The Tree Remembers

Boundaries

Boundaries were messy with Eddie.

That was a polite way to put it – boundaries were confusing, consistently crossed, and practically non-existent to the dumb, stupid, annoying metalhead who consumed my thoughts.

Like today – we had set up for a concert, and at one point I had accidentally backed into him while admire our work. He set his heavy hands on my waist, and before I could tell him to back off, he pressed his lips to my ear.

"Supply room. See you there," he said lowly. I felt my body heat up as he stepped away from me. I stared at the set up. I should stay here. I should stay here and ignore him and leave him back there for half an hour until he realizes I'm not coming.

But then my stupid feet decided to betray me, and I quickly made my way to the supply room. Eddie was playing with my stapler as he perched on the edge of my desk and flashed me a shit-eating grin when I came in and closed the door behind me.

"Hey, Belle," he greeted, standing up straight. I glared at him.

"This isn't the supply room – this is my office," I snapped. His smile grew and he sauntered over to me, making my stomach flip.

"This is a supply closet, at best," he quipped. I crossed my arms.

"More of an office than you'll ever have," I shot back. He ran his tongue along the inside of his mouth, watching me. It set my body on fire when he watched me like that.

"You're feisty today," he said quietly, backing me against the closed door. He set a hand against it and leaned close to me.

"Fuck you," I hissed. He leaned in and pecked my neck, making my face heat.

"You already have, sweet pea," he whispered against my neck. My hair stood on edge. He pulled back and grinned at me. I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh, you and several other guys. You're not special," I quipped. He took a deep breath in and leaned back in, ghosting my lips.

"Maybe, but you are, Elle," he sighed. I felt my heart catch and before I could think of anything pithy, he pressed his lips to mine. I melted into him immediately, because I was stupid and weak, and moved my hands to his chest.

I started to curse myself as he moved down my neck, leaving the love bruises we had often fought about down my neck. This had been a recurring activity for the last couple of weeks – I would be mean to Eddie, riling him up, and he'd get me to come back here, or he would catch my eye and wink at me at just the right moment and I couldn't stay away from him. On more than one occasion he had convinced me to take him home with me, and he would make me breakfast the next day, talking about what good friends we were.

It was infuriating, and aggravating. And also, fun. So much fun. I did not realize I could have so much fun fooling around with Eddie Munson, the man I held so much hatred for, for so long.

"Come back to earth, Belle," Eddie said, his hands roaming under my dress. I snapped back to reality and smacked his hands away. He groaned and buried his face in my neck.

"Not while we're at work," I insisted. He groaned again and moved his hands to the back of my neck, tipping my head up to have better access to my neck.

"We break every other rule you set, why can't we break this one," he whispered between kisses. I felt a flash of anger and pressed my hands against his chest and held him back. He started biting at the air like a shark, trying to get close to me again.

"We need to start following my rules," I ordered. He pressed his lanky body against me and grinned down at me. "Otherwise, we do stupid things."

"Friends do stupid things together," he retorted as he kissed me. God damn it, I was melting again.