Don't Stand So Close To Me

Cherry Bomb

"Soooo you aren't going to help me pick it out?" Lyra says, looking at Phil as she leaves the car, and he's still inside it.

"No, I will, I promise. I just need to grab a few things. We'll sort it all out in the morning, hen. James is taking my shift tonight, so I can help you out tomorrow." He gives her a thumbs up, which she reluctantly returns.

As his car rumbles back down the drive to the gate. Lyra heads inside changes her shoes, and heads upstairs, where a stack of accessories are waiting for their embellishments.

As she hand stitches her way through those, she looks over at the empty dress form in the middle of the room. It had been vacant for some time, with Eddie's outfit being stored at school for weeks, but it really felt empty this time. As in, it wasn't coming back here. That felt kind of bittersweet to Lyra.

Whilst the gift had made its way to the correct recipient, it wasn't hers anymore. She wasn't going to be able to walk in here and see it again, to sense it again.

She finishes Tinkerbell's headband and has an idea. She walks over to her fabric bin and wonders, plunging her hands into the depths for a while, pulling out materials and either putting them in a pile or putting them back.

She scoops up the small pile of scraps from the floor, holds them up to her face, and inhales. It almost knocks her dizzy as she does. She takes a bit of cotton and sews a quick drawer scent bag, pushing the leather and silk scraps inside. Then she rustles quickly in her purse and finds the note Eddie left for her in the tape, she wasn't entirely sure how a note could smell of a person, but it did. You know, short of someone putting something on the paper itself, but that was impossible. She also adds the note to the bag, ties it up, and puts it in her sewing drawer.

Sure this behaviour seemed like absolute lunacy, and she did feel crazy doing it, but honestly, as soon as she did it, she felt better. Nothing was lost. It was all right here.

Once lying in bed, Lyra thinks about what Phil had said, this was all normal, but she still felt her feelings around Eddie sometimes felt like they came from a twisted place.

She hadn't looked at him across a room and thought he was handsome. She had, however, thought he was kind for a long time, and in that respect, he had, as he annoyingly correctly pointed out, won her over for a while now.

But those urges that sprang into existence when he was close to her, especially just showing her something, worst of all, the copier this week. That wasn't a thing...was it? Was that something she could ask Phil about, or was that something downright freakish? Ah, another correct name on her locker she could add to the list.

She grabs for a pillow she's not lying on, snuggles up to it and drifts off to sleep.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Eddie wasn't usually a morning person, but today he was. He wanted to speak to his uncle. He had to show him.

Eddie waits at the kitchen table nervously, apron on, cigarette in hand, breakfast ready to serve and a hot chocolate ready for his uncle, and a coffee pot freshly brewing for himself.

His right leg bounced nervously, though he wasn't entirely sure what he was nervous about. He knew he wanted Wayne's opinion on the situation and how he had reacted, but at the same time, something in him was afraid of what he might say. He might say he was reading too much into it, he might say yes, this is common knowledge in theatre, and she's just being nice, but Eddie had been awake most of the night creating timelines on his mental conspiracy board.

He hears the car pull up, frantically puts out his cigarette, and lights another immediately. Wayne tiptoes into the trailer only to be met with the scene next to him as he enters.