As you read this chapter, just keep in mind that most of this chapter is a flashback and there's a flashback within the flashback. I'm pretty sure I was able to do a good job of indicating when the flashback within the flashback begins, but yea, just keep that in mind.
Enjoy!
Lita kept glancing back in the rear view mirror every now and then to see Adam who was staring out the window of the moving car. The duo, along with Dawn, were going back to her house so that the blonde could see his daughter and perhaps get to learn some more truth about his past. He really didn't know what to believe anymore and felt really naive going along with the two women he met minutes ago, but he just knew Lita was a big part of who he used to be.
It had been pretty quiet between the three ever since they left the park. The whole drive back to the house had been spent in silence so far. Lita found herself hoping that she drove to the park instead of walked because then that way she could have somehow convinced Dawn to take Adam with her and she could have had a moment alone to digest what just happened in her own car. Lita was beyond happy to see Adam well and alive, but then her mood turned for the worse when she found out he had been with Torrie the last year or so. It didn't matter to her that Torrie supposedly tricked Adam into being with her because it still happened. Adam had spent the last year or so with his ex-girlfriend who was the cause of their fight the night he disappeared. The redhead was still unable to get the image of the two blonde's together out of her head.
"We're here," the redhead was taken out of her thoughts when she heard her brunette friend speak to her. Lita looked over to see the older woman smiling at her. "You ready?"
Lita nodded as she looked back at Adam who she noticed was staring at the house in front of them like he was trying hard to remember whether or not the place looked familiar to him.
FLASHBACK
Lita stared at the house in front of her that Adam brought her to a couple of minutes ago. She couldn't believe what he just said to her and it kind of pissed her off.
"You actually purchased this house?" Lita asked as she continued to look at the house in front of her. She couldn't deny that she liked the look of it from the outside, it was made of red bricks, but she wasn't going to admit that to her boyfriend. Plus, it wasn't the outside of the house that mattered. Hell, she didn't care how nice the house was from the inside and out. She glared as she looked over at the blonde man who was very confused as to why she was upset because he really thought she would be excited. "You actually purchased this house?" She repeated once again.
Adam nodded like he was unsure of his answer. "Yes?"
Lita closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she opened them up again and slapped him on his arm. "You idiot!"
The blonde man rubbed the spot on his arm she just hit. "Why did you do that?"
"Because you're an idiot!"
"I'm going to need you to elaborate."
"Idiot."
"You already said that." Lita scowled. "Okay, what did I do?"
"You! Bought! A! House!"
The blonde man didn't say anything for a moment as he looked away from the redheaded woman and towards the house before looking back at her. "Why is that a bad thing?"
Lita groaned in frustration. She opened her mouth to say something, but then immediately closed it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes again. Only this time, the calming technique actually did it's work this time. "Do you expect me to live with you in this house?"
"Duh. Lita, I don't understand why you're so upset. Beanie," he said gesturing towards the pregnant woman's stomach, "is going to be here in a couple of months and that apartment isn't big enough for the three of us. We were already talking about moving to a bigger place."
"Adam-"
"Lita-"
Lita shook her head as she cut him off. "No, listen to me first." She didn't wait for the man to say anything as she continued. "You just bought this house on your own. You didn't ask me about it at all, you never consulted me about it. Yes, we talked about getting out of that apartment and buying a bigger place before Beanie joins us, but you never talked to me about this. You never even told me you were looking. Why would you just go out and make a big decision like this on your own?"
"I wanted to surprise you."
Lita sighed. "Fine, surprise me, but you don't surprise me with a house."
"It's a great house."
"I don't care. This isn't something you should have done on your own."
Adam grabbed Lita's hand before leading her inside the house. "Let's go check it out and you can kill me if you don't like it."
"I'll miss you too much you idiot."
Adam rolled his eyes as the entered the house. "Then just yell at me and scream at me."
"Oh I plan on that. And I don't need your permission for that." Adam rolled his eyes at the typical and predictable response. "I hate you."
"I hate you too."
End of flashback
"Do you like the house now?" Adam asked Lita who was still looking at him. She didn't say anything in response because she was confused and didn't have the slightest ideas what he was talking about. When did she say she didn't like the house? Before she could say anything, the man continued. "You were mad at me when I bought the house."
"You remember that?" Lita asked once she recalled those events herself. She was so pissed off at him for buying a house without talking about it with her first, but then she got over it and fell in love with the house after the tour which she didn't tell him right away because he needed to be punished for doing something so big without her input and knowledge. It was everything she previously told him she wanted in a house so it kind of was like he consulted her about it even though he really didn't.
