Memory Lane

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

This was why Madeleine loved the summer.
Sitting just outside the trailer, with noise about her – people laughing, chatting, kids playing games… Like it did most of the time, a feeling of camaraderie had settled over the camp. Happiness, freedom, friendship prevailed, as per usual, over any other sad emotion. Of course, as always, for the Baudelaires, Lylis Glen always brought back unwanted memories, and as always, Rhiannon Baudelaire had shed a few tears and Madeleine had had to take more than a few deep breaths. But it was easy to put it to the back of one’s mind, and just remember that it was summer, it was sunny, and they were surrounded by their friends.
Like the blonde-haired eighteen year old approaching her now with a frown on his face.
“Hey, Jace,” Madeleine said, smiling at him.
“D’you know, Mad Hatter,” he stated. “I’ve no idea how you snagged a fiancé. You really don’t try, do you?”
Her hand went automatically to her hair, which was probably a mess, and probably what Jace had been referring to. “What?”
He sat down in front of her. “Look at you. You haven’t even got any make-up on, have you?”
Madeleine laughed. “Jace, you’ve just re-established your position as the gayest person I know. And yes, I have. I put on mascara about an hour ago.”
“You never make enough of your eyes,” he said, grinning at that. “Back in the day…”
“Back in the day,” she laughed. “Come on Jace, you’re eighteen, not eighty.”
Jace Sorley was eighteen years old, Madeleine’s best friend, and about as straight as a roundabout – something that everybody knew except his mother. No one would dare tell his mother. A devout Catholic, Annie Sorley did not believe in homosexuality. And most definitely not for her son. Jace knew full well that his mother would spend ... oh, only the rest of her life fasting and making novenas for his soul if she knew.
It was a miracle that she hadn’t guessed it though. While Jace might not look “stereotypically gay” – his clothes were usually just t-shirt and jeans like any other teenager, and his muscles were friggin’ rocks – once you knew him, it was obvious. Camper than Alan Carr, with a steady boyfriend, Lucas, it was like an open secret. The secret was only kept from Annie.
“Where is the unfortunate bugger, anyway?” Jace asked with a grin.
“You mean Lee?” she asked, leaning back against the side of the trailer. “I think he went out for a walk.”
“Fed up with your parents?”
Ha! In all honesty, Madeleine didn’t know. Although, Stephen and Rhiannon had definitely been trying. She and her mum had had a long talk, and Rhiannon had… come round to her point of view. Yesterday, she even bought a bridal magazine to pick a dress, allowing herself to become the excited mother of the bride. And her dad… well, her dad was always quiet, but he’d cracked a few (not very funny, as usual) jokes, and he was as laid back around Maddie and Lee as he was when he wasn’t there.
And he’d gotten over his aversion to the ‘holding-hands’ issue. Which was great. But unfortunately, she wasn’t going to… ahem, push the boundaries. It possibly wasn’t the best idea.
“No clue,” Madeleine laughed. “They’re behaving, though.”
Jace laughed, throwing back his fair head. “You’re telling me. Our mothers were discussing flowers last night.”
She shivered. “Eugh.”
“Oh! Have you sorted out bridesmaids yet? Cause me and Luke-”
She looked at him quickly, shocked, but saw the gleam of mirth in his clear grey eyes. “Jace, you are not being my bridesmaid.”
“Awk, please?”
“Jace.”
He sighed, his broad shoulders sagging, but his white teeth were smiling. “Ehh.”
She laughed, and stretched back.
“Hey, the man himself is coming,” Jace nodded. “Over there.”
She tilted her head, to see Lee’s figure approaching.
“Still haven’t worked out how you pulled him.”
Her head snapped back to him, but Jace was looking at Lee.
“Beg pardon?”
He sighed, and Madeleine wasn’t entirely sure if he meant it to be dreamy or not. “I mean… right, I know you’re pretty and all, and you always did get the guys I wanted-”
Madeleine sat up, staring at him with a slightly open mouth. “Sorry?”
“Well, like Russ.” Jace’s tone switched to mock-indignant . “I really liked him, and you just had to go and date him, even though he was your cousin-”
“I didn’t know that-”
“Oh, shush.” He was grinning now.
