Pieter and Madelon

Author's note: The other chapter focuses on Pig and her exhibitionism. It won't interact much with this branch until it joins up. It is also short.

For those who came here because of the update, I missed that Madelon was in stealth in my head. I haven't written for this story in a while, including this branch. Removed that and reformatted to work with the change.

(Pieter's POV)

I head to the cafe with Madelon. She looks wary as we enter. She asks for a seat in the back. Presumably so Tim doesn't spot me before or during their confrontation. I asked if I could order a pot of tea to share. It's always a guess to see if it is an option without looking at the menu, but they do. As I look at it, I grab a basic hard-to-mess-up dish, a carpatio sandwich. I had been spoiled by the praise of yesterday. She orders a carpatio salad.

As we wait for the food, I spend my time updating her on my life. Roos is in the hospital, proposing yesterday, having bought a house that needs renovation and that I am, in fact, a co-owner of the catering company.

Before our food arrives, Tim does. Madelon heads over to him to a table close but not where he can see me. I can't hear them... sucks.

(Madelon's POV)

As I sit Tim down, I stop him from ordering anything. "Let's first talk. Tim, I have some things I want to talk about, and I don't want you to make a scene."

He grumbles: "What do you want to say, my fuckhole?"

"For starters, I want you to stop saying that in public. I want you to stop hitting me. I want to be treated as..." Slap.

"You have nothing to say in this relationship. These demands are hollow. You will never escape me." He says, looming over me. I never thought he would do this in public. Why did I think he could change? "Peter will bring you back to me no matter what. He sees you as a bargaining chip to have me pay for his booze. Ha, you are a whore for his booze, you realise that, right?"

I get angry and say: "Tim, if you are going to treat me as trash, I don't need a further relationship with you."

He lashes out again, but now his hand is caught. "Nice dental work," Pieter says, almost as a threat. I quickly step behind him. "Would be a waste if you lost your teeth again." Tim trembles. I have never seen him tremble. I am hugging Pieter like I did when I was 4 and scared of something. "So my sister dumps you, leave now before you do more dumb things." This was super comforting. Having my brother step up for me was nice. Why didn't I rely on him more?

Realising the mistake, Tim tries to stutter out words but turns tail quickly. Why did he become meek when Pieter was involved? He had said he had beaten him up before. Maybe he will tell me over food.

"Sooo... Pieter, why was Tim so scared of you?"

Eating his sandwich, he asks: "Do you remember when I came back from scouting, and he headed to the hospital with Antionette because I had large cuts on my hand?" I nod. "Tim had called Roos a boy in disguise, a tranny pretending to be a woman. It ticked me off so much that I decided to take it into my own hands. I first knocked him down with a punch. Then I kicked him and told him to never harm anyone I loved ever again. I asked for confirmation, bashing in his head. Knocked out his front teeth, canines, and a few molars, if I remember correctly. Part of me wanted to carve it in him, to kill him, but I held back. I have a temper worse than mom and dad when I get angry, but I never harm those I love. I leave, come back and talk."

Somewhere during that speech, my jaw had fallen open, and I had forgotten how to speak or eat. "But you didn't do anything. You kept restrained here. If what you said was true, you would have been more violent." I quickly start eating again.

"Ohh, I did. I tried to get him to piss himself. This place is nice to have tea and lunch soo didn't want to get kicked out. Also, I am not sure how his wrist is."

"What do you mean by his wrist?"

"I was holding it as tight as I could. Could have at least seriously bruised him at least. After tea and lunch, do you want to visit Roos? We might be able to find you a board elsewhere. If dad is selling you out, Antionette won't mind you staying with her."

"Yes to the visiting Roos. Pieter, you know I hate freebies; you lived off them, but I won't."

"Who told you that? I always did chores for Antionette. More than Roos and her brother. Free is an overstatement, but yeah, I never did enough. But Antionette doesn't care. If you want, you could always pay rent."

I glare at him. "Fine, I will have a conversation with Antionette. Because yeah, you are correct, I shouldn't live with them if they use me as a bargaining chip."

"It is 2, I want to first make a call. I can't put life on hold no matter how much I want." He leaves me sitting with hot cocoa, my phone and my thoughts. Interesting, but who gave me this? Who is manipulating my life? Soon, I started receiving messages from dad, Tim, and even mom demanding that I get back together with him. I can't do anything but read them. He returns, looking at me and says, "I would have blocked him after 2 texts. Especially if none were, I shouldn't have been violent." I'm angry at the unsolicited advice. Not because of what it was or how he phrased it, but at why I couldn't do it. Why do I **** myself to stay here? I tremble, but Pieter places a hand on my arm. "If you need help, ask. I will be there to support my little sister no matter what." That pushed me to hand him my phone and ask him to block them everywhere he could think of. Amazed at the extent I want to go to does it immediately. "Thanks for trusting me, Madelon." He says whilst blocking them.

We step out of the cafe and drive to the hospital. In the hospital, he guides me through the maze to end up in a room where I see two familiar faces. "Hi Antionette. Hi Roos." I say awkwardly. They smile and greet me back. The first thing I get from them is hugs. We begin by talking about Roos's situation. Which is horrendous. Be careful with screens in a job around coding, modelling, designing, etc. Basically, she has to be careful with all of her work. But as the conversation continues. We flow naturally into my situation. My lack of safe housing, the abusiveness of my parents, etc.

"You were always allowed to stay with me. Pieter has helped me enough for that. And knowing him, he will continue to do so. I have no idea why CPS never removed you two, if I am honest. Why have my reports never been taken seriously?" Antionette says.

Pieter responds: "They were never able to hit me. Remember, I lived at your place. If they even made a vague threat, I was at your doorstep even at one in the morning."

"That should have been enough on its own." He shrugs. "Did you never get interrogated?"

"Nope, I never have. Well, until I was making the calls about Madelon, I would have tried to push them to get us out if I could. I obviously can't speak for Madelon."

I take a moment and think back and say: "I have been asked many times at school, even at home, especially after Pieter tried to abduct me, then it was more oriented on Pieter than mom and dad. I tended to minimise the things mom and dad did. Even now, I am struggling to see what they are doing, what they did. Today, the confrontation with Tim was definitely a wake-up call. It is the reason I am even considering moving out."

Pieter and Anne rolled their eyes, but Antionette didn't even give their reaction a second glance. Antionette responds: "Knowing them, I can see them minimising the situation as it is. It would be horrendous if they took you away, and it would reflect badly on them as is. Just let us know if you need help."

A small smile happens to form on my lips as she says it. "Sure, I will. And I will take it up on the room and board. Thank you."

Pieter leaves, saying he needs a moment to bring us dinner.