Eddie My Love

Chapter Thirty: A Walk in the Park

I get to their house and spot Will sitting on the front porch hugging his legs to his chest. I get out and walk towards him.
"Hey Will what's up?"
He looks up at me.
"Nothing."
"Is there any reason you're sitting out here by yourself looking all sad."
"Mike is over."
"And that's a bad thing?" I ask.
"No it's not bad really. It's just that El keeps the door open three inches even when Hop isn't home and I just don't want to hear them."
I nod my head.
"You like him?" I ask.
"What?" he asks back.
"Mike. You like him like more than just friends like him."
He looks at me kinda shocked.
"Y-yeah I guess I do."
"He's really into El though." I say.
"Yeah I know" he says looking away from me.
I nudge his shoulder.
"Hey cheer up. There's about two and a half hours until your mom is gonna take me to Murray's, so how about we take a walk downtown."
"Why?" he asks wiping his eyes.
"I don't know. Maybe you'll see someone that'll catch your eye. It is summer after all. Everyone's out and about. C'mon it'll be fun."
We get up and get in my car. I drive us to a park near downtown. We get out and I see Robin jogging towards us.
"Hi y/n and Will. What are you guys doing here?" she asks.
"Just wanted to walk around. Talk for a little bit. What are you doing here?" I ask.
"Oh I'm in the middle of a LGBTQ plus meeting. It's just a small group of people that get together to feel a little bit more comfortable with their sexualities. The world isn't quite as accepting as we wish, but at least we have each other."
I look at Will. He looks at me. We look at Robin.
"Go on. I can walk around by myself." I tell Will.
"Can I join?" Will asks Robin.
"Yeah of course I'll introduce you to everyone."
They walk to the group. Will looks back. I smile and wave him on. I look around. There's a path to the left.
"Well I don't have anything better to do" I sigh and begin walking down the path.
It's a nice day. Kinda warm, but not bad. As I walk along I hear a radio playing music. Master of Puppets. Eddie's favorite song. He even got a tattoo because of it. I keep walking. There's a couple on a bench making out. Another on a blanket in the grass. I walk swiftly past them and bump into somebody. For a split second I could've sworn it was Eddie, but the only similarity was the dark curly hair. My thoughts are swirling. This is too much. I'm thinking too much. I turn around and speed walk back to my car. I get in and slam the door shut. I try to hold it back, but the tears just start flowing. I check the time on my watch and it's only seven. Will is still hanging out with Robin and the rest of the group. I'll just wait in the car until it's time to leave. I wipe my eyes and face with my shirt and lean my head back. What felt like hours pass by before Will gets back to the car. He opens the door and gets in.
"Did you stay in here the whole time?" he asks.
"Nah I took a little walk earlier."
I drive back to the house and Joyce is already home. We get out and go inside.
"Hey where were you two?" Joyce asks.
"We just went to the park for a walk. It was fun." Will says.
"Okay? Well are you ready to go to Murray's y/n?"
"Yeah. Is it alright if I follow you in my car? I don't know how long it'll take and I don't want to keep you out too late."
"Yeah of course let's go."