Beauty and the Dork

Pasta

"You can cover my neck in them!" she insisted, making me laugh. I pulled her in for a kiss and smiled when I felt her physically relax. I kissed her nose softly.

"Feel better?" I asked. She nodded and I grinned at her. "Good, because I'm going to test this spaghetti and see if it's up to my standards."

She smiled and nodded as I guided her to the kitchen. I watched her as she pulled a bowl out and started scooping the pasta out of the container. She tried to hand the bowl to me, and I shook my head.

"Uh-uh, you're feeding it to me," I quipped. She rolled her eyes but smiled, twirling the pasta onto the fork. She held it up to my mouth, and I took a bite. She watched me carefully, waiting for my reaction. I kissed the tips of my fingers and winked at her. "Delicious, princess."

She rocked up on her toes and kissed me quickly, catching me off guard.

---

Eddie smiled at me, his eyes crinkling and soft.

"What was that for?" he asked. I smiled at him.

"For being you," I said. He grinned and opened his mouth, prompting me to give him another bite of pasta. I twirled the noodles and gave him another forkful. He grinned, his smile goofy and sweet as he chewed.

"You did a great job, princess," he complimented. I smiled and felt my face flush at the kind words. He kissed me and took the bowl from my hand to finish the pasta himself.

I was so relieved that Eddie had forgiven me and that we were back in the bubble I had missed. I couldn't believe how much I had missed it – Eddie and I had been in our fight for just a few hours, and I had been miserable. I hated that I made him feel less than or that he embarrassed me.

Eddie had practically inhaled his food, and I grinned at him.

"Do you want to lick the bowl?" I teased. He smiled and leaned into kiss me, his mouth covered in the spaghetti sauce. I laughed. "Eddie, you're getting sauce on me!"

"I can't help that my girlfriend is an incredible chef!" he replied. I laughed again and shook my head.

"You're a dork," I quipped. His grin grew and he wrapped one of his hands around the back of my neck, pulling me close to his face.

"When it comes to you? Absolutely," he flirted, making me blush. I kissed him as soon as he was close enough, and he smiled. "Needy today, princess."

"When it comes to you? Absolutely," I mimicked back. It was his turn to blush, and he kissed my nose softly.

"Want to lay around and watch movies?" he asked. I nodded quickly and he grinned. I followed him to the living room and sat when he gestured to the couch. He picked up a VHS and slotted it into the VCR before turning back to me. I giggled when he plopped down next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I laughed harder when he started peppering the side of my face with kisses, pulling me closer to him. The movie started and I gasped.

"Eddie, I hate scary movies!" I whined. He grinned and pulled me tighter.

"I know – I get the benefits of you being scared and needing a big, strong man to hold onto," he teased. I laughed and leaned into his chest. He grabbed my legs and laid them across his thighs, tracing them softly.

We continued to stay entangled with one another, Eddie chuckling whenever I would jump or scream whenever Jason hacked away at someone. He leaned forward at one point and pulled a small box from underneath the couch. I was hit by a wave of a skunky aroma and was surprised when Eddie pulled a joint from the box. He lit it with a lighter he also pulled from the box and took a long drag. He blew the smoke out and looked down at me.

"Shit, I'm sorry, princess," he said, waving a hand around to dissipate the smoke. He coughed harshly and smiled at me. "I didn't even ask if that was okay."

I shook my head, my eyes wide.

"No, no – it's okay!" I insisted. His grin grew and he took another hit. I was overwhelmed by the smell again and he held the joint out to me.

"Do you want some?" he asked. My eyes widened and I looked up at him. I had never smoked weed before – I really hadn't even seen it before. Jason had insisted that Chrissy and I never ever partake in it and that only degenerates smoked weed.

But I was looking up at my favorite degenerate, probably my favorite person, and I didn't know how to say no.

I shrugged and he grinned wider, handing me the joint. I stared at it for a beat before bashfully looking up at him. He furrowed his brows at first, but then a flash of recognition crossed his face.

"You've never smoked before," he said. I nodded.

"Jason never wanted me or Chrissy to," I explained. He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"That asshole," he sniped. I glared up at him and he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. He might be your friend now, but he used to be my tormentor."

"I'm sorry," I said, and he shook his head.

"Nothing to be sorry for. Quit stalling, Go," he ordered. He took the joint from me and held it against my lips. He wrapped a hand around the back of my head and smirked at me. "Just take a quick puff. You might cough."

I did as he instructed and took a small drag. I immediately started coughing and Eddie soothed me, rubbing my back and cooing sweet nothings to me.

"You're okay, princess," he assured me, helping me calm down. I stopped coughing and grinned weakly at him.

"Am I a badass now?" I croaked. He started laughing and pulled me back to him. He put the joint out and put his box back underneath the couch. He held me tight, kissing my temple and humming happily as I scratched his forearms.

"You still feeling alright, princess?" he asked. I nodded and he grinned. "Good. You're such a nerd though – you couldn't even last a few hours without me."

I flushed. He wasn't wrong. The few hours that Eddie was mad at me for, I was panicked, and I did everything I could think of to win his forgiveness. The pasta idea had come to me when I remembered how much Eddie had enjoyed it – I made my dad take a break from writing so he could help me.

"I really couldn't," I replied, making him smile wider. He wrapped my hair around his hand and started playing with it.

"So, I think we need to talk about a timeline on the whole sneaking around," he said. I felt my stomach drop and my face drain of color. I looked up at him and watched him. His face was serious – still sweet and kind, but serious about what we had to discuss.

"I promise, soon, Eddie," I replied. "I just need to figure out how to tell my friends. But I'll do it soon. I promise I'm in this, I want you to know that. I need you to know that."

He watched me and took a beat before nodding.

"Okay. I trust you," he replied. I felt a wave of relief and wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, pulling him close to me and kissing him hard. He pulled back, his grin goofy and giddy. "I'll tell you what, princess – that never gets old."

I smiled and nodded, absolutely agreeing with him.