( @duckyisms / @birchrcse )
"Love you," he said quietly, but no less heartfelt as he said his goodbyes to Maddox, still smiling through their kisses. Now that he'd allowed himself to love again, he was going to say almost as much as Duck. If not more. "I'll see you soon," he subtly promised of their meeting up at the Manchester estate after he and Aggie dropped of the donations at the shelter. "See ya Aggs," he added with a wave her way before heading off toward the van where some of his siblings and Madison sat waiting for him.
"Look at'chu boy. Grinnin' like a damn Chesire. You are head over heels, butt-crazy for that guy ain't'cha?" Grady poked fun at the look on JP's face when he climbed into the rental.
"Come on Grady. Leave 'im be. Little guy deserves tha win," his brother Bobby chimed in teasing, shaking JP by the shoulders as he buckled up.
"Don't worry. I can assure you my brother is just as butt crazy for JP. I don't think I've ever heard him talk about someone as much as he has ol' Johnny Boy.," Madison chimed in with a chuckle and a knowing smile his way, taking a drink from the champagne bottles she'd snatched from an empty table.
"Alrigh', alrigh'. I love 'im, okay," he admitted, his cheeks turning a deep shade of pink, now fully embarrassed. "Happy now?"
Despite the gentle bite to his tone, he hadn't stopped grinning from ear to ear. Accepting the message request all those months ago had been the best decision he'd ever made. His heart hadn't felt this full since Joshua and honestly never thought it ever would. But Maddox managed to fill every void. He calmed every fear. Secured every worry. And even though John-Paul may not have been entirely sure the aching he felt in his chest had truly been love when he first moved to Carroll, he knew it was now and he never wanted to spend another day without Maddox Cooper in it.
"We're happy for ya John. Mad's a good guy n'I think yer makin' a good choice keepin' him 'round. But f'he ever hurts ya, we'll still kick his ass," Beau cut in from the back of the van. "No 'ffense Maddie," he added with a nod Madison's way.
She held her hands up, bottle and all, in momentary surrender. "Duck wouldn't hurt a fly, but I get it. Same goes for you too buster," she said, pointing at JP, gently catching herself through a sway as Grady turned down the road out of main square.
"Not a fuckin' chance in Hell," he promised Madison, motioning for the bottle. The night was turning out to be the perfect end to his year, and he wanted to keep riding the wave. Soon he would be reunited with his love, and they could finish bringing the new year. Together.
Maddie smiled at her future brother-in-law as she handed over the liquor. There was no other way she could think of him after finally getting to put a face to the name, given the amount of happiness he brought to her brother. And then the way his family welcomed them with open arms, Maddox sure had picked a good one. She told him as much, as often as possible, hoping he would hurry up and make the title a reality so she could drop the 'future' part.
The Rose boys, Madison, and Birch because JP had talked her in to at least one shot, tapped their glasses on the bar and downed the alcohol inside, hollering once they'd gotten past the grimaces.
"Another round," Grady called out to the bartender. "Double it up!" he added, drumming his hands on the bar top.
John-Paul leaned against the bar with a pushed-out breath, his eyelids now heavy from alcohol. He pulled his phone and checked the time. "Have you heard from Duck yet?" he asked Madison as he unlocked it to pull up his texts. "Feels like too long since we left him," he slowly told her as he tried to also concentrate on typing.
[txt: 🦆] hop e yuore safe.
Maddie shook her head, her brow knitting in sudden concern with JP's question. She rummaged through her purse for her own phone and pulled up her brother's name, hitting call as she stepped off for a quieter corner to hear better. Her eyes widened with fear the longer she didn't hear his voice replacing the ring on the other end. His entire body turned along with his gaze as he watched her walk away, hanging up and trying Maddox again as she disappeared around a corner.
Panic slowly started overtaking the euphoric ocean the alcohol had him swimming in. He turned back to face the bar and had to hold on to steady himself. Everything was fine. Duck was just running behind. Probably stuck around at the shelter to walk the dogs. That was it. He had been playing with the dogs and lost track of time. Everything was fine.
"Hey, Johnny? You okay? You're pale as a ghost," Bobby asked with a chuckle, taking hold of him by the shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "I think our baby brother's had enough," he told Grady with a motion to cut off any more drinks.
John-Paul ignored his brother and unlocked his phone again. No new notifications. He pulled up his texts. No new messages. Maybe he was driving and couldn't answer. No distractions. Especially on New Year's Eve with all the drunks on the road. That was it. He was just busy and couldn't answer.
[txt: 🦆] don't tesxt if your on theroad
[txt: 🦆] gonna call. han ds free
"He's fine, just needs to break the seal. It's New Year's and we're celebratin'," Grady counter-argued Bobby's stoppage.
Retry. Everything was fine.
Retry. Everything was fi--
His chest clenched tighter. His heart pounded. He couldn't breathe. His legs went weak. His vision blurred as tears glossed over his eyes. The world started spinning. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This couldn't be happening. Maddox was fine. Everything was fine.
"Johnny?" Grady now asked over the now obvious distress. "Hey man. You're just drunk, kid. Bobby's right - cut off," he went on with a nervous laugh trying to snap him back from wherever his mind had wandered off to.
[txt: 🦆] ppleasde answeer m e
Madison found her way down a quiet hallway; phone pressed as tightly to her ear as possible to hear every last note of each ring. Her heart raced in anticipation of his voice sounding out, apologizing profusely about not picking up sooner, but there had been some stranded motorist or animal that had needed saving. And she would yell at him for scaring her like that. She would scold him for not sending a text letting her know he was alright. And she would yell and yell and yell and yell because he would be there to yell at.
[txt: Duck] if you're planning some grand entrance. now's the time.
[txt: Duck] it's gone beyond the surprise factor Mad.
[txt: Duck] Will you please just call me or JP? We're really worried.
She nervously rubbed at her throat while she tried calling again, as if it would disengage the lump of fear that had settled there. No answer. She tried again. And again. And again. And ag--
Incoming call Unknown caller
Her thumb trembled as it hovered over the 'end call' button for her call to Maddox to answer it. Her voice quivered through her hello. The world around her came to a complete stop as she was asked to identify if she was the "emergency contact for Maddox Cooper". Her heart had now stopped along with her surroundings.
"Oh my God. Yes, yes I'm Madison Cooper. Is he okay? What hospital? What happened?" she fired off quickly, rushing back to John-Paul and his siblings. She made mental notes of what details could be relayed to her, but nothing mattered except getting to him. "Yes. Yes, thank you. Oh my God. Please tell him we're on our way. We'll be there. Thank you," she requested just before hanging up and urgently gathering up her things.
"Which one of you is sober enough to drive us to the hospital?" she asked the lot of them, clear panic in her eyes.
"Hospital? Wh-why the hospital? Maddie, what's going on? Did you get ahold of Mad?" John-Paul started rattling off, fear throwing his senses into a frenzy.
"I'm DD," Beau answered, steady and clear, leading the pack out to the van as he pulled up GPS to the facility.
"Hey. Maddie. Hey," John-Paul forced her attention on him once inside and on the move. "Maddox. What happened?" he pleaded.
Madison swallowed thickly, choking back the sobs threatening to break free. "I don't know....everything, but...there was an accident and Duck was taken from the scene by ambulance," she answered, reaching for his hand and squeezing.
After the word accident, John-Paul had gone deaf. His blood ran cold. His stomach dropped. The van shrank around him and he started suffocating. His grip tightened and loosened on Madison's without realizing it. "Duck....no, he can't..." he mumbled, tears falling to his cheeks with the realization that he was now living out his worst nightmare.
