Dylan (gamesome) wrote in thedept, @ 2013-02-08 07:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! log, eddie longbottom, eli smith |
WHO Eli Smith and Eddie Longbottom
WHAT A reunion. With lots of yelling and angst because of course
WHEN Friday, February 8th
WHERE Salisbury Flats
RATING F for Feels. PG/PG-13
WARNINGS Language. Talk of sex but nothing too scandalous
TO BE AIRED No
Eli had heard rumors of a new flatmate. It would have been easy enough to confirm, but Eli didn’t exactly have a strong relationship with any of his housemates. Cal and Lucy both hated him for what he did to Eddie (for what they did in Lucy’s case) and Spencer seemed to find him more irritating than anything else. No, it wasn’t ideal (he was lonely there, lonelier than he cared to admit), and it did not create many moments for small talk. Perhaps a new flatmate would change things, but he really hadn’t given it much thought. Knowing his luck, it would be someone else to gang up on him, and he had better things to think about than how his life could get worse. Had he been paying attention, he would have discovered that their new roommate was moving in that day. And more importantly, he would have learned who exactly was joining them. So when Eli opened the door to the bathroom, one hand clutching the towel around his waist and the other pushing damp hair out of his face, he was wholly unprepared for the sight of Eddie Longbottom. For a moment, he looked wounded as everything came flooding back (he could still hear her laughter after he offered her his heart; he could still see her face, hurt and confused and furious, as she demanded the truth; he could still feel the sting of her fist. He had long since forgotten the taste and the feel of Lucy’s lips but Eddie was permanently seared in his mind). She wasn’t supposed to be here, not when his guard was down, not when he had no time to think or react or process any of this. He hadn’t seen her since he left Hogwarts- needless to say, he was not invited to visit the Longbottoms since- and the sight of her standing there left him breathless. He couldn’t tell you whether he was thrilled or terrified. He stood there for a beat too long, staring silently at her and trying to determine exactly she was here. Surely she wasn’t moving in. She must know that he lives here. Surely she was just visiting because he couldn’t possibly be expected to live with his ex, the girl he cheated on her with, and her best friend who hated him. Eli no doubt deserved punishment, but he didn’t think he deserved that. But the greater question was how to proceed. He wasn’t sure where he stood with her. Eddie had been absolutely furious with him- he couldn’t entirely blame her- but it had been over a year. Perhaps she had forgiven him? Perhaps she had even moved on (he was startled to find that that thought hurt, even though Eddie hadn’t been his for so long, had likely never really been his at all). He quickly determined there were two ways to react. He could be kind, humble, apologetic even. Or he could be himself- the self he projected to the world at any rate- and act as if nothing had changed, as if he hadn’t completely destroyed their relationship. “Ed, while I am sure you’re still pining for me, there is no reason to break into my flat,” he teased, but there was a hint of nervousness behind his calculated cool. He already knew this was a mistake. He had already known. But he chose option B every time. Last time he had been honest with her, he left humiliated and heartbroken. No, it was better to not let her know that his mistakes still haunted him, that he still hadn’t completely recovered. --- About two and a half weeks back in the country and Eddie was close to pulling her hair out due to boredom. It wasn't the prospect of being home that was the problem; being home was great--mum's cooking, jumbling up her da's upcoming lesson plans, and dropping by uninvited at her brothers' respective houses. That was all great. Not doing anything was decidedly not. Eddie was close to saying she preferred being back in school, she was that bored. After an evening spent scrubbing out the Leaky kitchen's cupboards for lack of anything better to do, Hannah finally sat her down. Maybe she ought to find an outlet while she waited for Quidditch trials. Because the petunias were beginning to get really agitated whenever they see her with a trowel. It took another week before she and Neville hashed out whatever else Eddie was good at aside from Quidditch. Struck off the list: professional face puncher, food taster (a personal favourite), cupcake flavour inventor (also a favourite), and herbologist (practical but see: issues with the petunias). Hannah had a stroke of brilliance when she suggested Auror, but after comparing her grades with Alastor's, there was really no way Ed could've swung it. And of course, Neville had to get all huffy and on the defensive about how Hit Wizards contribute to wizarding society as much as Aurors did. 