Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Characters in this chapter:
Addison
Sam
Margaret (Addison's mom)
Ray (Addison's dad)
Richard (the Editor-in-Chief for Wright UK)

.......................................................
November 22

Richard was in his office reviewing the layout of the December issue when someone knocked on the door to the main part of his office.
"Ah. Addison. Come in, come in. I wanted to talk to you about December's lineup."
"The lineup is gorgeous, but there's something I need to talk to you about."
"What? Are you quitting?"
"Uh, yeah actually."
"Wait, what? I was kidding. Why are you quitting?"
"I just realized that I don't want fame. I wanna be able to go outside and not be bombarded with people asking if I was the girl from Wright UK. I need a fresh start somewhere else."
"I see. How long until you leave?"
"Sam and I leave the second week of January. I'll still help out here until then if I'm needed."
"You are always welcome here. And I wish you and Sam the best of luck wherever you end up."
"Thanks Richard."
........................................................
January 12

"I still don't understand why you want to leave in the first place."
"I already told you dad. I need a change of pace."
"But why? You always say you're so happy here with Sam."
"I am mom. I like it here, yes, but I want to be able to live my life without constantly being pestered."
"Okay. Just know that we will support you no matter what."
"Thanks you guys. I love you. We have to leave now if we want to get there today. Bye."
.......................................................................................................................................................
January 12 (in their car)

"Are you completely sure you wanna do this?"
"Yes Sam. I've told you about 600 times now."
"Ok. Just making sure."
...........................................................

Chapter Text

Addi and Sam had made it to Euston 90 minutes before their train left.

There were no scheduled delays. The train left Euston at exactly 12:29 as it should've. Everything was going smoothly, right?

                                                                                  Wrong.

As they were waiting for their last connection to the island, Addi realized something strange. The engine that took her and Sam from Euston was a steam engine.

That can't be right, she thought. Steam engines were all scrapped years ago.

Just then, she saw 2 more engines pull up at one of the platforms. And they were also steam engines.

That was the whole reason she heard their conversation in the first place.

"So we meet again," said one of the drivers. "I just brought what I assume are your passengers from London."

"I assume you mean King's Cross," one of the other drivers responded.

"King's Cross?!" snorted the first driver. "London's Euston! Everybody knows that!"

"Rubbish!" said the third driver. "London's Paddington! I know, I worked there!"

They argued when the first driver was supposed to go back to London. They argued when it was time for the train to the island to depart. They argued thru the announcement that the trains were delayed. And they were still arguing when the stationmaster had to tell them all to knock it off.

"These people have been waiting 2 hours to get to their destination while you lot have been arguing." he said sternly. 

He continued on about how arguing with colleagues is in no way professional, and how paying passengers shouldn't be kept waiting just so they could argue.

Addi actually found it quite hilarious, but Sam just sighed.

"Does this guy not know that he's the one holding the trains up? He's been lecturing those drivers for 45 minutes," he said.

And as soon as he said that, the stationmaster told them to just get on with their jobs.

And so, Sam and Addi did eventually make it to Sodor, albeit about 3 1/2 hours later than they should've.

Chapter Text

After getting a room at a little B&B just outside of Knapford for a few days while they got everything arranged, Sam and Addie decided to explore the island a bit. But their plans hit a snag when Addie saw a space for lease at the station at Tidmouth.

As soon as she saw it, she knew it was the perfect place to open her little cafe. It was on the smaller side, but it had this charm to it. Exactly what they had wanted.

"Wait a second." she said as she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What? Why are we .....stopping?" Sam said as he turned around and saw what Addie was looking at.

To him, the place looked like a dump that hadn't been used in at least 30 years.

"Look. It's exactly what we wanted, isn't it?" she asked quickly after seeing his reaction to the older building.

"I mean, yeah. I guess. It just would need a whole lot of renovations." he replied.

"But it's a usable space. Let me call and see if we can tour the building. Can I?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course. I was just saying it would have to be renovated at some point." he explained.

They had a wonderful time exploring. They toured Ulfstead Castle, a pirate ship that had apparently been found by complete accident, and the recently renovated town of Great Waterton. They also realized that they could've came by plane when they passed the airport. They also discovered that the food on Sodor was great after having lunch at Brady's Grill.

They also got very lost while trying to find the building their flat was in.

"Turn left in 3 kilometers." chimed the GPS. But the road signs told them to go right in 8 km. Eventually, they did make it to their building, and they were very glad they had their furniture delivered before they moved in.

