Alpha Logan

THIRTY FOUR: mate

"Bella?"

I stood quietly in the center of Madison's living room. My teeth clattered together as I stared blankly at her.

"Bella, what happened?" Madison brushed her fingers against my freezing arm. She was so warm and comforting, I wished I were her right now.

"Logan." My voice scarcely croaked out. I could barely say his name without tears welding my eyes.

God, how could I be so naive?

My heart rate pounded lowly against my ears, I felt like a shell of myself.

The look Madison gave me morphed into something knowing. She knew why I looked so disheveled, so disoriented.

Madison let out a deep sigh of concern. "Okay Bella, let's get you in the shower. You're freezing- I don't want you to catch a cold." Her sweet voice traveled right down my back, yet I felt nothing.

I slowly nodded my head as she took hold of my arm and walked me slowly over to her bathroom. She flicked on the faucet and stood there looking at me so deeply.

"I'm sorry Bella. We don't have to talk about it today, but it'll be okay. I promise." Madison assured me, but it did nothing to ease the pounding in my head. "I'll take care of you, it'll be okay." Madison slowly walked out of the bathroom, and the sound of the shower running filled my ears.

I peeled off the soggy clothes from my skin and stepped foot into the warm water. The hot water jolted me alive, almost stinging the cold off my skin. I grabbed the first body wash I had seen and scrubbed the goosebumps off my skin.

I scrubbed the rainwater off me. I scrubbed the cold off my shaking body. I scrubbed the feeling of him touching my skin.

I stayed in that shower until I became a prune of wrinkles, my fingertips were deformed by the water seeping into them.

I don't know how long I scrubbed the soap into my skin until I felt safe enough with leaving the shower. I could stay in that closed confined space forever and I'd never have to face a single thing again.

Once I stepped out of the shower, there was a few pieces of Madison's clothes left out for me to change into. I slipped the clothes on my body and basked in the dryness of the clothes. I couldn't stop the vivid flashes of my mom's voice telling me how wrong I was.

I placed my damp clothes and towel in the laundry bin that was in the bathroom.

I stepped out of the bathroom and made my way down the hallway. Madison was on the phone in the living room, with her back turned towards me. Her low whisper of the phone call still reached my ears, and I couldn't help but watch my best friend frantically speak to her boyfriend.

"No I don't know what that slimy man did, but once I see him it'll be hell to break loose. You can't be working for a man that broke my best friend's heart- you need to quit, then we'll sue." Madison all but demanded. Her voice was shaky and I could tell the state of me had her in a frenzy.

I cleared my throat a bit so Madison could tell I was standing right here and she whipped her head around to see me. "I have to go, Jason, I'll call you later." She abruptly ended the call and walked over to me. "Let's order pizza, and Chinese food, or burgers and fries." Madison barely let me speak a word before she was rushing to my aid.

"I'm not hungry." I shrugged off the suggestions and played with the tethered bracelet on my wrist.

"Okay, that's okay- let's watch Gilmore Girls?" Madison's voice swayed wearily.

I blinked a few times at her and nodded my head. I made my way to the couch and slumped down on the sinking sofa. Madison threw a fleece blanket over my legs and flicked on Netflix to my favorite show, Gilmore Girls.