Stay with me, let's just breathe (Eddie Vedder FanFic) | Completed

Chapter 11 - Punch

"Shit!" - I mumbled to myself as I let my third drink fall from my hands. Jeff hosted a after concert party for a hole bunch of people I didn't knew, but since the concert was another success I didn't really mind at all, I was to happy for them to care. The bar that they played in was even bigger then the last time and the crowd was even louder. After the gig ended and the guys went backstage, we heard a knock on the door and soon after Stone had opened it, we saw two guys in their 40's, smiling like they had just seen God. They introduced themselves as being from a record company called "Epic Records" and told the band that they wanted to officially present Pearl Jam in a cafe called "Off Ramp", and if they did a good job as they did in that gig, they had a contract in front of them an a pen in their hands. They were all petrified and they didn't know what to say so they just stood there until Dave could mumble a shy "Thanks for the opportunity".
After the two man left, Eddie just turned to me with the biggest smile on his face before saying "I think we fucking did it!", and after that all of the guys went wild.
So here they were, enjoying the booze as the words "contract" and "record company" rang in their ears. I couldn't be happier, in fact I was stocked! They just had to play one more amazing gig and they would have a contract. I looked to my right and saw Dave and Mike sitting in a table full of girls around them as they give each one a drink. I looked to my left and saw the host, Jeff, making his weird noises and entertaining a certainly drunk Stone. My brother on the other hand was not hitting on a girl surprisingly, he was heading towards me with two coups in his hands.
- You always find a way to be alone in a party, don't you? - He asked heading me one of the coups.
- You know me well - I accepted the coup, bringing it to my lips and feeling the burning sensation down my throat. I suddenly remembered that I haven't talked about Phillipa with him yet, and she wasn't showed up for work the last two days, so I wanted to know if Joe knew were she was.
- Have you heard from Phillipa?
- Oh, yeah kind of. She showed up at the house the day I saw her at the shop, and today I went to her house just to check on her.
- You know were she lives?
- Yes, the day I meet her she was to drunk to drive so I took her home, which took us a while until she figured out how to get there, but eventually we found the house - He told me, starting at the coup half smiling, like he missed her.
- And how was she? - I asked, sipping from my drink again.
- She said that she was going to work tomorrow. Although she wasn't pleased to talk to me... - He confessed, this time his smile fading. - Where's Eddie?
- He went to the back to get more ice, he just left actually. - I said sipping my drink again and realizing that it had been a while since Eddie went to get the ice.
- I wish she was here... - My drunk brother said. Everytime he drank he would became a total hopeless romantic. From the corner of my eye I saw a rushed Jeff getting out to the backyard of the house, but since he was drunk as well I didn't found it odd at all. I finished my drink and Joe offered to go get me another one. Was he trying to get me drunk or something? He gets super over protective when it comes to me and booze, so why was we getting me coup after coup? Maybe he was just to drunk to notice what he was doing. Either way I was thankfull. Just as my brother got up Stone took his place with a drunk smile on his face.
- Why is the pretty lady alone?
- The pretty lady is not pretty and is not alone either - I smiled back, feeling the alcohol kicking in.
- Oh, you are pretty! You are dead gorgeous! - He gave me a mad look.
- You get really scary when you drink, did you know that? - I asked turning my head forward and seeing my brother handing me another coup, even fuller than the last one, before winking at me and going over to Dave and Mike.
- I get scary, honest and seriously sexy! - Stone almost screamed, not gathering the attention of the party because the music got louder. As I drank what Joe handed me I realized that the music wasn't getting louder, it was just the alcohol.
- I wanted to talk to you, Cass. Can we talk? Cass, let's talk! - Stone said, making his voice grow louder when he said my name.
- We are talking, Stone! - I tried to say it like he did.
- But not here, let's talk somewhere! - Stone looked at my lips making me feel weird. Was he hitting on me? And where was Eddie? I started to doubt that he was carrying that ice.
- We can talk here, it's fine - I told him, not looking at his direction. Stone's arm hugged my shoulder as he putted his arm around me. What was he trying to do? He knew about me and Eddie, so why was he making these weird moves on me?
- What are you even doing? - I asked him, confused.
- Came on, you know what I'm doing! - He smiled pleased, not getting that I was feeling uncomfortable. I finished my drink in one sip and got up suddenly. I faced Stone with an apologetic look on my face and said "Just please... don't do that", before turning around and started walking towards the door that leaded to the backyard. My walking was getting messy, and my vision was getting blurry, but honestly my mind wasn't even there. I passed a blond guy that I never seen before and out of nowhere I released that I haven't seen Patrick in a long time.
