It was surprising how easily Dylan and Addison slipped into something that felt so easy and natural. Addison's initial doubts were still there but as the first week became two those nerves and doubts began to sink. They didn't disappear entirely but they were less prominent than they had been. What surprised Addison so much was how understanding Brigid, Niamh and Lisa were. True, Brigid had been angry that Addison had been keeping things from her. She was especially angry when she learned the truth behind what had happened between Addison and Dylan after the fight with Chloe. However, after a few days of endless coffee, Brigid softened up. There were days when Addison would go into a blind panic and doubt everything to do with her relationship with Dylan. After all, doubting herself was all she ever really knew so why would she stop now?

The difference between her doubts before and her doubts now were that Dylan was now there to calm her down, to kiss away some of those fears and tentatively attempt to begin fixing the broken pieces of Addison. The thing was that sometimes Addison could feel it working. A simple hand on her arm, a small glance or a swift kiss would make Addison forget the pain running through her for several moments because those moments would belong to Dylan and Dylan alone.

Addison hadn't actually realised how starved she had been of affection. Random hookups and meaningless sex had dulled the pain in the past but it had only done that, it had dulled the pain and not removed it. With Dylan it was different; every touch, every kiss and every look slowly repaired those invisible cracks that spanned across Addison's body. There would be a time when Dylan wouldn't be there to fix Addison's broken pieces, it was an inevitability, but until then Addison was almost desperate to forget that she was damaged. She just wanted to feel normal. She wanted to feel loved because she'd gone so long denying herself the love of another person because of her own fucked up mentality, her own crippling psychosis. She buried her flaws away from people because of the fear of getting hurt, of hurting others, but maybe it was ok for Dylan to see them. Maybe it was ok for Dylan to see them because he accepted them.

Dylan still spent time with the few friends he had made during his first few weeks at school, though he now spent more and more time with Lisa and Brigid. Though, like Brigid, he drew the line at spending time with Molly. The first few weeks of their relationship was whirlwind of secret glances in English, playful teasing in art and hurried make out sessions in the Impala during lunch breaks. There were moments when Addison was sat in the backseat of the car with the taste of Dylan, a mixture of coffee, cigarettes and spearmint gum, on her lips and she would wonder why she'd been so scared to let Dylan Willis into her life.

Then it hit her.

They were staring graduation in the face, it was little over a month away and most seniors had been sent into a wave of panic. Brigid had spent two nights staring at Addison's after her father found out that she had turned down her early acceptances at both Oxford and Cambridge in favour of going to art school to study Graphic Design. Her mother had been happy but her father had gone on about how she was throwing her life away in order to follow some silly pipe dream. Things had been frosty between the Turner's for several days before Zachariah apologised but still made it clear that he thought Brigid had made a huge mistake.

Addison's father didn't mention college and neither did Eric. Addison had a sneaking suspicion that Aaron had told both of them that if they even mentioned it then Aaron would blow up a small portion of the house. If Addison was completely honest she didn't regret not applying anywhere, she had the next year to apply if she even wanted to go but until then she could just think about what she really wanted from her life. Her grades were ok, Brigid had finally yelled at her enough for her to actually do half the work for English that she'd been neglecting all year, Addison knew that while her father, and to some extent Eric, would want her to study something worthwhile at college she knew that the only thing she'd be passionate about would be art and now it was too late in the year to be sending off work for schools to look at. It was obvious her family didn't agree with Addison's choice but they refrained from saying anything and for that Addison was thankful.

---

"Are you coming on Friday night?" Niamh asked while she and Addison sat in Bowen's. It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon. Niamh was looking over her Film Studies coursework for any errors. "Dylan has probably mentioned it to you already." Niamh added as she scanned her work.

"Mentioned what?" Addison asked, looking up from her own coursework.

"The celebration dinner we're having...didn't he tell you?" Niamh said with a look of confusion.

"Tell me about what?" Addison asked. "Did you hear back about uni?"

"No... no but Dylan did." Niamh still looked at Addison with confusion. "Did he not tell you? He got a place at this art school in London that he applied for. We're having a family dinner on Friday to celebrate. I would have thought he would have told you about it."

"The whole university thing is a touchy subject." Addison said and suddenly she felt like a shitty girlfriend. Dylan had received amazing news and he was probably too scared to tell her. Too worried about how she would react. "I'll talk to him, he's staying at mine tonight."

"Oh yeah?" Niamh asked, waggling her eyebrows as she did so. "Actually don't tell me. I don't need to think about my friend and my brother doing stuff, it's gross." She added with a grimace.

"So if I wanted to wax lyrical about Dylan's moves you'd just ignore me?"

"I'd probably throw up. I don't need to hear about what my brother does with his junk." Niamh said. "Besides, when have you ever waxed lyrical about anything?"

"I haven't but I could just mimic Dylan when he talks about Star Trek."

"He's such a nerd." Niamh said.

"I'll agree with you there." Addison said.

"So you'll come on Friday to dinner?"

"Of course. I'll talk to Dylan about it. Just because I have no clue what I'm doing in life doesn't mean I have to be bitter over people that do." Addison said as she went back to looking over her coursework.

That night Addison sat in the kitchen eating Chinese takeaway with Aaron and Dylan. Everyone else was either busy or at work. Honestly, Addison preferred it like this. She had introduced Dylan to Aaron and that was good enough. Aaron didn't ask half the questions that Mark or Eric would have asked. That night Aaron was rambling away about something. Dylan was nodding away while he ate his chicken dumplings but Addison's mind was miles away. She couldn't stop thinking about why Dylan hadn't told her about his acceptance.

"-listening at all?" Aaron asked. It took a moment for Addison to realise he was talking to her.

"Huh?"

"That answers that question." Aaron said. "You're not listening to a word I'm saying are you?"

"Sure..."

"What was I talking about?" Aaron asked. Addison just shrugged. "Exactly. What's with you?"

"Nothing... long day... it's nothing." Addison said, her gaze flickering from Dylan back down to her dinner.

"Right..." Aaron said, clearly not believing a word that Addison said. They ate the rest of their meal in complete silence until Aaron made his excuses to leave. Apparently, he was going out to meet up with friends. Addison had a feeling he just wanted to get out the house.

"What's up?" Dylan asked when they were clearing away their plates. Addison put a dirty plate down on the counter and looked at Dylan.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Addison asked.

"Niamh mentioned the dinner on Friday didn't she?" Dylan said.

"Well yeah but that's not what I'm talking about. Why didn't you tell me about getting accepted to the school in London?" Addison said. Dylan let out a sigh.

"I was going to tell you, I really was. I just wasn't sure how you'd take it."

"Seriously? Dylan I'm so proud of you. Why did you think I'd taken it any other way than that?" Addison asked. "I'm really, really proud of you." She as she pulled Dylan close to her and kiss him lightly on the lips.