Addison normally finished early on Friday afternoons. She didn't have any classes after lunch and she had plenty of time before she needed to be at Niamh's house. With an afternoon ahead of her, she changed into her running clothes and headed out onto the fields surrounding the school.

The weak sun peaked lazily through the clouds as Addison sat in the bleachers and tied her running shoes. Of all the things Addison had given up over the past few years the only thing she found it impossible to give up on was running. She never felt happier than when she was running. It was something she didn't have to think about, like when she was sketching, it was just something that happened. Sometimes, it was almost like flying.

Grabbing her iPod and earphones, she selected one of the many playlists she had made for when she was running; it was a mix of classic rock that she'd grown up with hearing during one of many 'who can play their music the loudest' competitions that Aaron and Mark had been involved in over the years. Addison had grown up with battles of Metallica verses Led Zeppelin, The Who verses Ramones and even Fleetwood Mac verses Grateful Dead. By the age of eleven Addison had invested in many pairs of quality earplugs while Mark and Aaron battled it out. The worst by far had been the three hour battle of Celine Dion verses The Clash.

Her feet pounded against the track making the familiar sound that she'd loved since she was young. Her muscles complained for the first few minutes as she hadn't been running since the last track meet the week before. Eventually, they grew quiet and she fell into a steady pace. Part of her wished she had a stopwatch with her to record her time but they were all locked up back in the gym and she wasn't in the mood to be caught trying to break into the gym cupboards on a Friday afternoon. She didn't really have to worry about her time though; she had been the fastest at the track meet the week before just like she had for the last several months.

Running was something that came easy to her; there should have been some bitter irony in that but it was a truth really. Throughout school Addison had always been one of the fastest; she always won first place trophies on sports days and so by the time she got to high school Addison joined several running clubs and she'd practically waltzed onto the track team back in year nine. It didn't matter on the terrain or the weather conditions, Addison was a fast and highly determined runner and she always would be.

Her legs slowly began to burn with each step as Addison realised she'd been running for nearly thirty minutes. It didn't matter that her calves burnt because the feeling of running and the sound of her running shoes hitting the track made her feel free. When she was running the only thing that mattered was the track. There was nothing outside of the running track, none of the troubles and problems. When she was running Addison was free.

The phone in Addison's pocket beeped loudly making her slow down to a steady jog then a gentle walk. An unread message from Brigid came up onto the screen. She was nearly finished for the day and would be ready in about fifteen minutes. Addison began doing a mix of jogging and walking back towards the bleachers where she had placed her bag. She stopped when she saw a familiar figure in that damn worn leather jacket sitting on the first row with a drinks can in his hand. Addison couldn't help noticing how damn relaxed Dylan looked sitting, how carefree and uncomplicated he seemed as he sat in that stupid jacket with that fucking smirk.

Addison wasn't sure if she was starting to dislike Dylan because of his tendency of always being there or if she was just starting to hate him because Dylan was fucking attractive and it didn't help matters really. Hopefully Addison could blame the jumbled up thoughts racing through her head on the fact that she'd been running...and perhaps she would believe that was the only reason why she was having jumbled up thoughts.

"Wow...you're fast." Dylan said rising from his seat on the bleachers.

"You were watching me?" Addison asked slightly breathlessly as she raised an eyebrow. She reached for her bag and pulled out a bottle of water, taking generous gulps she continued to stare Dylan down.

"No I just happened to be walking by from detention and I saw you."

"Are you going for a record on how many detentions you can get in your first few weeks here?" Addison asked.

"Yeah, something like that...I didn't know you ran...like I said, you're pretty fast." Dylan said breaking the eye contact first and running a hand through his hair. The action made Addison instantly conscious of her hair, which was no doubt looking just as unruly and windswept as it always did after she ran. She wasn't going to let Dylan know that she felt remotely self-conscious stood here though.

"Yeah I should be fast; I'm the county champion." Addison said with a shrug knowing full well that it sounded like she was bragging.

"You run competitively?" Dylan asked sounding surprised. Addison frowned slightly at the tone of disbelief in Dylan's voice. "I...I just meant that you don't seem like the kind of person who would run. I mean you're an artist and you read a lot...it's just surprising, that's all...um...do you run short or long distance?"

"Long distance mainly. I'm on the cross country team as well as the running team plus I run marathons." Addison said; once again Dylan looked surprised and Addison actually found it infuriating because why would Dylan possibly look surprised? He didn't know her from anyone else in the damn town, for all Dylan knew Addison could be a freaking bee keeper so why was Dylan looking at her like that?

