In the Rose Garden

Because the shop was empty, Lily decided to take it upon herself to entertain Addison, Kim, and the new girl, Maxine. Since "Burnin' Up" was playing over the speakers, Lily hopped up onto the counter, grabbed a novelty pen that was in a container and started singing in a high pitched voice in an attempt to match Nick. She was so into it that she didn't even hear the bell over the door ring. Addison held her finger to her lips to tell the boys and their two guests to be quiet.

"I'm slipping into the lava and I'm trying to keep from going under. Baby you turn the temperature hotter 'cause I'm burnin' up, burnin' up for you, baby." She even did a little dance. Right about now is when Kim realized she was glad that they had heavy duty counters.

Kevin whispered something to Big Rob and looked back at Lily and Addison. He winked at Addison and smiled. Addison knew what he had said because when Big Rob's part came on, he started to rap along with himself. Embarrassed, Lily squealed and hopped off the counter.

"Addison!" she shouted and started trying to beat up her best friend. Everyone doubled over with laughter.

"You should have seen your face when Big Rob started!" Addison shouted and continued to laugh. "Oh my stars, I can't breathe."

"Well I'm glad I could entertain everyone," Lily said.

"Well, that is why you hopped up there in the first place, right?" Kim verified.

Lily just mumbled under her breath.

"Don't worry, that was an awesome performance," Kevin said with a hint of sarcasm.

Lily went with it and responded with, "Thank you, Kevin. I'm glad someone appreciated my performance."

Addison gasped. "Hey, is it just me or do I smell the Jonas Brothers' new opening act?"

"We'll suggest it to our dad and look into it," Nick said and nodded his head.

"Very funny you guys," Lily commented.

"So what brings you ladies and gentlemen in today?" Kim asked getting back to business.

"Jenna and Mashi, our contest winners, wanted to come check this place out. So here we are," Joe said and held his hands out as if to say 'viola.' "This is Addison and Lily. Kim is the manager and that's the new girl." Joe pointed to Maxine since he didn't know her name.

"Maxine," Addison supplied.

"Maxine thanks. Addison and Lily are actually some of our best friends."

"Is that all they are?" Mashi asked and eyed Joe and Addison.

Joe nodded his head. "Yes." Addison almost laughed out loud from the look on his face.

"Why don't you ladies go ahead and look around. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask one of us," Kim said.

Kim had gotten used to Joe stopping in every once in a while and almost always shutting the place down. She considered it a good day when he would be able to slip past any paparazzi and they wouldn't block the doors trying to get a shot of Joe and Addison. Lately though, Addison had been spending more time with Joe and less time at work so Kim had to hire another person for all the times in between. She wasn't upset about it or anything, she understood that Joe has a hectic schedule and they just wanted to spend as much time with each other as possible. Come this time next year, Joe would be on tour supporting the new album, whether Addison would be with him or not was up in the air still.

Mr. Turner was all right with the current situation. He would rather she ditch work for a respectable boy than her ditch because she's too busy getting in trouble. When it came to Addison's bills, he paid for everything except gas for her car and her cell phone bill. He felt he couldn't be mad at Joe for making her change her life drastically; he was a good kid with values and morals. Mr. Turner could easily rest at night knowing his daughter was in good hands with the Jonases. He more than trusted them with his only child. They gave her that sense of family and that made her feel complete again.

The girls walked around and looked at the stuff in Addison's mother's shop. They kept glancing at Joe and Addison out of the corner of their eyes. They were looking for the slightest hint that they were more than best friends. Besides them talking like two people who knew one another, they weren't giving any hints… until Joe touched her hand. It wasn't the kind of touch best friends do but the kind of touch boyfriends do. He slightly held her hand for a moment before letting it go as they laughed about something he said. The two girls looked at each other and grinned before heading for the shoe section.

"Are you and your dad still coming over for dinner?" Joe asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, yes, we are and Katie is coming also."

"Okay cool. The plans changed so now Frankie will be making dinner."

"But Frankie's like, nine."

"I know. He wants to make homemade pizza so I'm helping him."

"Oh, I see."

"He wanted me to tell you to bring more cookies," Joe told her and laughed. "He ate the rest of them after you and your dad left."

"What? I made like, a lot though."

"I know but it is Frankie and he really likes chocolate chip cookies, especially yours."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do when I get home. You have to tell him though; he can't hit on me anymore."

"Awe, why not? Chocolate chip cookies bring out the Fabio in him."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Addison shook her head. "Besides, I already have my Fabio," she said. Joe gave her an exaggerated wink and she laughed. They looked at the girls to make sure they were still shopping.

