Cradle Broken Glass

Chapter Twenty Seven

Layla pushed open the doors to the small café and walked inside, locating a small table in the back that was closed off and more private. Eddie followed closely behind her, sitting opposite her in the booth as she sat in the padded seat. As soon as they were seated, a waiter came over and took their orders of coffee, leaving them be.

Layla had managed to convince Eddie to leave the house, although he wasn't happy about it, wanting to spend the rest of the day in bed. But she knew that Jeff would be coming back soon from wherever he had got off to the night before, and she didn't want him to walk in when they were in a compromising position. Hell, Jeff didn't even know she had left Phil yet, she didn't want to be around when he found out that her and Eddie's association had become more than kisses. She looked at him, sitting across from her, his skin glowing from the soft candlelight in the café, still bronzed even though the Seattle weather was constantly below freezing. The waiter came back with their drinks and, when he left, Eddie reached his hand over the table and gently held Layla's, his thumb stroking the skin on her palm back and forth as he sipped his coffee. She was overwhelmed by the gesture. Although she knew she shouldn't compare, Phil had never shown her affection in public, unless it was to show dominance. The fact that Eddie was nonchalantly playing with her fingers, now with both hands, and in a public place, made her heart swell and she didn't quite know what to make of the situation.

They sat there in a comfortable silence. What had happened in the last couple of days was whirling through Layla's head. How could so much change had happened in such a short space of time? She was trying not to overthink it when a voice broke through her internal monologue.

"Where are you going to go?" Eddie asked her in a quiet voice, almost like a shy school boy. He was staring down at her left hand as he played around with her fingers, the two lines between his eyebrows furrowing, in either concentration or frustration, she didn't know.

"What do you mean?" Layla asked, although she was perfectly aware of what he was talking about.

"Well, are you gonna move in with Cindy again. Or, you know... Well... Where are you going to go?" He finally finished again, his words coming out sporadically. Layla contemplated what she was going to say next.

"Well, I don't know. I guess I can ask Cindy if I can stay at hers again, even though it's a lot of trouble." She thought over moving again. She hadn't given that part of her situation a thought, and she knew she needed to. I mean, Phil wasn't even aware that she had left him yet. He had probably woken up this morning, pissed that she hadn't come home, but was probably still waiting for her to show up and apologise. What the fuck was she going to do?

"Well, um.... I was thinking, you know, since you don't have a place to stay and all... Well... I thought that maybe you could, uh, you know... stay with me?" His words came out like a question, and Eddie didn't meet her eyes as he finished, only continued to stare intensely at her hand between his, almost like he had already accepted that her answer would be no. After a while of Layla not responding, he looked up timidly.

"Well, me and Jeff cause it's his place too." He looked down once more after adding that quietly. Layla thought over everything, and the only thing that came into her head was one word.

"Yes." She said, and Eddie's head popped up, meeting her eyes with a look of shock and confusion.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Yes. I mean, only if it's alright with you." Layla added.

"What do you mean 'if it's alright with you' Layla, of course it's fucking alright. It's more than alright." He exclaimed at her, and she gave him a wide grin at his excitement, admiring the way his perfect cheekbones raised as he smiled.

"Obviously you will have to ask Jeff since I don't want to invade in his space. And we'll have to tell him and the others everything." Layla conceded, and Eddie gave her a sharp nod. While she knew Jeff wouldn't have a problem with it, she was scared to tell the rest of the guys about her and Eddie, and what had been going on for months now. And she would finally have to admit that her feelings for Eddie were more than what she tried to make herself believe.

Eddie moved his body along the booth, getting closer to her. When their thighs were touching, he raised his hand and gently cupped her cheek, guiding her to his lips. They kissed each other slowly and languidly, not wanting the moment to end. Layla pushed herself as close as she could into Eddie's body as he tangled his fingers into her hair and pushed back against her. His tongue moved in and out of her mouth and she bit his bottom lip as the kiss became more sensual and their lips moved against each other in a perfect rhythm. Everything was perfect until she heard a chair being pulled out from under the table next to her, and felt the booth move as someone sat down next to them. Eddie pulled away from Layla's lips, still embracing each other hungrily, and she looked around at the people who had joined their table. Her eyes connected with Jeff's first, a playful grin playing on his lips, and she slowly moved her eyesight around the table, capturing Chris, Stone and Mike's stunned expressions. Eddie quickly pulled himself away from her and looked down in his lap, acting like if he didn't acknowledge them, they would forget what they had just seen.

"Soooo..." Chris started as everyone sat around the table awkwardly.

"Vedder, since when have you been pulling?" He finished, and Stone and Jeff burst out laughing, with Mike trying to hold it in. Eddie glared at Chris with hate, but the latter only matched his look with amusement. Then he turned to Layla.

"And Layla, since when have you become such a seductress, trying to taint our innocent little Edward?" Chris questioned, and Layla could feel her cheeks light up red in embarrassment. She wished the ground would swallow her whole, as the guys made fun of what they had walked into. A part of her found it odd, though, that none of them seemed to be concerned about her infidelity. Granted, they never liked Phil anyway, but while they all looked completely shocked at what they had seen, they seemed to find it funny rather than concerning.

Everything went quiet again, and Layla had no idea what to say. Eddie was sitting there and not looking up, playing with a non-existent lint on his shirt.

"Well Ed, can't say I'm not proud of you for finally growing some balls." Stone chipped in and Chris and Mike nodded in acknowledgement. Layla was perplexed and so was Eddie, since his head shot up in confusion. But when his eyes met Jeff's guilty glare, Layla realised that Jeff must have said something to them all after he found out about her and Eddie's little liaison. The group sat there for another half an hour, half awkward and half filled with poking fun out of her and Eddie. Once they all got up to leave, Layla felt extremely uncomfortable, but in a way, was glad that she didn't have to deal with telling everyone herself, knowing that it had probably already spread around Seattle due to Cornell's big mouth. But for once, Layla was content with people talking about her. Everything seemed right in the world for once.