Chapter Text
Madeline was regretting her life choices.
Maybe that was a bit dramatic. Then again, Madeline never had been capable of being anything other than the most dramatic person in the room.
A few days earlier, she had agreed that she and Helen could do something of the redhead’s choosing, since she had indulged Madeline on one of her impulsive shopping sprees.
Which was how Madeline had ended up spending her Sunday following Helen around a library.
A library wasn’t exactly where Madeline would choose to spend her time; they were havens of peace and quiet. Quiet wasn’t really in her nature.
Helen, meanwhile, was in her element. She stood in front of one of the many cases that housed a plethora of books. She picked one from the shelf that peaked her interest and began reading through the blurb.
That was until a familiar presence made itself known from behind her.
“Helly,” Madeline almost hissed, trying to get her girlfriend’s attention. “Can we leave yet?”
“Mad,” the blonde could hear the eye roll in Helen’s voice, “we’ve barely been here for 20 minutes.”
Madeline rested her forehead against Helen’s back in despair and the redhead swallowed a laugh at her antics.
“How about you have a look through some books too? Keep yourself entertained.”
Madeline scoffed at the suggestion.
It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy reading. On the contrary, she read plenty (and not just scripts). But only when she wanted to, not when she was forced to. That and she was rarely able to find books that could hold her interest for long.
“Hel, this place is like 1000 years old, I doubt that they’ll have anything that’s my taste.”
“You never know, Mad,” Helen replied, winking at her.
So Madeline ventured off on her own through the library. She’d give Helen some alone time with her books. However, she didn’t think it would take long until she grew bored and sought Helen out again.
She browsed through what felt like hundreds of books, varying from genre and author. But nothing stood out to her.
She looked at their covers - because yes, she did judge books by their covers because what else were they for? None of them called out to her.
Madeline was about ready to go back to Helen and give her an ‘I told you so’ speech.
But then, something finally caught her eye.
It had a woman posed on the front cover. Glamorous and blonde, she reminded Madeline of herself a bit.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
Hm, Madeline thought, now that sounded interesting.
She picked it up and read through the blurb. Still intrigued, Madeline sat herself on a nearby sofa. She opened the book in her lap and began to read.
Madeline only intended to read maybe the first few pages or so. Just while she waited for Helen. If she was going to be forced to be here for the next however long, she might as well keep herself occupied.
Helen had ended up with a small stack of books to take home with her. She had tried to limit herself, as she already has quite the collection of books at home. But Helen just loved the feeling of borrowing books from libraries, sharing them with others who shared the same interests.
The leisurely walk through each aisle gave her a chance to decompress. Even just browsing gave her such a sense of peace. It was rare she was able to do something like this without any distractions. Speaking of distractions,
Where was Madeline? She thought.
Helen had expected the blonde to come back and pester her 5 minutes after she left. But a couple of hours had passed and Helen hadn’t seen her at all.
She hoped Madeline hadn’t managed to get herself into trouble. It wouldn’t be the first time.
But as Helen rounded a corner, she was met with an unusual sight.
Madeline was sat on the couch, a book in one of her hands and her head rested on the other one. With the exception of when she was working, Helen had never seen Madeline so focused. It was slightly unnerving.
She stood there for several moments. Madeline’s attention remained on the book in front of her. Helen was tempted to leave her be, so as to not break the spell Madeline seemed to be under. But she needed to check out these books and she didn’t think the blonde would be best pleased if she left her there.
Slowly, she approached. Still nothing. Even as she sat herself next to Madeline, she still didn’t seem to notice.
“Mad?”
Madeline jumped slightly. She looked around before finally registering that Helen was now next to her.
“Helen!” She whisper-shouted. “You can’t scare me like that while we’re in a library.”
“I was stood right there, Mad, and then I sat down next to you. I hardly snuck up on you.”
Madeline rolled her eyes before they landed on Helen’s pile of books.
“Are you finally ready to leave then?”
Helen gave a curt nod, a small smirk etching its way on to her face.
“You seem to have enjoyed yourself too,” She gestured to the book still clenched in Madeline’s grasp.
Madeline stuttered, as if trying to think of a comeback that didn’t involve admitting that she was enchanted by this book.
Instead, Madeline stood and the two of them walked to the checkout desk in silence. For once though, both of them left the library with some reading material.
Helen was awoken in what had to be the early hours of the morning.
First, she registered the empty space next to her.
Then, she heard soft whimpers from the corner of the room.
She bolted upright immediately, concern flooding through her. But it settled as quickly as it came.
In the corner of their room, Madeline sat curled up on a chair. Her book from the library in her hands as she tried to stifle her cries.
Part of Helen wanted to laugh. This was the same Madeline who had teased her countless times for her emotional reactions to books. But another part of her was so endeared that she couldn’t bring herself to.
Instead, she got out of bed and padded over to the blonde. She wrapped her arms around her from behind, gently kissing her temple.
“You ok, baby?” Helen asked, her voice still laced with sleep.
Amidst the darkness, Helen was just able to make out a small nod.
“Come on then. Let’s go back to bed, Mad.”
Helen guided them back into bed, Madeline immediately curling into her side, still sniffling. Gently, Helen soothed her hand over her back, trying to lull the blonde back to sleep.
A few minutes passed and Madeline’s breaths became more even. Helen assumed she’d already fallen back asleep. She closed her eyes, hoping that she would quickly follow suit.
Then, a small voice came from her chest.
“I love you, Helly. And I would stand on top of the Hollywood sign and shout it everyday.”
Helen wasn’t quite sure where that came from. She guessed it was something to do with Madeline’s book. It made her smile all the same though. A very Madeline-esque declaration.
“I love you too, Mad. Now go to sleep.”