More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter Twenty-Three

Auston's Point of View

The last two weeks have been absolute hell. On top of the losing streak that was plaguing our team, I was out for the next two-three weeks with a wrist injury. I'm not quite sure what happened, but it was killing me. The losing streak and the injury were both extremely tough, but the situation with Addie was adding insult to injury. I had to see her a handful of times in the last two weeks, and that was a few times too many. In an effort to make sure everybody thought we were on good terms, if there was something going on with all our friends; we were both there. 

Tonight wasn't going to be any better. Everyone was coming over to our place for a celebration of Mitch's and Steph's engagement. It wasn't anything official; but everyone collectively decided it was necessary to try to have at least one thing to celebrate. Though we sat in a good place in the standings, winless in our last five games, and the team getting hit with injuries, we needed a little bit of positivity. I wasn't sure how this was going to help; it certainly wasn't going to help my case any. 

I got ready for the party, wondering what I would say if I ran into Addie. Though there would be enough people there to be able to avoid her undetected, it was still a possibility and I wanted to be prepared for it. 

"You ready to go?" Fred asks, his face, like usual, expressionless. 

"Ready as I'll ever be" I shrug, not sure if I was ready for this. It didn't get any easier any time I saw her, and I doubt that was going to change tonight. 

"Hey, I'm sure it'll be fine" he assures me, but I don't believe him. 

"Does she seem to hate me any less?" I ask, knowing that they spoke more often than not. I knew I shouldn't use Fred for this; it would be something Addie would hate me doing, but I could not help myself. 

"We don't really talk about it, if I'm being honest" he informs me, and I'm not sure whether that's the case or whether or not he just does not want to tell me. "You don't need to worry, it'll be fine" he says, as we walk out the door, heading over to Mitch and Steph's place. 

The celebration raged on, and I saw no signs of Addie. After congratulating the happy couple, I went to sit with a few of the guys, as we all drank and told stories of Mitch and Steph from when they first started dating. It was easy to get lost in all the stories, but I still felt my mind wander. 

"Remember the 'guys' trip?" Willie asks, and everyone snickers, though Mitch blushes. 

"You mean the guys trip where they all got a group photo.... taken by Steph?" Mo pipes in, everyone laughing at Mitch's expense. "We tease, we tease; we all know you guys are a perfect match" he adds, and he smiles. It's nice to see the guys all relaxing and forgetting about our recent terrible luck. 

I got up to get a refill on my drink, and I wish I hadn't. 

"Addie, hey" I say, as I look right at the very woman I wished so desperately to see, at the same time I dreaded it. She looked amazing, as she often did. She wasn't wearing anything over the top; just a nice sweater and skinny jeans. She looked at me, her smile faltering for a moment. 

"Aus, hey" she speaks softly, and unsure. "How's your wrist?" she asks, pointing to my right wrist, which was wrapped up. I touched it at its mention; it was finally starting to feel a little better, but definitely not at where it needed to be. 

"Not at 100%; but getting better" I say with a shrug. "I just want to get back to it, help us get past all these losses" I say with a frown. I know Fred's taking it hard, too. 

"I know it's been hard on you guys" she frowns, and I know she's really only referring to Freddie. I feel a little bit of jealously surge through me at Freddie spending so much time with Addie. I knew they were close while we were 'together', but lately it seemed like they spent a lot of time together. "But, I know you guys will fight through it. We all go through our rough patches" there's a lot of truth to her words, but they don't do anything to ease my mind. 

"Yeah, I hope so" I reply, and before I'm able to keep my big mouth shut, I ask the question that was burning in the back of my mind. "You and Freddie are spending a lot of time together?" it comes off as a question, though it was more of a statement. 

"Uh- yeah, we are" she replies, a little off put. I can tell she wants to say something else, but is biting her tongue. "Is that an issue?" she asks, being as civil as possible. 

"I mean- no, no of course not" I stumble over my words. "Sorry, I just-"

"You just what?" she asks, now a little offended. She looks around to see if anyone is paying attention, but there's nobody else in the kitchen. The music is at a loud enough volume that nobody could overhear our conversation. "No offence, but you really don't have a say in who I do and don't hang around" she snaps. 

"I get that it just-"

"Just what?" she interrupts me; clearly I struck a nerve. "Look, I know we've been civil and shit, but I'm still very much pissed off at you" she tells me, and I frown. "Jessica has come to my work the past few days-"

"She what!?" I almost explode. She was going into Addie's work now? "Has she said anything to you? To anyone?" I ask, and she shakes her head. 

"No, I think she just wants me to know she's around, and could do something if she wanted to" she tells me, and my blood is boiling. 

"I'm sorry she's doing that- why didn't you tell me?" I ask, though I'm sure the answer is obvious. It's obvious, hits me like a ton of bricks, and causes my stomach to sink; she doesn't want to speak to me. 

"I wanted to- but I didn't want you to worry about it" she tells me, and it only makes me feel worse. Even after everything, she is still looking after me. 

"I-"

"Addie, come here! We're planning Steph's present!" Liv bursts in the room, looking between the both of us with sympathy. "When you get a moment" she adds when she sees Addie's face. She walks away and Addie looks at me, frowning. 

"I better go- I hope your wrist gets better, Aus" she says, before walking away. I sigh, pulling out my phone. As much as I didn't want to, I scrolled down to find her number. 

"Jess- hey. We need to talk."