'Course Eddie was drawn in by the awesome job title. It sounded pretty damn sweet and possibly involved running down people, kicking them in the leg, and sitting on them until reinforcements arrive. That could be fun. Plus, Ed could teach a class about kicking in the leg. So off she sent the application off, thinking none of it until she had the interview with the formidable Ms Oaken. Badass. She was definitely going to like it there. Then she got her timetable for her first week. Just as when she thought she could hold off on being an Adult a little longer by staying at home and letting her mum feed her home cooked meals, Eddie had to make a decision. She was selfish, true enough, but not selfish enough to subject her parents to her running down the stairs at half past two in the morning. So yeah, whatever, Ed had to do what she had to do. Move out. Unfortunately, London was expensive as fuck so Ministry-subsidised housing was the only way to go. She didn't understand why Hannah looked so pleased when she told her mother she was living in Berkshire though. As another mark of her Grown-Upedness, Ed said no no, she can carry all her stuff up north. It's not like she had to drive or whatever. The street was quiet. Sucks to be them, she thought. Eddie's trunk scraped against the concrete before she gave up and hovered it next to her. The Undetectable Extension charm needed refreshing, she could feel the weight of her accumulated possessions tugging down the bottom of the trunk. Ed stepped into the foyer with a jangle of keys and a sharp snap of the door closing. She half lugged, half hovered the trunk up the stairs and unto the landing, looking forward to throwing all of her stuff around the room so she could make it look like a localised hurricane hit it, when she saw him. Eddie reflexively pulled a disgusted expression. She could feel the retort on the tip of her tongue but no, no. She was maturing. Eddie was going to be the bigger person here. "Whatever, man." --- Whatever, man? After all this time, that was all he got? A temporary look of revulsion and then dismissal? Was she really so indifferent to him now? He expected open hostility, and he had to say, he was disappointed. At least if she hated him, he would know she felt something for him, that he was worth feeling something, anything, for. He could handle her being angry with him, but he wanted her to feel something. And he didn’t want their first conversation in months to end there, for it to be absolutely devoid of anything. “So, uh, you have a bag.” Pointing out the obvious hardly made him look clever, especially with that tinge of desperation in his voice (so much for playing it cool). But it was something, and he was just grasping at straws. “Er, why.” He eyed the bag warily. He hadn’t paid it much attention when first, too distracted by her, but it was far too large for just an overnight stay. “You’re not living here, are you?” The thought made him slightly uneasy. He could already imagine Eddie and Cal joining forces against him, Lucy scrambling to get into Eddie’s good graces by insulting him. But worst of all, Eddie alone. But at the same time, part of him was hopeful. When they broke up, he hadn’t just lost a girlfriend; he lost one of his best friends. And he missed her. Living together, she couldn’t ignore him completely- he wouldn’t let her. And maybe after spending enough time together, she would realize she missed him too (she must. You can’t give up sixteen years of friendship and feel nothing). He knew he made mistakes and forgiveness was asking a lot, he knew that too, but Eddie wasn’t blameless either. And they had been friends, had been so close before all of this, and surely that counted for something. She had trusted him once, had even dated him despite knowing his reputation and his track record, so maybe she could trust him again. --- "Oh, well spotted," Eddie said dryly as she jangled her keys again, trying to find the right one to open the door to her room. "They could make a detective out of you yet." She didn't get why he was still loitering around, the hovering was annoying her. This was all just done and Eli, acting like nothing was wrong, was really fucking irritating. Ed let him stew in silence for a while as she shoved the door open. Hey, at least the room was nice and clean. Bit on the small side, but she couldn't complain. She shoved her trunk inside, jamming it against the door to keep it momentarily open so she can throw her rucksack on the bed. It bounced and fell off, leaving