Bruises- Shane Madej

15. Butterflies

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Maddie leaned on the countertop of the hotel bathroom, her nose nearly touching the mirror.

Shane glanced up from his phone. "What're you doing?"

"Shh!" she said, slowly applying her eyeliner. Makeup wasn't a particularly strong suit for her, and it took a lot of concentration to draw a good eyeliner wing.

Once she was satisfied with how both of her eyes turned out, Maddie put the cap on her eyeliner with a flourish.

She leaned forward into the mirror, using her index finger to fix small spots where she forgot to blend. "Does this look okay?" she asked, turning towards Shane.

"Yeah, you look great," he said, running his hand through his hair. "You ready to go now?"

Taking one last look in the mirror to fix her hair, Maddie nodded and grabbed her purse. "Oh! I don't know if you remember my sister Janey and her wife, but they'll be there, too."

"Yeah, I remember them," Shane nodded and stood up. "they were really nice, I liked them."

Maddie smiled, glad that Shane got along with her family.

The hotel bar was crowded; it was a Friday night. Maddie and Shane walked in, searching for Ryan.

They found him, sitting at a table with Mari, Janey, and Leslie.

Janey made eye contact with Maddie and leaned over to her as she sat down. "Mom told me to tell you to make sure you wear sunscreen to the wedding tomorrow."

Maddie smiled; a little confused. "I was already planning on it."

"Well, she was very concerned that you and I would get sunburnt."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll make sure I wear sunscreen."

About an hour into their night, in a typical "younger sibling" fashion, Janey poked Maddie's arm, catching her attention again.

"Hey, will you come to the bathroom with me?"

Maddie nodded, starting to get up. "Yeah, sure!" She touched Shane's shoulder. "Will you watch my drink?"

Shane nodded. "Yeah, I've got it."

"Thanks," Maddie said, following Janey to the bathroom.

As soon as they were inside, Janey grabbed her sister's arm. "Why didn't you tell me that you got a boyfriend?"

"What?" Maddie asked. "Oh- you mean- no, no. Shane's not my boyfriend."

"Mhm," Janey said, skeptically. "Then why are you two sharing a room?"

"It's not- " she began. "Wait, how did you know we're sharing a room."

"Ha! So you are in the same room!"

"Hey! That's-"

"I knew it!"

"No, its not-"

"You're dating Shane!"

"No, I'm not!"

"He's a really good guy, I think you two are great for each other," Janey smiled, crossing her arms.

Maddie sighed. "We're not dating."

"But you have a 'thing', right?"

"We do not have a-"

Janey's skeptical look cut Maddie off.

"Okay, we flirt a little but it's not official."

"Hm, well, I think you should make it official."

"Really?" Maddie asked, valuing her sister's advice.

"Yeah, I mean, if you like him and he likes you, why not shoot your shot?"

"I don't want to lose him as a friend. What if we break up and things are never the same again?"

"But what if you two date for a long time and move in with each other and are super happy together?"

Maddie sighed. She did really like Shane. "I mean, yeah, I guess."

"Ok! When are you gonna make a move?"

"No! I can't just ask him out."

"Why not?"

"What if he doesn't actually like me like that?"

Janey rolled her eyes. "You two are constantly batting your eyelashes at each other. C'mon, just get it over with and make a move."

Maddie thought about it. Janey was right. Why shouldn't she tell Shane about her feelings? The sooner she did it, the sooner this endless confusing flirting would be over.

At that moment, she made a plan. That night, Maddie would tell Shane about her feelings. It would be best to just do it sooner rather than later.

"Ok, fine," Maddie said.

Janey smiled in excitement. "Yay! I'm so happy for you, Mads!"

Maddie rolled her eyes, smiling. "C'mon, we've been in here for 5 minutes."

The two sisters walked back out into the bar, finding their table and sitting down. Shane slid Maddie's drink back over to her spot.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him.

"Mhm, it's no problem," he smiled back.

Maddie looked away to hide her blush. Consequently, she caught the eye of Janey, who gave her a big dramatic wink that made Maddie roll her eyes.

The rest of the night passed by. Nothing very eventful happened.

Maddie didn't contribute much to the conversation, she was busy thinking about confessing her feelings for Shane.

How would she do it? When would she do it? What would be Shane's reaction?

The more she thought about it, the less she felt like actually doing it.

By the time that the group was heading back to their rooms, Maddie had completely decided against telling Shane how she really felt.

What if it went wrong? Maddie or Shane couldn't go anywhere; they were sharing a hotel room 5 hours away from home.

Yes, confessing her feelings would have to wait.

The two were tired from their night out, so there wasn't much conversation going on between them.

Maddie wiped off her makeup as Shane brushed his teeth. Their elbows kept brushing together, which for some reason still gave her butterflies in her stomach.

The hotel bed had many more pillows than necessary, so Maddie and Shane made a small barrier in the middle. She hoped that this would prevent things from getting too awkward.

Maddie took off her glasses, setting them on the nightstand as Shane got up, turning off the lights and locking the door.

Once he got back into bed, Maddie took a deep breath. "Goodnight," she said.

"'Night," Shane yawned.

Despite all her anxiety, there was something about the coolness of the air and the comfort of the unfamiliar bed that was extremely sleep-inducing, and Maddie was only just drifting off when she started to feel the ever-present butterflies in her stomach.

Little did she know, Shane was feeling them too.

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