♯⠀⠀chapter twenty-two.

jumping v. falling ⋆·˚ ༘ *

ADDI RAN A SHAKING HAND down the front of her dress. her date with chris was tonight and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous as hell.

it was 7:47, chris was supposed to be picking her up at 8. behind her erica and livvy were fussing over how good she looked.

the two had come over to help her get ready. yet no matter what they did, neither of them could get the girl to calm down.

they tried to reassure her multiple times that it would be perfect. chris was so whipped for her it was hilarious.

but addi, oblivious as always, couldn't see it. so, she refused to believe it.

erica, for the third time that night, rolled her eyes at addis antics. "addison mabel reese! he is going to love it. if he doesn't, he's completely insane."

livvy nodded in agreement.

addi smiled gratefully at the two girls before pulling them into a hug.

"thank you girls, i don't know if i would've survived getting ready by myself."

livvy smirked, "you wouldn't. but that's what you have us for. you don't have to try."

before addi could answer the doorbell rang. addi squealed.

erica smiled and set off to answer the door. waiting a few seconds after she heard the door open addi went after her.

she saw him first. he was standing there in nice jeans and a blue button up shirt that made his eyes pop. he was also holding a bouquet of white roses.

the site made her heart melt.

as she stepped in his eye line she saw his jaw drop just a fraction. she smiled shyly as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

she was wearing a simple dress, a floral print corset type top with a flowly rose-gold colored bottom. she didn't think it was much, but obviously he liked it.

she went to stand in the doorway. "hi."

just like the first time they met addi spoke softly, her voice never getting too loud.

chris smiled at her. she felt the butterflies in her stomach grow as he did.

"hi."

as if they were in a trance the two just looked at each other for a little bit. too wrapped up in their own little word.

erica smiled at the site, happy her best friend felt so free and happy.

she slowly took the flowers from chris' hand and said "i'll put these in some water for you."

addi nodded at her gratefully.

chris extended the hand that was just holding the flowers. "shall we?"

addi took it, tingles shooting up her arm as she did.

as they walked out of the apartment the two didn't notice the two girls who were already chatting on about how lovesick they looked.

chris had gotten them a reservation at a rooftop restaurant. the roof was strung up with fairy lights and the tables were spread out to give each table the privacy they desired.

the stars lit up the sky as addi took in the setting.

chris looked around sheepishly. "i hope you like it, i wasn't sure if you're afraid of heights. that could've been a problem."

addi squeezed chris' hand, having not let it go since she took it back at the apartment.

"i love it. really, it's absolutely gorgeous."

chris sent her a look she couldn't fully decipher, but it looked a lot like love.

as the two walked over to their table chris took a few steps ahead of addi to pull her chair out for her.

it still amazed addi how charming and sweet chris could be, it was somewhat unbelievable.

the two sat down, but it still felt like they were on cloud 9.

the conversation came easy, filled with laughs and stolen smiles.

addi was sure by the time dessert came around she could say she had completely fallen for the actor.

it should scare her, how easily she's ready to give this man all her love after one evening at dinner. yet part of her knew that it wasn't just this dinner that made her feel this way.

tonight was just the finishing piece. everything happening between the two of them had been leading up to this, the fall.

it didn't really feel like falling though, more like jumping. and she would jump a million times over as long as she knew he would be the one to catch her in the end.

chris was talking about some incident that had happened on the set of endgame having to do with rdj, but addi wasn't paying attention.

instead she was focused on how angelic his laughed sounded to her.

at some point chris had trailed off, noticing the brunettes attention was somewhere else.

"addi?" he said.

she smiled at him, "yes?"

chris stood from his chair, throwing his napkin on the table. then, just like he did earlier that evening, offered his hand to her.

"do you trust me?"

addi knew she trusted too easily, but she also knew that trusting him wouldn't have disastrous consequences.

so, once again, she wrapped their fingers together and said, "more than you know."

chris walked her over towards the edge of the roof. right near the edge was a little overlook. there was a bench to overlook the city.

addi looked at him in amazement. "how do you know about this?"

"my mom used to bring me here. after we finished eating we would always come and sit and watch the city. it's one of my fondest memories."

chris pulled her towards the bench. they sat so close, their legs touching. neither talked for a minute, instead they just looked out over the city.

addi turned to look at chris, only to find him already looking at her.

she smiled softly at him.

before she knew better chris' hand was coming up to cup her cheek and he was pressing their lips together.

with no hesitation addi kissed back, her eyes fluttering shut as she did so.

her heart was beating 100 miles per minute and she could feel the fireworks going off somewhere.

it was slow and passionate, and so much better than addi could've ever imagined.

chris pulled back and rested his forehead on hers.

"you don't know how long i've wanted to do that."

"then do it again."

by the time addi got back to her apartment she could swear she was walking on air.

chris, like the gentleman he is, walked her to her door. right outside of it he kissed her one more time, making that the third time that night.

just like the first two times, the actress was left breathless, completely and utterly gone.

chris leaned into her, whispering in her ear. his hands were still on her jaw and hip. she found his touch intoxicating.

"i'll call you tomorrow."

addi couldn't really think straight, but she registered it enough to say, "promise?"

chris pulled back, his hands not yet leaving her body, "promise."

before either of them could do anything they might regret tomorrow chris peeled his hands off of addi.

she smiled at him one more time before turning around and entering the apartment. the second she was inside she leaned her back against the door and let out a breathy sigh.

oh, did she jump.