“Besides, it was nothing personal from him – he’s straight.”
Jace shrugged. “People change.”
Madeleine had to laugh. “This is Russ we’re talking about.”
“Well, whatever,” he said. “But I mean, you’re pretty, but you don’t make enough of yourself, and you get him… I mean, God, Madeleine, look at his ass.”
“Jace!”
She couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but even so-
Jace grinned. “What? It’s just a statement!”
“If you say one more thing about my fiancé’s as-”
“Lee!” Jace exclaimed, turning to him. He was a lot closer than Madeleine had realised. “Hello!”
She forced a smile at him, praying to God that he hadn’t heard Jace. “Hey.”

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to cope.
It wasn't like Lylis Glen was... a bad place. It wasn't. It was very nice, actually; there hadn't been a single grey cloud to dim the horizon and the people were as bright as the sunshine above. He seemed to be some kind of novelty. Everyone knew his name, and everyone knew he wasn't a traveller, and everyone knew he was Irish. That seemed to be his most interesting characteristic; his accent (closely followed by his hair- which had been labelled as, 'fluffy'). There was someone there who liked to gather accents, and had bothered him for a whole day following him about and trying to impersonate him.
If Lee's accent was really that interesting, he didn't see why this guy couldn't just go to Ireland in the first place.
It wasn't just that everyone knew him- they knew Maddie, and Maddie knew everyone just as everyone knew her. And they could all sit and talk for hours.
"You haven't grown at all!"
"What's it like being Head?"
"Quite a catch, this boy."
"I knew your brother- Christ, he was buff."
"Hows your mum?"
"Hey, does this mean Russ is single?"
"I lived in Ireland, once."
"Jesus, why hasn't it rained yet?"
"Y'know, Grace got hitched in Spain."
"I joined Mensa, but they've no idea how to contact me."
"Aw, man, Madeleine; is this berk the reason you stopped drinking?"
Bleeeeugggh...
Lee had never been forced to interact so much in his entire life. The whole mood could shift from happy, to morbid, to horny and effect the whole campsite caravan, after caravan, after caravan. There was food everywhere. Random food stalls cropped up all over, and there were always people cooking up barbeques for the campsite. Lee had eaten about a gazillion free hamburgers. There was always some guy trying to get some girl to get off with him, and always some woman fretting because some kids had made off with her deck chairs. And the noise never stopped.
Music. Arguments. Laughter. The sizzle of a grill. The rumble of a rolling caravan. More music. A jumble of accents. A swearing fit over a tin opener which just won't open. The click of a lighter. The bark of a dog. More, more and more music.
And it never stopped.
All through the night, their voices rose and fell. Twice now, in the middle of the night, had their caravan been invaded and Lee dragged outside to meet someone's relatives. People randomly adopted him, and brought him around to meet people, and show him off. Lee and Maddie couldn't get any privacy- someone like Jace was always tagging along- and when Lee tried to leave the caravan to get some fresh air, he was assaulted, and followed by an entourage of impersonators.
He'd never hated his nationality more.
Today, Lee had been commanded to come and see someone's dog. After giving the dalmation an awkward pat on the head, and letting it lick him several times, its owner had seemed satisfied enough to let Lee leave, calling after him, "Come by any time, and bring Madeleine! She's a riot when she's drunk!"
... Lee was still having trouble adjusting to the idea of a drunk Maddie, though everyone here seemed to know all about it, and have a hundred different stories about it too.
If Lee ever dared mention aloud he'd spent his life sober, he knew that his clean record wouldn't last the night.
And that was just with the teenagers.
Approaching the caravan, Lee groaned inwardly as he saw that- yet again- Madeleine had been ambushed by an old friend. However, realising it was Jace, he brightened slightly, and picked up his pace. Jace was an old friend of Maddie's, and he reminded Lee of Jack in height and build. Actually, half the guys here who'd given Lee slaps of congratulations on the back were warped versions of Jack. But Jace had been one of the few guys not to actually slap him, and although they hadn't really spoken much, Jace was being really, really nice. Actually, everyone was really, really nice, but Jace had been even more so, somehow.
