Heroes...And The Rest Of Us.

This feels kind of familiar, walking down the road like this. Except, the last time I did this it was raining, today the sun is shining, the air is pretty warm for fall, but I'm still happy that I have Adam's shirt. I see my dad's 78 camaro drive slowly past me, pulling to the side just in front of me. I walk to the passenger side and get in.

"Thanks for coming" I say, leaning across the car giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Has there ever been a time that you called and I didn't come?" He asks.

"Well, there was that one time" I say.

"That was different, you called, I came, took Braydon's keys and made you walk home...Only Braydon made it home, but thats not my fault"

"Excuses, excuses" I reply.

"So, what put you on the side of the road this time? And don't think about lying to me"

"Nothing, I don't want to talk about it" I say.

"Well, I know you were with Daisy, and you're walking away from Adam's soooo..."

"How did you know I was walking from Adam's?"

"Honey, I'm not stupid, you have a men's shirt on" He pauses "And I saw his last name on a mailbox back there"

I laugh, "So the truth comes out"

"Don't try to change the subject missy" He says.

I tell him the story of the night before, but like Adam had earlier, I leave out the part about sleeping with him. I tell him about Neil coming in and what he said when I left.

"What tangled webs we weave" He says. I sit there in silence for a moment.

"What the hell does that mean?" I say.

"Well, after a year of being clean, it's understandable that seeing someone from his past brought some shit up, if anyone should know about that, it's me"

I nod, I know that before my mom left, my dad was pretty into drugs and other very bad things that he had to ditch when he was forced to raise me by himself, So I'm sure he does know alot about this stuff.

"What do you think about what Neil said? I ask "Do you think Adam was using me as a distraction?"

He thinks for a second, "Did you sleep with him?"

"DAD!!!

"Oh c'mon Sophie, you're a big girl, did you seriously think that I thought you were still a virgin?"

"Well, no"

"So, did you sleep with him?"

"Yes" I say, quietly.

"I seriously doubt that he was using you like that lastnight. He needed a friend that wasn't going to judge him, and it seems like you did the right thing"

I nod, apparently were taking the long way home. He starts talking again.

"This Neil guy, it sounds like he's been down road with Adam before, he knows how goes. But, that dosen't mean that he can dictate whow Adam see's or talks to, that's his choice only"

"So, what do I do?" I ask as we pull onto my street.

"What do you think? do whats good for you, if you think thats with Adam, I want you to be careful, though"

We pull into the driveway, I see Mike standing in front of the kitchen window, looking out.

"Thanks for the ride, and the advice" I say.

"No problem, know that I'm always here for you when you need me" I smile at him.

"So, do you think your neighbors would bitch if I did a burnout in front of your house? He asks.

"Probably" He smirks.

"Cool, go get Mikey so he can watch"

I get out of the car and run into the house as he backs the car out to the road.

"Mike! Get out here!" I scream. He appears on the front step, seconds later and Dad starts to squeal the tires, sending smoke and rubber flying. Mike and I clap as he roars off down the road.

"Well, he's in a good mood this morning" Mike says as we walk into the house.

"Yeah, so how was your night?"

"Good, except I'm starving and we have nothing in this house to eat except for mint and chip ice cream"

***********************************************************************************************

It's been two weeks since I've seen Adam. He's called a bunch of times, but I never answer. I just don't know what to say, I guess. He showed up at my house the other day, but, I had Mike answer and lie and say I wasn't home. I've been keeping busy, trying not to think about the night we spent together. Today, I went shopping with my half sister Liv, and her daughter Kya. We arrive home with our purchases and I make lunch for Kya.

"What time do you get out of work?" Liv asks me.

"Eleven o' clock" I say, putting some chips on the plate of food for Kya.

