A/N: thank you guys so much for all the support! It truly means so much to me. And don't be a silent reader. Do vote and comment, and follow for status updates on my books.

This was one crazy chapter to write. Before you read I'm going to say two words: Finn. Jackson.

This probably doesn't make much sense now but it will as you read! Happy reading lovelies :)

Friday came sooner than I expected and maybe that was due to the fact that Bruce was in my life now. Usually I looked forward to the weekend which I freed up (I did most of my assignments that were due on Monday or Tuesday during the weekday and mostly on Friday since I kept everything till last minute—don't ask why because I certainly didn't know but maybe you can question that procrastination bone in my body that's strong as a weight lifter). However, I was not looking forward to this weekend.

Main reason: Finn Jackson was here for the weekend.

Not-so-main reason: I'd have time to spare and should be studying which I certainly didn't want to do, especially since the weekends was when Riley and I spent time together.

Friday morning, after Finn came over and picked Riley up after promising me that he'd take our son out for breakfast before dropping him off at school, I went to the Golden Quaff, agitated, easily ticked off and grumpy. It seemed like yet another Monday to me except that it wasn't Monday. Friday was the start of the weekend and it was starting horribly.

I went into the café, ordered my coffee and all the while complained about the service when it literally took the barista less than three minutes to make my coffee and hand it over to me. Friday passed by in a slow and agonising pace. Finn came home with Riley at half past seven and I didn't know why but I completely blew it.

"You were supposed to bring him home at seven, Finn Jackson," I scolded the instant I sent our son back to his room.

"We're only half an hour late and it's not a school night so Rye doesn't need an excuse to go to bed before eight," Finn defended himself after closing the door behind him.

He took off his scarf, ran a hand through his hair before he tossed the scarf onto the coat rack. His brown hair was a mess just like the last time I saw him. He was growing a beard now which undeniably looked good on him but still didn't excuse the fact that he brought our son, my son, home late.

"I thought I made it perfectly clear about what you were and were not supposed to do," I said, adrenaline pumping through my veins. It felt undoubtedly good to get this frustration of today out on Finn and he very well deserved it.

"This isn't about me bringing home our son a half an hour late," Finn stated. He didn't say, nor was he asking; he was stating the reason I was angry and that just made me all the more mad.

"You think you know me so well?" I blasted.

Finn approached. "Maddie," he said softly, dropping his voice a notch lower as his hand met my elbow. "Come on. This is about me suddenly coming into the city and telling you that I want the weekend with our son and you never really do mind when I stay over but—"

"You didn't even give me enough time to make you a proper make-shift bed on the couch!" I exploded, throwing my hands in the air.

Finn quickly stepped forward and grabbed my hands, pulling them towards his chest and his gaze on me instantly made my eyes draw up to his. "I can always sleep in Riley's room. And you're angry at me for not informing you beforehand so now you don't have excuses to keep him and you away from me for just a weekend."

"You have him every once a month or once in two months," I argued. "You just met him two weeks ago!"

"Yes," Finn agreed, his hold around my hands tightening as he laid them on his chest. I could feel the thrumming of his heart and it made me feel guilty but I wasn't about to let him guilt trip me. Then he said something that made me speechless. "But you have him every fucking day, Maddie. And I get three days out of a whole goddamn month? I see my son thirty-six days or less yearly. You see him on all of the three hundred and sixty five days."

We stood there within close proximity, staring at each other, his gaze boring into mine, and I felt my throat close up. I knew I was responsible for his heartache as much as he was responsible for mine and yet I truly couldn't find it in myself to apologise and make things work.

I pushed him away, shaking my head slowly as tears burned my eyes and blurred my vision. "You already came here unannounced," I said throatily, "I'll grab a pillow from my room and get you blankets from the wardrobe. You can sleep on the couch."

Before Finn even had the chance of speaking, I turned around and ran to my room. I grabbed the essentials and quickly made my way into the living room where Finn had made himself comfortable on the couch. I dumped the blankets and pillow before him without looking at him, triumphant in not catching his eye.

Turning my back towards him, I headed back to my room, slammed the door and collapsed onto the floor. My body shook but the sobs never came.

* * * * *

I was in my room, on my bed, typing rapidly on my laptop then erasing most of what I'd written and began to type rapidly again. To say I was frustrated and angry and tired all at the same time would probably be the understatement of the century.

