Cannibal Craving (Venom x Eddie Mpreg)

~Chapter 14~

Eddie's PoV

 I left Ashley alone for awhile, giving her some time to process everything to the best of her ability. She takes the opportunity and runs with it, spending every waking moment in her room, avoiding me and everyone else at all cost. Every once in while, I would hear her door open and close from my room for a brief bathroom break, or to grab a plate of whatever I made for dinner that night, but she always made sure I wasn't around to see it happen. She wouldn't even so much as come into work anymore, calling in every chance that she possibly could if she knew that she had to work a shift with me.

I'll admit, it hurt to be treated this way by her, but I understood why she was reacting the way that she was. I can't imagine it would be easy to sort through everything I told her about when it took me damn near three years before I started to get a bit of a grasp on it. Even so, I cared less about the cold shoulder she was giving me, and more about her well being. I couldn't help but grow more and more anxious with every passing day, wondering if she's eating enough, and drinking enough water. Wondering if she was crying just beyond that door, praying for an answer, or a friend when I'm sure it felt like she had no one.

It was driving me insane, having to walk by that door every day knowing that she was in there hurting, and not being able to do a thing about it. Sometimes I would go and sit in the living room and watch a movie with Venom, silently hoping that she might just wander out and start watching it with us. Just so I could see her, and make sure she was at least not rotting away in there like I suspected she was. 

It goes on like this for the better part of a week, and every passing day felt like another knife twisting in my gut. I had of course taken a shot at trying to reach out to her, trying to call her only to find out that she had shut off her phone entirely. My next option was to go and knock on her door directly, but truthfully, I was afraid of what I would find on the other side.

It wasn't that I was afraid of her, so much as I was afraid of her reaction. I knew that there wasn't a snowballs chance in hell that she would answer and be happy to see me, but I had no idea what I would do if she had nothing but wrath and anger for me. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up just at the idea of her hating me. But I think the worst thought of all, was the idea that she would open the door a completely different person. That we would meet eye to eye, and I would find that I killed that little sparkle of life that made her, her.

When the eighth day rolled around, I finally couldn't bear it any longer, and I eventually found myself standing in front of her door, my body tense, and my hands clammy. I could feel all my thoughts rampaging in my head, in a hurricane of fear and doubt. I think about all the different ways that this could go, each scenario more gut wrenching than the last, but I had to be strong. 

I take a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves, but I could feel my legs shaking from below me. I just had to get it over with. All it is, is a knock. 

With a heavy sigh, I raise my hand and give a firm knock on Ashley's door, before taking a small step back in wait. A few seconds pass, not a single sound throughout the entire house, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. I have a moment to consider if it would be too late to turn back and just go lay down, and take a nap until she's ready to talk on her own. But somehow I knew that if I didn't fight to talk to her at some point, that might not ever happen.

I try again. 

Knock, knock.

"Ashley? It's-.... It's me... Eddie.." I don't get a response, but I try not to let it discourage me, and keep going. "Listen... I know that everything has been really, really shitty lately. B-But I promise... I promise that I'm here for you. If I could've been honest with you from the start, I would have been, I swear. I want to be honest with you now, and I want you to know that from now on, everything will be the truth, and nothing but the truth."

The silence is thick in the air, nearly suffocating me the moment that my voice stopped. I wanted something, anything really, but it was like I was talking to myself. Maybe I was. But a guy could hope, couldn't he? I lean on the wall behind me, staring at the door expectantly, wishing against all the odds that I could somehow get through to her.

"You're my friend, and I never wanted to hurt you like this. I know I shouldn't push my luck... but it's killing me to see you like this, Ashley. I want to make it right, I just have no idea where to even start..." I knew I was practically begging at this point, but I was at a loss. I was desperate, and I was scared. I had so few people in my life that I cared about, and even fewer that I trusted to know about Venom, and it felt like I could feel our friendship slipping right between my fingers, like water in my hands. I figured that I would end up alone in my corner eventually, but I never saw it happening so soon. What a fucking bummer that is.

I could feel my heart pounding against my ribcage so hard it was almost painful. My hope of somehow being able to salvage what little friendship we had left was slowly growing thinner, and suddenly, my vision was getting cloudy. This was going to be just another thing that I ruined. Just another person I fucked up, and destroyed, like I did with everyone else who tried to get close to me.

"I'm so sorry, Ashley... Please, I just want to talk to you."

The last few threads that were keeping me here were slowly breaking, one by one, and I was about to throw in the towel when suddenly, I hear something that sounds like the faint shuffling of blankets. I freeze, thinking for a moment that I might've imagined it, but I'm reassured a moment later when I hear the sound of her feet hitting the ground. The few seconds that she stands on the other side of that door felt like years, and I was almost positive that she was going to change her mind at any second. Instead, the door softly creaks open, and for the first time in a little over a week, I see her again face to face. 

She has dark bags under her eyes, and her hair is greasy, strewn this way and that. She was wearing a worn out pair of Kermit pajama pants with holes in them, and a white tee shirt that was stained with her sweat and tears, barely visible under that red sweater that was looking like it needed more than a wash. And when she looked up at me, I saw my worst nightmare staring back at me as I searched for that sparkle in her eyes and realized it was no where to be found. 

She was a wreck, and I could feel my heart breaking the more that I looked at her. I wanted to believe that I wasn't the cause of this, but deep down, I knew that I was. But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Right now, I was finally on the first step to fixing all of this, and I needed to climb.

"Hey," I say in a small voice, not really knowing where to go from here. We stare at each other for a moment, and then I eventually see her lip begin to tremble, until finally she bursts out into uncontrollable sobbing. I'm unsure of what to do for a moment, stunned by her reaction, but the second that I unthaw, I waste no time in embracing her in a hug.

My arms swallow the short girl in my embrace, and she buries her face so deep into my shoulder that I couldn't help but wonder if she had any room to breathe. Her hands grip at the back of my shirt, clutching it in her fists as if it may possibly keep her from losing her last bits of sanity, and her gasping sobs made her sound like she was drowning. 

"Shh... It's alright. It's okay. You're okay." I feel helpless as I watch her completely break and shatter into a million pieces right before me, allowing all the pain she had repressed over the past week to finally come rushing forward in one big tidal wave of tears and anguish. The sound of her cries made my chest feel heavy, but I didn't dare move. I just let her clutch onto me like I was a lifejacket in an endless ocean, until she reached the shore. 

Her tears die to sniffles, and then she finally calms enough to be silent. I wasn't sure where to go from here, but I'm not left waiting for very long. 

Ashley pulls away from me without a word and drags her way down the hall to the living room, where she plops down on the couch, and stares off into space. I take a few steps toward her, and when I get a few feet in front of her, she looks up at me, making me tense. She's fidgeting with her hands, her eyes still brimming with tears, and her jaw clenched.