tires

seven

eden woke up in a panic. her night terrors would wake her up quite often. after her parents had passed, she gained a lot of anxiety which caused her to have nightmares often.

she looked to her left to see johnny still sound asleep which eased her nerves a bit. she laid back onto her bed and sighed. it was only sunday so it wasn't like she had to get up for school but it took her forever to fall asleep after being woken up.

—hours later—

unfortunately, eden woke up around 1pm. she always had the need to do for others so she immediately went downstairs to start making breakfast for her and johnny.

"hey john, i'm glad you kept yourself occupied with mickey mouse as i slept," she laughed "but i totally forgot i needed to make us something to eat so i hope you like pancakes and scrambled eggs."

"yea that's fine, i would've eaten earlier but i can barely make a sandwich." johnny played his words off like a joke but it hurt eden to know his lack of parental guidance.

"come here johnny, i'll show you how to make this and i promise you it'll be good." eden smiled at the boy.

johnny just knew she'd be the mom of the gang. she had a good aura around her but she always put herself last. she didn't mean to, but i guess you could say she lived through others when she couldn't really live through herself.

the two mixed the batter and poured it onto the pan, the eggs following once they finished with the pancakes. eden had never seen someone so nervous to make a simple meal but johnny got the hang of it, putting a smile on his face to see he didn't burn a single thing.

after eden and johnny enjoyed their food, eden cleaned up and washed their dishes as well as the rest of the family's dishes. today she planned on using some of the money her parents left behind after they passed to get johnny some nice clothes.

"hey johnny, go shower and i'll give you curly's clothes, they'll fit you. i'm taking you somewhere today." eden winked.

he simply nodded his head and smiled, trying not to expose the pure excitement he felt to have someone treat him to a surprise. as johnny cleaned up and got ready, so did eden. though she lived on the poorer side of tulsa, the shepard's were lucky enough to get a house with two bathrooms.

about 45 minutes passed by and the pair was ready to head out. edens aunt was still home so she asked to borrow the car for a few hours and to edens luck, she said yes.

eden may have been young but hey, it's the 60s no one gave a shit who was driving as long as you drove like a normal person.

the drive to the wasn't bad, the car held a comfortable silence as rock music played lowly through the radio till they pulled up infront of the place. johnny's eyes then lit up as he turned his head to eden, hugging her from the side.

"man, you know you really don't have to do this right? you already gave me a place to stay this is all too much."

"johnny, i promise you it's fine. when my parents passed, their money went to me and i should at least put some of it to good use right?"

———

once they finally got settled into the store and started shopping, johnny felt it was too quiet and spoke up.

"hey eden, i noticed you always call dal by his first name..uh why is that? you have a nickname for everyone."

eden looked at him and sighed. "i only give my friends nicknames. dallas is still hung up on a stupid situation that he still bothers me about it weeks later, that's all."