Madeline knocked on her father's apartment door, her bag over her shoulder.  She heard footsteps and then the door opened a few moments later.

"Madeline?" her father answered, looking surprised.  She moved to step forward and he opened the door for her to come in.  "What's going on?"

Maddie strolled over to the couch and sat down, sighing.  "Mom and Lin are getting on my nerves," she told him.  "They're mad that you bought me stuff."

He sighed and closed the door behind him, walking over the couch.  He seemed a little distracted.

"I'm sorry if they upset you," he said, sitting down next to her.  She sat pack and pulled out her phone.  Neither of them had contacted her yet.  Maddie tossed her phone on the couch beside her.

"Mom doesn't think I needed a new phone.  Rio's just jealous."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah," she said, examining her fingernails.  Madeline heard noise from down the hall.  Laughter.  She turned to her father, looking for an explanation.

"I have a guest over," he said vaguely, rubbing at his forehead with his fingers.

"Who?" she asked after a few moments of silence.  Her father sighed and looked down.

"Her name is Julia," he said.  "I've been seeing her for a few weeks now."

Madeline was silent for several long moments.  "Oh."

She'd never really thought about her father seeing someone.  As far as she knew, he'd been single this whole time.

"I've been wanting to introduce you," he went on as Madeline stood up and walked to the kitchen to get some water.  She wasn't sure how she felt about this.  It's not like her father had to tell her everything, but this seemed pretty big.  "She has a daughter about your age."

Maddie stopped, freezing.  A daughter her age?  She felt a pang of jealousy for some reason.

"Ummm..." she continued.  "Is it okay if I stay here tonight?"

"Of course," he said, standing up and walking to the kitchen.  "We were gonna go out to dinner and a movie, though, so I won't really be around tonight."

"Oh.  Okay," she said, pouring herself a glass of water.  "I can just hang out here."

She curled up on the couch with her water and some chips, watching a game show her father had on.  He disappeared down the hallway to his bedroom, probably to tell Julia about her.  This was gonna be so weird.  Maybe she should just go home.  But no, her mom and Lin were acting like asses.

A few minutes later, she heard whispering down the hallway, and a woman's voice giggling.  A couple moments later, they came into view.  Madeline licked her fingers and then wiped them on her shirt.

"Madeline!" Julia greeted her, over-smiling.  She held out her hand and Maddie leaned forward to take it, but didn't stand up.

"Hi," she said hesitantly. 

"It's so nice to finally meet you!" she said, very enthusiastic. "He talks about you all the time. He's missed you so much."

"I bet," Maddie said, settling back down.  She did a quick up and down glance of the woman.  She was well put together, with make up and pretty earrings.  Julia seemed nice enough, but she didn't really want to talk to her.  She pulled out her phone, hoping Julia wouldn't try talking to her anymore.  It seemed to work.

They went to the kitchen and talked about random stuff as Madeline channel surfed and played on her phone.  It was nice just to be away from her mother and Lin.  Jason got a phone call, and seemed to lower his voice immediately.  Madeline could tell it was her mother.

"Yeah, she's here," he said, glancing at her from the kitchen.  He was quiet for a long time, and Madeline could hear her mother's raised voice as he walked past her to the master bedroom so he could have some privacy.  Madeline sighed and rested her cheek on her fist.  He came back out a few minutes later, tucking his phone in his pocket.

"That was your mom," he told his daughter, sighing.  "She wants me to return your phone."

Madeline rolled her eyes.  "She's being ridiculous.  You bought it for me.  It's none of her business."

He looked at his feet, tipping back on his heels for a moment.  "Madeline-" he began, rubbing his forehead.

She crossed her arms and looked at him, mouth open.  He wasn't going to take their side, was he?

"Dad-"

"I don't want to cause a riff between you and your mother," he explained.

"She's a crazy bitch!" she accused, standing up.

"Don't call your mother that word," he said sternly.

"Why not?!" Madeline growled.  "That's what she is.  She's trying to ruin my damn life."

"Madeline-"

She grabbed her purse and roughly pulled it over her shoulder.  "Screw this.  Screw you."

Her father called after her and she ran out of the apartment, slamming the door after her.  Had all the adults in her life gone crazy?  He bought her a phone, and now all of a sudden he's listening to her mother?  At least when one parent was being crazy she could go be with the other, but now apparently that wasn't going to happen.

Madeline wasn't sure where she was going to go, but she stormed out to the street and started walking.  She heard her phone buzzing, but she ignored it.

She walked for a long time.  It was starting to get dark outside and she knew she needed to find somewhere to go.  She didn't want to go to either of her parents' houses.  She came across a youth hostile and decided to go in.  They checked her in and assigned her a bunk.  Maddie curled up on her bed and sighed.  Throughout the evening, her phone dinged with texts and calls, but she didn't want to talk to anyone.

Across town, Lin and Kate were going crazy with worry.  Jason had called to say Madeline ran away.  It was now 10:00 and she hadn't told anyone where she was.  Lin started calling up the hospitals and police stations to see if anyone matching her description got called in.  None of her friends had heard from her.

Rio came out to the living room to say goodnight to his parents and could tell they were stressed.  Sometimes he really hated his sister for causing them stress.  He watched as they both made phone calls frantically.  He sighed and hugged his mother.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," she told him, offering a small smile.

"Have you thought about checking the youth hostiles?" he suggested.  Kate's face opened up a bit at the suggestion.

"Thanks, Rio," she told him. "Sleep tight."

After Lin hung up with one of the hospitals, Kate told him their son's ideas.  They started calling around.  There were lots of teenagers in the hostiles, so her description was rather common.  Most of the hostiles required names and IDs to get in, so they asked for her by name.  Soon, they got lucky.

"I'll go get her," Lin decided, tucking his wallet and phone into his pockets.  He kissed his wife goodbye and took the subway across town to the hostile where Madeline was staying.  He walked inside and introduced himself to the attendant.  She walked him back to Maddie's room.  When Maddie saw Lin, she sighed and her shoulders dropped.

"Let's go, Madeline," he told her from the door.  He turned his head to the attendant and thanked her.

"I'm staying here," she told Lin boldly, crossing her arms.

"No you're not," he said, stepping in.  "You're angry at your mother and father and me, but you don't need to run away.  Come home."

"I don't want to be with that bitch," she growled.

"Hey!" he snapped, raising his voice.  "Have some respect for your mother."

"She's crazy!"

"She wants what's best for you."

"Shouldn't that include having a new phone?" she pointed out.  Lin scrubbed a hand over his face.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow.  Right now, you need to come home," he told his daughter.  Madeline just laid down on her bed in defiance.

"Madeline, I will not hesitate to throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here," Lin threatened.  "Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Maddie glared at Lin and knew he wasn't joking.  She angrily grabbed her things and stormed out of the room, Lin following behind her.  The attendant wished them a good night meekly as they walked out.  They caught the subway and wordlessly made their way home.

Lin had already texted his wife that he had Maddie and she was waiting up on the couch.  Kate didn't say anything to her daughter as they walked in, just stared at her for a few moments.  She got up and set her wine glass in the sink, then went back to her room to go to bed.

Madeline felt like everyone hated her.  She just stood in the kitchen, her arms crossed as she stared at the floor.  Lin could sense she was upset.  He was still annoyed with her, but could tell she needed a bit of affirmation.  He stopped next to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Get to bed," he said softly.  "We'll figure this all out tomorrow."

Lin walked back to his room, leaving Madeline in the kitchen.  Sighing, Maddie kicked off her shoes and climbed into her own bed, not bothering to change into her pajamas.