the silence ringing. "Do you have a problem with that?" she asked sharply. Eddie had meant it to come out in a monotone, but old habits die hard. Instead of feeling any flicker of guilt when Eli looked uncomfortable, Ed felt even more vindictive. She could practically hear her da telling her to take the highroad. Fuck the highroad, to be honest. Eddie beat him up once, she could do it again. And if he thought that flouncing around half-naked made an ounce of difference, he was wrong. "Why are you even here?" --- “Well, I didn’t just pop by for a shower. I live here.” There was an edge of sarcasm, though not sharp, but he mostly sounded tentative (he didn’t like that; he was many things but tentative was never one of them). So she was angry. That was almost a relief, but he had forgotten how much it strung. He had been used to it once, as his final year of Hogwarts came to a close and death glares and barbs from her became part of his daily routine. But after all this time, it hurt anew (made worse, he knew, because this was nothing, just a mere taste of what she could inflict). He was quiet for a moment. He didn’t know how to act around her anymore, and he quickly went from overly confident to kicked puppy. The look he was giving her was sad, perhaps sadder than he had any right to be (he was the one who cheated, after all. He could blame her all he wanted but it didn’t change the fact that he messed up). “No, I don’t have a problem. If you can live with me, that is.” His voice was softer now, all of his bravado gone. This wasn’t how this had played out in his head; he had expected to play it cool, to pretend that everything was just fine, he had even started going down that road. But he also always assumed that their reunion would be planned, that he would have time to prepare himself, to create a script to religiously follow to mask any vulnerabilities. He would have never guessed that she would move in with him (no, the thought had occurred to him, back when he was young and in love, a lifetime ago, but of course the circumstances had been different). “Do you-” he paused, as if thinking better of his words before sighing and continuing. “Do you want any help? Moving in.” --- "Wouldn't have known," she said deliberately, moving to kick her trunk further inside. The situation was making her more and more agitated; standing around, talking, and worst of all, he was giving her a wounded look. And that was just fucking unfair. Eddie didn't do anything to him. He did what he did by himself. Maybe she contributed to it, a fact that she still refuses to acknowledge (because WHY, why did she have to apologise for her actions--they were warranted and she was right and that was all that mattered). Instead of making her feel any sort of remorse, she just returned Eli's look with a really irritated expression. "What's wrong with your face?" "Oh, I have a problem with it," Eddie said as she trudged down the stairs to pick up her other rucksack. Maybe it was a good thing she was busy actually moving in so she had something to do, otherwise she'd be attempting to hex him by now. Probably not the best on her first week of work. "But the rent's cheap and I doubt I'll be around that much. So all in all, I really doubt I'll HAVE to see you very much." Ed threw her last bag inside and said, "No, I don't need your help." Maybe she made it sound too easy cutting him out like that, they were friends for a long time after all and Eddie actually liked him for a while; enough to even think about going out with him, given his track record. But that ended spectacularly, she learned her lesson, and all she could feel now, looking at him, was a nagging annoyance. It probably wasn't healthy but she'd always been pretty Old Testament (wasn't that what her mum called it--she and her Gran were Old Testament types, eye for an eye or whatever). "So who else is living here--fuck it if it's just you and your mates, I'm requesting a transfer." --- He had to laugh, the sound humorless, dark, and foreign (he didn’t like it. He hadn’t used to laugh like that). “They’re your mates, not mine. Cal, Spencer. Well, and Lucy. I’m sure you hate her too.” His words sounded more sure than he was. It was only fair for Lucy to be equally despised, but he didn’t really think that was the case. Eddie had always been far angrier with him, which wasn’t fair; he had been emotionally vulnerable while Lucy was just a bad friend. But by the end of his final year, it seemed as if Eddie was beginning to forgive Lucy; they didn’t seem like friends, exactly, but she seemed to be giving her a second chance, which was far more than Eli received. Part of him was convinced that it was just for show, a way to hurt him, because she couldn’t possibly forgive