Title: Nothing Left
Author: Mary (
stillxmyxheart)
Rating: PG
Genre: Angst, Drama, bits of Fluff
Word Count: 3,166
Characters/Pairings: Madison, Theo, Hannah, Eli, Chris, Kari, Ben, David, Juliet, Tony and Jeannie briefly (Madison/Theo, Hannah/Eli, Chris/Kari, David/Juliet)
By March, Madison is on speaking terms with Hannah again, though things still seem a bit strained between them. Everyone else is civil to her, even Ben, who's barely spoken to her since October, though the temperature in the room always seems a bit cooler, and she's not sure if this is better or worse.
When Theo asks at the end of the month if she'd like him to come out for a visit, she agrees immediately. They've been talking more and more over the past couple of months, and somewhere along the way they became exclusive.
The only small bump is that she can't bring herself to say that she loves him when he says it to her, choosing instead to say, "You too." She jokes that it's like Sam and Molly from Ghost, and how every time Molly said "I love you" to Sam, he'd reply with "Ditto", and that seems to make it okay.
Kari's birthday is April 8 and her party is scheduled for that Saturday. Theo is due to arrive in Arlington the Friday before, and Madison hesitantly calls Kari to ask if she wouldn't mind if Theo came to the party too.
"It's fine if you don't want him to come," Madison says quickly. "I mean, it's enough that you invited me, but I just thought -"
"It's okay, Madison," Kari interrupts gently. "You can bring him; it's not a problem at all. You're bringing him to the Cherry Blossom Festival stuff during the day too, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then we'll all get to meet him there. I'm looking forward to it."
Madison smiles at the sincerity in her voice and nods. "Okay. Thanks, Kari."
Late Friday afternoon finds Madison waiting for Theo at the airport, and when she sees him, she squeals and rushes to hug him.
"Hey," he laughs, dropping his bag to the floor and sweeping her into his arms, lifting her in the air. "Happy to see me?"
"Maybe a little," she replies, her legs circling his waist as she pulls back from the hug to kiss him. She can feel people staring at them, but she doesn't really care; it's the first time she's had someone to give her any kind of physical affection in two months.
Finally he sets her down and bends to pick up his bag before taking her hand and starting towards the baggage claim.
"So, what do you have planned for me this week?"
Madison grins. "Have you ever been here?"
"You know, I actually haven't. I'm a total D.C. noob."
"Then I guess we'll have to do all the touristy stuff. The Cherry Blossom Festival is ending this weekend, the parade's tomorrow and we were all planning to do that, so you'll get to meet most everybody then, and then Kari's birthday party is tomorrow night. And then after that, I guess we can just play it by ear. We can see or do anything you want."
"Right now," he murmurs as they come to a stop by the baggage claim to wait for his suitcase, "there's really only one thing I want to do."
His hand slides over her backside and she giggles as she looks up at him. "Dinner first, but after that, you can have your way with me."
Theo rents a car before they leave the airport, so they'll have their own way to get around without having to rely on public transportation. They head first for Madison's apartment to drop his things off and change and then go to dinner.
When they return to her apartment, they retreat to her bedroom. He's still not the best lover she's ever had, but he's retained the things she taught him in December, and the reunion sex is very much satisfying. She knows he's more than willing to learn, and the prospect of teaching new things is always fun for her.
"Okay," he says after, turned towards her with his head propped in his hand, "so just how many people have you had sex with, anyway?"
"No," Madison groans, laughing as she covers her face with her hands. "That's a terrible question, don't ask me that."
"I'm not here to judge, I swear, I'm just curious. I mean, I know it's going to be... more than a few, so just tell me."
"I don't know," she sighs, and then crinkles her nose as she looks over at him. "Ballpark 50? It's not something I really keep track of. I mean, I've had serious relationships; you'll get to meet two of my exes tomorrow. Or maybe just one," she amends, frowning slightly as she realizes she doesn't know if Ben will be there.
Giving a quick shake of her head, she turns her attention to Theo. "And what about you?"
"Three." Madison stares at him, and he gives a short laugh. "Terrible, I know. And now you know why I'm not all Don Juan in bed."
"Well, I'm not judging either," Madison says with a shrug. "I mean, Han's only had sex with four people in her life, and I would never judge her for that, so I'm certainly not going to judge you." A grin curves her lips and she shifts closer to him. "As long as you're willing to learn..."
"Oh, I am definitely willing," he replies, grinning back. "Teach me, Miss Maddie."
She giggles and closes the space between them as she kisses him, pressing her body to his and smiling against his mouth when he lifts her leg and presses between her thighs.
"See, you're learning already."
Early the next morning, Madison and Theo arrive at the designated meeting spot, where almost everybody else is already waiting.
"Great spot, Han," Madison says approvingly. "How early did you guys get here?"
"A little before nine," Hannah replies, just as Eli yawns widely. "Would've been here sooner, but somebody didn't want to get up this morning."
"You woke me up at eight on a Saturday, babe, what did you expect?" Eli retorts grumpily, and Hannah grins and reaches over to run her fingers through his hair as she presses a kiss to the side of his head.
