Touchdown Boy

Chapter Twenty-nine

Can you come over today?

Addison would have expected such a short and needy text to come from Tom, so she was a little surprised when she saw that Gerard had sent it. She didn't have any plans for today, other than doing homework and possibly hang out with her friends later since it was a Saturday. Tom hadn't asked her to hang out one on one which she thought was a bit odd since they'd been spending so much time together lately. But maybe now that they were official Tom didn't feel the pressure or the need to be with her all the time. Maybe he thought he had the rest of the bet in the bag. Then again, Tom could just be busy with all the practicing Blink has been doing lately. Either way, it meant that Addison could spend the day with Gerard. Before Addison could reply, Gerard sent another text.

Gerard: I wanted to finish the portrait this weekend so I can send in my application soon.

Ah, that explained it. Addison was somewhat disappointed that Gerard didn't just want to hang out with her to spend time with her, even though she knew she shouldn't be. She and Gerard hang out all the time because of Alice's and Mikey's relationship. She just didn't want their friendship to be based on the fact that their siblings were dating. Logically Addison knew that this wasn't the case since they had similar tastes and hobbies; but she couldn't help being paranoid about her first friendship she's ever had, except for the people she's known for over ten years.

But her disappointment had faded by the time she arrived at Gerard's house via bicycle. Now she was just excited to see the finished product of Gerard's artwork.

"Hey," Gerard greeted with what seemed like a bit of a forced smile to Addison. But she shook off her doubts and smiled back at Gerard.

"Hi," she replied. Gerard welcomed her inside and shut the door behind her.

"Mom's at work and Mikey's still sleeping," Gerard explained the silence in the house.

"Late night conversations with Alice keeping him up?" Addison asked jokingly. She knew that there had been more than one occasion where the two lovebirds had stayed up past two in the morning just talking over the phone.

"Something like that," Gerard smiled. "I think it's cute," he added as he led Addison to his basement bedroom. "Alice is Mikey's only friend that's actually his age. I think it's good for him, especially since the rest of us are seniors and leaving next year."

"Yeah," Addison agreed. She didn't like thinking about having to leave after graduation. She was anxious about leaving her sister and her friends. Her nerves only increased when she thought about her uncertainty with her future. "I hope things work out between them."

"Me too," Gerard nodded, closing the bedroom door behind them. He dragged his desk chair over to his bed so that it was in the same position as the last time he drew her.

"So should I just pose the same way?" Addison asked, taking a step closer to the chair.

Gerard nodded as he walked back to the desk to grab his sketchbook. "Sure," he answered. "You don't have to smile though if you don't want to. I'm just going to be shading the drawing so it's really only the shadows that matter."

Addison let out a sigh of relief, remembering how pinched her face felt after their last drawing session. She sat down on the chair and positioned herself in an attempt to recreate the same angle her body had been in last time. Gerard sat down on the bed across from her. He opened his sketchbook and looked between the portrait and Addison, squinting slightly in concentration. He stood up from the bed and walked over to Addison. Gerard reached out and set his hand on Addison's cheek. It reminded her of how Tom would stroke her cheek gently before pulling her in for a kiss. Except the main difference between the two gestures was the tingling in her stomach now wasn't from excitement, the sensation she felt with Tom, but instead from a new kind of nervousness. Sure she had always found Gerard attractive, but she was dating Tom. Even if the relationship was pretty much entirely faked, she still didn't want to be that girl. Addison was scared of what she might do if Gerard did kiss her. More importantly, she was scared of how the kiss might make her feel.