Above I've attached Sweet Love by Anita Baker. Enjoy!

"Are you sure this looks good? I don't want it to look like I just threw something together," I asked as I looked at myself in my full body-length mirror.

"For the millionth time, Addison, yes, you look fine," Azalea said from her position on my bed. I'd enlisted her help to make sure that I looked the best I could for today. Any minute now, Tyler and his father would ring the bell and join my family and me for Thanksgiving dinner, and though Mr. Barnett seemed to grow a liking for me over the past month and my fathers absolutely adored Tyler, nervousness still bounced within me at the thought of everyone being together. Sweat coated my hands and I quickly rubbed them against my jeans. Azalea and I had settled on a simple beige turtleneck– which I'd chosen specifically for Tyler since he'd told me he liked how I looked in turtlenecks– along with black slacks. I had my hair gelled back in a way that looked structured without looking too unnatural. I allowed Azalea to define my eyebrows the way she'd so desperately been waiting to do which consisted of painful tweezing and a very small eyebrow razor. But when she was done, I could definitely see what all the excitement was about. I looked good.

But that didn't kill the anxiety that was still running rampant in my veins.

When I looked back at my sister she was laying on her stomach kicking her feet in the air as she typed on her phone, likely with Josh. After having dinner with us, she was going to meet Josh and spend time with his family. "Azalea please, I–"

My words were cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing. I cursed under my breath as an evil grin spread across Azalea's face. "Sounds like Prince Charming's here," she said in a sing-song voice that made me groan.

"Azalea," I whined, causing her to laugh.

"Relax, Addison, I'm just messing with you. Here, I'll let them in while you calm down. Sound good?"

I nodded. "Yes please."

She playfully rolled her eyes as she started making her way to the door but stopped when she was right next to me. "You know you're buggin' for no reason, right? I mean, come on, relax. You know our dads won't be hard on Tyler and based on what you said, Ty's dad likes you. So your boyfriend's dad is meeting the family? If he can put up with your annoying butt, he can put up with anything."

Her last comment made me hit her, which she responded to with a mere laugh.

"Go get 'em, tiger," she said before she disappeared out of my room. I looked at myself one last time to make sure everything was perfect before I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and said a silent prayer. When I was done, I turned on the lights and forced myself to walk out of the door, not leaving any room to back out or over think again.

When I made it downstairs, Tyler and Mr. Barnett were already in the kitchen putting down trays of food they'd brought. As soon as our eyes locked, a grin spread across Tyler's handsome features. "Hey, babe," I greeted as I walked over to him and placed a quick peck on his lips before I turned to his father and gave him a hug. "Hello, Mr. Barnett. Thank you both for coming over. This is my sister, Azalea." My sister, who'd been helping my fathers prepare something, waved before giving Mr. Barnett a hug since she was more of a hugger than a handshaker.

"Nice to meet you, Azalea. Thank you all for inviting us," Mr. Barnett said as the hug broke and he looked around before his eyes landed on my fathers. "You both have a beautiful home."

"Thank you," Papa proudly said as he approached Mr. Barnett with Padre right next to him and extended his hand. "I'm Madison, this right here is my husband Noah."

"Nice to meet you both. My name is Malcolm," Mr. Barnett introduced as he shook both of their hands with a warm smile on his face that reflected his son's.

"Nice to meet you, Malcolm," my Padre said before he turned to the dishes they brought. "I presume this is your famous mac and cheese?"

"That it is," Mr. Barnett proudly stated, causing me to fist bump the air. To say his mac and cheese was legendary would be a gross understatement. It was godly. It was divine. It was the thing wars were started over. It was perfect.

And I was blessed to simply be in its presence.

My Papa smiled as he picked it up. "I'm excited. Addi's told us good stuff. I'll put it in the oven so it can stay warm. Please, make yourself at home. We'll be getting started once Addi's uncle and aunt finally come downstairs!" He said the last part loud enough for my Uncle Connor and Aunt Abbi, who were upstairs still getting ready, to hear.

"You can't rush perfection, Madison!" Uncle Connor yelled down, his voice muffled but his sass was still on full display. They'd come in two days ago to spend Thanksgiving with us though their son Lukas was spending the holiday with his girlfriend's family in California.

Papa rolled his eyes and was about to leave before his eyes then landed on the bag Tyler was carrying. "Tyler, son, please tell me that's what I think it is."

"It's exactly what you're thinking and then some, Mr. M," Tyler triumphantly said with a smile causing Padre to groan.

"Well that just makes me not want to wait," Padre whined, causing Tyler to chuckle as he moved over to where the desserts were and opened up the bag, revealing a cake container, and the excitement that had filled my fathers filled me as well.

"Well, Mr. Noah, it's the wait that makes it even better," he said in a sing-song voice before he placed the cake where he wanted it. Much like his father's mac and cheese, Tyler's chocolate cakes were amazing. He'd made one before and when I say that I nearly ate the whole cake in five minutes, I mean it. It was delicious and was on par with his father's amazing mac and cheese.

I was tempted to just steal the cake when everyone was distracted and keep it all to myself.

