Princess of the universe // Hardzzellee

Chapter 42

It was not a big surprise that all of them had been looking forward to the weekend. That was the time Gwil would be coming home again. Ben and Joe had been talking about Addison's progress so far. They decided that they shouldn't forget about pushing her comfort level a little bit. So, they decided that they were going to make Addison sleep over at Rami's. They decided to test the waters carefully. When they finished dinner on Wednesday night, Ben looked over at Addison.
"Rami says Scarlett has been asking if you'd have a sleepover with her," Ben said. It wasn't even a lie. According to Rami, Scarlett really did want Addison to sleep over. However, Rami had told her not to ask Addison yet because he knew it'd probably make Addison nervous. When Ben had stopped talking, Addison's eyes widened. 
"Would you like that?" Ben asked. Addison looked down at the table.

"Addison, what are you thinking?" Joe asked. 
"I never had a sleepover before," Addison mumbled. Joe raised an eyebrow.
"Ohh, sleepovers are really fun. I used to love them when I was your age. I had a sleepover at Rami's not too long ago," Joe said. Addison looked up at him. Joe was referring to the Los Angeles trip Rami and he had made a few months prior. They were invited to a reunion of the Pacific cast. As they were only going to stay there for a few days, they decided to rent a hotel room with two separate beds. It basically was just like a sleepover.
"Really?" Addison asked. Joe nodded.
"What about this Friday night?" Ben offered. Addison looked down again.
"If you want to, we can drop you off right after dinner and pick you up after breakfast," Ben said. Addison nodded slowly. 

Joe had helped Addison pack her bag. Earlier that day, Joe had visited Rami and Lucy to talk to them.
"Either Ben or I will drop her off after dinner. I wrote down her normal nighttime routine. It is not much but as she is quite nervous, we thought it might be easiest to keep things as normal as possible," Joe explained. Lucy nodded while she listened to Joe's story. Rami took the piece of paper from Joe to read it through.
"Anything special we need to look out for?" Lucy asked. 
"You know alcohol is a trigger for her. So, please avoid that. And other than that, showers were a little bit of a struggle when she first arrived at our home. She might need someone to stay with her in the bathroom while she takes a shower. And usually, it helps her if she can turn the shower on herself," Joe said. Rami nodded.
"Who do you want to stay with her?" Rami asked. Joe shrugged.
"I'd ask her if I were you."

"If there is anything throughout the night or if she really wants to come home, call Gwil. He usually leaves the sound of his phone on throughout the night," Joe said. Rami handed the list to Lucy to read through.
"Talking about Gwil, how is he doing?" Rami asked. Joe smiled sadly.
"I guess he is doing a little better every day, but it really hurts to see him like this," Joe said.
"I totally get that. How is his physical recovery going?" Rami asked.
"That is actually going quite alright. He was really struggling with walking last weekend, but we managed to get him to walk with some tricks. I got to talk to him on the phone yesterday and he said he improved even more. So, I am excited to see that today," Joe said.
"I'm glad," Lucy said.
"Mentally he is struggling quite a bit. I really hope that once he physically starts to recover that it'll be a little easier mentally as well," Joe said.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Rami asked. Joe frowned while he tried to think of something.
"He might like it if you stop by on Sunday morning for tea? Anything longer than an hour will really wear him down though," Joe said. 
"Sunday morning we don't have anything planned, do we?" Rami asked. Lucy shook her head. 
"We will come over Sunday morning."

Currently, Ben was making his way over to Rami's with Addison in the backseat. Her bag was sitting next to her. Near the end of the day, she had gotten extremely quiet. When they pulled up to Rami's, Scarlett was already running out of the front door to greet her friend. Ben unbuckled Addison before lifting her out of the car. With her bag in his hand, they made their way over to the house. Ben handed the bag to Lucy who immediately took it to Scarlett's room. Ben got on his knees in front of Addison.
"Hey, have fun, alright? I'll be here to pick you up right after breakfast tomorrow morning," Ben said while he moved some hair out of her face. Addison nodded while her eyes were fixated on the tip of her shoes. 
"Hug?" Ben asked. Addison stepped forward while wrapping her arms around Ben. 
"I love you," Ben said. Addison mumbled something back that sounded like an agreement. 

"Hey, Addison. Do you want to see where you will be sleeping tonight? I made you a princess bed," Rami said while holding out his hand. Addison hesitantly took Rami's hand and followed him to Scarlett's bedroom. Rami looked over his shoulder and waved at Ben to indicate that he should leave. Ben swallowed hard while he turned around. Scarlett had already followed Lucy to her own room. 
"Look, Addison. You are sleeping right next to me," Scarlett said. Rami had put an extra mattress on the floor next to Scarlett's bed. He had picked out a Princess bedsheet.

"Do you have Misha with you?" Rami asked. Addison nodded.
"We need to show her where she will be sleeping tonight, right?" Rami asked. Addison looked over at her bag before getting up to pull Misha out. Rami gently took it from her.
"Oh Addison, look at this amazing bed Rami made for us. It looks amazing!" Rami said in a high voice while moving Misha around. Addison and Scarlett giggled softly. Rami smiled while he placed Misha on Addison's pillow before getting up.
"Let's have some fun," He said. The girls immediately got up to follow him into the living room.