Sweet Caroline, 11
Sweet Caroline
Author: heartsdesire456
Rating: up to NC-17
POV: 3rd
Pairing: Adam/Tommy
Summary: Tommy's daughter Anna is growing up and he can't stand it. She's beautiful, smart, and a sneaky little shit, in his opinion. When Tommy gets nervous around one of Monte's friends, Anna's determined to make sure her dad gets a happily ever after... even if it takes some work.
Disclaimer: Not mine, total work of fiction, blah blah blah
Author's Note: SORRY FOR THE FAIL! lemme explain. I DID 'post' this chapter... the faily net just didn't complete the post, but DID complete post of chapter 12... oops? lol. Fucking wifi
Tommy smiled brightly as he watched Anna trying to teach Adam how to play the guitar in one of the practice rooms at the shop.
Monte came in with their lunch and raised an eyebrow at the dopey smile on his face. “Wow, what happened to your face?” he asked. “You’re all… smiley,” he said.
Tommy ducked his head and blushed but looked up with a smaller smile. “I know it’s no secret how happy I am to be a dad, but right now I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of my baby,” he said, smiling again.
Monte looked the direction Tommy was smiling and chuckled. “I have to admit, that would make me all sappy too,” he said. “Ariel asked me if she could play my guitar last night and I thought I’d cry,” he joked. “She can’t do it yet, but I’m totally going to buy her a little kids guitar tomorrow,” he said.
Tommy grabbed the bag. “What do we have? Anna’s going to get very hungry if you got gross shit,” he said. “Plus I said I’d share with Adam, since he showed up,” he said.
Monte rolled his eyes. “I got you and Anna tacos.”
Tommy hummed. “Eh… Adam’s an awesome friend…” he looked down at the food. “But I don’t share my tacos,” he said.
Monte snickered. “You wouldn’t share tacos with your own mother,” he teased.
“I smell tacos!” Anna said, jogging over. “Gimme!” she said.
Adam smiled. “Mmm, smells good,” he said, then gave Tommy a sweet look. “Are you still going to share with me?” he asked.
Tommy made a sound, looking at the tacos, and then at Adam. “Fine,” he said, handing Adam one of the tacos. “But only because you’re pretty,” he said sternly.
Adam smiled brightly. “Yay! I like earning things with my pretty,” he said, batting his eyelashes jokingly. “You’re so stingy with your Mexican,” he said, snickering.
Anna shrugged. “It’s the best food ever, why wouldn’t he be?” she asked.
Monte snickered. “You are your father’s child,” he said, shaking his head in mock sadness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adam smiled as he looked down at Anna, who was curled into his side, half asleep. “Anna, your dad will be home soon, but fighting sleep isn’t worth it. I promise, he’ll make it back okay without you waiting up,” he said.
Adam was watching Anna while Tommy and Monte worked on inventory until really late. Anna usually stayed with Mia, but Mia had been busy so Tommy had let Adam pick her up from school and take her to spend the night at his house. Adam had been surprised that Tommy trusted him to take care of Anna all night after freaking out when they were five minutes late from their shopping trip.
Anna yawned and snuggled into his side closer. “I figure he’ll be worried about leaving me with you and I don’t want him to worry,” she said.
Adam smiled. “Hey, he’ll see you’re okay just as well asleep as awake,” he said. “He should know by now that I’d never let anything happen to you,” he said, kissing her head. “You’re pretty much awesome, kid,” he said softly.
She smiled and closed her eyes. “You’re awesome too,” she said. “Daddy’s happier now,” she said.
Adam raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” he asked.
She shrugged sleepily. “He’s been happier since he met you. You like more of the things he does than anybody else. Mia’s like family, but she still doesn’t have as much in common with Dad. He’s gone out more since he met you. And nobody ever comes over as often as you do,” she said. “Mia comes over sometimes but not all the time like you do. Even Delmy didn’t come over as often as you,” she said. “I didn’t like her though. She was mean. You’re not,” she said.
Adam frowned. “She was mean?” he asked.