Lucy but not him. “Look, E, I know I fucked up-” he winced; that was a poor word choice, “but it’s been a year and a half. Can’t you at least try to forgive me? I mean, I’ve recovered from it.” (A lie). He didn’t realize that his last words were sealing his fate, but despite whatever Eddie may have thought, she had hurt him. He had loved her, and he had tried so hard to make it work, but when he told her, she just laughed. Like all of this was meaningless. Like their relationship- like he- was nothing. And then what was the point? If their relationship was so hilarious to her, if after a year she still couldn’t take him seriously, why try so hard? Why force himself to change when he wasn’t worth the effort to her? He knew that cheating was the worst possible way to deal with it; he should have talked to her or just ended it. He had never meant to sleep with someone else. But he had and he couldn’t change the past. His next mistake was lying about it, but he hadn’t wanted to hurt her when it meant nothing (of course, he also knew he had a less noble desire for self preservation as well but that wasn’t his only motivation). “And you can’t ignore me forever.” --- Eddie visibly perked up when the others were mentioned. It wasn't a crime to feel a little bit better when people you actually liked were around. (Possibly not as good as getting a dozen cupcakes but pretty close.) "Right," she said, whatever snipe she had lined up falling flat on its face. "Right, well, that's good." Ed pressed her mouth into a thin line as she considered this new information. Cal was Cal; Lucy she could trust to at least tell the truth (tested and proven); Spencer was a bit of a wildcard but she wasn't annoying. Not too bad. Except of course for Eli. "Right--well, I'm gonna--" she started, pointing a thumb at her room, her tone implying that he Should Leave. But he wouldn't make it easy. OF COURSE NOT. She couldn't help rolling her eyes and subconsciously shifting her foot so she can aim a kick at his shins if needed. "Stop it," Ed hissed, patience cracking, "That's done. I don't want to talk about it and I don't want to pretend like everything's all good again for YOUR benefit." Eddie bristled even more at the mention of recovery and her voice went up a notch, "WELL, GOOD. FOR. YOU. Give yourself a pat on the back, yeah? GUESS WHAT? SO AM I. But don't even THINK that now that we know where the chips fucking fall, I'm going to just forget what happened and be all BEST BUDS with you again, you shit." When Eli put in the last word, Ed's mouth actually dropped open in incredulity. "What the fuck? So you fucking think we're going to be okay again just by sheer bloody proximity?" --- “You don’t seem like you’re over it,” he observed, his voice harsher now (nice was getting him nowhere, nice was just making it so much worse. He should have known; things were never that easy for them). He turned, frustrated, and exhaled loudly. She didn’t want to talk about it. He wasn’t sure if he did either, and certainly now was the wrong time. But they already started, and Eli was never very good at backing down, at listening to common sense. “I’m not an idiot, of course it’s not that simple. But we’ll be living together. We can’t just pretend that the other doesn’t exist, we have to deal with it. And we were best friends for years, fuck, Ed, you knew me better than anyone, and that’s just gone, done with, after one drunken mistake?” He was speaking faster nows, words slightly desperate, but also angry. “A mistake you fucking drove me to.” His voice was rising, eyes narrowing (it was easier to be angry with her than with himself, easier to blame anyone but himself). “I loved you, and I changed for you, and I did everything I could to make it work, but you- you kept pushing me away, dismissing me, and you just laughed.. You laughed. I didn’t think you’d even care since I meant so little to you.” He couldn’t keep the scorn out of his voice (he hadn’t realized his wounds were still so fresh), but that was a half truth, at best; he hadn’t thought about how she would react, not at the time, not when he was so tired of thinking about her, at obsessing over their relationship, with so little to show for it. “I don’t know why you bothered with me so for long if you couldn’t even take me seriously.” He paused, catching his breath and trying to calm himself. “It’s just.” He paused again, trying to find the right words but Eli was never good at. He wasn’t even sure how he had gotten to this point when all he wanted to say was he misses her (wants to, but he knew he never would, knew he would only speak in past tense). “I loved you and I needed us to work but you only, I don’t even fucking know, humored me when it was convenient for you, and