A Walk to Eden

15

Eden is sitting on the counter and is scooping up the cheese filling with her finger. "Eden." I say. She looks at me and puts on a guilty grin. She laughs. I'm filing the pasta and I see a finger go into the bowl again. I look to see who it is and Sam quickly licks his finger. I blink at him. He also gives me a guilty smile. I laugh and shake my head. I grab a big bowl and hand it to Eden. "Go fill this with the candy for tonight." She jumps off the counter and runs off the go fill it with goodies. I hear my phone ring and I quickly wipe my hands and answer. "Hello?"

"Hey." It's Josh.

"Hi Josh." I say. I still feel bad that he didn't come over today. "What's up?"

"Do you know where Sam is?" He asks. I turn and look into the dining room and see Sam and Eden going through the snacks.

"Sam is with Eden in the dining room. Why?" I ask.

"Oh." He says.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just upset him earlier and he left. I didn't know where he was." He says. "Thank you though."

"No problem." I answer. There's a pause.

"Well. Im gonna go back out and work on some more music. I'll see ya around."

"Bye Josh." I say. Click. That's it. No reason on why he canceled. I sigh going back to making dinner. I feel Sam standing close next to me.

"Did he tell you why he canceled?" He asks. I shake my head.

"He was just wondering where you were. He said he didn't know where you went after you guys talked." I say. He sighs. "What's wrong Sam?" I ask.

"He pissed me off." He answers.

"Oh? What about?" I ask. He looks at me, then out the window.

"I talked to Mr. Picks today." He said. "Josh told me the store was doing fine, but Mr. Picks said something different. So I went home and asked Josh about it. He didn't have a good reason for not telling us, and that pissed me off." He gripped the edge of the sink, his knuckles turning white. "What made me even more pissed, is the fact that he takes so much pride in saying he likes to help people. And he does. Except the people closest to us." He turns to me. "He says he cares about you a lot. I think he does, just not as much as other people do. And I think, if he did, he would have helped you by now." He stares at me.

"Sam." I say.

"I've thought of a way to help you." He says.

"How?" I ask.

"We do a little gig at the store." He smiles. "We can just do a small one outside and people can see the store, and go in. And then they will see how much you take care and love music as much as they do."

I smile. "Thank you Sam. That's a great idea."

"Thank you. Thought of it myself." He says in a mocking tone. I laugh and get back to fixing dinner. "Here. I'll help." He grabs the bowl of noodles and the spoon out of my hand. He sets the spoon into the bowl and looks at me. He grabs my hand gently, and intertwines our fingers. "I mean it. I'll help in any way that I can. Only if you let me." I nod and smile.

"Uhm. Can you excuse me for a second?" I ask. He nods and let's go of my hand. He turns and starts helping. I walk out of the room and into mine. I close the door behind me.

*Sam POV*

I'm filling the noodles like she did. She definitely made it look easier than it actually is. I hear Eden climb on the counter next to me and I look over at her.

"Mama likes you." She says dipping her finger in the filing.

"Oh? What makes you say that." I ask.

"She never cry's about boys." She answers.

"What?" I stop turning fully to her.

"Yeah. She's crying right now." She says eating more filing. "I would say, you should go talk to her." I drop the stuff out of my hands and wipe them off. I run to her room and put my ear on the door.

"I was ready! I wanted to go, but you canceled." A pause. "Josh you said you were sorry already." Another pause. "I'm sorry. But I think it's best if you focus on your music." I stand there, trying to figure out what to do, as I hear a soft cry. I knock on the door. "Come in."

I open the door slowly and peek inside. She's sitting on the floor, knees to her chest. I quickly sit next to her. "What's wrong?" That was probably a stupid question, but I had no idea how to help.

"I called Josh and asked him why he didn't want to go. He said that he just wanted to stay home and work on music. And I asked why he couldn't just pause for a night, and he yelled at me." She cried. I quickly pulled her in and her head laid on my chest.

"He shouldn't have yelled at you. He's probably taking his anger out on you instead of me." I said. "He will come around."

*Your POV*

I looked up at Sam. I knew he was pretty but up close was way different. I felt my heart begin to jump. I felt my cheeks get hot and I just stared at him. "Thank you Sam." I said wiping my cheeks.

"Your welcome." He said standing up. He held a hand out and I grabbed it, him pulling me up. He looked at me, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Don't let boys be boys." He said. I smiled and we walked back to the kitchen.