Edge nodded. "I guess. Sorta. Yea."
Lita didn't say anything in response as she unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the car door, and got out of the car with Edge doing the same. As the duo walked closer to the house, the woman noticed Dawn was already at the front door opening it and entering the house.
"So this is our… your… I mean, this is the house then?" Edge asked when the two stood a few feet away from it.
Lita simply nodded in response as they made their way to the front door. But before the woman could walk into the house, the man stopped her as he grabbed her arm. Lita turned around with a questioning look on her face looking down at her arm before looking up at Adam who immediately let go of her arm.
"Um, is this okay?" Adam asked after a while. Lita didn't say anything in response because she had no idea what he was referring to. She was about to verbally express her confusion, but he spoke up before she could. "Is it okay that I'm here?"
"Why wouldn't it be? I invited you to come here."
"I mean for Lexi-" the blonde began to say only for the redhead to cut him off.
"Again, why wouldn't it be? You're her father Adam. Yes, you're showing up out of nowhere, but it's not like you left her after deciding you didn't want to be her dad. You didn't abandon her. She's still way too young to understand what the hell is going on. Hell, I don't even..." Lita trailed off and shook her head when she decided she didn't want to finish that. They could always clear all of that later. "Let's go," Lita said after a moment of silence between the two as she led Adam inside the house.
Once inside the house, Lita heard chatter coming from the living room so she decided to make her way there with Adam following after her. She entered the room to see Dawn talking to her mom while Lexi was sitting on the ground near them and playing with some toys. Lita was pretty sure Dawn was filling the other woman in on the details of what, or more accurately, who they discovered at the park. Her suspicions were confirmed when Karen looked up and looked passed her and right at Adam. Her face was showing a range of emotions like she was shocked to see him, but also very happy at the same time,
Adam was so confused and felt a bit uncomfortable as Karen continued to stare at him. He was trying hard to remember who she was, but nothing came to mind. She kind of looked like an older version of Lita so he assumed the woman was her mother.
"Lita, it's Adam," the still very shocked Karen said as she glanced at the younger woman.
Lita nodded. "I know mom."
"Dawn told me you found him. She told me he was here. He is here. He is alive just like you thought. You never lost hope. He's here. But where-" Karen paused for a moment before turning attention back to Adam and continuing. "Where were you all this long? What happened? How are you back? What-"
"Mom," Lita interrupted her mom as she walked towards her, "just breathe. Relax. I know, okay? I know. It's unbelievable, but he's actually here. But can we talk about this later? He wants to see Lexi so let them see one another first and then we can talk. Okay?"
Karen merely nodded with Lita looking back behind her at Adam who was focusing his whole attention on his daughter. He just stood there like he didn't know what to do as he continued to observe his daughter who was oblivious to everything that was occurring around her. She just smiling and laughing with herself.
Lita glanced between the two for a while before walking over to Lexi. "Lexi," She began to say as she picked her daughter up from the carpeted floor. "Look who's here. Let's go say hi." She then walked over to Adam who was watching the two. She felt very weird that she was about to introduce father-daughter duo to one another. Or re-introduce them. Lexi was only one when Adam disappeared and now it had been a year so it wasn't like she actually remembered her dad. "Look, it's daddy."
"Daddy!" Lexi giggled to herself while Adam simply stared at her in silence. It was really hard for him to digest the fact that he supposedly had a daughter. Was she really his? He was leaning towards the positive answer because why would Lita lie to him about that? Plus, a lot of the flashes of his memory included the pregnant redhead. But this was just too much for him to digest.
Everyone looked up when they heard the doorbell ring. "Door!" Lexi exclaimed.
Dawn smiled and nodded. "Yes Lexi Bear, that's the door. I'll go see who it is." Dawn smirked as she left the living room to answer the door because she knew exactly who just rang the doorbell. Afterall, she sent him a text message for him to come down there while the trio left the park and she knew he would come running. "I knew you would come running once I called," She smirked when she opened the door to reveal Christian on the other side.
Christian rolled his eyes as he entered the house. "How is she?"
"Who? Lita? Oh, she's just great."
"You said-"
"Oh I know what I said. I just have a surprise for you," Dawn said as she began walking away from the entrance of the house and towards the living room.
