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Last Night
Tommy laid in bed, the golden glow of the lamp resting on the bedside table illuminating his sleeping girlfriend, who rested her head on his bare thigh, soft breathes leaving her lips as he typed away on his computer. He should feel guilty, looking down at the girl he's dedicated 5 years of his life to, when he was about to destroy her life. Yet he felt nothing other than excitement, with maybe a twinge of resentment, he couldn't tell if the small tug on his heart was due to the fact deep down part of him still loved Addison, but the rest desired her sister. The soft clicking of his keyboard echoed in the nearly silent room, the only other noise coming from the wind rustling the leaves of the trees. He leaned back against the headboard when he finished writing the email, his hand resting on the back of his girlfriends head while he read it back, tangling his fingers in her hair.
'To whomever it may reach,
I choose to stay anonymous, I do not want my name attached to this but I feel it's fair for people to know who they are trusting with running their DA's office and who's delivering the daily news reports. I work at the hospital where Mrs. Barber was in a coma. Mr. Barber and Miss Scott were there everyday, but they had managed to start a secret relationship by the looks of it. Mr. Baber and Miss Scott were very close, touchy, far too touchy for a sister and brother in law. Attached is a picture of them under the nurses station, Miss Scott had fallen asleep on Mr. Barber's lap, while he sat there very content. I just want Tommy to know.'
Tommy took a shaky breath, looking down at the girl who was completely innocent of what she was being accused of, but if people hated her then him and Laurie wouldn't look so bad, it would give both of them an out. "I'm so sorry." He whispered, pressing the send button before shutting the laptop, flipping off the light and setting into the sheets, drifting to sleep.
Present
Tommy's phone vibrated on the oak desk at work, his girlfriend's photo appearing amongst the screen while he packed up his bags. He wrapped his fingers around the device, sliding the arrow across the screen before placing the electronic between his shoulder and his ear. "Hi babygirl, I'm packing up right now, just have to put the time off in for the rest of the week and I'll be home." Tommy spoke, zipping up the backpack before standing up straight, heading over to the computer. "The funeral is in an hour, are you going to have enough time to get ready?" Addison asked, running her flat iron over her hair, the small sizzle echoing around the bathroom. "I'll have plenty of time, do you have my outfit picked out?" Tommy asked, clicking on Addison's name and extending her time off. "Yeah, it's laying on the bed for you. I'll see you soon?" Addison asked, setting down the flat iron to move some hair around, adding volume to the golden locks. "Yeah of course, I love you." Tommy spoke, catching the eye of his co-worker who waved him over. "Gotta go baby." Tommy spoke quickly, hanging up the phone before kicking the chair out, heading towards his co-worker. He knew it could've only been for one thing, the anonymous story he sent in last night.
"Have you seen this email? It's been sent to everyone in the station." Larry stated, shoving the phone towards Tommy, watching the auburn headed man read through the email. "Apparently everyone but the person who needed to read it." Tommy laughed dryly, handing the phone to back to the man, plastering a sad smile along his lips. "You okay man? I bet it's hard hearing that your girlfriend of five years is cheating on you through an anonymous email." Larry smiled sadly, placing his hand on Tommy's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Especially when she's cheating on you with her brother in law." Larry sighed, watching Tommy drop his head, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Yeah, not easy man. Now I have to go sit through a funeral without questioning it." Tommy laughed, pulling away from his co worker, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder, nodding towards the man before exiting the building, a proud smirk on his lips.
Laurie was scrolling absentmindedly through her phone in the silver Audi, the drive eerily silent between the heavy gray clouds and the new found hostility from Andy. "Sweetheart, I'm gonna go talk to the priest once we arrive." Andy stated, swallowing the lump in his throat while he focused on the road, her hand reaching over to his thigh and squeezing gently. "Of course honey, I'm just going to sit in the car because it's quite chilly out." Laurie spoke calmly, the sound clicking as she locked her phone. "I brought you a coat, it's in the backseat." Andy replied, smiling gently at Laurie before focusing back on the road. Andy had struggled to hold as much as eye contact with his wife, guilt flooding every part of his body when he would look at her and wish it was her little sister. That kiss played in his mind on repeat daily, the way that Addison just melted into his touch, the way she became so pliable to his will. Laying in bed last night with his wife made him uneasy, he just wanted to disappear.
Andy pulled up to the cemetery, turning off the car before stepping out, a soft sigh leaving his lips as he saw the hole in the ground, his stomach sinking before he was making his way across the grass, the sloshing sound of the wet fibers filling his ears, giving him something else to focus on. He stopped just shy of the casket, looking down before the priest came over, offering a comforting touch while Andy just sobbed. Laurie was watching from the car, a sad feeling in her gut as she watched her husband break down. A little bit of guilt filled her as she watched him, knowing in just hours everything he had worked for will have officially been ripped away from him. The ringing of her phone startled her, Tommy's name flashing across her screen causing a bright smile to appear on her face. "Hi!" Laurie cheered when she answered the phone, placing the glass up to her ear. "Hi baby." Tommy spoke, his voice hushed alerting her that he was home. "Did you do it?" Laurie asked, hearing a soft chuckle. "It breaks in 25, see you soon." Tommy whispered, hanging up the phone.
The ride to the cemetery for Addison and Tommy was quiet, his hand tightly in hers while she stared out the window, trying to focus on anything other than her speech. The weather in Newton was hazy, a low layer of fog settled among the tops of the trees, making them disappear into the clouds, adding an ominous feeling to the day. A day that Addison was dreading for multiple reasons. Finally laying her nephew to rest seemed to be the thing that wasn't so terrible. What was eating at her was having to see Andy again, after everything that transpired, she knew that being around him would have tension so thick, you could cut it with a knife. "You okay pretty?" Tommy asked, pulling up behind Andy's car, throwing the jeep into park. "Yeah, I'm okay." Addison spoke gently, climbing out of the car with a sad sigh, shutting the door.
