Freaks to Lovers

4. Insomnia

"Hey. Can't sleep either?" a familiar calming voice whispers you back into the present.

"Huh?" You sit up on your elbows.

You didn't realize that whole scene, that infamous Friday night when you asked if Eddie thought you were pretty, had been playing in your head so vividly. You've been staring intently at the ceiling, but it was like you were back in that moment, back at Eddie's trailer a few weekends ago with nerves shot. The smoke, the tears, and the heart-to-heart session all felt like they were happening right now, right in front of you. The whole conversation and scenery were burned into your memory. You played it over and over in your head, looking for an answer for the things just below the surface since Spring Break started over twelve hours ago.

What Nancy and Robin said earlier by the pool, seeing as they were right with the way Eddie looked at you, made you feel like it's been just under the water longer than just tonight. So, your mind has been skipping along the past trying to pinpoint just when Eddie started being weird towards you. Would you call it weird? Probably not. It didn't make you feel weird. Maybe nice? No, nice isn't the right word either. He's always been nice. I mean, it's Eddie. He's literally the nicest person you've ever met.

Whatever the word you were looking for, you were determined to find out when that word first started.

Actually, you may have started it yourself. That Friday night when you thought you were confident enough (and high enough) to earn an answer of attraction out of your best friend- could that have been when all of this started? Or did that question propel everything forward to the past few hours since being at the Wheeler's?

After a couple more hours in the pool, the spring Indiana chill started settling in. Around 2 a.m., Steve called it a night after a few more drinks and went back home. He reminded everyone that he would be back tomorrow, so expect some amazing change of pace. Robin followed Nancy upstairs to her room, giggling the whole way. Though they invited you to join, you opted not to go so you could see if this was all in your head or not.

That left The Hellfire Club in a members-only swim for a bit. Eventually, most of the guys agreed that it was best to go ahead and turn in and get at least a few hours of sleep. There were a few protests from some, but the tired and weary outweighed the playful. The game would continue tomorrow around nine or so. After all, it was only the early hours of Saturday morning. You all still had a whole week left of Spring Break to play this campaign Eddie worked so hard to create.

You changed in the bathroom again into your favorite pair of sweatpants and your long-loved Judas Priest concert tee. It's faded and soft and stolen from Eddie. One night after a heavy smoking session and three-part movie marathon, he offered to let you sleep over instead of driving you home so late. You didn't drive and he was way too out of it to be trusted behind the wheel of his van that late. He gave you his bed and he took the couch in the living room, like the sweet boy he always was to you. You needed something to sleep in and Eddie tossed the shirt to you and a pair of sweats so you could be cozy instead of resting in stiff jeans. Since then, you had claimed the shirt as yours. He always kept it washed and folded in a small drawer with a few of your other things if you ever needed it again. You snuck it out of his house a few days ago so you could wear it this week because it made you feel comfortable.

The ends of your hair were wet and still smelled of chlorine as you settled down on top of the worn-out pillow and gray fuzzy blanket you brought, but never properly rested underneath. The thought of that fateful Friday night quickly crept in and took over that you didn't notice everyone around you had fallen asleep.

Something else you didn't know, Eddie had been watching you since he changed out of his swim trunks as well. He sat on top of his own cover, legs stretched out in front of him, twirling his rings between his fingers. He tried to study you the best he could in the darkness across the room. Luckily for him, the moonlight was beaming in through a small window right around where you lay, so he was able to see that you weren't asleep yet either. You were looking up at the ceiling, deep in thought, heavily concentrated on something he couldn't see.