B R E N

A knot instantly formed in my stomach.

"And I needed to make sure you didn't freak out afterward," Beau added.

"What about Madie?" I said, my voice sounding distant and hollow to my own ears.

"Well, she's being discharged from the hospital tomorrow—"

"Is it normal for her to have been there this long?" I asked, interrupting him to voice the question that had been bouncing around in my head for the past two weeks.

"I don't know, man. I'm not a doctor. But I know they've been monitoring her because she's had some short term memory loss."

I dropped the wrench that I'd forgotten was still in my hand. It made a loud, clanking noise that reverberated through the garage. I felt it in my toes.

"Why didn't Nessa tell me that? She's been texting me that Madie is fine."

Beau leaned against the hood of my car. "She said that you feel guilty for some reason. And she didn't want to make that worse." He let out a long sigh. "Madie is fine. It has gotten a lot better. Like I said, she's being released. That's the real problem."

I frowned. "Why would that be a problem?"

Beau took a long sip from his bubble tea, and I resisted the urge to smack it out of his hands. "Because she was protected in the hospital," he finally said. "Someone was always with her. Quinton tried to stop by once, but Nessa threw him out. And after that, they wouldn't let him back into the building."

I was reading between the lines of what Beau was saying, and I didn't like it. I didn't like it one bit. "Are you telling me that asshole isn't in jail?"

Beau shook his head, and I jumped to my feet, slamming my fist down on the top of the car. Thankfully it was the uninjured one, although maybe a jolt of pain was what I needed right now. Perhaps it would mask the other feelings. I opened my mouth to spew some more expletives, but Beau cut me off.

"Let me explain, man. This is why I came." He cleared his throat dramatically. "Madie reported the assault. To everyone—the hospital and the police and the university."

I began to pace, not being able to sit still while listening. "Good girl," I muttered, feeling a little proud. I could only imagine how hard that must have been for her.

"But then her parents showed up," Beau said, and the expression on his face told me that wasn't good. "Did you know her parents are friends with Quinton's? I mean, not just friends. Their dads do some business together."

My pacing quickened. "I didn't know that."

"They are. Madie's mom was pissed about the whole thing. I mean, that lady was pissed.  I was visiting Madie when her mom showed up, and let me tell you—"

"Beau," I said through gritted teeth. I wanted to get to the point.

"Okay, yeah. So Madie's mom was mad, but then her dad convinced her to settle down about it. And pretty soon after that, they came up with a deal."

"Who did?"

"Madie's parents and Quinton's parents and the university."

"A deal?" I repeated.

"A deal," Beau repeated back to me. "And it's all settled."

"What's the fucking deal, Beau?"

He looked down at his tea. "Quinton is going to play in the last football game this weekend, and then he's taking the rest of the year off to go home and attend counseling. And his family is paying the hospital bills, but that's beside the point."

I stopped moving, spinning to glare at Beau even though I knew none of it was his fault. The whole time Beau had been talking, I was dreading that this was where we were heading, or something like it. This wasn't fucking possible.

And yet, it was.

"And Madie is okay with this?" I knew I was yelling now, but it was too hard to control.

Beau sighed. "Dude, can you just sit down or something? You're stressing me out."

"I'm stressing you out?"

"Bren." Caroline's soft but firm voice said my name. I'd forgotten she was here, listening to all of this with me. "Come sit," she said. Reluctantly, I dragged my feet to the steps leading into the house and sat. She put a hand on my shoulder.

"Madie wasn't okay with the deal," Beau said. "I think she's pretty scared, man. She was going to press charges against Quinton."

"And why didn't she?" I asked, and the look on Beau's face turned sympathetic. The knot in my stomach tightened.

"Because Quinton said he wouldn't press charges against you for breaking his face if she dropped them."

Anger flooded me, simultaneous with the guilt. I exploded from the stairs only to be pushed back down again by Caroline's hand on my shoulder.

"No," I rasped, trying to catch my breath. "No. She needs to—"

Beau was already shaking his head. "She's not going to change her mind, Bren. But let's get back to why I'm here." He lifted a brow. "Madie is going back to campus tomorrow. The university gave her the option to go back to her parents and finish her semester remotely. But—"

"Hell, no. Then she'd just be closer to Quinton when he came back."

Beau glared at me. "Would you just let me finish?"

"Sorry," I mumbled and dropped my head into my hands. This was too much. I resisted the urge to shut Beau out and run away from it again.

"Madie said no," Beau continued. "For that reason." I saw Beau's jaw clench, reminding me how much he hated Quinton, too. "That guy is a manipulative prick, Bren. He's being all apologetic, and people actually believe he'll never do anything like that again."

"He will," Caroline said softly.

"Yep," Beau agreed. "Nessa and I are worried that he'll come back for Madie if she stays on campus. And we think she's scared, too, but she won't admit it." Beau put down his tea on the hood of my car and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I have a plan."

I looked up at him from between my fingers.

"What's your plan?"

"Well," Beau said, shrugging, "first of all, you need to get your ass back to campus to be there for her."

The knot in my stomach was so tight now that I was sure it was about to rip in two.

"And then you need to get her the hell out of there."

There was a long pause while my brain skimmed over the idea of going back to see Madie. I was torn between desperately wanting to be with her and wanting to run away from everything she represented.

But shit. She was scared.

I swallowed past the constricted feeling in my throat. "Where would I take her?"

Beau smiled since the first time he'd begun talking.

"My parents have a beach house in Malibu. No one is ever there. Take Madie while she finishes her semester remotely. And you can do..." He waved his hands in the direction of my car. "Whatever it is you're doing here."

Leaning back on my uninjured hand, I shook my head. This was crazy. "She's not going to go for that."

That little smirk appeared on Beau's face again. "The only person she'd go with is you." When I didn't say anything, my brain too busy trying to process the idea, Beau threw a hand up in the air. "Come on, man. It's not like you've been going to class anyway. It'll be like a vacation. And Madie won't have to constantly look over her shoulder to see if Quinton's following her."

A cool breeze whipped through the garage, but I barely felt it. I only saw the rustling of Beau's track jacket. Caroline tapped me lightly, and I turned around.

"I understand now," she said, and her eyes showed me that she did. "And I understand why you're hiding here from all of this." She reached out, touching my cheek lightly, and I knew what she was going to say next before she did. "But you have to stop burying the painful parts of you, Bren. And if you have a chance to help this girl, you should."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You're actually encouraging me to run away with a girl to Los Angeles?"

She shrugged and smiled a little. "I can't believe it either. But I think maybe this is something you need, too."

Taking a deep breath, I glanced back at Beau's hopeful face.

I didn't know how to say no. I didn't know how to stay away now that I knew Madie wasn't as safe as I'd thought. Especially because the reason Quinton hadn't been arrested was because of me. It only highlighted how much I'd failed her. And knowing that only made it harder—scarier—to go back to her. But it also meant that I had to.

"Okay," I said. "If she'll go with me."

Beau grinned and then tossed me a set of keys. "Oh, she'll go."

🖤
Lots of information thrown at us in the chapter. What do we think?
I'm so excited for the next part of the story!
But do we really think it will be that easy to convince Madie?
Xoxo amelie