mention of alcohol, mental illness, drugs, and abuse. this is a trigger warning. please do not read ahead if you'll be negatively affected.
chapter seven
"get high and find a deeper meaning for everything"
_
Eden burrowed herself into the warm, soft duvet. She delicately rubbed the remainder of sleep from her eyes and gazed out of her open window at the vivid light extended across the morning sky. She quietly admired its beauty with her face nuzzled into the sheets, but she found it strange, hard even, to believe it was real. To her, nothing belonging to this town was real except its people.
In the early light, her face took on the appearance of an old photograph, one of nostalgia, a form of raw beauty. It brought the clarity of her skin into focus, animated with warmth, finally away from the land of dreams.
She emerged from her bed and sluggishly positioned herself in front of her bathroom mirror to take a mental inventory. She decided to keep makeup minimal, starting with a sweep of mascara. With heavy makeup, the resemblance to her mother's eyes disappeared. It was Eden's fear, to have that memory of her parent become nothing at all. She drew a pretty line of deep umber over the waterline of her lashes - that alone was enough to make it bearable to look in the mirror. It brought out the color in her eyes of soft pebble, reflective browns, spreading out to waves of forest green.
She opened the mirror to reveal a cabinet of toiletries. She moved around a box of razor blades, and reached over a small bar of soap to pull out something she'd put into hiding: the small bag of pills. This had become a morning routine for her-- taking them. When the pain of her mentality comes, her brain makes a million excuses to cave in, though she only needs one. She lives in a drug-induced comfort, denying addiction, awaiting a new fix, but still hiding it away from the world, praying for consolation.
A sudden, but gentle knock sounded from her bedroom door. She quickly forced a pill down her throat with water, then slipped the remainder into her back pocket. "Yeah?!"
A muffled voice from the opposite side of the door answered, "It's Wren."
Eden dragged herself over to the door and swung it open. "No shit Sherlock. No one else lives here anymore but me and you."
Wren welcomed herself in the room, taking a seat on the edge of Eden's bed. "Funny. Are you playing fugitive tonight?"
"Who's playing?"
"I think Harry, Luke, Grizz... Campbell." Wren's voice had faded by the time she reached the fourth name.
"What's your deal with that dude?"
"Who?"
"Campbell."
Wren shrugged her shoulders as a response, but never verbally answered the question. Instead, she changed the topic, "If you play a cop, you can drive your car."
"That's what I'll probably do. I can drive down to the gas station in 10, then meet up with everyone... where?"
"In the town center, right in front of the church."
Eden smoothed out the sheets on her bed and propped up the pillows before continuing, "What about you? Partner up?"
"Nah. I'll do best on my own."
"Suit yourself."
•
Eden sat in her car, waiting for the gas to fully fill its tank. She held onto the leather steering wheel, tapping her fingers along to the beat of a song stuck in her head. She closed her eyes, humming its tune. A sudden knock on the driver's window sent her out of a trance, causing her heart to break through her chest. She looked up to see Harry Bingham smiling down at her. "Jesus, dude." She opened up the car door and stepped out, figuring the gas tank would be full by now anyway. "You scared me."
He chuckled, "Sorry."
Eden noticed his car by one of the stations. "Why're you filling your gas up? Got a road trip planned?"
"Playing fugitive tonight. You?"
"Same." She removed the nozzle from the gas cap and shoved it back into the pump.
"You can be my partner if you want. Party at my house after."
Eden paused. "What?"
"I need a lookout."
She watched him as he leaned against the hood of his car, a smirk on his face. She shook her head, "Cute. Go ask Kelly."
"She's not playing."
"Oh, boo."
Harry readjusted his posture and trailed over to Eden, watching her intently. "We're in the same boat, why not the same car?"
Eden cocked her head to the side, meeting his eyes. She stood like this, a sly smile on her face, staring him down. "I hope you're driving."
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XANNY ▹ Harry Bingham
Fanfictiontrapped in an abandoned version of her home, eden blanchard finds two sources of comfort- intoxication... and harry bingham. - Ranked: #1 - thesociety (7/30/19) #1 - campbelleliot (7/28/19) #1 - theguard (8/7/19) #1 - grizz (8/12/19) #1 - harrybing...