In the Rose Garden

Feeling ten times better, Addison climbed into her car. She had to go help Kim close the shop and then stop at her house to pick up more clothes to take to her dad's apartment. Her father was still with the Jonases since he agreed to stay for dinner. Katie was working the night shift anyway.

Addison parked her car and headed inside her mother's shop. She and Kim spent the next fifteen minutes counting drawers and cleaning up.

"So, I hired Lily to work here full time," Kim said as she pushed the empty cash drawer in.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I asked her today and she accepted. Maybe she's trying to make up for lost time with you."

"I don't know, either way I'm not going to complain," Addison said as she straightened out the shirts.

"I'm going to need your help training her."

"Isn't she pretty much trained already?"

"Yeah but there are the small things, you know, the opening and closing procedures, et cetera."

"True," Addison responded and her hands dropped down to her sides. Kim quickly mopped the floor and she and Addison were out the door. They said their goodbyes in the parking lot and went their separate ways. She made the quick stop at her mom's house and then headed back to the Jonas'.

Joe met her outside the front door.

"Did you miss me?" Addison asked as she shut and locked her door.

Joe approached her and shrugged his shoulders. "No… maybe a little."

"I missed you too… only a little though," she responded as they pulled out of a hug.

"Ha ha, funny." Joe put his arm around her waist and they headed inside.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Joe checked his watch as he and Garbo walked down the street. He kept looking around to see if any paparazzi were around. One would occasionally pop up and ask about him and Taylor. Since they never admitted to a relationship in the first place, he felt there was no need to admit to a break up. He knew sooner or later though that it would get out but for now, he had no problem not talking about it.

Joe and Garbo walked into Violet and acted like they were looking around at the merchandise. Garbo walked away in search of Lily.

"Is there something I can help you find?" Addison asked as Joe pretended to look through shirts.

"Maybe. You see, there's this girl that I really like and I was thinking about getting her something… to um…" Joe scratched his head.

"Tell her how much you like her?"

"I suppose…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Or maybe just to let her know how awesome she is."

"I'm sure she already knows how awesome she is. She's probably just waiting on a boy now."

"That boy is just waiting for the perfect moment to say something."

"Didn't that girl tell that boy there never really is a perfect moment?"

"She did but the boy has plans."

"Plans? Really?"

"Yes, plans. He's going to need the girl to come over A.S.A.P so he can execute them."

"Hmm… interesting. Well she's free after work."

"That's perfect."

"Okay, I'll be another ten minutes and then we close for the weekend since Kim has a family matter to deal with in… somewhere but here. So I'm free for the whole weekend too."

"Awesome. You might be busy the whole weekend anyway."

"Really? Why?"

"We got… well, work first and we'll talk later."

"Yes sir." Addison kissed his cheek and walked away to check out the few customers that were still in the shop. Then they were finally able to close.

"Is it just me or has it been a long day?" Lily asked as she wiped down the counter.

"A long day is an understatement. They're always like this whenever we close for more than a day at a time."

"So then why doesn't your mom just work then?"

"Oh please, like she'd ever get sober enough to run her shop. Now that's just ludicrous."

"Yeah, sorry," Lily quietly said. "When's the last time you've seen her?"

"When I told my dad about Brandon. I had to stop over there to get more clothes to take to my dad's place."

"Oh."

"My parents got into a really big fight about that… meaning about Brandon. He won't really tell me what he said but I overheard him and Katie talking about it and boy did he have a lot to say to my mom."

"I'll bet. I mean, how do you let something like that happen in your own house?"

"Yeah, and he saw Brandon's dad the other day. I think my dad's about to take on the world."

"I don't blame him one bit."

"Are you girls ready yet?" Kim asked. She was clearly ready to go.

"Yeah, we're done," they said in unison.

"Okay, great. Let's go," she said heading for the door. "Hey Addie, are you going to be seeing your mom?"

"No, I pretty much live with my dad now."

"And me," Joe added.

"Yeah, if I'm not at my dad's then I'm at Joe's."

"Crab Shack!" Garbo and Lily shouted.

