Fight or Flight (Eddie Munson x Y/N)

41. "Father Figure"

You couldn't tell them the truth.

Your dad would never let you out of the house again. He would never let you see Stacy again. There would be so many questions, and to be honest, you also worried he'd place blame on you. You were hanging out with a bad crowed. You were partying too much. Stacy was a bad influence. He also wouldn't listen to your rationale about not going after Billy until you had more information. He'd ruin everything, ruin the plan you had to put Billy away for good.

You look over at Eddie who is trying to read your face, anxious about what you're going to say.

"I, umm..." you begin, looking at Eddie before turning your gaze to your parents. "I've just been...bullied a lot lately since I've been back. Jason Carver...he's been bullying me ever since I turned him down. He and his friends have been making my life hell. And I haven't had Eddie around so...it's just been really difficult," I nod solemnly. At least what you say is half true, right?

"I'm sorry, Y/N," Eddie says quietly, grabbing your hand. "I'm here now."

Your dad sighs. You brace yourself for a speech about being too young to date or some other flavor of disapproval for the relationship.

"Son...I owe you an apology," he says, looking at Eddie, setting his 5 o'clock shadowed jaw in place.

"What do you mean?" You interject, looking between Eddie and your dad.

"I, uh," your dad clears his throat uncomfortably. "I gave Eddie money to get himself a new tutor..." he begins before your mom cuts him off.

"Oh, honey, you can't be serious..." your mom sighs, squeezing her eyes shut with disappointment and embarrassment at her husband's uncouthness.

"I know, dear," he says, annoyed to be reprimanded for something he already knows he did wrong. He sighs with resignation, "I just wasn't sure about all...this," he gestures between the two of you. "Y/N we've been so worried about you, and son, well, to be honest you're not exactly what I envisioned for my daughter...no offense..."

You scoff, rolling your eyes. "Yeah you wanted me with someone like Jason, I'm sure..."

"But," you dad says with a warning tone that says his wrongdoing doesn't warrant sass from you, "it seems I may have misjudged you. It seems like you really care about our daughter and want to keep her safe from the likes of Mr. Carver...so we're happy to have you," he nodded once, giving a small smile. Your dad wasn't much for emotion but he was clearly trying to muster up some for your sake.

"Thank you, sir," Eddie says quietly, brown eyes glistening, "That means a lot." And it did. His own father never expressed any sort of appreciation or respect for him. To get those things from your dad meant the world to him. It gave him more confidence that maybe he did deserve to be with you.

Eddie reaches into his back pocket for his wallet. "Here,"he says, holding the money out to your dad. "I wasn't going to spend your money. Especially money you were giving me in exchange to not see Y/N. It would've felt like I was really giving up on her for good. And I wasn't ready to really say goodbye."

Your dad gently pushes Eddie's hand away. "Keep it. Treat my daughter right, like I know you will."

Eddie is still clearly uncomfortable accepting money from your dad but knows better than to argue. Eddie clears his throat. "Yes sir, I will." He smiles over at you, that sexy grin with those full lips. You can't help but smile back before you squeeze your eyes shut, shaking your head at the realization your dad bribed Eddie to stay away from you sinks in.

"Dad...wait...you bribed Eddie to break up with me? How could you...?"

"Y/N," he says, his voice softer than you've heard since you were a little girl. "One day...," he glances at your mom before he looks back at you. "...if you decide to have a child of your own...you'll understand. You didn't come with a manual. A parent does the best they can with what they have."

You want to fight back. Say you're capable of making your own decisions. That he had no right to step in and decide what was best for you. To make Eddie feel like even more shit than he already did. That you'd never do something like that to your own kid or anyone they loved.

But instead, you exhale loudly, expelling as much of the anger and frustration toward your dad as you can, so you can just be grateful that you have Eddie by your side again...and also because you have bigger fish to fry soon enough. You simply nod, your way of telling your dad you understand.

"Well then, I think that's enough excitement for one night," your mom laughs nervously to break the silence. "It's getting late."

"Son, why don't you exit through the front door...and although we're happy to have you in our home, if you come through Y/N's bedroom window in the middle of the night again, I'll show you my golf clubs." His tone sounds serious but it's easy to see a glimmer in his eyes, one side of his mouth ever-so-slightly turned up into a smirk.

Eddie laughs along with the joke before clearing his throat and furrowing his brow in forced seriousness. "Yes, sir, of course. Front door always."

"Can I walk him out?" you ask your dad.

"Get a jacket on, please, it's freezing out there...and don't be too long," he says, putting his hand on the small of your mom's back to usher her out of your room.

You pull up the collar of your winter coat to fight the wind that has picked up outside since Stacy dropped you off just a few hours ago.

"Come here," Eddie says softly, as you both stand in front of the driver side of his van. Confident that the van is obstructing your parents' view of the two of you, he pulls you into his chest, laying his chin on the top of your head. He takes in the smell of peppermint from your hair. You put your arms around him, inside his leather jacket, and press your cheek to the warmth of his chest. You hear his heart beating softly against your ear as you take in his scent of cigarettes and musk. That smell that is just so obviously and comfortingly Eddie. "I missed you so much," he says gently, kissing the top of your head before putting his cheek back on it.

"I missed you, too," you say, pulling away to look into his chocolate brown eyes. "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what, princess?"

"Mean that you were in. For real this time? No bullshit about how I'm too good for you? No running away?"

Eddie looks at you hard, his eyes quickly tracking from one of your eyes to the other. Deep down he still worries, but he knows it's now or never. If he doesn't commit to being completely in this with you, he'll lose you for good. He wants so badly in this moment to tell you he loves you. That he didn't think love existed before you. His mom and dad certainly didn't model it for him. And certainly didn't experience it with the girls... and women... before you. But he knew it, deep in his bones, this is what love felt like. This complicated, all consuming fire that you stoked in his chest was what love was.

Before he responds he brushes your cheek gently with his hand before resting it at the back of your neck. He draws your lips to his gently, sighing with relief at the contact, a taste that he'd been craving for months. The kiss quickly becomes more forceful, more desperate as he runs his tongue against yours and emits a moan of satisfaction.

Struggling between wanting to take you against his van that very second--and the fact your dad was probably trying to see through the van to the two of your--he breaks the kiss quickly, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm in, Y/N. I'm 100% in with you. In fact, um, there's something I've been meaning to say..." he says, his voice softer, almost a whisper, as he gently removes a piece of hair from your face.

"What's that?" you ask, trying to catch your breath from the kiss.

"I, um...I..."