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𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞: 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭
 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫.

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In the first few minutes of the event, Matt Casey swore he saw Mrs. Madeline Severide offering a smile to the faces that came by her painting. It had been five days since the incident with Adrian Gish and Matt could only guess how his friends were coping with the traumatizing event from what Kelly had shared with him.

"I don't know what to do, man." Kelly confesses as he puffs out smoke from the cigar, "I've tried everything. I did the groceries so she could cook, I bought her a bunch of art supplies, and even played some Filipino music. Nothing works."

Honestly, Matt didn't know what advice he could give to the worried husband. Victims with PTSD tend to not be so open about their experience.

Matt's black-leather shoes led him outside where the wind was chilly and a woman in a maroon dress was sitting on the sidewalk with her shoes beside her.

"Maddie?" Matt calls out, "Why are you out here?"

Maddie's head bolts up and Matt could see masked pain in her eyes and the quivering lip. "Hi, Matt." She greets but doesn't make a move to stand up from her position.

Sitting in the space beside her, Matt queries. "Not really one for fancy parties, huh?"

"My mother dragged me into enough fancy parties to last a lifetime." She shrugs, a sad smile on her face as if she was recalling an unpleasant memory. "Stepping foot in that building makes me remember I almost died. The smell of gasoline makes me remember I almost died. Kelly's incessant coddling makes me remember I almost died."

And my moronic decisions.

Matt knew the only thing he could do was listen as Maddie went on.

"I love him-I really do but he makes me feel like a child. And now, Kelly brought us plane tickets to Miami. He-he thinks it's a good idea to visit my hometown."

"It is a good idea, right?"

"We'll see."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

nigel
are u here yet are
u here yet are u
here yet

maddie
nope 😶

jill
nigel, stop bouncing
in the seat 🙄 it's just
maddie not winona ryder

nigel
still!! i miss maddie
and she's bringing her
hot husband yay

jill
please don't tell me
you have a bun in
the oven 😑

maddie
gee, glad to see your
 jumping for joy for
my hypothetical
child, jillian 🤔

jill
madeline, you and i both
know that you're not ready
to bring a child into this
world. it's too cruel. tsk.

maddie 
you're right.
the world is a
 cruel place.

nigel
oh so this is NOT a
pregnancy announcement
visit?

maddie 
no 

nigel 

jill
so why are you visiting?

maddie
it was kelly's idea 🤷🏾‍♀️
i didn't even know he 
bought the tickets until 
the day before our flight

nigel
that's sooooo
thoughtful and
sweet of him!! 🥰

maddie 
try inconsiderate 😶

jill
is that trouble
in paradise i
smell???

maddie 
no

it's just

agh forget about it

nigel
see what ya
did, jillian

jill
just asking the
questions that's
on BOTH of
our minds 😒

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"So, what do want to do now we're here on one of the hottest days of Miami?"

Upon arriving in the hotel for their weekend getaway, Maddie had turned the AC all the way up and was organizing her hygiene products inside the bathroom. The brunette had mixed feelings about coming home—she was excited to see her friends and dreaded bumping into her mother and sister. The latter had affected her mood the entire plane ride with the couple only sharing small talk.

(Not to mention that Adrian Gish's sinister smile still popped inside her nightmares and Maddie could feel the room closing in around her and her throat tighten as flames continued to suffocate her.)

"Actually," Kelly replies from the king-sized bed as he flips through the TV channels mindlessly. "We're having dinner with your mom and sister tonight."

This answer makes Maddie's heart thump faster and hands shake. She scurries out of the bathroom and into Kelly's presence with a shocked look on her face.

Kelly had a smile on his face as he relaxed a bit more onto the pillows and took in his wife's shocked state. "It's pretty unbelievable how I got us a reservation at this restaurant. Well, it was more of your mo—"

"Why would you do that?" Maddie fumes, her hands now balled into fists beside her.

How could he go behind her back and make all these plans without her consent? She wasn't a child. She wasn't incapable. She wasn't stupid.

Meeting eyes that shot daggers, Kelly sat straight up and turned the TV off. "Because I wanted to do something nice for you, Mads. Because I know how much you missed them. Because I think they can help you get better." Kelly is standing right in front of her and, while trying to read all the emotions in her brown eyes, he adds.

"Because I love you."

His declaration of love falls on deaf ears. Maddie shakes her head and runs a hands through her hair as she paces. "Kelly, stop it."

"W—wha—"

"Stop shoving things in my face that you think will help me get better." Maddie feels all the oxygen leaving her body and her chest tightening, "Just. . .stop trying to understand because you won't—you can't."

"You think I'm not as traumatized as you, Maddie?!" Kelly fires back, the television long forgotten. He stands chest to chest in front of Madeline with his shoulders squared, "I almost lost you to that psycho! The least you could do is try and appreciate all this stuff I do for you."

Maddie shakes her head vigorously. "I didn't ask for you to do those for me!"

"You're right! Absolutely right!" Kelly sarcastically says, the tension in the room growing thicker as the married couple still challenged the other with clenched jaws and furious stances.

"Maybe it would have been better if I never married you!"

Because you wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.

Maddie backs away in shock and hurt, clutching her chest because her heart seemed to hurt. Her eyes never leave Kelly's as she waits for him and his words to tell her that he's sorry or he didn't' mean it.

But, the words never came.

She feels the tears pool in her eyes and her lips purse. Nodding, Maddie walks slowly towards the bathroom. "You should wear something nice for tonight's dinner."

"Maddie, I didn't—" Realizing what he had said out of anger, Kelly walks towards but is stopped by her hand. Nonetheless, he continues to plead. "Tell me what to do to make this right. Tell me what you want."

Maddie shakes her head. Because she didn't know how to make things easier. "Just. . ." She didn't know what to say or how to mask the hurt she was feeling, "Start getting ready, Kelly."

In silence, the two halves of a heart go on their business—Kelly picks a nice dress shirt and Maddie decides on which lipstick color to go with. Around six-thirty in the evening, they exit their hotel room as divided as ever. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE
made a little moodboard
for kelly and maddie :)