In the Rose Garden

Danielle slid into the both across from Addison and Kevin slid in behind her. It had been a couple days since the party and they were a few days out from the two week European tour. Kevin and Danielle were having breakfast with Joe and Addison at Perkins. The hostess handed them each a menu and said their server would be with them in a moment. A minute later, the waitress came over and took their drink orders and gave them a couple minutes to decide on what they wanted.

"So I was thinking," Danielle said as she closed her menu and set it down. "If it's all right with you, Kev, I'm going to skip out on this tour and stay here."

"What? Why?" Kevin asked and looked over at her.

"Um, I'm going to stay with Addison. I mean, if she wants me to."

"Oh my god yes please!" Addison exclaimed. "You can stay at my place. Lily is staying too. It'll be like a... a fourteen day girls night!"

"Sounds like a good idea to me. At least then I'll know Addison isn't alone," Joe said. He was surprised to see her this excited when just last night, he was holding her as she cried herself to sleep.

Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "It's fine by me too but Addison, don't give her any ideas."

"Me?! Like what?! Are you saying I'm a bad influence?"

Kevin and Joe laughed. "I'm kidding!"

"You better be Kevin, cause I know where you sleep at night."

"Well I got this girl protecting me," he said and pointed at Danielle.

"Nope," Danielle said and shook her head. "Not this time, sir."

Their waitress came back over and took their orders before collecting their menus and walking away. Just then, both Kevin and Joe pulled their phones out of their pockets and read the same text from Nick.

Nick: Sorry I couldn't make it. Late night.

Joe: Was she cute?

Kevin: What's her name?

Nick: What? No!

Joe: Was it Miley?

Kevin: Selena?

Nick: I'll see you guys later.

"I love that kid," Kevin said as he put his phone away.

"We kinda have to, he's our brother," Joe responded.

"True story."

"Anyway, what's on the schedule for today?" Danielle asked.

"We have a meeting to finalize some things and a rehearsal. Then we're all set for our tour," Kevin answered. "Oh and we have our doctor appointments."

"I hate those things," Joe said with a wave of his hand.

"I'm sure you'll test positive for hepatitis a through Zen. No big deal," Addison said jokingly.

"Thank you. I'm so happy to have your confidence in my well-being," Joe said and kissed the side of her head.

Danielle cocked her head. "You two are adorable. Please never break up, okay? Thanks."

"There are definitely no plans for that. I worked too hard to get here," Joe said. Addison laughed.

"Hard work pays off, my man," Addison told him and patted his hand.

After another few minutes, the waitress brought their breakfast out and they spent the next twenty minutes on that. Kevin then let them know that they had to get to their meetings. The girls took Kevin's car since Joe drove his big SUV.

"Oh my god I'm so excited that you're staying with me for the next two weeks!" Addison said excitedly.

Danielle gasped. "Oh my god yes! I can't wait! It'll be like the roommates we never had."

"I never thought of it like that. Oh and we won't have a chance to get sick of each other because the boys will be back before we know it."

"It'll go by quicker than you think."

"I hope so."

Danielle glanced over at her. "It gets easier after the first time. It really does." Addison just nodded her head and looked out the window.

After dropping her off, Addison gathered all of Joe's dirty clothes and took them to the laundry room. She wanted to make sure everything was washed and clean for him so he wouldn't be rushing at the last minute. She also knew a lot of his stuff was still at his parents' house. Once she started the washer, she headed into the kitchen to start cleaning. Cleaning your house before company comes over is what you do, right? she thought as she wiped down the counter. As she continued with that, she heard the front door open and close and a moment later, Finn appeared.

"Hey sis," he said as he took a seat at the counter. "What's up?"

"Nothing really. Just cleaning up, getting ready for Joe to leave."

"Are you throwing a 'he's gone!' party?"

"What? No!" She made a face at him. "Jerk."

He laughed. "I was just kidding!" I mean, you'd think I was talking about your boyfriend or something..."

Addison gave him another face. "You like that shirt you're wearing?" She picked up the bottle of bleach. He jumped off the stool and held his hands up.

"We're all good."

"Good," she said as she tossed the bottle into the cabinet under the kitchen sink. They heard the buzzer for the washer go off.

"Is dad home?" Finn asked her.

"No clue. I haven't stopped over there yet. He could be starting with All Time Low though. I don't know."

"All right. I'll see you later." He left for the main house as Addison went to the laundry room to put Joe's clothes in the dryer. I should really get used to it being quiet around here. This is going to be the first of many many times that he's going to be gone. She kept repeating many many times in her head.

"Oh stop, Addison," she mumbled to herself.

"Hello hello!" Addison heard from behind her. She stood up too quick and ended up slamming her head into the open door of the dryer. "Oh my god! Are you okay?" Lily asked with a horrified look on her face.

"God damn that hurt!" Addison held her hand on the back of her head. The girls stared at each other for a moment before cracking up.

"No but seriously, are you okay? I'm so sorry."

"I'm okay, Lil, really." Addison looked at her hand to make sure there was no blood.

Lily giggled. "You just can't win. First your hand and now your head... you're a walking catastrophe."

Addison shook her head. "No, this one is your fault. Okay, remind me to not shake my head cause that hurt." She applied a little pressure to her forehead but it didn't help any.

"Come on, let's get you some aspirin," Lily said and motioned for her to follow. Addison started the dryer and followed Lily. They headed to the kitchen where Addison kept one bottle of ibuprofen on the counter. Lily shook two out and them to Addison along with a bottle of water.

"Thanks, pal."

"You know," Lily started saying, "I'm really looking forward to our sleepover but at the same time, I'm going to miss Greg so much."

"I know. I'm going to miss Greg too."

"Dork." Addison laughed.

"I love you too."

* * * * *

Addison drained the pasta and emptied it into a large bowl. She then took the pot of spaghetti sauce and poured that on top of the pasta and put the pot in the sink. As it filled with hot water, she mixed the sauce and pasta and set it aside. She quickly washed the strainer and pot and set them in the other sink to air dry. Addison then realized that this was the last time she'd be making Joe dinner for the next at least fifteen days. She heard the door open and close.

"Addison?"

"I'm in the kitchen!" She called out to Joe as she pulled the garlic bread out of the oven.

"It smells good in here," Joe said as he wrapped his arms around Addison's waist.

"I try," she said and kissed him.

"Try no more, my dear. I'm starving."

They set the table and then sat down. They were silent as they plated their food.

Addison finally spoke. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"Remember, it's only two weeks," Joe responded.

"That's fourteen days. That's half a month."

"Add, this is nothing compared to a normal tour. A normal tour is usually three months."

"Point taken but at the same time, you're going to be out of the country."

"Babe! Stop!" He set his fork down and stared at his girlfriend. He shook his head. "Please don't do this again."

"All right, all right, I'm sorry." She raised her hands in surrender. They finished their dinner and cleaned up everything afterwards. Joe disappeared into the living room for a few minutes while Addison finished the dishes. She wiped her hands with some paper towel and then walked into the living room. "Joe, what are you doing?"

"Come dance with me."

"Dance with you?"

"Yes, dance with me."

"Um, okay," she said and walked over to him.

Joe pressed a button on his phone and "Making Memories of Us" by Keith Urban started to play.

"How are you so adorable?" Addison asked. Joe just laughed and pulled her in closer.

* * *

At 3:30 the next morning, Addison stood in the driveway with Joe next to his SUV. They pulled apart from their hug.

"I love you," Addison whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you too. I'll call you whenever I can."

"Okay," she whispered and kissed him. He kissed her once again and got into his car.

"I love you." He started the car up and pulled out of the driveway. Addison just watched him go.