Anna nodded. “She didn’t like me. She told me once that she wished I would go live with my mother. When I told her my mother’s dead, she said ‘oh, so that’s it’. It took me a while to figure out why she said that, but I realized she was talking about why dad has me,” she said. “That really made me mad. I know dad loves me and even if my mom was alive he would have me, and I didn’t like that dad was dating someone so mean,” she said.
“Did you ever tell your dad she said that?” Adam asked, frowning. Anna shook her head. “Why not?” he asked softly.
“I was just glad dad wasn’t alone anymore.”
Adam sighed. “Anna, just because your dad is single doesn’t mean he’s alone. He’s got friends, and he’s got you,” he said, smiling down at her when she looked up. “I know you want him to be happy, but he honestly seems happy,” he said. “I haven’t understood that really. He’s told me that you keep trying to get him to date, but as long as I’ve known him, he’s seemed really happy,” he explained.
She hummed. “Like I said, he’s been happier since he met you,” she said simply. “You like to do things with us together and he really likes it. None of his friends other than Mia has ever wanted to hang out with dad as long as I was there. They always wanted to go out and do stuff, and he goes out often enough, but they want him to go out every night of the weekend, every weekend but he doesn’t like going out that often,” she said. “You don’t try to get him to go out unless your band is playing, you’re just as happy coming to watch movies at our house or something,” she said. “It makes him happy.”
Adam smiled and hugged Anna. “Not everybody likes kids, so I understand, but to be honest, it doesn’t make sense to me. I have about as much fun with you as I do with your dad,” he said, smiling.
She smiled. “I have fun with you too,” she said.
Adam smiled and played with Anna’s hair, humming softly until she fell asleep. He continued humming after she fell asleep until he dosed off himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adam woke up to his phone vibrating in his pocket. He shifted and grabbed it as he sat up, gently laying Anna down against the couch cushions. He opened it and saw Tommy had texted. He read it and chuckled.
I don’t want to ring the doorbell in case Anna’s asleep, but I’m here
Adam headed to the door at a jog. He opened it and smiled when Tommy walked in. “Hey, shhh, Anna’s sleeping,” he said. “We fell asleep on the couch watching TV,” he said with a smile.
Tommy smiled. “Was she good?” he asked. “Not too much trouble?” he asked.
Adam rolled his eyes. “She’s never trouble. She’s really cool,” he said, smiling. “She’s always fun to hang out with,” he said.
Tommy led the way into the living room, only to stop and smile at Anna. “I hate to wake her up,” he said.
Adam shrugged. “You’re welcome to spend the night,” he said. He smiled. “Pay back the favor and all,” he said.
Tommy smiled. “Really?” he asked. “That’s pretty awesome, actually,” he said. “Although I need to get a shower and I don’t have any clean clothes, so maybe I should just go,” he said.
Adam snickered. “Alright, but if that’s really the only reason, I’ve got some of Brad’s clothes still in my closet you can wear. I mean, I’d offer some of mine, but for obvious reasons, I doubt that would work,” he teased.
Tommy snickered. “Your clothes would eat me,” he said, then yawned. “Alright, I’ll take you up on your offer, but only because I’m really tired and I kind of don’t want to crash and kill myself and my kid,” he said. “Now, show me to the shower,” he said.
Adam chuckled. “Alright,” he said, leading the way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adam was just turning out the lights in the hall when Tommy walked out of the bathroom. “Hey,” Adam said, snickering at him. “You look even more like Brad,” he teased.
Tommy cringed. “I don’t generally do tank tops,” he said, looking at himself. “Baggy pajamas, yes, but skin tight wifebeater… ew,” he said, making a face.
Adam chuckled. “Brad’s very proud of his body, as you probably figured out,” he said.
Tommy cringed. “I’m scrawny with a little pot belly,” he said, sucking in his stomach.
Adam rolled his eyes. “I’m giant and still chubby, no matter what,” he said. “I can try my best but I never seem to get to where I want to be and stay. I have reached the place I want to be about five times now, but I never stay there,” he said. He walked over to his bed and straightened the covers. “You sleeping here or downstairs with Anna?” he asked.