It was probably because he hadn't made a crack about the Irish yet.
So Lee liked Jace a good deal better than he liked some of the others.
As Lee progessed along the row of caravans (the whole campsite seemed to be set out in streets of a kind, giving the place even more of that god-d*mn neighbourly feel than it already had) several sunny faces poked themselves out and called to him.
"Good afternoon, Lee!"
"Afternoon," he replied, waving.
"Top of the morning t'ye!"
"We don't actually say that, Dave!" he reminded the old man, but the guy was already buckled over and laughing to himself.
"Lee! I've just finished baking some cookies- you must try one!"
"I will later, okay?" he laughed, then jerked his head forward, "I'm going to see Maddie, now."
There were a lot more wolf-whistles than he'd expected in response to that. He must've been shouting louder than he thought, and everyone recognised his voice. His accent was sharp and distinct; most peoples' voices consisted of a muddle of accents, so that nothing ever came across clearly.
"Lee!" Jace and Maddie had obviously spotted him. "Hello!"
Madeleine smiled at him too, but she looked a little stressed. Lee wondered if after Orchid Hill, the constant buzz of the campsite was getting to her too. "Hey."
"Hi, guys," Lee, suddenly exhausted, collapsed beside Maddie. "Hows it going?"
This conversation wouldn't last for long without being interrupted. Old Dave was gravitating towards them again, chuckling loudly.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"You came at the perfect time," Jace laughed. "Your fiancé was just about to kill me."
Madeleine groaned. "Maybe if you stop reminding me, I might just let you stay alive. Keep your mouth shut, and we'll all be fine. I don't know how Luke hasn't resorted to the duct tape yet. That guy could teach us all some lessons in patience."
She'd spent enough time with them recently to realise that Jace's mooning over other boys was not restriced to when he was with other people, he would say it in front of Lucas as well.
And Lucas usually joined in. Talking with them on the subject of Josh Holloway could be fantastic.
She sighed, turning to Lee with a tired smile. "Jace likes to talk. And sometimes he just doesn't realise when it's best to keep his mouth shut."
"I was actually expecting a friendly discussion," he pouted, before laughing as Madeleine raised two fingers towards him. "What?"
She smiled sweetly. "If you ever wondered why I left to Orchid, Lee, this is why."
"Really? I always thought it was because there were hot guys there who weren't your cousins," Jace snorted, smirking as Madeleine turned fuschia. "Sorry, did that hit a nerve?"
"Git," she said, laughing awkwardly, leaning back lazily and smiling at Lee through her blush.
Lee was proving to be somewhat of a novelty here. Not only did he have Jace sighing dreamily over his rear, he (and his accent) had been a hit with the teenage girls - as did anyone new. She'd kind of expected it. But everyone else, adults and kids, had taken to him in a big way. He'd been adopted as an honourary member of camp, and because by accepting Madeleine, he'd by proxy accepted everyone else, no one was on their guard around him - which left her relieved. She'd been worried about people freezing up, or being suspcious about him, but they'd all accepted him as quickly and as easily as he'd accepted her.
Still, even though he'd been welcomed so warmly, Madeleine was looking forward to both of them being back at Orchid. Because everyone was so ready to know him and talk to him, the amount of time she had had on her own with him had been minimal - and after being gone for so long, even Madeleine was finding it hard to slip back in just as easily; and the constant reminders of Shaun didn't help.
It was lucky, she supposed, that she felt more able to talk about him now, but hearing his name mentioned so frequently and so casually was starting to take a toll on her. Especially when it didn't even take a second for her to see him - over there, talking with Jace and his other friends, or over there, playing with the Costa's pet retreiver, or just here, coming out of the trailer yawning. At Orchid, at least she could forget for a little while.
"So, who hijacked you this time?" she asked, cocking her head sympathetically.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Roger," Lee replied with a laugh, "and at one point, Anita. They were showing me their dog."
He wouldn't dare try and name it, because he'd already been introduced to so many dogs, he was bound to get it wrong.
