All Of Your Flaws

Part Fourteen

When Addison heard a familiar roar and a verse from The Rolling Stones' Torn and Frayed she couldn't help but let out an exasperated chuckle. It was as if all it took to make Dylan Willis appear was to think about him. Dylan's car, the damn sleek Camaro, came round the bending track that led up to Molly's house. Dylan parked up on the grassy embankment where Brigid had parked her car earlier that evening. The music blasting out the Camaro was almost as loud as the music coming from inside Molly's house. The music cut off mid-way through the chorus, cutting off the vocals mid-sentence. Addison watched with mild amusement as Dylan climbed out the driver's seat and stopped, looking slightly startled, when he saw Addison sat on the front steps alone.

"Hey." Dylan called walking towards Addison.

"Hey there Willis." Addison said, giving him a mocking salute.

Addison was surprised to see not only Niamh but also Leo walking along with Dylan. Before Leo turned to go into the house, Dylan gripped onto his arm for a moment. "If anything happens in there, text me or call me and I'm taking you home. Remember, if you drink anything stronger than a freaking Diet Coke then I will kick your ass so hard you'll be on a train all the way back to Glasgow to live with Great Aunt Willis for the remainder of your sorry little life." Dylan said sternly. Leo rolled his eyes but gave a small nod of his head.

"Poppy is in the upstairs den I think." Addison said because she assumed that would be the only reason that Leo would be at Molly's party. "Whatever you do don't go through the downstairs den because you will get high just from the fumes." She added. It seemed obvious that Dylan would pitch a fit if he smelt pot on any one item of Leo's clothing.

"Thanks Addison, good to see you again." Leo said before hurrying into the house.

"Remember if anything happens I'm taking you home!" Dylan called after Leo while Niamh snorted loudly.

"I think he got the message there 'Dad'" Niamh said. "See you in there?" she then asked Addison. She gave her a small nod. Niamh returned the movement and gave Addison a slight smile before going into the house herself. Dylan sighed loudly as he sat himself down next to Addison.

"Got a light? Mine bust earlier I haven't gotten round to buying a new one." Dylan said. Addison handed Dylan the green lighter she had recently used to light her own cigarette. "Thanks...you know I never knew you smoked." Dylan added before pulling a packet of cigarettes out his jacket pocket.

"Yeah well, I'm a deep cavern of secrets." Addison muttered bitterly more to herself than Dylan. It really wasn't Dylan's fault that Addison felt the way that she did but she found that she was taking it out on Dylan anyway. She watched as Dylan's eyebrows shot up and instead of saying anything else, Addison reached for Molly's hip flask and swiftly emptied it of its content until it was bone dry. The strong liquor burnt the back of her throat but like always Addison ignored that and focused on the light and empty feeling the alcohol gave her.

"Are these deep, dark secrets or silly pre-teen sized secrets like you used to steal gum from the corner shop?" Dylan asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, I have some cracking secrets locked away baby." Addison slurred, knowing full well that she sounded completely drunk out of her mind but she was past caring one tiny bit. She snuck a glance at Dylan and that was probably the worst thing to do. Dylan was staring at her intently; his green eyes bore into Addison making a heat rise up her neck until it threatened to reach her cheeks. The safest thing was to stop looking at Dylan Willis's damn eyes.

Addison's eyes traveled down Dylan's face. She stopped for a moment to look at the freckles littering Dylan's cheeks until her focus was drawn to the smoke filtering out from between Dylan's lips. The way those lips were slightly curved up in a relaxed smile despite Addison's bitter comment. Everything about Dylan Willis seemed calm and above everything else; he practically radiated nonchalance and maybe that was why Addison was so reluctant to get closer to Dylan, despite the pull she felt deep inside her chest whenever she was around Dylan. Dylan was so self-effacing, the polar opposite of the complex emotions constantly running through Addison, and it was so refreshing and yet terrifying at the same time. Someone so humble couldn't be around someone as tempestuous as Addison without being hurt in far too many ways. That was just one of the endless problems with having the constant thoughts that swirled around Addison's brain. Those drowning thoughts of despondency; being close to a person was always a danger because you could easily make them drown alongside you and that was the last thing Addison wanted for Dylan. Dylan didn't deserve to drown at all.