Who: Eisen Bradbury, open for a subsequent Lexie narrative if Emily wants to write one. What: Angst. But lazy angst. Where: The walk between Lexie’s place and his apartment. When: After the epic post-dated part of epicness. Rating: Low. Status: Complete.
As he’d suspected, the moment he was away from Lexie, Eisen’s mind started to wander to the less pleasant aspects of the situation they were in. Not that much of it was really pleasant or anything. They knew now. They knew where they both stood, but they were stuck in limbo because Eisen had…well, he’d screwed up royally this time. It figured. The situation hadn’t been pre-planned or anything. He hadn’t gone into it with some elaborate scheme to steal Lexie away from Ed…but that hadn’t changed what he’d done. He knew that.
And Rory had his obligation to his brother. Yeah, he and Eisen had been friends since high school, but it still wasn’t the same bond. That didn’t, however, explain away Rory’s encouragement for Eisen to pursue this. Granted, he hadn’t said ‘just kiss her’ or anything like that…he shouldn’t have told Eisen that it would be okay if it really wouldn’t.
Don’t do that. Don’t turn it around on him. That’s not right. It’s your fault. You were afraid you’d missed your chance, you panicked, took it when it wasn’t your turn and obviously it backfired, he thought, stuffing his hands in his pockets as the snow whipped around him and without Lexie there, the cold was that more evident. Funny how easy it was to disbelieve those romantic tropes until you were living one. Obviously, if Rory blames you, it’s your fault. Normally, he’d stand right beside you.
He walked up the front steps of his apartment building and opened the door, looking around as if he’d suspected, with everything else that had gone on that night, that the innards would switch around. It was all still the same. He flicked on the light, removed his coat and scarf and hung them on the coat rack, then looked at the table, where his adorably thoughtful gift for Lexie lay. Walking over to it, he took out a piece of chocolate and unwrapped it, popping it into his mouth before he started to put everything else away. The cake mix went in the cupboard, and everything else ended up in its proper place, and then he turned and headed back into the living room.
All he was doing was moping. Sure, it was sort of normal for Eisen to mope when something bad happened, but generally, he could call Rory and they’d watch funny movies or play video games until Eisen felt better. To know that he’d put that in jeopardy? If Eisen hadn’t already been miserable, that would have done it.
Maybe you should just go to bed, he thought, eyeing the clock and laughing inwardly when he saw that it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet.
Sliding his phone from his pocket, he made one last check to see if he’d missed Rory’s text or call. When, of course, there was nothing, he decided that yeah, it was time to let his horrible night win and turn in. Tomorrow will be better, he thought as he quickly texted Lexie to let her know that he was home. He didn’t feel like a phone call; he was sure she’d understand.