Re: eddie/steph log: waffles
Despite assurances from both Cat and Eddie, Stephanie worried that Eddie didn't want to see her. That her family didn't want to see her either. Lingering guilt festered in her brain, making her wonder and even believe that none of them wanted anything to do with her anymore. She'd flaked again and again. She chased her demons alone, even as the people she cared for and loved expressed their desire to help. She'd been stupid -- brash and painfully stubborn; she knew that. There were a long line of mistakes that she could linger on and let it destroy her from the inside. Rott her from the core. Twist her and make her believe that she was truly trash, truly unworthy of the people she had surrounded herself with over the years.
But, here she was in Cat's car on the way to Eddie's home, and clearly that wasn't all true. She ignored the whisper in the back of her head and decided to just allow herself to have this. They didn't hate her. Cat wouldn't have opened up that bar door. Eddie wouldn't be inviting her to his home for waffles.
Stephanie thanked Cat so much that it probably made both women sick to their stomachs., but there they were. Cat was Stephanie's closest friend here, and she had been for some time. Even if she didn't know everything about her life. Even if Cat didn't know everything about Steph's either. The warm domesticity of the cabin made her chest ache so slightly, an ache that twisted a little more as she walked across the threshold. But, it was an ache of happiness more than jealousy or sadness. Eddie, he looked like he had so much of what he wanted here. That he was starting a home. Settling down.
Everything about his cabin make her feel so warm and welcomed and at home. Smiling despite herself, her face lit up through the exhaustion when she shuffled into the kitchen. The clean clothes, borrowed from Cat, still hung off her slight frame, but she didn't look like she was about to topple over and die at that moment like she had the night before at The Mean-Eyed Cat. "Hi," she replied. "Your place is amazing." And then, Matilda trotted in the room, and Steph melted instantaneously. She slowly sunk to her knee to rub that dog's beautiful copper fur. "Hi, baby girl," she whispered, pulling back to look in those brown eyes. "I missed you."
After a moment of rubbing her fur, she pushed herself up shakily. "Eddie." His name came out soft and thankful with a tinge of surprise. Like it spilled from her lips thousands upon thousands of times, but being here and saying it now felt almost strange. "It's good to see you. And that shirt of yours."