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I clear my throat, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. “Madison…I was thinking, maybe you should stay at my place tonight.”
She turns to me, surprise flickering in her eyes. “What? Ethan, you don’t have to?—”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to. Your place is going to be loud with the other dogs, and Samson’s going to need some rest. You could use the rest too, if we’re being honest. My place is quiet. Peaceful. It’ll give you a break. Samson can sleep downstairs, and he’ll feel better if he doesn’t have to sleep in the same room as that other dog.”
She hesitates, her fingers fiddling with the hem of her sweater, and I can see the internal battle she’s having. Madison is independent—fiercely so—and she doesn’t like asking for help or accepting it when it’s offered. But this is about what she needs, and right now, she needs a calm place to land. Somewhere that isn’t filled with barking and the constant reminders of what happened today.
“Okay. That… That sounds good.”
I feel a wave of relief wash over me, and I reach back to gently squeeze her hand. “Good. Let’s head back to my place then.”
When we pull into my driveway, she glances over at me, giving me a small, grateful smile. I help her inside, making sure Samson is settled comfortably in the living room with a soft blanket. Madison follows me into the kitchen while I grab us both something to drink, and I can feel the tension between us easing, little by little.
“Make yourself at home. I’ll be right back.” I head over to her house and take the two dogs out, one by one, eyeing the big one that attacked Samson. I give him a harsh talking to, but he just seems happy to be outside, marking his territory as he walks around the backyard.
When I return home, I find Madison on the sofa, staring mindlessly out the window.
I pour both of us some water and take her the glass. She takes it with a quiet “thank you.”
We sit in comfortable silence for a while, just sipping our drinks and letting the events of the day settle. But there’s something else on my mind—something I can’t keep ignoring. I know she’s tired, and I know today was hard, but we can’t keep putting this off. We need to talk about Aurora. About us. About how we’re going to handle this going forward.
“Madison, we need to talk.”
She looks over at me, her brows furrowing slightly. “About what?”
I take a deep breath, gathering my thoughts. “About Aurora. About us. I think we should tell her before Christmas. I want it out of the way and not hanging over us. The longer we wait to tell her, the more it feels like lying.”
Her eyes widen slightly, and I can see the worry creeping back in. “Like when? You want to tell her today? After all this?”
“Not today. But…tomorrow?”
Madison bites her lip and looks out the window again. She spends a long time searching for something that I can’t see. Finally, she turns back to me. “I’ll tell her if you want me to. But… she’s not going to be happy about it. I don’t want to tell her myself either. You have to be there.”
“Of course. I’ll be there. I’ll tell her. I’m sure she’ll want to hear confirmation from you though, not that I would make something up like this.”
Madison swallows. “Fine, we can…get it out of the way. I think she suspects anyway. She was acting weird at her party. You’re right. If she thinks we’re lying, she’ll be even angrier.”
“She’s not going to be happy about it either way. That’swhy I just want to get it out of the way. We’ll have told her. She can decide what she wants to do with the information after that.”
Madison lets out a long breath and checks on Samson who is curled up at her feet. It looks like he’s still sleeping off the effects of the sedative.
“Tomorrow then. Are you going to…invite her over?”
“Yeah, I’ll take care of everything. I’ll invite her over. I’ll make sure she comes. Then, I’ll tell her, and you can confirm.” It’s a solid plan, and I’m just glad that we can bring Aurora in. She hates not having control of things, but even worse than that, she hates not being told about things.
“You know I care about you, right?” I lean forward and brush Madison’s hair away from her face. She’s had a long, long day today. And I wish we could put doing this off indefinitely, but we can’t.
I want Madison and I to be able to celebrate Christmas together, and that means telling Aurora first.
She nods, her eyes meeting mine. “I know. I care about you too.”
I lean forward and kiss her. I know that my kiss is nothing in the face of what she’s had to deal with today, but it feels good to be here in this moment with her. I can just enjoy Madison and what we are building between us.
She finally pulls back, and for the first time all day, I see a little smile on her lips. “We’re really doing this, huh?”
I nod. “We’re really doing this.”
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