Reckless || Corbyn Besson ✓

/ TWENTY /

❝ G O  B A C K  T O  T H E  L I B R A R Y❞

Sunlight streams through the open curtains, bringing Addilyn to groan and roll over. She tugs the blanket closer to her body, only to find it yanked away mere second later.

Forcing her eyes open, she glares around, looking for the cause of her blanket loss, half expecting it to be Mr. Quackington until her gaze falls on the still sleeping Corbyn laying next to her.

The girl furrows her eyebrows, thinking back to the previous night. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on the couch and waking up in Corbyn's bed the next morning was certainly the last thing she expected.

Slowly crawling out of the bed so as not to wake the blond, Addilyn stumbles into the hallway and downstairs to the kitchen.

"Dammit, you woke up," Aurora pouts, taking a drink of her coffee. "I was about to wake you guys up with my firework bombs."

"Don't worry," Addilyn chuckles, gratefully accepting the plate of pancakes Daniel slides towards her. "Corbs is still asleep."

"Yay!" She claps her hands together excitedly before sprinting out of the room.

"I thought you got rid of her fireworks stash," Daniel waves a spatula threateningly at Jonah. "She's going to blow up the house one day."

"Sorry, Mom," the older boy chuckles. "She keeps buying more."

"I just hope she's ran out of the ones that splatter ink everywhere," Jack chimes in, holding up his right hand which, when Addilyn looks closer, is covered in faint blotches of purple. "My hand is still stained from last week's encounter!"

"I think they're pretty," Carmen defends her friend, munching on a cinnamon roll.

"Yeah," Zach scoffs. "Pretty terrifying."

"MY BLANKETS!" Corbyn's undignified shriek comes from upstairs, followed immediately by the thump of something hitting the floor and Aurora's maniacal laughter.

"Oh, shit!" Addilyn exclaims, jumping up from the island. "Mr. Quackington is still home alone!"

Corbyn appears at the foot of the stairs, his shirt and arms splattered with blue ink, just as the front door shuts behind his girlfriend's retreating figure.

****

"Mr. Quackington," Addilyn calls out, shutting the apartment door behind her. "Mummy's home!"

The duckling comes waddling down the hallway as fast as his legs will carry him, his quacks ranging from happiness at the sight of his owner to anger at being left alone for over twenty four hours in a matter of seconds.

"Yeah, I know," she sighs, scooping him into the palm of her hand and heading directly for the couch. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

He honks in alarm, instantly nuzzling his head against the girl's wrist at the sight of what he had dubbed as an injury.

"I'm not hurt," Addilyn reassures him through a giggle. "That's called a tattoo. And I got it yesterday."

The small bird glances up at her, quacking in concern as she turns the TV on.

"No, it's permanent. And no, you may not get one."

He flops down on the opposite end of the couch, sulking, as she changes the channel to Chrisley Knows Best.

"You can't be moody," Addilyn argues. "I put it on your favorite show!"

A loud knock resonates throughout the apartment, startling the two out of their conversation. Curious as to who it could be - she certainly wasn't expecting anyone - Addilyn practically sprints down the hallway, throwing her door open.

"What brings you here, Daniel?"

Mr. Quackington springs from the couch in excitement, having heard the boy's name, and runs to him, nearly tripping over his own feet.

Addilyn laughs at the sight, stepping back to allow the brunette into her home.

"I need help with something," he admits, already making himself at home in her recliner as her duckling snuggles into his lap. "And, out of all of the girls at the house, I figured you'd be the sanest one."

"What'd you do, make a deal with the mafia?" The girl exclaims. "There's never a situation where I'm the sanest person!"

"I kinda met someone yester-" Addilyn's high pitched squeal cuts Daniel off, bringing him to cover his ears until she stopped. "Is it safe to continue?"

She nods eagerly, a broad grin stretching across her face.

"I met this girl yesterday when the guys and I went downtown." He then recounts the story of how he had slipped on ice as she was coming out of the library, knocking both, her and himself, to the ground. After helping her to her feet, she had ran off before he could learn her name.

"So," Addilyn pauses, gathering her thoughts. "You're telling me that you don't know this girl's name, and you don't even have her number?"

The boy nods his head slowly, bracing himself for another outburst.

"I don't know what to tell you, Dani," she wrinkles her nose in concentration. "Your safest bet is to go back to the library your mystery girl walked out of and hope she turns up again."

Addilyn's phone suddenly rings, bringing an even brighter smile to her face. Daniel focuses his attention on the TV, trying - and failing - not to eavesdrop.

"Hey, Carson!"

"Hey, Addikins," her older brother greets her with a chuckle, almost able to feel her happiness radiating through the phone. "What are you up to?"

"Well, before you so rudely interrupted," she jokes, "I was having a nice conversation with Daniel about the girl he swept off her feet."

"I would have called later if I had known such pressing matters were occurring," Carson states. "How's your stolen duck?"

Addilyn's eyebrows furrow together and a small frown falls on her face. She could tell from the lack of sarcasm coming from his end of the conversation that there's something he was procrastinating telling her. But, she wasn't about to push him on the topic, wanting to keep her good mood in tact for as long as she could.

"Mr. Quackington is great, although we need to work on his attitude problem," she answers, earning a glare from the duckling. "Oh! Guess what!"

"You won the lottery?"

"Unfortunately, I did not," Addilyn sighs dramatically. "I got a tattoo!"

"Really?" Carson's voice rises an octave in surprise. "What is it?"

""It's a surprise," she laughs. "You'll have to wait until you come home on the 23rd to figure it out."

There's a long pause on the other line, causing Addilyn to worry, followed by a heaving sigh.

"I'm so sorry, Addi," he finally says, his voice laced with guilt and sadness. "But, there's been a change in plans. I won't be home until February."