After we eat, I give them both a hug and a kiss and they leave. I'm alone at the house, Mike's at work, so I decide to clean the bathroom before I get ready to go to my own job. I work at the Gull Lake Bar and Grill, which is right on the lake so people can come and eat when their boating. I'm a waitress/bartender there, and for the most part I like my job, we have bands twice a week, so thats fun.

After I'm done cleaning, I shower and dress in my uniform, which is a very short black skirt and a three quarter sleeve, black shirt with the resturaunt logo on it, black high heels and a little black apron. Not really the most appropriate waitress outfit, but I didn't really get a choice in the matter. Tonight there's going to be a band, so we will be busy, I'm not really looking forward to it. When I arrive I go inside and clock in. I say hi to the inside bartender, Sully.

"Who's working outside tonight?" I ask him.

"Xavier's working the bar and you and Sara are working both inside and outside, so prepare to be killed"

"Only two waitress's, that's great" I say.

"I didn't make up the schedule" He says, holding his hands up at his sides.

The band starts at eight, so until then were not too busy, mostly just people at the bar and families sitting on the deck, eating. At seven thirty, a group of middle aged women come in and sit at my table. I walk up to them and take their order, pink margaritas for them all, this should be fun. They'll all be lit up at the end of the night.

When I'm at the bar giving Sully the margarita order, another group of people come in, and also sit at one of my booth's. When I go to the booth to take their drink order, I almost pass out when I see who's sitting there, Adam, Neil, two other people I don't know, a guy and a girl, and a little girl who looks about twelve to me. Adam smiles at me.

"Hey Sophie" He says.

I swallow, he looks so good, but I have to be professional.

"How are you folks tonight?" I ask.

There are some mumbled 'fines' and 'goods'. I launch into whats on special and tell them about the band thats getting ready to start.

"Can I get you guys something to drink?" I ask.

The four adults order beer and the little girl orders orange soda. I practically run back to the bar to give Sully the order. When I get there, he has the margaritas for me to serve. Sarah, the other waitress walks over to the bar just as the band starts playing.

"Hows it going in here?" She asks me.

"Ok, how bout you?" I say, turning away from her, tray of margaritas balanced in my hand.

"I'm good" She says.

I walk over to the women and hand them their drinks, one woman looks at me.

"I have a son who's single and I think that he would just love you!" She says.

I laugh tensily, I can feel Adam's eyes on me, "I'm not really looking for a boyfriend right now, but I'm sure your son's a great guy" I say, walking back to the bar before she can answer. I take the beers and soda to Adam's table.

"Would you guys like menus?" I ask.

"No thank you" The woman replies, smiling at me.

"I've called you a bunch of times" Adam says. I glance at Neil, who's looking at Adam.

"I've been busy" I lie "And besides, this isn't the time or place for this conversation"

He nods and I walk away. Oh my God, I'm freaking out on the inside, What is he doing here? This is such torture. I continue working, trying my best to avoid Adam and his group. At about nine thirty, I'm standing at the bar with my back to the people, talking to the cook, Richie.

"I gotta get back to work" He says.

"I'll talk to you later"

I walk outside where the band is playing. They sound really good. I check on some of the tables to make sure no one needs anything. When I go back inside, I notice Adam is no longer in the booth. I figure now would be a good time to check on the other people that were with him. I go to the booth with four more beers and another soda. When I set then down, Neil looks at me.

"How are you doing?" He asks.

"Fine, you?"

"Good"

"Are you a friend of Adam's" The woman asks me.

"Uh, yeah"

"I'm his sister, Caitlin, This is our brother, Cale" She says, gesturing at the other guy.

"Nice to meet you both" I say, trying not to flip out.

"And this is my daughter, Roo, Adam's Goddaugher" Neil says.

"That's great" I say, I turn away and go back to the bar, standing like I was earlier, trying to tune everyone out. Someone's hands reach around to each side grabbing the bar, trapping me against it. I can smell the familiar scent of Adam's Drakkar.

"We need to talk" He says in my ear. I nod.