"Wow, that's really impressive." Dylan said. He didn't sound sarcastic either. He really meant it.

"Um...thanks. Well, not that this hasn't been fascinating talking to you but I have to get going." Addison said placing her water bottle back into her bag and beginning to walk away. She wasn't surprised when she heard Dylan hurrying up behind her. Maybe there had been something, a blossoming friendship between the two of them thanks to their time spent in detention but really what use was that? Addison had learnt over the years that if you kept yourself away from people then you had less people to hurt and disappoint in the long run.

"I could give you a ride home; you've been running for a while so you must be tired." Dylan offered.

"Brigid is waiting for me. I've got a ride waiting for me and if she's late on lasagne night I'll never hear the end of it" Addison said shortly.

"Oh...ok. Well I'll see you in English on Monday" Dylan said. Niamh hadn't told him that she had invited Addison to the Willis's house that night. The thought actually made Addison happy because it was easier that way.

"Sure." Addison said with a shrug.

"Bye Addi." Dylan said as Addison picked up her speed closer to the car park. For a moment, Addison looked back to see a despondent look on Dylan's face; she tried to convince her brain it meant nothing to her at all.

Brigid was waiting for her and when she saw Addison she gave her a small wave. "So what's the plan for tonight? Please don't tell me that you're going to spend all night in your room hiding from Mark or Eric." Brigid asked.

"I'm going to Niamh's house." Addison said waiting for Brigid's reaction. She did not disappoint as she actually laughed rather loudly. "Thanks Brigid." Addison muttered sarcastically opening the car down and sliding into the passenger seat.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were joking. You're going to Niamh Willis's house? Really?" Brigid asked sliding into her own seat.

"Yes, she asked me if I wanted to come over and marathon a few sci-fi films with her."

"And you said yes? Wow...I'm amazed." Brigid laughed starting up the car and beginning to back out of the car park. "You're developing people skills; it's about time to be honest. Does this mean you're going to stop hanging around with the likes of Molly Foster and her band of moronic minions?"

"You have a terrible view of Molly considering you spend every Tuesday afternoon at her house." Addison said.

"Yes tutoring Poppy, I never see Molly there and luckily Poppy isn't anything like her." Brigid said. "She was actually telling me about this boy in a few of her classes that she really likes. She didn't tell me his name thought but I think she really likes him. It's cute." Brigid said with a wistful smile.

"Yeah it's all cute when you're young." Addison muttered. Brigid narrowed her eyes.

"I sometimes wonder what you'd be like if you weren't completely jaded." She said as she took off down road.

"Sometimes I wonder that too."

---

The house seemed empty when Addison returned home. Both her father and Eric would be at work and Mark would be wherever Mark felt like being on a Friday afternoon. Addison let herself into the house as Brigid drove off towards her house. She was only placing her keys into her back pocket when Addison heard Aaron's voice coming from somewhere in the house.

"Hey Addison!" Aaron called and a moment later Addison watched as her brother came strolling out of the kitchen with a large bottle of soda in his hand. "Hey, you're back before six...I'm guessing it was a good day. You didn't make anyone cry?"

"No I didn't." Addison said. "I went for a run." She added with a shrug.

"How'd you get on?" Aaron asked.

"Pretty good, I need to practice more though. My legs are killing me. Oh, I'm going out in a bit. I shouldn't be back too late."

"So you're going out? Where to, Brigid's?"

"Nah." Addison said shaking her head and she began to explain about Niamh. "Niamh and I are..."

"Friends?" Aaron asked raising an eyebrow expectantly. Aaron knew that Addison could count her friends on one hand and still have fingers to spare. Hearing that Addison would actually be spending an evening with someone that wasn't Brigid was clearly giving him fodder to take the piss out of her.

"Something like that I guess..." Addison said shrugging refusing to rise to Aaron's taunting.

"What is she like?" Aaron asked sounding surprisingly interested.

"She's pretty blunt and nerdy." Addison said honestly.

"Huh, sounds like my kind of person." Aaron said. "How do you know her?"

"She's in my Film Studies class. She's just moved her with her brothers and her mom." Addison said with a nonchalant shrug. "Her brother Dylan is in my art class." Addison added and instantly regretted it when Aaron smirked.

"Oh yeah? A boy?" Aaron asked raising an eyebrow suggestively at Addison. "Let me guess, he's one of those achingly arty types that you just can't keep your eyes off; all coffee habit, jeans so skinny they restrict movement and those God awful thick glasses all the 'hip' kids are wearing." Aaron said with a smirk. "Does his sweater vets get you all hot under the collar? Do you dream about flinging his cardigan off in a wild fit of passion."