I pushed the backyard door and heard some guys screaming. I stumbled down the three stairs and landed on the ground. "Stupid body! Get your shit together!" - I mumbled to myself as I got back up and stared straight ahead. I heard some voices over the loud guitar solo that was echoing from inside the house. I couldn't see their faces or distinguish voices, so I walked carefully towards them, stopped right after seeing brown, long and messy hair.
- WHAT THE FUCK!? EDDIE STOP! - I heard myself screaming as I forced myself between Eddie and the other guy, who I couldn't see the face. My head was spinning harder then before because of the rough movements and I just had time to try and keep myself on my feet before I saw Jeff grabbing me from my back by my waist, and pulling me out of the fight. He smashed me on the ground to avoid me getting hurt in, and I had to stop for some seconds just to see where I was. After realizing that I was laying on Jeff's backyard grass, I gathered my strength and sat, trying to keep myself as sober as possible. I looked straight ahead and saw that the guy Eddie was fighting with was Patrick. Trying to separate them was Jeff and Chris, the guy that hosted the party where Eddie and i hooked up in the bathroom. I got up feeling the adrenaline spraying through my veins and realizing that if I got in there again Jeff would pull me back, so I ran towards the door and screamed from the top of my lungs: "WHERE THE FUCK IS JOE!?". Everyone went quiet, and seconds after I saw Joe running down the stairs, shirtless. I took his wrist and told him before opening the backyard door: "Eddie and Patrick are beating the shit out of each other, fucking do something!". He ran towards them faster then I could ever run and I watched as Eddie throw punch after punch at Patrick's face, screaming "YOU HURT HER YOU MOTHER FUCKER! DON'T EVER LAY ONE EYE ON HER EVER AGAIN!".
Joe grabbed Eddie's shoulders, craving his hands into his back and tried to toss him out of the way, but Eddie fought back, punching Joe was well. After doing it, Jeff and Chris took their chance to grab Eddie and push him to the grass, trying to control him. Joe shook his head to make the pain from the puch go away and picked up Patrick, running towards me with him in his arms. I watched him run up the stairs before saying "Don't worry, try to calm Eddie". Right after I heard this I ran throw the hole backyard and kneeled beside Eddie's face, hugging him with every strength that I had.
- Why did you do that? - I asked worried. I had no clue of what was going on.
- Don't worry, beautiful. - He simply said, struggling to keep a smile in his bruised and bleeding face.
- Please tell me what happened... - I begged.
- Just... somethings I heard. I'm sorry for getting you in the middle of all of this, but you were there anyways and you shouldn't have been so I flipped... - He said looking at me and still keeping his smile. I wanted to ask again what happened but Jeff spoke for me:
- Look Cass, why don't we take Eddie to my bedroom and you do your nursing stuff to fix his face, hun?
- Yeah, let's just do that! - Chris answered for me, and both of them carried Eddie up the stairs making me follow them. Were they avoiding me making questions? And why were they fighting in the first place? And why was I in the middle of this? Did I do something? Was it because of the kiss Patrick gave me?
- Stay here with him, I'll be right back. Chris, go check on Patrick!- Jeff told me and then Chris, who immediately started running to the hallway. I sat on the bed and looked at Eddie, this time getting a good view of his injuries and bruises due to the bedside table lamp that was on.
- You are beautiful... - He told me, still smiling like the injuries didn't even hurt him.
- Please tell me what happened...
- Let's not talk about it now, ok? My face and my ribs are killing me... - He laughed like he was joking, but he wasn't. The door opened reveling Jeff with a white box in his hands.
- There you go Cass, now work your magic! I will be down there if you need me or if he dies, ok? - He said smiling to the both of us.
- I'm already dead you fucker! - Eddie laughed before Jeff could close the door. I never was really good at this nursing stuff, but since my brother was always getting into fights I kind of had to learn.
- This will hurt, a lot... - I warned before starting to disinfect the enormous cut that he had in his eyebrow. He screamed in pain when I pressed it, but managed to stay still. If he was Joe, he would be crying like a little girl. After cleaning all the wounds and making them hurt as less as possible I putted the white box in a corner of the room and sat besides Eddie again.
- Thank you. - He have me a friendly smile.
- Does it still hurt? - I asked, still upset that he wasn't telling me what was going on. On the other side, he was pretty bitten up so maybe tomorrow when he would feel better we could talk.
- In my lip, yeah. Kiss it better? - He asked, opening his arms for a hug. I layed down in his embrace and packed his swollen and hurting lips before saying:
- You punched my brother, you know?
He giggled for a bit and then said:
- So he is going to avenge himself?
