Addison wasn't aware of ever falling asleep but as she slowly stirred she saw that the only light in Dylan's room was now coming from the television screen which was showing the main title menu of the DVD they had been watching hours before. Addison blinked several times before glancing over to the small digital clock on Dylan's dresser. 3:26 flashed in tiny green numbers causing Addison let out a small groan. She fished around in his pockets from his phone and it took a moment to locate it on the floor as it must have fallen out her pocket when she'd fallen asleep. There was only one text message from Aaron which was something of a relief.

Aaron: 1:16 - Assume you're at Brigid's for the night...that was what I told Dad anyway.

If Addison left now, she would be home in less than fifteen minutes, ten if he jogged. He wasn't sure what Dylan would say when he woke up to find Addison not there but it probably wouldn't be as bad as what Aaron, or worse Eric, would say when he found out that Addison hasn't stopped over at Brigid's. Addison grabbed his things and quickly hurried out the room, making sure he didn't wake Dylan is the process.

The Willis's house was in complete darkness which made moving across the long hallway a difficulty but after blinking for several moments Addison's eye slowly began to adjust to the gloom. Turning on the light would have been easier and more helpful but there was a strong possibility he might wake someone up.

"If you're planning on sneaking out then you should know that the third step from the bottom creaks really loudly and next door's dog is a barker." A voice muttered sending waves of shock through Addison's body. He whirled round in the dark and sighed with slight relief when he saw that it was only Niamh standing in her doorway, the faint glow from a laptop inside her room being the only source of light until, with a tut, Niamh turned on a nearby lamp filling the hallway with a soft orangey red light. Niamh folded her arms across what looked like Harry Potter themed pyjamas and gave Addison a raised eyebrow.

"Fuck sake Niamh, you scared the shit out of me!" Addison said though from the way he had jolted that was fairly obvious.

"Dude, it's three in the morning, why are you sneaking out of my brother's bedroom looking really shifty?" Niamh asked raising an eyebrow.

"A better question to ask would be 'Why are you awake at three in morning?'" Addison asked though knowing Niamh she had probably been sat in her room watching TV shows for the past five hours eating copious amounts of pizza and complaining about the lack of characterisation over the internet.

"I was having a Community marathon and Skyping my friend back in Bristol." Niamh said with a shrug. Well, that proved that Addison had indeed been right. "Now why were you sneaking out my brother's room?"

"We were watching a film and I guess I fell asleep." Addison said.

"You know, sneaking out his room implies that Dylan doesn't know you're leaving at this moment in time." Niamh pointed out. "Listen Addison, He may be a lot of things; cocky, sarcastic, painfully blunt, rude, a pain in the ass as well showing a clear lack of respect for anyone with authority but he's also pretty closed off and it's clear that he likes you enough to open up in some way. Please don't be an asshole towards him" Niamh said. "You're like my only friend here so I don't mind saying this Addison; please don't fuck around with Dylan. If you do like him then just tell him because if you don't then I might end up locking the pair of you in a small room until you tell him."

"I don't-"

"Oh for God sake, cut the bullshit and don't act stupid because both you and Dylan are far too smart to get away with it. You like him and Dylan-

"Niamh-"

"Oh for God's sake! It's kind of obvious that Dylan likes you too seeing as he never shuts up about you!" Niamh said. "Do you know where Dylan could have been tonight?" she then asked.

"No, but I'm sure you'll tell me."

"He could have been on a date with Tess Burrows but instead he wanted to spend the evening with you despite your less than sunny personality so what does that say?"

"That he has a thing for annoyingly cheerful brunettes?" Addison offered. The look on Niamh's face was clearly the look of someone who was contemplating murder.

"No you idiot." Niamh practically groaned. "I swear, I give up with the pair of you. You're both as clueless as each other."

"Niamh-"

"Addi."

"Niamh, have you seen me? I'm not some cheerful girly girl. I swear, I drink too much and I'm pretty miserable most of the time." Addison said. Niamh let out a frustrated groan.

"I swear to whoever is up there that I might throw a book at you in a minute I will make sure it's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, if not larger...I'm sure I have the complete works of Jane Austen in hardback somewhere which would cause a lot of damage." Niamh said. "Now don't be a dick by sneaking out because it will just make Dylan paranoid and Dylan being paranoid is one of the most annoying things ever."

"You're very bossy at three in the morning." Addison pointed out.

"Well we're friends so I can get away with it, plus if Dylan wakes up and finds you not there he will only barge into to my room, because Leo has the sense to tell him to piss off at three in the morning, to analyse every possible reason why you could have left. I cannot handle that again without having watched Pillows and Blankets several times beforehand because the last time Dylan woke me up in the middle of the night to complain about something he made me sit up until seven in the morning with no coffee and he only woke me up because he'd finished reading Under the Dome and he wanted to talk to me about the ending in deep detail! Can you imagine how long he would keep me awake if he discovered you'd snuck out the house?" Niamh hissed as her voice grew more and more annoyed. "You know maybe you should start letting people in, you'd be amazed by what happens."

"Are you done?" Addison asked.

"Yes...for now." Niamh said.

"Fine." Addison muttered making his way back towards Dylan's room.

"Wow, I did not expect that to actually work." Niamh called down the hallway.

"Me neither, clearly you gain superpowers after midnight." Addison retorted.

"That would explain my amazing night blogging skills." Niamh said before she went back to her room. Addison sighed to herself and crept back into Dylan's room. Dylan himself was lying on his stomach, face pressed into the pillow and limbs spread out almost like a starfish. Lying down next to Dylan, Addison tried to position herself away from him as much as she could. That was fairly difficult in a bed that was only slightly bigger than a single. She must have disturbed Dylan when she was positioning herself because Dylan groaned and angled his body to face Addison despite still being asleep, or so Addison thought.

