𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 | f. w

xviii. positively hammered

chapter eighteen
POSITIVELY HAMMERED

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Fred's pov

» » I DON'T KNOW HOW it happened. One second she was standing in my doorframe looking at me with those gorgeous doe like eyes, and the next she was throwing herself at me. Not that I didn't like it, I mean I did, a lot. The whole situation was just so complicated, and I was just starting to come to terms with the two of us being just friends. Besides, I was seeing Violet.

When I woke up the following day, it was to an empty bed. I didn't know what I was expecting really, but a huge part of me wished that she had stayed. That I would get to wake up with her next to me, or even better, passed out and nuzzled in my arms. It had happened before, but just like now, she had disappeared when morning came, leaving me wondering if she regretted it all.

"Edith?", I called out, but there was no shortage of silence.

That's it, I thought. She regretted what happened between us last night. Or maybe she doesn't even remember. She was positively hammered, after all, so maybe she forgot about it ever happening.

Maybe that was for the better. It would spare us the awkwardness anyways, and I could just go on pretending as if it never happened.

But you see, that was the problem.

I couldn't.

I didn't want to.

We'd kissed before, even when she was completely sober, but then we would just go back to the way things were before, and I didn't want that. I never wanted that.

I guess I was scared that she wouldn't remember, and I'd have to remind her somehow. I didn't want things to become awkward between the two of us, and I had no idea what to tell Violet, or if I should tell her at all. Then again, I couldn't really keep up this facade any longer. It wasn't fair to anyone, at least of all her.

So when I got out of bed that morning, it was with the determination of confronting Edith, of facing the truth.

That I was irrecoverably and madly in love with her.

I put on a pair of beige khakis along with a navy t-shirt and made for the kitchen/living room area. To my utter bewilderment, there was no sign whatsoever of Edith. The only thing proving that she had ever been staying there at all, was the unclean dishes in the sink and her open bag on the couch.

Good, I thought. At least she hadn't gone to live somewhere else.

I called out her name a few times but got no reply, which lead me to believe she wasn't there to begin with. It made my heart ache, as I, stupidly enough, went straight to thinking the worst: that she had in fact, regretted the night before.

After making myself some coffee and devouring a plate of pancakes and strawberry's for breakfast, I headed downstairs to the shop. Verity, the girl who George and I'd hired in 1996 to be in charge of the shop over the weekends, was standing behind the cash register, blowing gum and lining up products. She smiled at me as I came down the stairs, and I sent her a smile in return, before scanning the room for Edith. I don't know what I was expecting, Edith rarely worked weekends, but I guess I was hoping to catch a glimpse of her brown hair in the crowd

I wanted to —no I needed — to know what last night meant. Why did she kiss me and what did it mean for us?

"Hey, Verity. You haven't seen Edith by any chance, have you?", I asked, keeping my gaze fixated around me as I kept searching for the girl who drove me mad.