My phone rang again for the millionth time and again I was going to ignore it but this caller was quite insistent. What if it was actually Finn calling because something happened to Riley? Panic seized my heart and I dove for my phone, completely forgetting that if something were to happen to Riley at this moment Finn would come barging into my room because they were both in the living room and not out. Fumbling with my phone in my panicked frenzy before I pressed answer, I said, "Hello?" and held my breath.

"Do you always sound this terrified on the phone?" came that familiar gravy smooth voice I had become accustomed to already.

"Bruce," I said, my terror transforming into anger. "Is this an emergency?"

"No but...I can't call you?"

"No, I'm babysitting," I said, suddenly remembering that Finn was right next door and if there was any emergency regarding Riley I would be the first to know—I had acted out and that only made me feel agitated again. Would fear always be a constant whenever Finn was around?

"Lovely fact," chirped Bruce from the other side in a faux British accent which caused laughter to bubble from my lips, my agitation slowly sliding aside.

"Are you mocking me?" I asked.

"Maybe," he drawled and this time I smiled, flopping my back onto the bed and laying my head down on the pillow.

"Bruce."

"Yeah?"

"Tell me something."

"Hottie Maddie is the hottest woman I've ever seen," he replied smoothly and my heart skipped a beat.

"You're talking to Madilyn now," I said.

"Madilyn's not as hot—" he began.

"Ouch."

"—but certainly much more beautiful," he finished.

A fuzzy feeling instantly vibrated through me and I didn't how it was possible but I felt like I was sinking deeper into my bed, becoming lighter. "What do you mean by that? We're basically the same person," I said, all flirtations gone to be taken by the place of seriousness.

"I realised when we had lunch on Monday that there was more to you. You have a certain rawness, inner beauty that I find more compelling than what Hottie Maddie has to offer."

He hadn't given me a detailed explanation or a long one either yet there was something about the simplicity of his words that pulled at my heartstrings and left this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach that I haven't felt before—even with Finn.

"So," I said distractedly, twirling a lock of my golden hair in my hand. "What are you up to now?" I knew it was one stupid question but when you genuinely like conversing with certain people you tend to ask stupid questions just to hear their voice or to prolong the conversation however much you can.

"I'm just lying in bed. I thought of you hence the phone call," he said, that flirtatious tone of his back. "And I had time to kill before going out with my friends so I thought a call to my current favourite hot person wouldn't be such a bad idea."

I laughed, shifting the phone from one hand to the other when my hand started cramping. "At least one of us is having fun," I sighed dramatically.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "You said you were babysitting. And you love spending time with Riley so...?"

"Oh," I said, realising that I haven't told him about my ex's surprise visit. "Finn's here for the weekend. He's spending time with Riley and I'm babysitting the both of them."

"That's why I didn't see you at the Golden Quaff yesterday or today. Madilyn, you make me look like a complete idiot to come into a café, ask Noah if he's seen you around—who by the way is suddenly nicer to me—and go out without getting anything to drink."

I laughed, a smile stretching wide across my lips. "Looks like I've got you whipped," I teased.

"Maybe," he flirtatiously replied back.

Ignoring the skip of my heartbeat, I said, "Sorry for bailing on you. I've just been in a very crappy mood."

"I see," he commented. "Well, this Finn you speak of is an adult and I presume he's around your age?"

"Yeah," I reply, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. "Finn's twenty-seven but what does this fact have to do with anything?"

"It means that Finn is adult enough to take care of Riley for one night while you come along with me and my friends," he proposed.

"Oh Bruce," I started, hesitancy lacing my voice.

"You'd be doing me a huge favour," he added quickly. "I'm going out with Martha and Will and they felt bad that I didn't have anything to do Saturday night. I told them I couldn't come and they should go do their couple things without me but they insisted and I really don't want to be third-wheeling tonight."

I couldn't help but laugh. "You miss me already, sweetheart?" I teased.

"Hell yes," he said, his voice so serious that I might have thought he was actually serious if I wasn't already acquainted with his quirky behaviour. "What do you say? Let's make it a double date?"

"Friends go on dates," I said more to myself than to him.

"They certainly do," he said, and I could hear the joy underlying his voice—the flirtatious tone. I could even picture his smirk, those lips of his pulled up sideways.

"I don't know, Bruce," I said hesitantly.

"Well," he said, knowing there was nothing else he could say to convince me, "you know my number if you ever change your mind."

I hesitated, the next words on the tip of my tongue but I didn't know if it was appropriate of me at all to be saying it. However, instead of holding back, I said, "You're a sweetheart, you know that?"

