Abandoned

Chapter 15

Maddox POV

I was just about to take another sip of my beer when the alarm started blasting.

Milo’s eyes widened.

My heart raced.

Did someone fucking break into our house?!

We were up in a second.

I rushed toward the living room, expecting to see a stranger in my home, but what I saw at my front door broke my fucking heart.

“Maddie?!” Milo gasped.

She was looking at us wide-eyed. She was still standing at the door, holding the doorknob in her hand.

She wanted to leave.

She wanted to leave me.

FUCK!

“Fuck no!” Milo exclaimed as he moved past me.

He grabbed her, picked her up, and closed the front door.

I forced my body to move. I walked toward the control panel and typed in a code to stop the alarm.

I turned around to see Milo sitting down on the couch with a frozen Maddie in his arms.

“Why, Maddie?” I asked as I approached them.

She looked up at me, and I saw fear in her eyes.

My heart broke.

I sat down next to my brother and sister and took her hands in mine.

“I won’t hurt you.” I said softly. “Milo won’t hurt you.”

“Is that why you wanted to leave?” Milo asked, his voice breaking. “Are you afraid of us?”

Maddie looked at him and took a deep breath.

“I am not afraid of you.” she mumbled, squeezing my hands tighter. “I am afraid of the people who left me on the side of the road 13 years ago. I am afraid that they will hurt you too because you brought me back home.”

My heart raced. Did she remember the people who left her?

“Do you remember who left you, Maddie?” Milo asked, raising his hand and caressing her cheek.

She shook her head and looked down.

“I heard you talking.” she mumbled, and I could hear the guilt in her voice. “If it really was your parents, than I can’t stay here. They will hurt you too.”

“Fuck, Maddie.” I said, taking her from Milo and pressing her close to me. “They won’t hurt us. They won’t hurt you. We won’t let them, Maddie. I promise.”

“This is their home.” she mumbled. “I can’t stay in their home.”

Well, it wasn’t theirs.

“It’s not theirs, Madeline.” Milo told her. “This house belonged to our grandparents, and they left it to us. Our parents don’t own this house. We are living here just because it’s closer to their office than other houses they own.”

“This is our home.” I said, kissing her temple. “This is your home. They will be moving out as soon as they come back from their business trip.”

Maddie looked at me, and her eyes filled with tears.

“You can’t ask your parents to move out because of me.” she sobbed. “I am nothing. I am no one. I am an orphan. I may not even be your sister. I…”

I placed my hand over her mouth, stopping her from talking.

“You are not an orphan.” I said, trying to keep the anger out of my voice. “You are not nothing. You are everything to us, Maddie. You are our sister. I am sure of it. You know it too, I know you do. You can feel it as much as we can.”

She sobbed and closed her eyes. I moved my hand from her mouth and pulled her to me. She leaned her head on my shoulder.

Milo rubbed her back softly.

“We would throw our asses out for you, Maddie.” Milo told her. “Besides, if our parents had nothing to do with you ending up on the side of the road, they can stay. If they did have something to do with it, I don’t ever want to see them again. They were never there for us anyway. Max and I were always alone.”

Maddie lifted her head and looked at Milo.

“I am sorry.” she mumbled. “You didn’t deserve that.”

My heart broke. At least Milo and I had each other. Who did she have? What kind of life did she have? What happened to make her run away and live in a tent? Did I even want to know? I would fucking kill anyone who hurt her. I would make them suffer. I would fucking rip them apart.

“You didn’t deserve to be left on the side of the road.” Milo told her as he cupped her cheeks. “You deserved to grow up with us. You deserved loving parents, not some fuckers who abandoned you probably just because you were a girl.”

Shit.

I glanced at Milo, giving him a disapproving look.

She didn’t need to know that. Not yet, at least.

“What do you mean?” Maddie asked, her voice trembling.

Milo sighed and looked at me.

I took a deep breath and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Our parents never wanted a girl.” I told her. “They were always proud to have only boys.”

Maddie’s eyes widened. “So they did it because I was a girl?”

“I can’t think of another reason.” Milo mumbled angrily.

Maddie looked at him. “But why did they wait until I was four? Why didn’t they give me up right after I was born?”

“We don’t know, Maddie.” I said. “But we will find out. We will make them tell us.”

Maddie took a deep breath and looked down at her hands.

Milo and I pulled her into a hug. I kissed the top of her head. Milo leaned his head on her shoulder. We were finally whole.

“I remember you.” Maddie mumbled, making my heart race.

We broke the hug and looked at her, waiting for her to tell us more. What did she remember? Why didn’t she tell us that sooner?

“I don’t remember much.” she explained, looking back down at her lap. “I remember playing with two boys. I remember laughing and running around with them. I always had those memories, but, until today, I thought that I imagined that. I was always so lonely, so it made sense for me to imagine having someone.”

My heart broke, and I had to hold back a sob.

“You are not alone anymore, Maddie.” Milo told her, his voice trembling. “You have us now. You got us back. We were always real.”

She looked up at him and reached out for him.

For a second, I thought that he would explode with happiness.

She wrapped one arm around his neck and reached out for me with the other.

Okay, I was definitely sure that I would explode with happiness.

Milo and I grabbed her tightly.

I kissed her temple and took a deep breath.

“Promise me that you won’t try to leave again.” I mumbled. “Please don’t leave again.”

“I won’t.” Maddie said, making me breathe out in relief. “I am sorry that I tried to leave. I really thought it would be for the better.”

“God, Madeline, no.” Milo said, tightening his arms around her. “It would be the worst thing ever. You can’t leave me. You can’t leave us.”

I placed my hand on her forehead and frowned.

“You need to go back to bed.” I told her. “Your fever isn’t gone.”

If she didn’t get better by morning, I would have to call Sam.

I didn’t plan on telling my cousins about her yet, but I would have to call him and tell him about her. He was a doctor, and he could help her.

“Come on.” Milo said as he stood up and took her hand in his. “We are going back to bed.”

“This time we are going with you.” I told her sternly.

I wasn’t going to risk anything anymore.

I wasn’t going to let her leave.

I just got her back. I wouldn’t survive losing her again.