madelyn couldn’t believe easton just yanked her away from preston, pushed him off of her and pulled her outside the ballroom. while she enjoyed getting manhandled by him on some occasions, on others she wanted nothing more but to stab him in the eye. “let go of me!” the brunette shouted before managing to get her arm free of his hold. his fingers had bruised her olive skin already, red marks showing almost immediately. the september cold air was making maddy shiver, the girl wrapping her arms around herself. “what do you think you’re doing?! who gave you the bloody right to ... act like that?”
'pissed' was an understatement when easton looked up and saw maddy dancing with preston from across the room. here he'd been, sitting around waiting for her, when she was with his dickwad of a roommate the whole damn time. it didn't help that ophelia had just made a comment about how his girlfriend kept him on a leash. was he mad because she was talking shit to him, or was he mad because she was right? regardless, with everything that had happened since finding out about maddy hooking up with preston and now this, easton was pissed. getting up mid conversation, he left ophelia and stormed off towards maddy and preston. without saying a word, he pulled his girlfriend away and walked out of the ballroom, not letting go until they were outside. he was so angry that he didn't even realize how tight his grip on her arm was. his expression softened the slightest until she began yelling at him. "what am i doing!? what the fuck do you think you're doing?! dancing with that fucking piece of shit like that when your boyfriend was waiting around for you?!!"
“waiting around for me? oh, i am sorry was your wait more pleasant over there with ophelia? that pathetic bitch follows you around everywhere and you can’t seem to ignore her...because you don’t want to, do you?” she was a talker. she talked a lot. but now she was talking twice as more, words choking her up and nothing else mattered but to say what was on her mind. “do you like pissing me off or do you like the attention hoes like her give you?” maddy shouted in his face, shaking her head at him, as she paced back and forth. “i am SO sick and tired of hearing about girls being so fucking in love with you because you smiled at them, flirted with them, made out with them...i am sick and tired of you going around and making THEM feel special! because they aren’t there for you at 4AM after a scandal with your parents, they aren’t there for you when you need to talk...it’s me. it’s always been me and you don’t even see it!”
"don't fucking drag ophelia into this and blame everything on me like you always fucking do! i'm not the one on the goddamn dance floor with her, looking like i'm ready to fuck her right then and there!" he shouted back, pointing towards the ballroom. he could feel the anger boiling over, everything that had been built up this past week just spilling over. if he wasn't careful, he was going to say something that he didn't mean. but the anger and jealousy made it difficult to think straight, or to care at all. hearing her speak, easton knew deep down that she had a point, but that did little to ease his anger. "don't fucking turn this around and make all this shit my fault! do you think you're any easier to deal with?! do you even fucking hear yourself, madelyn?! all of your crazy paranoia and jealousy over the tiniest fucking things, it's fucking suffocating, alright?! i can't even talk to someone without you losing your shit and twisting it into something it's not! you really fucking think you have me on a leash, don't you?! i'm not your fucking property, maddy!" he yelled out, everything coming out all at once. "that's fucking low pulling that card. i'm here for you just as much! i drop everything to be fucking be there for you! don't twist it around and make it seem as though i'm never there for you! if you don't see that, then why the fuck do i even bother?!"
“if i don’t hold you on a leash, i may find you fucking someone literally in front of the whole school. because that’s what THIS is to you. our relationship is a game, a fucking game that you like to play whenever you’re bored.” she couldn’t believe him. he was trying to make it seem like she was the one at fault for their rocky past and even rockier present. “you aren’t my property, you aren’t mine at all, easton! i am not happy, can’t you see it? i am miserable because i’m always looking behind my back to see if one of your flings won’t pop up. i can’t even breathe because the mere image of you being intimate with someone else is killing me. but you know what? i am not your property, either!! you had NO right to pull me off the dance floor. i didn’t ruin your little talk with her, did i?!” she took a step back, feeling her eyes watering already. “i see it, i see you’re there but i want you to be there for me ALL the time. i have my own issues, easton! i have my own demons and i need you to be there for me even when i’m not crying my eyes out or going through a panic attack.” the brunette bit at her bottom lip, shaking her head. “i love you, okay? i’ve loved you my whole life, you’re the only person who hasn’t abandoned me...but i can’t do it anymore. we’re toxic. this is toxic. i’m done...we’re done. and don’t act like you don’t love your freedom because you do. so, go ahead, go back inside and fuck ophelia or betty or alicia...just go, easton.”
hearing everything that she had to say, easton could only laugh. it was a humourless laugh, maybe not the most appropriate response, but he didn't know how else to respond. he was exhausted. from this night, from her, from everything. and he knew she was too. they'd been going at it for years and time and time again, they always ended up right at this very spot. why did they even bother trying? clearly, they weren't happy. maybe they just weren't cut out for this. maybe he wasn't. would he ever be? could he ever be what she needed from him? shaking his head, hearing those dreaded three words coming from her, he looked up towards the sky, then out towards the empty football field. he looked anywhere but at her. he couldn't face her. he couldn't return those words. he just... couldn't do this anymore. maddy was right about him. they all were. everything everyone always said about him was true. he was easton hawthorne. bodley's fuckboy. no relationship, no girl, not even maddy, was going to change that. finally meeting maddy's tear-filled eyes, he give her the cocky, arrogant smirk that he was so used to using on just about everyone else. shoving all his feelings down - anger, jealousy, hurt - he simply nodded his head and repeated her words, "we're done." without giving her a second look, he brushed past her to get to through the doors. so much for maddy and easton, easton and maddy.
