In the Rose Garden

Addison watched as the rain poured down the windshield in front of her. The sky was grey and there was no sunlight anywhere to be seen. Just the day before, it was bright and sunny-the complete opposite. Today she was hiding out in her car, yesterday she and Joe were walking down the street hand-in-hand enjoying the weather and each other's company. It was amazing how California weather could change at the drop of a hat.

Did you go in yet? Joe's text message read.

Addison responded, No, not yet. Before she left her grandpa's house the other day, he asked her to do him a favor. She made the mistake by responding with sure, anything. He wanted her to spend a little time with her mother. Just talk to her, even if it was just ten minutes. She couldn't get out of it--she promised.

Joe's reply quickly came back. I'm not trying to rush you but I have to be in the studio with my brothers in an hour and a half. They were going to use the studio time to record the last song they came up with and to basically go over everything else and fix or rerecord anything that doesn't sound top notch.

I know, Joe. I'm going in now. She pressed SEND and got out of her car. Addison quickly tucked her phone into her bag and rushed to the front door. She nervously reached for the doorknob and turned it to the right. The door opened. She quietly stepped inside the house she used to live in. Her mother was walking down the stairs as Addison walked into the living room. Mrs. Turner looked at her daughter and didn't say anything. Addison returned the stare.

Finally after a moment, Mrs. Turner said, "What?"

"Uh…" was all that came out of Addison's mouth, "I mean, I promised Grandpa for some reason that I would talk to you since I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Okay…" Mrs. Turner responded and waited for her to continue.

"I honestly don't know what to say. I honestly didn't really think about it. I mean, what is there to really talk about?"

Mrs. Turner finished buttoning her shirt and smoothed it out. "Well, I don't know what we're supposed to talk about either. Oh and by Grandpa, do you mean Michael or Elliott?"

"Michael. I went to his house a few days ago to see him… and Finn I guess."

Mrs. Turner instantly looked at Addison when she heard Finn's name. "How is Finn?"

"My brother's fine," Addison said like it was an everyday thing.

"Your brother… Finn's not your brother, honey. He's your cousin," she said with a hint of humor as she put a pair of black high heels on. "You two only look alike because of your father and your uncle being twins."

"I personally think he really is my brother but I'm not here to argue with you. I'm just carrying out the promise I made."

Mrs. Turner grabbed her cell phone and her purse off the breakfast bar and looked at Addison. "Well, if we're done here, I have an appointment to get to and I can't be late for it."

"Mom, we obviously really need to talk about things," Addison responded. Unbelievably to her, she actually felt a little desperate.

"Yes, we do but I really need to go. I'll call you later," she said as she ushered Addison out the door. "I promise."

"Mom, don't make promises you can't or won't keep," Addison said and got into her car. Feeling overwhelmed, she fought back the tears that wanted to fall. She fought them back until she could have Joe by her side again.

* * *

Addison walked into the Jonas residence and immediately went in search of Joe. She found him in the kitchen along with his mother and two of his brothers. When he saw her face, he didn't need to ask how it went. He took her in his arms and neither of them said a word for a minute.

Addison pulled away from him and said, "Why am I so stupid? I told myself not to get my hopes up and now I feel like crap so I obviously did. I mean, what was I honestly expecting? For her to be like, oh honey, I've been acting so stupid these past few years. I'm done being the drunk that I am and we can all be a family again. Me, her, my dad and Finn… no! That's not what I was expecting so why do I feel so bad then? Why couldn't I get a mom like yours? I'm just your girlfriend and she cares about me like I'm hers. She cares about me way more than my own mother! And why am I crying? I always cry around you. You've got to be thinking now that I'm just a really weak person."

"I'm not thinking that you're a weak person. Crying isn't showing weakness. It's showing you've been strong for too long. You're going to be all right, Addison," Joe said.

Mrs. Jonas put an arm around Addison and told her, "Addison, you're an amazing girl. I consider myself blessed to know you and have you be a part of our family. Your mom just doesn't realize who she has for a daughter and you know what, she's the one missing out, not you."

