Wisteria (Eddie x Chrissy) ST

Choice

"So when's daddy dearest coming back?"

Chrissy stops sifting through the vanity drawer to glance at the man sitting at her desk. He seems comfortable here, leaning far back in the chair while flipping through one of the books pushed off to the side. "Maybe Friday-ish?"

"Maybe?"

"He said he was going away for two weeks and left on a Friday so I figured..."

The book slams shut and is tossed onto the table. "You haven't talked to him?" Eddie regards her for a moment, furrowing his brow. "He doesn't smoke, right?"

It takes a second to sink in. "Don't say that." No. She refuses to go down that road. That would never happen. Her dad spent years building all of this up. He's far too proud and has too much going on here to walk away. There's no way he'd run off.

"My bad. It was a shitty joke. I'm just being cynical."

"That's okay." Chrissy chews on the inside of her lip. What was she searching for again? It doesn't matter anymore. Couldn't have been that important. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices him getting off the chair to walk around.

'Already looking for something else to get into.'

"You're reading it!" Abandoning the forgotten mission, she sits back to see him holding up the book that was on her nightstand. The Fellowship of the Ring with a light purple bookmark that has a heart on it sticking out from the top. "What part are you at?"

She flushes and shifts against the seat at how excited he is that she's digging into the story. "The hobbits are at an inn and meet someone who knows about the ring. Oh yeah. Some guy gave Frodo a letter from the wizard that he forgot about. That's where I left off."

"You're talkin' about Strider and the dude with the letter is Barliman Butterbur, the innkeeper. Nice. Wasn't sure if you'd give it a try. Do you like it so far?"

It's stupid but this is kind of embarrassing. That book was cracked open the same day he left after spending the night. This is something he enjoys so she jumped right in. "Mhm. It's interesting. Definitely different from the books I usually get."

Eddie pushes his shoulders back, standing tall. She's puzzled when he puts a foot up on the seat and clears his throat:

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king." His voice drops a few octaves and an open hand waves through the air, reciting lines from the book.

'I read that part during study hall. Does he have the whole thing memorized?!'

Finishing the small scene, his head whips in her direction. "Tolkien was my favorite as a kid. Still is." All she can do is gawk at him. Her memory isn't good enough to know if it was word for word but that's ridiculous. Super dorky and impressive. Silence fills the room. He reaches down to grab onto the chain hanging from his belt loop, rolling the links between his fingers. "What?"

"Nothing." She giggles, covering it with the back of her hand. "I think it's cute when you're being a big nerd."

"Big nerd? I don't wanna hear that from you."

'Was he hoping for a standing ovation? Maybe I should've done that instead.'

"From me? I can't recite anything to save my life, let alone an entire poem." Chrissy stops herself. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting. "I liked it! That was neat. Most people couldn't remember all that."