- Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
I apologize for the months it took to update and I hope people are still reading. Any feedback helps!
Howie and Addie returned home a few days later than they thought due to the horrible storm and were surprised to find both of their friends at the house. Nick had greeted them at the door and Emma was waiting for them in the kitchen with food. Both were stunned to see Emma and Nick there together, speaking and getting along, but didn’t mention it right away. The couple got the baby settled in and all four adults sat down to a late lunch by the pool. There wasn’t any negative tension, but some type of change was radiating through the conversation. Addie, never one to hold back, waited until Nick took Howie off to show him the damage to the door before pouncing on her friend.

“What in the world is going on?”

Emma shrugged her shoulder and started clearing the dishes from the table. Before she could get far, Addie grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back to the chair she was sitting in.

“I don’t believe that for one minute!” her friend scolded. “There is something going on here and I want to know exactly what it is.”

“It’s nothing.” Emma responded as she hid her eyes from her friend. “I don’t know why you always think there is something going on.”

This time, when Emma stood, Addie let her move around the table and take things into the kitchen. She watched as Howie and Nick passed her on the way back to the table and focused on observing Nick’s reaction to Emma as she walked by. Until recently, Nick would either avoid Emma’s eyes all together or give a brief nod; this time, he acknowledged her and even held the slider open for her.

“What the hell is happening here?”

Addie asked, staring Nick in the eyes as he sat down, and he gave her the same shoulder shrug that Emma had already given her. The body language and the refusal to acknowledge whatever was going on infuriated Addie and she could see from a mile away that something had changed. She wasn’t sure of what it was, but something was different between her friend and Howie’s brother.

“You’re both full of shit.” Addie hissed and stood up. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but this is ridiculous.”

Addie stormed off and the guys watched her push past Emma on her way in the house. Emma gave Howie a look and turned around to follow Addie.

“What’s wrong with her?” Nick asked with concern. “She’s never like that, even when she’s really pissed off at me.”

“She’s just stressed,” Howie replied with a sigh, “she knows Emma is leaving in a couple of days and I think it’s hard for her to be without her friend. They’re like sisters and have always lived close to each other. Having Emma states away is difficult for her and having the baby makes it a little more difficult. Addie knows when we go back to work, she’ll be by herself with a newborn and I think it scares her.”

Nick was surprised and it showed; he knew how headstrong Addie was and it had never occurred to him that not having Emma around was so tough for her. He doubted that Emma realized it as well and was hoping that the two women could straighten things out before she left.

“When do you have to head back to Tennessee?” Howie asked, distracting Nick from thinking about the issues between Addie and Emma. “Don’t you have to leave soon too?”

“In two days.”

“That sucks, I was kind of hoping for more time with the new and improved Nick.”

Howie laughed as he watched Nick’s jaw drop. He loved his brother but, for the last year or so, he had become unbearable to live with or be around. However, since he and Emma had made some type of peace, it was like Howie had his old brother back.

“I was that bad huh?”

Nick was surprised that Howie would call him out, but he understood why he did it. He knew that all his issues with Emma had caused a lot of rifts and he wasn’t proud of the behavior he had exhibited. Now that there had been some type of truce, peace was easier to come by and things had gotten more enjoyable for everyone.

“Never mind,” Nick cut him off, “I don’t think I really want to know!”

----------------

“Addie?” Emma called as she knocked on her best friend’s bedroom door. “Can I come in for a minute?”

She waited patiently for her friend to answer but after a few moments of silence, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. Emma hated fighting with Addie and this time was no exception; in fact, it was worse because she was leaving in two days. It had been difficult to move to North Carolina but every time she came home for a visit and had to leave again made the pain worse. Michael was a terrific friend and roommate, but no one could replace her best friend.

“I’m sorry Ad, I really don’t want to fight on my last couple days here.” Emma said as she took a seat on the bed next to her friend’s form. She could tell that Addie had been crying and it made her feel worse than she had before. “I know you asked me a question and I wouldn’t answer. To be honest, I have no idea what’s going on.”


“How can you not know what’s going on?” Addie asked as she flipped over on the bed to stare at her friend. “I don’t know why you won’t tell me and it’s stupid to sit here and lie about what’s going on!”

Emma took a deep breath and waited for her friend to calm down. Once Addie was settled, Emma told her everything that had happened over the last few days. Most of it was so sudden that she truly didn’t know what was going on with her and Nick; they had finally moved past the anger and could be civil to each other, maybe even friendly. She left out the part where Nick had told her that he missed her because she didn’t know how she felt about that and whether it was even true.

After talking for a while, Addie finally understood why Emma was confused and couldn’t decide what was happening. She felt badly for yelling at her friend and apologized before they left the room to join the men.