After Tyler was done, he, his father, and I walked into the living room, but while his father got comfortable on the couch and watched whatever TV station it was on, Tyler led me into the hallway where we could have some privacy. "You look good," he said as he put his hands on my hips and held me close. I looked him up and down and damn he kept getting finer the more I looked at him. He was wearing a simple black long sleeve shirt with a brown corduroy jacket with a borg collar with black jeans and a pair of Timberlands that matched his jacket. He had his hair tied up with a few of his twists hanging down, a hairstyle that I'd quickly grown to love. He also smelled like heaven.

It was simple, but man did he look good. Criminally so.

"You don't look too bad either," I said as I slung my arms around his shoulders before I lifted myself and pressed a kiss to his lips. Even his lips felt softer than usual. He was absolutely perfect and it was driving me insane.

After a few moments, I pulled away, causing him to knit his eyebrows together. "What?"

I shook my head. "You look too good, and it's not fair," I said, only half-joking because my God, he was tempting me without even trying to.

He gave me his dashing smile he knew I couldn't resist and held me tighter. "Mi spiace, Romeo (I'm sorry, Romeo)," he innocently said, causing me to groan.

"Tyler, you need to stop. You know what that does to me," I chastised, causing him to chuckle.

"Well, how about I make it up to you after dinner?"

I gasped and hit him. "Ty, you know our dads–"

"–will be completely distracted by the football game. Your aunt and uncle will be too."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, I–" I was cut short when I heard footsteps from upstairs, letting me know that my uncle and aunt were coming downstairs and if my uncle saw us alone in the hallway, he wouldn't stop making fun of me for it all evening, and that was definitely the last thing I wanted.

"They're coming. Come on," I said as I took his hand in mine and went back out to the living room and sat on the couch with Tyler right next to me. A few moments later, my uncle and aunt emerged.

"It took you two long enough," I playfully chastised. "But, Uncle Connor, Aunt Abbi, this is Mr. Barnett, Tyler's father."

They exchanged greetings and introductions before my uncle turned to Tyler and gave him a hug. "Tyler, it's great to see you!"

"Hi, Uncle Connor," Tyler said as he tightly returned my uncle's hug.

"You look good, man. Giving me a run for my money."

I rolled my eyes before my Aunt gave me a hug which I gratefully received before she gave Tyler a hug as well.

Before too long, my fathers announced that dinner was ready, resulting in Adryan and Emerson to run out of their playroom and into the kitchen faster than the speed of light. When they saw Tyler was there, they excitedly hugged them, which he returned. I was starting to think that my siblings liked him more than they liked me.

We all gathered in a circle in the dining room. "I know this is kind of silly, but we're all going to go around the circle and say what we're grateful for. It's a tradition in this family, and I think it's good to think about and vocalize things that we're grateful for so that we don't take them for granted nor do we overlook them," my Padre said. "Join hands."

We did as we were told with my right hand being in Tyler's and my left in Azalea's.

"I'll start," my Padre said. "I'm grateful for my beautiful family and the new members in it," he said looking at Mr. Barnett and Tyler, "my friends, as well as the new beginnings and blessings that God has brought us thus far."

"I'm grateful for my family and friends as well," my Papa continued. "I'm also grateful for the job I was blessed with as well as all of its opportunities for myself and my family."

We continued around the circle until it was my turn. I took a deep breath and my heart was racing in my chest for some unknown reason. "I'm grateful for my family of course. I'm grateful for my education and I'm hopeful for whatever college it lands me in. I'm also beyond grateful for you, Ty," I said as I squeeze his hand, "and the love you continuously show me. I'm grateful for you too, Mr. Barnett, and your killer mac and cheese." A few chuckles filled the air. "I'm grateful for my time with Nonna and I know she's looking down at us smiling. And...yeah, I'm just grateful for this moment with all of you."

Tyler gave me a grin as he squeezed my hand and took a deep breath. "Well more than anything, I'm grateful for all of you here. You all stood by me and supported me through one of the hardest times in my life and I can't thank you enough for that. I've been extremely blessed to have people who care about me as much as you guys do, even when you didn't really know me. I don't know, it's just crazy and I can't fathom how or why you all did what you did for me, but all I can say is thank you. I'm obviously super grateful for this idiot to my left, Addison, and everything we've been through and fought through together, and all of his love which has helped me through a lot. I'm grateful for my dad and for my sister and I'm grateful for my future because I know that God got me and I can get through whatever happens."

I couldn't fight the smile that pulled at the corners of my lips as I looked at him. I still couldn't understand how I'd gotten so lucky to be standing next to him with my hand in his and having the privilege of being loved by him, but I decided not to question it and just roll with it. Before long, everyone had gone and my Papa prayed over the food and we all fixed our plates.

Tyler and I sat next to each other as various conversations took place from small talk to football to all the adults getting to know each other before the conversation turned to Tyler and me in terms of college.

