Rise Like The Sun

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

MADISON

When she wakes, Madison doesn't know where she is.

She's not in her bed, she realises, her brows furrowing, for the bed below her seems to move slightly, and when Madison opens her eyes, she sees Nick's face. Horror washes through her, fast and alarming.

It's a school day, is all she can think.

They're tangled up in each other, Madison pressing her face into Nick's chest, Nick's arms wrapped around her tightly, in the messy fort they had thrown together the night before. She's never been so clear-headed, never been so fraught with horror, and Madison is utterly terrified of the feelings coursing through her.

Because, God, this feels... right?

Madison begins to push away, unable to think, but Nick's arms are like iron, as he shifts in his sleep. He mumbles a little, his fingers dragging distractedly over her shoulder. Something in her heart aches at the sight of his messy hair, at the way he's protectively wrapped her close to him, as though he means to shield her.

"Nick," Madison hisses out at him, trying to move out of his arms. "Nick. Wake up!"

He murmurs something sleepily against her bare shoulder and though she doesn't hear it, she feels the form of his mouth. Madison is a tight coil of bound emotions, stilling.

It's a school day, it's a school day, it's a school day –

"What did you say?"

Nick blinks sleepily, his voice raspy with sleep. "I'm sleepy?"

"No, you just told me something," Madison says, her words rather fraught and her voice thin.

He lies smoothly but he's flushing. "I didn't say anything."

"Yes, you did," Madison insists, her fingers slipping against his bare chest. Her heart patters away like the wings of a hummingbird. "I'm not an idiot."

"I said I was sleepy," Nick huffs, but his cheeks are still pink.

They're scrambling away from each other, the sheets slipping around them, and Madison immediately feels the absence of Nick's warm arms around her. She stares at him, antsy, and realises faintly, that she doesn't know what Nick is to her, anymore.

She knows the line of his face, knows his fury, knows his lust. She knows everything about him.

And it terrifies her.

"It's a school night," Nick says, his voice hoarse with horror, as he stares at her.

"We broke the rules," Madison adds mutely. "How could we break the rules?"

Nick is examining himself, his fingers tugging at his sleeves, before his head lifts up.

"We didn't – we didn't even sleep together," he says, his brows furrowed.

They're both staring at each other, in some vague terrified horror, and Madison feels the words rise within her. She's breathing hard, looking at Nick's own panicked face, and God, she wants to say it, but she's terrified. Instead, she shakes her head at him.

"The contract's off!" Madison says quickly. "You need to get out – we've –,"

"Yeah, it's off," Nick says, just as fast.

When he leaves in a hurry, the soft pink of dawn spilling into the room, Madison stares after Nick, with something like regret in her heart.

*