Leo Marcer May Mr. Corstolla let me stay over, insisting for me not to drive at night. It was funny because he kept nagging Madeleine. I could hear some of the whispers, and I laughed when Madeleine got upset when her father whispered something in her ear. Madeleine popped on a TV show called The Three Truths Trilogy on Netflix. She said she watches it with her brother whenever she comes home from the hospital. I thought it would be rude to watch it with her, since I wasn't her brother and it seemed like a traditional thing, but she insisted when I said I had never heard of it. "Okay, so, that's Maxene, she has a major crush on Joshua. It's funny, because Joshua has a crush on her too, but they both don't know that they are destined for love. I mean, it hasn't said that, but--" "Maddy? I didn't know you were home." Me and Madeleine both looked at the guy standing at the bottom of the stairs. He had an army green hoodie on, and a pear of dark jeans. Madeleine abruptly stood up, she looked nervous. "I'm sorry Eth', I-I meant to tell you. I didn't know you were home." Her hands were shaking, I reached over and held her hand tightly. The boy at the stairs stared blankly at me, and for a moment I felt nervous. "Madeleine, don't apologize, Ethan is just worried." A girl then walked down next to the boy, she had long, blonde hair, and a sun dress. The girl whispered in the boy's ear, and he gave her peck on the cheek. He walked over to Madeleine, and hugged her. "Grace is right, cariño. I was just worried about you." She let go of my hand, hugging him. Once he let go, his gaze swept over onto me, it was almost chilling. "Who is this, Maddy?" Madeleine looked over at me, she seemed to be more relaxed, but the way her body tensed when the boy asked the question, still suggested she was on-edge. "I'm Leo," I stood up, "Madeleine's new partner at her job." Madeleine backed up, looking deeply distraught. "Why are you in my house?" He was now facing me, his grey eyes burning into my skin. "I came to drop her off, and her father let me in. And who says this is your house? It is rightly her father's." The boy bristled. "I am her brother! I live here, and have the right to be worried for my sister." We were yelling now, the girl at the stairs was walking over to Madeleine. "Okay? And? I'm not allowed to worry about someone who was just in the hospital?" "You have no right to be in our house!" "Like I said, your father let me in! What is so wrong with that?" I said, I didn't understand what his problem was. "I DON'T WANT ANY ACCIDENTS!" "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'ACCIDENTS'?" "I DON'T WANT HER TO HAVE ANOTHER PANIC ATTACK!" The room fell silent, even the stove seemed to have silenced. The boy fell to his knees, his face in his hands as he cried. The girl ran over to coax him. I looked over at Madeleine. Her eyes were blank, staring at her brother. Her face was drained of any emotion. Her gaze then met mine, and she looked like she was scared. Their father came from upstairs and just stared. He seemed to be in shock as well. "E-Ethan?" Madeleine said, fiddling with her fingers. "Yes, cariño." The boy answered, looking up. His face was dry with tears. "What did you think Leo was?" She asked, she clenched her hands as they shook. For a moment Ethan did not answer, probably thinking of how loud he had been, but he answered with; "A...significant other." My heart almost stopped. A significant other. He thought we were together. Me and Madeleine both looked at each other. Her face was flushed pink, in shock and embarrassment. "Are you together?" He asked. He was now standing up. "Well…" She seemed to hesitate, thinking deeply about what she was about to say. She took a deep breath, "We aren't together." Her father walked over, "You seem like a nice couple!" "Ba! No es necesario!" Her brother said, laughing. "Aye, it was just a joke." Their father said, "Although they should date." He whispered into Ethan's ear. The rest of the night was less hostile. We sat back down to watch the show, me and Madeleine's brother flanking her sides. The girl, whom I soon learned that her name was Grace, and was dating Ethan, sat next to him. When their father finished cooking we all sat down to eat. Although I had to sit opposite Madeleine. A traditional thing. When we finished dinner, we sat back down for the show. And after a few minutes, Madeleine fell asleep on my shoulder.
