You saved me Maddie

Waiting.

All throughout the next week the chock and happiness from Maddie wanting to adopt me made the days go by fast. Maddie had scheduled court for next week on Wednesday and it was currently Friday. Mila and I had decided to hang out that following day at her house so I had spoken to Maddie and she had agreed to drive me there.
Me and Maddie were sitting on the couch watching a horror movie with a bowl of popcorn between us. Maddie was a wimp, jumping at every jumpscare and clinging to me during the scary build up scenes. I didn't find the movie that scary, mostly because it didn't feel real but also because Maddie howled every time the movie was even remotely scary. Chimney had also come over a few days ago for dinner. I could see the way Maddie looked at him and how he looked at her. She was laughing at his every joke (even though they sucked), and he was always smiling at her, his dark eyes glowing when he looked at her. I told her to "marry him already" after that dinner, which she brushed off with a quick "calm down cowboy". Life was good, and would get even better tomorrow, because frankly I couldn't wait to hang out with Mila.
I woke up the next morning early and got up to make breakfast when I realised I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. Maddie had started sleeping longer now, maybe because she didn't stress about the adoption that much. My phone buzzed and I looked down at the screen to see a snap from Mila. I unlocked my phone and opened her Snapchat. She had used a cat filter on snap, grey cat ears buried in her brown hair. Her lips were pushed out in a small pout and she had written "can't wait to hang out todayyy" below her filtered face. I responded with me in a minion filter, doing the same pout, and writing "me neither, it's gonna be so funnn". The phone did a clicking sound when I turned it off and pocketed it. Mila had quickly risen to the top of my "Best Friends list" on snap because we were chatting a lot. It felt good, talking to her, and I couldn't help to smile every time she sent something.
"Morning" I heard someone say from behind.
It was Maddie, rubbing her eyes and yawning at the same time. She looked tired even though she'd slept through the night. She walked over and grabbed a glas from an over head cabinet and filled it with water.p
"Why are you up so early?" She asked before taking a sip of water. "Running away already?"
I rolled my eyes at her with a smirk.
"I would never" I told her and shook my head.
We ate breakfast together. I didn't really say much, my mind on what outfit I was going to wear and how much makeup to put on. The world disappeared as I sank deeper into my thoughts, further and further until;
"Ellie, hellouuuu?"
The world snapped back into focus again. Maddie was waving her hand, trying to get my attention.
"When are you coming home today?" Maddie asked me.
"Uhh I don't know" I scratched the back of my head and shrugged.
"Okay, because I was wondering about dinner and stuff" Maddie walked over and put her plate away in the dishwasher.
"I'll text you when I know" I nodded and put away my plate.
The next hour consisted of me getting ready and picking out the perfect outfit. I decided on a pair of low rise bootcut jeans, a black shirt and my silver necklace I got from Maddie on Christmas. I paired it with a pair of black converse and then I left.
"You sure you don't need a ride?" Maddie has asked me before I left.
"No thank you" I told her before walking out the door.
Milas' apartment was a 10 minute walk from ours so I didn't feel like I needed a ride. The air smelt of spring when I walked to her apartment. I stopped at her apartment building, sending her a text to let her know that I was downstairs. She opened it within seconds and gave me a quick reply before hurrying down to let me in. I could see her through the door, her brown hair swinging behind her when she walked. The door swung open and she was standing there, smiling.
"Hi" she said.
"Hi" I smiled back.
She was wearing a blue tight shirt, black low rise jeans and white sneakers.
"Fancy seeing you here" she said, stepping aside to let me through.
"You too" I smirked at her.
We walked upstairs talking. Mila asked me what kind of music I listened to, and I told her I listened mostly to Taylor Swift and The Weeknd and she was delighted when she heard that. It turned out that she was a hardcore Swiftie and she showed me her Taylor collection while explaining her favourite songs and album for me. She also made me do TikTok's with her. I didn't really understand at first but when she showed me how to it got pretty fun. After that we sat down on her bed in her room.
"Ellie?" Mila looked up at me.
"That's me" I smiled at her.
"Is your mom married to your dad?" She asked me.
The question felt out of the blue. I shook my head.
"No, why?" I asked her.
Mila chewed on her answer for a moment before she answered.
"My parents are getting a divorce" she finally said, her gaze dropping to the floor.
"Oh" was the only thing I could think to say. "Mila I'm so sorry"
"It's okay, I just thought you might know that feeling because I had assumed that your dad doesn't live with you"
I shook my head, mostly in disbelief. She didn't know about my life, or my parents.
"Maddie isn't my biological mother " I said after a moment of silence.
She looked up.
"What?"
I shook my head.
"It's just" Mila paused for a second. "My dad took my sisters when he moved out a few weeks ago and I can't really talk to anyone about it because no one gets it"
I put my arm around her shoulders.
"People doesn't need to relate to understand" I told her.
Mila talked about how her mom had started talking about wanting to take back her sisters but that she couldn't. She told me all about her lazy dad who drank a lot and by the end of her story she was crying.
"But what about your dad?" She sniffed. "What's up with him?"
"I was removed from my dads care after his" I paused to think of an answer, "questionable parenting"
"Huh?" She snivelled.
"Dad was, or rather is, an addict. My sister left when I was 10 and he took out all that anger on me. I was basically sore for weeks afterwards. I don't really know how I got out but that doesn't matter really." I said.
That was a lie, I did know how I got out, but maybe this wasn't the right time to tell her all about my childhood.
We sat in her bed for a while, talking about our childhoods together. Mila told me that her parents had argued a lot for a while and that she had guessed that it was coming but she didn't want it to. I hugged her from the side and she cried in to my embrace. We sat in her bed for a while like that, her crying and me holding her. I felt her left hand grab mine from below and snake it's way between my fingers. My heart erupted, beating so hard I was sure she could hear it. When her tears ran out we still didn't say anything, but the silence wasn't awkward. It felt more like a softer type of silence, like it was just a pause. Mila sniffed and pulled her hair back behind her ear. Then she sat up and reached for the tv remote. She put on some super hero movie but I didn't pay attention to that. The only thing I could think about was her hand still intertwined with mine. My skin touching her skin. Her hand in mine.