Don't Stand So Close To Me

11 - Wild Horses

Lyra finally got the keys in the lock, her hand still shaking, but right now, she wasn't sure what was making her adrenaline go into overdrive like this. Could it still be what happened in the mall, all the overwhelming emotions that came with that or was it because she finally lost control of herself in the van and reached out and grabbed him? Thankfully he'd been kind enough to not freak out.

"Sure...yeah...I can show you around. It's not all that interesting, honestly. It's just big" she gives a nervous laugh and pushes open the door.

"Home sweet home," she says with a hint of sarcasm.

Eddie walks into the hallway, hands full of bags, spins around, looking up and around himself, and lets out a long whistle.

Lyra does feel a little embarrassed about her house, it feels a lot like an overbearing drunk friend that tagged along when just trying to have a quiet catch-up with someone else, but she couldn't deny how incredibly endearing Eddie's reaction was.

His mouth had been partially open since they left the van, his eyes wide, taking everything in, occasionally cursing under his breath. She realises she's been looking at him for entirely too long when he finally looks back at her as she's mid-shoe change.

"Lyra, this place is insane!" He says, almost doubling over in excitement and laughing, "Are you changing into house shoes?" He says giddily.

"Do you want some? We have some for guests," Lyra says, grabbing a set still in the packaging from the cupboard.

He rushes forward to see and then suddenly changes his mind, "Ah, you know what, actually, no. Unless, of course, I have to?" he weirdly looks nervous.

"No, not at all, you're good. Is everything ok? Is it overwhelming in here?" Lyra asks curiously.

Eddie looks everywhere but at Lyra, "No, it's not that", he rubs the back of his neck.

"Eddie, whatever it is, is not as bad as me having a meltdown in your van, ok? So speak freely. I'm not great at guessing other people's thoughts, so your gonna have to help me out." Lyra says kindly but with frankness. She'd already potentially crossed an extensive line, physically, so why not be honest about what she was thinking too.

"Well, it's just, uh..." Eddie takes his foot out of his shoe, and Lyra can see his sock has a hole in it where one of his toes sticks out.

Lyra laughs, and Eddie looks mortified, "No, no, no. Eddie. I'm not laughing at you", she leaps to reassure him, "That happens to me all the time. I can fix them for you if you like?"

Eddie lets out a breath, "Really? You aren't just saying that?"

"I swear. I'll show you. Follow me" She slides a pair of new house slippers to Eddie and gathers up the bags, running up the stairs like she was eight years old again. Eddie, not being used to these stairs takes a little extra time but not much.

She waits for him at the top of the stairs, "Come on!" She says excitedly. She dumps the shopping bags in front of her bedroom door and continues running down the hall to another. She stops and laughs. She wasn't even sure why she was running. She just felt this overwhelming wave of excitable energy and had to expel it somehow.

Lyra opens the door to her sewing room, stops just inside the door, rifles through her project materials bin, and finds three pairs of overly repaired socks, "Found them!" She shouts, turning around only to be barged into at full speed by Eddie.

He steps back, smiling with a small laugh, "Shit, sorry. I lost you."

Lyra grins back, she can't deny the nervous energy the collision inspired, and her eyes scan him up and down a few times, and she clears her throat, "So yeah, look", she shows him the many repairs of her own. She feels Eddie staring at her and laughing a little, "And now I realise how desperately uncool this actually is", she says quickly, throwing them back in with the other waiting projects, "I just..."