"Don't be gross Aaron." Addison said. "Actually, he's smokes, wears a leather jacket and spent his first day of school in detention. Oh and he drives a Camaro." Addison shot back and smirked at Aaron's shocked face.

"Dude. Even I might have a crush on this guy now." Aaron said nodding his head. "What the hell is someone like that doing in art?"

"How did this conversation go from Niamh to Dylan?" Addison asked. "And I'd like to point out I don't have a crush on him."

"Because you mentioned this 'Dylan'. Was it the leather jacket? Did it send your lady parts all aflame?" Aaron asked. "Does the bad boy vibe send you all aquiver?"

"You're a jerk. This is why I don't talk to you about anything." Addison snapped.

"Oh come on Addison, you never let me tease you about boys. Just let me do it this once." Aaron said. "Have you fantasied about him whisking you off in his badass car? Having his way with you in the backseat?"

"Stop it Aaron."

"Actually yeah that was probably going too far. I get weirded out thinking about guys going anywhere near my baby sister." Aaron said.

"There's nothing to tease me about. Dylan's just some guy in my art class. That's all."

"And yet you've paid enough attention to him to know about him smoking and you know what car he drives." Aaron pointed out.

"Shut up" Addison said. Even she had to admit that she was being defensive over this and she wasn't sure why.

"You love me really. You'd be dead without me." It was a joke, a joke that any other brother could make to a sibling but Aaron stopped. A horrified look swept across his face. Aaron coughed awkwardly and gave Addison an overly enthusiastic grin. "So you're going over to Niamh's house then?" he asked.

The front door slammed shut and heavy footsteps could be heard stomping through the hallway just as Addison was going to reply. There was only one person who would stomp through the house. Aaron raised an eyebrow for a moment before the kitchen door flew open and Mark stormed into the room, his face practically contorted with rage.

"Have you seen Dad?" he asked Aaron obviously trying to sound calm but anger was bubbling up underneath his words.

"No dude, he's still at work." Aaron said. "Why, what's happened now?" Aaron then asked sounding as tired of the whole constant battle between Mark and their father as Addison was.

"Look when you see him just tell him that I need to talk to him." Mark said sounding infuriated.

"Mark-" Aaron started to say warily.

"Just do it Aaron. I'm really not in the mood to piss about right now." Mark snapped before walking out the kitchen without even a look back towards Addison.

"Good thing you're going out huh?" Aaron said. Addison didn't say anything instead she just sighed and headed upstairs towards her room to get changed out of the clothes she'd been in for most of the day.

Mark's door was open as Addison walked past and loud music, Led Zeppelin, poured out into the hallway. Addison stopped and knocked on the door loudly so Mark could hear her. The grunt from inside didn't sound like 'Fuck off' so Addison walked into the room to find Mark sat on his bed staring up at the ceiling. Mark didn't look over to where Addison was standing until she let out a small cough.

"What is it Addison?" Mark snapped sitting up. Addison gave him an affronted look and made to turn around and walk away because she wasn't going to stand there and be snapped at when Mark groaned. "Addison don't walk off, I'm sorry ok?" Mark sighed. "It's just...Dad's fucked me over again and no doubt Eric-"

"Mark I really don't want to hear about this." Addison said holding up his hands.

"I've been saving up you see...you know, my money." Mark said quickly and that stopped Addison because he always assumed that Mark just frittered his money away except for when it came to his car. "I've been picking up some shifts at this bar and I've been saving up to move out, get a place in town, but Dad's frozen my account because he thinks I'm going to do something stupid with my money and it's was probably Eric's idea to begin with and-"

"I really don't care anymore Mark, the problems you have with Eric and dad are your own problems. I just want to make sure that you're not planning on starting World War III while I'm out."

"I can't guarantee that Addison." Mark said with a weary smile. Addison couldn't even find it in herself to smile back because she truly was done with the drama that radiated from her family; she was just so done with it all. "Addison-" Mark started to say when he saw Addison's tired expression.

"Forget it Mark, just forget it ok?" Addison said turning on her heels and marching out the room towards her own to get changed.

---

As she took off down the street towards the Willis', Addison spotted her father's car heading up the street. Ducking behind the nearest tree for a moment, Addison waited until the car had driven past before pulling out her phone and typing out a quick message to Aaron to warn him that their father was home. Before she got a reply, Addison jammed her earphones into her ears, turned up the volume of her iPod and took off running again. Aaron would have the sense to stay out of everyone's way this evening if he knew what was good for him.

ice person; shw