Beauty & The Freak || Eddie Munson

Chapter 28

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The chill morning air sent shivers up my arms as I let them fall to the ground below me. My palms rested against the soft carpet on the side of my bed, holding me up as I hung off the edge. My hair fell all around my hands as my eyes fluttered shut. I attempted to suck in a deep breath, but it caught in my throat.

It was the worry rushing through my body that brought the panic attack on. After much convincing, Eddie had agreed to meet with his father at the church under the supervision of my father. Eddie was relieved that Frank had found a different place to sleep. The impending conversation had my mind wandering. I prayed it would go well, and Eddie could get some sense of closure.

I heard Eddie's heavy stomps entering my room, stopping when he saw me hanging off the bed. He looked down at me with his arms across his chest, his head tilted slightly to the right, and a raised brow.

"Any reason we're hanging off the bed?"

"You know... I thought that maybe all the blood rushing to my head would stop my heart from pounding against my chest."

"Are you having a panic attack?" Eddie dropped, bouncing on his heels as he leaned in to caress my cheek with his thumb.

"Yeah."

"These are happening a lot lately."

"Yeah..."

"I think we should tell your mom and dad that they're happening this often."

I didn't want that to happen. They didn't need to know about them—I was handling everything just fine. I let my body fall the rest of the way onto the floor, shooting up in a split second to assure Eddie that I was fine.

I brushed my hair out of my face, breathlessly muttering out a response, "No. I'm fine. We don't need to do that."

"But you're not fine, sweetheart." Eddie placed his hand on my chest, right over the top of my heart. "This is not fine. You had two this week."

"I don't want to tell them, okay? Please..." I looked at him frantically.

"Either you tell them," he looked at me, "Or I will."

"You wouldn't dare." I challenged him.

"Wouldn't dare what?" Dad asked, knocking on the doorframe before entering.

Eddie and I stared into each other's eyes. He wouldn't tell him... Would he? The thought of Eddie telling them only made the attack worse. My dad was staring at me the same way Eddie was when he arrived.

"Eden has been having–" I threw my hand over Eddie's mouth to silence him.

He quickly shoved my hand away and stood to his feet. "Eden has been having panic attacks, and they're becoming more frequent. She's having one right now. She just starts over thinking something and it sends her right into one."

"Is this true?" Dad asked.

I glared at Eddie, standing up and bumping my arm into his as I walked past him. Why would he do that when I asked him not to? Mom was sitting on the couch when I marked towards the front door, urging my point that I didn't want to talk about it.

Stepping out onto the porch, I inhaled a fresh breath of air. I knew Eddie and Dad would trail right behind me, and it was almost on cue that they came stumbling out behind me.

"I don't want to talk about it. End of discussion. We need to leave before we're late." I announced, stepping off the porch and heading to the car.

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