that’s why I did it. And fine, we shouldn’t have dated, lesson learned, but I thought our friendship at least meant more than that to you.” --- "Oh, don't even fucking FLATTER yourself," she snapped, poking him in the chest. "You're GOOD at that, aren't you?" The situation was deteriorating fast and Eddie just didn't have the patience or interest to rehash and go over who did what and what went wrong or whatever the fuck else messed up blame game that went down that year. She wanted to move in and fucking set up her fucking room. Can't someone fucking do that without getting in a row anymore? Fuck. Ed was about to cut the conversation down and try to push him down the stairs when he spoke again. "I didn't drive you to do anything. THAT WAS YOUR CHOICE. I CAN MOVE ON MY OWN BLOODY PACE IF I WANT TO. Don't you fucking pin this on me. And--AND! Don't you dare fucking use that excuse again--you were just saying that to get into my pants. Don't insult my intelligence." Eddie fumed for a moment before barrelling on. "And you KNEW how I was before, YOU KNEW so just bloody lay off that bugger-all about being so 'neglected'. AND IF THAT'S THE CASE, then you should be THRILLED to be rid of me. And you know what? LIKEWISE. LIKEWISE." Any sort of romantic feeling for Eli evaporated when she found out from Lucy. Maybe he was right, maybe she just felt less than other people did, but a commitment was a commitment, no matter how flimsy and high school it seemed now. "So excuse ME for not wanting to revisit this whole mess again and not want to be FRIENDS. For fuck's sake. How can you expect me to be friends with you? AND if I WAS SO TERRIBLE, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO STILL BE FRIENDS WITH ME?" --- It was like she punched him; he he known she was contemplating pushing him down the stairs, he would have preferred it. For a moment he could only gape at her, hurt and furious. But of course it wasn’t over. “You think I lied?” he asked, incredulous. “You think that’s all it was, just some ploy to get you into bed? Do you really think that little of me?” He could understand her anger at him for cheating, but he couldn’t believe she actually thought he had lied to her about how he felt. “I would never. I’ve done a lot of shit, but I would never trick a girl into bed, especially not one I actually cared about- and you have to know that I cared about you. Unless you think I faked a friendship for sixteen years as part of some fucking master plan.” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Perhaps he shouldn’t blame her for thinking of the worst of him; his track record was hardly sparkling, and he hadn’t exactly had a history of treating his girlfriends well, and Eddie had always been privy to most of it. But this was different. Cheating on her had been a drunken impulse, but lying to her like she was suggesting required a maliciousness Eli did not have. Eli didn’t lie to serve his own purposes. “If sex was all I wanted, I wouldn’t have dated you in the first place. If that was all I was interested in, I could have easily found it somewhere else with someone else. And, yeah, I would be lying if I said I never thought about it, with you, but that’s not why I asked you out. That’s not why I stayed for a year. I didn’t cheat on you because I was horny and bitter that you wouldn’t put out,” he spat, eyes narrowed. He wondered idly if Lucy would vouch for him, if she would tell Eddie how upset he had been, how she was all they had talked about until they stopped talking. But he doubted it, not when he it would shift some of the blame from him to her (he and Lucy were too alike in all of the wrong ways, he knew). He exhaled, running his hand through his hair. He didn’t want to do this, didn’t want to stand here yelling at her. What was it even accomplishing? She wasn’t listening anyway. “It wasn’t all bad though, you must remember that.” his voice softened, almost a plea. “Most of the time, it worked, that why I stayed. You weren’t terrible. I wasn’t thrilled when it ended.” (Was she really? She was just saying that to dig the knife in deeper, right? He didn’t want to believe otherwise.) “And I did- I do- know you, but after a year, I thought that things would be different. I thought you would be more comfortable being together, with me- and I don’t mean sex, I mean just being a, you know, a couple. I know it was new to you, but it was new to me too. But I changed for you, and I expected you to do the same, to work equally hard. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.” --- "Are you serious? You said it just a few weeks after you brought up sex, you didn't mean it. Or you thought you did but it was just your fucking penis talking." Then after realising how cutting that sounded because she remembered that talk. She didn't take it seriously, even though he was the most serious she'd seen him. Eddie just kept cracking penis jokes because what can you really do when someone is insisting to talk about something you didn't want to discuss? And it was less than a year since they started going out. When it was great, it was great, but when it wasn't--it was a wreck. (People kept tallies.) Eddie just wasn't sure about the two of them. Well, who could be sure at sixteen? "Look, it's not like--" She had never been very good at words. And feelings. And getting put on the spot to discuss feelings that aren't there anymore. "You boys--are--you know, it's not just you." A few years ago, they wouldn't even have had gone this far in the conversation without her trying to set fire to his face. Time helped. Perspective helped. Eddie was practical enough to understand that it just didn't work out with some people; whether it's timing or bad judgement or whatever the fuck else. "Well, I wasn't, alright? I'm not like--I'm not good at that. I don't think I'll EVER be, it doesn't--" (What was it that the other one said? She was unappreciative.) She shook her head, "Anyway, it doesn't matter now. You cheated. And that's--whatever. It happened." Eddie shrugged a little, "At least we didn't waste our time, in the end. Probably dodged a bullet there." --- Was Eddie really softening? He couldn’t help but frown, surprised that she was almost, almost apologizing. Or at least, she was softening the blow, at least she was less angry now. She was still wrong, but it was progress. He shook his head. “I meant it,” he said solemnly. “You don’t have to believe me” (no, he needed her to) “but I did mean it. I know the difference between wanting sex and being in love, and I can promise you, while there have been plenty of girls I wanted to sleep with, it was always different with you. You’re the only one I ever wanted more with.” The only one he ever loved, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it in so many words. Despite what Eddie may think, he was sure. Or as sure as any boy could be about his first love. It had been different with Eddie, but it was also more complicated because he had always loved her; it just hadn’t always been romantic. And perhaps it was hard to differentiate one kind of love from the other, to distinguish love from his need to make their relationship work because she wasn’t just some random girl who meant nothing, because he didn’t want to lose her. Perhaps he had assumed that because his feelings were stronger than they ever had been before, that he was in love. But at the end of the day, did the label really matter? It was real, whatever he felt, and she had meant the world to him. “It wasn’t ‘whatever.’ It was one of the worst things I’ve ever done. And I’m sorry.” It was easier to say that now that she wasn’t glaring daggers at him, now that their tempers had cooled. Of course, he still blamed her, still blamed Lucy, but now wasn’t the time to say that again. “But yeah, maybe we did,” he sighed sadly. He wasn’t sure if he really believed that. Despite all of the times where it was horrible and painful and dangerous, he had seen a future, he had seen something coming out of it. What, exactly, he couldn’t say (not white dresses and chapels, at least, that he had never envisioned) but it was always more than something to just past the time. “But we were still together for a long time,” he continued slowly, tentatively. “A year. That’s not nothing. Right? You don’t think that was a waste, do you?” He shouldn’t be asking, he knew, for he wasn’t sure if there was really a good way for this to end. But Eli was never good at holding back and now the words were out there. --- Eddie gave him a mildly incredulous look and shook her head as he spoke. What did it matter now? It wasn't even the point anymore. She'd never been patient. Being the youngest in her family meant that other people always had to be patient with her, but hardly the other way around. She made a small concession by softening the blow of her words previously. "Well, I don't," she said shortly, "And I don't have to." Boys, she thought inwardly, give them an inch and they take an entire fucking kilometre. And she was just bloody over it. She's heard this before, and she'll likely hear it again. It didn't change anything; they were still where they were now. She really didn't understand what Eli wanted to hear from her. So of course, she had to go the sarcastic route. "I wouldn't worry about it, pretty sure you've heard of the saying: plenty more fish in the sea." "Yeah, exactly," Eddie said, with much more conviction that Eli did. She was becoming keenly aware that the mood had shifted again and she