"Well," I started. "Ty and I applied to a few schools together, namely NYU, since that's where Padre went and I could be close to home while still getting a good education, USC, Northwestern, UMich, and a few miscellaneous schools in Florida just for fun. Same with some Ivies. I know I won't get in but I did it for fun. But I also applied to some schools in North Carolina and some in California–"

"–and we're definitely not letting him go to California because it's too far," Papa chimed in, causing me to playfully roll my eyes.

"Ok, but literally two weeks ago you were talking about how you couldn't wait to get rid of me, dad."

"Okay, so?" He shot back, causing me to roll my eyes again.

"I don't care where you go. I'm taking over your room either way," Azalea added.

"Anyways, I also applied to a few schools in Georgia near Atlanta, and then WashU in St. Louis."

"That seems like a good list. A little bit of everywhere," Mr. Barnett said with a nod.

"How about you, Tyler? I know it's still early in the game but what are you thinking about?" Padre asked before he sipped some wine.

Tyler shrugged. "I did some of the same schools Addi did as he mentioned. I also did a few Ivies for kicks and giggles. I also applied to Carnegie Mellon, some SUNY schools, Oberlin, Syracuse, and Columbia down in Chicago. I don't think I did as many as Addi, but I'm satisfied with my list."

Papa nodded. "Those are some good schools. I've heard great things about all of those. Do you have any that are at the top of your list?"

"Definitely NYU, Northwestern, and Columbia in Chicago. I like them all because they're all near busy cities with entertainment scenes, which'll make it easier for me to hopefully get internships and experience."

"Those are my top too," I agreed. "They're all great schools and it'd be an added bonus if I got to go to school with my boyfriend."

"A very big bonus," Tyler agreed.

"Oh, you two are just adorable," Aunt Abbi said with a smile. "I remember when Connor and I were like that and I definitely remember when Madison and Noah were like that. Shoot, they're still like that now!"

Papa shrugged as he slung an arm over Padre's shoulders. "I can't help it. He's just amazing."

"I know," Padre bragged, causing Papa to roll his eyes.

The night continued on with conversations and laughter before it ended with the adults watching football, the kids going back into their playroom, Josh coming to pick Azalea up, and Ty and I back in my bedroom. Just like Tyler had said, we were making out on my bed. However, there was no horniness or sexual motives behind our actions. At least, no apparent ones. And as I sat on his lap with my legs wrapped around his waist and my chest pressed to his as we kissed, my mind wandered to the future. Though it was a good while off, I couldn't help but think how amazing it would be for us to be able to do this whenever we wanted in college; laying together after a long night of studying or shamelessly showing each other off at parties.

But then what would happen if we didn't go to school together? How often would we see each other? Would we drift apart? Would we break up?

Tyler suddenly pulled away. "Addison, what's wrong?"

My eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"You tensed up, and you only do that when something's bothering you. Did I do something to make you uncomfortable?"

"No, no, no," I quickly said as I cupped his cheek before I shook my head. "It's nothing, promise."

Tyler shook his head. "No, tell me. I'm here to listen. Even if you think it's small, come on, tell me."

I sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to give it up until I told him. "All this college talk has me thinking about the future, and I know it's not for a while but...I don't know, it's kind of dumb, but I'm just a bit worried, that's all."

"About..?"

"Us."

"Us?"

"Us. I mean, what if we go to different schools and we can't see each other often? Will we drift apart, or what if you meet someone new? Or what if–"

"No, no, no, you're not getting rid of me that easily," Tyler said, offering me a reassuring smile. "That's not going to happen, Addison. We're too hard-headed to let something as trivial as distance break us up. Besides, as you said, that's way in the future. Let's focus on now, okay? Remember that whole minute-by-minute thing you told me a while ago? Let's live by that, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

"Good," Tyler said before his lips softly met mine again, and as we kissed, he wordlessly told me everything I needed to hear in order to satiate my worried thoughts and fears.

He was right. This was Addi and Tyler: minute by minute, and I wasn't going to waste a second worrying about what-ifs or psyching myself out.

Instead, I focused on my boyfriend who was unfairly hot and kissed me like I was the most important person in the world.

***

Hey y'all, sorry about being gone for so long. As you probably know I'm in college now and even though it's fun, it's super time-consuming. I'll hopefully be back to a somewhat consistent updating schedule now, so I hope you enjoy! As always, the next chapter is already available for free on Inkitt and it's a doozy. You can check it out by clicking the link in my bio. By doing this, you get to read the next chapter 1000% for free and I get to be paid for doing what I love (which is really needed right now since I'm a broke college student lol)

Anyways, let me know if you enjoyed the chapter and if so, make sure to comment, vote, and leave a review of the book! Speaking of, this book is almost officially over, but it'll have the character Q&A as well as bonus chapters (Mr. Hill may or may not make an appearance in those) so stay tuned! The characters that will be a part of the Q&A are: Tyler, Addi, Madison, Noah, Azalea, Kyra, Ian, Mr. Barnett, and Dorthea (Ty's "mom"). If you have any questions you want to ask them or any other characters you want to ask a question to, leave them in the comments! See y'all next time and as always, stay healthy and safe!

Love y'all– Jordan :)