“Because I love you, okay? God, I thought that’d be fucking obvious.” A soft, exasperated laugh leaves him, and he shakes his head. “I love you so much, sometimes I fucking hate you for it—for making me fall to the point where I’d abandon everything else for you. Because I would. I’d sell my team out and give you the pennant. I’d hand my soul over to Hades himself if it made you smile.” He licks his lips and releases a resounding sigh. “You’re the one I’d turn around for, Theo. Over and over again.”
This love confession falls flat because when have we really seen him put Theo over his moms happiness or any other event/person besides the pennant situation. If we’d had moments of his mom wanting to do something with him and he picked handing with Theo over her, or his teammates wanted to hang out or plan an attack against their rivals and Madden warned Theo then this would feel more true. Instead Madden hasn’t actually had to “choose” Theo.
