I took one final deep breath and walked up to Jack. His back was facing me, and I was about to tap his shoulder, but I froze. What if he rejected me? What if he ignored me? What if this just didn't work. I lowered my hand. I just needed a minute to regroup, then I'd be fine, I convinced myself. Ellie was watching me from her position at the stairs.

"I just need a minute, I'm going to the bathroom," I told her.

"It's down the hall to the left," she said, pointing me in the right direction. I rushed out of the room, still holding my empty cup. Winging it was a terrible idea. I had no idea of what I was actually going to do. I found the bathroom, and luckily the door was slightly open. I took that to mean that no one was in there, so I pushed it open. I was wrong.

I froze. My heart dropped. I felt my hand loosen on the mostly empty cup I was still holding, causing it to fall to the floor.

Finn was inside the bathroom, pressed against a wall. Millie was standing over him. His hand was in her hair, and their lips were pressed together. Finn was kissing Millie.

I felt like throwing up. Tears sprung to my eyes, and all thoughts of Jack fled from my mind. I needed to get out. I backed away from the door, closing my eyes. I couldn't bare to look at them any longer. I accidentally bumped into someone walking down the hall.

"Watch where you're going," they snapped. I didn't respond, I just pushed past them. I ran outside, bumping into more people, but I didn't care. The fresh air felt nice, but I still felt sick. The image of Finn and Millie was burned into my head, and I couldn't get it out, no matter what I did. I hurried behind a bush and threw up the punch I'd just drank. Sorry Lilia. After wiping my mouth, I finally fell apart. Tears cascaded down my face, smudging mascara down my cheeks. How could he do this to me? How could perfect Finn Wolfhard do this? How was I so stupid? How did I let him trick me this whole time? Why wasn't I good enough...

I was full on sobbing now, standing alone in Lilia's yard, probably looking like an idiot. I was so alone.

"Hey hey hey, don't cry." An arm wrapped around me, pulling me in close. I didn't protest, I didn't even register who it was until I noticed their soft army green jacket brush against my cheek. Jack was hugging me, comforting me. "What's wrong," he asked softly.

"Finn- he- Millie-" I managed to choke out before collapsing into sobs again.

"It's gonna be ok. It's all gonna be ok, Madison," he said, resting his hand on my head and holding my to his chest. He let me cry into his shirt for a few minutes, just holding me.

"Give me your keys," he instructed after a little time had passed. Without thinking, I pulled my keys from my jacket pocket and placed them in his hands. He led me to my car, putting me in the backseat, then getting in the driver's seat.

"Do you want to go home?" he asked, glancing in the rear view mirror to make eye contact. I shook my head.

"I wanna stay with you," I mumbled, not sure if he even heard me. His eyes were back on the road, but he was smiling softly. The silence caused my thoughts return to Finn. I still couldn't get the image of him kissing Millie out of my head. I began to sob again, as quietly as possible. I didn't want to bother Jack more than I already had. He just let me cry, glancing back at me occasionally. The car came to a stop outside of his house. He opened the car door for me and took me inside, up to his room. His parents weren't home, thank god. I was already embarrassed as it was, I didn't need more people to see me having a mental fucking breakdown.

"Stay here," he said, sitting me down on his bed. It had been a while since I'd been in his house, to his room. Nothing had changed. He quickly returned holding a glass handing it to me gently.

"It's water," he told me, sitting on his bed next to me. I rested my head on his shoulder and took a sip. My hand was shaking as I raised the glass to my lips.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Do you want to sleep?" I nodded. He got off the bed and let me slip under the covers.

"If you need anything, just tell me," he said. He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "It's gonna be ok. I promise."

"I thought I lost you," I whispered. My eyes already felt heavy from crying, and I was ready to pass out.

"You could never lose me. We're forever, Madison."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

-

author's note: first off, sorry this is a shorter chapter that usual. i really wanted to post it sooner rather than later. secondly, ik the it trailer came out a few days ago but i forgot to mention it on my last note. im sO not ready for the whole it thing to be over. ok anyways, the most important thing i wanted to say was thank you for 10k reads. i really can't believe that so many people have read this story. im working on a few other stories that are written a lot better than this one, so stay tuned if you like reddie or if you like richie ;). i think that's all for now, but thank you again for 10k. it truly means the whole world to me, thank you.