Chapter Four: Maddie

                                    

                                          

After Evan's shift, we left for the day. I followed him in my car to his apartment. It was a cute apartment. I felt like it suited him well. I got my bag from the trunk of my car and followed him in. 
"Thanks again for letting me stay with you. I know you have your own life I won't be here long. I just need to find a place and a job. I have some money in savings so it shouldn't take me long to find a place I don't want anything too fancy anyway."
"Hey, you don't have to rush to get out of here. I don't mind having you here you're my baby sister and I'll help you however you need me to. I missed you and obviously, I've missed a lot the past few years you're all grown up now."
"Yeah, you have but I don't want to be a burden. It's okay I appreciate you letting me stay here tonight."
"Of course like I said you can stay as long as you want no rush. I hope you don't mind but I told Maddie you were here. She's on her way with food. She was really excited when I told her you were okay. You know we never stopped worrying about you." The doorbell rang before he could say anything else. I sat down on the couch and let him get the door. 
"Is she really here? I don't believe it. I never thought I'd see her again."
"Yeah, she's here Maddie but..." Before he could finish she rushed past him into the small living area. She gasped as she laid eyes on her youngest sibling she couldn't believe that her baby sister was actually there in front of her. When her parents told her that she had run away she never thought that she would see her again. She always worried about her. But she can't lie and say that she forgot about her for a while. When everything was happening with Doug it seemed that Simone was in the back of her mind. It sounds terrible but in her mind, she was gone and didn't want to come back. When Buck called her to tell her the truth she couldn't believe it. This girl, no woman in front of her is not the same person who she left behind all of those years ago. It pained her to say she didn't know who was in front of her. 
"Simone?"
"Yeah Mads, it's me. I want you to know that you don't need to apologize for anything. Buck told me that Mom and Dad told you guys that I ran away and gave you a fake phone number."
"Oh, sweetie. You're so grown now. You're not the same little girl I remember."
"Yeah, it's been six years. You missed a lot but I don't blame you for that. You lived your life and moved on. You had no way to know what was really happening. All that matters is that we are all together now. The Buckley siblings have reunited!" I had a grin on my face as I looked at my two older siblings. "Now what did you bring to eat?"
"I brought Chinese."
"Did you bring Sesame Chicken?"
"Yes, I did plus egg rolls and shrimp fried rice."
"You remembered my favorite."
"Of course. Now let's eat!" We sat around the living room talking and eating it felt natural. I mean yeah they are my siblings but it's been six years. But now I feel whole again like I'm supposed to be here. 
"So, not that I'm mad that you're here but why did you decide to find us now?" I looked over at Buck silently asking for help. 
"Well, Simone wanted a fresh start and decided that she wanted her awesome older brother to be a part of it. She didn't know that you were going to be here too. She saw a news article with me and the 118 and came to the firehouse. She drove all the way here from Pennsylvania."
"Wait you've been in Pennsylvania this whole time?"
"Yeah, I never left. I was staying with a boyfriend I thought he loved me but I caught him cheating with some random girl in our bed so I decided to leave. But when I told him I was leaving he didn't like that so he slapped me. I knocked him out with a baseball bat and ran away." Maddie had this faraway look in her eyes. 
"Buck, we need to tell Athena! What if he comes looking for her? Like Doug did to me. I can't lose her we just got her back." Maddie was panicking what did she mean by "like Doug did to me? 
"Maddie calm down. He has no idea where I am. I just left. I am sure he is probably drunk right now with some bimbo. What did you mean when you said 'like Doug did to you'? Did Doug do something to you?"
"Um, Doug's dead. Turns out that when you got "bad vibes" from him you were right. He had been physically abusing Maddie and she ran away from him. He came here looking for her and even stabbed Chim he kidnapped her and she ended up killing him in self-defense." 
"I don't think Mike would come looking for me. He obviously doesn't love me he had some other woman in our bed and who knows how many times he did that before. I mean he only slapped me the one time." 
"Simone, I need you to listen to me. When you told him you were leaving he got angry. That's when he slapped you. It may be the first time he did something like that but trust me if that's how he reacted when you told him you were leaving then he's going to come looking for you. He may not know where you are now but he will find you." 
"I didn't think about that. I guess I just figured he was drunk and mad so I left." 
"In the morning we can go to the police station and we'll talk to Athena. She's a sergeant there and she's also Bobby's wife. You can give her a statement and a description of Mike. For now, I would feel more comfortable if you stayed with me for a while just to make sure you are safe." 
"Why did Doug try to kill Chimney?"
"Oh yeah me and Chimney are together. He's super sweet actually. He's never raised his voice at me and he's really supportive."
"You love him don't you?"
"Yeah, I do." 
"Well, I'm happy for you. After what you went through with Doug you deserve to be happy and loved."
"Thanks."