Tommy made a face. “I’m totally sleeping in a bed,” he said then chuckled. He ran over and flopped down on Adam’s bed face first. “You’ve got a giant, soft, wonderful bed,” he said, wiggling around until he had created a Tommy shaped spot in the middle of the bed.
Adam chuckled. “I’ve got to sleep in there too, dude,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You’re in the exact middle,” he said pointedly.
Tommy rolled over and flopped on his middle. “There, have some bed,” he said.
Adam rolled his eyes but slid under the covers, shifting around. “Are you getting in here or sleeping on top of the covers?” he asked. Tommy wiggled around until he could tug the covers down far enough to slide in. Adam shook his head, smiling. “You’re something else, TommyJoe,” he said softly.
Tommy smiled at him, though only his eyes were visible over the duvet. “But you still think I’m adorable,” he teased, and Adam rolled his eyes, practically hearing the giggles in his voice.
“You are where Anna gets it,” he said, chuckling.
Tommy wiggled around until he was situated and sighed. “Thank you for watching her, really,” he said.
Adam smiled at him. “Thank you for trusting me to,” he said softly. “It really means a lot to me that you trust me,” he said.
Tommy shrugged. “I’ll be honest, I still worried the whole time,” he said. “Don’t think I’m saying I don’t trust you, I promise, I’d trust you with my life,” he said softly, but shook his head. “But it’s another thing to trust you with my daughter,” he said. “I obviously do trust you, since I let you keep her, but I can’t help freak out some.”
Adam smiled. “Tommy I understand. I mean, you’ve known Mia for years, so it’s easy to trust her with Anna. You’ve only known me a few months,” he said. “I really do understand,” he said.
Tommy smiled. “I was with Delmy for longer than I’ve known you and I’d have never trusted her with Anna,” he said, shaking his head.
Adam made a face. “Anna was talking about Delmy and I really, really don’t like her, even if I’ll probably never meet her,” he said. “Anna was talking about how mean she was to her all the time,” he said.
Tommy cringed. “Yeah, I sort of figured out Delmy wasn’t the friendliest person to Anna,” he said. “Let’s just say I don’t really miss her,” he said.
Adam smiled. “Anna was talking to me about how she doesn’t want you to be alone,” he said, and Tommy whined. Adam chuckled. “She actually said you seemed happier since you met me, so I felt accomplished,” he said, smiling brightly. “She said you’ve never really had friends who wanted to hang out with you and Anna, and it makes me glad to think I’m able to be a friend you actually don’t get too annoyed at,” he said, then made a face. “Unless you secretly hate me and don’t tell Anna,” he teased.
Tommy smiled. “You know… it’s just so easy with you,” he said softly. “You take the work out of being a good friend. You just… understand so much better than anybody else. You don’t push me to do things I don’t want to do, and you don’t expect me to jump at things that don’t involve Anna. The only time you expect me to come to things without her is when you have a gig, and even then, I know that you really wouldn’t be that upset if I canceled on you because of something that came up,” he said.
Adam chuckled. “I trust people,” he said. “It’s backfired a lot in my life, but I can’t help it. I want to believe the best in people. So I do trust that you have a real reason for things, and I do understand that Anna’s always more important. I guess a lot of people don’t understand that about parents. I mean… hell, I have more fun when Anna’s, so I understand personally!” he said. He smiled. “I swear, sometimes I look at myself and wonder how the hell I ended up friends with a twelve year old girl,” he said, chuckling.
Tommy smiled. “She really loves you, dude. You’re really great with her and I’ve never had anybody really click with her before,” he said. “One of the reasons I trust you with her is because she trusts you. I worry so badly sometimes because I wonder what happens when you actually get a decent social life again,” he teased, and Adam rolled his eyes.
“I have a perfectly normal social life, I thank you very much,” he said with a huff. “But really, I’m just good with kids,” he said. “I never get a chance to be good with them, but I am,” he said. “Before I figured out how much I really don’t like girls, I wanted children, and I guess that just carried over into my adult life,” he said. “I don’t think I could handle dealing with a baby, so I doubt I’ll ever adopt a kid or something, but it’s great to borrow yours for a little while,” he said, smiling. “Besides, it’s probably great for her to get some time with someone she can talk to that isn’t her dad,” he said. “You guys are best friends, but everybody needs more than one outlet. She can’t really talk to you about things like being worried about you being lonely, and stuff,” he said.