"Sorry about the one girl. Bonnie told them not to ask those kinds of questions so I don't know why she did."

"It's all right Joe, really," Addison responded and shrugged her shoulders. "Trust me; I'm not going to turn into that evil girlfriend who would rather not be bothered by your fans. As long as they stay in line, I'll stay in line. They're a big part of your life and it's something I have to deal with just like you have to deal with my alcoholic mother who calls you 'The Beast' and 'A Rock star with a groupie.' You see that, we both come with baggage!"

"By baggage, you mean those huge black garbage bags, right?"

"Whatever bags you want: the big black bags, the white flower scented Hefty kitchen bags, Wal-Mart bags… take your pick."

"I'll think about it and get back to you on that."

"Take your time, no rush here," she replied as she leaned against the counter. "So that thing you guys did the other night, do you do that often?"

"We usually do that when we working on an album. We usually do that so we don't become…"

"Lazy, relaxed, careless?"

Joe just nodded his head.

"Lackadaisical?"

"Whatever that means," he mumbled.

"It means without much enthusiasm, energy, or effort," she said as if she were reading from a dictionary.

"Thank you Webster."

"Oh, anytime darling," she responded and stared at him for a prolonged moment.

Joe quickly became paranoid. "What?" he quietly asked.

"It's nothing. You just have no idea how badly I want to kiss you right now."

"No, I'm pretty sure I do," he said and looked around for a moment. He was checking to see where the girls were. They were within earshot. He turned back to Addison and whispered to her for her to follow his lead. "Hey Addison, did that thing ever come yet? You know the one that I wanted to buy but you guys were out so you ordered it for me."

"It came in yesterday actually. I put it in the backroom so no one would try to buy it."

"Can I check to make sure it's the right one?"

"Of course," she said and motioned for him to follow her. They stepped into the backroom and Joe flung the door closed... or at least he thought he did.

"We probably only have a minute…"

"Ya think?" she asked sarcastically as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"No more talking," he whispered as he leaned in to kiss her. At least thirty seconds passed when they heard a click noise. Addison instantly recognized it as the door being pulled shut but Joe decided to ignore it. He pulled Addison back to him and picked up where he left off.

Just before the girls were done being cashed out, Joe and Addison walked from the backroom looking a little flushed. Everyone looked at them and then pretended to not wonder what they were doing back there even though it would go without saying, they all knew.

"I'll see you later at home," Joe leaned across the counter and whispered. Addison just nodded her head and the boys and girls left.

"They saw you," Lily said from beside her.

"When I heard the door shut I figured as much. Great, now they're probably going to talk about this," Addison said as she leaned on her elbows and placed her chin in her hands.

"Really, that's what you're worried about? Dude, you and Joe are taking on the world right now because of Taylor Swift's big mouth, this is nothing compared to that. If you can handle that then you can handle this. No big sweat." Lily shrugged her shoulders.

"That's easy for you to say. No one's calling your boyfriend a cheater and you a boyfriend stealer." Addison would never be the first to admit to reading the stuff everyone's written about Joe and her since Taylor made the phone call announcement on Ellen. All three parties in the situation had their own little group of defenders and haters. There were the people out there who were still "Team Jaylor" and those who were "Team Taylor Swift is a bitch and it's about time Joe Jonas realized he could do better." Addison was just hoping that sooner or later they would realize that she was no different from them and is just an average ordinary girl. She also hoped that they would realize that Joe was just following what his heart told him and his heart picked Addison.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Addison walked into her father's apartment and locked the door behind her. She set the bag with everything she needed to make cookies on the counter and put her bag down on one of the chairs at the kitchen table. She jumped when she realized she wasn't alone.

"When were you going to tell me about what your mother had said?" her father asked her from his spot on the couch.

"What?"

"Why did I have to find out from Mr. and Mrs. Jonas about what your mother said to you?"

"Well what did they tell you?"

"About this weekend and apparently there was something else but Joe wouldn't tell them. What was that something else?"

"There wasn't anything else."

"Addison…"

"She said that you didn't want me," Addison told him and looked at the floor. "She said that it was because you two weren't sure if I was yours or not."

He got up and stood in front of her. "Addison, I'm not the one who said that. I'm not going to say who actually did say it but I wanted you then just as much as I want you now. You know how I feel about abortions and you know I never would have allowed that to happen. You shouldn't carry stuff like that around with you."

She noticed he never addressed the part about her being his or not but she decided not to bring it up again.

"I have to go make Frankie his cookies so they'll be ready by the time we leave," Addison quietly said and pointed behind her towards the kitchen before she walked away.