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madelyn finally finished fifth period and was able to go home. unfortunately though, she'd forgotten to bring money for the bus ride home, meaning she'd have to face the ride back with billy. just as she was walking over, max was getting into the passenger seat whilst being questioned by billy.
maddie quickly opened the back door and sat inside, just as billy lit himself another cigarette. she could tell that her sister was upset of some sort but figured it'd be better not to ask. billy, however, decided to make it worse. "why was he talking to you?"
"it was just about a stupid class assignment." max murmured, keeping her eyes on the road.
"then why are you so upset?" he asked her again, taking another puff from his cigarette.
"i'm not!"
"he causing you trouble?"
"billy leave it." maddie exclaimed, looking at her younger sister who was clearly getting nervous about his questioning, afraid of what might happen next.
"why do you even care?" max asked billy, looking straight at him.
"because, max, you're a piece of shit, but we're family now whether we like it or not. meaning im stuck looking out for you."
"yeah because i definitely don't have a sister already doing that. what would i ever do without-"
billy suddenly grabbed max's wrist and maddie instantly yelled at him to let go of her sister, to which she told her to shut up. maddie's face dropped in fear as she watched max's expression turn into one of terror. "listen. this is serious shit, okay? im older than both of you, and something you learn is that there are a certain type of people in this world that you stay away from, and that kid, max," he paused, pulling her closer to him by the wrist, "that kid is one of them. you stay away from him, you hear me. stay away."
he finally let go of her, practically shoving her away from him. tears welled in max's eyes, but she attempted to keep them hidden out of fear for further taunting from billy. he then turned to look at madelyn, sat in the back seat, with a deep scowl across his face. "that goes for you too."
"the fuck are you talking about?"
"i want you to stay away from harrington. i mean it, madelyn. if i see you near him again, you're in deep shit."
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
as soon as billy pulled onto the drive, both mayfield sisters forced the car doors open and ran inside. max stormed through the door first, heading for her room as she clearly held back tears.
"max! max!"
madelyn shouted out for her younger sister to stop but had no luck. max walked straight into her room, slamming the door behind her. she'd never liked to be upset in front of maddie, even though she knew that she would always comfort her. max always hated how billy made her feel that way: weak.
maddie sighed to herself after trying to get her sister to open the door and failing several times. she decided to head to her room and attempt to calm down after billy's aggression on the way home. 'what happened?', she thought to herself, wondering why billy had suddenly lashed out against her over steve.
she knew that steve didn't exactly like billy either but billy had never really mentioned him. 'how did he know ive been talking to him?', 'what's his problem?', 'why was he so angry about it?'; the questions flashed through her head before she finally recognised where it must've came from. the first time she'd spoken to steve was on the porch at tina's party and billy had been drinking from the keg outside. the most recent time she'd spoken to him was just a few hours earlier, at basketball practice, just minutes after billy supposedly "left" and went to the changing rooms.
she still couldn't figure out why he was so angry about it though, 'it's not like anything is going on between us?' she thought to herself, almost reassuring herself that she wasn't in the wrong. something just still didn't sit right though, and maddie couldn't let it rest.
after minutes of thinking over about what she was about to do, she pulled her notebook out from her bag and opened the front page to reveal a certain phone number.
after finally entering all the numbers, the phone began to ring. after the third ring, he finally picked up.
"hey, harrington."
he paused for a second, recognising her voice and immediately remembering that he'd told her to ring him if she was in trouble. "maddie, is everything okay?"
"i just, i don't know what to do. i don't...feel safe.max is hiding something from me, and billy is acting so much worse today. he told me that, if i speak to you again, i'd be in deep shit. i don't get what his problem is though?"
steve sighed to himself, knowing that it was his fault; billy had spoken to him in the showers after practice, warning him against going near his stepsister. billy had seen that there was something more than friendship developing and he wasn't going to let his stepsister hook up with his arch nemesis. no fucking way.
"i was supposed to be going to see nancy today, to apologise and all...do you want to come with me? it'll only take 5 minutes, promise. then we could go somewhere, if you want?"
maddie cursed under her breath—why did steve want him to go with her to apologise to his (now) ex-girlfriend?...and why did she feel jealous about it? "yeah, yeah, anything to get out of the house would be great."
"do you want me to come and pick you up?" he asked, contemplating whether to even go and see nancy all together; he'd much rather just spend time with madelyn and get to know her more.
"no! no, sorry, not that i wouldn't want you to-, it's just, if billy saw you here, i think he'd freak. i'll meet you at the wheelers?"
"see you there, maddie." steve answered back as she smiled, ending the call. despite being happy about seeing steve again, she couldn't hide the feeling of jealousy that swarmed her at the mention of nancy.
surely she wasn't falling for him, right?
A/N:
sorry this chapter isn't great!! it's more of a filler chapter so that the events that happen next don't have to be rushed, and i needed to get this chapter out fast! thankyou so much for all the love so far on illicit affairs, i really appreciate it. remember to vote as it really helps engagement, and if you haven't already go follow my tiktok @strangezoomer!! chapter 6 will be coming out either tomorrow or saturday<33 -strangezoomer