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I know. And that still bothers me,” he said softly. “I’m not lonely, but she thinks I am,” he said.
Adam smiled. “Maybe you don’t want to accept that you are,” he said. “I’m not claiming I know what you think, but I’ll be honest, I am,” he said softly. “I’m nearly your age and I’m single too, and I’m seriously sick of it, so I can only imagine you would feel similar. Maybe not as badly, since you have Anna, but it can’t be really perfectly fine,” he said.
Tommy thought about it and shrugged. “It would be nice, but it’s not like I’m depressed. I mean… like I’ve said, the kind of relationship I’d need just isn’t something I can find easily, and I don’t want to keep looking. I’m sick of trying and it not working. Sure, I’ve only had two girlfriends since I’ve had Anna, but I’ve gone on plenty of dates, and it never makes it to a second date,” he said. “You have to get lucky to meet someone amazing, Adam. Really lucky. And I’ve just got to the point that I’m done waiting. I’m better off just accepting the inevitable.”
Adam smiled. “I can’t do that,” he said softly. “I can’t just give up. I want it so bad it hurts,” he said in a wistful voice. “Half the guys I meet are just into flings, and it pisses me off. I mean, it’s okay to do whatever you want with your love life, but don’t lead people on, you know?” he said. “I did my fair share of just having fun, but when you start trying to find someone you can settle down with, it just… isn’t easy.” Adam closed his eyes. “I think sometimes that this is as good as it gets… I’ve got a great house, I have fun jobs, and awesome friends. I feel selfish sometimes because this is probably as good as it’s going to get and I still want more.”
Tommy reached out and grabbed Adam’s hand, squeezing it. “Everybody wants more, Adam. And just because I want to give up it doesn’t mean you should too. Maybe you’ll have better luck than I do, who knows. But you wouldn’t be you if you just gave up.”
Adam smiled and squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” he whispered, lacing their fingers together comfortingly.
Author: heartsdesire456
Rating: up to NC-17
POV: 3rd
Pairing: Adam/Tommy
Summary: Tommy's daughter Anna is growing up and he can't stand it. She's beautiful, smart, and a sneaky little shit, in his opinion. When Tommy gets nervous around one of Monte's friends, Anna's determined to make sure her dad gets a happily ever after... even if it takes some work.
Disclaimer: Not mine, total work of fiction, blah blah blah
Author's Note: SORRY FOR THE FAIL! lemme explain. I DID 'post' this chapter... the faily net just didn't complete the post, but DID complete post of chapter 12... oops? lol. Fucking wifi
Tommy smiled brightly as he watched Anna trying to teach Adam how to play the guitar in one of the practice rooms at the shop.
Monte came in with their lunch and raised an eyebrow at the dopey smile on his face. “Wow, what happened to your face?” he asked. “You’re all… smiley,” he said.
Tommy ducked his head and blushed but looked up with a smaller smile. “I know it’s no secret how happy I am to be a dad, but right now I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of my baby,” he said, smiling again.
Monte looked the direction Tommy was smiling and chuckled. “I have to admit, that would make me all sappy too,” he said. “Ariel asked me if she could play my guitar last night and I thought I’d cry,” he joked. “She can’t do it yet, but I’m totally going to buy her a little kids guitar tomorrow,” he said.
Tommy grabbed the bag. “What do we have? Anna’s going to get very hungry if you got gross shit,” he said. “Plus I said I’d share with Adam, since he showed up,” he said.
Monte rolled his eyes. “I got you and Anna tacos.”
Tommy hummed. “Eh… Adam’s an awesome friend…” he looked down at the food. “But I don’t share my tacos,” he said.
Monte snickered. “You wouldn’t share tacos with your own mother,” he teased.
“I smell tacos!” Anna said, jogging over. “Gimme!” she said.
Adam smiled. “Mmm, smells good,” he said, then gave Tommy a sweet look. “Are you still going to share with me?” he asked.
