Gamble With Desire

Addison awoke the next morning and lay in bed for a moment, trying to recall the events that took place the previous night. She slowly recalled that Alex had given her a ride home and helped her as she puked before going to bed.

Very cute, she thought to herself grumpily. He helped me as I puked my brains up. He must be so impressed…

Groaning, she rolled out of bed and saw that there had been a water bottle and some Advil placed next to her bed. Even though she felt fine, Addison figured it would be safe to take some anyway. Smiling, she put the bottle back in the bathroom and headed downstairs. The main floor was empty, which meant that her mom and Alex were still probably sleeping.

Addison wasn’t downstairs for too long until she head shuffling footsteps approaching. A sleepy-looking Alex came into the kitchen, scratching his head, and smiled when he saw her.

“Good morning,” he yawned. “How are you feeling?”

“Alex, I am so sorry about last night,” Addison blurted out. “I’m so fucking embarrassed…”

Alex blinked. “Um, what? Why?”

“You held my goddamn hair back while I puked!” She buried her face. “Sloppy intoxication is not attractive…”

Alex laughed. “Woah, calm down! That wasn’t sloppy – puking all over someone, or in a living room or something, that’s sloppy. At least you made it to the toilet. Besides, you’re adorable when you’re drunk.”

Addison decided to ignore his last comment and winced. “I didn’t say anything embarrassing, did I?”

Alex raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Such as?”

“I don’t know,” Addison shrugged. “That’s why I’m asking.”

He laughed. “Not that I know of.”

“Well, thank you so much for taking care of me.” She smiled. “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” he grinned. “It was fun babysitting.”

“Oh, shut up!” said Addison, alarmed. “I wasn’t that bad, was I?”

Alex laughed. “I’m just teasing, you were fine.”

“I was just making myself some tea,” said Addison, pouring the boiling water in her mug. “Do you want anything?”

“Uh, coffee would be great.” Addison nodded and looked through the cupboards. “Sorry, we only have instant. Is that okay?”

Alex snapped out of whatever train of thought he was in and slowly looked over at Addison. “Pardon?”

She laughed. “Is instant coffee okay?”

Alex nodded. They remained silent as Addison bustled around. A few moments later, Addison said, “Alex?”

“Mhm?”

“I don’t know how you take your coffee, so there are cream and sugar on the counter. There’s milk in the fridge if you’d like, too.”

“Thanks, Adds.”

Adds? She thought to herself. Shit, only people who are close to me usually call me that.

“What makes you call me that?” she asked casually. She knew it wasn’t a huge deal, she was just curious.

He shrugged, preparing his coffee. “Addison is long to say. I’m lazy.” He chuckled. “Unless you have a problem with it?”

She shook her head, sipping her tea. “Of course not.”

Alex sat down and they didn’t speak for a while – Addison’s mind had trailed off to wondering where Logan was and what he was doing. Smirking slightly, she wondered what his reaction would be when he came home to discover that Addison was gone, along with some of his money. She couldn’t stay here for long – this was the first place he would look for her. Addison couldn’t blame him.

“You have a lot on your mind,” said Alex softly. Addison met his studying gaze and nodded.

“We should go out tonight,” Alex said thoughtfully.

Addison raised her eyebrows. “And go where, Mr. Gaskarth?”

He smiled. “I’ll figure it out. Do you want to?” He paused. “You really seem like you could use a fun time.” He winked, then continued, “And I promise I can give it to you.”

This made Addison laugh. “Oh really, now? You seem pretty confident in that.”

“Of course I am,” smirked Alex. “So, yes or no?”

After deliberating for a moment, Addison shrugged and said with a smile, “Sure, Alex. So what happens if you don’t give me a fun time?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be worrying about that.”

She laughed. “What are we doing?”

“I don’t know yet,” said Alex honestly. “But it’ll be a surprise.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to it,” Addison smiled.

“Me too,” said Alex. They finished their coffee and tea and Alex looked at the clock – it was noon already.

“I should get going,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“Sure,” said Addison, standing up so she could walk him to the door.

“I’ll bring your brother’s clothes back, too. I guess I should go get my own clothes from upstairs.” Addison nodded and Alex ran upstairs, coming back with clothes and car keys in hand.

“So I’ll see you tonight?” he asked with a smile.

“Indeed you will. And thanks again for everything, Alex.”

He just smiled and pulled her into a hug. After kissing her on the forehead, leaving it tingling, he said into her ear, “No need to be thanking me just yet.”

And with that, Alex opened the door, winked, and closed it shut behind him.

“Pompous ass,” Addison muttered with a laugh. She stood there for a moment, thinking about what had just happened.

She was on the run from her abusive ex-boyfriend and she had been home not even two days and made a… well, date? What the hell was she thinking?

But then again, it was only one date. One silly date. And Addison didn’t even know if it would be classified as one – for all she knew, Alex could be inviting some friends along and it could be a group thing. That wasn’t what he suggested with the way he was talking, mind you, but she still didn’t know for sure. And besides, even if it was a date, it wasn’t like anything serious was going to happen. Like Alex had said – Addison was in need of some fun.

Shaking her head and deciding not to dissect this situation any further, Addison cleaned up hers and Alex’s mugs and headed for the shower. Date or not, she knew that tonight would be very interesting.