She and Addison shared a hug. "Thanks Mrs. Jonas. That means a lot to me coming from you," Addison whispered.

Mrs. Jonas kissed Addison's forehead and wiped away her tears. "You know you'll always have me no matter what happens." She hugged her again and this time, Mrs. Jonas held onto her for a prolonged moment.

Kevin stepped forward and rubbed Addison's back. "Addison, you're always going to be a part of this family no matter what. Even if for some reason you and Joe break up, you'll still be my little sister and I'll love you just the same and I'll always be there when you need me."

"Awe Kevin, thanks," Addison said and hugged him.

"Oh, yeah, and I will also still embarrass you. There's no getting out of that."

"What kind of a big brother would you be if you didn't find a way to embarrass me?"

Kevin then quoted her, "'Gee Addison, I don't know, an awesome one?'"

"Okay, K2. I walked into that one."

"Yeah, you did!" he exclaimed.

"All right, Kevin," Joe said. "I'm going to take my girlfriend now so we can go talk."

Joe took Addison's hand and they went upstairs to the music room. They took a seat on the piano bench and sat in silence for a moment.

"Is it all right if I ask about it?" Joe asked.

"She wasn't mean or drunk or anything like that. I think she just didn't really care… well except when I brought Finn up who she claims isn't my brother. I still say he is but whatever though. She was getting ready for an appointment and she said she would call me later. She even promised but I don't believe her."

"Are you going to be all right?" Joe looked at her.

She played a few random notes from the Jonas Brothers song, "Hollywood," before looking back at Joe. "I'll be all right. I'm going to be okay." She nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll be okay."

"Either way, you just need to remember that there are a bunch of people downstairs who will always be there for you in addition to me. Kevin will probably embarrass you about it later but at least he'll be there."

Addison giggled a little.

"There it is, there's that beautiful smile," Joe said and kissed her cheek.

"You have an amazing family, Joe."

"So do you."

"No, I don't."

"I think your dad is pretty awesome and Katie is equally as amazing. And your grandpa is awesome because he sent you back to me."

"That reminds me for some reason, Finn called me a boyfriend stealer and asked for Taylor's number," she told him. They both had a good laugh about that.

"First of all, you didn't steal me. I picked you. Second of all, if he wants to become a line in a song, let me know and I'll pass the number along."

"He has enough drama so no way!"

"Hey, you can't blame him for trying. I mean, it is Taylor Swift after all."

Addison angled her body towards him. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"She's pretty but you're gorgeous and hot and beautiful and any other word that means delightfully pleasing to the eye."

Addison gave him a funny look. "Delightfully pleasing, really Joe? Maybe you are gay…"

"I give you a compliment and you call me gay? Jeez Addison, hey, what's up girlfriend of the year award?"

"Awe Joe, if it makes you feel any better, you're delightfully pleasing to the eye also."

"Okay, now you're just making fun of me." He turned away and pretended that his feelings were hurt.

Addison nodded her head. "Yeah, I was you big baby."

"If you want to make me feel better you could always go make-out with me..." he suggested.

"Nope, sorry buddy but you have to go."

Joe looked at his watch. She was right.

"Hate to say I told you so. So anyway, you go do that and I'll find something to do. I'll probably go hang out with Lily."

"All right, babe, I guess," he responded with mock disappointment. He leaned over and kissed her before they walked out of the room.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

"He seriously said that? Are you sure he's not gay 'cause I mean, what guy says delightfully pleasing?" Lily asked as she opened the oven and pulled the tray of chocolate chip cookies out. She set them on the stovetop and closed the oven and set the oven mitt on the counter and looked at Addison.

"Well, he acted like I hurt his feelings and then said it would make him feel better if I made-out with him."

"Greg says that same thing. Those boys need to stop hanging out together so much. They're borrowing phrases from each other and probably don't even realize it."

"Yeah, I wouldn't doubt that for some reason." Then Addison got serious and told Lily about her visit to her mom.

