Free Chasing Dragonflies by Tee Smith

think I'll be going anywhere any time soon.”
    “Cool,” he gave her a sexy grin. He really was a good looking man. “I'll see you in a couple days then.”
    As he turned and walked back down the stairs she slapped Patrick on the arm. “Nice one you buffoon, now he definitely won't be interested in me.”
    Patrick shrugged and walked off into the living room, she was sure she heard him mutter “good” under his breath. Bloody Patrick.
     
    ***
     
    Later that evening, Maddie and Patrick were laying at opposite ends of the couch. Patrick sat with his feet on the floor and Maddie sat with her feet tucked under her.
    “Want another piece?” Patrick asked reaching for the pizza on the coffee table.
    Rubbing her stomach she replied, “Nah I'm good.”
    “I'm never going to fatten you up if you don't eat anything,” Patrick laughed reaching over and giving her side a light squeeze.
    Pulling the cushion from behind her, Maddie launch it at Patrick's head. Yelling, “contact” when it hit and collapsing into fits of giggles.
    Patrick retaliated by grabbing a piece of pizza and moving onto his knees beside her he proceeded to try to force it into her mouth. Maddie sucked her lips in, not giving him access, trying so hard not to laugh. Her sides ached and her chest hurt, as it still did when she exerted herself. A remnant of the double pneumonia she had endured. Pulling her knees out from under her, she tried to push him away with her legs.
    “Eat it, eat it, eat it,” Patrick laughed.
    “No...” she made the mistake of trying to talk and her mouth was quickly filled with pizza.
    As she munched on the piece of pizza, Patrick smugly put the remainder of the piece in his own mouth and took his place back on the couch. She had to admit, the pizza was good. Prior to coming back to the house, she could not remember when she had last eaten pizza.
    “So do you want to talk about it then?” Patrick asked around a mouthful of pizza.
    “What?” Maddie giggled. “Your bad manners?”
    He let out a cackle, “You are cheeky, you know that?”
    “Yeah,” she laughed, “I have been told that.”
    “What was it like? Being locked away all those years?” he asked a serious look coming over his face.
    Maddie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It was not so much that she did not want to talk about it, but she did not know if anyone else really wanted to hear it. She let out a long puff of air.
    “You don't have to talk about it, if you’re not comfortable.” Patrick reached across placing his hand reassuringly on her forearm. “It was just that you said earlier...”
    “Yeah I know,” she looked up at him, his eyes so full of pity, she hated when people looked at her with pity. Oh well he asked for it. “Where do I even start? At first it was pretty bad. I hated my dad so much for keeping me locked up. He would say such hurtful things. You know about Tom right?”
    Patrick nodded.
    “Well he told me Tom was dead. Well actually at first he told me Tom didn't care I was gone and was running around with every girl in town. I didn't believe him. I thought Tom would come looking for me, of course he never did.”
    She looked down to her lap and rubbed her ring finger. Remembering the weight of the engagement ring that Tom had placed on her finger and how much it had hurt when he did not come for her.
    “Anyway,” she carried on, looking up at Patrick. “So a while after he told me Tom was dead, he said Frank had killed him, then he told me that he had killed him. I never knew what to believe. But I did believe he was dead. I guess I had to, thinking of Tom moving on with his life without me, was just too much to bear. He was the only boyfriend I had ever had and I loved him. We were engaged. That was part the reason...” she trailed off again.
    Memories of those early months flooded her brain, tears formed behind her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall.
    “Part the reason he locked you up do you mean?” Patrick