(Addison's pov)

It's date night with Nick. I'm super excited for it, but nervous at the same time. I'm nervous because this will be the first time leaving the house since everything happened. It's been over a month now, but I'm still not fully healed from everything. I don't think I ever will be. I'm scared that Hardin will be out there somewhere though. It's my biggest fear.

Getting ready is hard for me too. If I'm being honest, looking at myself in the mirror is the hardest thing to do. I can barley look at myself after everything happened. I feel insecure all the time and I feel like I'm not beautiful. Nick tells me all the time that I'm beautiful the way I am, but that's hard to believe now. I still have marks all over me and every time I think of what Hardin did to me, I become disgusted.

"Hi, mamas," I look over at the door to see Nick walk in with a donut and a glass of milk in his hands. I swear the man is always eating his donuts.

"Hi," I say quietly. I continue to do my hair in front of my vanity as he sits down on the bed that is behind me. "I see you have another donut."

"Always," he says as he stuffs his face with it. I playfully roll my eyes as I continue to straighten my hair, "It's weird being in here."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because we are never in your room. We always sleep in my room," he says.

"That's because I feel safer in your room," I say. "And I like the smell of you."

He chuckles, "I know that. I think it's cute that you always want to sleep in my bed."

"I don't even know why I have my own bedroom," I say. "It's not like I use it or anything."

"Only for date nights," he takes another bite of his donut.

I smile, "Yes, only for date nights."

"I'm excited for tonight," he says. "I have good shit planned for us."

"I'm looking forward for it too."

He takes his last bite and then wipes his hands off from the powder. He then gets up and stands behind me, "I know you are scared."

"I'm not," I say.

He frowns, "Don't lie to me, ma. I already told you that we don't have to go out. I'm not trying to push you or anything."

"I know that," I say. "But I want to go out with you. It's been too long."

"But staying in is just as nice," he says as he starts to play with my hair, "I don't care if we stay in."

"I want to," I give him a reassuring smile through the mirror.

"Okay," he says. He leans down and kisses the top of my head, "I'm going to get ready. I'll be back."

"Okay."

***

I walk downstairs in my black dress and red heels. My dress isn't tight or anything and it's longer than usual. I just don't feel comfortable wearing any of my other things. Everything has definitely changed me in so many ways. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing either.

"Look at you," Izzy yells.

I smile, "Does it look okay? I haven't wore this dress in years."

"You look stunning," she says. "I forgot what you looked like in a dress and heels. It's been so long since any of us have done anything."

"I know," I say. "But tonight is the first night for me."

I sit down on the couch next to her, "Are you nervous?"

"Yes," I say. "I feel like I'm going to throw up."

"It'll be okay," she says. "I'm sure he isn't even around here anymore. He probably got scared and ran as far as he could."

"I get that, but it's still not that reassuring. It's terrifying to know that he is still out there somewhere."

"You'll be okay," she says. "I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," I say quietly.

The front door opens and Brandon walks in with a girl behind him. I've haven't met her yet and I'm not sure who she is either. I tend to zone out a lot, so I'm sure he has talked about her before but I don't listen very well anymore.

"Hey, guys," Brandon says. Izzy and I stand up from the couch, "This is Maggie, my girlfriend."

Girlfriend? Wow. I really do zone out a lot.

"It's nice to meet you," I shake her hand. "I'm Addison."

She smiles, "You too. Brandon has told me a lot about you."

"All good things?" I ask.

Brandon smirks, "Mostly."

Maggie looks at Izzy, "You must be Izzy? He has said a lot about you too. It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Izzy smiles and shakes her hand.

Maggie starts talking to us, but I don't pay attention. I pay attention to Nick walking down the stairs. He looks so good. I haven't seen him dressed up in forever and he looks so good.

"Hi, guys," he says standing next to me.

"Hey," Brandon says. "This is Maggie. She is who I was telling you about the other night."

"Nice to meet you," he shakes her hand, "I'm Nick."

"Nice to meet you too," Maggie says.