"And you're a model everyone should look up to," he said softly but before I could question him on what exactly he meant, he said, "See you later," and hung up.

I stared down at my phone, my mind spinning with his words and my body warming at the thought of just embracing him. I quickly waved the image away, cleared my throat, raised my voice and shouted, "RILEY!"

Riley came into my room seconds later, thrusting the door open. "What?" he asked, his eyes wide and livid. He looked startled. Unfortunately, while Riley did look a lot like me, he seemed to have inherited his father's eyes which truly wasn't as unfortunate as I thought because part of Finn's charm was held in those dazzling blue eyes of his.

"I need to ask you something," I said, tucking my feet beneath me and beckoning my son to take a place in front of me.

"Really Mum," he sighed, rolling his eyes before shutting the door behind him and walking towards me. "You have to stop screaming my name like that. One: Dad will think you're insane. Two: You scare me."

"One," I said mimicking him, "Dad is well aware of my craziness. Two: You think you'd be used to it by now."

Laughing, Riley sat before me and looked and me expectantly. "So, what's the emergency now? Couldn't find your imaginary golden heel?"

I chuckled, ruffling his hair. Whenever Finn was around in the city Riley tended to get sarcastic and for a six year old I expected less but Finn's influence would always be highly moving and in Riley's eyes his father was a hundred percent innocent.

"How did you know?" I asked, feigning a surprised expression. We both laughed at my silliness. Sobering up, I said, "Well, I haven't actually lost a golden heel. I, um..." I did not know how to finish that sentence.

"What?" Riley prodded.

"Bruce invited me out—"

"On a date?" Riley jumped up. His excitement was evident.

My eyes widened and I shook my head rapidly. "It's just friendly," I said, reassuring myself more than my son who I was aware was actually rooting for Bruce and I. "We're going out with a few of his friends."

"You're going to meet his friends?" Riley asked, the tone of his voice telling me he was suspicious and highly doubted my words.

"Yes, that is what I said."

"You like Bruce," Riley said, a wide grin taking over his lips as his blue eyes widened and dazzled with excitement.

"What? NO!" I exclaimed, trying my best to look mortified at his statement.

"Come on, Mum," he said excitedly, grabbing my hand and bouncing on the bed. "Mum likes Bruce," he began to sing. "Mum's in lur-ve."

"Riley, shh," I said, clamping a hand over his mouth. "Dad will hear you."

"Is it wrong?" he asked once I removed my hand. He was frowning.

"No, it isn't but I'd like to tell Dad myself and right now I don't feel like it. I'm not even sure about things with Bruce," I said softly, trying my best to make him understand.

"But you fancy Bruce?"

"I don't know," I told Riley. "I think I do. Okay, yes, I fancy him. I actually like him very, very much. But I want to take it one step at a time."

"Mum?"

"Yes baby?"

"Go out with Bruce tonight."

"But—"

"Dad can take care of me," Riley said.

"But—"

"Mum please. You can spend time with Bruce and I can spend time with Dad alone."

"But Finn's—"

"He's an adult, too, Mum, and he's my father. He will take care of me."

"If something happens..." I started.

"Yes, yes," Riley said, smiling knowing that I had already caved in, "you'll reign hell upon Dad."

"I taught you well," I beamed proudly and patted his head. "Now, go on. Mummy has a call to make."

The instant Riley left the room, I picked up my phone and dialled Bruce's number. When he answered, the first thing I said was, "I'm in."

After fifteen minutes on the phone with Bruce I learnt that this was a casual outing and I wouldn't need to wear anything fancy. I told him I would pick him up since I had to go out to the supermarket to pick a few groceries up before meeting him which was actually a flat out lie—and I think he knew it too. While I was ready to accept that I fancied Bruce—really liked him—I wasn't ready to fully open up to him and him not coming to my house was based solely on that fact. There wasn't logic behind that fact but it made sense to me, emotionally at least, and that's all that mattered.

After he texted me his address, I picked out a black skirt that fell to my knees, a champagne coloured satin top and a black jacket. I took a hot long bath before I put on my outfit, tucking the blouse inside my skirt before putting on my black jacket and leaving it open so the champagne coloured top would reflect more effectively. I put on my knee high black heeled boots and as I looked at myself in the mirror I thought I was way too dolled up for this outing.

"Casual!" I muttered to myself, "He told you casual, Madilyn, and you want to seduce him with something fancy?"

