Two Steps Behind

Part 6

 Elizabeth groaned, struggling to open her eyes. Damn, her eyes and mouth felt as dry as sandpaper. She moved her tongue around her mouth, rolling her head to the side. Her limbs felt unreasonably heavy, as if someone had placed stones along her arms and legs, pinning her to the mattress. She looked around, trying to place where she was, but her thoughts were like wisps of smoke. She was trying to grab onto them but they would vanish. She was having a hard time breaking through the mist.

Water...she desperately needed water and to do that she would have to get up, in spite of her body arguing for her to just close her eyes and stay right there. This bed felt so comfortable and she fought the desire to curl back up in the warmth. Jesus, what the hell had she done last night? She couldn't remember. Had she drank too much wine? Had she hooked up with somebody? Where the hell was she?

Struggling to sit up, she slowly pulled herself from the bed and stood. Progress. She was upright. That was something. She made her way out of the room and heard the familiar sound of grease popping in a pan and someone humming "Paranoid." Coming around the corner of the hallway, she spotted Eddie, standing at the stove in his kitchen.

And just like that, the events of last night came flooding back in her mind. She pressed a hand to her forehead. Shit. She'd had dinner with Eddie and then they came back to his place. She had been ridiculously high and embarrassing because she hadn't done it in such a long time. She remembered him saying he would call her mom and she should stay. Well, at least that explained why she was in his bed.

"Morning sunshine," Eddie called, turning to her with a smile, a spatula brandished in his hand. "Pancakes and bacon are on their way. Do you need some coffee?"

"Oh, so very much," she groaned, walking over to sit at the table, dropping her head on top of it.

He laughed, setting a mug in front of her. "Been a while since you participated in that particular activity, huh?"

"Yep," she mumbled, taking a long drink of coffee. Oh, it was so good, like a shot of adrenaline to her brain. And it was just how she liked it, creamy with just a little bit of sugar. He remembered how she drank her coffee. It shouldn't, but the thought touched her, almost making her want to cry. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had been that considerate of her. "I don't think I have done that in five years. Clearly, my tolerance for it has disappeared entirely. Sorry I was so embarrassing, but thanks for letting me crash. I don't know that my mom would have appreciated seeing me like that."

"Oh, it wouldn't be the first time," he chuckled, bringing over two plates of food and sitting across from her. "Remember when we went to your house that one night, junior year, both wrecked out of our minds. We had been hotboxing in the van down at Lovers Lake, and somehow, we convinced ourselves she wouldn't notice. I mean, if she couldn't see what we'd been doing, she could definitely smell it."

"Yeah, she definitely knew," Elizabeth replied, laughing at the memory of the two of them, very obviously stoned, walking in her house. They'd taken one look at her mom and burst into fits of laughter. Her mom had just looked at the two of them and shook her head, telling Eddie he was staying over and not driving home as she proceeded to grab the blanket and pillows for him on the couch.

"Your mom was way cooler about it than I expected," he stated. "We both were leaning, barely able to stand up straight, and laughing our asses off about absolutely nothing. She just told me I was crashing for the night."

"Yeah, well, my mom knows a thing or two about that," Elizabeth shrugged. "She smoked quite a bit when she was younger. She shared with me that she dabbled in a few things back in her day."

"Man, I love your mom. You know, she still invites me over for dinner once a week?"

"She does?" Elizabeth asked, surprised. She wasn't sure why that surprised her. Eddie had practically lived at their house from sixth grade on. Her mom had always adored him, always opened their house to him. He was family just as much as she was. At one point, he'd had a key to their house and she wondered if he still did.