Addison's Hero

Addison arrived at school on Monday rather excited about seeing Max. As she walked through the school grounds and into the giant building she looked around for him but couldn’t see him. She put some things away in her locker and decided to see if he was in the ally way at the back of the cafeteria. He wasn’t.

Addison went nearly all day before seeing him. She was sat in Biology, doodling on her note book when the classroom door opened and Max walked into the room. He jogged lightly to his desk and bent his head when Mr Hughes looked up at the disturbance.

‘Mr Lane!’ Mr Hughes bellowed. ‘Those detentions didn’t do the trick I see, your late once again.’

‘Me sir? I think you need new glasses. I’ve been sat here for ages,’ Max looked at the now frowning teacher with a air of innocence about him. ‘Ask Addison, she’ll tell you.’

Addison’s head nearly flew off her neck with the speed in which she turned to look at Max. What did he think he was doing, bringing her into this?

‘Really ?’ Mr Hughes asked. He looked confused and looked up at the clock on the wall. ‘Are you sure? I could of sworn that...’ he broke off what he was saying and shaking his head he went and sat back down at his desk, positioned at the front of the room.

When the lesson was over Addison waited at the door till Max walked out the room.

‘What were you doing ?’ she asked. ‘Bringing me into that? What if he hadn’t believed you?’

‘Come on, Addie, the mans a old goat. He didn’t know what to believe,’ Max said and winked at her.

Addison couldn’t help but follow him as he made his way out of the building.

‘Where are you going?’ she asked. ‘We’ve got another period yet.’

‘I’ve got a free period,’ Max said and made his way to the car park.

Addison grabbed hold of his wrist to stop him and when he turned to her she tilted her head to one side and gave a knowing look.

‘Right, and I’m joining Lacey at Claire’s for their sleep over this Friday,’ she said.

Max turned and carried on walking. ‘Enjoy painting your toe nails,’ he said. ‘I think they’d look pretty blue.’

‘Max!’ Addison shouted and ran to catch up to him. ‘You’re skipping class, arn’t you?’

They had reached his bike and Max pulled out his helmet from the top box. He lifted the seat and pulled out the spare.

‘Wanna join me?’ he asked Addison, holding the spare helmet out to her.

Addison looked at the school behind her. She bit her lip, thinking. She only had social studies and wasn’t she being social by spending time with Max? She knew she shouldn’t but she really wanted to.

‘Ok,’ she said and took the helmet out of his hands. She hopped onto the back of Max’s bike like she’d been doing it forever and put the helmet on her head.

‘Soon got use to this, didn’t you?’ Max laughed, nodding to the bike as he put on his own helmet and hopped on himself.

‘I’m getting use to lots of new things,’ Addison replied.

Max laughed and pulled off from his parking space quickly. Addison had to hold on tight to his waist to stop herself from falling backwards. As Max picked up speed along the streets she couldn’t help but let out a little scream as the feeling of release swept over her. She felt free.

Max slowed the bike down in town and soon pulled up into a parking space in the street. He helped Addison get off, then got off himself. Taking his helmet and Addison’s he stored them away before grabbing her hand and pulling her along with him.

‘Where are we going?’ she asked.

‘Have you been to Cherry’s yet?’ he asked her, in reply.

‘Cherry’s? What’s that?’

‘What’s Cherry’s?’ Max said, raising his eyebrows in fake shock. ‘Only the best place to get ice cream in the whole of Parker Hill,’ he told her.

He came to a stop outside of a shop and Addison looked at the front of it. She could see the red and white striped curtains at the windows and the elaborate name sign painted in swirly writing across the middle of the window. The place looked like something out of the fifties and Addison smiled as Max took her inside.

As soon as they walked through the door Addison could smell sweetness in the air. A few older teenagers where sat in some booths, sharing milkshakes and eating beefburgers.

Max guided Addison to a both at the back of the diner and smiled at her as he sat opposite. He passed her one of the laminated menu cards and picked up another for himself.

‘Pick any ice cream you like, my treat,’ he told her and Addison smiled her thanks.

Looking down at the menu and reading the descriptions of some of the deserts, Addison felt her mouth water. They all look great but she didn’t know which one to pick.