Quickly wriggling out of my skirt, I pulled on a pair of black jeans and ankle boots. Grabbing my grey coat, I put it on and stood in front of the mirror yet again. But you still look fancy, I thought to myself. "Ugh," I grunted and turned to the dresser. I gave up trying to find the prefect casual outfit because truly I didn't want it to be much of a casual outing. I wasn't planning on seducing Bruce but I certainly would have liked him to do a double take when he saw me this evening. I picked up the car keys from the dresser and opened my room door.

"FINN!" I called out, heading to the kitchen.

I opened the fridge and took out some of the pasta that I had made only to feel a gentle hand take hold of mine and put back the pasta onto the shelf. "You know that I know how to cook," he said and I felt his voice so close that I felt it brush softly against my earlobe.

"I know," I replied, backing away from him. "But nothing unhealthy for dinner, all right?"

"Yes Ma'am," Finn saluted, a lopsided grin on his face before his eyes met my outfit. I watched those very blue eyes I had fallen for over eight years ago travel from my hair down to my shoes, his gaze the same as when we'd gone on dates before we made it official as a couple.

"Like what you see, Jackson?" I teased, humouring him by giving him a twirl and a slight bow.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his grin faded and curiosity etched across his face.

"Out with a few friends," I replied. "Why? I thought you were sick of me keeping a watchful eye on you when Riley was yours for that limited time I allowed you to have with him."

I tried not to sound rude or cynical but sometimes I didn't know how to control my emotions and I ended up spitting hurtful words but with Finn I don't ever dare take those words back. There's always been brutal honesty between us—it worked both ways—and there was no reason for me not to be blatant with him.

"Now I have no right to ask where you're going?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows. "I mean, if you're tired to keep your eagle eyes on Rye when I'm around then these must be some kick-arse friends to hang with while I'm here."

"They are," I said defensively, opening a cupboard and taking out a glass before putting it under the sink and opening the tap.

"What are their names?" Finn asked as water filled up in the glass.

"Their friends of Bruce," I replied and then I downed my glass of water.

"Bruce? Who is this Bruce?"

"He's none of your concern," I said, fixing my coat. I walked ahead to the door of the kitchen, brushing past him, but Finn's hand shot out and caught my upper arm, his face dangerously close to mine, his body almost touching mine.

"He is if he's got you going out with people you don't know," Finn fought back.

I pushed him off of me with a shove. Frustrated, I sighed heavily before I took in a deep breath and gave the final blow. "Look, Finn, I appreciate that you look out for me. It's something I used to love and swoon over when we were dating. Not so much when we were going to have a child. But the fact is—I like that you always want to look out for me. It's sweet and I appreciate it. But your girlfriends—don't look at me like that. They keep changing and you know it and I'm not accusing you of anything so stop looking at me that way. Anyway, as I was saying—I think it is best if you just stop doing whatever it is you're doing. I hate that you keep trying to play gentleman to pull me back into your arms. I'm not falling for the act this time. Bruce is an amazing guy and it may be only a little less than two weeks that I've known him but he's a good friend. You have nothing to worry about. He'll take care of me, Finn, and sometimes I'd like to think that maybe he'd do a better job than you would."

Finn's face crumbled at my speech and I was breathless after the rant, my chest rising and falling with my rapid breaths. Unable to look my ex in the face anymore because it actually hurt me to see his devastated expression more than say those hurtful words, I turned my back to him and stormed out of the front door, banging it behind me.

Anger and frustration, and also another emotion I truly couldn't place my finger on, pumped wildly within my system as I got into the car and drove to Bruce's house, following the directions he had texted me. Once I spotted the address of his house, I got out of the car and smoothened a hand over my outfit before I walked to his door.

I stood in front of the door for several minutes before I tried my best to gather myself and ring the bell but even when the door opened seconds later to reveal a well-dressed, good looking man I was still shaking.

"Madilyn," Bruce said, his voice alerted. If I wasn't so confused now I would say he was concerned and worried.

"Hi Bruce," I managed, smiling weakly as I clutched my handbag with both of my hands.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I nodded, wanting to tell him that everything was just fine and that we should probably get going so that we don't delay meeting his friends but the words got stuck in my throat, refusing to get out and I realised it was because I didn't want to go out, that I just wanted Bruce's body heat and presence to wrap around me and calm the emotional tempest that had wrecked it's havoc within me.

When his hand reached out to touch my shoulder, I crumbled, falling into his arms and letting out a sob I hadn't realised I had been holding all this time.