- Possibly.
After this we just stood still, enjoying each others company and listening to the music that came from down stairs. We maybe stayed there for half an hour or so, before we whispered "I would do anything to protect you", making me wonder about why he was fighting with Patrick in the first place. "Thank you for carrying about me", I whispered as well while closing my eyes and feeling his breathing, his beating heart, his salty smell, his arms around me and his legs intertwined with mine. I reached for the light switch in the bedside table lamp and turned it off, making our vision fall into the darkness. He hugged me thither and I whispered quietly "Please don't get into more fights... I worry to much". Right after I heard him whisper back "I love you, Cassie" and sighting like he was ready to fall asleep. "I love you too" I whispered in a lower tone, ready to fall asleep myself. For some reason I got seriously nervous when I told him I loved him, in my head I thought that if I said it lower it would make me hurt less in the future if something bad happened. Although I was sure that he wasn't going to hurt me in anyway, I still had a certain fear of having someone taking him from me. Partly because I never had any type of relationship like this, so losing him scared me to death. I felt my head get cloudy and the alcohol stabilize, and in seconds I fell asleep, asking myself once again what happened after all.

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"You have to tell her, man! I mean, what the fuck were you thinking!?"
"I'm not going to tell her, she doesn't have to know! She is going to end up forgetting it!"
"No she is not! If you don't tell her I will."
"Joe please don't! Camon, you know she is going to freak out!"
"Yeah, and she as a reason for it! You were the one who made this mess, so you are the one that is going to tell her!"
My senses started to come back, and I felt myself waking up as I heard the voices around me growing louder. As I started to gain conscience I remembered what happened the night before and felt a deep pain in my head. Suddenly the voices stopped and a hand brushed my hair softly.
- Good morning, Cass - I recognized my brother's voice. Opening my eyes slowly I looked at him and Patrick that stood by his side, both of them sited on the bed. Jeff's room was much more cheerful in the morning, with a red and grey wall and some magazines and newspapers glued to the walls.
- Good morning to you two as well - I smiled, praying for my headache to go away.
- You have work today Cass, and Jeff gave you this pills and told us that you could take a shower here - Patrick smiled at me as well.
- Thank you. I have to go home before work to get my t-shit - I remembered as I sat on the bed beside them.
- Don't worry about it, I'm sure the shop as one that you can wear. Now, step in the shower and I will tell Eddie that you are awake, ok? - Joe asked standing up followed by Patrick, both of them heading out the door. I hoped Eddie's face was better then Patrick's, since his even hurt when he wasn't breathing. I walked down the hall until I found the bathroom and quickly stripped from my clothes. I looked myself in the mirror and asked myself again what happened yesterday. I got in the shower and shook as the cold water hit my face. Soon the water turned warm and my skin felt as new. After cleaning my pores and thoughts, I washed my hair and closed the tap, before starting to look for a towel with my eyes closed. I felt a soft and fuzzy fabric and assumed it was a towel, picking it up and rubbing it in my face. I opened my eyes, jumping all of the sudden when I saw a smiling Eddie standing in front of me.
- Good morning, you're late for work! - He giggled excited. His face was less red but it still looked like he was in pain.
- You scared me... - I told him as I tried to cover my naked body. He opened the towel in two and hugged me, making himself be between me and the towel.
- I'm sorry, I'm too muh of a starker not to spy on you while you take a bath... - He laughed, making me giggle as well. He looked at me smiling, and soon after our lips meet. I pushed his bottom lip a bit and he ached in pain, making me remember his cut and bruise.
- I'm sorry! I forgot... - I apologized, watching him smile again like it didn't even hurt him. He could always have a smile on his face.
- What about I take you to work? - He changed the subject, grabbing my waist an laying a sweet kiss on my cheek - Go get ready and I will give you a ride! - He packed my lips before getting out of the towel and walking down the hall, stopping at the stairs:
- You look beautiful in the morning... - He smiled seductively at me, before walking down the stairs and leaving me there blushing like a little girl.
As I was heading to Jeff's room I wondered again what really happened between Eddie and Patrick. I had a day of work ahead of me, and all I could think about was why they started fighting yeaterday, in the first place. And also, why was I in the middle of it?

A.N.: So here it is, chapter 11 ladies and gentleman! It was really hard for me to write the fighting scene and I hope it does seem too childish s:
Anyways! I'm going to be in vacation until the end of August, so I don't think that I'm going to be posting anything until then, but if I have time I will try to write (I just can't promise you guys anything), so I hoped you liked this chapter and I will see you all when I get back :33 have fun guys <3 !