"Up! Up! Up!"

Andrew groaned and rolled over, trying to ignore his little sister. "It's Sunday,"

"Exactly," Maddie shook him harshly. "Dad's started working weeks now since he's got a new zest for life," she rolled her eyes. Since he'd announced the divorce to the children, he was happier than they'd seen him in years. He still hadn't told Bonnie yet, and Maddie was both urging him to and dreading the day he did. "So now since Mom and Dad are both here... and it's Sunday..."

Andrew let out another groan as he put the pieces together. "Fuuuuuck," he let out a dramatic sob. "Great, my first day off in weeks and I have to go to church,"

None of the kids were really religious, but Bonnie liked that it was the thing they did together as a family, even if none of them really believed in God. Maddie was already dressed and ready, her only task was to get everyone else dressed and ready as well, a pale blue dress reaching her knees with a back that tied up. Her dark hair was loose and straight hanging over her shoulders and she'd put on the only nice shoes she owned. "Yes, you do. I'm coming back in ten minutes and if you're not dressed I'm setting your bed on fire,"

Andrew rolled his eyes as his sister went down the hall, undoubtedly to give a much gentler wakeup to the rest of the family. She hesitated outside her parent's door, before knocking gently and pushing it open. It was by far the messiest room in the house, but it was also empty at that moment. Sticking her head into the kitchen she found both her parents awake in the same room, a first in Maddie's life for the last few months.

Scott was reading the paper while Bonnie fixed her lipstick in the mirror beside the front door. Maddie sighed, she knew she was imagining it, but she felt an overwhelming sense of dread in the air. She hurried around, rousing her younger siblings. She helped pull Sydney's sweater over her head, braiding her long dark hair. She was in her Alice in Wonderland phase, Maddie tying a black ribbon into her tresses. By the time she'd dressed Jack, Andrew was already finished his cup of coffee. The entire family was all dressed up. She didn't like it.

Andrew had got Sydney working on a bowl of cereal when Maddie heard the doorbell. She downed the rest of her coffee before yanking the door open. She was surprised when she was met with fluffy blonde hair and a familiar grin. "Hi,"

She glanced warily at her family behind her. "What are you doing here?" Maddie was about to step out, closing the door, when her dad approached.

"Who's this?" he examined Simon's outfit, a black Green Day shirt over white long sleeves. Black painted nails, rings, and black converse over dark jeans. Exactly the kind of guy he didn't want his little girl hanging around.

"Uh, this is Simon, I was tutoring him for a math test on Monday," Scott nodded, satisfied at the answer and not even realizing they were on Summer break. "What's up, Simon?"

Simon played along. "I just came around to say I left a hoodie here," he needed to give something back to her, but he certainly couldn't say it with her dad standing right there. He knew Maddie had more than a few of his sweaters in her bedroom, so she could sell the lie.

"Yeah, I chucked it in my bedroom," he walked with her, noting how her family seemed a whole lot more put together than his. It was only eight-thirty but they were all awake and dressed, the house fairly clean, and as far as he could tell, there was no yelling. When they reached her bedroom, she found one of his hoodies and handed it to him. "Here,"

"I actually came around here to say you left these on my nightstand last night along with this," he pulled out first the keys to her house and second her nametag for work. Realistically, he could have given them to her at the front door, but Simon craved those thirty seconds alone with Maddie he'd get from being in her bedroom. "Your family seems so much more like they have their shit together than mine does,"

Maddie scoffed. "Trust me, this is the first time we've been in the same room and conscious since we moved in, and that lasted about three hours," she pulled a cardigan over her dress. "Something will go wrong, just watch,"

Simon gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, letting her snuggle into him for just a moment before they headed downstairs, knowing Bonnie and Scott would become suspicious if they took too long. No sooner were they downstairs when the doorbell rang again. Andrew opened it this time and there was a tall platinum blonde woman there. Linda Houston.

Maddie gripped Simon's hand in fear, an action that went unnoticed by everyone else as they gaped at her. Linda was the first to speak. "I'm looking for Scott Holt," she looked nervous. She should, Maddie thought bitterly. 

Scott froze as she looked at him. "Linda?"

She dug into her purse. "You left these at my house last night," she pulled out a stack of papers. "You mentioned your wife usually isn't awake this early so I thought I'd drop them off,"

Simon squeezed her hand, and Maddie squeezed back, knowing what was about to go down. "Scott?" Bonnie's voice was laced with anger. 

Scott took the papers and Maddie was barely able to make out a single word before Bonnie snatched them. Divorce.

Jack started crying, Bonnie started yelling, and Andrew looked at Maddie helplessly. Maddie couldn't breathe, let alone move. Simon shook his head at Andrew and the older boy finally noticed their intertwined hands. He understood and grabbed his younger siblings while Simon worked on Maddie.

"Hey, Mads, come on, we gotta get you upstairs," He gently guided her to her bedroom. She collapsed on her bed, still in his arms and Simon could feel her sobbing gently. "Hey, babe, come on. It's alright. I'm right here, you're okay,"

Maddie nodded, tears still running down her face. Simon held her until she calmed down enough that she could take a few deep breaths without sobs wracking her body. "I'm sorry. You can leave if you want,"

Simon shook his head, wiping the tears from her blue eyes. "I'm right here, baby,"

Maddie sobbed harder.

"Okay, no sweetheart, no baby. Got it,"

Maddie shook her head again. "No that's not it. I should be in there with my crying baby brother and instead, I'm in here being a whiny little bitch," she sniffled. "I'm a failure of a big sister,"

"You're not," Simon stroked her hair. "You're the best big sister I know. You're so impressive and strong and it's okay to deal with your own emotions before dealing with theirs sometimes. You're allowed to be a whiny little bitch sometimes,"

She looked up at him, eyes shining for a moment before she leaned forward and kissed him for the first time. Her lips were soft, he knew that much, but they tasted like watermelon, the chapstick he knew she applied every day. He brought a hand up to cup her face while hers stayed planted on his shoulders. He kissed her back fervently and only stopped when she sobbed again. "Are you okay, Mads?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry, just needed a minute. Uh, I should go check on my siblings. You can go now,"

She hurried out into her little sister's bedroom where the two young kids were both sobbing, arms wrapped around their big brother. "It's okay, I'm here," she took Sydney, lifting the girl up as best as she could before taking a seat on the floor. "I'm right here,"

She'd crossed a line with Simon. He only saw her as a quick release and, now a drug-dealing partner. They'd both silently agreed that kissing was too much, it made it real. It made her feelings real, and she knew his weren't.

Simon sat on her bed alone. His lips buzzed from the kiss, the taste of her watermelon chapstick lingering on his mouth. She was amazing.. He took a lingering look at her open bedroom door before climbing out the window, the sound of Maddie's parents arguing growing fainter with every second.

────────── ⋆˚✿˖° author's note
ohio is the 17th most religious state in the us according to google so i figured. church 🤠 amirite.

also there's literally nothing in canon to suggest that it takes place in ohio, in fact i'm like 80% sure that they filmed in georgia but i did some googling and apparently there is a real life town named shadyside, ohio so i took some creative liberties, but that's also why maddie's family moved to georgia so little fun fact

also fun fact there's an episode of criminal minds that takes place in shadyside ohio that provides absolutely no context to the story but it's important to me that you know that