PROMISE

Colder

I lied...I think you'll like the chapter AFTER this Cold series. I didn't get a chance to respond to all comments, but they are hilarious and motivating. Back to Back chapters coming at ya, what?! Enjoy! 😎

Bradley wakes to a cold and empty bed. He stays looking at the ceiling. It's been a month and a half since losing his best friend. When his parents died he drowned himself in liquor and women.  He would have done the same when Henry and Lilly passed away had it not been for those two beautiful babies. His world changed in an instant. The only person he would want to talk to about all this was gone and he felt alone and confused. Was Gaga just a way for him to cope or was she more. The only thing he knew was that she was perfect. The way her body moved under his, the way they started to communicate with just one look, the way she cared for the only two things that mattered to him, the way she unconsciously cared for him. In a month and a half his heart was broken and almost immediately replaced with something else. The twins babbling pulled his body from the bed. To his surprise only Jackson waited for him. Already walking around the room. Gaga was right, they couldn't live in this bubble anymore, they needed real cribs, a real home environment, a real family. "Hey, buddy. Where are the girls, huh?" He held his hand as they slowly made their way to the stairs, where he swooped him up and found the other two in the living room. "Hey."

"Hey, so I have a long day today. You said you could work from home if need be?"

"Yea. No press today, just writing and calls." Bradley watched as she avoided his gaze. He put Jackson down to hobble and crawl around.

"Ava come give me a kiss." She held her arms open for the little one to run into. "I'm going to stay at my apartment tonight, will you be ok?"

"What? Why?"

"Jackson, come give me a kiss goodbye." She fixed Ava's shirt and grabbed her purse, reaching for Jack. "I just might get in late and I haven't been there... and maybe a little space would be good."

"Space?" He was losing her but he didn't want to push her. 

"I made some bottles and their breakfast."

"Timeout, everything was fine. What do you mean space?"

"Text if you need anything." Gaga opened the door.

"No! Talk to me." The door shut as he was walking towards it. He pulled at his hair and paced the hallway. Irina, that had to be what set her off. He should have explained. Bradley grabbed Ava and Jackson and began to feed them. The more he fed them the angrier he got. "No way, that shouldn't have set her off. We aren't even a thing, no strings, that's what we agreed upon. She's acting like a child." Bradley accidentally took an angry bit of their baby food. He rolled his eyes and swallowed. "And another thing, she thinks she can just ignore me? I've been trying to communicate, whatever the fudge that means. How am I supposed to communicate if the other person is ignoring me?! No way, not cool."

"Nonono." Ava agreed.

"That's right, nonono, no ma'am! This ends today." Bradley finishes feeding the kids and cleans them up. After changing them and doing a bit of work, Bradley is finally able to sit down and texts her. 

B: Hey, I know you're busy but we need to talk.

Bradley took the kids for a little stroll around the neighborhood, trying not to check his phone. Once they returned and he set them down for a nap he looked at his phone. Still nothing. "What the hell?!" 

Gaga looked at the text over and over the couple hours. Talk about what? To remind her that what they have is temporary. To tell her they need to stop their little arrangement so he can pursue other legs? Talk about how he's going to bail on being a co-parent because he has other plans. Her day was busy thankfully, so she put her phone away and continued with her photoshoot. 

"Trouble in paradise?" Sarah touched up Gaga's makeup.

"What paradise? My friends died and I'm instantly a mom with two kids, sorry three!" 

"Whoa there. You're going to smudge my work. I was just asking."

"Well, I'm fine, so we can drop it."

B: Really? Ignoring even my texts? Cool.

Bradley finally put the kids down to sleep when he heard his phone ding. He felt like an angry teenage girl running to his phone. 

G: I can take them tomorrow. When is your audition? 

B: Are you serious?

G: I had a long day. We can talk tomorrow. 

B: 10 am.

G: See you in the morning.  

Bradley barely slept, tossing and turning all night. He prepared for his audition but he found it hard to focus. He still gets nervous over these things but fighting with Gaga over something he has no control over shook him. As he walked through the quiet side streets in New York City, he started to calm down. This was hard for both of them. It's definitely new territory for him. He did crowd her yesterday, maybe she felt more uncomfortable than she led on. It was fun for him, but she really did run around and was the perfect hostess. Space. Now he understood. Bradley typed in the code to the gate and rang the bell at the door. He bent to fix Jackson's hat just as the door opened. Bradley looked up and was met with a shirtless man, slurping a bowl of cereal. "Can I help you?"