Touchdown Boy

Chapter Forty

(A/N: First off, I love this GIF so much it hurts. Second, this video has nothing to do with the chapter, but it's super cute and it's only like two minutes. And finally, this chapter is super long, the longest one I've written I think (as it should be since I've been working on it for days) so brace yourselves.)

Addison waited. She waited almost a whole week after Blink's show for Tom to reach out to her. She thought that once Friday was over and the bet had ended, Tom would try to talk to her to prove that he meant what he had said. When he didn't, not even by sending a lousy text, Addison didn't know what to think. She figured all his apologizing must have been act, a desperate ploy to win the bet at the last minute. And she had been so close to falling for it.

But now Addison knew the truth. She meant nothing more than a bet to Tom; otherwise he would have tried to see her by now, right? But no, now that the bet was over, so was all communication between the two of them apparently.

Addison tried to not let it get to her. She knew this had been a possibility all along, she just had hoped that it wasn't the case. But she had been wrong.

She hoped that curling up with a book in bed would help her forget about her heartache, forget about Tom. But her attempt was futile since the pain was magnified because of the date. It was Christmas Eve. It would be the first Christmas Addison would spend without one of her best friends; not that they got together in person or anything, but they would usually call or text one another to wish each other a Merry Christmas. Addison supposed she could be the one to break the silence between Tom and her, but she knew it would sound forced, just like all their other past conversations since the breakup.

Addison found herself missing Tom more than ever. This Christmas would be hard enough as it was without her dad here, but it would be even harder without one of her closest friends to help her get through it.

Addison sighed and closed her book. She wondered if she should just call it a night and try to get some sleep, when she heard a thump against her window.

"What the hell?" Addison muttered to herself. She thought it might have been a bird that accidentally flew into her window, but then she heard another thump.

She set her book on her nightstand and swung her legs off the bed. As she was walking over to the window there was a third thump.

"Jesus Christ, would you chill?" Addison asked the mysterious noise. She didn't want the sound to wake up her whole household, if they were even asleep at half past eleven on the night before Christmas.

Addison opened her curtains and peered through the window. She could faintly see a figure standing below, but couldn't make out who it was in the dark. Addison could only see dark messy hair, which honestly could have been half of the people she knew. She rolled her eyes when the figure dropped the snowball they were packing. Well at least they hadn't been throwing rocks.

Addison opened the window. "Can I help you or are you just throwing snowballs at people's houses for fun?"

The person chuckled. Addison froze as her stomach twisted into a knot.

"Hey, Addison," Tom greeted, his soft voice almost getting carried away in the howling winter winds.

"What are you doing here, Tom?" Addison asked, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

"Well," Tom started, kicking at the snow on the ground. "I was planning on serenading you with my guitar, but then I realized it's ten degrees outside and I didn't want my fingers to freeze and fall of." He let out a small laugh and coughed when he looked at Addison's emotionless face. "Um, do you think I could come inside maybe?"