Tommy made a sound, looking at the tacos, and then at Adam. “Fine,” he said, handing Adam one of the tacos. “But only because you’re pretty,” he said sternly.
Adam smiled brightly. “Yay! I like earning things with my pretty,” he said, batting his eyelashes jokingly. “You’re so stingy with your Mexican,” he said, snickering.
Anna shrugged. “It’s the best food ever, why wouldn’t he be?” she asked.
Monte snickered. “You are your father’s child,” he said, shaking his head in mock sadness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adam smiled as he looked down at Anna, who was curled into his side, half asleep. “Anna, your dad will be home soon, but fighting sleep isn’t worth it. I promise, he’ll make it back okay without you waiting up,” he said.
Adam was watching Anna while Tommy and Monte worked on inventory until really late. Anna usually stayed with Mia, but Mia had been busy so Tommy had let Adam pick her up from school and take her to spend the night at his house. Adam had been surprised that Tommy trusted him to take care of Anna all night after freaking out when they were five minutes late from their shopping trip.
Anna yawned and snuggled into his side closer. “I figure he’ll be worried about leaving me with you and I don’t want him to worry,” she said.
Adam smiled. “Hey, he’ll see you’re okay just as well asleep as awake,” he said. “He should know by now that I’d never let anything happen to you,” he said, kissing her head. “You’re pretty much awesome, kid,” he said softly.
She smiled and closed her eyes. “You’re awesome too,” she said. “Daddy’s happier now,” she said.
Adam raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” he asked.
She shrugged sleepily. “He’s been happier since he met you. You like more of the things he does than anybody else. Mia’s like family, but she still doesn’t have as much in common with Dad. He’s gone out more since he met you. And nobody ever comes over as often as you do,” she said. “Mia comes over sometimes but not all the time like you do. Even Delmy didn’t come over as often as you,” she said. “I didn’t like her though. She was mean. You’re not,” she said.
Adam frowned. “She was mean?” he asked.
Anna nodded. “She didn’t like me. She told me once that she wished I would go live with my mother. When I told her my mother’s dead, she said ‘oh, so that’s it’. It took me a while to figure out why she said that, but I realized she was talking about why dad has me,” she said. “That really made me mad. I know dad loves me and even if my mom was alive he would have me, and I didn’t like that dad was dating someone so mean,” she said.
“Did you ever tell your dad she said that?” Adam asked, frowning. Anna shook her head. “Why not?” he asked softly.
“I was just glad dad wasn’t alone anymore.”
Adam sighed. “Anna, just because your dad is single doesn’t mean he’s alone. He’s got friends, and he’s got you,” he said, smiling down at her when she looked up. “I know you want him to be happy, but he honestly seems happy,” he said. “I haven’t understood that really. He’s told me that you keep trying to get him to date, but as long as I’ve known him, he’s seemed really happy,” he explained.
She hummed. “Like I said, he’s been happier since he met you,” she said simply. “You like to do things with us together and he really likes it. None of his friends other than Mia has ever wanted to hang out with dad as long as I was there. They always wanted to go out and do stuff, and he goes out often enough, but they want him to go out every night of the weekend, every weekend but he doesn’t like going out that often,” she said. “You don’t try to get him to go out unless your band is playing, you’re just as happy coming to watch movies at our house or something,” she said. “It makes him happy.”
Adam smiled and hugged Anna. “Not everybody likes kids, so I understand, but to be honest, it doesn’t make sense to me. I have about as much fun with you as I do with your dad,” he said, smiling.
She smiled. “I have fun with you too,” she said.
Adam smiled and played with Anna’s hair, humming softly until she fell asleep. He continued humming after she fell asleep until he dosed off himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adam woke up to his phone vibrating in his pocket. He shifted and grabbed it as he sat up, gently laying Anna down against the couch cushions. He opened it and saw Tommy had texted. He read it and chuckled.
I don’t want to ring the doorbell in case Anna’s asleep, but I’m here
Adam headed to the door at a jog. He opened it and smiled when Tommy walked in. “Hey, shhh, Anna’s sleeping,” he said. “We fell asleep on the couch watching TV,” he said with a smile.