"Um… no," Joe said and shook his head and everyone laughed. They stepped outside the shop and Kim locked the door.

"I'll see you guys next week," she said and walked away to her car. They stood in front of the door and decided what they were going to do. Garbo was going with Lily and Joe was going to follow Addison back to her father's apartment and then from there, they were going to his house.

"I should only be like, ten minutes," Addison said as Joe sat on the couch in Addison's father's apartment.

"All right," Joe said and nodded his head. Addison headed to her room to get a change of clothes and jumped into the shower for ten minutes. Joe sat on the couch and thought about his plans. Even though he had everything planned out until the last note, he still felt like he was missing something. He decided to not really think about because he wasn't going to make her wait anymore.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

"Is this a part of your plan?" Addison asked at they sat across from each other. The only lighting they had outside was the moon and the light above the door.

Joe set the guitar in his lap and shrugged his shoulders. "Could be. So I wrote this song with my brothers' help and I wanted you to hear it. So let me know what you think."

He started to play and sing "Make It Right" to her.

"I didn't know how good you were for me. Now it's clear I'm seein' all that we could be. And I know that it's my fault but I'm gonna treat you better. 'Cause if I had one wish you'd be with me forever."

Addison only had to hear a few words come out of his mouth before knowing the song was about them. She could tell he realized what he had been doing and that he was sorry for it. She knew he meant every word since he never once took his eyes off hers. When he did, it was because the song was over.

"So… what'd you think?"

"I really like it."

"I guess I'm just really trying to say how sorry I am and I'm done with the games and making you wait."

"I know." She reached over and touched his face.

"Taylor's out of the picture so we can be together now. 'Cause you're the one I want to be with if you'll have me."

Addison sat next to him and sighed. "Joe-"

He cut her off. "I promise I'll give it all I've got and I promise-"

She put her hand over his mouth. "Just ask," she said and removed her hand.

"Addison, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes."

Joe wasted no time. He did the one thing he'd been trying to do since they met, he kissed her.

"Ha ha, now you can't turn away," he said.

"Yeah, I know. Well I can when I get mad at you which also reminds me, just for the record, you can't sing your way out of every screw up."

"Maybe every other screw up but not every screw up. I mean, there are flowers and candy and stuffed animals and dinners by candlelight-"

"Okay Joe, I got it."

"And I can just have Nick do it next time. It won't be me singing technically."

"Now since we're dating, does this mean I don't have to laugh at the lame things you sometimes say?"

"No, you still have to laugh like a devoted girlfriend."

"Awe shucks."

"Devoted girlfriend," he said as if he just realized that they were official. "You just made me the happiest and luckiest man alive." He kissed her forehead.

He heard her repeat "devoted girlfriend" and giggle.

"You just wait until later," he said. "It's going to sink in that your boyfriend is Joe Jonas."

"Yeah, probably," she responded and nodded her head. "So uh, when do we start telling everyone?"

"Well, our families and friends are obviously going to find out tonight."

"And them?" Joe already knew who them was. "If you and Taylor had a bad break up, they're going to find out about that and they'll never leave us alone."

"Addison, you know that with me being a musician and an actor, they're always going to be around and they're never going to leave us alone. Luckily though, when we're not together, they won't bother you. They don't need to know about us anyway. You're mine and that's the way I'm going to keep it. If they find out, then it is what it is." Joe shrugged his shoulders.

"All right," was all she said.

Joe stood up and held his hand out. "Let's go tell them now." He motioned towards the house.

"Okay," she said and took his hand. Once they were inside, Joe set his guitar on the dining room table and they walked into the living room.

"Hey, guess what everyone? It's official," he said and put his arm around Addison.

"What is?" Kevin asked.

"Us, me and Addison."

"Yes!" Danielle said and got up to hug Addison. "Finally! Now it won't be just me anymore."

"That's great you guys," Mrs. Jonas said. "It's going to be really great to have you around, Addison."

"Thanks," Addison responded.

"Thanks for being so supportive," Joe told his family. "We're going to go tell her dad now." Once Joe and Addison were out the door, Nick and Kevin started taking bets on how long it would be before Addison became a Jonas.