‘I’m spoilt for choice,’ she told Max.

‘I can recommend some if you like?’

‘What one are you going to have?’ Addison asked him.

‘Well, I’ve had them all now. So I think I’ll start at the top of the list again and have the Mad Mint Mix.’

Addison read the description for the desert Max choose and decided she would try that one.

‘I’ll have the same then,’ she said and Max smiled at her.

A waitress came and Max gave their order. They didn’t have to wait long till they were served and when Addison’s desert was placed in front of her, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

‘Max!’ she gasped. ‘You should of told me it was this big! I’ll never eat it all. I could of just shared yours.’

In front of Addison on the table was a giant bowl full of mint flavoured, mint choc chip, and vanilla ice cream. Scoops and scoops of the stuff. Chocolate sprinkles covered the top of the small mountain with a sprig of mint leaves in the middle.

‘No way! I never ever share my deserts,’ Max said and picking up a spoon started to attack his own mountain.

Addison followed suit and at the first taste of the fantastic ice cream she melted into her seat.

‘Mmm... heaven,’ she groaned. ‘So you never share your deserts?’ she asked Max, spooning another mouthful into her waiting mouth.

‘Nope.... Well maybe if the person I’m sharing it with is very special,’ he said and winked.

Not fifteen minutes later both of them had to give up with their deserts. Max had ate most of his but Addison had only managed to eat half of hers before becoming stuffed. She lent back on her seat and blew out a breath.

‘Well, this place is heaven and hell,’ she told Max.

He frowned, ‘Hell?’

‘It’s wonderful, but I’llonly be able to come and enjoy the deserts once a month, over wise I’ll end up the side of a whale!’ she explained.

Max laughed and said, ‘Don’t be daft. There’s nothing of you. I bet you don’t eat enough to feed a small bird.’

‘My appetite has been a little off, but Aunt Rachel is determined to feed me up. I’m going to end up fat and round in a matter of weeks, with all her home cooking.’

‘That’s ok, I don’t mind big girls, curves are good,’ Max said and Addison blushed as she noticed his eyes dropping to her chest. She forgot to breath and was suddenly very aware of her body.

Addison had what she thought of as a average shape. She didn’t moan like other girls about size and things, she was happy with the way she was, although she had to admit if there was one thing she could change it would be her bottom. But she had had other things to worry about over the last few months then her body.


‘Come on,’ Max said and getting up from the booth he held a hand out to Addison. ‘A good thing to do after eating all those calories is to walk them off.’

He dropped some dollars on to the table and holding Addison’s hand in his larger one he walked out into the sunshine.

School was over by now and Addison saw a few students making their way through the town. She and Max walked along the pavement for a while and Addison realised that she felt relaxed. It was a feeling she was becoming familiar with in Max’s company.

They carried on walking and then crossed the street and walked back towards the bike.

As they passed shop windows they stopped every now and again to look at the displays. They laughed and joked and Addison’s heart felt light in her chest. She felt such a fondness for Max that she couldn’t help but smile at him when she looked at him. He was gorgeous and seemed to want to spend his time with her, Addison thought herself lucky.

As they reached the bike, Addison took a deep breath and before Max took out the helmets she reached up and held his face between her hands. She saw the questioning look in his brown eyes before she stood up on tip toe and placed her lips on his.

As soon as her soft lips touched his, Max took over control of the kiss. His hands reached up and grabbed her waist bringing her into closer contact with his hard body. His tongue chased hers and both of them forgot to breathe as the wonder and passion of the kiss took over.

Finally they broke apart and stood staring at one another for seconds until Max asked,

‘What was that for?’

‘For being you,’ Addison replied ‘For making me feel the way I do when I’m around you.’

They continued to stare at one another for a while. Max’s hands running up and down Addison’s back causing tingles along her spine.

They slowly moved away from each other and towards the bike. As they did so both of them noticed that they where being watched. They both stood there starring in to the angry eyes of Rachel Philips.

---

Addison saw the shocked, angry look on her aunts face and froze. She didn’t know what to say or do. She stood there staring at Rachel until her aunt turned and walked away.

