Sequel: Hearts On Fire

In the Rose Garden

Why Is All This So Confusing

Addison watched as Joe played some random game in the pool with his brothers. They would make up the rules as they went along and would also change them for Frankie's sake. Lily and Garbo seemed to hit it off earlier on their own. Joe and Addison never told them they were there to keep each other company. They decided to keep their lunch "date" low key and had Chinese food delivered to the house and then went for a swim afterwards.

"Addison," Joe said, looking at her, "come back in."

"Uh… no. I think I'm going to go get my tan on with the other girls." She got up and headed for the chairs. Two of the chairs were occupied by Danielle and Lily. Joe climbed out of the pool and stood next to Addison before shaking off.

"Joe!" all three girls shouted in unison.

"Yes!" Joe held his arms up in victory.

"I hope it's because you're excited to see me."

Everyone turned and looked to where the voice came from. Standing in front of the door in her designer jeans and shirt was Taylor Swift. Fulfilling his duty as a boyfriend, Joe walked over to her and tried to hug her. She held her hands out to block him and told him not to since he was dripping water.

"Sorry," Joe said and shrugged his shoulders.

Taylor stood by Danielle's chair and pointed from Lily to Addison. "So, who are these two?"

Joe pointed to Lily first and said, "That's Lily and the other one is Addison."

Addison shifted her weight and sat fully up. Lily could tell her best friend was uncomfortable. It wasn't every day she would be at the house of someone she liked to only have their girlfriend show up unexpectedly.

"You're kind of late, aren't you?" Joe asked. "You said you'd be by last week."

"I got busy. You know how it is," she said as she draped a towel over Joe's shoulders so he wouldn't get her clothes wet. She then looked at Addison and narrowed her eyes at her before Joe took her hand. "Anyway."

Danielle stood up and discreetly motioned for Lily and Addison to follow her. They followed Kevin's girlfriend inside and stood in the kitchen.

"Great," Danielle said as she leaned against the counter. "I kind of wish we had known she was going to show up. I would have gotten you girls out of here and we could have gone and done something until she left."

"I appreciate the thought and everything but it's something I'm going to have to deal with. She is his girlfriend after all."

"I doubt that for long though. He's so much happier with you. As a couple, they just don't go together. The media has it so wrong on this one. They don't even know the half of it. I mean, don't get me wrong, Taylor is a nice girl and all but ever since her career really started to take off, she sometimes treats Joe like he's beneath her and it gets frustrating to sit back and watch," Danielle vented.

"Feel better now?" Lily asked.

"Actually yes, I do," she responded, "thanks."

The girls laughed.

"Better you than me," Addison said. "Because then it'd look like I was jealous."

"Are you?" Lily asked.

Addison just stared at her with a blank face.

Lily rubbed her back. "Give it time. Everything will come around. Everyone keeps saying they're over, one of them will make it official soon enough and I'm pretty sure we know which one."

"No I just… I don't know."

Joe walked into the house a minute later and stood among the girls. "I am so sorry. I didn't know she was going to show up. If I'd known I would have prepared you." He took her hands in his. "I'm so sorry" came out as a whisper.

"It's not your fault, Joe," she responded quietly.

"I don't mean to be doing this to you. I really don't but I'm just waiting for the perfect time."

Addison shook her head and tightened her grip on his hands. "There's never going to be a perfect time. It's something you're just going to have to put out there and get it over with. You know, just rip the band aid off."

"Soon, it's going to happen soon. I promise," he said and kissed her cheek. Just after he pulled away and let her hands go, Taylor walked in. She put her arm around Joe's shoulders and looked at Addison.

"So you're the girl that's being seen everywhere with Joe."

"Yeah, that's me," Addison responded.

"You know we're still together, right?"

"Taylor, she knows," Joe interjected before Taylor could say anything else. "Addison and I are just friends. You out of everyone should know how the tabloids like to romanticize every little thing."

"Yeah, that is true," Taylor said and nodded her head as if she were having a thought. "So Addison, how'd you and Joe meet?"

"You guys came into my mom's store about a month ago or a few weeks ago or whenever it was."