"Sully, I'm taking my break!" I yell. I hear him say something else, but Adam has me by my arm and is dragging me towards the back door, so I can't hear what he says.

"What's up, Sophie?" Adam says, a little annoyed sounding.

"I'm sorry I haven't called, I've been really-"

"Bullshit" He interrupts "Bullshit"

"I've been busy" I finish.

"Sophie, thats bullshit" He says "Two weeks ago you were laying naked in my arms and now you've been too busy to call and say 'Hey, I'm alive, good fuck by the way, ya stupid druggie" He says, quite loudly.

"Ahem" Someone is standing outside with us. We both turn to see who it it, Richie is standing there, smoking.

"Hey, man, you wanna give us a minute?" Adam says to him.

"Yeah" He puts out the cigarette on the ground and looks at me.

"You gonna be ok girl?" He asks me.

"Yes, can you please just go?" He turns and goes in the backdoor.

Adam turns to me, "Well?" He says.

"It wasn't like that, Adam"

"Then tell me what it was like for you, cause thats what I'm feeling like right now, that I was nothing but a good fuck for you"

"I've been keeping my distance because I don't want to distract you from your recovery" I say, he looks at me in disbelief.

"My recovery from what? I've been clean for a year, I don't get distracted, I had one bad night and I thought we had something stronger that night, but apparently I was wrong" He says.

"No"

"No what?"

"We do have something stronger" I say.

"Then why are you acting like this?"

"Because you're doing really good and I don't want to screw it up for you"

"Where did you get an idea like that?"

I just stand there, staring at my shoes.

"Hello, Sophie! Who told you that you were going to screw this up for me?" He says.

I sigh "Neil" I say quietly, almost whispering.

"What?"

"Neil"

He starts stomping around, waving his arms, "Son of a Bitch!" He yells, kicking a trash can.

"Adam stop!"

He does and walks over to me.

"It's okay, he was just worried about you" I say.

He takes my face in his hands and puts his down so were only inches apart.

"I'm sorry" He says.

"Can we talk about this later, I have to get back to work"

"Will you come to my place tonight after you get out?"

I nod, he lets go of my face and I walk back inside alone.

***********************************************************************************************

About three hours later, I clock out of work and walk out into the chilly fall air. I get in my truck and crank the heat. I don't really know what to expect when I get to Adam's. I pull in the driveway and see lights on, kind of odd looking since all the neighbors lights are off. I get out and walk to the front door and knock. Adam's roomate, Tobin, answers.

"Hey" He says.

"Is Adam here?"

"Yeah, come on in"

I follow him to the living room where I see Adam and his bandmate, Barry, sitting on the couch with their feet up on the coffee table. Tobin sits down in the chair, grabbing a bowl of popcorn that was on the table. There are six beer bottles on the table and they each have one in their hands as well. I look at the tv, their watching I Love Lucy. Barry moves his feet down so I can walk past him to where Adam is sitting. Adam looks at me and smirks.

"Hey" He says.

"Are you drunk?" I ask, the other guys laugh a little, I can't tell if their laughing at my question or at the tv.

"No, I'm not drunk"

I sit on the couch next ot him and watch Lucille Ball stuff chocolates in her mouth, the guys are laughing. On the commercial break, Tobin gets up to get more beer.

"Do you want one?" He asks me.

"Sure, why not"

He returns a minute later and hands us all a beer. Adam puts his arm around me, pulling me close to him. The four of us sit in silence for an hour, watching tv. Adam tilts his bottle back, finishing it. He looks at me.

"How about we go to my room and finish our conversation?" He says to me.

I nod and start to get up. Barry moves his legs for me again.

"You leaving us, Boss?" Tobin asks Adam.

"Yeah, you guys are just too entertaining" He says.

Tobin tosses and handful of popcorn at Adam.

"Well, if you had someone that looked that good willing to go with you to your bedroom, you wouldn't be out here with me, either" Barry says to Tobin. Adam glares at Barry.