Roger and Anita were teenage siblings living at the end of one of the many campsite streets. Roger was eighteen, and Anita was thirteen, and both had been bothering Lee for quite some time to come and see Roger's dog- especially Anita. She was really persistant; she, and a good five of her friends sometimes popped up out of nowhere to see Lee and ask him random questions about Orchid Hill and his cousin, whom they all knew to be Head of the Spies.
Anita stood out clearly in his name list, because she had bright, ginger curls and had been the girl to ask him how many girlfriends he'd had before Madeleine, and how great it was to date a traveller in comparison.
Lee had gone for the answer: "A couple; but none like her. It's great, but not because she's a traveller- it's because she's Maddie."
That had resulted in a chorus of, "aww"s. Lee had learned that if he said things like that to the girls, they'd, "Aww," and then left him alone, so he did it as often as he could. Unfortunately, the more he said these things, the more frequently the girls turned up, and the more of them there were.
He needed to work on his theory a little further.
Lee smiled at Maddie, and squeezed her hand- really, for his own comfort- before looking up at Jace.
Why the hell was he was so tall, anyway?
"What about you guys? What have you been doing?"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine returned the pressure on Lee's hand and moved closer to him, smirking sweetly at Jace, who pulled a quick face at her.
"I think Anita's taken a bit of a shine to you, you know" Jace laughed. "Well, we were gossiping-"
"And Jace proved that he is really a seventy year old woman named Margaret in a young boy's body when he started asking about bridesmaids-"
"And we got onto the subject of Mad Hatter's cat."
Madeleine laughed as Jace shrugged it off with a grin. He was used to being told that - even Luke would occasionally call him Beatrice, Phyllis or Elsie in his stranger/more gay moments - for example, Jace's famous "It simply won't do!" moment. Everyone else had collapsed into giggles while Luke shook his head and responded with "Won't it, Lucy?"
"Olivia texted me," she said, shaking her head again. "She told me I need to get Mocha exorcised and that she's had to resort to feeding her with gloves on; she's so terrified of her. I swear, I don't know where you guys get this all from, she's really a lovely cat. I don't know what your problem is."
"But doesn't the majority rule?" frowned Jace. "I mean, you're her owner, she's bound to like you, but... I don't know. Maybe the problem lies in that you named her after a coffee. That's a bit nuts. I thought her problem might just be guys in general, from what you and Russ said, Lee, but is she really that bad?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"She..." Lee's loyalty wavered as he looked at Maddie.
It was the truth... or a lie for the one he loved.
... or diplomacy was another option; like a lie, but less outright.
"Well, Mocha was a lot more mellow when I first went to look at the kittens," Lee told Jace. "She was sleeping, at the time, and the man told me you could pet her while she slept. So I went over, and she rolled onto her back and yawned, and she looked a lot fluffier than some of the others so I thought... right. Girls. Like. Fluffy."
See, now he was just avoiding the question. He thought of the cat, and her evil jet blue stare, and for the millionth time wished he gotten that other little black and white one that had been shredding a newspaper.
"She doesn't like me," he said finally, "but that's probably because I took her away from her mother."
That was an outright lie. The cat had been perfectly lovely to him as he carried her up to the school. But the second it had landed in Maddie's arms, his short relationship with the cat was over. The fact was, Mocha viewed Madeleine as her properly, and the fact that Lee liked to hug her property didn't go down well.
Cats were freaking territorial!

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"She's always mellow," Madeleine collected. "Come on, has she ever tried to hurt you? Just because she keeps her distance from you doesn't mean that she's demonic, or horrible. She's a lovely cat, really."
As far as cats went. Mocha was soft, cute and fluffy, with blue eyes that were able to express emotions perfectly. She was just like a little person, really. Well, okay. Lie. She wasn't like a little person, she was a cat, after all, but she was a very human-like cat.
"You could be biased," Jace pointed out. "You should have brought her; I could have tested it out. Cats usually like me."
"And you usually like cats," Madeleine laughed. "Have you fostered any new ones yet?"