"Oh yeah, I remember that store. It was really cute. Do you still work there?"

"Yeah, I do," Addison responded, wondering why she even cared about that.

"Oh, cool," Taylor said as she took her arm from around Joe's shoulders and put it around his waist instead. She seemed to be making a show of their relationship. Neither Joe nor Addison could figure out if she were trying to make Addison jealous or was just trying to get back on Joe's good side. Joe's expression combined with his body language said he wasn't having any of it.

"So um… let's go back outside," Joe suggested.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Danielle said.

"You should put some clothes on so we can go out for a while," Taylor told Joe. "I'm sure your brothers won't mind keeping your friends company."

"Yeah, okay," Joe quietly said. All he wanted to do now was get Addison alone. As if they could read his mind, the boys walked in from outside.

"What are you guys doing?" Kevin asked as he put his arm around Danielle.

"I was just chatting with Joe's new friends," Taylor said before anyone else could get a word in. Nick and Kevin glanced between Addison and Joe.

"Taylor and I were just about to go out for a while. Just you know, catch up," Joe said. No one was sure if the sound in his voice was that of sadness or irritation.

"Oh," Kevin said, "well, have fun."

Taylor took herself into the living room while everyone else went upstairs to change into their street clothes. Joe grabbed his clothes off his bed so Addison could change in his room while he changed in the bathroom. After a couple minutes, he knocked on his door and Addison opened the door. He stepped in and shut the door but left it cracked open.

"I'm really sorry about this, Addison," he whispered as he pressed his forehead against hers. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her in until she was pressed against him.

"It's not your fault." She put a hand on his neck that quickly ended up in his hair. If he tried to kiss her right now, she would have let him but he didn't try.

There was a quick knock on the door and Nick stepped in. "Taylor's asking what's taking you so long."

"You can go downstairs first," Addison said, pulling away from Joe. "Don't want to keep your girlfriend waiting."

"I'll call you when she leaves," Joe responded as he backed out of the room not once taking his eyes off Addison.

Addison just nodded her head and watched Joe descend the stairs. He walked over to Taylor as she stood up and put her phone in her pocket. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nick motion for her to go downstairs first.

"Everything will work itself out," he quietly told her before walking down with her.

Joe quickly started saying his goodbyes to everyone. He hugged Lily and that lasted for a few seconds. Then he moved to Addison. That lasted long enough for Taylor to clear her throat which didn't need to be cleared. She didn't like the fact that Joe put his hands on her lower back instead of towards the middle or near her shoulders.

"Talk to you later," he whispered and let her go. He and Taylor then walked out the front door.

Addison let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. "Why do I feel like I'm the one who did something wrong?" she asked no one in particular.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

"Addison, what's wrong?" Mr. Turner asked as he set his steak knife and fork down on the plate in front of him. He then set his napkin on the table and looked at his daughter.

Addison shrugged her shoulders and picked at her cheese and spinach omelet. "Boy problems."

"Care to talk about them?" Katie asked. "Or we can wait until we get back to the apartment…"

"No, it's fine," Addison responded. She then spilled everything about her, Joe, and Taylor. She left nothing out… except all the times he tried to kiss her.

"That really sucks," Katie said. "When did this happen?"

"A few days ago," Addison said.

"And they're still together?"

"As far as I know, yes, they are. Things have been a little awkward between us since then. I just don't know what to do anymore."

"I think I might be able to suggest a thing or two," Mr. Turner said and leaned back in his chair.

Addison shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"Date another boy," Katie said.

"But I don't want to."

"Maybe then he'll see what he's missing out on. Besides, it's just a date. A date doesn't automatically make you two boyfriend and girlfriend."

"I don't know. I'll have to think about it. I don't want to lead one boy on to just try and get the one I really want."

"There's always option two. Just flat out tell him how you're feeling about all this."

Addison shrugged her shoulders. She didn't want to admit out loud that she was more confused now than before.
♠ ♠ ♠
Even though Kevin and Danielle aren't married yet in this story, she does live with him and his family. Also, we're not done with Taylor quite yet. She's in the next chapter also.

Title credit: Hannah Montana - Don't Want To Be Torn