"Goodnight Gentlemen" He says, following me to his bedroom. When we get there he closes the door.

"I'm fucking beat" He says, yawning.

"Me too"

"Will you stay here with me tonight?"

I look at the bed, remembering what happened when I was here last. I see him looking at me, waiting for an answer. He smiles.

"We don't have to have sex, you know" He says.

"Yeah, I know that"

"I'm too fucking tired anyway"

"I don't have sleeping clothes with me" I say.

He turns and opens his dresser drawers, pulling out a pair of black sweatpants and a wife-beater undershirt that looks like it would be small on a smurf and hands them to me.

"I don't have ladies underwear" He says with a smile "You can change in the bathroom if you want"

"Thank you" I walk out of the bedroom and turn immediatly into the bathroom, shutting the door. I change clothes and send Mike a text that says 'good night'. I shut my phone off, gather my work clothes and walk back into the bedroom, where Adam is walking around in boxers and a t-shirt.

"See, you look better in my clothes than I do"

"I don't think so, is this shirt see through?"

"No" He says.

I look around the room, "Where's my purse?"

"Uhh, I think you left it in the living room" He replies.

"Great, I'll be right back" I walk out to the living room, where Barry and Tobin and still sitting. Their eyes flicker on me when I come in. I reach around the popcorn bowl and grab my purse from the coffee table and turn to leave.

"Night" They both say at the same time. It kind of catches me off gaurd.

"Night" I say, walking quickly back to the bedroom. Adam is laying on his back in bed, staring at the ceiling. I crawl in next to him, laying my head on his shoulder.

"I think Neil cares too much" He says.

"Where did that come from?"

"I'm finishing our conversation. I think he cares too much about me and the people around me, including you, he dosen't want to see me go back to the way I was and hurt everyone again.

"Thats probably a fair statement" I say.

"I want you in my life. I know that I'm not going back to drugs. If there was a doubt in my mind I wouldn't have you here with me, because I don't want to hurt you"

"You won't hurt me, I won't let you, and neither will Neil" I say.

"I'm going to explain to him how I feel about everything. I don't want to alienate him from my life, because he's my friend and my bandmate and he's always been there for me"

"It's good that your going to talk to him, I think that he still thinks your fragile, and sometimes you are and thats okay, but he needs to know that everytime that happens, you're not going to...relapse" I say.

"Yeah, I think this was a good conversation, can we sleep now?"

I laugh, "Yes"

***************************************************************************************************

I roll over the next morning and feel paper crunch under my face, I open my eyes and notice that I'm alone in bed and theres a piece of paper under my face. I look at it, it's a note from Adam-

"Hey love-
I had to take care of some things this morning, I hope you'll still be here when I get home.
Adam"

This sounds good to me, I put the note on the nightstand, roll over and go back to sleep. The next time I wake up, he's standing over me, watching me sleep.

"How long have you been standing there?" I ask.

"A couple minutes"

"Oh, I have to pee" I say, getting up, when I walk past him he grabs my arm. I look at him, he gestures upward with his face for a kiss. I give him one.

"That was nice, but I still have to pee" I say when were finished. He lets go of my arm. When I'm finished in the bathroom, I come back in and see him laying face down on the bed with his feet hanging over the edge. I walk behind him and smack his ass with both hands.

"I knew you were going to do that, take advantage of me when I'm laying here all vulnerable" He says, rolling over to face me, I lay down on my stomach next to him.

"Whatever, make me feel bad why don't you"

He laughs and starts playing with my hair, "I can make you feel vulnerable and take advantage of you" He says.

"I bet you could"

We start fooling around and he pulls the undershirt over my head and kisses my chest. Were getting pretty into it when someone knocks on the bedroom door.

