Beauty & The Freak || Eddie Munson

Chapter 15

As he approached us, I could see the nervousness on his face. This was a big deal for the both of us. He had already expressed how uncomfortable coming here was to him, and I truly respected that. But that he still came for me meant the entire world to me.

"You came!" I had to not shriek when he reached us.

"I'm here." Eddie nervously swallowed.

"Good choice, Munson." Robin commented.

"I know, I know. Can we just go inside already so I can get all the staring over with?" Eddie asked.

I would not let a soul in that room stare at him. I trusted God was going to make this a peaceful morning for Eddie–going into something he wasn't familiar with was a scary experience and I didn't want him to feel out of place.

I knew there was going to be a lecture from my parents bound to happen after church when they saw me walk in with him. I took his hand, gripping it as we made our way inside. We took a seat in the back pew, with my parents sitting just a few in front of us. Abel was in another room with the bible study teachers.

My parents glanced back at me, both giving me an equally confused look before turning back around. I looked at Eddie sitting next to me, seeing his head hung low as he began bouncing his leg. I knew he was so nervous and I wanted to help him, but I didn't really know what to do.

I could see that he was fidgeting with his fingers where his rings normally sat, pretending like he was twisting them. But there was nothing there, so he was just rubbing his fingertips across his skin. So, I grabbed his hand and pulled it into my lap–intertwining our fingers and stroking my thumb across his hand.

≪ °❈° ≫

When church was over, Eddie walked me to my parents' car. Mom and Dad were already standing there waiting for me. This is when I got nervous because I had no clue how this interaction was going to go.

"Hi, dear." Mom smiled at him.

"Hello." Eddie slightly nodded.

"I see my daughter finally convinced you to join us." Dad said.

"I owed it to her," Eddie cleared his throat, "After standing her up..."

"Moral decision." Dad said.

"I was wondering," Eddie paused, "Can Eden come with me to work on some stuff for Hellfire?"

"Hellfire?" Dad and I questioned.

I remembered he had a shirt that said Hellfire, but I didn't know what it was. Regardless of what it was, Eddie was bold enough to ask my dad if we could be alone together. We both already knew that my dad didn't like him, and I highly doubted that he was going to let me go with him.

"It's the name of my Dungeons & Dragons group."

"That satanic game? No way. I do not want my daughter to be a part of that." Dad said.

"Sir, it's not satanic. It's just a fantasy game."

"I don't care. It promotes Satanic Worship, whether you realize that. Sorry, she's not going."

"But dad-"

"No, Eden. I don't care if he showed up at church today or not. I still don't like him and I don't want you around him."

I looked at Mom, who was just giving looking at me like she was sorry. I wanted her to say something to dad–even if it were telling him to just knock it off. I may not have known what this fantasy game was that Eddie had mentioned, but I didn't feel like my dad's answer was justifying his reasoning for saying no.