In the Rose Garden

Addison and Lily stepped into Addison's little house and threw themselves down on the hardwood floors. They just returned from the run that they have decided to do a couple times a week. With Joe and Garbo preparing to leave again for the tour, the girls decided they needed something productive to do.

"I'm going to go take a quick shower," Lily said as she sat up and wiped her forehead.

"Okay," Addison responded and sat up as well. Both girls got up off the floor and headed in opposite directions; Lily to the guest bathroom, Addison to the kitchen. She looked at the two dry-erase calendars on the fridge. The one on top was empty of writing except for a few events but the bottom one was jammed full with writing everywhere. Needless to say, Joe's was the bottom one. She saw the abbreviation "LVTT" on one day and then "tour" a few spaces away from it. Joe's album was coming out and then he'd be leaving for the supporting tour.

Addison grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and sat at the counter. She grabbed a pen and opened a nearby notebook to an empty page. She was almost out of paper. In the three months since she'd had her appendix taken out, she'd written a ton of songs. Since Joe was always busy, she had a lot of free time. After another ten minutes, Lily sat on the stool next to Addison and peeked at what Addison was writing.

"You know, Finn is right. You should really do an open mic night."

"Oh no, et tu, Brute?"

"Haha yes! Maybe you can do one before Joe leaves and who knows; maybe you'll actually enjoy it. You're an amazing singer and songwriter. You shouldn't keep it all to yourself."

"I'll think about it," Addison replied as she shut the notebook.

"Yay! Okay! Can we go get some food now?"

"Yes we can... after I shower." They both walked into the living room. Lily plugged her phone into her wall charger and took a seat on the couch while Addison continued to her room. She grabbed some clothes and took a quick shower so she and Lily could go grab lunch.

* * *

Addison parked her Lexus in the parking lot for Violet and the girls set out on foot. Addison asked Lily where she wanted to eat but she had no answer. Just as they were about to pass a local bar, Lily stopped Addison and told her to come with. They entered the establishment and walked up to the bar.

"Do you guys do open mic kind of things here?" Lily asked.

"We do," the muscular tattoo clad bartender answered as he wiped the counter.

"Do you have any information you can give us? Like a schedule or something, you know, like how old do you have to be?"

"18. You have to be 18 to perform. We do it every Thursday night. You can do anything you want, music, comedy, spoken word... There's really nothing to it."

"Can we sign her up for next week?" Lily pointed at Addison.

"Wait what?" Addison asked, shocked.

"Yeah, you can be ready by next week. A lot of your stuff seems finished, like final. It'll be good," Lily said and patted Addison's hand.

The bartender slid a notebook across the counter with a pen. "I just need your name, age, phone number, and what genre you'll be going. Then we'll call you in a few days with what time you go on."

Addison jotted down all the information he said to and slid the notebook back to him. "Thanks."

"No problem. The manager will be in touch in a couple days."

Lily and Addison turned and walked out of the bar. "What the hell was that?"

"What? Sometimes you gotta take a leap! Leap Addison! Leap!"

Addison laughed. "You sound crazy."

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, it's not the first time and it won't be the last time."

"True story," Addison agreed.

"But don't worry, I'll book you some more gigs while we're out here. I got this."

"Thanks manager," Addison said as she held a door open for Lily. They walked into the pizza place and had their lunch. By the time they made it back to Addison's car, she learned that Lily wasn't joking. Lily booked her for a total of four gigs the following week.

"I'll bill you later," Lily said as they pulled out of Violet's parking lot.

"Oh god."

* * *

Joe quietly walked into the house expecting Addison to be in bed since it was already nine o' clock. To his surprise, she was up and watching TV while eating ice cream. He kicked off his shoes by the door and sat next to Addison. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Hey sweetie, how was your day?" Addison asked.

"You know the usual. Good. We did more tour planning like we started planning out the stage. We pretty much did radio interviews all day though. I don't know why I'm exhausted but I am. How was your day?"

"Same. I just hung out with Lily. Next week, I have a couple open mic gigs. I would really appreciate it if you could make it to at least one of them."

"Oh definitely, just let me know when they are and I'll tell my brothers too."

"Okay, cool."

"I'm gonna go take a shower now. See you in a few," he said and kissed her before leaving. She watched him as he walked away with a feeling of uneasiness that she couldn't quite place. She put the ice cream back into the freezer and shut off the TV before heading to bed. As she pulled back the covers on the bed, she heard the shower turn off. Moments later, Joe stepped into the room with only his towel on. They stared at each other and then Addison turned away from him.

"Addison, are you okay?" he asked, leaning over her.

"I'm just tired," she answered.

"Okay," he whispered and backed off. He put a pair of boxers on and climbed into the bed next to her. He pulled her into his arms and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Kevin took out his phone and started to record a small clip of Addison practicing one of her songs. He then posted the clip on the Jonas Brothers' Facebook page and told everyone to come out and support her if possible. Her first open mic gig was only a day away. The boys were able to clear their schedule enough to go to her very first gig. He couldn't wait to see her perform again. He was looking forward to hearing new music from her. He was also looking forward to seeing someone else doing the heavy lifting. He felt like he'd been going non-stop since getting back from Europe.

Addison stopped playing in the middle of her song when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she pulled it out and saw her mom's picture. "It's my mom, I gotta take this." She answered it as she left the room. Once getting past the withdrawal of her addictions, Cassidy had been maintaining healthy relationships with her twins. She and Addison were a work in progress but so far, so good.

"Addison, how are you doing?" she asked in her healthy bold voice.

"Mom, I'm doing good. I have my first open mic night tomorrow. I'm really excited."

