Maddison just rolled his eyes when Julien rated his art work as boring. Leave it to Jules to be his own worse critic. Regardless, Maddison liked it and he'd always had a penchant for messing with Jules. Even knowing that the other was never all that impressed when people complimented his artwork, Mads continued to do it anyway. Even if his pursuit of perfection was a tad unrealistic, Jules was a damn good artist and Maddison made sure to remind him of that. Whether he wanted to hear it or not.<br/><br/>Case's ridiculous entrance and Julien's skittish reaction to it, was too funny not to laugh at and Maddison let a snicker slip out before he could stop it. Of course Case had to be a raging dick and go  the extra mile. Because why not? He grinned when Evie teased that Case was the body. Not too far off the mark there.<br/><br/>And then the moment had passed and they were all back to the reason Julien had summoned them here.<br/><br/>Jules flustered and stumbling over his words had Maddison looking on with something akin to concerned amusement. Amusement that quickly faded into a sinking feeling in his stomach; which only worsened when Everett grabbed hold of Jules hand. No, no he didn't just<i>hold </i>his hand, he laced their fingers together. His gaze darted between the two of them, silently praying to whoever would listen that this wasn't what it looked like. He didn't want to hear this. Didn't want to know. But did anyone listen? Nooo, Everett just went on ahead and confirmed what the two of them were struggling to get at. Mads had to swallow around the sudden tightness in his throat. Had it always been this difficult to breathe?<br/><br/>A year, huh? A whole fucking year, and now they decide to tell them? Maddison didn't know if he was more hurt or angry. Goes to show what a decade plus of friendship meant to these two...Nothing. Abso-fucking-lutely nothing. Distantly, he knew he was being unfair, and  he didn't care. He hurt too much to try and be understanding.<br/><br/>Reaching up, he tugged at his ear, ignoring the sensation of a giant stepping on his chest, "...What, that's it?" Pale eyes looked between the two of them, looking almost disappointed, "I mean, with all the tension and suspense I was expecting something a little more...exciting." He silently congratulated himself on managing to keep his voice from cracking, because fuck, he could barely breathe as it was. And why did it feel like he was falling? He glanced down at the floor, just to make sure that it hadn't fallen away beneath him. Nope, still there.