Taking a deep breath she turned worried eyes towards Max.

‘Let me guess, your aunt and uncle don’t approve?’ he asked.

‘No, they told me to stay away from you. They said you’ll be a bad influence on me.’ Addison told him.

Max ran a hand through his dark hair and took a step away from her. Addison felt like the extra space between them was now a mile wide instead of just the couple of feet it actually was.

‘They were right. I am,’ he said, looking at the floor by his feet.

‘No, Max-’

‘Addie, I made you cut class today. I am.’

‘Max, you didn’t make me do anything. I cut class because I wanted to,’ She took the steps needed to bring her close to him again. Standing looking up into his face, with his eyes avoiding hers, Addison felt like all the warmth from before had gone, was lost. She hoped she could get it back again.

‘If I hadn’t been there you would of just gone to your next class. I’m not a nice guy Addison.’ He looked up then and his brown eyes met her blue ones. Addison saw the sadness in his eyes and shook her head at him.

‘You’re right,’ she said and saw him gasp. ‘You’re not nice sometimes, but at other times I think you’re wonderful.’ Addison took a deep breath and carried on. ‘Max, you’re special. When I’m with you, in your company I don’t feel half as bad. I’m not as sad or depressed. I feel relaxed and..... oh and easy, I can’t explain it. When I’m with you I feel like me again,’ she finished.

‘You think I’m special?’ Max asked. A look mixed between shock and horror on his handsome face.

‘Yes, I do. You are, Max,’ she told him seriously so that he would know she was telling the truth.

‘That’s how I feel about you, Addie. I think you’re special.’

Addison felt herself blush and couldn’t stop the smile from lighting up her face. She remembered the look on her aunt’s face though and the smile slowly faded.

‘My aunt and uncle told me to stay away from you but I told them they couldn’t tell me who I can or can not be friends with. My parents wouldn’t have done so,’ she told him.

‘The trouble is, Addie, is that I want to be more then friends with you,’ he said. ‘And I think your aunt and uncle realise that.’

‘You do?’ Addison asked in shock. The smile and blush back on her face again.

Max laughed and Addison noticed that his cheeks had a bit of colour in them too.

‘I know I’ve got a bit of a rep but I don’t kiss just anybody, you know?’

About that...’ Addison said, all serious again.

‘Ahh,’ Max ran a hand through his hair again, making him look all messed up and rugged.

‘Max, I don’t care about your past. I don’t care if what I’ve heard is true or not and you don’t have to tell me. All I care about is now,’ Addison told him and she realised it was true. She was curious but she could live with not knowing, she thought.

‘It’s not true,’ Max said. ‘ I’ve never, in my life, got a girl pregnant.’

‘Max, you don’t have to tell me,’ Addison said.

‘I want to. It’s ok, Addie. I work in the next town, at the pizza place...’

‘You do?’

‘Yeah, I’ll take you one day, they make the best pizza ever!’ he said. ‘Anyway, a girl who worked there was sweet, nice and like my little sister. She got knocked up by some collage dude and he didn’t want to face up to responsibility, so I paid him a visit and we got into a fight. People heard about it and added two and two together and got five. No big deal!’

‘Wern’t you annoyed that they didn’t tell the truth. Didn’t you want to correct people?’ she asked him.

‘No, I didn’t care what they thought about me. Why should I? So, I have a bit of a bad rep. So what?’

Addison listened to him and realised that maybe Max liked the reputation he had. It was like his shield that he hid behind. She realised that she didn’t really know much about him. She was looking forward to finding out more though.

---

Less then a hour later she walked into her aunts house not sure what to expect. She followed the noise into the kitchen to find Lacey sat at the table telling Rachel, who was at the cooker, about a dress she had seen and really needed.

‘It’s just right for Claire’s party and I promise I’ll pay you back,’ Lacey was saying.

‘You said that about the jacket, Lacey,. How can you pay things back when you don’t earn any money?’ Rachel said to her daughter. She turned at the sound of Addison’s footsteps and not taking her eyes from Addison said softly, ‘Go upstairs, Lacey, I need to speak with Addison.’

‘What? No... What about my dress?’ Lacey cried.