Madison smiles as she watches them and then takes a breath.
"Well, guys, this is Theo," she says, grabbing his arm and pulling him forward a bit. "Theo, this is Hannah, Eli, David, Juliet, Tony, and Jeannie." She allows them all a moment to shake hands, and then frowns. "Where're Chris and Kari?"
"Right here, sorry," Chris says as they walk up. "Got a bit of a late start. And I take it you're Theo."
Theo laughs a little and nods as he shakes Chris's hand, and then Kari's.
"Is, um, Ben -" Madison starts, and then jumps when a familiar voice says, "Hey, guys," from behind her.
Madison turns to see Ben, who stares back at her, unsmiling, before he glances at Theo, who introduces himself a little hesitantly. Ben shakes his hand civilly enough, though Madison can see the tension in his jaw, and she takes a breath and reaches for Theo's hand when Ben walks over to stand with Eli and Hannah.
The mood lightens when the parade starts a short while later, and Madison snaps several pictures of the floats and performers, happy to be standing here with Theo. While she may be more or less on good terms with everybody again, she thinks that she wouldn't be having nearly as a good a time without him here.
When the parade ends, they all decide to go to the Pint for lunch, since it's out of the way and shouldn't be too crowded with tourists and people in the city for the Festival.
There isn't a table big enough for the eleven of them, so Hannah, Eli, Ben, David, and Juliet settle in a booth in front of the large round table in the corner where Madison, Theo, Chris, Kari, Tony, and Jeannie all sit together.
"So this is like, the FBI hangout?" Theo asks as he takes a sip of his beer.
"Yeah, pretty much," Chris says with a quiet laugh.
"Who among you works there?"
"Tony and me from this table," Chris answers, "and then Eli, David, and Juliet from the other. Tony and I used to be partners, but now he mostly gets paired with Eli. David just bosses us around."
"Except Juliet," Tony interjects.
Chris nods, grinning. "Except Juliet. Even when she worked in our division he couldn't really boss her around. Now that they're married, David's pretty much lost all say in the relationship."
"I can hear you, you know," David says loudly from the other table, making everyone laugh.
"Then I want you to know I'm after your job," Chris calls back.
"Like it's a secret?"
Chris snickers and shakes his head as he reaches for his beer. "I'm not really. I don't have enough seniority for it yet, but I'm hoping one day."
The rest of lunch passes in the same light-hearted manner, and Madison can't help feeling so pleased to see Chris and Kari so happy together. Everything Madison has learned about Kari just proves that she's the perfect girl for Chris, and it's more than obvious that Chris has really and truly moved on from Claudia.
If only the same could be said about Ben. They've barely spoken at all since they broke up in October, and though she doesn't know for sure, she has a feeling he hasn't been on a single date since then either. She knows she hurt him, but she also knows he's better off without her, and she wishes he could see that too. She doesn't understand why he can't seem to move on from her; it's not like she's anything special.
After lunch, they take part in some more of the festival activities, and then part ways to get ready for Kari's party.
It's the same group as earlier in the day, plus a few of Kari's friends from the hospital, and as usual, the party turns out to be a great time.
Madison watches Hannah throughout the night, happy to see her smiling and laughing, giggling when Eli pulls her into his lap for a kiss and talking animatedly with Kari when they go into the kitchen to refill some of the snack trays.
Madison is glad that the attack in February doesn't seem to have had any long lasting effects on Hannah, but she's sad that their friendship isn't what it used to be and she doesn't think she'll ever stop feeling guilty for what happened. Hannah and Kari have grown closer, but Madison carries no hard feelings towards Kari; all she feels is grateful that Hannah has somebody there for her in that way. Somewhere not so deep inside it hurts, but maybe she just doesn't deserve to be that kind of friend to Hannah anymore.
By midnight, Madison and Theo are back in Madison's apartment, and they collapse into bed, falling asleep moments later.
Madison groans the next morning when she hears Theo say her name softly, and mumbles, "What?" into her pillow.
"Get up, baby."
"What time is it?"
"Almost eleven," he says, amusement in his voice.
Madison sighs and finally opens her eyes. "One thing to learn about me: if I don't have to get up early, please don't wake me up before I'm ready to wake up, okay?"
Theo looks at her a little uncertainly, his smile dimming. "I tried to wait, but it was getting late. And - and I made breakfast."
Madison smiles and lifts her hand to his face. "That's sweet. Thank you. You made coffee too, right?"
He nods and she sighs again as she sits up. "Okay, okay, I'm up."
She revives over coffee and a plate of eggs, sausage, hash browns, and toast, and smiles over at Theo as she eats. "Okay, this is really good; I can forgive you for waking me up for this."
Theo grins, relieved, and they finish their breakfast before moving into the living room, where Madison powers up her laptop and sets it in Theo's lap.
"I'm going to take a shower. Why don't you browse around and see if there's anything going on this week that you want to check out? Just save anything that looks cool, and we can figure it out."
