Falling for The Freak (Eddie Munson)

My Love

(Y/N)'s POV

I felt completely numb as I laid there under my covers. My face and throat felt swollen from last night while my eyes hurt from how tired they were. It was as if the only things I could feel were pain and the emptiness that settled within my chest, making the feeling of numbness even worse. 

My first thought went to Juliet and how devastated she must've felt knowing we are about to lose everything if my fa- that man kept his word. It all felt like a nightmare that I was stuck living in and I couldn't allow Juliet to feel the same. I had to protect her from this disgusting world that we lived in. I had to take back my role of being her caretaker, this time with more meaning since my parents were completely gone. Well, I hoped they were. I don't think I would be able to control myself next time if they ever decided to pop back up into our lives. 

Something inside of me took over from the thought of Juliet. I couldn't let her see me like this again. I needed to think of her more and not myself as much. She needed to live the normal life that none of us got to live out. Juliet had cheerleading, the Hellfire Club, Dustin, friends, everything I could ever ask for for her. Yes, of course, I had Eddie, Juliet and all of our friends, but I wasn't meant to live out the happy life. I was meant to take care of Juliet and Brandon. I couldn't protect Brandon, so now I have to focus more on Juliet. I couldn't lose her, too. 

I got out of bed and threw on some jeans with a sweatshirt. I put my hair into a ponytail and finished my short morning routine before going downstairs to start making breakfast. I threw on the fake smile that I had practiced earlier as I waltzed into the kitchen, but it soon dropped when I didn't see anyone. I walked deeper into the kitchen and then over to the dining table to find Eddie passed out. My heart swelled from the sight of him. His mouth was slightly open as he let out small snores on top of the papers he laid on. I reached over and lightly pushed a strand of hair behind his ear, smiling down at his handsome face. I then looked around the room to find everything cleaned up and back to normal. He must've stayed up all night doing this for me. My heart hurt from this. I keep stressing him out and that's not fair on him. 

I walked back into the kitchen and started making breakfast the quietest I could. I made scrambled eggs, toast, pancakes, and some sausage. I even washed all of the dishes and made some coffee in the same amount of time it took Juliet to wake up and come downstairs. I threw on that same fake smile from earlier as she walked over with a confused look on her face. 

"Good morning." I said quietly, not wanting to wake Eddie up. I brought the coffee cup up to my lips and slightly winced at the pain from the heat of the liquid that ran down my throat. 

"Are you alright?" Juliet asked as she looked around at the food set up for her to eat. 

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I took another sip as I felt my hands start to shake while my eyes teared up. 

"(Y/N), you don't have to act like you're fine." Juliet persisted, making me want to break down even further. I brought the cup away from my face and smiled at my sister. 

"But I am fine. Last night was just a little bump in the road." I lied. She could see right through me. Juliet knew me too well from all the years we had together full of emotional damage that I would just throw into the back of my mind, pretending I was fine during the day and breaking down at night. 

Juliet went to say something, but she stopped and nodded before grabbing a plate and piling everything on. She knew that we would just end up going around and around in circles if we continued. 

We ate together in awkward silence, both of us not knowing what to say to the other. Brandon would usually be the one to bring something up to talk about during these moments, but we didn't have him anymore. Instead, we had to deal with the elephant in the room without addressing it.