Erica had known that Adam would be difficult to convince so once she had him mostly relaxed, she told the truth about what she wanted straight out. He was obviously shocked but once he recovered enough to speak, he wouldn't meet her eyes and sounded extremely reluctant as he told her about his dad's death and how he didn't think they were compatible.
Her heart sunk having her suspicions confirmed like that. She had figured as much but hearing it for sure…
That must have been so hard for him. Her senior year of high school, the only thing she had to worry about was getting into college. He had to hold his entire family together.
Erica already understood his obligations. It was the compatibility thing that confused her. So what if he didn't like hanging out in large groups? He was so busy that he didn't have time for things like that anyway! If she wanted to go to a student activity, she could do it while he was working and was sure to tell him so.
She did wear him down without too much more persuasion and was SO glad she did. Adam was just as wonderful a boyfriend as she had expected he would be. The best she had ever had.
They continued their pattern of seeing each other at school like they always did but she felt like she truly got to know him as she spent more time with him outside of that. Hanging out with his family. Talking on the phone. Going on dates.
They went to every free event in Gainesville since he couldn't afford to go out and when she wanted to do something in particular, she paid for it. She could tell he wasn't very happy about that at first.
Erica knew that Adam was a caretaker by nature. He was uncomfortable being taken care of because he felt like he should be able to handle things himself.
Everyone needed to be taken care of though. Even people like him. She would say especially people like him.
He might not be able to buy her things or pay for their dates very often but he took care of her in other ways. Sharing his food. Giving her a piggyback ride for half a mile back to the car after she got a really bad blister on the back of her ankle.
And he did go out of his way to get her a Christmas present he really couldn't afford by picking up extra shifts toward the end of the semester when things were busy anyway. She did like what he got her but she loved the effort that went into it even more so those earrings became her new favorite.
Stubbornness about working himself into the ground and feeling like he wasn't doing enough aside, Adam was the perfect boyfriend. Her family all thought so too.
Her parents were impressed both from Erica's gushing and after they met him and saw how hardworking, kind, and funny he was for themselves. And Julie's family was won over by how good he was with kids.
She had never met anyone who interacted with them so well before. She supposed that was from a lifetime of having younger siblings around. Coaching his youngest siblings' soccer teams probably helped too since he was just as good with other people's kids as he was the ones he was related to.
Adam would be a great dad someday. Erica had thought about that more than once. Being good with kids was an attractive quality in a man.
It was stupid for her to think about that sort of thing though since they hadn't been dating long and he had to be talked into dating her at all. If she had to guess, he wouldn't want to settle down until his family was taken care of.
He always put them first. It was very sweet but also made her sad because he deserved to do things for himself too.
Erica supposed that was where she came in. That was her job. To make sure he did things that made him happy outside of being helpful to those he loved. She thought she was managing that pretty well. He had seemed a lot happier since they started dating, though she wouldn't say he seemed unhappy before. It was hard to explain but there was a noticeable difference if you spent enough time with him.
He deserved that. He was always doing things for other people.
In the time they had been together, they had to cancel their plans more than once because something or other happened where somebody needed him. He never missed any of his siblings' sports games or school concerts. He helped his mom with car trouble and basic maintenance on her very large van. A necessity to fit all of the Mitchells into a single car.
Adam drove his dad's old one and often chauffeured his siblings around if his mom couldn't, especially since Colton didn't have one and always needed rides to and from work. Erica frequently accompanied him doing this.
She really didn't mind. She liked the Mitchells a lot. There was never a dull moment with them.
This was simply the way things were for Adam. She told him that she would work with him and she meant it. Whatever annoyance she may have for various plans being derailed never lasted long.
How could she begrudge him that when she knew how much he loved his family? How deeply Adam cared about others was one of the things she liked best about him.
Erica was very lucky that he cared about her. Busy as he was, she had never felt so cherished. Her past boyfriends who had way more time to spend on her weren't nearly as attentive.
She always knew how happy he was to be with her. It was completely obvious.
Sometimes it made her heart ache thinking about how long he had liked her without her remembering him at all. He didn't know she was aware of that either because she never said anything on the matter. She hadn't wanted to embarrass him.
For someone who was usually so cool, calm, and collected, he was a rather easy blusher. It was pretty darn cute but saying that would embarrass him too.
So, tempting as it was, Erica resisted. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable. He already spent so much of his life pushing his own feelings aside to do what needed to be done. He didn't need any more negativity in his life.
It hurt seeing him have a hard time, especially because he wasn't one to complain and always brushed things off. She got better at being able to tell when things were bothering him over time but usually couldn't get him to talk about it. That was all the more apparent in January.
This time, he confessed when she called him out on it with a sigh. "My dad's death anniversary is next week. It's just hard to believe it's already been two years and I know everyone's going to be a wreck like last year. I'm really not looking forward to it."
Erica's heart twisted. Oh. She should have realized that was coming up sooner or later.
She hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry, Adam. What can I do?"
He practically melted into her embrace. "Just let me hold you for a while."
That was such an easy thing to do. He could hug her for as long as he needed. She wished she could do more but knew he wasn't one to talk about his feelings.
After a while, she spoke up hesitantly. "Do you want me to come to the cemetery with you guys?"
"You would do that?" Adam mumbled into her shoulder in surprise.
"Yeah."
Erica had a feeling that he was going to be emotional support for everyone else but who was going to do that for him? She knew he would be miserable anyway but had to do something.
"Okay. If you're sure."
She was. She didn't know what to expect because she had never lost anybody she loved but wanted to support him anyway.
As he so grimly predicted, everyone was a wreck at the grave. They were all crying on each other except Adam. He stood there comforting everyone while giving off an air of exhaustion. All Erica could do was rub his back as he hugged both of the twins.