Chapter 11: Kind of a Long Story

Addison pulls me gently away from the front of the store and up the staircase to her apartment. I shake the compulsion to salute the skeleton in the window and stand at the entrance with my arms crossed.

Look, I’m not a confrontational person. Quite the opposite, really. I’m the kind of person who would simply pay extra money if overcharged by a cashier, rather than call them out on it. But I’m looking forward to hearing what Addy’s excuse is for controlling who I can and can’t hang out with in my spare time after only knowing me for 48 hours. Partly because I want to know what’s going on in that beautiful head of hers, but also partly because I’m wondering if there really is a good reason.

It’s not like Laetitia was any better. Obviously there’s some kind of thing going on between them, because they both don’t want me around the other. But I’m my own person, dammit. Whatever their beef is, I don’t want any part of it.

Addison paces back and forth and runs her fingers through her hair. I’ve never seen her agitated like this before. She’s usually so calm, so in control. That cocky smirk on her face. Eyes glimmering with love and yes, maybe a little bit of mischief. But now I can see she is in fact human, and she can feel those same things that I hate feeling. Fear. Doubt. Worry. 

“Okay, so, this is hard to explain,” she begins. 

I set my jaw, say nothing, and try to remain focused. I’m liable to cave at any moment, but I’m going to get answers first.

“It’s just…Laetitia, the Gelspers, they’re…dangerous. I just want to keep you safe. That’s all.”

“Funny,” I say, “Laetitia said the same thing about all of you.”

Addy rolls her eyes. “Of course she would.”

“So what’s the deal here? You two have a falling out?” A thought hits me like a truck. “Wait…did you used to go out or something? Is that it?” It makes sense. Of course they’d both be weirdly jealous or something, if that was the issue. And it would explain the immediate distaste they have for one another.

Addy simply stares at me with wide eyes, then bursts into laughter. “Oh, hells no. No, no, no,” she spurts out.

Oh. Guess not. “Okay, then what is it? Why are you both acting this way?”

“It’s…complicated,” is all Addison says.

So, here’s the thing. There’s a big part of me that wants to just wash my hands of all this, give Addison a big hug, and trust that she’s just trying to “protect” me, like she says. I’d rather not argue with anyone, let alone this magical woman who’s lived rent free in my mind for the past two days. But I’ve been through this kind of thing before with Hannah. She’d force herself to become the only thing in my life by systematically cutting me off from all of my other friends, my entire support system. And she’d do it by gaslighting me into believing they were “bad for me.” When in reality, it was just her way of dealing with her own insecurity. “I don’t want you hanging out with them anymore,” she’d say, and I’d fall for it every time, because I was madly in love and didn’t know any better.

Then she cheated on me. Dumped me on the spot. And then, I had truly nothing left. So, no. I’m not going to take this, not even from Addison Grey. “You’re gonna have to do better than that.”

She runs her hand through her wavy locks once more. Whatever the truth is, it must be hard for her to get out. “There’s…something about this town you should know,” she says at last. I’ve never seen her look so defeated. It’s as though all of a sudden, all the carefree chaos has stepped aside, and now those slender shoulders bear the weight of the entire world. “It’s kind of a long story.”

“Then give me the short version,” I say, hands on my hips. Hey, I think I deserve to be a little petulant here.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the east and west sides of the town are pretty different,” she explains. I nod—that much is obvious to me now. “The people on that side, they run the show here, sorta. But it wasn’t always that way. We used to. Before that, them again. Before that, us again.”

“So, what, like political parties?” It doesn’t explain everything, but it kinda fits.

She gives a sheepish smile. “Yeah, kinda like that. But everyone goes way back, you know? There’s a lot of…bitterness there.”

That explains some stuff, I guess. But not everything. “Okay, so y’all don’t like each other. I can grok that. But why all the talk about how ‘dangerous’ you both are? As far as I can tell, you’re both harmless. Well, Laetitia is kind of a bitch, but she also…” I trail off. Also what, Lum? Also kissed you? Also you liked it? Also you kinda liked it when she was a bitch, too? Dumbass.

Addy raises an eyebrow, but thankfully doesn’t dwell on my little slip up. “There’s more that…that I can’t tell you,” she says quietly. “Trust me, I want to, I really do, but I can’t. I’m…sworn to secrecy.”

Now it’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “‘Sworn to secrecy?’ What is this, Game of Thrones?”

“I…don’t know what that is,” she says with a shrug. Now that’s surprising. I know she doesn’t have HBO or whatever, but has she really been so out of touch she’s never even heard of Game of Thrones? “But trust me, even if I wanted to tell you, I couldn’t. So can we just drop it?” she pleads.

“I can drop it. And look, I really appreciate all you’ve done for me. And I’d really like to continue staying here, at least for a bit while I get my bearings and figure out where to go. Please don’t think I don’t totally adore you for feeding me and clothing me and all this stuff. It’s…you’re incredible, honestly. But let me make one thing clear.” I stand as tall as my 5’2” ass possibly can and try to meet her gaze without looking pathetic in the attempt. “I’m my own person. You don’t own me.”

