When Nick saw his girlfriend, she showed no hint of anything wrong. “Hey, Nick.”
“Hi, babe.” So as not to set her off on an “I hate Brian” speech, he selected his words carefully. “What were you and Brian talking about?”
She groaned. “Brian is pissed off at me because I didn’t tell Mom and Dad about us. He called them and brought up the subject of us, thinking they knew about it, and they freaked out, so now he’s mad at me.”
“Mattie, can you really blame him?” Nick asked gently. He touched her cheek, but she pushed his hand away.
“You’re siding with him? He is being completely irrational!”
“How do you figure? You said it, yourself. Your parents would probably rip him to shreds if they found out. He probably got yelled at. You should have told them instead of him so he wouldn’t get in so much trouble. It isn’t his fault we’re dating!” His voice gradually raised during the sentence.
“You say it like it’s a bad thing that we’re together!”
“Well, you must think it is if you’re not even willing to tell your parents about me! Do you care about me at all?” Nick exclaimed.
“I can’t believe you would say that, Nick!” Madeleine shouted. “You know I don’t feel that way!”
“It certainly seems like you do to me!”
They were at the top of their voices now, and surely everyone in the living room area could hear them, but they didn’t care. “If you can’t believe me when I tell you I love you, maybe we should just forget this whole thing!”
“Whatever!” With that, he stormed out and slammed the door before she had a chance to reply, leaving Madeleine in a puddle of tears.