"So where is the special date at tonight?" Brandon asks Nick. I would tell him but I, of course, don't know. Nick won't tell me anything about the date. He never tells me, so it's nothing new to me.

"You'll find out later," Nick says. "It's a surprise for Addison, so I can't say anything yet."

"You could," I say. "You know I hate surprises."

"Nope," Nick says. "You will live."

"You guys are a thing?" Maggie asks.

"We are," I say.

She smiles, "You guys are super cute together. I kinda figured you guys were since you guys are practically matching right now."

"He always wants to match," I say.

"You like it," he says.

"Yea, yea," I say.

"Well we better go," Nick says. "Before we are late."

"To wherever it is that we are going."

"See you guys," Nick says. He grabs my hand and we walk out of the house together. We walk to the car and he opens my door for me, helping me get in.

Once I'm in he shuts the door and then gets in the drivers seat. "You look beautiful."

I giggle, "Thank you, but you look even better."

"Not possible," he says as he backs out of the driveway. "I thought I was going to start drooling everywhere when I saw you."

"You are so dramatic," I start laughing.

"I'm serious, mamas."

"I'm being serious too," I say. "You are one dramatic man."

"I know that," he says.

"So I don't get any hints?" I ask changing the subject completely.

"No," he says.

"How far away is it?"

"Not far," he says.

"How far?"

"Like ten minutes," he says.

"That's too long," I complain. "I don't understand why you can't just tell me where it's at."

"Because I like to annoy you," he says.

"I know," I mumble.

***

"What is this?" I ask as he pulls into a parking lot that's not that big. It's also on the far side of town. We usually don't come over here.

"Come and find out," he smirks. He parks the car and then gets out. He comes to my side and opens my door, helping me out.

"It's big," I say.

"Even bigger inside," he says. We start to walk up, hand in hand, and when we get to the front I realize it's the aquarium I've been wanting to come to for months now. We just never had the time to do it.

"Nick," I say. "You didn't have to bring me here. I could have come alone."

"Are you kidding? I know how much you wanted to see this," he says. "And I wanted to do it with you. I want to do everything with you."

"Me too," I smile and we go up to the booth to pay. He gets out his card and pays for both of our tickets. He already had the discussion with me to not ask to pay because he wasn't letting me pay for anything tonight.

"Here are your tickets," the man says. "Enjoy your time."

"Thank you," we both say.

We walk forward and we go through two doors. Right when we go through them it gets dark in the room. It's not too dark, but it's definitely darker than usual. The whole place is like a dark blue because of the water.

"Wow," I say. We start to walk forward and I run my fingers along the glass that's to the side of me. There are tons of fish and other creatures in the water. It's beautiful. "There is so many of them."

"There is," he says. We both stop and we look in at all the creatures swimming around the tank. I've never saw a tank so big before. I didn't even know it was possible.

"Look at that one!" I say pointing at the one with a long and pointy nose.

He chuckles, "It's probably really sharp. That's how he eats the sharks."

"He isn't even that big," I start laughing, "That shark would eat him in one bite."

"Small fish are just as strong," he says. He's right though. I wish I could apply that to myself though. I'm a small fish, but I wish I could believe that I'm as strong as a big fish. "You are a small fish, but you act like a big fish."

"How?" I ask as we start walking again. I feel like every time we take a step we see something new which amazes me greatly.

"Well you are small and fragile, but you are the strongest human I've ever met," he says. "That means you are a small fish that acts like a big and scary one."

"I wish I believed that," I say.

"You will soon," he says. "This is what I've been trying to get you to understand."

"What?"

"That you are worth so much more than you think you are," he says. "I just wish you could see yourself the way I see you."

"Me too," I say.

He takes my hand and squeezes it tightly a few times, "You'll get there, mamas. You'll love yourself the most one day."

"I love you," I whisper to him.

He smiles, "I love you, ma."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hiiii. how are you guys? i hope everyone has been safe and healthy through all the hard times. don't forget to wear a mask and social distance the best you can.

i hope y'all liked this one. i tried to make it a happy chapter. the past few have been very sad and depressing, so i wanted to make it happier. i hope you liked it.

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-H🔰