Rise Like The Sun

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

NICK

He's nervous with everyone here.

Last time he was at Madison's house, they'd had a great time which ended badly and when he looks at Madison, he wonders if she remembers it, too. Her gaze flickers briefly over to him, as their parents seat themselves uncertainly in the same lounge that they'd –

His mother is looking at him and Nick can't read the expression on her face. Guilt still curls up in him, his stomach clenching uncomfortably.

God, he's such an idiot, Nick thinks. How could he hurt his mother like this?

"Okay," Madison begins. "First of all, thank you for coming, Mother. Dad. Mrs Hawthorne. We're very grateful that you could make it, at such short notice –,"

"Madison," her mother says, hiccupping, her breaths hitching. "I –,"

"Not right now, Mother," Madison says sharply, her tone lingering on edge. "There's something a little more important at stake right now, and I need Dad right now, not you. Apologies."

Her father, who has been eyeing him curiously, leans forward. "Oh my God," he says, his voice hoarse. His gaze turns darkly murderous on Nick. "You're pregnant."

Nick's mother gasps, turning to him in horror. "Nick! You didn't!"

"Oh my God," Nick mutters. "How has this gone wrong already?"

He wants to slam his head on the dining table.

Madison is rolling her eyes in a way that makes Nick want to laugh.

"As if. I don't have that much baggage," she says, with that iconic crippling disparagement that has made her the ice queen of Redwood. "No, this is... dangerous. I ...bit off more than I could chew."

"So did I," Nick confesses heavily. "See, when I came here, I meant to leave my old life behind, but that didn't happen."

Slowly, with him and Madison taking turns in an almost effortless ease, they explain everything that's been happening.

Madison tells them about Kyle and Audrey, how she'd meant to deal with him by simply kicking him out of Redwood, and how he had physically retaliated by attacking Audrey and threatening Madison. Even the thought of Madison at the hands of Kyle makes Nick want to deck him. Nick explains about Mitchell and his gang, how he had tried to leave that life behind, but Mitchell hadn't wanted to let him go, how he had attacked, and Mitchell had reacted by putting his friend in hospital.

"Does this Mitchell know about Madison?" her mother says immediately.

Nick knows the sheer fear that's going through her right now, because he feels exactly the same. He's terrified about what Mitchell could do to Madison, because he was so stupid enough to seek her out when he knew Mitchell was in town.

He nods, letting out a taut breath.

His own mother is ashen-faced, her eyes wide. Nick feels even more guilt for having put this all on her shoulders. She doesn't deserve this, he thinks, his stomach clenching uncomfortably. He keeps heaping more trouble on her.

"That means Madison's in danger from both of these thugs," her mother says sharply, turning to her father. "Richard, if you don't bring something on them, I'll break their faces –,"

"Mother!" Madison says, startled.

But to Nick's surprise, and slight amusement, the adults seem to be agreeing, all of them vehement on breaking Mitchell and Kyle's faces for daring to attack their children. Even his own mother's jaw is set with a fierce determination he's never seen, her gaze protective over him.