'Stupid boy shit'

David David leaned forward and matched her angry whisper, stabbing the table with his finger for emphasis.

"It is my business! You're my sister! I'm not gonna stop looking out for you just because you say so! Besides, if he'd gone with Lil then you wouldn't be moping around like La fucking Llorrona because he stood you up. My plan may have been stupid, but it would've worked."

"Don't pretend like it was all for my own good," she snapped back. "I bet it was at least 90% because you wanted to go with Addie and wanted her to be happy!"

David shrugged.

"Well... maybe like, twenty percent. Max. But that's not the point."

"Oh yeah? Why don't you tell me what the point is, then? Since you're so good at telling me things."

"The point is..." David's voice had started to get louder again, but he quickly checked himself with a glance toward the living room. He lowered it again to an forceful whisper.

"The point is that I don't want you to get hurt."

He exhaled loudly and sat back, his voice loosing its anger.

"I mean... you and dad are all I have, you know? We have to have each other's backs. You saved my ass in the cave. I guess I was trying to look out for you too."

Madison sighed. She knew, at some level, David did mean it. But that didn't make her less annoyed. "If Noah's so awful that I need to be protected from him like I protected you from some kind of... killer man-eating monster... why are you still friends with him?" She meant it as a rhetorical question - of course she didn't think of Noah as a killer, even though he clearly was, or even as a monster, even though some people might see him that way. Thinking about it that way made her feel a little more sorry for him, though.

"He's not..." David started, but his voice faltered, "He's a good person. And he's a good friend. He's just... not a great boyfriend. Everyone has faults, Maddie."

"Well, I never got a chance to find out, thanks to..." Madison began, then shook her head, frustrated. It wasn't entirely David's fault, he was just an easy target for her anger because he was there, unlike Noah. "Maybe things would be different this time, I don't know. Maybe I'll never know, now. But... I really like him, even if he's an idiot sometimes, and if we get another chance, I want to find out for myself what kind of boyfriend he'd be."

David nodded. There wasn't much more to say, really.

"I know he really likes you. Maybe it will be different. Just... be careful, ok?"

Madison resisted the urge to roll her eyes and sarcastically say 'yes daaad,' figuring it probably wouldn't be helpful. Instead she just said "Yeah, I will," took her (now no longer very warm) pizza and turned to go.