You Love Somebody

13 (Eddie)

So he found himself sitting in her hotel room, on her bed, so close their arms were touching. They were laughing and joking, trying to pick something out from the room service menu. Eddie offered to order their food, but Anna was convinced someone would make a big deal out of him being in her room, so she did the ordering. Meanwhile he was put in charge of finding out what they were going to watch. He wanted to find a movie, possibly a romcom or something that was an easy watch, but still set a mood.

"Romcom or scary movie?" He asked when she brought the food in.

She grimaced. "Ugh, I'm not good with scary movies. So romcom," she placed a little tray with a sandwich for each of them in front of him.

"Now this is romantic," he said when she dimmed the lights. He smirked at her, and she blushed. "You're blushing, Doc," he nudged her shoulder.

"You're blushing!" She retaliated and poked him in the shoulder.

They ate their sandwiches and watched 'Something Borrowed'. Eddie offered her to lean against him and put his arm around her. She leaned her head against his chest, and he felt warm and bubbly when she draped her arm around him. She was soft and cuddly, she laughed at the same things he did, and she was so easy to be with. At the end of the movie, she was quiet, and it turned out that she had fallen asleep. He smiled to himself and eventually he fell asleep too.

She woke him in the middle of the night, apologising. "I'm so sorry, I trapped you here," she said sleepily, as she sat up.

"You didn't," he said and sat up. "I wanted to stay." It was the truth, he wanted the connection and closeness with her. His reputation as a womanizer was wearing on him, firstly because it was untrue, but also because it clouded all connections he made. Many of the women he met seemed to think they had to act a certain way around him, like they were performing. He longed for the genuine connection where someone was unapologetically themselves with him.

"Won't people assume things if they find out you slept here?" She asked, biting her lip.

He shrugged. "Does it matter? People always assume things, and I can assure you that 90% of the time they're wrong."

She smiled and drew her knees up to hug them. "What about Ben?" She asked with a small voice. None of them wanted to hurt his feelings.

"Ben isn't here. I wouldn't parade in front of him, rubbing it in his face, but he understands that this is different." Eddie put his hand on top of hers. "I really, really like you. You calm me, you're funny and sweet. You're so smart and hanging out with you makes me happy. I'm not going to ask anything of you that you're uncomfortable with. If you'd like me to go, I'll head back to my room?"

She shook her head. "I don't want you to go." She smiled shyly. "I'd love it if you stayed. Just to sleep of course!"

"Well that settles it," he said and settled back down on the bed. "Big spoon or little spoon?"

***

Anna's alarm went off early in the morning. Eddie had his arm around her, holding her tightly. He groaned as she stirred trying to reach out for her phone to turn off the alarm.

"Eddie... I need to turn it off!" She giggled as he tightened his grip on her.

"How do I know you won't disappear out of my dreams, and I'll wake up all alone?" He said dramatically, making her laugh her goofy laugh.

"I promise, I'm not going anywhere." She looked back at him with her most innocent gaze, looking up at him under her eyelashes. Those beautiful dark-brown eyes with a little twinkle of mischief. Truly intoxicating.