don't start now

                    it wasn’t like mad was horrible with girls , he wasn’t the greatest what with forgetting literally everyone’s names and whatnot . ok so , maybe he wasn’t the greatest at mantaining a relationship , but he didn’t suck at getting girls . he had questionable taste most of the time , but if he went down that rabbit hole he was sure he’d never get out . point was , he wasn’t a complete lost cause . so people on the outside would probably not understand why living in denial so much even if it’s obvious , how mutual the feeling is.

                 they wouldn’t understand it’s krystal .

                 ❝ i have a feeling you’re about to tell me anyways ❞ madden grinned , though he soon gasped at her actions .  ❝ krystal ! we do NOT waste cheese in this household . ❞ he scolded with a frown , and for only a fraction of a second it seemed like he might actually be upset by the action , until he grabbed a large slice of pepperoni and shoved it up her nose .

               krystal knew he had his pick of girls, how couldn’t he ?? madden was funny and charming and insanely good looking. he was the kind of guy that girls would die to be with and krystal, well, she was just krystal.                                                        she had a bad track record with exes, they’d all hurt her in one way or another. had the tendency of being a hopeless romantic until her heart was beaten and now relationships seemed like a foreign  and scary place. madden was her best friend, he was MADDEN and there couldn’t be anything between them. there just couldn’t.                           “oh we don’t ??” she asks smugly, taking another handful of cheese and throwing at him cheekily, her eyes are narrowed in on him as she caught the scolding frown. for one second, one tiny second her heart skipped a beat.   and that’s when her eyes go wide, her jaw drops and as quick as he’s shoving the pepperoni up her nose she’s blowing air out hard to remove it.   “ew !!” she squeals before playfully pushing him, laughter soon returning as she shakes her head.   “i hate you so much”  but it’s the way she says it that gives away that she doesn’t. she couldn’t. 

                  their friendship seemed to had always been a sucession of one moment after the other . it didn’t seem to take too long for two of them to get lost in the smallest of details , surely it was infuriating to anyone who spent more than a few minutes with them , how obvious it was how they felt , yet how they stubborn they were to acknowledge it at all .  ❝ don’t you dare mads me ! ❞ he laughed loudly , making a face only seconds later as she sprinkled the flour on his face .  ❝ i told you i was gonna destroy you . ❞ he reminded in amusement , reaching for some of the ketchup they were supposed to use for the sauce , he took a spoon right before sending a blob of it flying her way .

                   she was comfortable around him in ways not many people had the pleasure of easing her, she never felt self conscious or hyper aware of herself or what she was saying or doing because she knew he wouldn’t judge her. she was able to get lost in a moment, he offered her a child like freedom.                             anyone saw it from the outside, how her smile glittered and her eyes were sparkling but she failed to admit it to herself because how silly would it be to be in love with your best friend ??                                                                                   “i’ll do what i want thank you very much zaleski,” she says in a sassy little tone before he’s reaching for the sauce and quickly you see her eyes go wide,  “oh my god don’t you dare,” she warns before it’s being sent her way. flying straight to her nose before the red is wiping it off with her fingertips and reaching out and wipe the sauce across his own cheek.    “do you know how rude you are ??” the question is empty of any or all malice due to the fluttering laughter lacing her every word,  “after all i do for you,” muses the singer taking a fist full of cheese to throw at him. 

                madden gasped , genuinely surprised for a second . at the same time though , unsure of why he was acting surprised about it , anyone could’ve seen it coming from a mile away , he had just pushed her buttons knowing it’d probably happen . but as it usually happened with them , he was just too close to be self aware at all . he looked down at her , quiet for a beat or two , eyes locked to hers as he scooped some of the dripping egg with his hand .  ❝ oh , now you’ve done it ! ❞ he got to say before his hand met her cheek , rubbing the egg on her face as a smile full of childish delight took over .  ❝ let me help with that . ❞ madden laughed holding onto her as he tilted his head to try and wipe himself on her .

                    the gasp had her giggling even harder, the happiness and pure enjoyment of the moment taking all insecurities away at how close they were. normally her palms would get clamy and her heart rate would start to flutter but she was too caught up to focus on the proximity of their bodies.                       “oh have i ??” she asks in this taunting little voice before his hand is placed on her cheek to rub the excess egg over the skin.    “mads !!” she exclaims leaning back away from him as he held on to her, but she’s laughing through it all.   “---yeah well...” she starts before grabbing a little big of flour from the counter and sprinkling it over him. 