About 2 hours after they had unpacked everything, there was a knock at their door.

"Can I help you?" Addison asked as she opened the door. 

"No. I saw you moving in yesterday and wanted to welcome you to our building." a man's voice said.

Addison had fully opened the door at that point and saw that the man was rather short, about 1.7 meters (5'7") with sapphire blue eyes and wearing a navy sweater and jeans.

"Oh. Well thank you." she said, slightly surprised. "I'm Addison, and this is my boyfriend Sam."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Thomas. Thomas BIllington."

"Nice to meet you too Thomas." said Sam.

"Well, I best be off. I hope to see you two around sometime." Thomas said, as he left. "Oh. And some of my friends who also live here might also be stopping by to welcome you."

"Well he seems nice." Sam commented.

"Yeah. He does." replied Addie. "I'm gonna call the real estate company about that place we saw earlier. And then dinner?"

"Yeah." said Sam.

Chapter Text

The next day, Addie and Sam got a call back from the real estate agent saying they could tour the space later that day. As they were leaving, they ran into another one of their neighbors, who was an inch shorter than Thomas, and wearing a green polo shirt with sweats and tennis shoes. He introduced himself as Percy Avonside, and was just as nice as Thomas. He also invited them for coffee with him and Thomas sometime.

The space was actually a lot bigger than they thought. As in enough space to have a 2 seating areas and a full kitchen. It just looked small because of the tarp covering the door to the rest of the space. And it only needed minor renovations. It was perfect.

"How much?" Addison asked eagerly.

"What?" asked Sam.

"How much is it?" she repeated.

"£200,000, but your not seriously just going to buy this place. Right?" answered the real estate agent.

"Done." Addie replied taking out her checkbook.

"Wait. Shouldn't we talk about whether or not we should buy this place?" Sam said.

"Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me you don't want to buy this?" Addison asked dramatically.

"Well. No. But-"

"Then let's buy it."

"Fine."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she squealed.

"Alright then. Let's go back to my office, and you can sign the paperwork." replied the very surprised real estate agent.

After signing the paperwork, they went back to Brady's for lunch.

"I can't believe you just did that." said Sam in disbelief.

"Well. I did." replied Addie.

Little did they know, the owner was watching them.

Brady Andrews is the scum of the earth. He's a vile, horrible person who knows people just as bad, if not worse, than him. 

Well if it isn't Addie Wright. I'm gonna have fun with you. he thought, before disappearing in the shadows.

They stayed out for another couple of hours before heading back.

As they were walking towards their building, Percy ran up to them.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I deliver all the mail sent to this building, and someone had something sent to your flat." 

"What, like a letter or something?" Addie asked.

"No. Flowers." Percy replied.

Addie froze. Neither her, nor Sam's parents would send something like flowers.

Only he would do that.

She then turned and ran up to their flat.

"What?" asked Percy.

"I don't know." replied Sam.

Chapter Text

Her and Sam had decided to go on a break for 2 months.

She didn't realize those 2 months would almost cost her everything.

He seemed nice enough. He didn't try to take advantage of her, even if he could've.

He said his name was Brady. Just Brady.

She kissed him, and the next thing she knew, she was on his living room couch, still fully clothed. He still hadn't taken advantage of her.

Little did she know it was all just an act.

She had trust issues since she was a child. But Brady, he just seemed so trustworthy. So she made the mistake of trusting him.

They had been dating for a month at this point, and she started to notice the little things. The way is eyes would flash when she did something he didn't approve of. How he would get angry over the smallest things.

She knew it was always just going to be casual.

Nothing had ever happened until that day. The day she told him it had always been just casual.

She came home to him sitting at her dining room table, saying he wanted to talk about things. He had brought her a vase of roses.

He didn't have a key.

That was the final straw for her, and she broke things off.

He said nothing, and just walked out.

The next day, she had all the locks changed and had cameras installed.

But it didn't matter.

It was about 2 am when she heard him trying to kick down the door. Then came the gunshots a few minutes later.

He screamed for her to "come out and face the consequences" of "what she did" to him. 

She lived on the top floor of a 10-story building. She couldn't escape through a window. Her only choice was to face him.

To this day, she has no clue how she didn't get shot. A bullet hit the door just as she got away from it. But she got out completely unscathed. Or so she thought.

When the 2 month break was up, she got back together with Sam, and everything went back to the way it was before.

She never told him about what happened, and had no intention to. But now she has to.