didn't exactly like where it went. The 'sorry', the kicked puppy thing, everything--instead of feeling guilty, she just felt blackmailed. Maybe it was the irrational reaction, but after she learned about what happened, her first reaction wasn't betrayal; it was wanting to get even. She refused to feel bad about anything she did. Was it unhealthy? Probably. But she always moved to the beat of her own drum and she was unapologetic about it. She couldn't help but shoot him a glare at the question. "I'm not here to take a trip down memory lane okay," Ed snapped. So much for civility. "As I said, it was a good exercise in dodging the bullet so now we move on. Whatever." --- He wanted to yell again, to find some way to make her believe him, but he knew nothing would work. He didn’t know why it was so important. She was right, it was in the past, and she clearly had no intention of forgiving him from cheating; one extra sin wasn’t sealing his fate. But if she was going to hate him, he at least wanted it to be for things that were true. “Well, it’s never been all that difficult for me to find willing girls so I’m sure I’ll be fine.” It came out more vicious, more biting than he intended (he hadn’t wanted other girls, not when he was with her) but he couldn’t find it in him to be guilty. She had said worse, in any event. In many ways this (conversation? fight?) interaction was progress; they hadn’t spent the whole time screaming at each other, after all. But they were still getting nowhere. Maybe their voices were calmer as they repeated the same lines but she still didn’t trust him and he still couldn’t let go. She was still angry and he was still hurt. Time and distance hadn’t made her any more willing to forgive him or even just more willing to listen. He was suddenly exhausted, and he raised a hand to rub his eyes. At least she hadn’t said that their whole relationship had been a complete waste, but she still didn’t understand that he wanted to move on with her, as friends (didn’t understand or refused to give him that, it all amounted to the same thing). “Fine. Whatever. Just go unpack. I’ve taken up enough of your time.” --- For a brief moment, Eddie had to fight the overwhelming urge to punch him in the face. Yes, it wasn't difficult, was it? It didn't even take him a day after they had that conversation before he went off and did what he did. Mentioning it was like a slap in the face somehow. She narrowed her eyes at him for a short moment and flatly said, "Good for you." And godspeed to whoever else he managed to get involved with. (A quiet voice in her head said that they were friends once, and it wasn't that bad, but the angrier, more spiteful part of her pretty much yelled it down. There were things you could patch up and there were things that you couldn't, and Eddie had it set in her mind that this case was more of the latter.) She was about to walk back inside her room to finally, finally unpack when he spoke. Eddie's temper was already getting out of hand by his first comment, and his next couple of words only set her off. "I didn't ASK for your permission actually," she snapped, yanking the door from the doorstop, "I can fucking do whatever the hell I'd like." The door slammed behind her with a satisfying finality and she wished that that was the end of it. Eddie was supposed to leave school behind and all the mess that came with it, and the last couple of months at least gave her the illusion that she was going somewhere. Now that she was back home and moved out, she somehow found herself having circled back. Wasn't that just peachy? --- Of course the conversation would end with her angry an storming off. That's how it always ended. Maybe there would be the briefest of moments that hinted that a reconciliation was possible, but they never lasted. Perhps she was slightly less angry this time (they had been civil, for a moment there) but that didn't mean she would forgive him. No matter what he did- raise his voice, apologize, try to act like friends again- the outcome was the same. Maybe he shouldn't even bother (but he knew he would keep trying and they would continue to have the same argument again and again and again and never change). This wasn't how he wanted to meet her again, but it could have been worse. She hadn't hit him this time- though it seemed like she had wanted to. He sighed. At least he would have other chances to make her forgive him. As he finally returned to his room, he realized they were living next door to each other. He had known, of course, that that room was empty but it hadn't set into until now that not only would Eddie be living here, with him she would be right next door. Of course. He had to bite back a laugh. Well, at least things would be interesting. |