'cause i'm in love, again [Maddox]

[Leah Wright]

Leah practically floated into Maddy's room, a smile of pure happiness on her face. The door was open, and she entered without knocking, glad to see that his scary roommates weren't there. Evan, in particular, terrified her; he was just so...moody. And he glared a lot in class, although he was a good singer. She wanted to do something with him -music related- but was too afraid of his reaction if he didn't like her voice, or the way she played. Generally, in music, she paired up with Maddy, although she'd gone with Layla once or twice, although Layla went with their other roommate -Tylar- quite often, for reasons Leah couldn't comprehend. That girl was scary.

The only other person left in their class was Chris, but he didn't really talk to people aside from his sister, and missed half the classes. She and Maddox spent a fair amount of time together; they were in all the same classes, and she was teaching him keyboard. He was sweet when he was in a normal mood, hilarious when he was high, and...pretty scary when he was low. She'd learnt to recognise the signs; he'd be smiling when he wasn't depressed. When he was depressed, he'd glare at her until she got it.

The mood she was in that day, however, made her completely oblivious to any signs that he was giving off; she threw herself onto the only empty bed - opposite where Maddy was sitting - and smiled idiotically into space. "Rio and I just kissed," she exclaimed, blushing. Quickly, she jumped up and shut the door behind her -Rio roomed in this corridor, after all, and that meant he might be able to hear her- before continuing. "He came in my room, and he's so sweet, and we were talking..." Leah's expression was blissful, remembering the entire situation clearly. "I told him about, um, Mark, and he was so nice!"

She hadn't mentioned Mark much to Maddy before; only that she had dated a boy that had turned violent, and broken her leg. It was meant to help if you told people, right? She wanted it to get better, so she could be normal. Rio might like her more, then. But it was just so hard to tell people; even nice ones, like the boy sitting opposite her. She was just so scared of the way they'd look at her when they knew what she'd done with Mark - what he'd made her do. They'd think she was dirty...

[Maddox Greydon]

Maddy lay down on his floor, hands behind his head, staring dreamily at the ceiling, humming to himself. His homework lay forgotten under his elbow, crackling as he moved. Light streamed in through the window, and he gazed up at the beam that illuminated the ceiling, tiny specs of dust floating around. It was really very pretty, the sparkly little dots floating around in the soft golden light as... well, that train of thought was going nowhere in a hurry. He had run out of things to say. Interesting... surely thoughts weren't supposed to just trail off like that? Words did, but thoughts usually kept going until they found something else to be... thought-ish about. Most of the time, he couldn't stop them, and here this one was, disappearing completely. They never did what you wanted...

He didn't look up when someone walked in, assuming it was Evan or Chris and Kitty, but blinked when he heard the female voice. Had Kitty finally decided to start talking? Or... no, it was Leah. He blinked, looking over to where the dark-haired girl was sat on the bed, looking about as dreamy as he felt. Just as the idea occurred to him, she jumped up and shut the door, and he relaxed again. No need for him to get up, then. Rolling onto his stomach, he propped his head on his arms and looked up at his friend, smiling slightly as she stared into space. She'd mentioned Rio before; apparently, he was a PTSD victim, but wouldn't tell her what it was. Although mildly suspicious - Maddy had attributed this to his natural suspicion of everything in this place - he liked how happy Leah seemed to be when she talked about him.

Grinning at her, he replied, "Aw, that's nice. Where was this? And what did you tell him?" He balled up his homework and threw it out of the way, the pen rolling under the empty bed where Leah was sat, and rearranged himself into a more comfortable position.

[Leah Wright]

Leah giggled as Maddy threw his homework across the room. He was doing well with it, then. Rio said that he'd help her with her own homework... He was so nice. She closed her eyes for a second, remembering the feeling of his fingers, stroking her hair and neck gently. Even just remembering it made her pulse increase, her cheeks going pink. Maddy's questions made her blush more, and she shifted positions, lying on her front with her feet near the pillow end of the bed. It was both comfier and easier to hide her face; an all-round winner.

"He came to my room," she replied, still dreamy. "And I was singing -I didn't know he was there- and he said I was a good singer...and he offered to help with that dumb English homework, and...it was nice." Not very eloquent; but good for someone that thought she was going to faint from being kissed only half an hour earlier. "We didn't actually get round to the homework though," she added, with a small laugh. "We were...um. Not...that. We weren't..." She decided to leave the rest of the sentence incomplete.

