thank you quarantine // braddison

chapter 18

bryce pov
everything has been going so well with addison and i.. we even have matching hair, so i've finally decided that i'm going to ask her out. i've known that i wanted to date her again since the moment we split up back in january, and i think i've finally found the courage to do it. because i want to make it as special as possible for addison, i know i really need to think about it.. so in the next few days, addison will hopefully be my girlfriend. the boys have also been pushing me to do it since griffin has recently made things official with dixie, and jaden with mads.

i'm not the most romantic of guys, so i went on my phone to look for some cute date ideas. but before that, i decided to go on twitter and what i saw shocked me.. addison was being cancelled. my timeline was filled with it, it was trending.. what was going on?

i soon found out that all of this was because a tweet addison had retweeted five years ago about a woman talking about "all lives matter" had resurfaced. my heart broke for addison as i read the disgusting things people were saying about her, many people also sending her death threats. i knew this wasn't the person addison was now and it hurt me to see that so many people were trying to cancel her and viewed her in such a negative way.

i called addison, but she declined all three times.. i understood though, she was probably taking time to herself to collect her thoughts and deal with the situation, not feeling ready to talk. but i wanted to help her, i wanted to comfort her, i wanted to do anything i could to make her feel happy.. so i sent her a text..

bryce: hey addi, please talk to me when you're ready. i love you so much.

to my surprise, addison actually responded pretty quickly..

addison: thank you bryce, i love you ♥️

not long after, i got a call from sheri, who told me that she was worried about addison's mental health. she said that addison was feeling down with everything going on and wasn't talking to anyone about it, so asked me if i could come over in hopes of cheering addison up or just being her shoulder to cry on, and i of course said that i would.

addison pov
i had just received a call from my manager, her advising me to take time off of social media for a few days, giving me enough time to reflect upon my actions and come out with a sincere apology. the tweet i retweeted five years ago was not a representation of the person i am now. i am fully supportive of black lives matter, even having gone to several protests and donating huge amounts of money to support the movement.

reading the comments saddened me and also made me wonder what my family and friends thought. both of my parents had reassured me that they know that's not the person i am now, but i still pushed them away.. i guess i haven't really been up to talking to anyone about it. bryce also called me and i knew he was only calling because he cared, but i was still scared. i didn't know what to say to him and i didn't know what he'd say to me, so i declined all of his calls. he then sent me a message, telling me he loved me and that he would be there for me, so i responded. i didn't have the heart to leave him on read considering how sweet he was being to me.

i still didn't know if i was ready to speak to him, but i would love his presence.. one of the few things that never fails to comfort me. as much as i wanted to ask him to come over, i didn't want to be a burden to him, i didn't want to drag him down with me.

bryce pov
i quickly picked up some flowers and chocolates for addison before driving to her house. when i arrived, sheri let me in and told me that addison was in her room. i went up to addison's room and knocked on her door, but got no response. i knocked again, addison quietly saying "come in", pain being evident in her voice.

i opened the door to addison curled up on her bed, she looked at me with her red, puffy eyes and gave me a weak smile. "hey" i said softly walking up to her and giving her the flowers and chocolates. she took them from me, thanking me as she put them on her bedside table. she patted her bed, motioning for me to lay down with her, which i did, addison instantly wrapping her arms around me and resting her head on my chest. i put my arms around her, holding her tightly as i left gentle kisses on her temple.

we just lay in silence for a bit before i began to speak.. "addison i love you. i know you, and i know that's not the person you are now. please let me continue to be here for you and whenever you're ready, know that you can talk to me about how you feel." "i know i messed up. i know what i retweeted wasn't right, but i've changed and it just hurts that so many people don't think i have. i don't like the way in which people are viewing me, because i know that's not who i am" she said, her voice breaking. "i know baby, please don't let the hate get to you.. these people don't know you, they're just trying to bring you down" i told addison, all of the nasty things people were saying about her were false.. addison is the most considerate person i know, she truly does have the biggest heart and would never do anything with intentions of hurting or offending others.

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black lives matter. today, tomorrow and forever.