It was a time to celebrate. A time to scream and shout and party like we've never partied before. Eddie is turning twenty.
Yeah, he can't legally drink yet. But, he's one year closer.
It has been an exciting night up to this point. A night full if dancing, terrible karaoke, drinking, some smoking, delicious food and cake. What I didn't expect is to have a crying Eddie in my lap when the rest of the group left.
I was helping Eddie clean the mess we all made when he broke down.
I didn't know what to do. So, I sat him down on the couch and just held him. We've been sitting here for half a hour and I was running out of soothing and encouraging words to say.
"Eds?" I whisper, "Do you wanna talk?" I ask.
Eddie doesn't respond, but he wipes his eyes and removes himself from the crook of my neck.
Silence. I'm not sure if Eddie didn't want to talk or if he just didn't know what to say.
"How the hell am I twenty?" Eddie whispers. A snarky response almost came out of my mouth, but I bit my tongue and held it back.
"I don't know why I'm reacting like this. It isn't like I'm turning thirty. I just... I miss being young." Eddie whispers.
"You are young Eds." I try to reason with the boy.
"I know. But, I wanna be like young young. Like a kid again. No responsibilities. We could just ride our bikes and go wherever we wanted whenever we wanted. We were free. But... It's just not like that anymore. It will never be like that again. I just wish I could go back and just relive it one more time. I wish I could go back and realise how good I had it. Try to loosen up. But, it's too late for that." Eddie whispers.
"It isn't though. You have a full life ahead of you. Age is just a stupid number. We can do all of that again, we can relive it all. Plus, you'll get to make new memories and have new life experiences. It's totally reasonable to be upset right now, but you need to realise that it isn't all bad. You are one year away from being able to legally buy alcohol, that's a good thing. You can go to clubs and strip clubs without getting in trouble. You don't have to deal with your mother anymore." Eddie softly chuckles. "You're free Eddie. You can do whatever you want, just like... Don't kill someone." I say with a smile.
"That's some of the best advice I've ever heard come out of your mouth." Eddie says with a smile.
"You know who else has come in my mouth?" I say with a grin.
"Don't." Eddie sternly says.
"Your mom." I whisper.
He doesn't think you're funny. Shut the hell up Richie.
AN
-GROOVYLADY
