Christmas Visit

Madison had been in the hospital long enough to start to feel something apart from just 'in pain'. A little frustrated and bored, but also relieved that the doctors said she was doing better, and grateful to her friends and family for spending time with her during visiting hours. Her father still seemed dubious about what had actually happened, but for the moment was just happy she was going to be okay - full explanations, it seemed, could wait until she was back home safe and sound. He and David brought presents on Christmas day, and they all opened them together. It was actually really nice, just the three of them. Her grandmother called too, just briefly, to see how she was doing. It wasn't a friendly chat, not like a normal family, but still, Madison thought, it was sort of nice that she checked in... Madison didn't tell her dad who it was on the phone, though, just in case it made things weird. Weirder.

Later in the afternoon, after Dad and David had gone home, promising to come back tomorrow (actually, David had promised he would text her that evening to keep her entertained if she wanted), she was just considering seeing if there was anything on TV, or maybe reading one of the books she'd gotten as a gift, when there was a knock at the door and Noah stepped inside. Madison smiled to see him, and gave him a little wave. "Hey, I'm glad to see you."

Noah smiled back apologetically, shouldering open the door with his arms occupied with a small stack of boxes.

"Likewise. Sorry I wasn't here earlier; Grandma thinks Christmas lunch is an all day thing. I'm lucky I managed to escape at all."

He walked to the bed, setting down his load, then leaning over to give Madison a careful kiss.

"Are they letting you eat solid foods yet? I wasn't able to leave without a lot of extra snacks."

"Yeah, a little bit," Madison said with a smile, holding onto him a little longer than was necessary. "Anything other than hospital food sounds amazing. And it's okay - you missed Dad and David by about twenty minutes, but saved me from having to watch whatever the least-awful Christmas movie is on TV. Did you have a nice Christmas with your family?" She slid over on the bed a little to make room for everything, wincing slightly as she did so.

"Yeah, it was pretty good. Me and my mom did gifts this morning, then went to see my dad's parents. Dad was there for a little bit, but he left pretty quick. I always get the impression Granny and Grandpa Smith like mom better."

Noah frowned as he started unpacking food for Madison.

"Grandpa Teller is out of town, again, and I don't even want to know why right now."

Noah offered a box of cookies to Madison, settling down in a chair for the moment, placing his hand on Madison's closer one.

"How're you feeling?" he asked with a concerned look.

"Better," she said, even as she was inspecting the cookies and selecting a couple. "Still sore, and things kind of feel like they're still settling back into place in my torso, but better than a couple days ago for sure." She hesitated, but pressed on. "I've had some bad dreams about it, though. Just regular-bad, not like 'something is actually going on' bad," she hastened to add, given her track record in that department.

Noah gave Madison's hand a squeeze.

"I don't want to say that's good, but its at least not worse," he offered with an attempt at an encouraging smile. Gesturing to the backpack he'd divested himself of, he continued. "If the food doesn't do the trick, I also brought my laptop and a ton of movies. Mostly Disney. I thought they might be a good distraction."

"Oh, yeah, that's awesome," she grinned. "Much better than It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street or whatever else they're showing for Christmas. But the best part is just having you here," she added, her cheeks turning more rosy. "I, uh... I missed you. Even though it hasn't been that long since you were here. I just mean... I'm glad you came."

"I missed you too," Noah answered, likewise slightly embarrassed. "It'll be nice when they let you out of here. Hopefully things will quiet down and we'll only have to worry about normal stuff."

He grinned.

"And we'll get to have more of our dates be movies and walks than rituals and stakeouts."

"A break from the crazy stuff would be nice," Madison agreed, smiling back. "And... I was thinking, after I get out, maybe some of our dates could be just... at your place. If you wanted." She mentally kicked herself, trying to seem calm and cool when she was actually more nervous than she had been in the middle of the fight against the Rogue. It was probably because she'd had more time to think about this, and still managed to screw up asking.

Noah smiled knowingly.

"I'd like that a lot, Madison," he replied carefully. "I just, I don't want you to rush...it, if you're feeling scared or upset or anything from all this. I'm not going anywhere."

Noah looked down, embarrassed.

"I want it to be special with you."

Madison looked equally embarrassed. "I'm sure it would be. And... I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't kind of freaked out about everything that happened. But, well, when I thought maybe I wasn't going to, um, make it back..." She hesitated for a moment, squeezing his hand tightly. "...one of the things that kept going through my head was that I wished I'd had more time with you, to do all the things we hadn't gotten around to yet. Not just sex," she added quickly. "Just... lots of things."

Noah raised his head, a soft smile on his face. He rose from his chair, leaning carefully over the bed to give Madison a lingering kiss. When he finally pulled back, his smile was more like a smirk, raised eyebrow and all.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, like... we never went on a picnic together, because it's been too cold since we started dating. Or swimming. Well, I mean, we've been swimming together before," she corrected herself, thinking about various times when she'd ogled Noah in his bathing suit, "but not since we were going out. Or going to prom together. Stuff like that." She paused, matching his smirk momentarily. "Or did you mean about sex?"

Noah laughed, leaning down to give Madison a quick kiss on the top of her head.

"I actually meant the picnicking and swimming and all that. It sounds nice. I'd like to go camping with you, if you want, though that'd probably be a group thing, I guess. I don't think our parents would sign off on just us going."

"Probably not," Madison agreed, a bit regretfully. "But if David and Addie and Lil and Celia, or anybody else really, went along too, that might be okay. It would be fun, I'm sure. We could have a campfire and roast marshmallows. Maybe no ghost stories, though. Things are weird enough in the real world."