"Hi." Addie softly spoke, afraid of raising her voice above a whisper in case it scares Matt and Chris off. She had spoken a bit to Nick so she wasn't as worried about him right now.
Chris shook his head, "No, what the fuck. You're supposed to be dead." He replied, turning to look at his brothers. Nick and Matt were dead silent, Nick staring at the floor and Matt staring at Addie with no expression on his face.
"You're right, I am supposed to be dead." Addie agreed, "But despite everything, I survived."
Nick pushed Matt and Chris to approach the couch, so they could all sit down. This wasn't exactly a standing up type of conversation. Addie leaned forward on her elbows, glancing between the three of them. She felt like she was 16 all over again, feeling the need to beg for their forgiveness.
"What happened?" Matt finally whispered, glancing at Addie before looking back to her coffee table.
"Here's the thing, most of what happened I cannot tell you. Legally I cannot tell you," Addie sighed, "I had to sign a NDA."
Nick's jaw dropped, "Holy shit."
"I left home that night to come here, to come and see Chase." Addie calmly spoke, wincing from the way Chris' head shot up to glare at her. "I had to try and figure out how to stop him from evading my life, I was genuinely going insane over everyone having some sort of connection to him. So I paid him a visit, met up with his family."
Addie leaned back against the couch to get more comfortable, "I met up with some old friends, and the outcome wasn't the best. Long story short, I was no longer sober. I made some really bad rash decisions and..." Addie trailed off, tears filling her eyes as the memories and feelings of the past washed over her.
"And?" Nick impatiently asked, noticing that Addie was on the verge of shutting down.
She took a deep breath, "And Chase is dead."
She looked between Nick, Matt, and Chris, trying to gauge their reactions. Nick's jaw was dropped in shock, and Matt still had a blank face, something he must've mastered over the years. Chris had his head hanging forward, his arms resting on his knees.
"So you got Chase killed?" Matt asked, making Addie's eyes widen. She wasn't expecting him to be so bold with it right off the bat, especially with some crazy accusation.
"I didn't make the call, I didn't ask anyone to do anything. But at the end of the day I feel responsible for his death." She quietly admitted.
"You don't deserve to carry that guilt around with you, Adeline." Chris whispered, "He made his bed, he chose to lie in it."
"Chris!" Nick gasped, leaning forward to swat his arm.
Chris narrowly dodged the attack, "I'm sorry for saying what we're all thinking! Chase was a lunatic, and I am not sorry he's dead." He spits out angrily, "He took Addie from us again, Nick. Dude had it coming."
"I prayed for it." Matt spoke up, letting his gaze meet Addie's. "I hated that he drove you away from us, and until you were pronounced dead, I prayed for it every night and every morning." Matt's voice cracked as he lifted a hand to wipe his tears. Addie wanted to hug him and never let go.
"Anyways." Nick whispered, wiping his own tears, begging Addie to keep going with his eyes. Everyone just wanted to get this over with.
"So after I was cleared by the police, I kind of spiraled. I got kicked out of where I was staying, so I had no choice but to reach out to Ryat. I ended up going and living with him, finishing school online. Once I graduated, I started working with him." Addie shakily explained, bringing her hand up to run it through her hair.
"The secret society?" Chris asked, wanting to make sure he was keeping up with every single detail.
Addie nodded, "I can't tell you much about my work there, but I can explain why the cops thought I was dead." She replied, watching all three boys nod in understanding. "Working there meant no one could know where I was, who I was with, or anything. So the first time my parents came looking for me Ryat had to lie and say he didn't know anything, even though he did."
Addie took a deep breath, before continuing, "I was on a job in Delaware, and things got really messy. I ended up getting shot in my stomach," Addie explained, lifting her tank top to expose the scar the bullet wound had left, "And I lost a lot of blood. I made it out and got help, but not at a hospital. It was an undercover type of thing. Usually when something like that happens, there's a crew that takes care of the mess, but since I was out of state, they didn't."
"So the cops found the blood and assumed you had died from the amount you lost?" Nick asked, watching in horror as Addie nodded.
"I didn't even know I was announced dead until my parents reached out to Ryat and Blakely. I was on an assignment again, and I wasn't able to break my cover for 5 months. Ryat found a way to get in touch with me, and I felt so bad. Everyone I loved and cared about thought I was gone, I couldn't imagine how hard that was for you guys..." Addie trailed off, choking back a sob. Addie had never felt more guilty in her life.
"You're right, you can't imagine how hard it was for us. You dying fucking broke Chris, Addie. It took him, hell all of us, a good year to be half the person we were before. You could've reached out or fucking something." Nick spoke, his tears no longer falling as he's starting to get angry.
"Or you could've left us alone, never reached out." Matt added, watching Addie's face fall with a frown on his lips.
Addie nodded, agreeing with them, "I know, and it's totally up to you guys if you ever want to see me again or not. My therapist talked me into reaching out, 'cause if I can't heal from this, I don't think I'll survive." She lightly explained, twisting her fingers together anxiously.
"I don't know what to do." Chris whispered, playing with his bracelet on his wrist. Addie sighed, rolling her shoulders to try and relieve the tension held within them.
He lifted his head to meet Addie's worried gaze, "You broke my fucking heart, Addie. You shattered it. I don't know what to do with the fact you're alive. I can't process you sitting in front of me.." He trailed off shaking his head.
"I think you guys should go." Addie softly replied, shocking the three boys. "You all need some time to process things, talk to each other. To your other friends, hell your parents." Addie sighed, realizing she needs to reach out to Mary Lou and Jimmy now too.
Nick nodded, "She's right, we should go and try to process this." He spoke, standing up and motioning his brothers to follow suit. Addie thought it was sweet how caring and nurturing Nick was being towards his brothers, almost as if he was mothering them.
The trio made their way to the door, with Addie on their heels. "I'll text you or something." Nick softly spoke, turning slightly to meet Addie's eyes.
She nodded in return, watching the boys exit her house for possibly the last time.
authors note .ᐟ
sorry guys but this fanfic is almost overrr
i'll be sad to finish it but honestly relieved, it just took so many turns i didn't expect so im not the biggest fan myself 😭
tysm for all of the support <3
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girl next door ☆ c. sturniolo
Fanfiction"Whatever happened to the girl next door? She's all grown up, she don't come home anymore..." Adeline Manson had grown up in Boston up until she was 13 years old, when her family suddenly moved across the country for her father's work. Adeline...