Leah thought about Maddy's second question. She hadn't told Rio much, really, but it was still a start to tell anyway. "I just...mentioned that I'd been...attacked. I didn't tell him about, um, my leg." She instinctively rested her hand on her left leg, the one that had been broken. The thought still made her cringe, the mentally imagery of that incident far too clear for her liking. She considered. "I didn't want to scare him away. I mean, he's so...sweet. I don't want him to think I'm a freak, or anything." Her smile had disappeared, replaced by a pensive expression. "What would you think if a girl told you that? Like, while you were making out?"

With one hand, she picked at the plain duvet cover, pulling on a thread that had come loose before remembering that Maddy might want her to leave his dorm intact, not with destroyed blankets. She dropped it quickly, twirling a strand of hair around her fingers instead. Leah was incapable of keeping her hands still. Unless, of course, she was kissing Rio...she was very, very still then, just because she was so worried she'd do the wrong thing and scare him away.

[Maddox Greydon]

She was blushing to herself, Maddy noticed, and smirked. Apparently this guy was far more than a crush, then. He knew the look, had seen it a million times before on a million girls. It was the look they got when they were certain something was going to happen with the guy who was, for the moment, the guy of their dreams. Smiling at her, he shifted again, beginning to get cramp in his neck as he looked up at her. Stretching, rubbing his neck, he nodded. That had all the hallmarks of 'interested' - and he should know when a guy was interested.

He listened to her again and smiled up at her. "Leah, no-one's going to think you're a freak 'cause you got the shitty end of the stick in life-" he paused to consider those last few words. Then he coughed, and continued, "And why would I be making out with a girl?" He had made out with them, on occasion, but he thought Leah would probably realise that most of them weren't interested in talking about their past. Stretching luxuriously, he rolled onto his back again and tipped his head to the side, looking up at her, slightly puzzled. It wasn't as though he made out with girls for fun, and the ones who had paid him to pull him didn't go in for big heart to hearts in between kisses.

Raising his arms above his head, he watched her, frowning slightly. Was she just being dreamy because she was so happy, or what? Oh, well. She'd explain to him soon enough, that was for sure. Leah hated looking like an idiot, one of the things he had noticed about her the very first time they'd met. That, and that she was absolutely adorable and possibly the nicest person he'd ever met. Female person, anyway.

[Leah Wright]

Well, that wasn't true. You were a freak because bad stuff happened to you; that's what made you different. Leah supposed, that by normal standards, she was weird. Very. After all, what other girl of fifteen had only kissed three people, properly? And who screamed, properly screamed with fear, in the corridor if someone walked into her from behind? Only someone...well, with mental health problems. Which she had. With a sigh, she moved her hands, resting her chin on them, and staring at Maddy's balled-up homework.

"He might. People do think I'm weird... I'm not sure. He might. I sorta kept...pulling away whenever he touched me," she admitted, softly. "It scared me a bit..." Leah looked down, praying that Maddy wasn't about to start thinking she was a total freak. That'd just be...eugh. "I mean, it was fine, after a minute. But sometimes I get a bit, um..." What was the word? PTSD-y didn't seem right, somehow... "I sorta scream. And hit people. And I'm worried that I'll do that to him..." She could just imagine poor Rio's face if she did hit him; he'd be so upset...and maybe angry. If he had PTSD, like she did, then he might freak and hit her back, and then... That would just be very bad, generally. And it would end in them not being friends, which would be horrible. But nobody stayed friends with someone that had punched them, however unintentionally.

Well, she decided, she was just going to have to control her panic attacks. If someone touched her, she just...wouldn't scream. Once she got over that, then she and Rio would be okay... He'd like her more if she didn't freak out and pull away from him all the time. Still, the thought of actually having sex with him made her cringe. Not because it was him; because it was sex. But guys didn't want to go out with girls if they didn't get sex...

Sighing, she dropped her head to rest it on the duvet, listening to Maddy and frowning slightly. "Why...wouldn't you make out girls? There's a girl, and she likes you, and she's, um, attractive..." Did he really need to know the background of the hypothetical situation? Maybe he'd react different if he was kissing a girl, and she told him that, and they'd met two minutes ago, to if it was his long-term partner. Or something. Boys were weird, she decided. Especially Maddy.

[Maddox Greydon]

"Look," Maddy said, rolling onto his side and propping himself half upright, feeling extremely proud. He was being looked at for advice! "If he didn't seem to mind that, it probably means he's seriously interested in you, which means he's willing to give it a chance and doesn't mind the touching thing. And if he does mind, tell him to get over it, 'cause if he can't cope with that then you two aren't going anywhere fast," he paused for breath, considering that. It didn't sound quite right. Weren't you supposed to say something more along the lines of 'he's not worth it' in this scenario? Ah, well. He'd be original. And if she started crying... to be honest, he'd just hover, looking concerned and apologizing until she stopped. Sobbing girls really weren't his forte.

