Loving You ~ Drew Starkey / Austin Butler / Jacob Elordi

thirty-four

Addie didn't talk to Drew for almost six months. Yeah, you read that right six months.

TIME SKIP

SIX

MONTHS

LATER...

Now, what was she up to between November 2019 and May 2020? Well....let's just take a step back before we skip ahead, shall we?

DECEMBER 2019

A few days after Christmas and all had settle down during the busy holiday months, Addie heard a knock at her door. Looking through the peephole, she saw Austin staring back at her as she furrowed her brows, confused, opening the door.

What was he doing here?

"Hey Aus, what's-"

"Can I come in?" He insisted, sadness evident in his blue eyes as she nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." She said, stepping aside to let him in as she closed the door behind him, "Is everything okay-"

"Vanessa and I broke up." He said, throwing himself down onto her couch.

Oh, fuck.

They were literally fine at the Christmas party they all attended one week ago.

"What? Seriously? What happened?"

He groaned slightly, "Things were just, uh, just different. We grew apart."

Grew apart. Interesting.

Yet almost two months ago he said they were stronger and better than ever.

But, she did remember that he lied about wanting to marry Vanessa, so maybe he had a change of heart and told her. Or maybe she broke things off. It wasn't her business though.

"Well, are you okay?" She sat on the side of the couch, placing a comforting hand atop his shoulder.

"I wasn't a few days ago. Today, I'm much better." He sighed, "We wanted different things, you know?"

A few days?

Yikes. The worst time of the year.

"Like what, exactly? I'm sorry for asking. You don't have to tell me anything."

"No, it's okay. I'd rather talk about it." He said sitting up, allowing her to scoot next to him on the couch, "She was ready to begin the next chapter. Get married, start a family, that kinda thing. I could've proposed so many times, hell, I wanted to, but when things change and you get opportunities you've waited a lifetime for, you can't, you can't pass that up. And I was honest with her about that."

Hm, so she was right. He was honest with her about how he felt in marriage.

"Oh, I see. I'm sure that wasn't easy."

"She was glad I communicated with her about it. And she too, knew that we were in different places, hence her understanding."

"I'm sorry that it ended that way though. I know how much you love her."

Austin offered her a small smile, "I did love her. A lot."

It was the did that made Addie glance at him briefly. Did he not still love her? Or maybe that's what he meant to say. She wasn't going to pry.

"What can I do to cheer you up?"

"I knew you'd ask that. That's why I came over here." Austin said, meeting her eye as she gave him a strange look, "What? You'll get my mind off of things."