Yes, Jace fostered cats. It was a bit weird, but at every place they stopped, Jace always went to the local animal shelter and found a cat to nurse back to health. It was quite cute, actually - that was how he and Luke met. Luke was bringing his kid sister, Amy to visit the dogs at a shelter, and Jace was trying to teach a three-legged cat (Emma) to walk again. They clicked instantly.
Such a lovely love story.
"No, we only got here the day before you did, I haven't had time," he said, glumly. "It sucks."
Madeleine laughed. "You'll find time."
He grinned. "Yeah. So bring Mocha up any time, and we'll test it out. What happens if she really is biased?"
"Maybe you can work a miracle on her," Madeleine said, rolling her eyes. "What do you think, Lee? Considering that one day what's-mine-is-yours and all that jazz, so she'll be your cat too."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Mocha would never see it that way. It wasn't about what was Maddie's was his, and what was his was Maddie's.
It was that the cat honest to God believed it owned them all. It saw any affection Lee showed for Maddie to be some warped form of rebellion against its leadership, and it hated him for it. The truth was, Mocha knew that Lee didn't like it. Madeleine was the only thing that kept the cat and the boy from fighting it out to the death, despite being the very thing that had set the vicious circle into motion in the first place.
"You can try," Lee said softly, looking up at Jace, "please, please do try."
Even though in his heart, he knew it would never, never work.
Recently, Lee had decided he was more of a dog person. Dogs liked walking, and they were friendly, and wagged their tails a lot, so you always knew what they were thinking. Dogs were open and loyal, and dogs were family pets.
Lee was definitely a dog person.
It was just another reason for Mocha and him to hate each other.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Jace nodded his fair head, amused. "My pleasure."
Madeleine bit back the retort, knowing that she was probably overreacting and that the comment was probably below the belt.
She didn't have long to think about it, though, because her mum appeared at the door to their trailer, looking upset.
"Mum?" she frowned, sitting up.
"Madeleine, I am so sorry to have to ask you this..."
Her eyes narrowed, and Jace looked confused. "What is it?"
"I need you to go and get some milk."
Jace flinched, and Madeleine froze immediately, all her senses numbing - all there was was the quickened beating of her heart and her brain buzzing in on one thing.
"There's no milk left, Shaun: I think Madeleine had the last of it in those eight or so cups of coffee - if you want it, you're going to have to go and get some," Rhiannon said apologetically to Shaun, smacking Madeleine playfully around the head.
Shaun rolled his eyes. "Right, then, Maddie can come with me, seeing as it's her fault. Come on, eejit..."
She blinked as her mum was talking again, bringing her back into the present.
"... wouldn't ask, but I'm baking and I need quite a lot of it." Her blue eyes were stricken.
"I can go, Mrs Baudelaire," Jace immediately offered, watching Madeleine's face carefully. "It's not a problem."
Relief flooded Rhiannon's face. "Oh, would you, Jace? Thank you so-"
"No."
They all turned and stared at Madeleine.
"I'll go," she said, clearing her throat. "It's fine, it's ... it's not a big deal. It's just a road, after all."
All relief gone, concern took its place in her mother's face. "Madeleine, you don't have to do it."
"It's just a road," she repeated, determination setting in as she stood up. "I'm going."
Bury your ghosts. Get over the shock. You can do this. You can.
"I'll come with you," Jace said hurriedly, standing up.
"No. I don't need you all fussing. Lee, you can come with me if you want," she said, turning to him with an apologetic smile.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

“Er… yeah,” Lee leaped to his feet immediately, as though she’d given him a command.
There was something about the way Rhiannon- the formality, ‘Mrs Baudelaire,’ had disappeared within the first week- was looking at her daughter right now that disturbed him. It was a set, habitual expression of hers; one that it hadn’t taken him long to notice. She wore a slight frown; so slight it was barely noticeable, but previously non-existent lines were suddenly thrown into sharp relief across her forehead, and around her eyes and lips. It was a haunted look, one- he’d soon realised- of grief, and it was an expression she wore only when reminded of Shaun. He'd seen this grief mingle with a million other emotions- she could be happy, she could be angry, she could be scared, and right now… she was worried. But though her emotions may change, her grief did not.