‘Up stairs, Lacey, now!’

The tone of Rachel’s voice put Lacey off from arguing any more and she slowly stood up and walked out the room, closing the kitchen door behind her. Addison doubted that she went very far though, knowing her cousin’s tendency to eavesdrop.

‘Well,’ Rachel said looking at Addison. Addison kept her head up straight and returned her aunt’s look. ‘Addison, I though we’d talked about Max Lane?’

‘We had,’ Addison replied.

‘Then why did I see you kissing him in the middle of town, within eye sight of everybody?’

‘Because I was kissing him in town. Aunt Rachel, you and uncle Ben talked about Max and told me to stay away from him, but I didn’t say I would. I don’t agree with you. I like him.’

‘It doesn’t matter if you like him or not, Addison. He’s trouble and we don’t want you to get into trouble,’ Rachel said.

‘He’s not like that. He likes me too. Aunt Rachel, I’ve never felt this way over a boy before. Max is kind and nice. He makes me feel... he makes me feel better.’

‘Addison, I know you’ve found it hard to settle in and make friends but it will get easier, I promise. Max, he’s a certain type and all that type want is one thing!’

‘ Oh, aunt Rachel, listen to yourself! I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself and I know how to say no. You can’t make me stop seeing him.’

‘Can’t I? Addison! Please, your parents would want-’

‘No! Don’t you dare!’ Addison cried. ‘You don’t know what my parent’s would do or want. You hadn’t seen my mother in months, you guys wern’t as close as you’d like to think and I know them much better then you did.’

‘Addison-’

‘My mother would be pleased that I was showing a interest in a boy. She’d be open mined and meet Max, she’d get to know him and make her own opinion about him instead of listening to others. She be excited for me....’ Addison was finding it hard to breathe as she carried out her rant and tears glistened in her blue eyes. ‘She’d make me hot chocolate and stay up late at night with me, talking about him and how our dates went. She be kind and supportive and she’d encourage my dad to be nice and take Max fishing. So don’t you dare tell me you’re doing what my parents would want you to do, because you’ve no idea!’

Addison and Rachel stood opposite each other in shock after Addison had finished ranting. Neither one of them knew what to say next and both didn’t know how to make the first move. In the end it was Rachel, being the adult who spoke.

‘Addison,’ she said in a sad, quiet voice.

Addison looked into her aunts face and saw the tears in her eyes. With tears running silently down her own cheeks she turned around and fled the house.

She knew straight away where she was going, whether she had been invited there or not. She need the comfort of Max.

Addison ran down the street until she saw the house that Max had pointed out as his. She ran up the drive and across the unkept garden to the front porch. She walked up the few steps and reached the door. Her courage didn’t leave her until she had hammered loudly on the wooden door, painted blue.

The door opened into a dark and smoky hall. Max stood slightly behind the door, a frown on his face when he saw Addison standing there.

‘Addison? What are you doing here?’ he asked.

‘Max...Max,’ she gasped and it wasn’t till she spoke that Max realised she was crying.

‘Addison, what’s the matter? What happened? Is it you aunt?’ Addison nodded her head as he pulled her into the comfort of his arms. This is what she had needed she thought.

‘Ok, Addie. It’s ok,’ Max soothed.

‘Max!’ A gruff voice called from somewhere in the dark house.

Addison lifted her head up off Max’s shoulder slightly as he tensed at the sound of the voice. She looked up in time to see a man stumbled to the door of what must be a family room. He was heavy looking and his off white t-shirt and stone washed jeans looked like they hadn’t been washed in a week. He lent against the door frame, a beer can in his hand.

‘Who’sss... this...?’ he asked, his gaze slightly un-focused.

Addison heard his slurred words and saw that there was enough of a family resemblance for this drunk man to be Max’s dad.

‘This is Addison, dad,’ Max said and Addison turned shocked blue eyes to his face. ‘Addison, this is my dad, Mike Lane,’ he finished.

Addison looked from the drunk man back to Max. She saw that Max’s eyes couldn’t meet her own and she realised that he looked ashamed.

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A/N; I hope you're enjoying it so far. Thankyou to everyone who has reviewed so far! :)