Tommy smiled. “Was she good?” he asked. “Not too much trouble?” he asked.
Adam rolled his eyes. “She’s never trouble. She’s really cool,” he said, smiling. “She’s always fun to hang out with,” he said.
Tommy led the way into the living room, only to stop and smile at Anna. “I hate to wake her up,” he said.
Adam shrugged. “You’re welcome to spend the night,” he said. He smiled. “Pay back the favor and all,” he said.
Tommy smiled. “Really?” he asked. “That’s pretty awesome, actually,” he said. “Although I need to get a shower and I don’t have any clean clothes, so maybe I should just go,” he said.
Adam snickered. “Alright, but if that’s really the only reason, I’ve got some of Brad’s clothes still in my closet you can wear. I mean, I’d offer some of mine, but for obvious reasons, I doubt that would work,” he teased.
Tommy snickered. “Your clothes would eat me,” he said, then yawned. “Alright, I’ll take you up on your offer, but only because I’m really tired and I kind of don’t want to crash and kill myself and my kid,” he said. “Now, show me to the shower,” he said.
Adam chuckled. “Alright,” he said, leading the way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adam was just turning out the lights in the hall when Tommy walked out of the bathroom. “Hey,” Adam said, snickering at him. “You look even more like Brad,” he teased.
Tommy cringed. “I don’t generally do tank tops,” he said, looking at himself. “Baggy pajamas, yes, but skin tight wifebeater… ew,” he said, making a face.
Adam chuckled. “Brad’s very proud of his body, as you probably figured out,” he said.
Tommy cringed. “I’m scrawny with a little pot belly,” he said, sucking in his stomach.
Adam rolled his eyes. “I’m giant and still chubby, no matter what,” he said. “I can try my best but I never seem to get to where I want to be and stay. I have reached the place I want to be about five times now, but I never stay there,” he said. He walked over to his bed and straightened the covers. “You sleeping here or downstairs with Anna?” he asked.
Tommy made a face. “I’m totally sleeping in a bed,” he said then chuckled. He ran over and flopped down on Adam’s bed face first. “You’ve got a giant, soft, wonderful bed,” he said, wiggling around until he had created a Tommy shaped spot in the middle of the bed.
Adam chuckled. “I’ve got to sleep in there too, dude,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You’re in the exact middle,” he said pointedly.
Tommy rolled over and flopped on his middle. “There, have some bed,” he said.
Adam rolled his eyes but slid under the covers, shifting around. “Are you getting in here or sleeping on top of the covers?” he asked. Tommy wiggled around until he could tug the covers down far enough to slide in. Adam shook his head, smiling. “You’re something else, TommyJoe,” he said softly.
Tommy smiled at him, though only his eyes were visible over the duvet. “But you still think I’m adorable,” he teased, and Adam rolled his eyes, practically hearing the giggles in his voice.
“You are where Anna gets it,” he said, chuckling.
Tommy wiggled around until he was situated and sighed. “Thank you for watching her, really,” he said.
Adam smiled at him. “Thank you for trusting me to,” he said softly. “It really means a lot to me that you trust me,” he said.
Tommy shrugged. “I’ll be honest, I still worried the whole time,” he said. “Don’t think I’m saying I don’t trust you, I promise, I’d trust you with my life,” he said softly, but shook his head. “But it’s another thing to trust you with my daughter,” he said. “I obviously do trust you, since I let you keep her, but I can’t help freak out some.”
Adam smiled. “Tommy I understand. I mean, you’ve known Mia for years, so it’s easy to trust her with Anna. You’ve only known me a few months,” he said. “I really do understand,” he said.
Tommy smiled. “I was with Delmy for longer than I’ve known you and I’d have never trusted her with Anna,” he said, shaking his head.
Adam made a face. “Anna was talking about Delmy and I really, really don’t like her, even if I’ll probably never meet her,” he said. “Anna was talking about how mean she was to her all the time,” he said.
Tommy cringed. “Yeah, I sort of figured out Delmy wasn’t the friendliest person to Anna,” he said. “Let’s just say I don’t really miss her,” he said.