"Do you think she'll call?" Lily asked.

Addison shook her head. "As much as I want to give her the benefit of a doubt, I don't really think she is 'cause that'd be too simple for her, you know?"

"I guess we're both having problems with our mothers now," Lily said and told Addison about how she recently discovered that her mother isn't too crazy about Garbo.

"What! Your mom is crazy. Greg is amazing. Well, I guess if you really think about it, it was kind of fast that you two moved in together but then again, this is the twenty-first century, no one waits anymore."

"I know, right! We're having dinner over there tomorrow night so she can get to know him better. You're lucky where your parents and Joe are considered. Your dad and Katie like Joe and have no problems with him. Your mom… who knows what your mom thinks anymore."

"I don't really care what my mom thinks about him. She barely knows me anymore so she can't really pass judgment on him. She's made absolutely no attempt to get to know him. So, it's like whatever, it's her loss," Addison said and shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, so did anything else happen besides your mom and Greg while I was… away?"

"Uh… not really," Lily said and did the shifty eyes.

Addison lowered her head to get a better look at her friend's face. "Lilith Jane Collins, what are you not telling me?"

Lily looked around as if someone else could seriously hear them and said, "Greg and I… you know."

"Oh my god, Lily, seriously?" Addison's jaw seemed like it almost hit the counter.

"Seriously."

"You slut!"

"Addison!"

"What? I'm not the one who just confessed to sleeping with Garbo."

"Shut up Addison. Have you and Joe…"

"Nope… Well, we almost did once but I didn't go through with it."

"Why not?"

"Even though Mrs. Jonas said she would be okay with it if they did do it before marriage, but I couldn't do that to her. I want to give her a little more time with Joe's promise specifically. I want to though, I won't deny that."

"Addison, you're such a sweet and innocent future daughter-in-law. I'm more than sure Mrs. Jonas is going to be absolutely in love with you."

"Lily, you're hilarious. You should look into opening for Dane Cook the next time he does a show out here."

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

When the three brothers reached the top of the stairs, they all said goodnight to each other and headed for their rooms. Joe quietly walked into his room and saw Addison asleep. She was wearing one of his Kings of Leon t-shirts and his black Nike Fit workout shorts. Her iPod was still on and playing. He cringed when he saw that she was listening to Taylor Swift. When he pressed the play/pause button, the iPod powered off and Addison woke up.

"You know she's probably written a song about you by now," Joe said.

Addison rolled onto her back and mumbled, "Bring it on, bitch."

Joe smirked and set her iPod on the bedside table. He then leaned over her and asked, "So, how was your day? Did you hear back from your mom?"

"My day was fine. Lily and I did quite a bit of catching up. We made cookies. No, I lied. She made cookies. As for question number two, just as I expected, no, I didn't hear back from my mom. I'm really not surprised though. I mean, it's not like I was holding my breath."

"I'm sorry she never called," Joe responded with sympathy.

She looked him in the eyes and whispered a confession, "I miss my mom, Joe."

"I know you do," he whispered.

Joe leaned in and kissed her. She then pulled him on top of her and neither of them even attempted to stop. Once he realized she wasn't wearing anything his Kings of Leon shirt, he slid his hands under the shirt. That she did stop. Despite that, things still got intense but when they got too intense, Addison stopped the action.

"Joe, I'm not ready for this," she said. He sensed she was lying but instead he just nodded his head and lied next to her. She put her head on his chest and they fell asleep.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Joe and Addison unpacked a box in silence. They were in what had officially become "their bedroom" the other day when the former owner accepted Mr. Turner's offer. Mr. Turner had the guest house furnished first before furnishing the actual house itself.

Addison put some sheets and pillowcases in the closet and shut the door as Joe sat on the bed. She grabbed her bottle of water off the dresser and took a drink from it just as Joe asked her a question. His question made her choke on the water… literally.

"Addison, I know we both want to do this but why won't you have sex with me?"