"It's happening again." Addison said the next afternoon as she sat in his usual seat at Bowen's. She watched as Brigid finished stirring her drink until she looked up at Addison with a face full of concern. "It feels just like last time as well." She added sadly.

Brigid's brow furrowed as she continued to stare at Addison. "But last time you-"

"Exactly." Addison said with a sigh.

"Have you spoken to Dylan about it? He's your boyfriend after all." Brigid said sprinkling a pack of Sweet-n-Low into her coffee as she glanced around the half-empty café. As she scanned around Bowen's, Brett looked up from the counter he was cleaning and shot Brigid a warm smile. Brigid blushed slightly, the blush slowly spreading from her cheeks down to her neck before smiling back and hurriedly turning back to Addison. "Anyway..." she said firmly making it obvious that Addison wasn't allowed to comment on what had just happened. "Have you spoken to Dylan about this? He'd want to know, it's obvious to everyone that he cares about you almost as much as he cares about his family."

"That's the thing; I think Dylan is part of the problem." Addison said after a moment. If she was expecting Brigid to be sympathetic then she was strongly mistaken as she huffed loudly.

"Oh for the love of God Addison please don't do this again." Brigid said nearly slamming her cup against the table causing several people, including Brett behind the counter, to look up and stare.

"Do what?" Addison asked.

"You and Dylan work so well together so please do not start with the whole 'Dylan is part of the problem'. I've seen such a change in you over the past few weeks and that's all thanks to Dylan. He can't be part of the problem." Brigid said breathing in for a moment as if to calm herself. She took a large sip of her coffee and waited for Addison to say something with an impatient look on her face. "Look just talk to him, surely he'll understand if you just tell him how you feel."

"Yes because that talk will go so well." Addison said. "He's already terrified that I'm going to run away from this all."

"He has a point there Addison, you do run away from things and you always have." Brigid said.

"Dylan wants me to go with him to London. When we finish college. He wants me to move down there with him while he's studying." Addison blurted out. "He wants me to be there with him because I helped him put together his portfolio and because he loves me." Brigid didn't a word; she just carried on looking at Addison with concern. "He loves me, and I'm pretty damn sure I love him as well. What if he realises that I'm not good enough for him? What if I need him and he's not there because he's too busy with studying?"

"You really think you're not good enough for him? Seriously?" Brigid asked. Addison shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "No offence to Dylan but he's not all that. Sure, he's kind of hot but he's also really scruffy looking."

"Brigid...he's only known me for a few months. He's not been here to see all the shit. What if we go to London and everything goes to shit? What if he sees that I'm just this broken shell of a girl?"

"Addison believe me, you're not broken. Dylan cares about you so much and he's determined not to let you run. He's not just going to stop being there for you. It's sappy but true and you know it's true."

"Brigid-"

"I swear to God...if you fuck this up I'm going to be pissed off as hell." Brigid snapped. "And I'm not going to be the only one either. Niamh and Lisa will also kill you if you fuck this up by thinking that you either don't deserve Dylan, which is bullshit because you do, or that he's not going to be there, which is also bullshit because he is." She added pointing her finger menacingly at Addison's chest. "I hate yelling at you but for God's sake you are really fucking stupid sometimes."

"Brigid shut up. You're making it out as though I'm a child when I'm not. I can make my own damn decision in life without your help because really you're one to talk, you've been crazy about some guy for months and you won't do anything about it even though he's pretty much declared his love for you a thousand times with the endless amounts of free fucking vanilla syrup. You think I'm stupid, well so are you." Addison heard herself shoot back.

"Are you done?" Brigid asked raising an eyebrow.

"Are you?" Addison sighed.

"Yes Addison I'm done." Brigid said shaking her head. "I'm going to love you even when we're old, grey and yelling down each other's hearing aids but sometimes you really piss me off." She added.

"Thanks?" Addison said.

"Just think about what Dylan's asked you."

"I'm really fucking scared though." Addison admitted. "I'll be leaving home, leaving my family-"

"You don't get on with your family." Brigid pointed out.

"Still, they have been there for me through everything." Addison said. "I'll be leaving them and living in a city miles and miles away."

"Exactly. You'll be miles and miles away from Eric and all his bullshit. You won't have to come home to constant fighting. You can sit in your hipster love nest with Dylan and do clichéd shit." Brigid said. "I know you Addison, you want to go with him but you're just shit scared."

"Ok, I do want to go with him... I guess I have the money to do it and I can find a job-"

"Might I recommend customer service? You have fantastic people skills." Brigid intoned.

"Fuck off." Addison said with a snort.

---

Addison found her father in his office. He was busy working away on something when Addison knocked on the open door. Mr Harper looked up and nodded for Addison to come into the room. He closed his laptop as Addison walked into the room.

"Dad, can I talk to you about something?" She asked.

"That sounds ominous Addison, what have you done? Did you crash the car?" Her father asked, looking very concerned.

"I don't have my license and haven't had a single lesson yet." Addison pointed out.

"Right...just whenever Mark or Aaron have to talk to me about something it's normally because they've crashed something." Mr Harper said.

"It's not that dramatic." Addison said. She sat down opposite her father and let out a nervous sigh. "I don't know if Aaron mentioned to you about...well recently I started...here's the thing..."

"Addison, if you're about to stumble your way through telling me you have a boyfriend then you don't have to. Eric already told me." Mr Harper said.

"Oh." Stupid Eric and his big mouth.

"Well technically Aaron told Eric then Eric told me." Mr Harper said. "Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"No. It's about my university savings."

"What did you buy?" Mr Harper asked with narrowed eyes. Addison rolled her eyes. "Right, wrong child. What about your university fund?"

"If it paid for tuition does it have to be my tuition?" Addison asked. At that, Mr Harper frowned at her. "Dylan got accepted at this art school in London. He can get a loan but you always said that student loans were like weights around people's necks. He...he also asked if I wanted to London with him."

"Are you considering it?"

"I don't know...I might be." Addison said. "I can get a job and figure out what I want to do in life. I know it's not the traditional way of doing shit but this is the way I'd feel comfortable doing it."

"I'm going to ignore the swear word and focus on the main point." Mr Harper said. "You can't use your university fund for Dylan's tuition but you can use it to fund a life in London. There's enough saved to cover rent for the both of you and support you while you find a job. I can imagine that Dylan's supplies won't be cheap so the fund can used for that as well."

"Wait... you're agreeing to letting me go?"

"If I had said no you still would have gone. I don't know if anyone has ever told you this but you're a stubborn young woman."

"You say it to me most weeks." Addison said.

"And I'm right." Mr Harper said. "But yes, I am saying that if you want to go to London then you have my blessing." Addison let that sink in for a moment. This was really going to happen. She was leaving. This time she would be the one to packed everything up and run, with Dylan by her side.