SAVE ME

THIRTY-THREE

"She's such a whore for leaving you for him."

"Why were you with her anyway? She seems too emo for you."

"She looks like one of those girls who cut their wrists and cry at night."

Madison had tears brimming in her eyes over the things she was hearing Dean and his friends say about her. Deep down she knew it wasn't true, at least some of it wasn't.

Her mind kept playing tricks on her. One minute it made her believe it, the next it was telling her that it was all lies and she should just let it go.

She didn't know which side to believe anymore. She was more confused than anything.

"She's kind of ugly, bro."

"She's not important. You lucked out when she left you."

"She's his problem now, not yours. He will leave her as soon as he knows how difficult she is."

She was finding it harder and harder to just ignore what they were saying about her. She didn't want to show it, but it really did bother her. She wanted to cry but didn't want them to feel like they won.

"I quit." She whispered before she took her nametag off her shirt and placed it by the register. Dom watched with a heavy heart as she grabbed a notepad and scribbled her boss a note.

"Baby, don't quit because of them. They don't matter. Don't let what they say get to you." Dom was trying, and failing, to make her feel better. She was in a dark mindset and didn't know how to stop it.

She grabbed her jacket and walked right out of the bar without a care in the world, letting the last words she heard them say play over and over in her mind on her way to the car.

"She will probably kill herself before long."

Madison slid into the passengers seat of the car and waited for Dom who was quick to hop into the drivers seat and take off, staying silent for a moment until he figured out what he wanted to say.

"Maddie, listen to me." She wasn't listening, too focused on the negative comments that were made. She didn't mean to be like this, it was something she didn't know how to control yet.

"I know you're believeing what they say but you really shouldn't. It's all bullshit." She was tuning him out by accident, unable to allow herself to pay attention to what he was trying to say.

He made several attempts to get her to listen during the rest of the trip home, all of his attempts being ignored. She wanted one person. The one person who could turn a bad moment into a joke and make her laugh and forget about it all.

She wanted Rook and wouldn't listen to anyone but him.

When they arrived at the house, Madison was quick to jump out of the car and head inside. She went straight to Rook's room and knocked on the door lightly.

She thought her knock would be drowned out by him playing drums but that thought was quickly dismissed when he finally opened the door and looked up to meet her gaze with a small smile.

"Hey, what's up, Mads?" He stepped aside to allow her to come in and went over to sit down onto his bed, patting the spot next to him for her to sit.

When he noticed she was on the vergw of tears when she sat down beside him, his mood changed and his smile immediately went away. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"

She didn't even hesitate to pour it all out to him, telling him every single detail about what happened at the bar. "Wait, so you busted a glass on his head? That's my girl." He pulled her in for a side hug, causing her to let out a soft laugh.

"Yeah. Then he started to say some really fucked up things with his friends and I quit my job and walked out." Rook was pissed over what was said about her but chose not to show it so she wouldn't feel worse.

"Hey, you know the truth. You know who the fuck you are. You're the baddest bitch out there. You need to remember that." She was glad she had Rook. He worded things in a way that was funny and distracted her.

"I just feel like shit and I don't wanna be here anymore. Like at all." He knew what that meant and there was no way that he was going to let her feel that way.

"I better not hear you say that again. You can't leave me, your brother, or Dom." Dom. She completely forgot that she had left him. She had to find him and explain to him that she didn't mean to ignore him.

"Speaking of Dom, I ignored his efforts to make me feel better and came straight to you." She felt so bad that she did this. He tried so hard to make her feel better and it was all for nothing.

"I think you need to give him a chance, Mads. You need to let him know everything that goes on with you and things you have been through. I am honored that you came to me, but he's your boyfriend now and he cares about you too."

Rook was right, she needed to open up more to him but she didn't know how to make herself do it. It was like she was on lockdown and was afraid to let him know everything there was to know about her.

"What if he thinks I'm crazy and runs for the hills?" She knew how silly that sounded as soon as the words left her mouth.

"This is Dom we're talking about here. I don't think he's going to do that, Mads. I think he's really being genuine. I think you have yourself a good boyfriend for once."

She thought about it for a moment. Dom had never done anything to make her think twice about his honesty. He had never lied to her or showed any sign of not caring about her.

She needed to let him know just how much he meant to her and that she was trying to be more open with him.

"Thank you, Rookie. This means a lot to me." She gently kissed his cheek before she stood up to prepare to go find Dom.

"Oh, hey." He stopped her from leaving the room and pulled out his wallet to hand her a hundred dollar bill. "A bet is a bet and you won."