Chase and Madelyn: A love story

Chapter 28

TW: Brief mentions of self harm

Madelyn's POV:

It had been 2 weeks since I was released. Some of the days were hard, some of them were really good, but it was nice to have my support system around. Chase and I arrived in Los Angeles that morning. We were doing a bunch of OBX press events with the rest of the cast. It was supposed to be a busy week with a lot of interviews and other publicity events.

"How are you feeling about this week?" Chase asked as we settled into the hotel room.

"I'm a little nervous." I responded. The was technically the first time we were doing this. Because of the pandemic, we never did a press tour for season 1. 

"Are you feeling ok in general though?" He asked. He would ask me a different version of this question often. It was clear that Chase was afraid that I would go back to my old habits again.

"Yeah, I'm good." I replied. It wasn't necessarily a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. I bit my cheek after I said it, feeling guilty for not revealing the full truth. In reality, I was overwhelmed. For the past couple of weeks, I hadn't really been doing anything, and it was relaxing. But now, I needed to be in the public eye, and I was having anxiety about it. 

That night, we met the rest of the cast at a restaurant to have dinner. We talked about the week to come and the interviews we had to do. Chase, Madison, Rudy, JD and I had big interview tomorrow morning for a talk show. I was nervous but glad that it wasn't going to be just me. I always felt better when I had them with me. 

I called my mom when we got back to the hotel.

"Hi honey, how's LA?" She asked.

"Good, I got to see everyone. We have an interview tomorrow." I replied.

"That's great! How are you feeling about it?" She asked.

"It's a little nerve-racking." I responded.

"That's understandable. You're taking your medication, right?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"Mom!" I shouted sarcastically. "Yes, I'm taking my medication, I'm just nervous about all the media and press stuff." 

"Ok, I was just checking. Well I'm here for you whenever you need me, ok?" She said.

"Thank you." I replied. We talked for a little longer before saying goodbye. 

Chase stepped out of the shower and joined me on the bed.

"Are you ok?" He asked while securing the towel around his waist.

I nodded. 

"You sure?" He asked. 

"Chase, I'm fine." I replied.

"You seemed a little off tonight." He responded.

"I think it's the jet lag." I said.

"You know you can tell me if somethings going on, right?" Chase said while looking into my eyes.

I nodded again. "I know. I'm just tired, I think I'm gonna go to bed. We have to be up early tomorrow anyways." I said while untucking the bedding and slipping underneath.

"Goodnight." He said and leaned down to kiss my lips.

Chase's POV:

Maddie was acting really weird all night, but I didn't want to push her to open up. I suspected that she was overwhelmed with doing all the press events coming up, she hadn't worked in a while. It was only 10PM but Maddie said she was tired. I laid in bed and scrolled on my phone for a bit and watched her fall asleep quickly. This was my guilty pleasure, I loved watching her sleep. I wish she could understand how beautiful and peaceful she looked.