Loving You ~ Drew Starkey / Austin Butler / Jacob Elordi

thirty-eight

"Hey..." Drew whispered in Addie's ear later on that night, "I need to talk to you. Please."

His eyes were glossy and he had that innocent look on his face that she couldn't avoid. Her eyes drifted to his lips briefly and back up to those blue eyes of his.

"Okay."

Earlier, like she stated, she wouldn't have talked. But now, after the immense amount of alcohol in her system, she was down for a talk with Drew.

His hand met hers as he led her off the dance floor to a more private area in the back of the bar, sliding into the booth behind her.

"You wanted to talk, Joseph, so talk." She stared at him with a serious look on her face.

He cracked a smile, "You're really loving using my real name recently, aren't you?"

"I am." Addie admitted as Drew took a deep breath, biting the inside of his cheek briefly.

"So, I want to begin by apologizing for the entire thing with Jade at my birthday. I know you're incredibly upset with me and I don't blame you, I really fucked up."

"You did." She agreed.

"But there's also a lot you don't know, Addie, and it's part of the reason I've been MIA the past few months."

"Okay..."

"So, here it goes." He chuckled nervously, "I was indeed hooking up with Jade prior to my birthday, but only for about a month. I was planning on ending it, I was, but then she said she was pregnant."

He paused, waiting for her response, and she furrowed her brow.

"Pregnant?" She clarified and he nodded.

Good lord.

Do NOT tell me Drew us a father-

Oh my god.

Is he?

"And I went along with it, uh, but it turns out, she wasn't pregnant with my baby, and she made me go along with it for a few months and she was, she wasn't even pregnant the entire time. So, uh, that was kinda a mindfuck." He chuckled, "But, uh, I went to therapy, took some time to myself, and now, I feel much better. I've just been trying to mend my relationships that I fucked up."

Oh, thank god.

Terrible that he went through all of that, and alone, likely, but she was thankful he wasn't tied down to Jade.

"Jesus, Drew." Addie sighed, "I was not expecting that at all."

"Yeah, it's a lot to take in."

"You're okay though, for real?" She placed her hand on his arm, giving him a look of concern.

"I am." He nodded, "If you would've asked me that a few months ago, the answer would've been very different though."

"And what about Jade?"

"What about her?"

"Look, I just want to ask, so be honest, how did you, or how do you feel about her?"

"Addie, if you're asking about whether or not I was in love with Jade, I wasn't. I didn't love her. I barely even liked her, but in that position, I had to be there for her."

"Thanks for the clarification."

"I'm sorry for dumping this all on you, I needed you to know. You deserved my explanation the most and I've wanted to talk to you for awhile now, but I waited until we were together again." He offered her a small smile.