Adam smiled. “Anna was talking to me about how she doesn’t want you to be alone,” he said, and Tommy whined. Adam chuckled. “She actually said you seemed happier since you met me, so I felt accomplished,” he said, smiling brightly. “She said you’ve never really had friends who wanted to hang out with you and Anna, and it makes me glad to think I’m able to be a friend you actually don’t get too annoyed at,” he said, then made a face. “Unless you secretly hate me and don’t tell Anna,” he teased.
Tommy smiled. “You know… it’s just so easy with you,” he said softly. “You take the work out of being a good friend. You just… understand so much better than anybody else. You don’t push me to do things I don’t want to do, and you don’t expect me to jump at things that don’t involve Anna. The only time you expect me to come to things without her is when you have a gig, and even then, I know that you really wouldn’t be that upset if I canceled on you because of something that came up,” he said.
Adam chuckled. “I trust people,” he said. “It’s backfired a lot in my life, but I can’t help it. I want to believe the best in people. So I do trust that you have a real reason for things, and I do understand that Anna’s always more important. I guess a lot of people don’t understand that about parents. I mean… hell, I have more fun when Anna’s, so I understand personally!” he said. He smiled. “I swear, sometimes I look at myself and wonder how the hell I ended up friends with a twelve year old girl,” he said, chuckling.
Tommy smiled. “She really loves you, dude. You’re really great with her and I’ve never had anybody really click with her before,” he said. “One of the reasons I trust you with her is because she trusts you. I worry so badly sometimes because I wonder what happens when you actually get a decent social life again,” he teased, and Adam rolled his eyes.
“I have a perfectly normal social life, I thank you very much,” he said with a huff. “But really, I’m just good with kids,” he said. “I never get a chance to be good with them, but I am,” he said. “Before I figured out how much I really don’t like girls, I wanted children, and I guess that just carried over into my adult life,” he said. “I don’t think I could handle dealing with a baby, so I doubt I’ll ever adopt a kid or something, but it’s great to borrow yours for a little while,” he said, smiling. “Besides, it’s probably great for her to get some time with someone she can talk to that isn’t her dad,” he said. “You guys are best friends, but everybody needs more than one outlet. She can’t really talk to you about things like being worried about you being lonely, and stuff,” he said.
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I know. And that still bothers me,” he said softly. “I’m not lonely, but she thinks I am,” he said.
Adam smiled. “Maybe you don’t want to accept that you are,” he said. “I’m not claiming I know what you think, but I’ll be honest, I am,” he said softly. “I’m nearly your age and I’m single too, and I’m seriously sick of it, so I can only imagine you would feel similar. Maybe not as badly, since you have Anna, but it can’t be really perfectly fine,” he said.
Tommy thought about it and shrugged. “It would be nice, but it’s not like I’m depressed. I mean… like I’ve said, the kind of relationship I’d need just isn’t something I can find easily, and I don’t want to keep looking. I’m sick of trying and it not working. Sure, I’ve only had two girlfriends since I’ve had Anna, but I’ve gone on plenty of dates, and it never makes it to a second date,” he said. “You have to get lucky to meet someone amazing, Adam. Really lucky. And I’ve just got to the point that I’m done waiting. I’m better off just accepting the inevitable.”
Adam smiled. “I can’t do that,” he said softly. “I can’t just give up. I want it so bad it hurts,” he said in a wistful voice. “Half the guys I meet are just into flings, and it pisses me off. I mean, it’s okay to do whatever you want with your love life, but don’t lead people on, you know?” he said. “I did my fair share of just having fun, but when you start trying to find someone you can settle down with, it just… isn’t easy.” Adam closed his eyes. “I think sometimes that this is as good as it gets… I’ve got a great house, I have fun jobs, and awesome friends. I feel selfish sometimes because this is probably as good as it’s going to get and I still want more.”
Tommy reached out and grabbed Adam’s hand, squeezing it. “Everybody wants more, Adam. And just because I want to give up it doesn’t mean you should too. Maybe you’ll have better luck than I do, who knows. But you wouldn’t be you if you just gave up.”
Adam smiled and squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” he whispered, lacing their fingers together comfortingly.