Addison deflates. “Of course, dear. I know that.”

“And I can hang out with whoever I want. Even if it’s Laetitia.”

“I—” she starts, then stares at the floor. “Yeah. You can. Just…be careful.”

I’ve never seen Addy this way. The facade has slipped away, and underneath is just a woman. A generous, warm, fiercely protective woman. But she is human after all, and not some goddess come to save me. I feel awfully stupid—stupid for putting her on a pedestal, and also stupid for snapping at her. I wish these last few minutes could be expunged from history. But that’s just not how time works, is it?

There is one thing I can do, though. I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her. “I’m sorry for getting angry,” I whisper.

“I’m sorry, too.” She runs her fingers through my untamed curls and pulls me into an even tighter hug, so tight I have nowhere to go but to bury my head in her bosom. Her way-more-ample-than-I-originally-thought bosom. I just savor the moment, savor her. She’s a good person, just very overprotective. But she’s overprotective of me. Of this person she’s only barely met. This person who is very quickly, inexorably, falling for her.

We’re only like that for about ten seconds, her nails stroking my scalp under my bedhead, my cheek pressed up against her breasts, my arms wrapped around her waist, but what a glorious ten seconds they are. Then I have to open my stupid mouth, because I’m an idiot: “So…what’s with… you calling Rey and her friends ‘kindling?’”

She immediately separates, looking like a deer in headlights. “What? Oh. Uhhh,” she stammers.

“Let me guess. You’re sworn to secrecy?”

She nods. “It’s—” 

“Complicated,” we both say, in unison. “Yeah, I get it, I get it. I’ll stop prying. For now.” I give her a fleeting smile so she knows I’m not still angry, although honestly, what gives? What secret could possibly be this important and this…this…weird?

“I’m sorry,” she offers, but I’ve already backed off and started to head out of the kitchen. “Is it okay if I go for a quick drive? I’ll be back to help with the lunch rush, I promise.” She nods wordlessly. I flash her another smile and then vanish, slipping by a very confused Val, and out the door before I change my mind. 

Maybe Addy is dangerous. But if she is, her danger is the same as Hannah’s—the risk of me attaching myself, my identity, the whole of my being, to somebody else so quickly that they become my entire life. I don’t want that. For my sake and for Addison’s. It might be my MO, but it’s one I’m trying to change. Hell, I got in a car and drove hundreds of miles in an almost random direction just to get away from exactly this behavior. Who could have possibly predicted I’d meet somebody like Addison Grey along the way? 

If I believed in fate, I’d maybe chalk it up to that. Gods, maybe. Addison is divine intervention levels of awesome on the whole, after all. Even after whatever all of that just was.

Windy and I are cruising down toward the river that separates the two apparently belligerent sections of the town when I spot Rey. She’s sitting in a quaint, but obviously quite rundown park in a residential area by the river. The houses here are small compared to the ones across the river. Everything looks just a bit disheveled—damaged siding, unkempt lawns, and the like. A few odd broken windows, even. As for the park itself, well, “park” is a bit generous. Maybe at one point it was nice, but now, it’s barely more than a plot of grass with a bent swing set. A swing set Rey is currently sitting on, reading a book and looking…well, about as sad as this park and these houses. She’s wearing a bulky sweater and a pair of ratty jeans that probably aren’t very good at keeping out the cold, along with a slouchy black beanie that covers her hair and ears. Come to think of it, she doesn’t really look like she’s reading. The book is more an accessory than an actual activity.

I park just around the corner and walk the rest of the way, my hands jammed in my coat pockets to keep warm. “Rey!” I shout as soon as I get close enough for her to hear me. She pops her head out of her book and stares at me like I’m the most surprising thing that could be walking down the street at this very moment despite the fact that we apparently bump into one another every afternoon. “Whatcha doin’?” I call out.

She lifts up her book and then shrugs. She looks bored. No—the closer I get, the more I realize she doesn’t just look bored, she looks distraught. “What’s wrong?” I sit on the swing next to her and begin to gently rock back and forth on it.

“It’s…a bit of a long story,” she says after a held breath.

“Lot of those going around,” I reply with a roll of my eyes. Man, what is with this place? Is everyone in the mafia or something? “Apparently, Addy doesn’t want me hanging around Laetitia Gelsper and she won’t really tell me why other than ‘she’s dangerous,’ which I don’t buy.” I make quote marks with my fingers as I recount Addy’s words. The frustration in my voice is obvious. But Rey just bites her lower lip and looks at me with concern.

“She is. They all are,” she says. 

“Ugh, you too?” I sigh. “What’s the deal?”

Rey stares at me long and hard as I swing back and forth, her round glasses fogging a little bit from her breath. “I want you to see something. Can I show you?”

I stop swinging and stare back. “I guess so?” She stuffs her book into her backpack and motions for me to follow her. Her steps are quick, deliberate. Whatever it is she wants to show me, she’s eager to get there…but she doesn’t seem super happy about it. “Where are we going?”

“My house,” Rey replies.

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