She watched him, silent for a moment. "You don't sound very convinced..." she said quietly.

Albert chuckled sadly at that. "I've seen you almost kissing another man, Madison. Do you want me to sound like in the first day?"

Madison's mouth dropped open and she stood up. "I was not about to kiss him!" she hissed. "How many times must I tell you that? What will it take for you to believe me? I explained what happened, I told you that it meant nothing. How many more times do I have to explain myself?" she queried. "Why are you being so... stubborn about this?" she asked so quietly she wondered if he'd even heard her.

Albert sighed and rolled his eyes at her emotional outburst. "I am stubborn? I? Look, just think of yourself in my position, okay? Do that for just one moment. Would you be able to come back to me within minutes as if nothing happened?"

"Believe me, I have been in your position before. And yeah, it's confusing and hurtful," she told him. "But you know, when the person you're with tells you it's nothing, you kinda have to trust them. Especially if they're being genuinely sincere about that. Because without trust, you're left in a screwy position. So I know how you feel. It's just I also know that you have to have some faith..." She fell silent, watching him.

He just shrugged. "I do," he said. "I've already told you, I'm okay with that and I'm willing to give this a try. I guess you are the one who doesn't understand."

She stopped herself before her mouth dropped open again; him telling her that it was she who didn't understand just hurt. "Ok, just once and for all, what do you want? Do you want us to be together and be exclusive? Or do you just want a break to figure stuff out and then maybe get together later...?" she asked. She needed to know, here and now. All this beating-around-the-bush business was just confusing.

Patrick watched the young woman dancing with ease while he still had this smile on his lips.

It's been a while since he'd danced. Though Lisbon wasn't bad. Not even Alexa, Sam's ten minutes younger sissy, who turned out to be quite ok.

Albert sighed and passed a hand through his hair. "I do want us to be together. I do want us to be exclusive. I'm just not sure that this is what you want. And it's not easy, Madison," he said lowly, for the first time saying things exactly how they were. "Because I love you."

Madison blinked in surprise. She'd wanted to hear this from him so much, but now the moment was here, it seemed all too fast. "You...love me?" she repeated softly, her blue eyes gazing into his. She ran a hand through her hair. If it hadn't been for this argument today she wouldn't have had a problem saying it but now... "I...I love you too," she replied after a small silence. "But...isn't this a bit fast? I mean, you yourself said that we'd only been together a short while..."

"I don't know, Maddy," he said, his voice suddenly turning softer. "I'm just telling you what I feel right now."

She went closer to him, reaching out and touching his cheek. "Albert I..." she began. She sighed, sitting down. Running her hand through her hair she bit her lip, trying to put together coherent sentences in her mind. "Al, I do really care about you and what I feel for you could only probably be described as love. But I'm a mess; my head's a mess. I want to be with you, I do," she told him. But she no longer knew what she wanted. "Let's...let's play it by ear," she said softly. "But I do know that I really don't want to lose you..."

Albert sighed and pulled away from her. Even after this event that had definetly made him re-think everything, he had been able to say those three words. And what was he met by? A refuse. Because there was no other way he could describe it. "You know what, save it," he said, not in a harsh voice though. He looked away from her and sipped from his beer again.

Maddy bit her lip, frozen. "You don't understand," she said softly, trying to keep the frustration from her voice. "I want to be with you. I do love you back. I'm just..." She sighed, trying to keep her voice steady. "Albert, you want me to be truly honest with you? I'm scared, I'm worried, and I need a hug. I'm a mess. Worse than that. This week has been hell, and that would be an understatement. Inside, I'm scared and I'm freaking out. I care for you. So much. You are amazing and I've never met someone like you. And I do love you. So please don't do this," she pleaded softly. She ignored the fact that she usually never let anyone see her weaknesses, but by this point, she didn't care. If he thought her weak for not being able to handle things, then so be it. But he needed to know.

"Madison," he said, raising his hand to stop her from talking. "Take your time. I might not understand you, but I care for you. And I will wait for you. Okay?"

"Then...then we're ok? You and me?" she asked, looking at him, tempted to go and give him a hug at his words.

He shrugged a bit and looked at her. "We're okay," he said with a nod.

She wanted to say something extra, knew she should, but didn't know what else the situation called for. So she simply nodded. "Good... Can we hug on that?" she added softly.

He shrugged again, but didn't smile. "Sure," he said simply.

She went over and hugged him, wincing slightly at how awkward the hug felt. "Should I go?" she asked suddenly. "Like, do you want time to yourself or...?" the question trailed off.
She knew she was supposed to go back to see Patrick and Michi, but this was more important.

Albert hugged her back, slowly taking in her scent. He was sorry for what had happened and he hoped that she could see that. After she broke the hug, she asked if she should go. "You can leave," he shrugged. "Or you can stay. It doesn't matter to me." Only after he finished his words, he realized that it might have sounded more rude than he wanted it to sound.

Maddy's face fell. She wasn't sure if he'd been meaning for it to sound harsh, but it kind of did. "Well, I promised Michelle I'd be back at some point," she said after a small silence. "Unless you'd like to go somewhere. Like dinner or something."

Albert he noticed that she had probably taken his words and the way he said them not how he intended them to be. However, after she spoke, he shrugged again. "I think you should go, if you promised her," he told her.

Maddy gave a tiny sigh. "Ok," she said softly. She reached out for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Text me... And if you want, dinner at my place tomorrow..."

She got out her phone and sent a text to Patrick and Michi. 'Coming soon, see you guys shortly...' She looked up at him for another moment then quietly heading out.

As she drove, she didn't know how to feel. Yes, he'd said that they were ok and that he'd wait for her, but he hadn't stopped her from leaving. She sighed, pulling up outside the Academy and heading inside. She couldn't help but smile seeing Will and Mich dancing away, having fun.
"Hey," she greeted Jane softly, coming up behind him and giving him a soft prod in his side.

"Oh hey." Jane 'woke' up from his thoughts. "Up for a dance?" he asked eyeing her.
He spotted something but didn't tell.

As usual he still was learning 'when to shut up and when talk' as Lisbon named it once. But in this place... He had just became a brand new person he never expected himself to be ever again.
And he really liked his new friends. They were his family now.

Buzzing of his phone noted somebody tried to call him. A hunch told it was Lisbon so he just answered.
"Yes Lisbon, my dear... No I didn't.... Why should I send you a bucket of ducklets in the middle of the night? I have plenty of stuff to do anyways... Ok... Bye." Jane put the phone back in vest pocket and smiled at Maddy.
"Sorry, looks like my present just arrived at its designated location."