Theo nods, and Madison flashes a smile before heading into the bathroom.
Over the next week, she and Theo go to museums, check out art shows and concerts, and generally have more fun than Madison has had in a while. She does invite people to come out with them, but more often than not they turn her down, saying they're too tired or busy. While she's sure that's true, knowing that all of them have busy jobs and lives, part of her can't help feeling that they're saying no just because they don't want to hang out with her.
Hannah and Eli do go to one of the art shows with them, while Chris and Kari go to one of the concerts, and they do have fun, but Madison feels like it would have been better if they hadn't come at all.
Saturday night is Theo's last in the city, and Madison invites everybody to come out for a goodbye dinner. Everyone agrees, even Ben, and Saturday night finds Madison, Theo, Hannah, Eli, Chris, Kari, Ben, David, and Juliet at the steakhouse near Madison's apartment.
As dinner's winding down, Theo clears his throat to speak. "Thank you all for coming out to sort of... see me off, I guess. I've really enjoyed meeting and getting to know you all this week; it was nice to get a glimpse of Maddie's life out here."
There's a general agreeable murmur from everybody and Theo takes a breath as he shifts in his seat, reaching into his pocket as he turns towards Madison.
"And while you're all here, I thought this would be a good time to ask Madison a very important question."
Tension settles over the table and everyone suddenly looks at Ben, except Madison, who is staring at Theo with wide eyes.
Theo takes another breath as he pulls out and opens the small black box in his hand, revealing the diamond ring inside. "Madison, will you marry me?"
Madison stares at the ring, unable to reply or even breathe, and then she glances around the table. Everyone is staring at the two of them, wide-eyed and shocked, but Ben's face is stony, his hands tight on the edge of the table, and Madison feels a pang in her heart as she tears her gaze from him to look back at Theo.
More and more it feels like there's nothing left for her here in Arlington, and maybe this will finally be the chance for Ben to move on, so she nods and smiles as she says a breathless, "Yes."
Theo grins broadly and leans forward to kiss her, pulling her into a hug just as there's a sudden thud from across the table. Madison looks over to see Ben spin on his heel and stalk from the restaurant, and she tightens her grip on Theo, trying to ignore the ache in her chest.
Eli stands and hurries after Ben, catching up with him outside.
"Ben, wait, you know how Maddie is -"
"Yeah," Ben shouts, whirling around. "I know exactly how Maddie is, I dated her for a year, and that -" He points angrily at the restaurant. "- is not her. That's not M - Maddie," he says, shaking his head, his voice breaking on her name. "Am I really supposed to believe that she couldn't handle me telling her I loved her after being together for a year, but that she's just totally okay with marrying this guy after what, four fucking months? I tried to be supportive; I tried to accept that she's apparently moved on, but not with this. I can't do it, Eli. I just -"
He looks away, and Eli can see the shine of tears in his eyes as he shakes his head before looking forward again.
"I can't do it," he whispers. "I'm sorry."
With another shake of his head he turns away, pulling his keys from his pocket as he starts for his car, and Eli stares after him for a moment before turning to head back inside.
Early the next afternoon, Madison goes to the airport with Theo to see him off.
"Are you okay?" he asks when they reach the security gate, his eyebrows knitted as he looks at her.
"What?" she replies, frowning as she looks at him.
"You've just seemed really distant ever since we left the restaurant last night."
"It's nothing," she says, flashing a smile. "Just - a lot's changed in such a short amount of time. I'm still sort of processing it, I guess."
"I can stay a little longer, if you want," Theo suggests, but Madison shakes her head.
"No, you need to get back, I'm sure Dad needs you at work. I'm fine, really."
Theo smiles and nods, and then pulls Madison to him, his arms circling her waist.
"I'm still so happy you said yes. I know it's kind of fast, but I don't know, it just felt right."
"Yeah, totally," Madison replies, giving a quick nod. "And you're really okay with having a small wedding? I just don't see the point in having some huge thing."
Theo nods, still smiling. "Whatever you want to do."
"And, um, let me tell my dad. I mean, he likes you, I just think it'd be best if I told him."
Theo gives a short laugh. "I agree. But I'll see you soon, right?"
"Yeah, I just need to get things in order here, put in my notice at work and take care of my apartment and stuff, but yeah, I should hopefully see you in a few weeks."
"I can't wait," he murmurs, lifting his hand to push her hair behind her ear as he kisses her. "I love you."
"You too," she replies, smiling when he looks at her again. Her gaze flicks to the security line and then back to him. "You should go, the line's kind of long, you don't want to miss your flight."
He nods and kisses her once more before letting her go and bending to pick up his bag.
"Call me when you get home," she says as he starts towards the line.
"I will," he promises. "And I'll see you soon."
She nods, smiling again, and watches to make sure he makes it through security okay; he waves once he's through, and she waves back, still smiling as he starts towards his gate.
Her smile fades once he's out of sight and her gaze drops to her hands. She stares at the ring on her finger for a long moment, passing her thumb over the diamond, and then sighs as she turns to leave the airport.