The wet sloshing sound of the grass below them sounded in their ears as they approached the married couple, Laurie leaving Andy's grasps to hug Addison tightly. "You okay Laures?" Addison whispered, feeling Lauries head nod against her shoulder. "Yeah, thank you for being here." Laurie spoke gently, stepping back and gripping Addison's forearms, seeing her younger sister smile gently at her. "Of course." Addison replied gently, hearing her name from behind her, eyebrow's furrowing as she took her eyes from her sister, looking over her left shoulder to see her group of friends, people she hadn't seen in years, welcoming her with open arms again. "I'll be back." Addison whispered, breaking off from her sister before making her way over to the group. Tommy watched as Addison walked away, leaving Laurie alone while he walked over to her, showing her his phone. "The story broke?" Laurie asked quietly, looking over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being watched. "Yep. 5 minutes ago." Tommy hushed, seeing Laurie smile brightly. "Good."
"You guys came?" Addison asked, stopping feet from her friends as they smiled gently, beckoning her into their group hug with a small laugh when she stepped into the familiarity of their arms. "Maybe we were too rough on you honey, we've missed our Saturday morning coffee dates, and we knew how much Jacob meant to you." Natalie smiled gently as Addison stepped back, feeling Natalies hand on the back of her head gently, smoothing down her hair as Addison smiled gently. "It's rough, knowing he's gone." Addison murmured, feeling tears well in her eyes before she was being handed a tissue that was fished out of Leslie's bag, dabbing her eyes gently. "How about, we go out to a bar this weekend? Just the three of us like old times?" Leslie offered while Natalie nodded. "You've had a rough couple weeks, it'll be our treat!" Natalie smiled, seeing Addison nod. "I'm in."
Andy watched intently as Addison smiled with her friends, a real genuine smile he hadn't seen in years. Part of him felt irritation, that he wasn't the one to bring that smile to her beautiful face, that it wasn't him that she showed up with, hand locked tightly in hers. God what was happening to him? He was mourning his son but he didn't want comfort from his wife, no, he wanted to bury his head in Addison's neck, feel her soft skin while he sobbed into her shoulder. His phone buzzed, startling him out of his thoughts, his hand digging into his pocket to fish out the device. When the screen lit up, and he had a text message from Candy his brow furrowed, clicking on her name, the link to the newest story that broke, except this time, it wasn't a new a case, no he was in the headlines again, and this time, his world stopped as he read the title:
Newton's D.A. Andy Barber seen having an affair on wife, with her sister
His head shot up, seeing Addison's eyes locked on his, fear taking over every aspect of her features, her phone tightly in her hand. There they stood, across from each other in the expanse of the cemetery, both feeling the exact same emotion: fear.
Andy swallowed the lump in his throat, gaining the confidence to go talk to Addison. "Sweetheart, you alright?" Lauries voice echoed behind him, making him jump slightly as he locked his phone, shoving the device back into his pocket. "Yeah, just a lot to take in." Andy spoke softly, wrapping an arm around his wife's waist, seeing her raise an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem tense." Laurie spoke gently, running her hand up and down his side gently. "Just sad honey, that's all." Andy replied, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead, looking over to see Addison holding Tommy's hand, her hand on his arm while he seemed to be questioning her. "Let's go find Addison and Tommy okay?" Laurie spoke gently, squeezing Andy's side. "Yeah, let's go and find them."
"You alright baby?" Tommy asked, squeezing Addison's hand gently while she looked up at him. "Yeah of course, why do you ask?" Addison rushed out, seeing Tommy smile gently as he leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her nose. "You're pale my love, just making sure you're not nauseous or anything." Tommy smiled, a fake concerned look over his face. "I'm fine, just sad and cold." Addison replied, laying her head on his bicep as Andy and Laurie approached. Addison dropped her eyes from Andy to the ground, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach as she gripped Tommy's hand tightly while the two of them approached. "You okay Adds?" Laurie asked, taking in her sisters paled appearance. "Actually no, I feel really sick all of a sudden." Addison replied, looking over at her sister. "Oh, Andy keeps a whole bunch of medication in the car, maybe you could take her to find something honey?" Laurie smiled, seeing Andy drop his head, a forced smile on his lips. "Yeah of course, come on." Andy spoke, sticking his hand out for Addison who took it, walking off with him slowly.
"I think they saw it." Laurie spoke quietly, standing next to Tommy as they both watched the two people move across the grass. "Yeah, you know Larry's probably going to fire Addison for that. He doesn't like people with controversy on the station." Tommy spoke, looking down at the woman he was in love with. "Yeah, well it's fine, she always bounces back." Laurie responded, smiling softly. "Then it's you and me baby, we'll take Andy for the money, get Addison shunned out of town, run Andy off as well. We can have our little fairytale life." Tommy smiled, seeing Laurie beam up at him. "Us forever." She smiled, looking over at her sister and her husband, a wicked smile on her lips.
Little to their knowledge, Addison's best friends were standing behind them, listening in on their conversation. They knew Addison would never believe it, they would have to make her see it for herself. "There's no way." Natalie whispered, looking over at Leslie who shook her head. "It's Tommy, are we surprised?" Leslie asked, seeing Natalie shake her head. "Poor Andy and Addison, they're lives are about to be destroyed." Natalie sighed sadly.
They had no idea just how destroyed the lives of these two people were going to be.
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
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