Lost & Insecure

Seven - Guys Day In

Eddie stirred under his sheets in bed when there was a knock on his bedroom door. "Come in," he groaned through the blankets. His aunt Karen walked through the door and stood by his bed.

"Eddie," she placed a hand on him, hoping to shake him awake, "you've spent the whole weekend in your bed. I think you're starting to grow roots."

"Auntie Karen, I'm fine. I'm a teenager, I need my sleep." Eddie turned to face away from his aunt as he put his pillow over his head.

Karen stole his pillow from him and lightly hit him with it. "Get up, you have a friend here." She pulled Eddie's comforter off of his bed before leaving the room. Eddie crawled out of bed and sluggishly walked downstairs, rubbing his eyes.

"Mason?" Eddie still had his groggy morning voice. "What are you doing here?"

Mason shrugged at the bottom of the staircase with a large smile. "I knew Dana was with Ashley so I thought I'd stop by. Seeing as you don't really know anyone yet, and I thought you might want some company. But I'll just go if you'd rather have time to yourself." Mason slowly turned away to leave before Eddie stopped him.

"No Mason, it's fine. Just let me change first." Eddie sighed slightly to himself before running back up to his room to change. Although Mason was cutting into the valuable time Eddie had set aside to do absolutely nothing, he was grateful that Mason made the kind gesture. Eddie quickly threw on the nearest clean(ish) clothes he could find and ran back downstairs. Eddie stopped at the bottom, and noticed someone else standing with Mason. "Zach?"

"Oh," Mason turned to look at Eddie with another small grin, "I hope you don't mind. He asked if he could tag along."

"Not at all," Eddie shook his head. Zach's lips turned upwards into a soft smile at Eddie's words. "So," Eddie followed the brothers out the front door, "what'd you two have in mind?" Eddie pulled out his phone to text Dana, and inform her what his plans were.

Dana and the other girls were making breakfast when her phone went off. Grace, being closest to the phone, picked it up to hand to Dana. Grace handed over the phone then grabbed a seat next to her at the counter. Katie set four plates on the counter next to Ashley as she finished up cooking.

"Oh Ash," Dana called, reading the message on her phone. "Eddie is out with Mason and Zach."

"Yeah," Ashley walked over, placing platefuls of food in front of both Grace and Dana, "Mason said he was going to try to hang out with Eddie because he doesn't really know anyone here." Ashley pulled a chair to sit across from the girls as Katie did the same and placed a plate down for herself and Ashley.

Grace swallowed her bite of food and looked to Dana. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot." Dana answered, shoveling her own food into her mouth.

"Why'd you move here?" Grace's question caused Ashley and Katie to exchange a look then quietly continue eating. They were both curious as well, but had yet to ask her.

"Well," Dana started, gathering her answer together, "there are a few reasons." Dana explained that around the same time that her parents got divorced, Eddie's parents had passed away. Since Karen is Eddie's godmother, he would be sent to live with her and Dana. Due to the timing of everything, it just made sense to them to all get a fresh start. "My mom blames herself, Eddie blames his parents, and I think we all just needed somewhere to start over."

"Is it working?" Grace asked.

"Grace!" Ashley scolded her. Grace gave her an innocent look and mouthed "what" to her, not recognizing she had said anything wrong.

"No it's fine," Dana reassured them. "My mom is the greatest person in the world. But she and I were both unhappy. So we moved here, looking for that happiness. I don't know if it's a permanent solution, but so far?" Dana glanced at the other girls, "I'd say it wasn't a bad plan." There was a silence that followed Dana's answer and she saw it as an opportunity to dismiss herself. "Well, I should probably head out. Katie, I can take you back if you're ready." Katie nodded, finishing her last bite of food. Both girls grabbed their belongings and said their goodbyes before heading out.

As Dana's car stopped in her driveway, Katie shyly thanked her for the rides and escaped to her house without another word. Unfortunately, there was a familiar black Jeep sitting across the street. Jesse ran out to greet Katie, asking if they could talk. Katie didn't respond, but Jesse followed her inside regardless.

"Well alright," Dana muttered to herself, uncomfortable from the encounter she had just witnessed. Dana set her keys on her counter once inside, and called out for Eddie, wondering if he had returned home already.

"Hold on D, we're in a killing frenzy!" Eddie answered back, his eyes glued to the video game in front of him. Dana followed his voice to the basement where Eddie, Mason, and Zach all sat together in similar hunched over positions. Zach broke his laser focused stare and quickly stood up, noticing Dana. "Hey Dana," He smiled. Mason, without breaking his concentration, threw a pillow at his brother, knocking him slightly off balance. Eddie and Mason high fived with a chuckle, not once losing concentration from their game.

Dana greeted the boys, but didn't want to disrupt their time together, so she began to excuse herself. "I just wanted to see if you were home. I'll leave you to your bonding time."

Dana could hear Eddie scolding Zach as she made her way back up the stairs. "Zach, you're letting the other team win!"

"I'm coming, calm down!" Zach sat back down and resumed the game. "So," Zach seemed distracted, "Dana seems cool."

"She is," Mason responded, "but I doubt you got a chance with her, bud." Zach asked why, offended at his older brother's remarks. Mason paused before responding, "Seriously? She's like...I don't know...she just doesn't seem like the type of girl who would fall for a type of guy like you." Mason struggled to explain himself.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Zach's face scrunched into a look of disgust and offense at his brother's comments.

"Zach," Mason sighed, throwing the controller to the side after the game came to a conclusion. "I didn't mean it in a 'you're not good enough way.' I meant it in a 'she's probably only into daredevils and Mark Wahlberg' type of way."

"Eh, she's more of a Dwayne Johnson type of girl." Eddie piped up.

"Besides," Mason added, "you only like her because she's fresh meat. This is a small town and whenever someone new rolls around, everyone instantly has their eyes all over them." Zach's face reddened, embarrassed that Mason called him out. Mason noticed the look on his little brother's face and frowned. "Maybe we should just get back to the game." He suggested. "Enough talk about girls." Mason's phone began to ring. "I lied. Continue talking about girls." Mason stood up and answered his phone, "Hey Ashley. How was the party?" Eddie looked at Zach and cracked a fake whip, teasing Mason. Mason jumped in response and rubbed his backside, pretending Eddie's imaginary whip had gotten a hold of him.

Eddie turned to Zach while Mason was on the phone with Ashley. "Hey man, I'm sorry Mason thinks Dana wouldn't be interested. I wouldn't take it to heart though. I mean you could always just be friends and see where it goes."

Zach shrugged and readjusted in his seat. "No, it's okay." He began to wring his hands and fiddle with his thumbs. "Mason's not wrong. I tend to only want people I can't have."

"Well," Eddie slapped a hand on Zach's shoulder, causing Zach's face to redden again. "Good news is that means you and Dana have at least one thing in common."

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Chapter song: "Girls Likes Girls" by none other than Lesbian Jesus herself, Hayley Kiyoko

Until next time,
Adrienne (: