by Unknown
Madison visited three more times over two days before finally considering drastic measures. Lydia hadn't replied to either his texts or his email asking to meet up, and Madison was starting to think he was being ignored. Madison hadn't said why he wanted to talk to her, but he rarely had a reason; they usually just met for lunch once a month or so.
Frowning at the dorm room door, Madison wondered how pissed Lydia would be if he tried going to the RA, pretending he was worried for his sister. She'd missed lunch with him, and she wasn't answering his texts or emails. He was worried. Knocking again, ignoring the creepy stare of the woman across the hall, Madison decided it was worth a shot.
It couldn't be coincidence that Lydia was ignoring him immediately after Madison returned from a two- day trip to the desert with Adam. Before Madison could follow that line of thought, though, Lydia's dorm room door opened.
"Hey, Mads," Emma, Lydia's roommate, greeted. She didn't look happy or unhappy to see him, just bored, and Madison took that as a good sign. "Lydia isn't here. She's been spending time in the library because she doesn't think you'll look for her there."
"I wouldn't," Madison said agreeably. He liked Emma, mostly because she didn't seem to have any respect for Lydia's stupidity or outlandish plans. "Do I have to go track her down? Or do you know anything about this mess with Adam?"
"I might," Emma said, then glanced past Madison towards the door where the creepy watcher stood, not even bothering to hide that she was hanging on their every word. "Come in, why don't you?" Emma said with fake sweetness.
She stepped back, allowing Madison into the room. Madison took the opening, slipping into the room and stopping a few steps into the room. It was neat on both sides and very obviously divided into two, with Lydia's belongings arranged neatly on the right side and Emma's on the left. It was decorated entirely too femininely for Madison's tastes, though Lydia's side of the room was all yellows and greens while Emma had more pink. The only thing he didn't object to was the poster of a shirtless actor taped up by the window.
"Get a life, Stacey!" Emma shouted once Madison was securely in the room. She slammed the door in emphasis, and a moment later there was an echoing slam from across the hall. Madison snorted, but he was more interested in talking about Adam than he was in talking about the creepy girl across the hall.
"Anyway," Emma said, turning and flipping her long, flat-ironed hair over her shoulder. "Lydia is avoiding you, which suits me just fine because it means I get the room to myself more. So I'll tell you about this bull she pulled with Adam, and you won't tell her I told you, so she'll keep hanging out in the library to avoid you."
"I'll even keep trying to get in touch with her," Madison promised, grinning. He was eighty percent sure Lydia had made the whole thing up at this point; there was no reason for her to be avoiding him otherwise. He wasn't above a little petty revenge, and he did like Emma and had no problems doing her favors.
"Excellent," Emma said, returning the grin with a quick smile. "Now, I can only tell you what little I know, but Lydia was pretty transparent about the whole thing. She had her heart set on dating Adam, and you know how she gets when she decides she 'needs' a guy." Emma rolled her eyes, obviously unimpressed by Lydia. "So she kept trying to trap him into dates, never mind that anyone with a pair of eyes could see he had no interest in women." Emma paused, studying her cherry red fingernails thoughtfully for a moment before continuing. "I kept hearing her tease him about how she'd give 'it' to him if he met her here or there or did this or that for her. Because that's totally the best way to start any relationship."
"I doubt Lydia was thinking that far ahead," Madison said dryly. He loved his sister, but she was a complete moron when it came to dating. That had been why it hadn't been hard to believe she'd been duped by a guy into believing he was interested in her when he was really just using her to get closer to someone else.
"She never does," Emma said, shrugging dismissively, as though Lydia's boy troubles were the least of her concern. "He kept refusing and shutting her down, shockingly. Then he gave up and told her he didn't need her help and started ignoring her. That pissed her off, and after a week of getting the cold shoulder she finally gets the hint and starts moping.
"Then she starts going on and on about how he'd just been using her, and that he'd never cared about her, and that the only reason he'd been 'with her' at all was to get to me." Emma made air quotes as she said the words with her, obviously dismissive of the idea that Adam and Lydia had ever been dated. Madison snorted, and Emma said dryly, "Apparently, he then decided against that too. Were that the case, I wouldn't blame him; dealing with Lydia is enough to put anyone off."
"For your sake, I hope not," Madison said because that really wasn't fair to Emma. She didn't seem too concerned though, just flippantly waved it off.
"It was all a load of bull, anyway," Emma said with relish, apparently enjoying the chance to gossip. "Adam stopped by twice while I was here, but he never gave me a second look, not even when I talked to him. He was polite, but not interested. He seemed like a nice enough guy, though, and he was definitely smart enough to get away from Lydia quickly."
"Do you know what he wanted from her?" Madison asked, though he was pretty sure he knew. Adam had wanted to know more about him, and Lydia had obviously misrepresented the entire 'relationship.' Emma's story too closely matched up with what Adam had told him, and combined with Lydia's avoidance of him… it was more than enough for Madison to believe what Adam had told him.
"Don't know," Emma said, shrugging disinterestedly. "Neither said, at least not in my hearing."
"Ah, well, I don't suppose I need to know that," Madison said, running a hand through his hair. So evidence supported that Lydia had been lying, which meant that he needed to find Adam. It was just before lunch, so he could probably still catch Adam at the café… "Thanks, Em. I'll make sure to keep Lydia thinking I'm still dropping by."
"Thanks," Emma said, smiling again before heading towards the door. "I'll have to tell her I talked to you, since Stacey saw us and she's the world's biggest gossip, but I'll just tell her you dropped by, and I brushed you off."
"Maybe we can get her to live in the library for the rest of the year?" Madison suggested hopefully, following Emma to the door. "I'm sure my parents would be happy with the improvement on her grades."
"I can only hope," Emma muttered as she opened the door. She raised her voice, casting a signinfcant look at Stacey's door. "She's just been so busy with her classes lately. I'm not sure where she is, but I'll tell her you dropped by."
"Thanks," Madison said, raising his voice as well. "I appreciate it. See you around, Em."
"See you," Emma said, waiting until he was walking down the hallway to shut the door behind him. Stacey wasn't standing in her doorway for the first time since Madison had started visiting, though Madison would lay good odds on her hiding behind the door and peeping out through the peephole. Did she not have class? He really didn't care, though; he had more important things to worry about.
Heading out of Price Hall, Madison started towards the student center. It was time to talk to Adam, mostly just to settle where they were going to dinner. Provided Adam wanted to take him to dinner after everything else. Madison shoved away his nerves. Adam had still seemed interested when they'd been talking at the casting site. He doubted two days would have changed that.
He hoped, anyway
*~*~*
Adam was eating in the back of the huge café in the student center as he'd promised. The café was a popular lunch destination; it sold coffee drinks, smoothies, sandwiches, salads, and a variety of other quick lunch options. Adam was sitting with Bradley, whose crutches were propped against the wall behind their table, and a young woman who Madison only vaguely recognized from the water magic department.
"Hey," Madison greeted Adam, giving the water mage a nod and completely ignoring Bradley. He was still pissed at Bradley for being an idiot. Adam looked up and immediately smiled,
simultaneously setting his sandwich down.
"Hey," Adam replied, and Bradley snickered, apparently reading something into that exchange. Adam's smile was a little dopey, sure, but that was no reason to laugh. Madison shot him a quelling look that didn't faze him in the least, then turned back to Adam.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Madison asked, glancing at the water mage uncertainly as it occurred to him Adam could be working. There were a few open books and notebooks scattered on the table so it very well could have been a homework session for them. "If you're not busy."
"No, of course not. I mean, I'm not busy," Adam said, wiping his hands on a napkin. He stood hastily, nearly knocking over his chair. Bradley snickered, and Madison debated kicking him. He wasn't mean enough to kick an injured idiot, though, and settled for a glare.
"Don't worry, Bradley," Madison said cheerfully, stepping up to the table and leaning closer to Bradley menacingly. "You and I will be having a talk when your ankle is healed."
"Sure thing, Princess," Bradley said happily, unperturbed as always by Madison's threats. With good reason—Bradley was a class ahead of him and a higher caliber fire mage to boot. He was also long used to Madison's threats, given that, as the only two advanced fire magics students on campus, they shared lab space. Bradley seemed physically incapable of cleaning up after his experiments in said labs, which meant Madison was often threatening him with physical harm.
Madison leveled another glare on him, then turned away dismissively, gesturing Adam towards an empty area by the trash cans. Not the most romantic of places, but it was far enough away that Bradley wouldn't be able to overhear. Leaning against the wall, Madison looked up at Adam, suddenly nervous despite his confidence that Adam wouldn't turn him down for a dinner date.
"How are you feeling?" Adam asked before Madison could figure out how to start.
"What? Fine," Madison said, confused for a moment. Why was Adam asking about his health? Then Madison remembered the casting, and he really was being an idiot if he'd forgotten that. He'd drained himself—normal, for that spell—but it affected his health so of course Adam would ask about it. "Really, nearly good as new. I just need a week or two to recoup the energy I lost."
"Good," Adam said, looking relieved. "Bradley was telling me horror stories—"
"Because he's an ass," Madison said, scowling past Adam to where Bradley and the water mage sat, both avidly watching them. Madison rolled his eyes, unsurprised at that. Why did he know so many nosy people?
"I'm still glad you're okay," Adam said earnestly. Madison returned Adam's smile; it was open and happy and completely infectious, and Madison decided he'd made the right choice when he hadn't completely dismissed Adam's version of events out of hand.
"Um, so," Madison said, striving to stay on topic. "I haven't talked to Lydia." Adam's face fell, and Madison hastened to continue, "I did talk to Emma." Adam gave him a blank, confused look. Madison filled in, "Lydia's roommate?" even as realization dawned on Adam's face.
"Right," Adam said, looking hopeful again. Really, if Madison had been paying any attention, he would have realized that Adam couldn't hide a damn thing. He wore every emotion on his face.
"Any way, she confirmed pretty much everything you said," Madison said, grinning wickedly as he added, "with the caveat that I not tell Lydia we talked since apparently Lydia's been hanging out in the library to avoid me, and that gives Emma the room to herself."
Adam laughed, leaning in closer to Madison. Madison ignored the way his face heated—unfortunately there was no way his stupid tendency towards blushing was in any way hidden in the bright lights of the café—and Adam just had to make it worse by asking, "So?" in a deeper tone of voice than was usual for him.
"Dinner? Friday night?" Madison suggested, his heartbeat kicking up a notch in anticipation. What if Adam said no? What if this was an elaborate joke to get back at Madison for ignoring him before?
"Of course," Adam said, beaming, and Madison smiled back, relieved. "The Ranchhouse?" Madison's eyebrows rose—that was the most popular sit down place in town. It wasn't overly expensive, but the food was good, hearty fare, and it was popular enough that getting a reservation only a few days in advance was impossible. "I know someone."
"All right, then," Madison accepted, then dug out a pen and grabbed Adam's hand. Adam looked briefly surprised, but he didn't protest as Madison scrawled his phone number on the back of his hand.
"That's my cell," Madison said briskly. "You can call or text me, though I probably won't answer if I'm in class. Also, I will kill you if it's after eleven or before eight, even on weekends."
"Not after eleven or before eight," Adam repeated, grinning down at his hand. "Want mine, or should I just text you?"
"Just text me," Madison said then glanced up at the clock. "I need to go. One o'clock class. Thump Bradley for me, will you?"
Adam laughed, then, instead of replying, leaned in and kissed Madison, quick and soft and sweet. Madison blushed all over again, but he smiled even as Adam stepped back slightly.
"Will do," Adam said cheerfully, recalling Madison to the conversation. "Talk to you soon?"
"Yeah, definitely," Madison said, giving Adam another smile before heading out of the café.
He ignored the table where Bradley and the water mage were sitting. Bradley would probably give him hell later, but Madison didn't care, and really, he supposed he couldn't be too angry at Bradley for breaking his ankle and saddling Madison with casting the binding, not when the outcome was Adam.
Fin