"I'm so proud of you. I hope it's everything you want and more. I wish I could be there."

"Thanks. I wish you could be there too."

There was a moment of silence between before Mrs. Turner spoke, "I gotta go... got my usual session with Dr. Gilbert. I love you honey. I'll talk to you later."

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"Awe I love you more."

"Bye Mom."

"Bye." They both hung up and Addison went back into her father's studio. Joe and her father looked at her expectantly. "It's good. We're good." They both relaxed.

"I'm glad to hear it," Mr. Turner said as Addison sat back down and picked up her guitar.

"Okay, I just want to get this narrowed down to my couple songs. I only get thirty minutes." She pulled out her notebook and started writing down her songs and times.

Two hours later, Joe and Addison walked into their house and Addison locked the door behind her. When she turned around and took a step, she bumped into Joe. Joe wrapped his arms around her and just held her.

"Joe? What are you doing?"

"Sshh."

"I know you didn't just shush me!"

"We've both been so busy these last few days, I feel like I've barely seen you."

"But that's legit. You barely have."

"Babe, just be quiet."

"Yes sir."

So they stood in silence, Joe holding her. Addison found herself visually rearranging the living room.

"Joe?"

"Yes?"

"I really gotta pee."

Joe let her go and she walked to the bathroom. She used the bathroom and washed her hands. Before stepping out, she studied her re-reflection in the mirror. She could see it in her own eyes that she was questioning her relationship with Joe. Was he doing the same?

* * *

Addison stepped outside of the bar and took in a deep breath. She looked down at her trembling hands. She was up in ten minutes.

"Did I miss you already?"

Addison turned to the sound of the voice and saw her mom.

"Mom?! What are you doing here?"

"Did you really think I was going to miss my baby's first performance?" They rushed into a hug. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Addison pulled away and her mom wiped the tears off her face that she hadn't realized fell.

"Addison, you're up," the bartender who signed her up said from just inside the door.

Addison nodded her head. "Okay, thanks, Russell." She and her mom linked arms and went inside. She walked her over to the section where her family and the Jonas family were. They all had shocked looks on their faces. Mr. Turner was the first to snap out of it and welcome her into the group. Addison went up to the stage and played her songs. She got a big reaction from the crowd in the bar. As she headed back to her table, Joe caught her halfway.

"You were freaking amazing!" he said and kissed her.

"Thanks! Oh my god I was so nervous. Could you tell?"

"Not at all. You looked like you've been doing this your whole life. You were great though, really. You looked like you belong up there."

"Awe, thanks babe," she said and kissed him. They got back to their table and families. Out of respect, they stayed for the next person and then left after that. Before leaving, Addison signed up for the following week with Russell and then she and Joe headed out. They saw Mrs. Turner standing with Katie and Mrs. Jonas.

"I just want to thank you two so much for taking care of my babies. I by no means have been the best mother, hell I haven't even been a mother. I'm just really glad they had both of you to turn to."

Mrs. Jonas reached out and touched Mrs. Turner's arm. "Trust me when I say the pleasure has been all mine. Addison and Finn have brought so much happiness to my family. Regardless what the future holds, I will always love those two like they're my own."

"I second that," Katie added. "I wasn't sure in the beginning how I'd handle a relationship with two kids but it's been a blast. It really has."

Mr. Turner approached them. "Cass, where are you staying?"

"At a hotel."

"No!" Katie exclaimed. "You can stay at our house. Finn is there, Addison lives in the guest house behind us. We have plenty of room."

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Turner asked and looked at her ex-husband.

"We insist," he responded. "We'll go get your stuff and head to the house."

"Well all right then!"

Joe and Addison walked over to them. Addison set her guitar case down and looked at everyone.

"Are we ready to go?" Mr. Turner asked.

"Yep," Addison said. Joe said goodnight to his family and got into the backseat of Addison's car. Addison's mom was in the front seat. "I'm so glad you could make it, Mom. How long will you be here?"

"Just a couple days then I go back. I don't think I have too much longer until I transfer to a sober living house."

"How about your treatments, how are those going?"

"To say they aren't kicking my ass would be a lie."

"You know if you ever want company..."

"I don't want you to see me that way, honey."

"Mom-"

"Maybe one day though."

Addison left it at that.

*

After having dinner and spending a couple hours together, everyone headed to bed since it was late. Joe waited until Addison was settled in before he shut off the lamp on the nightstand. He pulled her close to him and quietly told her he loved her. She turned onto her back so she could look at him. She gently put her hand on the side of his face.

"I love you too." Joe leaned in and kissed her before taking it to that final step.

In the morning, Addison looked over at Joe's spot on the bed. He was looking right at her.

"Any regrets?" she asked.

"Absolutely none," he responded. "I'm actually glad we did this. I felt I needed to let you know how much I love you."

"I already know, Joe," she said. "Trust me, I know." She sat up and pulled the covers up over her.

"I love you."

"I love you too." They kissed and then both got up to get ready for their day.

* * *

Addison watched as the brothers loaded their stuff up onto the tour bus. The day finally arrived for the Jonas Brothers to leave for their world wide tour. Addison felt she and Joe were in a much better place than before so this time, she wasn't so afraid of Joe leaving. But the amount of time he'd be gone did worry her. She wasn't sure how'd they manage that since she's become busier with work and her music in general.

She and Lily said their goodbyes to everyone, including Danielle.

"I love you so much," Joe quietly told her.

"I love you too," she said back as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I'll call or text you every chance I get." Addison just nodded her head and kissed him. They said their goodbyes one more time and then Addison and Lily got into Lily's car as the bus pulled away, carrying the boys off to their tour.