charity party – I almost called in the SWAT team – Madison, where are –,"

"Breathe," Madison says first. "I'm fine. I just – I had to cool off a bit, after ...the whole thing with Mother."

Her fingers are shaking, and Nick reaches forward, sitting in front of her. He takes her hands and holds them tightly, encouragingly. She takes strength from him, breathing out.

Her dad forces himself to breathe out audibly. He lets out an unsteady laugh.

"Sorry, I – I forget that you're all grown up now, Madison," he says shakily. "I just – I was so worried about you."

Nobody but Nick has ever told her something like that, Madison thinks. It makes her feel warm inside.

"Really?" she asks, half-wonderingly.

"Yes, really," her father says. "Are you alright, Madison? I know that you – well, you heard about your mother."

"I'm sorry," she confesses heavily.

"There's no need for that –,"

"No, I'm sorry, Dad," Madison says, and Nick smiles at her. It gives her the strength to keep going and honestly, she thinks, Nick's smile is a powerful thing. "I – I was awful to you, when you were just trying to find a way back to us."

"You didn't know the full story, Madison," her dad says. "And I'm still at fault, for leaving you. I'm sorry for that and I'll regret it forever."

Madison lets out a taut breath, before her gaze drops on the plans they've been making. She sobers up a little, worry furrowing her brow.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, Madison?"

"Did you say you'd almost called in a SWAT team?" she asked, frowning as her lips draw up, amused. "That's a pretty terrible joke –,"

Her dad lets out a sheepish laugh. "Oh, that's not really a joke," he admits, as Madison's jaw drops. "I told you I work in a pretty high governmental position, right?"

An idea begins to spark.