tires

thirteen

it's been about a week since eden has been to bucks, or anywhere at all honestly. she's been going from school to work then straight to her bed. after the drag race last friday, lots of cars have had to be fixed and the poor girl has been working over time. she really only gets to talk to the gang in school or  on a work break. she hasn't had time to really wind down, so her feet took her straight to the sweet old mans bar.

getting to the door, buck happily opened it for her as he saw her walking through the open window next to him.

"welcom hun, i thought you'd never be back!"

"hey buck, at with the rate i've had to work since the drag race, me too." eden laughed.

"well would you like anything to drink?"

"yes please, something light, i just want to be buzzed."

the pair shared some small talk about their daily lives as eden sipped on a beer, which was surprisingly good. it tasted sweet and less like rat poison in her opinion. and instead of a joint, she lighten herself a cancer stick just to let loose and wash away the stress of her week.

while she took a long drag of her cigarette, dallas came walking down the steps to see who had walked in.

his eyes lit up, him quickly straightening his face to not look like he had missed her presence as much as he really did. eden looked straight at him and gave a light smile.

"hey dallas."

"it's nice to see you eden." he said, sitting next to her and quickly stealing her cigarette.

by the time they finished their smoke sesh, dallas invited her upstairs.

"cmon, i'm tired man let's just hang out n play some cards?"

"sounds good to me, i'm honestly not trying to play pool again anyways." eden laughed.

eden walked in and admired the small room. to her surprise, dallas was a neat guy and kept everything tidy.

even the room smelt good.

it was a faint cig smell, covered with a vanilla candle. eden didn't see an article of clothing in sight, not even dust or a simple stain. of course no one would expect that from the delinquent but cleaning was a guilty pleasure of his.

they both sat across from one another on the bed as dallas shuffled the deck of cards before distributing them to him and eden.

they played back in forth in comfortable silence. the only thing you heard was rock music coming from downstairs and the sound of glass clinking every time buck handed out a drink. eden cherished this time of quietness till dallas started to wince in pain a bit, him coughing to cover it up.

"you good there dallas?" the girl squinted her eyes at him in concern.

"yea i'll be good man."

eden shrugged it off for a couple of minutes till his face became visibly uncomfortable, making it obvious something was hurting him.

"okay dallas cut to the chase. why do you look like you're shitting bricks?"

"alright, alright. i bumped into one of the guys that jumped you and his face kinda pissed me off. so ya know, one thing led to another and now my cut is staring to bleed again."

right as dallas finished his sentence, eden lifted his shirt to reveal a slice that wasn't cleaned up properly. she traced her hand over it, dallas' muscles tensing a bit from her soft touch. he never thought butterflies could come at such a bad time.

"lead me to the bathroom so we can take care of this please."

dallas walked her to the bathroom so she could grab the first aid kid and wrap him up.

"you're lucky this doesn't need stitches..." eden went on as she poured peroxide over the cut, before wiping around it.

"...plus why would you fight him anyways? because he has an annoying face? seriously?" she ranted in clear concern.

"eden calm down," dallas started before she death glared him. "..or don't t-that's fine, but after what he did to you he needed to be shown one last time not to mess with anyone in the gang."

"you know i think we already showed him and his friends, it's okay."

"no, no it's not. you're not gonna hit a girl and get scared off once, especially when it's you. you didn't even do anything man."

"i appreciate the concern dallas, but i never want you getting hurt because of me okay? now let's smoke a blunt so the pain lessens."

"no promises but let's go."

they both were lying down next another staring straight at the ceiling and talking about nonsense till dallas got real quiet.

"eden, how do you do it?"

"do what exactly?"

"you seem real happy man, you're always looking out for the gang and you know how to be strong. i don't understand how."

"if i didn't hang out with pony and johnny after school that one day i think i'd be a wreck, still in my room wasting my life away. and i'm not happy dallas, i don't think i'll ever be okay again, but right now i have school and work distracting me from breaking down." eden would've never said this if she wasn't so intoxicated at the moment.

"distractions don't last you forever eden and i don't want to see you stoop to my level ever so just be careful man."

"cmon dallas, we're the same age. if i have time to be careful, you have time also."

"not really man, my life ended when i left new york to live in this dump of a town."

"i think it started if you ask me. your life doesn't just stop when you start a new chapter. plus you learn something new everyday, that's gotta keep you going."

"i haven't learned shit if were being real."

"well remember the time i taught you about the stars and astrology? and last week when you danced for what was probably the first time? you even taught me something, now i can say i've played pool. you can't tell i've at least haven't taught you something new."

i think you teach me something new everyday. dallas thought

"i guess you're right man, but enough of this. i would punch the shit if of me if i heard myself speak like this sober."

"that would make the two of us."

and there it was once again today. the shared silence between two people finding themselves in a quiet room, you couldn't see through from all the smoke. it was almost like a dream you could say. neither of them wanted to get up. they just wanted to lay there forever where nothing could hurt them.

but then it would be a nightmare.

two heavy hands knocked on the door, signaling that they were about to come in. noticing that it was buck, dallas sat up to fully look at him.

"dal, you got two shivering boys at my door, they looked scared to death so please go handle them."

eden was confused. what the hell could've possibly happened?