Christian rolled his eyes as he followed after Dawn. "What are you-" he stopped himself when he saw Adam standing there with Lexi now in his arms. He couldn't believe it. He really thought his eyes were deceiving him and he had to blink a few times to make sure he was actually seeing correctly. His best-friend, who he hadn't seen for over a year, was actually standing a few feet away from him. His best-friend, who he thought was dead, was actually alive. And next to him was his best-friend's fiancé, if they even still considered each other that, next to him. His best-friend's fiancé who he had completely fallen in love with these last few months. Oh God, this could definitely spell trouble for him.
"A cute little family like he never left," Dawn said from next to Christian who looked away from the trio and right at her. "A little sad, are we?"
Christian shook his head. "I'm glad he's alive and back."
"You thought he was dead and that's why you made your move-"
"Will you shut up," Christian cut her off, looking around him to make sure no one heard her. Thankfully, the three didn't even notice his presence yet and Lita's mother had stepped out the room. "Like I said, I'm glad he's back."
"Sure you're glad, but you're also sad. It's a bittersweet moment for you. Just when you thought you could have her, he shows up. Well guess what? You were never going to have a chance with her. She was never going to be yours." Dawn didn't give Christian a chance to say anything as she spoke loudly so the duo could hear her. "Look who's here! It's Adam's brother," Christian knew she purposely used that word even though the blonde pai did think of each other as brother, "Christian."
Adam let Lexi back on the ground as he looked over at the new occupant of the room. "I have a brother?" He questioned. That was yet another thing Torrie lied to him about. She said he was an only child, but here Dawn was introducing him to his supposed brother.
Dawn shrugged. "Brother, best-friend, it's all the same thing."
"Hey man," Adam said to his best-friend who was still very shocked to see him.
Christian didn't say anything for a moment, instead looking over at Lita who was looking at him at the exact moment, but quickly looked away. He sighed, returning his attention back to Adam. "Hi," he smiled at his friend. "It's really great to see you again. Where were you?"
"That's what I would like to know as well," Karen spoke as she entered the room again to hear the last part of what Christian just said.
"I honestly don't even know," came Adam's honest response. He didn't know what to tell them because he was so confused about the whole thing himself.
Christian looked over at Lexi who was playing in the sandbox a few feet away from where he was sitting on the bench. He was currently babysitting the little girl for his friends who definitely needed time to talk, just them two, so he decided to bring her to the park.
The blonde man sighed as he thought about the events that occurred over the last week. He was very glad that his best-friend was alive, back, and okay, but it was all so confusing and still a shock. Adam revealed a lot of the details of where he was over the last year and it all sounded very crazy. But then again, Christian always did think Torrie was crazy so he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was when he learned she tricked him and basically kidnapped him in a way.
It was always an awkward atmosphere when Christian was around Adam and Lita. He did actually kiss Lita a couple of hours before Adam reappeared and now the redhead was avoiding him like the plague. He avoided going over as much as he could which wasn't that difficult since Adam stayed at his house for a couple of days instead his own. He guessed the couple, if they still considered themselves that, was still trying to get over what happened and the fact that Adam spent the last year with his ex-girlfriend who Lita previously thought he was cheating on her with. The very few times he was actually around them, Christian noticed that Lita tried to create space between herself and Adam. He could tell that she was hurt and a little part of her, even a tiny part, thought Adam voluntarily went to Torrie.
"Hi," Christian heard a cheery voice from beside him speak up, taking him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a black haired woman had joined him on the bench and was now sitting right next to him.
"Hey," was all Christian said as he returned his attention back to Lexi would was now playing with a little boy.
"Is she yours?" The woman asked when she noticed where Christian's gaze was.
Christian looked over at the woman in confusion. "What?"
She gestured to Lexi. "Is she your daughter? Or are you just a pedophile looking for a kid in the park."
The man rolled his eyes. "Do I look like a pedophile?" He wasn't looking for an answer, but the woman still gave him one.
"No," the raven haired woman began to say before the blonde could get any further. "You're too cute to be a creep."
"Um thanks. But she's my friend's daughter. I'm just watching her for them."
"Seems to me that she gets along with my son pretty well. Maybe we should get them together more often. And then we can get together too. Like a date."
Christian didn't say anything in response as he simply stared at the woman. She was pretty straight forward. "I don't know who you are. Hell, I don't even know your name."
"I'm Alexis."
PurpleRain012: Thanks for reading. Thanks for the reviews. Hope you liked the chapter. :)
MistressDaisy94: Thanks for reading, reviewing, and all that jazz.. Love you guys and see you in the next update! ;D