In the Rose Garden

Addison struggled beneath Brandon's weight as he tried to maintain control over her. She kept telling him over and over to get off of her and to stop. He kept saying that she waited for him for so long and she should just take it. She wished she had listened better to Joe and made Brandon leave right then and there. She wasn't expecting this. Her mom opened the door long enough to tell them to "shut the fuck up" and walk away. She was too drunk to realize what was even going on. When Addison had reached for her phone, he smacked it out of her hand and it landed on the floor just out of her reach.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay," Addison said and stopped struggling. This made Brandon stop also. He watched her chest quickly rise and fall as she breathed quickly. "Brandon, please don't do this. I never imagined it'd be this way. I always imagined something more… romantic, you know?"

"Romantic?" he said as if the idea of romance never crossed his mind. "Yeah, maybe, what'd you have in mind?"

"I don't know. Surprise me. Just some other time though, when we've had time to plan it out."

"Yeah, okay," he said and released her. He sat on the bed and she quickly started to button her shirt back up. She picked up her phone and saw her missed call from Joe.

"So uh, we'll talk later?" she asked.

"Yeah, we'll talk later," he said and stood up. He walked up to her and kissed her before leaving her room. She walked over to her window to make sure he was actually leaving. She watched as his car pulled out of her driveway and drive away. She quickly grabbed her car keys and ran downstairs and out the door.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I'm on my way over."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Yes."

"What? With who?"

"I'll explain when I get there." Addison hung up and placed the phone on the passenger seat. She was still trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened.

Lily was waiting outside for her when Addison pulled up. She rushed over as she got out.

"Oh my god, what happened? Are you okay?"

Addison told her the entire story once they were in her room. She started with the beginning of the date and ended with the lie she told Brandon. Lily left the room for a moment to grab some tissues and came back and handed them to Addison.

"Do you want me to call someone? The police? Your dad?"

"Can you call Joe for me?" Addison asked and held her phone out for Lily to take.

Lily took it from her. "Yeah, sure." She went through the phone to find Joe's number and then stepped outside the room.

"Addison? Why didn't you answer when I called?"

"This isn't Addison. This is Lily."

"Oh… um…"

"Do you think maybe you could come over to my house? Addison's here and she's really upset and asking for you."

"Yeah, I'll leave right now," Joe responded. Lily gave him her address and they said their goodbyes. She went back to her room where Addison was still on her bed.

"Joe should be here soon."

"Thanks for calling him," Addison responded as she took back her cell phone.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "You know it's no big deal."

"Please don't think anything of the fact that I'm turning to Joe instead of you. I'm not picking him over you. He just-"

"No, I get it. There's no need to explain."

"Thanks."

"If I had known Brandon was such a dirt bag I never would have given him your number. I'm sorry."

"It's not like you knew this would happen so it's not your fault. Sometimes there are some things in life we learn the hard way. I don't blame you for this at all. I could never do that."

"Okay, thanks." Lily mocked relief. "And Addison, you've learned enough stuff the hard way in your lifetime. This is just plain shitty."

They say in silence for a couple minutes before Addison said, "I'm so stupid. I should have listened to Joe. He told me to make sure Brandon leaves as soon as possible and I said okay but didn't do it."

"Addison, you are not stupid. What happened to you is not your fault. Brandon is the scumbag of the earth. No one knew what Brandon was going to do except Brandon. Don't blame yourself for this," Lily responded just before the doorbell rang. She went to let Joe inside and he followed her to the bedroom. Moments later, Addison and Joe had their arms wrapped around each other and were talking at the same time.

"Addison, are you okay?" he said, searching her face for any physical markings.

Addison nodded her head. "I'm fine," she said as Joe kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't listen well."

"No, don't blame yourself." Joe shook his head and pulled her into another hug. "Do you want to stay the night with me?"

"If it won't be too much of a hassle," she said.

"Never," he said and shook his head. Addison handed Lily her car keys since they were going in Joe's car.

"I'll call you tomorrow. Thanks for everything," Addison told her best friend and hugged her.

"Anything for you," Lily responded and pulled away. She followed them to the front door and locked it behind them.

