Finally posted the next chapter!
Updates will probably continue to come a bit slower for now. I'm working on another fic simultaneously to this. A collaboration fic with someone else (Although that one will probably only end up on ao3.). But I will continue to update this as I'm able to.
Also, I have been a bit unsure of what to do with Past the Horizon. It's veered off quite a bit more from the original story than I had intended. So, I could either keep going with it as is, rewrite it to be closer to the original, or scrap it and start on something new. For now though, I'm going to keep going with it as is.
Hope some people enjoy this update!
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Continuation of previous chapter...
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Wednesday, September 6th
The remaining distance needed to reach the three of them was a short one. They were standing just beyond the covering of the RV's detachable awning, the interior lights causing shadows to dance across their forms. Three people that were still virtual strangers to him, but he felt, maybe if he allowed himself to open up, that they wouldn't be for much longer. It seemed like such a simple thing to do, but actually doing it, that was a different story.
Dani seemed friendly enough, always trying to include him in wherever the conversation seemed to flow, sometimes looking at him with eyes that seemed much too knowing. She was more perceptive than she let on. Stone… he didn't understand Stone, but he had a hunch that Stone felt the same way about him. He was perceptive too, but he didn't hide it like Dani did. His eyes seemed to catch everything, and Eddie still couldn't figure out if Stone liked him or not. And Emmy… Eddie had felt a connection right away with her, from the moment he met her at the coffee shop to the present, as their eyes met while he approached. She was like him in a sense, with a blackened layer hidden well underneath the brightly colored ones. The difference between them being that he was trying to release his, but she was trying to bury it further still. If Eddie knew anything, though, it's that nothing stays buried forever.
"Eddie, where were you?" Dani drew the last part of his name out as she spoke.
"I, uh, just went to make a call."
"He said that before he left," Stone said. "Or did you already forget?"
"No… I didn't forget…"
Stone let out a short laugh, leaning into her and nudging her with his arm. "You're so drunk."
"I'm not drunk; I'm high." Dani pointed a finger at him. "There's a distinct difference."
Stone eased the joint from between the fingers of her other hand and took a couple of short hits before offering it to Eddie. Who was he to say no, really? Maybe it would relax him some. The tension he felt wrapped around him, the rope pulling tighter and chafing his skin. It was either that, or it would cause him to spiral deeper until the rope broke through the surface, and rivers of red would stain his clothes and the ground beneath him.
It was a risk worth taking.
He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, feeling that familiar burn travel down to his lungs. Soon enough he'd feel it throughout his body, that tingly sensation that tiptoes above and below the skin. His senses would be heightened yet dulled at the same time, more acutely aware of his surroundings but not fully processing. A state of blissful numbness interwoven with a childlike optimism that only begins to fade with age.
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Past the Horizon (Eddie Vedder)
FanfictionAnd she was brought back to reality. Still sitting in the living room, there were no fires blazing, no trees swaying to the sound of the music as they leaned into the healing touch of that voice. It was a soft caress on the fragile surface of a sing...