Lying himself down flat again, he watched her, frowning. Why... oh? Oh. Grinning, he pushed himself up, so he was sitting now, looking at her, laughing slightly. "Babe, didn't you know? I'm gay. Not interested in girls, no matter how attractive they are," he told her, smiling. He'd just assumed she knew... thinking back, he realized that he'd never told her. Weird. Hopefully, she wasn't a homophobe, but she seemed too sweet to be like that. "But if I was in that position with a guy, I'd probably think he... I dunno. He was trusting me with something? Or maybe that he was looking for reassurance. Either way," he told her, fixing his eyes on hers, "I wouldn't think he was a freak. In fact, I'd probably like him all the more for telling me something like that." He leaned back against his bed, smiling at his friend, still amused. Hadn't she guessed? He didn't advertise the fact, he supposed.

[Leah Wright]

Leah smiled at Maddy, nodding as she listened to him speak. Had Rio seemed to mind when she'd said she didn't like being touched? She frowned, thinking about it. Not really. He'd said it was fine, and he'd stop if she wanted him to. That was nice, right? And if Maddy was right -and he would be, he was a guy and he knew that stuff- then that meant Rio was interested in her... Happily, she smiled at nothing in particular. There was no way she'd tell Rio -or anyone- to get over it, but she didn't need to. He was interested in her...

As Maddy explained her...slight mistake, she blushed incredibly, looking down at the floor. Did that mean that he...with other boys? The mental pictures made her cringe internally. 'Scarred for life, now...' "I, um, didn't realize..." When she thought about it, it seemed quite obvious; his skinny jeans, the word 'babe' being dropped into every other sentence, but she hadn't given it much consideration before. Well, she was the last person to be homophobic, given her last relationship was with a girl. "I, um...I'm -" it was strangely hard to say bisexual "- used to do that. I mean, not..." She rolled her eyes. "I used to date a girl. So. Yeah." Nice, genius.

His next words reassured her somewhat, making her smile. It was good if Rio thought she was trusting him; she was, after all. Looking for reassurance made her sound...needy, but she admitted to herself that it was closer to the truth. She wanted to be reassured that he wasn't going to hurt her, honestly, but that made her sound so...idiotic. Like a scared little girl. Still, Maddy's last sentence made her feel better; hopefully, Rio liked her more because she'd told him. At least he'd understand why she had random panic attacks. "So...you really think he likes me?" she asked, a small smile on her face. "I think I like him...he's so...nice. And cute. And he isn't really weird, like some kids here..." He seemed perfectly normal to her, actually, but she could appear to be normal some of the time. His PTSD might show, one day, and then she'd understand why he'd been sent here...

[Maddox Greydon]

He turned her smile, shuffling about on the floor. After a moment of wriggling around, he sighed, twisted back onto his back and arched his spine into the carpet, stretching his arms above his head. There, perfect. How all he needed was a gang on rowdy teenage boys, a ragged blanket, and it would be just like home. What he had, though, was a dreamy girl and a beautifully made bed. He didn't object: much as he missed his friends back home, Leah was a nice break from all the swearing and sex talk, and even though he didn't use the bed, it was nice to know it was there. He missed the teenage boys, though. There weren't enough gay ones here. His therapist was gay, and definitely not interested, and he had his suspicions about his music teacher, as well. Maddox wasn't too interested in either one, though. For one thing, last time he'd slept with a teacher he'd been thrown out of school, and for another, both were, by Maddy's standards, very old. He'd have to get his fun somewhere else, then.

He laughed at her when she blushed, surprised by her reaction. Most people didn't react that... violently to it, but he supposed, Leah overreacted to everything. Or maybe he just didn't react enough... something to think about, but for now, he had to listen to Leah. Her words surprised him. He couldn't imagine her being bisexual, couldn't imagine it at all. She seemed a strictly-men kind of girl, and even then, strictly-men-who-fit-my-criteria, something that, while not rare, didn't leave men queued up around the block.

"Yes, I really think he likes you," Maddy laughed at the look of happiness on her face. She was head-over-heels for this guy. It was two parts sweet, and one part sickening, really, but Maddy shrugged that off. None of his business... except when Leah came to him, asking for advice - asking him for advice! - it became his business. He smiled up at her, wondering if he would ever meet this guy. Probably not, but he'd quite like to. He felt oddly protective of Leah, a strange feeling, since he'd never felt protective of anyone before in his life. Then again, everyone he'd ever been friends with had taken care of themselves perfectly, something Leah gave off the impression of not quite being able to do.