CHANGES [eric matthews]

Stormy Weather

↳CHAPTER 3.6
Stormy Weather.
✩
『 "Who you callin' rugrat?"』
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A THICK STRAND OF HAIR slipped its way into Beckett's mouth, her eyebrows narrowed intensely at the manual she was reading. COFFEE 101: HAPPY WIFE HAPPY LIFE. She frowned at the page that detailed the many types of tea there were and how they effected moods.

She looked around the office she was currently stuck in, trying to decipher which middle aged person in the room was most in need of chamomile, aka the relaxation tea. She huffed and stuck her head back down, wanting to go back to Turner's.

A tap on her shoulder pulled her out of her daze and she spun around, coming face to face with the one and only Eric Matthews, who was sporting a dress shirt and tie, his eyes drifted towards her lips.

My lips?

The girl blinked in a panic, before he pointed and spoke, "Are you eating hair for breakfast?"

She quickly yanked the strand from her mouth and threw it over her shoulder in embarrassment, "Sorry, I was focused." She wiggled the book for Eric to see, and he scanned it in confusion, "What are you doing down here?" 

'Down here' was the basement of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The newest challenge in Beck's ever changing life was her internship. Through Eli's stupid pressure—He really got on her nerves—she was able to get an easy, non paying job where she delivered coffee to writers and editors of the press after school—and Saturdays. It was absolutely riveting! (Not.)

Eric's own internship was to help his journalism grade, where he was to do the same work, only for the TV station the floor above Beck's. And he wasn't supposed to be down here.

"I'm delivering you a real breakfast." He said simply, handing her an everything bagel with plain cream cheese, her favorite kind.

A genuine smile graced her face for the first time that morning, "Thank you, that was sw—"

"Oh! And this for later." He pulled a chocolate chip granola bar from his pocket and gave it to her with a wink.

Beck turned to the counter behind her to put down her book, an excuse to hide her reddening face. He had been in an extra good mood these past few days, ever since he had gotten the internship with the Philadelphia News. It was his all time goal to be a weatherman, so seeing it in the flesh was a dream come true. And if Eric was happy, Beck, unfortunately, was too. She hated that.

The truth was, she couldn't get New Year's Eve out of her brain. She was still reeling from her embarrassment of that night, something he didn't seem to even remember, or perhaps care about. She truly didn't know which she would prefer.

All she remembered was that sinking feeling she felt when she saw Eric kissing that girl. Someone he didn't know. She couldn't help but wonder if he had been insinuating when she thought he might have been.

That he would want to kiss her.

She had come to an epiphany shortly after she had arrived back at Turner's that night, once he had forced her to take some nausea medicine and a cold shower. She had been close to falling asleep, when her eyes snapped open and she was forced to think about something she wasn't ready to come to terms with just yet. A singular, spiraling feeling that she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Here was this boy who she'd hated half her life. He kept her only friend in this world away from her, and now years later he had somehow filled the void her first love had left. He was infuriatingly confident and cocky, his smile arrogant, his clothes too big, his feet tripping over one another, his hair golden brown and floppy, and his jokes dad like. Yet Beck enjoyed all of it. Even the moments that made her eyes roll. Even when they argued over the smallest things, even when she had to readjust his tie because he still couldn't figure it out.