Leather and Lace (Eddie Roundtree)

Stop Draggin My Heart Around

"Baby you could never look my eye/ Yeah you buckle with the weight of the world/ Stop draggin my, stop draggin my/ Stop draggin my heart around"

In retrospect, Layla should've expected to run into Eddie, and the rest of the band, as soon as she got back to the studio. But it still caught her by surprise when she showed up to talk to Teddy about the tour. By the looks on their faces, they were just as surprised, all wide eyed like she was a ghost. Maybe I am, she thought, she certainly felt like one. She hadn't felt okay since before she fought with Daisy in Greece. Hell, she hadn't felt "okay" since long before that. "Okay" was becoming a very relative term. 

"Holy shit! Layla!" Warren was the first to notice her, the first to speak. It caused a chain reaction of every turning to look at her, then rushing up to her with different greetings.

"It's me." She said simply, trying to smile through the nerves and the heartache. Everyone hugged her, except Eddie, who had the good sense to hang back. He just looked at her with wide eyes.

"I can't believe you went to England and didn't tell me!" Layla vaguely registered Karen's words as she looked at Eddie. He looked bad. Like he wasn't sleeping, pale with dark circles. And he looked sad, as sad as she felt. Part of her hurt to see him hurting, and part of her was just glad that she wore it better than he did.

"Yeah, sorry. Next time, I promise." Layla said to Karen.

"Oh so there's a next time?" Graham asked, half joking. He had hoped that as his sister got older she would keep her roots planted in one place.

"Why not? I've got people there."

"You've got people here too." Graham said and Layla just nodded. Easier to agree, she figured.

"Daisy's not with you?" Billy asked and Layla tried not to wince at the reminder.

"Uh, no. I'm not too sure about what she's doing." Before anyone could say anything, she rushed to continue speaking. "Is Teddy here? He told me to meet him to discuss the tour."

"Tour?" Eddie and Warren said it at the same time, so Layla was able to easily ignore Eddie.

"Yeah, the Aurora tour is doubling as the Shipwreck tour. Supposed to be the tour of the decade or something. So, Teddy?"

"Yeah, uh, he's in his office." Graham informed her. She smiled and left the room as quick as possible. Missing how Eddie deflated as she left. Seeing her hurt him, brought up all his guilt, but God, it was better than not seeing her. He didn't think as his feet carried him out of the room after her.

"Layla!" He called, stopping her in her tracks in the hallway. She paused, her back to him, for just a second, before turning to him with a hard mask of a face.

"What?"

"Can we talk about..." everything, the baby, Camilla "it?"

"We don't need to talk about it." Layla brushed him off. If she looked at him any longer she might start crying. At least, that's how she felt. But her words made Eddie feel like he was going to cry.

"I'd really like to talk about it."

"Tough." She said before turning and making her way back down the hall. When she turned the corner before Teddy's door she had to pause to slow down her breathing. Tears pricked her eyes.

This was going to be a long tour.

And just when Layla thought she had her fill of surprises she ran into Daisy and Nicky in the parking lot.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up after all." Layla said, crossing her arms over her chest. Nicky gave her a cold look, but Daisy just looked sorry.