Eddie buys slushies and a few small snacks from Exxon, he gets discounts because he works there.
We ultimately decide to go to my house since my grandparents won't be home until later.
I bring him up to my room, I watch him as he admires my poster covered walls.
"Woah.. your room is sick y/n!"
"Better be, fought with my grandma for a week over putting this shit on my walls."
I chuckle.
He raises his eyebrows.
"She thinks it's all satanic. I mean it's understandable but at the same time it's my room and I should be able to decorate it how I want."
"Right, well I think it's awesome. I love all the bands you have up. Anthrax, wasp, black Sabbath, iron maiden," his eyes widen as he sees the 'holy diver' and 'last in line' posters, "DIO!?"
He whips around to face me, a shocked expression plastered to his face.
"You listen to Dio!?"
I giggle and nod,
"Of course I do, are you crazy? They're great."
I watch as a huge smile appears on Eddie's face,
"You're so cool y/n."
I blush softly,
"Thank you."
He sits down at my desk and starts randomly opening drawers.
"What are you doing?"
I ask him.
"Oh shit-"
He slams the drawer closed,
"Sorry, I'm used to going to Gareths house, I've grown accustomed to being nosy."
His face turns a light pink as he grows, obviously embarrassed.
I chuckle.
"It's fine Eddie, I was just curious. You can look through anything. The whole school, including you knows my deepest darkest secrets so I don't think you'll find anything worse in my drawers."
I joke despite still feeling very upset about what happened.
Eddie gets up from the desk.
"Forget about them y/n. So what they know what's going on? That journal is proof you're a fighter. You walk around school like everything's fine and that's difficult. You're so strong y/n, I'm proud of you for keeping yourself together."
"Barely.."
"Hm?"
He questions, uncertain of what I mean.
"I'm barely keeping myself together, everyday I feel myself getting closer and closer to my breaking point and I don't know how to stop it. It's like, I can feel the ground beneath me crumbling and no matter how hard I try to frantically scoop more dirt under my feet to stabilize me, it continues falling away at my grasp. I just want it to go away, even if it's just for a day."
My voice breaks as the familiar feeling of my throat tightening and ceazing takes over.
"I know.."
He looks at my sympathetically,
"I know how you feel. My parents left me too, when I was 10. They handed me off to my uncle Wayne. I've been through what you're going through y/n, my dad was abusive. I blamed myself, I felt like everything that happened was my fault. They left because of me, my dad hurt me because I deserved it. And then one day I realized, it wasn't my fault. And it's not yours either y/n. They left you because they're shitty people. Your grandpa treating you like that isn't because you deserve it, it's because he's a shitty fucking person. You deserve way, WAY better. Do you understand?"
He looks into my eyes, they've darkened once again.
I nod as I cry softly.
"Tell me."
Eddie says seriously.
"Tell you what?"
"Tell me you understand. Tell me you deserve better."
"I understand.. I deserve better."
"Good, you deserve to be cared for and loved. You deserve to be nurtured and looked after. You deserve the absolute world y/n. Got it?"
I nod again.
He pulls me into a tight hug, my head rests on his chest as I take deep breaths.
He rubs my back gently.
"I'm sorry.."
I squeak out through my tears.
"Shh, no, don't apologize. You don't have any reason to be sorry."
He tightens his arms around me more.
"Thank you Eddie."
He cradles the back of my head and gently strokes my hair, his chin resting on the top of my head.
"You're welcome sweetheart."
I feel my cheeks burn as he calls me that, I'm so thankful my face is buried agaisnt his chest because if he saw how much I was blushing his eyes would pop out of his head.
I hear my grandpa's car pull up into the driveway, he's early.
My eyes widen as I push myself away from Eddie and rush to the window to look out and sure enough he's dragging his feet towards the front door.
"Fuck! No, this isn't happening."
I run my hands through my hair stressfully as I turn to face Eddie who's giving me a puzzled look.
"My grandpa's home early."
His face drops immediately.
I feel my stomach churn as I hear the front door open.
"It'll be okay, just- get into bed!"
Eddie pushes me towards my bed quickly.
"What-"
"Just trust me."
He interrupts.
I nod and get into bed, he pulls the blankets over me and sits at the desk.
"Y/n!?"
My grandpa calls as he walks up the stairs.
"Act sick."
Eddie whispers.
"Yeah?"
I say in the best 'sick' voice I can muster.
"Who the fuck is parked outside our house?"
He swings my door open and his eyes fall angrily on Eddie.
"Who are you?"
He asks demandingly.
"I'm Eddie,"
He reaches out his hand for a handshake but my Grandpa declines.
"Why are you here?"
"Y/n was feeling really sick during class so I drove them home, I hope thats alright."
"What are you still doing here?"
His tone tenses.
Eddie quickly grabs some homework from my desk and holds it up.
"They're letting me look at their homework so I can pass English."
He lies quickly.
"Anyways, would it be okay if I took y/n out to the store? I think she needs some meds, she's not doing very good at all. I'll pay for them and everything, just wanna make sure they're okay you know?"
"Fine, but y/n, don't come home tonight, you know the rules."
He growls angrily before exiting my room and slamming the door.
Eddie turns to me wide eyed.
"The rules?"
He questions, suprised.
"No boys inside or you sleep outside."
I mimick my grandpa's tone.
"What the fuck?"
He mutters before standing from the desk and sitting down on the foot of my bed.
"Yeah, wont be my first time sleeping under the bleachers so I'll be fine."
I chuckle, trying to hide how upset I was.
"No, fuck that,"
He shakes his head and waves his hands in protest.
"Stay at my place."
"I- no I couldn't."
"Y/n. I'm not letting you sleep outside, it gets so fucking cold at night."
"Eddie-"
"Shut the fuck up, you don't have a choice."
He playfully glares at me.
"...fine."
I cross my arms.
"You're so stubborn y'know."
He reaches over and rests a hand in my thigh.
"I know, also thank you."
I smile weakly at him.
"Yeah, of course. Let's get going."
He strokes my thigh gently with his thumb before getting up again.
We walk out to his van and he opens the door for me, helps me up and buckles me.
He then walks around to his side and gets in.
"All ready?"
I nod and he starts driving away.