It was... constant; etching itself across her face so often that Lee could barely imagine her without it.
And every time Lee saw it- and anyone else saw it- they were reminded too. And every time he was reminded, he felt embarrassed somehow; oddly separate. He’d never known Shaun, and no matter what he said or did, he could never truly imagine the true horror of Rhiannon’s grief.
But even this awkwardness... it would’ve been okay… if only… It was just, well, sometimes, when Rhiannon looked at him, that very same expression appeared. He didn’t know why, and he was too cautious of the matter to ask, but it troubled him. It was like some sort of personal reflection on him… what it meant, he didn’t know… but it couldn’t be good.
“I’ll see you later, Jace,” Lee smiled at him, and then, as politely as possible, inclined his head towards Madeleine’s mother. “You too, Rhiannon, don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”
Would they?
He didn’t know what it was about the… milk, exactly, or the road, but he did know that mournful expression. The truth was- and they both knew it- Lee couldn’t guarantee anything to Madeleine’s mother.
Really, he was just saying it to reassure himself.
So he took Maddie’s hand, and began to lead her across the campsite.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine's hand squeezed Lee's as he led her across the campsite.
Milk.
Milk.
For Christ's sake, it was a drink. White, creamy, it came from cows and was the only thing babies could drink. Completely innocent, and completely common. But because the journey for milk had resulted in a death, Madeleine couldn't buy milk anymore. Madeleine couldn't even drink a glass of milk. Milk in anything else was fine, but being white, and in a glass or carton, she couldn't touch it. It felt... cursed, or something. Maybe Madeleine was just, like so many others she knew, extremely superstitious, but drinking milk... it felt wrong.
And being asked to get milk? Her mum had never asked her to go to buy milk since then, and she'd banned her from going anywhere near that road, and now...
But it was just a road. It was just milk. And besides, now that she'd asked Lee to come, she'd better bloody wise up about it.
The problem was - and she hadn't even thought of it until after she'd asked him - Lee didn't know the story behind the milk. Lee knew that this was where Shaun had been killed, but he didn't know exactly where, and he still didn't know that Madeleine had been there at the time.
So this was going to be the final missing piece of the puzzle, then.
They walked past the rows of caravans, brightly coloured people talking to each other, mothers playing with their children, and old friends shouting out greetings, which Madeleine ignored for the most part.
When they'd escaped the main body of the site, Madeleine sighed, glancing up at Lee. "I'm sorry to drop you in it like this... I should have warned you before. You know Shaun died here, but ... eugh." She swallowed, looking quickly towards the forest masking the road they would need to follow. "Shaun was murdered when the two of us were walking from here to... to buy milk."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

The cogs clicked into place, and Lee's mind started working once more.
He remembered when he'd first made Russ' acquaintence... God, it seemed years ago now, even though it was only a few brief weeks... and he remembered all the things that Russ had told him. It was as though the curtains of his mind had suddenly been thrown open. Suddenly, he remembered rather than realised why Rhiannon looked at him like that. And as the dust from the folds of material that had been blocking his vision settled, so did the world around Madeleine.
She was fighting. Just like she always did. Just like she always would. Her fight reminded Lee that he was useless when it came to protecting her. He could be support... but he could never be her shield.
And coming here, right now, this was a perfect example of it.
He already knew, of course, that she had witnessed her brother's murder. But to have the memory cast upon him- and her- so suddenly, was a shock.
There was no appropriate response to what she had just said.
So Lee gripped her hand a little harder, and nodded grimly instead.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

“Yeah,” she muttered, in response to his nod.
He was taking it calmly; almost like he already knew. The response he had given was the one she had needed, the only thing that anyone could do. She didn’t say anything else to him, though.
Because really, what else could she say?

“You and your sodding caffeine addiction,” Shaun grumbled, dragging an unwilling Madeleine out of the boundaries of the site. It was getting dark, the sun was going down – but no stars peeped out. Only clouds covered the shadowy leaves of Lylis Glen. For October, it was quite close – almost humid, even. It wasn’t the usual weather, but no one could say that the rise in heat wasn’t welcomed after the icy North winds they had been receiving.
