Touchdown Boy

Chapter Sixteen

Addison unlocked the door and swung it open.

            "Gerard? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" Addison asked. Gerard frowned and looked down at his phone briefly before looking back at her.

            "Addison?" Gerard asked, looking just as surprised as she did. "Uh...yeah, everything's fine. Um, I think I might have the wrong address," Gerard answered. He checked his phone again and looked back at Addison. "Uh, is Mikey here?"

            "You're Mikey's brother?" she asked, realization dawning on her. Now that she thought about it, they did look somewhat similar.

            "Um, yeah?" Gerard answered confusion still evident on his face.

            Addison stepped to the side and opened the door further. "Come in," she invited. Gerard reluctantly stepped inside. Addison closed the door behind him.

            "So is he here...?" Gerard trailed off, turning around to look at Addison.

            "Oh, yeah, he's in the living room watching Star Wars with Alice. His partner. My sister," she added.

            "Ah," Gerard responded, finally understanding. "You didn't tell me you had a sister."

            Addison shrugged. "You didn't tell me you had a brother," she retorted. Gerard smiled apologetically.

            "You look nice," Gerard commented. Addison blushed from the compliment, just now remembering that she was still dressed up from her non-date.

            "Thank you. I just got back from going out to the movies," Addison explained. "With a friend," she added as an afterthought, though she wasn't sure why she felt the need to include that.

Gerard's eyes seemed to flicker at the word "friend" but it passed quickly and he smiled and nodded at what Addison said. Before he could ask her what she saw and she died of embarrassment she changed the subject.

"Star Wars is almost over if you wanted to finish watching it with us," she offered. Gerard looked hesitant but nodded his head in agreement when she added, "Come on, it's Friday."

            Addison led him to the living room. Mikey looked up when they entered the room. Mikey smiled at his brother before returning his attention back to the movie. Addison sat down on the loveseat and patted the seat next to her, inviting Gerard to sit next to her who quickly complied. When the end credits rolled across the TV screen Gerard stood up.

"Thanks for letting us finish the movie with you guys, but Mikey and I should get going," Gerard stated. The other three stood up from the couches. Mikey headed into the kitchen to get his backpack.

"Sure, I'm sorry for keeping you guys so long," Addison apologized.

Gerard shook his head and smiled at her. "Don't be sorry, I love Star Wars."

"Who doesn't?" Addison giggled.

"Ready," Mikey said when he came back into the living room.

They all headed towards the front door. Mikey and Alice were talking about meeting up again so that they could make the diorama. Apparently they only had one more weekend before the project was due. Gerard and Addison walked behind the other two, not saying anything to each other.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow?" Gerard asked abruptly. "We could get coffee if you want?"

Addison looked over at him and smiled, but he couldn't see it because he was staring down at the floor. "That sounds great," Addison answered.