Stray Kids | e. munson

THREE

Lola and Eddie spent the rest of the night in his bedroom. They ate the pizza he'd so graciously split with her and argued about her sinful ways as she picked off every single pepperoni on each of her slices. He played her a Dio riff he'd recently learned on his guitar and even tried teaching her the chords. Lola was a hopeless cause, though. Her hands were much too small to stretch in his instructed ways. They smoked more out of the glass bowl as the sun set, sitting on the porch outside, and then finally decided to watch a movie before Lola went home.

Though she'd never admit it aloud, Lola had more fun with Eddie than she'd ever had on her own. She enjoyed the silence of her room, she enjoyed her space and having the freedom to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted without fear of judgment. Being alone was where she felt most safe. But, somehow, with Eddie...it was like being alone. She still had the freedom to do and say whatever she wanted, and strangely enough, she wasn't terrified to say something stupid or embarrassing. Anytime she said something cringeworthy, he just hit her back with something just as if not weirder. It was nice. Refreshing, almost.

It was dark in the front room, the horrifying soundtrack to Halloween filling the space. Eddie sat beside her on the couch, his arm draped behind Lola's shoulders on the back cushion. Her knees were pulled against her chest, but she could feel his warmth at her side even though they were still a few inches apart. Maybe it was the weed clouding her better judgment, but her limbs seemed to move of their own accord as she turned slightly and leaned her head on his shoulder, closing the gap. She could trust him, right? They'd spent all day together and not even once did he make a move to kiss her or even touch her beyond what was necessary.

Her mouth suddenly ran dry when Eddie looked down at her, flashed a toothy smile, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He just went back to watching the movie afterward, as if he had no intentions to push her any further. As if he were happy with just existing beside her, satisfied to get nothing in return even though she owed him money and god knows what else for distracting her today.

She understood why he'd felt the need to defend her, to stand up to Jason. It was a visceral reaction to stand up to bullies, right? Doing nothing at all was just...allowing it to continue. And, while she couldn't deny the safety of her cowardice, the pull to do something was still there no matter how hard she raged against it.

Eddie was brave, she'd admit. He didn't seem to care about what anyone thought of him or what they'd do to him out of their fear or anger. He was so unapologetically himself that it was almost painful to look at. Lola found herself becoming envious of his blatant confidence the more time she spent with him. It was powerful, the way he didn't let anyone or anything change him or scare him into being anything he wasn't. Lola wanted that. She wanted to feel like that.

She'd seen him the last few years, seen him stand up for himself and others vehemently as if it were his life's mission to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. It was hard not to notice him. Eddie was loud and brazen and crude, and he didn't care what anyone thought of it. Lola wanted to be that way, too. And she needed him to teach her.

His hand on her shoulder shifted slightly, placing his fingertips beneath her jaw and lifting her chin upwards to face him. "What're you thinking about, Peaches?"

She swallowed her nerves and confessed, "You."

His brows furrowed, but he seemed pleased to know he was currently plaguing her thoughts. "Oh, yeah? What about me?"

Lola shifted her entire body to face him and finally asked the one question she'd thought about a million times today. "Why are you being so...nice?"

As if it were the most obvious thing in the world, he answered, "Why wouldn't I be?"