“Do I really have to come?” she frowned. “It’s you that wants the milk, and it’s late-”
“You were the one who drank it,” he responded, yawning now.
She sighed. “Fine.”
Of course, a couple of seconds later, the two of them were all bounce again, chatting and laughing, as they left the place, going into the forest.
“I really think something has to happen between those two.”
Shaun laughed, brown eyes gleaming. “Jace’ll be devastated.”
“Oh, he already is,” Madeleine chuckled. “He and Cecelia were mourning their loss yesterday.”
“I might ignore that bit,” he retorted. “The three of you are crazy, you know that?”
“Oh come on, it’s Josh Holloway!” she smirked.
He rolled his eyes. “Let me guess your next words…”
“What?” she challenged, grinning.
“You so would.”
Madeleine started to laugh at that; her brother’s stupidity. “I knew it. I knew it!!”
“You – wait, what? Oh, for the love of –

It wasn’t night time, now. It was the afternoon – a bright, sunny, summer’s afternoon. The day bore no correlation to that night, which was good. After all, the most recent series of Lost had finished on the internet ages ago, and they didn’t have a TV. It was so different – it was safer that way. But… maybe she was meant to do this. Cast off the nightmares, admit to what had gone wrong. Something like that. Maybe retracing her steps would stop it from hurting – meaning that she could forget all the grief, and all the pain, and be normal again. Be entirely happy, without the bittersweet tinge that accompanied every nice moment. Maybe this would get rid of the shock-
Wait. Shock.
Maybe he did already know.
Russ.
“You already knew, didn’t you?” she asked blandly. “Russ told you.”
Git. Madeleine knew he was concerned about it, but for God’s sake, he had no right to interfere with her business like that. Maybe Lee’s knowing now was a good thing, but Russ needed to learn where to stop.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

It was like lying to a Spy. It just didn't work, so there was no point in even trying.
Lee bowed his head apologetically; even though, really, he had nothing to be sorry for. He was glad Russ had told him now- though he'd felt it none of his business in the time. A milk errand wasn't exactly the most... sensitive way to break it to him.
"He told me you'd seen it happen," Lee said finally, "I didn't know all the details- like, about the milk- but I did know you had to witness it."
His confession was awkward, and he'd left out chunks of the truth. Somehow, Lee felt that Maddie would be even less pleased to hear that Russ had discussed Rhiannon with him, and had told him about her nightmares. They were something that Lee (who slept in the bed opposite Maddie in the caravan) had been watching and listening out for- just in case.
She slept peacefully throughout; but he had not. It was bad enough that there was the noise of the campsite surrounding him to keep him awake, but the smallest noise she made alerted him.
The nightmares reminded him far too much of his ordeal with Orla for him ever to be comfortable with them again.
"I'm sorry," he said, after a few more silent paces. "That... y'know, he told me."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Bástard.
She shook her head, curls drooping. "No, there's honestly nothing to be sorry about. Russ shouldn't have done it, but it's probably... it's probably better that way. This might have been a shock, without that. I can't say I'm surprised, though. It's Russ."
God knew what else he must have told him. Madeleine was surprised he was still intending to marry her, with the amount of baggage she had, and her family, namely the boy in questio-
Wait. He hadn't told him all of the "she's-in'shock" bull that he'd spouted at her when he arrived at Orchid, had he? She wasn't in shock, she wasn't... eugh...
She smiled at Lee, wryly. "This is the last bit of baggage, I promise. I'm sorry about all this, I just... I hadn't thought it was the right time to tell you yet."
They were entering the shortcut through the first thicket of forest, along the well-trod muddy track through to the main path into the "town". The trees were all broadleaved decidious ones, and at the minute, were a blaze of different greens; something else to be glad of. When Shaun... when it had happened, it was October, and so the trees had been in all their coloured glory.
But even with all the differences, her muscles were beginning to tense, her fingers fidget, and butterflies flutter in in her stomach. She had to swallow as they started walking on the muddy path, stepping over tree roots and broken branches, as she tensed up in anticipation.
This is the worst part of it, she told herself. It would be over and done with soon.
Over and done with...