Once Addison and Joe were in his car, she let out a sigh. He watched as her shoulders slumped and saw how exhausted she really was. She looked like she could fall asleep any moment and stay asleep until morning. After he started the car and was out on the road, he reached over and turned the radio off. This situation didn't warrant a need for background music. In the meantime, Joe held her hand until they got to his house. Once they were inside, he took her upstairs to his room. He gave her a t-shirt and some flannel pajama bottoms and stood outside the door while she changed. When she was done, she opened the door and asked Joe if he could go get his mom.

"Everything's going to be all right," he said in a low tone of voice and kissed her forehead. He left her in his room and went downstairs. His family was sitting in the family room watching the television.

"So what's going on?" Mr. Jonas asked.

"Mom, Addison's asking for you. She's in my room. But what had happened was you know how Taylor and I went on a double date with Addison and this guy?" Everyone nodded their heads. "Well, from the very beginning I had a bad feeling about him. I just didn't like him-and it's not because he has a thing for calling me gay-and I didn't like him with her. After I dropped them off, he tried to force her into having sex with him." Joe started pacing. "You have no idea how angry that makes me. I just want to rip his face off, I swear to god! So she's going to stay the night."

"Hey Joe, it's all right," Mrs. Jonas softly said and rubbed his shoulders. "She's here now and she's all right." Mrs. Jonas went upstairs to talk to Addison.

"You can stay in my room tonight," Nick offered.

"Thanks," Joe said and continued to pace.

"Joe, sit down. Take a minute and relax. Like your mom said, she's all right now," Mr. Jonas told his middle son. Joe sat next to him and took a deep breath in and slowly let it out.

"It's just… she's Addison. You don't do that to her."

"Calm down Joe. Stuff like this happens all the time."

Joe looked his father in the eye and said, "And how many times has this happened to someone you think you might actually love?"

Mr. Jonas didn't answer. Saving him from the moment, Mrs. Jonas walked back into the living room.

"So tomorrow, make sure you bring Addison's father back with you. She wants to tell him here."

"Okay," Mr. Jonas said. "Everyone should head to bed now since we have an early start tomorrow morning." Everyone said their goodnights and headed up the stairs. Mrs. Jonas waited a minute before paraphrasing everything Addison told her. She wanted to make sure all the children were out of the room.

"She even said her mother walked in and saw what was happening but was too drunk to realize what was really happening."

Mr. Jonas could see that this one little fact really bothered his wife.

"What kind of mother would see something like that and not do anything about it? Whether she's drunk or not? No wonder Addison avoids the subject of her mother whenever it gets brought up."

"Addison's father makes up for it. He's a really great person. You can tell she's the reason he's living."

"Maybe I'm wrong for saying this but I really hope there aren't any more children."

"There aren't. Mr. Turner said Addison is his only child."

"Good 'cause then I think I might would have had to rescue them and keep them all. I really hope her and Joe become something because it seems like our boys have a habit of moving their girlfriends in and this way we would know she's safe and she's being respected."

"Yeah, I think Nick is the only one who hasn't moved anyone in…"

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Joe quietly walked into his bedroom and leaned over Addison. She looked up at him.

"So everyone's going to bed now since we have to be up early tomorrow. I'll be in Nick's room if you need me."

Just as he started to walk away, Addison said, "No!" Joe turned back around. "Can you stay here?"

Joe nodded his head and walked back over to his bed. While Addison still had her back turned, he quickly changed out of his street clothes. He shut the light off and climbed in behind her. He turned onto his side to face the same direction she was and put his arm around her. She backed up a little so her back was touching his chest. She wanted to know he was there. She felt Joe let out a steady breath against the back of her neck as he moved his arm around to find a better placement for it. Joe realized a moment too late that his body was starting to react to Addison being so close. It was the kind of reaction that would be considered inappropriate given the situation. He knew Addison had felt it too when she picked her head up off the pillow. Joe quickly rolled onto his back. He could barely look at her.

"Sorry," he said when she sat up.

"It happens."

"Hey, at least you know how much I like you now." He tried to make a joke out of it.

"It's okay."

'Really, Addison, I'm-"

"Joe, it's okay." He quickly realized what she really meant. She didn't mean that it was okay but that she still wanted him to hold her. He nodded his head. He wrapped his arms around her and with their bodies pressed together, Addison quickly fell asleep.