"What the fuck?" Adam yells "This is getting real old, is there some kind of fucking radar that goes off everytime I get a fucking hard on?" He yells, getting off me, grabbing a blanket and draping it over my body. He stomps over to the door and opens it. Tobin is standing there.

"What?" Adam spits.

"Your mom is here" Tobin tells him.

"I'm busy"

"I told her that, and she bitched and told me to get you out there right now"

Adam looks at me, "I'm sorry, if I don't go out there, I'll be dickhead of the year"

"That's fine, go" I say. He adjusts himself and walks out with no shirt on. I get out of bed and get dressed in my mini skirt and the wife beater. I add Adam's leather jacket. I fold my work shirt and stuff it in my purse. I start walking to the living room, when the bathroom door opens and a hand reaches out and pulls me inside, shutting the door once I'm inside. Barry and Tobin are standing there.

"What the hell?" I say.

"Look, we like you, you're good for Adam. We wanted you to warn you about his mother" Barry starts.

"So you drag me into the bathroom?"

"Well, we were already in here" Tobin says.

"Doing what may I ask?"

"Hiding"

"Uh-huh"

"Adam dosen't have a good relationship with his parents, ecspesically his mother, never has. When they found out about the drugs and how bad it was, they pretty much disowned him" Barry says.

"That's horrible" I say.

"Yeah, and ever since he's gotten clean, it's gotten worse, So don't go out there expecting a happy thing, it probably won't go well, So we wanted you to be prepared"

"Thank you guys" I walk over to Barry and take both of his hands and kiss him on the cheek, I do the same with Tobin.

"I'll let you know when the coast is clear" I tell them, leaving the bathroom.

When I walk into the foyer, I see Adam with his back to me, talking to a woman who looks like my mother probably will in ten years, Queen of the Country Club. Yikes. I walk up next to Adam and wrap my arm around his waist. He puts his arm around my neck. His mother just stares at us.

"Who is this, Adam, your latest flavor of the week?" She asks, he smiles tightly.

"Mother, this is Sophie, Soph, this is my mother"

"Marie Gontier" She says, holding out her hand.

I just stare at her, "Nice to meet you" I lie.

I look up at Adam, "I'm gonna get going" I say.

"No you're not" I'm silent.

"Like I was just telling Adam, there is going to be a dinner at the Country Club and everyone's children and their spouses are going to be there"

I have to smirk to myself, I've been to these dinners before with my own mother. Of course, I was young and out to make a fool out of my mother...

"Like I told you, I'm not sure I'll be able to make it" Adam says.

"Well try" She replies and turns and walks out of the house without saying goodbye.

"And that's my mother" Adam says.

"The dinner might be fun" I say with a smile.

He laughs, "You're right, It could be"

"Are you aware that your roomates are scared of your mother and are hiding in your bathroom?"

"Hell, I'm scared of my mother, I don't blame them"

I laugh, "Can we go back to bed now?"

"Please" We walk back to the bedroom. On my way past the bathroom I knock on the door. Adam rolls his eyes.

I take the leather jacket off, hanging it over a desk chair and lay on the bed with Adam.

"The worst is over now, and we can breathe again, I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away" He sings to me.

"Thats beautiful" I say.

"Kind of appropriate for us don't you think?"

"Yes"

"My friend, Shaun is in a band, that lyric is from one of their songs. A girl recorded that part, but when the band is in town I sing it with them"

"You should let me know next time their in town, I've never seen you onstage before" I say, he's quiet for a minute.

"Were you serious about the dinner with my mom being fun?"

I laugh loudly, "I used to go to those dinners with my mom, I would just embarrass her, I was such a jackass"

"You? A jackass? I don't beleive that for a second"

"Haha, Jerk"

"Tell you what, only if you promise to go with me, I'll go to the dinner" He says.

"Really? Like a date?" I ask.

"Yeah, you can call it a date if you want"

"I would love to"

"What will my mother think of this?" He pauses "Who cares?" We both laugh.