              ❝ oh come on , krys . try all you want but two sisters is not even close two eight brothers . especially not when one of them is hal , i won , you weren’t even in the contest , but try again next time . ❞ he teased with a click of his tongue and a shake of his head ,                   he titled his head to look at the egg in her hand , raising a brow at her before flicking a bit of flour on her face , ❝ you’re not gonna break an egg on me . ❞ he half bluffed . there was a very real chance that she would in all honestly , but the truth of the matter was that part of him was hoping she would , what fun would there be if she didn’t ? 

          honestly, it probably was NOTHING like having eight brothers because for the most part her and her sisters got along. there were fights and cattiness but she couldn’t imagine having the family madden had.   “--that’s sister erasure and sisters can be evil,” she defends, though she’s not exactly defending anything as she scrunches up her nose at him.                       “ is mister madden really tryin’ to call my bluff ??” questions the red head with that thick english accent  coating every word,  “choices, bad choices,” she giggles before standing on her tippy toes to crack the head on top of his head with this silly laugh and goofy grin as she watched the yolk trickle down.  

               ❝ wow , krys . so fucking ruthless . ❞ madden kept the hurt facade , even when he knew perfectly he didn’t fool krystal at all , he wasn’t trying very hard . that was the thing though , it didn’t feel like he had to try at all .                 ❝ well clearly , i’m gonna kick your ass at the food war you’re obviously declaring against me , i grew up with eight brothers , so you know … maybe war is not your smartest choice , you see … i don’t want to absolutely destroy you . ❞ he warned once more , flashing her a brilliant smile as his own hand inched closer to the flour .

                 her fighting words were all in play, there was no weight to them and anyone that knew her knew that her love language was playful teasing and empty insults.    “it’s a cold world out there mads you gotta be,” she chuckles peaking over to him.                                            her brows raise as he speaks,  “two sisters outweighs any brothers they were demons,” she challenges taking a step back as he approached her with the flower in hand. her teeth bite down on her lesser, tiny little giggles spilling from her lips as the singer got trapped between madden and the cabinets.   reaching over she grabs the nearest food item, an egg, and holds it up in a returned but silent threat.   “destroy me madden, do it.”

Krystal White-Taylor  (looks bitchy but lowkey ur girl)  vc: dua lipa

keep bella 

change to madelaine

                ❝ me ? ❞ he asked suddenly , clutching his chest in a dramatic manner as an overly exaggerated gasp escaped him ,  ❝ not a day in my life i’ve ever been mean to anyone , you wound me , krys . can you hear that ? my heart breaking . ❞ madden went on before he finally broken into the biggest grin . he couldn’t really tell if it was merely a reaction to her own beaming smile , but he stopped questioning it months ago .                 ❝ oooh those are fighting word , i wouldn’t start that if i were you . ❞ he warned in the same teasing tone they had been using all along , the same teasing tone they used pretty much all the time , the one that walked a slippery slope between friends and … whatever there was on the other side . 

                   her eyes are focused on him and that silly little smile is yet to fade,  “--yes you,” she states with a solid nod but the teasing grin and sparkle in her eyes just gives her away.   “good that is music to my ears,” jokes the brunette, her laughter sweet like honey as she lazily rests herself against the counter top.                            she knew it was useless trying to make sense of all the hidden meanings behind friendly banter, the flutter in her chest when he smiled and how she couldn’t stop replaying their memories like old home movies.           “oh yeah ?? and what are you gonna do if i do ??” threatens the singer picking up a piece of the dough. 

                  he could very easily give in and simply take over the kitchen , it was what he did best after all , and lots of people could tell how picky he was about it . hal probably still held over him the one time mad smacked his hand with a wood spoon because he thought his pasta was lacking some seasoning . krystal though , he didn’t mind letting her mess around , probably using more flour than needed and holding the rolling pin the wrong way . it was cute amusing . even if he would never admit it to anyone who dare point it out loud , she’s the exception to the rule , she’s the exception to most of his rules .                   ❝ i could , but i’m having a lot of fun watching you struggle , you should try flipping it over your head again , it looked like you were already getting the hang of it . ❞ he teased , however warm the smile dancing on his lips truly is .

                there was something, just this little something, that made her a little embarrassed doing things wrong in front of him. like a school girl around her crush all she wanted to do was impress him and cooking ( clearly ) wasn’t her strength. but she’s still got this bright, goofy smile plastered on her lips as she stands there beside him. easily and without question she could spend days with him and not notice the time.                                            “okay now you’re just being mean,” she said through this girlish laughter, fingers still trying to roll out the dough.  “maybe i’ll just dress you in dough to see how you like it,” muses the brunette in a returned tease but by god was she radiating. it wasn’t even by choice, she couldn’t help the way she glowed a little brighter the second she was with him.