You Really Want To?

Adam had not expected Erica to want to come over and help babysit his siblings when he had to reschedule on her. The whole thing felt like a dream…aside from his siblings embarrassing him.

Peter asking if she was his girlfriend. Jenna asking why not. Colton and his mom making it perfectly obvious that he had talked about her to them before.

She handled it surprising well though. If he didn't know any better, he would say that she was actually happy about Colton knowing who she was based on how brightly she smiled. There was only one reason someone would be happy about someone else talking about them to their family. Could Colton possibly be right?

Erica did hug him again—more carefully this time—at the end of the night and everyone rounded on him as soon as she was out the door.

"So. You still think she doesn't like you?" Colton asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Colton!" Adam hissed.

Evan and Sarah were still here! He promised he wouldn't tell but had basically just outed him anyway!

"You never tell me anything," Evan complained. "I tell you about the girls I like."

"He just likes me better than you," Colton said smugly.

Sarah gave him a warning glance before addressing her oldest son. "Why didn't you say anything? You said you were going to dinner with a friend but never mentioned that she was a beautiful young woman."

"Because it doesn't matter!" Adam protested. "You guys are making something out of nothing. I didn't say anything about Erica because it isn't going to go anywhere."

"Wasn't she super worried about you when you went AWOL though?" Colton asked.

"…yes. That's just because she's nice though."

"She wouldn't offer to babysit with you OR hug you at the end if she was just being nice. I saw the way she looked at you. She wasn't just being nice."

"I have to agree with Colton here," Evan said reluctantly. "If she could have fun playing games with the likes of us, she totally has blinders on. Quit being lame and do something about it."

"She doesn't like me! And even if she did, I don't have time for a girlfriend."

Sarah put her hands on her hips and stared Adam down in a way that made him feel like his soul had left him. He knew that look. He was in BIG trouble.

"Adam Darren Mitchell, what have I told you about living your own life? You're young! You have to do things for yourself! Go out and have a little fun without worrying about us all the time. If you like her, go for it! She obviously likes you too."

Adam didn't like her. He loved her. And because he loved her, he couldn't drag her down with him.

He had to put his family first. He couldn't give her the things she was used to and wasn't the sort of person she normally hung out with anyway. He would never fit into her world even if she had fit into his surprisingly well tonight.

"She deserves better," he mumbled.

"Annoying as you can be, there's no one better than you," Colton said loyally. "Mom's right."

Evan still seemed annoyed at not being kept in the loop but agreed reluctantly. "Seriously. You're the best brother so you'd be the best boyfriend too. Just suck it up already."

Adam felt both very loved and very conflicted. Could he really go for it?

The thought continued to haunt him all weekend, especially because the twins wanted to know when they could play games with Erica again and wouldn't shut up about it. He didn't know what he was supposed to do.

She didn't say anything about Saturday when he saw her again and he followed suit. He was honestly dreading going out with her alone because he was afraid of what might happen. He didn't want things to change if they ultimately ended up ruined. Wasn't it better to stay in the weird limbo they had been in than for him to lose her?

When Adam went to pick her up, his heart leapt in his throat. She looked absolutely beautiful and the way she smiled at him nearly did him in.

They chatted casually at first but she brought out the big guns after the appetizers were done, leaning her face on her hand as she looked at him very seriously. "I don't care how busy you are, you know. I just want to see you."

"What?" he asked uncomprehendingly.

"If you need to watch your siblings, I can watch them with you. I don't know what your situation is exactly but I can work with you. I don't want to stop seeing you every day when we run out of generals to take together or on summer breaks.

"I only ended up dating Dan at all because I was bored and lonely. It wasn't until we were hanging out again that I realized I was missing you specifically. And I was worried sick when you were gone for two weeks without a word. I really like you, Adam. I'm not too good for you so can you give me a chance?"

Adam's jaw dropped. He had wondered if she was going to say anything but it still hit him like a sucker punch. His brothers were right. She DID like him.

Erica didn't know what the situation was though. Mortifying as it was to admit, he had to tell her. She would surely change her mind once she knew. She had to see sense! They would never work out so it was better not to start in the first place.

He let out a heavy sigh and wouldn't look at her. "You probably aren't aware of this but my dad died our senior year. I've had to take care of my family in his place ever since. I can't have a normal college experience but even if I could, I wouldn't want to. I'm not social like you. Our lifestyles aren't compatible. You'd come to resent me sooner or later and I couldn't bear that."

"Adam."

Her tone was such that he had to look at her and her expression was somehow both soft and stern at the same time. "I'm really sorry about what happened with your dad. But the rest doesn't matter. Like I said, I just want to see you. I can go to student activities and stuff when you're working. That wouldn't affect things at all.

"And I like your siblings so spending time with them isn't a problem. I wouldn't get in the way of you taking care of them. But you need to take care of yourself too. If you won't do it, I guess I'm going to have to."

Adam's heart was going haywire. She had already taken care of him when he was sick by buying him soup. He had thought it was just because she was a nice person but here she was, offering to take care of him when he wouldn't on a more regular basis. Because she worried about him.

She had been awfully worried when he was gone based on her reaction when he came back. She really did care about him. How was he supposed to refuse that?

He had always been weak when it came to the people he loved but he didn't think he would be able to make Erica happy long term. He wouldn't be able to bear seeing her miserable because of him.

Even so, he was powerless to resist. He looked at her helplessly. "You really want to?"

"Obviously. You like me, I like you. There's no real reason for us not to be together," Erica said in a tone that clearly indicated she thought he was being ridiculous.

Adam never said he liked her but he had totally given himself away that last terrible conversation they had before his appendectomy. She had been waiting until he recovered to spring this on him hadn't she? Always so considerate.

He was going to screw this up. He was absolutely going to screw this up but… "Okay."