Let Me Call You Sweetheart

You look at Eddie, expecting him to leave, but you feel something else, hurt, a heartache. You put your hand on his chest. As you give him a look of pity, he averts his eyes from yours.

"Eddie, I know you are here. I know it!" Mr Harrington yells, getting closer to the backyard.

Every time Mr Harrington talks, it feels like Eddie is in pain. Words form on the tip of your tongue, but they aren't yours.

You turn around quickly to act as a shield for Eddie just as Mr Harrington rounds the corner of the house.

"How could you?" You growl at him, "How could you do that? You knew! YOU KNEW!!" You bellow at him, her words coming out of your mouth.

Mr Harrington looks at you for a moment and takes a breath, calming himself, "Move away from him, ok. Whatever he's told you...it's just lies...it's not true."

"I NEVER LIED", Eddie roars over your shoulder, his hand tightening around your arm, "but you did, Steve. You fucking did!!" You hear his breath shake next to your ear, and droplets hit your shoulder. He's crying.

"You can't turn the world upside down because you can't have what you want, Eddie!! We all have had to move on, alright?"

"At least I admitted what I wanted, Harrington. At least I did that. I would have turned the world upside down a million times over. " Eddie shouts and sniffles.

"Look, Eddie, I'm sorry. We all are. We made mistakes. We thought we were doing the right thing." he looks at the floor, shaking his head.

"By leaving me to rot? Taking away the only thing I had left?"

"You were out of control, Eddie!"

"Out of control?" He laughs mockingly in disbelief, "Really?"

"Eddie, you wouldn't listen...there was no talking you down."

"And then it became hard to look at, right? What you'd done. So you ran. Ran like the coward you are, Harrington. Afraid of his own self," Eddie's words are razor sharp. Each one cutting away at Mr Harrington's composure. One hand goes to his hip, the other to his mouth as his eyes fill with tears.

Eddie says in a low, spiteful tone, "I would never have watched any of you suffer that way. Especially not you, but you were the first to run. Into as many fucking arms as you could, right?" Eddie's fingers dig into your arm deeper.

"Eddie, I-" Tears fall from his eyes as his words get choked back.

"No!" Eddie growls through gritted teeth, "No more apologies, that mean nothing!! Stop using my name like that. I know what you're doing."

"Ok, ok!" Mr Harrington says quickly, "Just let them go. This is between you and me."

"Oh, they are free to go whenever they want, isn't that right, Sweetheart," he says, tilting your face to his and releasing his grip on you. Your eyes meet, and it feels like a wave of euphoria sweeps over you, and you are held dreamily in his gaze.

"Stop, Eddie. Enough!" Mr Harrington sobs.

Eddie tilts his head away from yours to glare at Steve, "Hurts like a motherfucker doesn't it, Harrington?! Admit it! " He rages.

"I admit it. It hurts. Please just stop this." He sobs

"You know how many times I had to see you look at someone else that way? Do you?"

"I don't. I don't know. Just let them go. I was afraid. I was getting older, Eddie, please."

"Of course, you fucking don't", he balls up his hands into fists, "but I do. I remember them all. Don't you dare blame me for that!" He composes himself again and says quietly, pointing over at Mr Harrington, "but tomorrow, everything is going to change. All of it. I'm going to save you all, even if you won't save yourselves, and as a bonus, I will never have had to set eyes on you."