Wisteria (Eddie x Chrissy) ST

Shame

"Piece of shit... That fucking piece of shit!"

Eddie paces alongside the van, throwing out whatever curses come to mind. The shaking won't stop and his heart is racing from the adrenaline pumping through his veins. It's parked away from the streetlights near some trees—a spot where the richies won't notice. With the way he looks, a single glance is all it'd take for one of them to call the dogs out.

A small trickle of blood runs from his nose. He doesn't bother with it, letting the warm fluid dribble down his chin. Screw it. There's plenty of that already mixed with spit thanks to that slimeball. Friggin' nasty. It's even in his hair and the last time he was home the water still wasn't working.

This is horseshit. Passing the back of the van for the dozenth time, the urge to kick something is tempting. He's smoldering with rage and there isn't much that can bring him down at this point. No, it's not only that. There are a lot of intense emotions clawing their way to the surface. Anger is the most palpable of the bunch.

Chill out. He stretches his arms up and puts them behind his head. Cool down. "Dammit," A different emotion begins to smother the red-hot anger. Guilt. Regret and shame are lingering close by too. Turning on his heel, he opens the door to hop into the driver's seat. The rearview mirror gets smacked upward to avoid seeing his face.

'So much for helping her, asshole.'

A cigarette is pulled out of the pack to calm his nerves. Another reason to come out here. In the van, he can smoke to his heart's content without worrying about getting her in trouble. Daddy Big Bucks could be coming back tomorrow. He takes a long drag and leans against the seat to stare up at the ceiling. Holding in the smoke to let it burn his throat. This blows. Just when it feels like he's making headway with Chrissy, something has to mess it up. They were having a great time. She was letting him in.

Then that dumb jock had to stop by to make a fool out of himself.

The moment the doorbell rang, it was obvious who it was. It put him in a weird position. How does he help without crossing too many boundaries? It's not his house or relationship. Telling her what to do would make him no better than the others. Still, no way in hell was he going to leave her out there alone with that lunatic. Not after the shit Carver's said and done. As soon as the front door closed, his ass was next to it. He wanted to make sure she was safe. That guy can't be trusted around her.

'I made everything worse like usual.'

Running a hand through his hair, Eddie grimaces at the wetness on his fingers. He wipes it on his pant leg while trying not to think about what it actually is. One of those punches must've caused Carver's teeth to dig into his lip or tongue for him to gather up that much blood in his mouth. It could have dripped down his throat from getting whacked in the nose. He's too riled up to remember the exact sequence.

"Tch." A fight wasn't part of the plan for tonight. He only intended to keep an ear out to make sure things didn't get out of hand while she said her piece. After Chrissy mentioned what happened on her birthday, his body just moved and the rings came off. Now it makes sense why she was crying then. It wasn't over spending the day with a bunch of squares.

'If I knew that, I would've dragged his ass out of that Jeep and beat the piss out of him right there.'

He takes a deep breath and winces as the pain in his side worsens. Short breaths will have to do. It didn't hit him earlier thanks to the rush but it caught up with him. That bastard sure likes body shots. Smart for someone who doesn't have as long of a reach.

None of this might matter anyway. There's a good chance the dogs will get him. A popular jock and star player getting injured by the town freak? During a tournament where folks are banking on the team winning? Yeah, he's totally screwed. Finding himself behind bars by morning won't be a huge shocker.