"Don't leave ok?" Dylan mumbled sleepily and it took a moment for Addison to actual place what Dylan had said.

"What?" Addison whispered. Dylan groaned slightly in his sleep before moving closer to Addison. His arm fell across Addison's waist, filling Addison with warmth even through her t-shirt. Dylan's fingers curled into Addison's shirt for a moment which sent a pang of longing down into her stomach. She wasn't sure if the feeling of worry inking through Addison's body was from Dylan clinging onto her or Addison's own reaction.

"Please don't leave...it feels like you're always going to leave." Dylan mumbled again before letting out a quiet snore as he pressed his face back into the pillow. Addison couldn't help but lie there in shock as she watched Dylan snore slightly, most of his face now obscured by his pillow. Had Dylan meant to ask her not to leave, did Dylan know how Addison had just been trying to sneak out of the house? As Addison watched Dylan slip further back into a deep sleep, she realised there wasn't a lot stopping her from closing the slight space between them and kissing Dylan on the lips, it really wouldn't have taken much to just lean slightly at all. The knowledge that this was the second time in the space of a week that she'd had this thought worried Addison so much she was sure she probably wouldn't be slipping back off to sleep anytime soon. She reached into her pocket for her phone and quickly typed out a message to Brigid. Even if she was asleep and didn't read the message until the morning the knowledge that Addison had text her was comforting enough.

How do you stop something once it's started but you sort of don't want to stop the thing because it could be a really good thing but it could also fuck everything up...actually it would fuck everything up. It would fuck everything up completely...so how do you stop it?

Addison was very surprised when Brigid text back after only a minute.

Brigid: 3:43 - I swear to God Addison...how high are you right now?

I'm not high. I'm completely sober...why are you awake right now?

Brigid: 3:45 - I was finishing my English essay that's due Monday. You're talking about the thing between you and Dylan aren't you?

Fuck Addison thought to herself. So much for trying to be remotely subtle.

No

Brigid: 3:46 - Oh my God you are such a liar Addison Harper. It's blatantly obvious that you're talking about you and Dylan. Why exactly would it fuck everything up when it is painfully clear that you like him and you went as far to defend him after last week?

I wasn't defending him at all.

Brigid: 3:48 - You're such a terrible liar. Either tell him that you want to do the horizontal tango with him or I'll probably end up going insane.

Did you really just write 'the horizontal tango'?

Brigid: 3:51 - Shut up I'm trying to pass English here. Go back to your existential crisis because you like someone and you won't stop being a dick for long enough to admit it. Also, go to sleep or you will be a cranky shit tomorrow.

This thing between her and Dylan really had gone too far if both Brigid and Niamh were making remarks about her and Dylan. She needed to end this...whatever this was between them before one of them ended up getting hurt. How the hell could she end it without admitting to Dylan part of the reasoning behind it? Dylan would find out that Addison might possibly be falling for him. That's if she hadn't fallen already and then she would be truly screwed.

She never wanted to run more in her life.

---

After a few hours of semi-interrupted sleep, Addison woke groggy and irritated. Her dreams were always so realistic that even when she got more than few hours' of sleep, she still felt tired. Her dream the night before had been just as realistic as all her others, though a small part of her brain knew that there was no way she would sit on the hood of Dylan's car, Dylan next to her, in the middle of the woods that backed Addison's house. There would be no way that she would sit there and just talk to Dylan, tell him about her family and especially about her mother. There was no way she would lean over and kiss Dylan when he told her everything would be ok.

When Addison woke, her disorientation made it difficult to place where she was until she spotted the familiar leather jacket hung up and the weight of an arm was across Addison's chest. Glancing down she saw that Dylan must not have moved at all during the night as his arm was still across Addison's chest and his face was mashed against both his pillow and Addison's shoulder. A deep pang went through Addison and she longed to stay lying here with Dylan for longer. She wanted to stay lying next to Dylan, hearing Dylan's sleepy breaths and just being content with the intimacy between them. Addison knew that she couldn't think like that because then she really was admitting something to herself that she'd been trying to deny since Dylan had scraped his chair across the floor and sat down next to Addison in detention.

Addison needed Dylan, she wanted Dylan.

Dylan didn't want Addison to leave.

Both of them were completely fucked.

Dylan mumbled in his sleep and rolled even further towards Addison. The heat from his toned body radiating into Addison's skin. Even though it was completely selfish of her, Addison just lay there enjoying the weight of Dylan resting against her. She'd regret it later but for now, Addison wanted to be selfish and just revel in the closeness and the warmth if another person. She reached out, ever so gently as to not disturb Dylan, a stroked his cheek. The ghost of a smile flickered across his beautiful face.

When Dylan looked as though he was stirring, Addison moved her hand way. Dylan's eyes opened and they looked over Addison's face. A surprised expression danced over his face for a moment, as if he was surprised that Addison was lying on his bed. "You stayed." Dylan said.

"What?"

"You ok...I asked if you were ok.'" Dylan said clearly knowing that Addison had heard him the first time. The relief in Dylan's voice when he realised that Addison was still in his room sent yet more pangs through Addison's body. Both she and Dylan were so far gone it wasn't remotely amusing; nothing was stopping Addison from closing the space between them and kissing Dylan firmly on the lips, running her hands along Dylan's arms until she was cradling Dylan's face and making sure with each kiss that she was telling Dylan how much she needed him. She couldn't though, she needed to run instead. She needed to run as fast as she could away from Dylan before Addison could possibly hurt him.